Logos and Slogans
Mike Mann
For marketing purposes, you usually want to choose an appropriate slogan to go with your name, like “Twist and Shout” for a pretzel company, or “Ride the Wave” for a marine company. You also need a logo: a graphical representation of your brand, like the Nike swoosh. In the vetting process for branding, each logo, slogan, font and so on should be carefully considered and then selected from as many options as you can afford from your graphic designers. You must have a first class logo and then ensure your logo has massive exposure around your target market, which in some cases are all the world’s Internet consumers. Your marketing material, preceded with your name, logo, and slogan should be exposed in a wide variety of as many venues as possible: referrals, press articles, sales messages, affinity groups; and materials via fax, mail, newspaper ads, radio, online, and so forth. We like to use the expression “tag the world.” Your brand is everything, so don’t short-change it. In the beginning, pay to build it by leveraging the right image and domain, and stick with it because you will discover that branding reinforcement over a long term also pays out for the long term. Now you are ready for your lawyer to compile and then file basic paperwork to get your business properly incorporated and legally operational in the marketplace.
Basic filings and documents you will require include: A federal ID number from the IRS Articles of Incorporation A “fictitious name” filing (the name you would like to register in your state) Shareholder Operating Agreements Stock Subscription Agreements Stock Option Agreements Stock Certificates A Corporate Seal
In fact, you should plan to have all this other stuff too: For Marketing: Name and slogan options Domain names (your primary brand plus singulars, plurals, misspellings, “.net” version, subsidiary names, etc.) Logo options Web content Business card templates Contact management system backup Proposal templates Print flyers Fax cover template/letterhead template Email text templates and signatures
For Management: Business model for internal purposes Staff contact directory Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) Mission statement Backed up file systems
For Investors: Private Placement Memoranda (PPM) Business plans and models Business presentations in PowerPoint and Flash
Mergers agreements Asset purchase agreements
For Legal: Nondisclosure and non-compete agreements Proprietary inventions agreements Legal agreement templates Domain details and other intellectual property
For Financial: QuickBooks backups Monthly financial statements