If you want your customers to identify and build a trusting relationship with you, corporate identity is at the heart of the matter. Establishing a precise identity for your business is the cornerstone to creating a positive image for your business that current customers remember and new customers are bound to notice.

When you're setting up a JV partnership with another company, your corporate identity will differentiate your business from your JV partners. While some business owners enlist the assistance of professional consultants, you can go far in creating your own corporate identity with these simple tips.

Logos

Corporate branding often begins with a company logo that allows customers to identify your corporation easily. The logo may include a symbol, specific font and colors that are unique to your business brand. It may be created by you or by a graphic designer who specializes in business logos. It is important to choose this logo carefully, since it will accompany your business in print and on the Internet to identify your business.

Packages

Once your logo is complete, you can design an entire corporate package that includes your business brand. Some of the print options for your corporate package might include:

- Business cards
- Letterhead and envelopes
- Fax covers
- Invoices
- Promotional material
- Signage and advertisements

You will also use your logo to create corporate packages for the Internet, which might include:

- Your business website
- Email templates
- Links to your website through your JV partners
- Document templates (including quotes, proposals, invoices and statements)

Every place your logo appears, it should sport identical fonts, colors and symbols. This ensures your customers and potential customers will identify your business quickly and easily, no matter where they may encounter your company name.

Benefits of Corporate Identity

There are many advantages to establishing a corporate identity early in the JV marketing game. Some of the benefits might be:

- Customers easily identify your business in any medium

- You provide consistency and professionalism for your company

- Branding creates expectations and associations among your products

- Your business is more easily remembered than your competitors

- Your brand offers customers an inkling of what your business does and what it stands for

- Branding is an effective method of enticing customers to buy

- A strong corporate identity may persuade potential JV partners to work with you

Because there are numerous benefits to corporate branding, it is essential that you establish your corporate branding style before you begin the hunt for JV partners. This creates a professional image that makes prospective partners sit up and take notice.

How-To Guide

Once you have established your corporate identity, create a corporate branding handbook that explains everything about your corporate logo. This would include the fonts and illustrations used, as well as the precise size, location and coloring of the logo. A handbook ensures that your logo is correctly added to all of the business material that heads out of your business to reach new and current customers.

A strong, well-defined corporate identity exudes a professional image to everyone who comes in contact with your business. This effort at the beginning will greatly enhance all of your marketing efforts, including JV partnerships.