Marketing message x Credibility x Visibility = Marketing Success

These three variables, when working positively together, create success. Period. But determining how to get those variables to work together is the trick.

Your marketing message isn't a static entity. It can have a high or low impact on your customers. There are numerous factors at work. Often times, it's your message that needs tweaking. Fortunately, making changes to your message is easy and very cost-effective. For instance: you may already have a website. Simply changing the headline on the home page can make a big difference.

Improving your credibility is a little more elusive. Genuine credibility is earned over time through word-of-mouth, actual customer experience and subjective judgment. However, good writing and design in your marketing materials can do wonders for establishing and maintaining credibility. It reiterates that you are a quality company through the subtle statement of the quality of your communications.

Lastly, visibility is how many people will see your message. Fact is you could have a great message and credibility, but if few people see you or know you, what good is it?

It's highly important to have all three variables working positively for you at the same time. If you're doing well on two and badly on one, your marketing efforts are spinning their wheels.

To determine if your marketing is currently running well, take this test:

Marketing message: Do people understand it right away? Does it evoke a "that's for me" response? Can your clients and others explain your marketing message? Is your message on every single piece of marketing from website to business card? Score (1-10) _____

Credibility: Is your work consistently satisfying to your clients? Do you get word-of-mouth business? Is your website chocked full of useful information on you and your services? Is your brand image and marketing literature professional looking? Total Score (1-10) _____

Visibility: Are you an active networker? Do you have regular meetings with your main contacts? Do you speak at professional associations and conferences? Do write articles to be published online and off regularly? Do you have a regular newsletter or email newsletter? Total Score (1-10) _____

Now multiply your answers. That's your marketing success score.

Your marketing success score is an easy gauge to determine where you are.

To measure how strong your brand is copy and paste: (http://brandidentityguru.com/bightml/brandmasterpiece.html). Then click "Take the brand strength test". This is a short survey that measures the strength of any company's brand. It's a great tool to see where you are today.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru (http://www.brandidentityguru.com), a leading brand consulting and market research firm located in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, near Boston. Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

Over the course of his 15-year branding career, Scott White has worked in a wide variety of industries: high-tech, manufacturing, computer hardware and software, telecommunications, banking, restaurants, fashion, healthcare, Internet, retail, and service businesses, as well as numerous non-profit organizations.

Brand Identity Guru clients include: Sun Life Financial, Coca Cola, HP, Sun, Nordstrom, American Federal Mortgage, Simon (America's largest shopping mall manager) and many others, including numerous emerging growth companies.

Scott White is a very enthusiastic speaker and has the gift of being able to explain the principles of branding in a compelling and entertaining manner so that people at all levels can understand.