Brand Interview: Carolyn Herfurth, The Biztruth

Brand Interview: Carolyn Herfurth, The Biztruth

Carolyn Herfurth

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
The Biztruth was founded in March 2010 to work with service-based entrepreneurs who want to make the most of their time, maximize their earnings, and support their lifestyle goals – while doing what they love.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
Yes – a variety of charities and causes. Since moving to NYC, my favorite is the Central Park Conservancy. I use the park multiple times a week for exercise, de-stressing, walking tours, biking etc. and am so impressed with how well they keep it up. I also donate my time for various landscape projects there. It’s important to me to keep the park welcoming to residents and tourists alike.

Tell us about your brand.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
I knew I wanted very clean lines and my designer chose Century Gothic which is very readable and simple. I actually went through a brand process with my umbrella company about 4 years ago (Stratica, Inc) so you can tell I like to keep things simple!

Stratica logo Design

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
I learned many years ago that black and gold/yellow have a big impact and felt like it reflected The Biztruth name & brand.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
I have a very strong sense of what I like and want, so will often mock up my idea and then send it off to a professional to fine tune. I did this for both my Biztruth logo and website. Although I get a lot of compliments on my site, I’m actually in the process of making some changes to improve conversion rates and better reflect how I help entrepreneurs.

Biztruth logo

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
It all happened at once, although I wasn’t very active on social three years ago so did less of that.

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
About 6-12 months.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
No. Just looked at a LOT of websites!

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
No.

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
I’ve used Facebook ads and have had mixed results.

Which social media site to spend the most time on and how does it help marketing your business?
I’m more of a Facebook gal, although I can go days & days without posting. It’s more about relationship building… and find that my personal questions (ie. “what do you do with canned salmon?”) get more attention than anything directly biz related.

Art of the Ask Academy logo

Do you belong to community sharing websites? Which ones and how effective are they in building your audience? What are the best features that help your business?
I’m more of a face to face gal, so I’m actively involved in Savor the Success which offers a nice mix of online and offline engagement opportunities with women across the country.

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
Local vendor – but we’ve never met.

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
Yes. I used to work with printing so know what I like. Although I screwed up my last biz card order because I accidentally clicked UV coating (which I didn’t want).

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
Not yet.

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
Mostly all digital products – although I do have one product printed in Colorado and another product I order from moo.com

Do you speak at events? If so tell us about that.
Yes. I speak about the ways entrepreneurs sabotage their sales, how to improve selling skills, and aligning your business with the life you want to live. I speak for entrepreneur groups like Savor the Success and NAWBO to audiences of hundreds at conferences and associations. I also create my own events – some private & some public.

What is coming up in the year or two we should watch for?
Truth & Dare Retreats (private, invite only at this point)
Licensing my core program – Art of the Ask – to other coaches

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
How long can this list be?! There’s always a loooooong list of things I want to tackle.


Listen to Carolyn as she talks about P.I.M.P.S – Selling Culprit #4

To learn more about Carolyn Herfurth, The Biztruth and Art of the Ask, follow the links below:
http://thebiztruth.com
http://thebiztruth.com/blog
http://facebook.com/carolynherfurth
http://twitter.com/carolynherfurth
http://linkedin.com/in/carolynherfurth
http://pinterest.com/carolynherfurth
http://youtube.com/carolynherfurth
http://vizify.com/carolynherfurth

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