What's Color Have To Do With It?
by Maria Marsala

I bet you'd be able to tell me, in 10 seconds or less, the colors that McDonalds, Burger King, K-Mart and Wal-Mart use. That's because they have used these colors, their logos and even their slogans to "brand" themselves. Branding helps clients "remember you".

As a business owner, you too can "brand" your business. An example would be my website, Welcome Kit, forms, business cards etc. They all contain the same colors, fonts, logo, and graphics. Actually, even my website name "coach maria" brands me. I've met individuals who think they "know" me, or have met me before, however, I don't know them! When we figure out where they know me from, it's from a discussion group or my website. Branding works!

Take the time now, as you start your business, to decide what colors you'll be using in your branding campaign. A few things to remember about colors:

1. Colors may appear different when used in print media (such as your brochure) vs. on the Internet.
2. Different browsers (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator) show colors differently.
3. The same color on different parts of a page (the background and border, for example) may look different, even in the same browser.
4. On the Internet, white is a color. If you do not "name" it white, then it will appear as gray on Netscape.

So before you decide on a color for your website, check the color in a few browsers. In fact, if you're a web designer, designing a color page may be helpful for your clients. You can view a sample color page at http://www.coachmaria.com/colors.html Use the websites below to assist you in choosing colors for your business.

Psychology of Color, Sandra K. Webster Online slide presentation. http://unix1.psych.westminster.edu/psycs29/COLOR/

How Does Color Affect Your Life? Various articles.
http://www.colormatters.com/entercolormatters.html

Lists what each color denotes and includes a color planning guide. http://www.para.com/pages/color/psych.htm

Colorwise Career and Personality Test.
http://www.colorwize.com/payment.htm

Reference Colors and Tutorials
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/reference/color_codes/

Color Theory 101.
http://www.webdesignclinic.com/ezine/v1i1/color/

HTML 101 Part 4 Colors.
http://html.about.com/library/nosearch/bl_class4-4.htm

Color Chart and Character Resources for Web Designers.
http://www.visibone.com/

HTML Color Charts - Simple to Use RGB Hexadecimal Colors. http://html.about.com/library/bl_namedcolors.htm http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8323/chart.html http://www.autumnweb.com/Roxys/2WebPageHelp/4HTMLcolors.html http://users.rcn.com/giant.interport/COLOR/1ColorSpecifier.html http://www.artistic-designers.com/bkgds/colorchart.html

Color graphs for interior designers, graphic artists, web designers and you if you enjoy playing with color. http://www.colormix.com/ http://www.zspc.com/color/index-e.html http://eyedropper.inetia.com/HTML/eng/default.asp

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Maria Marsala, Business & Life Coach. You Can Create and Promote Your Online Newsletter (Ezine) In Two Days! Save your valuable time by because we've done the research for you and provide you with many options! For complete information, testimonials and to register, www.coachmaria.com/ezineclass.html