By now most, if not all of us, in the business world have heard the term “branding”. It’s tossed around here and there like croutons on a salad. What the heck is it though ? Well, I am so appeased that you have summoned me for this answer ! *insert evil laugh*
Define branding
Branding is a little more than just a cool logo and a couple hashtags. Your brand is a compilation of everything that makes up your representation. Your brand is essentially the soul or nucleus of your business. So when you verb it, branding is the clear, consistent and coherent experience communicated through your storefront, print items, online ambiance, content and customer service.
Building your ideal brand is definitely a process and it likely isn’t going to happen over night by any means. The grind and hustle you put into it, however, will steadily increase sales, land you more projects and referrals and essentially make all your wildest dreams come true.
Perception is reality
Keep in mind that a large part of your brand is based on the customer’s overall perception of your business. To help mold their perception you want to bring awareness to the purpose behind your brand. Every successful brand has a powerful purpose. Why did you initially get into business ? What problem are you solving ? Who did you have in mind when you developed your product or process ? Ask yourself how your purpose differentiates you from your competitors.
You really want to dig deep for these nuggets of truth. The answers will be the foundation for everything else you do.
Who is your audience ?
Once you have the main details of what makes up your brand you’ll be able to better assess who your target audience is. Trying to target everyone is a great way to reach no one so you want to certainly take your time with this one. If your brand were a person how old would she be ? What does she do for fun ? Where does she work ? Is she married ? Does she have kids ? Really ask yourself as many questions as you can and get as specific as possible with it.
It’s Actually REALLY Important
Some very tangible things you want to keep in mind to help keep your brand strong include the font you use, the colors you use consistently, your general tone of voice in your copywriting. If you do photography for example you’ll want to consider your aesthetic signature. For example, I do photography as a hobby. When you see a micro looking photo with the contrast and black point turned all the way up… it might be me. That’s my signature. When I did cosmetology my signature makeup look was a bold tricolored eye shadow combo with a neutral lip.
Things like what I just mentioned are so important for your bottom line because what you want is for people to recognize your work even when you’re nowhere around and your logo isn’t on it. And should someone steal your work, you want to have a consistent track record of doing things a certain way so that when people look at the timestamps on your digital things and the general nature of them, they know who is the fraud and who is the real.
I chose the font I did because I don’t see it used very often and it matches my vibe. It looks handwritten, it’s fun and it shows I don’t take life too serious. I love to bring a child-like sense of wonder and adventure to everything I do. I’ve been so consistent with using it that when people see it, they automatically think it’s me. That’s what I want for you.
Once you have all of this figured out, LIVE AND BREATHE IT ! You permanently represent your brand. Need help figuring it out ?
Need A Little Help ?
It’s a lot to think about. Or maybe you’ve thought about it a lot but you just want to make sure that you’re on the right track. I GOTCHU BABY ! Book a consultation with me asap, okay ?
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