What is Branding anyway?

Jan 9

Branding is so much more than just your logo. Most people think of branding as just the visual elements and components of your brand.

Your brand is a reflection of YOU and the feeling you want your ideal client to have.

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” - Seth Godin

It is easy when you are just starting out to get lost in who you want your clients to be. Most times you want your business to appeal to everyone and your vision is very vague ( i want to help the world) kinda way.. But that’s not how success happens...Trust me I have been there sooo many times over, re-creating my own brand and multiple businesses numerous times.

BUT..

When you decide to do the work before even beginning to work with your designer, it helps them to really align your style into a brand that is uniquely yours.

Design is essential but design is not brand. - Seth Godin

Once you get an idea of who your ideal client is, everything else kind of flows from there.

Our 5 step guide can help you into creating a brand that perfectly aligns with you, attract your ideal clients, and that you absolutely love! Also, if you choose to work with a designer, these steps should help her bring your brand vision to life with ease!

Step 1:

Let’s talk Pinterest! Create a secret Pinterest board. No self-editing, just find images that you love, anything from colors, fonts, other logo designs not pertaining to your industry, patterns, textures, landscapes, and even how you’d like your ideal client to look! Anything and EVERYTHING that really inspires you and gets you excited! Remember this should be a FUN process. This is our absolute favorite thing to do! Pinterest is filled with inspiration!

Step 2:

Download our worksheet on finding out who your ideal client is! I really had no idea how important this was, until I started to work with my coach and she really drilled this into our heads! It is true magic, when your ideal clients literally fall into your lap ( or land on your website).. So this is an important step and you don’t want to skip it!

Step 3:

Create a list of about 25 items/things/people that set your SOUL of FIRE.. that get you so excited and puts the biggest smile on your face when you think about them. Do this in your journal or notebook and later you can add some of these items to your vision board as well!

Step 4:

Take that list and think of a way you’d like it to be incorporated into your brand. Maybe that gray fuzzy cute kitten of yours makes you smile and warms your heart with so much love!. You could incorporate your kitty into your brand photos, your social media feed, and could be a part of your about page or you could use your kitty as inspiration for your brand colors gray and pink ( her cute little nose) Can you tell I love cats..lol!

Also, maybe this is who you want to attract as your ideal client who loves kittens just as much as you do!

Step 5:

Creating a brand checklist, seeing all the components that go into a brand is a great way to help you get started. When you say I need a logo design, your designer thinks of how she can help you create an overall cohesive brand and not just a logo. Your logo is your main component, but there is more to your business than just a logo. You can check out our free ebook here to see examples of your brand components and visuals.