Not Just Pretty | Building An Effective Small Business Brand

Does Brand Strategy Take The Freedom Out Of Running Your Business?

This is a question I’ve been getting a lot lately.

Entrepreneurs are really concerned whether this whole “brand strategy” thing will take away their freedom to run their business the way they want to, to have the life they want to have – or to react to what’s going on in the world and make changes.

Let me tell you, it won’t.

You’ll still get to run your business the way that you want to. You’ll just know where it’s going, and you’ll be looking a step ahead of where you are.

What does this mean?

• It means that instead of waking up in the morning and saying “Eeek, my newsletter’s supposed to go out and I have no idea what to write it on or what to promote!”… you’ll know what to write, what to promote and what’s next.
• Instead of getting to the end of the year and thinking, “What have I been doing for my business all year?” you’ll get to the end of the year and be confident that you’ve moved towards your ultimate future vision.
• You’ll be walking your business towards meeting your big goals and big dreams instead of scrambling around after your brand in emergency mode.
• You’ll know exactly what your brand foundation is all about – so that every piece you design can build a more powerful brand instead of spreading your resources thin or making your message confusing.
• And you’ll be able to design the things that you need to bring in more profit – instead of just designing things because it sounds cool or because you suddenly think you might need it. You’ll have the tools in your brand toolkit to see what designs are really going to help and what’s not going to make much of an impact.

Your strategy isn’t set in stone. You will be able to make changes, stay flexible and have the freedom to change your plans (if, say, a magical vacation opportunity comes up!) After all, your flexibility, freedom and reaction time are major advantages of being a small business!

 

Building Your Email Subscriber List

I've been attending the List Building Telesummit  that Vrinda Normand is hosting and wanted to share some of the things I've learned from the experts:

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Learn more after the jump!

5 Steps to Designing a Strategic Brand

When you think about designing - or redesigning - your business's identity, you think about finding a designer and hiring them to design a logo, right?

That's where many small businesses go wrong. There's a 5-step process to designing your small business's brand image. And actually designing it is the very last step.

If you want to create a profitable, pretty and powerful brand, then you've got to begin at the beginning. If you begin with the first 4 steps here, then you'll be able to design a brand that's stronger, has a more solid base and that will be an investment that gets results instead of an expensive, creative guess!

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Step 1: Assessment.
You have to figure out where you are with your brand now, and assess whether your brand is IN or OUT of control, of style, of date, of alignment with your vision and of touch with your clients.

Take a look at your materials and really evaluate whether they're working for you - and be totally honest about how they're not working. It stings, but it's worth it to improve your brand!

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Step 2: Foundation.
This is where you solidify the ground that you're building your brand on, and create the powerful foundation for your brand.

This gives you clarity about your brand, PLUS... It lets you effectively communicate with everyone else who is involved in your business, like:

• Your clients, so that you can make a stronger connection with them.
• Your vendors:  you'll save money and get better results from working with them by giving them this information in a clear way. And, you'll never be in danger of having a designer or writer hijack your business again with their creative ideas - you'll be in control.
• Your partners and affiliates, will  really understand what you're up to, so they'll be able to be more effective when they promote you. You'll get more and better leads from them.

Your brand foundation consists of all of the positioning details for your business. Things like: your business's personality, your BrandStyle, what you do, what makes you different, and your ideal client - who they are, what they want, need and desire and how they feel after they work with you. This information is absolutely essential to building a brand that really has a solid footing.

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Step 3: Future Vision
Next, you have to create the ultimate future vision for your business, so that you know what your brand is building towards. 

Without this, you're just making a brand so you can... do what?  If you don't know where you're going, how do you know how to get there - or even if you're making any progress at all?

Dream big and think about where you want your business to go, the lifestyle you want to live, the impact you want to make on the world and the legacy you want to leave.

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Step 4: Strategic Planning

Here's where you use your Brand Foundation and your future vision to make a strong and strategic brand plan that shows exactly, step-by-step, where your brand is going and how it will get there.

Plan out where you want your business, your life and your brand to be - in 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years and beyond.

This plan should include how you want to be showing up in the world, the brand pieces you need to get there, who you want to be working with and the reputation you want to build.

It should also come complete with numbers and dates (I know, this part doesn't sound very design-y at all!) Unless you have the numbers and dates  - how will you know if you're accomplishing your goals? Some of these numbers should detail how much money you want your brand to bring in... so that you'll see how you're on-track with your monetary profits.

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Step 5: Finally, Design!

I know, this is the step you've been waiting for!

This is where a designer comes on board and works with you to design a brand identity that communicates your brand foundation, looks fabulous and connects with your ideal clients. This is where you get to input your feedback and work with that artist to create a look that reflects who you really are and that you're really proud to market with!

That's the whole process to designing a brand that's powerful, profitable and pretty - and everything that happens before step 5 is the "secret sauce" that is missing from small business brands that don't work. Just think how effective your brand could be if it had all of these components!

Is Your Brand IN or OUT? Find out now!

I admit it, I’m a huge Project Runway fan. I love it when Heidi Klum, the host of the show, says, “In fashion, one day you’re in, and the next you’re out.”

Because that’s true for branding! Your brand is like fashion. It can either be IN or OUT. But whether your business’s designs are IN or OUT isn’t just based on how your style.

Find out if your brand is IN or OUT — and what to do about it — in this hot FREE recording:

Is Your Brand IN or OUT?

The 5 Secrets To Creating A Powerful, Pretty and Profitable Brand

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The Brand Profitability Cycle: How Your Brand Can Help You Make More Money and So Much More!

When I say "profit", do you think about money? Most people do!

Entrepreneurs are no different, and one of the most common ways to measure business success is by financial profitability… how much did you make last year versus how much you spent.

When you’re looking at profitability in your business, you look at the return on investment.

But what do you do when you’re measuring the profitability of a piece of your business that doesn’t just lead directly to money… like your brand?

It’s pretty unlikely that someone’s going to just see your logo and like it so much that they will be inspired to just give you money.

On the other hand, a good logo can help your ideal clients trust you and to like you more, and this can trigger them buy your services when you make an offer.

If you’re looking at the profitability of your brand, then that sort of situation should be taken into account. Otherwise, you’re not getting a full picture of the value of your brand.

And each kind of profitability  that your brand can bring can become a cycle – one that generates more and more money for your business.

Here’s what to look at when you’re evaluating your brand’s profitability… beyond money.

• Is your brand bonding with your ideal clients (and, getting you more clients… and more money)? As I mentioned before, you want your brand to help you build trust with your clients. That means that you need to build your brand in a credible, consistent way that demonstrates that you’re worthy of their trust.
  
  There’s also the likeability factor. If your ideal clients like your brand, they’re more likely to spend more time looking over and reading your marketing materials – so you have more of their attention. That “like” can also easily transfer over to you if you’re an entrepreneur – because, where does your brand end and the interaction with you begin (they’re probably pretty close). And when your ideal clients like you, they’re more likely to buy your services because of that emotion.
  
  Finally, consider the role of personal taste – especially when it comes to your brand image. If they like your brand and feel like it matches their personal tastes, then that can make them feel like you understand them and their needs – and that you can serve them well.
  
  See how the money cycle is starting to take shape?
  
  
• Does your brand contribute to your reputation’s bottom line? Is your brand and image making you look good? Are your materials engaging and impeccable? Are you developing a good reputation by being real and authentic in your brand? Does your brand clearly show the values that you stand for?
  
  Are you doing a good job of delivering on your promises? This goes for when you’re delivering your service, certainly – but it goes further than that. To build a strong reputation, you have to deliver quality content in your newsletter, your free reports and teleclasses, on your website, in your blog and everywhere else!
  
  Can your clients clearly see that you’re not just “in it” for yourself? It should be clear that you’re in your business to serve and that you really and truly care about what you’re doing. This makes them want to learn more, invest with you and come back for more.
  
  
• Your brand can extend your reach. If you’re an entrepreneur, chances are that you need some help spreading the word about your business… in the form of affiliates, partners, raving fans and messengers. Does your brand make you remarkable – and make people want to talk about you (in the good way, of course)?
  
  The other half of being remarkable is that you want the way your brand stands out to be clear, so that when people are talking about you they’re saying what you want them to say and they’re spreading the word in an interesting and engaging way. Your messengers need to know what to say so that their efforts can make as much impact as possible.
  
  How does this loop back to profit? Because the more people who know about you… the more people who can become your fans, get onboard with your services and then carry your message out into the world again. It becomes a self-sustaining loop of new clients and new opportunities. And, that equals profit!
  
  
• Your schedule profits because you gain more time. Focusing, clarifying and strategically planning your brand simply makes your marketing easier.
  
  Imagine… always knowing your next step. No more wasting time, searching for what to say or do for your next newsletter or blog post. Always knowing exactly what you’re promoting at every turn.
  
  And, even having the clarity of message and focus of brand to make that planning easier!  
  
  It’s incredibly freeing – from a time perspective and it removes the stress from your marketing. This feeds back into your schedule and gives you more energy. It also lets you increase your marketing with no additional effort – so that you can keep building!
  
  
• You profit by making your ultimate vision a reality. I like to think of this one as “getting fulfilled”.  You’re in business – doing all the work behind being an entrepreneur – because you have a bigger vision, and because you want to serve your clients, transform their lives and make your mark on the world.
  
  If you find yourself stuck on the day-to-day hamster wheel of your business, and you don’t seem to be making progress towards your ultimate vision – then you may need to try a new approach.
  
  Try creating a brand strategy.
  
  Why? Because your brand strategy starts with the end in mind. You’ll begin the process of creating your strategy by looking at where you want your brand – and your business – to go in the future. And, by starting at the end, you can easily see how to build a step-by-step brand that will really get you there.
  
  This part of the profitability cycle not only keeps going to create more profit for you – but it also has a snowball effect. This portion, especially, can help your business grow exponentially and can help you create the lifestyle that you always dreamed of.

You can see that your brand can build profits for your business that go much deeper than money – and that many of these profits will circle right back and feed more profits into your business. The profitability cycle is worth getting rolling!

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall… Will My Brand Help Me Rise Or Fall?

Is your brand an accurate reflection of what it’s like to do business with you? Does it help your business rise to the top? Or, does it trip you up, miss the mark with your clients and make you fall flat?

Your brand has to reflect you – in some ways. Allow me to explain.

When you’re the driving force behind a small, service-based business, it naturally follows that your brand will share some common ground with your personality. After all, your business is based on your mission, your talents and your desire to  make a positive impact with your clients.

Your brand should reflect what it’s like to do business with you – not your personal taste in design. Your image should show your clients what they’ll feel like after they work with you.

How about an example? Let’s say that there’s an implementation coach – I’ll call her Julie. She’s very dynamic in her work, and teaches her clients to set aggressive goals and achieve them.

Her favorite color is a soft baby blue.

If she tried to use that baby blue as the main color in her brand, she’d have a major communication crisis on her hands. Baby blue is a soothing color, meaning peace, calm and harmony.

If Julie’s brand was baby blue, her clients would take one look at her website and expect a calming experience.  The clients who would be most attracted to that brand would be those who want to take the stress out of implementation on their projects.

When they talk to Julie, though, she’s excited and more than ready to jump in and expand their project’s scale.  She’s talking a mile a minute about action steps, big goals and getting things done quickly. Not quite the comforting experience that was expected, now is it?

In Julie’s case, her style would be more accurately reflected in a brand centered around a warm, exciting and dynamic color palette. It would reflect her energy and the emotional experience of doing business with her, and set her client’s expectations to the right frequency.

Color is just one of the many ways that your business’s personality can be reflected in your brand. When all of the design elements in your company image show the experience that your clients get when they work with you, your brand will help you rise to the occasion and to the top of your field!

 

 

Another gift for you: 3 Signs That Your Brand Is OUT.. and How to Design An IN Brand That Attracts Your Ideal Clients

 

"3 Signs That Your Brand Is OUT... and How to Design An IN Brand That Attracts Your Ideal Clients" Special Report

Do you ever wonder if your brand is out?
Or why it's just not working to bring in clients?

Your business's brand can really make or break your business's image. It's just like the actress who wears that out-of-date and unflattering gown on the red carpet versus the actress who wears the stunning dress of the season.

If you're struggling to get noticed, attract your ideal clients, reach more clients, stay memorable, and generate REAL revenue, then this is for you! 

 

Get Instant Access NOW!

3 Signs That Your Brand Is OUT... and How to Design An IN Brand That Attracts Your Ideal Clients

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Do You Ever Wonder If Your Brand Is IN or OUT?

Are you embarrassed to hand out your business card? Afraid that someone might actually see your outdated website?

Are you frustrated because your clients don’t “get” you?

Does your brand feel disorganized and like it’s inconsistent and always out of control?

Do you feel like your business’s identity isn’t doing a good job of showing who you really are?

These are all signs that your brand is OUT. And I would love to show you how to get it back IN again on my newest complimentary teleseminar:

Is Your Brand IN or OUT?

5 Essentials To Creating Designs That Really Work and Attract Your Ideal Clients

Tuesday, March 8 at 11AM PST
(that’s 2PM EST/ 1PM CST/ 12PM MST)

The information for this class is already shaping up to be incredible. You’re not going to want to miss it!

Here's the link so you can be among the very first to get your seat!
http://www.brandstyledesign.com/inorout

I hope you’ll join me! - Erin

 

Is Your Brand Effective?

When you get this email, I’ll be… working! That’s right – I won’t be off on a wild vacation, or having a big adventure. But that’s more than OK.

You see, I just got back from gorgeous Scottsdale, Arizona where I met with my 2011 Mastermind group with Lisa Sasevich and Lisa Cherney. It was fabulous to get to know everyone. The scenery was gorgeous – and there were even bunnies and quail scampering about. And the ideas were flying! There are so many things on the horizon this year and I can’t WAIT to share them with you!

Here’s a picture of my lovely mastermind sisters and brothers. I’m 5th from the right in the front row!

 
In fact, I’m so excited about the new stuff that I’m working on that I don’t think I could take time off right now. I’m so excited to tell you all about it that I’m going to tell you about my new teleclass – before the official launch date! Just don’t tell my marketing planner that I’m leaking you the info… but wait… that’s me! :-)

Is Your Brand Effective, Or Just Pretty To Look At?

Do you want your brand to be a work of art?

If so, stop right there.  This is where small business owners get mixed up in the branding process.

They mistake brand design for art. It’s an easy mistake – you’re paying someone to draw things for you, right? That’s art… right? Better yet, it’s commissioned art – and there’s a decent chance that this is the very first time that you’ve commissioned anyone to create art for you.

Let’s set the record straight, once and for all.

Brand design is not art.

You are not commissioning a masterpiece.

You are not having something designed so that you’ll like it, or so that it will reflect your personal tastes…

 …. at least, that’s not the main point of the brand design process.

You’re designing a brand so that you’ll get noticed, attract your ideal clients, reach more prospects, stay memorable, and generate REAL revenue.

In order to design a brand that does all of that, you need a strategy.

What is a brand strategy?

To put it simply, a brand strategy is a plan for your brand.

A strong strategy begins with 3 elements: where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and how long it will take. 

1. Where you’re going. Your business vision and goals. In order to create a brand that helps you realize your dreams, you have to know what those dreams are. You can never achieve success without first knowing what success actually means. 
2. How you’re going to get there. What are you going to do in your business to get to those goals? How do those business activities need to be supported and boosted up by your brand? Who are your clients and what do they need to see in your brand to make them buy? 
3. How long it will take to get there. In order to be strategic, you have to create a timeline. You need to know when you’re doing every step along the way with your brand so that you can plan plenty of time in for writing, design, printing and promotion. 

A full brand strategy goes beyond these basics, but this will get you started down the path to making a brand that’s not just a pretty work of art, but also an effective business-building tool.

If you’d like to learn more about brand strategy, don’t miss my upcoming teleclass, “Is Your Brand IN or OUT”.  We’ll talk about how you can tell whether your brand is in or out of control and what you can do to get a solid brand strategy in place. Sign up here: http://www.brandstyledesign.com/inorout

 

 

Designing A Strong Strategic Brand

Hello! How’s 2011 going for you so far? 

Mine’s been lovely. I’ve had the opportunity to work with lots of amazing entrepreneurs to design strategic and stylish brands that attract their ideal clients. 

And, I’ve implemented one of my New Year’s Resolutions – to have computer-free Sundays each and every Sunday. I don’t open my laptop. I don’t check email on my phone. I am allowed to play games on my iPad, though.  It’s brought some balance and relaxation back into my routine. 

Speaking of New Year’s – I’m really looking forward to the Chinese New Year on February 3rd – it’s going to be the year of the rabbit! Rabbits are one of my favorite animals – I used to have a bonded pair named Mister and Misses. I have a feeling that 2011 is about to get even better! 

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7 Rules For Designing A Strong, Substantial and Successful Brand 

If you want a brand that goes beyond being “just pretty” into having some real substance and strength so that it can be successful for your business, just follow these 7 rules: 

• It’s strategic. You’re not only designing a brand because it’s fun, right? And you’re not designing it just because everyone else has one and you want to be “one of the cool kids”. You’re designing a brand because of how a brand can help your business reach the goals you’ve set and make your vision a reality. The way to do that is by laying out the details of your business strategy and brand strategy before you design your brand, so that you know that you’re designing the very best brand for your business. 
• It’s meaningful. Your brand has a tremendous power to communicate with your ideal clients. It can show them what your business is all about. Each element and detail of your design has the opportunity to speak volumes about your business. And you want to take full advantage of that opportunity. Discover what your business is all about, and then pack your designs full of as much visual meaning as you can. Then, your ideal clients will see what you’re all about – instantly.
• It helps your business grow. When your business is fantastically branded, that brand will help your business get bigger.  A strong brand will help you extend your reach, pump up your visibility, raise your credibility, draw in more clients, and boost your bottom line. This also means that your brand is built for growth – as your business grows, you’ll have to design more materials to support that growth. You'll need your brand to be flexible and to keep up with what you have planned. 
• It’s backed up. Your brand is a powerful asset for your company, and recreating it would take time and money – and the new files are often not exactly the same. Not having a backup can set your future projects off-schedule. This element is absolutely essential in your brand strategy. Your designer needs to keep backup copies of your brand – during development and after your brand has launched. Also, you need to have all of your final files, as original, high-resolution files in an editable state. Even if you’re sticking with your same designer, you should have copies of all of your own files… just in case. I even advise an on-site and off-site copy for double insurance. 
• It’s impeccably put together. This means that the details of your designs have been thoroughly worked out. The files are prepared exactly for their specific use. That means that print files are print-ready and have all of the necessary crop marks and bleeds. That web files are created with the right color space and that your code is well written. The alignment of your design elements is neat. Your designer has examined your logo extremely close-up to make sure everything is perfect.  Be sure that every detail of your design has been considered and perfected so that your designs are as strong as possible. 
• It repeats itself. Successful brands repeat their own elements, over and over again, in a consistent way. This repetition brings success because it gives your brand that, “hey, I’ve seen you before!” feeling. It makes your company memorable. It anchors your business in your clients’ minds. Consistent repetition makes your brand and your business seem bigger, more competent and trustworthy. And, having representation and consistency among all of your brand elements and marketing materials makes a stronger impression, and allows all of your brand elements to reinforce each other. 
• It charms your ideal clients. Your brand can go a long way towards forming a bond with your ideal clients. It can show them that you’re on the same page that they are – that you really understand what they want, need, like and desire. It makes them feel like you’re on the same page that they are. Like you can really help them. And like you’re the right person for them. It can make a connection with them and inspire feelings of goodwill – right from the start. 

If your brand has all of these qualities, it will help you create an enormously successful business. You’ll be able to help more people and make a difference. 

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 Is It Your Time?

 Are you ready to design a strategy-driven brand that will be a powerful asset for your business? I’d be happy to help. Visit my website at www.brandstyledesign.com to learn more or to contact me about your brand!