Craig McBreen joins us to talk about what branding is, how your personal brand and business brand intersect and what you need to think about as you develop a brand.
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Have you ever had a logo designed and asked people, “Which version do you like best?” Or has someone asked the question of you? Here’s why that’s the wrong question and a bad idea… plus some suggestions for how to approach your logo design instead.
If you’ve got a business then you’ve got a brand and a visual identity whether you’ve thought much about it or not. But what exactly is your brand? And what about that elusive “visual identity”? And why can’t you get a logo for $5?
Those are just a few of the things we discuss today as we talk to Dave Walker, a designer who works on everything from book covers to brochures and understands the true power and value of a good design.
Branding consistency is important. But businesses can get so caught up in their day to day operations that they fail to present a unified visual identity or worse, they don’t portray a strong message about the product or service they’re selling.
Today I want to talk to you about a small business that made this error. What business did that?
Mine.
Yup.
We did that. Or rather failed to do that.
I’d like to share our branding journey with you along with some strategies you can use to make your own visual identity the strongest it can be.
Today it’s all branding all the time… well, except for the other stuff about hosting and avatars and clones and SuperFreds. But it’s mostly branding!
More specifically it’s about the visual identity component of your brand, why it’s important and what you as a small business person need to think about.
A few days ago I wrote an article about content curation that received responses ranging from agreement to outright disgust. Apparently it struck a chord. One of the points I made – that businesses should repurpose and curate from their existing content – seems to have been widely accepted as a good idea. Given that, I wanted to illustrate a good use of curating from existing quality content. And to illustrate that point I’m going to use Arnold Schwarzenegger – the master of creating and reusing quality content.
What does “branding” mean to you? Maybe you think of a logo or website style or even a “voice” and message. But your brand goes much deeper than that. You can’t earn loyal customers with a good logo or even some brilliant copywriting. Read more to find out some things that really create your brand and how they can keep customers coming back for more. Even when things go wrong.
The cost of a logo ranges anywhere from free (as in: “I know a guy who has a kid that does design”) to thousands of dollars. But whether you’ve gone to Fiverr or hired a top-notch agency, that doesn’t mean you’ll end up with a logo that works for your business. There’s more to a logo than a nice color and a neat graphic. Here are some things to think about before you design a logo or rebrand with a new one. And it may not even be a bad idea to give your current logo a test against these questions, even if you love it!
This is a “website 101” or maybe “website fail 101” article, full of ideas for wrecking your brand, confusing customers, losing credibility and just plain losing business! But don’t worry, I’ve got some fixes you can implement, too. So find out a bit about the “what not to dos” and then make sure you’re being faithful to your brand on your website.
Designing a logo can be a tough process. There’s a lot to think about and if you want a successful logo you can’t start today and expect to have one by the weekend. A logo is part of your brand, and you don’t want to mess that up, right? Here are a few things you should tuck under your hat and remember as you’re going through the design process. They’ll help you think more clearly and avoid some common pitfalls.
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