90 Quick Tips (and Fun Facts) You Need to Know About Branding
I’m coming at you with 90 branding tips (and some fun facts) that we covered in the 22 Days of Branding series. Instagram Stories is my new hangout spot to talk with you live about all things branding! We tend to talk about some unrelated topics too like tea, my midwest accent, and emojis just to keep you on your toes!
1. Your brand is so much more than your logo and website design.
2. Your brand is:
your niche / what you do
your ideal client / who you work with
your products and services / how you work with them
your why
your purpose
your values
your big dream goals
your direction
the feelings
the experience
the story
the passion
3. “Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon
4. If you're not confident in your own brand story and don’t know how to tell it to people, how is anyone else going to share it with their people?
5. You need to know your own brand vision before you can expect to grow a loyal community or have ideal clients lining up on your door step.
6. Break it down and take it out of context. Your brand is an entire theme park. Your individual services and products are the rides within the theme park.
7. Once you know your who your one ideal client is, you will be able to write every single piece of content specifically tailored to them.
8. Stalk your ideal client… in a non-creepy way! Or do one better and actually talk to them.
9. You have so much value to bring to other people. You need to define what that value is.
10. If you can’t tell people why they should work with you over someone else, they’re going to work with someone else.
11. If you don’t know your own brand vision and are not confident in your own brand, then how is someone else going to trust you with their brand?
12. Fit your business into your lifestyle and align your brand with your core values. Not the other way around.
13. Your brand comes with time and confidence.
14. No one else can define your brand vision for you. It’s something you need dig deep for and look within to find.
15. Your values, your purpose, and your why act as a compass for your brand decisions.
16. Defining what success means for you is going to help you decide which platforms to house your brand on. You don’t need to be on all of them. If you want to publish a book and are an introvert then maybe periscope isn’t for you.
One of our community members, Jody from Gladje Designs, created this gorgeous print inspired by the 22 Days Of Branding series!
17. “Good for her, not for me.” - Amy Pohler
18. Knowing your why and core values will help you decide what you need to say no to in order to say yes to the things that are within your brand vision.
19. When you’re stuck in the comparison game or overwhelmed by it all, remember your why.
20. When you’re clear on your brand vision and not afraid to share your brand story, you will grow an engaged, supportive, and loyal community.
21. When you invest in your people, they're going to invest in you.
22. All powerhouse girl boss brands started somewhere. You have to start somewhere too.
23. You cannot be everywhere and do everything. You need to get clear on your brand vision so you can make a bigger impact with your brand.
24. Talking to your community is the best way to learn their struggles and relate to them.
25. The sassy pants, diva emoji is actually a waitress. Sorry to crush your hopes and dreams. You can blame Caitlin Brehm for sharing that fun fact with us!
26. Bringing your true self and personality into your brand is what's going to keep people coming back.
27. If you’re struggling to put your true voice into your written content, record yourself talking through the content using the dictation feature. Notice any sayings or quirks you naturally add in when you're speaking.
28. "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist." - Pablo Picasso
29. Share yourself and your stories with a purpose.
30. If you’re struggling to find your brand's true voice, join in a twitter chat. They move so fast you don’t have time to overthink your responses. Your true voice will naturally shine through.
31. Add more YOU into your brand. That’s what makes you memorable.
32. Progress over perfection.
33. People want to know who you are. They want to know your story.
34. Don’t share the hard, hurtful things in the heat of the moment. Take time to process them. Then come back and share your struggles with a purpose and a game plan of how to overcome them.
35. “Make your mess your message.” - Joyce Meyer
36. You are not a content creation machine. You are a human being.
37. Don’t be afraid to share your true colors, stories, struggles, and triumphs. You need to be real and vulnerable with your people for them to relate to you.
38. “Your story is worth telling.” - Kayla Hollatz
39. Brené Brown is my Beyonce.
40. Know your people. Talk to them. Pay attention to what they’re struggling with. Then share pieces of your own story and struggles that relate back to them.
41. Vulnerability hangover is a real thing.
42. Brand your courses and products within the consistent brand you’ve already built for yourself. People already know, like, and trust you for the brand you’ve created. Stick with that.
43. Consistency is key.
44. It’s called a tea bag not a tea packet.
45. Carry your brand’s visuals over in everything you produce, whether it’s a freebie, course, or product.
46. The purpose, vision, and value of the course or product you create needs to align with your brand vision.
47. Apparently midwest people say “bag” and “roof” weird.
48. Build products and services that your core ideal person will actually need and buy.
49. “I don’t really care who reads or buys my stuff” is a beginner's mindset. Until you narrow in on your niche and ideal client, you’re going to have really hard time defining your brand vision and the overall content and products you produce.
50. You cannot determine your brand vision overnight.
51. You do not just wake up with your brand vision perfectly laid out and know exactly who your people are what they’ll buy from you. It takes time.
52. Your brand is always growing and evolving with you. Your brand is never complete. It grows as you do.
53. Get in a comfy spot and have a little heart to heart with yourself. Define the foundational pieces of your brand vision so you can have a place to grow and evolve from.
54. Find the thing that sets your brand apart. What is it about your education and experiences that makes you stand out? For me, it’s brand coaching calls and my Three V’s breakdown: vision, voice, visuals.
55. Own what makes you stand out.
56. Cheerleaders sometimes grow up to be coaches… Makes sense.
57. Did you know there’s a Goofy song called Stand Out? I just learned about it.
58. Your courses, products, and services—free or paid—need to be in sync with your brand vision, voice, and visuals.
59. Stay true to your brand vision always.
60. There are a lot of informational products out there. The thing that sets your information apart from everyone else's is your personal stories, experiences, and education.
61. Only refresh your brand visuals when you’re updating your brand vision.
62. Creative entrepreneurs—refrain from rebranding your visuals multiple times per year.
63. You need consistency to gain the know, like, and trust factor.
64. I’m launching a huge, secret project in 2016 which brought up this fun saying, “Secrets secrets are no fun unless they’re shared with everyone.”
65. It’s okay to be a multi-passionate entrepreneur. Allow yourself to play and dabble in the beginning.
66. Get yourself a vision journal. Use it. Look back at it in two years and see how your thoughts have manifested. *woo woo*
67. Get clear on your brand’s core values so you can make concise decisions, keep your brand consistent, manage your time better, and move past the comparison game.
68. Grab a pencil and your journal. Write your brand's core values.
68. You cannot do it all. Knowing your core values will help you determine which pathway to take and which platform you belong on.
69. If you need help writing your sales copy, check out the Rainbow of Sales breakdown from Courtney Johnston, owner of The Rule Breakers Club.
70. It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to sell, you need to know those foundational pieces of your brand vision.
71. Your mission statement is more grounded. It says what you’re doing in your brand right now.
72. Your vision statement is where your brand is headed and your future aspirations.
73. My mission statement and one sentence is, "I build minimal, meaningful brands for creative entrepreneurs through defining their Three V’s: vision, voice, and visuals."
74. My vision statement is, "to empower women to be real and transparent in their life and business."
75. Define your mission statement by simply putting together your one sentence—what you do, who you help, how you help, and why. Create your own one sentence here.
76. The two most ignored and overlooked pieces of your brand are (1) narrowing in on who your ideal reader or customer is and (2) how all of your content, products, services, and freebies work together in your brand's big picture.
77. Having a general idea of who your person is, is not enough. You need to narrow in on one specific person who has a face, name, and voice.
78. When you get super specific on who your one ideal customer is, you can write every tweet, Instagram post, sales page, blog, and newsletter directly to her.
79. Go out and talk to your actual clients. Learn their struggles and dreams.
80. Your ideal clients are who you want to work with. The people who get you excited to wake up and do your job everyday.
81. To find and attract your ideal clients in real life with a solid plan, check out the newest brand mini class: Ideal Client Study.
82. Narrowing in on your ideal clients will start that natural attract and repel process, and you will have more like-minded souls lining up to work with you.
83. When people first find your brand they’re selfish. They want valuable, action-packed content. However, once they become a member of your community they're going to want more from you. You need to share more of your story, struggles, and triumphs with them.
84. Narrow in on who your person is and why you do what you do (your purpose) and then link the content you create in between the two.
85. Clean out the cobwebs and figure out how all of your content and offerings fit together.
86. Make sure your offerings align with your ideal person’s journey so you have something to offer her every step of the way.
87. “Users often leave web pages in 10-20 seconds, but pages with a clear value proposition can hold people’s attention for much longer.” - Nielson Norman Group
88. Take all of the different puzzle pieces of your brand—offerings, free content, services, products, courses, stories—and piece them together in a way that tells your concise brand story.
89. Your people need to know who you are and trust you before they’re going to hand over their hard earned money.
90. “You can be the ripest, juiciest peach in the world, and there’s still going to be somebody who hate’s peaches.” - Dita Von Teese