The Ultimate Guide to Building Your Brand

What is brand and why is it important for your business?

Your band is essentially what connects all the elements of your business together. It sets a tone for your company and it gives your business a personality. A brand helps you establish a clear vision and a uniqueness to your business.

How do I build a brand for my business?

I'm glad you asked! I have put together a formula to help you build the perfect brand for your business! Wether you're a brand new business or if you're already established and just want to freshen up your brand, this information will still be valuable to you! I've also made a PDF guide (found at the bottom of this post) you can print out and follow along, filling in your own information as you read this post! So print it off and let's get started!

1. Foundation

   
   

   What are your business goals? It's very important for you to write out your goals to get a clear understanding of your own motivation behind your business. Are you trying to replace your income so you can quit your 9-5? Is this just a hobby or passion for you? Are you starting a movement so you can change the lives around you? What exactly is your motive for starting this business and what do you want to get out of it?

   
   

   Who is your ideal customer? It is very important to know who your target audience is, and it cannot be everyone or anyone! Let's narrow it down because this will help with the way you brand your business. If you make kid's products, your ideal customer is not kids, it's the parents that have the money to buy the product for their kids. I have a very active imagination and will go as far as playing out just EXACTLY who my target customer is in my head. Here's an example with one of the products I make, a beeswax wraps kit. I imagine... Stephanie is a busy part time working mom with two daughters Ava and Olivia. Stephanie has always established an eco friendly life style in her home and instills that in her girl's everyday lives as well. A pro-d day is coming up and Steph is looking for a fun activity to do with the girls, she finds the beeswax wraps kit that she purchased at the last famers market and since Ava and Olivia love doing crafts this is the perfect activity to spend time together.

   So as you can see, my ideal customer Stephanie is a female, a mom, it's important for her to spend time with her kids, she's creative, she's eco friendly, she shops at local markets. Write down a mini story for your ideal customer. Put yourself in their shoes, get specific and align them up with the goals you wrote down.

   
   

   What characteristics make your business unique? The competition out there is fierce! So many people have already started a handmade business similar to yours, so how do you stand out? Figure out what makes you unique! Do you source all your materials locally? Do you give back to a non-profit organization? Is the recipe you are using to make your cookies passed down four generations? What's your story? What makes you stand out? Share your story with your customers.

   
   

2. Aesthetics

   
   

   Logo: You probably already have a logo. If you don't, make sure that is has your business name clearly stated in it. You may want to add an established date or a tagline. It can just be your name or you can include a design or image. Just make sure that your image matches with your business (if you sell handmade soap, don't add a cowboy hat just because you think it's cute and you like country music. Unless of course your business name is the 'cowgirl soap company')

   
   

   Color Palette: To keep your brand consistent, you'll want to keep to a specific color palette. Find colors that compliment each other well. Ideally you'll want to choose 3-5 colors for your brand. Check out some great color combos on our pinterest board!

   
   

   Font: It's also important to keep your font consistent as well. Typically you would have 1-2 fonts in your logo and then 1-2 fonts as your heading and for your copy. There are some great font combos on our pinterest board, it's a great idea to play around with a few different ones until you find the ones you love!

   
   

   Photo Style: Lastly, you'll want your phots to have a similar aesthetic to one another. Finding a filter that best represents your brand and then using it frequently so your photos have the same tone is the best way to achieve this. These photos would be used for your social media accounts, website product shots or applying to markets.

   
   

3. Content

   
   

   When writing your content (product descriptions, bio, blog posts, social media etc) this is a direct representation of your business. Your content is the voice of your brand it should sound like you and should be consistent across all platforms. Use the same words and descriptions, it's okay to use abbreviated words or slang words if that's part of your brand. You want people to know it's you, it's your business, it's your brand!

   
   

   Ultimately you want your brand to stand out, you want customers to see your logo and picture your products or your face. You want them to see your font or your color palette and remember your story! The more consistent you are with your branding the more recognizable you become, when customers recognize you and trust your brand the more sales you will have!

The Ultimate Guide to Branding Your Business.pdf

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