There are SO many different platforms for you to show up in with your business…

Facebook posts, Facebook groups, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Instastories, Blogs, Podcasts, YouTube… the list goes on! It’s easy to feel like you need to be utilizing every platform to promote your business, but it can be really, really overwhelming. Even if you limit yourself to being on just a few platforms, creating fresh content for each of them can seem like an insurmountable task. I’ve been there! Thankfully, I’ve figured out some tips and tricks to make creating content doable, and I’m so excited to share them with you!

 

 

Only Focus On a Few Platforms

I only focus on promoting my content in a few areas – Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, my email list, and here – my blog! The truth is that you can’t be everywhere. If you focus on a few areas, you can make sure those areas have quality content.

Use the Same Content in Different Platforms

Even though I have five different areas that I focus on, I really only create content for one topic, and then adapt the content to fit each different platform. Not all of your followers are going to be on every platform. The people in your Facebook group may not necessarily watch YouTube videos, and your followers who watch YouTube may not be on Instagram. Remember that you’re just utilizing each platform to reach more people with the same content, and don’t fall into the trap of feeling like you have to create unique content for each one.

Drop It or Delegate It

Confession – I never loved writing blog posts. However, I know that blog posts are super important for website SEO. So, I kept at it… but it was a really dreaded task. I would tell myself that I would write a blog post once a week, but it would take me forever, I didn’t enjoy it at all, and I felt like it was just a checkmark on my list. Once a week turned into maybe every other week, or maybe just once a month… it was really hard for me to stay consistent.

 

 

Don’t focus on it. If it’s a platform that’s crucial to your business and you have a lot of followers there, then just create the content on a platform that you enjoy, and then transfer it to your not-so-favorite platform. I really enjoy doing Facebook Lives, so instead of wasting my energy writing blog posts, I create my content in a video format first. I now have a VA who takes all of my Facebook Lives, and turns them into blog posts for me. (Yup… she wrote this one, too!)  I created a template for her, and she takes care of writing the post from the Facebook Live, uploading it on the blog, and creating the graphics. She then uploads the video onto YouTube. Tada! Three platforms have content from just one video.

Here’s My Content Creation Schedule

Facebook Lives – Once a month, I decide what I’m going to talk about every Tuesday on my Facebook Live.

Blog – Once a week, my VA turns the Facebook video into a blog post and posts it.

YouTube – Once a week, my Facebook Live video gets uploaded to YouTube.

Quotes – Once a week, my VA pulls a few quotes from the blog post that I can use to promote the post.

Instagram – Once a month, I plan out my daily Instagram posts using Later.com. I have an intern designer who creates any graphics I need.

Facebook – Every Monday, I plan out five daily posts – one for every day of the week.

Email List – Once a week, I summarize the content of my Facebook Live for an email update to my followers.

Pinterest – Even though I don’t spend a ton of time focusing on Pinterest, once a week, the graphics from my blog posts get pinned when a new blog post goes up.

All of these platforms can be up to date without feeling completely overwhelmed. If I can do this, I know you can, too!

 

  

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Melissa is a graphic designer who crafts strategic and profit-driven brands and websites for business owners who want a remarkable first impression.

On the blog, Melissa shares branding, business and marketing tips to help businesses grow, reach more people and earn more profit at the same time.

She is passionate about teaching how consumers decision to buy is based highly off of the visuals.

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Ready for a profitable brand + website for a remarkable first impression that reaches more people?

Let’s get started!

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Instagram is an awesome platform to reach potential clients that you haven’t yet connected with. Other platforms often require an established connection for your content to be seen, but hashtag searches on Instagram provide an easy way for you to get your content in front of people who are looking for it!

Because you can reach such a cold audience on Instagram, their first impression of you will determine whether or not they follow you.

Following you will lead to knowing, liking, and trusting you, which eventually leads to them being a loyal customer. So – your first impression is a big deal!

Creating an Instagram that entices followers is all about creating a visual pattern.

If you look at the top Instagram accounts, you’ll find accounts that are always on brand, recognizable, and consistent.

This may seem like an overwhelming task, and it definitely can be… but I’ve listed out some super simple steps you can take today to get yourself one amazing looking Instagram!

1. Have a Branded Photoshoot Done for Your Business

My first piece of advice is actually neither easy nor cheap… but it’s important!

I strongly recommend having your own brand photoshoot done. Really, you could do a photoshoot once or twice a year to keep your images fresh.

It’s well worth the investment just to get the first photoshoot done, even before you invest in any other visuals. You can convey the vibe of your brand while still being authentic, because your beautiful face will be the one in the pictures!

If you don’t have the budget to do a photoshoot, you can still make an amazing Instagram by creating a pattern in your feed with photos and graphics!

2. Use Canva.com to create custom + branded graphics

You’ll want to alternate between posting photos, and posting branded text graphics. These graphics could feature quotes, testimonials, etc.

The easiest way to create branded images is by using Canva.com. It’s a free, online, graphic design software with tons of pre-made templates and easy to use features.

The number one thing you want to keep in mind when creating your images is consistency!

Make sure to keep your colors, fonts, and patterns the same each time, and true to your brand. The easiest way to do this is by creating some branded templates.

You’ll want to create square graphics for Instagram. You’ll find lots of pre-made templates on the side of your screen in Canva.

If you choose one of the pre-made templates, be sure that you tailor it to your brand – don’t just use it as-is. So match the colors and fonts to your brand.

When creating your graphics, keep in mind that you’re creating something that you can duplicate and use on a regular basis.

For example, you may create quote templates that you use often to post different quotes you like other people posting.

Instead of reposting other people’s graphic and quotes, you can quickly take the quote and contributors name, and put it onto your branded graphic.

Now, you will have a branded feed, instead of an inconsistency in the style of your feed.

Even if sharing quotes isn’t really something that fits with your brand, you can still create text images with things like past client work, testimonials, blog titles, etc. Whatever your business shares on Instagram.

You’ll want to create a few different templates that are all consistent with your brand, but vary slightly.

For example, one template may highlight one color from your brand, another template highlights your secondary color, and another template may highlight both colors with a patterned border.

When you re-use a template for a new image, make sure to make a copy of the page and not just type over the previous content.This ensures that you have all your content so you can repost them in the future if you need to.

This may sound like a lot of work, but once you’ve created your templates, making your own branded images becomes super quick and easy. It can be something  you pass off to a virtual assistant or team member as well.

3. Use Later.com

Once you have all of your beautiful graphics created, you can go to later.com, which is a free online tool for scheduling your Instagram posts.

You’ll be able to schedule your posts out for an entire month, so you can plan out the alternating pattern of photo, branded graphic, photo. This will make your Instagram look amazing and consistent with your brand with little effort.

Using a scheduling tool will save you so much time since you can hammer out your content creation in one afternoon, instead of trying to come up with something on the fly every day.

4. Stay On Brand!

When posting your pictures on Instagram, try to stay away from using filters.

If you do decide to use a filter on your instagram feed, make sure to use the same one every time. Otherwise, your images will be inconsistent and won’t match your brand.

If you have a special image that you want to post, like for a birthday or special occasion, (but it doesn’t really match with your brand) you can simply make the image black and white.

This will prevent it from sticking out like a sore thumb in your feed. Additionally, you can put your black and white image in Canva.com and overlay the image with a transparent version of one of your brand colors. This will help keep your Instagram looking on-brand and amazing!

If you have something that you want to post, but don’t feel like taking the time to make it match your brand, you can always use it on Instastories.

Instastories are more of your real, candid life, while Instagram is for your on-brand images. So if you have something you love, but don’t want to mess up your carefully crafted feed, just post in on Instatories for the world to see.

I can’t wait to see your killer-looking feed! What are some things you do to make your Instagram feed look stylized?

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Let’s get started!

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Melissa is a graphic designer who crafts strategic and profit-driven brands and websites for business owners who want a remarkable first impression. On the blog, Melissa shares branding, business and marketing tips to help businesses grow, reach more people and earn more profit at the same time. She is passionate about teaching how consumers decision to buy is based highly off of the visuals. Join her free Facebook community here.
 

The Project Objective

To create a brand that fit more with Nicole’s business. She had once owned Business Revived which I had the honor of designing.

However, after some time of running Business Revived, Nicole shifted her message, focus, and name of her business to Her Own Happy.

She liked the orange and bold colors from her previous brand, but she wanted to take out the green, add in more grey too.

Our goal for the project was to refresh her brand colors, design a new logo and create marketing graphics for her including Social media graphics, blog post graphics, PDF design, and FB Ads.

All branded to be professional, consistent, and made with strategy to sell her premium services.

The Process

Because Nicole was a previous client who just needed an update and refresh to her brand, a lot of the beginning work already done.

Logo design process

We went straight to the logo design. I still gave her 3 custom options. The option she ended up choosing was consistent with the look of her old logo, Business Revived.

Below is the result of her new logo. 

 

 

Updating her Brand Colors

We then updated her brand colors. Because happiness is a big part of her brand, I suggested we added some yellow into her color palette. She loved the idea so we ran with it.

So we updated her brand board, and created her sub mark and favicon. Pictured below.

 

 

Marketing and Collateral Design

The next step was to make her brand collateral pieces so that she could show up in a consistent and professional way throughout every place her business shows up.

These pieces included:

• Opt-in PDF design
• Social media templates
•  FB Ad graphics
• a FB group banner
• business page banner
• and Pinterest/Blog graphic templates.

Branding is all about creating a consistent and predictable image of your business. This creates trust and awareness from your followers, which leads to more sales and followers. Hello, organic growth!

Once my clients website and brand are finished, I deliver them all their files they need along with a typography and brand guide so that they know how to continue making their brand consistent and on point EVERY SINGLE TIME.

The Result

Good bye homemade and pieced together design.

Hello professional, trustworthy, and strategic brand and website that is proven to get you more clients who want to pay you premium prices.  

Nicole’s Results: Her Best and Most Useful Investment

“It saved me LOADS of time trying to tweak and do something I’m just not interested in. It’s been one of my BEST and useful investments in my business…hands down!”

A strategically designed website is crucial for you to be making good profit in your business. It HAS to be what you think about first.

Stop putting it on the back burner.

It’s time. Are you ready?

Give me a call here.

 

Ready to Look Professional and Get More Sales?

Are you sick of wasting time DIY-ing your brand and still feeling like you look homemade? Want your people to take you seriously? Let’s talk about how we can do this for you too. Contact me here.
 

Want to attract your ideal client?It’s simple – brand for them.

But… how exactly do you do that?
I’ve listed the steps you should take to make sure your brand is reaching your best clients, so you can be charging what you’re worth doing what you love!

 

1. Figure Out Who Your Ideal Client Is

To narrow down your ideal client, create a one person avatar to whom you will be speaking to and targeting with all your content, visuals, emails, etc. Make it a detailed profile! You will often find that this avatar is your past self.

Once you’ve created this avatar, don’t be afraid to target just this one profile. You cannot serve everyone. When you try to do that, most people do not resonate with your message since you are trying to talk to anyone and everyone.

Instead, when you focus on reaching your ideal client, plenty of people are going to resonate with you for the right reasons.

Need help getting started? Use this workbook here. 

2. Brand for Your Ideal Client with Visuals and Content

When choosing elements for your brand visuals, such as colors, ask yourself the following questions:

• What problem are you going to solve for your ideal client?
• What colors are they attracted to?
• What style do they like?

Be sure to use color psychology to understand what colors evoke certain feelings. 

While you certainly want your brand to align with the interests of your target audience, you also want your brand to be authentic to you.

For example, pink is a color that would have worked well for my brand since I worked with only women when I first started. However, I personally do not like the color pink. I do not use it because it is not authentic to me. It also seems like everyone uses that color… so I went a different route. I love my brand because I not only feel like it reaches my ideal clients, but I feel like it’s true to me.

While you certainly want your brand to align with the interests of your target audience, you also want your brand to be authentic to you.

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You also need to be talking to your ideal client with your content: emails, FB posts, sales page, website, social media profiles, etc. Show up where they show up. Is this on Pinterest, instagram, or  Facebook?

Narrow your options down to one or two social media platforms and master them. You can’t be everywhere, and your ideal clients will benefit more from amazing content in a few places, than mediocre content in a lot of places.  

3. BE CONSISTENT – In Visuals, Content, and How Often You Show Up

Consistency is key to creating a trustworthy brand with a loyal following, lots of referrals, and repeat customers. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself or re-use content – your clients probably don’t see ALL your posts on every platform.

Remember, social media is saturated with content! So, you need to be consistently giving value, content and engaging with people. Make sure everything you put out there matches your brand visuals and your story/mission. You do this by sticking to your brand colors, style, and repeat design elements. 

You want to be known for what you do best and how you can help solve your dream clients problems.

Get out there and build your empire!

You may also like: Why Branding Is So Important for Your Biz, 3 Reasons You Need a Mood Board and How to Make One

 

Your logo is a big piece of your brand puzzle, often giving people their first impression of how serious your business is. When you are just starting out in business, the funds can be tight and hiring a brand designer may not be the first thing you do. And that is OKAY. But before you think that means your business image does not matter, read on.

I always tell my clients that they need to have worked with some people first to really understand who they are, what their business model is and who they love to serve. Before you are clear on all of that, we cannot really create an intentional brand for you that attracts the right people. Cause you don’t even know for sure who those people are yet! Hiring a Branding Strategist is best done when your business is established and you are ready to uplevel it. You are ready to swim with the big fish and be taken seriously. But it is a catch 22. Cause branding and website design can make sure that you actually GET those clients that you need so badly in your first steps of business.

So how can you look professional without hiring a branding specialist too early on??

You feel like you have no creative bone in your body and everything you set out to create looks wonky. Just for you, I’ve put together a list of the top mistakes I see in DIY logos for you to help avoid them.

Mistake 1: Your Logo Has NO Whitespace

Whitespace is crucial in all design. It creates breathing room and allows design elements to stand on their own. Without ample white space in and around the logo itself, the logo can be hard to read and confusing.

Simple logos work best. It allows you rebrand later on down the road when it is time to hire someone. Remember your logo is just a small piece of your brand so as you add design elements and colors, it can really begin to shape the style of your business.

 

Mistake 2: Your Logo is Too Busy

This goes along with the whitespace point. If you have too many colors, fonts and elements in your logo, it starts to look overwhelming.

Logos are meant to be simple pictures of your business that give hints into what your business does and it’s values. It is not meant to tell the WHOLE story.They are simple emblems that can be used wherever you show up.

Your logo will not just be used at the top of your website so it needs to work across all places and platforms. For example, perhaps it will show up on merchandise tags, window store fronts, banners, your social media accounts, business stationary and envelopes, etc.

Stick to 1 or 2 fonts for your logo. If you are not sure how to pair fonts correctly, check out this post here.

Logos should only use 2-3 colors to make sure it is kept simple and easily understood.

 

Mistake 3: Your Logo is Too Trendy

Logos are one of the first things that people see in your business. If it looks like everyone else’s, AKA trendy, it is going to be super forgettable because it will look almost identical to everyone else’s.

Your logo needs to be unique to your business. Trendy logos end up needing to be redone 5 years later anyways because they become outdated that quickly! Settle on a timeless look that only needs to be refreshed every 10 years or so.
 

Your logo needs to be unique to your business. Trendy logos end up needing to be redone 5 years later anyways because they become outdated that quickly! Settle on a timeless look that only needs to be refreshed every 10 years or so.

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Mistake 4: Your Logo is Too Hard to Read

Remember how we said logos are used on many different places and platforms? All those different platforms and logos require a different size of your logo and even a different composition.

Some platforms need a stacked logo design and others work best with a horizontal composition. Make sure your logo can work both ways.

You will also need to have an all white version of your logo, called a watermark. This will  work the best when your logo needs to appear on top of images or colored backgrounds.

The fonts and colors you chose are also crucial to make sure your logo is able to be read. Yellow and other pale colors are not the best choice.

Also be aware of your logo font choices. Script fonts and thin fonts are not going to be very readable on places where your logo needs to show up small.

Making a Good First Impression is crucial to organically growing your business. Your logo is a big part of that.

What things you struggle with when it comes to building your brand? Let me know in the comments.

 

Mistake 5: No Intention Behind Design

Pretty looking logos are just that. Pretty. But that is not going to grow your business. Having a strategic and cohesive brand is. That is the only way you will be able to attract those dream clients of yours.

Branding is meant to get inside the head of your target market and draw them in with compelling and great design that speaks to them specifically. There are many ways that we can do that but the choices you make in your logo design is going to be the foundation for this.

Make sure to choose colors that attract your ideal client and also work well with what you sell. For example, Walmart uses Blue and Yellow. They are known for having low prices that you can trust. Blue is known as a trusting color and yellow is known as a happy color. See what they did there? They used that knowledge to intentionally design their logo.

Every design element that goes into your logo should be created with the ideal client in mind.

Pretty looking logos are just that. Pretty. But that is not going to grow your business. Having a strategic and cohesive brand is.

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Related Articles: How to Pick Fonts like A Pro, 5 Characteristics of a Successful Brand, 5 Reasons You Need to Brand or Rebrand Your Business

 

The Project Objective

To create a brand that was true to Shawna from Hey Hey Shawna May, and spoke of what she is good at and known for – selling!

She wanted bold, fresh and real.

The project included a custom logo, brand and website design, as well as all the collateral pieces she would need for marketing.

All branded to be professional, consistent, and made with strategy to sell her premium services. 
 

The Process

After collaborating on a Pinterest board, we started off with a mood board and nailed down the colors of her brand.

We then started with 3 custom logos for Shawna to chose from. We then did a revision round and a few tweaks to make it perfect for her and her business.
The result? This bad boy.
 

 

 

After the logo, I went on to make her website and brand collateral pieces so that she could show up in a consistent and professional way throughout every place her business shows up.

These pieces included her Opt-in, Social media templates, podcast graphic template, email header, FB group banner, and some web graphics.

Branding is all about creating a consistent and predictable image of your business. This creates trust and awareness from your followers, which leads to more sales and followers. Hello, organic growth!

Branding is all about creating a consistent and predictable image of your business. This creates trust and awareness from your followers, which leads to more sales and followers. Hello, organic growth!

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Once my clients website and brand are finished, I deliver them all the files they need along with a typography and brand guide so that they know how to continue making their brand consistent and on point EVERY SINGLE TIME. 

  

 

The Result

Good bye homemade and pieced together design.

Hello professional, trustworthy, and strategic brand and website that is proven to get you more clients who want to pay you premium prices.  

Here is a peak at her website. Or just click here.

Shawna’s Results: Her Biggest Month Yet

“This was my biggest month yet, Melissa! I came in a little over 8 thousand dollars. The very same month we launched my new brand and website.”

Cue the tears. I just changed a life doing what I love.

A strategically designed website is crucial for you to be making good profit in your business. It HAS to be what you think about first.

Stop putting it on the backburner.

It’s time to have your best month yet. Your best year yet. Are you ready?

Give me a call here.

A Bit About Shawna

Shawna seriously knows her sales stuff. 

Not only does she have experience in the online world, but she has had two other successful businesses beforehand.

And all with 5 kids under 7! Whew! (And I thought I had my hands full) Check her out at heyhehshawnamay.com.

She also runs a podcast called She Speaks Sales and has a private FB group community here.

When she told me she was going to cry looking at her new brand and website because it was exactly what she wanted, I almost cried too. 

I become a part of your business when you sign with me. And I always carry a piece of your heart and vision afterwards.

Want to see the interview Shawna did of me to explain more of the process of what it looked like to work with me? Check that out here!

 

Ready to Look Professional and Get More Sales?

Are you sick of wasting time DIY-ing your brand and still feeling like you look homemade? Want your people to take you seriously? Let’s talk about how we can do this for you too. Contact me here.
 

The Business Dictionary defines branding as: “The process involved in creating a unique name and image for a product in the consumer’s mind, mainly through advertising campaigns with a consistent theme.

Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

Branding aims to establish a significant and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains loyal customers.

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Yes, branding involves your logo but it also involves your color palette, your imagery, your style, your voice, your tone, your presentation, your content, & your authentic feel. It is more than the visuals.

It is your essence.

When someone sees a picture on Instagram, people should be able to tell that it is your image without even seeing your name attached.

When this unique essence of yours is GEARED towards driving the attention of your ideal audience to your business, then that is when you will be getting to work with your dream clients.

Rebranding. This word scares many. It is a word that is often associated with lots of work & thinking. It means change. It means hiring someone. It means a long process. All of those things can be scary.

However, sometimes all those things can be necessary to take your business from stagnant or hobby-level, to thriving. Here are 5 reasons that you may need to take on that scary word & rebrand.

 

 

1. Your brand is Not Attracting The Right Clients

The number one reason you should rebrand is simple. You are not attracting the right clients. The ones you are attracting seem to be the people you do NOT want to work with. They seem to be the people who do not really respect what you do or fuel your passion.

Perhaps you KNOW who you want to work with but they don’t seem to be out there. Or they seem to all be taken by other people in your industry.

You are quick to worry if this entrepreneur journey is even for you. You wonder if maybe you are not cut out for success. Maybe you are just meant to work with the clients you are getting. Who don’t really value your work.

I am hear to tell you that these lies are NOT true.

If you are branding for the correct audience, then you should be attracting the right audience.

A lot of people don’t understand that branding is so much more than just a logo.

Branding is an experience. It is how you communicate to your target audience. It is meant to attract the people you want and if our brand is lacking market research behind it, we can often be missing the mark with it.

 

2. your brand often confuses people About What You Do

If people are constantly looking at your site or your social media platforms & are still not sure about what you do, it is clear that you need to rebrand.

Your branding needs to be so clear about what you do & who you are targeting that there is no question.

People should be able to go to your site & say “Ok, she works with _____ doing _______.” If your branding is done correctly, then this should be the case. If not, chances are your branding, either your visuals or content, is not consistent or is missing something.

 

3. Your brand is not allowing your business to grow

When you have a consistent brand that is unique AND you are continuously putting out more content on social media, reaching out to people, & using different strategies to grow a following, then you should be organically gaining more & more followers at a steady rate.

If you are always working on your following & you don’t seem to be growing much at all, (whether it be your email list, your social media followers, or your web page views) you may need to rebrand.

If your brand is truly consistent & authentically you, people should be running from everywhere to be a part of it. To be a fan. To be a follower.

There can be many reasons why a brand goes wrong. Hiring a branding specialist & strategist can help you hone in your problem areas.

 

4. People Are Not Seeing Your brand as Valuable or high-end and are not willing To Pay Your Prices

Branding communicates so much. People rely on visual communications today more than ever. Images stick in people’s minds better than a paragraph they read. All of this is why branding is so important for your business message.

If people are not willing to pay your service or product fees, your brand is not communicating to them that your brand is high-end enough.

Your brand needs to communicate to your ideal audience AND communicate about the service or product you are selling. For example, a brand that looks juvenile would not do well selling a sophisticated women’s perfume. The childish characteristics of the brand visuals would not speak of the product the business is selling.

 

5. You Have an Outdated Brand

There are times when brands just become outdated. Technology & Pinterest (I would argue) seems to make trends come & go quicker than ever now.

Perhaps your brand worked great for you in 2000, but now it needs a facelift. It may be looking very outdated which can turn off many potential customers when they see it.

To the people that come across your brand, they may think that you are not within the times of today & perhaps won’t be able to provide them with the service or product they are longing for. Your outdated brand turns away many potential customers.

Sometimes a whole rebranding does not need to happen. Instead, minor updates can work wonders. Just a few years ago Wendy’s & Arbys revamped their branding image by updating their logos.

Some brand designs are timeless, so perhaps your brand still works nicely. (You will know based off of the growth of your business and your sales.)

The Effects of Rebranding Too Often

Like I said, rebranding scares many, although It doesn’t have to. It is an investment worth looking into if it is going to help your business thrive and grow.

There are also those who get excited when they hear this word. In fact, I know some people who struggle with wanting to rebrand themselves over & over again.

Rebranding over & over again just because you are inspired by all these trendy brands you keep seeing on Pinterest is unhealthy for your business … AND your wallet. The reason is, you are not giving your followers time to develop trust and brand awareness with your image because you keep changing it on them!

Rebranding too much can create an atmosphere where followers don’t know if they should trust your business. People like predictability. They like to know what to expect from a business and brand

People like predictability. They like to know what to expect from a business and brand.

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This same reason is why it is uncommon to see a businesses rebrand with entirely new colors, logos, etc. They usually just update their brand and bring familiar past branding elements into the refresh.

If you have not already signed up for my free guide to 5 steps to getting paid more, sign up below. It discusses the ins & outs of branding & how it sets your business up for success!

You may Also Like: 5 Characteristics of a Successful Brand,  Why Branding is So Important

 

 

The Main Goal for Your Website is to Make Sales for You

Your website is a powerful tool. It has the power to create the perfect atmosphere for easy sales. We can use amazing and strategic design to make it easy for website visitors to make you their choice. But, you have to be able to catch their attention and direct them to the information they want to know most – and fast.

Your website visitors are already warm leads. Something sparked their attention and got them to visit your website. They are curious and want to see how you can help them. Your website’s job is to lead them to where they need to go, and do it in a non-overwhelming way. It should literally act as your best salesman – selling for you when you are not there to speak of how awesome your service or product is – like a perfect extension of you.

It takes people only seconds to decide if they want to stay on your site and explore a bit, or if they want to hit the ‘x’ at the top. So how can we get them to stay?

Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Website

Think about the information they need to see and make it easy for them to find it. People want to be sure that you are the choice for them before they hand over their wallet. So think about the questions they may want answered to rest assured. For example they may want to know:

1. What qualifies you for the product or service you are offering?

Speak of your story, experience, or your degree. Why are you more qualified than someone else to help them? Keep the answer about them and how to solve their problem instead of how amazing you are.

2. Who have you worked with before and what were your client’s results?

A great way to answer this question is through getting testimonials from people who have purchased from you and what they have to say about you or your product. This builds that trust factor. It is just like product reviews that you read from Amazon before purchasing a product. People need to know that others have had a good experience before they purchase.

3. Why are you the right choice for the client?

What makes you different? There are many more people who sell something similar to you, so why should they buy from you? What is unique about you?

For example, anyone can build a website. What makes me different is that I am not just a graphic designer that creates good looking designs. I am a strategic designer that takes marketing into account and how your brand and website will be working on converting and attracting your dream clients.

4. What does the process look like?

Sometimes people are positive that they want to work with you, but the unknown of what the process looks like is holding them back from hitting that purchase button. Let them know how long the process is, how much time it will take to finish their project, etc.

Make it Easy for Your Website Visitors to Say Yes

Remember, your website is a tool to get these warm leads to say yes, and you need to make it easy for them. Your website has a lot of power. It needs to be exactly what they need to see to know you are the right choice and that you can help them.

It’s only one part of the puzzle to have the information on your website. You can have all the right words to say and great testimonials but 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.

It’s only one part of the puzzle to have the information on your website. You can have all the right words to say and great testimonials but 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive.

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We are visual creatures. We need information to be visually appealing and have supporting visual elements. It helps us focus and remember the information better.

The Effects of Bad Website Design

94% of people cited poor design as the reason they mistrusted or rejected a website.
Ouch. That means that only 6% of people don’t care what your website looks like.

Black text on a white background with a few images here and there, is not going to do much for the visitors.

Branding is all about experience, and people like to enjoy their experience.

If your website looks homemade or outdated, your visitors are not going to take you as the professional that you know you are.

They are subconsciously thinking that you are not a professional, you lack experience, and therefore are not the person for them. Whether these are true or not, this is what they are thinking.

How A Good Brand Experience Leads to More High-End Sales

Take a moment to think about off brand and name brand products. A lot of the times the content is exactly the same thing, but we trust the on brand names more and would rather pay more money for the experience of the name brand and the perceived value of it.

For example, I am trying to drink more water so I am trying to make it fun. So I started buying sparkling water. I have two choices when I go to my grocery store – Pur Aqua and La Croix. I would rather buy La Croix because of the packaging and the experience of it – the brand. Their cans are slim and tall and have pretty red soda tab on the top.

The colors they use are enticing and the words they use to describe their flavors are more interesting. I know they don’t taste that different, but the experience of drinking something “high-end” plays a big part in my decision. I would rather pay more than double the money for the La Croix.

Your Website is like the Packaging of Your Business

It’s the same thing with your website. It gives major hints and clues to visitors how high-end you are, how well you will treat them, etc.

When people are making the choice to buy from you, your brand and website are playing a huge part in if they choose to trust you or not.

Sometimes you have all the knowledge needed for a great product or service, but the reason you are not seeing the success you know you are capable of could be because of your lack of strategic and professional branding.

Sometimes you have all the knowledge needed for a great product or service, but the reason you are not seeing the success you know you are capable of could be because of your lack of strategic and professional branding.

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What You Can Do To Fix Your Website

If that is you, let’s get on the phone and see how we can update your branding and website.

I create visually appealing websites designed to convert more visitors to become buyers.

Results of Clients Who Have Revamped Their Website and Brand

One of my previous clients made her biggest month yet (8k), the same month we launched her new brand and website.

The result of making her business and website look the part was more sales with higher end clients.

All we did was design her website that made the choice easy for her clients to pay her premium prices.

We all believe in what we sell, otherwise we would not be doing it. You know the impact it can make on their life.

If your business and website is overwhelming and unattractive, you are letting your visitors get away by hitting the “x” at the top.

Related Articles: The 5 Characteristics of a Successful Brand, Why Branding is so Important for Your Business

When you first started your business, did you expect to play so many roles to keep it running? I know I didn’t! Eventually your goal might be to hire a team, but in the beginning you’re doing all the tasks yourself. My goal is to take on one of those roles by helping make your brand design process a breeze. Picking fonts is a huge part of the design process – they help create brand consistency in all of your communications, so they’re really important! Here are a few tips to help you pick your brand fonts like a pro!

 

1. Pick 2-3 Fonts – MAXIMUM.

Your entire brand should only have 2-3 fonts. Any more than that makes your brand look pieced-together and lacking in professionalism. When picking your fonts, keep in mind what platform you use to create your graphics. If you have Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop, you’ll have a ton of options to choose from! If you don’t have those platforms, you can use Canva.com, which is a free online graphic design tool that has a lot of great fonts, and can be used to create any graphics you need. If you’re using Canva to create your brand graphics, make sure the fonts you pick are ones that are available through Canva. You don’t want to create your entire brand only to realize that those fonts aren’t available in the platform you’re using.

 

2. Pick Fonts That Go Well Together

Before you can pick your fonts, it’s important to understand the three main font categories:

Serif – Serif fonts are more old-fashioned fonts that have little “feet” on them, like Times New Roman.

Sans Serif – Sans literally means, “without.” So, sans serif fonts are the fonts without “feet” on them. They’re more modern fonts like Arial or Helvetica.

Display – Display fonts are any fonts that don’t fall into the two categories above, and include fonts like handwriting or calligraphy fonts that are really popular right now.

It can be super overwhelming to try to pair fonts together, because honestly, some fonts just don’t look good together. The easiest way for you to pair fonts on your own is to use Pinterest to search for “font pairings.” You’ll find TONS of fonts that look great together!

 

3. Use the Right Fonts in the Right Places

Not only is it important to find fonts that go well together, it’s also important to use your different fonts in the right places. Your Body Font needs to be something simple – either serif or sans serif. The Body Font is what is used for large paragraphs of text, such as your website content, or a social media post with a lot of text. The Body Font will be the main font for your brand.

Next, you’ll want to find a Headings Font.  You’ll use this for any headings, sub-headings, titles, etc. You’ll want this font to be something different than your Body Font, but you’ll still want it to be simple and easy to read. A lot of calligraphy or handwritten fonts are sometimes difficult to see, so you’ll still want to stick to serif or sans serif for your Headings Font.

If you want to incorporate a third font into your brand, such as a calligraphy Display font, you’ll want to use it to mainly for emphasis in your graphics. For example, if you have a social media graphic and you want to emphasize one word, this is where you would incorporate your third font.

 

4. Make Sure Your Fonts Match Your Brand Message

You want your fonts to communicate the “feel” of your brand to your clients. When picking your fonts, think about the adjectives that describe your brand. If your brand adjectives are words like, “minimalist” “simple” “clean” then you’ll want to pick minimal, simple, and clean fonts and mostly stay away from the scripty fonts. Whatever your brand is, make sure you know how you want people to feel when they see your brand graphics, and pick your fonts accordingly.

 

5. BE CONSISTENT!

Once you’ve picked your fonts, be sure to use them the same way. Every. Single. Time.  Don’t stray away from what you’ve picked! Consistency in your graphics helps creates a loyal following because your clients will remember who you are and what your business is by what they see. That’s the biggest goal in creating a brand! Using fonts consistently means using the same size font, using one font for your body text and the other font for your headings, and using the same color for your body text and another color for your headings every single time across all platforms. Everything you do – whether it’s your website, social media posts, workbooks, etc. – it should all look the same. You want your customers to recognize your brand from a mile away! 

Consistency in your graphics helps creates a loyal following because your clients will remember who you are and what your business is by what they see.

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Related: Why Branding is So Important for Your Biz

Successful brands all have major components and values in common that make them the profitable brands that they are. As a business owner, it is important to have a customized brand that is true to your business offerings and core values. I am going to walk you through the 5 characteristics that all successful brands share and questions you should be asking yourself about your own brand.

In order to do this, we need to take a look into what branding is. The definition is literally “how a company wants to be perceived by others”. Remember this, ok? Because as we walk through these characteristics, we are going to keep coming back to this main point.

 

1. Successful Brands are Unique

There are thousands of other businesses out there who do something very similar to what you do and what you sell. The angle you play off of and the brand components that you have are what will set you apart. The most successful and profitable brands have been the ones that have presented their offering from a different angle or thought out of the box. I like to use Apple as my example because I love all things Apple. Apple started by thinking of computers very differently. They wanted a personalized computer. This was something that no one had really heard of before. Look at the success they have now. People like unique.

The most successful and profitable brands have been the ones that have presented their offering from a different angle or thought out of the box.

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How many times have you seen a logo that looks almost identical to another logo you have seen once before? The designer got caught up in the trends of the time when creating it, instead of thinking about how they want the business to stand on it’s own and be memorable.

A recent trend in logos that I see being overused is scripty/caligraphy fonts and watercolor effects. Let’s be honest. How many times have we seen this variation of a logo time and time again. There is nothing unique to it, it just gets lost in the sea of other trendy logos.

Now before you start freaking out about your logo and how it looks very trendy, remember there are so many more elements to your brand visuals to make unique and give your business brand a style that only fits you. So just make sure to have elements to your brand that are customized to your business so that you do not totally fit in the same box as everyone else with those trendy logos.

Questions to ask yourself: Does your brand present itself to be unique through its concept of visuals? If your brand is out there presenting itself as the face of your business, do you really want to look very similar to everyone else’s business?

 

2. Successful Brands Convey Their Story and Message Clearly

If your brand is supposed to be what you want others to perceive of you, your brand needs to easily and quickly convey what it is you do and why you do it. This is where I see a lot of entrepreneurs go wrong when they set out to create their own logo or graphics. I call it “pretty design” syndrome. They create a sweet looking design, but the graphic and logo itself fails to convey the story and message about the business. My job as a graphic designer is to create a design that has the intention and purpose of telling a story.

Obviously logos can’t tell the whole story of a company, but they should give a hint into what they do. Whenever I create a logo for my clients, there is purpose behind each design element. The logo should also build off of the business mission.

Logos can’t tell the whole story of a company, but they should give a hint into what they do. The logo should build off of the business mission.

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The example below is of a past client of mine, Jessica Groff.

Jessica Groff is a mom of young twin girls whose business mission is to help women gain their identity and bodies back after motherhood. She is a lifestyle coach who helps them turn their mess of a world into something beautiful again. With her main mission in mind, we created her logo concept above. The jewel to the left of her name is fragmented and made up of a lot of broken pieces. However, in the end it makes a very unique jewel – just like motherhood!

Another example below is of my client, Nicole, from Business Revived. Her business’s mission is to really take women’s businesses back to the heart of serving their clients and giving them what they need, in order for their business to grow. Her idea is that you sell what your clients actually need and are looking for, not just what you think they want. She is also all about simplifying business and life. As you look at the logo below, you can tell that the logo plays off of this in a really simple way.

 

If you would like to view more of my recent client work, click here.

Questions to ask yourself: Does this tie into my business mission and message? Is there a reason behind my design elements?

 

3. Successful Brands Connect With Ideal Clients

Your brand image and message needs to connect with your ideal clients. It should not be trying to attract the most people that it can, but instead the correct people. Every piece of your brand should be in place to attract only those who are a great fit and meant for your product or service. Because in the end, the people who are going to get the most out of what you have to offer, are going to be the eager buyers and the ones who appreciate what you do.

This characteristic plays a big part into your brand message. So every email that you write, every ad you put out there, and every social media post or copy on your website, should be using the “law of attraction” by speaking to your ideal client. The ones who this product is for. That way, your brand message is easily weeding out the people who would not be a great fit and end up being problem customers anyways.

Your brand colors can also really take advantage of this characteristic as well. Certain colors are scientifically proven to evoke certain types of feelings and emotions. So thinking of how you want your potential clients and customers to think when they view your brand can really be useful. It is not a coincidence that many fast food restaurants use the colors red and yellow. Together, these colors are known to provoke the appetite and feelings of hunger. Blue is a trustworthy color and many banks use the color blue. You will see many health and wellness brands use green, as this color is often associated with nature and eco-friendliness.

Certain colors are scientifically proven to evoke certain types of feelings and emotions. So thinking of how you want your potential clients and customers to think when they view your brand can really be useful.

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Choosing my brand colors was a decision that I mulled over when creating my own business logo. I chose the colors I did because they were still feminine and felt right to me, but were not the pinks that everyone else in my industry seemed to be choosing.

Questions to ask yourself: Is your brand message working at attracting only the right and best people? Do your colors make sense with who you want to attract and what you are offering?

 

4. Successful Brands Show Up Where Their Audience Is

Successful brands are strategic with where and how they show up. They think about where their target audience hangs out. For example, Lowes and Home Depot know to show a good amount of commercials on the HGTV channel. Nike knows to do commercials on sports channels for obvious reasons.

Successful brands know which social media platforms are going to be to their advantage and do market research on what hashtags to use to get in front of the right people. You can do the same with your business. Get into the mind of your target audience and start showing up where they hang out.

Questions to ask yourself: Who are some of your competitors and where are they spending their time showing up? Where would your ideal client be hanging out on social media? What hashtags would they use? What times would they most likely be on? What types of companies and celebrities would they follow?

 

5. Successful Brands Are Simple To Understand

A good brand must be simple and easy to understand. I am going to use Apple as my example again. All Apple designs are very simple and sleek. Their products, their packaging, their ads and website, etc. On their website, you will find a simple black font, lots of white background and white space, and not much text to read. They eliminate anything that is unnecessary. Their brand visuals play excellently off of their product simplicity. Their computers are slim, simple, user-friendly and have no extra do-dads.

Just remember, if your brand visuals, website or message are confusing from too many things to look at, your customers won’t buy. Buyers don’t want to work hard to know how you can be useful to them or their end desire.

Questions to ask yourself: What is the ONE thing you want to be known for being the BEST at? How can you incorporate that into every component of your brand?

Successful brands all know that a company’s brand can make or break the success and ability to make profit because brand design is a well thought out process with intention behind every decision. So next time you are wondering why designers seem to take a long time designing things, that is why. Brand designers are like little marketing scientists.

A brand can make or break the business. It has the ability to make profit when it is a strategic design that has intention behind every decision.

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Related article: Branding Your Online Business