Visual Communication Concepts
For a long time, believe it or not, I didn’t pay much attention to my brand. Yes, I know, I know, those who know me today know that my forte is being a brand strategist, which will not make much sense. However, like all of you, I started my business in step one. But what is step one? Step one means nothing more than making sure that your business takes off. What I want to say with this is that when I started working, I was dedicated and focused solely on all the aspects of design.
After a day os srtuggle, I concluded that branding was the key to building a successful business. So, how do you know when is the right time to start building your brand? If you are starting to launch your business, it is absolutely and, without a doubt, the best time to begin your branding process. Additionaly, with this apparent reason of needing a logo and perhaps a website, you must understand that what will take your business to the next level is YOUR BRAND.
Something that I think is extremely important for you to understand is that it is not just about designing a logo and all is concluded. No, the important thing here is to understand your business from the inside. You must define your purpose, determine what makes you unique, and clarify your positioning and your audience, thus building a strategic communication that attracts them your way while building differentiation, trust, and credibility.
Build the brand with intention.
From the moment I decided to start working on building my brand with determination, everything changed radically in my business. I became more meticulous in how I spoke both on my network, my website and how straightforward the content I created would come to terms on. I also started to be much more consistent with my brand. And, of course, everything translated into changes and radical success towards my business.
And since life gives second chances, if you have your business already established and with time in the market, you should analyze what could impede its growth. One of the factors may be the competition, and the reason for this could be that you are not being effective enough in communicating your value to your audience. When I analyze my clients, I can see that they have pretty incredible offers, but they continue to miss out on opportunities because they are “expressed” somewhat complexed. I also analyze their competition, and I am surprised to see that sometimes they lack things in which my clients are vital. For me, this all comes down to positioning. Positioning is about how others see you, how you are expressing what you do. So, if this is happening to you, it is the right time to invest in branding.
What makes your brand unique?
Another thing that is extremely important when deciding if you need to invest in your brand is if you are missing out on opportunities because you are not efficiently showing what makes you unique.
For me, this meant that for an extended period, I felt small, as I didn’t know what it was about the brand that made me unique. I felt that there were probably many companies who were preferable or even cheaper than me. I then realized that I was seeing everything wrong. People hire you for the mix you offer with your abilities, skills, passions, personality, and experiences. No matter how many people are doing “the same thing” as you, no one can ever compare to you.
In my case, my design style is unique to me. Not only that, but I could also differentiate myself in that I am not only a designer, if not much more than that. Most of the people who work in my sector only concentrate on the design of the marque. What I do is raise or build a brand from within. All these things, plus my knowledge, experience with clients, life, and personality, make me unique.
Your audience is everything.
If you keep attracting the wrong people who are giving you too many objections (e.g., your price is too high), your branding is all wrong. The first step in building a brand is defining your bases and understanding your audience. Without your audience, you don’t have a business. So, suppose you’re attracting the wrong people over and over again. In that case, it’s probably either your communication is being directed at an audience that you don’t want to reach or that you’re displaying your business in the wrong places. Knowing your audience means knowing where they are, how they express themselves, their ailments, and how to offer them effective solutions. So, if you’re struggling to define these things, then it’s time to redefine your brand.
Proud of your brand.
If you feel like your brand doesn’t represent you or that you’re ashamed to show who you are — because you know you’re not presenting the best version of yourself, that’s probably one of the main reasons you need to work on the branding for your business.
I see it: your business should showcase the best you have to offer. It’s not about selling; it’s about knowing that you can honestly improve people’s lives with what you do. You want to ensure that these people can tell that you are “the best option they can find just by looking at your logo.”
It, to me, is crucial to the success of your business. I think you should never feel embarrassed or uninspired when looking to boost your branding. It is your Business! You decided to become an entrepreneur (which is impressive and challenging already). You chose to pursue your passions and build a life full of freedom. How then could you ever feel wrong about how that looks? If you’re not proud of your brand and you don’t feel like it represents you, I think you need to focus on building it.
The strongest and longest-lasting businesses are those that can blur the space between their brands and the human emotions/connections needed to humanize and inspire.
Ultimately, this comes down to understanding whether or not your brand’s strategy is working and allowing you to grow like you’re meant to. Once I started rethinking what my branding should look like, it began to make a big difference. Beyond having a beautiful website designed meant finding realistic ways to connect with my audience.
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