Branding
7 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Rebrand
26th September 2020
When you decide to start your own business, you all of a sudden realise that there are a million different things & subjects you should know or learn about: accounting, bookkeeping, social media (yes, we both should be on TikTok), pricing, how to build a network, clientele, how to collect testimonials… You’ve probably felt swamped working IN your business more times than one.
Amongst all of this, when you were creating your very first website (I know, *yikes*) you probably realised ‘you could use a logo’. So you DIYed one, as you DIYed everything else. Let’s face it, those of us who start a business do it for a million different reasons, but when you take the plunge funds are usually pretty low.
However, you’re not a newbie anymore. You understand the basics and have a framework in place. You wake up every day to run your business and take care of all the clients you’ve earned so far.
And the million-dollar question starts creeping up on you:
“Is it time for a rebrand?”
Your business, much like life, is an ever-evolving project. The purpose of a Brand Identity (and not just a logo, but read more about this here) is to reflect who you are & what your business is all about in a visual way!
In fact rebranding at the right time can be truly magical: suddenly you feel a new love for your work, your dream clients start pouring in, and you feel realigned with your goals. It’s not for nothing they say that you only get one chance to make a first impression.
So let’s find out if it’s your time, shall we?
1️⃣ Are you a victim of brand & website shame?
Do you have nightmares about someone asking for your URL? Are hiding your 2000+ business cards you made a couple of years ago, because yikes?
Well, my friend, it’s time for a rebrand.
There are many things a brand should do & be for you: your best online marketer, portray your work/services/products that I’m sure are amazeballs, make you feel confident and ready to work on Mondays…
Although you might feel like this is an impossible conundrum, it is fixable. Work hard to find the best brand designer for you and they’ll make you feel confident and brand new.
2️⃣ Are you inconsistent & all over the place?
It feels like there’s a shiny, new social media that you MUST be on every single day. You can hardly keep up with all these trends & strategies and you have no idea where to turn your head to next or if you have your priorities straight.
Does this sound like you?
Then let me guess: you frantically try to put your IG post together minutes before you should post it; you go MIA way too often; you can never recall what’s your brand’s shade of blue and use several ‘similar’ ones; you’ve DIYed your logo and bought templates off of a different artist… And your whole branding has this mismatched and rushed feel to it.
Just as having a brand that looks rushed and amateur-ish can seriously hurt your business's reputation, a strong brand will convey the quality of your work, attract the right audience for you & elevate the experience that you want to create. Time to invest!
3️⃣ Are you trying to please everyone?
In case you don’t know, I’m a born & raised graphic designer from Porto, Portugal. We have our fair share of sayings and proverbs and there’s a very popular one that translates, more or less, into this:
“One cannot please Greeks and Trojans!”
Do you see where I’m going with this? Your voice & messaging has to be targeting a specific niche, or better yet just one person (your Ideal Customer Avatar). When you try to talk to everyone, you speak to no one.
One of my all-time design heroes said this even better:
“If no one hates it, no one really loves it.”
— Jessica Walsh, Founder of & Walsh
The same goes for your Brand Identity. Don’t use grey because it’s so neutral no one can hate it. Your decisions and this applies to the feedback you provide your future graphic designer with too, must be objective and always made with your Ideal Customer in mind.
4️⃣ Do you no longer have the time to DIY?
Time is an entrepreneur’s most precious asset. It constantly flies by, along with your energy, especially when you’re passionately working ON your business & doing what you love and do best.
Now that you have a lot more things to do daily, the last thing on your priority list would be to:
👉🏻 Learn how to use Adobe Software;
👉🏻 Study typography;
👉🏻 Figure out colour theory;
👉🏻 Spend a few years practising to then create the perfect logo.
I’m not exaggerating, and we haven’t even begun discussing Brand Strategy yet (and that’s a whole other topic)! So as any leader would do, use your time wisely by delegating & hiring other professionals to take care of this bit for you.
5️⃣ Are you wondering what a ‘brand’ really is?
If all of this talk on branding is sounding incredibly odd and not resonating with you at all, then you should start searching for a brand designer.
But don’t stress! Without even realising, if you’ve been in business for a few years, you’ve probably developed your brand already! Why? Because, once again, your brand isn’t just a logo, but your voice, messaging, audience, approach, goals, values, personality…
Now it’s all about translating all of this into a system and logo that not only works for you but that visually represents what you’re all about!
So who you gonna call? Not GhostBusters, but a Brand Designer ;)
6️⃣ Are you getting ‘meh’ or nightmare clients?
Here’s the hard truth: we’re responsible for how our clients & leads show up.
If we’re constantly seeing a flow of people, who are not who we work for, come in and enquire for our services, then it’s not them: it’s us. Is your message clear? Does your first impression speak to the right folks? Do you say what you do & who you do it for? Does your website state the pain points and problems you solve and your unique approach to them?
If not, it’s time you hired a Brand Designer that will make you go through some Creative Direction and Strategy as well.
7️⃣ Are stock images your best friend?
Not so fast.
Have you thought about why you constantly need to resort to stock photos? Although some great websites provide high-quality & free images, stock photography has a knack to become overused and overseen.
If when I enter your website or social media profile, and the first thing I see is an image I’ve seen a million times everywhere else, then I’m not going to take you seriously and you’re going to give off an unprofessional feel.
If you use stock images because you lack guidance & direction then you, my friend, need a brand designer. And while you’re at it, think about investing in some photography services for your brand too.
So there you have it!
The last thing I want you to get is overwhelmed. Let’s walk away from this motivated to do better and to invest in our futures. After all, I want to push you in the right direction and tell you that good branding doesn’t have to be this big corporate beast, but its importance is unbeatable.
And don’t take my word for it:
“Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business.”
— Steve Forbes, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine
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Are you ready to have the brand of your dreams?
Check out how we can work together here!