Branding … seems like a simple concept to many … until they learn more about what it really is.
It’s also really easy to fuck it up and get it totally wrong … so here’s a short list of common mistakes we see biz babes make when it comes to branding.
1 – BEING A BORING COPY CAT
Following trends and fashion can be a really awesome and cool way to keep your brand fresh and appealing but if you go overboard and don’t actually put your own unique spin on things … you just become a copy cat.
One of the most recent trends in visual branding for female entrepreneurs right now is going for the soft, girly look … rose gold, blush pink, cursive fonts.
And yes … this is a beautiful look … I even decorated my living room in rose gold, grey and pink but the problem is …
EVERYONE and the dog is embracing this type of visual brand … everyone looks the same.
A couple of weeks ago I was on the search for new people to join our agency and obviously, their website was the first place I went too.
Honestly … about 90% of the website I visited all looked the same, sounded the same, felt the same.
It was like they had all just copied each other.
Not cool when you’re trying to stand out and get seen.
Remember … following trends, fashions and styles are ok as long as you put your own unique spin on it.
2 – ONLY FOCUSING ON THE VISUALS
This is something I see every single dam day and it really irritates me.
Branding goes way deeper than just what sizzle looks like and your deeper, strategic branding is VITAL to your whole business.
A few things you really need to nail and focus on when crafting your brand are:
– What is it you do?
[Focus on the benefits and results you get your customers/clients]
– Why do you do it?
[You’ll have a pretty strong reason why you do what you do, this can be seen as your message, your mission, your cause.]
– Who do you do it for?
[If you say you can or want to help everyone then you really need to work on this. No … you are NOT helping everyone and you really shouldn’t. You’ll just end up not being seen/heard by anyone. Focus on a tight audience that you KNOW you can help the most, will LOVE your products the most and … who YOU personally would love to serve.]
2 – NOT HAVING A TAGLINE
Having a tagline that makes sense and actually means something is a really awesome part of your brand. It’s what will help cement your brand inside the mind of your audience.
Our tagline is:
“Fuck Bland, Make A Stand, Monetise You”
It embraces our core values and believes of having awesome strong branding that pops, being confident enough to stand in your power and own your message and creating a profitable business just from being yourself.
If your tagline is crap or you have no tagline at all, you’re missing out on a key and powerful part of your brand.
3 – DOING IT ALL YOURSELF
Now some biz babes out there will just have a natural flair and awesome understanding of what goes into crafting a killer brand … and when they do their own branding … it works.
But in reality … not many biz babes have the knowledge, skills or understanding of what REALLY goes into creating powerful brands.
If you are one of those … stop trying to do your branding yourself. You will end up doing more harm than good.
You don’t HAVE to have a killer visual brand to get started. Just focus on your key branding elements such as;
Your message
Your mission/purpose
Your target market [in detail]
What you do/What you offer
Your results/benefits
How you will reach your target market
Your brand voice [how your brand sounds in your content]
^ those are the BASIC branding elements … get those nailed FIRST and you’ll be on your way to creating a solid brand. You can work out your visuals and even deep branding later when you have the money to invest in a branding expert.
4 – NOT KNOWING YOUR TARGET MARKET
Most people think they have this nailed but once they get on the phone with us and we start asking them questions about their market we’re usually met with a lot “Um?” …”Errr?” … “I don’t know”.
See, the thing is, most biz babes have such a need to reach, help, transform as many peoples lives as possible, that they focus on a HUGE and WIDE market … which results in their brand and business being watered down and not reaching anyone.
We know you want to help the whole fucking world … but that really isn’t your job.
There will be a small selection of people who 100% fit your products and services and you need to know EVERYTHING about that small selection of people.
From how old they are to where they live to what they do on the weekends … not just what their problem/pain point is.
You see girl, once you have this amazing detailed “picture” of the audience you serve you can reach them with total ease …
You can create content that they feel so deeply connected to that they must have more …
You can create better products and services that just screams “hell yeah” to them.
Spend as much time as you can really nailing who your target market is and don’t be scared off by the “won’t that limit my sales or the number of clients I’ll get” …
NO! It won’t!
The more specific and detailed you can get about who you serve, the better!
You have to know your target market better then they know themselves!
5 – INCONSISTENT OFFERS
Oh dear, we see this all over the place and it makes such do this face …
We understand that many biz babes are super fucking creative and have like a million and one ideas running around their heads every bloody minute … but …
Spewing out new offers, new products, new services without any real thought is a brand killer.
One thing to remember when you are creating something new for your audience is to take a step back and think “does this actually fit our message/mission/purpose and will it really appeal to our target market”.
If the answer is no … stop!
Now, we’re not saying you need to stop producing new offers and services for your peeps but just makes sure you can mould all those amazing ideas to fit your brand and the MOST pressing NEED for your target market.
It can be tough at times … we know how exciting it can be when a new idea pops into your head and you just want to roll with it. But to stay on brand and keep your brand powerful, it’s important to TAKE YOUR FUCKING TIME!
Make sure everything you put out into the world is CONSISTENT with your brand!
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We could go on and on with this list, but we’ll leave it here for today and ask you a simple question .. are you brave enough to be real and raw with us??
Which of these branding mistakes do you know you’re making?
Drop a comment below if you’re badass enough :p