All month long join me here as I welcome amazing contributors with one thing in common
we love our business {blog/shop/etc} and we want you to love yours too!
To keep up to date with this series view all posts here.
Hey there friends! I'm Dana and I blog over at Wonder Forest and have a fun little shop under the same name. However, if you knew me in real life, you'd know that I am a designer above all. I own a design company and make websites, marketing materials, merchandise, social network profile pages.... You name it, I've probably designed it.
I did everything from setting up wholesale accounts with t-shirt manufacturers to running back and forth to screen printing studios, to attempting to do my own taxes. By the way, I am so glad that I wasn't chosen to talk about taxes in this series because I am absolutely terrible at math!
Sugardevil was where my love of design for product began. During that time, I applied and was chosen to represent a brand new government youth program (at the time) called Summer Company. Myself, along with two other young entrepreneurs were the very first prodigies to go through this program and got a nice start-up grant when we were through. Basically this program consisted of us meeting with adult business professionals once a week to learn the ropes of owning and operating a business. We had goals to complete along with our huge business plans and I definitely learned a lot!
I took this knowledge with me on my future journeys throughout the years and used my skills in dealing with people to form an online music magazine with some friends. We had a staff of about 30 people located around the world, from writers to photographers, and we took full advantage of every opportunity to interview bands and get free media passes to shows. Who doesn't love not waiting in line? I was in charge of the website and designing all of our promotional material, or course!
Fast forward a couple years and Sugardevil suddenly merged into something different... A band/artist promotions company which I operated with two other girls. It was my job to make our artists look good online and in marketing materials. I combined my design passion with my love of music and bands. See how those two previous businesses just sort of merged together? I am a true believer that past experiences lead you to future accomplishments. We called it quits after having a fun run with it and I started doing websites full time.
Websites were my passion. I loved taking everything I had learned over the years in terms of design, marketing, management, and business and applying it to a website to make my client look their best.. which is probably the most important business task. Which brings me to the whole point of this post... the importance of branding.
Take, for example, one of the first of my clients (who are actually still one of my top clients). I found them online back in 2003 after a friend had recommended me to their product. The moment I stepped inside their website I was a little weary. We're talking about the most terrible of all terrible websites. The whole thing was text. Red and purple text on a green background with a link to purchase their product on Ebay. "THIS is the website for that amazing product?" I thought. There was absolutely no branding... no product photos, no logo, nothing. This looked like a basement operation instead of a legitimate company. Normally when I come across a terrible looking website or blog I leave immediately. However, something about this one made me want to help. I knew their product was amazing and I couldn't stand that they weren't conveying this at all through their branding.
I wrote up an email to the owner and told him that I do websites and that I thought he could really benefit from a redesign and an actual online storefront separate from Ebay. He wrote back with "convince me." That's it... "convince me".
I really didn't think that there was anything that needed convincing... I mean, here was his website, plain as day in all it's ugliness and he wanted me to convince him that he needed a good looking one. Again, I was fairly new at this and didn't really understand how people couldn't see that their websites were horrific (not knowing then that I would be faced with years of the same dilemma). I took to my email anyways and wrote out what was probably the longest sales pitch ever.
I explained to him how his website is turning people away, (I used myself as an example), and how for many people it is their very first impression of his business. I told him how his website should properly convey the quality of his product. I told him how he looks super unprofessional. I was half expecting him to tell me to get bent, but he actually listened and took in what I was telling him. I promised him that once his website was up to professional standards, his orders would triple. Guess what? They did. He even managed to pay off the cost of the website build in the very first month of official operation.
After all of these years I've been watching his website grow daily. So much so, that it is now his main source of orders and he is proud to send people there.
Let me put it simply for those of you with businesses. Your identity is everything. Your website IS your business card. Your online storefront is your boardroom presentation, not a 5th grade glitter-covered, sloppy science fair project. People (potential customers) absolutely do judge you based on the overall appearance of your branding just as they would judge you for wearing ripped up jeans and muddy boots to a professional business meeting. It is SO important to have an image that conveys your identity and is pleasing for the potential customer/client.
Your business cards should match your website and include your logo. Your branding should all be created using the same colours. Return address labels? Use your logo and the same colours. Flyers? Postcards? Same idea. You need your marketing materials to flow together.
There are tools you can use online to help you create graphics, such as Picnik, or even the starter version of Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, if you're feeling creative. If designing isn't your thing, don't be afraid to spend a little money on hiring a professional if you have no idea where to start. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money and something as important as branding should not be left untouched if you are serious about your venture. There is no excuse for poor design and branding because there are countless avenues all just waiting to help you out.
Even when I was designing t-shirts, even when I was working with bands, even when I was managing the other 2.5 businesses I didn't mention here, I never stopped creating an ongoing identity for each one. To this very day I continue to work on my own branding and improve the flow of each material.
Branding is, and always will be, one of the most important aspects of your business... so take it seriously and have fun with it... and most of all love your business!
xo Dana
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
:About the Author:
genius
ReplyDeletewow I'm utterly impressed by your knowledge...thank you so much for sharing Dana! I wish I had the experience you do!! ('course, there's plenty of time to gain it, I'm only 15 :))
ReplyDeleteThanks again, and wow! :)
Iv been saving my pennies to hire dana, i need help so bad in this area!
ReplyDeleteI cannot agree with this more. In fact, I feel this is why I am suffering. I am in the process of emailing several designers for quotes. Tax returns are coming and I am hoping to invest a little. I had one designer email me back same day with questions about WHAT I WANTED, and she said she was going to go over everything I have and get me a fair quote. I am really looking forward to having a site I can be proud of!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things I struggled with was trying to do it myself. I have ideas but I'm not a designer! It took a few different designers til I found someone who "got me!". You may find someones work and style you love but if you don't work well together it can be a disaster! Think of anyone that you will work with as being a potential business partner that you can trust! Do your research, get referrals and go with your gut. It may be a big investment up front, but one that will pay off in the end!
DeleteI definitely feel like it will be. Tax returns are coming, so I figured instead of splurging that money on frivolous things, why not invest it for the long haul? I emailed some of my fave sites, asking who their designers were. I have gotten overwhelming responses!
ReplyDeletewell and to think this investment is just another business tax write off for this year!
DeleteAbsolutely fantastic post! I'm also a web designer and it amazes me how many companies have no idea how to brand themselves!
ReplyDeleteyay thanks for the opportunity to fill your blog with knowledge haha. <3
ReplyDeleteI hope this info can help someone! p.s. did you remove all my paragraphs or did blogger do that? I feel like a huge run on sentence or something lol!
xo dana
thewonderforest.com
yikes! i didnt change it just at all.. umm you know my password go in and fix it since you will know where to break stuff up ;p i just posted from the file you sent me.. thanks for sharing all this stuff, it means a lot! xoxo
Deletefixed ;) haha.
DeleteSeriously inspiring. I always wondered why branding was so important when I first strted getting into the marketing world. This was it in a nutshell. Very very true and I am striving to do this with my own company, website and blog. Thank you Dana. U rock
ReplyDeleteThis is so inspiring. And very very true. I'm striving to brand my business, website, and blog. thank you for sharing Dana
ReplyDeleteFabulous! Nothing gets me more excited than branding!!! I'm always tweaking and perfecting mine and I finally feel like everything flows. But it wasn't easy getting there! Branding takes work, just like Dana said, but it's TOTALLY worth it in the end!
ReplyDeleteLovely post! It is so shocking to me that some companies don't even realize how BAD their websites are! A lot of great shops that I've found over the years in real life have horrid online shops, simply because they feel its not important and they can't make money online. I feel like the internet is a HUGE tool for companies (especially in this day and age) and once you go to the web, you open up to a whole new world of new customers! I wish more companies could see this post!
ReplyDeletehttp://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/
This is so inspiring. <3
ReplyDeletewww.princesslyvintagely.com
This was such a great and informative post! The trouble I have constantly had in the past is wanting to "redesign" because i was never content. I have found that investing in good design/branding seems to pay off. I'm just always afraid to take a big leap!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this series. I am learning a lot!
I love this series so much! I have a small shop right now and my 2012 goal is to get it really growing. This topic is one of the topics I have been working on for the last few weeks with a designer and I love what's happening. I can't wait to read more everyday to learn new things. I have been pining it to my pinterest board everyday after I read it so that others can share in it and learn and also I thought it would be a fun idea, at the end of, to go back and maybe print out the posts and keep in a binder or folder to refer back to, like a mini text book! ♥
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing and sharing such a great post about branding - you are so right about how important it is; how easy it is (once you get stuck into it!); and how often it goes overlooked. Thanks for breaking it down into bite-size goals to work on. I'm off to do me some branding :) Katie. xxx
ReplyDeleteExcellent post Dana!! So inspiring and has made me stop and think about my photography business and branding. I soooo need help!
ReplyDeleteI guess this is where I decide I'd I want to make my shop a hobby or a business.
ReplyDeleteGreat info! Thanks so much for sharing. I'm at a crossroads right now of wanting to pursue photography. But even if I do that I need to have a legit site and branding too, right?
absolutely!!
DeleteThe timing of this post is funny. I have just recently been revamping my business cards and website to better represent my business and to make sure they are consistent. I have so excited about my business new look, and this post made me even MORE excited!
ReplyDeleteFabulous Post! This is perfect for anyone starting a business!!! I am loving this series :)
ReplyDeleteThis post comes with such good timing. I spent all of today designing business cards, thank you notes, picking the perfect mailer to mail my products in so that even the mailer envelope fits in with the packaging; labels, stamps, stationery, and how I could make it all tie into my blog, etsy storefront, and eventually my standalone website. And all of this before I have even officially launched my shop.
ReplyDeleteI was speaking with a photographer friend of mine yesterday about this same subject and I am SO glad to see I'm not the only one in thinking that first impressions mean absolutely everything in the business world, especially if it's a small start-up adventure like many of us are trying to embark on.
I loved reading this. Thanks for posting it.
Great post!
ReplyDeleteLove this :) I saw a girl at church yesterday with one of your headbands...so cute! And I love that I knew it was yours instantly :)
ReplyDeletexoxo