How to Save Valuable Time & Money on Your Branding
It is tempting to save money as a small business owner on your brand design and logo. The market is flooded with thousands of self-made Canva logos. Let me tell you as a brand designer for small businesses with a trained eye for outstanding and converting design: Not once have I seen one of these DIY ones that stood out and made an amazing impression on me.
In fact, it is quite the opposite.
Logo generators help you as a business starter to design what you at that time think is beautiful. It is determined by what you as a business owner regard pretty. Boom - done. Before you know it, your logo will show on all your marketing channels and your freshly printed business cards.
At this stage, you will have to spend hours and hours trying to figure out the brand identity that looks beautiful to you. You will have to spend money on your printed marketing materials and the world already has had its first glance at your design attempts.
After some time, you might have had a few clients, but those were not the ones you wanted. Every time you look at your branding, you remind yourself: "Once I have had my first clients, I will pay a brand designer to create a professional logo for me."
Although it may seem like you save money when you DIY your logo - in the long run, you will pay twice.
Here is the thing:
Your logo, brand colours, images, fonts, and complete brand identity form who your brand is, what it stands for, and determines who and how potential clients resonate with it. Your brand foundation might be good, but if your design is off, customers will be confused. Therefore, undesirable clients will find their way into your mailbox, trying to bargain for the lowest price.
Because - let us be honest - cheap-looking brand identities attract customers who like to strike a deal and a good bargain. This is why brands who want to be known to be affordable will intentionally create their brand identity a certain way. They use bright and tacky-looking colours to appear cheap on purpose.
Brand strategy and brand design complement each other in creating a highly converting brand.
If you are not a brand designer and have no experience nor knowledge about brand strategy, you are likely to fall into the trap of creating a brand identity that doesn’t look professional and does not represent a personality you want to embody within that brand. Because you likely don’t have the strategy and design skills, you’ll miss attracting the clients you want.
By the time you realise you need to change your brand identity, your first shot in the online world has missed its goals, and the first impression of your company or brand was not necessarily the best.
First impressions count, and it is better to get it right the first time.
Once you have put your brand out there, with your visuals and voice, you can’t help but make an impression - it is your choice if it is a good or a …. questionable one.
On top, you’ll have to spend money on your business cards, which you would have to change after a professional branding - in addition to all the online marketing channels, which again, will cost you lots of time.
Buy it cheap, buy it twice.
As tempting as it may be to DIY your logo as a new business starter and save some money on this journey, please do not fall into this easily avoidable trap of double time and money investments. You will have to change your branding sooner than later because you will notice that it just feels off. Your potential dream clients will share this feeling and - surprise, not trust, like, or buy from your brand.
Do yourself a favour and save your time, money, and nerves by doing it right the first time. Hire a professional brand designer who helps you to develop a brand strategy and crafts a professional brand identity accordingly that aligns and resonates with your ideal clients.
Invest wisely and find your best fit
When choosing your best-fit brand designer, check out their design approach, their portfolio, and prices. Do you understand their process and do they emphasise the strategic part of designing a brand? Do you trust their skills based on their client portfolio? Is there valuable information such as a blog that reveals more about their thoughts, skills, and knowledge? Do they show their prices on their website and are you comfortable receiving good value for money?
If you can answer all these questions with a clear "YES!", check if your brand designer of choice offers a free discovery call. Branding is a collaborative process, and your business strategy and goals together with your brand foundations need to be clearly understood before you can both develop an individual brand strategy that aims to achieve your goals.
Therefore, make sure you feel personally comfortable with your brand designer of choice and they meet all the required skills you are looking for.
In case you wonder if we could be a good fit for your branding, check out my portfolio!
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I’m Brand Strategist & Squarespace Website Designer and support you in building an emotional connection to your ideal clients through your Branding and Website
