As you might have guessed already, our theme for September is branding. Today I am SO pleased to share an interview with Shannon Whealy, the creative designer (and genius) behindTurnaround Design. Thanks to her skills, she’s helped dozens of creative businesses launch their careers with professionalism and a clear branding. She has some truly wonderful advice to help you design your business around your brand.
What, in your opinion, can a custom-designed logo/header offer a business?
The two most important benefits of custom graphics for your business are recognitionand professionalism.
In this fast-paced web economy, it’s essential to get noticed at a glance and often the first brand impression is visual. By having a custom logo and site header – a unique brand identity – you’ll be more likely to capture that immediate attention. And your brand is more likely to be recognized again.
In addition, a professional website that’s easy-to-use as well as visually appealing will set the tone for your brand and start the important process of building consumer confidence and trust.
How do you work with a company/solopreneur to determine their particular brand? What should they know ahead of time?
On my Turnaround Design website, I have a detailed questionnaire designed to help customers work through their branding. A sample question is: “What 3 words would you like to best describe the visual feel of your brand?”
Some other things business owners should know ahead of time:
1. Who is their target audience?
2. Who is their competition?
3. How are they planning to market their brand?
After I receive the completed questionnaire, I schedule a consultation to discuss the responses and provide my recommendations for branding and design.
Do you think it is important for solopreneurs to understand the basics of HTML or CSS in order to create a better site or up their branding throughout their site?
For complete site branding, it’s important to customize out-of-the-box WordPress themes and some HTML and CSS knowledge is helpful. A great place to get started with online tutorials is http://www.w3schools.com.
By using custom graphics with a great theme, colors and typography, you can create a lovely branded site. I work with many DIY entrepreneurs who hire me to design headers, custom opt- ins, and social media icons which they implement into their sites themselves.
What is the one thing most people forget to brand?
I’d have to say email newsletters. I receive a lot of plain text newsletters that could be easily branded with a custom header, colors and layout.
If a creative business owner wanted to start their OWN design company, do you have
any tips for getting those first few customers?
For anyone starting a business, the best source of customers is the people you already know: friends, family, business contacts. Beyond that, the best way to promote yourself online is through social media and blogging.
Twitter and Facebook are great places to start growing your online presence. You can make wonderful connections with your potential customers and colleagues as well as promote your products/services and drive traffic to your site.
Then, by sharing your expertise, telling your story and interacting in the comments on your blog, visitors will develop a connection with you and your brand, and turn into customers.
So now that you have lots of branding ideas whirling around inside your head, take action! Shannon can be a great help since she offers an entire branding package along with ala carte items such as logo design, social media buttons, and headers! You can see more of her options at her website: Turnaround Design. Take a step toward branding your business today and increase the visual appeal AND the professionalism of your creative empire!
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