I get questions all the time about how I create beautiful graphics, where I find my fonts, and how I pull my brand together so that it feels like “Brilliant Business Moms” anywhere I go online. And I get it – for some business owners, putting together a brand is way harder than creating the products you love!
So for the next couple of weeks, I’m going to share a lot of my branding insider tips with you!
But I want to start with some encouragement: I didn’t use to be this pretty.
If your brand is feeling a bit scattered and blah, it’s ok. I’ve been there too! Here’s some proof:
These were the early, early days of Brilliant Business Moms. Notice the use of about 7 different fonts, vintage photo filters, labels in different shapes and sizes, stock photos that don’t tell a consistent story, and many different colors!
Maybe in the past when you heard the word “brand” you immediately pulled away towards something more exciting like “traffic and followers”. If that’s you, slow your roll for a minute.
- If you’ve had trouble getting your visitors to turn into customers, chances are you’ve got a branding problem.
- If your posts on social media never get much of a response, you likely haven’t figured out how to put your business in the best light online (i.e. you’ve got a branding problem!)
- And if you find yourself constantly frustrated that your taste is 100 miles ahead of your skill level… well I’ve got some solutions to help you close that gap too!
For now, let’s start our business branding discussion with small steps; let’s chat about fonts and color schemes.
Here’s the temptation as enthusiastic, creative business owners… we LOVE to try new things!
We see a trendy new font and we can’t help but give it a whirl!
We discover the Pantone color of the year and are convinced we should incorporate it into our site!
And, before we know it, we’ve got 10 fonts and 50 colors swirling around. And while it might make our hearts really excited and happy, it makes our site visitors and social media followers feel really confused and overwhelmed.
Take a look at my collage of vintage BBM posts and graphics above. It’s busy and confusing and it doesn’t convey a clear message about who we are and what we stand for. How long would you want to hang out on a site with all of those fonts, colors, and styles swirling?
When you have a confusing, overwhelming, all-over-the-place brand, this is what your visitors and followers are thinking:
“Just what IS this business all about? Is their style simple and classic or modern and funky? Are they trying to be bright and fun or soft and feminine? I can’t figure them out!”
And while you might think that your fonts and colors only tell a tiny piece of your story, your potential customers see things differently. Those fonts and colors are the first thing they notice when they stop in for a visit.
Those fonts and colors tell an entire story’s worth to them, and they need to be true to who you are as a person and what you want your business to represent.
Lucky for me, I’m fancy, friendly and feminine just like my brand online. But truth be told, a lot of my branding choices are based on my signature product — my Brilliant Life Planner. Since my planner is fancy and feminine with a lot of heart and feeling behind it, I know the rest of my brand needs to feel the same way.
Muted colors and strong, bold fonts just don’t work for me. Neither does simple and understated! Give me girly to the max with a whole lotta flourish and fun!
But…I see a lot of biz owners adopting whatever is trendy at the moment when their brand might be super practical, down-to-earth, or rustic and homespun. The trend at the moment doesn’t fit who they are and it definitely doesn’t jive with their products.
There’s no need to create a fancy-scripted, floral-embellished logo if it doesn’t fit your brand.
See, for me, I’ll still be floral, fancy, and feminine 10 years from now when everyone else has moved on. It’s who I am at my core! But for you, you’ll need to decide who YOU’LL be even when the trends have moved on to other things.
If you’re completely unsure of who you are or what you should be, I’ve got a Brilliant Style Guide that’s yours for FREE to help you out. Click right here to get the guide!
There are 15 different color scheme ideas and font pairing ideas. Here are a few examples:
Peruse that guide, and then take a look at some of my favorite sources for fabulous fonts online:
And my favorite place for color scheme ideas:
And then decide who you’re going to be online! What does your brand represent? What do you want your products to convey to people?
Pick a font pairing and a color scheme and stick with it, my friend! That’s how you’ll start to tell a beautiful story about your business online.
I'd love to know what you pick! Just leave your choice in the comments. And I'll be back soon with ideas on creating gorgeous photos — the next step in telling your beautiful story!
Now it’s your turn to head out there and Be Brilliant!
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Want to see a business owner's brand in action? Check out this post:
Building a Wildly Successful Brand with Molly Goodall
