Branding can often be a touchy subject for many small creative businesses. It’s hard work. It’s expensive. It can be confusing. I think there are several reasons people feel this way about branding their small business and I wanted to three branding myths out there and how to dispel them. Here are three branding myths:

1. Brand is super expensive. Expensive is a relative term. To some businesses $1000 might be expensive and to others $7000 might be expensive. No matter which bracket you fall into, there are always ways to create a professional brand. For the lower bracket I offer premade brands that are $750 each and they include a logo, monograms, alternates, patterns, stationery suite, and social media design. A website is obviously important for your brand and business and you can get tons of nice FREE templates on Showit or get a little bit nicer one for a few hundred bucks in either the Showit store or in my shop. For the upper bracket I offer full custom branding that includes a coaching session, brand board, stationery, social media templates, and custom Showit website for $5800. You can read more here.
2. Any brand is better than no brand. This is a double-edged sword. I’d be inclined to agree with this myth, however, I fear most of the people who believe this do not know what having a true, consistent brand is. If you are going to have a brand, do it right. You need to use consistent fonts, colors, imagery, and language. Apart from the visuals you need to have a consistent social media presence that includes Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. I also highly recommend using a newsletter to collect your audience’s emails to keep your business in their minds. You need branded packaging, stationery, and social media templates. The more consistent in these things you are across the board, the more likely you are to create brand recognition. This means that someone will begin to associate your business with certain colors, fonts, logos. As long as you are doing all of these things and understand consistency, a DIY brand might be something you can get away with. Check out my FREE branding essentials guide here.
3. I’ve never needed a brand before, why get one now? If what you have going on for your business is working for you and you are working with clients you love, then keep doing it! However, I’d argue that there is ALWAYS room for growth and with that growth comes more ideal clients. Everyone wants to work with clients who LOVE their work and would pay well for you. Those clients do exist, but you need to work hard at making your brand beautiful, consistent, and inviting to them. A DIY brand isn’t always going to attract that ideal client. Every business has its own unique dream client and you need to tailor your brand for them, not you. In other words, don’t create something pretty for you, but do it with your client’s needs in mind. I am someone who always likes to grow in my craft and get better and better. In doing so I recognize that my brand may change from time to time as I try to attract certain clientele. Check out my Ideal Client Guide here if you need help identifying your ideal client.