A rough guide to Branding your business

One of my fundamental aims as a freelance photographer is to draw as much attention to my business as I can. My business needs to have an identity: a unique brand is the look that sets my photography business apart from the competition. My brand consists of any visible aspects of my business that are accessible to the world, encompassing everything from invoices to my website. Every component must fit as a part of an overall package that is considered and refined. The aim of marketing my brand is to present a group of unified components that represent a slick operation generating professional results.

Branding; the Nuts and Bolts.

Branding can be viewed as a set of rules for the look of the physical components that carry your business name. Your stationery, logo, portfolio, your studio, business vehicle, website, blog, business card, advertising, quotes and invoices all need to fit together as one cohesive family. Any one of these components may be seen in isolation and they’re all advertising your business, which makes each and every one of them equally important. Unless you have experience and flair, this is a job for a graphic designer. You may well be able to barter for their services and create contacts in the process.

Keep It Simple.

In many ways, your website is the home base for your brand as it is available to speak for you night and day to anyone anywhere. The aim should be to make it easy for people to have confidence in your business and through the repetition of the, rules of your design, they are subliminally getting familiar with your brand. KEEP IT SIMPLE! Lead with a headline and kick butt imagery in a stylish layout with lots of negative space.

Home page

Your homepage needs to load quickly, grab attention and set the tone of your brand. It has one main role, to rapidly create a good impression and invite the viewer to carry on and experience your site. It'll need your business name and a deftly written primary statement that defines your business in as few words as possible. Your secondary statement needs to be equally concisely and ideally generate a reaction from your audience to carry on digging into the rest of your site. The home page is not the place to tell your life story. Definitely have a page of expanded descriptions about your abilities and experience on your site, but not here. “Less is more”. Convoluted design will more than likely repel rather than attract.

Oh, and your contact details must be clearly visible from anywhere on the site. Your website is a sales tool.

Lock It In!

Consistency is very important. I can think of a number of huge companies who's logos have barely changed in decades, Coke, Shell, and McDonalds. Their branding is so powerful that the logo is an immediate trigger for the product. The take home from this is to keep everything legible. Trendy fonts will date very quickly. Settle on a simple decipherable font and colour for your business's name that you are happy to stick with for at least a few years. Your “new look” along with your photography is your branding. If you do it well people will immediately associate those elements with your business.

But that’s personal!…?

If I am pitching to a client I will go online and find out what I can about them to be adequately prepared for a conversation. Expect your clients to do the same. Regardless of what you would like to think, your social media presence is not separate from your professional image. If it’s online and you are named, there is a very good chance it can and will be found. If you post highly opinionated remarks or provocative photographs of yourself, you could well damage the potential of your business. Of course, be yourself, but give a lot of thought to whom may be interested in the trail you leave behind.

It’s Never Too Late.

Branding should be a priority at the planning stages of setting up your business but it’s often lost under the list of other seemingly more pressing commitments. If you are up and running already you can put the time into locking down a new look and then launch the rebrand giving you another point of contact with everyone on your database.

Your Big Picture.

Anything that identifies your business is a branding opportunity and should be considered. The influence of branding goes far beyond a fancy logo. It is a visual trigger for people to think of your business. It’s your business’s visual identity and that makes it exceedingly important.

Creating a good impression gives people confidence in your abilities and strong branding rules build familiarity. Everything publicly linked to your name must be part of an articulate and very professional package. The brand you create is Your Big Picture.