The Branding Series | The Full Picture

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Hey Makers + DIYers! Welcome to the first post in The Branding Series. I’m partnering with Creative Market to take you along on a journey of branding my blog! Branding has always been one of the funniest parts of building an online business (I often wonder why someone would hire something this fun out to someone else?! But I know not everyone enjoys this as much as I do, so for those who do, you’re in for a real treat). 

The Branding Series | The Full Picture

The Branding Series | The Full Picture by Maker-Monologues.com

While I was thinking about branding I thought it would be so fun to document it and show you how I’m going to be working through this process. But then, I had another great idea to make it more interactive so you can possibly brand your blog or biz with me. So I’m going to be creating some fun worksheets for you so you can go through this process with me. We’ll be like business branding besties for the next few months!

Obviously, you can get this done much sooner than a few months when you’re a really small business but since I’m documenting it, it’s going to take a while because I only have so much time I can devote to this blog at this time as I’m running my jewelry biz full time. 

So, let me stop chit-chatting so we can get on with it!

The Branding Series | The Full Picture

Before we can jump into the fun stuff of choosing colors, fonts, patterns, etc., we need to lay some groundwork and gain some clarity first. We’re going to deep dive into our WHY and answer some big questions. Getting this done first will really help our decision-making when we have a million colors and fonts to choose from. 

Click below to access to Maker Resource Library to download your worksheet. 

Get 'The Full Picture' worksheets.

For all these questions I’m going to brainstorm a list. Then I’m going to start narrowing that list down, starting with marking the things that are most relevant with a star or a checkmark. Once I’ve done that, I’m going to narrow it even further down to 3-5 things. 

Take your time with each question. If you need to sleep on it then please feel free to do so. 

1. What have you always been attracted to?
(This is anything you’ve been introduced to at any time and since then you’re always drawn to it. This can be colors, foods, emotions, places, scents, a memory, etc.)

  1. Watercolor

  2. Metallic

  3. Plants

  4. Crystals

  5. Light, bright spaces

This was very hard for me to narrow down but I did it. Some of the things that didn’t make the cut (but I still love) were; pine cones, mangos, stormy weather, om symbol, henna art, herbal tea, interiors (too vague), plus more. But here, are my top 5 I want to keep in mind for this particular project. (I won't get mad if you list 10, this was very tough and I may add more!)

2. What do your customers or readers get from working with you or reading your blog?
(Ex. Say you sell handcrafted wooden watches. Of course, your customer gets a watch from you. But dig a bit deeper, what do they really get? Perhaps they get a sense of status. That’s what we’re looking for here. This could be self-confidence, a sense of adventure, easier morning routines, more time with their kids, etc.)

This was kinda awkward for me as my reader are YOU. So I’m taking guesses by putting myself in your shoes to come up with what I feel you’re getting from reading this blog. So if I’ve done my job right you get: 

  1. Creativity

  2. Freedom (by being your own boss, or becoming your own boss)

  3. Community (a feeling of belonging to the maker community)

I could only narrow it down to 3 right now because this blog is still so new and I’m still learning and listening to you all. So it's OK if you don't fill the whole 5 spots, as long as you have at least 3 you have something to work with and build upon. 

3. Why did you start your biz or blog? 

  1. To teach (I so enjoy teaching all the things I’ve learned, and because my family doesn’t care about how to run a handmade business I had to find someone who did)

  2. To connect (with like-minded creative folks instead of customers all day, which I LOVE my customers but I need to also connect with those who get what running a creative business is like)

  3. Additional revenue stream (if you’ve watched any business webinar, listened to any business podcast, or read any business book, then you know that some of the most successful entrepreneurs have multiple revenue streams)

There were some other things but not as relevant as these 3 here. 

4. How do you want your customers/readers to feel when they see your brand on social media or when they visit your website?

  1. Happy

  2. Creative

  3. Familiar (like they just seen their friend)

  4. Certain (like they know exactly what my blog is about as soon as they visit)

5. What are your biz/blog values?
These are your non-negotiables. From your lists above, come up with 3-5 core values for your brand. These could be stellar customer service, over-delivering, giving back, etc.)

  1. Passion over profit (meaning, I will not sacrifice connecting you, my reader, with your passion for the sake of making a profit on a post)

  2. Less noise, more substance (meaning, I will not button up what I want to say on any particular topic for the sake of appearing more “polished.” Readers don't need anymore fluffy “5 ways to create an enticing headline” posts, they want the realness.

  3. Community-focused (I will not leave you guys hanging in the comments section feeling ignored. I’ve seen way too many blogs with tons of comments and no one addressing them. This goes for emails as well. I know a point will come where I just can’t possibly reply to every comment but I will do my absolute best. Plus, the point of creating a community is to have readers engage with other readers, so if you see a question that I haven’t gotten to and you know the answer, or know a post I’ve written that has the answer, please feel free to jump in.)

I purposely left the last 2 blanks because I want some room to grow.

This was a lot of work but I’m excited to have this first part completed so we can finally jump into some of the fun stuff!

I hope you enjoyed today's lesson, remember, the next post in this series will come out in 2 weeks so please take your time, sit with these questions for a couple of days and keep them in mind as you’re going about your day. 

I’m not an expert at branding, it’s just something I’ve come to really love over the years, I’ve taken some branding courses and learned a lot and I’ve also found some other things that make branding helpful for me. 

If you have any questions just leave them below and I’ll get to you. Also, please share with me some of your answers! I am too giddy about learning about you, you can post photos below, link to your blog/biz, or tag me on Instagram and use #MMBrandingSeries!