October 13th, 2018

BRANDING TIPS WITH EMILIA OF SIMPLY ELABORATE

Hi loves,

Today I’m excited to share not only some amazing branding tips from Emilia of Simply Elaborate (who designed the blog you see here today) but her personal branding photos we created together.

I first met Emilia when she reached out to me to do a photoshoot – we connected really quick and have since collaborated on a lot of fun things. We recently hosted a giveaway on my Instagram where one lucky winner would get to win a custom website from her.

I’ve really enjoyed watching Emilia’s business flourish. She has also recently launched their own training program that gives you the tools you need to make your wordpress shine. We include some peeks to her program below.

Now onto the branding tips…

What’s NOT working. Things to avoid doing

A confusing menu: Thing that confuses people are too confusing websites and that includes a cluttered menu/navigation
Unimportant information: While you definitely SHOULD toot your own horn, don’t focus on it TOO much. Too often I see coaches focus on what’s awesome about THEIR lives instead of how they’re helping their clients.
Trying to dazzle with design: You’re a {enter what you do here}, not a designer. That is OKAY. In fact, better than okay because it’s better to be a master of one than a jack of all trades – focus on what you’re great at.
No contact/hours/location information: After all this time and effort, people forget to include the most important thing: How to buy the service + when it’s offered (online/in person – if in person – WHERE?)

TIPS FOR BRANDING

Use Pinterest as your brand board. Spend 20-30 minutes pinning stuff you like (include colours, fonts, moods) and refer to the board when putting together your website for quick inspiration.
Choose 3 colours that you like (and match) and stay within those colours for your new brand.
Choose 2 fonts, maximum, to use in your brand/logo. Go to Google Fonts for inspiration and test out the font-pairings. Here’s a fun website to see great Google font pairings: https://fontpair.co/
Find a really inspirational photo to use (or take one with your phone!) that really represents your brand and what you love and feel like. Print it. Make it your desktop photo. Make it your Phone’s background and make sure you stare at it when working on your brand.

TIPS FOR KEEPING WEBSITE SIMPLE/DECLUTTERED

Find a theme you like that will require little to no changes to make things easier for you when starting out. If you need to perform changes: GET HELP because trying to figure it out yourself will waste your time. (ie. The simply elaborate themes!?)
Make sure every page has a purpose ie. Call to action.
No fancy menu item names. Be clear. About Me, Services, Shop,
Contact – it’s not brain surgery.
Get good photography. Doesn’t have to be expensive. Get dolled up, grab a friend and your smartphone – they have wonderful, wonderful cameras.For website photos, I’d recommend splurging on a paid stock photo. Reason: Too many people use the free stock photo websites and EVERYONE has the same one everywhere. Just get one or two to use throughout the site to enhance your professionalism.
After you’ve completed your design and content, ask a friend or stranger (who you’d identify as your target audience) to go on your site and ask them to answer these questions: