Blog
How to Design Beautiful Layouts for Your Programs & Marketing?
Creating beautiful layouts is integral part of content marketing, list building, and running your (online) programs. Check out these layout design tips to ensure your customers will finish reading that workbook or freebie they got from you. So what makes a layout...
5 Mindset shifts to help you eliminate branding overwhelm
Branding your business — or yourself — can feel like a really big project. I often hear small business owners discuss the overwhelm they feel when they think about the branding project they're in the middle of. It's understandable considering that most of us are...
How to know if your brand strategy is off?
Is Brand Strategy worth the effort? What even is Brand Strategy? And most importantly: how do you know if your brand strategy is inadequate and lacking? What are the signs and symptoms? In this video, I go over what is brand strategy and how does it affect your...
What is a brand? And why you need one.
In this video blog post, I go over what is a brand, how is it different from "branding," and finally what is brand management. And of course, why you essentially want to get hands on in the process as early as possible. https://youtu.be/w-RuxyXllcI You know the...
How to build a personal brand?
In this quick video (10:49) video, I’m going to talk a little bit about personal branding and especially when it comes to product based businesses. I’ll explain quickly what personal branding is, why it’s important, and I’ll also go through the most critical steps of...
What you need to build a website?
Designing and building a website is a fascinating project of business and marketing strategy, design smarts, and tech challenges. There's many moving pieces, and if you're going to do all of it yourself, you get to wear many hats in the process. Do I think you can do...
The 9 most common design mistakes on small business websites
Check out this video (22 min 50 sec) to learn what are the most common design related mistakes I most often bump into with small business websites. And of course, if you're still on the fence whether you need a website or not, learn why having website is beneficial...
How to “dress up” your brand for the Holidays?
In this quick Holiday spirited video (13 min 53 s), I’ll explain the dos and dont's of Holiday theming your marketing and branding. How do you "dress up" your brand for the holidays? Do you just add a Santa hat on your logo for Christmas? What can you add to your...
How to position your brand for success?
Imagine how it would feel to have your brand finally reflect the vision you have in your head. A vision that will take you and your business to the next level. That’s what we’re going to start working on right now. Watch the video below and download the Ultimate...
Design Hack: Using a table of content template to create a step-by-step guide.
In this quick Design Hack video (15min 09s), I'll show you how you can use a table of content template to create a beautiful and styled PDF step-by-step guides or "listicles." https://youtu.be/qCg7PvAPmXk Who is this video perfect for? Whether you need this is or not...
How to grow your brand when you don’t have a product or service ready?
Check out this quick video lesson (~16min 40s) and get ready to map your brand's long term vision and short term goals, as well as the next steps you need to take. It's a "feeding two birds with one scone" kind of a video teaching you how to start building brand...
How does your brand bring you more customers?
I often talk about focusing on your customer when you’re building your brand. That is a solid advice and applies really to almost anything that your business does. One part of the branding process is to define your ideal customer with enough detail that you can bring...
How to build a “branding mindset?”
If you’re a small business owner and you’re building your brand, you may bump into mindset challenges. How to keep moving forward without feeling stuck? How to stay motivated in the process? What to focus on throughout the branding process? And how to feel confident...
What does it take to DIY your branding?
The fact that you can actually DIY your branding and have successful and professional looking outcomes often comes as a surprise to most entrepreneurs. The part about doing the process yourself is not the surprise here: many business owners are forced to DIY their...
Why you need to learn branding, even if you’re going to hire someone to do it for you?
When you understand how branding works and what the process is, you have much easier time finding the right people to hire for the process and directing and guiding you consultant or designer. Knowing your way through the branding process can also...
Where and How to start branding?
“Where and how to start building a brand?” This is — hands down — the most common question I get from small business owners and solopreneurs. But while many feel overwhelmed, this one is actually easy to answer, because you start with YOU. Your...
How to design a logo — the ultimate guide for creating a stellar logo for your business
Why you need a logo? Regardless of the type of business you have, you're going to need a logo. Why, you may ask. After all, I do bring up so often that your logo is not your brand. It ay not be your brand, but it is a critical part of it. Why do you need a logo? Well,...
Building a brand that converts in 7 steps
Your brand strategy is a key element when it comes to building a brand that attracts raving fans. It outlines things like: What is the valuable offering you make to your customers?What makes you unique?What are the core values your brand reflects? What does your brand...
How to find your niche audience?
As they say, riches are in the niches. Practically speaking, this means that when you have a clearly defined niche audience (also known as you ideal customer avatar), you can tailor and focus your branding, marketing, and messaging to attract that specific audience....
34 Tips for nurturing daily creativity
How many times have I heard someone without an art or design degree say: “I’m not creative, I couldn’t do x, y, z?” ...probably countless of times. It seems to be a common misconception that creativity is reserved for the so called “creative professionals” such as art...
Five things you need to decide before building your website
So, you have a great business idea, but the thought of putting a website together seems overwhelming. Where in the world do you start when you want to build a professional looking and beautiful website? A quick google search on 'how to build a website' comes up with a...
How to build a brand both you and your customers love?
Do you unconditionally love your brand? And also feel comfortable showing it: your brand and your love for it? And I don't mean, are you comfortable speaking in front of camera or on a Facebook live. I mean, do you get lit up just by talking about your business, your...
How to build a brand when you don’t know who your ideal customer is?
You know how in the beginning of your business, for marketing purposes and for anything else, you develop an ideal customer avatar (ICA)? This is a critical process for being able to build a successful business model and offering. And it happens in the very beginning...
How to create consistent branding without brand guidelines?
One of the reasons we create visual guidelines (logo, colors, fonts, etc.) is to ensure that any marketing and visual communication we put out there is always aligned to our brand. We want everything to be consistent. If you have well-crafted brand guidelines and a...
Have a beautifully efficient year with just enough planning
I love planning and organizing things. I also love making frameworks and defining processes. And of course, I have my preferred way of keeping tabs with all of that. When I couldn't find a 2019 planner that suited my planning and organizing style and goal setting...
How to work with designers: design brief
Do you outsource design tasks and find that often the end result looks nothing like what you were expecting? This is a super common friction point between designers and their clients. If this happened to you, maybe you hired an unexperienced designer — or just one...
How to stand out in a crowded marketplace
Are you intimidated by the competition in your industry? Do you feel like the marketplace is already crowded with folks offering the exact same services or products as you are? If you are, you’re not alone. All entrepreneurs face competition. Even if you’re offering a...
How to choose the right colors for your brand
Colors are critical to your brand. The right colors will strengthen your messaging and brand personality. Whereas the wrong colors may put your audience off or even make them feel uneasy. Your prospective customer has to be able to think and feel “this is meant for...
Unstuck yourself and start defining your branding today
Are you stuck with your business because you can't seem to get the branding done? Do you feel like the branding you have doesn't reflect who you are or what your business is really about? Or maybe you bought a cheap logo, but it just doesn't feel right, or something...
Create branded assets quickly with a design system
As an entrepreneur, you have lots of communication needs. And as a rule of thumb, this communication should be branded — and should look that way, too. But hiring a designer to put together designed assets every time you need something can get expensive and take time,...
What is your Brand DNA?
What is your brand made of? Most people will associate a brand with its visual look and feel — or its logo. A marketer will tell you your brand is in the stories your business tells through marketing. And they're not wrong. But...
Build a brand you love and feel proud of
As a solopreneur, your company is your career and passion. Your business truly is what you make of it. It can be very personal, and it can be extremely empowering. Running your own business can even be a healing experience. It is also what you spend the most of your...
How to know if your design is good enough to publish?
One of the most common questions I get from non-designers is "how do I know when my design is good enough to publish?" People seem to think that there's some magical gut feeling to tell you that "wow, now it is ready and amazing." The truth is, even experienced...
How to choose the right Canva template for your leadmagnet
Design is becoming more accessible for masses with easy to use online design applications like Canva.com. This is great for solopreneurs and, really, anyone who has just started their business and can't afford to (or don't want to) invest in hiring a professional...
Top 3 reasons you need a brand identity
For many new entrepreneurs, building a brand identity might be the last thing on the list. There's already so much to do with naming your company, getting a business license, finding new clients, filing for any needed permits, planning for marketing, and so on....
Download our FREE Logo design guide
So, you're building a new brand? Congratulations. We have made the work a bit easier for you with our new FREE "How to create your first logo." The Guide will walk you through how different styles can help represent your brand personality, what colors communicate, and...
Design tips for non-designers
Having a professional designer in your team is great. A good designer is worth her weight in avocados and Peet's Coffee — not to mention a healthy financial reward. Designers often specialize in an area like branding or user experience, and that makes their process...
Knowing your audience is everything
How do you know what is your friend’s favorite food? How do you find out what your significant other would like to do on Valentine’s Day? How do you know if your mom liked her Mother’s Day gift? The easiest way to find out is to just ask. When I tell people that I...
Printable Goal Tracking Sheets
Get them here: Printable_tracking-sheets-8.5x11 While you're here, why not checking out the blog.