Your branding is where people first begin to form an opinion of who you are, what you stand for and what your business is. Good branding might not happen overnight; it might be a progressional thing, But, when you have finally nailed it. It is time to invest in a few small items that will leave your clients and potential clients impressed.
1) Get an email signature built. If you happen to great at design and a bit of coding, this shouldn’t be a problem for you to do by yourself. You can play around with the layout until you get something that you think aligns itself with you and the message you are trying to get across. If you can’t build it yourself, you can use a free options WiseStamp or hire freelancers perhaps.
Things to include are:
- Name
- Job Title
- Company Name
- Address (if in office space, think about whether a home address should be on there)
- Phone Number
- Email Address
- Website
- Include your professional social media links.
- Branded colors
- Logo
- Photograph of you
2) It is all too easy to let your single logo image be used on all of your social media platforms. However, each display picture and cover photo require different sizes. It looks much cleaner and professional to have each social media platform set up with the right sized images. Twitter has a theme colour option, so make use of this and make the page the same color as your primary color in the branding.
3) Now you have taken care of some of the online stuff; it’s time to move to offline. Take a look at the space you work it, does any of it represent your brand? If you had clients, would they be able to see a logo or branded colors anywhere? If not, then it’s time to consider your office aesthetic. Pick up some simple things like a branded mouse mat, brand color pen pots, custom labels, personalized pens. It doesn’t have to be expensive it just has to reflect you and your brand.
4) Once you have branded your surrounding, it is time to brand yourself. Although it has been more accepted in ‘creative’ office environments to wear a t-shirt and jeans, and while that is very comfortable, it isn’t always giving off the impression you might like. If you are a freelancer or in the middle of a start-up, what you wear and how you wear it can tell your potential clients a lot about you. Invest in a few staple pieces. Check out Pinterest for working wardrobe ideas. (men here and women here)
5) Remember invoices, envelopes, letterheads, and most online project management software has the ability to have a logo added – and some have space for a tagline too. Make the most of it and make some time to ensure you have your logo and brand colors everywhere possible.
Those are a few small things that you should look to implement as soon as you can.
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