SpotlightDecember2020

with being clear about your brand values. HOW TO GET CLARITY ON YOUR BRAND VALUES: • Reflect on WHO you are serving with your brand. Do your brand values support this person best? • Get clear on the values that are most import- ant to your brand. What values are you willing to fight for? • Decide on one action you can take to better align your brand with your values. How might this action help the customers you serve? YOUR VISUAL BRANDING Now that you have clarity around your brand goals, and values, the next thing to focus on is your visual brand. Visual branding is anything that you use to visually market your brand. It can include every- thing from the colours you use, to the clothing you wear. Like your brand values and message, visual branding influences your customers’ per - ception of your business. To find out if your visual brand is in good standing ask yourself the following questions. If your answer is ‘no’ to any of the following questions, this is an area you can improve with your visual brand. • I use consistent colours throughout ALL of my marketing materials (website, social media graphics, business card etc.) • I use consistent fonts throughout ALL of my marketing materials • I use a consistent style of photography or illustration throughout ALL of my marketing materials • My wardrobe makes me feel confident, and compliments the look, feel, and message of my brand

OVERLOOKED & UNDERVALUED: THREE AREAS OF YOUR BRAND TO STOP IGNORING BUILDING BRANDS WITH BRITTA Y Branding is often at the bottom of most small business owners’ priorities. Between sales, mar- keting, client fulfillment and more, branding can easily take a backseat when it should be a daily practice. by Brittany Pickrem

Your brand is one of your most valuable assets of your business. It has the power to differentiate you from your competitors, build your reputa- tion, and to make a difference. Although its clear that branding is important, what’s less clear is where you can best focus your energy to build a unique, and meaningful brand presence. In this article I’ve identified three areas that brand builders and business leaders tend to overlook, and undervalue. Your Brand Goals The beauty about setting brand goals is that it gives you clarity on what’s important, and what’s not so important for your brand. The good news is that setting brand goals do NOT need to be complicated, and it’s totally OK if you don’t always achieve them. What matters most is that you are aiming for specific outcomes. BRAND GOALS WILL BECOME A REALITY BY ASKING YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS: • What is the goal I want to achieve? • Why is it important I achieve this goal? What impact will it have? • When do I want to achieve this goal by? • How might I achieve this goal within this time- frame?

• Who might be able to help me achieve this goal? YOUR BRAND VALUES & MESSAGING If it’s one major branding lesson I’ve taken away from 2020, is that we can all do a better job standing up for the values that matter most to us. As brand builders and business leaders, we have a special gift, and responsibility to stand firmly for the values we believe in. We get to decide what values we want to champion through our brand messaging. If we choose to be brave, we can begin to make a difference, even if it’s only at a micro-level at first. Change can happen with you, and it starts

• My professional portrait is NOT older than 3-5 years old

Of course, there are many other areas about your brand that can get overlooked and under- valued, but these three areas are not a bad place to start. Cheers to building your best brand ~ Brittany Pickrem is a brand designer for 6 and 7-figure leaders and changemakers across the globe. Brittany provides leaders with a world- class brand strategy and style from their website to their wardrobe.

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DECEMBER 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE

SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • DECEMBER 2020

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