Creating a personal brand that you love is hard. Have you ever wondered why you are constantly changing your mind on your brand visuals? Today I am sharing with you 5 questions to ask yourself and keep yourself on track while creating a timeless personal brand you love in a trendy market.

It happened again, didn’t it?

After a rainy afternoon of scrolling brand designs on Pinterest or landing on an IG feed that gives you googly eyes, you feel the urge. You want to redesign your logo, change brand colors, or choose new fonts. Every time a fresh new trend emerges, or you see someone else’s dreamy-looking visuals, you want to reinvent your brand.

Or maybe you’ve been playing it safe by using the same font for your logo and marketing materials for several years, but they’re not making you feel any type of way (and if you’re not feeling some great vibes from your own brand, your audience probably isn’t either). You’ve had visions of new branding dancing in your mind and have pinned a thousand ideas, but you can’t decide what direction to take, so you haven’t made a move. 

In both cases, I’d venture to say you feel like you’re having a constant brand identity crisis. So, you either keep changing your visuals every time a trend catches your eye, or you’re plain stuck and can’t nail down your brand. 

Can I tell you what happens when you keep changing your brand visuals to match trends?

First of all, if you don’t look like yourself, you will look like someone else’s imitator. Yikes! You may think your audience doesn’t see it, but trust me, they will. 

And… I’m going to keep it real with you. If your visuals are constantly changing, another message could potentially resonate with your prospective clients- inconsistency. As a photographer or other creative service provider, this is not the look you want to put off to someone looking to do business with you. 

How are they supposed to decide if you’re right for them if you can’t decide which version of you is right for you? 

Can we say that a little louder for the people in the back?  

It’s ingrained in us to jump from trend to trend and ship to ship.

The problem is that when you’re constantly jumping, you’re not building a timeless brand that can withstand the changing trends.

We grab onto one shiny object after the other, and we’re not attached to any of them, because we’ll easily toss them aside to get the next thing.

We live in a day and age of throwaway fashion, but we certainly don’t want a throwaway brand!

So, now, let’s answer the other side of the coin!

Why is creating a personal brand the way to go? 

There are so many benefits to building a brand that lasts the test of time! 

First, your audience will come to know you. A timeless brand allows you to show up looking like someone recognizable and familiar to them. People will know your posts and brand’s identity when they scroll, and your memorability will build that know, like, and trust factor that makes people want to buy from you. 

Next, when you’re changing your brand’s visual elements like you change outfits for a hot date, think about all that time you’re spending spinning your wheels! The old adage is true- Time is money. So, when you’re falling down the rabbit hole of tossing one set of brand visuals for another, you’re spending valuable time you could be spending getting more clients and earning more money. An established and timeless brand will give your brand stability, providing you with the time and energy to focus on all the other parts of your business. 

Let’s talk a little about what might have happened that got you here, and then I’m going to give you 5 guiding questions to pull your brand up by the bootstraps and move it from trend follower to timeless when creating a personal brand! 

It’s important to see what got you here. Wanna know why? Because I want the next brand direction you lean into to be everything! The one that makes you say, “Yes, that’s it!” Your brand should feel swoon-worthy first to you, because if you love it, your audience will, too! So let’s get starting creating a personal brand you love! 

Here are the likely reasons you’re always wanting to change your brand visuals:

1. You didn’t invest in a quality brand design process, to begin with. Maybe you were just starting out and didn’t have the budget, so you went the DIY route or hired someone solely on cost.

    

2. You’ve never really gotten to the heart of your brand.

    

3. You’ve been playing it safe and are afraid to move out of what feels comfortable, even though you know your brand is so much more than what you’re currently showing the world!

Great, now that you know which of the three probably got you here, here are five questions to set the stage for creating a personal brand you love.

1. What core values align with my business?

   Is it important that your clients have a fun experience, experience confidence, or feel educationally equipped? Are you trying to capture a luxurious and upscale feel or a friendly and fun vibe? What demographic are you trying to appeal to? To develop a timeless brand identity, consider the qualities you want to communicate to customers about your brand. Then, create a list of keywords that best describe your business and values. These words can set the tone of your brand, which will move the visual style. Taking the time to uncover the values that align with how you want people to think and feel about you will help lead you to a visual style you will want to stick with. 

    

2. What is the strategy behind what I’m doing?
   

   While you may be captivated by an aesthetic element like a font pairing or logo style, putting that brand outfit on yourself (although it looks great hanging on the rack) might not feel like a good fit if the selection isn’t grounded in any kind of strategy. 

   You’ll want to consider elements that matter to you or strongly connect to your identity. I’ll give you a personal example.

   Growing up, my grandma always had peony bushes in her yard. I loved going to her house and seeing and smelling them.

   Because of this, I will always use flowers in my branding to connect with who I am and where I came from. It also helps me connect with those who resonate with flowers and the vibrancy something so small can bring.

   Using florals in branding will come and go as a trend, but they’ll remain a part of my brand, because they’re authentically me, and they resonate with the type of people I want to work with no matter what the recent trend is.

   Think through what inspires your work or elements of your personal story and find the constants that could play into your visual identity and become your signature visual elements. 

3. What do you see as the future of your business?
   

   We don’t spend enough time thinking forward. I get it! We’re so busy working here and now that even if you made a vision board or wrote a vision statement at some time, have you dusted it off lately to see if it still resonates with you? Think about your business’s future to create brand visuals that will stand the test of time and not feel dated or lackluster. What is the vision you have for your future?
   
   Consider who you want to move towards attracting or what products and services you want to offer potentially. Think of your big picture and your full potential, and you’ll have a north star to help you filter in and out visuals that make sense not just for now but for where you’re heading.

4. What do I offer, and who do I want to work with?

   
   I guess that was two questions in one! These might seem like super-simple questions at first, but let’s go deeper. Step away from the features of what you sell and outline all the tangible and emotional benefits of what you bring to the table for your clients. Features don’t generally sell, but benefits do! Another way to ask yourself this is, “What is the desired outcome or transformation associated with my offerings?” If you can pin down the real reason people buy from you, the real value, you can lean into visuals that help you communicate your brand’s big message! One font might allow you to signal warmth and care. Another might send the message of stability. You must know what benefits need to resonate loud and clear.
   

5. Who are my competitors, and what makes me stand out?
   

   Before you take off on brand visuals just because you love the look (for now!), look at who’s in your market. You’d hate to spend time and money on one visual direction to see someone in your immediate competitor’s space showing up the same way (ever show up to an event wearing the same dress as someone else???)- definitely not what you want.

   You want to be chosen over your competition, so you must figure out what differentiates you from them. The other questions above might have led you to this answer. Still, I can’t stress enough how knowing this not only will give you clarity on how you can create a timeless brand, but you’ll also gain the confidence of knowing that the people you want to notice you see you for who you are and what ONLY you can bring to them.   

You got this!

I hope you’re feeling better centered around your brand to select visual elements you can stick with and are ready to either get off the hot mess express or step out of your comfort zone to embrace a timeless and AH-mazing brand!

And if you’re ready to take your business next level and need a branding refresh that will make your visual presence feel as comfortable and timeless as your favorite pair of jeans, I’m here to help! 

By now you probably have a strong inclination if you are ready for a rebrand or not. If the answer is a resounding YES and you are ready to start attracting more of the right clients and uplevel your business then you need more strategy in your website design. A pretty website is great, but it’s the strategy that actually gets you more of the right clients and grows your bottom line. But don’t worry, I know how to make your business pretty AND profitable . If this sounds like something you are ready for then click the button below and book a call where we can chat about your brand and website goals and build the perfect package just for you.

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