[Lesson 2] Creating Your Authentic Brand

Great, now you know the steps you’ll follow to create your new + authentic branding, so let’s get started with the very first step: creating your brand brief.

Brand Brief

In a regular fashion project, my clients hand me a brief specifying who they are, their brand, their mission, the project, all the details of the project, and even a mood board + color palette. This creative brief is super important for the whole project because it’s a step-by-step guide that will lead me to create the products + collections that my clients need and want.

The same way your brand brief will guide you through the whole process of creating your branding elements + website. And it’ll also be useful if new team members hop on the board.

You can use the worksheets in this module to create your brand brief, then you can put all the information and images together in a new document (which can be branded according to your new brand), and use it during the creation of your website, social media graphics, blog graphics, videos, and collateral materials (like business cards, flyers, etc.).

Your Business

In the first section of your brand brief, you should describe briefly the most fundamental pieces of your brand like your business name, what you do, who you serve, and how you serve them.

You can fill up this section with the help of module 1, 2, and 3.

You + What Makes You Unique

In this section, add the things about yourself that you want to include in your brand + business, and those things that make you unique as a person + creative + business owner.

You must have these things jotted down by now, from your work in module 1, so it’ll be just a matter of curating the things that resonate the most with you + the features that you believe describe you best or are most connected to you.

Your DEEPEST WHY + Your Story

Some people call your DEEPEST WHY your brand mission, and you know it is the real + deepest reason why you do what you do. Here you can also incorporate the key points in your life + story that brought you to this moment of your life and this DEEPEST WHY.

If you need to revise your deepest why once more before writing it down, go do it. And if you already love it + want it to be part of your brand, you only got to take it from module 1 and jot it down in your brief.

Dream Audience

You know your dream audience is the people who love + need the most what you offer. I am aware that depending on your journey it could be clear as water or not so super clear, but you can include the key features of your dream clients + their pain points + desires. Make sure you summarize your dream customers in this section with the help of module 2.

Competition + Differentiators

This is the only time you’ll take a look at your competition, and you’ll do it only to acknowledge + reinforce your differences.

I don’t believe in looking at your competition more than this because then you’d get into a loop of endless comparison + self-sabotage (trying to keep up with them + what they do, you’d be trying to make of your business something that isn’t aligned with you in the first place).

So, brainstorm 3 to 5 businesses that are your competitors, then write down one sentence about your first impression about their brand + business, and after that (this is the most important) write another sentence about how you’re different than them (what are your differentiators?).

Your Messaging

Your messaging includes your brand’s values + beliefs (even if they’re from your personal life), your business bio (which is a short way to communicate what you do to other people), and the think + feel of your brand.

1. Your Brand’s Values + Beliefs. Take a look at module 1, and on your brand brief jot down the three most important values, and the three most important beliefs for your business.

2. You Business Bio. People often refer to this as your elevator pitch, and this is a super brief description (one sentence) of what you do + for who + how.

There are different formulas that you can use, and this is one of my favorites from Nikki Elledge Brown:

I help AUDIENCE + BENEFIT (what) + FEATURE (how)

For example for FSBS this is my bio or elevator pitch:

I help fashion creatives embrace + trust + use their talents to build the business of their dreams by giving them actionable tools to get there.

And for my new shop at HeartSoulMe.com:

I help soulful women remember to own themselves + be the best version of themselves by bringing them gorgeous paper + fashion goods with beautiful messages for the heart and soul.

Another formula that’s richer and more complete is from Ray Edwards, and his book, How to Write Copy That Sells:

Any [YOUR AUDIENCE] can [SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM] by using [YOUR PRODUCT], because [HOW IT SOLVES THE PROBLEM].

I love this formula because it gets more in depth into what you do + what’s your whole business all about, but also it clarifies how you can help your dream audience, and it lets people understand it so much better.

You can replace [YOUR PRODUCT] with [YOUR SERVICE], or [YOUR BUSINESS].

This is an example for FSBS:

Any fashion creative can build a thriving + fulfilling + meaningful business by using the tools in Fashion Step-by-Step because it guides them hand-on-hand to embrace + trust + use their talents.

And this is an example for my new shop:

All soulful women can remember to own themselves, acknowledge their value and beauty, become the best version of themselves, and be unmistakably themselves by using the Heart + Soul + Me products because all of them bring messages of beauty + ownership + love.

Do this: Look at the formulas. Then braindump words you could fill in that apply to your own business. Try out various phrases with each other to see which ones click the best. You can even say them out loud. And then include your business bio in your brand brief.

3. The Think + Feel of your Brand. This are all the thoughts + feelings you’d love people to think + feel about your brand. Easy peasy, just jot down them as they come to your mind.

Your Brand Keywords

This is the final piece of the first part of your brand brief. Now you’ll summarize all the information you’ve recover along this lesson (and previous modules) in five descriptive words.

These five keywords should encapsulate what your business is all about, and I mean EVERYTHING: you + your uniqueness + your differentiators + your dream clients + your DEEPEST WHY + your story + your messaging + thoughts + feelings.

These keywords will help you turn everything you’ve written so far into something visual, and something that is also authentic to you. How? Creating a visual vocabulary, and then finding out inspiring images that will help you craft your branding.

 

 

How to choose your brand keywords

Brainstorm.

You have almost a month working in TFC, so start brainstorming the descriptive words that come to your mind when thinking about your business + audience + products. Then, check all your homework, and jot down new words that you find or cross your mind.

Revise + Filter.

Which of these words resonate with you the most? What words would you love to describe your business + brand? Which of these words would resonate with your audience? What words would you like to be associated with your brand + products? Come up with a shorter list than the first one, and continue with the next step.

Assess + Decide.

Again, assess + evaluate each of the words on your preliminary list. Ask yourself:

• Why do you think + feel it’s a good keyword choice?
• Do you resonate with it deeply or it’s just a matter of a trend?
• Is this word connected to you in some way?
• Do you like this connection?
• Why do you believe this keyword encapsulates your brand + business + you + your products + your audience?
• To what aspect of your business is this word related to? – Yourself, your story, your dream audience, etc.?
• Would this word be better represented by another word?
• Or should you get rid of it?

Consider this

Keep only the words that are rooted in you, that mean something special, and that you can see how they look as something visual.

Your keywords should:

• Give you an immediate feeling. The purpose of these words is to guide you through the mood board process, so you want words that make you think of different visuals for that.
• Bring something different to your brand. You want every one of these five words to represent a different aspect of your brand essence. You want all your words to evoke different things; having vibrant + bright wouldn’t add anything extra because when they’re translated into visuals + colors, they’re too similar.
• Be adjectives or describing words. Using verbs or nouns make it difficult to pinpoint a visual or feeling. However, descriptives words and adjectives evoke the feelings + tones + visuals more directly and effectively.
• And also remember that you can use words that feel contrary or juxtaposed. You are nuanced, you have tons of different layers + attributes, and it’s totally okay that you want your brand to be multi-layer just like you. So, if you want your brand to be fun + reserved, or quirky + sophisticated, use those words as we’ll find the proper visuals that encapsulate each word.

For example, these are my keywords for FSBS:

And these are my keywords for my new shop at HeartSouldMe.com:

As you can see, they’re quite similar, and that’s because the owner it’s me, so they’re connected to me 🙂

Now, complete the part one of your brand brief, give it a lot of thought, and get ready for the next part!

LESSON 1

LESSON 3