Your Brand in Action

November 16, 2022

Okay so you’ve started the branding process. You have a logo and visual identity, maybe even some brand insights & strategy. Now how do you use that in the real world?

1. Messaging & A Branded Website

Put that design to good use! This is one of the most common places your audience will see and experience your brand. Make sure your designer has used your correct fonts & colours for consistency. Any web designer will be happy to have the design foundations set by your visual brand to truly make your website yours!

This is also the perfect place to showcase your brand through photography styles and messaging. Your photos should represent your business & services and also have a distinct style that can be used consistently throughout your other online channels. Your messaging should resonate with your target audience and bring out the personality of your business.

Take Glossier for example. Their language is informative but also “Millennial,” adding to their overall brand and audience focus. Now if you switch and look at the Nike’s website you can see the shift in the design & imagery. You can also feel the change in tone. It’s more about innovation and inspiration.

2. Social Media Channels

Another great spot to use the design standards set in your brand guide. Keeping consistent colours & fonts throughout all your social media channels as well as making sure your profiles use the same profile picture and business name will add to your brand recognition and build trust with your audience.

When you can use consistent Canva templates those will be great to highlight your brand colours, patterns, & fonts. However, keep in mind some platforms (like Instagram) are meant to share photos and videos as well and don’t always need a template. Messaging and photography are important ways to showcase your brand and communicate with your audience.

Generally you can afford to have a slightly lighter tone with certain social media channels. Jump on the Instagram/Tiktok trends where you can as long as they connect back to your services or business in some way.

3. Packaging & Merch

If your business has physical products, this is another place your audience will experience your brand. Depending on what the product or service is, you might not even be around when they purchase or use it!

Hair products are a great example. Many people might use these products at salons or purchase at a store all without seeing your brand anywhere else. This means something on that packaging and something about that product has to grab attention and pull customers in.

Messaging & design are important here in particular. In a store there may be 100s of similar products so your packaging has to say “pick me.” When it comes to packaging again, think back to your audience and the mission behind your brand.

4. Signage & Location

If you have a physical location your brand will be seen in person as well as online. Location and store fronts can’t always be completely customizable but when possible, always flip back to those brand standards.

Think, can you use your brand colours for wall colours? Can you get indoor & outdoor signage made? How do you want someone to feel when they walk in? What kind of music is playing? What’s the lighting like?

Take Starbucks for example, (I know we’re not all owners of a billion dollar cafe franchise but hear me out) basically anywhere in the world you can walk into a Starbucks and the “vibe” is pretty much the same. The interior has natural finishings, lots of windows, not too brightly lit. It feels warm, cozy, and the baristas are always there to smile and ask you what you’d like to order. This is an example of consistent branding.

Now of course Starbucks has the money to make sure all their stores look a certain way but when it comes to your own business location think about what you want your customers to feel when they come into your business. See where there are areas you can add branded touches to make customers feel the way you want them too.

What now?

So what do you do with all this? Make a plan. Use these tips to create a consistency across any platform or physical space your audience might find you. Don’t visual brand and logo just yet? We can help you out. Check out the different brand packages we offer to bring your business’ personality to life.

Leveraging Instagram for your Business

March 2, 2022

Leveraging IG for your Biz!

Social media is such a powerful tool to market your business. Instagram is organic, fun and gives you the opportunity to really express your brands personality, all while providing value to your followers and turning content into exposure that drives your offerings.

1.Engage, engage, engage!

This requires time and effort, but the more you interact with others, the more exposure you’ll get to create your own community of followers. The more other people engage with your page and your content, the more you get played into the algorithm and increases your exposure yet again. (This requires a content strategy ) what does your brand represent? Start engaging with likeminded brands!

Lastly, engage with your followers! Interact via IG stories, ask questions, create polls, highlight your journey and document for them to follow. This industry is about building relationships and leaving people with a feeling that connects them back to you!

2. Consistency is key.

This is true for anything in life. Consistency, not perfection! If you’re only posting once a month you’re not likely to fall into the algorithm patterns and get the exposure you want. Create a theme and posting pattern, posting at least 4 times a week is helpful to stay active. If that seems like too much, find an amount you know you can stick too, just make it consistent. EX. Quotes & tips & tricks.

3. CTA – Call To Action

All of this content is great.. but what are your results? Do you have more drives to your website? Do you have more people seeking out your services? If not, you probably need to be including way more calls to action for people to be prompted to take the next step! Or at the very least, using it to create the engagement you want to increase exposure, drawing more people to your page. LIKE, TAG, SHARE, COMMENT, SAVE.

4. Host Giveaways

People love to opportunity to win things! Especially when the thing they could win provides value that they want within their life. And chances are If they’re following you, they like what you’re offering. This is a great way not only to increase your brand presence but also to generate quality leads. EX. You get 100 people sharing and entering your post, out of the hundred emails collected, at least one of those is likely to invest in your offerings because they took the time to enter and see what you’re business is all about.

5. Document your brand!

Are people tagging you? Are your followers/clients enjoying what you sell/offer? YES! Document that! Repost what they share and show them love back while showing other potential clients WHY your offering is a great investment. Once you start sharing more of your journey and create that dialogue, more and more people will tune in to see how your business is progressing.

You can do this through stories, story highlights, reel series, video series etc.

Nail down who your target audience is and grab their attention. Share your story!

Always in your corner xo,

Kate

A Roadmap to Goal Setting

January 5, 2022 business development, content marketing, digital marketing, grande prairie, how to, how to increase profits, Marketing, personal branding, small business

Another blog talking about reflection during the new year.. Yep, keep reading!

There is so much hype around a new year and the changes it brings, the things that we should leave behind in the year that’s past and what to cultivate in the year to come. I am a big believer in doing these check in’s on a regular basis and not just when the date changes. It cultivates so much growth and holds us accountable when we are able to pause, think about how far we’ve come and get inspired about all of the things we want to do.

A beautiful reminder to consistently be creating a life that we love and doing the things that set our souls on fire. These are the super exciting parts of reflection and the positivity that can be attached to it, but I know goal setting can also induce feelings of anxiety, and if that’s you right now, know that you aren’t alone! Here are a few tips to help organize your personal and business goals for the new year:

Write a list of all of the things you are proud of for doing this past year, make a list of personal wins and work wins
Write a list of all of the things that you wanted to accomplish or feel, but didn’t
Now, write a new list of the steps you need to take in order to hit the goals or cultivate the feelings you want to for 2022
Break that list down even further into the daily routine you need to have in order to actually implement change. Small tasks = big results.

These lists provide a nice birds eye view of what you loved about 2021, what you know you can grow from and what you’ve got your eyes set on for 2022. Before we continue, deep breath, big smile! Onto the next.

BUSINESS GOALS:

Create your big-hairy-audacious goal for 2022. Remember, this is the time to dream BIG, don’t worry about how you’re going to get there just yet, just think of what it is you would love to be doing (wine vineyard on the coast? Clothing boutique? Hotel Chain? Sky’s the limit). Now let’s break it down. Whether you are starting your dream today, are in your first year, or year 10 – what is the next step RIGHT NOW that you need to take to reach the next goal?

How many customers do you need to have to reach X, how many items do you need to sell etc. These questions will vary depending on what market you are in, but you get the idea. Start to break down each piece of your business and make a projection for this year of what you need to have in order to meet your target.

Now that you have a rough projection, what is your marketing strategy? How will people know about you? How will they find you? What touch points are you going to have? A few examples are:

Website
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facebook
Youtube
Twitter
Blog
Email Marketing
Pinterest

Each of these hit a different market, creates a different type of buzz and needs a different strategy. Don’t be overwhelmed at the amount of platforms that are available, instead decide who your target market is and then pick the touchpoint best suited for those people and choose to do 1-3 of these really well.

Setting yourself up for success in any business strategy is having the proper foundation. Do you have a Brand? If so, is that reflected on your website and your social platforms? This is the personality of your business, not just your logo! How do people feel after they leave an online or in person interaction with you?

In a perfect world, you set the scene for your Business by creating:

Brand (with a capital B! This encompasses so much!)
Website or one major touchpoint where people can see the story of what you offer (ensure you’ve got best practices in place for these so that it is actually working FOR you)
Empower yourself and your team to use the above to its fullest potential

Lastly, remember you got this. You and your business will go through constant states of growth and rebirth. You will always be evolving and learning! Dream big, set goals and set yourself up for success with routine and strategy.

Always in your corner,

Kate

Entrepreneur Nine10 Business Coffee desk

Insights from the Modern Entrepreneur

November 19, 2021

2021 was quite a year! What a time for business owners and entrepreneurs as we learned to pivot and navigate things like never before. I am sure, like me, you learned a lot about yourself and your business as you adjusted to this new world. I learned a lot over this past year, and what I’ve loved most about my side hustle is as it grows, I grow with it.

Here are my top 5 takeaways from 2021…

Authenticity is your SUPERPOWER

Seriously. You want to become a powerhouse? You can’t do it by trying to follow someone else’s roadmap. You will always flourish and shine most when you are leading from the heart and being your honest self. That might sound corny, but your business can be your truest form of self expression, and building your brand around what you love is the best way to do that.

Integrating personality into your brand is everything. Your personality, passion, and your heart are the essence of your identity in your brand. How do you want people to feel after interacting with you and/or your business? Keeping your “why,” your purpose, and your heart at the center of everything you do and letting it shine through.

Growth is not linear

This applies to life in general. Your business is tied so much to personal development, and as you grow, shift and evolve, so will your business. If some days starting a business feels like the most amazing thing, and some days it feels like you’re drowning and it’s the worst, you are NOT alone.

Our natural state as entrepreneurs is constantly stretching between how far you’ve come and how far you still want to go. We’re stretched between being so proud of one thing and simultaneously feeling like you haven’t met expectations on another. One of the kindest things you can do for yourself is embracing the change of seasons within yourself and your company.

Community is Critical.

This leads me into my third takeaway. Finding your people and creating a community. One of my biggest values within my side hustle is to embrace vulnerability and to remind people that they aren’t alone. No matter what business or market you’re in, creating connections that empower you will help you inspire others. The right community will remind you that in everything you experience, from the good, the bad, to the ugly, you are not alone.

Managing your mindset, expectations, values and keeping your patience and determination is damn near impossible to do on your own. So, create connections, build community, and make a habit of asking for help when you need it.

Time Management.

It takes time to get to where you want to go, and there’s no greater force than just sticking with things and seeing them through. There are certainly strategies that will help with creating consistency and increasing chances for success – but for the sake of this pillar, it’s learning to be effective with your time. I’ve struggled with this so much, so many things to do and my monkey brain ran in all directions at all times. I constantly felt like I didn’t have an off button.

I think as driven people that happens naturally sometimes, but there’s no gold medal for running yourself into the ground. Instead, learn to time block and plan ahead. Prioritize your tasks and carve out specific times for yourself to refill your cup so you can hit the ground running with what comes next. Know when to hustle and when to rest.

Finding your Visual (public) Identity.

This ties into the authenticity of your business and your brand. Choosing to take the time to represent who you are and why you’re different will help you and your businesses stand out. Again, think about how you want people to feel after they see you or interact with you. Sit down over coffee/tea or, my personal fav, a tall glass of Shiraz, and put some real thought into your why behind your business.

What are your values? What kind of customers/community do you want? What spaces do I want to create? There are so many avenues we can take with these questions and introspection is my JAM (hello Psych degree and yoga side hustle).

So, no matter what phase of life and business you are in right now, if you’re in the mud of learning something new and it feels really messy but overwhelmingly wonderful at the same time, that might very well be a sign you’re doing something right.

I can’t wait to dive into all of these pillars even more as we continue to move forward. There are some really exciting things in the works within my business hat of nine10. Any guesses?

Always in your corner,

Kate

Quick Play: How to Set Up Styles in Microsoft Word Documents

October 6, 2021

Hi there, I’m Paula, the Administrative Assistant at nine10. In today’s quick play, I will show you how to set a style in a Microsoft word document.

What is a style? A style is simply formatting that you apply to text, and then that formatting is given a name such as heading, title or subheading.

I’m going to share my screen. I’m on the home tab in a Microsoft word document. Here is the styles group. On the Home tab and within the style group, you can click the little arrow. Now you will see the Styles gallery and view the options listed. You’ll notice that if you have text selected in the document, when you scroll over the style options, you are provided with an overview of what the text would change to if that style is selected.

In this example, the Heading 2 Style isn’t formatted correctly to match nine10’s branding.

To change the formatting of the Heading 2 Style:

Right-click heading two and select modify. The dialogue box shows you the name ‘Heading 2’.
In the font type, your font. I am selecting Montserrat and the font size of 18 points.
The font colour needs to be adjusted as well. I’m going to click ‘more colours’. Here I want to change the hex number to 101820, you would use your selected brand colour. Once you click off the numbers, you should see the new colour in the display.
Click OK.
Select ‘add this to the style gallery’.
Select automatically update. This option will automatically change anything I’ve applied Heading 2 to within my document.
You have the option to select any new documents based on this template. That will be any documents you create moving forward and not any documents you’ve saved in the past.
Click OK.

You can see that Word has already applied the formatting to the text with style Heading 2. If you click off the text and then click within the text with Heading 2 used, you can verify the style applied by glancing at the Style Gallery and seeing the style type highlighted.

That was one way to change the style formatting. Another way to do this is to select text. You will notice another dialogue box that’s popped up. There will be an option ‘style’, select it. You will see the Create a Style dialogue box. Here you can name and format the style.

I’ve entered the name as Style 1. Then I am selecting OK. You can now see that it’s already updated in my gallery that I have a Style 1 and a Heading 1.

I’ll demonstrate another example. Here I’ve formatted the text ‘Digital Marketing Bootcamp’ as a Call Out.

Highlight the text.
Right-click
Go to styles
Create a style
Name the Style (Callout)
Click OK

You will now see Callout listed in the Style Gallery, and it is highlighted. I did want the text to be in all capital letters, and it didn’t accept the formatting that I chose. You can make this change by highlighting the text and selecting the Aa button, and choosing UPPERCASE.

What would you use the styles for? You can use these styles in your letterhead, your memos, or a proposal that you’re writing. I think consistency is key to having a solid brand. So why not have all your company documents branded correctly and consistently?

This is how to set a style in Microsoft Word. Thank you for joining me today for this week’s Digital Marketing Bootcamp Quick Play, and hopefully, we’ll see you soon.

If there are any tips you would like to see, let us know, we’d be happy to share those with you!

GO BEYOND QUICK PLAYS & EMPOWER YOUR STAFF TO UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN RESOURCES AT DIGITAL MARKETING BOOTCAMP.

Our program supplies the tools, knowledge, and confidence so you can bring more of your marketing in-house. LEARN MORE

nine10 portfolio project ecofor gallery image 1

Case Study: Ecofor

September 30, 2021

The Challenge

Ecofor is a natural and cultural resource management company with offices throughout western Canada and Nova Scotia. Their clients include developers, landowners, government, First Nations, and Indigenous organizations. Ecofor Consulting Ltd. came to nine10 looking to create a clean and consistent look throughout their visual identity and website. They were hoping to create a brand that showcased the company’s personality and highlight their services.

Our Solutions

The Logo

nine10 began this project by making some slight revisions to Ecofor’s existing logo. Extensive changes were not necessary but the client was hoping to refresh the existing logo slightly. We created a revised logo that shifted emphasis onto the company name and icon. This was achieved by removing an existing tagline and enlarging the company name.

The Brand

The client described Ecofor’s personality as fun, outdoorsy, and non-corporate but still professional. With Ecofor’s services being primarily nature-related, the brand was designed to have an earthy feel but did not rely on greens or browns to achieve this. nine10 worked with the clients existing colour palette, the focus was kept on the deep blue and burgundy red colours within the logo.

Various woodgrain graphic elements were created to achieve the outdoorsy brand we were aiming for. A custom set of icons created to represent Ecofor’s services incorporated these woodgrain elements.

In addition to creating stationery for the client, nine10 also set up a Canva Brand Kit for Ecofor. This kit included a set of custom premade templates that suited the client’s needs. Templates for quotes, job postings, team members, and events were created for the client to use as needed. In addition to creating templates in Canva, nine10 added the client’s fonts, brand colours, logos, and graphic assets to Canva for easy use.

The Website

Ecofor’s services being environmental made it important for their website to have the same earthy feel of their brand. Using branded elements nine10 created and imagery provided by the client to create a website that felt outdoorsy in every way.

The client had an expansive collection of photos taken while working out in the field. They wanted these photos to be prominently featured across their website. Using modules such as the photo gallery allowed nine10 to display these photos in various locations throughout the website.

Case Study: Mont Tea

September 30, 2021

The Challenge

Mont Tea is a bubble tea cafe based in Grande Prairie. They serve a variety of beverages with their specialty being bubble tea with boba pearls. They stand alone in the Grande Prairie market as the only place in Grande Prairie that serves only tea, as opposed to tea being an offering included on a food menu. When Mont Tea approached nine10, they had an existing logo that they created, but they now needed a logo that was professionally polished prior to opening up a new store. They were seeking a logo that represented the refreshing nature of their beverages.

Our Solutions

It was important to incorporate the hidden meaning within their company name. Mont Tea comes from the client’s nickname Monty. Mont is the french word for Mountain and the client wanted a mountain in the shape of an M present within the design. The aim of incorporating mountains into their brand is to remind customers of a cool and refreshing bubble tea beverage. The client wanted to see designs that incorporated a mountain and tea leaves together.

In the set of draft options provided by nine10, the client was given 2 options that incorporated the requested elements as well as a third option which was a more “conventional” bubble tea logo. The final result was a combination of the text in one option and the icon from another.

The colours chosen are meant to reinforce the refreshing vibe of the company. Cool tone blues remind consumers once again of the chilled bubble tea beverages, with bright greens incorporated to represent tea leaves.

Case Study: Frequency Hearing

September 30, 2021 case study, hearing, logo design, Portfolio

The Challenge

Frequency Hearing is a new hearing clinic opening in Beaumont, Alberta. When Frequency Hearing approached nine10, they had various ideas of symbolism to include in the logo. They wanted a logo that both represented the company and the values and personality of the owner. Once the logo was created we also designed basic stationery to be used in the clinic.

The Symbolism

Bird

The owner wanted to try and include some sort of bird in the logo. The reason behind this is because her child had a dream about wanting a bird as a pet and soon after they ended up with one. She explained this as a dream come true for her kid. When she was trying to think of symbolism for a logo her child told her to use a bird because it was like the dream of opening her own clinic was coming true.

Birds also symbolize music and singing which go hand & hand with hearing.

Frequency

The word frequency relates to sound waves and hearing. It also starts with an “F” which when stylized can become the musical notation for “forte” which means loud or strong. Both of these connect back to music and by extension sound & hearing.

Our Solutions

Because it was so important to incorporate the symbolism into the logo, nine10 went though two draft phases before selecting a final option to move towards. The final result incorporated both the bird and the forte dynamic together. The forte symbol is hidden inside the bird. It shows just under the head & beak and curls up in the tail feathers to add the last circular tail of the notation.

Also included in this logo are circles surrounding the bird icon. Circles often symbolize wholeness and integrity which is a representation of the the clinics care of patients and clients from start to finish or care that is ongoing. As well as representing a dream or wish coming true.

The colours chosen are meant to reinforce the soft personality of the company. Soothing purple tones to represent care & peace.

Quick Play: Is Line Height the Problem with Your Graphic?

September 24, 2021 digital marketing training, graphic design, line height

Today’s tip is line-height. Line height is the space between the lines of text on your design. Most programs will have some sort of setting for you to change this. This spacing may also be called leading or line-height. It’s a really important design element to check. It’s one of the last things you could probably do in your design to make sure that your heading lines are spaced correctly.

You want to make sure that they’re close enough together (but not so close that they’re touching) and not so far away that there is a huge gap in between. If the line height in your heading is too wide, it will make your heading look very disjointed as there is a huge gap in between the top part and the bottom part so you want to make sure that you play with that setting to keep the line cohesive.

If you’re wondering where the term leading comes from, it is because back in the day when printers used letterpress machine leading, where they placed pieces of lead in between each line of letters to space out the lines of text. That’s why they call it leading nowadays. It is often referred to as line-height so either one works but if you see the word leading, that’s why.

If there are any tips you would like to see, let us know, we’d be happy to share those with you!

GO BEYOND QUICK PLAYS & EMPOWER YOUR STAFF TO UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN RESOURCES AT DIGITAL MARKETING BOOTCAMP.

Our program supplies the tools, knowledge, and confidence so you can bring more of your marketing in-house. LEARN MORE

Quick Play: How to Set-up Tabs in a Word Document

September 17, 2021

Hello everyone, thank you for joining nine10’s Quick Plays! I am Paula, the Office Administrator at nine10. Today I’m going to show you how to set tabs in a Microsoft Word document.

Some of you may not know how to do this, and I think it’s a lifesaver.

Many people will use the space bar to try and align their text, and they struggle to get it perfectly aligned. They are adding spaces, and then they are removing the spaces, which is very frustrating. When you learn how to add these tab settings into your document, it will make your life a whole lot easier, plus you will not waste any more time trying to set those ‘spaces’.

I’m just going to start sharing my screen. Here I have a Microsoft Word document open. It’s a blank document, and we are going to start from scratch. One of the main things I would suggest when setting tabs in a large document, do it before you even start and on a blank canvas making the process much simpler.

At the top of the screen, there’s a numbered line which is called the ruler. Symbols displayed on the ruler indicate the location of page indents and tabs. If you can not see the ruler, click the View Tab, and ensure that the check box is selected beside the ruler option.

To set tabs consistently throughout your document, follow these steps.

Return to the home tab.
In the Paragraph group, click the dialogue box launcher (downward pointing arrow in the right corner of the group). The dialogue box will show options for various paragraph settings. You can see options to set the paragraph line spacing, paragraph indents and page breaks.
In the bottom left-hand corner, select the Tabs button to set the document’s tabs.
Another dialogue box pops up. If any tabs were previously set, they would be listed in the tab stop window. Word does have half-inch left tabs as a default.
We will be just playing around a bit to demonstrate this skill set. Tabs will be set at the 1-, 4-, 8- and 16-centimetre positions on the page.
Type 1 in the Tab Stop Position box.
Here, you can see some of the alignment options, such as Left Tab, Center Tab, and Right Tab. There are also options for bar tabs, decimal tabs, and tab leaders.
Select the type of tab you want to choose and then click set.
The dialogue box remains open, and you can set another tab.
Repeat the steps for a 4-centimetre left tab.
Set an 8-centimetre centre tab following the same steps.
Set a 16- centimetre right tab with a selected leader. The best example of tab leaders is a table of contents in a book. The section heading is listed on the left, and a tab leader prints across the page (dot, dot, dot…) to the right set tab where you will easily find the page number. The leaders help direct our eyes across the page to a specific point. This keeps the information on the right-hand side to be perfectly aligned with a crisp, clean and professional appearance.
We will set the right tab at 16 because that’s the edge of your page.
Then pick a leader option.
Click set. We now have four tabs set.
Click okay to exit the dialogue box. Now we can test this out. On the ruler at the top of the page, you can the tabs set at the one centimetre, four centimetres, eight centimetres is our center tab and a right tab at 16 centimetres. If you hover your mouse on the symbol, it will show you some text to describe what is set.
Hit the tab button once, and you should see your cursor is aligned at the one-centimetre position.
Tab again it’s aligned at four centimetres.
Tab again, and it is at the eight-centimetre center position. Any text typed at the center tab will remain centred on the line. If you click and hold with your mouse on the tab marker on the ruler, you can see where the tab is, and you can also see that it’s centred right in between the words.
Click tab again, which is the right-aligned tab, and it has the leader option selected. You can see the leader across the page, and then you can type your page number.
Click enter. You will see that the tabs are still set at the top of the page on the ruler.

Now another little quick, Quick Play about tabs. If you set a tab and don’t like the position or don’t need the tab, you can remove it. You can go back into the paragraph and tabs dialogue box, highlight the tab by clicking on it, and click clear. You will see it removes it from your list.

This can also be done from your Word Home page. If you click on the tab symbol on the ruler, drag it down, and to one of the edges of your page, it will be removed. Think of a click, drag and throw it to the side/away type of movement. The tab should not be on the ruler anymore.

That’s tabs in a nutshell. I hope this helps make your life a little easier, and I look forward to sharing some more Digital Marketing Bootcamp Quick Plays with you.

Thank you for choosing nine10!

If there are any tips you would like to see, let us know, we’d be happy to share those with you!

GO BEYOND QUICK PLAYS & EMPOWER YOUR STAFF TO UNLOCK YOUR HIDDEN RESOURCES AT DIGITAL MARKETING BOOTCAMP.

Our program supplies the tools, knowledge, and confidence so you can bring more of your marketing in-house. LEARN MORE

Quick Plays: Font Confusion & How to Avoid It

August 23, 2021 branding, design, fonts, website design

In today’s tip, we’re talking about text overload and too many fonts. Using too many different fonts – and by extension hard-to-read fonts – can cause chaos in whatever design you’re trying to make. I would say you don’t want to use more than three different types of fonts in your graphic, and the fewer you have, the better.

Now, fonts and font weights are different. So, using bold text, italic text, or just different weights of a font is a different story than using completely different typefaces. If you have a font that has a bold weight and a medium weight, a thin weight and say a lightweight font would be okay use in a graphic together. You don’t want to be switching between one font style and a completely different font style in your graphic. That’s where the difference is, but multiple font weights are fine to have in a graphic.

Hard-to-read fonts are particularly an issue with larger designs like billboards or large signs. With billboards, a person often only sees that for five to ten seconds as they drive by, so the font you use on that is very important for readability. Someone has to be able to see that billboard and read it very quickly, so having a large font that is very clear and easy to read is what you’re trying to go for.

This is similar to social media graphics. People scroll on these pages for hours sometimes, and you want to make sure that your graphic is easy to read and catches their attention right away. Even if it’s just one word that people see as they’re scrolling through a feed. you want to make sure they can see that one word clearly so they stop and go back to look at your post.

When we talk about text overload, we mean that we don’t want to have too much content in the graphic of your post. The point of these graphics is to catch someone’s attention so they then read your caption, follow a link, or do something with the information you present to them. The content doesn’t always have to be in the graphic. You can have minimal content in the graphic to catch someone’s attention so that they do the thing you want them to do, whether that’s again reading your caption, following some sort of link, or following some sort of steps. First, you’re just trying to grab attention for a second and then get them to do something else.

Something to remember when you’re building a graphic and you are using fonts in your design is that your logo font doesn’t count as a font. Your logo is separate from the text you’re using in the graphic. So, when I say two to three fonts, you don’t need to count your logo font as a separate font.

If there are any tips you would like to see, let us know, we’d be happy to share those with you!

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Do I Need A Website for My Business? And, If So, Why?

August 9, 2021 Business, website, website design

Honestly, good question — especially if you’ve never had a reason for a website before. The short answer is yes, absolutely. No real reason exists for your business not to have a website.

A business’s online presence — or lack thereof — can, and often will be the difference between a website viewer becoming a customer or moving onto the next business. A website should be the hub or centre of your online presence. And, not only should you have a website, but it also needs to be clean, easy to navigate, and actually contain correct and up-to-date information that explains what it is your business does.

But, I assume you didn’t come here for the short answer, so here are some of the biggest reasons why your business absolutely needs a website.

1. The majority of your target market — and by extension, the world — is on the internet.

Think about how often you look something up on the world wide web: when you’re looking to purchase a product, to get directions to a restaurant, to find the hours of a store in town, to look up a recipe or news story — I could go on and on. The possibilities are endless.

Now multiply that by everyone in the world who has access to the internet. That’s a lot of searches. 3.5 billion a day to be exact (if an average can be exact).

Of course, not all of those searches are related to what your company might do. But if you don’t have a website, you’re missing every single one.

2. A website gives credibility to your company.

A website is often the first impression for a potential client. Not only does a well-designed, easy-to-use website give a client a good first opinion, but a quality website also creates the impression that your company as a whole is well-built and easy to deal with.

Investing in a good-quality first impression — AKA, a good website — also establishes you as a business owner who believes in their own company.

3. A website is a different type of online presence than social media.

Both social media and websites are a good online presence to have; however, social media shouldn’t be the only presence you have. Generally speaking, a website should be the centre of your business’s online presence, and social media channels should be the extension of that main hub.

More often than not, if a client is searching for a specific service, they are going to google it. You want your website to show up before your Facebook page. A big reason for this is that a website is the one online presence you have complete control over. You create all of the content, you sign off on the look of it, and you control when it gets updated. Social media platforms are controlled both by the external companies that built them and the users that scroll through them every day.

Pro Tip: If you want more information specific to social media and digital advertising, check out our Digital Marketing Program.

4. Websites do work for you.

Quite simply, websites can and should do the leg work in educating potential clients about your services and products. This is where the majority of information about what your business does should live.

On a website, a client can look your company up, read about the services you offer, and then call to book an appointment. That saves you the time it takes to find that potential client, give them your information, explain to them what it is you offer, and then book them an appointment (or whatever process you use).

Websites can also collect information for you with forms and analytics. They can answer frequently asked questions with an FAQ page, showcase products and team members, and much more. Basically, whatever it is you need a website to do can be built into it.

5. A website builds your brand.

Once again, your website is the one online place that you have full control over (if you have a good web designer, of course). This is the place to tell your company’s story and set yourself apart from the competition.

It is — or should be! — a visual representation of your company, and you get to decide what it looks like.

6. Everyone else has a website.

This might be the simplest answer on this list but, honestly, it’s one of the most important ones. You need to have a website because your competitors have one.

And yes I know there are plenty of businesses that don’t have websites, so maybe not all of your competitors have them, but that’s just all the more reason to have one: to stay ahead of your competition.

Whether we like it or not, this is the way that the world is now. A website is quickly becoming — if it’s not, already become — one of the most important investments you can make in your business.

Okay so you’ve started the branding process. You have a logo and visual identity, maybe even some brand insights & strategy. Now how do you use that in the real world?

1. Messaging & A Branded Website

2. Social Media Channels

3. Packaging & Merch

4. Signage & Location

What now?

Leveraging IG for your Biz!

1.Engage, engage, engage!

2. Consistency is key.

3. CTA – Call To Action

4. Host Giveaways

5. Document your brand!

Authenticity is your SUPERPOWER

Growth is not linear

Community is Critical.

Time Management.

Finding your Visual (public) Identity.

The Challenge

Our Solutions

The Logo

The Brand

The Website

The Challenge

Our Solutions

The Challenge

The Symbolism

Our Solutions

Honestly, good question — especially if you’ve never had a reason for a website before. The short answer is yes, absolutely. No real reason exists for your business not to have a website.

1. The majority of your target market — and by extension, the world — is on the internet.

2. A website gives credibility to your company.

3. A website is a different type of online presence than social media.

4. Websites do work for you.

5. A website builds your brand.

6. Everyone else has a website.

More Questions

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