I am so excited to share this entry with you! I am sure you will find it useful, my friend Kat is over the top smart in this area. READ on sister!
Enjoy.
Should you Rebrand? Depends. Here are the steps to help you assess.
by Kat Tepelyan
You are running a business. You have some branding materials, and you’ve been using them to
some level of success for some time.
Yet you’ve recently found yourself staring at all the digital material you have, asking yourself:
Is this really me anymore?
Has it ever been?
Maybe it’s time for a rebrand; but what does it take?
A rebrand requires looking at the very core of your voice, your positioning… and ultimately, the
types of clients you work with and how much money you make.
This is good news. You want to be clear about those things. You want to be running a
successful business you LOVE.
If rebranding seems terrifying, it certainly doesn’t have to be.
Assess if a rebrand is necessary
1. What’s your body saying?
Look at your stuff. Again. Is it annoying you? This is usually a first inclining that something
needs to change.
We are far more intuitive than we allow ourselves to acknowledge, and our bodies are incredible
tuning forks of truth (and BS), so let the body speak.
2. What are your numbers saying?
Are you meeting your financial goals?
Do you feel fully self expressed? aka Are you happy?
It all comes down to those two things for me. If my business is functioning correctly, I should be
HAPPY and have people through my door on a consistent basis – whether that means signing
up for classes, buying packages, or whatever your model looks like.
If that’s not happening, something needs to be looked at.
3. Ask a group of your ideal tribesmen and women how they feel
about your material.
This inquiry – send a few personal notes instead of a large survey, btw., works way better – will not only tell you whether your tribe likes what you’re putting out there but it should also tell you if your tribe needs an evolution.
Remember: People are NOT always honest. People LOVE to please those they respect, so ask someone whom you KNOW will be straight with you.
You might discover: The tribe members want you to go deeper, look sharper / less sharp, whatever, but that deep down, you don’t care what they actually think, or realizing that your site / branding is a perfect fit for someone you – kinda, sorta, actually – don’t want to work with anymore.
This happened to me a few years ago. It was emotionally challenging but a worthy discovery. Take note of what you discover and listen to your body again. If in that inquiry, your overall discovery is “NO, I don’t need a rebrand, but there’s work to be done”:
1. Make sure you’re sure and not just afraid of some abstract bill for a full review.
Let’s acknowledge that we don’t want to spend money on stuff much of the time. We’d rather leave it all as is and hope that it somehow fixes itself.
Some stats to consider…
ONE: I am consistently brought in to fix sites on their 2nd, 3rd or even 4th iteration.
TWO: It costs MORE to do something mediocrely more than once rather than doing it right the first time.
Obviously we don’t always have the funds or time to do this when we first start out, but with time, we should be able to honor our true desires and needs and allow a professional do their master work with us.
2. Itemize the elements that are/seem to be failing you at the moment.
It may be your lack of tribe clarity. You know, talking to everyone is essentially like speaking to no one.
Or it’s the layout or colors, or your content.
It may be an overuse of popups, shiny twirly things, or other combinations that scare people.
Get clear on those things and talk to someone who can meet your vision to get it done correctly.
If you discover that “YES: A rebrand is essential”:
1. Itemize the elements that are/seem to be failing you at the moment and determine what you’d like to see as “radically different” from what you current have.
Don’t go in with “Just change it!”
If all you know is that “This site is making me sick!” You’re not very likely to find someone who can help you without doing it THEIR way.
This is a major problem I am brought in to fix over and over again. When I ask the client what they communicated to their artist/builder, they say “Well, I wasn’t too clear. They just did what they thought would be nice. They I went into WordPress and created my own color combinations.”
You have no idea how often this happens.
Remember the famous Cheshire cat and Alice conversation:
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where –” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
– Lewis Carrol, Alice’s Adentures in Wonderland
Clarity is your greatest commodity – and if you’re not yet clear, keep reading; there’s an important announcement for you below.
2. Write down your goals for this rebrand
“I want to make more money” is a nice goal but it is not clear or actionable enough to drive the rebrand and redesign process.
Try instead: My site drives my ideal tribesman / ideal target audience member regularly, and I make X dollars a month doing work I love with people I adore.
This works too: My site is a true reflection of what I do in the world. It drives my ideal customer to the right pages, selling X dollars per month of material I truly stand behind.
Because remember: Your products or services may need an upgrade too.
The rest is left to the master you hire to take your vision into reality. They SHOULD work through color theory, layout ideas, tone, archetype energy, etc. with you to really nail how to design and build your next empire.
If they’re wishy washy, walk away. Quickly.
What’s next?
I’m getting ready to open The Epic Brand for enrollment in December.
This live course helps people through their rebrands (and their
first time brands too), and I’m incredibly excited about the new free
training videos I’m producing.
We’ll be covering some very important visual markers necessary for a gorgeous site, the steps
to creating and maintaining your Epic brand and more… all free.
If you want them, sign up below, and I’ll mail them to you as soon as they’re out.
Also – you’ll get priority dibs into the Epic program VIP member areas that are very limited
in seating. A sneak peak of the VIP offering: You work with me one on one. And we all know
working one on one kicks ass.
So come over to The Epic Brand page, pop your name and email in, and I’ll send you your free
training videos stat!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kat Tepelyan is an award winning designer, brand adviser and founder of The Epic Brand, an
online school for those looking to expertly brand their work once and for all. Hailing from New
York City, she currently lives on Kauai with her partner and spends her down time meditating,
writing about presence and failing at being a good surfer.
You can connect with her here: www.igotkat.com www.theepicbrand.com
