Branding

Welcome to my new series: Powerful Branding. Given that from next month I’ll be working through my Branding Masterclass with many of you, I thought that now would be the perfect time to focus the blog on what we really mean by Powerful Branding. And so over the next couple of weeks, expect a series that looks at what powerful branding is all about,  why it matters to your business, and most importantly, how to inject some of this magic into your own business (oh, and if you’ve already booked your place on the masterclass, don’t worry, there will be oodles of info on that which I’ll be saving especially for you all!).

So let’s start by thinking about what Powerful Branding is.

All of our businesses have a brand. And for me, the simplest way to explain that brand is to think about what people know you for, what they experience, and what they expect of your business.

Whether you’ve worked hard on your business branding, or whether you’ve just let it happen while you focus on other things, the fact is that people will have an expectation about your business based on what they see, hear and experience. And you’ll attract a certain type of customer based on all those things too: for better or worse.

The truly exciting news, is that when you put some focused work into your brand, you can influence how people perceive your business. You can make it more aspirational. You can attract the right sorts of clients. You know, the ones who really value what you do and are prepared to spend what you want to charge. You can create a brand so powerful that you get people moving heaven and earth to work with you. Now that’s a powerful brand.

So how do you do this? Well first of all you’ve got to be focused. You need to know what impression you want to create in the first place; what you want to be known for and who those elusive profitable clients are. Second of all you need to communicate with flair and passion to really engage your ideal clients. And thirdly, you need to deliver what you promise. Simple eh?

In my next posts we’ll look at some of the brands that inspire me as well as the difference that Powerful Brands are using that makes all the difference.

But for now I’d like to ask you a question: which brands inspire you. Who would you move heaven and earth to buy from? I’d really love to hear your thoughts.

Tagged as in Branding, Powerful Branding

Whether you’re sharing my fighting spirit and optimism from my last post, or you’re feeling a bit jaded after the seasonal festivities and a lack of direction I would love for you to join me on my Branding Masterclass.

It’s an online class that starts on 6th Feb and runs for a month. You can pace yourself, so whatever your responsibilities, and where ever you live in the world, it can fit around you. All you need to do is commit to a couple of hours a week where you really focus on your business brand.I promise that it’ll be creative, inspirational and informative, and it will make a big difference to your brand (whether you have a lovely logo and website or not).

• Clarity and purpose around your brand strategy, niche, profitable clients and brand messaging
• A mood board to help you visualise and communicate how you’d like your brand to look and feel
• A marketing plan that helps you own and defend your niche and attract and retain the right sorts of clients
• A communication plan for your clients journey from enquiry to invoice that wows and inspires them
• A plan for a truly powerful website that attracts, engages and wins you business

In addition I’ll be sharing lots of inspirational case studies, behind the scenes insights from the design team at Flourish and plenty of useful tips, tools and techniques you can start using in your business immediately to make 2012 your best year yet.Here are some of the nice things people have said about previous workshops:

“It was very helpful to take time out and refocus on marketing priorities and how to be more consistent with the marketing messages I put out. Lots of clear, practical ideas – thanks!”

Anne Williams, Worklife Balance Solutions

“Thank you so much for a very inspirational and practical workshop. I feel much more confident about promoting my business now.”
Sue Goodson, Floreal Therapies

Investment for the whole four weeks is just £165+VAT when you book your place before 23rd January and this includes all the course notes, follow up support, bags of expert info, a 20 minute one to one with me and a £75 Flourish gift voucher.So why not start your year as you mean to go on – with purpose and inspiration, and join me for a fun, creative and purposeful Branding Masterclass. Book your place today and prepare to take your brand up a gear!

Tagged as in Branding, Fiona's Book, Flourish Stuff, Inspirations, Marketing, Workshops

Are you all fired up and ready for the new year? I have to tell you, I am just bursting with creative energy right now and optimism for the year ahead. I think it’s going to be a really exciting year and I can’t wait to see what the future unfolds.

We all had a lot to deal with as businesses last year: snow (we really don’t deal well with snow do we?), riots (and the stress and disruption they caused on a commercial and personal level), the Royal Wedding/ extended holiday that had such an impact on so many businesses, serious tightening of belts domestically thanks to the VAT and price increases and so on. I certainly let the doom and gloom get in my way at a couple of points last year.

I suspect this year won’t be much different in that sense: the Olympics, the Silver Jubilee (thank goodness falling in a much more productive manner after the May bank holiday) and all the “economic climate” has in store for us. For me the difference is I’m not going to just ride along with things this time. I have a lot of plans up my sleeve to be a lot more productive and proactive this year and I’m genuinely excited.

By the way, quick plug, I have two spaces left on my Focus and Flourish workshop next Thursday (that’s the 12th Jan). It promises to be an incredibly inspiring day as I’m bringing in the fabulous Elizabeth Cairns to sprinkle some of her magic dust and get you all revved up for the year ahead. You can find out more/ book here…

I’m not prepared to just go on doing what I’ve always done in the hope that it’ll be enough. I know I have an incredibly strong brand, a great business and some very happy customers. But the fact is, we’re in a difficult economy and we all need to fight a bit harder. And whilst that thought might have exhausted me six months ago, thanks to some well chosen words from my friend Elizabeth Cairns, some inspiration from team Flourish and the time and space to think over the Christmas period, all I can say is Bring It On. I am truly excited about this year!

Here’s what I’m committing to this quarter

I don’t believe in New Years Resolutions. I think they encourage us to create unrealistic targets for ourselves that we all secretly know we’re going to break. So there will be no resolutions for me this (or any other) year. But December/ January is a natural time for us to think and set goals. And I have a number of very specific things that we’re going to do this quarter that I’m truly excited about.

And I’m going to share them with you right now because the bottom two are just embryonic ideas right now and I know that if I tell you then I’ll have to stick to them. Because if I don’t, I’m going to look very silly.

1. The launch of our online Branding Masterclass on 6th February – full details here – have you signed up yet? It promises to be fabulous
2. To create at least two new videos for our creative and digital offerings
3. To finally create a plan for (and launch) our Facebook and LinkedIn pages after months of ‘shall we, shan’t we’ discussions with the team
4. To have a finished {draft} manuscript ready to start designing and photographing by 31st March. Yes, I really am doing it this time and I’m not letting anything get in my way
5. Another Big Project that I’m going to keep under my hat right now. All I will say is that It’s Exciting. And the people that need to know about it know, and are excited too! I’ll share more when I can, I promise. Hassle me at the end of Jan if I haven’t told you {if I can keep it to myself for that long…}

And so in the spirit of the popular diet and fitness clubs groaning with motivated members I really think that we should share some of our plans for the new year. It’s much less stressful than a public weigh in, surely?

What are your plans for the new year? Do share your plans below…

ps. Yes, that really is my lovely new extension you see in those photos. Swoon!

Tagged as in Five Minutes to Focus, Flourish Stuff

I know it’s oh-so-tempting to go into lockdown mode come early December. Those marketing projects you have at the back of your mind can wait until after Christmas whilst you deal with the general madness of the festive season. And I do understand that thinking, but it doesn’t make good business sense. Why? Because that [...]

Tagged as in Branding, Case Studies, From The Studio, Graphic Design, Web Design, Websites

Above: Kate Griffin‘s mood board. The photographer that didn’t want to be photographed – oooh the irony! I love running our branding workshops. I love the combination of creativity and tangible business benefits that come out of the day, and the way that people walk in with a slightly muddled head around what their business [...]

Tagged as , branding workshop in Branding, Workshops

  It’s been a while since I’ve blogged my inspirations. And whilst I’m much more inspired by Autumn and Spring than I am Summer, the fact is that I just didn’t get round to photographing as much as I would have liked over the last few months. I suspect that my lack of time to [...]

Tagged as in Colour Psychology, Inspirations

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Tagged as , british retail, mothercare in Branding

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Tagged as , John Lewis, John Lewis TV ad 2011 in Branding

I’m delighted to be able to share the initial logo design concepts for Avatar Marketing Inc. Whilst we’ve worked with clients in Dubai and California previously, Laila was our very first Canadian client, and utterly lovely at that. She happened upon our website and loved what we were up to, and was determined to have [...]

Tagged as in Branding, Case Studies, From The Studio, Graphic Design, Logo Design

I’ve always believed that the logical way to rebrand a company is to start with the logo, develop the brand identity and design the website in quick succession. The website is a core part of your brand identity and something that will be the most visible thing to your current and prospective clients. But what [...]

Tagged as , brand identity design, branding, Harvey Maria, Logo Design in Branding, Logo Design