Bold typography

Type is a fundamental part of graphic design. As such, it’s no surprise every year that designers take type in a different direction.

Recently we’ve noted an increase in the use of type as a bold, often primary element in design. This goes along with the general trend of design becoming more simple and direct.

When you look at the current state of media, the use of bold typography makes sense. With advertisers and marketers fighting to get their message across, using stark, in-your-face type makes that message even clearer.

Look at ways to distill your branding to its core message. Mix punchy copy together with bold type to push that message into the foreground. Don’t be afraid to go big.

Futurism

The future is now if graphic design has any say in the matter. Designers are pulling in elements with a futuristic feel and mash them up with nostalgic or backward looking designs to make something brand new.

What’s interesting is many of the “futuristic” elements actually originated in movie moments from the past. So you end up with glitches and screen distortions from the Matrix, bright color palettes and splashes of neon from Back to the Future, and dark gritty holograph and reflective elements from Blade Runner.

Whatever the inspiration, designs that tap the future for inspiration are more prevalent than ever, and the coming year sees this trend continue.

Look to movies and pop culture references that predict what the future may look like for inspiration. Experiment with futuristic patterns and color palettes. Try incorporating geometric shapes and glitches in a way that stays on-brand.

Light and dark color schemes

Companies embraced the dark side in the past year. Many of the biggest companies released new versions of their apps with new dark color schemes.

The latest version of Apple’s Mac OS X (codenamed “Mojave”) has a dark mode, and updated apps from Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and more also incorporated dark color schemes.

This trend continues as more companies adopt dark and light colors into their products. It’s not just user interfaces where companies are exploring contrasting color schemes. Print and other designs are also going dark (or light), sometimes within the same piece.

Using light and dark color schemes can give designs a visual pop that helps draw attention. It can also reinvigorate an existing campaign if customers are used to seeing it one way and it’s released in wildly contrasting colors.

Whether you want to shine the light or delve into darkness, core design concepts like simplicity and gestalt theory (check out our guide) can really make a difference. Dark color schemes tend to pose readability challenges. Be wary of the contrast ratio between the color of your text and the background behind it. Online contrast tests like the one offered by WebAIM can help.

Gradients and Duotones

Designers tend to have a love-hate relationship with gradients. If the last year is any indication, all signs point to a giant heart emoji as gradients seem to be everywhere.

This could be due to the continuing trend of using bright, bold colors from the past (hello, 1980s!). Or it could be because gradients can add a sense of movement and dynamism to a design.

Whatever the reason, companies are tossing out gradients like visual candy. Check out the use of gradients and duotones in designs from streaming music services like Apple, Spotify, and Pandora. 

Other companies are getting in on the multicolored action too, like Stripe, tech site The Verge, and mattress retailer Purple. If you want to give your brand energy and a youthful vibe, mixing two colors could be what you’re looking for.

Sites like uiGradients  and ShapeFactory’s Duotone have generators  that help you test out color combinations. As with light and dark color schemes, be sure your choices have enough contrast so any text you use is still readable. 

by delicious_graphics

by JStyle

by flydesignonly

Authentic stock photography

Ah, stock photography. It may be a necessary part of graphic design, but it has also become the butt of many online jokes. Who can forget the cast of the movie Unfinished Business and their “idiotic stock photos”?

Companies recognize the limits of stock photography, and many have made efforts to address this. The trend of “authentic” stock photography – stock photos that seem more genuine or real – is accelerating, as more companies create their own banks of realistic-looking stock photos.

Some companies (like Apple) have created their own authentic stock photography for years, while others (like Uber) have made it a key component of their recent rebrands.   What companies want are photos that appear to have been taken by a real person. 

Instagram may be a big reason why authentic stock photography is on the rise. Consumers can now spot a bad stock photo from a mile away, and many do not trust or appreciate brands that use generic-looking stock in their designs.

The look of authentic stock photography isn’t hard to find: Imagine a very careful curated Instagram influencer’s feed and you’ll get a good idea of what it looks like. Taking photos like this can be a challenge, however, if you don’t have the skills. Many Instagram influencers hire professional photographers to capture this look.

Vivid colors

The use of vivid colors continues the spread of 80s and 90s nostalgia into every nook and cranny of our existence. Companies and brands continue to go bold with their color choices.

Color is an important part of branding and product design. As we wrote:

Color has a deep and often subconscious effect on our behavior. Color is often used to persuade or influence us.

According to a study examining the effect of color on sales, 92.6% of people surveyed by the CCI: Institute for Color Research said that color was the most important factor when purchasing products.

In part, this trend is a continuation of the 80s color palette blown up and updated for a new generation of consumers. All of the pastel shades have morphed into their brilliant counterparts. Companies have planted their flags on energetic, eye-catching colors that jump out and grab the viewer’s attention.

Apple is one of the most influential companies on the vanguard of what’s on trend for design. The release of 2018’s brightly colored iPhone XR reflected the growing trend for bold colors. The iPhone XR’s press release event was accompanied by an invitation featuring an equally colorful array of Apple logos.

It’s not just Apple parading a lively palette of hues and shades. Nike, Adidas, and other clothing companies also tapped into vivid colors for their marketing efforts as well as their products.

Courtesy Nike

Open composition

It used to be that designs were bound by frames, but designers have increasingly broken free. Designs that act like the bounds of the canvas don’t exist are a trend to watch in 2019.

Open composition designs utilize every part of the canvas. Online, these can be websites that scroll in all directions or advertisements where elements seem to extend past the edge of the image.

Websites are one place where this effect can be quite spectacular, especially when its combined with a user’s action like scrolling or clicking.

The Magic Leap website is a great example of this, where whales move in and out of view. Scrolling zooms out, showing that there’s much more to see that was out of view. It’s a powerful effect and very on brand for a company focused on alternative reality products.

Your brand might benefit from an airy, open composition. It adds a spacious feel and can be very effective when done correctly.

by mandex

3D

With the steady march of alternative and virtual reality into the mainstream comes the growing use of 3D as a design element. The next year will be big for designs with isometric, extruded, and 3D components.

Advances in browser technology enable designers to bring 3D elements to their websites as well. Extending design into the third dimension brings its own set of challenges, but it can (literally) bring some much-needed depth to your brand.

Brands like Lyft use 3D in the form of isometric illustrations to bring a different feel to their brand. It’s an effective technique to give simple illustrations a more sophisticated look.

How to use it: It’s important to use these type of effects sparingly.

Courtesy Lyft

Courtesy Apple

Metallic effects

Metallic effects are back in a big way, thanks (again) to everyone’s continuing fascination with the past.

Up until recently most metallic effects in design had fallen out of favor. Many considered them as hackneyed and in bad taste. This has changed as companies like Apple and Samsung add metallic flourishes (or even whole elements) into their designs.

Done well, metallic design can be sophisticated and classy. Take care to not overdo it, however, as the line between classy and classless is a fine one.

by muxalex

Fluid and flowing

Designers are merging their designs with liquid or fluid effects to create something new and otherworldly. 

This is being used for transition effects (like the yard.agency website below) and also in the form of patterns and textures inspired by water. The Magic Leap site we mentioned earlier uses a liquid texture for its background.

These effects add an organic feel to designs that can make them seem softer and more natural. It’s also a great way to add a visually interesting texture that can turn an otherwise generic-looking design into something more dramatic.

The key with fluid effects like any other trend is to consider whether or not it fits your brand. Transitions can be especially tricky if they’re not done well (or done gratuitously). If you’re looking to add flair to your brand, patterns inspired by liquids can be unique and visually arresting. 

Courtesy

Text on backgrounds

Text set on background colors and inside of colored boxes is an old graphic design trend that is coming back in style. The look was arguably popularized by legendary designer Barbara Kruger, whose art installations featured bold typography on stark red backgrounds.

In addition to its visual impact, designers use text on background colors for other reason. As more designs incorporate large photos, putting text onto a background color increases readability.

Whatever the reason, adding a color behind your text is a simple but effective way to draw attention to your copy.

Strokes, stains, and doodles

Illustrations were huge in 2018, and 2019 continues this trend as more companies incorporate drawn elements into their designs.

The trend is shifting from more abstract or painterly illustrations to ones that appear more like doodles or quirky drawings. As well, designers are adding strokes and splashes of color to spice up their designs and give them a rougher edge.

Adding doodles to your design can make it appear more friendly and welcoming. Brands use doodles and splashes of color in place of stock photography and other more traditional visuals. A well-placed doodle can turn an otherwise stark design into something warm and welcoming.

Doodles can be tricky to create. They generally need to look professional while still retaining a light or hand-drawn feel. If you plan to use doodles, it’s best to consider their use throughout your brand. Consider them as a primary branding element and use them consistently throughout. 

by PAOLOREZZANI

by besartm14

by newziner

Color of the Year

Pantone is going on twenty years of major influence across many industries with its choice for Color of the Year.

The color selected influences product development and consumer purchasing from everywhere from apparel, merchandise, industrial design, packaging design, and anything you can think of where color is involved.

This year, Pantone has declared “Living Coral” the color of the year for 2019.

Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman said in a statement:

With consumers craving human interaction and social connection, the humanizing and heartening qualities displayed by the convivial Pantone Living Coral hit a responsive chord.

Pantone selects a new color every year based on several considerations. New trends in design, art, travel, social media, and even the socioeconomic climate are all considered in choosing the color for the year ahead.

Pantone announced in further explanation of its choice that:

Just as coral reefs are a source of sustenance and shelter to sea life, vibrant yet mellow, Pantone 16-1546, Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment.

We’re looking forward to seeing this warm, comforting color appearing everywhere from logo design all the way down to the throw pillows in your mom’s house.

The post Graphic Design Trends of 2019 appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

This is the most comprehensive guide online to creating a strong brand identity for your business or organization in 2019.

A brand identity is the most effective way any organization (startups, small businesses, agencies, nonprofits, or others) can gain a competitive edge in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

Both new and existing businesses and organization can benefit from reading this guide.

Here’s a table of contents to help you quickly navigate different sections of this guide (it’s nearly 17,000 words!) – or feel free to scroll.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What is Brand Identity?

Chapter 2: Creating Your Brand Strategy

Chapter 3: Brand Identity Research: Customers, Competition, and Your Brand

Chapter 4: Brand Identity Design: the Building Blocks of Your Brand Identity

Chapter 5: Designing Your Brand Identity

Chapter 6: Create a Brand Style Guide

Chapter 7: How To Translate Your Brand Identity Into Actual Marketing

Chapter 8: Common Branding Mistakes

Let’s dive right in.

Brand, branding, and brand identity are different concepts, although they’re commonly (and often incorrectly) used interchangeably.

What is a brand?

People commonly use the word “brand” to talk about logos.

However,  a logo is not a brand. A brand is much more than a company’s logo.

Put another way: a designer’s job isn’t to design a brand. Designers design the brand identity (explained in Chapter 5).

A brand is the sum total of the experience your customers and customer prospects have with your company or organization.

A strong brand communicates what your company does, how it does it, and at the same time, establishes trust and credibility with your prospects and customers.

Your company’s brand is a promise you make to customers and prospects about your products, your services, and your company.

Your brand lives in everyday interactions your company has with its prospects and customers, including the images you share, the messages you post on your website, the content of your marketing materials, your presentations and booths at conferences, and your posts on social networks.

Importantly, your brand is not what you say it is.

Your brand is how your customers and prospects perceive your company.

You may want your customers and prospects to see your brand as innovative, fresh, and socially conscious.

But what’s most important isn’t what you want – but how they actually see your brand.

What is branding?

Branding is a process designed to develop, among other things, a unique business name and custom logo design for a company, product, or service.

But branding isn’t solely about tangible concepts like a company’s name and logo. It’s also about the company’s reputation, the way a company’s products and services are advertised, and about a company’s values.

The goal of the branding process is to build awareness and loyalty.

Branding is not solely for companies and organizations.

Personal branding (how an individual builds their personal reputation)  has become popular, especially among influencers.

Even countries have embraced branding. Some have spent millions of dollars developing branding to attract tourists and businesses.

There are some important branding terms you should understand.

• brand assets – visual assets (fonts, colors, resources, etc. that form the outward-facing brand)
• brand associations – anything that people associate with a brand
• brand awareness – the ability of customers to identify a brand in a crowded market.
• brand personality – the brand’s personality traits (e.g. innovative, socially conscious, trustworthy, friendly)
• brand positioning – how a brand is perceived against its competitors
• brand promise – a brand’s unique selling proposition (for Volvo it’s “safety”)
• brand values – what guides your company’s decisions and behaviors?
• brand voice – how does your brand “speak?

What is brand identity?

Brand identity is everything visual about a brand. It’s what you, customers, and prospects can see.

Brand identity (sometimes called corporate identity by larger companies) consists of various elements, including:

• logo or wordmark
• different logo variations
• key brand colors and color palette
• typefaces
• typographic treatments
• consistent style for images and content
• library of graphical elements
• style guide

The goal of brand identity design is to tell your company’s story in a way that creates loyalty, awareness, and excitement.

Brand identity is important for companies of all sizes, not just larger companies.

Ramon Ray, a successful entrepreneur, speaker, best selling author, and one of the country’s top small business experts, meets with thousands of small business owners every year. According to Ray,

People immediately recognize a Starbucks logo or a BMW logo because those logos are consistently displayed and used by each Brand. Smaller businesses might think that they don’t need to be consistent with their identity, but they are mistaken. People recognize businesses based on their brand identity.

Only small businesses that have a small mindset don’t worry about design and branding. Small business owners who think big, who think about growth, who think for scale – those owners understand that branding is important and invest in their brands.

Brand identity takes disparate visual elements and unifies them into a complementary system. Whenever your brand identity elements are shown, they should be consistent in their appearance, use, scope, color, feel, etc.

As we discussed in Chapter 1, your company brand is defined by how people perceive your company, not by what you say the brand is.

Every decision your company makes and every action that it takes affects the brand.

Poor design, ineffective marketing, inconsistent messaging, and bad partnerships can all tarnish a brand.

Instead of leaving public perception of your brand to chance, it’s always a good practice to build and shape your brand.

Doing so doesn’t guarantee that the public will perceive your brand exactly as you intend. But it will potentially help shape public perception.

That’s where a brand strategy can help

What is a brand strategy?

A brand strategy is how your company will build, shape, and share your brand with the public.

Why do you need a brand strategy?

Every company has a brand.

The only question is whether you’ll leave your brand to chance or take deliberate steps to help shape the public’s perception of your brand.

No successful company has ever left its brand and branding to chance.

Instead, smart companies are intentional and public about their mission and values, among other things.

There’s a good reason for this. 87% of consumers will purchase a product solely because of brand values.

A brand strategy is your plan for how you’ll help shape the public perception of your brand.

Here, the “public” includes your customers, prospects, your employees, vendors, and others who connect in any way with your brand.

If you’re happy with your business and the money it’s making, you can stop reading. But if you want to accelerate growth and improve your revenues and profits, you need to up your game. Ramon Ray says that:

If you’re happy with your business, happy making what you’re making, no problem – you don’t need to do anything. But if you’re worried about the competition, you need to think about improving your branding and your brand identity.  If you want to step it up, raise your prices, if you want to increase your profits, if you want to get people excited about you and your business … up your game and invest in good design. A good brand strategy can help you take your business to the next level.

How do you build an effective brand strategy?

There are three core phases to develop an effective brand strategy for most companies: discovery, identity, and execution.

Phase 1: Discovery

If you’re launching a new business and don’t yet have a brand identity, discovery is easy.

Your company is not known to anyone and therefore, there’s nothing to discover. You can move to Phase 2.

But if you have an established business, be sure that you don’t skip this step.

Before you can define your modified or new brand identity, you must understand your existing identity and objectively look at all of the factors that influence how your company presents itself publicly.

This includes evaluating your customers, your industry, your vision, mission, and values, and your brand.

We cover this in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research). We’ll also briefly look at the elements in this Chapter.

1. Start by evaluating your existing core identity

Your core identity is often defined by your company’s vision (why your company exists), mission (what  your company does) and values (the beliefs that guide your company’s actions).

You may already have your vision, mission, and values documented, but don’t worry if you don’t.

Some companies chose to thoroughly document these and put them on an office wall or their website. Others are less formal but nonetheless take the time to understand their vision, mission, and values.

The important exercise for existing companies is to evaluate whether their original vision, mission and values are still relevant. Here are some helpful questions you can ask:

• Are there elements that have emerged in the company’s culture that aren’t reflected in that vision, mission, and values?
• Are some of the existing elements poorly defined or no longer valid?
• What’s most important to your company?
• Does your existing brand identity and marketing properly communicate your core identity?

We cover evaluating your core identity in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research).

2. Conduct market research and perform a competitor analysis

Once you understand your core identity, the next step involves market research and competitor analysis. Here are some useful questions to ask when you conduct market research:

• How big is your market?
• How has your market changed since the time you started your company?
• How has it changed?

If you’re looking for help to better understand your market, watch this video on defining the size of a market.

It’s not enough to understand your market. You also must evaluate your competitors to understand where your company is positioned in your industry.

There are three parts to a good competitive analysis: (1) defining the metrics and identifying the competitors you’re comparing, (2) gathering the data, and (3) the analysis. We explain these in detail in 10 Tips for Evaluating Your Competitors.

We cover competitor analysis in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research).

3) Develop personas for your target customers

Personas help you figure out:

• Who your customers are,
• What their goals and frustrations are,
• Where they spend their time,
• When they’re the most active or available,
• Why they make certain decisions, and
• How they interact with your products or buy your services.

We cover personas in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research).

4) Evaluate how people perceive your brand

As we wrote in Brand Health, 6 Important Questions You Should Ask About Your Small Business Brand,

Brand health can be measured in numerous ways, including brand reputation, brand awareness, brand equity, brand positioning, and brand delivery.

This isn’t an issue you can afford to ignore. You need to know if your brand is thriving or ailing – before it’s too late.

Remember that you should evaluate both internal (your employees) and external (everyone else) perceptions of your brand.

The insights from these evaluations will help you to understand the current perceptions of your brand and the things you may need to change to improve those perceptions.

We cover this in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research).

Phase 2: Identity

1. Define your core identity

Once you understand how your brand is currently perceived and its position in your market, you can begin to define your company’s new identity.

To remind you, your core identity is often defined by your company’s vision (why your company exists), mission (what  your company does) and values (the beliefs that guide your company’s actions).

If you’re starting a new company, you start with a blank sheet of paper and have the opportunity to fully define each of these.

If you have an existing company, you evaluated your core identity in the discovery phase and now have a chance to evolve that identity to better match your current/future vision, mission, and values.

We cover this in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research).

2) Articulate your brand positioning

Your brand positioning explains how your company differentiates in the marketplace and  how you are different from your competitors.

Often, your positioning can be summarized in one or two sentences to explain what you do better than everyone else.

We cover this in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research).

 3) Articulate your unique selling proposition

As we wrote about a company’s unique selling proposition:

Ultimately, a USP is what your business stands for.

For example, you could say that Apple’s USP is found in “user experience”: everything they do is meant to have the user at its core.

Google’s USP might be in the way they connect people with information, whereas Amazon’s might be providing whatever product you need quickly, efficiently, and at as low a cost as possible.

Figuring out what your USP is can take time, but it’s a crucial piece of your brand. Knowing what it is can help you sell better to your existing customers, and more importantly possible customers.

We cover this in detail in Chapter 3 (Brand Identity Research).

4. Develop your brand identity assets

When you understand your brand and the components that define brand identity (colors, typography, shapes, etc.) it’s time for you to work with your designer to develop the creative elements that will give life to your brand identity. These include your logo, website, product packaging, brochures, and more.

We cover this in detail in Chapter 5 (Designing Your Brand Identity).

5. Develop your brand voice and how you communicate

To build a strong brand, you must consistently and uniformly talk about your brand, both internally and externally.

This includes picking a consistent brand voice and making sure that your communications are clear, focused, and support your positioning.

Make sure that your brand is clearly and consistently reflected in your marketing. This includes content marketing stories, your offline and digital marketing, and even your product packaging design.

We cover this in detail in Chapter 5 (Designing Your Brand Identity).

Phase 3: Execution

Once you’ve completed discovery and developed your core identity, you must find the right way to communicate about your brand through marketing. We cover execution in detail in Chapter 6 (Create a Brand Style Guide), and Chapter 7 (How to Translate Your Brand Identity Into Actual Marketing).

Before you dive into designing the elements of your brand identity, you must understand how your brand is currently perceived, your customers, and  your competitors.

If you’re building a new brand, you can skip this first part (understanding your brand).

But if you have an existing brand, this is a critical first step in building a more effective brand identity for your business or organization.

Understanding your brand

If your brand isn’t healthy, neither is your business.

That’s because the health of your brand impacts both consumer awareness of your business and your bottom line.

A strong brand is not a luxury to be enjoyed only by companies like Nike or Coca-Cola. It is a key factor in the success and prosperity of all businesses and nonprofits, regardless of their revenues. Your brand health is guaranteed to have a significant impact on the consumer awareness of your brand AND your bottom line. It directly affects your ability to sell, to fundraise, to hire the best employees, and to grow. A healthy brand is the hallmark of a company or nonprofit that is prepared to prosper.

Here are 6 important questions you should ask to better understand your brand.

1. Does your brand support your business strategy?

Every healthy business should have an overall, forward-looking strategy.

For your brand to be healthy, it must align with and support that strategy.

If your strategy is to sell commonly expensive services at discounted rates, your brand should reflect a focus on price. It would not be in your best interest to cultivate a brand that appears affluent or expensive.

If your business strategy is grounded in creativity and custom work, a brand emphasizing traditional corporate culture would not work well.

A misaligned brand will create cognitive dissonance for your customers and undermine your efforts to succeed.

A brand that undermines your business strategy is not a healthy brand.

2. Is your brand consistent?

An inconsistent brand is a confusing and unreliable brand. These are traits that drive customers away, not attract them.

If your brand constantly changes, it’s hard for customers or clients to wrap their minds around what it’s about. And, it’s even harder to gain trust, confidence and customer loyalty.

Here are some additional questions to help you evaluate your brand for consistency…

Is your brand visually consistent?

Visual consistency helps build recognition of your brand.

The colors, visual styles, and fonts on your website should look like your business cards, which should look like your social media accounts, which should look like your business logo, which should look like your… you get the idea.

Is your brand message consistent?

Your brand needs a cohesive message. And, ideally, that message should come from your business’s core values and strategies.

If your brand tries to be too many things at once, the message becomes scattered and the brand grows diluted.

It’s hard to be known for something when you fail to present a consistent message about what your business should be known for.

Or worse, if your brand messaging contradicts itself, you will lose consumer trust and, ultimately, their business.

People don’t like to be lied to. And, consumers are naturally suspicious of businesses as a general rule. After all, businesses want their money.

Contradicting messages serve as proof that your business is not to be trusted.

Inconsistent messaging is a sign of an unhealthy brand.

Does your brand behave consistently?

Image courtesy of Chipotle.

Your brand promises must be consistent with the reality of your customers’ brand experience.

If you feature speedy delivery as a central brand message but fail to make good on that promise, people will notice. And, your brand will suffer.

As we explained:

A fabulous logo, expertly deployed and a consistent style guide mean nothing if your business does not follow through on its brand promises in the real world. Remember that your brand should always be true to the reality of your business. Walking the walk is just as important, if not more so, than talking the talk.

Mexican fast-food giant Chipotle has made serving non-GMO foods a key element of their brand promise. However, they’ve repeatedly been spotted serving GMO foods.

Execute a quick Google search for “chipotle admits to using GMOs” and you’ll find a list of critical articles and lawsuits levied against the fast-food mega-chain. They’ve hit on a compelling branding position, but they’re failing to deliver it reliably.

Failure to deliver on a brand promise is a sign of an unhealthy brand.

3. Does your brand resonate with your intended audience?

No matter how well your brand identity supports your business strategies, or how consistent it is, if it fails to connect with your audience, then your brand identity is not doing its job.

But, measuring your brand’s public reception is a bit trickier than examining it for consistency or internal strategy alignment. You’re going to need some brand health metrics to track.

Marketing intelligence experts at Datorama recommend tracking your branded impressions, internet search volume, and the performance of branded keywords.

You may also want to consider measuring social media engagement and keeping an eye on your online reviews. Your customer service team may also be able to offer some useful insight.

Understanding your customers

The first step to building a strong brand identity is to understand your customers and what they want and need. We recommend you ask the following questions about your customers:

1. Who are they? – Are your customers men, women, or both? Are they Boomers or Millennials? Where are they from?
2. What do they do? – Knowing what your customers do for a living and what they’re interested in is a great way to more precisely target your marketing.
3. Why are they buying? – Do you know the reason why they’re in your market? If you do, it’s easier to pair their needs with what you can give them.
4. When are they buying? – Find out when your target market typically makes this type of purchase. That way, you can increase your chances of getting their attention they want to give it to you.
5. What’s the purchasing medium? – Are they buying from a website? Do they prefer a brick and mortar establishment?
6. What’s their budget? – Make sure you’re targeting customers whose budgets appropriately align with your product or service.
7. What makes them feel good? – Knowing what gives a customer that precious good-feeling glow is key to making sure they become repeat customers.
8. What do they expect? – Understanding expectations is critical in order to meet those expectations. Whether your customers expect fast delivery or 24/7 customer support, knowing what they want from you is half the battle.
9. How do they feel about your company? – Hearing praise about your company is nice. Hearing where the pain points are is even better. You have to know where your business could use a little improvement to, well, improve!
10. How do they feel about your competition? – You know what they say. Keep your friends close – keep your competition closer.

Here are 6 important, specific questions you can ask your customers. We’ll discuss each below.

1. How likely would you be to recommend our service/company to others?
2. How would you rate your last experience with us?
3. If you could change just one thing about our products/services, what would it be?
4. What other option did you consider before you chose us?
5. What makes us stand out from the competition?
6. Anything else you’d like us to know?

How likely would you be to recommend our service/company to others?

This is also known as the Net Promoter Score (NPS) question.

If you want a deep insight into customer opinion of your business and brand, this is the question you need to ask.

The best way to gauge how satisfied a person is with your business is by whether or not they’d be comfortable telling their mom/brother/best friend/barista to use it.

• Ask: “Taking only your most recent purchase experience into consideration, would you feel good about recommending us to a friend?”
• Ask: “Now think about your entire experience with us. Would you recommend us to your friends?”

How would you rate your latest experience with us?

A negative customer service experience has a huge reach and travels to more than twice as many people as does praise for a positive service encounter.

Head this off at the pass: once a customer makes a purchase, send them a short email asking them about their experience.

This will save you scrambling in the aftermath of any potential PR disasters, and will help you:

• Discover how your customer feels about their experience with your business and/or product,
• Provide a solution or make amends to an unhappy or dissatisfied customer, and
• Give your customers an outlet where they are free to tell you everything on their mind – so they don’t have to turn to social media instead.

We do this after every interaction between crowdspring’s customers and our customer support team. We want to know whether we helped each customer and any feedback they might have for us. We also do this at the conclusion of every project on crowdspring.

And we’re very proud of our performance in this area – and have even won awards for our customer support. We regularly have a customer satisfaction rating between 97 and 99%.

If you could change just one thing about our products/services, what would it be?

Every product and service has room to improve, features to explore, and refinements to add.

You probably have your own roadmap for where you want your product to go, and that’s great.

But it’s a good idea to involve your customers in this process, too. They are an invaluable source of ideas, feedback, and feature requests, and often see ways of using your product that you hadn’t imagined.

That doesn’t mean you should implement every feature requested by customers and prospects.

It means you should ask, listen, and assess.

Some of the best features and products originate from customer feedback. The challenge is to be receptive to customer requests for improvements while engaging with them in a meaningful way.

For example, crowdspring offers core design and naming services in many areas, including logo design, web design, print design, product design, packaging design, and naming businesses and products.

When we started out 10 years ago, we asked only a limited number of questions to help a customer draft a creative brief if they were looking for design help. For example, in logo design projects, we originally asked some general questions.

But the answers didn’t provide much direction to designers and we received lots of feedback from both customers and designers about our questionnaire.

This feedback was very valuable. We changed our questionnaire to be more specific and informative and this improved the experience for customers and also provided important information for designers.

It was a win-win-win.

There are a number of services specifically aimed at helping businesses solicit feedback and ideas from their customers. Companies like UserVoice, Feature Upvote, ProdPad, and Wantoo are just a sampling of the available services.

Whatever service or method you use, make sure you’re not only listening but responding, too.

No one likes feeling like they’re yelling into the void, and your customers are no different. Make your feedback process a conversation so that your customers know that their input is valued.

Customers will often take the time to give you input on ways to improve if you ask, but if the exchange feels one-sided to them, they may give up.

What other options did you consider before you chose us?

After all of the market research and investigation, you may think you know who your competitors are.

But there’s always the possibility you’ve either missed one or passed on one because their offering didn’t seem comparable to yours.

Asking your customers what companies and services they evaluated is a great way to make those unknowns known.

What makes us stand out from the competition?

Asking this question gives your customers an opportunity to tell you what they think makes you special.

The answer tells you about your unique selling proposition (USP).

Uncovering your USP can be difficult.

Your USP may not be something physical or tangible like a product, but instead be more thematic or emotional.

Entrepreneur outlined this in their look at USP:

Pinpointing your USP requires some hard soul-searching and creativity. One way to start is to analyze how other companies use their USPs to their advantage. This requires careful analysis of other companies’ ads and marketing messages. If you analyze what they say they sell, not just their product or service characteristics, you can learn a great deal about how companies distinguish themselves from competitors.

For example, Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used to say he sold hope, not makeup. Some airlines sell friendly service, while others sell on-time service. Neiman Marcus sells luxury, while Wal-Mart sells bargains.

Ultimately, a USP is what your business stands for.

For example, you could say that Apple’s USP is found in “user experience”: everything they do is meant to have the user at its core.

Google’s USP might be in the way they connect people with information, whereas Amazon’s might be providing whatever product you need quickly, efficiently, and at as low a cost as possible.

Figuring out what your USP is can take time, but it’s a crucial piece of your brand. Knowing what it is can help you sell better to your existing customers, and more importantly possible customers.

And be careful not to adopt the USP of a competitor. Don’t try to imitate others – build a unique identity based on feedback from your customers. Ramon Ray explains:

Don’t try to be someone else. it’s tempting to look at another person or business and imitate them. This isn’t a good strategy.

Instead, listen to your customers. What do they say they like about your business? What would they change?

But don’t just listen to what your customer says … be sure your team communicates and meets your customers’ expectations through your brand identity and overall design so that your clients and prospects know you’re listening to them.

Anything else you’d like us to know?

It’s always good to leave the floor open to unexpected responses or feedback. You can’t possible ask every single question, nor can you know in advance what might be top of mind for your customers.

Asking this question not only gives your customers the chance to mention anything they feel is important, it gives you insight into what’s important to them.

It also gives your customer the last word and makes it clear that you’re not just interested in your own questions.

Ways to gather customer responses

There are many different ways to gather answers to these questions.

Which one you choose depends on your goals, who your customers are, and how you can reach them, but here are some ideas to consider.

1. Customer feedback surveys. Surveys are tried and tested, but they can be challenging to run in ways that won’t annoy your customers. Companies like SurveyMonkey or TypeForm make running surveys easy. Make sure you keep surveys as short and easy to respond to as possible. Every question on a survey will reduce the number of people who respond to the survey.
2. Email and customer feedback forms. Having a form on your site or feedback box at your store gives your customers a recognizable way to get their feedback. These tend to work best as either wide open (“How can we improve?”) or more targeted with one or two brief questions.
3. Direct contact. Forms and surveys may be easy to use, but they are poor at gathering the greater context or circumstances that your customers find themselves in. One of the best ways to get useful feedback is to reach out directly to customers and talk to them. Bonus points if it’s in person, but if that’s impossible for you, even a phone call or a video chat can be a great way to form that connection.
4. Usability tests. Not sure if something is working the way you hoped? Is your shopping cart on your site hindering or helping customers complete their orders? There are services you can use to test these things and more. UserTesting.com is one of the better-known services that help companies run usability tests, and there are also many companies that specialize in testing how usable software or a site is
5. Social media. Asking people that follow your business on sites like Facebook or Twitter is a great way to quickly gather candid feedback. Many social media sites offer integrated polling as well.
6. Customer service. If you have customer relations or service team, your company might already have a team perfectly positioned to ask questions like this. Asking for permission at the end of a service call or chat if the customer would be willing to answer a few questions can be an effective way to get the input you’re looking for.

No matter what method you use, make sure that you’re engaging with your customers in a conversation. As we mentioned earlier, let your customers know that you’re talking with them, not just at them.

User personas

Once you’ve surveyed your customers, create user personas.

What is a user persona?

User (or marketing/buyer) personas are generalized, made-up identities that provide a detailed description of your target customer.

A well thought out, completely formed user persona should include plenty of personal information: details like demographic information, career history, even hobbies – should all be included to completely flesh out this character, making them as authentic (and therefore as relevant) as possible.

Personas help you figure out:

• Who your customers are,
• What their goals and frustrations are,
• Where they spend their time,
• When they’re the most active or available,
• Why they make certain decisions, and
• How they interact with your products or buy your services.

Persona-based marketing can help make sure you target your messaging perfectly for each unique groups of customer prospects.

Start with 3 to 5 user personas.

How to define user personas

Start with customer interviews.

Customer interviews will help you identify your customers’ wants, needs, and motivations.

Be sure you interview a broad group of customers and prospects.

• Existing Customers – Be sure to make contact with people that have had both positive and negative experiences with your product. Speaking with people who have only glowing reviews is great, but does not paint the entire picture. You’ll want to understand your customers’ experience from all sides if you want to create a useful set of user personas.
• Prospects – It’s important to talk to people who have no experience with your product. You’re going to want someone without any “baggage” to give a fresh take on things, and a future prospect can provide exactly that kind of unbiased perspective. Your current prospects and leads are a super resource for creating an unbiased user persona – you already have contact information, so making use of that information is easy, cost-effective, and all around a smart idea.
• Referrals – Ask anyone you know who may have useful points of contact for you – your co-workers, friendly customers, your  social media network – they may be able to connect you with perfect interview candidates.

Start with at least 3 to 5 interviews for each persona you’re creating(customers, prospects, people who don’t know your company).

For example, crowdspring offers design (logo-design, website design, print design, product design, packaging design) and naming services. We work with different types of customers, including entrepreneurs, small business owners, big Brands, agencies, non-profits, and even governments.

Those customer groups differ from each other.

While there are similarities between entrepreneurs and small business owners, for example, agency clients are very different and require a different marketing approach. So we tailor our marketing accordingly.

Next, take a closer look at your website data.

Analytics data allows you to see where your visitors came from. It also clues you in on the valuable keywords they used to find you, as well as how much time they spent on your website browsing around.

This data shines a big old light on the inner workings, desires, and interests that brought those customers to you. It’s important to understand the critical points of interest that can attract and retain new and existing customers alike.

Finally, don’t make the mistake of overlooking the people who know your customers best: your employees!

The employees on your team who deal with front of the line aspects of your business, like customer support teams, are a critical resource for any business owner looking to get to know their consumers better.

Ask your employees the same questions you posed to your interviewees, and add their responses to your buyer personas.

What information do you need to create personas?

After you’ve spoken with customers and crunched the numbers, you must turn the data into actual personas.

The people personas represent may be made-up, but you still need to assign each one enough information to flesh them out.

The documentation you create for your personas should be detailed enough that anyone in your organization can read it and get a good idea of who these people are.

The basics

Example of a persona (from xtensio).

Every persona should have at least the following information:

• First name – You can provide the last name, but usually a first name is sufficient.
• Age – Age can affect many things, so choose wisely and qualify your decision with actual data.
• Photo – How a persona looks can influence decisions (e.g. if they’re physically attractive or not). Some useful resources: Random User, UIFaces, or User Personas.
• Job – Does this person work? Go to school? Or are they a stay-at-home parent?
• Location – Where does this person live?
• Goals – What are this person’s goals? What do they need or want? How do their goals relate to your company or products?
• Frustrations – What kind of problems does this person have? How do those problems affect their goals and needs?
• Biography – Write a short bio that describes this person’s background and how your products or services can help this person. Don’t forget to base this on actual data – don’t create an idealized background.

Getting specific

Some specific data points that can help you figure where this person fits in your strategy include:

• Keywords – Words that summarize key traits about this person. E.g. “friendly”; “curious”; “technophile”; “late adopter.”
• Character – Using a character helps contrast this person with your other personas. For example, if you were dividing your personas based on a technical ability you could have characters like “The Nerd”, “The Skeptic”, “The Newbie”, etc.
• Myers-Briggs Type – The Myers-Briggs personality indicator is a well-known way to represent something as complex as a person’s personality.
• Favorite brands – What brands does this person like or interact with frequently?
• Quote – Use actual quotes from people you’ve interviewed to give a quick insight into this person, their needs, fears, and goals.
• Preferred channels – How does this person get their information and what’s the best way to reach them with marketing messaging? Via social media? Or through traditional print advertising in newspapers or magazines?

If you need a starting point, there are a number of good persona templates and creation resources available online, many which are free.

HubSpot has the appropriately named “Make My Persona”, which uses a customized TypeForm questionnaire to help you fill in the blanks for a basic persona. They also have a persona template that may be useful.

You can also look at UXPressia, a paid service with some free persona creation tools, and UserForge, which offers free persona creation tools.

How to leverage user personas

Which fruit would Carol pick?

Once you’ve done all of the hard work of creating personas based on real data and real customer behavior and needs, it’s time to put them to work.

A critical part of using personas effectively is empathy. You need to put yourself in the mind (or shoes) of your personas so you can weigh decisions and strategies against their needs.

A simple but effective way to do this is to ask yourself, “would [persona name] do [action]?”

For example, if one of your personas is named Carol, you’re potentially trying to determine if a certain marketing strategy makes sense with the group of customers Carol represents.

Asking “Would Carol find this message compelling?” is a good way to vet and validate your ideas.

Think of your personas like characters in a story.

Consider the problem or message you’re trying to validate as a narrative that your personas are a part of. Use them to help you define goals, challenges, pain points, and behavior.

Personas are a powerful tool to help rally the various parts of your company around a cohesive whole. Using the same personas across different business units can keep your company focused on the same goals.

You can’t always have real customers at the ready to answer questions or confirm hypotheses, but using well-researched personas to bounce ideas off of can be just as effective.

Things to avoid when creating and using personas

Don’t make a wrong move.

Personas are useful, but they are not a substitute for talking to your customers.

Your customers are more than a set of facts, and the things that motivate them and cause them grief can’t always be gleaned from distilling a section of customers down to a single “person.”

Basecamp designer Ryan Singer summarized the problem with personas:

You’ve got a couple and they’re middle-class Americans. They’re in their early 30’s, and they have all these attributes: the car they drive, ethnic background, the city they live in, etc. And then you ask “Is this person going to go for pizza? Are they going to go to an upscale Italian restaurant, and have an expensive entree and a romantic evening with wine?” The attributes don’t determine that at all, because on Monday night, the couple orders pizza. And, on Friday they go to the restaurant.

Personas are one part of the full picture. Once you have them, use them to create customer journeys so you can place them into a real-world context.

Understanding your competition

There are three components to a good competitive analysis:

1. defining the metrics and identifying the competitors you’re comparing,
2. gathering the data and,
3. the analysis.

How do you begin? What are the relevant factors that you should be comparing? And what conclusions can/should you draw from the data?

Start by defining what metrics are important

Before you start looking at data, you must understand what metrics are important.

Are you interested in comparing revenues? Unique visitors? Total visits? Traffic rank?

Pick a set of metrics that are important to you and measure the data based on those metrics.

If you pick the wrong metrics, you can still make a competitive analysis – but it will not be particularly meaningful to you.

Don’t worry if you’re not sure whether you’ve defined all of the relevant metrics. As you start looking at the data, you’ll see other good comparisons.

Look at recent trends

Recent trends are important because they paint a picture of what’s happening now.

This is particularly important if your company is brand new – since you won’t have any historical data for comparison.

Evaluate historical trends

Historical trends help you to understand not only the speed of growth but also to see if the same events impacted your competitors and your company equally.

For example, if two competitors are in the same industry you might see complementary growth spurts and down spurts.

If there are down spurts, you’ll most likely want to understand the causes of the dips. Were the dips caused by external events unique to the entity you’re evaluating, or something else that should have impacted everyone? Were the events one-time events (such as a hurricane) or annual events (such as the holidays in December).

Track monthly and annual growth

You’ll also want to look at the monthly and annual growth. Rapid monthly growth is meaningful, but can be deceptive if the annual rates paint a different picture. This might be tough to track if your competitors are private companies.

Challenge your assumptions

It would be easy to stop here. But if you’re looking for a meaningful comparison, you must challenge your assumptions.

You can, for example, assess visits – as opposed to unique visitors – if you picked unique visitors as your metric.

Look for confirming/dis-confirming data

To properly understand how your company stacks up against a competitors, you have to assess different types of data.

Your revenue model could provide a frame of reference.

For example, if your revenue model is based on advertising, you’ll generally care more about visits than unique visitors. If your revenue model is based on advertising in an email newsletter, you’ll want to compare the number of subscribers.

Why is confirming/dis-confirming data relevant?

It’s important because it can present a different perspective about growth and relative size. After all, there are many different metrics, and multiple metrics can be meaningful to your comparison.

Don’t assume that one metric can tell the whole story.

Dig deeper

Don’t settle for basic information.

Look at all available information to confirm or disprove your conclusions.

Try using any or all of the following:

• SpyFu: This is a great way to discover keywords and Adwords your competition might be using.
• Google Trends: Want to stay on top of the latest trends? Need to know where customers go after they leave your site? Try Google Trends.
• Google Alerts: Set up alerts so you know what customers are saying about your competition. Set one up for yourself and get easy access to the water cooler gossip on your business.

Incomplete information can be useful

Even incomplete information is better than no information – so take what you can find.

Cross-reference your sources

Using multiple sources – especially if those different sources show similar trends, tends to increase your confidence in the data.

In Chapter 5, we’ll cover the design of your brand identity assets.

But before you can create your design assets, you need to understand the building blocks (brand elements) that create your brand identity.

These brand identity building blocks include typography, color palette, forms and shapes, and composition.

How do you choose appropriate branding elements?

Here are six things you should consider when choosing the brand elements for your business or organization:

1. Memorability – The brand elements you choose should be memorable and attract attention in order to help customers remember and recognize them.
2. Meaningfulness – It’s important that the elements you choose meaningfully communicate your brand. Brand elements should give consumers information about your brand, service, or product that furthers its positioning and image.
3. Likability – Do customers find the brand element appealing? Is it likable, pleasing, and fun? You want elements that leave a positive impression.
4. Transferability – Does the element work across all market segments and mediums? Does it translate well across geographic boundaries and languages? Avoid elements that are constrained to a specific medium (like mobile, or print) or don’t translate well across your customers’ languages and cultures.
5. Adaptability – Adaptability is all about flexibility and longevity. Choose elements that can stand the test of time and the fickle nature of trends and tastes. Always be willing to change things up when necessary.
6. Protectability – No matter what you choose, if you can’t protect it legally and competitively you’re in trouble before you’ve started. Do your due diligence early and avoid legal and trademark issues further down the road.

Let’s look at each of the brand identity buildings blocks in detail.

Typography

Business owners and marketers ask many questions about typography, including:

• What is the best font for my company logo?
• What is the best font for business documents?
• What is the best font for my small business website?
• What type of font is most professional?
• What font should I use for business cards?
• What is the best font to use for business letters?
• Which font is most pleasing to the eye?

The good news is that you don’t need to leave typography (the art and technique of arranging type to make writing legible, readable and appealing) to chance.

Nor should you.

Typography impacts how people perceive your brand and your messaging.

A recent study conducted by MIT psychologist Kevin Larson showed subjects two different print layouts: one that was designed with poor typography, and another that was designed with good typography.

Larson found that the document with better font choice took less time to read, and led to increased cognitive focus and a “stronger sense of clarity.”

Different fonts have different personalities

Fonts have a psychological impact on people.

When using fonts for your business, choose a font with the right “personality.” As we wrote,

Typography is an effective way to convey more than just the words involved in written communication. It showcases personality by visually representing the tenor and tone of what it is you’re talking about. You may find that your purpose is best met by using a font with a vibrant personality throughout your website or using an amalgamation of sans and serif typefaces.

Different styles of fonts are used for different purposes depending on the tone and aesthetic you’re trying to create.

Some people are familiar with Serif and Sans Serif fonts (you’ve seen them even if you don’t know how to tell them apart).

They were designed to make it easier for people to read words and that makes most Serif and Sans Serif fonts a good fit for many different kinds of businesses.

There are also fonts that are meant to be a little quirkier and make a bolder statement – those are more suitable for niche businesses with a very targeted audience.

So how do you know which font style will work best for your business?

Are you better off with something conventional, like Arial or Helvetica?

Maybe you’ll find a stronger fit with an offbeat choice like Kirsten or Papyrus?

Whatever your font choice, it should align with your customers’ expectations when they encounter your brand.

The Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL) at Wichita State University ran a study that examined the traits people associate with varying fonts.

Traditional fonts including Arial or Times New Roman were categorized as “stable” and “mature”, but were also considered “unimaginative” and “conformist.”

In contrast, “youthful” and “casual” fonts like Comic Sans were also considered “happy” and “casual.”

Make sure you consider these feelings and perceptions when you select a font for your business to better attract your target consumer. And be sure to properly license any font you use.

For more on font licensing, read The Law on Fonts and Typefaces: Frequently Asked Questions.

Make sure the visual tone makes sense

Fonts can be evocative, and provoke a wide range of responses from the people viewing them.

The emotion generated from font choice is directly tied into the shape of the letters and our psychological response to those shapes.

Choosing a font that has associations with something counter to what your brand represents will create a confusing experience for consumers.

You want to pick a font that emphasizes and supports customers’ underlying feelings about your business – and avoid one that will throw everything off.

Fonts for a business logo, for example, should work to be traditional and clean. You need to be sure anything with your font on it – letters, emails, business cards – reinforces the message that you’re a trustworthy, credible business.

A more casual coffee shop, on the other hand, should avoid overly rigid, hyper-clean fonts. A cafe’s atmosphere is typically relaxed and comfortable, and your font choice should reflect that.

The four major categories of fonts

There are four major categories of fonts:

• Serif – Letters that have short lines coming off the edges. Serif fonts are considered formal and traditional and are well suited for print design.
• Sans-serif – These letters are created without serifs. They are viewed as casual and playful. They work well in digital designs.
• Handwritten – Anything that mimics handwriting is considered a handwritten font. Cursive fonts, for example, are often used in formal invitations.
• Decorative – These are informal fonts that are entirely original. These fonts are interpreted as quirky, creative and fun.

It’s important when choosing from one of these categories that your chosen style works with the identity you are trying to create for your brand.

If you’re not sure the fonts you are drawn to work for your business, have your designer create several different styled fonts. Then run a focus group with your favorite choices! (crowdspring gives clients the ability to quickly launch free public or private focus groups in every design project).

That way, you can get some outside opinions from friends, colleagues, your mom – anyone whose opinion you value  – to let you know how they feel about each one.

It’s a great way to make sure any design you choose hits the sweet spot for your customers!

Examples of businesses that use Serif fonts

Serif typefaces are associated with tradition and stability. They are high end, classic, and easy to read.

Some classic Serif fonts include:

• Times New Roman,
• Georgia,
• Baskerville, and
• Garamond.

Stuart de Rozario of Font Smith writes, “Serif typefaces are great for premium brands as they convey elegance, prestige, heritage and authority.”

We described Serif fonts similarly:

Serifs give a visual anchor to characters, contributing to their solid and traditional feel. They also improve readability of lengthier amounts of text, delivering a professional and trustworthy impression.

If you’re designing something that incorporates a large volume of text, a serif font is usually a smart choice.

You’ll help prevent your readers from wearing themselves out visually before they can finish absorbing your content.

The formal feel of Serif fonts makes them excellent choices for established, prestigious businesses, or any business that wants to convey authority or tradition.

Examples of businesses that use Sans-serif fonts

Fonts without serifs are aptly named sans-serif fonts. They have a modern, clean aesthetic and bring stability to a design.

Some commonly used Sans-serif font choices include:

• Helvetica,
• Roboto,
• Avenir, and
• Calibri.

This style of type deconstructed traditional letterforms and modernized them into an accessible and appealing aesthetic.

Sans-serif fonts make for a clean, intuitive reading experience, particularly in digital form.

When choosing a font for body text, using a Sans-serif font gives you the best readability and flexibility.

Most typography experts readily recommend sans-serif fonts for online content.

Sans-serif fonts evoke an informality that works well for blogs, personal websites, and casual business cultures.

Businesses that have used Sans-serif fonts for their logos to great effect include Skype, Medium, Target, and Google.

Examples of businesses that use Handwritten fonts

Using the term “handwritten” is mostly a descriptive term rather than a technical one, but it’s clear what this font style includes.

If it’s a font that looks like someone took the time to hand draw it, whether it’s neatly printed cursive or a funky block text, you’re looking at a handwritten font.

If you’re looking for examples of unique and appealing handwritten fonts, check out:

• Apple’s Noteworthy,
• Insolente,
• Melany Lane, and
• Pacifico.

Handwritten fonts are great when you’re seeking out a personal connection with your audience, as it graces a brand with an intimacy not found in more traditional fonts.

Script fonts are great for attracting an elegance-seeking audience – think wedding invitations – whereas a scrawled out print will more likely draw in a quirkier crowd.

When you’re considering using a handwritten font style, you need to be certain you’re thinking about the kind of customer you’re striving to appeal to.

Charities, childcare centers, clothing designers, and any industry seeking to add a personalized touch for their customers would do well to consider a handwritten font in their branding and marketing efforts.

Examples of businesses that use Decorative fonts

Decorative fonts are highly stylized, usually custom creations.

They’re evocative and unique, and immediately amp up your brand’s personality with extra flair.

If you’re interested in looking at some flamboyant and fun decorative fonts, some examples worth checking out are:

• Hudson, NY,
• Bangers,
• Unkempt, and
• Limelight.

Decorative fonts work very well for logo designs in particular, because it’s easy to modify them to fit your brand’s vibe. You can fine-tune them to convey a fun personality, or to emphasize a more laid-back kind of mood.

When you incorporate decorative fonts into your visual theme, be careful that the tone of the font is in keeping with the tone of your business.

These out-of-the-box creations carry a heavy emotional weight, so make sure you’re very clear about how our decorative font choice will be interpreted by your customers.

Color Palette

Color is often used to persuade or influence us.

According to a study examining the effect of color on sales, 92.6% of people surveyed by the CCI: Institute for Color Research said that color was the most important factor when purchasing products.

Another study showed that people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or thing within 90 seconds. That judgment was influenced, in 62%-90% of examples, by color alone.

How you use color in your business can have a big effect on your brand.

Let’s take a closer look.

The qualities of color

While our perception of colors and what they mean is subjective, there are some basic qualities that we can apply generally. Here are some of those qualities:

• Red. Often considered exciting, attention-grabbing, warm, and connected to love, anger, life, and comfort.
• Yellow. Seen as adventurous, evoking happiness, enthusiasm, youth, and travel.
• Green. Of course, this color is connected to money, but it’s also known for its connection to balance, health, sustainability, and knowledge.
• Blue. The color of honesty, high quality, competence, trust, reliability, and integrity.
• Pink. This color evokes love, compassion, romance, gentleness, and sophistication.
• Purple. Creativity, royalty, mystery, respect, and playfulness are often connected to purple (and violet).
• Brown. Brown is the color of the outdoors and can be seen as friendly, organic, natural, friendly, and rugged.
• Black. This color is all about sophistication, intelligence, seriousness, and expense.
• White. The antithesis of black is known for its order, innocence, purity, cleanliness, neutrality, and space.
• Grey. When you need to communicate timelessness, neutrality, refinement, of the moment, or practicality, you might want to use grey.

It’s also important to bear in mind that how you mix your colors in a single design also has psychological implications for your audience. For instance:

• A multitude of bright colors appears youthful, childlike, or full of energy.
• Black and white is a classically elegant combination that implies maturity and sophistication.
• Monochromatic schemes allow you to embrace more vibrant colors while maintaining a softer, more unified feel.
• Combining neutrals with an accent color allows you to take advantage of the emotional influence of a strong, bright color without the childlike implications.

Choose your colors wisely to elicit appropriate brand-appropriate emotions. Your color choices should always embody the personality of the brand.

Culture and context can also influence how a color is interpreted. Therefore, do your due diligence and research your audience so you can make the best choices based on their specific backgrounds.

Picking the right colors for your brand

Research shows that anticipating your consumer’s reaction to a color and its relationship to your brand is more important than the actual color itself.

Customers want to see that a color “fits” your brand.

For example, the color pink probably doesn’t fit with a brand like Ford or Harley Davidson, and black would be perceived as wrong for Fisher-Price or an organic health food store.

Other research confirms that there’s a connection between a company’s brand colors and consumers’ perception of a company’s personality.

The key takeaway here is that it’s less important what color you choose, and more that you choose colors that highlight or accentuate the personality you want your brand and product to reflect.

To learn more, we recommend you read:

• How 21 Brands Use Color to Influence Customers
• Color Trends (What Marketer and Small Businesses Need to Know)
• How Color Influences What People Buy

Forms and Shapes

All logos – whether they include an icon and text, only an icon, or even just text – have a shape.

And, it’s important to consider what that shape communicates about your brand.

Shapes fall into 3 major categories – geometric, abstract/symbolic and organic. And, they all come prepackaged with their own psychological associations.

Geometric Shapes

Geometric shapes of all kinds look man-made. Mathematically precise squares, perfect circles, and isosceles triangles don’t tend to appear in nature. So, using these shapes communicates a sense of order and power.

Squares and rectangles convey stability, reliability, strength, order, and predictability. Think of the bricks that are used to build sturdy, stable buildings. If you want your logo to communicate strength and reliability, considering incorporating squares or rectangles.

This is precisely what IBM did in creating its iconic logo. Their full company name, The International Business Machines Corporation, was shortened to IBM to create a more powerful, minimalist visual brand.

Circles are never-ending. So, they may be the right choice for your logo if you want to make your consumers think of harmony, unity, eternity, or timelessness. Curves are considered to be feminine; and, as such, circles communicate softness, gentility, and femininity.

Triangles are a directional shape. As a result, they change meaning depending on how they are positioned. When right side up, triangles convey power, stability, and upward momentum. Inverted triangles suggest instability or downward momentum. And, triangles pointing to the side convey movement and direction based on where the triangle’s point is facing.

Abstract or Symbolic Shapes

Symbols are simplified shapes that represent something specific in a culture. And, because symbols have clear, common meanings, they are relied upon heavily as a visual language.

People have seen these images again and again, so it’s really important to be clever and original in how you use them. It’s easy for logos featuring symbols to appear trite and unoriginal.

Here are a few common examples of symbols:

Stars can convey patriotism, religion, or even show business and Hollywood depending on how they are used.

Hearts can be used to communicate love, relationships, and marriage; while broken hearts represent break-ups, divorce, and sadness.

Arrows suggest a direction, movement, and travel. These are commonly used in businesses that ship and deliver goods (FedEx and Amazon, anyone?)

Be very careful when using these, and other, common symbols in your logo. They may be an easy-to-understand visual shorthand, but they are also so commonly used that you run the risk of looking indistinct from your competition.

If your logo is too “on-the-nose” and unoriginal you may come across as unprofessional; which will undermine your potential customers’ faith and trust in your business.

FedEx and Amazon are examples of logos that use symbols well.

The arrow in the FedEx logo is subtle and created from negative space – it’s an unexpected surprise.

Amazon’s logo features an arrow that serves triple duty signifying a package being delivered, their range of products (from “A” to “Z”) and the recipient’s resulting smile.

Organic Shapes

Irregular, organic shapes are wide open to your creativity.

Organic shapes include the shapes of actual organic items occurring in nature (rocks, leaves, tree bark, amoeba, water ripples, etc.). This category also encompasses any irregular non-symbolic shape, even if it’s not inspired by nature.

Professor Sunday Moulton, PhD explains:

Organic shapes are defined by not being regulated by patterns or exact dimensions in their angles, curves, or lengths of lines. In fact, they are just like shapes we find in nature with all the randomness and freedom you might see in a rock formation, a tree branch, or a leaf chewed by an insect.

When utilizing organic shapes, keep these guidelines in mind:

1. Natural shapes like leaves, grasses, representations of water, and trees tend to have a soothing effect on the viewer. This is why they tend to appear in logos for spas and holistic medical businesses.
2. Shapes with jagged angles may create feelings of anxiety for your viewers, while shapes with soft curves will make them feel more relaxed.
3. Shapes that don’t resemble anything recognizable are open to the viewer’s interpretation. This means that you will need to work harder to communicate a specific message through other design elements and branding choices.

The psychology of lines in logo design

Lines appear everywhere.

Lines divide space. They create definition and form. They communicate direction. Lines tell us where to stand and where to drive.

But, beyond their practical function, they can also communicate a great deal aesthetically.

Let’s look at how lines can have a psychological impact in a logo design.

Thin vs thick lines

Thin lines are delicate and may appear fragile. They communicate elegance and femininity. They can also imply frailty, weakness or flexibility.

Alternately, thick lines suggest strength and rigidity. They appear more traditionally masculine than thin lines. Thick, bold lines are used to draw focus and create emphasis where they appear.

Straight vs curved lines

Straight lines imply order, structure, and predictability. They may also be perceived as rigid or harsh. Straight lines are the best option for underlining text to draw the viewer’s attention, while at the same time allowing the text to be the star.

Curved lines, on the other hand, offer more energy and dynamism. Curved lines are visibly flexible and can communicate agility and reactivity. If you’re looking to convey grace and fluidity, curved lines are a great choice.

The stronger the curve, the higher the energy the line will communicate. Softer curves are more calming to look at.

Horizontal vs vertical vs diagonal lines

The position of your line in space impacts the psychological effect that the line creates.

Horizontal lines run parallel to the horizon. As a result, they contain the least visual energy of all line positions.

Unlike vertical or diagonal lines, they look as though gravity has already acted upon them and there is nowhere for them to fall. This means that horizontal is the most restful and stable line position. They feel comfortable and safe.

Horizontal lines help to emphasize width, can be used to indicate the earth or ground, or to indicate lateral movement.

Vertical lines run perpendicular to the horizon. They appear to rise straight up from the earth, filling them with the potential visual energy to tip or fall.

Vertical lines draw the eye upward. And, as such, are often used in religious iconography to draw focus upward to the heavens.

Thicker vertical lines are perceived to have more stability (and be more calming) than thin vertical lines which look more fragile and unstable.

Verticality also can be used to convey dignity or upstanding trustworthiness.

Diagonal lines can be positioned anywhere between horizontal and vertical. This makes them very expressive and the least stable of all the line positions.

The higher the top of the line, the more distance the line can fall. This translates to more potential visual energy. You will elicit more tension in your viewer the higher the angle you create from the horizon.

Diagonal lines suggest movement and action. They are more casual and playful than vertical or horizontal lines because they resist being pigeonholed in either resting position.

Smooth vs jagged vs irregular lines

Smooth lines are clean, calming and restful. Depending on their context, they can convey confidence, fluidity, or ease.

Jagged and zig-zagging lines are filled with tension. These dynamic lines change direction quickly, communicate erratic movement, and irregularity. They can suggest excitement or anxiety, confusion or danger.

Irregular lines that are neither completely smooth nor jagged look hand-drawn and natural. They appear casual and can create emphasis and focus by placing additional weight in the places where you want to draw focus.

Irregular lines can convey playfulness, confidence, timidity or hesitation based on how they are drawn.

Lines are incredibly expressive tools with great potential for embodying emotion. You can combine most of the factors described above to create lines with great individuality.

When designing a logo, make sure to choose the style of line that best supports the brand the logo will represent.

Composition

Typography, colors, forms, shapes, and lines are the building blocks for a great logo design.

But, don’t forget that how you compose those elements also impacts how the logo is perceived and the message it sends.

Here are some important considerations to think through when composing a logo design:

• Size denotes importance. The larger an object is the more focus it draws and the more important it seems.
• Western audiences read from left to right. So, things appearing on the left side of the logo will be viewed first and perceived as the most important.
• Loosely spaced items surrounded by negative space look more restful than items that are closely spaced. If you choose to emphasize negative space, be careful not to leave too much or the logo may lack coherence.
• Scattered, or irregular placement suggests playfulness, chaos or rebellion; while orderly, symmetrical arrangements communicate formality, stability, and conformity.
• Layering items together creates visual relationships, so be mindful of how you combine shapes and lines.

Once you develop your brand strategy (Chapter 2), understand your brand, customers, your competitors and your unique selling proposition (Chapter 3), and understand how brand elements help to define your brand (Chapter 4), it’s time to work with a designer to develop the creative elements that will give life to your brand identity.

Creative elements are the look, feel, and voice of your brand. You’ll communicate them consistently across all marketing channels and it’s extremely important to get them right.

The key creative elements of your brand include:

Company name

A strong company name creates a valuable first impression for your customers and prospects. It’s a shorthand for conveying what is meaningful about your brand, and what makes your brand stand apart from your competition.

Your business name should clearly convey the public identity you want your business to present.

Not sure where to start?

Give some serious thought to what your brand’s primary goals, values, and purposes are.

Since you’ve just defined your brand’s personality, try to come up with names that support the most important elements.

When you name a business, you must be certain your name represents your complete, authentic brand.

For an in-depth look at the naming process, read Why and How to (Re)Name Your Business.

Business tagline

Coming up with a great name for your business can be challenging and time-consuming. Coming up with a memorable business tagline can be even more challenging.

A tagline is supposed to communicate to your customers and potential customers what sets you apart from your competition and also your brand’s focus.

Your tagline should be unique, simple, concise, and timeless.

To learn more about business taglines and slogans, read 10 Tips to Create a Memorable Tagline for Your Business.

Logo

Your company logo is the distillation of a brand into one single visual element.

The logo acts as both the calling card and “avatar” for your brand and is one of the most important elements of a brand’s identity.

A well-designed logo is a critical component of any well executed brand experience.

But what makes for a well-designed logo?

As we explained previously:

At its most basic, a logo is a small, symbolic piece of artwork that represents a business. But, we’ve dug a bit deeper than that. When you set aside all the design trends and fancy fonts, at its core, a logo must:

1- Embody your brand.
2- Be instantly recognizable.
3- Be versatile.
4- Be timeless.

Everything else is optional.

In fact, I’ll go one step further. Every design choice in your logo should exist only to serve and strengthen the four items listed above. And, if you meet these four requirements, many other commonly cited logo must-haves, like simplicity and memorability, naturally follow.

Want to read more about how to create an eye-catching, custom logo for your business? Check out:

• The Small Business Guide to Creating a Perfect Logo

• Is Your Small Business Committing These 7 Deadly Logo Design Sins

• Logo Design Trends 2019: Your Ultimate Guide to Navigate The Biggest and Hottest Trends

Website

Your company’s website is often the first place a prospective customer visits to learn about your company.

And while many different things influence people’s buying decisions, there’s a single common factor that drives nearly every purchasing decision: can the customer trust your business?

75% of consumers judge the credibility and trustworthiness of your business solely from your website’s design.

Strong, modern web design is vital to your brand’s reputation, your bottom line, and your future.

Want to read more about how to create an effective, high conversion website? Check out:

• 7 Modern Web Design Trends for 2019

• Grow Your Small Business With These 7 Website Design Best Practices

• 16 Crucial Website Design Factors That Help Your Small Business Increase Customers and Profits

Business cards

Business cards are tangible reminders of your business (and the fact that you have to be there to hand them out) and can’t be beaten for memorability.

Business cards are also a cheap and effective way to ensure people have accurate contact information.

More importantly, they serve as a physical reminder that you met someone. That can become a trigger for reflection and often leads to more business or a renewed connection.

Or they can create a bad impression.

Ramon Ray, an experienced small business evangelist, explains:

I talk to tens of thousands of small business owners every year in the U.S. and around the world. If I get a business card that has food on it and looks like it just came out of a copy machine, I’m disappointed. But when you get one that just pops and rocks, it means something and I remember it.

To learn more about designing the perfect business card, read Business  Cards: What You Need to Know To Design a Card That Gets Noticed.

Product packaging and package graphics

If you make physical products, make sure your product packaging reflects your brand.

With thousands of products on store shelves, good product packaging design (the packaging for your product) and package graphics design (the graphics/content on the product packaging) is critical to your company’s success.

Your product packaging should speak, loud and clear, for your product when you can’t be there to do it yourself.

To learn more about designing the eye-catching product packaging, read 4 Psychology-Based Design Tips For Eye-Catching Packaging Design.

Illustration

Smart businesses leverage custom illustrations as part of their brand identity.

Illustrations are typically playful graphics that can help your business appear friendly and communicate a message more organically.

Illustrations can persuade, inform and influence your customers and prospects. They can enhance your brand messaging and can help your business express emotion.

Be sure, however, that the illustrations you use complement each other. Don’t use clashing styles and don’t over-illustrate.

Consider how you’ll use illustration with the other visual elements of your brand identity.

To learn more about ways that custom illustration can help you, read How Illustrations Can Boost Your Small Business Marketing.

Email design

First impressions are important. And, in our digital age, we often make our first impressions via email.

For example, a welcome email is the first exchange between your business and a new customer or prospect.

It sets the tone for future communications, encourages people to take a closer look at your company’s products or services, and provides helpful information.

Welcome emails have the highest open rates of all promotional email – 57.8% to a paltry 14.4%! They’re also reported to bring in 320% more revenue than standard promotional email.

To learn more about designing awesome emails, read 7 Tips that Will Make Your Welcome Emails Awesome.

Style guide

A style guide is a set of rules to follow any time a member of your organization wants to publish, present or promote content for your brand or use branding on marketing materials. We cover style guides in detail in Chapter 6.

Personality

Brand identity may change and evolve as time and trends pass, but a brand’s personality mostly stays the same. Brand personalities typically include 3-5 key characteristics (like rebellious, empowering, and adventurous, for example).

There are plenty of different possibilities to consider when deciding on a voice for your brand.

Image courtesy of Shopify

Here are some other questions to get you started down discovery road:

• What is your business’ main purpose and function?
• How do people benefit from your business?
• What is the current public perception of your business?
• What is the most important part of customers’ experience with your business?
• What kind of qualities do you want people to associate with your business?

Your answers to these questions will build the core of your brand. All of your future branding decisions should expand on these ideas.

A style guide is a set of rules to follow any time a member of your organization wants to publish, present or promote content for your brand.

A style guide answers questions like:

• What font does your logo use?
• What colors are approved?
• When you need an image for a project, what tone and feel should it have?
• Should writers use “email” or does your organization prefer the hyphenated “e-mail?”

These seem like small details, but if they’re not captured in a style guide your  brand can quickly drift into an inconsistent experience for your customers and employees.

Consistent, strategic branding allows your business to grow strong brand equity.

Having brand equity means that customers interpret your brand as having higher value.

As we wrote previously:

One common mistake made by many small businesses and startups is to assume that once they have a great logo, they’ve created their brand and now just need to do a little bit of marketing. A brand is more than logo design. But marketing efforts can fall flat if you lose credibility with your marketing collateral. You must keep an eye on branding (easier for the world’s biggest brands – they can spend billions building their brands) because it’s too easy to make a branding mistake that can cripple your small business. For example, if your branding is inconsistent or consistently poor in email and content marketing campaigns, people will notice.

Who benefits from a style guide?

Everyone.

New employees

It’s likely that at one point or another, you’ll have more than one person creating content for your brand.

You’ll hire new people, your teams will grow and change, and everyone will need to know the ‘rules for your brand’. Vieo Design’s Melanie Chandler said it best:

Branding style guides are helpful whether you are a small company with only one designer, or are well over 100 employees. They ensure that every visual element produced by or about your company is consistent, so a new hire doesn’t decide to take their own creative spin on your brand.

Contractors and vendors

External contractors need to quickly be able to pick up on the correct tone and language for your brand, too, and a style guide allows them to do that. It also saves them the time (which as everyone knows is money) trying to track down this information from other sources.

Management

Managers and editors benefit from a solid style guide, too.

The less time they have to spend making edits to their employees’ work, the better.

Removing uncertainty from a brand discussion (“The logo’s background color is cerulean blue!” “No, it’s deep sky blue!”) saves time and reduces frustration. Having a definitive guideline to refer to allows everyone to feel confident that they’re staying on-brand.

Customers and prospects

Making sure that you define the visual experience throughout all of your communications will lead to a better customer interaction with your brand.

Having a style guide ensures that you avoid inconsistent messaging, which is confusing and isolating to your audience.

How to create a style guide

Here are the six basic items that should be on your style guide:

1. Brand overview

What is your brand?

What does it stand for?

What are your goals and vision for your company?

These are all important things to define early, as they will serve as the guidepost for the overall flavor you want your brand to incorporate.

Image courtesy of CI Studio

2. Logo

Your logo is the most essential element in your guide.

A logo represents the aesthetic of your company’s brand, is the first thing people notice, and the piece that they remember later. A logo should be consistent everywhere it’s used.

Image courtesy of Apple

General rules for the logo include specifications about the size, placement, how much negative space is around it, and the places your company considers appropriate usage.

Image courtesy of NASA

3. Color Palette

As we discussed in Chapter 4, color is a powerful part of your brand.

To make sure your brand’s colors aren’t subjected to an over-zealous designer’s pastel or glow effect, your style guide should have a detailed color palette.

The style guide should clearly show what colors are permitted, where certain colors should (and shouldn’t) be used, and what colors should be avoided.

This should include the specific color values (RGB, CMYK, and even Pantone) to remove uncertainty when creating collateral for the web, print, and other media.

Image courtesy of Mailchimp

4. Typography

Your typeface and font are important, as are the rules that you assign to them.

Headers, quotes, copy and any fine print all need the right color choice, sizing and style, with font choice of critical importance.

Stop that new intern from replacing your carefully chosen typeface with the dreaded Comic Sans MS by detailing all of your brand’s typography in your guide.

Image courtesy of Medium

5. Images

Your style guide should include image guidelines: what’s allowed, what’s not, and when a specific image should be used.

You can even include instructions on where images should be sourced from, and if you have a particular aesthetic, what form it takes.

Some companies prefer images with people in them, others standardize on sweeping landscapes and vistas.

Whatever you’ve decided for your business should be spelled out in your guide.

Image courtesy of Spotify

6. Voice

Style guides aren’t just for visual elements.

The lexicon your company chooses can help define your brand’s personality and can have a profound effect on how your customers interact with you.

While you don’t need a weighty tome, capturing the general sound of your company’s “voice” can make the difference between an anything-goes approach and something more measured and unique.

Image courtesy of Google

Ultimately, style guides are not about crafting hard and fast rules for every little piece of your brand. they’re meant to be guidelines that create consistency and help your company project a unified presence.

There are a number of tools available to help you create your own style guide, including Frontify and ZippyPixel’s printable brand guidelines template. There is also seemingly endless inspiration available to help you learn from the work of others.

After you develop your brand identity, you’ll use it when you market your company’s products or services.

Let’s look at some effective examples by companies that do a great job telling brand stories through their marketing.

Divine Chocolate: Featuring brand promise

Your brand promise is the commitment your business makes to its customers.

Lee Fredericksen, Managing Partner at Hinge Marketing explains:

A brand promise is an extension of a company’s positioning. If you think of positioning as the fertile ground that allows a brand to germinate, grow and thrive, the brand promise is a brand’s fruit—it’s the tangible benefit that makes a product or service desirable.

Divine Chocolate promises its customers delicious chocolate. But, that’s not all.

Image courtesy of Divine Chocolate

You may remember Divine Chocolate and its managing director Sophi Tranchell from 11 Entrepreneurs Who Are Changing the World.

Divine is a UK-based chocolatier.

Divine has made it their mission to “make the world a place where chocolate is cherished by everyone, including the family farmers who grow the cocoa.”

Divine’s chocolate is farmed by the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana. The 85,000 farmers in the cooperative are co-owners in the company.

The farmers receive a share of the profits and have a voice in the business. Divine is following through on their promise in a very real way.

Their brand promise – luxurious fair trade chocolate that you can feel good about enjoying – is an extension of this mission.

And, they’ve done an excellent job of prominently showcasing their brand promise within their larger brand story on their chocolate packaging.

Image courtesy of Divine Chocolate

The packaging for Divine’s chocolate bars prominently features their opulent gold script logo. This reminds customers of the high-quality and decadent chocolate experience awaiting inside.

The logo is printed in raised metallic ink, providing a tactile experience for the consumer as well as a visual one.

And, surrounding that logo is a pattern of adrinka symbols. These symbols derive from Ghanaian culture – and are still embraced by the farmers of the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative.

Each symbol represents a virtue that is valued by the brand.

And, that’s just the outside of the wrapper. The inside of Divine’s wrappers includes copy and graphics explaining their story.

Liz Miller, Divine’s Senior Marketing Manager, explains,

Consumers love discovering that the Fairtrade cocoa in our chocolate is grown by family farmers in Ghana and that they receive 44% of Divine profits… This empowers people to become a part of our story by treating themselves and others to Divine Chocolate.

Divine has masterfully communicated their brand story to their customers in an eye-pleasing and effective package.

What You Can Learn from Divine Chocolate

• Feature your logo prominently to increase brand recognition.
• Make thoughtful choices about the graphics that will best communicate your brand story. Dig deep and be selective – use the images that pack the most meaning possible while also jiving with the overall design concept and brand story.

Charlotte’s Web: Brand Perception

The Stanley Brothers (Charlotte’s Web) – Image courtesy of LA Weekly.

Charlotte’s Web, a manufacturer and retailer of high-quality CBD hemp oil, must walk a fine line.

Cannabis has a mixed reputation in the U.S.

But the Stanley brothers, founders of Charlotte’s Web, have worked hard to ensure that their product is “The World’s Most Trusted Hemp Extract.”

Their product is perceived as safe, legal, and of high quality. This is quite a feat considering the overwhelming stigma attached to the plant from which their product is made.

So, how do these legal sellers of medicinal hemp oils create such a positive brand perception?

They lean hard on their brand story of a dedicated family-run business and their heart-warming origins helping the real-life Charlotte become healthy enough to live like a normal kid.

And, their packaging design and package graphics help, too.

Image courtesy of Charlotte’s Web Hemp.

Charlotte’s Web products are packaged to inspire confidence.

They use bold, but trustworthy neutral colors that create the perception of sophistication – a far cry from the red, green and yellow Rastafarian colors usually associated with cannabis.

There are no mushrooms, hookah-smoking caterpillars or Grateful Dead bears here.

The minimalist design is elegant, professional and understated with clean sans serif typography and simple line art.

But look closer – they’ve also modeled their design after traditional medicinal packaging.

They mention the number of milligrams of active ingredients contained in the product.

And, language like “balm,” “extract,” and “dietary supplement” create further associations with health and medicine.

In addition to that, the inclusion of the Charlotte’s Web logo and brand name links back to the fuller brand story of how their product was able to help young Charlotte – after whom the company was named.

And, finally, their branding is consistent throughout all of their products.

From their hemp oil extracts to their capsules and their balms, all packaging shares consistent visual branding.

This gives the whole line an air of professionalism and reliability.

What You Can Learn from Charlotte’s Web

• If your brand story is counter to popular perception, visually align your packaging design and package graphics to show the story that you do want to tell. Be careful to avoid references that might accidentally conjure the undesirable story with which you don’t want to associate.
• Consistently brand your product packaging so that consumers can get to know and trust your visual brand. Repeat interactions with your visual brand will build familiarity and confidence.

PoopBags.com: Brand personality

Image courtesy of Packaging of the World.

PoopBags.com is trying to solve a problem, help the planet, and have fun doing it.

Dogs will always poop.

And bags for cleaning up dog waste are in constant demand for city-dwelling dog owners.

But, no one is really excited about the topic of dog poop bags – except for Paul “Mr. Poop Bags” Canella.

Paul felt bad using non-biodegradable bags to collect his dog May’s waste, knowing that they were not good for our planet. So, he set out to create an Earth-friendlier biodegradable version to solve this issue.

But, even though Canella is driven by a high-minded and worthwhile purpose, he’s never lost touch with his sense of humor:

Poop Bags! When you typed some keywords into your search engine of choice, you may have laughed when you saw the link for www.poopbags.com come up. Well, when I was walking my dog in the summer of 2003, I laughed too when I first thought about the idea…

PoopBags.com has a distinct personality that shines through in their product packaging.

Image courtesy of Packaging of the World.

PoopBags.com’s packaging design keeps things light and playful, showcasing their fun personality.

Their products come in boxes featuring a range of bright, exuberant colors juxtaposed with a neutral background.

The raw cardboard color shows through beneath the cheery, saturated pastels to remind consumers of their dedication to using and creating biodegradable materials.

Their logo embraces the light and humorous personality of their brand with a gently rounded font and a cute flower to remind consumers of their eco-mindedness and provide a cheeky nod to poop’s role as a fertilizer.

They complete their brand story with a seal claiming that they have been “Saving the Earth Since 2003”. This seal features their dedication to helping the planet with their product.

PoopBags.com’s packaging unapologetically owns their role as purveyors of potty accessories and has fun with it.

But, they also manage to deftly remind their audience of their enthusiasm for protecting our planet, all in one cohesive and attractive design.

What you can learn from PoopBags.com

• Choose colors, imagery, and fonts that reflect your brand’s personality. And don’t forget to use an appropriate voice for your packaging copy. You can communicate so much about your brand by showing instead of telling.
• Share what your brand is all about. Do you have a cause or mission that you’re passionate about? What motivates you? Feature that in your packaging design.

Over the past decade, we’ve observed many companies, even successful Fortune 100 companies, make critical branding mistakes.

Here are some most common branding mistakes – hopefully you can avoid making them while you brand or rebrand your business.

Generic brand identity

How many business owners have thought: “I want my brand to be very bland so that my company is indistinguishable from anyone else!”

Not one.

A great business logo can be the difference between blending in and standing out from the competition.

But while we often recognize the value of a great logo, we don’t always prioritize it.

New business owners often incorrectly believe that a good logo will cost thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

As a result, they sometimes buy pre-made templates in an online logo store, try a do-it-yourself approach, or use so-called online logo makers (some of whom claim to use artificial intelligence, or AI, to create logos).

In fact, entrepreneurs aren’t the only ones who make the mistake of using generic logos- businesses of all sizes sometimes use logo shortcuts, only to find out that it’s even more expensive to rebrand later.

After all, memorable logos are 13% more likely to get consumers attention, and 71.6% more likely to get a positive response from consumers.

In a world of noise, that can make a big difference.

In certain industries,  generic logos have become extremely problematic.

The epidemic of similar fonts, glyphs, and swishy people leaves a weak first impression on customers and is unmemorable.

We’ve talked about the legal and branding dangers of these generic logo symbols in The Logo Store Nightmare: Ready Made Logos Harm Your Business.

To give you some perspective on why you should avoid generic branding, let’s look at four industries and the types of generic logos we often see in those industries.

Real estate generic logos

Image source: dm243.

Many logos in the real estate industry show a house or some buildings with the company name underneath it.

It’s like putting the picture of a shoe on the logo of a shoe company!

The colors are usually in serious tones: reds, grays, and dull blues.

The logos are literal but people already understand that a real estate company will deal with the buying and selling of houses. When people choose a real estate agency, they assume that!

What they don’t know is what makes a real estate company different, whether that is a personal touch or high-quality agents. Real estate companies that use generic elements in their logos completely miss the opportunity to stand out.

You’ve probably seen many variations of the logos above, with different companies names and some stylization.

If your logo has those elements, there are probably thousands of other businesses with similar logos. But you are also unlikely to recall any of those companies!

When you look at generic house after house, you don’t learn what the company is trying to communicate.

Finance generic logos

While at first glance each logo may look slightly different, most logos in the finance/consulting services industry look  similar.

They focus heavily on the company name, often using a serif font in an attempt to show seriousness and trust.

While there is some variation in font size, the words are usually stacked and bolded to show emphasis.

The symbols don’t add much- they are mostly buildings and graphic lines.

Overall, many logos in this industry end up conveying exactly what people already think: boring, serious, money focused companies.

While the seriousness and focus part of the message is usually intentional, a boring logo lends itself to customers not necessarily caring or knowing which company they prefer.

The companies all blend together and the first impression is weak.

Smarter financial companies focus their logos around characters or rounder, friendlier fonts (an overall trend in logo design).

Many financial companies are taking the opportunity to simplify their logos, including shorter versions of their name or relying more on a symbol to make their brands more memorable.

In an industry that screams complication and confusion, simple logos can go a long way.

This Brazilian credit card company proves that even financial companies can have simple, memorable logos:

Medical generic logos

Another industry that suffers from generic logos is the medical industry.

From insurance companies to hospitals to private practices and holistic treatment centers, medically-focused companies often end up reusing the same symbols, fonts, and colors.

Blues, reds, and greens are common colors in the medical industry.

They often mirror colors that are serious and focused on the human body.

But yet again, these colors and font choices seem extremely serious.

People already understand that a doctor’s office or insurance company will be focused and professional. When most people are trying to choose a medical provider, they look at the extra steps they take when they provide services, their customer service, kindness, and ability to be calm.

Much like the color and font schemes, the traditional symbols don’t help .

When every logo in the industry is a variation of one design, it makes it hard to remember which company is which and makes branding look like an afterthought.

Technology generic logos

Even the most innovative industry struggles when it comes to logo design.

Many technology companies struggle to break out of the circular, swooshy glyph and name combination- much like many companies in the finance/consulting industry.

Not only are many tech companies’ symbols almost identical, but the colors tend to trend towards greens and blues in an attempt to look progressive, serious, and scientific.

But even more shocking is the lack of variety in font choices. Almost every font is dramatically spaced out. Many of the company names are in all caps, and the fonts are traditional with little creativity.

The stack of the symbols and fonts is formulaic too, making the companies seem inaccessible and unimaginative.

Smart startups have become more creative when it comes to logo design. They opting for friendlier, more creative logos as they try to communicate the innovation behind their company- not just their ability to leverage technology well.

By using different fonts and playing with different images, innovative technology companies are able to present themselves as interesting and engaging to all types of consumers. We love Github’s logo as an example of playfulness and innovation:

2. Not delivering your brand consistently

If there’s one word that might encapsulate the habits of successful brands, it is consistency.

Behind any identity, from Coca-Cola’s huge presence to smaller but equally memorable brands like Dollar Shave Club, is a clear and consistent delivery.

The critical part is that this can’t just be online, or in print: it needs to be evenly applied across anywhere your company interacts with your customers.

It can be challenging to communicate your brand when you’re limited to a single large header image, but this is a perfect example of why good branding is more than just visual.

You have to adapt to the constraints of each network and find a way to represent your brand faithfully.

Companies like Coca-Cola understand that creating a compelling brand on social media means presenting themselves through visuals as well as voice.

3. Neglecting every branding opportunity

Most companies have the basics of good branding down: a distinct, audience-tested logo; a memorable tagline; a strong social media presence.

But there are still many places you can extend your brand.

When you give Powerpoint or Keynote presentations, how do the slides reflect your brand?

Many companies neglect to update their presentation templates or don’t create templates at all. You end up with is a hodgepodge of slide designs and presentation designs that can seem inconsistent at best, or unprofessional at worst.

Take the time to create company-wide presentation templates and make sure they are used consistently and kept up to date as your brand evolves.

Another small but meaningful place that companies often neglect is their employee’s email signatures. We’re not suggesting you use massive, rich-media email signatures with embedded images and fancy typography (because those are annoying).

Including a short, concise message (such as your tagline), however, is a great way to use a space that would normally be forgotten.

4. Cheating on your branding guidelines or style guide

It’s one thing to make sure the brand you create is uniquely yours, and cannot be misrepresented or misinterpreted by others.

It’s another thing to make sure your branding strategy is consistently applied internally as well.

Whether this happens intentionally (when an internal team takes matters into their own hands and deviates from the brand on purpose) or through carelessness or lax brand policing, the results are similar.

Many companies shoot themselves in the foot if employees do not follow established brand guidelines.

Build a brand or style guide (Chapter 6) to ensure that everyone responsible for putting your brand out to the public knows how to put your brand in the public sphere.

Keep guidelines as specific as possible, and keep them documented and accessible to all of your staff.

You worked hard to create your brand. Give your employees the tools they need so they don’t inadvertently go off-brand, and create internal checks so that you know your brand is applied correctly by all.

This is important in all your communications, even at events where you’ll publicly showcase your brand.

Ramon Ray, one of the country’s leading small business experts, explains:

How can you have brand consistency at an event? Start by hiring great people. If you need to create signs or marketing materials for the event, you certainly can go the DYI (do-it-yourself) route. But unless you’re a talented and experienced designer, you should focus on what you know best and hire the right people who can make your company and your brand look great.

5. Not evolving your brand

Just as consumer tastes and trends change over time, so should your brand.

Keep in mind, however, that your brand is not just expressed visually, as we established earlier.

Some companies (like Target, Nike, or BMW) have kept their logo consistent for decades but also keep their brands in step with the times.

For Target, this hasn’t meant solely a visual refresh (see below for how Target’s logo has changed over the years); it’s meant changes like updating the brands they carried, the layout of their stores, and the uniforms worn by staff.

Of course, we’re not talking about change for change’s sake.

A brand is a living document of not only what your company represents it also acts as a vital connection between your customers and your business. Listen to what your customers say on social media.

Don’t be afraid to involve them in the discussion. As your customers change, so should your brand.

6. If you rebrand, do it right

Rebranding can be a great way to refresh your brand by incorporating modern aesthetics into your existing company’s identity.

It’s important not to let your brand stagnate, and sometimes, a visual overhaul can help inspire consumer loyalty in existing and new markets.

However, if you introduce these changes poorly, you risk isolating your potential customer base and offending your existing one. When making changes to an established brand identity, you need to be certain any changes made have benefits that significantly outweigh the risks of potentially losing business.

If you decide to make changes, clearly educate people about the changes you’re making. According to Matthew Kinsman, CEO at BaseCreate,

Customers who are already loyal to the brand deserve to be informed about the upcoming changes. It is essential to assure current customers that the new brand is a positive transformation and will not affect the service and commitment that the business has demonstrated thus far.

When introducing your rebrand, make sure that your business’ blog, email blasts, and social media all act as helpful, informative communications for your customers.

Make sure you are conveying your rebranding efforts clearly so that your customers don’t end up confused or otherwise estranged from the brand they know.

Make sure your audience is informed to prevent your rebranding efforts from causing frustration.

Even major brands make mistakes when rebranding. In the following video, we look at four rebranding failures so that you can gracefully avoid these rebranding pitfalls.

Conclusion

A strong brand identity can mean the difference between your company succeeding beyond your wildest dreams, or failing miserably.

The good news is that whether you succeed or fail is in your hands.

Are you ready to get started?

I’m grateful to Katie Lundin and Amanda Bowman for their terrific research and contributions to this guide. At nearly 17,000 words long, it was a team effort!

The post What is Brand Identity and How To Create a Great One: A Complete Guide for Marketers and Businesses (2019) appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

by brainstorm666 on crowdspring

Packaging design (the packaging for your product) and package graphics design (the graphics/content on the product packaging) play an important role in your company’s brand identity.

It’s what consumers see, pick up, hold, and take home with them – it’s a literal and figurative touchpoint between your brand and your customers.

That means you need to be absolutely certain your product packaging is worth bringing home. As we wrote,

Good design is a signal to customers that they should buy from you.

This is true not only online, but also for physical products.

Packaging design, for example, can alter the perception of your product. Megan Sullivan, in her article “The Psychology of Product Packaging,” points out:

We all want to believe that consumers make decisions on products and services strictly based on merit, with the best one winning. In spite of that hope, psychologists and retailers agree that in many cases this just isn’t true. Quality aside, sometimes the flashier, prettier or sexier product wins the day.
So what does this mean for retailers and product manufacturers? What it means is that creating a terrific product is only part of the formula for sales success. Packaging it perfectly, complete with eye-catching graphics and colors, is just as important to your financial success.

Make sure your packages don’t get left on the shelves in 2019 because of dated, unattractive design.

Here’s are 2019 packaging design trends that are accessible, attractive, and easily adapted for any business.

1. minimalist packaging
2. sustainable packaging
3. soft neutrals, pastels, and patterns
4. unusual/playful package graphics
5. black and white colors
6. transparent packaging
7. cause-friendly package graphics
8. vintage packaging design
9. package graphics that tell a story
10. use of gradients in package graphics
11. artisan package graphics

Let’s take a closer look at each of these trends.

1. Minimalist packaging

by studiox on crowdspring

With all of the nostalgia for the brashness and brightness of 80s and 90s, minimal design might come as a relief for the eyes.

by studiox on crowdspring

Keeping things simple might be the safe choice.

However, there are other reasons to opt for simplicity – and it’s not always because minimalism plays it safe.

Reducing a product’s packaging design to its essence is a powerful way to truly hone your brand.

by Dazzler on crowdspring

Do you want to create a lasting, striking impression on consumers?

Let your product speak for itself.

Minimal packaging design allows the integrity of your product to shine through.

It can provide a break for consumer eyes weary of bright, cluttered packaging adorned with outrageous or ornate design work.

Minimal design can also bolster a brand’s personality.

by trisant on crowdspring

Imagine a beauty product with a sparse, uncluttered package, or a cleaning product with a truly clean design.

Just because something is minimal, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s simplistic.

The goal is to strip away what’s unnecessary from a package’s design until only the essential remains.

This gives your product a truly clean slate on which to shine.

2. Sustainable packaging

by mattmac on crowdspring

With more and more focus on the impact of packaging waste, it’s more important than ever that designers and companies think green.

It’s not just the right thing to do. A Nielsen study found that 66 percent of global consumers said they would pay more for sustainable brands.

Many studies on the buying habits of Millennials found a preference for sustainable products as well. A different Nielsen study found that 3 out of 4 Millennials and 72 percent of Gen Z polled would pay more for a product with sustainable packaging.

We have looked extensively at sustainability in product and packaging design. We found that:

Packages that use green materials like recycled aluminum save energy and reduce landfill waste. This is compelling for environmentally concerned consumers.

As increasing numbers of consumers demand sustainable products and packages, this trend will continue to be important, and timely.

3. Soft neutrals, pastels, and patterns

By BlackCatDesign on crowdspring

After a design trend hits, there’s often an opposing trend that seems to surface soon after.

by trisant on crowdspring

Call it reactionary, evolutionary, or simply how trends change and progress.

In the past few years, we’ve seen a pattern in graphic design trends that incorporates bright colors, loud patterns, and in your face graphics.

These designs are colorful, but they don’t work for every business.

Fortunately, the recent shift to bold, brightly colored designs has its own counterpart trend.

by dizainhash on crowdspring

The incoming trend toward neutral colors, pastels, and patterns are like a salve for overtired consumer eyes.

The versatility of this softer trend has been embraced by a wide variety of businesses.

Cell phone cases, intimates, even our beloved coffee packaging – businesses in every marketplace have found a way to adopt a neutral palette into their packaging.

Packages using these trends speak to our softer side.

They create a welcoming feel that can be effective to draw in consumers seeking something more compassionate or considered.

by rjhill on crowdspring

This trend doesn’t mean that packages have to fade into the background or appear more passive.

Designers can use pastels and patterns to create visually compelling packages that attract attention.

In fact, most minimalist designs heavily emphasize the company’s name, logo design and brand as you see in these examples.

If your brand or product benefits from a more subtle or mellow look and feel, incorporating this trend may uncover the packaging zen you’ve been seeking.

We expect packages in 2019 will have more of these soothing, gentle color palettes.

4. Unusual/Playful package graphics

by purushothama on crowdspring

There are many instances of very serious packaging to be found in any given marketplace.

by marioteodoru on crowdspring

You know the ones – their stark, commanding graphics and imposing, stern typefaces impress customers with their obvious sophistication or visual dominance.

This style of packaging works well for some brands, but taking a step outside of a more serious approach can draw attention, too.

Adopting an unusual, playful graphic style in packaging can appeal to consumers looking for a lighthearted experience, an adventure, or something aggressively fun.

Knowing your market is important here – you probably wouldn’t want to purchase medical supplies wrapped in neon smiley face adorned packaging.

But if you know your consumers are in it for a good time or a youthful feel, this fun and fancy free trend might be worth playing around with.

5. Black and white colors

by marcuccio on crowdspring

What’s black and white and read all over?

This package design trend, that’s what.

Designers have used the yin and yang of colors to great effect, and this trend shows no signs of fading to… well, black.

by marcuccio on crowdspring

There’s something powerful about packages that use white and black.

It removes the distraction of color, and instead draws the eye to the shape and form of the design.

It also spotlights the copy, which can be advantageous when copy is a critical part of your brand.

There’s also a sophistication to designs using black and white.

If you’re not sold on the bright, intense colors in other trends, the simplicity of black and white may be perfect for you.

by draganfly on crowdspring

6. Transparent packaging

by ellianna on crowdspring

Who doesn’t get a little thrill at a sneak peek of what’s in the box?

Packages with cut-outs have been a staple for many years.

by studiox on crowdspring

While cut-outs briefly fell out of favor in the early 2000s because of the expense involved, many businesses have decided the expense may be worth their while.

Customers want to know what’s inside of their products, and transparent packaging is a way to show and tell in an attractive way.

Providing a literal window into your product helps build trust and (pardon the pun) transparency.

It shows that you have nothing to hide, and can encourage a level of trust not possible with products hiding behind a closed…box.

After all, seeing is believing.

by rdimension on crowdspring

7. Cause-friendly package graphics

by PIX on crowdspring

Companies that stand for something resonate with consumers. A Core LLC study confirmed this, revealing some impressive numbers. According to the study:

Forty-one percent of Americans say they have purchased a product in the past year because it was associated with a social or environmental cause. A full 83 percent of consumers want more of the products, services and retailers they use to benefit causes.

The study also found that companies who support causes are viewed more positively, and can benefit from switchers who jump from other brands. Specifically:

85% have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about; and,

80% are likely to switch brands, similar in price and quality, to one that supports a cause.

As we discussed earlier in our look at sustainable packaging, increasing numbers of consumers seek out companies who make it clear they care. Whether this is through sustainable packaging or clearly stated causes and charities doesn’t matter.

Wearing your heart on your proverbial sleeve (or in this case, packaging) is ultimately good for everyone, and good for business. This is a trend bound to grow as younger, more socially-aware consumers start flexing their immense buying power.

8. Vintage packaging

by BlackCatDesign on crowdspring

Every year, designers look to the past to find inspiration.

by TheBrandBureau on crowdspring

Package designs that recall vintage elements, colors, or patterns but with a refreshingly modern twist will be found in abundance in 2019.

Packages with a vintage feel draw in consumers who search for that “artisanal” or handmade quality.

It may be ironic to use something evoking the past to charm those looking for authentic in-the-now experiences.

by studiox on crowdspring

But what’s more authentic than getting in touch with our history?

Vintage designs also convey exclusivity. An old-fashioned look feels bespoke and unusual. That feeling lets a purchaser feel they’ve collected something rather than simply made a careless purchase.

If you’re looking to create an aura of sophisticated taste, finely crafted goods wrapped in vintage packaging is a great way to create that tastefully curated experience.

Authentic; exclusive; handmade: if any of these fit your brand, a vintage-era look may work for your package’s design.

by meshkenas on crowdspring

9. Package graphics that tell a story

by freejazzfreejazz on crowdspring

The best packaging tells a compelling story to interested consumers.

A good brand story conveys a central message in every visual piece of branding your business has. Your brand story, in many ways, is the backbone of your entire brand identity.

Product packaging is your business’ most effective weapon to tell your brand’s story in a compelling way:

Product packaging has the power to inspire us to purchase a product and can make us feel even better about the purchase we’ve just made.

To build a strong brand, you must tell compelling brand stories. As we wrote previously:

Effective product packaging does more than merely set the stage for a product. The experience of unpacking a product is part of a customer’s experience with a brand, much like a company’s name and logo.

The need to tell compelling brand stories will only grow in importance in the year 2019.

If you want your packaging to tell your own story, consider these questions for your designs:

• What does your brand stand for?
• How do you want customers to feel when they use your product?
• How does your product resonate with your customers’ desires, fears, ambitions, values, etc?

Having your packaging designs incorporate the story your brand tells is an especially impactful way to truly connect with your market niche.

10. Use of gradients in package graphics

by jovana on crowdspring

Gradients are a growing trend in just about every area of design.

We see gradients heavily used in modern web design trends and logo design trends for 2019.

by Gernet on crowdspring

Gradients are easy to use because they’re striking and versatile.

As we recently wrote,

Gradients provide subtle visual interest without being too busy.

That’s what makes them so great for lending an air of dynamism to a design without overwhelming the important stuff.

by trisant on crowdspring

Gradients add depth and complexity to packaging without distracting from the product itself.

The colorful design provides just enough visual interest to draw the viewer’s eye – and then helps customers to remember the brand later on.

That kind of attention gives any product on a shelf a much sought after advantage.

It’s easy to see why gradients aren’t going anywhere in 2019.

by alancreative on crowdspring

11. Artisan package graphics

by PIX on crowdspring

We recently wrote about the massive success of Etsy and, by extension, the success of the independent seller marketplaces found there. As we wrote,

A major part of Etsy’s appeal for people is the authentic, local-shop feeling of the store and product – even if that store is actually located thousands of miles away.

The artisan, handcrafted, personal feel of the products found on Etsy all reflect a broader trend: the growing preference to purchase products that feel local, handmade, intimately crafted, and not mass produced.

For products that are created with each individual purchaser’s needs in mind, packaging should reflect that carefully crafted feeling.

Make sure your packaging illustrates your authentic, craftsman identity and emphasizes that your product was created by you.

This trend is focused on impressing upon customers that your product is natural, fresh, handmade, and a genuine artisan experience.

Wrapping It Up

Trends respond to changing tastes, but our underlying preference for attractive, beautiful design remains the same.

Good design is good business. Be sure your product packaging catches the eyes of your customers and prospects.

The post 11 Eye-Catching Packaging Design Trends for 2019 appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

The internet is an endless source of available information.

Some of that information is great, but there are many manipulative strategies designed to influence our thoughts and opinions.

It’s increasingly crucial to be aware of how our beliefs are being formed by external influences.

This is particularly true on social networks, where social proof sneakily colors our opinions of the content we consume with likes, shares, and comments, we need to consciously disengage with public opinion before forming our own interpretations of what we’re reading. Or watching. Or liking.

To read more about this, read this fascinating piece from Medium.

Now, we hope you enjoy another great set of links and articles that we shared with you over the past week on our crowdspring Twitter account (and on Ross’s Twitter account). We regularly share our favorite posts on entrepreneurship, small business, marketing, logo design, web design, startups, leadership, social media, marketing, economics, and other interesting stuff! Enjoy!

Hot web design trends for 2019 |@AZBigMedia – https://t.co/Wo26OxxtHD pic.twitter.com/XQMp59Ak6Q

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 20, 2018

Want to be more creative? Go for a walk … How Does the Brain-Body Connection Affect Creativity? https://t.co/PAwPhlP4Sm pic.twitter.com/IGJGBHZhIw

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 16, 2018

What You Should NEVER Ask Your Customers – https://t.co/PvXFgjOXnl pic.twitter.com/thPI8jgqTu

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 7, 2018

What is Brand Identity and How To Create a Great One: A Complete Guide for Marketers and Businesses (2019)@crowdspring @ramonray @rosskimbarovsky https://t.co/O0vaOr5nFV pic.twitter.com/ayhzkZv8f6

— mobilemonkey (@MobileMonkey) December 19, 2018

Starting a Business: 10 Small Business Experts Share Their Most Important Advice https://t.co/5s6CZ4vlJR pic.twitter.com/lxKWTOXozT

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 9, 2018

Brand Health: 6 Important Questions You Should Ask About Your Small Business Brand https://t.co/exqn67xmmY pic.twitter.com/PPBeoap7zU

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 4, 2019

Innovation Isn’t All Fun and Games — Creativity Needs Discipline | @HBR – https://t.co/jISUzwatAb

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 9, 2019

What is Brand Identity and How To Create a Great One: A Complete Guide for Marketers and Businesses (2019) | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/eLWslN8wLO (nearly 17,000 words!) #brandidentity #branding #MarketingStrategy #SMBs pic.twitter.com/xFaBRncCfV

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 17, 2018

You can let data drive your decisions or you can decide what you want and conform the data to your decision. The latter approach is less useful. https://t.co/cL5UUX9Mii

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 11, 2018

6 Women Entrepreneurs Share Their Most Important Advice About Starting And Growing A Successful Business https://t.co/OvaXpMlqs7 pic.twitter.com/RjfFb6BYio

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 14, 2018

Why Side Projects Are Important (And How You Can Get Started) https://t.co/oRI0gLgVrJ pic.twitter.com/hWOC7GbaC2

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 16, 2018

Just because people pay you, doesn’t mean they own you. Don’t give them permission to take over your life. Thx @jasonfried https://t.co/gYyux3M5DG pic.twitter.com/vDdDNTDOYW

— Chase Jarvis (@chasejarvis) December 18, 2018

Accelerate Growth by Investing in Your Company’s Brand Identity https://t.co/NvkLt92JMV nice article by @crowdspring

— Ramon Ray (@ramonray) December 27, 2018

Want to be more creative? Go for a walk … How Does the Brain-Body Connection Affect Creativity? https://t.co/PAwPhlP4Sm pic.twitter.com/IGJGBHZhIw

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 16, 2018

Accelerate Growth by Investing in Your Company’s Brand Identity. (My guest post in @advertisingweek) – https://t.co/57MrPyJld1 #branding #brandidentity #marketing pic.twitter.com/vA7P6I4eZK

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 19, 2018

11 Eye-Catching Packaging Design Trends for 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/nFjN3jXxkL #Packaging #packagingdesign #branding #SMB pic.twitter.com/13L2RrnId6

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 10, 2019

Interesting … majority of A/B tests are stopped earlier than they should be and as a result, the experiments often lead to the wrong conclusions. p-Hacking and False Discovery in A/B Testing – https://t.co/z4oCpuXbGr

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 18, 2018

10 Essential Tools That Will Help Grow Your Marketing Agency https://t.co/IUfBGcyJwH pic.twitter.com/LvBo7Yh9tm

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 25, 2018

Crazy. Facebook counts a video view after 3 seconds … What’s A Video View? On Facebook, Only 3 Seconds Vs. 30 At YouTube | @MarketingLand – https://t.co/uusghYbkCT pic.twitter.com/GeIeX4eTSG

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 7, 2018

A terrific guide from @ElephateSEO … The Ultimate Guide to JavaScript SEO https://t.co/37YfuB4Z0a pic.twitter.com/ce3NjIjIH4

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 26, 2018

Facebook Messenger Chatbot Marketing: The Definitive Guide (2018) https://t.co/vExg61CWdb pic.twitter.com/32RxbxskCu

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 14, 2018

Interesting but incomplete. Shares often stay silent (no reshares or reads). The situation is actually worse than they are reporting. In 2018 Buzzsumo Proved Content Marketing Is Dying. https://t.co/7jcaBLvLLc pic.twitter.com/QtbEpmgyoX

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 8, 2018

Terrific read – many valuable insights for content marketers and SEO consultants … 7 Search Ranking Factors Analyzed: A Follow-Up Study | @Moz blog – https://t.co/7vKEQeiahB pic.twitter.com/zkfeLEqZ7N

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 10, 2018

11 Eye-Catching Packaging Design Trends for 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/nFjN3jXxkL #Packaging #packagingdesign #branding #SMB pic.twitter.com/13L2RrnId6

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 10, 2019

Innovation Isn’t All Fun and Games — Creativity Needs Discipline | @HBR – https://t.co/jISUzwatAb

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 9, 2019

Strong, modern web design is vital to your brand’s reputation, your bottom line, and your future. Here are 7 Modern Web Design Trends for 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/3QPODkSFke #Webdesign #SMBs #Marketing pic.twitter.com/nkzpXfXKPS

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 10, 2018

The food you serve should always be the star. But your food packaging design should never be an afterthought: https://t.co/l7YeMDoLRg #packaging #foodservice @crowdspring

— Total Food Service (@TFS_TotalFood) December 11, 2018

How to Make Your Craft Brewery Stand Out With Great Design https://t.co/VIOZKIBxSW pic.twitter.com/kzeMWzd8el

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 13, 2018

10 Smart Tips To Help Authors Create an Amazing Book Cover Design https://t.co/azEnWttbBA pic.twitter.com/9bsgrIcCmN

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 13, 2018

A well-designed logo will help boost awareness and can improve marketing and a brand's bottom line. A poorly designed logo can tarnish it. Here are 8 innovative logo design trends and styles for 2019 | @smartbrief – https://t.co/US3STRKOIQ pic.twitter.com/S9ooCRuJFc

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 19, 2018

How A Strong Logo and Brand Can Help Your Etsy Store Thrive https://t.co/HacMQWDIkB pic.twitter.com/ws1LbTMjgy

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 16, 2018

The Logo Store Nightmare: Ready Made Logos Harm Your Business https://t.co/PsFgW2lVK7 pic.twitter.com/LzbsrNamf6

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) December 9, 2018

Los Angeles county is home to more people than each of these 41 states pic.twitter.com/BfO32FYlyR

— Conrad Hackett (@conradhackett) December 10, 2018

I don't agree with some of the assumptions, but this is a good look at the scooter biz … Lime and Bird are each worth 10B+ https://t.co/VTsHaSTaZq

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) December 7, 2018

Perspective matters … pic.twitter.com/BOk7p4z7Ex

— Dovey Wan (@DoveyWan) December 9, 2018

The post Twitter Link Roundup #354 – Terrific Reads for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Marketers, and Designers! appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

The pace of change has accelerated.

Gone are the days when fashion trends could be measured in decades. Or a telephone was a one-time, long-term purchase.

Now, new technologies supplant older ones every single year; and, in some cases, even faster.

Today’s successful products have an even greater need to differentiate than in prior years.

Today’s consumers want the newest technologies. But, they also want products that are environmentally responsible as the debates over climate change rage.

They want to wear the latest fashions. But, with the rise of the Millennial cohort, they also want to purchase from authentic, relatable brands that share their values.

Businesses that design and manufacture products are facing more (and higher) consumer expectations than ever before.

You need to think ahead to give your product a competitive edge.

So, if you’re planning to release or design a new product in 2019, here are seven of the most important trends in product design that you should know about:

1. Sustainable product design
2. Portable product design
3. Multi-functional product design
4. Designing for plastic alternatives
5. Designing for self-care
6. Designing for additive manufacturing
7. Product design for the Internet of Things

Let’s look at each of these seven changes in more detail.

Trend #1 – Sustainable Product Design

Scrolling through Facebook, it’s easy to stumble upon pictures of baby sea creatures tangled in plastics.

And, amidst the food and fashion pics on Instagram are images of trash spoiling otherwise pristine nature scenes.

It’s hard to avoid becoming environmentally aware these days.

As early as 2015, a study showed that consumers were more likely to buy from a retailer that packaged their goods in green, sustainable packaging.

And, as scientists warn us that climate change is edging ever closer to a dangerous point of no return, many consumers take those warnings to heart and want to be a part of the solution.

People want sustainable product and packaging design that allows them to maintain their current lifestyle… without having to feel bad about the impact that lifestyle may have on the environment.

In 2019, expect to see more businesses prioritizing sustainable product design practices and leveraging this as a selling point.

But remember to smartly incorporate your company’s brand identity into sustainable product design. We’ve seen many interesting products that do a poor job with branding.

Trend #2 – Portable Product Design

Image courtesy of CNET

People have gotten used to taking their toys with them wherever they go.

Our smartphones allow us to make calls, shop, play games and even manage our finances from pretty much anywhere. Laptop computers and widespread public wifi allow us to work flexibly away from our homes and offices.  Mobile technology is a way of life.

As a result, consumers are now looking for the same kind of convenience from all of their products. And this means that other fields outside of communications tech are prioritizing portability to meet that need.

For example, Nintendo’s newest gaming console – the Switch – doubles as both a television-based console and a self-contained portable handheld gaming system. Nintendo’s forward-thinking console gamble has paid off. This past Thanksgiving – more than a year and a half after the console debuted –  the Switch continued to break sales records.

People like portability.

In 2019, product designers will be challenged to follow suit and make a wide range of products as conveniently portable as possible.

Can your business introduce an exciting new product design customers can carry with them in the new year?

Trend #3 – Multi-Functional Product Design

Image courtesy of More With Less

The minimalism movement has been growing in popularity over the past few years. And, people are inspired to do more with less.

We’re seeing this popularity in modern logo design trends, website design trends, and product packaging design trends, among many other areas.

Not to mention, we’ve all been spoiled by the wide range of tasks our smartphones can do. These experiences prime consumers to be pickier about the products they purchase.

Today’s consumers are driven to buy fewer items and expect more performance from the items they do purchase.

For example, check out the very cool, very functional “Diga” salad bowl/colander shown above. You can rinse your food and eat it from the same container. Products like the Diga that solve multiple problems and can be applied to a variety of situations are more enticing than one-off specialty gadgets.

If you want your products to prove irresistible to consumers in 2019, design them to serve multiple functions.

Trend # 4 – Designing for Plastic Alternatives

Earth isn’t getting bigger.

But, we keep making more plastic.

And, that plastic isn’t going anywhere. The experts at Bio-Tec Environmental explain:

No one exactly knows how long plastic takes to break down, but it is believed to take hundreds or even thousands of years. It is not just the accumulation of plastics that harms the environment—it is also the fragments and toxins released during photo-decomposition that pollute our soil and water.

As we’ve already mentioned, people are becoming more environmentally aware.

People prefer paper bags over plastic at the grocery store. Biodegradable alternatives are replacing plastic eating utensils. And, there’s a movement to re-popularize cloth diapers over less environmentally-friendly disposable plastic ones.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Plastics pose a unique threat to our environment. Even the LEGO company – a business whose sole product is made of plastic – has acknowledged this problem and vowed to replace their current materials with a new, greener alternative by 2030.

This is why product designers will prioritize looking for a wider range of environmentally-friendly, biodegradable materials that can take the place of plastics in their product design in 2019.

Win consumers’ hearts and dollars – design and manufacture your products from biodegradable materials instead of plastic.

Trend #5 – Designing for Self-Care

The blessing and curse of our technological age is that we’re always connected to the outside world.

Our phones keep us plugged in and turned on at all times – driving the need for people to turn off and turn inward to take care of themselves.

Happily, product design isn’t just about how a product looks – it’s about how that product functions. This gives product designers great power in influencing how well people live through the way they interact with the products they own.

Ann Kim, portfolio director at Ideo Cambridge points out,

Designing ways to get better sleep is a way of designing for resilience to stress and better ability to manage our emotions. Tackling loneliness and designing for meaningful social connection is also designing for a stronger immune system and brain protection.

More and more designers will realize their superpowers. You don’t have to have a doctor or nurse to help people. Designers are healers, too.

People crave happiness and peace of mind. Google “self-care in 2019” and you’ll find pages and pages of articles. Self-care is a growing part of our cultural awareness.

And, this awareness of self-care overflows the narrow buckets of “Get more sleep!” and “Exercise!” into the broader realms of personal hygiene products, fashion, home goods, and more.

Consumers want to purchase products that support their well-being. So, keep this principle in mind – as well as the psychology for great product design – as you design products for the coming year.

Trend #6 – Designing for Additive Manufacturing

Image courtesy of Steven Van Bellegham

3D printing or “additive manufacturing” has changed the way that products can be made.

While additive manufacturing processes have been around since the 1980s, the technology is finally becoming affordable enough to make a major impact on the world of product design and manufacturing.

And, this means that the limitations for product design have changed as well.

MacKenzie Brown of the Cad Crowd explains,

Within the next decade, every commercial airliner is likely to be using 3D printed parts. It’s being used in the medical industry, in automobiles, industrial manufacturing, for prototyping, and for end-use parts in all manner of industries.

And, it’s not just the printing technology that’s improving. 3D printing materials are evolving with the times. There are now biodegradable, green options made of cellulose and hemp waiting in the wings to replace the plastics currently used.

If you’re not already considering how 3D printing can revolutionize your product designs, you should be. So, look for ways to integrate additive manufacturing into your products and product design this year.

Trend #7 – Product Design for the IoT (Internet of Things)

The Internet no longer just lives on your computer.

It’s on your phone, your watch, your tablet, your gaming console, and your car dash.

This is known as the “IoT” or the “Internet of Things.” And, the IoT has continued to grow every year.

Smart speakers like Alexa and the Google Home Assistant are taking over our homes in ever-growing numbers. In fact, they make up the fastest-growing consumer technology market.

With such obvious popularity, IoT technologies are poised to make millions for the businesses who design and sell them.

Product designers should be thinking about how they can contribute to this fast-growing market. Expect to see greater numbers of products designed to creatively expand the IoT in 2019.

The post 7 Essential Trends That Will Shape Product Design in 2019 appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

By now, the entire Netflix indulging world has heard of the diminutive-yet-formidable Mari Kondo.

The tidying-up mania is literally and figuratively sweeping the nation as overwhelmed homeowners seek to create a little breathing room for themselves.

The premise itself is a good one – a minimalist attitude toward stuff is healthy, and there’s something to be said for living with less.

However, hidden beneath those shiny plastic bags stuffed with unused junk lurks an ugly reality. Each one of those garbage bags will inevitably wind up piling into already overflowing landfills, adding to the oppressive amount of waste we create year after year.

In the new year, it’s worth going through your things in the interests of regaining control over your home.

However, rather than continue to purge in an endless purchase-purge-purchase-purge cycle, perhaps we could consider something else: not buying so many things.

Read more for an introduction to mottainai, a concept that eschews waste and, importantly, reusing, repurposing, repairing and respecting items rather than subscribing to an endless consumer/waste culture.

The planet and your hall closet will both thank you.

Now, we hope you enjoy another great set of links and articles that we shared with you over the past week on our crowdspring Twitter account (and on Ross’s Twitter account). We regularly share our favorite posts on entrepreneurship, small business, marketing, logo design, web design, startups, leadership, social media, marketing, economics and other interesting stuff! Enjoy!

Businesses that design and manufacture products are facing more consumer expectations than ever before. Here are 7 Essential Trends That Will Shape Product Design in 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/PaF2hmSm4H #productdesign #products #SMB pic.twitter.com/DD2QSEIWdu

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 17, 2019

Powerful Branding Lessons From The World’s Best Brands (That Actually Work For Your Small Business) https://t.co/rfAvk4H4ly pic.twitter.com/8FR4DLSxUz

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 14, 2019

Terrific conversation yesterday with @JimBlasingame about 2019 small business marketing trends, including chatbots. https://t.co/xMtt2uz2pP

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 17, 2019

This is terrific insight from @jasonfried. But you should never wait for someone to define your brand while you do nothing (I think Jason would agree). I wrote a 17,000 word complete guide on creating a strong brand identity – https://t.co/IYGdpSY9mK https://t.co/sH7ishJwuX

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 16, 2019

Terrific insights from @drift … We analyzed the sales and marketing practices of the top 100 SaaS companies. Here’s what we found – https://t.co/s6ePApaz9Y pic.twitter.com/63zkjNdHBZ

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 17, 2019

Good insights, especially for smaller teams … How we achieve +65% YoY growth by ignoring conventional startup advice – https://t.co/0kLmRnmUHy pic.twitter.com/rsQoJxYcfJ

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 15, 2019

5 Best Canadian Cities For Startups and Entrepreneurs https://t.co/BnRvOfAmcP pic.twitter.com/zn5auWsgCN

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 16, 2019

Think Tank: So You Want to Start a Clothing Line? | @wwd https://t.co/zbUuQpwVN6 #branding #clothingline #clothingbrand pic.twitter.com/vewvKOOMaN

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 16, 2019

Terrific insights from @larrykim … 3 Growth Marketing Principles You Need to Create Your Unicorn – https://t.co/mbB0OBz2ZI pic.twitter.com/5UrZNCMMz9

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 15, 2019

Emotional Marketing: Scientifically Proven Ways to Increase Sales and Reduce Churn https://t.co/6aK7M1Oz6P pic.twitter.com/uWeHbB4sy2

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 15, 2019

This is the type of content I’d be proud to make one day. Kudos to @Gillette for understanding their audience and using their influence to create social good. If more companies produced content like this, the impact would be extraordinary. https://t.co/zLXHYCghuj

— Arielle Kimbarovsky (@arielle_faye) January 15, 2019

How to Create a High Converting Landing Page https://t.co/XbzlfesLpz pic.twitter.com/1TbQPLRcn2

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 15, 2019

Terrific insights from @drift … We analyzed the sales and marketing practices of the top 100 SaaS companies. Here’s what we found – https://t.co/s6ePApaz9Y pic.twitter.com/63zkjNdHBZ

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 17, 2019

5 Creative Packaging Design Trends for 2019 | @AdvertisingWeek – https://t.co/fQzpH6KN9L #Packaging #packagingdesign #designtrends #manufacturing pic.twitter.com/L3zlsszKP4

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 17, 2019

Uber’s Powerful Rebrand and What Your Business Can Learn From It https://t.co/hPYAz5oOcu pic.twitter.com/T2TNph4SC9

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 18, 2019

5 Hot Logo Design Trends for 2019 | @ExecuNet – https://t.co/YyPGaa2fMN

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 15, 2019

How Solution-Oriented Logo Design Can Backfire https://t.co/Te6CJ6ucMb pic.twitter.com/wunNexrSjS

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 13, 2019

Good long read … Jeff Bezos Wants Us All to Leave Earth—for Good https://t.co/zvLBfDmTm3

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 18, 2019

Animals are fascinating … Animals Keep Creating Mysteries by Sounding Weird – https://t.co/919e9WtxjV

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 15, 2019

The post Twitter Link Roundup #355 – Terrific Reads for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Marketers, and Designers! appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

This is a comprehensive guide to Facebook Messenger Marketing using chatbots in 2019.

We know that the idea of using a chatbot can be a little intimidating, especially for startups and small businesses.

But the truth is that chatbots can improve marketing and make marketers’ lives easier.

To create this guide, we partnered with Larry Kim, the CEO of MobileMonkey, a popular Facebook Messenger Marketing platform used by millions of users worldwide.

If you want to supercharge your marketing and accelerate growth and revenue, you’ll love this guide.

Here’s a table of contents to help you quickly navigate different sections of this guide – or feel free to scroll.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Messenger Basics

• What is Facebook Messenger?
• What is Messenger Marketing?
• What are Facebook Messenger Chatbots
• How do Facebook Messenger bots differ from other bots?
• Why are smart marketers using Messenger chatbots?
• How are smart businesses using Facebook Messenger bots?

Chapter 2: How to Create Your Chatbot

• How can you create your Facebook Messenger chatbot?

Chapter 3: How to Promote Your Chatbot

• How can you promote your Facebook Messenger chatbot?
  • Add a Facebook Messenger button on your website or Facebook page.
  • Build dedicated landing pages.
  • Use paid ads on Facebook Messenger to build your subscriber list.
  • Link your Facebook Messenger chatbot from email signatures.
  • Add your chatbot to Facebook’s discovery tab.

Chapter 4: How to Use Your Chatbot

• How can you use your Messenger chatbot effectively?
  • • 1. Subscription Messaging: what it is, and how to get it.
      • Facebook Messenger Standard Messaging
      • Facebook Messenger Subscription Messaging
    • 2. Fundamentals of Signing Up Subscribers
    • 3. Advanced Segmentation Pro Moves
    • 4. Art of Messenger Handbook: What Facebook Says
    • 5. Engagement Hacks for Open Rate Optimization
    • 6. Personalize Your Chatbot Messages
    • 7. What Not to Do
    • 8. Sponsored Messages
    • 9. Track Attack: Statistics Central

Let’s get started.

What is Facebook Messenger?

Facebook Messenger is a popular messaging app and platform.

Users can send messages and exchange photos, videos, stickers, audio, and files, as well as react to other users’ messages and interact with bots. The service also supports voice and video calling. The standalone apps support using multiple accounts, conversations with optional end-to-end encryption, and playing games.

Over 1.3 billion people use Facebook Messenger and as you can see in the chart below from G2 Crowd, Messenger’s user growth has been consistently strong.

What is Messenger Marketing?

Messenger marketing is the act of marketing to your customers and prospective customers using a messaging app like Facebook Messenger.

Although this form of marketing is similar to email marketing, there are some significant differences and the tools are also different.

What are Facebook Messenger Chatbots?

A chatbot (or bot) is a piece of automated software that engages in a conversation with people.

Chatbots are programmed to understand basic questions, provide answers, and execute various tasks. Watch the following short video for a quick overview of bots.

Chatbots are growing in importance.

According to Gartner, by 2020, 85% of our engagement with businesses will be done without interacting with another human. Instead, we’ll be using self-service options and chatbots. Additionally, according to an Oracle survey, 80% of businesses said they currently use or are planning to use chatbots by 2020.

…

On the consumer side, over 59% of millennials and 60% of Gen Xers in the U.S. have interacted with chatbots. And according to a Facebook survey, more than half (53%) of customers say they’re more likely to shop with a business that they can connect with via chat.

A Facebook Messenger chatbot or bot is exclusively built for the Facebook Messenger platform.

There are over 300,000 active chatbots on Facebook Messenger.

Illustrated by Larry Kim

How do Facebook Messenger bots differ from other bots?

Companies like Drift and Intercom offer chatbots to help companies automate and improve lead generation, help with email marketing, and other things.

If you want to learn more about chatbots generally, read Drift’s The 2018 State of Chatbots Report: How Chatbots Are Reshaping Online Experiences.

Facebook Messenger chatbots focus exclusively on Facebook Messenger marketing. MobileMonkey’s Larry Kim explains:

MobileMonkey is built using the Facebook Messenger platform. So if you’re using our Facebook Messenger website chat widget (see the MobileMonkey website for an example of this) the conversations are instantaneously being routed from your website, to the user, via Facebook Messenger. This provides a few huge advantages for marketers over those other chat platforms including:

You Get All the Contact Information – The conversations aren’t anonymous. Facebook sends you the identity of people who are messaging your website, including all contact information and even a profile photo. On other chat platforms, if the user closes the browser, the marketers will have no idea who they were talking to, which is frustrating.

You Can Send Them Push Notifications – Anyone who messages your page is opted into messaging, so you can send them follow-ups or reminder drip campaigns, which is amazing.

You Get Their Facebook ID: These tend to last forever, where as business emails expire on average 4% / month due to people changing jobs, etc.

You Can Remarket to Them – Using Facebook ads.

But there are a lot of other things Drift and Intercom do, like email marketing, and other super expensive, fancy enterprise stuff.

MobileMonkey’s founder and CEO, Larry Kim

A number of companies, including MobileMonkey, ManyChat, and Chatfuel offer tools that help you build Facebook Messenger bots.

Companies like Chatfuel target bigger, more enterprise-level customers (and as a result, are more complex to use and cost more).

Others like ManyChat offer limited free plans and the paid plans can get pricey very quickly.

MobileMonkey offers the best of both worlds: powerful free and inexpensive paid plans with easy to use tools for small businesses and startups (and plenty of powerful tools for enterprise customers).

Why are smart marketers using Messenger chatbots?

Marketers want to reach more prospects, generate more leads, and improve conversions.

This was historically easy and cheap to do on Facebook, but in the past several years, Facebook’s organic reach has eroded while ad costs have increased.

As a result, many marketers have moved their campaigns away from Facebook to other social platforms.

But there’s a way to regain the historically strong reach and engagement on Facebook while reducing your costs: Facebook Messenger chatbots.

If you’re not using Facebook Messenger chatbots, you’re not alone. Fewer than one percent of marketers and businesses are using this strategy to connect with their customers and prospects.

Messenger bots may be the best-kept secret in digital marketing today. According to Larry Kim, founder and CEO of MobileMonkey, “Facebook Messenger chatbots are the #1 growth marketing channel for the next +5-10 years.”

Larry Kim is not a stranger to digital marketing. Before founding MobileMonkey, Kim founded WordStream, the world’s leading PPC (pay-per-click) marketing platform managing over a billion dollars of annualized ad spend for tens of thousands of businesses.

Messaging has eclipsed social networks in popularity. Kim explains:

There are more daily active users of popular messaging applications than social media applications, yet less than 1% of companies are doing chat marketing. I thought that was crazy, so MobileMonkey was born.

Marketers and business owners who have experimented with bots know that bots are proving valuable for businesses. According to Facebook:

• 2 billion messages are sent monthly between businesses and people
• 53% of people are more likely to buy from a business they can message
• 56% of people prefer to message instead of calling customer service

That’s why smart marketers are increasingly using chatbots, and especially Messenger chatbots, as part of their marketing strategy.

Messenger chatbots can help you regain reach and engagement with Facebook users.

1. Facebook Messenger messages reach far more users than organic posts. In fact, while organic Facebook posts reach an average of 1 to 2% of Page fans, the average open rates for Facebook Messenger messages is 50-80%, with a 20% average click rate. If you use a tool like MobileMonkey, for example, you can “blast all your contacts directly on Facebook Messenger, so you don’t have to worry about the News Feed filters,” according to Larry Kim.
2. Facebook Messenger messages convert 3x to 5x better compared to Facebook desktop ads. This is because most Messenger users are on mobile and more frequently engage with messages. Facebook desktop ads have to share a large screen with tons of other ads and content. And it doesn’t hurt that people think messaging is the second-best way to talk to a business.
3. Facebook Messenger messages can reduce your marketing costs. For example, here’s an interesting case study describing how MobileMonkey cut the cost of lead acquisition from $150 to $5 per lead using Facebook Messenger. According to MobileMonkey’s Larry Kim, “we’re finding that the new Facebook Send To Messenger Ads can generate leads at 30-50x less than what you’d pay for the usual Facebook ad campaigns.” Similarly, chatbots have helped other brands increase conversions. Sephora’s reservation assistant increased the average user spend to $50, while Tommy Hilfiger’s chatbot increased returning customers by 87%.
4. Facebook Messenger can segment your audience. You can segment your audience on what they prefer or do and then target different chat blasts to different segments of your audience.
5. You can create smart chatbots to automate Q&A with a live takeover by a human. For example, if you want to invite people to schedule a sales call with your team, you can automate a Facebook Messenger chatbot to ask for the necessary contact information. And, importantly, a human can jump into any conversation and take over at any time.
6. You don’t need to know how to code to launch a Facebook Messenger chatbot. Anyone can use easy to use tools from a company like MobileMonkey to create chatbots in minutes without any help from software developers.

How are smart businesses using Facebook Messenger bots?

Each bot is as unique as the business it serves.

Bots can, among other tasks, help book sales appointments, track delivery, or make product suggestions.

Bots can also help book a flight or order dinner, remind you to purchase a product, notify you about an offer you might like, or tell you a joke.

For example, Sephora’s bot eliminates five steps from booking a makeover in one of their stores. Sephora’s bot increased the booking rate by 11 percent.

Whole Foods’ bot helps people discover recipes based on ingredients.

Here are more great examples of popular bots.

To learn more about using chatbots, we recommend you read How Chatbots Can Help You Grow Revenue In Your Business.

How can you create your Facebook Messenger chatbot?

You don’t need to know how to code or have a full-time team of software developers. You can use a tool like MobileMonkey (free and paid plans) to build chatbots for Facebook Messenger. MobileMonkey’s Larry Kim explains:

We offer tons of free chatbot tools for Facebook Messenger – there are way too many to list them out, but a few the most popular tools include:

An intuitive visual chatbot builder

A Facebook Messenger chat blaster

Messenger marketing drip campaigns

Automated website chat via Facebook Messenger

How can you promote your Facebook Messenger chatbot?

Once you build your Facebook Messenger chatbot, you need to develop a strategy to use and promote it. Here are some proven tactics that can help you do both:

Add a Facebook Messenger button on your website and on your Facebook page.

A button on your site or Facebook page will let your customers and prospects connect with your chatbots with a simple click. Facebook gives you appropriate embed codes for your landing page or you can use plugins if your site is running on a CMS (content management system) like WordPress.

Build dedicated landing pages.

Dedicated landing pages can help to connect you with more customers in Facebook Messenger. As we previously explained,

A landing page is a simple, targeted web page that steers your visitors to one specific goal. Landing pages can collect leads, motivate downloads and/or generate sales. For a new business, landing pages can establish credibility, create excitement for your new product or service, and collect leads for future customers – all before you officially launch.

We recommend you read Give Your New Business a Jump Start with an Effective Landing Page and How to Create a High Converting Landing Page to learn more about creating great landing pages.

If you use a tool like MobileMonkey, you can quickly build landing pages for your chatbots without any coding.

Use paid ads on Facebook Messenger to build your subscriber list.

Obviously, you want to offer people something of value as you build that list. You don’t want to simply sell 100% of the time.

One good way to do this is by sharing your most valuable content developed on your blog or other social networks, through Facebook Messenger blasts.

What’s your most valuable content? Here’s a terrific post that will help you identify your content marketing unicorns (content that will perform in the top 1 percent).

Once you identify your most valuable content, use paid Messenger ads to share it.

Messenger ads are rare on Facebook. These ads direct users to message your Facebook Page.

Once users get to your Facebook page, you can have your Facebook Messenger chatbot respond instantly to your Messenger ad, matching the message, offer, and audience.

MobileMonkey’s Larry Kim says that one of MobileMonkey’s customers “is driving leads for her personal training business for around $4 / lead. We haven’t seen Facebook ad prices that low since 5 or 6 years ago.”

If you want to learn more about Messenger Ads, we recommend you read: What Are Messenger Ads? Everything You Need To Know About Click-to-Messenger Facebook Ads.

Link to your Facebook Messenger chatbot from email signatures.

You can include a link to your Messenger chatbot in your email signature, or if you use a support service like Zendesk or Helpdesk, from the signatures your support agents use.

Add your chatbot to Facebook’s discovery tab.

Facebook’s Discover Tab is a collection of Messenger bots and nearby places and businesses to message. You’ll need to fill out a submission form but it’s simple and will help you gain more visibility with Facebook users.

To get your chatbot listed in the Messenger Discovery tab on Facebook, you have to fill out a submission form.

How can you use your Messenger chatbot effectively?

Larry Kim has developed a 9-point guide to help marketers and business owners become a master at Facebook Messenger chatbot marketing.

1. Subscription messaging, what it is, and how to get it
2. Fundamentals of signing up subscribers
3. Advanced segmentation pro moves
4. Art of Messenger handbook
5. Engagement hacks
6. It’s nothing totally personal
7. All-time worst chat blasts
8. Sponsored messages for promotional messages
9. How to benchmark your campaigns

You can find the complete chat blasting guide on MobileMonkey’s blog. Below, we briefly summarize each of the nine suggestions.

1. Subscription Messaging: what it is, and how to get it.

Facebook Messenger has several types of messages.

Facebook Messenger Standard Messaging

Standard messaging allows you to send any type of message (promotional or non=promotional) to a person, within 24 hours, after they send your chatbot a message. You can send as many messages as you want within a 24 hours period. After the first 24 hours, you can send only one additional message to that person.

Facebook Messenger Subscription Messaging

Subscription messaging allows you to chat blast non-promotional messages as often as you want. You must apply to Facebook for subscription messaging status for each Page. This takes about 10 minutes of your time.

2. Fundamentals of Signing Up Subscribers

Once you’re approved for subscription messaging, you need to build your subscriber list. Start by building a Messenger opt-in page. Below is an example of MobileMonkey’s opt-in page.

Since you’re allowing people to subscribe, you also must allow them to easily and quickly unsubscribe. If you use a chatbot tool like MobileMonkey, this is easy because they handle all the technical stuff. People can simply unsubscribe by typing “stop” in response to any message.

You can grow your subscriber list by running click-to-Messenger ads targeting your Page fans, build a Facebook Post autoresponder to engage commenters when they leave a comment in Messenger conversations, and update your Facebook Page CTA to “Send Message” to your Messenger chatbot.

And don’t worry – you can easily comply with the EU’s GDPR regulations by following these best practices.

3. Advanced Segmentation Pro Moves

People are different and generally, have different interests. You can easily segment your Facebook Messenger contacts into custom audiences, and then vary your messages to each audience segment.

4. Art of Messenger Handbook: What Facebook Says

Facebook advises that marketers use short messages and if they’re sending longer messages, to separate them into a series of shorter messages. After all, people are mostly seeing these messages on a small mobile screen. Facebook also recommends you add color. This is where your company’s logo or icon would help you get attention.

Your brand identity is important so be sure to make it clear and apparent. Notice the MobileMonkey icon in the example above.

And be sure to use your business name in your messages. After all, there’s no point to communicate with people about your brand if they don’t know with whom they’re communicating.

5. Engagement Hacks for Open Rate Optimization

Combine any widgets you use in your messages with a strong CTA (call-to-action). Here’s a good example from a recent Messenger blast Larry Kim send to his subscribers. (Kim is a top contributor to CNBC, Inc. Magazine and is the #8 ranked author on Medium. You can connect with him on Facebook Messenger).

CTA’s are important, not just for messages but also on your website. For more on CTA’s we recommend you read: Grow Your Small Business With These 7 Website Design Best Practices.

Also, be sure to use the right voice for your messages. Messenger is typically used to talk with friends. Since this is a unique channel, talk like you would with a friend. If you normally would use emojis, use them in your messages. Be sure that your brand voice in messages is consistent with your brand, but do account for the differences in channels.

6. Personalize Your Chatbot Messages

Normally, personalizing many messages when you’re blasting them to a large audience can be time-consuming. But if you use a tool like MobileMonkey, you can use dynamic parameters to include a person’s first name just like you would in an email.

You can also include custom variables that you create in MobileMonkey. Custom variables are bits of info that you gather over time which you can use to personalize your responses and messages.

7. What Not to Do

As you start experimenting with Facebook Messenger blasts, you’re bound to make some mistakes. But don’t worry, even the best experts make chat blast mistakes.

For example, don’t forget to include unsubscribe language in every chat blast. Otherwise, people will block you or complain to Facebook.

Also, be sure to test your messages on small sample sizes and send only your best-performing messages to larger groups.

8. Sponsored Messages

You can create sponsored messages to promote your brand’s products or services. This allows you to use all of Facebook Ads targeting abilities on top of your own list of contacts, and go beyond your organic reach. And you can send a message at any time and overcome the restrictions with other types of messages.

You can create sponsored messages in Facebook Ads Manager, but instead of the Click to Messenger option, click the Sponsored Messages as your Messages destination.

9. Track Attack: Statistics Central

As with other marketing campaigns, you must measure each campaign to see if it’s effective. You can check Facebook Insights or, if you’re using a tool like MobileMonkey, you can look in MobileMonkey’s chat blaster for message analytics.

To learn more about using the Messenger chatbot effectively, watch this free one hour webinar.

And here’s another terrific video from Larry Kim about Facebook Messenger marketing, from his presentation at Hubspot’s Inbound conference:

Now that you know all about Facebook Messenger marketing, it’s time for you to take the next step and set up your first bot. It just might be the fuel you need to supercharge your marketing.

The post Facebook Messenger Chatbot Marketing: The Definitive Guide (2019) appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

Customers are the lifeblood of every business.

But as a business grows, managing growth and organizing information becomes increasingly more difficult.

What used to be easy when you had one employee and two customers is more difficult when you employ five people and have 25 customers.

Not every business owner is prepared for their business to grow.

But if you want your business to succeed, you must evolve the way you manage your business to match the growth of the business.

This means doing some things differently.

For example, this is the time a smart business owner absolutely must double-down on great customer service.

As we wrote in our look at 7 proven ways to improve customer service,

Happy and satisfied customers are often long-term customers. If your company can show that it prioritizes the needs of its consumers, you’ll be way ahead of your competition. It should be obvious but worth a reminder: retaining customers you already have is more efficient, profitable, and impactful than having to seek out new ones.

Great customer service flows from strong communication, understanding your customer’s goals, and knowing what your customer needs or wants.

Ultimately, great customer service is about processing a lot of information about your customers.

In fact, your ability to organize information efficiently and effectively is often the difference between your business succeeding and failing.

That’s where a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution can help.

While there are hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of CRM solutions, not all are alike and not all are created with small businesses and startups in mind. Many are free while others cost thousands of dollars per month.

How can you choose the best CRM for your small business?

We’ve curated a list of the most recommended CRMs for small businesses and startups to help you evaluate the best CRM that fits your needs and the needs of your business.

Keeping track of customer information and communication data can be tedious if you don’t use a tool like a CRM.

Why a CRM?

A customer relationship management system is a way to track and analyze all of the interactions you have with your customers and prospects.

CRM’s will often integrate with an email service like Google’s Gmail or Microsoft’s Office 365 to automate the importing and organizing of customer emails.

By collecting customer information, you can simplify and scale engagement by capturing all of the communications your company has with its customers.

Salespeople, marketers, and customer service staff are just a few of the people in your organization who can benefit from implementing a CRM.

Here are five reasons why a CRM could benefit your business:

1. CRMs are a centralized source for all of your customers’ information. You can keep all of the information in one place instead of trying to find it in 10 different products and places.
2. CRMs help you track the history and status of a customer’s interactions with your company. Don’t want to forget to follow up on a customer’s request? A CRM will help you remember.
3. CRMs never forget and provide valuable statistics for predicting cash flow and future business. If you’re setting business goals – and you absolutely should be – CRMs can help you review your metrics (i.e. number of emails sent, number of meetings booked) to understand how your team is doing.
4. CRMs increase sales and marketing efforts by making a customer’s communication history available to people in your company who need access to such information. This will help you to grow your business more effectively.
5. CRMs help you to segment your customers (by location, industry type, etc.) so that you can start differentiating marketing to different cohorts of customers and not simply broadcast one common marketing message to all customers.

At their most basic, CRMs are specialized databases that contain all of the information you need about your customers.

No more scrawling notes from a phone conversation on a sticky or digging through your overflowing inbox for an email.

Not convinced yet that you might benefit from a CRM?

How about this: CRMs can boost sales.

A recent study showed that when properly used, CRMs can increase sales by up to 29% and sales productivity by up to 34%.

Who needs a CRM?

Thanks to their ability to organize and keep track of customers, CRMs are a natural fit for sales teams. But many other teams can get value out of a customer relationship system.

Marketing teams can use CRMs to optimize their marketing. Customers can be segmented into groups so that messaging is more effectively targeted. After all, while you want consistency in some of your marketing – you want a strong business name, a great logo design, and consistent branding – you also want to be sure that your messages are tailored differently to different groups of customers.

Customer service teams can take advantage of how CRMs bring together key customer data in a centralized place so a client’s history is available to the entire team. Otherwise, you run the risk of conflicting information and an ineffective customer-focused strategy.

Business development teams can use CRMs statistics and reporting features to inform decisions and track potential leads. By pushing yourself to be data-driven when making decisions, you’ll make better, smarter decisions.

There are many different kinds of customer relationship management systems out there, including ones customized for doctors, lawyers, and even hair salons.

Where to start

There are many niche CMRs that focus on specific industries, including for lawyers, doctors, real estate agents, and even beauty salons. And there are also more general CRMs that are customizable to work across many different industries.

The good news: whatever your needs, there’s likely a CRM out there for you, so let’s take a look at the best CRMs of 2018 for small businesses and startups.

Zoho CRM

Zoho CRM

Zoho has been offering SAAS (software as a service) since 1996 and boasts a huge slate of apps.

Need email? Accounting software? A customer service system? Zoho has them and over 40 more apps.

One of their most popular apps is Zoho CRM.

Like many of their apps, Zoho CRM has a generous free plan that allows for up to 10 users. It’s not as full-featured as their paid plans, but for many consultants and small businesses, it will work well.

Zoho CRM offers web-based and mobile app support. Plans start from free up to $35 per user per month for their enterprise edition.

Hubspot CRM

Hubspot CRM

Hubspot CRM Free is, as you would suspect, free.

Just because it’s free doesn’t mean it’s light on features, however.

In addition to tight integration with Hubspot’s other two products (for marketing and sales) Hubspot CRM has rich email features, social media and phone call support, and integrated notes and meeting scheduling.

Hubspot CRM is considered a leader in this space. The robustness of its features and its flexibility and ease of use make it easy to see why.

The fact that you can use it free of charge makes this service a compelling choice.

If you’re interested in a suite of products that work together, Hubspot may fit the bill.

Insightly

Insightly

Based out of California, Insightly is a CRM with features that may appeal to small businesses.

On top of the usual customer relationship features like contact and sales pipeline management, Insightly supports transaction tracking and integrates with time-tracking services as well.

Well-designed mobile apps are available that make accessing Insightly easy from just about anywhere. The service also offers customizable forms to capture leads and customer information from the web.

It integrates with over 40 apps and services ranging from Google Apps and Mailchimp to Slack and Dropbox.

There is a range of paid plans available, including a free plan that supports up to two users.

Freshsales

Freshsales

Freshsales is one of seven cloud-based apps created by Freshworks, a company headquartered in California.

It’s a popular CRM with a suite of tools that supports the needs of small business all the way to enterprise-level companies.

Freshsales is well-known for its extensive analytics and reporting features.

As primarily a sales CRM, its dashboard design and workflow is optimized for salespeople, but it’s flexible enough to accommodate the needs of many different organizations.

Pricing ranges from free to $79 per user/month for the enterprise level.

Base

Base

Base offers a “sales platform” that has a full-featured CRM alongside a number of sales-related products.

There’s the eponymous Base, which is the core of the platform, with other services like Connect, which covers email and calling features, Apollo, a data-driven analytics tool, and Snap, which is Base’s system for 3rd party integrations.

The number of products you get access to depends on what account level you choose. Prices range from free (which gives you “basic sales communication tools”) all the way to $145 per user/month for the full package.

Pipedrive

Pipedrive

Pipedrive is targeted at small businesses who want a quick and easy way to get started with a CRM.

The interface is intuitive and straightforward, and it shouldn’t take you very long to get going.

Like many of the other services here, Pipedrive has solid mobile apps and integrates with a large number of third-party services.

There is support for web forms and email templates to make gathering and responding to leads fast and easy.

Pipedrive does not have a free plan but provides a 14-day free trial. Plans cost between $12 per user/month to $63 per user/month.

Prosperworks

ProsperWorks

Heavily invested in the Google ecosystem? ProsperWorks could be the perfect match for you.

It’s often called the “G Suite CRM,” and for good reason.

It integrates deeply into Google Apps, with many of its features available directly from within Gmail or Google Calendar.

ProsperWorks is another CRM created with small businesses in mind.

It may not have as deep a feature list as some of the other more robust CRMs, but for many small businesses (and especially those that use Google Apps) it’s worth a look.

ProsperWorks offers a free trial for plans that start at $19 per user/month and go up to $119 per user/month.

Less Annoying CRM

Less Annoying CRM

There’s no missing Less Annoying CRM’s angle – it’s right there, in the name. Less Annoying CRM want to be, well, less annoying.

Built specifically for small businesses, Less Annoying CRM has an uncluttered interface that aims to be functional and straightforward.

The emphasis here is on tools that meet the needs of small businesses.

There are no fancy, complex reports here, just cleanly designed features that try to avoid overwhelming users.

Just like the service, Less Annoying CRM’s pricing is also simple and clear. There are no account tiers: it’s $10 per user/month, and that’s it.

Small businesses that need a clean, simple CRM should take a look at Less Annoying CRM.

Nimble

Nimble

Nimble has a different focus than the other services on our list. It’s optimized for social media communications, but also offers a full-fledged CRM with Google Apps and Office 365 integration.

You can set up alerts that find social media mentions of your company, and track conversations you’ve had with customers (potential and existing) on many social media services.

Nimble concentrates on the communications part of sales by helping you stay in contact with leads via many different social networks. Unfortunately, due to a change Facebook made, Blink cannot connect directly with that network. (There is a Chrome extension that works around some of these issues.)

Nimble has two plans: Nimble Contact, which is $9 per user/month, and Nimble Business, which costs $19 per user/month.

Are you ready for a CRM?

As we mentioned at the start of this article, customers are the key to most business’ success.

If you’re not using a CRM, chances are you’re using a system that relies on email, spreadsheets, or a combination of many tools.

With so many options out there (and with many of them free, or very reasonably priced) there isn’t much holding you back from trying a CRM. There is a time investment getting started, but many of these services try to make that less onerous.

Keeping track of customer information and conversations doesn’t have to be tedious and frustrating. Easy configuration and integration with tools you already use can make transitioning to a customer relationship management system relatively painless.

Take a look at what a customer relationship management system can do to help you grow your business faster.

Our team of over 210,000 creatives is ready and waiting to handle your business’s logo design, web design, and more – everything you need to build a great brand identity. And, our outstanding customer service team is available to guide you through the whole process. Get started now and request a free, no obligation design consultation with one of our design experts today.

The post Top 9 Best CRMs for Small Businesses in 2019 appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

As a freelance marketer, you know the importance of a first impression.

That’s true for your own marketing business and for each of your clients.

Making the right first impression helps communicate the message you want to share. (The message that you are a trusted professional who rocks at their job).

The truth is that you have to prove yourself to every single new lead.

And as a marketer, you have to continuously prove yourself to your prospects and clients beyond the initial impression.

If you had to do that in person every single time, it would be impossible to grow your business and you’d be exhausted.

Fortunately, you can improve how you sell your marketing services even when you’re not there.

Good design is your visual ambassador when you can’t be there to sell your skills in person.

Here are 5 reasons why your freelance marketing business needs good design.

1. Good design creates a compelling personal brand for you and your marketing business

As a freelancer, you are your product, service, and most valuable asset.

This means that you need to develop a strong personal brand.

At a bare minimum, you should have a professionally designed logo and an active social media presence on appropriate platforms to ensure that you are easily visible and creating a strong impression as a person.

The sales experts at Proposify explain,

You are now your business. Your actions in real life and online can and will affect your business. Other people’s perceptions of you will ultimately translate to their perceptions of your work.

This is why it’s so vital to invest in a professional, custom logo and social media assets (such as profile avatars and headers).  Your social media accounts should look as professional as possible.

This consistent branding will serve your business in a few ways.

It will reassure clients and potential clients that they’ve found the right person when they try to reach out to you via social media.

Furthermore, a strong logo and well-designed social media graphics reinforce that you are a professional who knows how to create a good impression.

This will go a long way toward convincing leads that you can be trusted with their business.

Good design transforms your marketing business’s brand identity into something memorable.

Good design transforms a simple website into a conversion powerhouse.

Good design enlivens and sets the tone for a vibrant social media presence.

Good design converts a blog post into sought-after, sharable content that drives traffic and improves your search engine optimization (SEO).

Good visual design is the key to putting your freelance marketing brand’s best public face forward.

Why should you care?

The marketing consulting industry continues to grow year-over-year. That means there are more opportunities for business but there’s also more competition.

This growth trend isn’t expected to slow down for at least four years and will continue to accelerate over the coming years.

It has become increasingly harder for marketing consultants to stand out in a crowded marketplace and good design will continue to help differentiate among the best consultants in this crowded industry.

2. Good design captures leads better

In 2018 HubSpot reported that 69% of marketers cited converting contacts/leads to customers as their top priority for the year.

This shows that even big marketing agencies have to work hard to gain new clients. But, with their established brand equity to pave the way, they’ve got it much easier than freelancers do.

With everyone fighting over potential clients, half the battle is getting noticed.

This where design can really shine and help your business to stand out from the crowd.

Your logo will often be your first point of contact with a new lead. A bold, unique, and memorable logo can capture a potential client’s eye. Bold colors, strong clean lines, and witty design concepts intrigue your audience and draw them in. This is why your business’s logo design can make or break your business.

A forgettable logo leads to an overlooked business.

Even if you have an existing logo, consider whether it’s time for a refresh. Many brands regularly refresh their brand identity (most recently, Slack, Uber, Dunkin’ and many others).

Logo design trends drive many of these changes and as a freelance marketer, it’s always a good idea for you to stay informed about modern design styles.

3. Good design shows that you walk the talk

As a freelance marketer, your own business must stand as proof of how effective your methods are.

Any less-than-stellar marketing for your own business will reflect badly on you and your abilities. And, as a result, potential clients will be less inclined to put their trust in you.

For example, if you regularly consult clients on increasing and improving website conversions, evaluate whether your own website follows best practices and website design trends.

And if you regularly help to build brand identities for clients, be sure your own is well-built and properly implemented.

Think about it – you want your clients to have a strong central visual brand to anchor all of their marketing efforts. And, so should you.

Invest in a style guide that will help you to unify your visual brand. Your website, social media accounts, business cards, blog, and marketing collateral should all clearly feature the same logo, color scheme, and any other graphic elements that represent your brand.

Strong, unified design will allow potential clients to get to know your business and build their trust in your abilities. But, marketing endeavors with weak visual branding will only undermine your efforts to prove your worth.

Don’t sabotage your own business with weak visual branding.

4. Good design strengthens your content marketing

Content marketing continues to be one of the most effective digital marketing techniques.

Writing articles or creating infographics is a great way to generate leads and establish authority and expert status.

And, while the goal is always to share your content on multiple platforms to increase your visibility and build an audience, it will need a home base.

Usually, this is a blog.

Keeping your own blog allows you to showcase all of your valuable content – which can continue to work for you long after you’ve published it.

But, if your blog design looks poor or out-of-date, your content will lose credibility.

On the other hand, a custom, strongly branded blog theme design will reinforce that expert status you are seeking to project.

And, visual content is just as popular, if not more so, than articles. Professionally design infographics showcasing useful information both establish your expertise and serve as eminently sharable content that other blogs and publications will be happy to share.

Get the most from your content marketing by supporting it with strong design.

5. Good design builds credibility for your brand

Freelance marketers compete for business in the same ocean as marketers who are backed by large, established businesses.

And, when you’re a part of a larger agency, you (as an individual) don’t matter as much – that’s the blessing and the curse. The business’s reputation supersedes your own.

But, freelancers don’t have that safety net.

Thankfully, good design can help to level the playing field.

With the right visual brand identity, you can project the same level of professionalism as a more established brand. And, that reassures clients that your services can compete with the big marketing agencies, too.

One of the most powerful tools for creating credibility is a well-designed website. As we’ve mentioned previously,

According to the Search Engine Optimization blog Mr. SEO,

…if you are in business, you should also know that 93% of all buying decisions start with an online search.

This search will hopefully bring prospective clients to your website.

And, when they get there, you’d better hope they like what they see. Today’s consumers are skeptical and looking for a reason to click away.

But, a streamlined website designed to convert can make the difference between a drive-by and a new client. A well-designed website will not only reassure your visitors; it will also reduce user friction, decrease your website’s load times, and create stronger conversions.

That translates to more clients for you.

So, don’t risk turning good leads away with a poorly designed website.

A final word…

We live in a visual world.

Embrace the power of great design to help your freelance marketing business get ahead.

The post 5 Reasons Why Your Freelance Marketing Business Will Fail Without Good Design appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

Courtesy Apple

With only moments to grab consumer attention, a compelling design offers the best chance to engage your customers and leave a memorable impression. As we wrote,

Marketing studies show that the average American is exposed to around 5,000 advertisements and brands per day. Out of that veritable flood, they found only 12 made enough of an impact to leave an impression. You can help your business be one of those twelve through effective, attractive design.

What will be trendy and hot in 2019?

Whether you’re looking for a modern logo design for a new business or considering a rebrand, creating or refreshing your product packaging or package graphics, or looking to redesign your company’s website, you should be familiar with these 12 graphic design trends that will be most influential in 2019.

12 graphic design trends and styles that will be most influential in 2019:

1. Bold typography
2. Light and dark color schemes
3. Gradients and duotones
4. Authentic stock photography
5. Vivid colors
6. Open composition
7. 3D
8. Metallic effects
9. Fluid and flowing effects
10. Text on backgrounds
11. Strokes, stains, and doodles
12. Pantone color of the year

1. Bold typography

by vontrapp on crowdspring

Typography is a fundamental part of graphic design. As such, it’s no surprise every year that designers take typography in a different direction.

Recently we’ve noticed an increase in the use of type as a bold, often primary element in graphic and web design. Allowing your typography to stand front and center creates a powerful impression.

by thevierde on crowdspring

With advertisers and marketers fighting to stand out in increasingly competitive marketplaces, using distinctive typography can be an effective strategy to make a stronger impact on consumers.

Don’t be afraid to use bright colors, 3D effects, and unusual spacing to further emphasize the boldness of your type.

by elike_smith on crowdspring

The best part about the bold type trend?

It’s surprisingly versatile and works well in a wide variety of mediums.

2. Light and dark color schemes

by akosiaki on crowdspring

Many companies embraced the dark side in the past year.

The latest version of Apple’s Mac OS X (codenamed “Mojave”) has a dark mode, and updated apps from Microsoft, Facebook, Google, and more also incorporated dark color schemes.

by crealine on crowdspring

This trend continues as more companies adopt dark and light colors into their products.

Using light and dark color schemes can give designs a visual pop that helps draw attention.

Whether you want to shine the light or delve into darkness, core design concepts like simplicity and gestalt theory can really make a difference.

But be careful. Dark color schemes might pose readability challenges.

Be wary of the contrast ratio between the color of your text and the background behind it. Online contrast tests like the one offered by WebAIM can help.

Image courtesy of tasteuws.com

3. Gradients and Duotones

by JStyle on crowdspring

Designers tend to have a love-hate relationship with gradients.

If the last year is any indication, all signs point to a giant heart emoji as gradients seem to be everywhere.

Gradients can add a sense of movement and dynamism to design, and companies are tossing out gradients like visual candy.

Check out the use of gradients and duotones in designs from streaming music services like Apple, Spotify, and Pandora.

Other companies are getting in on the multicolored action too (Stripe, tech site The Verge, and mattress retailer Purple, among many others).

If you want to give your brand energy and a youthful vibe, mixing several colors could be what you’re looking for.

Sites like uiGradients  and ShapeFactory’s Duotone have generators that help you test out color combinations. As with light and dark color schemes, be sure your choices have enough contrast so any text you use is still readable.

by delicious_graphics on crowdspring

by flydesignonly on crowdspring

4. Authentic stock photography

At crowdspring, we’re very clear on the limitations of stock art:

It’s generic, lacking in personality, and the very same stock art could and does show up on your competitors’ websites, business cards and logos. It’s one reason that a business owner should never buy logos at so-called “logo stores” that sell pre-made generic tamplates. These are all factors that will weaken and muddy your brand.

Companies are beginning to recognize the limits of stock photography, and many have made efforts to address this.

The trend of “authentic” stock photography – stock photos that seem more genuine or real – is accelerating, as more companies create their own in-house banks of realistic-looking stock photos.

Image courtesy of Uber

Some companies (like Apple) have created their own authentic stock photography for years, while others (like Uber) have made it a key component of their recent rebrands. What companies want are photos that appear to have been taken by a real person.

Instagram may be a big reason why authentic stock photography is on the rise. Consumers can now spot a bad stock photo from a mile away, and many do not trust or appreciate brands that use generic-looking stock in their designs.

The look of authentic stock photography isn’t hard to find: Imagine a very careful curated Instagram influencer’s feed and you’ll get a good idea of what it looks like.

5. Vivid colors

by besartm14 on crowdspring

The use of vivid colors continues the spread of 80s and 90s nostalgia into every nook and cranny of our existence. Companies and brands continue to go bold with their color choices.

Color is an important part of branding and product design. As we wrote:

Color has a deep and often subconscious effect on our behavior. Color is often used to persuade or influence us.

According to a study examining the effect of color on sales, 92.6% of people surveyed by the CCI: Institute for Color Research said that color was the most important factor when purchasing products.

In part, this trend is a continuation of the 80s color palette blown up and updated for a new generation of consumers.

All of the pastel shades have morphed into their brilliant counterparts.

Companies have planted their flags on energetic, eye-catching colors that jump out and grab the viewer’s attention.

Image courtesy of Apple

Apple is one of the most influential companies on the vanguard of what’s on trend for design.

The release of 2018’s brightly colored iPhone XR reflected the growing trend for bold colors.

It’s not just Apple parading a lively palette of hues and shades. Nike, Adidas, and other clothing companies also tapped into vivid colors for their marketing efforts as well as their products.

Image courtesy of Nike

6. Open composition

Image courtesy of Magic Leap

It used to be that designs were bound by frames, but designers have increasingly broken free and this will continue into 2019.

Open composition designs utilize every part of the canvas. Online, these can be websites that scroll in all directions or advertisements where elements seem to extend past the edge of the image.

by mandex on crowdspring

Websites are one place where this effect can be quite spectacular, especially when its combined with a user’s action like scrolling or clicking.

The Magic Leap website is a great example of this, where whales move in and out of view.

Scrolling zooms out, showing that there’s much more to see that was out of view.

It’s a powerful effect and very on brand for a company focused on alternative reality products.

Your brand might benefit from adding a zoom effect inside of an airy, open composition. It adds a spacious feel and can be very effective when done correctly.

7. 3D

by MadisonFriday on crowdspring

With the steady march of alternative and virtual reality into the mainstream comes the growing use of 3D as a design element. 2019 will be big for designs with isometric, extruded, and 3D components.

Advances in browser technology enable designers to bring 3D elements to their websites. Extending design into the third dimension brings its own set of challenges, but it can (literally) bring some much-needed depth to your brand.

Courtesy Lyft

Brands like Lyft use 3D in the form of isometric illustrations to bring a different feel to their brand. It’s an effective technique to give simple illustrations a more sophisticated look.

But remember – it’s important to use these types of effects sparingly.

Courtesy Apple

8. Metallic effects

Metallic effects are back in a big way.

Until recently, most metallic effects in design fell out of favor.

This has changed as companies like Apple and Samsung add metallic flourishes (or even whole elements) into their designs.

Done well, metallic design can be sophisticated and classy. Take care to not overdo it, however, as the line between classy and classless is a fine one.

by muxalex on crowdspring

9. Fluid and flowing

Designers are merging their designs with liquid or fluid effects to create something new and otherworldly.

These effects add an organic feel to designs that can make them seem softer and more natural. It’s also a great way to add a visually interesting texture that can turn an otherwise generic-looking design into something more dramatic.

The key with fluid effects like any other trend is to consider whether or not it fits your brand.

Transitions can be especially tricky if they’re not done well (or done gratuitously). If you’re looking to add flair to your brand, patterns inspired by liquids can be unique and visually arresting.

Courtesy of Converse

10. Text on backgrounds

by Paula23 on crowdspring

Text set on background images is an old graphic design trend that is again coming back in style.

The look features bold typography on evocative, visually engaging backgrounds.

In addition to its visual impact, designers use text on background colors to align a business with its vision, mission, and brand values. This helps to strengthen a company’s brand identity.

Visually linking a business with its core brand aspirations and character is a great way to further your message to consumers.

Whatever the reason, adding an image behind your text is an effective way to draw attention to your copy.

11. Strokes, stains, and doodles

by loginstudio on crowdspring

Illustrations were huge in 2018, and 2019 continues this trend as more companies incorporate drawn elements into their designs.

The trend is shifting from more abstract or painterly illustrations to ones that appear more like doodles or quirky drawings. Designers are adding strokes and splashes of color to spice up their designs and give them a visual edge.

Adding doodles to your design can also make your brand appear more friendly and welcoming.

Brands use doodles and splashes of color in place of stock photography and other more traditional visuals.

A well-placed doodle can turn an otherwise stark design into something warm and approachable.

Doodles can be tricky to create.

They need to look professional and brand consistent, but still retain a hand-drawn feel.

If you plan to use doodles, it’s best to consider their use throughout your brand. Consider them as a primary branding element and use them consistently throughout.

by PAOLOREZZANI on crowdpsring

by newziner on crowdspring

12. Pantone color of the Year

Pantone is going on twenty years of major influence across many industries with its choice for Color of the Year.

The color selected influences product development and consumer purchasing from everywhere from apparel, merchandise, industrial design, packaging design, and anything you can think of where color is involved.

This year, Pantone has declared “Living Coral” the color of the year for 2019.

Image courtesy of Pantone Color Institute

Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute Leatrice Eiseman said in a statement:

With consumers craving human interaction and social connection, the humanizing and heartening qualities displayed by the convivial Pantone Living Coral hit a responsive chord.

Pantone selects a new color every year based on several considerations. New trends in design, art, travel, social media, and even the socioeconomic climate are all considered in choosing the color for the year ahead.

We’re looking forward to seeing this warm, comforting color appearing everywhere from logo design all the way down to the throw pillows in your mom’s house.

Wrapping up

Strong graphic design is a cornerstone of any business’s brand. It impacts your company’s logo, website, app, packaging, and more.

It’s no longer enough to design something once and then call it a day.

Design, like consumer’s tastes, evolves over time. It’s crucial the look and feel of your business changes along with it.

Incorporating trends into your design is a good way to keep the spark alive. The key is to find trends that work with your existing brand, not against it.

Want a closer look at other graphic design trends for 2019?

2019 logo design trends

2019 web design trends

2019 packaging design trends

2019 product design trends

The post 12 Graphic Design Trends that Will Be Most Influential in 2019 appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

As an entrepreneur, you have to work on your business as well as in it.

Working on your business means constantly seeking new ideas for improvement – which means keeping the big picture in mind at all times.

And, as all business owners know, marketing is an important part of your business.

So, when you’re looking at the big picture, marketing is bound to come up. A lot.

But, your time is limited and unless you’re an experienced marketer or have a marketing team, marketing is a constant challenge.

Wouldn’t it be great to cut to the chase and go straight to the best resources for great new small business marketing ideas?

We’ve got your back.

Here, in no particular order, are the top 16 small business marketing blogs you should read in 2019.

• Social Triggers
• Noobpreneur
• Marketing Profs
• DYI Marketers
• Buffer
• Digital Marketer
• crowdspring Marketing Blog
• Copyblogger
• Duct Tape Marketing
• Hubspot Marketing Blog
• Small Business Daily
• Amex Blog
• Entrepreneur
• Small Business Trends
• GoDaddy Garage Blog
• Neil Patel’s Blog

Social Triggers

Image courtesy of Eventual Millionaire

Social Triggers is the brainchild of Derek Halpern – entrepreneur, marketing expert, and one-man success engine.

Derek shares unique marketing and sales insights in a brash, unapologetic, and entertaining voice. And, he backs up his observations with years of personal experience and real data.

He blends a data-driven approach with content marketing to drive real results online.

And, best of all, with his roots in small business, his marketing advice is accessible to and targeted for small business entrepreneurs like yourself.

Noobpreneur

Image courtesy of Noobpreneur

This tricky-to-pronounce online publication is an award-winning business blog founded by entrepreneur, web publisher and CEO/founder of Previso Media, Ivan Widjaya.

“Noobpreneur” is Widjaya’s name for “newbie entrepreneurs” – a special subset of entrepreneurs who are always in a growth mindset.

The blog covers entrepreneurship, business management, and business strategy. Noobpreneur also features sections on blogging, social media, branding, and overall marketing. (This section alone includes over 700 articles!)

Marketing Profs

Marketing Profs is an educational marketing website featuring articles, online courses, webinars, and tutorials. They offer both free resources and a Pro membership, and they host the annual MarketingProfs B2B Marketing Forum.

Their approach to marketing is based around a 6-part structure of “Strategy, Plan, Create, Communicate, Analyze, and Management.” Their goal is to educate marketers from the ground up.

And, they offer a searchable database of content that you can peruse based on your topic of interest. As an all-around marketing education site, it would be hard to find better.

DIY Marketers

Image courtesy of DIY Marketers

DIY Marketers is a self-professed “online magazine for overwhelmed small business owners on a budget.”

Can you relate? I’ll bet you can.

DIY founder Ivana Taylor tackles marketing issues near and dear to small business’s owner’s hearts. You’ll find articles on improving local SEO,  email marketing, mobile marketing, content creation, networking via social media, and so much more.

All of her content is designed with small business owners and their marketing needs (and limited budgets) in mind.

Buffer

Image courtesy of Buffer

Buffer is a fantastic social media management software that allows you to schedule and analyze all of your social media accounts in one handy spot.

Their blog features articles on social media marketing in all its myriad forms – how to get the most from your social media content, mastering platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn; working with influencers; and analyzing your social media campaigns.

And, be sure to check out their annual State of Social Media Report.

Digital Marketer

Image courtesy of Digital Marketer

Digital Marketer’s blog is  hub for digital marketing topics.

You’ll find insightful articles on social media, SEO and organic search, retargeting campaigns, content marketing, lead conversion, copywriting, and more.

Or, if reading isn’t your favorite, learn on the go with one of their three podcasts – the Digital Marketer Podcast, Business Lunch, or Perpetual Traffic.

Crowdspring Marketing Blog

Crowdspring is one of the world’s leading marketplaces design and naming services. On crowdspring, over 220,000 designers and namers from around the world help small businesses, entrepreneurs, agencies, Brands, and non-profits with professional, custom logo design, web design, graphic design, product design, and even naming companies and products.

For the past decade, crowdspring has published an award-winning business marketing blog (currently ranked among the top 50 business marketing blogs in the world).

The crowdspring blog features actionable advice on creating a great brand identity for your business, comprehensive how-to guides, including how to start a successful clothing brand or clothing line, fresh looks at logo design trends, web design trends, thoroughly researched articles on marketing psychology, entrepreneurship, digital marketing, marketing tools, generational marketing, content marketing, digital marketing, and more.

Copyblogger

Brian Clark – founder of Copyblogger. Image courtesy of Foundr

Copyblogger specializes in tools and training for content marketers.

Their blog offer articles on content creation, creativity techniques, writing tips, and content marketing strategy. It’s a one-stop content marketing stop, really.

If content marketing is your thing (and as a small business marketer, it should be) then Copyblogger is not to be missed.

Duct Tape Marketing

Image courtesy of DuctTape Marketing

Duct Tape Marketing is a blog for small business owners who feel that they don’t have the time or resources to focus on marketing.  And, they write with that audience in mind.

Want to learn lean marketing tips for your small business? Look no further.

Duct Tape Marketing has you covered with articles on lead generation, local marketing, SEO and Mobile SEO, overall marketing strategy, small business finances, marketing tools and more. And, they’ve also got a podcast in case you prefer to listen to your marketing insights.

HubSpot Marketing Blog

HubSpot was born when two MIT grads realized that no one paid attention to tradition outbound marketing techniques anymore.

Today, the folks at HubSpot are inbound marketing masters. They offer CRM, marketing, and sales tools to help businesses master their inbound marketing and sales.

And, while HubSpot actually offers 4 different blogs covering a range of topics, we recommend that you follow their marketing blog. You’ll find well-written articles on a wide range of marketing topics like content management, budgeting, social media, video marketing, and more.

SmallBizDaily

Image courtesy of SmallBizDaily

SmallBizDaily publishes articles on every topic a small business entrepreneur should care about – including money and finance, technology, women in business, management, and marketing and sales.

Their marketing content features articles on marketing to millennials, email marketing, social media marketing, branding, SEO and organic marketing, metrics and analysis, and the list goes on.

If you’re looking for a blog that offers everything marketing and more, then SmallBizDaily might be a great fit for you.

Image courtesy of American Express

AmEx Blog

We’re all familiar with the credit card icon American Express.

But, did you also know that they have a fantastic blog?

They’ve organized their content so that you can easily find what is most relevant to you – whether you’re a small business or a larger one.

Amex’s marketing section addresses branding, advertising, content marketing, and lead conversion with wisdom from one of America’s most trusted financial businesses. So take some time to poke around in there – it’s worth the investment.

Entrepreneur

Image courtesy of Entrepreneur

This well-known magazine is a trusted print publication for – you guessed it – entrepreneurs!

Entrepreneur magazine tackles all the issues that entrepreneurs face every day. They also have an awesome online blog, plenty of video content, and several podcasts.

They feature content for small business owners of all stripes, as well as special feature sections for women entrepreneurs, franchisees, and green business owners. This blog curates quality content for entrepreneurs of all kinds.

Small Business Trends

Image courtesy of Small Business Trends

Small Business Trends describes itself as ” an award-winning hub of more than two million entrepreneurs, business owners, influencers and experts.”

The site features more than 20,000 pages of published content. And, they publish new articles daily. Small Business Trends publishes on a range of topics much broader than just marketing.

But, SmallBizTrends regularly posts marketing content covering local marketing, retail marketing trends, social media, and tips on content marketing, making the most of customer reviews, SEO, marketing automation…

GoDaddy Garage Blog

Image courtesy of GoDaddy

GoDaddy is a web hosting provider and the world’s largest web domain registrar.

They’ve also made it their mission to support the small business owners who seek their web services with a content hub they like to call the GoDaddy Garage Blog. (Like a garage band, only slightly less cool. And 100% less likely to reside at their parent’s house.)

The Garage Blog offers filtering tools that allow you to search for content by industry or by product (topic). Under their marketing section, you’ll find a wealth of articles on valuable small business marketing topics like SEO, retargeting, local marketing, website optimization, conversion rate optimization, paid ads, and more.

GoDaddy – not just for web hosting anymore.

Neil Patel’s Blog

Image courtesy of Amy Porterfield

Neil Patel is digital marketing’s “It” Boy.

His articles are quoted everywhere. His guest posts appear on reputable blogs and publications all over the web. And, there’s little question why – Patel’s articles are thorough, well-researched and concisely written.

It’s tough to research any digital marketing topic – SEO, paid ads, social media, content marketing, email marketing – without stumbling across one of Neil Patel’s insightful and valuable articles.

So, cut out the middle man and just go straight to the source. You can filter his blog content by the digital marketing topic you’re researching. Then get cozy. You’ll be there a while – there’s a lot to learn.

The post The 16 Best Small Business Marketing Blogs You Should Read in 2019 appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

Design can be powerful.

Thriving businesses know this and regularly rely on good design to create influential and impressive brand identities and brands. As we recently wrote,

No successful company has ever left its brand and branding to chance.

Instead, smart companies are intentional and public about their mission and values, among other things.

There’s a good reason for this. 87% of consumers will purchase a product solely because of brand values.

In 2018, we saw some terrific examples of strong branding and several strong rebrands. But we also saw many terrible branding mistakes that could have easily been avoided.

Let’s look at the best and worst branding of 2018, including tips on how to create a successful brand experience for your own business in 2019.

The Best Branding of 2018

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’ unconventional campaign is an excellent example of the influence strong design has over social, cultural, and even political movements.

Political campaign branding typically centers around traditional, familiar interpretations of American patriotism. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign took advantage of this widely held expectation by turning it on its head.

Unorthodox branding choices were a hallmark of Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign. Those choices marked a serious departure from prosaic design constructs, and the message to everyone watching was clear: this candidate is different.

Political marketing strategists and consultants traditionally rely on a specific set of (red, white, and blue) visuals in their campaign materials. These conventional designs communicate the dignified, staid character of equally conventional candidates.

Ocasio-Cortez’s use of dynamic, engaging design in her campaign materials was an intentional rejection of wonted political design practices.

Her stark visual contrast underscored Ocasio-Cortez’ identity as a rebellious departure from the establishment. As we wrote,

Ocasio-Cortez’s used purple, yellow, and other bold choices to visually differentiate her campaign from her opponent. Her political branding strategy was to sound different and to look different. It’s no surprise that Ocasio-Cortez created a compelling argument for shifting toward a revolution – in design and in politics itself.

By incorporating her persona as a radical candidate in her election designs, Ocasio-Cortez lent authenticity and strength to both her branding and her enormously successful campaign.

Like a successful political campaign, good branding is based on something meaningful and genuine.

A staggering 91% of consumers said that they are more likely to buy from an authentic brand than from a dishonest brand.

Whether your brand draws on personal history, brand vision, or a radically new perspective, make sure your designs reflect something purposeful and genuine.

Uber

There’s no doubt Uber came into 2018 on the heels of a terrible couple of years.

The company was in dire need of a complete image overhaul, and its 2018 rebrand delivered. As we wrote,

The Uber brand became associated with negative attention rather than a positive brand experience, and its existing branding was undermining Uber’s marketing efforts.

Lead by Wolff-Olins, this rebrand concentrated on Uber’s worldwide presence by focusing on a simple, universal wordmark logo. It uses a friendly, rounded typeface created specifically for the company.

The logo was accompanied by a host of support materials that were also well-executed and internationally-focused.

Uber’s new logo incorporates a sense of mobility, accessibility, and friendliness not found in previous iterations.

The clear intention was to create visual and psychological distance between the brand and its soured history.

Compared to the company’s previous branding attempt, the new logo is clean, clear, and unpretentious.

It may have been one of the simplest redesigns of recent memory, but with this, Uber cleaned up its image as it cleaned up its brand.

If your business is struggling to overcome a negative reputation, take a cue from Uber. A rebrand and a professionally designed logo is a powerful demonstration that your business is committed to a fresh start, and can drive your brand back to success.

Whether you’re creating a new brand identity or rebranding an existing one, be sure you’re up to date on modern logo design trends.

DuPont

What is a rather staid business like DuPont doing in a best-of branding roundup?

Our choice may be unusual, but the company’s 2018 rebrand is more proof that the simplest ideas are often the best ideas.

DuPont is an enduring brand, having been around since 1802.

That’s an impressively long time to have the same branding.

This might make the fact that DuPont chose to rebrand surprising, but the company had many good reasons.

After years of bad publicity and court battles, the company was in dire need of an image makeover.

Lippincott, a design agency known for its work with companies like Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Duracell, approached the rebrand in a way that honored DuPont’s roots with a friendlier execution.

The designers made the logo friendlier and more approachable by emphasizing the squashed football shape of the original logo.

Lippincott senior partner Brendan Murphy explained to Fast Company:

It’s a very familiar shape that’s also welcoming. It’s idiosyncratic in its expression, but that’s also what makes it human.

The rebrand keeps a visual nod to the longevity of the company through the use of some retro-looking type.

If your business has an enduring history but is looking to move into the future, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Be sure your new logo takes advantage of your business’ storied reputation, and include appropriate visual nods to your track record of success.

MailChimp

Mailchimp’s redesign in 2018 is an example of how rebranding can work to showcase a business’ growth and evolution.

It’s important for businesses to approach their branding with thoughtful consideration for what the future may hold for their brand. Having inflexible design can box you into an overly narrow market once your business grows beyond its initial purpose.

Every brand should be able to scale their designs alongside business development in order to maintain a cohesive brand identity.

Gene Lee, VP of Design at Mailchimp, described how the need for cohesive brand identity motivated and informed the change in their design:

We didn’t want our brand to feel disjointed, so we created a more unified and recognizable system by weaving the new brand identity throughout all facets of Mailchimp, from our customers’ accounts to our website, and from our marketing to our support channels…With this redesign, we set out to retain all the weird, lovable elements that endeared our earliest customers to Mailchimp, while creating space for the brand to grow and connect with even more small businesses.

Mailchimp’s rebrand maintained the history and charm of the original design, while simultaneously looking ahead to include the endless possibility for what’s next.

We always recommend our clients approach their branding as Mailchimp did.

Use broad strokes when coming up with important branding elements like your business name and logo design. That way, you avoid limiting your business’ growth with rigid branding.

The Worst Branding of 2018

Heineken

It’s hard to know what Heineken was thinking when they created this TV ad.

Meant to highlight Heineken Light, the ad quickly drew scorn and criticism for its incredible tone-deafness.

The ad features a bartender sliding a bottle of Heineken Light past three black people into the waiting hand of a much lighter-skinned woman.

As if that wasn’t enough, the ad’s tagline “sometimes, lighter is better,” surfaced the ad’s underlying message in a clear and controversial way.

Pilloried as racist by social media and celebrities like Chance the Rapper, Heineken quickly pulled the ad and issued an apology on Twitter:

In light of the recent Heineken® Light Beer advert, please find our official statement. pic.twitter.com/9srsUFW086

— Heineken SA (@Heineken_SA) March 27, 2018

“We regret that the advert has created ambiguity. That was never our intention and we are taking the feedback to heart in developing future campaigns.”

Heineken’s apology was warranted, as this ad’s design and slogan are a clear failure.

The lesson here is also clear: no amount of ambition or intention can make up for a design that doesn’t seriously consider its implications.

Be Best

Melania Trump’s Be Best initiative aims to help children be their best selves, as well as an active force against the opioid crisis, a force for improving well being, and an ironic nod toward respectful behavior on social media.

New York Times reporter Julie Davis reported on Twitter that, according to an East Wing official, the platform’s red, white and blue logo was designed by Trump herself:

Melania Trump designed the ‘Be Best’ logo herself. She likes clean lines, and wanted something that would appeal to children.

The logo does, indeed, present as childish – and has been widely derided. Descriptions like “Toddler MS Paint scrawl” reflect the overall impression the logo has left with designers everywhere.

The poor design work, unfortunately, is not the worst offense at hand.

Melania is alleged to have filched the design and much of the material in Be Best’s brochure from a 2014 FTC report on cyberbullying.

Fast Company reports that “The typeface, layout, and graphics are close to identical–as is the vast majority of the content.”

What’s more, Time magazine noted that the phrase itself, “Be Best”, is uncomfortably familiar. It bears a striking similarity to former first lady Michelle Obama’s celebrated “Be Better” response to Oprah Winfrey’s question at the White House Summit on the United State of Women in 2016.

If any lesson is to be learned here, perhaps it is this: any business looking to put forth marketing collateral of any kind would do well to be best at using Grammarly’s plagiarism checker.

If there is one thing more devastating to a business than ugly branding, it’s stolen branding.

Travel Channel

The Travel Channel is a specialty TV channel owned by Discovery, Inc. that broadcasts documentaries, reality TV, and other shows related to travel around the world.

In 2018, it launched its first rebrand in over a decade that coincided with a refreshed lineup of shows. A post on the channel’s news site explained:

The network name remains the same, but there’s a visually abbreviated handle (“Trvl”), an updated type treatment and a more subdued color palette.

In addition to the unattractive color palette and typography, the logo’s missing vowels caused some confusion amongst brand watchers.

The rebrand was done by LA-based agency Radley Studios.

Their reasoning for the missing vowels pointed to the channel’s new lineup of shows as well as the fact that “it would also provide a fresh, modern and snackable read across all screens.”

The Travel Channel’s execution of their rebrand has been described as lacking, with various design authorities like Brand New remarking:

They only had four letters to integrate and each of them look like they belong in different fonts, while the arrow shares none of the traits of the letters. Based on the promo video, it looks like Travel Channel is now about haunted places and paranormal stuff…but the scariest thing you will find in their programming is this new logo.

Rebranding can provide any business with an opportunity to stand out by showcasing the things that make a company different and better.

Unfortunately, the Travel Channel’s new logo fails to evince evidence of their new direction in programming in any meaningful way.

If you decide your business is ready to rebrand, don’t isolate your core market with changes that feel confusing or nonsensical.

Make sure you thoughtfully execute any major changes to your branding so that your mission and values remain front and center.

For more strategies for rebranding your business, check out How to Successfully Rebrand: Everything Your Small Business Needs to Know.

European Championships

Sports has had its share of branding disasters.

It’s hard to forget the debacle that followed the 2012 London Olympics logo, or the nightmare that is Gritty, the Philadelphia Flyers new mascot.

The same fate seems to have befallen the logo for the 2018 European Championships.

The rebrand, created by London, UK firm Designwerk, was meant to showcase the multi-sport and multi-national event through an array of shapes and colors.

The European Championships logo attempts to achieve this by using multiple colors and shaded typography that will be difficult to reproduce at smaller sizes.

The 3D nature of the shapes in the logo is also problematic, with different shapes and angles competing for attention.

The overall effect is awkward, complicated, and jarring.

This logo is a good example of what can go wrong when you have too many elements competing for attention.

Simplicity is a fundamental best practice of branding, as we discuss in our logo design guide:

Take a moment and think about the most famous brands you know. Most likely, you’ve thought of companies like Apple, Volkswagen, Target, McDonald’s, etc. What do they all have in common? They all have logos that are simple and easily recognized when printed in color, grayscale, or in black and white.

If your business is tempted to illustrate a complex message or theme, consider narrowing your focus.

Good design is one that a viewer will remember, and more often than not, simpler designs are better remembered.

And after all, if you aren’t being remembered, you’re being forgotten.

As we recently wrote in our guide on brand identity:

Every decision your company makes and every action that it takes affects the brand.

Poor design, ineffective marketing, inconsistent messaging, and bad partnerships can all tarnish a brand.

Instead of leaving public perception of your brand to chance, it’s always a good practice to build and shape your brand.

Take stock of how other brands use original design and thoughtful, consistent messages to stand out from less successful brands.

It’s easy to see how smart, polished design can make the difference between enormous success and colossal failure.

In 2019, make sure your business is equipped to succeed with outstanding design.

The post The Best and Worst Branding of 2018 appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

Color is a psychologically powerful tool and reaches people on a subconscious level.

People notice and internalize color before anything else, and if you pay attention, you’ll see how businesses use color in their branding, including their brand identity, to create compelling, engaging designs.

To read more about the scientific breakdown of color and how color is effectively used in design, read this great piece from Medium.

Now, we hope you enjoy another great set of links and articles that we shared with you over the past week on our crowdspring Twitter account (and on Ross’s Twitter account). We regularly share our favorite posts on entrepreneurship, small business, marketing, logo design, web design, startups, leadership, social media, marketing, economics, and other interesting stuff! Enjoy!

The 16 Best Small Business Marketing Blogs You Should Read in 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/0wYL3AExbx #SMB #smbs #Marketing #Marketers pic.twitter.com/X34zLQtctc

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 28, 2019

6 Important Reasons Your Fashion Brand Needs Good Design https://t.co/AHtKqvTeLG pic.twitter.com/DXMJMdgVRi

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 29, 2019

Good insights for people building teams … Mark Cuban Says the Best Employees Are Smart, Driven, and Curious. But 1 Skill Matters Much More (and Makes Them Invaluable) – https://t.co/NUi6zFzA7M

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 21, 2019

10 Proven Headline-Writing Tips to Make Your Small Business Content Irresistible https://t.co/xHp2dUAlq5 pic.twitter.com/h3lmLNQOXY

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 30, 2019

Here's a good look at the best and worst branding of 2018, including tips on how to create a successful brand experience for your own business in 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/NkHUGDXNz7 #branding #SMB #Marketing #rebrand pic.twitter.com/72eqo5Pk57

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 30, 2019

Reflections from a designer turned product manager: 6 unexpected differences https://t.co/GvEfNTWUOF pic.twitter.com/Tw0A3c7PaJ

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 1, 2019

Following a record year, Illinois startups kick off 2019 on a strong foot – https://t.co/HsQnQuGZrW pic.twitter.com/PGrQHqaoI9

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 22, 2019

10 Best Cities in the United States for Startups and Entrepreneurs (2019) https://t.co/9kc7TN9upx

— Krista Marks (@kristamarks) January 22, 2019

A good alternative for people stuck between bootstrapping and VC funding. https://t.co/zzNRdtE8wV

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 31, 2019

Terrific insights … Land of the “Super Founders“— A Data-Driven Approach to Uncover the Secrets of Billion Dollar Startups – https://t.co/GEkkWNFn0e pic.twitter.com/tusSk7JA1Y

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 30, 2019

Don’t Let Burnout Stall Your Career: The 5 Best Tips for Preventing Burnout https://t.co/0INTAnJuxr pic.twitter.com/oMDdMBG3WM

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 29, 2019

Lots of terrific advice that holds true in 2019 as much as it did in 2018 … The 30 Best Pieces of Advice for Entrepreneurs in 2018 – https://t.co/5PHVvufeEZ pic.twitter.com/W7snpivaB5

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 19, 2019

Good insights for people building teams … Mark Cuban Says the Best Employees Are Smart, Driven, and Curious. But 1 Skill Matters Much More (and Makes Them Invaluable) – https://t.co/NUi6zFzA7M

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 21, 2019

What is Brand Identity and How To Create a Great One: A Complete Guide for Marketers and Businesses (2019) https://t.co/RPXIpqgZwJ pic.twitter.com/3GVitjqGim

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 25, 2019

The 16 Best Small Business Marketing Blogs You Should Read in 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/0wYL3AExbx #SMB #smbs #Marketing #Marketers pic.twitter.com/X34zLQtctc

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 28, 2019

Influencer Marketing: Proven Strategies To Find Influencers Who Fit Your Brand https://t.co/Gb33JuvEQE pic.twitter.com/zkF0uTZLhV

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 27, 2019

Good design is your visual ambassador when you can’t be there to sell your skills in person. Here are 5 Reasons Why Your Freelance Marketing Business Will Fail Without Good Design | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/m3cbkP2Jqv pic.twitter.com/QfNEk48M0s

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 21, 2019

Increasingly, consumers are looking for products and product packaging that implement sustainable design practices. Here are 3 Ways Marketers Can Boost Profits With Sustainable Design | by @Kate_L_Harrison in @Forbes – https://t.co/DjW7UK5cge

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 29, 2019

Here's a good look at the best and worst branding of 2018, including tips on how to create a successful brand experience for your own business in 2019 | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/NkHUGDXNz7 #branding #SMB #Marketing #rebrand pic.twitter.com/72eqo5Pk57

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 30, 2019

Interesting read about typography and human psychology … Turning Type Sideways – https://t.co/UZRyQb9BH2 pic.twitter.com/yg7tBpHGB6

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 21, 2019

7 Essential Trends That Will Shape Product Design in 2019 https://t.co/D4JUueZNxY pic.twitter.com/8jk0pV26uG

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 26, 2019

Increasingly, consumers are looking for products and product packaging that implement sustainable design practices. Here are 3 Ways Marketers Can Boost Profits With Sustainable Design | by @Kate_L_Harrison in @Forbes – https://t.co/DjW7UK5cge

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 29, 2019

6 Inspirational Graphic Design Trends For 2019 | @advertisingweek AW360 – https://t.co/pWQgaV9PI0 pic.twitter.com/ccfwUKp0JT

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 31, 2019

Good design is your visual ambassador when you can’t be there to sell your skills in person. Here are 5 Reasons Why Your Freelance Marketing Business Will Fail Without Good Design | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/m3cbkP2Jqv pic.twitter.com/QfNEk48M0s

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 21, 2019

Want to Boost Your Search Performance? Invest in UX Design https://t.co/JBCh4oiULt pic.twitter.com/DkFm4n95xM

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 28, 2019

Why Investing in a Logo is Key to Startup Marketing Success https://t.co/dGVnEuvv3M pic.twitter.com/uuPZXNWRrB

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) January 30, 2019

Puts world population in a better perspective. https://t.co/HhDS1ztBJy

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 20, 2019

This is one of my favorite infographics. A lot of people underestimate just how much life has improved over the last two centuries: https://t.co/djavT7MaW9 pic.twitter.com/kuII7j4AuW

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) January 19, 2019

Truth. https://t.co/AwvYRgR4S2

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 21, 2019

Amazing that people were interested and more amazing that they survived to tell about the experience. Just finished reading the book on the expedition. Highly recommend! https://t.co/66QA2XwWEV https://t.co/QWCUHuYgwV

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) January 28, 2019

The post Twitter Link Roundup #356 – Terrific Reads for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Marketers, and Designers! appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

The right typeface is often the key to strong brand identity, a well-designed website, sharp looking brochures, and strong marketing materials.

But there’s much confusion and misinformation about typefaces, fonts and how designers and marketers can lawfully use them commercially.

The truth is that most people, and especially designers and marketers, do not understand the law governing the use of typefaces and fonts.

There’s no shame in this. After all, most lawyers don’t understand design or marketing.

Far too many designers and marketers incorrectly assume that they can freely use any typeface or font for logo design or any other design project.

Even design and marketing agencies often run afoul of font law and expose themselves and their clients to legal liability.

Let’s look at the law of fonts and typefaces and answer the most common questions agencies, designers, and marketers ask about using fonts in designs and marketing projects.

Background Info on Fonts, Typefaces and Copyright Law

How is a font different from a typeface?

Technically, a “font” is a computer file or program (when used digitally) that informs your printer or display how a letter or character is supposed to be shown.

A “typeface” is a set of letters, numbers and other symbols whose forms are related by repeating certain design elements that are consistently applied (sometimes called glyphs), used to compose text or other combination of characters.

Although many people would call “Helvetica” a font, it’s actually a typeface. Variations of Helvetica, such as Helvetica Regular, Helvetica Italic, Helvetica Bold, etc. are fonts.

The software that tells your display or printer to show a letter in “Helvetica” is the font.

How do you acquire a license to a font?

Fonts can be free or licensed, for a fee, for commercial use.

Whether you pay for a font or acquire it for free, each font comes with a license that explains how you may use that font (and how you may not use the font).

Your rights and obligations are defined in the End User License Agreement (EULA).

Those agreements will vary among fonts and among font makers – so read them very carefully to understand what you can and cannot do with the fonts you’re licensing.

For example, some agreements will restrict the number of computers on which you can install a font. Other agreements will restrict the ways you can use a font.

What is copyright?

Copyright is a form of legal protection provided to those who create original works.

Under the 1976 Copyright Act (United States), the copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, publicly perform and publicly display the work.

Any or all of these rights can be licensed, sold or donated to another party.

One does not need to register a work with the U.S. Copyright Office for it to be automatically protected by copyright law (registration does have benefits – but we won’t be covering those in this article).

For more about copyright law, you can read Everything Marketers Need to Know To Avoid Violating Copyright Law and Small Business Legal Issues: Copyright Basics.

Does copyright law protect typefaces and fonts?

Generally, copyright law in the U.S. does not protect typefaces.

Fonts may be protected as long as the font qualifies as computer software or a program (and in fact, most fonts are programs or software).

Bitmapped fonts are considered to be computerized representations of a typeface (and are not protected by copyright law).

On the other hand, scalable fonts (because they are incorporated as part of a program or software) are protected by copyright.

This means that copyright law (at least in the U.S.) protects only the font software, not the artistic design of the typeface.

You should remember that copyright law, and more specifically, as it relates to typefaces and fonts, varies by country.

For example, the U.S. may be the only country in the western world not to recognize intellectual property rights in typeface design. The U.S. Copyright Office has unequivocally determined that fonts are not subject to protection as artistic works under the 1976 Copyright Act.

In contrast, Germany recognized in 1981 that typeface designs can be protected by copyright as original works. England also allows typeface designs to be protected by copyright (since 1989).

Does the U.S. have to follow the copyright law of other countries under international treaties?

Yes and No.

All of the major copyright treaties and agreements to which the U.S. is a party (such as the Berne Convention) operate under a common principle (called “national treatment”) which holds that a country must treat foreigners and locals equally. That means, among other things, that the U.S. is not obligated to provide greater protection to works from other countries than it provides to works produced in the U.S.

Can you copy typefaces without worrying about copyright law?

Some argue that you can copy a font (by recreating it yourself) and as long as you don’t copy the computer program, you’re not violating the law (in the U.S.).

How might you do this?

Among other ways, you can lawfully print every glyph on a printer, scan the image and then trace each image on your computer (none of this would involve copying the software or program representing the fonts).

This gets a bit muddied when you consider that fonts are often tweaked and used as part of a larger design.

For example, a typeface may be customized and used as part of a logo design. While the typeface itself is not subject to copyright protection in the U.S. (even if the company name is otherwise trademarked), the logo design itself might be protected as an artistic piece, taking into account the arrangement of letters, use of space, organizations, colors, and other creative aspects of the design.

A good example of this is the Coca Cola typeface – the typeface is protected because it is the logo.

Does patent law protect typefaces?

Sometimes.

Typeface designs can be patented but typically are not.

Moreover, even those typeface designs that have been patented were patented some time ago and nearly all of the design patents have expired.

Does trademark law protect typefaces?

Trademark law protects only the name of a typeface, but not the design of the typeface.

Using Fonts in Commercial Design and Marketing Projects

Can you use “free” fonts without worrying about the law?

Sometimes, but not always.

Although many free fonts allow unrestricted use (including use for commercial projects and as logotype fonts), “free” fonts can sometimes be commercial fonts that are illegally copied.

Be careful and make sure that the fonts you are using come from a trusted source and that you understand your rights and obligations.

Should you use “free” fonts?

That’s a subjective opinion. Many free fonts are outstanding and used frequently by designers and marketers. But not all free fonts are created equally. Some don’t have upper and lower case letters or are missing symbols. Others might not have enough variations of bold, italic, heavy, light, etc. versions of the font.

Can you give a font to a client?

No. Unless you created the font or have the right to give the client the font for free, you should never do this.

Can you license a font to a client?

Typically, you cannot.

Your right to sub-license a font is governed by the EULA.

You cannot send the client a font unless the EULA specifically permits you to do so.

This means that if the client will need the font, they will be required to purchase their own license to use it.

Most logo designers avoid problems related to font licensing by converting their logotype to outlines (in a program like Adobe Illustrator) and sending the client a vectorized outline (but not the font).

If you’re supplying a vectorized logo to a client, they won’t need to purchase the font. However, if they want to use the same font for their stationery, website, or marketing materials, they’ll need to own a proper license to that font to use it for those other purposes.

What fonts are used in contracts?

You can use any font in a legal contract. Just be sure that the font is readable.

Can you use a font as a logo?

Yes, provided you have a proper license for that font.

Also, remember that it’s a good idea to tweak the font in small ways so that it stands out from a simple logotype. Otherwise, your logo may look like thousands of other logos.

What font is best?

There is no single best font. But there are powerful psychology principles in play when using fonts.

Should you use a serif or sans serif font?

One primary way typefaces and fonts are classified are whether or not they have “serifs,” which are the tiny flourishes found at the end of a letter’s strokes.

Serif typefaces have these added bits, and sans-serif typefaces are, as you can guess, literally that; “sans [without] serifs.”

Serif typefaces are associated with tradition, and stability.

Finance, fashion, journalism and other prestigious industries incorporate that classic style into their designs to great effect.

Sans-serif types became popular around the start of the 1800s, right around the same time that modernism took off.

With design moving toward a more universal style and focusing on inclusive thinking, Sans-serif typefaces deconstructed the traditional letterforms and modernized them into an accessible and appealing aesthetic.

Popular sans-serif typefaces like Helvetica are everywhere on the web because they fit right in with the modern aesthetic. That makes them a stellar choice for branding and marketing systems, though their omnipresence does make them a less distinctive choice.

If you spend the time to make sure the typeface you love reflects the personality of your brand, though, you won’t go wrong.

Can Microsoft Word fonts be used commercially?

Yes.

You cannot resell Microsoft Word fonts as your own or as part of a collection, but you may use your legally acquired fonts commercially.

Three Questions To Ask When Using Fonts In Your Designs and Marketing Materials

1. Are you legally allowed to use the font?

Many fonts are sold commercially and cannot be used by people who do not purchase those fonts from proper vendors.

If you purchased the font or obtained a free font that was created for free commercial use, you may legally use the font as long as the EULA gives you the right to use it in the way you intend to use it (i.e. for logo design).

2. Is your intended use permissible?

Some font licensing agreements may restrict ways that you can use the font.

Review the agreements carefully when in doubt.

3. Can you sell and/or send a copy of the font to your client?

Typically, at least for commercial fonts, the answer is NO.

Your client will be required to purchase the font. One way to avoid this is to outline the font (as described above) and provide the client with a vectorized outline.

Do you have other questions about fonts and typefaces and the law or useful tips based on your own practice? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

>> If you’d prefer to watch a video about this topic instead of, or in addition to reading this post, here’s the video: How to Avoid Legal Issues When Using Typefaces and Fonts in Your Small Business Logo.

Please remember that legal information is not the same as legal advice. This post may not address all relevant business or legal issues that are unique to your situation and you should always seek legal advice from a licensed attorney.

The post The Law on Fonts and Typefaces in Design and Marketing: Frequently Asked Questions (about commercial and non-commercial use) appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

Graphic design is a notoriously competitive field and it can be tough for companies to stand out.

But, at least twenty graphic design firms from around the world have proven to be the best in their field, with gorgeous portfolios filled with impressive clients and prominent design campaigns.

These are the design firms that clients with virtually unlimited budgets turn to when they need a brand identity, packaging design, or help with other types of design.

These design firms drive graphic design trends around the world and are responsible for some of the best, and often, some of the most controversial designs from the past several decades.

Here are the 20 (in no particular order) most influential graphic design companies from around the world.

1. Sagmeister & Walsh
2. Wolff Olins
3. Landor
4. Pentagram
5. MetaDesign
6. House Industries
7. Happy Cog
8. Leo Burnett
9. Metalab
10. Frog Design
11. AKQA
12. Urban Influence
13. SuperUnion
14. Turner Duckworth
15. Winkcreative
16. Mucho
17. McFaul+Day
18. Chermyeff & Geismar & Haviv
19. Studio Dumbar
20. Dessein

Sagmeister & Walsh

Stefan Sagmeister is a world-famous graphic designer and provocateur with deep ties to independent musicians and the arts. He’s had clients like Lou Reed, David Byrne, the Guggenheim, and many more.

The studio he created with Jessica Walsh is renowned for its edgy, unpredictable style.

You don’t need to look further than the studio’s homepage for an example of this: it features a live webcam that shows what’s going on in New York-based studio right at that moment.

Headquarters: New York City

Notable Clients: Snapchat, 7Up, The Gap, BMW, The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim Museum, NYTimes Magazine, Lou Reed, Jay-Z, Brian Eno, David Byrne, Random House Publishers, the AIGA, Autodesk, Levis, Adobe

Wolff Olins

Look back at the last two or three decades of graphic design.

If there was a controversial rebrand, chances are Wolff Olins was involved.

The design studio has a reputation for bold design choices. Upon its release, their design for the London 2012 Olympic games was infamously compared to something accidentally dropped, a puerile mess, a health hazard, and even cartoon character Lisa Simpson playing her saxophone.

The studio has never shied away from unorthodox choices, and their drive for innovation has made them one of the most sought-after design firms in the world.

Headquarters: London, UK

Locations: London, New York City, and San Francisco

Notable Clients: Uber, Alibaba, Zigbee Alliance, GrubHub, The Metropolitan Art Museum, Spotify, Orange, The Hyatt, Virgin Media, (RED), AOL, Target, Unilever, GE, PwC, Microsoft, Google, Skype, Expedia, FutureLearn.

Landor

Nike is one of Landor’s many prestigious clients.

This storied design studio is one of the undisputed giants of graphic design and branding in the world. Started by Walter Landor in 1941, the company has grown exponentially over the years and now has 23 offices in 20 countries.

High profile work for clients like Coca-Cola, the WWF, FedEx, Levis, Apple, and BP have firmly established this studio as one of the greats.

Headquarters: San Francisco

Locations: Bangkok, Beijing, Cape Town, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dubai, Geneva, Hamburg, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Milan, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Paris, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, and Tokyo

Notable Clients: Nike, Coca-Cola, the WWF, FedEx, Levis, Apple, Volvic, Kraft, Jameson, BMW, Henkel, Old Spice, Citroën, Proctor and Gamble, Juicy Couture, Rolex, John Deere.

Pentagram

It’s impossible to create any list of noteworthy design firms without including Pentagram.

The National’s Sleep Well Beast campaign and album design, by Pentagram

The studio’s design talent boasts some famous names among the list of partners, including Paula Scher, Michael Beirut, Alan Fletcher, Colin Forbes, Harry Pearce, and many more.

The client list is equally impressive.

Headquarters: London

Locations: Austin, Berlin, New York, San Francisco.

Notable Clients: Citibank, United Airlines. Saks Fifth Avenue. Harley-Davidson, Alexander McQueen, Clear Channel, The National, The Daily Show, One Laptop Per Child, Revlon, Cosmopolitan, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Grey Goose, Tiffany and Co, Vanity Fair.

MetaDesign

Metadesign Berlin, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

MetaDesign was founded in 1979 by three German designers, including famed typographer Erik Spiekermann. Since then, it has taken on design work for clients large and small, including big names like The Economist and Apple. Spiekermann has stayed active as a type designer, creating such acclaimed typefaces as FF Meta and Officina.

Headquarters: San Francisco

Locations: Beijing, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Geneva, San Francisco, Zurich

Notable Clients: Apple, AT&T, eBay, FIFA, Intuit, Lamborghini,, Netflix, Sony, Intel, Polo Ralph Lauren, 23andMe, Volkswagen, The Economist, New York Philharmonic, Texture, San Francisco Ballet.

House Industries

If you come across a gorgeous, retro-influenced type design, there’s a good chance it was created or influenced by the design studio House Industries.

Courtesy of House Industries

Luminaries from Cher to Jimmy Kimmel and The New Yorker to Uniqlo have worked with the small and fiercely independent studio.

They are known just as much for their type design as they are for the eccentric selection of products they sell. Whether it’s books, clothing, cycling accessories, or assorted kitchenware, each product is meticulously designed.

Headquarters: Delaware

Notable Clients:  Hermes, The Cher Show, Eames, The New Yorker, Design With Reach, Ford, John Mayer, Heath Ceramics, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Vogue Japan, Agent Provocateur, MTV, Chronicle Books, Uniqlo, Baccarat, Herman Miller

courtesy of Happy Cog

Happy Cog

Happy Cog is a studio founded by web pioneer Jeffrey Zeldman, whose influence helped drive forward web technology and standards in the early 00s. Specializing in web and digital design, Happy Cog’s client list is diverse and impressive.

Locations: Philadelphia, New York

Notable Clients: MTV, Papa John’s, Harvard Business School, Ben & Jerry’s, McGraw-Hill Education, US Holocaust Museum, Nintendo, Georgetown University, Fonts.com, Thomson Reuters, Zappos.com

Leo Burnett

courtesy of Leo Burnett

Leo Burnett is a Chicago-based company that has its hands in almost any creative disciple you can think of.

In addition to branding and marketing, an in-house design team tackles a variety of projects for clients of all sizes and industries.

Founded by legendary advertiser Leo Burnett in 1935, the company now has 85 offices in 69 countries and more than 9,000 employees.

Headquarters: Chicago. Illinois

Locations: Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Santa Domingo, Guaynabo, Guatemala City, London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Prague, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Manila, Jakarta, Sydney, Johannesburg

Notable Clients: Kelloggs, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, P&G, Samsung, GM, Fiat, Bell, LCBO, Ikea, Elections Canada.

Metalab

courtesy of Metalab

Metalab is a design studio based in Victoria, British Columbia. In its 12 years of operation, the company has worked for some of the biggest companies online, including Google, Disney, Slack, Medium, and more. It also has online services its created, including Ballpark (an invoicing app), and Flow, (a project management app).

Headquarters: Victoria, British Columbia

Notable Clients: Slack, Google, Finery, Amazon, Facebook, Lonely Planet, TED, Otter

Frog Design

courtesy of frog design

Frog was founded in 1969 by German industrial designer Hartmut Essilinger.

It has worked for some of the most influential companies and products, like Apple, the San. Francisco MOMA, Hyundai, Porsche, GE, and more.

With 15 offices located in major cities everywhere, Frog is consistently one of the best known and admired design companies in the world.

Headquarters: San Francisco, California

Locations: San Francisco, Austin, New York, London, Milan, Munich, Shanghai, Gurgaon, Seattle, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Sydney

Notable Clients: Apple, Lumen, SiriusXM, SuperSonic, Porsche, BT, American Dental Association, Associated Press, Audi, GE, Honeywell, UNICEF. Bill Gates, Intel, Sharp

AKQA

courtesy of AKQA

Based in London, AKQA is a firm that specializes in creating digital products and services. It has over 2,100 employees spread across 22 offices in cities like London, San Francisco, Sao Paolo, Singapore, Tokyo, Melbourne, and Paris.

Headquarters: San Francisco, California

Locations: Aarhus, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, London, Milan, Paris, Venice, Atlanta, New York, Portland, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Gurgaon, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney

Notable Clients: Nike, Nissan, Microsoft, Visa, Fiat, Coco-Cola, McDonald’s, Gap, VW, Amazon, Evian, David Beckham, Oakley, Palms, Netflix, Rolls-Royce, Volvo, Google, Activision, Eurostar, Jagermeister,  Tommy Hilfiger, Elton John, Burger King

Urban Influence

This Seattle-based agency has been “creating kick-ass brands since 2001,” according to its website. In that time, it has helped businesses to “craft honest, emotional experiences through strategy, brand development, graphic design, web design, and storytelling.”

Its clients range from small businesses and consumer products to tech companies and real estate firms.

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington

Notable Clients: Intego, Revelry, SEO Moz, Endurance, Sprout, Polaris, Chef’n, Watson, Cinchshare, Pronto, Redfin, DNA

SuperUnion

courtesy of SuperUnion

SuperUnion’s name is appropriate: it’s the union between five separate agencies (Brand Union, The Partners, Lambie-Nairn, Addison, and VBAT) into one super agency.

The unified company boasts 23 offices across 18 countries and has clients like BBC, London Symphony Orchestra, Dell, Deloitte, Ford, Nestle, and Tesco.

Headquarters: London, UK

Locations: Amsterdam, Bangkok, Beijing, Berlin, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Cairo, Cape Town, Dubai, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Johannesburg, London, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Munich. New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore

Notable Clients: Colgate-Palmolive, WPP, BBC, London Symphony Orchestra, Dell, Deloitte, Ford, Nestle, Tesco, Equinox, Level, Chivas, Pizza Hut, Land Rover, Invictus Games, Pfizer, AirAsia, Mazda, Audi, Electrolux, FIFA, Cirque de Soleil, HSBC, Credit Suisse

courtesy of Turner Duckworth

Turner Duckworth

Turner Duckworth may be a division of Leo Burnett, but deserves to be called out for the quality and quantity of amazing work that it produces.

Founded by David Turner and Bruce Duckworth in 1992, the firm now has three offices that are its “secret weapon,” according to the site.

Clients include Levis, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Metallica (!), Glenlivet, and many more.

Locations: London, San Francisco, and New York City

Notable Clients: Levis, Coca-Cola, Glenlivet, Burger King, Kellogg’s, Kraft, Toblerone, Kettle Chips, Longmorn. Coors, Popchips, Essential Parent, Dripp, Conté a Paris, Tassimo

Winkreative

Air Canada’s logo, designed by Winkreative

Founded by Monocle magazine publisher Tyler Brûlé, this creative agency makes “brands desirable through elegant visual ideas and a distinctive tone of voice, based on a defined strategic positioning,” according to its website.

Its clients include airlines, automakers, fashion and lifestyle companies, and more.

Headquarters: Zurich, Switzerland

Locations: Zürich, London, Toronto, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong

Notable Clients: Air Canada, Porter Airlines, Lexus, MINI, BBC, Sky, Dia TV, H&M, TAG Heuer, Dunhill, Adora, Louis Vuitton, LG, Toyota, Cathy Pacific, China Daily, Corriere della Sera

Mucho

courtesy of mucho

Mucho is a design studio headquartered in Barcelona.

Founded by friends Marc Català and Pablo Juncadella in 2003, the company grew quickly and now has offices in five cities around the world.

The offices often collaborate across time zones on projects that the company describes as “ideas-based.” eye magazine described their style as having “a level of visual fastidiousness and typographic detail that distinguishes their work from that of other branding agencies.”

Headquarters: Barcelona, Spain

Locations: Newark, Barcelona, Paris, San Francisco, New York, Sydney, Berlin, London

Notable Clients: AIGA, Alma Hotels, BCD, Betway, BMW, Canal+, El País, EMI Music Spain, Future Designs, Gap Inc., Google, HP, Kodak, Majestic Hotel Group, Mars, Museum of Lincolnshire Life, Phaidon Press, Random House Mondadori, San Francisco Art Exchange, San Francisco Civic Center, The Collection, The Observer, University of California

McFaul+Day

courtesy of mcfaul+day

MCFaul+Day was founded in 2002 by John McFaul in Portsmouth, England. It has worked with clients ranging from LucasFilm and Pepsi to the BBC, IBM, and Samsung.

In 2014, designer Justin Day joined the agency and the name was updated. According to its site, Mcfaul+Day “passionately created, observed and rigorously executed solutions, de-layering a proposition to its simple truth.”

Headquarters: Chichester, UK

Notable Clients: LucasFilm, New Balance, Pepsi, BBC, IBM, Microsoft, SXSW, Clarks, Audi, Virgin Atlantic, Sony, Levis, Samsung, Kidrobot

Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

courtesy of Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv

Some of the most recognizable logo designs were created by this studio, founded in 1957 by two Yale alumni, Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar. The company was joined by logo designer Sagi Haviv in 2003.

Its work includes iconic logos for NBC, National Geographic, Mobil, Showtime, Chase Bank, PBS, and many others.

Headquarters: New York, NY

Notable Clients: NBC, Pan Am, Mobil Oil, PBS, Chase Bank, Barneys New York, The Museum of Modern Art, Xerox, Smithsonian Institution, NBC, Cornell University, National Geographic, State Farm, Armani Exchange, Showtime, Animal Planet, Merck, EPA

Studio Dumbar

courtesy of Studio Dumbar

Formed in The Hague in 1977 by Gert Dumbar, Studio Dumbar has since relocated to Rotterdam and spread to Shanghai and Seoul.

In 2016 the agency merged with a number of other studios as part of the international mega-agency Dept. Studio Dumbar’s work is considered highly influential and has attracted a top-tier selection of clients like Apple, Nike, and Rijksmuseum.

Headquarters: Rotterdam, Holland

Locations: Rotterdam, Shanghai, and Seoul

Notable Clients: Apple, Nike, Rijksmuseum. Dutch National Police, Transavia, Vincent Van Gogh Museum, Dutch Railways, EUNL, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, NPO, Randstad, The Dutch Government

Dessein

courtesy of Dessein

Tracy Kenworthy and Geoff Bickford founded Dessein in 1987 in Perth, Australia.“We want to create brands of the heart – brands which engage, excite and evoke a personal rapport,” says the agency’s website.

It is an award-winning agency with a diverse client base that includes many Australian and international businesses and brands.

Headquarters: Perth, Australia

Notable Clients: Black Swan State Theatre, Northbridge Brewing Company, EPM, Ezyfix, Great Temptations, Mondo Nougat, Zwena, Albany Entertainment Centre, Whiteman Park, Poach Bear

The post 20 Most Influential Graphic Design Companies From Around the World appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

Running a small business means keeping a lot of different balls in the air.

There are text, presentations, spreadsheets, and other documents you need to share. Files you need to collaborate on with others, sometimes across different time zones. And then there’s all of the critical information, like legal contracts and forms, you and your employees need to access.

We are in a golden age for productivity apps.

There are robust apps available that go beyond the productivity and document features you’d expect. Many of them extend or innovate the entire concept of documents in powerful ways.

Take a look and see how these 13 powerful organization and productivity tools can empower your small business with easy, accessible design. Your business – and your headspace – will thank you for it!

Quip

Quip is a suite of office productivity apps with some powerful add-ons and features.

Its founders (Bret Taylor and Kevin Gibbs) have extensive experience with some of the biggest online properties. Taylor was the co-founder of Google Maps, CEO of the ill-fated social network FriendFeed, and former Facebook CTO. Gibbs was the founder of Google’s App Engine.

Quip initially started as a collaborative word processor and spreadsheet apps. Over time the company built out new features like team chat, presentations, and document history.

Quip recently launched “Live Apps.” It’s a powerful feature that gives users the ability to embed external services and apps directly in your documents.

Quip is a fantastic way to work with all of the standard documents a small business relies on with robust collaboration features and app integration.

Free trial, prices start at $30/month for 5 users.

Airtable

Airtable describes itself as “part spreadsheet, part database,” but there’s a lot more going on than just a replacement for Excel.

The service takes the concept of spreadsheets and runs with it. Where Excel is hyper-focused on numbers and formulas, Airtable treats all kinds of data equally.

Airtable documents can contain images, videos, maps, and more in addition to the usual numbers and text. What elevates Airtable even further is it lets you create different “views” of your data.

Want a form that takes input and stores it in a spreadsheet? Or graphs, charts, and other visualizations alongside your data? How about embedding a Google map or a 3D model? Airtable can do this and more, all in a friendly design that doesn’t feel overwhelming or cluttered.

And this is one of Airtable’s key features: it manages to take the complexity and visual overload of spreadsheets and make them seem, dare we say it, fun.

With an extensive gallery of examples and real-life use cases to choose from, if you have data to organize, there’s a good chance Airtable can handle it.

It would be a great tool, for example, if you’re figuring out how to start a clothing brand or clothing line. You can quickly organize your visuals, financials, and other info.

Free, with plans starting at $10 a month.

Coda

If Airtable is all about making spreadsheets more accessible, Coda is about blowing up your concept of what a spreadsheet is.

Coda takes spreadsheets, word processing, and data and mixes them up into something new. As the site says, “Coda combines the flexibility of a doc with the structure and depth of a spreadsheet.”

Like Airtable, Coda documents accept a long list of file types, but that’s where the similarity ends. Coda documents can contain paragraphs of text followed by embedded tables of data alongside little apps that let you manipulate and add new information.

Coda’s Doc Gallery showcases a long list of ways you can take advantage of this office doc mashup. There are templates for everything from project planners and investor worksheets to more fun uses like baby naming apps and wedding planners.

As with many of these new twists on old ideas, Coda can have a bit of a learning curve. It’s such a flexible and powerful tool, however, that you might get more out of it than you put in.

Coda is still invite-only, but it’s not difficult to get access, and currently, all features are free.

Whimsical

Whimsical may have a silly name, but its features are anything but that. Initially, it was released as a well-designed, fast to use flowchart app. Major updates added wireframes and what Whimsical calls “sticky notes” to the mix.

One of the core qualities of its suite of apps is a focus on speed. Whether you’re creating a flowchart, wireframe, or organizing a set of sticky notes, everything is fast. It takes little effort to create a well-organized document with a fun but professional look, thanks in part to the app’s vibrant purple theme.

One of Whimsical’s direct competitors is the web app veteran Lucidchart. Both feature flowcharts and wireframes, but Whimsical wins out with its user-friendly design, fast content generation, and eye-pleasing theme.

As a web-based app, Whimsical supports real-time collaboration out of the box and has robust support for comments and annotations. You can also export your creations as PDFs or PNGs, and share a link to the document with others who can view it for free.

Whimsical offers 5 free boards to start, with plans starting at $10 per user per month.

FYI

With so much of our lives in the cloud, it’s increasingly difficult to know precisely where a particular file might be. Were the files for your most recent business logo design saved to Dropbox? In Trello? In your email? On your laptop?

FYI aims to solve this problem. After you’ve added the services, you’ve used to the service (and installed an app on your computer) you can search across all of them quickly from the FYI website.

For people with multiple cloud storage accounts or apps like Trello, Github, or Asana, FYI’s global search can be a huge timesaver.

FYI is free for up to four connected apps and search that covers the last 30 days. For unlimited apps and search that goes back two years, it’s $8 per user per month.

RealtimeBoard

Go into almost any office and chances are you’ll see at least one whiteboard. Their ability to gather a group of people’s ideas and thoughts onto a shared, public space is invaluable. How to replicate their benefits for remote workers and distributed teams is a challenge many companies face.

Enter RealtimeBoard. This online whiteboard platform has continually improved and added new features since its debut in 2011.

In addition to basic whiteboard features like drawing, text, and sticky notes, RealtimeBoard also boasts mindmapping, charts, embeddable media, and a ton more.

If your company needs to collaborate with remote workers, or if you’ve wanted a way to integrate your whiteboard with features like video chat, screen sharing, and much more, RealtimeBoard might fit the bill.

For example, if you’re working on a project, such as creating a brand identity for a new business, you’ll need to collaborate with your co-founders and likely with your designer. Collaborating by email is tough and you’ll end up loosing a lot of time and information. That’s where products like RealtimeBoard are really useful.

Free, with plans starting at $10/month for “solopreneurs” or $40/month for five members

Notion

Notes, like calendars and email, are a crucial part of most people’s lives. So it’s no surprise there are almost as many different note apps and services available as there are people. One of the best is Notion.

Notion quickly became a darling of the maker and app entrepreneur world after its launch in 2016. That year, it was voted the Best Desktop App that year by the community on Product Hunt, an influential site for new product launches.

It’s easy to see why. At its core, Notion is a note-taking app, but one that extends the note experience in a multitude of ways.

You can embed many different types of content within a Notion “page”, like tables, calendars, galleries, kanban boards, and much more. People can collaborate in real-time, as well as comment and tag items the attention of others.

Notion bills itself as the “all-in-one workspace.” Through its extensive feature set, collaboration features, and integrations, that claim may not be just a passing notion.

Free, with plans starting at $4 a month

Quickly Legal

Business contracts are a pain for entrepreneurs and small businesses. They’re often impossible to understand, require expensive attorneys, and constantly create friction with vendors, employees, and others.

Quickly Legal helps you create, sign, and manage legal agreements on any device, at any time. Confusing and ambiguous contracts often lead to problems and costly lawsuits. Quickly Legal contracts are easy to understand. With clear terms, all parties know what to expect.

Plus Quickly Legal helps you to electronically sign the contracts, and you’ll always know the status of each contract.

A nice selection of contracts for startups and small businesses (non-disclosure agreements, employment agreements, sales representative agreements, independent contractor agreements, and more) and also freelancers and others.

Plus, you’ll have all your signed contracts in a single convenient contract vault securely stored in the cloud.

Free, with plans starting at $10 a month.

Nuclino

Sharing knowledge and information within a company can be a real challenge, no matter what the size of the organization. Intranets, the darling of the late 90s and early 00s, are often overly complicated beasts where, as some have said, “information goes to die.”

Nuclino was created to solve this problem. The service aims to gather all of a company’s knowledge in one place through its combination of notes, images and video, visualizations, and tagging features.

Nuclino shares many features with other note-based apps like Notion or Notejoy but focuses more on knowledge base-style documentation than individual notes.

Free, with plans starting at $5 per user per month

Calendly

“When are you available?” This question can be challenging to answer if you’re trying to organize a meeting with someone outside of your organization. It’s equally difficult to let the world know when you’re available.

Calendly attempts to solve this problem. It connects to your existing calendar and finds times when you are available. It makes these available to people visiting your personal page so they can book time with you.

You can integrate your calendar with apps like Zoom, GoToMeeting, Salesforce, and more.  It works with Google Calendar, Outlook, iCloud, and Microsoft Office.

Calendly is one of those apps that solves a single problem well. For people who take a lot of meetings it’s an invaluable service that makes answering “when are you available?” a simple click away.

Free, with plans starting at $8 per user, per month

Taskade

Lists make the world go round. Who doesn’t like making a list? It’s a simple but powerful way to organize your thoughts, keep track of your tasks, and much more.

Taskade takes the list concept and blows it up into something bigger and infinitely more useful.

It features what you’d expect from a list: bullets, checkboxes, number lists, and even hearts. Where Taskade shines is how it enables users to collaborate on list items and organize items through a variety of views. You can view your tasks as a board (ala a site like Trello), “Action” view (which turns the list into a table with actions), or as a standard list.

Collaboration features play a significant role in Taskade. You can chat with other users via text, voice, and even video, which makes working on a shared list or tasks easy. You can also attach files to a list item, set a due date, or tag it with a co-worker’s name for their attention.

All of these features are wrapped in a friendly, colorful design that makes working with lists easy and fun. If you need to create a list (and almost all of us do), Taskade may end up your number one choice.

Free, with plans starting at $7/month

MindMeister

When it comes to organizing your thoughts, one of the best methods is to use a mind map. The term “mind map” was first popularized in the 70s by British psychologist Tony Buzan. The act of organizing thoughts in a tree-like structure, however, has been with us for centuries.

Mind maps are deceptively simple. Their power is in their ability to organize vast amounts of information in a visually attractive, easy-to-follow system. If you have a subject or idea you need to get out of your head, the freeform nature of mind mapping may be the right tool for you.

There are many mind mapping options available, but one of the best is MindMeister. This online service got its start in 2007 and has steadily grown in popularity and features.

It now boasts over 7 million active users and is localized in 12 different languages. In addition to the online service, MindMeister has iOS and Android apps and integrates with a number of popular online storage and productivity apps.

Free, with plans starting at $4.99 a month.

Cloze

Organizing your contacts can be a real pain. The information you have may be incomplete, full of duplicates, or plain wrong. Preventing your contact list from exploding into a chaotic mess often requires a lot of tedious pruning and gardening, and who has time for that?

Cloze thinks it has a solution. It’s an online service that imports your existing contact list, find duplicates, and scours the social web for updated information. It aims to be your central source of truth for the people and businesses you interact with.

It shares some features with customer relationship management (CRM) apps (which we wrote about recently) but is easier to use. The focus is to provide you with everything you need to know about your contacts without burying you in data.

If you have a contact list, chances are good that it could use tidying up. Cloze helps make your contact list work for you.

Free, with plans starting at $19.99 a month.

There are a number of organization apps out there, but only a few have proven to be worth their while.

This carefully curated list contains only the apps that can best help every business owner increase their productivity with stronger organization tools – be sure to take a look.

The post 13 Helpful Organization and Productivity Apps For Small Businesses appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

You’ve put in the hours. You’ve paid your dues.

And now all that effort has paid off – you’re the expert.

So, what’s your prize at the end of the day?

For some, it’s enough to know that you’re great at your job. But others, like you, yearn for something more.

Admit it – you’ve thought about starting your own consulting business.

Flexible hours, being your own boss, and living life on your own terms; not to mention setting your own fees…

You can directly benefit from all of the time and effort you’ve put in.

Life as a consultant has a lot going for it. So, why are you still working for “the man”?

If you’re like many would-be consultants, you’re just not sure how to get started.

Navigating the transition between a salaried employee and running your own consulting business can be tricky. People often ask:

• How do I get clients for my consulting business?
• Can I start a consulting business while working full time?
• How do I become a small business consultant?
• How do I market my consulting business?
• How much should I charge for consulting?

If you’re ready to take the leap, we’re here to share everything you need to know to get started.

Here’s a 10 step complete guide for starting a consulting business from scratch.

1. Choose your niche
2. Define your services
3. Develop your brand
4. Fill in the business blanks
5. Crunch the numbers
6. Build a web presence
7. Create a sales plan
8. Spread the word
9. Find partners or investors
10. Find the right help

1. Choose Your Niche

One of the keys to success as a consultant is identifying and embracing your niche.

You know a lot about marketing or finance or… whatever.

But, so do a lot of other folks.

It will be much easier to differentiate yourself from all of those other generalized consultants if you specialize.

Think about it. If you had lung cancer, would you go to a general practitioner or an oncologist specializing in lung cancer? You’d go to that lung cancer specialist – because they’re the best chance you’ve got to solve your unique problem.

The same is true for businesses who need consultants. They will spend their hard-earned money to pay your fees. And, they want some degree of assurance that they’re going to get their money’s worth.

Knowing that you’re an expert in their issue will boost their confidence in your ability to get the job done.

Consultants who are specialists will appear most qualified to help and will be most appealing to the clients with those challenges. Dana Anspach, certified financial planner, consultant, and retirement expert, explains:

Don’t try to offer something to everyone. You will be a far more successful consultant by applying your expertise to a niche market that needs what you have to offer. In this way, you can tailor your services, so they add value to a specific group of people or businesses.

You may find that your niche reveals itself easily. It may be the area in which you have the most expertise in your field. Or, it may be the niche that you find most fun and exciting.

For example, in our definitive guide on how to start a successful clothing brand or clothing line, we suggest that aspiring apparel entrepreneurs choose their niche. It’s impossible and expensive to please everyone and do everything.

You have the same challenge: how to focus your energies on an area (or multiple areas) where your strengths and experience can bring the most value to your clients and prospects.

But, if you’re struggling to identify what your niche might be, consider these techniques for narrowing it down:

• Identify any underserved specialties in your field.
• Determine which areas in your field clients struggle with the most.
• Ask yourself if your unique background provides you with a rare area of expertise.
• You’ve probably informally helped friends already to solve their business problems. What areas have you focused on when working with your friends?

Whatever niche you choose, don’t make the mistake of trying to be the right fit for every single client. Choose your specific calling and then market your skills to that niche audience.

Some niche areas for you to consider:

• Accounting consulting. Every business needs accounting. Accounting consultants help businesses with financial needs.
• Advertising consulting. To help businesses with their online and offline advertising campaigns.
• General business consulting. Coaching and general business consulting to help business owners overcome a variety of obstacles.
• Business writing consulting. Too many business owners are poor writers. Consultants can often teach business owners to write better, or shadow write for them.
• Career consulting. Many people are in a transition and career consultants will always be in demand to help people find the next best thing.
• Communications consulting. Helping teams to better communicate with each other and helping companies to better communicate with the market.
• Computer/technology consulting. Helping clients with software and/or hardware issues.
• Editorial services consulting. Helping businesses to create newsletters, annual reports, press releases, etc.
• Human resources consulting. Many small businesses can’t afford to hire full-time HR staff. HR consultants can help to fill that gap.
• Insurance consulting. Everyone needs insurance but it’s incredibly difficult to know what to get and how much to pay. That’s where good consultants can help.
• Marketing consulting. Few business owners understand marketing. Yet they still need to create a marketing plan, develop strategies, and execute.
• Public relations consulting. Few business owners know how to engage the media. Experienced media consultants can shine a brighter light and help companies break out from the crowd.
• Taxes consulting. Everyone must pay taxes. A tax consultant helps businesses pay the least amount of tax possible.

Communicating directly to the leads who need your area of expertise will deliver the best results.

2. Define Your Services

“Consulting” is a broad and potentially vague concept.

But clients don’t pay money for vague promises.

If you want your business to succeed, you need to show your clients the specifics of what you will offer – and deliver.

That starts with you defining your services and deliverables.

You can start by brainstorming the general services you’d like to offer. But, it’s important that you nail down the specifics before you work with any clients.

This is vital for three reasons:

1. You need to be able to articulate your offerings to potential clients in order to convince your potential services that your services are valuable.
2. You’ll need to charge fees that let you run a sustainable business.
3. Specificity helps to set realistic expectations for your clients.

This last point benefits both you and your clients. Your clients can make comfortable, informed decisions. And, you can avoid being taken advantage of.

Tim Berry, entrepreneur and business planning evangelist, advises:

Expect scope creep—clients asking for more after they’ve agreed on deliverables and price—and deal with it delicately, suggesting the extra work needs extra fees. This is one of the toughest problems you’ll have, and there are no easy solutions.

While you can’t prevent “scope creep” entirely, being clear about exactly what a client is paying for up front (and getting it in writing) will help to set realistic, workable boundaries both parties can agree to.

As a consultant, your services and deliverables are the core of your business. Once you know what you’ll be offering to your potential clients, you’re ready to move on to the next step – developing your brand identity.

3. Develop Your Brand Identity

Brands are not just for big corporations.

In fact, brands are even more important for small businesses like independent consultants.

Branding provides a reassuring level of professionalism that very small operations may struggle to establish.

So, don’t think you can afford to leave your brand identity to chance.

As we’ve previously discussed,

…your brand is your company’s public identity. Ideally, your brand should embody the best (and most essential) attributes of your company.

The importance of your brand identity cannot be understated.

Consultants must be viewed as credible experts in order to gain their clients’ trust. A weak brand identity will undermine that credibility.

The Forbes Coaches Council explains it this way:

Being a credible mentor for clients is key to achieving success in the industry. Your reputation relies on whether your clients trust in you and the services that you offer them.

In other words, you’ve got to walk the walk and talk the talk.

So, before you hit up your first networking event, ask yourself these important questions:

• What identity/personality do I want my consulting brand to project?
• Who will want or need my services?
• What can clients get from my services that they can’t get anywhere else?
• What can clients get from working with me that they can’t get anywhere else?
• What are my brand values?
• What is the most important part of my clients’ experience?

Your answers to these questions (and others like them) will build the core of your brand. All of your future branding decisions should expand on these ideas. Your company name, your company logo, and your website design should all grow from the concepts you laid out here.

So, take the time to think – really think – about your brand from the start. Consulting is a fast-growing industry. But, it’s the consultants with authentic brands that will survive and thrive.

You can learn more about the nuts and bolts of establishing and maintaining consistent brand identity in Grow Your Small Business with Consistent Branding.

4. Fill In the Business Blanks

Once you define your brand, you can begin to think about the vitally important details of actually starting and running a consulting business. Between choosing a business structure, pricing, licensing and permits, and business plans…

There’s a lot to think about.

First, you will need to choose the legal structure for your new consulting business. Sole proprietorship or LLC? Incorporate or register a partnership?

A sole proprietorship is the “most basic type of business to establish” according to the SBA (Small Business Administration). You are the sole owner of the business; and, as such, are solely responsible for the assets and liabilities accrued by the business. This may be just the ticket for your brand new, consulting business as it is also the easiest to set up.

If you’re interested in a little more protection, an LLC (or Limited Liability Company) may be a better fit. The LLC business structure provides the limited liability features you would find in a corporation. The Small Business Administration has all of the details about these common small business structures and others.

To learn more about corporations, partnerships and other legal mistakes people commonly make when setting up a small business, take a look at our post and video: 10 Legal Mistakes That Can Destroy Your Small Business And How To Avoid Them.

After you determine your business’s legal structure, you’ll need to file the necessary paperwork.

The U.S. Small Business Administration tells us that some form of license or permit is necessary for virtually every type of business. Their website has all of the info you need to find out what sort of license or permit you’ll need to start a business in your state.

Legal details squared away? Then it’s time to think about the specifics of your business. Entrepreneur contributor Toby Nwazor advocates for creating a business plan:

Any experienced entrepreneur knows a company without a business plan is like a fish without water. The plan does not need to be lengthy at first. Rather, it should be one or two pages, identifying the key elements of the clothing line’s business strategy.

Your plan should include (at minimum) a statement about your consulting brand, a general description of your services and a strategy for how you plan to sell them.

For more information about how to create a business plan, the Small Business Administration has you covered again. Click here to see their complete guide to writing a business plan.

Plan ahead for all of the necessary legal and logistical business considerations and you’ll create a strong foundation for your consulting business’s successful future.

5. Crunch the Numbers

When starting any new business, it’s important to understand “the numbers.”

But not all numbers are equally important to all businesses.

For a consulting business, you’ll obviously want to track your sales and profits, but there’s so much more to think about before you can get there. You’ve got to start at the beginning –  with your start-up costs.

These costs may include:

• your brand design (logo, business cards, and website)
• any license or permit fees
• deposits and rent for a physical work location (if you plan to lease your own workspace)
• basic infrastructural costs like phone and internet service, scheduling and invoicing software, etc…
• marketing and advertising costs

Once you know how much it will cost to get started, compare that with the funds you actually have. Then plan how you’ll make up any difference. (See section 9 below to learn how to find a partner or investors.)

Running smart calculations to determine how much it will cost to run your business, will allow you to plan ahead and think about pricing.

Setting Your Fees

To create a smart and effective fee structure, you have to start by knowing how much it costs you to run your business (your operating costs).

While there may always be unexpected expenses, your rent, phone bill, internet fees, invoicing software subscription or memberships fees, annual taxes, supply costs, and employee salaries (if any) should all be taken into account.

But, your operating costs are only a starting point. It’s important to bake some profit into your fees as well. Otherwise, it will be difficult to sustain your business over time.

You may dream of owning your own brick and mortar agency – or maybe you fantasize about working from a home office or even traveling while you consult with clients around the world. Either way, in order for a consulting business to scale and grow, you must charge rates that support the style of business you choose to run.

There are a number of different strategies you can employ to achieve this goal. This article by Andrea Coutu of Consulting Journal, will walk you through your options.

Once you’ve done the math, it’s time to start considering the less-tangible aspects of pricing – competitor pricing and perceived value.

The Competition and Perceived Value

Your potential clients are most likely doing research – and they’re considering your competitors, too. Consciously or not, they are gathering data about what they think services like yours should cost.

That means you need to be aware of what your competitors are charging, too.

You might feel that your services are worth more, or that you want to charge less, than your competitors. And that’s okay.

But, if you’re completely unaware of what your competitors charge, you may miss the mark entirely  – either costing you profit if you charge too little or sales if you charge too much.

Perceived value is the amount that a customer thinks a service (or product) is worth.  And, your competitor’s prices are a part of that perception. But, not the whole picture.

Your time has value, and you need to make a living wage. But, your clients won’t care about that. They will care about the tangible results that your services deliver for their business. The more they stand to gain, the higher the perceived value.

Your branding can influence how your product is perceived, as well.

A classy logo and high-end brand positioning will lead to a higher perceived value than discount brand positioning.

So, remember to consider your brand and your competitor’s pricing when creating your own pricing strategy.

For more information about setting your fees, check out this online mini-course by Consulting Journal.

6. Build a Web Presence

Your website is one of your consulting brand’s most important ambassadors.

As we explained previously:

Today, it’s impossible to reach most customers without a website. This is especially true for new small businesses and startups trying to compete in an increasingly noisy world. but it’s also true for even established companies.

Don’t believe me? A recent study shows that 97% of consumers research their purchases online before they buy something.

Your website is a crucial component of your marketing and branding strategy.

So, put this vital business tool to work for your consulting business.

Start by ensuring that your website design truly embodies your consulting brand. Visitors should be able to understand who you are and what your brand is about as soon as they arrive.

Your website’s visual design and marketing copy should project your brand’s voice and identity. Here are some suggestions:

• Use your brand’s colors.
• Prominently feature your logo.
• Write copy with your target audience in mind.
• And, showcase your personal consulting style.

In addition to serving as a brand ambassador, your website is also a great venue for showing off your consulting success stories to a wide audience.

Consider sharing testimonials and case studies from past satisfied clients. You may even want to incorporate an online store into your website to sell your books or proprietary consulting tools (more on that below)

Finally, a strong website design will lend credibility and legitimacy to your business.

To learn more about great website design, check out Grow Your Small Business With These 7 Website Design Best Practices and 7 Modern Web Design Trends for 2019.

7. Create a Sales Plan

There’s more to a consulting business than getting a logo and creating a website.

Your new business is (sadly) not like the field of dreams.

You will need a sales strategy to bring in, and close, clients.

And, since a consultant is often the only member of their team, you’ll need to get comfortable with selling… well, yourself.

This is where some practice will help you.

Take time to develop and rehearse your “elevator pitch” until you can deliver it comfortably and confidently. This 20-30 second explanation of what you do should be intriguing and dynamic.

Check out MindTools’ guide to Crafting an Elevator Pitch.

You’ll also want to practice overcoming objections. No matter how great your services are, clients will always have reservations – after all, their money is on the line.

So, brainstorm as many possible objections as you can think of.  Then practice putting those concerns to rest.

You’ll want to develop both an overall sales strategy and a list of day-to-day tactics that will keep your sales efforts moving forward.

When you’re a one-or-two-man show, it’s easy to let active selling fall to the wayside. But, the reality is that you don’t have that luxury.

If you’re not selling your services, there’s a good chance that no one is. So, you’ll complete your current contracts to find an empty calendar and no income looming ahead of you.

Make sure to make sales a part of your day every day.

You’ll be writing many client proposals.

Client proposals are your chance to show how you can help your client solve their problems. You’ll need to be clear about the scope of the project, the services you provide, what you’ll charge for the services (your hourly rate and/or whether you’ll work on a retainer basis), the deliverables, and the time frame. And be sure you show how you and the client will be able to measure the results.

Selling Online

You may be wondering why on earth you’d need an online store. And, maybe you don’t.

But, if you’ve written a book in your field of expertise or you have your own proprietary consulting materials, you may want to consider making those resources available for purchase online.

Passive income can be handy for bolstering your bottom line and an important safety net for lean seasons.

So, here are a few things to consider if you decide to supplement your consulting income by selling online.

Most template-based web design services offer some form of e-commerce functionality. And some, like Shopify, are built specifically for e-commerce. But, think carefully before you decide to use a template-based service like Shopify.

Remember how important your unique branding is? The templates on those e-commerce sites are available for every other new consulting brand to use, as well. As we mentioned previously,

It’s not enough to have a website… You also want to be sure that your site’s design is unique and that it showcases your products and you.

Just like your logo, your web design should start with your personal brand. A well-designed website will expand upon and support the values and personality traits that you’ve identified as being core to your business. If web design is not among your many DIY skills, know that there’s help available.

There are self-hosted open-source e-commerce services available that allow you to use your own uniquely branded website with their e-commerce functionality.

Check out services like WooCommerce, Magento, and Open Cart. Not only can you use your own original web design, but they also scale easily alongside your business as it grows.

8. Spread the Word

You may be an awesome consultant; but, if you’re not marketing yourself no one will know it.

Marketing your business is the only way to ensure that you have a steady flow of clients. It’s time to focus on getting the word out about your awesome new consulting services.

One of the most effective ways to build a reputation and gain clients is to share your expertise with as many people as possible.

John Jantsch (marketing consultant, small business marketing speaker, and bestselling author) suggests:

A central part of your prospecting should be aimed at getting in front of groups with your message…. get to just about any podium you can in the beginning. You’ll find that speaking leads to more speaking and more speaking leads to better speaking and better speaking leads to clients.

Networking at industry events attended by your clients may also serve you well.

Whenever you make personal appearances be sure to carry business cards and brochures in case attendees want to learn more about your services.

The experts at Entrepreneur recommend that consultants include the following information in any marketing brochure.

• A clear overview of your services
• An explanation of why you are the best
• A few reasons why you should be hired
• A brief biography with relevant info
• Some indication of who your other clients are

Content marketing is also a great fit for consultants.

You may consider writing an ebook about your particular field of expertise. And, blogging is another effective content marketing strategy.

Don’t give away all of your secrets, of course. But, do be sure to offer valuable information from your unique perspective. Blogging and ebooks are great ways to establish authority, build your organic search ranking through strong SEO practices, and collect email address leads.

Social Media

As a new, up-and-coming business owner, you’ll also want to take full advantage of the inexpensive and easy exposure that social media marketing offers you. As we previously explained,

Social media… enables you to build a social rapport with current customers, while building low-pressure relationships with future buyers.

Maintaining (at a minimum) a Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn presence will help you build an audience of devotees. Make it easy for visitors to see what your consulting services are all about by posting tips and observations, and sharing any articles that you may have written.

Establish yourself as a subject matter expert and build relationships with current and future clients by maintaining an interactive presence. This will reassure your audience that you’re accessible, knowledgeable, and reliable.

Consider using a social media management tool (like Buffer) to schedule all of your social media posts ahead of time. This will allow you to build your day around your clients, instead of your social media posting schedule. But, it’s still important to check in regularly so that you can respond to any client inquiries.

And consider micro-influencers, who can help you in the early days. Aligning your brand with others who target your audience can help build credibility and growth.

The good news is that once you’ve acquired your first few clients, marketing can get easier.

A recent marketing strategies study for consultants revealed that “43.7% of consultants said that referrals were their highest earning money-making marketing tactic” in 2018.

Don’t be afraid to request referrals from your happy clients. They can be your most valuable marketing resource.

When you’re first starting out, it’s wise to cover as many marketing touchpoints as possible. Over time you’ll learn what works best for you.

9. How to Find Partners or Investors

One of the biggest challenges for every new business is saving enough capital to sustain and grow the business.

In a perfect world, we could all fund our own business ventures without any outside help. But, the truth is that most people can’t do it alone.

This is where business partners or outside investors can make a real difference.

As with any aspect of your business, start by giving the matter some serious thought. Here are a few questions to get you started:

• What do I want to gain from this partnership or investor?
• How involved do I want them to be in the decision-making processes?
• Am I looking for a long-term or a short-term relationship?

In any relationship, it’s important to know what you’re hoping to gain.

Partner and investor relationships can come in a multitude of forms. Are you simply looking for someone to invest capital? Or are you looking for leads, someone to split costs with, or exposure and success-by-association with an established brand?

Only you know what is most useful for your business. But, you should absolutely know what your goals are before meeting with any potential partner or investor.

Once you’ve determined what your relationship goals are, it’s time to start thinking about the type of relationship that will best meet those goals.

Here are some options for you to consider…

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and Indigogo offer the opportunity to raise money from a crowd of anonymous strangers.

These fundraising projects are easy to set up and allow you to raise cash without granting any one investor or partner any influence over your consulting business. You will, however, need to follow through on any promises made to your backers.

As we previously pointed out,

Reports have shown a consistent increase in crowdfunded investments since the great recession in 2008. In a recent study on the Crowdfunding Industry, World Bank predicted that the crowdfunding market could increase to between $90 and $96 billion, which is approximately 1.8 times the size of the global venture capital industry today.

If you want a true business partnership, crowdfunding may not be the choice for you. And it’s often not a good fit for consulting businesses.

But each business, including a consulting business, is unique. If you decide to give crowdfunding a try, check out Design Tips From the World’s Most Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns.

Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists

Angel investors and venture capitalists provide a more traditional route to raise funds for your new consulting business. If you’re aiming to create a consulting agency instead of going it alone, they may be an option worth considering.

But, you’ll need to work hard to sell these investors on the financial viability of your business.

This is especially true at the beginning. Few investors are willing to invest early in a consulting business.

On the other hand, if you have a successful consulting business that you’re looking to scale, it will be easier to find interested investors, especially if you’re consulting in the technology space.

But be prepared for investors to expect to play a large role in your business.

After all, these investors are investing their money in your consulting business in the hopes that they will make a return on that investment. So, they’ll want to be sure that you’re running your business in a way that is likely to ensure that return.

Partnership

Business partners can come in many forms. A true business partnership occurs when both partners invest equally in the success of the business. Both partners devote equal finances, resources, and labor into making the business work.

But, if you don’t already have a deeply committed partner by your side, you can also establish more casual or temporary partnerships with existing brands or other consultants.

Look for brands or consultants that are complementary to your services rather than competing for your business. And, make sure that you share the same goals for your partnership.

Here are two examples…

Example #1

Who: Partner with a consultant in a related field.

What: To offer your complementary services as a team.

Why: To offer more value to clients and reach a wider client base.

Example #2

Who: Partner with a software business in your field.

What: To generate a lead exchange program.

Why: To drive well-qualified leads to each other.

There are many other creative ways to partner with an existing business or another consultant. And, as long as you and your partner have the same goals, you’ll be motivated to work together to achieve them.

10. Find the Right Help

At times, every entrepreneur has felt like they’re in it alone.

And, when you first start your consulting business, there’s a good chance that you will be.

But, in order for your business to scale and grow, you’re going to need help.

After all, there are only 24 hours in a day and you can’t work all of them.

Eventually, if all goes well, you’ll hire employees to take tasks off of your plate so that you can focus on serving your clients.

But employees must be paid. So, at first, you should only hire for positions that will provide the most immediate benefit to your business.

There’s no one right answer for what those positions might be – every consulting business is different. But when thinking about what positions to hire for, consider what aspects of the business are posing the greatest challenges.

And, consider your own limitations.

If you’re a newbie to marketing, consider hiring a marketing manager to help you strategize your business.

If you’re not confident with the invoicing and numbers, hire a billing specialist to manage accounts and ensure payments are collected.

Hire an employee who is an expert in those areas in which your business is currently lacking. Building a strong, well-rounded team will create a stable foundation for your business.

So, what does your business need?

You may want your very first hire to be a part-time assistant. Look for someone who is a jack-of-all-trades, eager to learn new skills, and with a strong work ethic. You’ll sleep better knowing you’ve got someone in the trenches with you that you can rely on.

The Legal Stuff

Of course, hiring staff for your consulting business means that you’ll have to deal with all sorts of the legalities and paperwork. This isn’t an area where you should really “wing it.”

So, we went straight to the source. The hiring experts at Indeed recommend that you:

• Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) by applying on the IRS website (you’ll get your number immediately after applying!).
• Register with your state’s labor department.
• Fill out paperwork to withhold federal taxes from your employee’s wages.
• Set up workers’ compensation insurance if it is required in your state.

You’ll also need to decide whether you’re hiring full or part-time employees.

Part-time employees cost less. So you may want to start with part-timers. As the business grows and you can afford it, you can expand their hours.

Full-time employees also require more paperwork to get set up.  To gain more complete insight into the hiring process, read Indeed’s step-by-step guide, “How to Hire Employees.”

And if you need help with employment or contractor agreements or agreements with your vendors, take a look at Quickly Legal, which offers entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups an easy and inexpensive way to create, sign and manage legal contracts and agreements, with many agreements that you can start using right away.

Before You Go…

The prospect of running your own business can be scary after spending many years in the relative security of a salaried position. But, there are limits to how far you can go when you’re working for someone else.

And, you wouldn’t have read this far if you didn’t know that you’re looking for something more.

For the brave men and women who dare, starting a consulting business may be the most rewarding, life-changing decision they ever make. Will you join them?

Additional Resources for Consultants

Associations

• • Airport Consultants Council
  • American Marketing Association
  • Association of Management Consulting Firms
  • Canadian Association of Management Consultants
  • Canadian Marketing Association
  • Direct Marketing Association
  • Direct Selling Association
  • Information Technology Association of America
  • Institute of Management Consultants USA
  • International Advertising Association
  • International Association of Registered Financial Consultants
  • International Association for Wedding Professionals
  • International Branding Association
  •  IWA – International Webmasters Association
  •  National Retail Federation
  •  Professional & Technical Consultants Association
  • Public Relations Society of America
  • Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization
  • SMEI The worldwide professional association for sales & marketing
  • The National Association of Sales Professionals
  • The Society of Processional Consultants
  • Word of Mouth Marketing Association

Know a great resource or association and want us to add it? Please leave a comment below.

The post How to Start a Successful Consulting Business: The Complete 10 Step Guide (2019) appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdspring creative community of 210,000+ designers & writers from 200 countries. \

Today we feature Jahanzeb, who goes by the username jhharoon.

Jahanzeb is a self-taught designer (and self-proclaimed handyman) from Pakistan.

He has worked on crowdspring for over seven years.

During that time, Jahanzeb has participated in over 1,274 projects with a focus on logo design and helping companies create a brand identity.

We asked Jahanzeb 12 Questions about design, creative inspiration, and what it’s like working on crowdspring:

1. Please tell us about yourself.

Hello, my name is Jahanzeb Haroon.

I grew up and live in Rawalpindi, which is the twin city of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. I’m a full-time freelancer and father of three kids.

My life resides in a triangle: work, family, and sleep.

My main focus in graphic design is logo design but I also do other projects from time to time.

2. How did you become interested in design?

I’m a self-taught designer and began designing professionally in 2012.

I never planned to be a designer. Instead, I worked as a computer technician and in my free hours, I spent time on the internet looking for new opportunities.

In 2011, I found a website that was offering logo design projects for freelancers. I had been using Photoshop for fun for almost a decade at that point so I tried my luck and started participating.

After six months with zero success, I realized that logos are not made in Photoshop but in Illustrator. I watched a few videos about Illustrator and learned the difference between Vector/Raster and RBG/CMYK, and more. Then, I installed Illustrator and started learning it by myself.

I remember the designs I made in the beginning. They were awful.

For two months, rather than participating in any projects I just watched the projects. I studied other people’s designs: what they were making, what customers liked, and what design trends were popular. I studied the design briefs in detail and compared it with the winning designs.

Eight months after I started designing logos, I won my first project.

That day was a game changer for me: I knew that I could design and that buyers would like my designs.

From that day forward, I thought of myself as a professional graphic designer. People paid me to design for them.

3. What led you to start using crowdspring?

After my first winning design, I began searching for other freelance websites. I found crowdspring on a search engine.

The thing that most attracted me to crowdspring was its friendly and funny quotes. The first thing that made me smile was when I clicked on a project and got the following message.

“This project is Double Top Secret. Just kidding – all you need to do is log in and you’ll be able to view the details.”

There are many other things that set crowdspring apart from others. The more I participated in projects on crowdspring, the more I liked it and decided to stick with it.

4. What inspires you?

If I had to describe all of my inspiration in one word, then it would be “Uniqueness.”

5. How would you describe your style?

I don’t like to stick with one style, I always love trying something new.

I have seen some designers who follow only one style and even if their designs are well-done, all of their work looks very similar to me.

Some of the styles I enjoy working with are Minimal, Retro and Modern.

6. What is the design process like for you? How do you start?

First, I read the brief and view all the relevant files and links. Then, I create a new file in Illustrator to write/draw my thoughts during the design process. I try to jot down the things that are relevant to the design and try to work out those concepts.

For example, if the project is for a restaurant’s logo then I think about the items that remind me of a restaurant: fork, spoon, knife, chair, table, napkin, bow tie, hospitality, elegance etc.

I pick one or two words and start working on the concept. Meanwhile, I search for relevant designs online for two reasons: to get inspiration, and to refine my concept if it has been done too many times by other designers.

Once I get the right concept, which can be the most difficult part, I try to refine it and find the relevant font.

I try my best to use a font that is free for commercial use so that the client doesn’t have to spend money on a font. Font law can be tricky.

Once I’m done with the first round of designs, I upload the files and wait for the buyer’s feedback.

Once I get the feedback, I try to respond as quickly as I can. I provide multiple variations of my concept to give the buyer options and help them make the final decision.

During the final handover, I give the buyer all the needed file formats they can easily use the design for both print and web.

7. What do you do in your free time?

In my free time, I serve as an electrician, plumber and general handyman in my house. What else you can expect from a guy who works from his home?

When I have some extra time, I love to watch movies.

8. What is your most memorable project on crowdspring?

Rather than participating in projects with high awards, I prefer to participate in projects where the buyer’s feedback score is “Amazing.”

The best projects are the ones in which the buyer provides me detailed feedback on my designs so that I can create the perfect design for them.

9. Tell us what you’ve learned since joining crowdspring.

A lot.

One thing that I specifically want to mention is that crowdspring taught me to work on my own original concepts.

Crowdspring has a very strict policy about generic designs, and I’m very thankful for that because that led me to discover new ideas and come up with unique concepts for every project.

10. What is your favorite part about working on crowdspring?

I don’t have just one favorite. And it’s not because I’m getting interviewed by you, I really like the options that crowdspring provides me which others don’t.

crowdspring is user-friendly. As I mentioned earlier, the friendly messages I get on different events are really enjoyable and helpful in a typical stressful work day.

crowdspring also protects intellectual property. If you create something then it belongs to you, and crowdspring really cares about that. They take rapid action if someone copies a design.

The hidden ratings are one of my favorite features on crowdspring. I have used some other websites, and it feels very annoying when designers start copying high rated designs. On crowdspring, I can participate in any project without worrying about it.

Finally, I don’t remember the last time it took more than 12 hours for customer support to contact me whenever I need them. I usually get their response within 2 to 3 hours.

Once, I sent an email on a Sunday about an issue and within hours I got a response from Ross Kimbarovsky. I have never ever had an experience like that before where the CEO of a company answers a usual support query. Thanks, Ross, you are awesome.

11. If you weren’t designing on crowdspring, what would you be doing?

I’m a handyman, I love to do work with my own hands. Making new things by hand is extremely satisfying. If I was not designing, I think I would be making something else that satisfies my creativity.

I am also planning to create a channel on YouTube about Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and other software training in Urdu. But, this is still under consideration along with my other 3,552 other plans.

12. How do you see graphic design changing in the coming years?

Gradients, small details, multicolor, and designs that are hard to fit in a square and are totally out.

Minimal app-like icons with bold line art, negative space, and two colors max are in.

See more of jhharoon’s work here.

Start a 1-to-1 project with jhharoon here.

The post 12 Questions with Self-Taught Designer and crowdspring Creative jhharoon appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

This is the most complete guide online on how to start a business in 2019.

You should know that about two-thirds of businesses with employees survive 2 years and about half survive only five years.

Businesses that survive and thrive have an unfair advantage.

They’re started and run by people who are prepared for what’s ahead of them.

If you want an unfair advantage, we’re here to help you get started.

Here’s a 12 step complete guide on how to start a business.

1. Develop and refine your idea
2. Research your intended market
3. Write a business plan
4. Decide your legal business structure
5. Purchase business insurance
6. Crunch the numbers
7. Create a strong brand identity
8. Build a web presence
9. Create a sales plan
10. Find partners or investors
11. Build your team
12. Grow your business

1. Develop and refine your idea

If you want to start your own business, you need to consider your strengths, weaknesses, and interests.

You probably already have some idea of what kind of business you’d like to start.

It’s important to evaluate existing businesses in the market niche of your choice.

That way, you can learn what they are doing well, and come up with a plan for how you can do it better.

Think about how you can integrate your natural skillset into your business so that you can stand apart from your competition. Ask yourself the following questions, and take time to reflect on the answers:

• What skills set me apart?
• What is the purpose of my business?
• Who am I providing a service or product to?
• What is the maximum figure I can safely spend on this business?
• Do I need outside capital? How much?
• What kind of work/life balance am I looking to achieve?
• What are my expectations of being an entrepreneur?

Find a niche

You’ll also want to consider what specific niche is right for your business.

Is your product or service explicitly geared toward men, women, or children?

Are you looking to attract a particular demographic of any kind?

Don’t make the expensive mistake of trying to create a business geared toward too broad an audience.

Make sure you build your business to meet the needs of a specific niche to avoid overspending and underwhelming all of your potential customers.

You’re more likely to succeed if you start your business with a specific product or service designed for a particular group of people.

Here are some niches to consider:

• Restaurants – Are you thinking of opening a cafe? A diner? A trendy fusion sushi bar? Whatever you choose, narrow your focus with specific patrons in mind.
• Clothing brand – With so many different kinds of apparel, make your business stand out by making the best women’s sleepwear. Or, by designing the most durable children’s activewear. Maybe you have the widest selection of specialty socks! If you’re interested in the apparel industry, we have a terrific guide on how to start a clothing brand.
• Real Estate – Are you a brokerage catering to retirees? Are you selling vacation homes? Are you an expert in short sales? With real estate firms in widespread competition with each other, make yourself the go-to business in your niche.
• Retail – Are you selling novelty toys? Rare automobiles? All natural candles? Vintage candy? Find a way to break out of too broad an area with a focused starting place.
• Legal – With so many areas of law to practice, it’s helpful to position yourself as an expert in a specific field. Consider branding yourself as an expert in real estate, personal injury, family law, intellectual property, or even admiralty law. There are many areas to choose from to give your practice a chance to stand out.
• Landscaping – Are you more of a mow and go company, or are you catering toward elaborate garden design? Maybe you work extensively with patio building. Pick an area and play it up.
• Consulting – Do you have a ton of expertise in an area and want to help others? Consulting may be your path to success. We have a detailed, complete guide on how to start a successful consulting business.

Whatever niche you choose, make sure you’re passionate about it. That passion will come through in everything you do, and your customers will appreciate and embrace the authenticity of your brand.

2. Research your intended market

Before you dive into your business plan, it’s important to know the market you’re entering.

Who is the direct competition? Is someone else already doing what you want to do? If not, is there a reason why that is?

A lot of the work to come relies on information gleaned from market research. It’s crucial that you don’t skip this stage, so you have the data you need to make informed decisions.

There are two major types of market research: primary and secondary.

Primary research answers a number of key questions, such as:

• What factors do your potential customers consider when purchasing similar products or services?
• What do they think is working and what needs improvement in their current choices?
• What do they like and dislike about the options currently available to them?
• What price do they pay? Do they feel it’s reasonable and provides good value?

You answer these questions by talking to potential customers. Surveys, focus groups, one-on-one interviews, and questionnaires are the tools of choice for primary research.

Secondary research is information pulled from existing sources.

You can identify competitors and define your market segments or demographics using currently available data. Key attributes like age range, lifestyle, and behavioral patterns are some of the data points used to divide your target customers into segments.

Once you have this information, you’ll refer back to it repeatedly as you build and launch your business. Make sure you spent a decent amount of time collecting data, so the decisions you make are based on solid research.

Plan for all of the necessary legal and logistical business considerations, and you’ll create a strong foundation for your brand’s successful future.

3. Write a business plan

Although a business plan isn’t mandatory, it can help you to crystallize your ideas. Toby Nwazor advocates for creating a business plan:

Any experienced entrepreneur knows a company without a business plan is like a fish without water. The plan does not need to be lengthy at first. Rather, it should be one or two pages, identifying the key elements of the clothing line’s business strategy.

A business plan is a document that outlines the financial and operational goals of your business. It defines the objectives of your company and then provides specific information that shows how your company will reach those goals.

A business plan a vital part of any new venture.

Your business plan doesn’t need to be 100 pages long. Keep it short and concise and focus on the key details.

Studies show that entrepreneurs who take the time to write a business plan are 2.5 times more likely to follow through and get their business off the ground. The work that goes into creating a business plan also helps new entrepreneurs build skills that will be invaluable later.

Traditional business plans have the following sections:

• An executive summary. This section summaries the entire plan, so it is generally written last. Anyone reading your plan will read this first, so it’s an important element.
• An industry overview. This section gives a brief overview of the industry sector your business will operate in. It includes key players, industry trends, and estimates of industry sales.
• Market analysis. This looks at the target market for your product or service. It has a breakdown of your market segments, their geographic location, and what their needs are. This section shows anyone reading that you have a thorough understanding of the people you plan to sell to or serve.
• Competitive analysis. Who are your direct and indirect competitors? How do they currently meet your target market’s needs, and how will you differentiate your product or services?
• Sales and marketing plan. What is your unique selling proposition? How are you going to promote your business and persuade your target audience to buy? This section goes into detail on questions like these. 
• Management plan. This section outlines your legal and management structure. It shows who your leadership team is and what your staffing needs will be. If you plan to seek funding, you should describe your advisory board here, as well.
• Operating plan. Your business location, facilities, equipment, and what kind of employees you’ll need are in this section. Any suppliers, manufacturing processes, and any other operating details also appear here.
• Financial plan. This section is for all things financial. There are three key financial documents of any business that go here: an income statement, a balance sheet, and a cash flow statement.
• Appendices and Exhibits. Any information that helps support your business idea goes here, including market studies, legal agreements, photos of your products, and more.

But don’t get obsessed about getting every detail right in your business plan. Barry Moltz, a mall business expert, speaker, and author of numerous books, including his most recent, How to Get Unstuck, tell us that:

The business never turns out exactly as it seems when you get started. There are always unexpected hurdles. The biggest ones are typically a sales pipeline, people, cash and productivity.

And don’t get bogged down with learning before you actually get started. There’s no shame in failing, as long as you’re not starting a business merely to fail.

In his book Bounce, Barry Moltz points out that:

Conventional business wisdom tells us that there is always something to learn from failure.  Not true — sometimes it just stinks!  Failure that offers no real learning value becomes a big jolt to the basic business belief system.

Barry Moltz advises that you should:

Spend time learning what you can but don’t dwell on it. Have a pity party if that helps. But the key is to let the failure go and take action to give yourself another chance of success.

For more information about how to create a business plan, the Small Business Administration has you covered. Click here to see their complete guide to writing a business plan.

4. Decide your legal business structure

There are many different types of legal structures for various business entities. For new business owners, choosing the best one for your business can feel overwhelming.

Don’t rush yourself into making a decision.

Instead, spend some time reading about each possible entity your business might fit into. Consider which structure is most advantageous for your business, and how each structure can help you accomplish your professional and personal goals.

Here are some of the major business entities you should look into:

• Sole proprietorship – this is the most basic business entity. A sole proprietorship means that one person is solely responsible for a business’ profits and debts.
• Partnership – A partnership is a shared responsibility between two or more people who both hold personal liability for a business.
• Limited Liability Company (LLC) – a structure that permits owners, partners or shareholders to limit personal liability, but still includes tax and flexibility benefits associated with a partnership.
• Corporation – this is an entity legally considered separate from its owners. That means that corporations are permitted to own property, can be held liable, must pay taxes, and may enter contracts.

Be sure to look at which entity will work best for your current needs while still considering any future business goals. For more information, the Small Business Administration is a great resource.

Once you decide on your legal business structure, be sure to register with the government (typically your state and sometimes, your municipality) and the IRS.

The forms you need and where you have to register, are determined by your business structure.

You can find a full list of the forms for each type of entity on the SBA website. You can also find state-specific tax obligations on the same site.

In some cases, you may need federal, state, or local licenses and permits to operate. The SBA’s database lets you search for licensing requirements by state and business type. And remember to contact your municipality to see if there are any local licensing or registration requirements.

You may also need to get an employer identification number (EIN) from the IRS.

If you’re a sole owner and don’t have employees, this is not required. But you might want to get an EIN anyway to keep your personal and business taxes separate and to be sure that you can quickly hire when the time comes to expand your business.

The IRS has a useful checklist to help you decide whether you will need an EIN to run your business.

If you do need an EIN, you can register online for free.

For more on different business structures and other legal mistakes that small business owners commonly make, take a look at the following video.

5. Purchase business insurance

You’d be surprised how many new business owners forget to protect themselves and their business by purchasing insurance before they start their business.

It doesn’t help you to buy insurance after you started your business and incurred claims against you or your business.

Insurance can cover property damage, theft, intellectual property lawsuits, and other incidents. Those can be very costly to small businesses and you need to properly protect yourself and your new business.

And if you will employ people, you’ll need to have workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance. Coverage varies by location, and many general liability (GL) policies will cover at least workers’ compensation.

If you provide services, you’ll want to have professional liability insurance so that you’re protected against possible claims.

Here’s a good read on the different types of insurance you should consider as a business owner.

6. Crunch the numbers

When you start a new business, understanding the numbers involved is crucial.

These numbers include being able to track your sales and profits – but a smart business will need to account for much more than sales alone.

To start a new business, your costs may include:

• your brand design (logo, business cards, and website)
• any license or permit fees
• deposits and rent for a physical work location if you plan to lease your own workspace
• basic infrastructural costs like phone and internet service, invoicing software, etc…
• marketing and advertising costs
• manufacturing costs
• salaries or wages for any employees

Once you know how much it will cost to get you started, compare that with the funds you have. Then plan how you’ll make up any difference.

Run smart calculations to determine how much it will cost to create your business will allow you to plan and think about pricing.

7. Create a strong brand identity

A strong brand identity is the most effective way your new business can gain a competitive edge in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

As we’ve previously discussed,

…your brand is your company’s public identity. Ideally, your brand should embody the best (and most essential) attributes of your company.

A brand represents how people know you (or your business), and how they perceive your reputation or the reputation of your company.

In today’s noisy world, a strong brand is more important than it has ever been.

Ask yourself these important questions:

• What identity/personality do I want my business brand to project?
• Who will want or need my products or services?
• What can customers get from my products or services that they can’t get anywhere else?
• What can customers get from working with me that they can’t get anywhere else?
• What are my brand values?
• What is the most important part of my customers’ experience?

Barry Moltz, a leading small business expert, adds another important question: “Think about what pain you solve for customers and who you solve it for. Design your brand around that.”

Your answers to these questions (and others like them) will build the core of your brand. All of your future branding decisions should expand on these ideas. Your company name, your company logo, and your website design should all grow from the concepts you laid out here.

Remember that your business name plays a role in almost every aspect of your business.

Here’s a short video that will help you find the perfect name for your business.

You can learn more about the nuts and bolts of establishing and maintaining consistent brand identity in Grow Your Small Business with Consistent Branding.

8. Build a web presence

Your website is one of your new business’ most important ambassadors and a crucial component of your marketing and branding strategy.

As we explained previously:

Today, it’s impossible to reach most customers without a website. This is especially true for new small businesses and startups trying to compete in an increasingly noisy world. but it’s also true for even established companies.

Don’t believe us? A recent study shows that 97% of consumers research their purchases online before they buy something.

Start by ensuring that your website design truly embodies your brand. Visitors should be able to understand who you are and what your brand is about as soon as they arrive.

Your website’s visual design and marketing copy should project your brand’s voice and identity. Here are some suggestions:

• Use your brand’s colors.
• Prominently feature your logo.
• Write copy with your target audience in mind.

In addition to serving as a brand ambassador, your website is also an excellent venue for showing off your products or services to a wide audience.

Aim to create a site that builds your brand and communicates your business’ value proposition. Companies talk about building an MVP–- a “minimal viable product”– and the first version of your business’ website should be that, too.

The initial version of your website should clearly express your brand, who you are, and what you do (or what you sell).

Finally, a strong website design will lend credibility and legitimacy to your business. To learn more about great website design, check out Grow Your Small Business With These 7 Website Design Best Practices and 7 Modern Web Design Trends for 2019.

9. Create a sales plan

Never forget the power of good old fashioned market research when you’re ready to open your business.

Not every option will be cost-effective or practical, and you should understand what choices will work best for your business.

How will you sell your products or services?

Running an online store is both less expensive and less labor-intensive than setting up a physical store. There’s no monthly rent, mortgage or property taxes to pay, and no fancy light fixtures to buy. It has become incredibly easy to create an e-commerce presence without a lot of technical knowledge, making a digital presence an attractive option for beginning businesses.

Most template-based web design services offer some form of e-commerce functionality. And some, like Shopify, are catered specifically toward e-commerce small businesses.

However, be sure to carefully consider all of the pros and cons before using a template-based service like Shopify.

Remember how important your unique branding is? The templates on those e-commerce sites are available for every other new business brand to use, as well. As we mentioned previously,

It’s not enough to have a website… You also want to be sure that your site’s design is unique and that it showcases your products and you.

Just like your logo, your web design should start with your personal brand. A well-designed website will expand upon and support the values and personality traits that you’ve identified as being core to your business. If web design is not among your many DIY skills, know that there’s help available.

There are self-hosted open-source e-commerce services available that allow you to use your own uniquely branded website with their e-commerce functionality.

Check out services like WooCommerce, Magento, and Open Cart. Not only can you use your own original web design, but they also scale easily alongside your business as it grows.

And if you want to stay up to date on the latest in small business marketing, take a look at these 16 best small business marketing blogs of 2019.

10. Find partners or investors

One of the biggest challenges for every new business is saving enough capital to sustain and grow the business.

In a perfect world, we could all fund our own business ventures without any outside help. But, the truth is that most people can’t do it alone.

This is where business partners or outside investors can make a real difference.

As with any aspect of your business, start by giving the matter some serious thought. Here are a few questions to get you started:

• What do I want to gain from this partnership or investor?
• How involved do I want them to be in the decision-making processes?
• Am I looking for a long-term or a short-term relationship?

As with any relationship, it’s important to know what your goals and expectations are. Are you more interested in raising capital? Or are you looking for someone that can help you grow your business?

Once you’ve thought through what you want, and where you want things to go, it’s time to evaluate your options. Things used to be more straightforward: venture capitalists and angel investors were the most common options. But they were rarely good options for most small businesses.

Now there are more avenues for you to explore. Here are a few to consider:

Crowdfunding

Raising funds from a group of people genuinely interested in your business and its offerings can be a great way to start.

Crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo have made it easy to connect with potential customers and build capital that way. The challenge is finding enough people interested in what you have to offer, and then following through on your promises.

As we pointed out,

Reports have shown a consistent increase in crowdfunded investments since the great recession in 2008. In a recent study on the Crowdfunding Industry, World Bank predicted that the crowdfunding market could increase to between $90 and $96 billion, which is approximately 1.8 times the size of the global venture capital industry today.

Don’t look to crowdfunding if you want a true business partnership.

If, on the other hand, you want to gauge consumer interest and form a direct relationship with people who believe in your business, you might want to give crowdfunding a try.

Check out Design Tips From the World’s Most Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns.

Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists

Angel investors and venture capitalists provide a more traditional route to raise funds. You’ll need to sell these investors on the financial viability of your business.

But know that this is a very tough path to raising funding for most small businesses. Venture capitalists and angels are looking for billion-dollar exits and most small businesses aren’t tackling problems big enough that justify such exists.

If you have an idea that could potentially interest a VC or angel investor, it’s essential to walk into your pitch meeting knowing what you’re looking for and how you’re going to get there. No one wants to invest in someone who doesn’t understand their own business.

Be prepared for investors to want a greater role in your business.

Investors are investing their money in your business in the hopes that they will make a return on their investment. They want to be sure that you’re running your business in a way that is likely to ensure that return.

Partnerships

Business partners can come in many forms. A real business partnership occurs when both parties invest equally in the success of the business. Both partners devote comparable finances, resources, and labor into making the business work.

If you don’t already have an equal partner by your side, you can also establish more casual or temporary partnerships with existing brands, businesses, or retailers.

Look for companies that are complementary to your business. Make sure that you share the same goals.

There are many other creative ways to partner with an existing company. As long as you and your partner have the same goals, you’ll be motivated to work together to achieve them.

11. Build your team

There’s a time in almost every entrepreneur’s career when you feel like you’re going it alone.

When you first start your business, there’s a good chance that you will be.

For your business to scale and grow, however, you’ll need help.

If all goes well, you’ll hire many employees. But employees must be paid.

At first, you should only hire for positions that provide the most immediate benefit to your business.

There’s no one right answer for what those positions might be – every business is different. As you plan what positions to hire, consider what aspects of the company pose the greatest challenge. It’s also crucial to consider your own limitations.

Hire an employee who is an expert in areas your business lacks expertise. Build a strong, well-rounded team to create a stable foundation for your business.

With all of that in mind, where should you start?

You may want your first hire to be a part-time assistant. Look for someone who is a jack-of-all-trades, eager to learn new skills, with a strong work ethic. You’ll sleep better if you have someone in the trenches with you that you can rely on.

If you’re new to marketing, a marketer can help you strategize your business.

If you’re not confident with the manufacturing process, hire a manufacturing liaison. If you’re finding it a challenge to keep up with orders, a fulfillment manager might be just what you need.

You’ll need to prioritize and delegate if you want to grow your business, says Barry Moltz, a leading small business expert, author, and speaker:

Ruthlessly prioritize and filter your tasks for the week or month. What are the two or three things that will move the company forward and do those particular tasks support that goal. Another way to look at it is to categorize tasks on a matrix of urgent and important. Urgent and non important plus non urgent and important tasks can always be delegated.

The Legal Stuff

Of course, hiring staff for your apparel business means that you’ll have to deal with all sorts of legalities and paperwork. Hiring isn’t an area where you should “wing it.”

To help you with some of the legal issues to consider we went straight to the source. The hiring experts at Indeed recommend that you:

• Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) by applying on the IRS website (you’ll get your number immediately after applying!).
• Register with your state’s labor department.
• Fill out paperwork to withhold federal taxes from your employee’s wages.
• Set up workers’ compensation insurance if it is required in your state.

You’ll also need to decide whether you’re hiring full or part-time employees.

Part-time employees cost less. This cost-savings can be an advantage when you first get started. As your business grows and you can afford it, you can expand their hours.

Full-time employees also require more paperwork to get set up. To gain more complete insight into the hiring process, read Indeed’s step-by-step guide, “How to Hire Employees.”

And if you need help with employment or contractor agreements or agreements with your vendors, take a look at Quickly Legal, which offers entrepreneurs, small businesses and startups an easy and inexpensive way to create, sign and manage legal contracts and agreements, with many agreements that you can start using right away.

12. Grow your business

You have your business ready to go – your brand is a masterpiece of consistency and charm, your legal and business plans are all squared away, and you have a solid team standing behind your business.

Here comes the fun part – introducing your business to customers!

Look into area newspapers, radio stations, and local events where you can bring your brand to the people. Any outlet that makes sense for your business is one you should be seeking out.

Have early customers post their rave reviews everywhere that matters – your website, your social media platforms, and anywhere else where other potential customers will see them.

Reward those early fans with special treats – access to special events, promotions, or discounts are always great, but even a handwritten thank you card can go a long way in turning a fan into a lifelong follower.

Another valuable (and easy to overlook!) marketing tool for your business are supporting photos, videos, and other visual evidence of your product or service in action.

Let your target market experience as intimately as possible what it is you’re offering – give them a reason to remember your brand and seek you out.

This means you’ll need to put substantial care and effort into all of your branding materials because these images are often used on your website, social media marketing, and advertisements.

Make sure you focus your efforts with your brand and target customer in mind with any marketing materials you create.

Make sure that your photography, videos, and printed materials are professional, and that everything you put out represents your brand in an attractive, engaging light.

That doesn’t mean you need generic, overly stylized images – on the contrary; the more authentic the photos appear, the more likely it is they will engender trust in consumers. For tips on how to take well-composed photos for your business, read these 7 tips from Entrepreneur here.

As a new, up-and-coming business owner, social media is an inexpensive and easy outlet for terrific exposure for all of the beautiful material you’re creating. As we previously explained,

Social media gives you the ability to easily keep customers up-to-date on new products, store policies or sales. It also enables you to build a social rapport with current customers, while building low-pressure relationships with future buyers.

Maintaining Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook presences are important tools to build a following and connect with your market niche. With the advent of micro-influencers, the potential reach a new business now has is truly massive.

Conclusion

There’s a lot to think about when you’re starting your own small business. These 11 steps will give you an unfair advantage and will help get you started on the road to owning a successful business of your very own.

The post How to Start a Business: A Step-by-Step Complete Guide (2019) appeared first on crowdspring Blog.

Cabin fever is a phenomenon known to any of us who have suffered through cold, unreasonably long winters.

While the specifics may vary from person to person, cabin fever generally encompasses feelings of boredom, irritability, restlessness, and the vague impulse to set fire to the walls.

Feeling stressed out because of a marathon of mandatory stay-at-home days is common, even for people living in routinely cold places – we’re looking at you, Winnipeg.

The restrictions imposed on lifestyle, routine, even the view out the window, can all result in significant elevations in cortisol. Cortisol is a stress hormone linked with increased blood pressure, decreased immune-system efficiency, and problems with memory and learning. Yikes.

To understand more about how the stress of being confined over the long winter can impact your health, read this piece from The Atlantic here.

Now, we hope you enjoy another great set of links and articles that we shared with you over the past week on our crowdspring Twitter account (and on Ross’s Twitter account). We regularly share our favorite posts on entrepreneurship, small business, marketing, logo design, web design, startups, leadership, social media, marketing, economics and other interesting stuff! Enjoy!

How to Start a Business: A Step-by-Step Complete Guide (2019) | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/scDm0dTAyP #SMB #SMBs #Entrepreneur #Entrepreneurship #SmallBiz #smallbusinesstips pic.twitter.com/f2kjm9AGuj

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 14, 2019

Successful small business owners have an unfair advantage. They're well-prepared… How to Start a Business: A Step-by-Step Complete Guide (2019) | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/0xhqXmovZS pic.twitter.com/eDF12q5FnY

— Startup Foundry (@startfoundry) February 14, 2019

Running your own consulting business can be tricky. Here's everything you need to know to get started. How to Start a Successful Consulting Business: The Complete 10 Step Guide (2019) – https://t.co/OKqo7ZtLiG #consulting #consultants #SMB pic.twitter.com/LH8u3yMaQh

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 11, 2019

Running a small business means keeping a lot of different balls in the air. Here are 13 Helpful Organization and Productivity Apps For Small Businesses | @crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/agzBqZZfJu #SMB #SMBs #organization #Productivity pic.twitter.com/XO55iXKDVY

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 7, 2019

Find the Perfect Name For Your Business or Startup With These 10 Tips https://t.co/zppfXuaDqT pic.twitter.com/aXGgVgUHr8

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 3, 2019

Useful insights for small businesses and startups looking to break through he marketing noise … How to Solve the 5 Most Common Brand Awareness Problems – https://t.co/bFRfZzFoaR pic.twitter.com/9y0VgdE8cS

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 4, 2019

Top 9 Best CRMs for Small Businesses in 2019 https://t.co/5s4l6UU00B pic.twitter.com/ph2KCk5IUB

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 4, 2019

A closer look at creating a strong brand identity https://t.co/DXBWCYu6EQ @crowdspring pic.twitter.com/SjB5VILOva

— Ramon Ray (@ramonray) February 14, 2019

My answer to What's a good way to go about a logo redesign for an old business? https://t.co/JRUf6mf6rs

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 12, 2019

So many terrific insights … Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company – https://t.co/2Z91DUvl3I pic.twitter.com/SDCkZZrvTs

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 13, 2019

A truth that few successful people admit – and an important lesson for young entrepreneurs. https://t.co/15Q7hkSTrK

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 7, 2019

Useful insights for small businesses and startups looking to break through he marketing noise … How to Solve the 5 Most Common Brand Awareness Problems – https://t.co/bFRfZzFoaR pic.twitter.com/9y0VgdE8cS

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 4, 2019

Terrific thread on founder compensation. https://t.co/NwakVTi3RK

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 11, 2019

8 Big Startup Myths That Hold Entrepreneurs Back From Success https://t.co/GKcMxHMeb8 pic.twitter.com/B6MXIMPovY

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 12, 2019

Short and accurate. This isn’t how most think about mentorship, but Jason is spot on – this is how most *should* think about mentorship. https://t.co/F91oBuu6MC

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 12, 2019

20 Most Influential Graphic Design Companies From Around the World
@crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/Gi5gXJc1Om pic.twitter.com/imRjFcSYdQ

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 4, 2019

Terrific insights from @bart_goralewicz on dynamic rendering, pre-rendering and SEO issues when using a lot of JS … Dynamic Rendering – is this really an SEO silver bullet? https://t.co/yr3OgG3o35 pic.twitter.com/Uvgg3O5eLJ

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 5, 2019

Everything Marketers Need To Know To Avoid Violating Copyright Law https://t.co/GVZW6C3IBT pic.twitter.com/DRt9l6LpYR

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 5, 2019

Sharp insights on why those expensive (and often, meh) Super Bowl TV ads are money well spent … Mark Ritson: Even at $5m each, Super Bowl ads make sense – here’s why https://t.co/cEEX6ZGhyO

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 6, 2019

Small Business Web & App Design: Five Common UX Mistakes to Avoid https://t.co/dpBOSl9U2h pic.twitter.com/1AO28Wk8j2

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 7, 2019

Good insights in this look at redesign of the UI in an audio routing tool … The Design of Loopback 2 – https://t.co/DM81LHvGJz

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 3, 2019

The Psychology of Design: Why Your Business Must Understand How Design Influences Customer Behavior https://t.co/hi5OVlAJpE pic.twitter.com/bLWvCljohs

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 6, 2019

20 Most Influential Graphic Design Companies From Around the World
@crowdspring Blog – https://t.co/Gi5gXJc1Om pic.twitter.com/imRjFcSYdQ

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 4, 2019

6 Inspirational Graphic Design Trends For 2019 | @SmBizDaily – https://t.co/w3iEgr40Qh #GraphicDesign #designtrends #SMB pic.twitter.com/XFfbC4FxFy

— crowdspring (@crowdspring) February 12, 2019

My answer to Can packaging make food appear more flavorful? https://t.co/N8uo7mFR2C

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 12, 2019

Even people with good intentions can cause you harm. https://t.co/AFVLqEPlaD

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 11, 2019

Sharp insights on why those expensive (and often, meh) Super Bowl TV ads are money well spent … Mark Ritson: Even at $5m each, Super Bowl ads make sense – here’s why https://t.co/cEEX6ZGhyO

— Ross Kimbarovsky (@rosskimbarovsky) February 6, 2019

The post Twitter Link Roundup #357 – Terrific Reads for Small Business, Entrepreneurs, Marketers, and Designers! appeared first on crowdspring Blog.