Branding for New Businesses
Branding for New Businesses
Starting a business and unsure what you need before launch?
Get clear on what your business needs to say.
We'll work through your business, customers, and competition, then turn what we learn into a practical strategy and messaging guide you can use across your website and marketing.
Maybe you started looking for a logo and realized you weren’t sure what else you needed. Or you asked for a website quote and found out you were expected to supply the words.
Start with where customers will first see your business. What will they need to understand before they buy, book, or get in touch? That can help you decide where to spend first.
Three things your first customers need
A clear explanation of what you offer.
Say what you sell and who it’s for in words a customer would use. If you keep giving a different explanation every time someone asks, that’s a good place to get help.
A reason to trust you.
Show a sample, demonstrate the product, or share a relevant example from work you did before starting the business.
An obvious next step.
If you’re taking appointments, show people how to book. If you’re selling a product, make it easy to see what they’ll get and how to order it.
Q:
Do you need a logo right away?
A:
Think about what you’ll put in front of customers first. If you’re testing a service through referrals, your business name and a simple page that explains what you do may be enough to get started. If you’re about to print packaging or order a sign, settle the logo before you pay to produce it.
Know what you’re paying for
Know what you’re paying for
When you’re starting a business, it’s easy to think, “I need a website,” and assume the web designer will figure out the rest. If you still need to work out how to explain the business, what it should look like, or what the pages should say, start with the people who specialize in that work.
Brand strategy and messaging
Strategy defines who you want to reach and why they’d choose you. Messaging sets what customers need to hear first, which points support it, and how your business should sound.
When you’re starting a business, it’s easy to think, “I need a website,” and assume the web designer will figure out the rest. If you still need to work out how to explain the business, what it should look like, or what the pages should say, start with the people who specialize in that work.
Logo and visual identity design
A logo and identity designer creates a recognizable look for your business that you can use on your website, packaging, and sales materials.
Website copywriting
A copywriter uses your messaging to decide what each page needs to say and writes the words people read, from the homepage headline to the button they click.
Web design
A web designer uses your copy and visual identity to lay out the pages, draw attention to what matters, and help visitors find what they came for.
If a website quote covers all four, ask who’ll do each job and to see examples of their work in each area. If you’re still figuring out how to explain what you offer, spend there first. It’s easier to settle the message before you pay to design pages around it.
If a website quote covers all four, ask who’ll do each job and to see examples of their work in each area. If you’re still figuring out how to explain what you offer, spend there first. It’s easier to settle the message before you pay to design pages around it.
When the words and the design need to work together
For Wonder Grounds, I worked on how the business explains what it offers and designed a visual identity to match. See how those decisions came together in the finished work.
What to look out for before you spend
01.
A proposal full of things you can’t picture using.
Ask who will use each piece and when. If you can’t picture sending that brochure or using that deck in a meeting, it can probably wait.
02.
Design you’ve only seen in a presentation.
Ask to see it where customers will actually encounter it. Check a label at the size it’ll print or look at your site on a phone.
03.
Materials that will be expensive to change.
If you’re still testing the offer or price, start with a short print run or a page you can update yourself.
Use what’s coming up to decide what needs attention first. The rest can wait until there’s a reason to change it.
Tell me what you’re getting ready to launch
A rough description, an early logo, or a date you’re working toward is enough to start. We’ll talk about where customers will first see you, what you need ready for them, and where I can help.
If you’d like to see how the work happens, explore