![Brand Styling – Why does your blog or business need a brand styling?]()
Are you an entrepreneur / biz owner who is still trying to figure out the perfect logo that speaks to your brand spirit? Or you love your logo but feel lost when it comes to other graphical aspects of your business side.
You struggle with your designer , or feel lost when it comes to designing your letterhead , product tags , social media posts , social media styling. Somehow and every time you struggle going through canva or in your computer trying to get just the right thing out?
Possibility is that you are missing one essential part of your business that is your brand styling guide.
Do you really need one?
Every Business needs a brand styling guide , be it a startup or a big name . When I started working as a designer my first mistake had been not to create my own brand styling guide. Due to this I know how it feels to be lost trying to figure out where your brand identity lies. Every aspect of your business feels like a brand new design job and nothing matches the next.
Chance are my friend you missed creating a proper brand style guide when you started your online business.
What is a Brand styling guide?
A brand styling guide includes distinct guidelines on how each and every graphical or visual aspect of your company will be handled . It is something you can always refer to when creating your online presence.
- This guide establishes rules for creating the presence of your brand online and in the market. This includes everything from a logo , a visiting card , letter head design, the look of a website and product design.
- Brand styling guide acts as a personal communication guide for your social media , advertising and product design needs.
- Your brand styling guide also serves as a guide for designers , including typefaces and styles to color palette , image use , text and tone and also emotional portrayed by the brand.
Above all a brand style guide brings every aspect of your business together to attract the right sort of clients , compels them to do business with you and enables you to create authority.
Why it is important for your business , blog or shop?
A good brand style guide must capture the essence of your business Your brand identity should speak the essence of your business and must resonate with the core message of your business. It should be something that makes your heart sing when you look at it.
YOUR BRAND IDENTITY MUST REPRESENT YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS
So What is included in a Brand style guide.?
- Below are a few brand styling guide should include
- Overview of brand, including history, vision and personality
- Logo specifications and examples of usage
- Typography palette
- Color palette
- Textures and patterns
- Image use specifications, including photography style
- Letterhead and business card design
- Social media guidelines
I have created a checklist that will help you come up with your brand style guide step by step . This checklist includes exact steps working towards creating your basic style guide which you can always come back to once need arises.
A Brand Board starts with your fonts, Main Colors and Images and Patterns of a same theme across all platforms
Here is an example to show you just that
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Brand Board
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Social Media Ad
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Services Ad
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E-Book
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Optin
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Blog post header
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Facebook Promo
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Pinterest images
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Pinterest image
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Optin
![Brand Styling – Why does your blog or business need a brand styling?]()
I can truly say that this blog is dead in terms of earning revenue , i have been using this blog to pour down whatever my heart desired but i never took time out to monetize it .
Well i think now is the time
When one is an artist and a blog is a playground then we rarely think about monetizing it . but i think i will give it a try.
I realize that i have all the necessary ingredients already available on this blog i just need to make a few changes .
So starting this month i will try to update you with a monthly income report of this blog and i will also share with you the steps that i took along the way .
The changes i made and i found useful
So to begin with right now i will not be sharing the income report that will be posted by the end of the month
Below are few of the changes that i made.
Changes i made to monetize this blog.
1- I upgraded my hosting SERVICE
My current hosting provider is Hostmonster. I have been using their services since last 12 years . During that time the biggest mistake i made was to shift host once when i felt the need of up gradation . But now i am back to hostmonster again and this is where i am staying with this blog.
2-Uplifted the blog theme
I have been using Fabric Child Theme running on Genesis frame work . The theme stayed there for the whole time while i stopped posting on this blog. Now once i decided to run this experiment of monetizing this blog my first thought was to change the theme .
I needed an eCommerce platform so i looked around and decided on Bazar theme bought via theme forest. I love how i can easily integrate the ability to sell and while doing that have a clean look of the website that is responsive as well.
2- Added Adsense ads
I have tried using Adsense in the past but not with much luck. But now again i have added a few of them in the side bar .
3- Added a storefront for Graphics
With Bazar theme it was easy to add the store front to the blog , now the home page opens to some content from the store and some from the blog.
4- Social Editorial Calendar planned.
Ok i am not that much of an expert but i took some time out to lay down a social editorial calendar . I have found a few tools useful to make it practical . And i hope to make it work for me.
5- Re-linked and Organized
This one single task is such a big one and believe me i am still working on it . I re categorized the posts . Used a few plugins that helped me get this worked out smoothly . And then changed the header links entirely.
6- Exported my Etsy shop
I am Done with Etsy!
yes i do not plan to work more towards my etsy Aifactory shop ,
i do not plan to update the shop at etsy with new contents. So i exported all the listings from from Etsy , took a while to figure out how to but phew , its done!
If you are interested in how to start a blog you can read about it in my previous post .
Do you have any experience working towards monetization of a blog? any ideas and suggestions? don’t forget to leave a comment if you do have any suggestions for me.
[private]Taking some time out to update my friends of a new website i started please take some time out to visit my other blog of FREE party printables @ PRINT me a PARTY blog
Do visit the customized digital party printables at my store as well .
Through the blog i will be offering , completely free printable party invites , matching cupcake toppers printable sheets , thank you notes , teachers printables , teachers resources and worksheets , free recipe cards and much more . Follow the blog as i will be soon updated loads and loads of free printables!
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![Brand Styling – Why does your blog or business need a brand styling?]()
There are number of great tutorials , freebies and resources available throughout the web , and daily the number of helpful articles pop up !. But when it comes to print there are not many useful and practical guides which make you understand the process . It can be a bit tricky but with guidance in right direction can help you understand the process pretty fast . (more…)
