The words brand and branding get thrown around a lot these days but it’s not always clear what the difference is.

In fact, many creatives and entrepreneurs aren’t sure what exactly is a brand and what’s branding and why does that even matter. If you’re one of them, this video is for you.

Brand Defined

• You don’t really control your brand

• It’s a feeling your clients have when they interact with your brand - through products, services, posts, website, social media. communication, etc

• It’s how they describe your business to their friends and family

Brand Identity Defined

• A set of assets such as logo, patterns, imagery, tone of voice that represent your brand

• The message you convey through those assets and through your interaction with others

Branding Defined

• The process of designing your brand identity

• Also an ever-evolving process of your brand’s development and growth

Do you need a brand to get started?

Yes, and here’s why: most people confuse brand identity with a brand. You don’t necessarily need a logo or a fully developed color scheme to get started with your business but you do want to make your ideal customers feel something. Without a brand, you can’t make them feel anything which means you don’t really have a brand to begin with.

Why does your brand matter to begin with?

1. Refer to the answer above. In most cases, your clients buy from you because you made them feel something, you’ve made a connection, your brand resonated with them.

2. Your brand makes you stand out among others offering the same thing

How Can I DIY My Brand and Still Look Professional?

If you’re just getting started, you probably don’t have a big budget and want to save as much as you can. There’s nothing wrong with DIY-ing your brand and brand identity as you start out and here’s how you can easily do this without looking amateurish:

• Define your mission - you have to know who you serve, how you serve them and why you serve them. Then, define how you want them to feel when they interact with your brand.

• Stick to a text-based logo - it’s hard to get it wrong because all you have to do is choose a font and write out your business name. It’s simple and it will work. If you’re aren’t a natural born designer, chances are adding any type of icons or illustrations will come out more complicated than they need to be and in the end you will wind up with an illustration and not a logo

• Choose just one color that will become your iconic brand color, the one color that when someone sees it, they will instantly know it’s your brand they’re dealing with. You can always modify and expand upon your color palette later on

• Choose a style for your photography and other graphics. Then, stick to it no matter what. Consistency is how you build brand recognition so stick to the same font, color or pattern.

And there you have it! I hope this post and video clear up any confusion about the terms brand, branding, and brand identity.

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