Earlier this year, I was asked by the lovely Hayley Morgan to speak about design at The Influence Conference in Indianapolis. This past weekend – it happened! Speaking is an odd duck…especially as a blogger/designer. I spend most of my days in front of a computer and when I am interacting with people it’s with my clients or my best friends. All of a sudden I found myself with two speaking gigs. I kept thinking, “What could these people possibly want to hear from me?!”
It ended up going really well and I felt really great about it once it was over. It was easy to feel overwhelmed when all the other speakers seemed so extroverted and bubbly. I had to remember that we’re all different and that I still had something to offer (even if I get super nervous and forget to smile a lot). The best part of the conference was connecting with so many women individually and helping them out with their branding, blogs and websites. I do SO much better working with others individually (vs addressing a huge audience).
For those that weren’t able to attend my session, I thought I’d share a recap today along with some Q&A’s + a separate page with resources. Here it is:
Whether you’re a blogger, a small business owner or someone who just THINKS about starting a blog…you cannot avoid your brand and what you communicate through visual design. The idea of having a brand can sound so lame. I hear phrases like “I need to work on my personal brand,” or “My branding sucks,” but your brand is just YOU and what you decide to communicate.
- You communicate through your social media accounts.
- You communicate through your blog.
- You communicate through your logo.
- You even communicate through how you treat others on a daily basis.
I’m going to walk you through the 6 steps that I use to help my clients create a clear brand voice. I gave examples during my presentation that I can’t necessarily share here on the Internet (due to the fact that it would be open to everyone to see and my relationship with that client is ongoing). Hopefully it still makes sense! We’re essentially going to identify who your audience is, who you are, and how the two interact.
- Identify your Ideal Audience’s World. What gender? Age? What music are they listening to? What historical events took place to shape their lives? What issues are they dealing with on a day-to-day basis? What brands have their loyalty?
- Create a Profile for that Specific Person. You’re essentially giving your audience/demographic a character. This could be a celebrity or someone you know. Perhaps your small business is targeting college students and you want to use someone like Taylor Swift as your customer character. This is someone who is into the newest trends, loves music, very feminine and is dating actively. This would be way different if your target audience were stay-at-home moms! Disclaimer: you are not sharing this character with anyone but people working behind the scenes. It’s to use as a reference later on.
- Identify Your Competitors’ Voices. The idea of having a competitor doesn’t have to be as awful as it sounds. Just take a moment to observe what others are doing that is similar to what YOU’RE doing. How do they present themselves? What is their tone? Why are they successful?
- Outline How You’re Unique. This is where you shine! How are you different than the competitors you’ve identified above? What do you say when you describe your blog/business? Do you use big words or simplify things?
- Create your Brand Character. Now you’re going to do the same thing that you did with your audience profile. Your brand character does not need to be YOU. This can be an exaggerated or simplified version of yourself (or not you at all). This is the person that will be connecting with your audience day-to-day. It will help bring about accountability during times that you want to stray from that identity. Perhaps you feel that Oprah is the best representation of your business (in character form). She will be conversational, wise, influential and older. Will this character be able to connect with Taylor Swift? (I know this seems silly but I promise it works).
- Create a Plan. Now you create a plan. What do you need to do to get this to the streets? Set up social media accounts? Hire a designer? Get a website? Make corrections to your existing brand?
Before I left, I also had a few of you ask me questions that I wanted to answer here in this post!
Q1: My computer doesn’t have photo editing software, so I use Pixlr to jazz up my pictures. Is there a way to upload custom fonts to Pixlr? While it’s a great tool, their font selection is limited. If so, what’s your favorite resource for free fonts? Unfortunately (according to my research) Pixlr does not allow you to load new fonts into their software. However, if you decide to use a different program, I love getting my fonts here.
Q2: How do I find out how to brand my blog when making the logo and naming it? I would suggest first finding a name that you love and has meaning. Perhaps avoid using something that is SO specific to your life journey at this moment. Next, identify a few fonts and colors that you want to use consistently (it unifies your online space). Lastly – curate a list of logos that you love and figure out why you love them. It will help you stay on track with the aesthetic that you love.
Q3: What do you think will be trending in blog design over the coming year. What do you think will be new in layout, design, content (e.g. I’ve noticed a lot of instagram feeds popping up on sidebars)? On the flip side, what would you say makes a blog look dated? Instagram and Pinterest is definitely trending right now. Allowing users to see your IG feed + pin all your images has become quite popular as has having a responsive blog design. A lot of people read blogs on iPads, tablets and smartphones today and if your site isn’t working with those formats – people will leave or get frustrated. As for “dated” blogs – I think that GFC is on its way out (it only works with Blogger), default themes, and small, centered photos with borders seem to top the list for me.
Q4: I would love to know more about the elements of a good website design: i.e. how many colors should be used? How can you organize it so it’s easy to navigate? What kind of web software should you use (WordPress, Blogger, etc.)? I try to keep 3 main colors (with different variations of each) when I create a blog. When it comes to navigation – I definitely use the top navigation for outside personal links, a place for my readers to contact or read more about me. I use the sidebar to keep people ON MY BLOG. You can use your sidebar to get peoples’ attention once they’re done looking at the post and constantly clicking around. Oh and WordPress – always.
I’ve also created a page with free resources + ways to help you get started! Enjoy!
*Top and bottom two photos found on Instagram from some of my lovely attendees
Thank you for sharing this! I wanted to go to Influence so badly, but loved following the back channel on Twitter! and am so grateful to read your insights here :)
I’m glad it was useful, Beth!! I hope you will be able to attend next year!
Thanks for sharing! This is really helpful. The only thing I didn’t understand, was why WordPress. I hear so many “big bloggers” say this, but why? I know a few big bloggers who still use blogger and are doing fine. Also, I have still seen GFC on non-blogger pages. I thought that was a myth.
Thanks!
Alesha <3
You can definitely use Blogger for as long as you’d like (Cup of Joe uses Blogger!) but there are a few reasons why WordPress is better (in my opinion): easier for your readers to comment, the WordPress community is extremely supportive, customization and WordPress is EXTREMELY robust.
As for GFC – that is odd! Their website even states that they don’t support it on any other site.
Hmm, well, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions! I will definitely think on it. My hubby is starting a blog and he chose WordPress, so I’m sort of leaning toward switching. We’ll see!
Alesha <3
P.S. I'm a new follower! =)
Definitely give it a try! I love using WordPress – and thanks for reading my blog! I love meeting new readers and visiting their blogs!
Ahhh! So good! I can’t wait to walk through the steps you provided and figure out what brand I really want to create. I often think that steps like that won’t work, but in the 5 minutes it took me to read this post, I was already getting excited, thinking through my plan. Thanks for sharing, Allie!
I’m so glad it might be helpful!! So excited to see what comes from it!
Ahhhhh I must be doing something wrong. I’ve used Blogger forever, I know it and love it and can switch up my design as I need to, and for some reason WordPress blows my mind. I can’t figure it out! I suppose it’s about finding what works for me. Maybe one day I’ll make the leap!
Such good info otherwise. So sad I was unable to go to Influence due to being on a retreat but I am really grateful that you posted this here for us to experience second-hand! Thank you!
Well it’s definitely a learning curve. Anytime you switch from one platform to the other – it’s going to be a bit confusing but I promise someday (when you make the leap), it will get easier. And you’re right – do what works for you! I do know, however, that Hayley shared at Influence that she takes bloggers more seriously when they have their own domain name (vs .blogspot or .wordpress) so I thought that was great advice.
Thanks for the report on your presentation. I trust your taste & advice–it’s always good :)
What does GFC stand for?
Thanks Janae! GFC stands for Google Friend Connect!
Thank you for the recap! I was soo sad I couldn’t be at influence this year, but am happy to have some wonderful information with me now:) Thank you!
You’re welcome! Hope you can attend next year!
Allie! I really enjoyed and appreciated your talk. I was hoping to get your feedback on my attempt at a “brand” but didn’t get a chance. But I still got so much from your talk… and appreciated your honest with saying you don’t make money from your blog. For some reason that felt like permission to keep doing what I’m doing and focus on my freelance writing, etc. that makes money.
Thank you!
I’m bummed we missed each other! And yes don’t feel like you have to make money by blogging. I found that trying to make money on my blog (Right now) wasn’t worth the time. I could use that time trying to set up affiliate links, ads and sponsored posts to design and make more money anyway!
Thanks for sharing this Allie. It’s full of juicy info and am looking forward to getting stuck into some of your tips. Quick question though… what do you mean by GFC in Q3? I have such poor head for acronyms!
x Elena @ Randomly Happy
You’re welcome! And GFC is Google Friend Connect – it’s a way for bloggers to follow each other but their site states they they only support using it on Blogger but others have said they’ve seen it used on other WordPress blogs – I’ll have to investigate!
This is incredibly useful for me. I wasn’t at the conference but I was inspired to start making goals and working to create a “brand” even though that makes me get nervous. I’m excited to read more of your stuff and learn more from you.
I hope anything that I share helps!! Thanks for reading, Nadine!
I was there and thought you did a GREAT job! I took a ton of notes and felt like I had so many lightbulbs going off in my head. :) Thank you for providing us with awesome resources, too!
Thank you Christie! I love hearing that and I’m so glad it was helpful :)
So so helpful. Wish I could have gone to the conference. Maybe next year!
Yes definitely try to next year – it was such a great conference. Glad my post was helpful!
I am going to take notes on this! Thank you for sharing these tips! I know that design and branding are two things that have been difficult for me to pin point. You really gave me a lot of things to work on!
I’m so glad, Ashton! Let me know if you have any questions!
Happy to see my IG feed made it on here!
Girl, I know i’ve told you before, but I just love you.
Your knowledge is so greatly appreciated! Thank you for such a wonderful and inspiring presentation!
Yes! I LOVED seeing your photos from the conference – sorry I didn’t tag you in the post (I just took screenshots of all the IG pics I was tagged in).
And I just love you too! It was so fun meeting you in real life – I feel like we would hang out if we lived closer :)
Your session was fantastic! I loved getting to learn from you live and in person, and was so impressed by what you brought to the table! And I so enjoyed chatting with you :)
Thank you Anne – you are really so wonderful and I’m so glad we got to meet in real life. Hope we get to again sometime soon!
I’m still trying to figure out a way to bottle you up and take you home with me…oh wait, the conference is over. It was such a pleasure meeting you! Thank you for sharing your talent with all of us.
Kim!! I miss seeing you around now – I frequent Indianapolis a lot so we should try to connect again soon. I so enjoyed chatting with you.
SO proud of you!!!
Thanks Diana! :) :)
Umm we totally would hang out in real life!
you knocked it out of the park! xo.
Aw thanks Hayley! :)