Let’s go back to 2020, yes I know sorry but this is a story about business confidence so bear with me. It started in early 2020 when we were all blissfully oblivious to what was about to hit us.
I was riding on the quest of a wave as a graphic designer working with clients in the music industry and theatre production, then in March 2020 the world shut its doors and we all went inside…for a very long time.
I Love Helping Businesses Thrive
Overnight I lost all my work, all the projects coming up and I was suddenly knee deep in home schooling – even just the notion now brings me out in a cold sweat (no disrespect to all the home educators out there, you’re doing a grand job).
I’ve talked openly before about how I floundered for about 12 months, not really knowing what to do, what I wanted to do and just going out on lots of long, long bike rides and living off what was left in my bank account and the government grants.
It took me a while but I remembered how much I loved helping other businesses thrive and my love of strategy and design, so branding suddenly felt like the answer that had been there all along – but now I had to make a business out of it and that was scary.
I was a Branding Failure
In the beginning I made the biggest mistake imaginable for a brand consult – I didn’t follow any of my own advice! I did no strategy session, I plucked a logo out of the air and “borrowed” a lot of messaging from others doing what I thought I “should” be doing. It was all a mess, wasn’t me and wasn’t who I wanted my audience to be. I haven’t hidden any of this, just check out the beginnings of my Instagram grid for evidence…eek!
I attracted completely the wrong clients, when I actually attracted any at all, my confidence to be able to do this was low and I almost gave up on several occasions. I am nothing if not determined though (my MA course leader told me that!) so I kept going.
How Not To Make the Same Mistake I did
After a year of constant changing of branding (I’d still not learned my lesson) and trying to push through I FINALLY took my own advice and became my own client to brand my business properly.
I now have a business and brand that looks and feels like me and looks and feels like the audience I want to attract. My messaging is on point and I am hitting a chord with a lot of people who want my help.
The confidence I’ve gained from having branding that lands with my audience and feels like a real extension of me is massive. I now work with some amazing clients who really share my values, I’m approached by people I admire that I never thought would ask me for advice or guidance and I have some of the most wonderful conversations about things that really matter to me with some brilliant people.
The right branding has given me that confidence as my branding now does most of the work, I just have to ride along with it and pat it and feed it occasionally!
If you’re ready to let your branding do the hard work in your business check out my Work With Me page to see branding resources for all budgets.