If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you’ll know that branding & rebranding is something on which I have spent a lot of my time. This last rebrand (which launched just 9 months ago) took me more than two full years to complete— from initial brainstorming to sketching layouts to font selection to logo selection to a test-drive on the blog to scrapping the whole thing and setting it aside for a few months while I got engaged and married, and then picking it up to realize that the direction I thought I should go was actually the polar opposite of the way I needed to go. So I scratched it and started over again. Thankfully, I had a great designer to support me through the process (she deserves a lifetime supply of gold stars for her patience!).

When my gorgeous brand (website and blog) finally launched, I had lots of people ask about my designer. After I finished gushing about her genius and skill, the question inevitably followed, “And she does full branding, too? Like, logo and everything?”

That question always stumps me. Yes… Jennifer does logo design. But “doing my full brand”? How do I go about answering that question? I mean, yes… Jennifer did all of the design work that visually depicts my brand, gave me a well-crafted space to display my work, and designed a logo that I love. But my brand? She didn’t develop that— she only gave it a face.

A good designer creates a logo, visually depicts the heart behind a business or an idea. But that heart, that idea— they have to come from somewhere else. The designer has to know what she is designing, why she is designing it.

The designer crafts the visual; the business owner crafts the heart.

Jennifer wrote a great blog post for Justin & Mary when their brand launched, about crafting a brand that will last. I highly recommend reading it. She says, “Be willing to build your ‘Why’ before you build your Pinterest board. Inspiration should reveal your vision, not replace it.” (She did a great guest post for Katelyn James, too!). “We as designers can only design for what you give us. We can’t create something out of nothing.”

I think one reason there are so many business owners in the constant state of rebranding is because of how we use the word “BRAND.” I think it could be incredibly helpful to define “brand” with two distinctions:

• BRAND: a logo, color scheme, visual identity, and means of marketing. I refer to this as your VISUAL BRAND.
• BRAND: the heart and soul of the business, the way it operates, convictions that influence business methods, ideals and aspirations, etc. I refer to this as your CORE BRAND.

The VISUAL BRAND may grow, change, and transform (sometimes drastically, like mine— 2011 and 2015) over time. The CORE BRAND should remain mostly the same in its essence— it’s the thing that influences all decisions, informs the visuals, and only morphs as you mature in your art. It’s the thing that keeps business owners on the right path when opportunities arise and decisions must be made.

The problem is that most people get started in business and, either due to excitement or impatience (or both), skip ahead to the Visual Brand without giving themselves enough time to dig in and figure out their CORE BRAND before they work outward. To be honest, this usually takes a few years. Yes, I said years. That doesn’t mean that one should skip a good website or hold off on marketing for years, but perhaps go with something super simple and easy to change, to give yourself time to grow and develop as CORE BRAND. Eventually your visual brand will catch up.

But why wait?

Because people are drawn to the heart. 

If you want your BRAND (both CORE and VISUAL) to be something that people pay attention to, you have to give the core time to develop. People see passion, and they are drawn to it. And they can tell when you’re faking it. If you have a stunning visual brand with a catchy logo and a thoughtful layout, but your work (and your words) have no heart? People can tell that. And they’re turned off by fake.

And it’s not good enough to just have a visual brand that is YOU. As wedding photographers, out clients are asking us to document the most important day in their lives. When they land on our websites, they’re asking themselves, “Can I trust this person? Will they live up to my expectations?” It’s not enough to give them us. Our clients are looking for something to believe in— and that’s not us, it’s what we stand for. Our CORE BRAND is important for us because it’s important to our clients, even if they don’t know it. They’re asking “Why should I trust you?” The Core Brand answers, “Because here’s why I do what I do.” They ask, “Do you love my story enough to tell it back to me?” The Core Brand answers, “Yes, I love it… and here’s the reason why.”

Let’s give our clients reasons to trust us! Take the time to dig in deep and figure out your WHY! And then put it to work for you, now, even if the visual brand hasn’t caught up to it. I guarantee your work will profit from it!

Check back tomorrow for 10 Steps Toward Finding your Core Brand!