Basics of Branding | Ep 021

John: What's going on everyone? We are back. And this time it's gonna be some seriously juicy stuff. Not my wheelhouse. Kacie's wheelhouse. We're going into branding. 

Kacie: This is the fun stuff y'all. And I think typically when you think of branding, what do y'all think of? You think of colors and logos and fonts and all of that stuff, but we're gonna dive deeper into branding. We're gonna go over that, but we're also gonna dive deeper into branding because there's a lot of things that y'all don't think about when it comes to branding, that's just like secondhand thoughts, or you don't even realize that that's something that plays into it. We're gonna go over obviously the print and the online stuff, but then customer experience. How do your customers feel when they see your business or they see your logo or they go to your website and branding is just such an important thing. And so we're gonna, that's what we're gonna talk about. Today we're just gonna do an overview. Today's the basics of branding, and then we're gonna dive deeper into some of those things later on in the series.

John: Let's get into it. 

Kacie: Let's do it. 

The Business Project podcast business can be complicated. We break it down to regular people like us can understand and find success. I'm John Crespo, accountant and consultant. I'm Casey Bryant, marketer and event planner. If you run a business or want to run a business, welcome to the show.

John: And we're back.

Kacie: We're back and we are pumped.

John: I can't, I just want to ask a bunch of questions. Yeah. Because I know nothing. Well, you know, I know a little bit about branding. I could not, I would not be able to define branding. If somebody asked me to define branding, I wouldn't be able to do that because like when I think of branding, I think of, um, I would say, yeah, you know, do I have a, a logo? Do I have, like what does my logo call attention to my business? Do I have a website? Like that kind of stuff. Yeah. But really there's a lot more that's involved in actual branding that helps in getting your awareness out there for your business and all that stuff that I know nothing about. 

Kacie: Yeah, I know. There's just a lot that goes into branding. I think a great just visual. Mm-hmm. , for all of us, as we talk about the basics of branding is so what do you think about branding in the farming industry? Like when you think about a brand in the farming industry, what do you think about? 

John: Milk. Cows. 

Yeah. 

Corn fields.

Like, like Delmonte. . 

Kacie: Isn't that bananas? 

John: bananas. The canned, canned vegetables. Yeah. 

Kacie: So branding farmers brand their cows. 

Mm. Right. That's what you're talking about. 

Yeah. Like they, they burn their brand into the cows so that they can recognize the cows so that people can hey, this cow belongs to this rancher. And, and so I think that that is just a big overall picture of what we are trying to accomplish when we are doing branding, we have all of these pieces, all of these cows that are a part of our ranch and it is really important that every single cow has something recognizable on it so that it attaches that cow to that farm, to that rancher. 

John: What a great analogy. Yeah, you just, I see these, reminds me of these westerns where they're sticking that thing in the fire warming, heating it up, and then, yeah, don't fraternities do that too? Brand each other in the fraternities 

Kacie: Probably. Craziness. Probably. Yeah.

So that is, That is kind of the overall picture of what you're trying to accomplish when you're doing your branding. And so think of the cows as the different pieces in your business. So like one cow is your website, another cow is your print materials that you do, your brochures. Another cow is a business card, another cow is your t-shirt that you're wearing or your hat and so as we're putting all of these pieces together, we have to make sure that other people that are coming in can look at that piece and know immediately that that brand is your brand and that is attached to your company. 

John: That's amazing. I like how you broke that down elementary style for me. Yeah, because that, you know, now I understand how everything has to kind of tie into each other and the analogy with the cows. Mm-hmm. , you know, work works that that's okay. So everything should tie back to the, your business. Mm-hmm. . and what you want your business to portray. Exactly. So what kind of, like, what kind of stuff does that entail? 

Kacie: All kinds of things. I mean, it does include logos and colors. Mm-hmm. and fonts and, just, I think, and we talked about this in pretty big detail in the very first series. Mm-hmm. of our podcast. We did a whole episode on branding, but we're gonna dig way deeper. We'll kind of summarize a little bit of what we talked about in that episode in case you guys missed it, but, we'll dig a little bit, a little bit deeper into it in these next episodes. But your brand is really, it's a feeling. It's what feeling do people get when they see your logo or see a brochure or go to your website? It all has to be very ho cohesive, and it has to be intentional. And I think what happens with a lot of businesses is they like these certain colors or they like the certain font or, this website is something that they think is pretty. And so they create their business branding based on what they want and what they like. Mm-hmm. and then they might not be, , intentional about having everything fit together. It takes a lot of resources to build your branding. So maybe you go to somebody and you have a logo created and you love that logo, and then you're like, okay, so I need to make a brochure. And then you go over here and you have a brochure created, and then you need a website by somebody else. And so you go to a website but you don't have any guide that you have intentionally put together. And so all of these little pieces, all of these cows on your ranch, right? Mm-hmm. , they don't have the same branding on them. And so when people go to your website, they have a different feeling than when they look at your business card. Mm-hmm. , because they're all created and kind of put together and pieced together from different you know, resources and different people and, and so what really, really helps when you work on your branding is to put together a branding guide. Do you have a branding guide for your business? 

I think so.

You do. I think you do. I've seen your branding guide. You have colors and fonts and Yeah. Yeah. You have your logo. 

John: I do. Um, but you know what's funny, and I think for myself and just like, I guarantee the majority of businesses out. I don't necessarily think that all of my different cows, let's just say, you know, my website, my business cards, my logo and all of that, really look and, and continue the same message. You know, like the feel. And, uh, I think what you're saying is that if you truly want to, you know, really get the message out of your business, your brand for your business, everything kind of has to look and feel the same when they're seeing your stuff. Whether it's the website, the business cards or whatever. I think my colors a red blue and white. Yeah. Right. Like the the American colors. I look at my website and I think I have some pages that don't flow like that. So now I'm concerned, oh wow. Now I'm gonna go back and check it out. Fix that. Yeah. , I need to fix that. 

Kacie: Yeah. So, um, and it's being intentional about it, right? Mm-hmm. , because it is like we, we do pull all these things in when you're creating your business, even if you've been in business for, you know, 50 years. You're still, there's still new things that are coming. You're, you get new business cards or you get new, a new website, and just having a branding guide is the most important thing that you can do because that way, no matter who is working on your website or your brochures or flyers, you just hand them this branding guide and you say, look, these are the shapes that we use. These are the colors that we use. This is our logo, these are our fonts. And that just helps them make sure that everything looks consistent and when you're doing this. So a branding guide is just, it's super easy. I know that sounds like it could be complicated, and 

John: I was just gonna ask you like , what is in a branding guide? Because I think I have one, but I don't know necessarily what's in it. 

Kacie: super easy. It's just a, a, you can have it printed out, you can have it on your computer. , but it basically lists out what your colors are. So like what are the hex codes, which is if you go to any type of like color wheel, online color wheel, or color generator, you can, you'll pull up and we'll put some links, um, in the resources. Or in the, just the show notes of this. 

John: Give me some links. Yeah, I need some 

Kacie: links on that . Yeah. But also if you go to the Business Project podcast. Exactly. We have all of these for you. We have lots of ways that you can create logos and that you can get your colors and, you know, how do you pick fonts and all of that.

So, um, we ha we go into it a lot deeper. I think 

John: that's a, that's a serious course to take because, um, honestly, if you really want to make money. Like long-term money showing a consistent presence, like having a consistent presence online in the community or whatever it may be. Like people gravitate to that, you know?

I think a business that looks all crazy scatter is scattered. Yeah. Like scatterbrained. Squirrely. Mm-hmm. with their messaging, you know, kind of puts people off. So I think if you wanna make some money, get your 

Kacie: brand right. That is the first, that is the number one thing you should do before you do put any money in advertising, before you put a whole bunch of money in a website, all of you need to have your branding guide put together and with your branding guide as you're doing that.

The probably the most important key that goes into that is knowing your target market. Mm mm-hmm. , because you don't want to. Be marketing towards yourself if yourself is not your target market, if you're just making it because it looks pretty and you think that it's nice, then it might not, not necessarily be attractive towards your target market.

So knowing your target market is the number one step to creating your branding guide. Hmm. 

John: So your marketing plan? Mm-hmm. . , which is in the previous episodes, is very 

Kacie: important. Yes, it is. Yeah, because you're, as you're making your branding guide and you're choosing your fonts and you're choosing your colors, say 80% of your audience.

Is is gonna be female and you make these big block, bulky, words and you pick green and black masculine. Yeah. , that's, that's not necessarily going to be a green dolin for your audience. Yeah. . But if your audience is military and that's 80% of your business, then maybe green and black is a great choice 

John: that that'll.

But do your research. 

Kacie: Yep. Do your research. Yeah, that's important. Know your target market and create your branding guide. Pick out your fonts, pick out your, your logo, pick out your colors, and have it all fit in together. 

John: What's a good example of a business that has like a consistent brand? 

Kacie: I think almost every business that is successful, I honestly can't think of not one successful.

That has not done branding well because you look at, you know, businesses like Walmart and we'll get into how the business makes you feel, in the future. But everything with Walmart is consistent. So what do you think about when you see Walmart, you know, you there? Um, cheap . Yeah. Yeah. Easy, convenient.

Everything from the commercials all in one that they make mm-hmm. to their, to the front of their store, to the way their aisles are laid out to the customer or to the, checkout process. I mean, everything. . Blue 

John: and yellow. Blue and yellow are the colors. Yeah. Mm-hmm. and that, you see that all over the place.

Mm-hmm. and from the store to the website to the commercials to their logo. Blue. 

Kacie: Blue is supposed to make you wanna buy. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Or trust and buy, get 

John: some blue blockers when you go in there. So you don't buy so much. . 

Kacie: Yeah. don't see blue . Save your money. Yeah. Okay. Walmart, I mean any, any, pretty much any successful business McDonald's.

Like when you think of McDonald's and I'm just picking super popular, the Golden Arches popular ones. Mm-hmm. Yep. Golden Archer, arches, um, you know, apple, 

John: Google. Yep. Those are pretty all consistent when I think of like, those are the ones that would come to my head. Yep. 

Kacie: And you guys all have feelings when you think about these businesses, whether you think about it or not.

Some sort of feeling comes to mind. Mm-hmm. when, and most likely, most of the people around you will have that same feeling. Yeah. When you bring up that same company, because that's very intentional. They create that with their branding. Hmm. 

John: I think that's, that is a, a true key. , I guess you gotta ask yourself when you're, when you're starting your business, is, similar to some of the other stuff we spoke about, even in the, when we spoke about the credit and the financing side, it's saying where do I see my business and where do I, what do I want my business to accomplish?

Mm-hmm. , am I just fine working outta my garage and dealing with, you know, a couple clients here and there? Or do I really want to grow a business for the long term and something that could pass down to my generat. 

Kacie: or sell eventually. 

John: Or sell exactly. Mm-hmm. because that, that brand it be, be, generates a value.

Mm-hmm. , there's something called goodwill value when you're, valuing a company, right. And the Goodwill is branding, is the branding out of it and all the IP that a company has. So that stuff actually values your. A lot more than if you didn't have it. 

Kacie: Mm-hmm. very much so. Mm. Sorry. I got phone going off.

It's tax season. This is season . John is working super hard behind the scenes cuz it is tax season. , , somebody needs you now. . 

John: Don't pay attention to 

Kacie: the ringing. Yeah. So yes, branding is, , just such an essential part of building. your business. And it does, it adds so much value having good branding.

Cuz if we talked before in previous podcasts about when you start your business, whether you wanna live and die and eat and breathe your business forever or whether it's like, let's get this thing up and running and selling it. You never know what's gonna happen in the future. And you should always be building your business like you're going to sell it.

And nobody is gonna buy a business that looks like a hot. True. That doesn't match, their target market doesn't even know their target market. Nothing looks consistent or the same, cuz honestly, keeping it simple is really hard. Mm-hmm. , it's simple. Mm-hmm. , it's making it simple. Be you're have, two or three fonts, two or three colors, the same logo.

and you're really simplifying it, which is really hard. . 

John: Yeah. Because there can be such thing as too much mm-hmm. . So you can have too many colors and you can have too many different font styles and your logo can be just crazy looking, and that will just confuse people. I think You're like, there's a mental kind of connect.

when, when someone looks at the different colors or the, you know, the way something looks, there's like a mental thing there that, um, triggers if people wanna learn more or they don't. Mm-hmm. . So keep that in mind. 

Kacie: Yeah. And, and with your branding too, this is such an important, you need to find somebody that's a professional that, that knows, you know, the difference between good and bad.

And that can help you really. , you know, a one-time investment in your business and you need to spend money on your logo is typically one of the first things that people see when they see you online or when they see a brochure or they see your sign driving by. And so you need to make sure that you're investing money into having a professional logo, making sure that the fonts and the colors all fit in together and go towards your target market.

and I think we live in a world right now, which is really amazing cuz it's like diy, everything, right? We have Canva. Mm-hmm , where you can make your own brochures and we have Wick and Squarespace where you can build your own websites and all of that is really great. But if you don't have that foundation and that your colors and your fonts and all of those things picks out, picked out, it also makes it harder to be consistent with your branding.

Yeah, 

John: for sure. So, . If you go to Canva to make some marketing stuff for your business and you're trying to DIY it, but you don't have the right brand guide created ahead of time, you're gonna making some stuff that just looks all crazy. Yeah, right. It's gonna be again, squirrely. So yeah, get yourself a br, get yourself a professional that can help you with creating that right look, the branding and just making it look the way it should look for the, market that you're going after.

get yourself some help because it, it is an investment. You have to think of it as, this is an investment, cuz I'm gonna get a return on this. This is gonna put my business out there, it's gonna bring, attract people to me. Mm-hmm. , it's gonna grow my brand awareness. Right. This is what they say. And that turns into revenue.

It always turns into revenue. 

Kacie: That's the goal. Right? Make, we wanna bring some that money, some revenue in. Yep. . All right. I hope this was helpful and for you guys, we have like three or four more episodes just specifically on branding. We're gonna talk about, branding, print when you're creating print materials.

We'll give you some tips and tricks for that. We're gonna talk about online, and we're gonna talk about just overall how to attract the types of customers that you want through your branding, by how you make people 

John: feel. Yeah, I love it. I'm taking notes. I'm gonna have these on replay and I'm gonna go through my.

And make sure it's set up right and then I'm gonna reach out to the professional over here to help me and make sure it's good cuz I need to generate more revenue. . Yeah, I'm excited. I'm 

Kacie: excited too. I hope you guys are excited too. I just love these series. Yeah. We're gonna, so should we talk about the series we're doing after this?

You guys wanna know? We're gonna give you some sneak sneak peek. Let's do it. Yeah. Cuz we've got it all planned out. Yeah. We felt like the rest of the year planned out. After this, we're gonna do interviews. Mm-hmm. with certain experts that provide business to business. Services and products, and so we're gonna probably talk to another branding specialist.

We're gonna talk to a social media specialist. We're gonna talk to somebody that specializes in credit. Credit, oh, excuse me, 

John: a mouse in my throat. Yeah. 

Kacie: And, um, and so we're like, we're really excited about that series, so it's gonna be great. These 

John: guys are, are top of their game, so they're gonna have some great information to share.

I'm excited for this one too. You guys just gotta follow us. Yep, share it. Download the videos, download the podcast, because this is some good stuff. It is good 

Kacie: stuff. We will see you next week. Peace. 

John: Peace out.