This may be because I spent so many years in the culinary industry where the presentation of what you put on a plate is a big part of distinguishing yourself, but I love the “presentation” side of owning a business. Branding, packaging, and print goods are a super important part of whether your business is perceived in a professional manner (that taking for granted that you’re already conducting your business professionally, of course!)
I feel like right now, I’m at that point where I’m settling in to what my branding needs to be, but adding little polishing touches to make it stand out. I love that. What have you done for your branding for your business lately? You can see I’ve tweaked mine just a tiny bit this week to include feathers. I’m not sure if I’ll be using these exact ones, but I know they’ll be staying for sure!
I really believe your company branding and goods should change and evolve over time – just as time doesn’t stand still, culture swings, people grow and evolve, it’s ok for a business to undergo tweaks in how they do things and present their goods. In fact, it helps you stay relevant and connect with your target buyer. It’s amazing how much things have changed the last few years. More and more things happen in real time without delays, and people are impatient.
Here are a couple of tips for tweaking your branding to stay relevant but making sure that you stay true to your identity.
1.) Decide what features define your brand. Those need to be constants. What principles and style are at the root of your company, products or style? Once you’ve decided on those basics, use that as a filter to ask yourself if your branding updates fit with that identity. For example, my company tag line is “modern style, vintage soul.” This branding update fits that identity because it incorporates goods like tissue, stitching, and twine from the past, with bright pops of color and a modern, clean cut to the feather.
2.) Try to decide early on in your branding what colors really speak to you and don’t wander too far from them. I’ve chosen a couple of my all time favorite colors, and any updates that I do, still stick with those colors.
3.) Remember to keep things clean and streamlined to make it easy to package each order the same. Vintage inspired art journal collage tags are awesome, but they take a lot of time. That takes away from time you can spend on your actual product or other marketing related tasks.
I hope these three tips have given you a bit to think about today! It’s a great time of the year to think about freshening up the presentation of your packaging and branding goods to keep your customers excited about seeing your goods arrive on their doorstep.
For more interesting business tips specifically for women in handmade business, be sure to check in on the Women and Handmade Business category on the blog! I’ll be updating the sidebar links soon to make this easier to find. Some of the topics I’ve already addressed include crafting a great About Me page, and why I chose Etsy for my handmade business. I’m so excited for how this is evolving, even if it’s a bit more slowly than I’d like! I’ve learned over the years that the best things take time…
Gia Lau says
I love your feathers- isn’t it interesting that even though crafters and artisans have been using-ahem (stutter) actual feathers for centuries–feather motifs made from other materials are now trending.I’ve seen paper, washi tape, fabric, vellum just for a few ideas! They look great with your “brand.” Thanks for this little gem of a post!
leah says
Thanks so much, Gia! It’s true – it is interesting to see them make a comeback along with so many other things along with the handmade movement!