How To Resolve Your Brand Identity Crisis {Quickly, Holistically, & Without Embarrassment}

My brand is in flux.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been here, nor, I’m sure, will it be the last. {You do know that smart, active online brands reiterate in subtle ways every six months to year and a half, and in holistic ways every year and a half to three years?}

In fact, most of us have been here before. It’s not the greatest-feeling spot in the world but it’s the ideal place from which to consider where you and your brand are going next.Here’s what a brand identity crisis looks like in action. How many of these attributes can you identify with?

• Your tagline no longer matches your services menu, which no longer aligns with your email opt-in freebie, which no longer meshes with your visual identity. Everything feels piece-y. This is frustrating to you and you wonder how many of your right people are bouncing in 8 seconds flat because you’re not compelling enough across the board. {You don’t dare check Google Analytics to actually find out.}

• You want to blog about stuff that doesn’t snug up nicely with the previous content on your site. And you don’t want to make one of those big ‘I’m shifting gears’ announcements that {imaginary} mean people will roll their eyes at. So you don’t blog at all.

• You gasp every time someone on Twitter or Facebook links to their new creation which looks and sounds freakishly like what you’re dreaming of doing but haven’t yet pulled the trigger on. You wonder how they got inside your head, but then you remember that thing called collective consciousness that is so rampant in the blogosphere. You’re feeling the self-imposed pressure to RELAUNCH! RELAUNCH! but you know there are several foundational things that need to come into place first. You try to remind yourself that the only voice actually screaming this is the one in your head. ;)

• Your site is, quite possibly, gorgeous, but it’s hard for you to even look at anymore, like a face with whom you’ve fallen out of love. At the worst, you might be wholly embarrassed by your visual brand identity.

• Your total brand — from visuals to services to convo — no longer helps to support where you are going with your creative work in the world. You’ve come to the proverbial fork in the road: you’re itching to go one way, your brand would keep you tied to another.

How to resolve your own brand identity crisis — quickly, holistically, and without embarrassment:

• First, list out what’s wrong with your current brand presence according to you.

  Don’t just write, “My site’s color palette is all wrong.” Say what’s wrong, then give yourself 1} a reason why it no longer fits and 2} a desired direction for your course of action.

EX:

What’s wrong: “My site’s colors.”

Reason: “It uses clear, almost primary colors that feel overly straightforward and don’t invoke much curiosity.”

Desired Direction: “My clients are creative thinkers who want to feel spacious {so maybe, more white or lighter tones overall?} and are comfortable with interesting contrasts {I’m thinking, turquoise and cardamom yellow?}.”

• Second, next to each problem, write down who can fix this or help with fixing it. 

  Identify your resources and pinpoint the best-fitting helper or fixer for each item. You? A web designer? A WP tech expert? Your art student cousin? Your very best client? A copywriter?

• Third, record your minimum and maximum budget for each branding fix.

  For instance, to get a decent site or blog redesign from an experienced and talented professional, you’re going to invest at least $1500 for a template customization, but expect to pay at least $3000 or more for a really custom, complete solution {note: this does not include features such as a shopping cart or a membership gateway}.

  With copywriters, you can find newbies who are billing $50/hour for projects, or you can find more experienced writers who understand online markets who charge $500 for a search engine optimized About page, or thousands of dollars for a sales page.

  For each Branding To Do, ask yourself, what’s the smallest reasonable amount for me to invest in this fix? What’s the largest amount I can comfortably afford? 

  {If your budget doesn’t match your taste, it’s time to focus on growing your existing business for a while longer before you jump into full-scale changes.}

• Fourth, prioritize each change.

  What matters the most to you? What matters the most to your right people? In light of that, what absolutely needs to happen first, second, third, and so on, so you continue to make forward progress in a powerful way before your brand is totally revamped?

  Most active business owners don’t have the luxury of pressing pause for very long while they reiterate. Think efficient, elegant solutions rolled out in an orderly fashion that makes intuitive sense to your right people.

  For me, the first two changes that had to happen were rewriting my This Is Me and Is This You pages a couple weeks ago, months before my visual identity will change. Why these pages? This Is Me {what I call my About page} portrays the work I do with clients, shows where my experience comes from, and is loaded with my personality. Some essentials relating to the work I do have changed considerably since I launched Abby Kerr Ink in February 2010, so This Is Me had to change immediately.

  Also, the reality of who my right people are — the people I want to serve through my work — has become considerably more nuanced and specific over the past two years. It was high time for an updated Is This You page.

  Other pieces that will fall into place later, along with my visual brand identity revamp: tweaked business name and new tagline, multiple new blog series, a new free e-course {you voted on it back here, remember?}, new services with new client intake processes, virtual courses, and some creative collaborations with other online business owners.

• Fifth, implement the changes one by one, in the order they need to happen.

  Create a relaunch calendar. Don’t look back.

  Be patient with yourself and remember that your brand isn’t the only one who’s having an identity crisis. It can and will be resolved.

  Don’t downgrade what you’ve already done and where you’ve gotten because of it.

  The most important thing to do during a brand identity crisis? Stay connected with your audience. Keep your online conversation rolling. Keep promoting your existing services until you need to make room for new ones to take their places.

  Stay open to opportunities that come your way and don’t put them off until you’ve arrived {again}. Even when you’re in shift-mode, you have much to teach and share.

Are you in a brand identity crisis of your own?

What’s one thing you can identify about your brand that needs to change, how do you know it needs to change {hint: this ties in to serving your right people}, and what’s the direction you desire to move it in?