Are you designing your own logo and brand? Many people think DIY branding is simple, easy, and cheap. They think they can skip paying a few thousand for a brand designer. But if you’re serious about building your business, then this is a mistake. Learning how to build a brand takes a lot of skill. It’s not about making your business look pretty. It’s about creating a strategy that aligns with your business goals. Keep watching to find out why branding is a professional skill and not a DIY hobby, how you might be sabotaging your business with DIY branding, and how DIY branding can scare away your target audience.

Designing your own logo? (Why DIY branding is a bad idea)

01. Why branding is a professional skill and not a DIY hobby

The first reason why DIY branding is a bad idea for your business has to do with why branding is a professional skill and not a DIY hobby. When you think of branding, you’re probably thinking of it being pretty. That is part of design. But design is about being pretty AND strategic. So when you look at a design, although it’s pretty, it has a purpose. 

When you’re looking at a design you’re not understanding the technical aspect of design that’s used to create a strategy for businesses. The type, color, white space, and so on are used in a specific way on purpose to reach a goal. 

For example, f you’re in the fashion industry, your logo is going to be on different products. Your logo could be on bags or on clothing, so you’ll have to think about how big the logo is going to be. You’ll have to know the biggest aspect like if your logo will be on the storefront and the smallest aspect of your logo. The smallest can be on a clothing tag or on the actual clothing itself. When you’re thinking about branding, you have to think about the different goals of your business. 

02. How you might be sabotaging your business with DIY branding

The 2nd reason why DIY branding is a bad idea for your business is you might be sabotaging your business with DIY branding. You might be too into your business. As in you have your own opinions on what you think is great for your business instead of thinking from your client or customer’s perspective. I’ve worked with clients who are too into the idea they have for their brand. 

For example, you have your own favorite style and your favorite colors and you want to implement that into your brand. In some cases, you can do that. BUT you have to remember your brand is not about you, it’s about your audience. Let’s use a meditation studio as an example. Let’s say your favorite color was red and you want to use that fiery red in your branding. You use that fiery red in your studio, your website, your clothing, and other products. 

If a customer walks into your meditation studio, do you think they want to sign up for your services? When I think of a meditation studio, I think of calm and tranquility. Red is a color of passion. It’s the opposite of being calm and relaxed. So you wouldn’t want to use red for your brand even though that’s your favorite color.

Another thing is you’re not thinking about the big picture, maybe you’re just starting and you want any client now, but you have to think about where you want to be 5 to 10 years from now. You can start that process now. Instead of waiting until you have the money to create a brand, you want to be what your audience wants right now. Don’t hold off until the future thinking you’ll change it later. 

If you don’t do it now, how will you do it later? Will you have the budget later? Right now, you’re trying to position yourself in your niche as an authority, as somebody with the experience and the skills in whatever service that you’re providing. So you don’t want to make money later. You’re trying to make money right now. You’re trying to attract the clients you know you can help right now. Don’t think I’ll wait until later. If you’re just going to push it off until later, you’re just harming your business because you’re repelling the people you want to help. 

Right now, you can start by making little changes to attract your dream audience. You just need to focus on building your business foundation. If you need help building your business foundation, then check out The Ultimate Roadmap to Discover Your Brand Style. 

Did you do a lot of research before you started thinking about your brand? Let me know in the comments down below. 

03. How DIY branding can scare away your target audience

The 3rd reason why DIY branding is a bad idea for your business is you’re scaring your target audience away. When we meet someone for the first time, their visuals make our first impressions. We’re always told not to judge a book by its cover, but when that’s exactly what we do when we meet people.

This is why how you dress for an interview is important. You could be the smartest, kindest, and most personable person ever, but if you’re dressed like sweats with stains all over them, you’re not going to get hired. You get a lot of information about someone just by looking at them. Are they clean and neat? Did they comb their hair? Are they wearing light makeup or are they wearing exaggerated makeup? Looking at their clothes and their style, you’re automatically going to make some type of judgment about them. 

Once you look at them, you’re going to categorize them in some way. and you’re automatically going to have good or bad judgment. Of course, since we’re all human and know we have bad days and phases, we can change our judgments after we interact with people. Branding is the same way, your business is judged by your visuals first. Once you make a bad impression on customers, you’ll lose them. Unfortunately, with business, it’s rare when you’re given a chance to rectify the situation.

For example, if you go to a site and think it looks like you’re going to get scammed, you’re going to leave automatically. You’re not going to have time to validate yourself with content because once someone has a bad impression of your visuals and what you do, they’re gonna leave. There are so many competitors to choose from. Why do they need to take the time to search your site when they can get it easily from your competitors?  You already lost trust and credibility. It’ll take a lot of work to get someone to come back and buy from you. 

Let me tell you about Tiffany, I talked about her a few videos ago. She DIYed her brand before she came to me to design her brand and website. She knew there was a gap between what she created and what she wanted her brand to look like. It didn’t match in her mind. She didn’t really have a 100% grasp on who her target audience was. There was an idea, but she was also guessing at the same time. She needed that outside perspective to talk about her target audience and to really narrow down their interest and what they’re interested in. She had a price point in mind, but when she was looking at her brand, it really didn’t match the prices that she wanted to offer. In the end, investing in a professional designer really helped her refine her brand and create a brand with her target audience in mind. 

Why DIY branding is a bad idea summary

In the end, DIY branding is a bad idea for your business because you’re wasting your time, energy, and money. Instead of focusing on designing your own logo and brand, you should solidify your brand foundation and discover your style first. If you need help with this, you can sign up for The Ultimate Roadmap to Discover Your Brand Style. 

Just to recap, I talked about why branding is a professional skill and not a DIY hobby, how you might be sabotaging your business with DIY branding, and how DIY branding can scare away your target audience.

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