Brand Style Guides – why they are so important to small business

You might have heard this buzz word “brand style guide” floating around before but are not too certain what it means or how you get one. A brand style guide is a document set in place that outlines a set of rules to how the design of your marketing collateral and any correspondence might be presented. These are the items you should look at having in your style guide to ensure continuity across all platforms.
 

Your logo

You have had your logo designed. Great! But you should now think about how it should be displayed. Generally a logo is designed to sit on a white background (not all of the time but in a high percentage of cases it is), this means you should not allow it to sit on a background of similar colours, or any background where the quality of the logo might be compromised. If you have circumstances where your logo may need to sit on another colour other than white this is where your rules can come into place. In most cases people will have another version of their logo, possibly in plain black or white to take its place. If you don’t want a secondary logo to take its place, no problem – your rule can be the logo must always sit on white. 

If you have an icon with your logo you might have rules set in place as to when and how this is used, similarly to using a byline with your logo. Some brands include a spacing rule – e.g. the logo must have 25% of space around it before anything else or the edge of its medium as an example.

 

Fonts

A good design would normally stick to 1-2 fonts at the most, 3 at a push. This is not to say you can’t use different styles from the family, but don’t go crazy. For example if Helvetica is your chosen font family perhaps you take advantage of Helveticas different styles: bold, condensed, roman and oblique. Up to you, but the most powerful brands are simple and don’t over complicate things by having too many fonts. To set these up on your style guide you might specify what each font/style is used for.

Headings: Helvetica Bold + Condensed
Sub-Headings: Helvetica Condensed
Body-Text: Helvetica Roman
Quotes: Helvetica Light + Oblique
Byline: Amperzand

2 fonts, 4 styles

Not all fonts are web safe – which means not all of them, can be used online, so make sure you think about what fonts are going to be used on your web applications as well as print so you don’t end up over cluttering your brand.

Colour

A brand might have anywhere between 1-3 primary colours plus white. You can specify how these colours are used in your brand style guide. If you wish your colours to be consistent and plan on using it on a large variety of different platforms you may want to look at getting a spot colour. A spot colour never changes, where a colour made from CMYK can vary from printer to printer and each time it prints as plates can move slightly and change the tone. So if you are adamant you want a specific colour with no room for variance ask your designer to use a spot/pantone colour instead of CMYK. Once you have your colours sorted specify them in your brand style guide so that anyone who needs it knows exactly what and how they are to be used.

Icons and Images

If you have had some icons or images made for your brand you should specify guidelines as to how they are used. For example there may be spacing issues, or perhaps when one image is used another mustn’t be. One image might be used with one of your products consistently where another might not. You might have backgrounds designed for different platforms, one for packaging one for advertising and one for web. This is very specific to you brand, but something to think about to ensure continuity is kept across all media.

Your brand style guide is unique to you; you can include whatever you feel necessary to ensure continuity is kept wherever your brand appears. You can include emotions and buzz words if it helps  “our brand is fun, quirky and whimsical aimed at children 5-10” these are good points of reference if you ever feel your brand is straying from where it began refer back to these thoughts to reign it back in. Strong design is so important in small business, especially those just starting out to gain traction and credibility without the years of experience behind it. It doesn’t have to big – even a single A4 sheet with a few guidelines would help. You have spent the time and energy creating this brand; think of it as maintaining and servicing to ensure the best output it can possibly get.

5 basic SEO tips your first website shouldn’t be without

When looking to hire a web designer it is good to know a few basic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) techniques so you don’t end up hiring a lemon! An SEO website is a website that is coded well for search engines like Google to be able to find your site when someone searches for content that your site relates to. It is very important your site has a good mix between SEO and visual graphics to obtain the best results.

Tip 1. Page Titles

When using Google search results the page title is the blue link that appears first in the listings; it lets people know who you are and what you do or more specifically what each page is about. When viewing a website these sit in the browser tab. Keep these short and keyword rich (words you think people might search that has to do with your company). Make sure every page you have has a different page title!! Google doesn’t like repeated content, and you want to maximise your keyword reach.

This is what the piece of code looks like that sits in your <head> tags:

<title>Your Company | A brief description of what you do</title>

Tip 2. Description

This is a slightly longer summary about each page and its content. The summary sits below the URL when a search result comes up. The words that people search often get highlighted in this summary, so make sure it contains plenty of searchable words you think people might use when looking for someone who provides your service or product.

This is what the piece of code looks like that sits in your <head> tags:

<meta name="Description" content="Put your summary in here, think of all the words associated with you company and put them in a sentence. Avoid commas."/>

Tip 3. Keywords

Each page should be targeted towards a different keyword. Your web designer has the opportunity to list keywords with commas on each page which should help optimise it. Don’t repeat these keywords on each page, each page should be targeted to a new topic to optimise your results.

This is what the piece of code looks like that sits in your <head> tags:

<meta name="Keywords" content="List your keywords, keyword rich, keyword optimisation, SEO, online SEO, search engine optimisation, key word" />

Tip 4. Page URL

This is the name given to each page; it should be short, no more than 4 words and use a dash (-) to separate words if you have more than one. This should be specific to what this page in your website is based on, use keywords!

E.g www.yourcompany.co.nz/unique-page-url.html

Tip 5. Submit a sitemap

This is something that happens at the end of your site build. A sitemap indexes each page and creates a web plan of what pages link to each other. 
You can get it done for free here: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ and then ask your web designer to submit it to your webmaster tools.

Side Tip. Google analytics and webmaster tools help you see how your site is performing; you can view who is going on your site, how long they are spending, what they are searching and from there better optimise your site. It doesn’t directly give you a better SEO website, but it is a good idea to have it.

You can set up a free account here: http://www.google.co.nz/analytics/
If you are going to do this though please let your web designer know beforehand as they need to install the tracking code into each page you wish to track. It’s a bit of a pain to install it after they have completed it.

I’m sure you have already been spammed by the many companies claiming to be SEO experts who can get you to the top of search results. But the truth is Google changes the rules surrounding SEO constantly just so people can’t cheat their way to being first on the list. The BEST ways to have your site showing up in results is relevant content, updating it frequently and inbound links. Have a content rich site, with great headings and plenty of information on each page, and then refresh it occasionally. Sites that sit with the same content for a long time go stale and start to drop in rank. Refreshing content shows search engines the site is still being used and will be relevant to searchers. Advertise your site everywhere - put links to it in as many places as possible. Social media is a great start and call popular bloggers attention to the site if relevant.

Don’t ever repeat content and don’t try and trick Google by hiding content or colouring it the same colour as the background – whatever trick you think of, they have too and your site will be penalised if/when they find out.

These 5 tips are the very basics of SEO for the web. If your web designer hasn’t got these sorted then remind them it is what you are wanting and they should be able to input the code for you.

 

Finding the right Graphic Designer for you

When searching for a graphic designer to hire it can seem overwhelming at first; there are many fresh faced designers born every minute and everyone’s portfolio looks amazing (it should they only put their best work forward, possibly work that isn’t even for a real customer). So how do you decide who you should hire for your business without ending up with:

• The Unreliable Designer.
  Whose auto reply to everything is “I’ll get it to you tomorrow”
• The Head in the Clouds Designer.
  Off in their own world, you ask for soft and delicate and they give you back heavy metal
• The Scrooge McDuck Designer.
  You want how much for a 1 page leaflet? My first born you say? Well I have no prior knowledge so if that is what it costs…
  
  

To avoid these pitfalls and develop the relationship you want with the right designer, you must look at who they are outside of graphic design. I know you want someone who is going to design incredible graphics for you, but if you have seen their portfolio and it doesn’t look like your dog drew it then chances are they have the degree, and the experience to do it no trouble. What you really are looking for is business behaviour; are they professional enough to complete a project from start to finish and give you what you need?

Referrals

If you have friends or colleagues who have used a designer before ask them who they hired, they might have used someone they loved and can recommend. Referrals are the best way to get any business, your friends and colleagues will give honest opinions of their experiences and if you are happy enough with their opinion then go ahead and enquire with the designer. If they get back to you immediately you know you are important to them.

Websites

Try a suitable Google search; type in “Graphic Designers ‘Your Location” or “Freelance Designer”. Most designer’s will have their own website, if they don’t it makes it a little more difficult to gauge who they are. Check out their site - do you like the tone of it? Is it friendly and approachable and does it suit who you are and what you want? Try and find a designers site that matches your style and the project you need. A formal project might require a formal designer, a fun and quirky project might need a bubbly, creative designer.

Online Directories

Online Directories like Finda and Yellow will have lists of companies that do design under the industry. This is a little more risky as you do get whatever anyone has put up there. The golden rule is though if you try and contact a designer and they couldn’t seem less interested in you, or they take longer than 24 hours to get back to you – forget them. If they can’t put the effort in to gain your business, you can be sure they aren’t going to put the effort in to keep it either. 

Finding the right Graphic Designer for you is tough, but worth it in the long run.
It’s like buying a puppy - You want a good breed that fits into your lifestyle, gives you the loyalty and attention you need, doesn't cost a fortune and doesn’t make a mess on your project.

Working from Home – How to Avoid Cabin Fever

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

I have been working from home for a little over a year now, and lots of people say to me oh how do you do it I just couldn’t stay motivated. And it’s true staying motivated is tough, but I think being a person driven by guilt (not always healthy but in this case it helps) has given me the drive to get out of pyjamas every day. I am one of those people who if I’m not busy doing something or improving or learning then I start to feel guilty like I am wasting time. Which is a feeling I started to feel guilty about having after reading The Busy Trap  I feel guilty for feeling like I need to be busy – how confusing.

Anyway if you’re not driven by that guilt like me here are a few tips to stay motivated:

1. Set up a work space, put up posters or pictures or whatever gets you inspired. This is a work space and work space only; don’t let kid’s toys or anything else interrupt this space. It should look professional.
   
   
2. Set an alarm. Get up on time every day, whether you plan to hit the gym first or not. Get up at the same time every day so you start at the same time every day.
   
   
3. Plan your days. Get up, get ready, check personal emails, start work on time. 10 minute mid-morning break, lunch, 10 minute mid-afternoon break, finish - turn the computer off.
   
   
4. Don’t procrastinate, it is exactly the same as if you were at an office, except worse – your boss is you! If you fail your boss, you fail. Period. There is no safety net.
   
   
5. Play music! Have the radio going rather than discs or ipod if possible, I find the talking in-between songs feels like I have work mates... It’s true!
   
   
6.  Make time to schedule outings. Whether it is a quick coffee for a meeting, with a friend or picking up supplies. Make sure you get out of the house. Just don’t let a quick excursion become hours at the mall or beach.
   
   
7. Talk to yourself. I know this sounds verge of cabin fever, but saying what you think out loud means you get to use your voice and exercise your throat muscles. It also means you’ll be less likely to chew your flat mates/partners ear off when they walk in the door.
   
   
8. Turn off Facebook! It is the biggest distraction ever invented - I swear to you! Allow yourself to check it only once or twice and each time log off and shut the browser. I’m serious! Don’t leave it sitting in a tab, it’s too tempting to open and have a peak and before you know it hours have dribbled away.
   
   

There are good and bad points about every job and every working situation, working from home is no different. It has its up sides and down sides, yes you have to work alone so if you crave and rely on workmates to get you through it’s probably not for you. But if you want the freedom of being your own boss, then give it a go – it might be the best thing you ever do!