Branding Your Freelance Business

If you are a solopreneur, branding yourself is key. You want to make a statement and interest people while being true to who you are as a person and a professional. No matter your niche, creating a brand for yourself is important! But how do you do that as a freelancer and not be, well, boring? I found an article on Entrepeneur.com that gave some great ideas.

Be Visual

Take a second and think about logos?what ones stand out in your mind? That adorable apple with a bite taken out of it? The swoosh that signifies Nike? That little Twitter bird? These logos are simple, and that?s what makes them memorable.

She named her baking company, Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott. It?s whimsical and funny because, clearly, a bird can?t bake. But that?s why it?s memorable!

You can be memorable too?just remember to be simple. Is there something about your name that is visual? There?s a real estate agent in town named Dani O?Halloran. Dani uses a shamrock for her logo, which makes her stand out?especially since we live in an area where French last names are more prevalent than Irish or Scottish ones.

There?s a baker I know named Jessica Parrott. She named her baking company, Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott. It?s whimsical and funny because, clearly, a bird can?t bake. But that?s why it?s memorable! Another friend, an event consultant, has such a weird name?Antonia Opitz?that it?s terribly difficult to remember unless you grew up with her (like I did). She calls her company Standing O, capitalizing on the first letter in her last name. Her logo is super simple and stunning, a perfect white circle inside of an orange square.

Be Tweetable

Nothing Bakes Like a Parrott is a long Twitter name (and she goes by @jessparrott anyway) but I can bet you?ll never come across another Twitter handle like it. You need to make sure your Twitter name is YOU and not already used by someone else.

If you are coming up with a brand name and concept, you have to think about social media.

Look?what happened to Netflix when they didn?t check if their chosen spinoff brand name, Qwikster, was available on Twitter. It turned out to be already taken by someone who wanted to post about their drug use. ?Entrepreneur.com

Do your research! Check the domain name, Facebook page, Twitter, you name it for the name you want to use before you move forward. You don?t want to spend hours and days coming up with a concept for a brand name that already exists somewhere else.

Many times, if someone already owns the domain name you want to use for your site, you can contact them to see if they will sell it to you. It could cost you an arm and a leg?so if you don?t have the money to spend you?d better have some backup ideas.

Have Fun

Not to harp on Jessica Parrott or anything, but her brand is fun! Leave the boring logos and names to more serious businesses?like financial consultants or the like. Use your brand to showcase YOU!

You don?t have to have a really cool job to look like you?re having fun doing it. Have you heard of Grammar Girl? She?s built a cool and fun brand around writing tips. Now, writing tips and grammar aren?t the most exciting of topics, but Grammar Girl has made them fun and cool by branding herself in a quirky way. The site, www.quickanddirtytips.com, uses fun characters for each of their expert bloggers like the Get-It-Done Guy, Mighty Mommy, Legal Lad, and The Math Dude. These characters are way more fun than head shots?and really, who doesn?t want to be turned into an adorable drawing?

Be Consistent

When you finally create your branding strategy?use it! You?ve worked hard, now make it work for you. Create some business cards for yourself, stationery and envelopes, a sign if you have a storefront, or even some cool swag for your friends and family. Make your logo your Twitter and Facebook profile picture?and keep it! Studies show that keeping a consistent social media profile picture helps people to recognize you, instead of changing your head shot each time you get a new haircut.

You should be ready to live with this branding for a long time, so make sure it?s really representative of who you are. Try not to be too trendy?they never stick around for too long and you don?t want to date yourself. It?s easier to get rid of a trendy piece of clothing after a season or two, it?s something else entirely to redesign your website.

Photo credit: Some rights reserved by xilius.

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