Business Building - Branding

Today its the first instalment of another new blog topic - every third Wednesday of the month we'll be looking at 'Business Building'. It's a chance to learn something about running an Etsy shop, and it might be focused on Etsy itself, or it might be a broader look at running a business. It's going to be similar to our old 'Be An Expert' posts - which you can look back on here: Be An Expert Posts.

For now we're going to look at marketing - focusing on your branding. Etsy provided a huge marketing resource in Autumn 2017 to help you with your marketing strategy. Go here to see the list, and click on each chapter title to learn more about it: https://www.etsy.com/uk/seller-handbook/article/the-ultimate-guide-to-marketing/211784836636

Building Your Brand

In the first chapter the article touches on your branding. It's such an important step that we're going to talk about it some more. Branding is way more than just your logo. It's about what your message is, who your customers are, and how they will recognise your shop and products.

Fiona Humberstone has written a couple of great books on branding, and you can find out about her here: https://thebrand-stylist.com/

In the books she talks you through ways to plan your brand, like working out your brand intention and judging who your target customers are. She talks about colour psychology, fonts, photography styles, and more. As well as your logo. So those are great resources if you really want to delve deeply into your branding.

However if you'd like a quick few ideas to get working on right away, here's a more pared-back overview of creating a brand, in the Etsy Seller Handbook: https://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/how-to-create-a-brand-identity-for-your/22930346711

Don't panic about your branding. It doesn't have to be perfect right away. Your brand is allowed to grow and develop as you find your niche. But branding also shouldn't be ignored - try little steps at a time.

Today look at your logo, and see if it's saying what you want it to say abut your business. Next week take a look at your packaging. Then think about your voice in the way you respond to customers, or in your shop announcement, or on your social media. Each small step will be building towards a better brand and a business your customers want to keep coming back to!

If you have any questions about branding, or you want to try things out on your team members before releasing them to the world, then start a topic over on the team forum here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/teams/14319/dorset-etsy-team or tag #dorsetteam on social media!

We will be back next week with the last of our new blog topics, see you then!