How To Develop A Brand Strategy with Amanda Guerassio
Has this thought ever crossed your mind?
“I don't have time to think about colors and fonts; I have a business to run”?
I was with you until I worked with a brand strategist.
Immediately, I knew this was a conversation I wanted to bring to you in the hopes that it would shift your perspective.
This week’s guest is Amanda Guerassio, a brand strategist and designer who partners with serial entrepreneurs, strivers, freedom seekers, and multi-passionate empire-builders to craft branding that feels right, works hard and looks awesome. She brings a holistic, structured approach to branding that helps you make your next level of business the best one yet.
So, let’s dive in!
Branding is really answering the question: Why should clients choose you?
This manifests itself through pretty much everything you do for your business, your core beliefs about it, how your visuals look, what kind of vocabulary and verbal communication you are using, and the experience you provide. All of that combines to form your reputation and is under the brand hood.
All of those pieces are part of your brand.
If you start with the core brand, you can shape the other elements to ensure you're communicating what you want to communicate as far as why people should choose you.
Why is it so important for people to dedicate time to answering questions that frame your branding?
According to Amanda, “You have a brand for your business, whether you're actively shaping it or not. So it's a matter of, is that brand actually saying what you want it to say? Or are you giving a completely wrong impression to potential customers and clients?
There's that famous quote out there. ‘People remember what you said, they won't remember what you did, but they absolutely will remember how you made them feel, and brands are the same way. So knowing how you want to make people feel, knowing. What that emotional transformation is that you want to provide to people through using your product or service, which can be so key in guarding everything you do as far as your visuals, your verbal, etc. It can only help you if you pay attention to it.”
As a time management coach, I wanted to get some clarity about how much time brand strategies take. Amanda shared
“When you have a clear brand strategy framework, when you have that clear core brand and brand guidelines, whether that's your colors, fonts, brand tone, messaging snippets, whatever. It makes your life so much easier.”
People get decision-fatigued and overwhelmed, and having a clearly aligned strategic set of brand guidelines streamlines so much, and it focuses your efforts because you can immediately discard so many other options.
I asked Amanda what other prompts she provides clients to start thinking about how to put their brand together.
Here is what she shared:
Where do you want this business to go? What is your vision for it? Why are you running this business
What is the story behind it? People connect with the story.
What do you want to be known for? What quality, vibe, or values do you want to be known for?
Who is the person that you want to work with?
What is unique about your offering? Why should they choose you? What is different about you and your background, about your process, about your particular product?
How do you want people to feel? You’ve got to put yourself in their shoes and say, where are they at in their journey that they are looking for somebody like you? What is it that they are currently feeling? Are they frustrated? Are they too busy? Are they overwhelmed? And how do you solve that? How do you get them to the more positive emotion on the other side of whatever they're struggling with?
I wholeheartedly agreed with Amanda when she said that creating a brand strategy sets you free. Creativity thrives with some parameters. Having some set guidelines actually makes you more creative.
My favorite quote from Amanda during this podcast:
“Having an outside opinion or a brand designer can really help because you can make something that looks fabulous, but if you don't have that strategy part behind it, it's still going to miss the mark with who you're trying to reach.”
At the end of the day, ask yourself, is your brand communicating what we said we wanted it to communicate to your potential clients?
Your Next Steps
If you’ve found this episode and others valuable, I’d love for you to leave a review so that we can get this podcast to many more people and help them figure out how to go from overwhelmed to under control.
Need advice on anything time management and productivity related? Schedule a free 30-minute consultation call with Chelsey so that you can create a booked-out business without burnout.
Connect with Amanda Guerassio
Website: www.studioguerassio.com
LinkedIn: Amanda Guerassio
Instagram: @studioguerassio
Connect with Chelsey Newymyer
Website: https://chelseynewmyer.com/
Instagram: @chelseyncoaching
