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Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller (book review)

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Donald Miller’s StoryBrand process is a proven solution to the struggle business leaders face when talking about their businesses. This revolutionary method for connecting with customers provides readers with the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret for helping their customers understand the compelling benefits of using their products, ideas, or services. Building a StoryBrand does this by teaching readers the seven universal story points all humans respond to; the real reason customers make purchases; how to simplify a brand message so people understand it; and how to create the most effective messaging for websites, brochures, and social media.

Whether you are the marketing director of a multibillion dollar company, the owner of a small business, a politician running for office, or the lead singer of a rock band, Building a StoryBrand will forever transform the way you talk about who you are, what you do, and the unique value you bring to your customers.

I’ve studied copy writing before, so I know the benefits of using a story in your marketing copy. This book, however, dives deep into the story to show you how to tell it well and maximize your efforts. Then it goes a step forward with some suggestions on how to implement your story in your website, promotional materials, newsletter, etc.

I love the book. The explanations are clear and easy to replicate, and the examples are easy to understand. I’ve been brand-less for a while. Now I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned and to see what I can do with the information I’ve gleaned form this book.

Pick up your own copy here!

The Best Free or Cheap Tools for DIYing Your Visual Brand by Sierra Kellermeyer

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Just because you’ve decided to design your visual brand yourself, doesn’t mean you need to start from scratch. There are plenty of free or cheap tools created by designers that can save you time and energy and help make your DIYed visual brand look professional.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Graphics Software

Everyone has probably heard of Canva – right now it’s a fan favorite among DIYers. While it’s a good choice for those who want simple graphics and don’t want to spend much time learning new software, it is limited in its capabilities.

If you’re willing to put in some time learning some more robust software, I suggest looking at some of Adobe’s options. Adobe’s software is the industry standard in almost every digital visual media, which means tutorials and walkthroughs are available in any format you could want.

You can download any of their software for a 7-day free trial to try them out.

My top suggestions are:

Adobe Illustrator – good for creating logos, icons, and illustrations

Adobe Photoshop – a versatile tool that can handle pretty much any image format, but can’t create scalable vectors like Illustrator

If you do decide to continue using the programs after 7 days, you can get Photoshop for $10/mo through Adobe’s photography bundle, and/or get Adobe Illustrator for $20/mo.

I suggest using either of them over Canva because they handle outside resources like fonts, illustrations, and logos more easily.

Logos

Unless you have an eye for design, I don’t suggest designing your logo completely on your own. Instead, you can buy a template from Creative Market for under $30 and customize it to match your color palette and name. By working from a template, you ensure your logo looks professional without having to pay for custom design work.

(Also be sure to sign up to CreativeMarket’s mailing list to receive 6 free resources every Monday.)

Fonts

FontSquirrel is the best font resource I’ve found in my 13+ years of designing. All of their cataloged fonts are free (with the occasional low-priced option), and specifically free for commercial use, so they can be legally used for your business.

FontSquirrel has plenty of options, but if you want a font that’s a little more unique for headers or a special graphic, CreativeMarket has some great reasonably priced options.

Color Palettes

Thankfully you don’t have to pay to use certain colors, but if you need help coming up with a color palette that works together, check out ColourLovers. Users upload color palettes, complete with the hex code you can use in your website or design software, which makes it easy to browse palettes, find one you like, and implement it in your visual brand.

Photos

Finding commercially-free photos can be a challenge for business owners, but UnSplash and Pexels have libraries you can browse of photos submitted by photographers that can be used commercially for free. And if you need a photo of a specific object or scene, try looking on CreativeMarket before heading to the pricier stock photo websites.

Icons

Finding nice icons can really help bring your website or graphic together, which is why I love IconFinder. They have cheap and free options for icons of various topics. Just be sure to click “For Commercial Use” under the License Type filter.

That’s it! With just these few resources, you can design a professional visual brand without breaking the bank.

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Sierra Kellermeyer who helps business owners who are tired of their marketing efforts pulling “okay” results. She helps them stand out online by designing a noteworthy visual brand that attracts their ideal clients effortlessly. She says, “My favorite part of brand design is the marriage of creativity and strategy. I’m not simply creating something beautiful, I’m creating something beautiful that works and has a purpose.”

There’s a lot of misconception about visual branding, with people thinking it’s just about looking good, but it’s more than that. “Your visual brand is a communication tool, and if you’re only trying to make something that looks nice, rather than telling your audience about your business, you’re missing out.”

Sierra will be sharing her visual branding tips in February, May, August, and November. In the meantime, you can find her online at:

https://www.skellermeyerdesigns.com/
https://www.facebook.com/skellermeyerdesigns2014/

What to Focus on When Designing Your Visual Brand by Sierra Kellermeyer

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Your business is new, or you know you need to update your visual brand, but based on your budget, you know you’re going to have to design it yourself.

That can be an intimidating prospect, but before you start creating something just based on what looks good to you, I have a few tips for what you should be focusing on when designing your visual brand.

Communication

What do you want your visual brand to tell your potential clients about your business?

Your visual brand is, in its most basic form, communication. Instead of communicating in words, you’re communicating through color and imagery. Those words and imagery have implied meanings based on culture and psychology. You want to utilize those implied meanings to tell your potential clients about your business.

For example, if you run a yoga studio, you probably want to focus on cool colors, because they make people feel calm and relaxed. But if you run an arcade, bright, vibrant colors that feel energetic are going to be a better choice.

As you’re making decisions for your visual brand, ask yourself, “What will this make my potential clients assume about my business?”

Professionalism

Designing your visual brand yourself to save money is great when you’re starting out or you have a tight budget, but that doesn’t mean you should accept unprofessional-looking designs.

Buying cheap templates from websites such as CreativeMarket.com is a great, budget-friendly way to ensure your visual brand looks professional.

A polished, but slightly cliche or unoriginal, visual brand will make a better impression on your potential clients than an original but sloppy one.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to have an original AND highly professional visual brand, but templates are great until you can afford to hire a designer.

Unity

As your visual brand comes together, keep looking at all of your graphics together. Do they look like they’re all related? Does your logo have nothing in common with your web banners? Do you leave out your core brand color on your business cards?

One of the jobs of your visual brand is to connect positive experiences with your business together.

For example, if you meet someone, and they seem interested in your services, and you hand them a business card, they should be able to remember that experience when they see your post on social media.

By tieing those two experiences together, with a business card and social media post that look connected,  you’re making it easier for people to remember your business. Instead of relying on one impression to convince your potential clients to work with you, you’re building a sequence of good impressions on your audience that are easily remembered because of your unified visual brand.

I hope you found these tips helpful, and you’re able to think bigger than just trying to make a visual brand that looks good, and make one that’s communicative, professional, and unified.

—

Sierra Kellermeyer who helps business owners who are tired of their marketing efforts pulling “okay” results. She helps them stand out online by designing a noteworthy visual brand that attracts their ideal clients effortlessly. She says, “My favorite part of brand design is the marriage of creativity and strategy. I’m not simply creating something beautiful, I’m creating something beautiful that works and has a purpose.”

There’s a lot of misconception about visual branding, with people thinking it’s just about looking good, but it’s more than that. “Your visual brand is a communication tool, and if you’re only trying to make something that looks nice, rather than telling your audience about your business, you’re missing out.”

Sierra will be sharing her visual branding tips in February, May, August, and November. In the meantime, you can find her online at:

https://www.skellermeyerdesigns.com/
https://www.facebook.com/skellermeyerdesigns2014/

ABOUT ME

Editor. Teacher. Novelist.
A passionate lover of fiction, Karin doesn't just write novels, she helps others write their best stories! A certified substantive editor with the Christian Editor Connection, her goal is to help authors to put her out of business by equipping them with the tools they need to become better writers.

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Copywriting

Karin understood my advertising and marketing writing needs and accomplished the project in record time. She asked all the right questions up front to equip herself with enough … [more]

Editing

Substantive Fiction Editing: A substantive edit looks at the big picture. Start here to tackle the big issues before moving on to the nit-picky details. Substantive edits not only point out … [more]

Author Page

Lover of all things fiction, I also love University of Michigan football, the Detroit Lions, Tigers, and Red Wings, kayaking, gluten-free cupcakes, and my husband.

Resources

Press Release Tool Kit Stop waiting and hoping for people to notice you and your organization! With this Press Release Tool Kit, you’ll learn to apply the step-by-step process I use to … [more]