Branding For Creative Entrepreneurs Checklist

When it comes to branding for creative entrepreneurs, it’s either sink or swim!

These days it feels almost impossible to stand out among all the other products and businesses out there…I’ve even talked to creatives that made the decision to change the product they were so excited to sell because ‘the market is too saturated’ (this seems crazy to me!).

However, these artists have it all wrong. It’s not about WHAT you sell…it’s how you sell it, and how you present yourself as a brand.

By creating a unique brand identity for your business, you’ll not only stand out easily in an oversaturated market (hellllooo, most markets lol), but it will be easier to find your ideal customer online and also help them find you!

Even simple and basic branding will also allow you to create a ride or die community that will help carry you to success!

Heard enough? Keep reading to find out how you can start building your creative brand so you can shine in the market instead of blending in.

THE ESSENCE OF BRANDING FOR CREATIVE MINDS

So what IS branding anyways, and why is branding important? Well, branding is just a fancy way of saying, ‘Your specific and special way of presenting your business and product that makes it crystal clear why the customer should buy from YOU and not your competitor who is selling something similar/almost identical’. ;)

We are not just talking logo design here…of course, branding includes the visual side of things like your website, packaging, logo, colors, photography, etc. And yeah, that stuff matters too! But only to an extent.

Your unique brand identity includes everything from your mission statement, to the way you talk about your products, the story behind your business, your customer service…..it’s so much more than just the VISUAL side.

Your brand goes far beyond just your logo, it actually encapsulates the entire customer experience.

Now that you understand what a creative brand entails, how do you go about creating one for your own sassy business? (You didn’t think I was going to leave you hanging, did you? :) )

Let's break it all down and start the process of crafting a business brand you can’t wait to get in front of people!

IDENTIFY YOUR CREATIVE SPARK:DEFINING BRAND IDENTITY

First thing’s first. If you want to define your brand identity, you’re going to have to dig a little deeper by figuring out the core values, mission, and vision of your business!

This will soon become the foundation and basis of EVERY decision and move that you’ll make in your business - ever.

…but no pressure LOL!

Let’s make this easy by breaking down each piece down and simplifying it:

1. Define your business mission

You might not think that your creative business really has a mission. I felt this way at first! Initially, my goal was just to support myself with my art…basically just make money while making stuff I love (and not having a 9-5 day job was an added perk of course).

On the surface, you might feel the same about becoming a creative entrepreneur. But I want to encourage you to push your thought process a step further so you can really understand how to stand out in your market. 

There is ALWAYS a reason why you create something (even if it’s not obvious at first). 

Over time, I realized that the reason I wanted to have a craft business was to do everything I mentioned above, but ALSO because I love the energy and slow process behind creating something by hand. 

I realized that I wanted to not only prove to myself and others that I could build a profitable handmade business, but to encourage others to do the same by following their passion and creating something from nothing. 

The mission and goal of my craft business is now to inspire and educate artists to build a business and make a living selling their craft.

Your mission might be to inspire, or to create a recognizable brand that people can trust, or to bring awareness to a cause, etc, but I’m sure if you really think about it, you’ll discover it.

As you start to piece together your brand identity, consider not only what really makes you passionate about starting a creative business, but the REAL reason behind your motivation to create it.

2. Define your business vision

This may be a little overlap with your mission here, but your business vision looks much more into the FUTURE goals of your creative business.

What type of company are you aiming to design? What will your end product suite look like? How are customers perceiving your products and business? What goals are you wanting to achieve…these are just a few of the questions you can ask yourself to begin developing your vision statement.

3. Define your core values

The values of your business can vary widely and are highly personal. It all depends on what you stand for as an individual.

Your core values might include words like well-being, communication, education or transparency. But this also comes back to what you’re passionate about! 

Personally, I’ve gotten screwed over financially by creative marketplace sites, as well as told that I wouldn’t ever make enough money to survive running a handmade business.

Because of that, two of my values are education and inspiration. I want to help others get past the hurdles I went through faster, and I also want to inspire them to start a handmade business of their own.

Once you’ve written out your values, you can use these principles to guide every future action and decision. Think of it as your moral roadmap that exists to keep you true to yourself as well as consistently on track.

Speak to the Right Audience: Understanding Your Market

Without thinking too hard, what is the most important element of your creative business? Spoiler, it’s not your logo! ;)

That would be your audience. Your following. Your biggest die-hard fans. The ones who, without them, your business wouldn’t exist. Yeah…kind of important!!

YET….failing to research your target audience before creating a product or start building your brand has to be the biggest, most impactful, most common, and SILLIEST mistake I see new craft artists make when getting started!

Imagine going to write a social media post about your product…how do you know who you’re talking to? Sure, you can just make a generic post promoting it, but you’re missing out on powerfully connecting with your ideal customer.

(This is why knowing how to how to find your craft business niche is SO important!)

Check out the difference when promoting a set of silver earrings and bracelet:

Owner who has not done market research:

“These classic earrings are made from sterling silver, 2” long, and lightweight. We offer no-fuss clasps and tarnish-free design. Matches perfectly with our beautiful silver bangle bracelet.”

Owner who knows their exact audience (fashionable and busy working moms):

“Rushing out the door every day to work and school drop off, but still want to look put together? This matching earring and silver bangle set can be thrown on in seconds and goes with every outfit! Our patented no-fuss clasps and tarnish-free design allows you dress quickly and fashionably, so you can go live your best and busy life without worrying about ruining your jewelry.”

Get it now?

If you were a busy working mom, which description would appeal more to you? THAT is the power of speaking directly to your customer, and that is also how you create a die-hard following that will purchase over and over, and support you for years to come.

This goes beyond just social media or a listing description. Weaving audience specific language into every part of your business is absolutely essential. This will ensure that they understand how and why your specific product is perfect for your them (vs your competitors product!)

You can see how doing even minimal market research to find your target customers can impact so much of your future success!

Craft Your Brand Story and Voice

The next step for creating your irresistable brand is to develop an authentic message that resonates with your ideal customer. We want someone to stumble across your brand and immediately feel like your products were made just for them!

 The best way to do that is through your brand story and brand voice.

Your brand story is just that…the story behind your brand, and why your business exists. This can also encompass your mission statement.

Your brand voice is more about the way you speak to your audience and also how and where you speak to them. This is all about showing off your unique personality and in my opinion, making your brand a lot more fun!

Obviously understanding WHO your audience is will be insanely help when figuring out your brand voice and you just did that, so look at you ;).

Having this brand voice is crucial in being able to connect with the right audience because having thousands of followers and subscribers is amazing, but if they’re not the right audience and don’t vibe with the way you present your products…don’t plan on making many sales.

Now, to create your own brand story and voice ask yourself these questions:

Brand Story:

1. What is your mission statement?

2. What do you stand for?

3. What is it that your customers care about? Touch on that.

4. Why is your business/product different

Brand Voice:

1. Who is your ideal customer? 

2. What type of language and style would appeal and speak to them?

3. Do they prefer short form social media posts or longer, informative blog posts?

4. Where would they most likely be hanging out online/in real life to receive your message (hint: post there!)

Play around with these until they feel extremely good and true to you. If you feel any hesitation or as if anything is forced, everything about the future of your business will also feel…off. We don’t want that. Make sure you’re excited about your brand story and voice!

Once you develop those two elements of your creative brand, you’ll be well on your way to standing out in even the most saturated markets.

Visual Identity and Style: More Than Just Aesthetics

Alright, now that we got all that research and thinking business out of the way, LET’S GET TO THE FUN STUFF!!! Your logo ;) Ok, but of course more than just your logo, we want to talk about your entire brand aesthetic.

The visual identity of your creative business is one of the first things your customer will notice about your brand. You have a limited time to capture their attention and get them to want to learn more about what you’re offering.

The best way to start developing your aesthetic is to create a brand style guide. Think of it as the visual equivalent of your brand’s mission statement. 

Whenever you’re not sure of what decision to make, go back to the guide and it will ensure you stay consistent with your branding.

Now - why is consistency important when it comes to creative branding? It’s simple really. 

Imagine you were returning home from a 20 day trip to Spain where you maybe ate way more bread than you’re used to and are in need of a solid gym session (if you’re wondering why this example is oddly specific, it’s bc this just happened to me lol).

Imagine that you pull up to the Madrid airport, fight through security and have a few hours to kill. You want to go grab some food and get into your latest book, but the food options in your terminal are slim.

You get in line for ANOTHER jamón y queso bocadillo, because that’s kind of all there is in Spanish to-go cuisine..until you notice a green and white shining light down the way.

It’s the Starbucks logo. 

Now, I am not a huge coffee drinker, or even a huge Starbucks fan…but I also know that I can walk into ANY Starbucks in the world, make the same exact order, and it will taste EXACTLY the same, whether I’m at home in LA, NY, or traveling abroad in Spain. 

Basically - I knew exactly what to expect, so I ran my butt over to that line, got a salad and my chai and was golden.

That is the power of consistency. Changing your colors, logo, typography, brand voice over and over…it causes confusion. And if I know one thing to be true - people DO NOT BUY when they are confused. They want to be absolutely certain that they are going to be happy with the purchase they are making, buyer's remorse anyone?

So - back to the guide: what does this guide include? 

• Your logo design (yay!)

• Your brand colors - a limited color scheme you stick to for all visuals

• Your typography - the chosen font or fonts you'll use regularly in all your marketing visuals

• Images or icons - photos and/or graphics that represent the visual aesthetic of your brand

ALSO!

• Your brand voice - see above

• Your brand story - see above

You can compile and organize all of this in whatever way that is most effective for you, but a simple document can be easily put together on Canva.com or Issuu.com layout.

Having everything laid out simply and and clearly makes it super easy to take a quick glance when you’re working and immediately know whether you’re headed in the right direction visually or copy-wise.

Build Your Online Presence: Websites and Social Media

Do you know the best place to sell art online?

That was a trick question! :)

In reality, it totally depends on what you’re selling, how you want to sell it and what your goals are, but in general - building a website and doing a little social media works for any and all creatives.

Once you’ve started developing your brand, it’s time to show it off to the world! If you are not planning on having a physical brick and mortar shop or selling wholesale and consignment, or even doing art shows and craft fairs, then your online presence will be EVERYTHING.

This includes your website content, your social media presence, and anywhere else online you choose to publish anything about your brand and products.

Let’s first talk about your website and how you can create an engaging online experience for your customers!

To start, your website must be easy to navigate. Imagine a 10 year old has to buy something on your site. Build it with them in mind so you keep it extremely simple. You'll also want to make sure and stick closely to your branding style guide that we talked about earlier.

Another thing that I think is important to note is to make sure and highlight yourself as the maker, creator, and CEO of your business. I see a lot of creatives build a site and try to make them appear like a bigger business than they are.

For example, making statements like 'WE craft each piece by hand'...who is WE, honey? In the case that it's just you wearing all the hats.

Instead of hiding the fact that you're a small business, embrace it. Customers love to support makers and creatives doing their own thing because most people aren't brave enough to do it themselves.

Use this opportunity to weave in personal stories about why you make your product and what it means to you. People will become invested and keep coming back for more.

Obviously your website will be a huge part of your online presence. But another important space you can grow an audience is of course, social media.

Love it or hate it, social media is here to stay. There are a handful of popular social media platforms you can build your brand on, but before you jump in you need to ask yourself one simple yet important question:

Does my ideal customer hang out on this platform?

Because if they don't, there's no point in promoting there! Easy enough, right?

Once you figure that out, there are other things to consider as well. Does your audience respond best to photos? graphics? videos? Decide on your strategy before you start posting randomly.

You'll also want to stick to your branding guide to stay consistent, especially if you're posting videos and writing long captions. Go back to your brand voice and story and make sure your content matches that style.

Your online presence is crucial to the success of your business, especially if that's the only place you're promoting your art. Make sure and do your research before jumping into this area.

Engage with Your Community: Content and Customer Service

When you're creating a memorable brand, you're going to have to do better than just having a great website and a cool product. There are three other ways you can really start leveling up.

The first is to become known for having exceptional customer service. Nothing is better or spreads faster than word of mouth. Think of a time a friend or family member went out of their way to 'sell you' on a brand or product because they loved it so much?

Imagine how many other people bought because just that one person was satisfied? They're not even getting paid to tell you! This method can grow your business exponentially when done right.

So first you need to start asking questions - Are your customers happy? How do you know? How can you start actively getting regular feedback and implementing it so that your business and customer service is constantly improving?

The next way you can level up is to create engaging content. Use your brand story and voice to craft content that makes it impossible to copy or steal because it's so uniquely yours. Here are a few brands that are doing this now:

• Jonathan Adler home decor/design. When you see his work you immediate recognize it as his

• BKR glass water bottles. The copy and attitude of this site cannot be matched

Each of these brands creates content that is memorable and interesting! Start studying these brands and find out why you look forward to their content and products. How can you replicate this idea in your own content?

One last way that you can create a impactful brand is to start building a community or following. Community building is an amazing addition to your creative brand because it continues to promote word of mouth advertising, as well as give you an easy place to pitch, test, and improve your products.

When you have created a following that loves your brand, you can sell a product successfully without even having created it yet. Some of the best launches happen this way because the product is almost guaranteed to be a hit, because the demand has already been proven before it has even hit the virtual shelves.

Evaluate and Evolve Your Brand

You might be surprised (or not surprised), but FEAR is one sentiment I hear expressed from new small business owners on the regular.

Fear of making a legal mistake, fear of not making any sales, or fear of choosing the wrong niche. This last one is particularly alarming.

 Imagine picking your niche, building out an entire business model around it, including products, branding, marketing...so much time goes into every last detail.

Then imagine your brand takes off. Great news, right?

Except that people are scared that they will be trapped into one niche/product/lane for eternity.

(as creatives, we have sooo many ideas at any one moment that this thought can be terrifying).

But luckily, there is no need to worry. You may start off with one niche or product or goal, but over time your brand will start to naturally evolve.

So what does brand evolution look like?

For everyone it will be different, but here's how it looked in my business:

2010-2014

Making patterns and products, selling at craft shows and in shops, trying to make enough to cover my living expenses (big fail)

2014-2019

Teaching printmaking classes in my home studio/shops, and running corporate workshops, developing my first online course, working with high end interior designers creating custom fabrics and quitting my day job (ding ding ding!)

2019-2024

Moving my business completely online, building up my course business, growing my online following of crafters, building a coaching business for artists and (new!) running my first art retreat

As you can see, it's been quite a ride, filled with twists and turns I never could have predicted. The big reason for that is that over 14 years I have grown to be a completely different person. 2010 Dani would never have dared to call herself a business coach. Now, I'm confident in that aspect. As you grow, your business will too.

Despite all these crazy changes over the years in my business, there is one important reason that I haven't completely confused and scared off my followers (some still follow me since day 1!!).

The reason is because I have maintained my brand consistency.

This is crucial to keep in tact if you're planning on pivoting, changing your products, etc.

• My business name never changed (although I updated my tag line from 'neat things for your house' to 'live your best crafty life')

• My typography and visuals and photography are still similar although I've established new color stories

• The tone of my blogging and copy is exactly the same. My long winded storytelling is now BETTER/WORSE THAN EVER lol

• I've leaned more towards coaching creative business owners instead of teaching my printmaking process, but my focus is still handmade art

If I had changed much more I would have confused people. And if you didn't know (write this down) confused people don't buy what you're selling no matter how great it is.

One last point I'd like to bring up is how collecting customer feedback should directly guide the evolution of your brand.

A big big mistake I see artists make when making the switch from craft hobbyist to craft business owner is they continue to make what they want instead of considering what their ideal customer wants.

I could go on all day about this, but I'll spare you and get to the point. Your handmade business will go MUCH farther if you take the time to build a business and products that your customer wants.

You can like your products all day long, but at the end of the day, you're not the one buying them. So listen to your customers! And ask them (often!) what they want to see next, what they love about your products, what they think you could improve on.

You'll be surprised how empowered you'll feel knowing exactly how to improve a product to get more sales and make your customer happy. Asking for customer feedback is also an amazing way to get data on new product ideas, course ideas, or even live events.

Before I launch anything new, I always send out a simple survey to help point me in the right direction and build from there. It's almost impossible to fail when using this system I've found so definitely steal this tip and implement it often!

Conclusion: Your Brand, Your Legacy

So let's sum this all up. Creating a successful brand and unique brand identity can make or break your handmade business, and as you've learned, it doesn't just involve picking out a few colors and fonts.

This process doesn't have to be difficult. It's just a matter of making a few initial decisions, sticking to them consistently, while also listening intently to your customers, providing exceptional service, and building a following that will stick with you no matter what. Branding for creative entreprenuers is the key to a successful handmade business.