He had designed for where he was and
not for where he was going.

Of course, it would be great to have a crystal ball and see what we needed to do today for tomorrow but as yet, I’ve not found one that’s 100% accurate.

So often I see clients glued to the spot. Unable to move. Restricted. Frustrated.

They tell themselves that because they’ve invested $xxx, they can’t change their mind. They have to stick with where they are today and make the best of it.

But wait… eh, isn’t this YOUR business? Shouldn’t you be allowed to create it in YOUR way?

Our businesses grow and move in directions we could never have envisaged. Inspiration can hit and catch us a little off guard.

But remember, you have permission to change ANYTHING in your business. Your prices, your style, how you blog, your products, your availability, your hours… Entrepreneurship is about creating a lifestyle that serves you best and fills you with joy, not a suffocating ‘job’ that holds you back from realising your potential.

My approach to design is modular. It’s about creating a strong basic foundation with lots of space for movement and change. I understand how disheartening it can be to invest in  something for your business only for it to be very quickly outdated, irrelevant and useless.

Ask yourself:
Is my branding strict + limiting or modular + adaptable?

Enjoy this? Share the love below. x

For months we weighed up the options… Do we stay and renovate? Do we move to our dream suburb? Should we rent? Buy?

We went round in circles for so long. Nothing felt like a “Hell, yeah!” until recently.

We adore our local community and so decided to stay put and make this our ‘for now’ dream home.

Still, there was a little voice in my head saying, “But you don’t need a new kitchen or office. The dining table you have is fine. Be happy with what you’ve got.”

There’s nothing wrong exactly with how it looks just now. It’s just not a true reflection of us. It’s someone else’s dream kitchen. Their ideal bathroom.

Our main focus of this project is to create an ‘urban sanctuary’ for our family. A place for the boys to grow. A space that allows my creativity to flow. Somewhere safe, welcoming and warm.

It feels really exciting and grown-up to be creating our home in a very deliberate way. Buying things that we really adore as opposed to just cheaply replacing things that are broken.

Because we are worth it. We deserve this.

I so often see examples of this in business. Clients come to me feeling confused and embarrassed about how their business looks visually. They got a friend to do their logo a few years ago, their social media is all over the place and their website is a ‘cut + paste’ nightmare.

Your online presence is your cyber home. Your sanctuary. It’s a place for you to grow. A space that allows you to welcome your clients into your world. Somewhere safe, welcoming and warm.

Ask yourself:
Are you cheaply replacing or deliberately creating your business?

Because you are worth it. You deserve this.

I couldn’t wait for them to drop by my inbox and find out what was happening it their world.

So I signed up and… nothing.

After the initial welcome email, months passed and I got zilch. I’d forgotten I was even on their list.

Until I received an email from them last week.

The newsletter was about 3 things:

1. 50% off their new product
2. Suggestions on which of their products would be great Mother’s Day gifts
3. An announcement about free shipping when you spend over $100

Did I click through and start shopping? Nope. In fact, I unsubscribed.

You see the newsletter never offered me anything there and then. In order for it to be of value to me, I had to give them $ first.

The only time they wanted to chat to me was to tell me about what’s happening with THEM.

They weren’t interested in ME.

It’s always got to be about your customer first.

Being generous with your information, expertise, resources, ideas develops trust and a sense of gratitude within your tribe.

“OMG – she’s giving me this stuff for FREE!
Think how awesome it would be to work with her!”

Ask yourself:

How can I be of huge value to my customers
BEFORE they spend a single penny with me?

This post was SUPER popular so I wanted to dive a bit deeper and share a big brand who does this perfectly.

If you missed the post, let me recap…

The 5 key areas you can achieve brand consistency are:

• a clear recognizable logo (this has to really connect with your customer and be easily recognized, even at a small size)
• a brand color palette (of course there are exceptions but as a general rule, you want to stick to 4 brand colors)
• a set of brand fonts (as a base, you want to select fonts for your headings, subheadings and body copy.)
• your tone of voice (this applies to all areas of your communication: website copy, newsletter, promo material, social media updates, public speaking engagements, client consultations, etc.)
• the imagery you use in your communication (invest in a few key brand images and a good headshot. Brand images can be shot by your photographer or you can buy stock images if you are looking for generic or lifestyle shots.)

Tiffany & Co. are the perfect example of how clear consistent branding across the board positions you at the top of your industry and creates trust. Their signature is obviously the “Tiffany Blue” colour.

So ask yourself…
What is my brand signature?

I wanted to share some awesome Facebook page designs with you to show you what is possible…

Australis Cosmetics

Australian cosmetics brand, Australis have used a product shot in their cover image. This is great if you have a product based business and want to leverage your social media during a launch.

You can see that they have also used branded images for their custom apps to ensure brand consistency.

The bold profile pic is recognisable at a small size which is really important as you want to grab your tribes attention as they scroll through their news feed.

The Blackman Art Hotel

The Blackman Hotel in Melbourne is one of three boutique hotels in the Art Series (also includes The Cullen and The Olsen) which celebrates the work of iconic Australian artists. The interior is designed around the work of Charles Blackman and you can see here how clever they have been when it comes to their Facebook graphics.

Using a key piece, they have created a ‘merged’ cover image and profile pic. A very smart and seamless way to showcase their style!

Tiffany & Co.

This is an example of how using one colour to represent your brand can be SUPER powerful in creating an identity.

Simple, clean and completely on-brand, Tiffany & Co. knows that less is ALWAYS more. (except perhaps when it comes to the size of the diamond!)

Banana Republic

Your Facebook graphics can also be updated seasonally.

This is a strategy that Banana Republic have used for their spring collection. The grass element ties back to their main website which creates a unified brand atmosphere.

Again, the custom app images are on-brand.

Ceci New York

This is an example of how to showcase your business and YOU on your Facebook page. I always encourage my clients to use their own headshot in their profile pic where appropriate.

This cover image shows the beautiful stationery that Ceci New York create and also connects you on a more personal level with the person behind the business.

Want to create your own branded Facebook graphics?

In Lesson 1 of my workshop, I teach you all about the principles of composing a great image for your Facebook page, along with some other fab examples of good design.

Get all the details for the Photoshop Workshop and instant access now!

This week was a big win for me. I had a guest post featured on one of my favourite blogs. But it was scary.

What if they don’t like it?

I’m not a ‘writer’ – why would they want me?

I’m not ready yet… later.

The truth is, if we’re not putting ourselves on the line, how can we achieve our dreams?

What I’ve learned in business (+ life) is that if you’re not feeling at least a wee bit uncomfortable then you’re not aiming high enough.

Ask yourself, What can I do this week that gets me out my comfort zone?

It might be pitching a guest post to one of your dream blogs, putting your hand up to speak at a live event or launching your newsletter with the commitment to publishing every week.

The key is to do it. Announce it to your customers, tell your friends and family. Living out loud will give you the momentum to really go for it!

As you continually make little tweaks to your website, update your social media graphics, introduce new products, etc. your message can easily and quickly become diluted.

Take 5 minutes today to do a quick brand review:

1. Are your fonts consistent?
2. Are you sticking to your brand colour palette?
3. Do you use a consistent tone of voice in all your communication?
4. Are you using a ‘hero headshot’ for all your profiles, avatars, etc? (including any guest posts or interviews?)
5. Are your social media graphics up to scratch and aligned with your website? If a new customer landed on your Facebook page, would they get what they expect when they click through to your website?
6. Does your imagery have a unified look + feel?

These little things make a HUGE difference.

If you are unclear and confused about your brand, your customers can feel this.

Likewise, when you are confident that your brand is consistent, pulled together and cohesive, this confidence and ‘expert’ status is felt by your customers and they begin to trust you.

And people buy from people they trust.

Want to work together?

If you are ready to create some amazing, unique branding for your business, I’m now accepting applications for the luxe branding service. Click HERE to apply online.

Vari x

Trust me, I get this!

We get so caught up in thinking we have to do it all in our businesses and that we’re not BIG enough yet to bring on staff.

By ‘doing it all’ we end up spend huge chunks of our valuable time and energy on things that aren’t our strengths.

You need to spend time creating and doing what you love. This is what will make your business flourish.

You need to be looking at the bigger picture and planning ahead.

The genius of the virtual assistant has been a game changer for many small business and entrepreneurs. With minimal commitment and paperwork, your get the benefit of having someone take care of the day to day running of your business.

So what if you could bring on other virtual team members?

This question is what inspired me to create
my virtual designer packages.

Spend 5 minutes today looking at how you spend your time:

• Are you dedicating enough time to working on your BIG vision?
• Are you getting frustrated and wasting hours of your time and energy trying to figure something out?
• What tasks in your business could you outsourced to a virtual team member?

If you are ready to bring a virtual in-house designer on to your team, I’d love to chat about your big vision.

Vari x

Business is about creating real relationships.

It’s about identifying your customers needs and fulfilling them.

When you are starting out in your business or about to launch a new product, you need to get into the head of your customer. You need to ask questions.

• Who is she?
• What does she do?
• What magazines and blogs does she read?
• What is her BIG vision?
• What are her fears and anxieties?

Often, by going through this process, the perfect customer that begins to emerge can seem familiar…

Hmm, that sounds a lots like… ME!

Then the doubt.

Am I a total egomaniac?!?!

But what if you ARE your perfect customer?

The truth is, when we are following our true passion, we often ARE our customer.

The business coach who wants to share her experience of growing a business with other new entrepreneurs.

The new mum who launches an on-trend maternity fashion line because she couldn’t find and nice clothes when she was pregnant.

Just think of the opportunities that this opens up… It’s HUGE!

You can fully appreciate and understand your customers fears, frustrations, dreams and hopes because YOU once felt them too.

You can now communicate with your customers authentically and with compassion.

Many successful business owners start their business to solve their own problem.

Kristina Karlsson, founder of Swedish stationery brand, kikki.K, started her business in 2001 because she couldn’t find any quality, stylish stationery. Fast forward 10 years and her $3000 start up has revenue of over $20 million.

And Derik Mills, founder of YogaGlo, an online yoga experience in HD video. Derik found himself stuck in traffic about to be late yet again for his favourite yoga class and wished there was a camera at the back of the studio that could beam him into his favorite class whenever he wanted…

So if your customer starts to sound a lot like you, go with it. You’re probably right.

Vari x

Do you want a graphic designer in your team without the commitment?

CLICK HERE for the details >>