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October 17, 2024

How to Design a Blog Brand That Truly Means Something

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EPISODE SUMMARY

Creating a blog brand that truly resonates with your audience is essential for standing out in the crowded online space. Genasys dives deep into the importance of branding, emphasizing that it’s not just about visuals like logos and colors, but rather the emotional connection your blog establishes with its readers.

By defining your blog’s deeper purpose and understanding your target audience, you can craft a brand that evokes the right feelings and keeps readers coming back for more. The episode walks through practical steps to determine your blog’s mood, select a cohesive color palette, and choose images and typography that align with your brand’s message. Whether you’re starting fresh or looking to rebrand, this insightful discussion provides the tools you need to create a memorable and impactful blog brand.

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SHOW NOTES

The art of branding is a fundamental aspect of blogging that extends far beyond visuals. Genasys opens the discussion by asserting that a blog’s brand should encapsulate the emotional experience of its audience. She invites bloggers to reflect on their core purpose and the feelings they wish to invoke in their readers. This foundational understanding shapes the way they present their brand, guiding decisions from mood and vibe to color choices and typography. Genasys emphasizes that a strong brand serves as an identity that resonates with readers, making them feel inspired, relaxed, or empowered when they engage with the blog’s content.

Genasys underscores the critical importance of intentionality in branding, noting that a successful blog brand is not a product of chance but a result of deliberate choices. Each element—be it the soothing colors of a wellness blog or the bold hues of a motivational site—should align with the emotional journey the blogger wants to create. She provides practical tips on how to select colors based on their psychological impact, ensuring that the visual presentation complements the intended emotional experience. By thinking critically about how each design choice contributes to the overall brand narrative, bloggers can create a cohesive and captivating experience for their audience.

In addition to aesthetics, Genasys highlights the deeper meaning behind branding. She challenges the misconception that branding is solely about looks, instead presenting it as a powerful tool for storytelling and connection. By examining iconic brands like Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola, she illustrates how their core messages resonate on a deeper level with consumers. For bloggers, this means embracing their unique stories and values, using them to foster a personal connection with their audience. By integrating these narratives into their brand strategy, bloggers can cultivate a community of loyal followers who are eager to engage with their content and invest in their offerings. The episode serves as a comprehensive guide for bloggers seeking to define their brand identity and create a lasting impact online.

TAKEAWAYS

  • Branding is the emotional connection and personality of your blog, not just visuals.
  • A strong brand helps you stand out and creates trust with your audience.
  • Understanding your blog’s deeper purpose is crucial for creating meaningful content.
  • Choosing the right colors and images can evoke specific emotions in your readers.
  • Your target audience should guide your branding decisions for maximum resonance.
  • A cohesive brand strategy incorporates your mission, visuals, and audience understanding.

CHAPTERS

  • 00:00 – Introduction to Branding
  • 01:12 – Understanding Your Blog Brand
  • 03:10 – The Importance of Branding
  • 08:16 – Defining Your Blog’s Purpose
  • 09:48 – Identifying Your Target Audience
  • 12:11 – Choosing Your Brand’s Mood and Vibe
  • 14:26 – Selecting Your Color Palette
  • 16:25 – Choosing the Right Images
  • 17:43 – Typography and Branding
  • 19:52 – Finalizing Your Brand Strategy
  • 21:01 – Conclusion and Call to Action

TRASNCRIPT

Genasys
00:00:00.400 – 00:23:02.490
Hey ladybloggers.

Welcome back to another episode of the Boss Lady Bloggers podcast, where we talk all about building a profitable blog that not only looks good, but also feels right for you and your audience. I’m your host, Genasys, and today we are diving deep into one of my favorite topics, branding. But we’re not just talking about any kind of branding.

Today we’re going to be focusing on how to design a blog brand that truly means something.

If you’ve been feeling stuck or overwhelmed with how to create a blog brand that stands out and resonates with your audience and captivates them and pulls them in and makes them feel something, then you’re in the right place.

Whether you’re just starting out or looking to possibly rebrand your blog, this episode is going to help you define what your brand is all about, why it’s so, so important, and how to make it come alive in every aspect of your blog.

So grab your notebook and your pen, because we’re going to be talking about everything from choosing your blog’s mood and vibe to selecting colors, fonts, images and more. So let’s get into it. First of all, we have to discuss, like, what is a blog’s brand?

So before we dive into like, the whole nitty gritty of designing it, let’s start with the basic so what is exactly a blog brand? A blog brand is so much more than just your logo or just the colors that you use on your website or just like the images that you choose.

Your brand is the personality of your blog. It’s the emotional connection that you create with your readers.

It’s how you communicate who you are, what you stand for, and what your blog is all about. Think of your blog brand as a vibe or feeling that people get when they visit to your blog. Do they feel inspired or motivated? Relaxed? Empowered?

Your brand is what makes people remember you and keep coming back for more. It’s what sets you apart from all the other blogs out there. A strong brand doesn’t happen by accident. It’s very intentional.

Literally every single detail, from the colors that you choose to the words that you use, should reflect your blog’s purpose and resonate with your target audience. So if you’ve been thinking that your blog brand is just about having a pretty low go think again. It’s about creating an experience for your readers.

As soon as they land on your blog, they should feel something. They should feel emotions. Your color should invoke emotions that you want them to feel.

They should feel either like, calm and tranquil or like stress free or pumped and excited and joyful. It’s whatever you want them to feel and whatever they need to feel to be able to stay on your website, get excited to read more, et cetera.

Your brand is what captivates them and holds their attention. And then your words are what’s going to be what takes over from there. So why is branding extremely important?

Can’t you just focus on creating great content and leave the rest up to chance? Well, here’s the thing. Branding is what helps you stand out. It really is. Content is so important. You know, they always say content is king.

But without a strong brand, it’s so easy to just come onto your website and click off and then go to a competitor website who makes them feel emotions. So it’s so, so important. Branding is the very first impression that people have on your blog.

It’s what makes them decide within seconds whether to stay and click and explore or click away.

You want them to stay, obviously you want them to stay because you want them to read what you have to offer and then go buy it or sign up to your email list, right? But you need that first impression. And we all know how quickly people make decisions, right? People are moving fast online.

They’re going to come on your website and if it doesn’t captivate them right from the start, they will click off and they will go find somebody else who truly captivates them and then they’re going to purchase from them. You sign up to their email list, right?

And you know, if we just had an amazing blog brand right from the start, they would stay and then we would be the person that they would purchase from and read our blogs and become a loyal follower and purchaser or client, you know. But more than that, branding helps create trust.

When your blog has a consistent and professional brand, it shows your audience that you truly take your blog super seriously. You are treating this blog as a business. You are not okay with just making your blog look just okay, right? Like you want the best of the best.

It makes you actually look a lot more credible, more reliable and more worth investing in. Whether that’s investing their time by reading your blog post or investing their money by buying your products and services.

A well thought out brand also builds an emotional connection with your readers, which is so important. If people can feel like they really connect with you emotionally, then they are going to want to buy from you. People buy from people.

People don’t buy products, okay? They buy from people online, from brands who they feel personal connection with.

And that’s why it’s so important to like incorporate your stories and such.

Because when you read a story, you know you can put together like your own brand signature story, but that’s on another level of what we’re really talking about here.

But if they can feel that connection, then they are going to turn from casual readers into loyal followers, buyers or clients from you and they’re going to be so, so, so excited to hear from you every time you put out another piece of content. So yes, branding is so extremely important. It’s not just a nice to have, it’s a must have if you want your blog to thrive.

I know if I didn’t have the strong branding and the strong really good website design that I have, I know that I wouldn’t be getting as many clients as I do. Number three, a brand is not only about looks. One of the biggest misconceptions about branding is that it’s all about the visuals.

When you probably heard put together a blog brand, you probably just thought of colors, the logo and that’s probably it, right? And while those things are definitely very important, a brand is about so much more than just how it looks.

At its core, branding is truly about meaning. It’s about the message that you’re sending to your audience and the values that you’re communicating through your blog.

It’s about what you stand for and why you do what you do. Think about some of the biggest brands in the world. Apple, Nike, Coke.

Yes, they have distinct logos and recognizable colors, but their brand goes so much deeper than that. Apple is all about innovation and simplicity. Nike is about motivation and pushing yourself to do your very best.

And Coca Cola is about happiness and bringing people together. That’s their core message. And it’s what people connect with emotionally.

For your blog, it’s important to remember that your brand’s deeper purpose is what’s going to resonate with your audience. It’s not just about creating a visually appealing site, it’s about creating a brand that means something to your readers.

That’s what’s going to keep them coming back, that’s what’s going to keep them from sharing your content, becoming loyal fans and definitely that’s what’s going to make them purchase from you. Let’s define the deeper purpose behind your blog. So how do you find this? The deeper purpose?

This is a crucial step in creating a brand that truly means something. So first you want to ask yourself, why are you blogging? What’s the bigger reason behind it? Is it to inspire others?

To educate, to help people solve a specific problem. You want to understand your why? Because it’s going to help you create a brand that is aligned with your values and goals.

Next, think about the impact that you want your blog to have on your readers. How do you want them to feel when they read your blog? What kind of transformation do you want them to experience?

After interacting with your content, your brand’s purpose should be rooted in the value that you provide for your audience. So for an example, let’s say that your blog is focused on mental health and self care for busy moms.

Your deeper purpose might be to help moms feel more empowered to take care of their mental health and emotional well being. That’s a powerful message that goes beyond just the content that you create. It’s about the core of your brand.

So once you’ve defined your blog’s purpose, you want to make sure that it’s literally reflected in every single thing that you do. So like your blog post, your social media, your email newsletters, literally everything should be aligned with that deeper purpose.

This is what’s going to make your brand feel meaningful and very authentic. So we’ve talked about the deeper purpose of your blog. So now let’s shift focus to your audience.

Knowing your target audience is just as important as knowing your purpose. Because your brand needs to speak to the people that you’re trying to reach.

Speak to that one specific person more to say that you are trying to talk to. So ask yourself, who is your blog for? What is this specific person’s struggles, their goals, their desires?

The better and deeper, deeper that you know about that person, the easier it is to create a brand that actually truly resonates with them.

For example, if your target audience, let’s say, is young moms trying to balance work and family, your brand might need to feel approachable, comforting, supportive. If your audience is ambitious entrepreneurs, your brand might want to feel bold, empowering and professional.

So take some time to create your audience Personas. These are detailed descriptions of your ideal readers and then pick one.

Because I always like to just narrow it down to that one specific person that you want to be talking to. You want to give them names, think about their age, their lifestyle, their challenges and their dreams.

Understanding your audience at a deep, deep level will help you make branding decisions that connect with them on an emotional level.

And if you ever go to a site and you ever are reading their copywriting or reading their blog posts, and then you think in your mind like, oh my God, this person is literally reading my mind. She knows what I’m struggling with. She knows exactly how this looks for me on a daily basis and she knows how to help me.

And so she has this course or coaching program that literally will help me go from problem to ultimate desire and that’s exactly what I’m looking for. And then they’re going to purchase on your site because, or, you know, book a call with you because they feel like you are the best fit for them.

Your brand captivated them from the start and your messaging took over and you spoke directly to that one specific person and that’s how you get people to purchase. So let’s move on. Now we’re going to choose the mood and vibe of your brand. So I want to give you an example as well here.

So once you know your blog’s purpose and your target audience, it’s time to think about the mood and vibe that you want to convey. So this is where branding gets really fun.

Your blog’s mood and vibe are all about feeling, are all about the feeling that you want to create for your readers. Is your blog light hearted and fun? Is it peaceful and calming? Or maybe it’s bold and motivational. Let me give you an example to bring this to life.

I’m designing a blog called fizzy and free. The founder, Ashley, she is targeting moms who want to live an alcohol free lifestyle.

Moms who are trying to reduce stress and improve their health, and they want to be better moms.

And they don’t want to rely on alcohol to feel some type of way or feel better, you know, so they often feel very overwhelmed and trapped by the pressures of daily life. Right? Being a mom is extremely hard, so I decided to collaborate with her and create a brand that feels like an escape for moms.

She wants her blog to be a space where moms can experience freedom and peace. So we chose a beach vibe for her brand. She uses images of waves, birds and sandy shores to create a relaxing atmosphere.

Her color palette is full of calming blues and sandy beige tones and her typography is very light and breezy. Everything just feels like a breath of fresh air, a place where her readers can find calm and clarity.

And this is a great example of how your brand’s mood and vibe can create an experience for your readers. Think about how you want your audience to feel when they visit your blog and then choose visual elements that support that feeling.

Now we have to choose your color palette. So once you have decided on the mood and vibe and how you want your audience to feel, now we have to choose your color palette.

So the colors that you choose are very important because they have huge impact on how people feel when they visit your blog. Color psychology plays a huge role in branding.

Different colors evoke different emotions, so you want to choose colors that align with the mood and vibe that you’re going to be going for. So here’s a few examples of how colors can influence emotions.

Blue calm trustworthy peaceful or red energetic passionate bold yellow optimistic cheerful bright green natural fresh balanced purple luxurious creative and sophisticated so when selecting a color palette, I want you to do intense color psychology research. When selecting your color palette, think about your audience and the motions that you want to invoke.

Are you trying to create a sense of calm and relaxation, or do you want to inspire action and excitement? Choose two to three primary colors and then a couple secondary or accent colors to create a cohesive palette.

I highly recommend that you go to pinterest and you look up in the search bar color palette examples or color palette inspiration or brand inspiration and take inspiration from everything that you find that’ll really help you. Also, don’t forget about contrast. You want to make sure that your text is easy to read and that your colors work well visually together.

A good rule of thumb is to have one or two neutral colors like white, black, gray to balance out the other bolder colors in your palette. Now we have to choose your images. Images play a huge role in your blog’s branding because they help bring your brand’s mood and message to life.

Whether it’s the photos that you use in your blog post or the visuals on your homepage, every image should be carefully chosen to support your brand’s overall vibe. Start by thinking about the style of images that you want to use. Do you want to use bright and airy photos or something darker and moodier?

Are you using lifestyle photography, nature shots, or maybe illustrations?

For example, if your blog is all about adventure travel, you might choose high energy images that showcase the outdoor activities, vibrant colors, dynamic angles. If your blog focuses on mindfulness and meditation, you might choose serene landscapes, soft lighting, and calming imagery.

Make sure that the images that you choose are consistent with your brand’s tone and message and color palette. Everything should be matching.

You want your readers to have a seamless experience when they browse your blog, so every image should contribute to the overall feeling that you’re trying to create. Now we have to choose your typography. Typography is another important part of your blog’s branding that often gets overlooked.

The fonts that you use can actually have a huge impact on how your blog is perceived. So it’s important to choose colors that align with your brand’s personality.

So in selecting typography, and I mean like the lettering, like what fonts you’re going to be using, think about the readability first. Your fonts should be easy to read on both desktop and mobile, especially for long form content like blog posts.

So next you want to consider the style of your fonts. So do you want something more modern and sleek? Maybe more whimsical and playful?

If your brand is more professional and business oriented, you might choose clean, simple fonts like sans serif. If your blog is more personal and creative, you could experiment with more decorative or handwritten fonts.

A good rule of thumb is to choose only one to two to three fonts. Three max fonts, one for your headings, one for your body text, and then maybe one for accents. This will give your blog a cohesive and polished look.

Then we want to choose your elements.

So in addition to your color palette, images and typography, there are other design elements that you can incorporate in your brand that add even more personality. So these might include icons.

So those little small graphics that add visual interests like waves, birds, drawings of things, trees, blah blah blah, icons, patterns or textures. So subtle backgrounds or overlays that add depth to your design.

Shapes, geometric or organic shapes, boho shapes, anything that adds structure and movement. The key here is to keep things very consistent and aligned with your brand’s mood and message.

So you do not want to go overboard with too many elements, you just want to carefully choose a few. That’s going to make a huge impact. Then we put together your brand strategy guide.

So once you’ve defined all of the elements of your blog’s brand, now we put them together into a brand strategy guide. This guide will be your roadmap for keeping your brand consistent.

When you create new content, design new pages and grow your blog, your brand strategy is going to include your important messages. So your blog’s mission and purpose, your target audience, your core brand message, your visual elements, everything into one guide.

And then your brand guidelines we will create. So this is going to be your logo usage, your color codes, your typography rules, your image guidelines.

So the brand strategy is more of like the brand messaging. And then the brand guidelines that we create for you is all of the brand visuals.

And then also the reasons why we even created that color palette, why we even chose the typography. Everything should have a reason behind it. Everything should have meaning for why we choose it. So that’s a wrap on today’s episode.

Designing a blog that truly means something takes so much time and intention, but it’s so, so worth it.

I would rather do this as a very, very slow process than do it really fast or just have a very basic brand that’s not captivating or just having to keep going back and doing it over and over again. I have literally done this a million times. I’m so glad that I have a really good brand that I have chosen that I’m sticking with though.

But I have tried other things for boss lady bloggers and I always just go back to the original. But you want something that like really, truly means something and there should be meaning behind every single thing that you do for your brand.

So before we go, if you’re ready to dive deeper into your blog’s branding and want personalized guidance as well, I’d love to work with you. Book a call here.

I offer custom branding and design services, website design services that will help you create a brand that aligns with your vision and you’ll be ready to attract your ideal audience, captivate them, and enough so that they can read your strong messaging that we’ll create together. And then they will click the link to purchase from you or to sign up to a call to work with you.

If you want this transformation, I highly recommend that you join this offer. It’s a three in one. You get blog branding website design, followed by six months of blog coaching.

And I’ve added in five weeks of pre coaching as well, which is absolutely amazing. So if you want all of this will literally teach you the step by step by step process to building a blog that wows, that truly means something.

So head to the link in the show notes to book a free consultation call with me today. Thank you so much for tuning in. And until next time, keep building the blog brand that you have truly been dreaming of. Have a good one. Bye.