Build a Better Brand Workbook - InteGreat

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Build a Better Brand Workbook

BACKGROUND:

Brand, company or organization name:

Website URL?

What type of brand, company, or organization is this?

Why did you start this brand? What are you hoping to achieve?

What do you like about your current online presence?

1. PRODUCTS & SERVICES:

What are you selling? Please list your core products/services or main categories of products.

If you were explaining your product/service/cause to a child, how would you explain what you

do/make?

Describe the value your main product or service adds to your clients. Think about tangible and

intangible benefits. Hint: Spend a lot of time thinking through each benefit your services offer. (You’ll

use this info later on).

What’s does your sales process look like that you use to create and deliver your product or service?

Describe the process in lots of details (from the first moment you reach out to a client or the first

moment they find you, to the moment they receive their blank from you).

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2. What is Your Vision and Purpose?

Look externally at the bigger picture of your vision for the world, and then internally at how you might help the world realize your vision.

Think about one world problem you would like to see solved or one area of life that you want to see transformed or improved. This is your vision. What is your vision for your company?

What role might you play in making your vision happen? This is your purpose and/or mission.

3. What are Your Values?

Your values are your guiding principles – things like: Balance, being the best, agility, calmness, challenge, decisiveness, perseverance, drive, honesty, integrity, sensitivity, structure, teamwork, sharing, vitality, zeal.

4. What are Your Passions?

What do you most enjoy doing – in your personal life and work life? Think about the activities, interests, or conversational topics that fascinate and energize you. Your passions make you get out of bed at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning or get you talking enthusiastically with others.

How do your passions converge with what you are best at doing?

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5. What Are Your Top Business Goals For The Next 6 Months, Year, 2+ Years?

Work on projecting what you intend to accomplish so you can put together a strategic action plan to get there.

What are your business goals for the next 3-6 months?

12 months (1 Yr)?

24 months (2 yrs)?

6. What Are Your Core Strengths Or Motivated Skills?

In what functions and responsibilities do you excel in?

For what things are you the designated "go-to" person?

What gap would your company be faced with if you left suddenly?

The possibilities are endless, but here are a few suggestions: Analyzing, collaborating, leading, delegating, empowering others, forecasting, crunching numbers, anticipating risk, mentoring, visioning, selling, innovating, managing conflict, defining needs, writing, listening, communicating.

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8. Get feedback from those who know you best – at work, at home, anywhere.

The true measure of your brand is the reputation others hold of you in their hearts and minds. Notice how they introduce you to others. Ask them what your top brand attributes and core strengths are.

1. What do you feel are my top strengths and skills that most benefit the company?

2. In what ways do I add value to the team and/or the company?

3. What was my most important contribution to the company?

4. What things did you know you could always rely on me to deliver?

5. In what ways do I help you do your job better and advance your career?

6. How would you describe my leadership style? How does your self-assessment vibe with their feedback?

TIP: The 360° Reach Personal Brand Assessment, a confidential, web-based tool that collects anonymous 360-degree feedback in real time from your choice of respondents, is a good option to accomplish this step and the basic account is free.

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9. Do a SWOT analysis (Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats)

SWOT is an invaluable personal branding exercise that also helps prepare you for interviewing, and future career growth and stability.

We’ve already covered your Strengths above.

Weaknesses – What could you improve? What do you do badly? What should you avoid?

Opportunities – Where are positive opportunities that face you? What are the interesting trends you are aware of?

Threats – What obstacles do you face? Are the required specifications for your job, products, or services changing? Is changing technology threatening your position? Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems? Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your opportunity?

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10. Who Is Your Target Audience?

Who is your ideal client? Use whatever words/ideas naturally occur to you in describing the people who will engage with your brand.

What problem, lack, need, or desire can you identify within your target audience that your brand’s products or service will fill?

What other products/services do your ideal clients purchase online?

What websites do they visit often?

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11. Who is your competition in the marketplace and what differentiates you from them?

Who are your 3 main competitors? Are they direct or indirect?

What do you like about their presence?

What do you dislike about their brand identity?

What do the people competing for the same position as you typically have to offer?

What will prospects notice about you & your brand that makes you the better choice?

What added value do you bring to the table that no one else does? (what makes your offerings unique?)

TIP: If you can’t identify a difference between your brand and other brands, do you have a competitive advantage you can think of? Meaning: Can you do something faster, obtain materials cheaper, or do something in a more organized way than your competitors?

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12. What are your top brand attributes?

What 3 or 4 adjectives best describe your brand & the value you offer?

What words do you use to define your brand’s personality?

Once you pinpoint what you feel are the right kinds of words, it's a good idea to consult a thesaurus to precisely nail the exact words. Here are some possibilities, but don't limit yourself to these: Collaborative, resilient, forward-focused, risk-taking, connected, international, visionary, diplomatic, intuitive, precise, enterprising, ethical, genuine, accessible.

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BRAND FAQ

What are the ten most common questions you get about your brand, job, or products? What are people

most curious about? Think about emails you’ve received, social media conversations you’ve had, or

questions that friends, family, potential customers, and acquaintances have asked.

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List the top three reasons someone should buy from you or subscribe to you:

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BRAND STORIES

What’s an uncommon/funny story you have about your business or a client experience?

What’s a remarkable or inspiring story you have about your business or a client experience?

What’s a success story you have about someone using your products/services?

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Customer Persona Creation

Ideal Client Profile Fill in the details on your ideal client below. Use N/A if the category is not applicable.

Gender:

Age:

Location:

Ethnicity:

Education level:

Interests:

Hobbies:

Passions:

Personality:

Income level:

Industry/job:

Relationship status:

Children? Y/N

Types of blogs he/she is likely to read:

Which social networks is this person likely to use?

Which magazines does he/she read?

What would make this person trust a new source/blog/brand?

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Customer Persona – Going Deeper

General Likes and Interests:

Does her job satisfy them? Y/N

What is their primary need/concern in life?

What’s their general disposition?

How do they view the world?

Which social issues are likely to affect them?

Favorite book/s:

Favorite type of restaurant/food:

If they had a completely free day, what would they spend it doing?

Do they enjoy traveling? Where are they most likely to go in the next year?

What type of computer do they use? What type of device will they likely first access your brand on?

Social Habits (Do they use these networks? If so, how often?)

Pinterest: Twitter: Google+: Facebook: LinkedIn: Instagram: YouTube: Other social networks: Email: On which network (or email platform) are they most likely to share

information/recommendations with friends?

Do they have a smart phone? Y/N

How often do they “go out” in their city?

Money Habits:

What’s their biggest expense each month? Second biggest?

What do they enjoy spending money on that they can afford?

What are they likely to splurge on?

From which stores would they like to receive a gift card?

If they buy your product, read your blog, or enlist your services, how will they feel about your

content?

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VISUAL BRANDING ELEMENTS:

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13. Your Brand Identity

What is your brand’s motto or tagline?

What is your brand’s mission statement or main goal?

If your brand had human personality traits, what would they be?

What is the primary message do want to convey to your customers?

Your Brand Story

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Typography/Fonts

Want to get deep into the font game? Scroll around fontsquirrel.com, google.com/webfonts, or

dafont.com and write out the fonts you love + where you found them:

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Color Palatte

Which terms best describe your color preferences? Please circle any terms that apply, and write

additional notes in the space to the right.

BOLD

CLASSIC

VIBRANT

WARM

EARTHY

NATURAL

LOW-KEY

PROFESSIONAL

QUIRKY

FEMININE

MANLY

FUN

RETRO

MODERN

PLAYFUL

CHILD-LIKE

Want to play with colors? Go to kuler.adobe.com, then select “Explore” and browse through tons of

color collections.

Find something you like on kuler.adobe.com? Go the extra mile and get the color code (the 6-digit hex

code us designers use to make sure we’re getting the exact color) for each color you love.

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Once you know your fonts, colors and brand personality – now it’s time to create or have a logo created

for you.

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Logo Ideas

Brand Imagery/Graphic Design Style

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Brand Archetype/Voice

What is your brand archetype?

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Social Media Presence

Which social media accounts will you focus on for your business? Write any additional ones below.

Facebook, YouTube, SnapChat, Vimeo – Good for Video Content Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr – Good for Image & Photo Content Instagram, SnapChat &Twitter – Good for Younger Markets (16-34) LinkedIn – Good for Business Professionals Google+ - Good for search engine optimization & local businesses

Provide links to your current social media profiles as well. Include information on the average monthly

visitors to your site and follower counts for each of your social media accounts.

Facebook

YouTube

Instagram

Pinterest

LinkedIn

Google+ (Must claim Google+ business listing)

Snapchat

Twitter (oversaturated – dying market)

Which social network (ONE) is most important in helping you achieve your 3-6 month business goals?

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What skills do you need to get started?

On a scale of 1 - 10 how comfortable are you with (please write N/A if youʼre not familiar with a term):

___ setting up your landing page, website, blog or ecommerce store

___ optimizing your website for SEO purposes

___ editing photos in Photoshop or Pixlr (or some similar photo editing software)

___ writing blog posts on topics related to your business

___ formatting blog posts to make them display well on your site

___ optimizing blog posts for SEO purposes

___ using Social media to connect with strangers

___ posting comments on other blogs

___ creating pins & other graphics for social media

___ using Dropbox

___ using Google Drive

___ using Buffer or Hootsuite to schedule and manage social media

___ using Mailchimp or AWeber

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What Content Should You Create?

On a scale of 1 - 10, how open are you to developing the following content types for your blog:

___ “how to ...” guides

___ short tutorial videos

___ video/online classes (free or paid)

___ podcasts

___ photo-heavy posts

___ in-depth articles (1000+ words)

___ eBooks

___ downloadable guides or worksheets

___ reviews of products, software, services, or materials in your industry

___ interviews with people in your industry or with clients

___ “behind-the-scenes” posts about your business/brand

___ guest posts from other bloggers/experts in your field

___ FAQs or Q & As with your readers

___ contests/sweepstakes/giveaways/challenges

___ product tutorials of your products

___ product tutorials for other related products (that would be of use to your readers)

___ pictures of your work or products

___ “pick of the week/month” posts for products related to your readership

What general impression do you want to leave people with after reading your blog? Please be as

descriptive as possible.

What will be your main call-to-action for the content on your blog? (i.e. opting in to your email list,

buying a product or service, calling you, signing up for an event, ect.)

Does any of your current material need to be updated to match the new brand identity?

(When finished move on to the “Setting Your Business Goals” worksheet)