New Year, New Brand! 5 Ways to Refresh Your Brand in 2018

The start of a new calendar year for me is about making resolutions and setting goals. One goal I’ve quietly been working on for months now, is rebranding my small business. The process has taught me that it can be quite daunting and it is hard to know where to begin. So I thought I would share five ways you can refresh your personal or business brand in 2018. When I talk about branding people immediately think of their logo and yes that is one element. But there is much more to it than that.

Revisit Your Values.

Hopefully when you first created your personal or business brand you started with a foundation of values. But if you did not, this is a great place to start. What do you believe in? What is important to you? Think of 3-5 personal qualities or values that really resonate with you and define you are deep in your core. Values like Integrity, Courage and Diversity to name just a few.

Get New Headshots.

New headshots are a great way to refresh your brand and well worth the investment of time and money. Do not use a selfie or picture of you taken at a party (yes I’ve seen that). Go to a professional photographer. Take a couple of different outfit with you, one for a casual look and one for a formal business look. Being a professional speaker I often have photographers send me or tag in photos of me speaking, so a photo from an event you attended or media photo is a great source of potential headshots too.

Refresh Your Website.

Six months ago I started “renovating” my website and then I realized I needed to change it completely. So for all that time we’ve been working on a completely new website behind the scenes that should launch by Spring 2018. Your website is absolutely one of the most important aspects of your personal or business brand. You need it to be up to date and engaging. You could change your cover image and title or use a different template. Another good area of improvement is to remember to add any recent awards and accomplishments. People often forget that and it is a pity because it is great for branding and business development.

Rebuilding your website also gives you an opportunity to pivot your business slightly in terms of the products and services you offer or refocus your area of expertise if it’s your personal website.

Change Your Logo.

So I added this one in the list because it is such a key part of anyone’s brand, particularly your business brand. You could do a complete redesign through an online service like 99designs.ca or fiverr.com. Both are excellent resources so check them out. Or just change one element like the colour or the font. Either way it is a good way to take your brand to the next level or reflect a change in direction.

Update Your LinkedIn Profile or Company Page.

Hands down the most important social media platform for any professional or business is LinkedIn. Every individual and business should have a presence on LinkedIn. I hope to focus on it more in a future article, but for now you need to have a profile. It’s completely free and the only investment is your time. If you already have a personal profile or a company page then take this opportunity to update it. Make sure it contains the most current information and of course a good headshot or company logo.

Having a clear and persuasive personal or business brand is what helps you stand out and gives you the edge in a very competitive marketplace.

A strong brand will also help you attract more opportunities if you’re looking for a job or leads for your small business, so it’s a good place to focus your time and energy. I want to leave with this final thought; you define who you are and how people see you. So think big; help people see how amazing you and your business really is. Remember what Walt Disney said “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Make 2018 that year for you.

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