Episode 9 | The Power of Visual Branding with Allison Burns of AllieMarie Design
On this week’s episode, Kristi sits down with the amazing, and talented Allison Burns of AllieMarie Design. We have worked with Allison on everything from Beth’s personal BPR brand, to The BPR Experience, and the Girl, Get Your Face Off A Bus Bench podcast itself. She is absolutely wonderful to work with, and we can’t say enough good things about her. It was a real treat to have the opportunity to sit down with Allison for a chat about small business, branding and motherhood. Let’s dive in!
We start off by getting Allison’s thoughts on the difference between a business and a brand. Allison tells us that she sees a business as being your product, what you are selling or what you are actually doing. On the other hand a brand has more to do with your identity, your personality, and the experience you are giving people, and the feelings that people have when they interact with you. A brand is what you are known for, and what people think of when they hear your name. The brand is connected to your business and what you are using to represent and sell your products and services. Allison tells us that having a strong brand in place is really key to gaining trust and loyalty from your clients.
Okay, so what is branding vs. visual branding? Allison says that the way she views branding is as a sort of umbrella and visual branding is one of the pieces under that umbrella, and other things like copywriting, client experience, and company culture would be under that umbrella, and they are cohesive, and that is what makes up your brand, who you are and the experience you provide. Visual marketing she says is anything you are using to visually communicate who you are, and that visually reflects your brand, like colors, font selection, the style of photography you choose, your templates you use, and email marketing.
Allison says before diving into w0rking on all your designs on a platform like Canva which we reference a lot in this interview, take a step back and think about what you want your vibe to be, and what you want to communicate, and try to define what you want your styling to be and choose colors, fonts and photography that will align with that. You can also select a couple templates in Canva for things like Instagram or e-mails that fit with your vibe, and then just try to be consistent. Being consistent is very key in being recognized, and building brand recognition.
We know that not everyone is at the point where they are ready to invest in hiring a design stylist, and this can all feel very overwhelming to start, but Allison does offer some resources on her website to help you get started on your own. If you are in sort of DIY mode at the moment, that’s okay, we don’t want this to hold you back from executing on your mission. Allison has a Design Style quiz, that is free as well as a Design Spirit course, and she has given our listeners a discount code to use on her course.
On the other hand if you are thinking that you are ready to hire someone (we would recommend just hitting up Allison of course!) Allison says the main key is to make sure that you find someone who’s process and creative process feels aligned with you. Whoever you decide to work with just make sure that you feel confident and comfortable with how they do things.
Lastly we talk about being a newish Mama and running a small business and trying to figure out how to juggle the responsibilities of each, and oh by the way still find time for our partners. We discuss the reality that balance is sort of a myth, and Allison says what she has tried to find is a harmony with each element of life. We also talk about how finding and building a community around you that is supportive can be such a game changer.
We absolutely loved this interview, and getting a chance to sit down with Allison was such a joy! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did! Check out Allison at www.alliemariedesign.com and @alliemariedesign on Instagram And don’t forget to use the coupon code busbenchbabes to save $50 on Allison’s Design Spirit Course
Use this link to try Canva Pro free for 30 days
