Common Branding Mistakes Online Business Owners Make (And How to Fix Them)
As much as I love designing custom brands for coaches, course creators, and service providers, I also understand that professional & custom branding can be out of reach for a lot of people in the early stages of business – if I wasn't a designer myself, it certainly would not have been an option for me when I first started!
But sometimes it’s hard to see other online business owners (unknowingly!) making common DIY design mistakes and missteps – especially when they could so easily be fixed! These errors can not only waste your time and make working on design tasks feel tedious and overwhelming, but they can also negatively impact your brand recognition.
But when you fix them? You can be sure your DIY brand is working as hard for you as it possibly can, and you’ll make your own workday considerably less frustrating 😅
Mistake #1: Overcomplicating Things
Many people make the mistake of trying to do too much with their DIY brand. Whether it’s by using too many colors or fonts at once, or choosing complex templates that look like a mess once you insert your own content, this can lead to a cluttered and confusing brand identity that fails to communicate effectively with your audience. Plus, it makes it so much harder to work on your own designs.
THE FIX: Keep it simple. The more elements you add, the more you have to manage, which can be really challenging when you don’t have a lot of design experience. Stick to 2-3 colors, 1-2 fonts, and try to avoid complex templates – especially those deceivingly complex Canva ones! You’ll be making it easier for yourself and more impactful for your audience.
Mistake #2: Starting with a Generic Template
It’s tempting to just scroll through Canva’s template library until you find a logo or an Instagram template set that you like. But while they’re quick and easy, they can have unintended consequences down the line. They haven’t been made with your brand, audience, or strategy in mind. It can be difficult to build the rest of your brand identity around one pre-made template when it doesn’t necessarily say anything about your business, and you don’t know the decisions that went into making it that way.
THE FIX: In this blog post, we talked about how starting your brand identity design with a simple type-based logo can really set the tone for the rest of your branding, and can even determine how easy or difficult you’ll find it to put together the rest of your brand’s visual elements. I recommend this for all online business owners attempting a DIY brand, and you can grab my FREE Starter Logo Font Guide to help you get started.
Mistake #3: Chasing Design Trends
Following all of the latest design trends you see on IG or Pinterest can be tempting, but the more you try to keep up with them, the more frequently you’ll have to update your brand as the trends inevitably pass by. Again, this eats up a lot of your time, and can cause problems for brand recognition. If you look like every other “trendy” brand account on a platform, your content won’t stand out in any meaningful way. And if you change it up all the time, you’re basically hitting the reset button on people being able to recognize your work.
THE FIX: Craft your brand identity based on your strategy, target audience, and brand words – not just whatever the latest big thing in design is. This will help your designs stand out online and last longer, saving you loads of time.
Mistake #4: Not Understanding (or Learning!) the Basic Principles of Design
I believe design is an essential skill for entrepreneurs, and while many are probably searching for tutorials on how to create logos or templates, so many make the mistake of not learning any of the essential principles of design. If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t get the template to look as good once you put your content in it, it’s probably because it’s breaking a few simple design rules.
THE FIX: Invest a little bit of time each week into learning some key design concepts, such as alignment, balance, hierarchy, and color theory. This knowledge will empower you to use design templates more effectively and make informed choices about your brand visuals.
Mistake #5: Branding for Yourself Instead of Your Audience
Designing a logo or choosing colors and fonts that align with your personal preferences rather than what appeals to your target audience can hinder your ability to attract the right customers or clients. While I think most of the best personal brands in online business have some overlap here, if there’s any question around whether your audience would resonate with something you like, it’s always better to go with what will work for your people.
THE FIX: Work through your brand strategy – especially the audience part – and use what you learn to inform your creative decisions. Study the other brands your audience follows, and what about them resonates.
-
Are you making any of these mistakes, or have you already implemented some of these fixes and are seeing results? I’d love to know – shoot me a DM on Instagram and let’s chat about it!
See you in the next one!
Emily Banks
