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Businesses must change to survive. Over time, the brand you began your business with will no longer reflect the business you have today or the business you want to have in the future. That’s when it’s time for a brand makeover.
In today’s podcast, Gail and Erin relate the brand journey their business has been through over the years. Recently, as they developed a 10-year vision for the business, they realized they would need to re-brand once again to reflect new aspects they are adding and how the business will change.
Reflecting on how their brand has evolved, Gail observed that from time to time you need to stop and assess whether the brand you have still serves you well. Moreover, you need to consider whether your brand is going take where you want to go. “If you have a big vision for your company,” said Gail, “you need to be sure your brand is in the right spot for that.”
A key aspect of branding for interior designers and other creative professionals is making the case for the value of the services they provide. How to do that is a major component of Gail’s new book, Business Breakthrough: Your Creative Value Blueprint to Get Paid What You Are Worth. She developed the Creative Value Blueprint to help designers get paid what they are worth.
“Placing a value on creativity is a huge challenge,” remarked Erin. “It’s not just getting paid what you’re worth but having people value what you bring to the table as far as creativity.” You have to have confidence in your ability and your worth.
“You have to create value along the way,” said Gail. “It’s not just the creativity but the process of that creativity” — the entire experience for the client, not just the final result. It’s important to set expectations with the client upfront and explain the value of the quality experience you are going to provide and the lasting value of the final result.
As they brought their conversation to a close, Gail listed three questions for designers to think about as they plan their business, their vision and their brand:
- What is that Creative Value Blueprint that you’re designing?
- What are your processes and procedures to create a quality experience for the client?
- How can you do better?
On the last point, Gail added, always ask for feedback from clients. You should be making incremental improvements in your business consistently, so that 10 years from now your business should be 10 times better than it is right now.
Listen to the entire podcast to hear more insights from Gail and Erin about evolving your brand and getting paid what you’re worth.
Mentioned in This Podcast
Gail’s new book, Business Breakthrough: Your Creative Value Blueprint to Get Paid What You Are Worth, is available now in Kindle format from amazon.com.