The 15-Minute Brand Check-Up for Small Business Owners

When work gets busy, we get absorbed into, well, work. We find ourselves buried in deadlines, overwhelmed by our to-do lists, all while business slows in the background. When work picks up and our calendars fill, it's easy to neglect our number one sales tool: our brand. 

Lucky for you, I've created a 15-minute brand check-up so you can identify key opportunities to better your brand—even during busy seasons of work and life.

1. Google Yourself (5 Minutes)

Ever wondered how potential clients or customers perceive you? Take a moment to search your name or your business name and see what shows up. Don't like what you see? Here are some ways you can move forward:

• Address negative reviews or outdated information.
• Use Keyword Surfer to identify keyword ideas within your industry.
• Update your Google My Business page to reflect your current offers and contact information. Don't have a Google My Business page? Get one!
  

2. Audit your leads and inquiries (9 minutes)

Leads are the lifeblood of your business—but they can also be an energy vampire if they're not the right fit.

Take a few moments to look at your incoming leads from the past quarter. Do they align with your industry, expertise, and pricing structure? If not, your brand may be telling the wrong story to the wrong people. It's time to realign your brand positioning and messaging to better target your ideal customers. Here are a few ways to get started:

• Identify wishy-washy messages that don't articulate your core offer or ethos.
• Add a simple question to your form to filter unqualified leads. This may be a budget question or a project-type field. Consider setting up an automated response to these people to filter them to better solutions or resources.
• Add an FAQ section to your contact page to help filter out those pesky quick questions that take a ton of time to answer.
  

3. Quick scroll (1 minute)

We're living in the attention economy! Some research suggests that in the digital sphere, you have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression. That means once a user lands on your website, Instagram, or even LinkedIn, they've already formed a lot of opinions about you and your brand. With this in mind, take a quick second (literally) to scroll your website or social platforms. Don't slow down to read, don't click links, just scroll and see what jumps out at you. Is your image cohesive? What catches your eye? Do elements feel out of place or incongruent with the rest of your look? If you feel overwhelmed or confused by what you see, consider these tips:

• Refer to your brand guidelines and make sure images align with your brand standards to create a cohesive look and feel.
• Reformat large blocks of copy into columns and bullet points with visuals to break them up.

This 15-minute brand check-up is a small investment that can yield big results. By taking this time to assess your online presence, you can identify key opportunities that will help you move forward.

Now What?

If you're ready to turn these insights into action and overhaul your brand, I'm here to help! We'll begin with a brand audit and strategy session to understand your target customers and competitors. Then we'll build a brand positioning structure to help you stand out (for the right reasons)! 

To get started, contact me.