I’ve been seeing it a lot lately…something about Spring I think, and the need to refresh and renew stuff.

Rebranding…the need to change up what you’re doing, put some fresh new ‘duds’ on, dust things off, bag up what’s not working, looking at things from a new perspective, you know the drill if you’ve been in business as an entrepreneur for any length of time.

And I get asked this question a lot.

“Should I rebrand?”

 

And honestly for solopreneurs and entrepreneurs, the question isn’t “Should I rebrand?”, but rather

 

“Have I prepared for the fact that my brand will grow + evolve?”

Rebranding is about understanding where your brand is right now and knowing the direction that you want your brand to go in.

Most of the time when entrepreneurs and solopreneurs think about rebranding it’s about the visual + verbal aspects of branding…changing your website, the colors, maybe the name of your business, products or offerings, writing new copy, and so on.

While these are important, they are, just a tiny piece of the rebrand pie.

Here’s what you need to really think about when (not if) you rebrand:

• Has my Mission changed?

When you started out you had a specific mission in mind (you did right?) of how you wanted to show up in the world. Is that the same or do you want to be known for something else now? There’s nothing wrong with that; in fact it’s vital to check in with your mission from time to time to help you stay on congruent and aligned. A healthy brand is always aligned with who you are and where you want to go.

• Has my audience changed? 

You may find that the people who are attracted to you now are not the ones you initially started working with. As the depth and breadth of  your brand equity grows, different psychographics and demographics may start to stand out. And of course the next question is: Do I want to work with these people?

• Does my story makes sense?

Every brand story has a progression or path. You must include your community in your story in order to have coherence and relevance; in other words, your story has to make sense. You have to bring your community along for the ride (or be willing to drop them off if there is no longer a good fit between you).

• What is my brand promise? (experiential)

Here is the other piece that goes with the visual + verbal aspects of your brand, but is rarely really thought about. Is the experience for your community what you want it to be?  How do you want your people to feel after they have interacted with your brand? Equally important is how do you want to feel in the process? This is the perfect place to differentiate yourself in your field.

• What will this look like?

Now is the time to consider how your rebrand will look both visually + verbally. Are you identifying key words, phrases, and language that you want associated with your brand (hello archetypes!)? Does the style and feel (the vibe) fully represent where your brand is going?

If you are thinking of rebranding and don’t want to go it alone, the Create Your Watermark Brand program is happening in just a few days. I’d love to partner with you in your branding efforts!

Brand Brilliantly!