My experience with Brenits Creative has been fantastic. I wish I would have contacted...
The Care and Craft of Brenits Creative, in Our Client’s Words
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Brand strategy, mindset, and solo-business wisdom—choose your path
Insights to Help You Build a Better Brand (and a Business That Works for You).
This is your hub for everything I write—whether you’re growing a brand with The Creative Brief or navigating the business-of-one life with Solo(ish). Explore by topic or follow the content stream that fits where you are now. Both are here to help you work smarter, show up stronger, and stay aligned with what matters most.
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Mindset & Motivation
NETWORKING & REFERRALS
Operations & tools
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SOLOPRENEUR LIFE
BRANDING & POSITIONING
MARKETING STRATEGY
VISUAL IDENTITY & DESIGN
Scare Tactics In Branding and Marketing
Human beings have base fears such as the need for protection, for reassurance, for...
We Get by With a Little Help From Our Branding Friends
Every business owner faces a series of challenges. We wear many hats and make a lot of...
How Writing Helps Me Talk About What I Do
I attend a fair amount of networking events every month. As an entrepreneur providing...
To-Do, To-Don’t, To-Done!
Sometimes it feels like there’s a lot on my plate. I run my own business, sit on two boards, serve as leadership for my referral networking group, and I teach. Most importantly, I’m a husband and father. I have a lot of stuff that needs to get done every day. But I’m never overwhelmed enough to say, “my plate is overfull.”
Goalsetting With A Vivid Vision Document
Most business owners have an idea of what they want their company to look like. However, their employees can’t necessarily see that same vision for what the future can be. If you are struggling with writing a clear mission statement and vision statement, then you should try to write a Vivid Vision first.
Plan and run better meetings
Meetings are a necessary evil in our business. Between staff meetings, project planning...
6 Ways To Spot Cheap Logo Design
There’s only one thing worse than a cheap logo, and that’s a cheap looking logo. Even if your average consumer can’t communicate why your logo makes them feel embarrassed, disgusted, or confused, they’re still going to have that reaction anyway.
Defining Your Audio Brand Strategy
From Netflix's "Ba-Dummm!" to the "ba-da-DA-Dum" of Intel, or even the three roars of...
A Fresh Start: Rebrand Your Business or Refresh Your Website?
No business can afford to rest on its laurels. While your company may be keeping up with economic and market changes, is your brand keeping up? Does your website communicate to your target audience how you’re keeping up?
You may be trying to decide if you should rebrand your business, or just update your website. Here are 10 factors to consider helping you make your decision.
I Went from In-House to Consultant—Here’s What Helped Me Succeed
By the end of 2015, after nearly eight years as an in-house creative director—and over two decades in the field—I found myself self-employed for the second time in my career. Now, as I enter my fourth year as a brand and creative strategy consultant, I recognize how the lessons I learned in-house have directly contributed to my success as a business owner. Looking back, I can also see that my consulting mindset and teaching instincts played a crucial role in leading in-house creative teams effectively.
Lessons Learned Working In-House That Helped Me Be A Better Consultant
By the end of 2015, after being an in-house creative director for nearly 8 years and...
10 Ideas To Build Your Small Business brand
Many small business owners I talk to already understand that branding is essential to their business, but a surprisingly high number of them don’t really know why.
Getting Mission, Vision and Values Right
The Vision, Mission, and Values statements guide the behaviors of people in an organization. The Vision statement describes where the organization wants to be in the future; the Mission statement describes what the organization needs to do now to achieve the Vision.
Free Event: Know your "It" Factor. Brand Workshop & Lunch and Learn.
Join us for a brown-bag lunch and interactive workshop on Thursday, January 24th that will help each you figure out just what your own “It” is that makes your businesses so special. Moreover, once you know your “It,” you’ll be able to attract the right customers to your business.
Does My Small Business Really Need A Brand?
I think maybe people get hung up on wording. If you were to replace the word “branding” with “reputation” instead, I think I might get your attention. You care about your reputation, right?
The Changing Relationship Between In-House and Outside Agencies
In recent years, there has been a shift in power in the creative industry regarding who “owns” brand and creative work in corporate America. In-house creative teams have emerged as important players, producing some of the best creative work in design, advertising, photography, and video. This shift has led to corporations leveraging their in-house talent more than ever, with in-house teams taking on the responsibility of managing outside agency relationships.
Do You Need To Rebrand Your Business?
Business owners are more in tune with the principals of branding than ever before, some spending millions of dollars to brand or rebrand, depending on where they’re at in the business lifecycle. A brand represents everything about an organization, from its market position to company culture.
Four Simple Strategies to Keep Your Brand Consistent
Business owners are more in tune with the principals of branding than ever before, some spending millions of dollars to brand or rebrand, depending on where they’re at in the business lifecycle. A brand represents everything about an organization, from its market position to company culture.
Why You Need To Conduct A Design Audit
We all understand how important brands can be. There are brands that signify all over...
Choosing The Right Logo For Your Business
A logo is a powerful visual representation of your company. It forms an impression that...
Not the same: Brand Positioning and Brand Purpose
There was a period between about 2016-2017 where many brands seemed to combine purpose...
How Much Does Branding Cost?
If you ask around for quotes on branding projects, you will get fees ranging anywhere from $1,000 to $50,000 and even higher, and this often is just for design work. You might find a freelance designer online who says they can do it for less than $500, and you can even get a logo for as low as $5 on fiver.com. The real price of branding though, is not doing anything consistently.
3 Ways To Grow Small Brands On A Limited Budget
We all understand how important brands can be. There are brands that signify all over...
When Is It Time For A Name Change?
So when should a brand look at changing its name? If you want to signal a change in strategic focus, and if the name change will serve greater meaning, resonance, and value for consumers and customers, then do it.
3 Career Paths: Agency, Freelance or In-House?
As a design professional with almost 25 years of experience, I have worked in various roles, including as a freelancer, in-house creative services leader, creative director, and educator. There are three career paths available to creative – agency, freelance, and in-house – and choosing which one is right for you depends on four factors: stability, money, advancement, and passion.
5 Tips on Successful Small Business Branding
We all understand how important brands can be. There are brands that are significant all...
Transforming Your Brand Culture
In the first part of this two-part series, I talked about brand cultures that focus on...
3 Keys to Building An Admired Brand
The more your brand enables entices, and enriches customers, evoking their positive...
50 Ways to Differentiate Your brand
Everybody wants a brand that’s different. The irony of that statement is intentional. It...
What Being An Admired Brand Does For Your Business
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, symbol, and/or...
A Guide To Responsive Logos
To provide a comprehensive user experience across multiple mediums, a true responsive design isn’t limited to context or shrinking content on a page. Subtle design considerations, such as the icons and logos should also be flexible enough to follow similar contextual responsive principles.
Identifying Your Brand Culture
Brand culture is the culture that a company cultivates in order to powerfully, consistently and competitively deliver its brand to market. It’s how people work together to bring the brand alive for customers. But brand cultures are more than an expression of the brand itself; they are, by necessity, an expression of the people who work for that brand and the decisions and ways of working and behaving that they agree to work within.
The Difference Between Branding And Marketing
While the branding and marketing are undoubtedly connected, there are minute differences between the two. As a business owner it is essential that you understand branding and marketing in detail, so that you can effectively utilize them together. Below is a closer look at the differences between branding and marketing.
The Difference Between Branding, Identity & Logo Design
I often talk about how your logo is not your brand, nor is it your identity. Logo...
How Flexible Is Your Logo?
An advantage of marketing a small business is the flexibility to try new strategies to grow your business.
Though you may be flexible enough to try new marketing tactics to grow your business is your logo?