Freelance Writer Brand Standards & Strategy

Brand Standards

CONTENTS This brand standards document explores the message, visuals, and expression of your brand.

1. Brand Message 2. Design & Visuals 3. Words & Content 4. Live Your Brand

BRAND GUIDELINES JOANNA GULDIN-NOLL

MOODBOARD

In the mood board, I wanted to capture a warm “boutique” environment with bright colors. I also included images of notebooks as a nod to your playground story.

BRAND MESSAGE

POSITIONCORE IDEA Your clients refer to you as “my writer.” You are the most important piece of their content marketing.

YOUR GOAL You enable entrepreneurs & owners to get back to doing what they enjoy and are good at in business (which is anything but writing.)

HOW YOU ARE DIFFERENT You are crafting custom content for each of your clients in their brand voice. Through ongoing engagements, you get to know your clients’ brands inside & out.

WHAT YOU DELIVER You write blog posts and content for businesses that is consistently great and on time for a great value.

01


Brand Message

PERSONALITY

CREATOR PERSONALITY ARCHETYPE

You free up your clients to return to their own genius by serving them in yours - as a writer. Your work centers around creating valuable content with minimal direction.

Your greatest motivation is to realize your client’s vision.

Your clients feel: “I want to be able do what she can.” amazed by your talent, inspired

You are: • Descriptive • A story-teller • Creative • A master of your craft • Able to out-work and out-create others

Channel your inner “bluestocking” and artist when you communicate with your clients.

01


Brand Message

POINT OF VIEW

WORDS ARE BEAUTIFUL The written word can transport you to a different time and place. They can persuade, inform, and educate. Choosing the write words is an art form that I hone every day.

COUNT ON ME I give freelancing a good name. My work is always on time and high-quality.

GREAT WRITING IS RARE You *could* get content from a lot of different places, but there is a immeasurable value in working with a professional who writes for you in your brand’s voice and consistently delivers.

RESPECT YOUR GENIUS If communication is a weak point for you, by all means, don’t torture yourself. I feel lucky that I am paid to do this work because I love it so much.

SHOP SMALL By working with individual professionals and small businesses, you are investing in regular people. Be mindful of where you are “voting with your dollars” if you also want people to do business with you.

01


Brand Message

Work in your genius. (I’ll work in mine.)

MANIFESTO

DESIGN & VISUALS

LOGO

02

Your logo “feels” like a local boutique’s mark. The pencil helps people see what you do at a glance (even without a tagline.)


Visual Identity

PRIMARY COLORS

02

Visual Identity

These are the primary colors we want your brand to be known for. The bright colors fit your “Creator” brand.

#37C3B4

#D7F3F0 #AFE7E1 #87DBD2 #5FCFC3

#F65948 #ECD858

#FBBCB5 #F99B91 #FBF7DD #F3E79A


SECONDARY COLORS

02

The secondary colors of your brand should be used as background & font colors. The pink can be used as a secondary accent color if needed (it also appears in some of your patterns.)

#DF6565 #FFFFFF

#443A32 #355D68


Visual Identity

PATTERNS

02

I chose the patterns and textures here to accent your brand. They both fit your color palette & brand “vibe” gorgeously.


Visual Identity

TYPOGRAPHYHEADLINES: BREE SERIF

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ 1234567890

02

Body: Lora

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1234567890

Bree Serif has an almost “vintage” look to it while still looking modern. It feels like a font you would see on an organic food label. Lora keeps things professional and easy to read.


Visual Identity

FONTS IN ACTION

HEADLINE LEVEL 1

This is a description paragraph. It explains the purpose of the page and describes the title to the left.

1. Example 2. Example 3. Example 4. Example

“This is a quote from a very impressive person.” -Important Person

HEADLINE LEVEL 2

This is a description paragraph. It explains the purpose of the page and describes the title to the left. This is a description paragraph. It explains the purpose of the page and describes the title to the left.

• Example • Example • Example

HEADLINE LEVEL 3

02

This page shows what your main fonts look like in action. Bree Serif (headlines) and Lora (body) are very easy to read and convey a creative & professional message.


Visual Identity

IMAGE STYLE

ICONS

02

Icons can be used in web design to call attention to add visual interest or call attention to specific areas. The hexagon shape used earlier is carried through to these button designs to keep the brand consistent and memorable.


Visual Identity

WORDS & CONTENT

TAGLINE/ HEADLINE OPTIONS

• Content you can count on • Consistent handcrafted content • I write so you don’t have to • Take blogging off your to-do list • Delegate your blog

03


Brand Communication

TONE OF VOICE

Content from your brand should come from a place of expertise. You should “live by example” and spend a lot of time crafting your own brand communication.

Tell stories and entertain people whenever possible. Show them what business communication *can* look like when they hire a professional.

You’ll sound: • Motivational not condescending • Direct not passive • Clear not confusing • Helpful not cold

03

The tone of voice you hear from your best friend versus a police officer is going to be dramatically different. Here’s how your should sound.


Brand Communication

YOUR CREDIBILITY IS SHOWING

• List places you’ve been published • Huffington Post • USMC Life • UClass • Military Spouse Magazine

• Share your awards • Talk about your degrees • Post testimonials on as many pages as

possible • Share a few of your favorite pieces in a

portfolio and explain why you are sharing each one

03


Be sure to toot your own horn. Trust isn’t something you can ask for - it needs to be earned by sharing your results, awards, testimonials, and portfolio.

Brand Communication

STORIESA CREATIVE IS BORN On your about page, you MUST tell the playground/notebook story. It is so perfect.

CLIENT STORIES In blog posts and in your portfolio, highlight the different industries and capacities you’ve worked in through stories.

HUMAN INTEREST Sprinkle in human interest stories and metaphors into your communication so people get to know you. Include mentions of Downtown Abby, favorite books, travel experiences, etc.

03


Brand Communication

LIVE YOUR BRAND

ACTION STEPS

CLIENT ON BOARDING Create a consistent on boarding process for each new client. Create a Typeform Brand Voice questionnaire, send them a HelloSign contract, and invoice them via PayPal.

SET BOUNDARIES In your contract and when communicating with your clients, communicate turnaround times, revision expectations, and THEIR responsibilities for each new client. These can also be addressed at the bottom of your “work with me” page in a FAQ format.

CREATE PACKAGES Your work with me page should have one primary way to hire you: 4x blogs per month for ~$495 with a three month minimum commitment. Be sure to include a few testimonials on this page. Also, be sure to give people a way to take action ON this page - a form to fill out to contact you or a button to push to pay you. Make it as easy as possible for people to give you money.

04


Live Your Brand

BRANDEMIESIDEA ENEMIES • Cookie-cutter, generic content • Holding onto work you aren’t great at (some people are

not meant to write) • Micromanaging

NOT TO DO LIST • Present yourself as simply a “technician.” You are a

valuable creator of content. • Work with clients that don’t allow you to be creative

YOU ARE NOT • A content farm • A virtual assistant

04


Live Your Brand

WEBSITE

04

This website homepage design is an example of how you can combine the elements of your brand together. The design style is bright & creative with “handcrafted” elements.

Template: Darling Genesis Theme


Live Your Brand

WEBSITE

04

I carried consistent design elements to this sample blog page design.

Template: Darling Genesis Theme Headline Font: Bree Serif Body Font: Lora Text: #443a32 Links: #f95842 CTA Buttons: #edda4c Menu text: #ffffff


Live Your Brand

ANY QUESTIONS?Contact me:

[email protected]

Brand Strategy & Design by Kaye Putnam

mailto:[email protected]

Small Business & Entrepreneurship

Freelance Writer Brand Standards & Strategy