Today I spent half a day working with my client Terri from Color & Light Gallery in Denver on her brand. We had a great time brainstorming for the right name and image and the exact look and feel for her business. However, we started out asking some fairly basic questions in order to get to the fun part. Here are a few questions to ask before making decisions about your logo, tagline, marketing materials, website, etc.:
1. Who is your target audience? Who would you like to see enjoying your art? Is there a group that is not showing up yet that you feel would be a good fit?
2. What is your mission and how do you currently do business? What changes do you need to make?
3. Who is your competition and what sets you apart from your competition? Having and defining a niche is highly recommended.
4. What colors come to mind when you think about your art form and organization?
5. What are your primary goals for the year? What will your business look like five years from now?
You can get a little more detailed. I happen to have my list of 20 questions I ask my clients, but after answering these basic questions, you will get more of an idea what your brand is going to be.
We ended up changing the name of her business to Color & Light Galleria since her niche went beyond the basic gallery. She also has a jewelry shop and a boutique section of her store. Plus, she happens to be Italian, so this fit very well with her specific image. The colors, basics for the logo, tagline and a beginning to the look and feel are falling into place easily due to sitting down and answering these few simple questions.
As long as you keep your audience in mind (both existing and potential) in addition to your goals and mission for this year and beyond, a brand will start to form. After you have a brand in place, communicating with your audience will be much easier since they will be able to understand who you are. Good branding is good audience development!
Until next time, may your audiences be happy and loyal ones, and if they are not, feel free to contact me!
~Shoshana~
Shoshana Fanizza is the founder of Audience Development Specialists. Her mission is to introduce artists and arts organizations to their existing and potential audiences and to help them to form more rewarding relationships.
https://www.buildmyaudience.com
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