Branding, Logo Design Services, and Portfolio Branding

Branding your business is like building a solid foundation for home construction.  The big three elements must synergistically work together and be strategically designed. Many people make the mistake of having irrelevant graphics, hard-to-read coloring, or using their own name in their business. We can help you avoid these common pitfalls and get the most brand recognition and value out of your branding package.

The big three elements of business branding are:

  1. Your Business Name
  2. Your Logo
  3. Your Slogan

It's very important to work with someone who really understands small business marketing and branding as well as graphic design. We have helped many businesses get a strong leg up on their competition with powerful branding. We are happy to help you. If you're not a start-up, we can help you with the critical decision to re-brand or not and what's the optimal timing.

image of logo design branding for Susan Janzen love coach
image of logo design branding slogan creation for dependable conveyor systems
image of logo design for folsom branding graphic design with business name, logo and slogan

Business Name Advice:

When thinking about your business name, visualize your ideal client in a car, driving by your business sign at 30 miles per hour. Would they know what you do or offer? Would your name build curiosity or let them know what’s in it for them? For most small businesses, it’s a mistake to use your own name in the business name (unless we’re on Oprah, the general public that are not our clients don’t know your name). Each word is valuable “real estate” to convey your message. What do you do?  What’s in it for the client? Extra credit is a clever play on words, but certainly not necessary. Examples I’ve helped come up with (and believe it or not, the domain was available):  Petaluma Bookkeeper, Sacramento Laundromat … It’s perfectly OK to keep it simple.

Logo Design Tips:

Your logo is the second part of the trio of elements that make up your primary branding. This is an opportunity for you to visually express what you do and what’s in it for the client. Think about visuals that would strengthen or add to your business name. If you do cleaning services, what comes to mind? Bubbles, a mop, a squeegee… a good graphic artist will ask you a lot of questions before coming up with a logo for you. I highly recommend using a professional to get help. If you are on a tight budget, you can have a logo designed by fivrr.com or upwork.com. Be sure to check out their portfolio and give very specific instructions and ideas but let them have a creative license at the same time.

How to Write a Great Slogan:

Your business slogan is a brief sentence that brings out your USP [Unique Selling Proposition]. What’s unique, special, different, and better in your business than your competition? Be sure to use powerful emotional adjectives and really distill your message with as few words as possible.

As an example, I helped start a bookkeeping business in the Lake Tahoe area and our slogan was “Fast, Accurate & Wise” with an owl silhouette with the Lake outline as the logo image. Who doesn’t want a bookkeeper that is efficient, enters data correctly, and actually thinks about what the numbers mean to your business rather than “plugging and chugging” data?

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