Can folks immediately identify that a post came from you when they are browsing social media or watching your video?
See how I developed an instant hit with branding both me and my woodworking site.
Enjoying this series?
It’s all about how I’m turning a hobby site into a money-making blog.
More Than a Logo for Your Site
A site logo is displayed on way more than your site’s header and has far deeper impact on all marketing beyond your site.
Color Scheme
Generally, a logo has your brand colors that you extend to every area of your site.
But, those colors also become your signature on all images you create for social media, whether they display your logo or not.
A consistent color scheme is the first way folks can identify a post is from you just by looking at the image you share on social media platforms, including those that are not considered truly social like Pinterest and YouTube.
Watermarks
A logo can also be used as a watermark on images and video too.
That’s especially important when the image doesn’t include your face.
Plus, a watermark helps keep your images/video from being scraped by scammy folks looking to use your hard work for their gain.
Shape and Font for Logo
For BlogAid, I chose the name itself as my logo everywhere, as it is short enough when written out.
Plus, it can be broken in two for a square type logo icon.
The font choice also helps it become immediately identifiable. I’ve seen others use fancy fonts successfully for that purpose too.
For Heartwood Art I chose a round image that is a takeoff of one of my tree carvings.
It’s like an image stamp even without the text and is immediately identifiable.
Brand Yourself
Years ago I noticed that several of my online heros always wore the same colors in any image or video of themselves.
Denise Wakeman always wore pink and black.
Mari Smith always wore turquoise.
Tim Schmoyer always wears a baseball cap.
And while Denise and Mari don’t exclusively wear those colors now, I still see them use a “look” that instantly identifies them. (Tim still always wears his cap.)
For some, that’s always shooting video with the same background, or from the same location.
Kate Ahl has a she-shed look in all her Facebook videos.
Denise and Mari have consistent locations and looks for their videos too.
Cultivate a Look
I see cooks and crafters wearing the same apron in every shot. It gives them a consistent look.
For my woodworking, I decided to always wear some bib overalls instead of an apron.
And boy, was that ever the right decision!!!!!!!!
Y’all know me, I’m totally utilitarian.
I chose bibs because they are the most comfortable, functional, and safest things to wear in the shop.
And they allow me to wear weather-appropriate clothing underneath.
What I didn’t count on was the reaction my audience would have to them.
I can hardly believe I’ve had so many comments about how cute I look in my bibs!!
They fit perfectly with my accent and personality and completely reinforce my brand.
Plus, they make me instantly recognizable online.
Looks Matter
I wish they didn’t, but that’s the way the world works.
Some folks will distrust a site based solely on how it looks.
For instance, when the theme on BlogAid started looking dated, I had to update it.
I don’t think folks would be so ready to trust a tech site that looked like it was created 10 years ago, or even 5 years ago for that matter.
I’m going to do the same sort of revamp on Heartwood Art.
For decor sites, looks are EVERYTHING!!!!!
For food sites, a well lit image is EVERYTHING!!
Folks will skip over a dish photographed under the stove hood light and click on a dish that is sitting on a daylight-lit countertop every time.
For a woodshop, that’s a little different.
If you need to learn how to do something, you will tolerate a ill-lit, chaotic shop scene with poor audio, just to get the info from a true carpenter.
But, the biggest money-making sites in that niche have clean, well-lit shops, and higher video quality.
I’ve seen maker sites where they showed their setup and they basically transformed a bedroom into a high production studio.
I’m somewhere in the middle with both BlogAid and Heartwood Art.
As you’ve read in other posts in this series, I invested money and time into getting a better video camera and mic for the woodshop. I’m still using my old Logitech c920 webcam and a green screen setup, and headset mic for talking head videos on BlogAid. But I did invest in good lighting for both places.
I use my iPad for taking still shots in the woodshop to post to Instagram (@HeartwoodArtCreations).
I have successfully created a “look” for both my brands in every way that I can.
How Do You Use Branding?
What are some of the things you do to help folks instantly recognize your posts, images, and videos?
Leave us a comment and we can all get ideas from one another.
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Hi MaAnna! Love your woodworking logo! So pretty! Did you have them professionally done or did you use a free website to create them yourself? I know there are a lot of free services out there. Would love to hear your take on a few. Alanna
My theme designer at the time had graphic artists she worked with that created both of my logos. As important as this is for branding, working with someone who knows branding is important, IMO.
Such great info!! I am hoping my mixing bowl is a tip for who I am. I used to have it in 8 places on my blog. But I needed to update code and won’t be fixing it until I run to Gute just in case I do things differently. I love the bibs. And those that know you first from BlogAid are immediately hit with a different “version” of you and your talents.
I think your logo is fantastic, Marilyn!!!
The “me” folks encounter on Heartwood Art is my normal state of being. Maybe that’s a big clue to folks just how stressful site stuff has become, and why I’m changing the focus of BlogAid too.
I think this is a great idea and your bib overalls do look great! Last year I began adding a color blog with my blog color with the name of the project to all of my images that I share on FB and Pinterest. PicMonkey makes it easy to do. I’m hopeful that it’s becoming recognizable. I need to work on adding something more recognizable to images I share at link parties and on Twitter.
Although watermarks can be erased from an image, most scrapers are just using bots to steal images. So, I’m thinking watermarks are absolutely essential these days. There are plugins that can auto place them on old images and I’m looking into that for my wood site, as it has the most “stealable” images.