I had a bit of an epiphany over the weekend. I was laying in the sun, looking at my sparkly navy blue and white flip flops and it hit me.
Branding
You may be thinking that I laid out too long in the sun or I had a temporary lapse of reality. No, I promise you I haven’t. I wrote a little about branding before and why it is important to brand yourself and not your direct sales company. And for some reason, that moment in the gloriousness of the California sunshine, a lightbulb really went off.
For many of us direct sellers, when you hear the word “branding” it sounds scary. It sounds permanent, and it sounds like another huge piece of the social media puzzle that needs to be figured out.
It doesn’t have to be. I’m going to share a little about my branding journey in the hopes it helps you and the future of your direct sales business.
When I started ForeverSparkly, it was a play on my original name for my Origami Owl business. I love things that sparkle, they make me smile and make me happy. Hence my growing collection of sparkly flip flops!
My Brand Was There All Along
I started out with gold sparkles as the base for most of my graphics and I soon tired of that as it fell a bit flat when I looked at it. I discovered all of the free graphics sites out there and stepped up my branding game to generally stick with the colors blue, white, and gold. But I just didn’t feel it had really “clicked”
Then something happened when I was basking in the sun. I live in sunny California, the Golden State, and most of my wardrobe consists of Navy Blue and White. It’s true! My brand had been a part of me before I even realized it. That’s where I got the idea for a gold sparkly sun and then I began searching for navy and gold images to take my blog and social media posts to the next level.
Keep It Simple
I love to make graphics in Canva and find their templates and layouts really easy to make effective social media posts for my blog and direct sales business. Another resource that is really valuable to use is Creative Market.
Creative Market is one of the best places to find stunning images, unique fonts, and graphics for your social media posts and online businesses.
Since I am a lover of all things navy blue white and gold, I had to take a peek at what Creative Market had to offer. I was in luck! There was a social media bundle of gorgeous stock photos and it really helped to solidify my branding and spark my creativity as I began to schedule my social media posts.
Are you a lover of all things pink? Do you have a certain flower that you love to include in all your graphics? Do a search on Creative Market and see what pops up. Your mind will be buzzing with fresh ideas on what to use for your direct sales business graphics and social media posts!
And a neat tip for any graphics you have is to use them in different ways so as to get the most value out of them.
For example. This one stock photo can be cropped and flipped to give me 4 more photos to use in social media posts.
Original Stock Photo
Stock Photo Cropped 4 Ways
What is neat about developing your own brand is that it is constantly evolving. Tweak your colors, introduce a new font, the key is to be consistent. Having an object, in my case the sun, will help your community to think of you when they see that object out and about in their daily lives. Definitely, take a crack at using Creative Market for your direct sales business graphics and social media posts.
Another bonus for you, Creative Market offers FREE goodies every Monday! Yes! Free font bundles, free graphics, templates, etc. Make sure to sign up so you can download your free graphics goodies each week!
Check out the Free Goods of the Week Here!
Powered by Creative Market
What is your brand? What object makes your community think of you and your business? Share by commenting below! Need more ideas on what to post in your Facebook groups? Here is a list of 101 ideas for your Facebook group posts!
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Click to purchase the Sassy Suite Brand Yo' Self Graphics Training Course. This complete on-demand direct sales graphics training teaches you how to create your own original graphics from step 1. Learn how to create your own branded graphics and step up your social media presence!
I love creative market! I bought a font there and a picture. Love the idea – buy once and use it 5 times with cropping!
Thank you, Alicia! I’m always looking for great tips on how to get the most out of the social media tools out there!
I just did a complete re-brand yesterday! I am so excited and happy with the way it came out. It was a very much needed fresh start! 🙂
That is fantastic, Valerie!!
Hey girl! Last week, we launched our little shop, From the Ground Up Signs. We have an insta, FB, and Pinterest (feel free to stalk us to see what little I’ve began) and are encouraged & excited to begin this journey. I am trying to educate myself on all things small business-y & social media, and thought who better a source? We began this journey by finding ourselves making signs for weddings & gifts over the course of a few months, realizing how fun it was & that we could actually make some money doing something that is more fulfilling than if I were to work full time as a CNA this coming semester as I wait for nursing school. I’m hoping to gain a following not just for selling products, but to encourage & bring joy to others through posts. I feel the Lord through that! What are your tips/suggestions? I’d love to hear any & all!
Hi Ariel! You are in the right spot! I highly suggest looking at a website that includes a blogging feature. That way you can share your story with your followers and utilize the social media channels you are on to share those blog posts. If you need specific suggestions on how to start blogging send an email to kristy@foreversparkly.com and let’s chat!