Do you ever walk away from an event feeling fully charged and inspired? That was us on Friday! We were sponsors at MamaCon in Toronto and we were able to chat with so many amazing women who are both entrepreneurs and mothers.
The energy in the room was amazing!
At our sponsor table we chatted with many women who had great questions for us. Read on for some of those questions are our answers. (And scroll to the bottom so see some photos of us with our clients from the event.)
The best questions we were asked at MamaCon (and our answers!)
Let’s get right into it!
Q: I want my business to look professional but I’m just starting out. What are the most important things to focus on?
A: The biggest thing to focus on in the early stages of your business is consistency. Make sure you have a clear idea about your brand messaging:
- who you are
- who you help
- how you help them
- what makes you special
If every design decision and all your messaging is based on the answers to these questions, then you will have a solid foundation when it is time to work on things like your logo, brand vibe, marketing materials, and website.
The earliest you are able to invest in professional branding the better, but don’t let a lack of branding stop you from putting yourself out there.
Q: What’s the best way to get online when I’m not ready to invest in a custom website yet?
A: The fastest way to get online with a professional presence is with a simple landing page. A landing page can introduce people to you and your business while keeping things short and sweet. Common things to include on a landing page?
- A short welcome to who you are and what makes you special (you only have a few seconds to capture someone’s attention, so get into this right away!)
- A brief intro to your services or products. Keep this simple so that you give potential customers enough information to get a sense of how you can benefit them, without giving them the chance to lose interest (or scroll too much).
- Tell them what you want them to do next! Should they book a call? Embed your call calendar or include a link. Should they contact you or fill out a form? Make that very clear and easy for them to do.
- Your branding! Make sure people get an immediate feel for your brand. The colours you choose, the photos you include, and any other design decisions should all be on brand and consistent.
Q: What should come first, my branding or my website?
A: We recommend getting clear on your branding before starting other marketing assets, including your website. You want a solid brand and a set of clear brand guidelines so that you are confident that what you are putting out into the world is going to resonate with your dream clients.
If you did your website first and now want to invest in professional branding it isn’t too late. Your designer will likely want to go over what you already have and what needs to change to level up your branding based on your goals. Any branding can then be applied to your website, and changes required to be in line with your brand vision and goals can be addressed.
Q: Do you work with websites that were built elsewhere but need changes or refining?
A: We do! If we are taking over the maintenance or design of an existing site we always start with a strategy call to make sure we are clear on any ongoing goals or existing challenges. We also spend an hour getting familiar with your site so that we can identify any issues or red flags before we begin.
If you are thinking of changing your web team here are some questions to ask the new teams you are considering:
- Have you worked with other businesses in my industry before?
You want to make sure the team is familiar with your industry or niche so that they can advise on any best practices that are specific to you. - What are your preferred platforms?
If your website is on a specific platform and that is where you want to stay, your web team should be experts in that platform. If they are not, they will not be the best resource for you as questions come up. - What do we need to do to switch to you?
The web team you are moving to should make you feel comfortable and at ease during the whole process. There shouldn’t be any scrambling or guess work left to you. If they can’t outline a clear path forward before they are on your side, don’t count on them doing it after. - What costs can I expect when we make the switch?
There shouldn’t be any hidden costs. When we start working on a website that we didn’t build we charge a small one-time flat fee to do a full assessment of the site first to make sure it was built following best practices and that there are no surprises. Other fees that could be required are hosting fees (if you are changing hosts) and monthly maintenance fees. Also ask what the hourly rate will be and if there are any minimums you should be aware of. We bill by the minute for most requests but some agencies and freelancers have a minimum (one hour minimum charge is common).
Q: I have a logo and branding but I know they need refining – does that mean I need to completely start over?
A: The answer to this question is “it depends”. There are many factors to consider here and it’s best to sit down with a brand designer and go over what you like and dislike about your current branding. You should complete a brand exercise (with your designer or prior to meeting with them) to get clear on your brand vision. This information will be crucial in deciding if your brand needs a refresh or a full redesign.
We recently refreshed our branding and while we didn’t start over from scratch (our logo and two of our primary brand colours remained the same) we did work on our overall brand vibe and we added new colours, fonts, and brand photos to our brand asset library. Choose a brand designer that has a look that you like and ask them about their process to see if it feels like a good fit for the direction you want to move.
