I am sure you have seen those Pinterest accounts that just kind of blow you away with consistency, clarity and the pretty branded board covers. Accounts like these don’t just materialise out of nothing. There is a lot of time and effort put into these boards and the strategy behind them.

I have recently started to research how to use Pinterest more efficiently to help my business and blog to grow, while simultaneously helping other people by providing them with what I believe to be quality information. One of the big things that is coming up again and again in my research is how important it is to have branded Pinterest boards that has a clear strategy and message to communicate.

Here’s the thing – you can’t keep looking at your social media as separate to your website. That is the entirely wrong way to use social media and it’s not helping you one little bit. You invest so much time and energy (and often money) into growing your brand and interacting on social media, so why not maximise your resources to ensure you are getting the return you deserve. Keeping brand consistent as you cross over to social media from your website is not only vital, it’s actually not that difficult either!

Let’s look at the best ways to brand and style your Pinterest boards:

1. DETERMINE WHAT YOUR ACCOUNT IS FOR AND DECIDE ON LOGICAL BOARDS

Here’s a common misconception: “the more boards I have on different topics, the more people I will attract”. Wrong.

Just like we talk about niching and narrowing the focus of your blogging topics/categories as a way of building a strong blogging brand, so too should we narrow the focus of our Pinterest boards. Think about what your business and blog is about and create boards that relate to your chosen niche. There is no point having ‘automobile maintenance’ boards if you are an interior designer, for example. This only confuses fellow Pinners and will ultimately send them on their way. It dilutes your brand.

One great way of deciding on what boards you should include is to look at your blogging categories. For me, I have six blogging topics: Blogging, Branding, Business, Design, Productivity and Web Design. These six topics make up six of my boards. I also have Social Media, Photography, Email Marketing, Workspaces and Brand Love. What do all these topics have in common? They are 100% relevant to my target audience. There is no recipe boards or hair style boards thrown in there. They are all on brand for my target market.

Laura James Studio does this particularly well. All of her boards are relevant to her target market and she doesn’t make any exceptions.

2. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU PIN

When you are pinning images to your boards, I recommend looking for pins that fit in with your overall brand aesthetics. Sure there will be variations in colour and composition but keeping a general, overall feeling to your boards will really help to attract pinners and keep them interested. I know it sounds harsh, but avoid ugly pins. You know the kind I am talking about, the blurry, slightly fuzzy, the mismatched fonts and weird colour pairings – just steer clear of them. Don’t forget that you also have secret boards that you can set up to include the less attractive pics, so if you find a killer article with an image that kinda ‘kills’ the mood, save it to a private board instead!

Here is a snippet of my Business Board, as you can see the image aesthetic is fairly consistent. They don’t overly conflict with my own branding and all the pins are on topic!

3. STYLE YOUR BOARD COVERS TO MATCH YOUR BRAND

One thing I love to see on Pinterest is board covers that are styled to match your brand. Let’s look at some people that do this really well!

I particularly love what Julie Harris has done with her board covers. It is very clearly on brand and utilises similar images in the background of each board cover.

Maggie Patterson uses a set colour and font pattern to mix and match, creating a cohesively branded theme for her Pinterest board covers. She selects different images and then places a coloured wash over the image before placing text over the top. This creates a very clear brand identity.

If you are feeling really creative, you can follow Lindsay Goldner‘s lead and create completely unique cover photos for each different board. This is slightly more time consuming but creates a great effect! Just make sure you stick to similar colours and fonts!

It doesn’t take long to create these board covers and they are super easy to put into place! Board covers display at 217px X 146px but I generally create my board covers 2x bigger, so 434px X 292px. Do you use Adobe Illustrator? I have a surprise for you! Scroll down for my FREE Illustrator template. I also recommend saving your cover images as PNGs, but JPG will work too.

I thought I would show you a little before and after so you can see for yourself what a difference this small thing can make to your overall Pinterest account!

As you can see, the topics were consistent and clearly relevant to my target market but the visual was all over the place! Some of the covers were my branding but not on purpose! There was a mishmash of colours, fonts and images and it felt really cluttered and inconsistnent.

So to add your own custom cover photos, open your board and click on the Add A Pin option to the left. Upload your new pin and then go back to your main Pinterest page. Click on the Edit button at the bottom of your board icon and a popup will open with the option to change your cover image. The cover option is half way down the panel, just click on Change. It should display the last image you uploaded/added to your board, so that should be your custom cover photo. If not, just scroll through until you find it and save both the change of image and the edit panel. Your new cover photo should appear! Here is my board all branded. It makes a huge difference and is far more relevant to my brand!

What do you think? It makes a pretty big difference and is definitely more pleasant on the eye! I have saved the Illustrator file I used to create this so if I need to replace any of the images in the future, I don’t have to try to match these images – it’s all still there, and all I need to do is edit them images if needed!

So what are you waiting for!

What do you need to get started on your own branded Pinterest covers?

1. Illustrator (and you can use my template below), Photoshop or even use PicMonkey or Canva
2. Your brand fonts, colours and elements.
3. Backgrounds or you may decide to create solid coloured backgrounds.
4. Half an hour and a bit of imagination!

Brand specialists, coaches and designers often talk about branding your business, and while business branding is absolutely my jam, I also want to talk about something I think is just as significant – Personal Branding.

What do I mean by Personal Branding? You may have your own business or perhaps a 9-5 job in an organisation, so you might think personal branding is not for you. Trust me, it is. You are most likely engaging in personal branding activities without even realising. Think about when you post images on your Instagram – even quotes and product images – it all somehow says something about who you are, wether you want it to or not. Regardless of your job and your intention, YOU are a product and also a service. I don’t say that to sound crass or to make you feel objectified or anything like that – the opposite: I want you to understand how truly valuable you are!

We all know that every person has a unique identity. Things that make them who they are and equally, things that they clearly aren’t and won’t stand for. These are elements of your personal brand, and it is really just touching the surface. You personal brand includes everything from what you wear and how you talk, to the images you display, the way you make people feel and your daily life and business systems and process. You are, in essence, your own brand.

Here’s the thing. People like people that they can relate to and they trust people that they can sense are being 100% themselves. It’s one of those weird sixth sense things, but people can smell authenticity a mile away. When someone relates to you and trusts you – you can literally sell them anything! Being really clear on who you are, what your personal brand is and what you stand for is a sure fire way to land that job, make those sales and most importantly, make a real impact on the lives of others! Good personal branding comes hand-in-hand with success and I want to share with you today strategies you can employ to develop your brand identity and how to ‘package’ yourself in a way that communicates who you are, who you want to be and everything in between!

YOUR PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT

Before you do anything else, consider developing your own personal mission statement. Being really clear about who you are and what you stand for is the best way to lay the foundations for a strong personal brand. Ask yourself questions like:

• What do you really like to do? What makes you feel invigorated and alive? These are things you really should be doing more of and definitely the things you should be putting at the forefront of your personal brand! Think about your skills and your passions – be honest about how good you are at those things! Consider if there is something you would like to improve with and consider taking a class!
• Think also about the people you admire, what qualities do you admire about them? Can you learn anything from these people that will help you to become more of your desired self?

Think about what words you would use to describe yourself. Not sure? Why not open this question to your Facebook friends or community too! Doing it this way keeps them accountable – they are less likely to have a laugh by posting something nasty if their name is attached to it! This can help you to identify how you perceive yourself (or even, how you want to perceive yourself) and any gaps between your list of words and the words of others. Think about how you can bridge any gaps that bother you, look for trends and commonalities between your self-perceived words and the words of others and also be open to words others use that you may not have related to in the past, especially if they are reoccurring. You never know, you may learn something about yourself along the way!

Finally, you most likely have a resume and that is super necessary but try your hand at writing a short bio too. Think of this as your elevator pitch; so if you were in an elevator with a stranger and they said “who are you?” (firstly, I know, that would be weird and you’d be like “eek! stalker!”, but run with me!), what would you tell them? It should be one to two paragraphs and to the point, stating who you are, what you do and what your mission is! You can also include your education, achievements and aspirations. Whatever it is, it should be clear, concise and it should enrapture who you are and what you’re about!

YOUR UNIQUE VOICE

Know your voice and actively assess the way you speak. I think it’s best to keep this flowing into your online persona as it comes across far more authentically. Sometimes I read things on the internet and wonder to myself how that person could possibly speak like this in real life. It feels wrong and so I don’t really trust the person who is speaking to me.

To practice writing in your own voice, rather than writing in words you think people want to hear or expect of you, consider the following:

• Read your written word back to yourself. You will be able to tell instantly if it sounds like you or if it’s laboured and awkward.
• Use a dictaphone – the Dragon Dictation app for iPhone is perfect – and speak your message first before typing it down.

You won’t have to take these measures forever. Slowly your voice will start shining through automatically and you won’t need to think about whether or not it sounds like you or a stranger!

DEVELOP YOUR WEBSITE

Consider creating a website for YOU rather than for your business. It doesn’t need to have a blog component, perhaps it’s a portfolio website that showcases who you are, what you’re about and all the while, making that mission statement loud and clear! It might not even be more than one page, but it should clearly define your style and aesthetic and of course, show a photo or two of you!

 

Following on from the website, it is a good idea to have a LinkedIn profile too. Enter in as much detail as you can and while you don’t need to update it regularly, having this information in one place is a must!

YOUR IMAGES AND THE IMAGE OF YOU

I believe that personal branding extends to your wardrobe too, to take a minute to consider your personal image. This might be controversial but I honestly believe that the way you dress and the environment you live and work in really does impact on your personal brand. While I don’t think you need to rock around in ‘brand colours’ all the time, I think if you were honest with yourself and really thought about what makes you happy (and let’s face it, a happy you is an authentic you) then you would notice that you are drawn to particular colours and styles. I say, nurse this and develop your sense of style as a deliberate act of personal branding!

Let’s also think about YOU on social media, showing your face and putting as much effort into how you look and are perceived as you put into those ‘artistic flat lays of your coffee cup and book nestled in your bedcovers that tell the story of your relaxing Sunday morning’ is a must! The Think Creative Collection blog outlines why seeing your face is so important and I tend to agree. I want to know who YOU are and what your pretty face looks like and while selfie city is not somewhere I want to be all the time, I enjoy getting a glimpse of who you are visually!

But the images of you that you share on social media isn’t the only important image related aspect to consider! The images of other things that you share on social media is also really important. Think about your interests, your broader missions and align them with images you’re displaying.

CONNECTING AND NETWORKING

Get onto social media, even if you only use it for ‘business’ purposes, ensure that the way you are interacting is on point for your personal brand too. This also flows into what companies you work for and/or how you develop your business brand – make sure you are never compromising your personal brand to fit a corporate or business brand. At the end of the day, if the two aren’t compatible, you are probably in the wrong job.

Build your network both in and out of the office. For small business owners and bloggers, this might be spending time on social media in Facebook communities for example, but it can also include physical networking events, clubs, societies and conferences. I recently joined the Australian Business Chicks community after attending their 9 to Thrive Expo and it opened my eyes up to how valuable this kind of interaction is in developing my personal brand. People got to meet ME rather than just seeing my logo and display picture on social media and it gave me a chance to really evaluate if my personal brand and business brand were aligning!

The last thing I want to mention is that perfection is a process. So I really want to highlight that you don’t need all the answers and the ones you do have are in no way set in stone! Give yourself the room to develop and grow and be prepared to reexamine your response to these cues again and again throughout your life!

I HAVE A SPECIAL DOWNLOAD FOR YOU!

I want to help you develop your personal brand! I honestly believe it is super important, and so, I have created a free workbook just for you! Download and print it or use it on your computer. I guarantee it will give you clarity!

Just like your wardrobe, you should spring clean your Instagram feed every now and then and delete under performing and irrelevant posts!

One of the main reasons people don’t edit their Instagram is that they are afraid to lose all their photos which may have been deleted off their phone or computer after posting. what if I told you that there is a easy and simple way for you to save your images AND edit your Instagram? But first, let’s talk about why you should edit your Instagram and what that actually means!

I recently posted about using Instagram stats to get to know how your Instagram account can work for you. Today I want to talk about the very real need for Instagram Editing.

READ MORE

How about some actionable brand tips for you today! These are my top 5 quick and highly practical brand tips to help not only your business thrive, but also you as the individual behind it!

FIND YOUR NICHE AND FOCUS DOWN

When I started my business just over a year ago (and a whole brand name and identity ago too!) I was confused, often erratic with my brand decisions. I think it was because I was trying to be something to everyone rather than everything to someone. That’s a loaded sentence right there, isn’t it! I wanted to have something that drew in every person that crossed my path and as a result I was burnt out, flat, and downright disinteresting – both to my readers and more importantly to myself!

Around 6 months ago, I decided that I needed to rebrand. I needed to focus down my offering and really target the people I wanted to be connecting with and doing work for. I cut a lot of the bull and removed all the fluff that acted as fillers on my website and my blog and I decided to specifically target ladies that were building their brands, businesses and blogs, offering Wordpress themes and design tips and tricks. I removed anything to do with fashion, interior, knitting, painting, photography and life stories and while I was afraid niching would alienate people, I saw the opposite. It’s given me focus, a purpose and has really helped to carve out my place in the industry as a leader. Niching isn’t limiting, it’s what happens when you are honest with yourself.

SECURE YOUR NAMES

One of the things I see people struggle with is securing their names on the web. By ‘names’ I am talking about your domain name, your Facebook name, Twitter and Instagram handles. Even your LinkedIn, Google + and YouTube. Having the same name/handle on all of your platforms is obviously ideal, but sometimes this can’t happen, so it’s important to aim for as close to a complete set as possible. If you need to deviate, try just small deviations and these need to make sense. For instance on Facebook, I managed to obtain Facebook.com/branditgirl but on Twitter @branditgirl was taken (annoyingly by an inactive account!!) so I opted for thebranditgirl instead. The ‘the’ is just a small deviation and it makes sense when put together with other social media handles (for instance ‘thebranditgirl’ makes more sense for my brand, opposed to ‘branditgirl2015’).

CONNECT AND NETWORK

Connecting and networking is a huge part of establishing your brand. Not only do you need to seek out the people who will be your customers, but you should also seek out the people that can help support, encourage and mentor you. I am a big believer in surrounding yourself with likeminded people. This helps to encourage you, get you excited and gives you a platform to launch ideas of others who understand what you are trying to do! A few ways to connect and network with others include:

• Facebook Groups – I spoke recently about taking your brand to the next level by engaging in Facebook Groups. You are also very welcome to join the Brand IT Girls Connected community!
• Twitter Chats, Periscope Broadcasts and Google Hangouts – You don’t necessarily need to host one of these, but just contribute in one and get to know others in the community.
• Guest Post or Collaborate – guest posting or featuring on someone else’s blog is a great way to meet new people and be exposed to a wider audience. Use this guide to writing an email pitch to help you get started!

BE THE BEST AND PRACTICE YOUR CRAFT

Being the best and practicing your craft really comes down to one thing – authenticity. If you truly have a passion for what you are doing, it will shine through and people will undoubtably be drawn to you. But passion is just the start. You need to practice your craft and actively seek to make yourself a professional in your industry. Read books and blog posts, spend time honing your skills and trying new ways of producing your products and services and above all, be humble and willing to receive feedback when it comes your way!

Here’s a great way to work towards being the best and practicing your craft: Find one thing you can do every week that will not only improve your quality of work but that will also surprise you, teach you and bring happiness into your week. If you are constantly seeking improvement in a fun and good willed way, your work will only benefit from the effort!

KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR

My final tip is to be very clear on who you are and what you stand for. Ask yourself what your beliefs are, what are your core values and what do you want to be know for. The best thing about life is that you can be anyone that you want to be, you simply have to decide who that is and do it! Consider what people think of when they think of you. Is it what you would hope they were thinking? If not, take steps to change people’s perception.

Here’s the thing, being a lady boss is not always easy. You will have people trying to define you, trying to fit you into a mould. So you need to be extra sure of who you are and what you will and will not allow. Write yourself a code of conduct and be really clear about your boundaries and personal policies.

(Hair/MUA: Rene Spears)

I recently posted about my rebrand from Sam Bell Creative to Brand IT Girl and this got me thinking: sometimes people get a little confused between the two concepts and so today, let’s work it out.

Think of a Brand Update as a haircut, perhaps some new makeup and a new set of clothes. A Rebrand, on the other hand, is more like changing your name and creating a new identity!

So how do you know what’s what?

READ MORE