The Pitfalls of Professionalism In Small Business Branding

Guest post by: Erin Ferree
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I always ask the entrepreneurs I’m working with to give me 5 adjectives that they would like their clients to use when describing their businesses.

90% of the time, one of the adjectives I get back is “Professional”.

Wanting to be seen as professional in your small business is a bit of a trap – and an easy one to get caught in.

Here’s what happens when you putprofessionalism ahead of personality:

An entrepreneur is starting her very first business. She’s nervous, and feeling a bit out of her depth because she’s never gone “out on her own” before. She’s concerned about her credibility, and worried that people won’t take her seriously.

That she won’t be seen as a professional.

When she creates her brand, she’s overly concerned about appearing professional. In order to increase the chance that she’ll be perceived as professional, she chooses designs that look professional to her. She uses dark blues. Serif fonts like Times New Roman. Models a corporate website.

She winds up with a professional brand, but one that’s completely devoid of personality.

And loses one of the biggest competitive advantages she has as an entrepreneur -the personal touch.

Instead, approach professionalism from an angle ofwanting to look “put together”.

Having abrand strategy, designs created by a branding pro, and a consistent lookall go a long way towards making you look professional without losing your personality.

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Icons For Small Business Branding - By Erin Ferree

About the Author: Erin Ferree

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Erin Ferree is a branding coach, design genius and strategic thinker. She's been told that her right-brain, left-brain combination of creativity and logic is hard to come by... and that it's what small business owners need to be successful. She loves connecting the dots between passion and profit, mixing strategy and inspiration and shaking things up. She deeply enjoys working with entrepreneurs who want to help more people and look good doing it. Who want all of their branding and marketing to make sense and speak to their ideal clients. And who want an open, honest, inviting brand with integrity - instead of using icky, pushy, sleazy marketing tactics and trickery. She's branded over 450 small businesses in the last 10 years. She's been published in so many books and periodicals that she stopped counting. She's shared stages with some awesome people - like Michele PW, Linda Hollander, Lisa Cherney, Sheri McConnell and Kelly O'neil. In the rare moments when she's not obsessing about branding or design, she can be found hugging her corgi-dog Stanley, going for long walks, cooking improvisationally, or throwing parties so her friends can enjoy them.
Click here to visit Erin's website.

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