My husband, Michael, and I were recently meeting with a prospective client team about rebranding their organization. We began by asking them, “So, have you ever gone through a rebranding process?”

One of the clients responded, “Yes—and it was awful.”

Michael, being a direct and curious individual, asked him why that was the case. The client’s response was simple:

“It took too much time.”

While rebranding a multi-million-dollar organization certainly could be a long and involved process, this client’s business was of a scale that their rebrand should have been much simpler for all involved. Without denying that the amount of time spent on a rebrand is often relative to the scale of the business, when I hear about a rebrand taking too long, I can often point to a few things that lead to long delays.

As a business owner, you know that your brand is one of the most important aspects of your business. It's the face of your company, and it's what people think of when they hear your business name. That's why rebranding can be such a daunting task (or painful, like this prospective client said). Not only is it a big investment, but it can also be a time-consuming process. However, it’s easy to avoid some of the most common time-wasters that delay or derail a rebrand, once you know how to spot them.

Let’s discover how you can simplify and streamline your rebranding process by avoiding some common branding time-wasting traps.

What scares you most about your business?

(Talk about an icebreaker, right?)

I’ll go first: I’m afraid if my business fails, I won’t be able to continue supporting my family with my earnings. That not only my family, but my team’s families, will lose out on the ability to earn good money doing work we love.

Fear can be a significant driver of my life, if I’m being honest. I tend to look around at what could go wrong versus what could go right, and I feel the gap between the perceived “safety” of my fears and the goals and dreams that stand just on the other side of those fears. Bridging this gap isn’t easy, in fact it can be some of the hardest work we ever do in our lives (because all of us have this fear gap in some aspect of our lives).

Even if you can wear a really good game face in your business, the reality is that you probably have fears there too: fears holding back your business’s success and growth. And I’m willing to bet one of those fears is the fear of investing in your business.

In this post, we’re going to explore the common fears around investing in your business—and how to break through these barriers to experience the brand growth that’s just on the other side. Let’s dive in!

Taxes. That word alone is enough to cause a stress attack for many people. The sheer amount of paperwork, gathering things together, all for the sake of determining if the taxes you paid this year were too much, too little, or just right. Sometimes, it feels like wizardry… inputting everything into TurboTax and hoping the result that comes out on the other side is what you actually hoped for. But you know what is equally magical? Tax refunds. We all know the satisfying feeling of receiving our tax refund and eagerly planning how we’re going to use this “bonus money”! (I know it’s not technically free money, but still). A tax refund is a great opportunity for small business owners to finally invest in their businesses and can be a critical step to their long-term success. Notice I used the word “investment”. That’s right—we’re not going to spend your tax refund on that trendy $350 cross-legged office chair (although you do you), we’re going to invest your money in a way that earns your business more money in the long run. In this post, we’re sharing some clever ways to spend your tax return dollars, and how your investment in each of these areas will help your business grow and succeed in the long term.

Many small business owners that I speak with, whether they know it or not, hold on to limiting beliefs that prevent them from giving fully to their branding, which ultimately prevents them from giving fully to their business. By bringing some of these to light, I hope we can see how common these thoughts are—and how simple they can be to overcome.

Many small business owners that I speak with, whether they know it or not, hold on to limiting beliefs that prevent them from giving fully to their branding, which ultimately prevents them from giving fully to their business. By bringing some of these to light, I hope we can see how common these thoughts are—and how simple they can be to overcome.

Spring is in the air. I’m seeing flowers on my daily walks and new growth on my houseplants (the ones that are still alive, that is). For many of us, spring brings a feeling of fresh air, windows flung open on a sunny day, and the possibilities of new beginnings.

We’re all familiar with the phrase: “You are your own worst enemy.” We feel it when we hit snooze instead of going to the gym or when we spend another lunch break scrolling social media instead of reading a book. But have you ever considered this phrase being true about your branding?

I’ll be honest: I never thought of the relationship between my brain and my brand until I sat down to write this post. Yet as I was thinking of common struggles entrepreneurs face with branding, I realized that there is often a shared root cause of them all: ourselves.

Our subconscious minds are deep places, aren’t they? We’re all too familiar with how we trap ourselves into unhealthy patterns, false narratives, or unhelpful beliefs about ourselves or the world, and we’re even aware when these deeply-rooted thoughts creep into our businesses. Yet when it comes to our best efforts to work on the very essence of our businesses—our branding—we easily point the finger to any number of external factors that we think are holding us back.

No finger-pointing here: I’m writing all of these from a place of experiencing every single one of these sabotaging symptoms myself. These phenomena are universal experiences, so with that in mind:

With the firm belief that awareness allows us to identify and address problems sooner than if we’d remained in the dark, let’s uncover the ways that your own brain is sabotaging your branding.

Can you afford to level up your brand in the new year?

The better question is: can you afford not to?

I get it: it seems that every entrepreneur I talk to is facing financial uncertainties this year. When budgets are being tightened, the first thing to go is usually branding (ICYMI, you’ll want to read our recent blog post on why that’s a recipe for disaster).

So while one side of my mouth is advocating for investing into your brand despite shrinking budgets, the other side recognizes that there are still affordable ways to level up your brand—some that don’t even cost a penny. The reality is that investing into your brand can look different for everyone and for some, even just a few minutes of time and attention can be the most worthwhile investment in the moment.

So if your business is on a budget this year, I’m coming in hot with 7 savvy branding tips that are either ridiculously affordable or totally free!

How to outsource, work smarter, and maintain your brand’s integrity. It’s 7:30 p.m. and you’re the only one with a green dot next to your name on Slack. You’re finishing up the design for a social post, and before you sign off for the day, you need to send a contract, review the latest website updates, and respond to about 15 emails. Whew.

You’re a founder, and the forward motion of your business depends on you. You tell yourself it won’t be like this forever—that one day your team will take over social media or contracts. But for now, you feel like you’re the only person you trust to get it right. If you’re burned out and ready to grow your business in 2023, this blog is for you.

Keep reading to determine what you can delegate and the pieces you need to have in place in order to pass projects on to other people.

Welcome, 2023! We’re so glad that you’ve come… in the midst of a recession, labor shortage, chaotic supply chain disruptions, and ongoing restrictions due to the pandemic. While I’m personally glad to see 2022 come and go, the new year has been one that has rung in a lot of uncertainty. When I look around, I see all my colleagues on LinkedIn posting #OpenToWork, as countless companies lay off people in an effort to cut costs, preserve revenue, and protect shareholder interests.

Next year probably looks the same to you in your small business. From supply chain disruptions causing you to pivot your product offerings to skyrocketing inflation impacting your bottom line, small businesses are looking at the current economic environment and worrying how they can stay afloat during these uncertain times. While you are looking at your budgets (because, let's be real, we all are), your marketing budget—more specifically, your branding budget—ought to be continually invested into. Let's dive into three reasons why your branding budget is still a critical investment to make even in tough times and a few surprising ways to save money in your business.

Last week we introduced our latest product offering: semi-custom branding kits. Maybe you’ve seen our own posts about it, or perhaps you’ve previously seen semi-custom branding kits swirling elsewhere around the internet as a budget-conscious alternative for small business owners seeking stylish branding. In this blog post, we’re going to unpack what exactly semi-custom branding is, who it’s ideal for, and answer a few of the common questions around semi-custom branding. If you’re considering purchasing one of our semi-custom branding kits or one from another studio, then keep reading!

When it comes to the new year, are you a planner or a “just wing it” guy or gal? Let’s take a little quiz: Have you had your annual goals for the upcoming year planned since October? Or is that something you think about once your New Year’s celebrations have worn off? (Shoutout to anyone else who’s Team Sweatpants on NYE) Whether you’re a Planner Peggy or a Wing-It Wanda, if “invest in a brand (or rebrand)” is anywhere in your new year’s resolutions, it’s not too early to start strategizing. While our studio’s workload shows that most entrepreneurs love to tackle big projects like a rebrand in the early months of the year, even those of you looking for a fall or winter launch need to start planning now for your brand investment. I’ve come up with a list of the 3 most critical strategic steps that every business owner needs to consider when they’re planning for a brand or a rebrand. If you miss any of these, you could find your branding process drawn out longer than you anticipated or your costs much higher than you expected. Whether you’re considering working with us or with another amazing agency in the new year, the last thing your branding team wants is for either of those scenarios to happen! So let’s dive into the nuts and bolts of planning ahead for a branding investment.

Have you reached the point where you feel like your business is running you?

You began your entrepreneurial journey with a vision. Doing work you love, working less hours, making more money. Spending evenings and weekends with family or friends. However, at some point, the dream turned into trading game night with your kids for yet another late work session; sacrificing your physical and mental health for another quarter of growth; and feeling like your time is no longer your own. I’ll be honest, whenever I hear about goal-setting during this time of year, I tune out pretty quickly—and I’m guessing you do, too. Hearing yet another online business guru telling me that my goals aren’t ambitious enough or that I have to 2x my revenue next year makes me want to crawl in a hole. The problem isn’t with goal-setting: it’s that we’re rarely encouraged to set goals that are aligned with our needs, values, and selves. As someone who is not a goal-setter by nature, I’ve learned in my few years as an entrepreneur that setting goals is less important than setting ones that make sense for me. If you, like me, are someone who naturally shies away from #newyearnewme goal-setting—or if you are a goal-setter but have a tendency to run yourself into the ground with your own ambitions—this post is written with you in mind. We don’t need another lesson on how to set goals, but I think we could all use some encouragement on how to align our goals with where we are today. In that spirit, let’s dive into my 5 best practices for setting more aligned goals in the new year:

I’ll be honest, I’m not a big Halloween person. Of course, every year our corgi Winston dresses up in his very best costume to celebrate the occasion; but beyond that, our home is spook-free in October. However, in the spirit of the season, we’re diving into something that’s even more frightening than a 20-foot-tall skeleton lawn decoration (I’m looking at you, neighbors): Scaring off potential customers by making simple, common branding mistakes. Nothing is worse than getting ghosted by clients, or sending customers off screaming into the night (not literally—please don’t actually do that). But when this happens—and it happens to every business—instead of blaming it on “they just weren’t a good fit” or “well, they didn’t try to understand what I have to offer,” we ought to look into the mirror, mirror on the wall and ask if this was our fault at all. As easy as it is to send shivers down your customers’ spines with simple branding faux-pas, don’t sweat it: luckily, the solutions are quite simple! Let’s dive into these 4 common branding mistakes that spook your customers:

It’s becoming apparent that the brand you started your business with isn’t working for you anymore. Or maybe you haven’t pinpointed the problem yet, but you’re aware that something about your business isn’t clicking with your audience. In today’s post, we are going to explore a few of the situations you may find yourself in as a business owner that could be the reason you’re asking: “Is it time for a rebrand?”. And before we dig in, no, it’s not just you. In fact, I recently walked this road with my own business. (Read on for insider info about my rebrand!) If your business has experienced growth or change of any kind, it’s only natural that your brand will need to shift to accommodate these changes.

The truth is, if you’re running a business of any shape or size, you need to consider your corporate branding. I define corporate branding as the overarching brand strategy a multidisciplinary business takes. This means if your brand offers more than one unrelated product or service, it’s never too soon to put a corporate brand strategy in place. In this post, we’re going to dive into who really needs a corporate brand strategy, which house your brand is, and the foundational components every corporate brand strategy should have in place.

Imagine for a moment that you lost all of your contacts in your phone and you didn’t have anyone’s number memorized. When someone texted you, do you think you’d be able to tell who was who? Sure, context clues would give you some hints. But you’d probably be pretty good at guessing based on their style of texting alone.

When I started my business, I dreamed of lazy afternoons grabbing coffee with friends, slow morning routines, and sitting by the window on a rainy day with a cup of tea in hand (basically, the introvert’s version of sitting on a beach, mai tai in hand). But that reality quickly became a dream once again. Instead of mai tai in hand, sand under feet, I had third cup of coffee in hand, tangle of computer cords under feet.

If you’re an entrepreneur who, like me in 2021, has realized that your current pace is unsustainable, unhealthy, or simply even out of alignment with your values and priorities outside of work, this post is for you. I’m sharing the honest details on how I decided to switch to a 4-day workweek, how it’s going so far, and 5 practical tips for making the switch yourself.

Curious to know what it’s like to switch to a 4-day workweek? Keep reading to learn how we started, how it’s going so far, and my 5 tried-and-true tips for making the change yourself!

Do you dream of building a business that allows you to do what you love, prioritize your mental health and spend less of your life working? Before Author Brand Studio existed, I did too. It was 2018, and I was working as a project manager at an advertising agency. To say that it had been a rough year is an understatement. I lost my mom to cancer and my dad had just been diagnosed with cancer. I was deep in grief, and I struggled to show up every day at the office with a smile on my face. I knew I needed to make a change. I vividly remember looking at Pinterest during a slow moment at work and seeing posts from entrepreneurs who were making good money working for themselves. The idea to start my own branding business had been on my mind for years, but I always envisioned working for ten years in branding before working for myself. That’s when I stumbled upon Nesha Woolery, an online business guru.

What goes around comes around. On a recent Pinterest-zombie-scroll evening, I was shocked to see a trending search term show up in my feed: “Y2K Fashion.” Time really does fly, because I still feel like as a society we just left the 00’s haute couture of garish bandanas, jelly shoes, and low-rise jeans (all of which I rocked at the time, thank you very much). Yet here is the next generation, vigorously embracing the latest trend of what must now be considered “vintage” Y2K fashion.