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Congrats to my Dear Friend!

Just wanted to give a quick congrats to my good friend and client Abby Liga. She launched her newly re-designed website recently. I know all the love and hard work that goes into this, having just recently done a re-design myself. I just wanted to say great job Abby, it looks fantastic!

Visit the new site.

Wedding Impressions a Bridal Showcase

"WEDDING IMPRESSIONS" Bridal Show from Jeffrey Stoner on Vimeo.

Video courtesy of Jeffrey Stoner Video

Last Month I was asked to not only provide the invitations for, but also participate in a unique, intimate Bridal Showcase. Of course I said yes! It was a great opportunity to meet brides and discuss one on one with them the details about their wedding.. The event was held at The Estate House at Cypress Grove and was produced and hosted by Michele Butler of Michele Butler Events and Curt and Stephanie from nu visions in photography.

Check out the video above to see clips from the amazing event! Pictures of the invitations I created still to come!

The Importance of Branding & Advertising- PART II

To Read Part I, click here.

First let me apologize, I should have had this posted a few weeks ago. I got wrapped up in producing some exciting invitations! Now on to the issue at hand!

Part II- How to Get Started with Your Brand Development. In Part I, I blogged about why it is important to brand your company, now I want to discuss the question my clients, colleagues and friends seem to always want to know: HOW DO I GET STARTED. I am going to outline and discuss the steps I think are important in developing your company brand.

1. Research, Development & Creating a Plan: This is very important and lays the foundation for all of the following steps. Not only will it help you more easily develop your brand, it will build a strong foundation of principles and philosophies that will guide your company as it grows.

• Research- Look around. Research other companies: Who (as a company) do you aspire to be? Look at your successful colleagues. How do they market their companies? What about them causes you to seek them out? What is your competition doing? Speak to colleagues, both in your industry and outside of it, explain what you are trying to do, and get their feedback. As small business owners, we should all have colleagues/companies we aspire to be like. This helps us grow as individuals and businesses. It helps us approach our business with fresh eyes and new perspective. The hardest thing in my opinion about owning a business is stepping back; when you are too close to something it can be hard to see what's right in front of you.
  
  Be careful here; I am not in any way suggesting you copy your competition or fellow colleagues. You want your company to be unique and individual in its marketing and branding, but sometimes seeing how someone else approaches something will cause that genius idea to fall loose in your own mind.
  
  
• Development- Now that you have done some research it is time to dive into the development of your company. Ask yourself the following questions and write down your answers; this will help you further organize and grow your business structure and will also help you later when you sit down with a designer/studio.
  
  Who are you as a company? Who do you want to be? What do you want for your business's future? What makes your company unique in comparison to the competition? Who is your market/customer base? What's the SINGLE most important message you want your potential customers/clients to understand about your company and its services from the first moment?
  Do you have colors, shapes, etc. in mind when you think of your company message?
  
  
• Create a Plan- Now that you have a better idea of who you are and where you want to go, answer these questions.
  
  What is your Budget? I know this is tricky... but be realistic. When considering this question, keep in mind: "You DO get what you pay for." That goes for Design & Marketing Services, as with anything else. You have to pay for experience and knowledge. If you are serious about your brand development, you should pay for the experience and knowledge of a professional who will get you results.
  
  What is the scope? What does your company need? Consider the following: Company Tag Line, Logo & Stationery Design, Website, Collateral (brochures, newsletters, direct mail, postcards, etc), Advertising (print and internet), Press Kits or Presentation Packets for Publications and Potential or New Clients, Blog, E-Marketing, Trade Marking, etc. These are some suggestions of things you will need in order to successfully reinforce your brand.

2. Finding a Designer. Freelance vs. Small Design Studio: Now that you have a plan and a clear idea of what you are as a company and what you want to put out there, you need a designer or small design firm to get started on brand development. All of your answers to the questions in Step 1 will help you now because any knowledgeable and experienced Designer/firm will need them to properly develop your brand!

I'm going to give you some standard rates and some standard pros and cons to hiring a Freelancer vs. a Small Design Studio or Agency. To move forward and have your brand developed you're going to need a Graphic Designer. A lot of small businesses chose to use freelance graphic designers to save money. I have been a freelance designer, worked for a small firm/agency, and now own my own design studio, so I can provide perspectives from all sides.

• Freelance Graphic Designer, Writers and Marketing Professional- You can get a talented freelancer that can concept and design anything you need. The standard rates are $50-$85 per hour. This is dependent on the experience and talent of said designer. And most freelancers will work with you on their rate if you do more than one project with them. This can be the most affordable way for small business to create and develop a cohesive brand. The downside to this is that it's difficult to find a designer who has the experience and skills to help you with writing, strategy, marketing and design, and art direction. There are designers out there who are very talented and can do all of those things, but they are rare, and usually you will end up having to find freelance writers and marketing/PR professionals to work with the designer so that you can effectively complete everything involved. This can get expensive because each of these freelancers will have their own hourly rate. The other downside to this is you may end up with a group that hasn't worked together a lot which may add time to you projects and result in conflicting messages in your brand.
  
  
• Small Design Studio/Firm- Often this is the route that makes most sense, because small design firms have a network of writers, strategists and marketing/PR professionals that they can call on and work with on a regular basis. The rates can be anywhere from $75-150/per hour. But again, most design firms will work with you on price if you are doing multiple projects with them. I have even given package project prices at significantly discounted hourly rates to both save my clients money, and ensure I have a contract for a few projects. The benefit to using a small firm that is you have a team that has worked together on many projects and each have their own expertise, which will often make your brand campaign more effective. It's hard for a designer/artist to effectively create strategy and write copy all while trying to create a look and design. So when you take this route, you have a team that will be top notch in each area instead of one person trying to do it all.

Don't choose the first person/firm you come across, but look at many firms to find the one that is right for you. Your designers, writers and marketing/pr professionals should be genuinely interested in your company, should want you to succeed, and should not just treat you like another job on their list. Follow your gut, and most of all beware of the artist with the large DIVA EGO... (I'm designer, I'm allowed to say it... a lot of us tend to become divas.) Make sure your team recognizes it's all about creating a brand campaign that works and fulfills its goal, not just creating art to create art. Don't get me wrong, it should look great and be extremely creative and even edgy.. BUT IT SHOULD ALWAYS PUT MESSAGE FIRST!

4. Work Closely with your Team Creating Artwork: Now that you have found and chosen an artist or team, trust them to do what they are good at. Take their recommendations and think them through. Remember, they have a fresh, objective perspective on your business. You may not always agree, and you may override their recommendations sometimes, which is okay. Just remember that this is their area of expertise, and they are professionals with experience and knowledge in this area. This is your company, however, so if you are ever opposed to a design or idea, speak your mind. But also remember you may be too close and might need to step back to fully consider their recommendation. Any professional designer or firm will find a compromise if you are completely opposed to something.

5. Practice What you Preach: Once you develop your brand and start putting your message out there, make sure that you practice what you preach. Your company must deliver on what it puts out there: Nothing works against your brand more than not delivering on what you're selling.

Thanks for reading!

It's Here!!!

After lots of hardwork, tears and sweat.. The newly designed 2u Collection Website is up and running!!! Much Props to Heather for all her hardwork in taking our brand to the next level.. It was a collaborative effort!! Phew... time to get some sleep!!

VISIT IT NOW!

Can Weddings be Dark & Moody... I say YES YES!!

Okay- so I recently had a bride come to me and want a concept for her wedding, that was elegant, high-end yet dark and moody.. Her vision for her wedding is candles, low lighting, eggplant, ivory and black as the colors. So I created this challenging concept.. Ooh.. Feathers, Gold, textured Fabric.... mmmm Opulent!

The Importance of Branding & Advertising- PART I

After hearing of some of the sad closures of some of my favorite boutiques around this area, and hearing of the struggles of many small business owners these days, I've decided to blog on something I know a little about! Advertising, and Branding. For those of you who don't know before I started The 2u Collection I worked first as a graphic artist, then later as an art director in both In-house and Independent Advertising & Marketing Agencies. I did this for the last 10 years so I have quite a bit of experience designing collateral and Ads for all kinds of different industries. And most recently in the last 2 years (in addition to my invitations) I've really specialized my Advertising work to the Wedding Industry. Being a Vendor in the Wedding Industry has given me a unique and intimate perspective on this industry and has helped me create unique, more specialized branding and ad pieces to help my Wedding Vendor Clients reach their proper audience.

But enough about that, what I really want to write about is HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO DEVELOP YOUR BRAND IN THE WEDDING INDUSTRY!!

So let's start with the basics-- What is a BRAND?? an organization's brand identity represents how the company wants to be perceived in the market, what a company stands for and most importantly what the company promises to its clients.

Why develop a BRAND?? To set your company above your competition and create brand recognition in the audiences' eyes. (In this case brides, you want to create a buzz and image around your company which will spark recognition in the bride's mind and cause her to choose you out of the sea that is your competition!)This Brand Recognition will also Legitimize you to Potential Clients, Publications and Fellow Colleagues!

HOW do I as a business owner, create BRAND RECOGNITION?? As most of you know the wedding industry is saturated with many, many, many talented and amazing wedding professionals.
So how do you set yourself apart?

Create, Develop and Fine tune both the image and message you put out there. Now I know in these tough times that it can be difficult to allocate the dollars to your own Branding and Ad materials. But I am here to tell you, the one thing I've learned over the years is the companies that continue to Advertise and get their name out there during the slow economic times, are the ones that grow leaps and bounds when things start to turn around. Afterall, that is the point of a Brand to affect your bottom line!

So here are 5 financial benefits to Developing a Strong Brand Identity. (you all must excuse the car references, my husband has brain washed me.. :)

1. Brand Identity commands a Price-Premium. Why is someone willing to pay thousands of dollars more for a Lexus than for a Toyota? They are virtually the same product, minus the add on options and accessories. They are made by the same manufacturer, and they even share parts. It's because the BRAND of the Lexus is WORTH MORE in the minds of the consumer, regardless of whether the product actually functions better.

2. A Price-Premium creates the "PERCEPTION" of quality. This follows the old saying "You get what you pay for." If Product A costs more than Product B it must be because Product A is of better quality. Right? Well, not necessarily. Customers Pay more for what they PERCEIVE to be a better or higher quality BRAND! But at the same time, if you don't deliver on your "Quality" promise- there won't be BRAND Loyalty, and therefore your brand recognition will deteriorate.

3. Perceived quality has been shown to Positively Affect Customer usage. Consumers tend to select brands they perceive to be quality brands. This also connect to repeat clients, otherwise known as BRAND loyalty! Clients tend to continue to buy brands that reward them with a good experience and quality. They also tend to REFER Brands as part of that loyalty.

4. Clients relate VALUE with QUALITY. If one brand is perceived to be of higher quality than another brand, clients tend to perceive that the higher-quality brand is a better VALUE.

5. Perceived Quality can be a point of differentiation. Successful companies are continually looking for ways to differentiate their brand from the competition. Perceived quality can be used to set your company and its services apart from your competition, which then loops back to #1- enabling the company to charge a premium for their strong BRAND.

Now what does this mean to the normal small business. This means that if you can BRAND yourself, your company, your product or your services-- you will set yourself apart from your competition, and over time your brand will strengthen-- which in turn will bring Higher Premiums to your Product or Service. But keep in mind.. it's not just smoke and mirrors-- the truly successful BRANDS not only "talk to the talk, they walk the walk" and deliver everything their BRAND promises!

Next week I will blog Part 2, and it will cover how to start the branding process of your company and get your Identity recognizable!

To view a few of the brand campaigns I've created in the last few years, click the links below. To see more than this check out my website on our RE-DESIGN launch date of April 15th!! 2ucollection.com

Liga Photography

Lavish Boutique

E-Events

A Testimonial from Susan Southerland with Just Marry: (we've been working to re-brand her company for the last year) Amy has such a keen eye for brand imaging. Recently, I have had to develop three logos which fall under the same brand. Amy was able to make each logo convey its own message and they all coordinated beautifully. Brand recognition is so important for success these days. It is very important to have a graphic artist who understands your company vision to create these images. Amy just gets it!

For more information or help with developing your company brand, contact me.

To read PART II click here.