I’m gonna give it to you straight: launching a “too large” product collection is probably the most common mistake I see in my work with creative, product-based brands. Many of us are fueled by passion and creativity (and that’s a beautiful thing!), but it’s also a double-edged sword when we decide to launch a business.…
Category Archives: Brand Development
Do You Truly Know Who Your Competitors Are?
As a creative brand, how can you “outwit, outlast and outplay” when you don’t even know who your competitors actually are? But that’s the situation in which so many makers find themselves. We only have a vague idea of who our competition truly is, which means that we’re limited in our ability to explore under-served…
Don’t Even Contemplate A Branding Project Until You Read This…
I’ve been working one-on-one with several creative brands of late, each of whom is in the early stages of a rebrand. And I’ve noticed a pattern among them: they’ve tagged in a professional graphic designer (a deliciously smart move) but they believe that since they have that designer in their corner, they’ve covered all their…
It’s Time for a “Come to Jesus” Moment…
Most of the makers that I work with come at their work from a creative perspective rather than from a business perspective. And that can be an intrinsically beautiful thing as you push the edge of your work and continue to innovate. But that approach can simultaneously hamstring a growing brand. The desire…
Cheater, Cheater, Pumpkin Eater! How to Handle Copyright Infringement
I’m a lucky girl: each month, I get to play with some of the coolest emerging creative brands on the planet in my LBU Alumni Coaching Community. It’s an eclectic mix of stationery, apothecary, apparel, and gift companies and we work together every single day to forge a network of support, answer questions and…