121: How to create a sustainable and cohesive system of design for your business The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast Featuring Tracey Albrecht
Today, I’m joined by graphic designer Tracey Albrecht, owner of Soap Box Studios. Together, we discuss the importance of brand images and the message they convey to customers. Don’t miss this one!
Meet Tracey Albrecht
Soapbox Studio offers high-quality graphic design services to our local community through a physical studio in the suburbs of Chicago. It has produced high-quality, imaginative designs for large corporations and small businesses for two and a half decades. Every client receives designs unique to their business and needs. Tracey Albrecht is the founder, graphic designer, wife, and mother with many titles: birth mom, stepmom, foster mom, and adoptive mom. Besides running Soapbox, she and her husband have been foster parents for the last eight years and are fostering their 7th foster child, a sweet almost 2-year-old. And adopted their daughter Chloe through foster care in 2020. (Dolly, feel free to edit if this is too long!)
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Connect With Tracey
- Website – soapboxstudio.com
- IG – @soapboxstudio
Links mentioned in the show
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- Summit In A Box: https://dollydelong–summitinabox.thrivecart.com/start-here-beginners/
Connect With Dolly
- Website: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/
- IG: https://www.instagram.com/dollydelongeducation/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@dollydelong
- Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/dollydelong/
- The Systems & Workflow Magic Podcast: https://www.systemsandworkflowmagic.com/podcast
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Read The Shownotes + Transcript Here.
Dolly DeLong: Welcome to another Systems and Workflow Magic podcast episode. I am your Systems and Workflow BFF and Guide, Dolly DeLong. Today, I am super pumped, excited, and honored to have the excellent Tracy Albrecht. Bye. All right, on the podcast today, I know a little bit about Tracy. I’m going to give her an official bio, and I’m going to let her add whatever she wants to add for her unofficial introduction. And now Tracy is the owner of the soap. Box Studio and Soap Box Studio has offered high-quality graphic design services to their local community in a physical studio in the suburbs of Chicago. It has produced high-quality, imaginative designs for large corporations and small businesses for two and a half decades. So, every client receives designs that are unique to their businesses and their unique needs. So Tracy is the founder: a graphic designer, a wife, and a mother with many titles. I want to say with many, many multiple hats. She’s a birth mom, a stepmom, a foster mom, and an adoptive mom. Besides running Soapbox, she and her husband have been foster parents for the last eight years and are fostering their seventh. Yes, I heard that right, or you are watching this right. The seventh foster child, a sweet, almost two-year-old, adopted their daughter, Chloe, through foster care in 2020. So, you all know that Tracy is very passionate and wears many hats. Now, I’ve gotten to know Tracy because of the fantastic connections of social media. So, I am honored. She’s on the podcast today and told me this is her first podcast interview. So I’m so excited to have her on. Honestly, I don’t know where our official connection began, but I’m just glad to have her on the podcast today, to get to chat with her, get to know her, and chat about all things graphic design and how to develop a system for your business. So, Tracy, I know I gave a very long-winded introduction about you, but welcome to the show, first of all. Second, is there anything else you’d like the audience to know about you?
Tracey Albrecht: Thank you, Dolly. I’m so excited to be here with you. I don’t know. I think that intro was just Fabulous. So, not many things besides having a brick-and-mortar are a little different than many people I know online because I have just been diving into the online world in the past few years. And so it’s very different in how I market, like by referral or talking to clients, and they refer in the local area. But I love it. I have loved working with other entrepreneurs and been at your summit; that’s how I started to follow you. So that was, I think, the first connection. We chatted a little bit through the summit, and then you were at my summit or at my summit. That was another connection, but yeah, I’m just. I am excited to be here and talk to you about systems for designing your branding or logo and other things like that.
Dolly DeLong: Awesome. Tracy. I will. That feels like it was so long ago, like the online space. Two months ago feels like years ago, but okay. That’s good to make that connection. Cause I was like, it’s either it’s your Krista Miller or Hey, by the way, Hey, Krista, if you’re listening in and, and if side note, if you are listening into the podcast and you’re like, what is this summit, what is an online summit? I’ll be sure to link to any past podcast episodes featuring Krista Miller. So you can learn more about online summits and virtual summits. Again, that’s how Tracy and I were connected. So, going back, I have to give props to Tracy again. Like she is, she has over two decades of business experience owning a brick-and-mortar. Now, she’s taking her foundational business savvy knowledge and bringing it online. So I think Tracy, I think that’s amazing. I think you should give yourself huge props. I know. Navigating a new online space can be scary, intimidating, and overwhelming. Cause the online space feels like it’s moving like a million miles a minute. Things are changing constantly. However, you choose to show up online and still bring your experience. I think that’s amazing, like a lot of people. Honestly, a lot of people who have previously owned a brick-and-mortar business or have been in business for, I would even say, over only a decade are probably like, Oh, I already know how to do this. I’m like set in my ways. Like, I know how to run this, but I think the fact that you are applying new knowledge to your foundations is incredible. You all. We’re going to learn a lot from Tracy.
Tracey Albrecht: Thanks, Dolly. Yeah, it’s interesting, especially having a small team. They’re like, okay, what are we doing now? What’s the next thing? I just came back from a conference. Okay, okay. What’s the big plan this Time? I’m like, Okay. Brace yourselves.
Dolly DeLong: I love it. I love that you’re such a visionary and willing, wanting, and open to learning new things. And so that’s a side note, I don’t know. How was the conference? Was it the ClickFunnels conference that you went to? How was that?
Tracey Albrecht: Yeah, it was. Wow. Like I’ve never been anything, been to anything like it. Yeah. Have you ever been to one? No, I’ve never been. Yeah. There was so much information, like the top-notch speakers and the things I learned. And it was a lot. If I go again, I want to take the next week to digest what I want to do, what I can get out of it, and what I’ve learned. And eliminate some of the other stuff because there’s so much that doesn’t really pertain to me or that I can’t do right away. But yeah, it was good. I would recommend it if you haven’t gotten it,
Dolly DeLong: I love it. It’s, I guess my listeners don’t know this, but my husband works. A four-click funnel and, um, so that’s right. Yes. I feel like I’m just like I always asked. He’s probably, and he is not. He does back and work, and he’s not really into the whole online spacing like I am. I love online business. I love digital marketing. And I get more excited about it than he does. So he has. I’m just like, tell me everything that’s happening. And Ty’s Dolly, it’s work. It’s just my job. And I get so
Dolly DeLong: excited about these things. So I, maybe, when you’re out, well, we’ll go. I’ll even talk him into coming with me, but I would love to attend a ClickFunnels conference. Cause I love learning and meeting new people and like learning new strategies, like you said. Then, I take the Time to digest what I’ve learned so that I can implement it for my business. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So, segwaying into learning new things and digesting new information, you all, Tracy, are going to share more about graphic design and, like, just like, how to develop a system for yourself. And you all know absolutely nothing about graphic design. And even though I know I’m a creative business owner, I’m a photographer. But I sincerely struggle with anything related to graphic design. I know that as a solo business owner, it’s even a business with a team, but mainly speaking to you solo business owners, it’s essential to have a consistent brand design to represent our businesses. But if we are left with our own devices without experience, this can get extremely difficult. Frustrating and overwhelming. And if we present ourselves inconsistently on different platforms, visitors and viewers feel very confused and overwhelmed. Like, I’ll use myself.
Is this Dolly DeLong photography, or is this Dolly DeLong education? I’m confused. Like, where am I? So, you want a consistent client journey from the get-go for your viewers and new visitors. Again, that’s why we were having Tracy on the show: so that she can share a system, to begin with the process of choosing a DIY brand design that is consistent, coherent, and not overwhelming. So, Tracy, I know you have a process that you want to share with the listeners today. So I am all ears, and I’ll be taking notes, and I’ll be asking.
Tracey Albrecht: questions. Awesome. Okay. Great. Thank you. So if you are starting brand new and you may have designed your logo or hired Fiverr or something like that, like this is, these are some of the things that you can reevaluate maybe a year or two down the road because I get it that people need to get moving. They need to start their business. They have an idea. They want to get moving. And I don’t want to. You know, your branding or perfectionism holds you up in that sense. However, if you haven’t or are reevaluating your logo, here are some. Tips on the process that we use at Soapbox Studio: It is a program called the Logo Rx, a streamlined logo design process. We also have our in-person meeting, where we sit in this room and chat about everything. So, this is the same information we gather from our in-person clients and our streamlined Logo Rx. So, we start with what’s called what I, the five W’s, which is who, what, where, when, and why. I’m just going to graze right over these because these are the things you will need to think about and digest as you start building the foundation of your logo or branding. You can also use this for product branding. You can use this for logo design. I’m focusing on logo design because that’s like step one of your branding. Yeah. Logos are super important, but that could be another podcast altogether. So, who are your ideal clients? So think about that, write it down. What do you want people to say about your company? What thoughts or emotions would you like, as well as your avatar or ideal client? What are those emotions you want to evoke in people? Evoke, evoke. Yeah. Evoke, bring up. Yeah. Yes.
Where will you use your logo? So think about if you have a. office space and you’re going to put it on a wall or a door or something like that. If you put it on your car, give that a little thought because a very detailed logo will not translate well to some of those other things. If you’re doing any signage or stuff like that, you want to keep it super simple. And when you think about your company values, what comes to mind? So that’s the when, and that’s just something that I would consider a lot of companies already have, like their company values already laid out. So think about those values and really what, and write that all down. And we will refer back to this as we start brainstorming the logo and branding. Okay. And then why is it important to you to have a professional-looking logo? What are the next steps in your business? Why you’re taking this step to produce a professional logo, either hiring out or if you’re going to up-level it yourself?
Maybe you can take a course or something like that on logo design. Those are the five Ws, which we call the foundation work. That is like nothing creative, drawing-wise, or anything like that. You’re writing everything down. Then, we went on to a little more of the fun, brainstorming. And that is where you will get ideas, either on Pinterest or on Google or things like that. And get. Your name is written out. If you have your company name, write it all out, write down your tagline, and play around with your tagline. If you haven’t already, you’re going to do some searches for fonts and what font combinations you like. And looking back at those five Ws, what you want to portray as your business is not just that. About what you like, but you have to think of your clients and what they would gravitate to when they see these logo colors.
Dolly DeLong: Rapid question. I know you’re in the middle of your train of thought, but I was just wondering, do you have a recommendation for a timeline? Because I know with some, I’ll use myself as an example. As a creative business owner, I can be. So, a perfectionist thinks the concept has to be perfect before I put it out. And so, do you have a recommendation for how long you should go through this process? Otherwise, it will be a never-ending process for somebody like me.
Tracey Albrecht: Yes. I did a workshop last year, and I recommended that each of these five Ws should take no longer than about 30 to 45 minutes to write down. Now that’s providing you. I thought you were going to say days.
Dolly DeLong: I was like, Oh my God, now
Tracey Albrecht: that’s providing you already have a business, like a brand new business. Like this foundational stuff is probably going to be. In another course, I am just taking what you’ve already done, the work you’ve done on your business, and translating it over to the brainstorming guide, which I’ll give you guys a link to later. You can keep track of everything I’m discussing today in this guide. But yeah, so each of these shouldn’t take longer. So, the five W shouldn’t take longer than 30 to 45 minutes. I would just cut that Time off. Then, the brainstorming may take a little longer if you have to get your color palette and things like that done. I wouldn’t go past two hours because it’s just pulling ideas. And then, when we get to the logo formula, where you’re removing all the ideas and creating your logo, that could take longer. We could finish it in an hour or two, but we’re professionals, So it will probably take you. Three times as long, maybe like I wouldn’t go past three times, but perhaps you could do it faster, but that’s where I would put the bulk of your Time. So I think it could all get done in a day, but. You got to try not to be, and I am a perfectionist. I am. If I’m designing my product logos and stuff, I overthink it. And then I usually return to one of my first few ideas, but I get it.
Dolly DeLong: What do you say to the business owner who wants to do this once is doing the system, like you are prescribing, and they’re inspired by it? There are so many different ideas that don’t necessarily mesh well together. Still, they have what you would call what we would call the squirrel syndrome or the shiny object syndrome of, Oh, this logo is Trending, or this color palette is trending. And then two days later, they’re like, actually, I want to do this. And then two hours later, I want to do this. How would you talk and communicate with that type of business owner? AKA.
Tracey Albrecht: It happens for sure. Especially in the online world, it doesn’t happen so much. with our in-person clients because they’re pretty, like they. Rely on us to make those judgment calls. We have enough experience to like that they come to us because they trust us, but in the online world, people don’t know who I am; I have all these years of experience and my team. But yeah, I would advise, and we have advised them, to get a handful of your customer avatars. You have to have at least ten to gauge how they would respond. And then I would put a poll. People love polling, giving advice, or choosing between a logo design and that. So, I would just put it out there, too. It could be just a select group, or you could post it on social and make it like some fun, great thing. But, the caution is that they are yours. Ideally, everybody under the sun could love a specific look, but if your perfect client is repelled by, say, the colors or something like that, then it’s. I love
Dolly DeLong: that. Okay. So everyone, we’re just going to take a step back and be reminded that if you want to have a more coherent there, I can talk coherently about brand and design to represent your business. It sounds like Ike it, but you need to start with having a good gauge. I’m going to repeat: have a handful, at least ten minimum, of your customer avatars, like, you know, them, you know what they like, you know what they dislike, like definitely go. Find those clients, those past clients whom you have worked with. I can’t talk today. You have worked with me, and I love that idea. Like this, both is this like the first part of you, like sharing how, like, don’t go past two hours for this process, but then at the same Time, you’re hoping that. People have done the foundational homework to bring these for sure. And okay.
Tracey Albrecht: Okay. Yes, for sure. And Dolly, it breaks my heart when I have someone come to me who I’m doing something like redesigning a logo they have spent weeks on. I’m like, Oh my gosh. And they still aren’t happy with it. As it happens so often, and I’m like, just come to us first, some people are pretty gifted in design, even though that’s not their specialty, so they can see that. Combination of fonts and colors and things like that. Yeah, so it’s part of the brainstorming. So we went; we started with the name, your name, and your tagline. I would create a logo with a tagline that includes your company name and the company name. We never use our tagline and our logo. It’s always just our logo. So the next step would be after a name and fonts, which would be colored, and colors are something that you could go down a rabbit hole with so many beautiful color palettes. But again, You have to consider your industry and your ideal client. If you’re in the food industry, you must have green in there. You know, like I’ve seen food people that are natural, holistic and have no green in their color palette. And you’re like; it has you, that’s almost a given because There’s like studies shown that people gravitate to green as being healthy, even if it’s not, so there are certain psychological elements that We have some blog posts about it if you’re interested, that color triggers the brain in certain instances. think of those ideal clients, what they’re looking for and what you hope to achieve with, your business and when they first view your, your branding. Then, the next thing would be imagery. If you want an icon or an image incorporated into your logo, that’s something to consider. And do some brainstorming, and then samples and samples are just Googling. If you’re like, Dolly with systems, like if you’re in the systems field, you can Google like online system specialists, in logos, logos for online systems and see what comes up, you know, not that you want to steal these logos, but you want to see what your competitors are doing. They may have put Time into it. They may not have, but you can see what the end user may be drawn to so, if it’s a male or female audience, that matters, sometimes too, like you don’t want to use. Super feminine script fonts. If you’re targeting financial advisory for men, you know, so, um,
Dolly DeLong: I love that. I love. Can we go back to the psychology behind colors and, like I want, I want to like? I have not been on it for a long time, but there are I’ve heard this from; this is not the first Time I’ve listened to them, and deciding on a sound color palette did take me the longest, but it’s so true. Some emotions are invoked when specific color palettes are shown to your clients and audience. If you’re listening, I recommend that you consider doing some research by going to Tracy’s website. I’m sure she has those blog posts about the psychology of colors and likes your brand. Dig in and do some research because, I don’t know, I’m thinking from the photography perspective, when, when I used to be when I was more interested in wedding photography, there was like a little point in my business where I was like, maybe I should do wedding photography. Thank God I did it. Um, mostly not because weddings are awful, but just because it wasn’t the best fit for me, but if you want to do it. This is how my brain works.
I was noticing that. None of the luxury wedding photographers had hot neon colors as their color palettes. They had more muted tones like tans, grays, and blacks. And that’s something I didn’t realize was color psychology because their ideal clients weren’t wearing those loud printed colors; maybe a certain percentage of their clients were, but a large portion of them were shopping at specific stores, like wearing particular color palettes. And so it was reflected in these wedding photographers’ color palettes. And so what Tracy is saying, it’s. So true. Like you, if you want to attract a particular clientoorertain client, you’ve got to see What color pawhates speak to them. I know. I just said that several times, but that took me a long time to understand.
Tracey Albrecht: It’s so true. And so many clients come to us for a redesign, like further down the road of their business, when they can afford to hire a professional. We’ll have these color palettes that they’re like. I used to like it because it was trendy and colorful, but it just doesn’t seem to work for our business. And I’m like, yeah, I can tell why. But color theory is just so fun, and it’s just another exciting thing. And. It’s like sales psychology. It’s what evokes an emotion, and many times, colors will like them; just seeing the color, like you see a red and yellow and you think McDonald’s, you can smell like the French fries coming up. And, there are certain color combinations, you know, that you would never use. Well, you use a lovely yellow, and you’re branding, but. You wouldn’t use red, bright red, and bright yellow, almost yellowish, for photography. So it’s just so fun. The brainstorming guide has a very brief color theory with just some concise descriptions of each primary color, like the emotions. That it rings up, so you can refer to that for sure. I
Dolly DeLong: I love this. Okay. Sorry. I just wanted to dig a little deeper into that because I know that can not only stump people but also like it; it took me forever to understand the importance of color theory and psychology and branding and so on. Listeners, if this is your first year of business or the second year of business and you want to have a consistent brand, give yourself a little bit of Time to start researching color theory. Again, I just want to encourage the listeners to check that out. Sorry. Okay, keep on going. You’re
Tracey Albrecht: giving us so much. No worries. So, I think that was it for the brainstorming version, and I agree. I do want to add that it’s never too late to rebrand, as you don’t want to do it every couple of years. You want to get to the point where everything is cohesive, everything looks like you, and people will see your colors and know that it’s like a soapbox studio. So, that is one of the most incredible things about a cohesive brand. And it also gives you confidence. My brand looks good, and I can sell this stuff because, look at this, it looks so good. We hear a lot from our clients too, that their confidence is so much better and has increased. Their branding looks better. They feel more like behind their products, even though they knew they were good, like now they look as good as they are. So yeah, it’s exciting, like the whole behind-the-scenes thing. But I love
Dolly DeLong: that. I love that so much. Now, can I insert something about branding from a branding? Photography perspective. Sure. Yeah. So, for those of you who are new to the Systems of Workflow Magic podcast, I also wear the hat of the braining photographer. So, I’m a family photographer, bringing photography, systems, and workflow education. And with branding photography, I’ve been, I’ve learned, I’ve observed through the years that I, and again, this might be an unpopular opinion. Still, I recommend that business owners get their branding photos done after they’ve done the overhaul of their branding and logo design because Sometimes, if you take branding photos too early, depending upon where you took them and the background, it may not necessarily match the aesthetics of what your new branding and logo design may look like. So, from this, I don’t know why I’m saying this, but I want somebody to hear this. Don’t rush into taking your branding photos quite yet. Wait until you have yours, and then get those photos because those two will merge and be a chef’s kiss. I know you can’t see me do this, but it’s a chef’s
Tracey Albrecht: kiss. Yeah. That’s a great point. I love that. Yeah, absolutely. And get brand photos updated. Let me add that. Yeah,
Dolly DeLong: exactly. All right. So you’re going to talk about the logo formula, read.
Tracey Albrecht: after. Yes. So here’s where we get to the nitty-gritty of building your logo. So, the logo formula is L O G O, starting with the layout. So you start writing your name and your tagline on the page, on a blank page in Canva; in Illustrator, we use Illustrator, and you begin Putting some of those different fonts that you liked from your brainstorming into that page and your name and tagline. Do some things where it’s all uppercase, all lowercase, other cases, etc. So that’s what the layout is maneuvering around, just the type and fonts. Then, you start organizing those elements and, maybe, repositioning them by pulling out the first letter of each of your company’s names.
You could try tilting it or doing things like that. Then, graphics is where you bring in some imagery elements you liked from your brainstorming session. And you can bring these in as low-resolution screenshots just for now. And then, when you fall in love with your logo at the end, you purchase that stock image. And I would never use a free. Stock anything like I always have made sure throughout our 26 years in business that we have copyrights in place on all of our stock photos because if they’re, you know, there’s people that come after those things, and we’ve seen it happen with our clients like Time and Time again. So don’t do it. Yeah. I mean, usually, it’s like a cease and desist letter, but if it’s super important, like a logo, you don’t want to stop using that imagery. So yeah, make sure it’s just worth it. There are so many affordable stock options now; do that. And then optimize is the last one. And that’s where you pull everything together, tighten everything up, color it with the brand colors you picked from your brainstorming, and get everything in place. And then that’s it. Your logo is done. And those are the steps that we take for logo designs here.
Dolly DeLong: How long does your process usually take when working on one with clients or a more significant business?
Tracey Albrecht: This process with an in-person client takes two to six hours of our billable Time. Okay. But when we do things through the LogoRx package, we generally have around an hour to two hours because the clients do a lot of that, 5W work, and the brainstorming work, and they give it to us. We are the creative person who takes all of the stuff that they love and all of the things that their ideal clients have said, and we put it all together. We streamlined it into what we call a semi-custom package. So yeah, but we gather that from the client when we work in person. So we ask those questions to them. We take lots of notes, and it’s more personalized.
Dolly DeLong: So listeners, if you, again, you all know, I’m very repetitive, and I like to drive home points, like what I’m hearing from Tracy is you have to put in the foundational work to put in these building blocks on top of it. So don’t just assume after listening to this podcast episode, Oh, I have a system now for designing my brand and logo without first knowing. Again, who you serve. Why you want to serve them, like, all those W’s that Tracy went over, please go over those foundational building blocks first, and then add, this is more of the meat, more of the icing on the cake, to, make it, Very cohesive for you. Let’s say somebody has this all together: they did the system and homework and then went through your system. Where do you recommend that a business owner use their branding and logos to be consistent across many platforms? I don’t feel this. I know this. , I see so many business owners with beautiful; in one area of their website, it’s lovely, aesthetic, beautiful. Their imagery is gorgeous, but on other platforms, it’s inconsistent. And I’m wondering, why don’t you take the Time to bring this to this platform as well? So, there’s a consistent client journey. So, where do you recommend a business owner to have consistent imagery for where should they begin?
Tracey Albrecht: I would suggest they begin with their website. Okay. Part of your logo design and branding is a brand guide. Many people may pass a brand guideline, but to us, it is super important because you refer to that brand guide for everything you create. So it has your colors on it. It has your fonts on it. Sometimes, it even has what preference you want, the headlines versus body copy point size; it could; we’ve done brand guides for clients that are so detailed. And then, we have done lots that are just very general with colors, logos, graphic elements, and photography, and it might not be photography you use. Everywhere, but it could be like two or three images that just best represent—your business, and yeah. So we have a couple like on our brand guide, we have a couple that are like people excited, like looking at their computer or like looking over their laptop, that just says soapbox studio to us, like it’s a client that loves what they’re seeing on their brand, that’s what I picture in my head. But I would start with the website and then carry that over to any of those social profiles. And. If it’s even in the header graphic on Facebook if you just make a, I don’t want to say just because I know it’s a lot of work, but like a six grid or a nine grid and Instagram, if you do one of those, but then it, it does need to, like you’re saying, just infiltrate into everything you do.
All your posts should have your color, like the colors from your brand, and all your emails should have it. If you do a fundamental text email, like any of your, bold copy that’s in color, make sure it’s in your brain color; any imagery that you use for your logo, it all has to be. I’ve seen some people with excellent, standard-looking brands, but their logos are terrible. And it detracts from their whole look of things. And it’s used very inconsistently. Sometimes it’s all caps, sometimes it’s upper and lower case, it’s just all over. So I think even if you kept it super simple, use a cap font, a light face, and a bold face, and make sure that’s what’s used throughout everything. Make sure, yeah, that’s where I would start with a website. Yeah. Okay.
Dolly DeLong: I want to share with the listeners what I have done because I went through branding. The process last year. Great designer. It was, oh my goodness. I’m like, totally, this isn’t very comfortable. Maybe it’s because I’m so tired. Perhaps it’s because I’m in significant mom mode right now. I completely lost the train of thought of her name, and I adore her and always sing her praises. It’s
Tracey Albrecht: beautiful. Yeah, your brand is excellent. Oh, thank
Dolly DeLong: you. Well, she did the same thing you did for your clients for me. I have consistent branding for the podcast, Dolly DeLong’s education, and photography. So, it’s consistent from platform to platform for the bundles because I like to lead a bundle in a summit once a year. So, I told her, this is what I want to do. I want to keep it under the umbrella of Dolly DeLong, and then I told her my difference; I knew my services, I knew who I served, so it, and she gave me a brand guide at the end, and that thing lives on a Trello board for me, and I refer to it, and I’m like, okay, where should I use this? Font. And so it’s been so helpful. So yes, like for those of you who are listening, Tracy’s, if you get a brand guide from whoever you work with, put it in a safe place and refer to it because it has helped me so much. It’s helped me be more consistent with
Tracey Albrecht: my branding. Exactly. And you might think, Oh, I’m going to change something up because, maybe this or that or whatever. Don’t just stick with your; stick with your tried and true because people are gradually getting used to it. I know Dolly’s stuff because of her branding. I could pick it out as if I could see the consistency of her branding. And you want that because then if something comes through your email or something comes through on social media, like if they know who Dolly is. They’ll stop and take a look at it. Oh yeah, I recognize her. Where else will stuff fly in the past? So, having a brand guide adds credibility. Plus, it saves so much Time. You look at what you have established already. You can pass it off to anybody on your team or like a VA. If you’re hiring somebody to help you with your bundle or summit, pass that on to them. And then it’s a brainer that everything looks consistent.
Dolly DeLong: That is so true, you all. And, again, if you have a project management tool, like Asana, Trello, or Notion, just put it in there and train your OBM, your VA, a team member, a contractor, whatever. Whoever you teach, please keep it in a consistent place for you. And for me, that’s Trello. And I refer to this: I’m not even joking around you all, at least once a week, if I, especially in project mode. So, that brand guide has been beneficial to me. So, I’m happy you brought that up. And I’m glad you brought up the idea that it must be carried out over Time.
I love the word you use: infiltrate. It needs to infiltrate the social platforms you’re present on so that there is consistency and people recognize you slowly over Time. So, Tracy, you have brought up so many great points. I could hear your thoughts and get to know you more and more because I’m glad I finally got to meet and talk with you in person. Not in person, on Zoom. But I wanted to wrap up and ask you if somebody’s listening to this conversation and they’re like, okay, like I need help. I’m more handholding than just going through the system by myself. Then how can people find you and work with you? And get to know you and take
Tracey Albrecht: the next step with you. Oh, great. Yeah. Thank you, Dolly. It’s been just a pleasure. I, I mean, this is. I love talking about this, so this is so much fun for me, too. So, Soapbox Studio is our website. It’s all one word. It is Singular. We are not studios, so don’t go there because that’s like a video company, whatever, um, but soapbox studio. Com forward slash dolly is where you can opt into Our email, and then you can download that freebie I’m talking about, the brainstorming guide. And that has some of the color stuff in there, too. And then our web, just our website, soapbox studio. com. There’s a menu there. You can check out our blog. You can check out our VIP days offer. If you want to work with us directly on one, you can check out the VIP days. You can book a call, even to talk for 10 minutes about it. What do you think you might want to do, and there’s no? You don’t have to book with us. We are happy to discuss what you’re thinking and your branding. Then, we will offer the logo package I was talking about earlier. And that is a separate site. That’s called the logo. Rx, like prescription Rx. I love that you used the word prescription before, the logo rx. com. Those are the places, but you can find us at the Soapbox studio. And that’s usually what our handles are on social media.
Dolly DeLong: And everyone, this will be in the show notes. Also, if you’re listening to the podcast, it will also be in the podcast’s show notes. Um, but Tracy, I want to say thank you so much for taking the Time to talk with my audience. And I am sure that. You’ll get many people interested in these next steps with you, and you’re full of wisdom, like you all. Tracy has over 26 years of experience in this, so please take her up on this and get to know her, alright? I am excited to share a new podcast episode with you all next week. So stay tuned next week, and until then, remain streamlined and unique. You are a fantastic magical muggle, and I will talk to you all next week.
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