And so here we are in 2021, it’s been 3 months since Christmas (that’s a joke Brenda it’s been one month) and in that time I’ve launched a brand new sparkling website and branding. I couldn’t be happier with it. Whilst many of you might be choosing to use this time do the same, it could range from tweaking your logo a bit, changing the colours of your site or choosing to go all out and get a brand new fresh site, here are seven questions I strongly recommend asking yourself before you do.

But why did I rebrand?

Before I dive into the questions, allow me to take a moment to explain why I did it. Whilst the website + branding project itself took just 3 months, the thought process, vision conjuring took well over a year. Last time I rebranded was in 2017 which whilst it was ‘only’ five years ago, a lot has happened in that time. My business looks completely different. Back then I had no courses or membership or podcast or Facebook groups of my own. I was offering done for you work and it was great, but I barely had my head above the parapet, I couldn’t see a long term vision for the business and was simply treading water. I had a beautiful logo designed by Becky Lord in pink and gold because those were the colours I liked. I started adding photos of my own face on my website and social media for the first time and it was terrifying but it worked well.

Thing is, no one cares that we have a website or a logo or a brand, unless we make them care. We show them why they might be interested.

With this rebrand here are SEVEN questions I asked myself:

1. Where’s your mind at?

I worked on my mindset a LOT. I asked myself questions like – Where did I want to take this business? I worked on long term vision of the business, my vision, what I wanted to do with the money I earned. Who I wanted to help and how. How I wanted to change how I was perceived so I could do the things I wanted. I wanted to make the shift from SEO consultant to SEO & Visibility coach and in 2020, I worked on making that vision happen and grow and evolve. I worked on myself a lot, coming to terms with what my values were and setting boundaries in place (learning more about self care, sustainability, feminism, allyship). What do these values have to do with getting to page one of Google you might ask? I realised that until I was completely happy with the business values and vision, I would not want to continue working on the business as it was. By streamlining the whole strategy, it felt so much more motivating.

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2. Why do I have a business?

There was no one like me when I became freelance. Everyone seemed softly spoken and restrained and I wish someone like me had existed to show me how it could be done – self care, growth, flourishing – these things don’t have to look a certain way and thank goodness for being introduced to the internet at age 16 back in 1999 where I realised I could let my freak flag fly and really learn to enjoy myself because I knew there were so many wonderful individuals all over the world who felt the same. It’s really no surprise that my job became to connect people, it’s what I love to do in real life, and so I made it my job. Couple that with the fact that I’m only the 3rd generation of women in my family to earn an independent wage, the 2nd generation of women to not have to quit my job when I got married, and the first generation of women to be childfree by choice, and I felt we’re onto a winner!

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In order to transform into the visibility coach I now am, I had to show that I too was facing my fear + confidence in being more visible. I really had to own the fact that I have a personality led brand and consider…..

3. What do I enjoy the most about what I do?

Newsflash – I am an incredibly hard taskmaster on myself and it’s one of the many reasons why I harp on about self care so much. I often fail to see the wins and instead focus on the mistakes, so I worked hard to discover what I truly love about what I do and how I enjoy being known. It is important to me not to be seen as simply frivolous, but also structured and motivational, so I came up with eccentric, sassy, fun, wise, supportive, invaluable, warm, essential to business success, motivational, bold, confident

I thought about how my brand is a more stylish version of me, haha! She’s always made up, blue hair looking smooth and sleek, different jumpsuit all the time, smells divine (Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir). She’s mega organised, hilarious good fun and always chooses the right cocktail (Reader, I *never* choose the right cocktail). She gives out the best advice, is always there for her friends and family, gives the best presents (I am terrible at gift giving), and always supports great causes for equality (LGBTQ+, anti-racism, anti-poverty, women’s rights).

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4. What are the sticking points for my clients?

Of course, it’s not about me really, it’s about what my audience want to be and the sticking points a.k.a. the pain points they experience in finding a solution to their challenges. I came up with these pain points (there are many more)

• Worry that they might only meet dry dull boring SEO consultants
• Worry that they won’t understand SEO + visibility as it’s a dark art
• Worry that they’ll be TOO visible and so try and convince themselves that telepathy is how the audience will find us
• Worry about creating content, that their efforts won’t pay off

And from there I came up with the themes for my new site and brand:

• Getting over the fear of being visible
• Getting over perfectionism
• Making growing your business fun + motivating
• Pleasure filled way of growing your business

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5. Why do I need a new website?

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6. What kind of language shall I use?

I looked at the testimonials from my ideal clients and injected that language into the new copy: “Maddy the Magic Maker”, “Powerhouse of positivity”, “Queen of SEO dragons”, “Breaker of Visibility Chains” and these kind of superlative sayings that make me feel proud to help others. I gave strict guidance to the team working on the rebrand not to play it safe at all. Equally, I looked at the language I want my clients to avoid and so therefore I would avoid too: may, might, aim to.

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7. How do I want people to feel?

I thought about how I wanted people to feel when they landed on the new website. These are literally the words I wrote when Becky Lord asked me this question – Time for some learning + a cocktail, like walking into an exciting bar with only amazing women inside, all of whom you’d want to know. I’m the hostess. Like they’ve been invited to the best party.

I’ve always wanted you to make a song and dance about you and your business. Couple that with my love of music and dance breaks over on Instagram, and it felt only natural to include many song lyrics throughout the website.

I even made a Spotify playlist of all the songs included in the copy on my website – you can listen to it here.

8. Who do I want to help with me make this rebrand happen?

I’m fortunate in that through this work I know a lot of people who had the potential to help me make this happen. In the end I booked these 3 wonderful women all of whom completely understood the concept of not playing safe.

Ellie Kime – The Wedding Enthusiast to write the copy – her style of writing and brilliant sense of humour really helped in making this copy come to life and she loved working on the project too. I remember a day back in the autumn when I received this voice note from her – “I just love how in love with yourself you are” and it was then that I knew a) I had booked the right person and b) I was on the right track for the new brand.

Ami Robertson – The Woman & The Wolf to take the photos – I knew I had to wait until I felt ready with my personal style before the rebrand could happen and now that I’ve settled on blue hair it felt right. Ami understood my vision, my endless Pinterest boards and what I wanted to do. She went above and beyond and I’m delighted with the results.

Becky Lord – branding + web design – It was a natural choice for me to hire Becky because we’ve been sharing clients for years, she’s talented and she’s superbly organised – all qualities I greatly appreciate. Working with Becky is a wonderful experience and we went through the steps taking my vision and making it a reality. I’m beyond grateful.

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So there we are folks the seven questions I asked myself before launching into my new brand and website. I hope you found these tips useful, and if you’re thinking of rebranding, hope you enjoy the new website and branding, I’d love to know – tell me in the comments!

Speak soon

Maddy

P.S. All my GIFs were made by me and wonderful assistant Kari. She’s launching her own website soon, watch this space!

P.P.S. If you liked this blog, do check out some other blog posts I’ve shared.

• What happens if you don’t blog for 2.5 months
• Do I really need to blog?
• My business story told in GIFs