It's crucial to get a sense of the person behind the brand/business, the brand vision, mission and values, the target audience, and any brand story that might exist. This is probably the most important part of the research phase. I’m designing something that is supposed to represent the essence of my client’s brand, so it’s pretty important that I get a good handle on it!

That’s why it’s so important to do your homework before hiring anyone. Follow these steps and you're guaranteed to hire a designer who'll be a good fit for your business and your needs the FIRST time around!

Before you can get into the nitty gritty of how to present your business to the world visually, you’ve got to nail down what exactly your brand is. If you remember from my Brand & Brand Identity post, your brand is who exactly your are, what you stand for, what’s different about you and your business, and what people can expect when they interact with your business. Check out the full post for more information and branding term definitions.

In fact, the term branding itself is often misused, and many people think it’s something it really isn’t. Whether that’s a good thing or not isn’t for me to say. What I can say is that I don’t think it’s necessary to be able to clearly define every brand-related term to launch a successful small business.