🫣 Why Playing It Safe Is Killing Your Brand

I'm pretty sure you've been playing it safe when it comes to your branding... but honestly, it’s holding it back. Lack of time, can't be stuffed creating posts anymore, not sure what font works, and the list goes on.

Your business wasn’t built to blend in a sea of same same, it was built to make an impact.

In this pep talk, I’m diving into:

• How to bring your values to life through your visuals and content
• Why your design choices might be making you invisible online
• Simple ways to innovate without throwing everything out
• And how to reignite your brand so it feels fun again

This episode is your reminder that being fearless doesn’t mean being the loudest, it means being you, unapologetically.

Think of this one as a creative reset!

x Morgan

Connect with me:

• Follow The Fearless Designer on Instagram
  @the.fearless.designer
  
  
• Head to The Fearless Designer Website for more info
  www.thefearlessdesigner.com.au

Transcript

Hello and welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I feel like it is such a perfect time to be sitting down and chatting with you, taking a breath, not doing anything other than talking about something that I love, all the things that I love. I just. I don't know. The. The end of the year is coming. The Burr months are upon us.

September, October, November. They seem to be hectic and scary. There's so much to get done. There's so much work to get done. My branding agency is booked out till the end of the year, which feels amazing, but also quite scary. And there's nothing more that I would love to do than sit here and chat to you. So that's. That's what I'm doing and I kind of wanted to give you a little pep talk today.

It is not too late. The end of the year isn't here. But I don't know about you, but I've been noticing something that is really starting to make me feel really negative and just really disappointed about the online space, and that is that everyone is starting to look the same. The same colors, the same fonts, the same Canva templates, the same five tips carousels, the same follow me on a day in my life. And here's the thing. Your brand was never meant to blend in. So I feel like today it's time to step it up. It's time to step into your own brand.

It's time to stop looking sideways, stop comparing yourself, stop doing what everyone else is doing and start owning what makes you and your business so completely unique. I think today I'm going to share with you three ways that you can step into it right now. And we're going to talk about letting your values really drive your brand, how to show up differently with your graphics, and how to keep innovating even when you're feeling that burnout coming upon us. So let's go. 

Hello and welcome to the Fearless Designer podcast. I'm your host, Morgan MacDonald, aka the fearless designer, and I'm here to help you embrace your fears, level up your visual brand, and take your business to fearless new heights. For two decades, I've worked with business owners just like you, designing brands that are bold, consistent and authentic. I've lived a profesh corporate life as a graphic designer and I've also spent the last 13 years running my own brand and graphic design business.

So whether you're running a six or seven figure business, craving a brand refresh, or just ready to add a little more wow to your visuals, I got you. Each week we'll dive into fearless brand strategies, design tips that you actually can use, live brand audits, and interviews with fellow business owners who have dared to do things differently. So if you're ready to stop playing small, take control of your brand and lead with confidence, you're in the right place. Let's go. All right, let's start here. If you've been here listening to this podcast for a while, you will have heard me say that your values are the heartbeat of your brand. But I think the catch is, is that values only work for you if you actually bring them into the way that you show up. They just.

They just can't sit in your Google Doc or in your beautiful strategy document that you've had done or a notebook or something like that and never looked at. So I wanted to give you some ways of how you can actually inject your values into your branding. And then hopefully you can put your unique spin on them and start really using them as a benefit to getting eyes on your brand. So, first of all, I want you to talk about them openly. Jump on your Instagram stories and say, hey, you know, this is why community means so much to me. Or, hey, this is what, you know, creativity looks in my day to day. You don't have to lecture people about it, but just share snippets. That's how your audience starts to connect your values with your brand.

And if you're doing it consistently, consistently, they will be linking the dots because there are so many other businesses and brands out there that are already doing the same thing. So first up, let's let your values drive your branding. I know I've said this a million times on this podcast. Values are the heartbeat of your brand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But here's the catch. The values only work for you if you actually bring them into the ways that you show up. They can't just sit in your Google Doc or in a notebook that you filled out during a strategy session or a workshop you attended.

It is time to actually inject them into your branding. And here are some ways to do it. Firstly, talk about them openly. Jump on your Instagram stories, create a reel and say, hey, this is why community matters so much to me. Or hey, this is why creativity means so much to me. Or this is how I am being creative day to day. You don't have to lecture people about it, just share snippets. And consistently, over and over again, that's how your audience starts to connect your values with your brand.

I want you to anchor them into your foundations. If Sustainability is a core value, then it should show up in your color palette, it should show up in your messaging. It should show up in your packaging or the way you source materials or the way you conduct your business. If creativity is about you, then your branding should never look cookie cutter. You should be communicating in your messaging how creativity is the driver for xyz. Build it into your logo, into your fonts, into your colors so that everything links back, and finally use them as a decision filter. I think this is so important. Before you post, ask, does this align with my values? Before you take on a new client, ask, does this relationship align with what I stand for? That's how you build a brand that is really unique and yours.

So when you consistently align your brand with these values, people feel it and more importantly, you feel it. That's. I think that's the most important thing. You feel it. You stop second guessing yourself because you're not playing anyone else's game. You're not looking at what other people are doing. You're just consistently going back to your values. Okay, let's talk about your visuals because I think this is where most people fall into the same, same kind of trap.

And here's what I see all the time. It's business owners or creators using the exact same Canva template as everyone else. Or they're getting onto Instagram, or they're getting onto Pinterest, finding something that they're liking, bringing it into Canva and then replicating it. Exactly. Don't get me wrong, Canva is brilliant, but if you're pulling from the same templates or the same free templates as everyone else, it's going to look like everyone else. So how do you stand out? Customize, customize, customize. Don't just use a template, adapt it. Swap out fonts, rework the layout, inject your brand colors properly.

Think of templates as a starting point, not finished products. This helps you build a consistent design framework as well. It doesn't mean everything has to look identical, but it means that you may have some rules that you stick to. For example, maybe your headline always sits in the top left. Or maybe you use a bold pattern in the background that becomes your signature. Or maybe you have a specific icon style that's instantly you bring in some photography. This one is a huge addition to any brand. Photography is the strongest tool you have.

It captures your uniqueness. I think that stock photos could only, you know, there's certain businesses that can use them and it's probably only the startup phase that you would but your brand photos, your face, your hands, your environment, your team, that's what makes your brand relatable and unmistakable. And I did an episode earlier in the year with the wonderful Belvi, who's a brand photographer from Perth in wa. I highly recommend you go back and listen to that episode. She gives so much insight in how she draws out all of those things that make you uniquely you and creates really iconic and powerful images that you can use that are very individual and unique to market your business. So it doesn't mean that investing in photography or brand photography needs to cost you a thousand a month. Just start with a solid shoot. Just get one shoot done.

A mix of poses, outfits and environments. Reuse them across your graphics. Think really strategically around what I need them for. If you need them for your website banner, think about a more landscape orientation. Have some headshots done on plain backgrounds that you can clip out in Canva. There's so many tips around getting the shots that you need, and I'm sure if you're working with a photographer, they'll help you with that. But pairing professional photos with bold custom design is the quickest way to elevate your brand in a really unique way. And you can use graphics and photos together.

Think of like a bold headline with your photo. Think about your color palette and a really candid snap of you working. Think really strategically again, maybe you're wearing those brand colors and when those pieces come together, your visuals stop looking generic and they start looking like your brand. Especially if you're consistently using the same colors, using the same fonts, using the same photos and such. A great way to keep fresh and unique and really pushing with your branding is to innovate. And I know that can feel really overwhelming and you don't have time for it, but you don't need to reinvent the wheel every time. It doesn't have to be exhausting. And it's not about changing your entire branding every three months.

It's just about making those tiny little steps forward, those tiny shifts that keep your brand aligned and evolving and exciting. So here are a few ideas that you can try. First of all, maybe try a new content format. If you're comfortable with video, I don't know, maybe try short reels or YouTube. If writing is your thing, maybe start a newsletter or a blog. Innovation can be really simple as it's giving your audience a new way to connect with you. Maybe start creating some rituals. Maybe it's like a Friday live on Instagram where you check in and share your reflection of the week.

Hopefully it's tied heavily in with your brand values. Or maybe it's like a Monday tip. Maybe it's a. I don't know, a hey, this is what's coming up in my week. Rituals create expectation and consistency, but they also give you room to play within that format. Just make sure you're always adding your own little twist, your own little sprinkle. If everyone's doing carousels with pastel backgrounds, make yours bold, make them graphic. If everyone's creating lead magnets or freebies, make sure yours are actually fun to use.

It could be a quiz. It could be a. I don't know. There's so many ideas. But make it fun. It means that you know you're zigging while everyone's zagging. We don't want to look the same as everyone else. We don't want to be doing the same thing as every coach.

We want people to be attracted to what we're doing and experiment in small doses. You don't have to overthink it. It's. Maybe try a new post format once a week and give it six months, See how it's going. Maybe introduce a new segment on your podcast. Maybe it's introduce a new brand color. Just as long as you're using it and giving it time, and then assessing whether you can see any benefit or change or reaction. It keeps your brand fresh without burning you out.

So the point is here, just. Just give yourself permission to innovate. There is no standard. There is no, you know, kind of benchmark when it comes to marketing. Your brand needs to feel alive. You need to feel like that, too, while you're creating this content. And your audience also feels that energy when you're having fun and creating something that' uniquely you. Okay, so let me wrap this up beautifully for you with a bow on top and all of the glitter.

I want you to just take away one thing today, and that is that your brand isn't supposed to look like everyone else's. That is honestly the most fastest way to become forgettable. Instead, infuse your values into everything that you do. Use your graphics and photography, preferably with you in it, to show up differently in a way that feels really unmistakably you. And keep innovating, keep playing, keep having fun. There is not a one way to do everything. When you align these things consistently, hopefully your branding and marketing stops feeling like a chore and starts to be fun. And when it starts to feel like a chore, it's time to change things up.

And have a play because it needs to feel like an expression of who you are and definitely not a copy of someone else. So good luck. I can't wait for you to step into it and really own your own brand and do it in a really fearless way. And that's it for today's episode of the Fearless Designer podcast. I hope you're feeling really inspired, fired up and ready to go make some bold moves with your brand. If you loved today's episode, don't forget to hit the subscribe button so that you never miss a dose of fearless branding goodness. And if you're feeling extra generous, drop us a review. It just helps more fearless legends like you find this podcast.

If you've got any ideas or questions for future EPS, please slide into my DMs or send me an email. I would love to hear from you. And until next time, keep being bold. Keep being fearless and remember your brand is your superpower. So go out there and dare to be different. Bye.