3 Lessons I Learned While Rebranding

Welcome to the Hello Beautiful blog and my first post!

I am so excited to share my rebrand with you, and am beyond pleased with the end result. I partnered with the best company to give a new twist to my brand, while still representing who I am, what my company does, who we work with and how my brand is perceived.

I’m all about honesty, transparency and sharing business advice with other entrepreneurs. I learned a lot over the course of this project and made some costly mistakes before choosing to work with Dotted Design.

I’m a big believer in finding the lesson, the teachable moment, when something doesn’t work out, so I wanted my first post to be about that: 3 lessons I learned while rebranding. I hope sharing my experiences will be helpful if you’re considering a rebrand too.

Lesson #1 Make sure the timing is right.

I have been a makeup artist for 19 years. I turned my hobby into my full-time career seven years ago when I left my journalism and media career to do my makeup business full time. I have had several iterations of web sites, but never an effective brand that permeated all facets of my business.

I knew it was time for me to rebrand because:

a. I needed to streamline my services under one cohesive identity. I used to have two separate web sites. One for the wedding/event arm of my company and another for the editorial/print/commercial side. There was no unity between the two sites. I had two separate logos, different colors and fonts. It felt like two different companies and was very disjointed even though the main service I provided (makeup) was the same for both. My dilemma for years had been trying to figure out how to bring the two sides together — because I provide makeup for a range of clients and projects — and to show new and old clients what my company is all about.

b. My target market has changed since I launched my business. I started doing makeup in 2000. Then my focus was primarily editorial. Over time, I started working with brides and special occasion clients and decided to focus on building a bridal business. Then, commercial print and video opportunities came, as well as red carpet and celebrity clientele. My old brand was no longer effectively targeting my core audiences. If you’re wanting to create an authentic brand, make sure you understand who you are, your customers, and your market better than anyone else.

c. My service offerings changed over time. Scaling my business has been important in making it profitable and sustainable. I no longer only did makeup for editorial but over the years my services grew to include weddings and special events, red carpet and celebrity, print and video, corporate and lifestyle. I added education courses, makeup lessons and classes through my beauty and business academy. And I also started retailing makeup and skin care products. I have diversified my services over the years and it was time that my brand reflected how my business had grown and changed.

Head over to the next post and read about the other two lessons I learned while rebranding.