The Weekly Drop-In is officially counting down to its hundredth issue - and over the next ten issues, I'll be taking you along the journey as I rebrand Cedar June.
Last week, we talked about the decision to tear things down and what to do when you need clarity on the next steps for your brand.
You can read week one here
My goal in this email series is to be as transparent as possible about what I am doing to rebrand, one step at a time (the exact same process I take clients through), so that if you are building a brand from scratch - or - considering a rebrand, you can use this newsletter series to get a better understanding of how to get from point A, where you are now, to point B, the brand you are envisioning.
And yeah, ten weeks is a little long for an email series, but since we are going “back down to the studs,” I think it's important to give you a realistic timeline of what a rebrand could look like.
I think Instagram can make developing your brand seem like a “one and done” or “brand in a day” - check it off your list and move on - type of task. But in reality, developing and maintaining your brand takes time.
Okay, that being said - let’s dive into the second newsletter in this series - all about your Brand’s Blueprint.
So, wtf is a brand blueprint anyway?
A brand blueprint is a framework you can use as a preliminary step before digging into your brand's strategy. Before you can understand your audience, competitors, or content - we need to understand exactly what you are doing and who you are doing it for.
Filling out a brand blueprint is one of the first steps I take with my 1:1 clients. It was the first freebie I created—and something I still refer back to after almost three years in business.
Behind the brand at CJ this week - I filled out the Brand Blueprint template to get an even deeper understanding of my new packages, as well as where educational offers fit in. It took me about an hour and a half & I may go back in and add a few final thoughts.
This simple template is a great way to brainstorm & dig a layer deeper that can be revisited whenever you need to find clarity and hash out a new offer or service.
Feel free to follow along, fill out the brand blueprint for your offers & circle back next week to learn what you can do with it - Keep scrolling to grab the free template and below.
Keep Reading For Newsletter Highlights
- Behind the Brand → 3 Tips for Filling Out Your Brand Blueprint
- A Note From Catie → How I Knew It Was Time for a Rebrand
- Need Help? → April Availability
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3 tips for getting the most out of the brand blueprint |
Getting clarity on the strategy behind your brand's offers starts with knowing what questions to ask - and that’s where this Brand Blueprint Template comes in. It is a simple-to-follow template to help you brainstorm & position the offers, services, or products in your brand. Here are three tips for getting the most out of this template.
Tip #1: Think of it like the blueprint for a house, where you define the rooms within the space. Except here, you define the “rooms” of your brand.
Tip #2: Treat it as deep work—not just any old item on your to-do list. Think about the time of day when you can think the most creatively, get into the “zone” (or a flow state) with the most ease, and think clearly. That is the time of day you should fill out the Brand Blueprint.
Tip #3: Free-write and get your own thoughts and ideas flowing—don’t just rely on AI. We need your answers. Challenge yourself to dig deeper and give specific audience-centric answers to the prompts.
Click the link below to get your copy of the Brand Blueprint template - there’s a pre-recorded tutorial inside to get you started. If you fill out the brand blueprint on your own this week and you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a DM on Instagram or respond to this email.
**Ps. Be sure to tune back in next week, where I’ll share what comes after the Blueprint & how to utilize it to clarify the strategy behind your brand.
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a note from catie
So, how do you know when it’s time for a rebrand?
There wasn’t a single lightbulb moment that made me think, "It’s time to rebrand." Instead, over time, little things were bugging me about my brand under the surface, and it got to the point where I realized that I wasn’t giving myself enough credit and it was time to embrace the direction my brand & offers were heading in.
What I was saying I was doing—even calling myself a “studio”—didn’t really match what I was actually doing, and I knew I needed to tear it down to the studs and go back to the blueprint.
If the outward-facing elements of your brand and the way it is being perceived don't feel like the vision you have or like it matches the value of what you actually do - it's probably time to rebrand. That doesn't mean you have to change every element of your brand - a rebrand can be an evolution. Instead of being the next chapter - a rebrand is like the next book in a series.
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now booking
I have one remaining spot to work with a client 1:1 open in April. After that I won't be taking any new client projects until late July. If you are interested in working together 1:1 and want to snag the last spring spot.
Need some help figuring out the next steps for your brand? Click here to book a 60-minute consult.