Wedding MBA Podcast: How to be Intentional in your Visual Branding
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Booking Information for Wedding MBA 2021 in Las Vegas
Visit WeddingMBA.com
Kaleigh’s Session: Tuesday, November 9 from 3-4 pm PST at Las Vegas Convention Center
VISUAL IQ: Your Brand Is Your Silent Salesperson
You’re creative, visual, and talented. Are you ready to add some results-driven brand flair to your website, marketing, emails, and social media posts? Graphic design is a useful tool to communicate to your ideal potential clients.
Learn typography, imagery, and color theory techniques
Increase your bookings with strategic brand positioning online
Ensure your brand is on-point and your message is clear
Podcast Transcription
Clint 0:11
Hi everybody, welcome to the wedding MBA podcast where we talk to amazing presenters, experts and educators that grace our stages of the wedding MBA conference, which this year, 2021 will be November 8 through the 10th at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. You’ll want to get your tickets as quickly as you possibly can. All you have to do is go to WeddingMBA.com and click on ‘purchase your tickets’. The reason I say get them now is that they get more expensive the closer we get to the conference. At the end of this episode, I will tell you how user friendly those tickets are and I’ll give you a discount code. But I want to start our conversation. Listen, every now and then you talk to somebody that is so brilliant in something that you know nothing about. And that's the conversation I'm about to have. She is an amazing expert. She is the one and only Kaleigh Wiese. Kaleigh, how are you?
Kaleigh Wiese 0:56
Hi, Clint. I'm so excited to be here. And you will be a pro along with all of our listeners about visual branding by the end of this podcast.
Clint 1:05
Oh, well, that carrot is at the end of the stick. I got to keep moving forward. All right. So first of all, I want to tell everybody where your websites are; there's two of them. The first one is Meldeen.com. Meldeen is M as in Mary, E L D as in dog, E E N as in Nancy. Meldeen.com. Tell us a little bit about that.
Kaleigh Wiese 1:27
I started my career branding, small businesses, small creative businesses. And I love that most creatives are incredible at what they do; but they are terrible when it comes to understanding and feeling confident in marketing themselves. So I started working one on one with small businesses and I fell in love with the wedding industry. I loved that they were so passionate, I just, you know, all the uniqueness that comes with the brides, grooms, and all the fun that we get to have as a community. And so what I found, though, was that there was also a need in branding weddings. So as I was working under Kaleigh Wiese, I launched Meldeen, which essentially became a place or a hub to brand weddings alongside event professionals. And so I started that in 2008. So I think we are at 17 years, which is incredible. It went by so fast. We take on very limited stationery projects now per year because my passion truly is still working with the business owners. But Meldeen is a service provider for the offerings that I have.
Clint 2:21
Now your second website is your name, KaleighWiese.com. It’s K A L E I G H W I E S E . C O M and that’s where I guess you get a little bit more of your personal service, correct?
Kaleigh Wiese 2:36
I would say 90% of the work that I do is consulting. But I love teaching business owners and empowering business owners to be able to DIY in their businesses, most event professionals are solopreneurs or have very small teams. And really, it's just lacking the knowledge of how do I position my brand so I can truly magnetize and connect with the right people I want to work with and so that's really where my passion lies is teaching.
Clint 3:03
All right now let's talk about the session that you're going to be sharing with everybody at the wedding MBA conference and listener if you want to kind of get a head start on this go to WeddingMBA.com and click on conference schedule. Then scroll down a little bit and the name of Kaleigh's session is “Visual IQ: Your Brand is Your Silent Salesperson”. Now, I know that for me that's a lot of words that could mean a lot of different things. And so I'm gonna let you jump into this anyway you want to. Go ahead, Kaleigh.
Kaleigh Wiese 3:32
Yes. So fun fact, 90% of snap judgments made about a business's brand is based on simply just color. Just colors alone. Isn’t that crazy? So what visual branding is, is the psychology of colors and fonts and visuals that help, essentially it's its own unique language. And so to be able to position our brands in a way, when we're not there to communicate about ourselves, we want to make sure that our brand is visually being presented in a way that is speaking correctly. There are so many layers and psychology that fortune 500 companies and big companies use on us when we go to the grocery store that really define what catches our eye or what we're attracted to. And I truly believe that small business owners should also have that same empowerment to be able to use colors and fonts in the same way that can attract their ideal clients.
Clint 4:32
So you're talking about stuff that I would imagine took you quite a while to learn and become an expert in, you're talking about everything that a potential client would see. First impressions. Did I hear that right?
Kaleigh Wiese 4:44
Yes, exactly. And I know for a fact that 80% of people will not revisit a website if they did not find it to be an appealing first impression. And so there are missed opportunities that I see small businesses have by just not having the right visuals in place that truly reflects the work that they do.
Clint 5:04
So that brings up an interesting question for me in that, is it colors and images that reflect the work they do? Is it the colors and images that reflect the personality of the solopreneur? Or is it colors and images that reflect the ideal client? How do you break that down?
Kaleigh Wiese 5:21
Yeah, let's, let's talk about it. So for instance, green is a color that supports communication and is very social, and of course, represents nature, but it's also warm and approachable. And so when you think about that, and think about the dynamics of what does one's business or person want to be known for, and I actually have a cheat sheet on my website, that's a simple color theory guide. And what you can do is write down what you want your business to be known for. And then you can see factually, you know, Black is a color of authority. And it's powerful, and it's sophisticated, and it's elegant. And there's a little bit of mystery there. And if you associate with those types of words, and you want to be known as that, Black is going to be a great color for you. I had met with a DJ in 2019, and he was using black and red, and I sat down across from him at a brand audit, and he was full of so much joy and humor and happiness. And I said, I don't think you're red and black. What red is a color of, of course, energy of passion, but you are way more of a yellow person; that is fun, that is humor, that is intellect, that's logic, that's happiness, and he changed his red to a yellow. And he called me a few months later after implementing that, and he said, I don't know what it is, but I'm attracting the clients who really see me for who I am, and see what I can truly bring to the table that's unique. So that is an example of how you can use color in a powerful way. It also allows us to set ourselves apart. And what I find in the wedding industry is there is a lot of gold. And there's a lot of black and white. And there's a lot of scripts that people use for their logos. And there's nothing wrong with those things, but I hope that every business owner brings their uniqueness to the table with being empowered that they're offering something that is unique to them because of their experience, because of their eye. And so, when you can pick a color palette, and fonts that truly represent you, you end up standing out instead of blending in which I think we can all agree is a positive thing.
Clint 7:34
You know, you said something that I've been paying attention to lately, and that's the phrase, “but there's nothing wrong with that”. And that's been going on for years. But in fact, it isn't so much that it's wrong as it is, is it actually effective? Because what I heard you say is that the DJ changed colors and started connecting with his ideal clients or, or I guess that's the way it played out.
Kaleigh Wiese 7:55
Yes, exactly. And we always think, I think you think of a rebrand as like, “Oh, I don't have time for a rebrand, especially not right now we are so booked for 2021 and 2022 and into 2023”. And really it's the small changes that matter and just having a pulse on what that you're currently putting out there — is it working effectively as a could be and sometimes it's the smallest changes that might be one little color and might be just changing the font and to the average person, it’s not like you need to do a full announcement saying, “look at my new look”, but it's going to work better for you as you're attracting the right clients going into 2023 and beyond.
Clint 8:36
What about typography? Yeah, and so the thing that bothers me is, and this is just a personal gripe, is when something is too fancy, and I can't really read it on my phone.
Kaleigh Wiese 8:47
We see a lot of fancy out there in the wedding industry. I have a minor in typography, I think every font has a story, and not only because of the artist who originally made it, but it really can evoke its own tone of voice. So if you look at any font, there are two primary categories, a san serif and a serif. So a serif — if you think of Times New Roman, which is a common font, it has little tiny feet on it, you're going to see it on the M, you're going to see it kind of hanging off of the T's, you're going to see it on the bottom of an A, it's going to be little tiny feet, and those fonts, which is the serif, is going to be the most traditional, classic, polished, refined. So again, if you identify with those words, do you want to have a logo, or you're using on your website or other marketing materials that serif look. A sans serif is without feet, sans feet. So that's going to be more contemporary, they're going to be more of like a Helvetica, which is one of my favorite fonts. And fun fact, it's actually the name of my WiFi in my office. But serif is going to be more contemporary, it's going to be a little younger. And then there's two other categories, one being script. And like you said, it's legibility can sometimes be an issue. And what I find is, well, I work in weddings, and that's what wedding invitations look like. And so I feel like that's the best fit for me. Well, if you are not the kind of woo, I want to say almost woowoo whimsical and formal type of person — if you're a little bit more laid back, it's really not a good fit for you. You know, scripts have an essence of, you know, a ballroom and kind of more, more black tie if I if you will. So thinking about scripts and using it properly, I have nothing wrong with an accent script, which I think can bring in a little bit of that, but I'll get into here in a second. The fourth category of font style is playful and playful fonts are ones that look like they go with a theme. So you've probably seen a font before that you automatically think that looks like a superhero font, or that looks like a Disney font. Those are fonts that we want to stay away from in our brands. Because we don't want to have any preconceived notions, when someone looks at our brand to categorize it, let's just say retro, we're 60s, we don't want them to put us in that category before they have the opportunity to meet us or connect with us. Unless that is exactly what you do. And you specialize in superhero weddings, then all applause to you and you should definitely use it. So those are the four categories. Now, I will say to build a brand toolbox, you will likely have a couple of colors, usually two to five colors. So kind of like I mentioned, you know, maybe you have a little bit of black and you're authoritative and elegant. But yet you are a little fun, right, so adding that yellow. And maybe though you're you want to bring in a blue tone, which would be calmness, peace, honesty, kindness, care, emotional connection. And there you have your color palette, right, because you check the box on those three colors. For your fonts, you're going to end up having your logo font, which should never be used on anything else, you want that to be the pinnacle, and its own stamp. So kind of like to think about Nike, you want it to just be like an identifiable stamp, and it doesn't, it's at the top of the pinnacle, not watered down. But then you want to have a font family that you use. Typically in a brand, we will have a header, a sub header, a body font and an accent font. So I described those four different fonts, the serif, the sans serif, the script and the playful, you can kind of mix and match. So let's say you're primarily more classic and refined and you want to be known as that. But you like to do things that are unique and outside of the box. So maybe you do a serif for the header and you do a san serif for the sub header so that you're speaking to and checking all the boxes in the different parts of your personality there. So does that make sense? Kind of building out a little bit of a toolbox where you have a couple different colors to use and a couple different fonts that you're able to incorporate and to be known for.
Clint 12:59
It makes a lot of sense, but it also makes me think that I need an expert to guide me through the process.
Kaleigh Wiese 13:04
And that’s why I’m here! We're gonna break down a lot of it in my class and I love the one on one time and so I have definitely built in the time to be able to do some little case studies. So if anyone's listening that wants to be a case study, we can absolutely do that while I'm on site in Vegas.
Clint 13:21
Oh my gosh, that's an invitation that I want to write down and put in my calendar. That's amazing. You know what, Kaleigh, it's interesting to me that you have explained the story that a person wants to tell with their colors and their typography. And I think that that's really, really powerful. What about finding another business that is kind of doing the same thing that you're doing? Would it be worthwhile to go to those websites and see if it matches the story or so that you can kind of have a better idea of what you should do with your own website.
Kaleigh Wiese 15:39
You know, I recommend staying in your own lane, because we can easily compare ourselves to others. So if you're looking to do some updates, I literally would just recommend writing down what you want to be known for, and having a good idea of what each color represents. Either you can get that information for me, or honestly, you can do a quick Google and probably do a little research that way. And then with some fonts, but you're gonna learn a lot of that in my class as well. One thing that is important is that when you are choosing to work with a graphic designer or a web developer, but you come to the table with that knowledge, you know what colors work for you, and what fonts work for you. And make sure that when you're talking to them, or in the planning process, that you are in a position where that creative is going to ask you questions to get to know you, so that they also can do their best job to represent you on something that maybe you don't feel confident implementing like a website or building a logo per se. But once you know your colors and your fonts, you really can, you know, again, be empowered to DIY some things, let's say on Canva, or even in your own invoice system, you really could have that and really know that again, you are unique, and that even though someone else in your market may be offering something similar, we want to make sure that again, you stand out and that you don't blend in because that can create confusion for the person looking. And I'm going to lead into consistency. So this is one of the largest mistakes that I see with a visual brand or marketing is that I see most brands are a little bit scattered. You can say that your color is blue, but every time I see that blue, I want it to be the same. And our eyes and brains process imagery 60,000 times faster than text. So even if you've never purchased a single thing at Tiffany's, or you've never watched Nickelodeon, you know what that Tiffany blue color looks like your brain has made that connection. And same with Nickelodeon, that is a very specific orange. So every business should have their own color. And then what we do is, as we get infiltrated into our communities, or start spreading our name, people around us will start remembering what our logo looks like. And it takes five to seven times for someone to see that logo or your brand palette to feel familiar with you, you know, when you've ever seen something and you're like, “have I seen this before?” And that's how many times it takes to get to that place. So the best thing that you can do is show up visually the same every time. So if it's your website, or if it's the postcard that you're handing out at a bridal show, make sure that the header, sub header, body font and accent font are all the same. And although that seems like such a tiny thing, it is so important in order to establish yourself as more professional and more polished. It's kind of like crossing the T and dotting the I.
Clint 16:53
Do you do the same thing with social media?
Kaleigh Wiese 16:57
Absolutely! All these things can be applied to social media when you use visuals, and that's going into the next level. But technically there are different styles of photography, that would be visual cues as well that you can kind of learn what fits in your category. I'm sure many of us have been on Instagram before where you see those nine photos on someone's account and say this looks so put together. Typically, they have a little thin thread of consistency going through with their imagery. But a lot of people today also are doing text overlays that they can do in Canva, or on their own or on an app on their phone. And you would just want to make sure when you're making your selections for your fonts and colors, that it's on brand with the other things that you're doing on your website or your marketing material, which the great part about that is once you have your cheat sheet of what colors are and what your fonts are, it makes things so stress free because you're just applying the same thing over and over again. So you're not sitting there like oh my gosh, this is so overwhelming. I don't have time for this. It's a lot easier to plug and play when you know your colors and your fonts.
Clint 17:58
Yeah, I believe in that concept of the one decision that makes 100 decisions. Once you’ve figured it out, then you don't have to think about it anymore. It's just plug and play. I like that.
Kaleigh Wiese 18:07
Yeah, it definitely makes a world of difference in terms of speeding up the process to almost a wider reach, right? Kind of like that, that consistency allows your community to become very familiar with you, when really you're just showing up the same every single time that they see your name.
Clint 16:26
That is awesome. You know what, I can tell right now that your session is going to be very highly attended and I know there's going to be people that are going to want to reach out to you before the conference. Kaleigh, what's the best way for them to do that?
Kaleigh Wiese 16:38
Yeah, I would love it. Um, hello@kaleighwiese.com. And again, that's hello@kaleigh.com or Wiese is my last name, so hello@kaleighwiese.com. And then you can find me on social media at @GoKaleigh. Um, I love getting in my DM’s and doing video and audio messages with our community. And yeah, you'll be able to find me in Vegas and I look forward to the one on one time together. This is a subject that, if you can't tell, I'm quite passionate about. And what I love about it is although there are techniques and kind of general guidelines when it comes to visual psychology, the fun part is being able to see the transformation that some of the small changes can really have in one's business.
Clint 17:27
That's brilliant. Well, there you go, everybody, that's the way it works to the wedding MBA conference, the amazing educators and experts just like Kaleigh, that grace, our stages are going to astound you and give you actionable items that you can immediately apply to improve your business. But the only way you can do that is if you go to the conference. And the only way to do that, is to get a ticket! Go to WeddingMBA.com, click on purchase your tickets. Now you want to get them as quickly as you can, because the tickets get more expensive, the closer we get to the conference, and the tickets are so user friendly. Listen to this. If you buy a ticket for this year, and for some reason, you can't go, hang onto that ticket. They'll roll over for 12 months. That's right, you can go next year. If you buy a ticket for this year, for some reason, you can go, then hand that ticket to somebody else — tickets are transferable. Or, maybe you want to buy more than one ticket at today's prices. Because when it says, who is this ticket for? Just put down to be determined: TBD. Now you've got some extra tickets that will serve you really well as you serve your community. For instance, let's say that you want to cement a relationship with a mentor. A ticket to the Wedding MBA conference is an amazing gift. What if you want to increase the education of somebody on your team? Oh my gosh, the wedding MBA conference is the best educational opportunity possible for people in the wedding industry. What if you want to increase your standing within your own community? Why not have a contest or something like that where the prize is a ticket to the Wedding MBA conference? You see where I'm going with all this. Plus, there's one other concept, there's going to be a lot of people that as we get closer to the conference, are going to be scrambling, trying to find a ticket, they don't want to pay full price. Well, because you have bought tickets at today's prices; now you can maybe sell a ticket to them for a little bit more than what you paid but definitely less than full price everybody wins. And the only way you do that is go to WeddingMBA.com and click on purchase your tickets. Now. I promised you a discount code. Here it is. Clint17. It's my name. C L I N T 1 7. You put that in the discount box, you will automatically get $20 off your purchase. That's it for this episode of the Wedding MBA podcast. This is Clint and on behalf of Kaleigh, we will see you next time!