Ready to rebrand your business and refresh your look?

First, stop and think. Is it really necessary?

If you’re running a small business, your marketing budget is limited. If you’ve used your current brand for a while, the recognition and goodwill you’ve built up are worth money.

But if your business focus has changed, or your visual brand is dated, you might need to do an update.

There are red flags that tell you it’s time to rebrand your business. I’ll share those with you — and tips that will make the rebrand process smoother and easier.

Related: How Can I Make Money Online in Midlife? Seven Challenges and Their Solutions

Rebrand red flag #1: It’s been a while

Brands don’t have an expiration date, but if it’s been a while since you really looked at your brand, it might be time to do a review. You might not need to rebrand your business from top to bottom. Maybe you just need a new tagline that reflects what your business offers today. 

Tip: If it’s been a while since you’ve assessed your brand, ask friends and colleagues to look at it and explain in their own words what they think your brand is all about. If it’s saying what you want it to say, excellent.

But if it’s communicating something else entirely, that’s a red flag that means it’s time to rebrand.

Rebrand red flag #2: Your business has changed

Businesses change over time. Your audience may change. Your offers may change. The way you deliver your offers may change.

It’s important that your brand reflects what you’re doing today. 

Tip: If your brand doesn’t speak to what you do now, it’s time for a change.

This is exactly why I changed my brand, by the way. I started out helping people to build their brands. So I called my business Big Brand System, and used the tagline “Your Business May Be Small But Your Brand Can Be Big.”

Now I coach people to build profitable online businesses. Branding is just a small piece of the work we do together.

Since I started my business, I’ve written three books, become a keynote speaker, and taught thousands of online business owners.

The one common thread between all of these things is me. That’s why I decided to rebrand under pamelawilson.com.

If your brand doesn’t say what your business does, start fresh:

• Who do you help?
• How can you describe that?

Related: Content Marketing Strategy: How to Share Your Valuable Expertise

Rebrand red flag #3: You don’t feel good sharing your brand

You know how you don’t like to have company when your home is messy? It’s the same thing when your brand is messy. You don’t feel like sharing it because it’s not a positive reflection of you and what you do.

Your brand should make you feel like you want to stand up straighter and share it loud and proud.

Your brand should make you feel excited to share it.

Do a quick gut check. Does sharing your brand not feel great right now? That’s another red flag that you should pay attention to.

If any of those red flags are waving for you, it’s time to rebrand your business.

Rebrand your business fast

So how can you keep the brand recognition you’ve already built up and rebrand your business so it evolves into what it needs to be?

You don’t necessarily have to hire a graphic designer or rebuild your website. There are simple ways to refresh your brand that you can do today.

Let’s look at how you can rebrand your business quickly.

Define your brand personality

Has your brand personality changed? Let’s find out.

Take my free Brand Personality Quiz. You’ll discover your brand personality in less than five minutes!

Define your ideal customer

Did you start out serving a specific kind of customer and find you’re now interested in serving a different group?

Maybe your new ideal customer has more money to spend or more interesting problems to solve.

It’s worthwhile to spend some time defining — or redefining — your ideal customer.

Take a look at my Ideal Customer Finder. It’s free, and it will take you step-by-step through the thinking you need to do around your ideal customer.

Related: Is it Time to Say Goodbye to Your Current Client?

Update your tagline

Writing a new tagline for your business is the easiest branding change of all.

Taglines aren’t part of your legal business name, so changing them doesn’t involve a visit to a lawyer, or new checkbook from your bank.

Remember to keep your tagline brief. Summarize what your business offers that makes it different from your competitors.

If you’re making a change, incorporate the new offering in your tagline.

Related: How to Write a Terrific Tagline

Update your visual brand

If it’s your visual brand that needs updating, here’s how I recommend you rebrand and retain the goodwill, trust and recognition you already have. Ask yourself this question:

What bothers you the most: is it the colors, the font, or the logo?

Tackle the one thing that’s most bothersome and leave the rest intact. So, if your color palette looks dated, come up with new colors, but use the same fonts and logo design.

If your logo is terrible, update it, but use the same colors and fonts.

Since my website used to be all about branding, I have a ton of links for you to help with this. I’ve got them all organized into a resource library called Build an Online Brand.

Related: The Design 101 Video Series

What if your whole brand needs a makeover?

What if you’re ready to ditch your whole visual brand and do something else?

This is a tough situation that’s best to avoid if possible, because you’ll have to start building brand recognition from scratch. If you must start fresh, know you’ll have work ahead of you.

I’ve got you covered.

Use all the marketing tips you learn here to establish your new brand.

Remember, branding isn’t all about logos. When you rebrand your business, keep in mind your total customer experience.

In many ways it’s easier (and more tempting) to tweak your logo than it is to redesign your customer experience.

If you’re ready to rebrand your business, remember your ideal customer and why they come to you and not someone else.

Think about what sets you apart.

Remember what it is you deliver — the transformation you provide with your product or service.

Every part of your brand sends signals to your customer. Your brand tells your best customers they’re in the right place.

Paying attention to your customer experience helps build authority and trust.

Related: Signs of Quality: 10 Ways to Instantly Boost Your Trust Factor

Tip: When you’re about to unveil your new brand, ask someone — maybe the friends and colleagues who looked at your brand messaging — to take a look at the changes you’ve made.

Is everything clear? Is your new messaging easy to understand?

When you rebrand your business the right way, all your brand elements work together.

Making the change to pamelawilson.com was an evolution — and well worth the effort. I’m excited to have the new brand out in the world!