How to Build a Brand People Instantly Trust with Blaire Brown

Your brand might be doing the work, but your website and social presence may not be proving it. We’re joined by Blaire Brown, founder of Visionary Advantages, to talk about the moment “good enough” branding starts costing you leads, trust, and pricing power and what to do about it with a clear, modern brand strategy. From logos and brand guidelines to website redesign, copywriting, and content systems, Blaire shares how she helps established businesses look as powerful as they actually are. 

We dig into the real-world signals that it’s time for a refresh: customers feeling confused, a founder whispering “please don’t look at my site,” or ads driving traffic to a dated experience. Blaire explains why cohesive touchpoints matter, how fast people judge a brand online, and why SEO and content planning are long-game tools that compound over time. We also talk about building a marketing ecosystem across social media, blogs, and email so you’re not trapped by the algorithm. 

You’ll hear a standout brand transformation story where an outdoor CPG brand shifted its messaging and design to feel more like a skincare brand, plus lessons from projects in travel and hospitality, digital-first hotels, and airline manufacturing. Blaire also breaks down where AI helps behind the scenes and where real photos and real personality still win every time. If you’re ready to stop looking DIY and start showing up like the leader you are, subscribe, share this with a fellow business owner, and leave a review. What’s the first thing you’d change about your brand today?

Transcript

Welcome To iDesign Lab

Voice Over 0:00

This is iDesign Lab, a podcast where creativity and curiosity meet style and design. Curator of interiors, furnishings, and lifestyles. Hosted by Tiffany Woolley, an interior designer and a style enthusiast, along with her serial entrepreneur husband Scott. iDesign Lab is your ultimate design podcast, where we explore the rich and vibrant world of design and its constant evolution in style and trends. Today on the iDesign Lab, we're diving into the art of turning good brands into unforgettable ones. Our guest, Blair Brown, is the founder of Visionary Advantages, a boutique agency known for transforming established businesses into market leaders. With a background in fashion and a sharp eye for strategy, she helps brands finally look as powerful as they truly are and charge accordingly.

TIffany Woolley 0:56

Welcome to the iDesign Lab podcast. Today in the studio, joined, we are joined by Blair Brown, who's the visionary and the creative behind Visionary Advantages, which is a boutique operation that has relocated from New York and is now right here in South Florida. So welcome. Thank you for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

I'm really excited to be here.

TIffany Woolley 1:21

And tell us about yourself, and then we'll dive into visionary advantages.

Blair’s First Business At 16

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Sure. So I'll give you a little overview then. I have always been an entrepreneur, and so I love to celebrate other entrepreneurs with my business. I started back in the day a hundred years ago. I was 16 years old. My first company First entrepreneur at 16. I love that. Yeah, I started it. At 16, I started a handbag company. And so all the kids at school were carrying coach and Louis Vuitton. And at 16, I can't afford that. My parents aren't about to buy it for me. And so since I knew how to sew, I started to make my own bags.

Scott Woolley 2:00

Really?

SPEAKER_01 2:00

Really took off. Yeah. You're kidding. No, it's crazy.

Scott Woolley 2:04

Where where were you living at the time?

SPEAKER_01 2:05

I was in Southern Maryland. Okay. So yeah, not exactly a vision of fashion down there, no offense, but like, but I decided to do it myself. And so people at school were complimenting the bags, strangers at Starbucks, because where else am I going at 16? Teachers, everybody was asking me where I was getting my bags. And so I went to my parents. I said, Hey, I think this could be something. I'm onto something here. Yeah. Can I borrow $300, go to Joanne's fabric store and start a purse company? And they looked at each other and they looked at me and they go, Okay. Yes, absolutely. And so I went, I started that. It took off. Um a year later, I think I was 17, whenever the the Olsen twins actually ended up. Okay. They recognized that on their website. No way.

TIffany Woolley 2:52

That had to be such like a whoa.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

I made it. I made it.

Scott Woolley 2:57

So what happened with them?

SPEAKER_01 2:58

So basically, um I had gone to some Teen Vogue University events in New York, and I it's 16 or 17-year-old me went up to the, there was like a little workshops, and their design team was doing a workshop. And so at the end, I just went up, shook their hand, gave them my business card, told them about my business, and that was it. And then they ended up reaching out to me unexpectedly. And I mean, you can imagine how happy I was and excited. So it was unexpected. Um, but that happened, and then I just never the passion behind it never fizzled. And I thought to myself, you know, where else can I take this? Exactly. So for the rest of my life, I'm gonna have a brick and mortar handbag company, and that's just what I want to do. And so I pursued it in college. I went to fashion school in New York. Wow. And loved that. Couldn't figure out how to scale that business on a manufacturing level. So it's imagine me in a dorm room, you know, with a sewing machine. Sewing machine. It was funny because um when I started school at Virginia Tech, I was in the fashion program there and people would knock on my dorm room and be like, hey, I heard you have a sewing machine. Can you fix my dress for this event? Or can you fix my pants from this event? And so I was over here, like having my own little sewing monopoly going on. I was gonna say alterations in the hall down the, you know, down the hall. Yeah, exactly. But what after tech, I realized I needed to take fashion seriously, and I went to New York and um did that. But since I couldn't scale it, I thought, well, you know what? I'm gonna go into corporate because that's what they tell you you should want to do. And

Corporate Fashion To Amazon FBA

SPEAKER_01 4:37

so I went to corporate fashion. I did, and before that, I've lived like 10 lives. I used to cover fashion week as a writer, um, the corporate side of things. I worked in fashion footwear, and so I um, which by the way, loving the shoes over here. I don't know if there's a camera shot, but um, but I worked there in marketing, branding, and PR. And so I worked on several big brands in that area, and I thought, you know, this is really fun. I love what I'm doing, but something's always was off. And I couldn't put my finger on it, I wasn't sure what that was. So I was talking to my mom one day who recognized what I was feeling, and she goes, you know, I've been watching these YouTube videos about Amazon FBA businesses. You should look into that. And I was like, mom, you're watching YouTube videos? You're so cool. Like you're so hip. You're so on in it. It's so funny. And so I looked into it. And since I have a background in product development, working with manufacturers overseas, and that's what Amazon FBA is for anybody who doesn't know.

SPEAKER_04 5:38

Right.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

Um, you basically have to be the middleman with the factories. And then once they get into Amazon's warehouses, they pack, pick, ship customer service for you. Um, so I called her back and I said, you know what? You're on the phone. I think we can. I think we can. So I said, Do you want to partner with me on this? And so my mom and I partnered on it for two years while I was in corporate. And so I had the fashion job, I was doing that. I was even bartending on the side. It was New York as bought. You're very driven. Yeah, yeah. Um we we sold out of the product in two years, but it wasn't as profitable as we'd want it to be. It's a really tough business to do on Amazon.

Scott Woolley 6:17

Um so you're strictly just on Amazon sales.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Yeah, exactly for that business.

Scott Woolley 6:22

So Amazon takes too much.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

Yeah, and plus your first competitor once you're an Amazon product is Amazon. Exactly. So that's a really tough one too. I agree.

TIffany Woolley 6:34

I mean, and I think they try to knock you off. Yes. And that's the thing. Like, are you kidding me? I could go on for days about that. I almost feel guilty buying anything that's like that because I feel like there is a young creator or any just a creator that's passionate. And like we can't do that.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

Exactly. And somebody's trying to make it, right? Like they're like, okay, this is a great avenue. I can have my own business, be an entrepreneur. And then it's like, oh, competing against Amazon, that's a slippery slope. But I'm really grateful for that experience because it really is what told me, it gave me the aha moment that, you know what? If I have this much joy selling unicorn party supplies on Amazon, it's not the party supplies, not unicorns. It's having a business and what goes into that. And so that's really what prompted me to start Visionary Advantages is um I made that decision then and there. You know

Why Visionary Advantages Exists

SPEAKER_01 7:31

what? I'm gonna leave corporate. I'm gonna take a chance on myself. Where that ends up, we'll find out, but I'm gonna go for it.

Scott Woolley 7:37

And so And you started that in New York City?

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Yes. I started it. Well, I started as a marketing consultant there. And it honestly, it ended up snowballing and almost accidentally becoming an agency. Um, I was meeting with all these, and this is when I had quit the corporate job. I was meeting with all these smart business owners. They're crushing it at whatever they're doing, they're established. But essentially they'd be talking to me and they'd be like, I'm doing all these great things. Don't look at my website is scary. Or I'm overwhelmed by all these marketing things I need. I need SEO, I need social media, I need a website, I need a brand. But every agency silos those specialties. So you have an SEO agency, so all these people separate, but your business that really does need all of them to work together for you to get momentum.

TIffany Woolley 8:31

I agree.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

That's a lot.

TIffany Woolley 8:33

And a lot of people just don't even know where to begin. So you don't. Exactly. And it's not broken. So why are we gonna fix it?

SPEAKER_01 8:42

100%.

TIffany Woolley 8:42

And I do think that some of the bigger agencies too kind of lose the identity and the cohesiveness of the operator, the owner, or the designer of the brand when you could work with a boutique visionary.

Scott Woolley 8:59

So you're hearing all of this, and you decide I'm gonna start a company that's gonna help companies.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Aaron Ross Powell Exactly. I'm like, let's fix this. Because it's a common thread. So you start your own agency. Yes. It's by like you said, it kind of accidentally happened.

Scott Woolley 9:13

Who's your first client? What's the first thing you're doing?

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Oh gosh, my first client uh was actually surprising. Footwear. So we started working, well, as a consultant. Yeah, because uh friend of mine I had worked with, she's like, you know, they could really use marketing help. And so I helped them out with their marketing um as a consultant. And then um since then, we've built websites for and full brands for hotels. We work with airlines, we work with CPG brands. So we'll work with like bug spray, business coaches. It is random. And you know, they tell you to niche it down like really fine line for that. But honestly, at the end of the day, businesses have the same needs, right?

TIffany Woolley 10:00

They you're fulfilling that.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Where's that team that they can hire and lean on? Because you don't just need a marketing person, you need a team of people that can work together. You're not really crossing different wires between multiple agencies, and your strategy ends up becoming much more stronger if you're working together. So I have a team of people that works together to make it a bigger impact for the brands that we work with.

TIffany Woolley 10:24

So,

The Brand Audit And First Fixes

TIffany Woolley 10:25

at what moment did you realize that you could strategize the for these brands and bring it home? Like when did you realize that you had the vision to fulfill this need?

SPEAKER_01 10:39

I think it was just over time. I can't say it was just one day, but I think over time, okay, this company really needs help with their website. But if we're building their website, you know, it's like cooking a meal. You need to have all the ingredients to make that meal happen. Well, you need the branding elements too. So yeah, you need a new website, but if you have zero branding, how are you gonna build that?

Scott Woolley 11:02

So you're like re-creating the logos and yeah, the creative.

SPEAKER_01 11:07

Oftentimes that's where we start. So usually people will come to me, you know, with this brand that they've probably DIY'd for a while and they're ready to graduate. And they're like, okay, you know, and I support people DIYing it at first. If you're a new startup, do that and you know, build the business because you might change it a few more times before you should then invest in your branding and website and everything else because you don't want to change it in six months. You know, you want to make sure, like, okay, this is my offer. This is really sticking with my audience and people I'm talking to. We know we're gonna do a great job at it. This is the direction we want we want to go in. That's when you should be like, okay, let's get serious about my brand and everything else.

TIffany Woolley 11:52

So, do you start with like a mission statement or uh Yeah?

Scott Woolley 11:56

What's the what are the steps when you're redesigning a company and a and a brand? So a couple, you you get a new client. What's those first steps that you're sure?

SPEAKER_01 12:07

So that's a good question. So the first steps is usually like, oh my God, I don't even know where to start. So what are the first steps? We go through a process of um, you know, talking through the pain points. Where what have you tried? What hasn't worked? And we'll talk about that. But then I'll also do an audit on their website or basically their whole web presence. Because for me, I find your business is going to be more successful if you have all the touch points working together. Right. So you want to have the website, you want to have the logo, you want to have social media channels matching those touch points. When you say matching, like the same names or the that's one thing because sometimes people have 10 names for their business. I had one brand come to me and I love them. They had, I'm not joking, 34 different logos. And I was like, if you just take one thing away from me, please don't use the 34 logos. So we came in and they're like, we don't know why people are so confused about us and our name. Well, I'll tell you why. 34 on the PowerPoint showing like this is 34 slides. So we went in and revamped it. We redesigned their logo. We we have rules around it. You're not stuck with one logo. Whenever you work with us, you have like, you know, stacked version, horizontal, logo mark. Because you want to have it be flexible so you can use it.

TIffany Woolley 13:29

Change it at color times or holiday times or just cross-marketing ways of exactly.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

So really it's okay. Where are they at now? What are their rules for me? Because they might say, Well, we're a heritage brand, we have to keep these colors. Sure. We respect that. Um, if I say it's if I think it's a bad color or something, I'll be honest. But yeah, this is important. But typically we can give that logo a modernization. Um, we can either update it or do an overhaul. We create comprehensive brand guides. So everything from that logo, the correct color palette.

Scott Woolley 14:06

So you know, how to use the logo.

SPEAKER_01 14:07

Yeah, how not to use it. That's also important because again, somebody's gonna butcher it and make 34 different ones, like stretch it out, put weird colors on it. We don't want that. Um, and then from the branding standpoint, once we finish that, then we evolve into the website and the social media. We we put guidelines on both of those. How are you positioning yourself as a brand? Who are you targeting? So all of it comes together because you want it to, you want it to work and complement each other and um essentially make you look great. So then you can start closing deals faster and easier. You don't want to look like you're DIYing.

TIffany Woolley 14:46

So, do you give them the roadmap or are you supplying the actual people, like this person's gonna be in charge of your social media, this, you know, and your team? Or do you create a team that is staying with that brand for the long haul? Because another thing I feel like when people are branding and they get stagnant, you just kind of you don't give it a long enough shot. Right. Like what time frame does it even take to get to that?

SPEAKER_01 15:16

It's a really good question.

TIffany Woolley 15:18

Next level.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Yeah. So we have a whole we have a whole team behind the scenes that can effectively we work together on whatever project that is to maintain it because you're right, you don't want to have, you know, create you created this beautiful presence and then you just let it sit there and collect dust. You the thing is about marketing is you always need to. You do, you can't stop. You can't. And I think that's a common misconception is people think, oh, well, if I just put this out there, I'm done. And then everybody's gonna be able to do that.

TIffany Woolley 15:48

No, the whole engagement became a thing now too. Like, oh, how what's your engagement? What's your I mean, I I just Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

How are you communicating? It brings this whole customer service element to things. And then again, you know, are you more likely to do business with somebody who hasn't updated their social in like two years and their website's collecting dust? And it's like, are they even in business? I don't really know. Are they? Or yeah, some people come to me and they'll say, Well, I get a lot of business from referrals. Are they actually sending referrals your direction? Because frankly, if it's a bad website, I'm probably not sending that to my friends or colleagues because I'm like, I don't know if they're gonna do a good job. So it's like a big concern that people should realize like what you look like online matters, and you got to keep it fresh so that way people are trusting you. It's really a the biggest thing is a trust factor. If you're gonna be putting this much energy into your brand, how are you gonna effectively do the services for my brand, my company, how wherever you're hiring them?

Scott Woolley 16:52

So you have a team behind you. When you started the business, yes. It's you. Yeah. Did you immediately go out and hire people to assist you on, or how did you like, you know, designing and developing a business in itself is a task?

SPEAKER_01 17:06

It is a journey. That's a good way to put it. It's a journey.

Scott Woolley 17:11

Because you're redesigning websites, you're redesigning logos, you're all the different things you're doing. It takes a lot of talented people to do that. And how do you know you got in the early days that you have the right people? Did you have like friends or people you knew you could reach out to?

SPEAKER_01 17:25

I interviewed people. I mean, at the very beginning, it was just me. And I was just I was consulting. I knew a lot of people where I could direct, you know, the brands I'm working with, like, you know, you could speak to this person, you can speak to that person for wherever their expertise was. And um at the beginning, it wasn't websites necessarily, but then once it did turn into websites, it was like, oh, what was it in the beginning? Um, it was the footwear company. So that's where they needed help on things like styling and coming up with photo shoot ideas. And so I'm not a photographer and I'm not gonna act like I am. But I have an eye, I can help them with the branding and I can help them with the game plan of what they needed to do next, strategy-wise. Um and then when it did come to websites, I did hire people to help me and I just have to interview them and um, you know, vet them out to make sure that they had the portfolio that was living up to expectations and standards. And um, and then it's just evolved over time because then you realize you learn a lot whenever you're building this out, right? You realize a web developer is not the same skill set as a web designer. Correct. They're completely different. Totally. So I'm never gonna hire a developer and expect them to design. It's just not the same strength.

SPEAKER_04 18:40

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

And and vice versa. And same with, you know, the designer's probably not a copywriter either. So you need a proper person to do to do that. And what I find crazy is oftentimes website companies will expect the entrepreneur to write their own website. They're like, oh, well, we can design and develop, but you need to provide the copy. And I've never met somebody who has the time to do that. Right.

TIffany Woolley 19:07

And I agree with you when you say that. Like, I need to hire the right team and know that they are gonna tell me, Yeah, show up here, sit here, call this person. You know, like, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:19

I need the roadmap. Yeah. And again, like even if they did have the time to write their website, is it gonna be that good? Probably not if they're not a marketing person or a copywriter. And that's very rare.

Scott Woolley 19:31

So So what type, what size companies do you deal with? Are they Fortune 500 or are they small, like you know, small owner operator?

SPEAKER_01 19:40

We this is gonna be a big range, guys. Uh we work with mostly companies under 200 employees. Okay. Um, because usually they don't have a marketing team, or if they do, that's when they're like, okay, we need like a team to come in and SWAT team this brand for us. Um, but we even work with solopreneurs sometimes. So really it varies. Um, I mean, you know, like I said, airline, airline manufacturing, we do projects for that. We work with hotels, uh, but then we'll work with business coaches. And we can make small companies look big, and that definitely helps them leverage their offers and, you know, charge more because they have the quality that's coming out. But if somebody thinks that they're a teeny tiny business, they're probably gonna be like, I don't know if you can do this project. But if they look sharp, professional, and modern online, it changes the whole dialogue. It's true.

Where To Start Your Online Presence

TIffany Woolley 20:33

And up to date was what you said that's resonating with me. Because in this fast-paced world that we live in, it is important to stay relevant and up to date. One thing we talk about a lot on the podcast or try to bring up is that we all of us are our own walking brand. Oh, yeah. You know, our online platform or our footprint is itself a brand. You know, we have young daughters and we talk to them all the time. Like, this isn't going anywhere. It's gonna probably evolve even bigger eventually. So creating a brand that you're proud of for the long haul, just being yourself, is important. For so long, I always, you know, we were trained like, oh, you start at the website. But I now feel like it could be all over. Like you can start on Instagram, you can start on TikTok, if you have a shop to sell, like, you know, there's so many avenues. How do you narrow down where's the best place to really begin? That's yeah, there are some avenues.

Scott Woolley 21:39

Or home in on. Like, what is one more important than another for depending upon the business?

TIffany Woolley 21:44

It depends on the business. So it does. You really have to like understand where your business that you're promoting.

SPEAKER_01 21:51

What's gonna help them move the business forward faster? And what's more important to them? Who are they talking to? What's the goal? Long as you can pinpoint that and then also their offer, I would take it from there because I worked with a brand recently who just launched her coaching business and she's fabulous. I love her.

Scott Woolley 22:12

Um coaching business.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Yeah, business or executive coaching.

Scott Woolley 22:17

So what I love about Does she do like like four companies or big seminars or individuals?

SPEAKER_01 22:23

Individuals. Basically, let's say you're leaving it's similar to the fashion industry, like what I did, right? I I jumped out of fashion and then I started my own company. And then, you know, there's a lot of life pivots there.

TIffany Woolley 22:37

And there really is.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

So much. More than ever. And she herself has gone through that as well. She was like working for luxury brands. She um moved to Austin and all of this, like huge. She got married, had blood, all these things. Yeah. Really life-changing, but all really positive and amazing. And the fact she was able to juggle that successfully is huge. So she's helping people with that, like people who are considering the jump. What do you do? What are the next steps? It's overwhelming. Like, how do I pivot in a way that feels good to me? And so she helps people in that way. But someone like that who just started their business, um, she DIY'd her website, which looks great. And I was like, you know, I think the best next step for you where you're at in this stage is to do it on social media. You know, that's how can you get that messaging out there, get people to understand what you do, and just build and grow on that. So that something different for her. But other businesses I usually work with, um, that's kind of like a unique scenario. Most of the time, if they are established, they've been around for a few years. Sometimes it's two years, sometimes it's 25. Where they need to usually focus on is their website. I mean, that's usually the first thing people let go. Um, but then I ask them, okay, where are you getting your leads? Are you running ads online already? And if you are and your web presence looks scary, it's like setting money on fire. You don't want to do that, you know? Um you have experience in that? You're laughing.

TIffany Woolley 24:14

It sounds a little familiar.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Yeah, it's so common. I mean, people will come to me and they'll be like, How can I sell a hundred units on Google tomorrow if I start ads? And I'm like, first off, if anyone tells you you can do that within a day, you need to run. Like the second, let's let's diagnose your presence real quick. Yeah, I was gonna say putting the cart before the cards.

Scott Woolley 24:37

When you try to specialize in certain industries, like you came from fashion. Do you try to focus on just fashion or do you work with all sorts of businesses? Like you're working with someone who's coaching, that's a unique industry.

SPEAKER_01 24:52

Yeah, so uh what's funny is I thought I would be working with only fashion brands. I am not. We work with asphalt maintenance. Oh, wow. We work with the manufacturing. Honestly, I really love working with in the manufacturing space because they have the ability to create so much, and we can come in with the creativity and help them with that. So, really uh manufacturing is great. We love the travel and hospitality industry. Anything that creates an experience, we can really build that out for you. So we love working in that space. We work with CPG brands, so we do a little bit of packaging and we will help with product design. Um, that's something that's not really marketing product design, but we can help with it. Um, but yeah, bringing that experience and that feeling online is something we really specialize in. And we're really good at pulling the personality out of that person and making that the brand. So I love when you said, you know, everybody's their own brand these days. Um, I find, especially in the the world that we live in with AI, I know. You've got to have that personal touch to it because that's what's gonna make a difference. Because you can easily press a button, make a website, but you can see that website from miles away that it's AI. And it just isn't gonna land and resonate with your audience. People are gonna see it, they're not gonna trust it. How can you build trust through your personal brand or what you're building?

SEO Basics And Content That Ranks

TIffany Woolley 26:18

And doesn't a website for the most part is a constant maintenance. I mean, it's like anything, it needs to be continuously updated and uploaded just to create engagement, I guess.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

Yes. SEO, it's huge. Oftentimes my clients will come to me and they'll say, I need SEO, but what does it mean again? Yeah.

TIffany Woolley 26:40

Search engine optimization. Nailed it, nailed it. But I still don't know what it means. So maybe tell us a little bit about it.

Scott Woolley 26:48

So you're doing a lot of best to see.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

We do that too. Yeah. So part of the web maintenance piece, that's a really good point, is that you do need to keep it up. One, there's all the technical, exciting stuff behind the scenes, right, to keep up. But um, SEO is really important. And now with AI, there's a way that you can get yourself, your business found on AI search engines. So, how can you do that? Let's make your website best friends with Google, right? And all the search engines.

Scott Woolley 27:14

That's so you're working with like keywords and helping businesses get kind of get targeted to their area.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

We do keyword research. We do a lot of content optimization for SEO purposes. So, one thing that we like to do with if we're creating social media content, for example, uh, we like to incorporate SEO keywords in that. Like, how can we keep this fresh?

TIffany Woolley 27:36

So I didn't even know that was a thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Yeah, so just the searchability factor of it, you got to be found. Because again, there's millions of websites. How can it's not just gonna be found out of nowhere? You got to keep it fresh. Blogging helps with that. Again, with that keyword research strategy that you put into place. So we'll help our clients come up with a strategy, and then we'll come up with the content calendar, and then we make sure that the blogs align, your social media content aligns. And, you know, as they get newsy things going on and the excitement around their business, how can we tell people about it? Like let's make that relevant.

Scott Woolley 28:13

So when a new business, a new client comes to you, are you typically in the running for it? Meaning business reaches out to you, we're looking for all your services. Can you put us together a proposal? But they're also then that same company has two other companies doing the same thing. Are you kind of competing for that business or trying to fight for that business typically?

SPEAKER_01 28:35

Well, that's funny. That's a funny way to put it.

Scott Woolley 28:37

So you've your pitch has got to win it before another agency.

SPEAKER_01 28:43

I guess, but you know what? I'm just so honest and I'm just very much myself because that's who I want to, I want to work with somebody who can see what they're doing. They appreciate it. And I basically I'll show them the work that we've done, and that speaks on its own. We've done some incredible transformation stories. If I show you guys some before and afters at some point, you're gonna be like, oh my God, that's insane how much it's changed. Um, so I walk them through before and afters to show them the success. Um, because oftentimes marketing agencies get a reputation. So I want to show them like this is real. We can do this for you in your own way. We don't use templates. Um, but then we have a structured process on how we del do these deliverables. So when you mentioned proposal, um, usually that's not needed because usually if they're coming to me for this help, they kind of know they need it. Yeah. Then they see the transformations and they're like, okay, I really do need this. And then it's just a matter of um, you know, do they want to work with that other person or us? It's just, you know, we have it so well structured that at that point it's just, you know, where where are they at in their business?

Scott Woolley 29:52

So I

Moving From New York To Florida

Scott Woolley 29:53

so I have to ask, you started this all in New York, New York being like kind of the marketing capital.

TIffany Woolley 29:59

The madmen era.

Scott Woolley 30:01

I always look at it, but you're living in South Florida now and you you're running the business at us. How did you end up how did you end up in South Florida?

SPEAKER_01 30:09

The pandemic. The pandemic. Everyone else, yeah. I moved here. Um, yeah, when the pandemic hit New York, I moved out and then um I ended up moving down here because my brother, his wife, and kids all live down here. And so I'm like, you know what? Sunshine and family, let's give South Florida a shot. And so now I live five minutes away from them, and it's awesome. I get to hang out with my niece and nephew, and I love it down here. It's been a really good move for me. So I'm really grateful for South Florida.

Scott Woolley 30:39

Did it make a difficult transition for the business to be down here?

TIffany Woolley 30:43

No, it's fantastic. Yeah, I would think a lot of people transitioned down here around the same time too. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 30:50

And that's what's funny, is I'll meet people all the time and they're like, oh, where'd you move here from? I'll be like, like everyone else, New York. And they go, Oh, yeah, everybody moved here from New York. And um, I really like it though, because New York has that entrepreneurial drive and passion for whatever they're working on.

TIffany Woolley 31:06

And it's busy, it's a busy city, literally, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Yeah, and so that's what I loved about New York the most. Then I moved here and I'm I was worried that they wouldn't have that. And then the drive would be the same every time. Everybody here is like that. And now that all the New York restaurants are opening here too, I'm like 10 out of 10. I'm not leaving. So it's been great, but it's a good place to own a business too, you know? And I think people are just so friendly and open to networking and collaborating on projects. I think it just makes it that much more exciting. But we do work with businesses all over. We from Hawaii, we we work all over the country. So is everything happening on Zoom for the most part? Yeah, most of my clients will just work together on Zoom. Um, I have some clients where I'll help them with presentations and trade shows. And so I'll fly out to help them and at those events. Um, but other than that, we're up we're mostly digital, so we can help from anywhere.

TIffany Woolley 32:02

That's wild to me. I'm like, still need my little bullet point lists and everything. I'm a little old school that way.

SPEAKER_01 32:09

Oh my, I got some post-its on my desk. Don't worry. But no, I love I love that it's digital because then you you meet people in different areas and different personalities, and that spices things up a little bit. It's true. It's true.

Scott Woolley 32:22

So the typical

When Owners Resist Change

Scott Woolley 32:23

business owner comes to you they were and they realize they've they need help. They need changes.

SPEAKER_04 32:28

Yes.

Scott Woolley 32:29

You're presenting those new changes. How many of them have a hard time have a hard time grasping? You want to change my baby? You want that's a logo that I've had. That's my website.

SPEAKER_01 32:42

Yeah, it's a tough conversation. I've had a brand change their name before, but I'm their name was confusing, and I was like, you know. You're asking a lot for not hear me out. I think people are confused by your name. And then usually if it's something like that, they'll be like, You're right, I do get asked that a lot. Like they ask me all the time, what does it mean?

TIffany Woolley 33:02

So they're answering their own questions.

SPEAKER_01 33:03

Yeah, I'll be like, you know, I know it's tough. It is your baby, but consider it, and then we'll have a fun session. We'll just throw some ideas around. What could it be? What could the vision be? Right.

Scott Woolley 33:15

But if we had situations where the owner or the ownership group is like, no, we don't want to do that. We want to stick to what we have, and then you're realizing they're making the wrong decision.

SPEAKER_01 33:25

I feel like you have to push back a couple times. Yeah. And then if you really don't want to, at the end of the day, it is their brand. I know that I at least voiced the truth behind it or what I professionally think for their brand, but I have to respect them at the end of the day, it's their baby. So if they don't want to move forward with, let's say it's a name change or logo change, that's fine. I mean, we worked recently with a a brand that's been around for over 50 years, and they're like, you know, we're a heritage brand. People know us. We've been around for over 50 years. We really don't want to change the logo or our colors. Maybe add some accent colors. We'd be open to that. I'm like, all right, you give me an inch, you know. Yeah, you'll take a mile. I can do that. But we still were able to transform it, even with their old logo and their transformation was wild. We went from, you know, keeping main preserving that, right? But we still were brought it to today. Because you can still modernize it through graphics, um, the accent colors, making their website look like it's, you know, it was from the Stone Age, to be honest. And now it's like has video, it has fresh graphics that we made only for them. And we made really cool icons. And we really are speaking to today's consumer because it's not just about design, but how do we, well, it is about design, but how do we also position your brand? How do we speak to your audience? What's gonna hit them in the heartstrings to make them realize they need to hire you? You know, so those all of those things come together, and we can we can work with an old logo.

TIffany Woolley 34:59

So through your research, how quickly does somebody actually judge a brand online? Like so they do hear of you or you get a referral and they check a website. I mean, how quickly are people really that turned off? Or is it more like what they see they don't like, or is it more like how dated it is that they don't like? What are you finding that's the quick turn off? I'd say it's both.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

I mean, it could be a combination of things. Uh, but I'd say like within, I think what is it, three seconds now that you have of our attention span? That's crazy. Somebody lands on a website if it's broken, they're out.

TIffany Woolley 35:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 35:35

If they're confused before they even scroll past that first section of the website, they're out. How can we get them to keep scrolling? How can we have that messaging right when they land on your site or social media? How can we have that really resonate with somebody and make them be like, oh wait, I think I need this, or let me keep scrolling? Um, it's immediate, but I'd say that the confusion is huge. Modernization is also important because you don't want to invest in a company that's been around for a long time, but it doesn't look like like they looks like, oh, you've stuck in the 80s or whatever year it is, you know. Um, they want to work with somebody who's cool and fresh and forward thinking because as a business owner, you only want to push forward, right? You're always thinking about what's next. And so if you as a business owner can trust that that company is going to remove that stress from your life by you hiring them, you're gonna close that deal and get that client versus somebody who's like, yeah, I don't know. My friend Sally said that they're okay, but I don't know. Like, I just really hope so. It's not that's not the relationship you want to join in. And then Sally's like, wait, I have been doing these awesome things. You just don't see it. So, how can we make it easier for you as a business owner to show people like how great you are?

Scott Woolley 36:56

So,

The Rebrand Readiness Checklist

Scott Woolley 36:57

so for someone who's listening to this podcast right now, they're driving in their car or wherever it might be listening. And they're they own a business and they're realizing I've got some situations, I think, with my business. Are there any kind of one, two, three steps or questions they should be asking themselves to help them decide that they should pick up the phone and call you?

TIffany Woolley 37:20

And rebrand. Yeah.

Scott Woolley 37:21

Or are there, you know, is there like for anyone listening, like go what look at your brand one, two, three. If any of these three things are happening, yeah. Well, what are what are typically those things that are trigger points?

SPEAKER_01 37:34

Yeah, well, pull over your car and call me, please. Um, but seriously, um honestly think to yourself, are people confused by your brand? And if you if they are, you know. Like, or your team knows, and they may have been nudging you and maybe you're resistant to So when you say confused by the brands, they're asking questions about it online or Yeah. Maybe they're just like, well, I just don't really know what you're offering. I just don't really get it. Or like, w who do you work with? You know, all these questions that might have a big question mark. Um, also, if ever at any point you've been like, oh gosh, I'm so embarrassed by my website, please don't go look at it. Yeah, that's I'm working on it, or I'm gonna get to it.

SPEAKER_04 38:18

This is your sign. Yes.

TIffany Woolley 38:20

I know. And I feel like I've said all that way too many times, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

It's common. I mean, most people do, and then but it gets to a point, you know, when are you gonna pull the trigger to, you know, make moves on that because it does make it.

TIffany Woolley 38:34

Yeah, because I am so proud of my work and I'm so proud of the relationships we've built as a business. But I'm the same. I wouldn't send somebody to my website. Yeah. And the thing is, is it social media even I I mean, I've I always say, like, you can't teach old, I don't even know how to do a real podcast. I know you can figure it out. That's what we're in the, you know, we're on the journey for, right?

Scott Woolley 39:01

That's why it doesn't want to do it.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

And that's where everybody comes to me is they say, I'm too busy, I'm overwhelmed, I don't even know where to start. And we can come and take that off of your plate because we have the team that's gonna execute it for you. Um, the biggest thing we have to do is just have that meeting, learn about what are your goals, where are you at, where are their pain points, and then we'll go in and we'll remove them for you. But yeah, the pulling over of your car, definitely if your website's embarrassing, you know to get that it's time, or you have DIY your site or digital presence in general, like it could be social media too, or your logo. And then you're doing great things, maybe.

TIffany Woolley 39:42

I know, and I feel like listening to you, it's like, you know, we're also mindful of staying on course for health, wellness, like why wouldn't we want to take care of our digital footprint that represents us? I mean, which is such a huge part of your business existence, which kind of affects everything else. Like it all goes hand in hand. It does.

Scott Woolley 40:04

Well, I relate a website or even the social media these days is it's your baby. Your baby, your baby is your business. And it's like if you relate it to a baby, if you're not taking care of feeding the baby every day, you got a problem. Well, you want to have an unhealthy baby.

TIffany Woolley 40:22

Yeah.

Scott Woolley 40:22

And you don't want an unhealthy baby, so it's the same with the business. You should be giving that same kind of nurturing and care to those different elements that are gonna help grow your business.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

Exactly.

Scott Woolley 40:33

And be able to spend more money to take care of your ill baby.

SPEAKER_01 40:37

Exactly.

TIffany Woolley 40:37

Yeah, yeah. It's all too. It all goes hand in hand.

SPEAKER_01 40:40

It's kind of important. Yeah, and that's the thing is people oftentimes are like, you know, like, I don't have the time, I'm overwhelmed. And, you know, you do need to maintain it. But it that's the thing is my company will go in and we'll help maintain it for you. We keep it fresh. We're always thinking about how we can keep the momentum going because you don't want to have a a launch and then you're almost like moonwalking away, right?

TIffany Woolley 41:02

Like, okay, exit strategy, there isn't one, right? You gotta keep it up. You do have to keep it up. I mean, it's literally like going to the gym. I mean, you really do. Because, and I realize too, just being a business owner, like you do get, you know, things are moving, people do want to be on the podcast. Things are coming to us that we're not making these healthy shifts to grow, and as the big word around is scaling, you know, to scale the business. Let's let's do it, you know. What

Bug Spray Rebrand Into Skincare Vibe

TIffany Woolley 41:33

do you think about as your greatest before and after? And is it just conceptual or is it numbers, like views, or like where does that sweet spot?

SPEAKER_01 41:46

So I wish I could show you on a screen right now so that we'll have to sidebar little presentation. Yeah, so we actually worked with an outdoors brand recently, and well, we're still working with them. Okay. But they approached me last summer.

TIffany Woolley 42:00

Outdoor furniture, outdoor, like, do they curate the garden? Are they like landscaping or hardscaping?

SPEAKER_01 42:07

Quite the opposite. Oh my gosh. See, like so they are a CPG brand, so consumer package goods. So basically, they do everything from anti-itch soap. So if you get poison ivy, they need it. And this is what's so funny. And I told this, I always tell them this. I'm always laughing. I'm like, you know what? Coming from the fashion background, I never thought I'd be so excited talking about bug spray. But I really am. It's so much fun. Because I think if it's, if it's a not on paper the sexiest of brands, those are the most fun. You give a little run, yeah. Because you can really bring it to life in a different way that nobody expected. And so I'm like, okay, how can we make this more like a skincare brand? Oh, true. And you know, we're gonna target women. Sunbum, right? Yeah. Yeah, let's target women in their 30s and 40s. Because frankly, that's who's buying this. In fact, I even used my sister as a case study when they interviewed me. And that's what's kind of funny because I'm like, I know who this is for. Yep. My sister. She's 31, she has a baby, she's looking at all the labels, and this is a natural ingredient brand. And I was like, this is who you need to target because she's the one buying for their house. And they were like, you know, they took it all in. They're like, okay, great. We love this. And then um, and where their site status was before was that they they've been around for 25 plus years. They big box retailers were saying, we need you to look like today's modern customer. And that was the biggest, you know, flag. Like, we gotta make some changes. And so they came to us, I told them about my sister and what I believed would be the target for their branding. And I wasn't sure how it was gonna land. And then less than a week later, they contacted me and they're like, You're right, let's let's do this together. And so So we started with the portfolio logo and all the brand as a collective. And then we revamped that logo. And it's so cool because we also positioned it. So before they were really talking about like mountain climbing activities, really hardcore outdoor events. And they're like, we really need to position this for the everyday person. Backyard barbecues, kids' soccer games. Totally. Make it a everyday. Keep it in your car. Yeah. You could still climb a mountain, use it. It's great. And I told them, I said, I bought some bug spray bottles. I walked it around the street that I'm always eating alive on. And guess what, guys? No bug bites. And so we were laughing about that. But we transformed their website. We repositioned the messaging on it so it does target that audience. It looks really cool like a skincare brand. And then we redesigned all the packaging and did the 3D renderings. So how long does that process take? You're brace yourself. Three months. Okay. So most weather Is that typical? For us. It is not typical for any design agency. Usually it takes like a promised six months. It's a painful 11. So with us, I have it structured since we have all the team members in-house. Uh, we can work together as a team. We have the systems in place, all the review sessions, um, and get it launched within 90 days. So that's what we did with them, and it was a success a success. And um, you guys should look up allterrainco.com. That's the website that we transformed for bug spray and and beyond. So we're still um working on other projects with them. And so it's been really fun to see. Are they in retail? Yeah.

TIffany Woolley 45:45

So you can buy them at all the stores and everything like that. And that was new packaging and everything. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:52

So we did the packaging for herbal armor, which is coming out soon. It's not in stores just yet, the new packaging, but it's in in pro it's in progress right now.

TIffany Woolley 46:02

And then simultaneously, are you having your team do their social media or engagement? Are you handling like influencers that they're sending product to? Are you handling all of that?

SPEAKER_01 46:14

It depends on what the clients are signing on for. So some people continue on for social media, and that's always what we recommend. Uh, we did set up all our social channels and we've written blog posts. Um, that's part of the what we always recommend any brand who launches that if you want to keep that Google and searchability momentum, you got to keep the content fresh. So that is always what we recommend.

Hotels Airlines And Experience Branding

Scott Woolley 46:38

So you're in the business of redesigning brands. Is there a brand or a couple of brands out there that you just think really have need some help? No, no, have outrageously really done it right. Is there any that you like always kind of yeah, that you always say like they done it right?

SPEAKER_01 46:57

Oh man, there's a lot of brands that I love. Who would who would I really love? You guys really didn't you put me on the spot for this one.

TIffany Woolley 47:06

Well, there's some that I'm always just amazed by, obviously how quickly they move through the system. I mean, obviously, like the Kardashians are so mind-blowing to me too, just how they not that I I respect the work ethic and how they've been able to just continually scale and how quickly it evolves. The branding of these items. It's just to me.

Scott Woolley 47:32

I don't think it's always the greatest branding.

TIffany Woolley 47:34

No, but it's the it's the it's the amount of it that's so mind-blowing to me.

SPEAKER_01 47:41

Yeah, I mean, the constant content that they're able to crank out is wild. I'm like, that's so much worse. Yeah, it's not. I'm trying to think of some good examples for you guys, but like for me, Apple has always been. Oh yeah, Apple's great. Um, who was it? The you know, there's some makeup brands out there that have been really crushing it, and I'm just losing um train of thought for who that is. But like even print companies like Moo.com, like they do some really good print options for business. Something like business cards you wouldn't really think would be that fun to market, but they're able to do that.

Scott Woolley 48:17

Um there's but business cards, how many people really don't use them anymore?

SPEAKER_01 48:22

I mean, I do.

TIffany Woolley 48:23

And I do think they're coming back. I do, because people, I mean, I feel like in our industry they do still bring them, drop them off. I think since COVID, it's kind of like you know, it's interesting that you brought up Apple because I was listening to a podcast and they were talking about Apple, like Steve Jobs transitioning to Cook uh Cook, what's his name?

Scott Woolley 48:46

Tim Cook.

TIffany Woolley 48:47

Tim Cook. And now a new person coming in, how like each CEO kind of attaches themselves differently. Yeah. And like Tim Cook was more of like he scaled and sustained. He's not he wasn't necessarily the innovator. So, and I find that with time with branding too, you kind of need to recognize where that begins and ends. Like, you know what I'm saying? Is this our growth time? Is this our scaling time?

SPEAKER_01 49:18

Is this our when do you work on the projects behind the scenes? Another brand, actually, that you wouldn't really think about would be Casper. I mean, their mattress is huge. I love their advertising and branding because I'm when I lived in New York, they had full-on subways trains were just had their illustrations everywhere. And I thought that was a fun marketing. And think about how hard that is to market because it's a mattress. It's a mattress, right? And it's uh I feel like at least when they launched, I feel like they were direct to consumer. So how do you try it out? You know, like that's a challenge. I think Warby Parker is another good one. Advertising and um branding, and you know, they really changed the game in the whole eyewear industry. And I think that's a good thing.

Scott Woolley 50:05

Well, they changed it, I think, and how they deliver the glasses in terms of you know, you go in and they you get them two weeks later. I mean, this is a pair of things.

TIffany Woolley 50:13

But for like twenty but like for ten years, they were such an industry leader and it was all online.

Scott Woolley 50:20

Right.

TIffany Woolley 50:20

I mean, so the fact they moved to brick and mortar. Do you have do you come to to that situation often where people are mainly online presents versus brick and mortar, or is that something that you interact with often? We get both. Honestly, it's such a mix.

Scott Woolley 50:37

I mean, you prefer one than the other? Oh online or brick and mortar?

SPEAKER_01 50:42

And not really, because they both come with unique uh unique needs, right? Like we work with um a collection of hotels, and for them it's gonna be completely different than an airline manufacturer of what they're pitching to airlines, and we're helping with those presentations, but we're helping with getting products on planes, but then we're also helping with what do you mean, getting products on planes? So with airline manufacturing, I work with a company who creates all the um, they can do pretty much anything solutions-wise for airlines that like let's say a flight attendant hands you something on the plane, like could be your food. They do the dishware for the food, the bamboo cutlery, um, the wipes whenever you're getting on United. All of those things that you don't really think about, but somebody has to make those. So I work with a brand like that, and it's so much fun because you don't think about that every day. Now, anytime someone sits by me on an airplane, they probably think it's my first flight ever because I'm taking pictures of everything I'm getting, and they're probably like, oh, it's her first time. No, I'm obsessed with this company. They're so much fun to work with, and they're just always coming up with solutions for airlines. And so we're pitching to flight attendants, to procurement interesting business teams. It is an interesting business. So cool. And there's a lot of different uh regulations, as you can imagine, with airlines that you have to think about how is fire and how is it gonna stack, right? Like, is it what's the weight of this product? And there's a lot of, you know, is it gonna be easy for the flight attendants to handle? What is the passenger experience going to be like? Where do they put the trash when they're done? I mean, it's it's everything. You don't think about this. Yeah.

Scott Woolley 52:26

Well, there's a lot of businesses that most people don't think about. The witch. Those little nuances that need to be.

SPEAKER_01 52:32

Yeah, yeah. So that's gonna have its own series of strategy and thought process and how they're targeting their audience. Then a hotel that's brand new. They're flipping new properties into very Instagrammable moments. It's all digital first. How do we build that brand? And so we helped a company build their brand from the name and to what they are now. And so that's been a lot of fun.

TIffany Woolley 52:57

What is digital first?

SPEAKER_01 52:59

You don't have a concierge to check in with. You can check in on your phone, that is your key and everything. And if you do need something, you can text for support and they'll come in and help you out. It's really cool. It's hideaway inns. You should check them out. So they have three locations right now in the Northeast. And um, it's been really cool to be a part of that because we truly started with the founder. Um, you know, we were throwing ideas for names around. And my company is the one that came up with the branding behind it all. That is so cool.

Scott Woolley 53:31

So is there one client or one job that you've had that you had the most amount of fun? It was so exciting and to work. Do you have one that's like at the top of the list?

SPEAKER_01 53:42

I'm gonna be honest, it's a tie between the the hotel and um highway inns and um my airline clients, RMT Global Partners. They're fantastic. I mean, I love working with both of them so much. What's fun with RMT is that we get to create really beautiful designs and concepts for them, and they can manufacture anything.

Scott Woolley 54:02

And so is it the people that you worked with that was so much fun, or is it the fact maybe they gave you the uh an enormous amount of freedom to really create?

SPEAKER_01 54:12

Yeah, to be the designer. Both. Honestly, I love every I'm very fortunate. I love everyone we work with, and I'm not just saying that because I'm on a podcast.

Scott Woolley 54:20

Yeah, but you have to have some clients here, which is so difficult.

SPEAKER_01 54:24

You know, yeah, but those pro people aren't exactly who you continue with, right? Like, but we we have fantastic people we get to work with, and um, both of those companies are those, they're amazing. Um, but with the the airline company, we get since we help them with trade shows, we designed the graphics for their booth. Um, I just got back from uh a trip to Germany with them. We went together and um we made sure that you know the graphics were fantastic. We um I operate a sales support, we can help them with meetings and presentations. Um, so that one's pretty hands-on. So on a personal level, I just love them. They're fantastic. They're like family at this point. Oh, that's so special. Yeah.

Marketing Ecosystems And Testimonials

TIffany Woolley 55:02

Do you see any trends like right now in marketing that people are on like a bandwagon? I mean, I feel like on social media there's constant little trends. Like you have to know the right song to like, is there trends in marketing that you're seeing?

SPEAKER_01 55:18

Yeah, I mean, honestly, I'd yes, the songs and things like that, that's very real. And I think that just depends on what kind of brand that you're uh that you are. You know, the business coaches might be able to hop on that trend, but uh maybe not necessarily the asphalt maintenance company we work with, you know, like it varies, but I'd say as far as marketing goes, um everybody is everywhere at all times. And as a brand, that can be very intimidating. It is intimidating. Um yeah, for trends and people are trying to stick with one area to focus their efforts on. But I find the most successful, um, I don't know if this would be considered a trend though, but I think if you align all of your efforts together, almost working like an ecosystem, you're gonna have more success. So if you're looking at, you're doing social media, maybe you have a podcast, and then you have an email list, you know, having your content work together is going to that's a huge one. Honestly, that's always my advice for anybody who's even brand new at starting a business. I always tell them, like, even if you're pumping the brakes on some of your projects, do me a favor and just keep a list, even if it's an Excel document. That's amazing. Keep a good thought. When the time is right, you'll want, you'll be kicking yourself if you don't have a list.

TIffany Woolley 56:39

So what about testimonials? How important is that again, depending on what the brand is, or is that just important across the board?

SPEAKER_01 56:48

Very important. I mean, the thing is, is you have so much noise out there. How are you gonna break through that noise? And how are people gonna trust you? So, at the minimum, be asking people for testimonials because that's who's gonna be championing you and your work and proving to the world that you can in fact deliver on what you're promising. And I think that today, with there being so many influencers and industry experts in this category and in that category, um do they have testimonials or is that their team member posting that testimonial? You know, I've actually looked into hiring some companies to work with mine before, and I was like, oh, I see this testimonial, and that is their employee. Okay, red flag. Um so people are so smart and savvy online, they're going to creep on you everywhere that you are. Like it's just a part of the process. If you're investing in your company, I'm going to invest a little bit of time and research into who I might work with. And that's where you really do want your web presence to work together because you want to have, if they are looking at your website and then they go to your LinkedIn and then they go to your Instagram. If things aren't really matching and they don't see any testimonials, they don't see proven work. Even if you just have one of those things, you need to have something for social proof because, you know, how legit are you? You know? And what's funny, I was laughing about this the other day. I used when I started my business, I was so nervous asking people for testimonials because I was like, oh, like, I don't want to waste, like, bother them. They're gonna be busy. Oh my gosh. And now I'm like, hey, I need this. We had fun working together, right? Can you write about this? Even if it's two lines, it's gonna help me out. And then they're always like, I'd love to help you. So I definitely recommend everybody listening. If you've done work with anyone, ask for testimonial. It's it takes them two seconds, especially with AI.

TIffany Woolley 58:48

It's true. You know, so being a brand yourself, are you constantly branding your business and keeping all of your items all up to par and all your, you know, online platform? Is that something

AI Limits Real Photos Win

TIffany Woolley 59:03

that you focus a lot on with your own brand?

SPEAKER_01 59:05

Yeah. Honestly, the past.

TIffany Woolley 59:07

So you practice what you preach. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 59:09

For a few years, I'll admit, when we first started, I was like the whole case of the cobbler's son doesn't wear shoes, you know, and we're like, oh, like my site looks fine, but it's not as awesome as my clients right now. And so last year it was a huge um effort on my team's part that we're like, we're overhauling our site. We're gonna look as amazing as our clients do, because we need to start practicing what we preach in every avenue. So we do, we're posting more on social now, we're sending out email campaigns, we've got the website. We relaunched our new website in January, so it's shiny and new. Um, so we have been putting a lot of effort into that and it's been a lot of fun.

Scott Woolley 59:47

So, how much does AI become an important part of your business?

SPEAKER_01 59:52

So, AI for us personally, it's been great for admin and behind the scenes systems. So, to make us like really efficient in our timing, that's been where we're using it the most. I will say that for design, it's really not up to par, which is good. You know, it's good for some things. Like, I do have some clients that I'm not kidding, whenever I say they have not sent me one picture or an update in three years. And so, like, how much can I do with that with nothing? You know? So in that area, it's helpful because we can still make stunning imagery. It takes engineering for sure. It's not plugging it in and calling it a day. So we still have designers engineering these photos with AI if we need to. I do think though, that brands do better if it's real photos and it's real people. So I always encourage my clients if you have anything, even if you don't love the picture, please share it because it's going to do better every time on social media.

TIffany Woolley 1:00:56

Real. And on social media, how important is it for like people to be engaging in the content? Like, how do you do you coach people on that, your clients, or how does that it depends?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:10

So we don't do at this point in time, we don't do the engagement for our clients just because it does end up becoming a customer service thing.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:18

Yes. Right?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:18

Like if they're digging for more information, that's usually the case. But I do think it's important that if you are getting some engagement on your posts and people responding, follow up. Like check your DMs. It's not gonna take up a lot of your time if you just respond, even if you just put like a heart, you know, you like somebody's post. Um but starting these genuine conversations is what you want to keep nurturing as you go on social media, and it does help. But I'd say, even if what we do with social media is if you were to work with us, we post on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. And sometimes people will say, Well, I'm not really an Instagram type brand. We're like, I agree. But the benefits of being on all three platforms is that it taps Google on the shoulder, it says, Hey, you know these three platforms that have been around forever and that you trust Google? And Google's like, Yes. Well, we're on all three of them. This brand is talking about the subject matter. This person is typing in an inquiry about it. This is probably relevant content for you. And so basically it enables you more of an opportunity to have better rankings. Now, does it happen overnight? No. But over time, it's it's a long game strategy and you'll see it start to um build up and make an impact. So that's important. Um, but back to email, that's huge because you can reach out to people and you're dealing with an algorithm on social media. It's hit or miss if they're gonna be, you're not gonna see every post of every person that you follow.

TIffany Woolley 1:02:53

Correct.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:53

It's kind of hit or miss there. So you're dealing with the algorithm and that. But if somebody personally subscribes to your email list, yeah, you're right. There's your landing in an engagement inbox, and they said yes, to sign up for that. Very interesting. So it's important.

Taglines Where To Find Blair

TIffany Woolley 1:03:11

A lot of good options here today.

Scott Woolley 1:03:14

So if Blair Brown was a brand, what would your tagline be?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:22

Oh man. We're putting on the spot here. Oh my gosh. I mean, our visionary advantages, ours is make your brand a destination. And I mean, I'd say uh it's not too far. I mean, we love to, I personally love to help bring brands to life on a personal level. I really do think that it's important to make it yours and make it feel good to you. So for me, I love to make brands shine. Definitely. Um, you know, just cheering you on, you know. How can I champion entrepreneurs? Thank you. It is well, Blair, thank you for joining us today.

TIffany Woolley 1:03:59

Thank you for having me. I Discovery Love Podcast. I know we're well, we're happy you're landed in South Florida. Thank you. And um, where can the listeners find you? Um, email, social media. Sure. I mean, I'm everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:14

Yeah, I'm everywhere. You can find me.

Scott Woolley 1:04:16

Same name for everything.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:17

Yep. Yep, you can accept on Instagram. So you can find me. Um, if you just look up visionaryadvantages.com, you will find my website, which has everything linked on there. But if you're on Instagram, give me a shout. I'm at hey, it's Blair Brown. So cute. And you'll find me there. So, but yeah, we like I said, we practice what we preach. So we're on LinkedIn and everywhere else too. But those are probably the top two.

Scott Woolley 1:04:40

Thanks for coming and meet being with us.

TIffany Woolley 1:04:42

Well, thank you for having me. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you. Thank you for watching and listening to the iDesign Lab podcast. Have a great day.

Voice Over 1:04:53

iDesign Labs Podcast is an SW group production in association with the five star and TW Interiors. To learn more about iDesign Lab or TW Interiors, please visit TWinteriors.com.