Brand strategy blog for expert service providers

Learn how to build a holistic brand strategy for your small business by combining strategic direction, positioning, messaging, brand identity, and brand implementation to establish your authority and value as an expert.

The Elevated Brand Ecosystem: How to future-proof your premium service brand without burning out or starting from scratch (again)

The Elevated Brand Ecosystem is a sustainable approach to branding for experts: one connected system where vision, message, and execution evolve with you.

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Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek

3 smart ways to prepare for a successful brand refresh

There’s nothing more exciting than starting a rebrand or brand refresh. But before you dive into colour palette inspiration and mood boards, hold up for a hot second. As much as we all want to jump straight to the pretty stuff, there are a few critical things you’ll need to think through and prepare for BEFORE you hire a brand or website designer.

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Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek

Behind the scenes: Updating my website without a full rebrand

Ever wanted to give your website a bit of a facelift? Not a full rebrand, or even a refresh, where you’re making changes to your brand’s look and feel. More like… a relaxing day at the spa, where you come out rejuvenated and a little more glow-y at the end.

Even if your brand is working for you and you don’t need to make any major changes to the identity, there are still good reasons from a brand perspective to regularly update your website. It’s about enhancing your brand experience — the way your customers interact with your brand (often for the first time) when they arrive at your digital home.

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Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek

5 questions that will improve your content's effectiveness

One of the hardest things about copywriting is the sheer amount of stuff you need to accomplish through your writing. You’re relying on your content for a lot of things!

So today I thought I would go through five questions that copywriters and communications pros ask themselves when they’re creating content. Asking yourself these questions when you sit down to create your own content will make sure that your writing doesn’t just sound good, but that it’s actually helping you achieve your goals, strengthen your brand, and build your relationship with the audience you’re serving.

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Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek

How to make an amazing content plan for your new website

For a lot of creatives who go through the process of building a new website, the exciting part is seeing the design come together and this bright, shiny, new website appear. The hard part is putting together the content that will fill that gorgeous website with valuable content – the kind that will convince curious readers to stick around and click around.

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Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek Craft (Implementation) Kristen VanderHoek

5 tricks for making your writing more engaging

There’s nothing worse than staring at a blinking cursor on a blank page with a deadline looming. If sheer force of will could magically convert us into Jane Austens and C.S. Lewises, we’d all be a lot more productive and a lot less self-conscious about the way we write. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

Whether or not writing is an actual job requirement or just something you do when you sit down to respond to an email, learning how to write well is a fundamental skill that can help you to express yourself clearly and communicate better with others. And while becoming a good writer does take time and practice, there are a few things that you can do to improve your writing immediately.

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