Category: Branding (page 1 of 3)

A collection of blog posts about Branding and Design. Here, Zamai Banje writes and discusses on branding and how it affects young individuals.

Get it Right the First Time! How to Choose an Attention-Grabbing Name for Your Footwear Venture

Finding the perfect name for your footwear business can be a daunting task. The key to getting the best name for your shoe brand lies in finding a memorable word that expresses your brand’s personality and stirs positive emotions from potential customers. 

And so, to make your brand naming journey easier, here are five steps you should take to find the right name for your footwear business.

Five Easy Steps to Finding the Perfect Footwear Business Name

1. Align Your Name With Your Brand Positioning

Aligning your name with your brand positioning means establishing a specific identity by actively creating a connection between your company and its shoes to the values, ideas, and messages.

This includes using consistent messaging across all marketing channels, building relationships with customers and influencers who fit into the defined target market for the brand position, as well as creating an authentic story about why your shoe brand exists.

Think about how you want customers to see your business and what emotions you want to evoke when someone hears or sees your brand’s name, logos, or slogans. Doing this would make it easier to know if your brand’s tone should communicate luxury, fun, quirkiness, or practicality.

2. Consider Metaphors, Visual Imagery, and Emotions

Brainstorm names that evoke metaphors and visual imagery. Nike does an excellent job of communicating its brand identity with a captivating metaphor that denotes victory and strength. So ensure you brainstorm words with unique, clever, and catchy phrases that resonate with your shoe brand’s identity.

3. Brainstorm as Many Ideas as Possible

Brainstorming as many ideas as possible when naming your company means generating an extensive list of potential names. You should think outside the box and come up with creative, unique options that capture the mission and values of your business. 

The more ideas you can brainstorm, the better your chances of finding a name that resonates with customers and works for your brand.

Consider the context surrounding your shoes; think about their purpose, style, and price. Also, consider using foreign languages like Zappos or witty puns that could help your shoe brand stand out from other businesses in the same niche. 

Finally, don’t forget to consider alternate spellings as well as different combinations of letters when narrowing down your list of options until you find one that perfectly captures what you’re looking for. 

As founders, if brainstorming proves too time-consuming, then don’t hesitate to visit a naming agency and buy brand names that embody the kind of shoe brand you want to build.

4. Perform Audience Testing Before Making Your Final Decision

Before selecting the final name for your business, check out whether or not it resonates with your target audience. However, be careful what questions you ask—your questions should focus on which names draw attention and inspire action and which best align with your brand ideas. 

Ask people if certain names create curiosity or make them think of specific visuals and emotions related to your product. 

Now, for the final step in finding the perfect footwear business name…

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo from Pexels

5. Validate Your Names With Trademark Research

After finding the best exciting shoe brand name ideas that fit the kind of business you want to build, the next step you must take is to visit the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and verify the names you’ve found to ascertain that they haven’t been trademarked by another business.

Several companies have received cease and desist letters due to infringing on existing trademarks, so make sure your chosen name satisfies this step. 

Conclusion

Finding the perfect name for your shoe business doesn’t have to be overwhelming if you take a few key steps beforehand. By aligning your brand positioning with the proper names, using metaphors, emotions, and visual imagery, as well as conducting research on trademarks and audience testing, you should be able to come up with an amazing name that accurately reflects your footwear business.

This article is an exclusive guest post shared by Grant Polacheck.

Grant Polachek is the head of branding at Squadhelp, a 3X Inc. 5000 naming agency that specializes in creating catchy and evocative brand names for Fortune 500 companies and emerging startups. As the world’s leading crowdsource naming platform, we’ve combed through over a million words and compiled a list of the greatest, most distinctive names that are currently available online.

The Ultimate Do It Yourself (D-I-Y) Ebook Toolkit: All the Resources you need to create that eBook

Right now, this is definitely the most informative article you will ever read on writing and publishing an e-book all by yourself.

From my years of experience and expertise, I have used and experimented with different tools and resources to get my e-books done.

And these are the ones that have worked for me, And many others too.

P.S: Each resource can be found on either computers (PC) or smartphones (mobile).

Here we go.


1. GOOGLE DOCS/MICROSOFT WORD (PC and mobile): This is mostly used for typing the drafts of your e-book. Both of them are easy to use with a minimalist interface (This reduces distractions).

But for project collaboration, Google Docs is preferable. From time to time, I switch between both tools for effective and efficient e-book writing.

2. EVERNOTE (PC and mobile) / WRITER P (mobile): Each tool (Both apps are free to download) is to prevent ideas or potential content from escaping from your head.

Whether you are stuck in a bus, at work or in an event, you can open the app on your phone to jot down points. This can now be expanded into paragraphs or even chapters in your e-book.

Insider tip: Most people use EverNote, but when I started using the Writer P, it became an instant go-to for me. The app is simple. You can compile ideas in different folders. Save your favourite articles. And it is free for download too.

3. CANVA (PC and mobile): As a content strategist, I am an advocate of the Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator). Until I found out about Canva. This online platform already has e-book cover templates you can edit to your taste. It is faster, efficient and user-friendly. Especially for beginners.

Insider tip: You can also use Canva to create flyers and social media banners to promote and market your e-book.

4. POWERPOINT (PC): This tool is also a lesser known hack in the e-book industry. I use PowerPoint to create powerful short e-books (as lead magnets) for businesses.

After creating your e-book pages as slides, you can save them as PDF and use it as an e-book. Very cost-effective.

5. ADOBE PHOTOSHOP: This is a more detailed way of creating e-book covers, book trailers and mockups. If you are already familiar with Photoshop, this will boost the excellence you deliver while writing and ‘glamorizing’ your e-book.

Insider tip: You can download free e-book mockups from Freepik. They have tons of design resources for e-books. Both free and premium.

6. ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR: Like Photoshop, this is also detailed. But the awesome thing about Adobe Illustrator is that your e-book covers will be in vector format.

This means you can resize and stretch the picture to any width and length. And the quality still remains the same.

Insider tip: I have seen mediocre e-book covers all over the internet. I don’t blame them. Most of them don’t know the principles of design.

For a better understanding, you should read ‘The Non-Designers Handbook by Robin Williams.’ It breaks how to design stunning and amazing graphics into baby steps.

7. VOICE RECORDER (mobile): Ha, this is one of my favourite tools. Even if you are not close to your phone or don’t feel like writing. You can share your thoughts in audio and then transcribe later. Very powerful tool.

8. NOTE-BOOK/ JOURNAL: I always tell people, ‘never underestimate the power of paper.’ Before the digital age, we recorded ideas on books and jotters.

Our writing instincts also came from drawing and writing on paper. You should use this to your advantage.

Insider tip: You can use your journal for mind-mapping your e-book. Deadlines. Ideas. Chapters. Illustrations. You can map them out in your favourite journal.

9. YOUR BOOK IDEA: The last and definitely not the least is your book idea. Without it, the tools mentioned above will be useless. It is the central framework on which these tools and resources.

And make sure your e-book idea is a winner.

So that’s all. I just gave you a comprehensive list of resources to get your e-book done. This is the ultimate e-book toolkit.

From your content strategist,
Zamai

Any questions? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.

Keep creating magic

What my Twenties is Teaching Me About Social Media, Time and Growth

What my 20s is Teaching Me About Social Media, Time and Growth

April is my birth month and I decided to compile a series of what Life has to taught me so far.

As a Creative, it’s difficult to manage our time, grow productively and balance our social media profile in an effective and efficient way.

By the end of this post, you will learn better ways on how to manage your social media life, make good use of your time and decipher the true meaning of growth.

What my 20s is Teaching Me About Social Media

When you’re in your 20s, you realise there will be always two kinds of people on your social media community:

There are people who came solely for the likes, comments and shares. The clicks on a Facebook post. The funny replies on Twitter. The beautiful Snapchat filters. The double tap of love on an Instagram post.

They see Social media as a game. They just came to “like” and “be liked.”

On the other side, there are the ‘serious people’. The ones who see Social media as a business or monetisation opportunities. They only came to boost their brands and advertise their business. To them, more likes should translate to more money. And more followers must convert to more customers.

Irrespective of which side you belong to, there is a common thread.

In my 20s, I have realised Social media is mostly “trailers” and “highlights”. Most times, you don’t get to see the boring parts and stressful behind-the-scene moments of other people’s lifestyles. You don’t get to see their missed goals and awkward tackles on life.

But that’s fine.

In my 20s, I am realising social media is a tool of amplification. News spreads faster. School girls can go viral. It is the word of mouth on steroids.

Social Media

So what my 20s is teaching me about social media is simple:

Leverage SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS and USE it to your ADVANTAGE.

Surely, Social media has given everybody a voice to speak and a level playing field. But you must still have a skill worthy of mention. You must have values that can be shared with the world.

If it’s making people laugh, or sharing your dose of wisdom with others. If it’s sharing your expertise on a particular field or describing your journey as you learn something new.

When done with Consistency and Passion, people will surely come to watch you. They will definitely ‘like’ you and eventually give you money when the right time comes.

Whether as a GAME or BUSINESS, use SOCIAL MEDIA to your advantage, but don’t it REPLACE REAL LIFE.

And continue to cultivate positive and healthy relationships. Whether online or offline.

What My 20s Is Teaching Me About Time

When you are in your 20s, you have time in abundance. It’s the same twenty four hours for everyone, but you have more energy to stay awake. And there are so many interests, passions and causes that compete for your ‘seemingly infinite’ time.

Whether it’s launching a business, or growing your business. Whether it’s finding a job, or maintaining your current job.

Starting an NGO. Or being part of an NGO. Watching a personal development video. Or re-watching Game of Thrones. The options are limitless.

Then all of a sudden, your time now looks short.

There are some days I wake up by 5am, go to work, read voraciously, write over a thousand words, do an online course, sleep by 1am and still feel energetic the next day.

Yet on other days, I go out, gist with friends, and binge-watch an entire season of Netflix’s Umbrella Academy.

Does this mean I’m wasting my time?

Well, I don’t know yet. I’m still in my 20s after all. The Universe always have funny ways of connecting these dots and making them work for our good.

However, nobody had said on his death bed, “I wish I had one more day to make more money.” Neither has anybody said, “Damn. I wish I knew if Arya Stark really dies in the second episode of the final season.”

Let me drop a quick advice on what my 20s has taught me so far about time.

In your 20s, when making a decision about using time, remember this adage:

“Remember to serve the Creator in the days of your youth.”

When you remember, your priorities become aligned once more. Clarity, Certainty and Confidence will reflect with your purpose. And the daily tasks continue to flow with your goals and projects.

So that’s it.

My 20s are part of my youth and it’s teaching me how to manage time wisely. To use it for the right values and causes.

It always pays to make choices that will serve you well. Both now and in the future. Both in the present and later.

USE your TIME WISELY. Or at least most of it.

What my 20s is Teaching Me About Growth

In your younger years, You might be familiar with this definition of growth – “Growth is the irreversible increase in age and size.”

But as you grow older, this concept changes.

In my 20s, Growth is now the increase in character, competence and convictions. The attitude you exhibit. The passion and dedication you infuse in your work and craft. And the values and principles that govern your daily decisions.

That is all that matters to you, those around you, and your creator.

As I celebrate a new age, my 20s is teaching me that growth is not just counting the number of birthdays I have witnessed so far on earth.

But it’s also in the quality of my relationships – people above, below and on my level. Growth reflects in the influence I have over people and in the values I try to teach and learn on a daily basis.

The growth is also in the path God is creating for me.

“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord. And He ponders all his paths.”

The destination may change. The career prospects may not be what you planned it to be.

But one thing is still sure.

God’s Grace. Dedication. Diligence. Perseverance. Creativity.

The principles that worked for successful people will still work for us too.

So Dear Creative, what has your 20s about Social Media, Time and Growth?

If you enjoyed this article or learned something from it, Then SHARE to your friends too.

Photo credits: Adrian Mcdonald photography and Pixabay