Hey, Reader,

Welcome to my Summer Mixtape series—where each week we're dusting off an old-school business principle and looking at how it still works in a world full of AI, templates, and automation.

Last week we talked about your voice in an AI world. (Click HERE if you missed it). This week, we're zooming out to something even bigger: your brand identity.

Track 02: Wannabe

Over the last few years, I've had far more business owners come to me looking for more clients than asking for a website. Almost every time, we ended up backing the conversation all the way up to brand foundations.

Before websites, social media, or Google, businesses still had brands. The local diner where everyone knew your order. The mechanic your dad swore by. The insurance agent who always sponsors Little League teams. They were recognizable because people knew exactly who they were, what they stood for, and what kind of experience to expect every single time.

^^ The only difference in today's world is that today people can compare twenty businesses in five minutes. And in the online arena, the businesses that earn attention—and keep it—are the ones who do a great job communicating, quickly and clearly, who they are, who they're for, and why they're different.

In the 2020's, most people are building businesses piece by piece. First a logo. Then a website. Maybe some social media templates, business cards, or new offer. That's completely normal. But eventually you reach a point where the outside of your business no longer reflects what's actually happening inside it.

You know why clients choose you.
You know why they stay.
You know the little things you do differently.

👉🏼👉🏼 But your future clients won't be able to tell any of that yet if your brand identity doesn't communicate those things.

That's why marketing starts to feel so hard and business owners feel stuck. After having this same conversation on repeat, I have a few ways to help:

• ​Read this for a 30,000 ft read on brand identity.
• Grab the Brand Kit if you want to work through it on your own.
• Or, I'd love to introduce Brand Week.

Brand Week is my top-shelf framework to uncover what makes your business recognizeable. Then we build the words and visuals to communicate it.

Bc once this foundation is solid, every decision afterwards is SO much easier:

• Your messaging gets stronger.
• Your website has direction.
• Your marketing becomes more consistent.
• Your visuals finally have something meaningful to express.

As always, if you ever want to chat more about this, as with all my letters, just hit reply. I'll be right here waiting for you 🎵

​MADE IN PARADISE​ branding, copy and web design

​

PS I've been doing this same deep work on my own business. Brand Week is the first look at my own branding revamp (hello, hand-drawn icons 😍) and the first of a new 3-part offer suite.

Depending on when you click over, you might catch a few things still being polished. That's intentional. I'd rather share the work than wait until it's perfect. The offer is ready. The copy is live. The finishing touches are still coming together. If anything resonates with you, I'd love to chat and see if it's a good fit.

PPS Brand Week is just the beginning. Up next is Copy Week and Website Week—three standalone offers designed to work beautifully together, all built around the same goal: helping businesses build a stronger foundation before they spend another dollar on marketing.

I can't wait to show you. 🥹

BONUS TRACK

🔨 TOOL TIME: A little insider secret–Canva extremely popular amongst professional designers. Yes, there are more advanced tools out there, but Canva is more than capable of creating polished, professional work. I use it often because I want my clients to leave with tools they can actually use and maintain themselves.
🎧 NOW PLAYING: the podcast Perpetual Traffic​
🎬 REWIND: How to make your website look better (another oldie but goodie from the blog archives)​
​🎵 NEXT TRACK: I want it that way ​
​📼 FOUND IN THE TAPE DECK: