Build Your Brand Guide Now with Canva’s Easy Tools

You have a brand (and it may not be what you think it is!)

“I don’t have a brand, so why do I need a brand guide?” Make no mistake, even though you are a social seller, network marketer, or you do affiliate sales, you have a brand. And it’s not the company (or companies) you sell for. It’s you. YOU are the brand. People could buy from thousands of other women selling the same products as you, so what is going to make them choose you? The reason they choose you is because of who you are. Your personality, your uniqueness, your quirks. They like you and relate to you in some way. So don’t be afraid to embrace that and realize that you have a great brand to offer people!

And in today’s world of short attention spans, first impressions are vital. As a result, having a strong brand identity isn’t just helpful— it’s absolutely necessary to stand out from the crowd. Visual consistency across all your platforms will help achieve this. One of the best ways to do this is by creating a brand style guide.

The great news for you as a new social seller is that you don’t have to invest in an expensive designer to do this. I’ll walk you through the steps and show you how to use Canva to create a brand guide that reflects your brand. Download my free workbook to go along with this post!

Think about your brand identity

Before you start diving into the design process, it’s important to take a few minutes (or more!) and think about what you want your brand to reflect. We’ve already discussed that you are the brand, so what makes you special and how do you want others to feel when they think about you? Here are some things to consider when you are writing up a brand identity.

• Mission and Values: What core principles drive you? What is important to you? What impact do you want to create through your business? Who are the specific groups or individuals you’re dedicated to serving?
• Target Audience: Who is your ideal customer? What specific needs, desires, and pain points do they experience? Which visual elements and messaging styles naturally resonate with their preferences? Give this ideal customer a name and a story. Then when you create content, make it for them specifically. If you don’t know where to even start, think about yourself before you started your business. Our old selves are often our ideal customer.
• Tone and Personality: How do you want your brand to be talked about? Are you aiming for a playful and approachable vibe, a professional and authoritative presence, an elegant and sophisticated image, or perhaps a bold and innovative character? When a person goes to tell her friend about you, how would she describe you in one sentence?

Your brand is the story people tell when you’re not in the room—make it unforgettable.

Time to start designing your brand guide

Since you now have an idea of what type of feelings and image you want your brand to convey, now it’s time to start actually working on the design part of your brand style guide. Firstly, it’s time to get working on your color palette.

Picking a color palette

Colors are far more than just an aesthetic choice—they are powerful tools that can evoke specific emotions and create the perfect mood for your brand guide. Plus, having a consistent color scheme that you use across all platforms is a very simple way to elevate your brand and make it recognizable. Here are some considerations when thinking about a color palette:

• What colors do you like? What do you dislike? You should like the colors of your brand. If you hate green, don’t use it! Your color palette doesn’t have to consist of your favorite colors, but you should at least like all the colors in it.
• What colors do you wear often or look best in? This is something that isn’t often considered, but it should be. I heard this tip from the fantastic marketing expert Michelle Gifford. Hopefully you are posting lots of photos of yourself in your content and so you want the colors that you often wear (and feel good in) to be cohesive with your brand colors.
• What kind of feelings do you want the colors to evoke? Also, what colors will the ideal audience you defined earlier be drawn to as well? A quick online search can give you different colors and meanings.

Narrow it down

Now that you have some ideas of what colors you might lean towards, it’s time to start finalizing colors for your brand guide! Here are a few guidelines:

• Pick 1 main color and then pick the rest around that main color.
• A light neutral and a darker neutral are good to include. Make sure they match the tone of your main color (warm with warm/ cool with cool).
• Pick at least 1 accent color for when you want something to really pop or stand out.
• Aim for 5-6 colors. Too many just gets overwhelming.

Choose a name and logo for your brand guide

Building your personal brand starts with choosing a memorable and professional name and logo that reflect you rather than the products you sell. Equally important is to remember that whatever you decide doesn’t have to be for forever. Huge companies choose to rebrand all the time. So try not to anguish over this decision too much and remember that “done is better than perfect,” especially at this stage of the game.

Start first with the name. Here are some tips:

• Avoid using your company name: Social selling, network marketing, and being an affiliate all are linked to big name companies and brands. However, your personal brand should stand out from the company you represent. Instead of names like “Avon Susie” or “Trisha’s Terrific Tupperware,” opt for something unique to you. This makes your brand more adaptable if you change companies or expand into other ventures. Additionally, this will keep you out of trouble with the compliance department.
• Google it first: Perform a quick online search to make sure your chosen name isn’t already in use by another brand. This will help you avoid copyright infringement and confusion with an established business.
• Keep it simple: Your name is often enough to create a strong personal brand. For example, “Susie Jones” or “Jones Simplified” is professional, flexible, and easy to remember.

Now comes one of the most frustrating parts, in my opinion– crating a logo. Not because the actual process of getting an image is hard, it’s coming up with a visual representation of how you want your brand to feel that can be difficult for some people. Once again, remember whatever you decide here can always be changed. Don’t waste too much time on this. Set a timer and go for it!

The logo you choose visually represents your brand and should be simple, clean, and versatile. Think about the following items when coming up with it:

• Start small: Use a text-based logo to keep things minimal if you’re just starting out. You can always change later.
• Invest in versatility: Have several variations of your logo, including:
  • Full logo: Includes the name, tagline (if any), and icon. Best for websites or larger branding.
  • Icon only: A simplified version of your logo, like a monogram or symbol. Great for profile pictures and app icons.
  • Black and white version: A clean, single-color version for printing or when color isn’t an option.
  • Transparent background: Essential for adding your logo to graphics without a clashing background.

If you haven’t already downloaded my workbook, go ahead and do so now to see several examples of logo variations!

To actually create the logo, there are several tools that can help you. Canva, Design.com, or ChatGPT can help you create a polished logo for your brand guide, even if you’re not a designer and they are all free. Start with a idea of what represents you and your business, and make sure your logo reflects your style and values that you outlined in the first step.

Choosing fonts for your brand

Typography is a basic element that very much influences how your brand appears to your audience. Choose 2-3 carefully coordinated fonts that work well together: a distinctive font for headlines that captures attention, a highly readable option for body text, and potentially an accent font for special emphasis or decorative elements. You should not use a cursive/script font for your main font. It is too hard to read. Script should be used sparingly and NEVER in all caps.

Try to find fonts that are free. You don’t want to run into any issues with acceptable usage of different fonts. Also, it is a smart plan to choose widely available fonts so that you can have consistency across social media platforms, Canva, your website, and email service provider. They don’t all have to be the exact same font in each platform, but it should be close enough to give the same look. Google fonts is a fantastic place to do some playing around with what will fit your brand best.

• Pro Tip: Create interest by mixing serif with sans serif fonts. On the other hand, a bold, wide font pairs well with a thinner, more delicate font.

Here are some font pairings to give you some ideas to get started. There are also three more examples in the brand guide workbook, so download it now if you haven’t already!

Finalize your branding guide

Now that you have all of your elements selected, it is time to put them all down in one place. Having a centralized document will make it an actual brand guide, not just ideas of how you want things to look. In the workbook, you will find a worksheet to fill out. A Canva template for a branding guide is also included. Here it is easy to keep all of your fonts, colors, and logos together. The template also includes a mood board so that you can insert sample photos that reflect the feel of your personal brand.

Now whenever you go to make a piece of content, you have a handy reference to make sure that it will be consistent with all the rest of your content!

Bonus: Set up a Canva Brand Kit

If you have Canva Pro or Canva Educational, you have the option to set up a brand kit. From the home page, on the left menu, choose “Brand Kit.” Then choose “Add New.” Give it a name– your brand name is always good, and then you can start customizing. Use the brand guide you made to fill in your color palette, fonts, and upload your logos. You can also add extras like your brand voice, photos you commonly use, social media icons, and so on.

The wonderful thing about having a brand kit is that once you are in any design in Canva, you can choose to apply a style to the design. Colors and/or fonts. And with a brand kit, you have the option of YOUR personal style to be instantly applied to the design. No more copying and pasting hex codes!

Final Thoughts

A carefully thought out brand style guide is an absolute game-changer for social sellers and network marketers who want to maintain a professional, cohesive look online. By going through the steps outlined in this post and using Canva’s user-friendly platform, you can create a polished, professional guide that will serve as the foundation for all your brand’s visual pieces. Don’t wait to get started—download the workbook that goes with this post and begin building your brand style guide today!