The Studio 77 Snippets

By: Ruby Rose Lee
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  • Summary

  • Welcome to the Studio 77 Snippets podcast, hosted by Ruby Rose Lee, the founder of Studio 77, a creative branding and web design studio focused on creating websites and brands that not only look good, but perform well too. On this show, I'll be talking about everything to do with running your biz, from brand strategy, to website hacks with an injection of business tips too. I know as a business owner, you've got a lotta shiz to be doing, so these Studio 77 snippets are designed to be short, sweet and straight to the point!
    2020 The Studio 77 Snippets
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Economics
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Episodes
  • #11: Should I Have A Blog On My Website?

    #11: Should I Have A Blog On My Website?
    Aug 13 2021
    Do I Need a Blog On My Website? How to Use Your Squarespace Blog To Boost Your SEO  Over the past few years, we’ve seen more and more conversations about the relevancy of blogs, especially during the rise of video content. But, blogs are not only a fantastic way to keep your customers up to date with all that’s going on behind the scenes, they support your website in more ways than you can imagine.Firstly, Google loves content-rich websites that do exactly what they say on the tin. So, if your Squarespace website is for beauty gurus and lifestyle lovers, but has nothing to indicate this in the body of the text, the likelihood of people finding you through searching is pretty low.This is where a blog can give you the upper hand. And, as the internet becomes saturated with content, a Squarespace blog is the perfect place to ensure that you stand out. Not only will Google see that you’re offering fresh content and rank you higher during indexing, but, it can also be a huge part of who you are as a brand.Let’s talk about SEOSEO can be a scary subject, because often, it sounds more complicated than it is. When it comes down to it, to rank well in terms of SEO, you need to have a website that is regularly updated, and well-maintained with useful content. If these pillars are in place, you’ll find that ranking will essentially take care of itself.Of course, there are additional things that come into play such as selecting relevant keywords, getting backlinks and site speed, but we’ll save those tips for another day.Changes to your SEO can take months before you see any tangible change. And, while there aren’t really any quick fixes, there are a few ways that you can speed up the process.Start by figuring out the keywords that work for your business. This could be your location, services or values. If you’re a personal trainer, consider who your target audience is. What gyms do you offer services at? Do you work weekends? Are you more into building strength or flexibility? Once you have the keywords that really work for you, make alt-text your new best friend and create a rich description of your business in every image on your site.The next step? Create blog content around these keywords.Squarespace blogs are probably the easiest and most time-effective way to build SEO-rich content that gives multiple value-touchpoints. And, if you’re not a writer, don’t fret. There’s also nothing wrong with outsourcing a copywriting expert who can do the heavy lifting for you and churn out content on a schedule. But, for most, writing content yourself is a free and easy way of bringing more visitors to your site.How to start a Squarespace blogGET YOUR IDEAS DOWN ON PAPERYou’ve got to start somewhere, right? Map out your initial ideas. What do you want your business to talk about? This is your chance to think about how you can align your ethics, business purpose and knowledge into one central hub. For example, if you’re a sustainable business, perhaps you want to share your knowledge on your favourite brands or stockists with a monthly rundown. You may want to impart some simple steps to a more sustainable lifestyle or perhaps interview someone who’s disrupting the industry?The purpose of this is to give your audience value. How do you do that? Your content needs to be inspirational, educational or entertaining, and as the old saying goes, if it’s none of those, then at least make it short.It’s also worth having a ‘bank of ideas’. Simply write out some title ideas in a spreadsheet and add to them when you see interesting competitor content or you come up with something that could work. Then measure them up against the above pillars. Really ask yourself if the content you're producing is valuable to your audience.Another great tool is awareness days. This lists any key dates in your industry that you might need to be aware of.WHAT ARE PEOPLE SEARCHING FOR ONLINE?It’s time to start researching your competitors. You should feel comfortable naming a few brands that you see as competition and if you can’t then ensure that regular competitor research is built into your schedule.As well as this, you can use free tools like Google Trends to see where the gaps in your audience's knowledge are and create content that answers their question. This will help with your Squarespace SEO, but it will also align your business as one to keep returning to. Using programmes like this will also help you to figure out what your audience wants you to talk about, versus what you want to talk about. Defining what your audience and customers want will ensure that your content stays in line with your business objectives, as well as give you a metric for measuring success.If you’re currently building a website, your web designer will also be able to give you some additional pointers about specific titles that will generate views for your blog.START WITH A BULLET POINT AND WITH A SENTENCEOnce you’ve mapped ...
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    9 mins
  • #10: Do I Need Brand Guidelines For My Business?

    #10: Do I Need Brand Guidelines For My Business?
    Jul 30 2021
    Do I Need Brand Guidelines for my Business? When you think of great brands, from Apple to Nike, design and branding are a big part of the package. From the infamous apple to the white tick, brand design plays a big part in who you are to your customers. So, the easiest way you can make sure your name is top of the list with potential clients? Good and consistent branding.But staying on brand can be tough! Especially if you’re working with other people. Cue brand guidelines! These ensure that anyone who creates for your brand follows through with your designs, tone of voice and in return saves you time and money correcting mistakes. Quite simply, your guidelines are a collection of everything that makes your brand unique and houses the details down to the precise colour hex codes, typography choices and key brand values.Your brand guidelines also play a big part in your wider brand strategy and wider business objectives.What should my brand guidelines contain?Let’s start with the basics. Your brand guidelines should outline how to use (and how not to use) your logo, fonts and colours, but also your brand adjectives, elevator pitch and mission statement.Some brand guidelines also include messaging houses and dummy social media copy too. Here’s how you can incorporate some of these things into your brand strategy.Your brand logoIt’s not just as simple as pasting your logo into a Word doc. Logos should always be outlined with clear minimum space requirements. This stops your logo from getting stretched and distorted. It sounds basic, but it can be all too easy to turn a stunning piece of branding design into a warped mess if you’re not too careful. Your logos should also be clearly laid out so that you can safeguard against anyone misrepresenting your brand.Some brands choose to have secondary and sub-mark logos too. If you decide to have these, make sure that the person using the brand guidelines knows exactly where and how to use each of these. This includes formats for web and print along with instructions on how it should appear with other assets, like taglines. This ensures that brand integrity is never compromised.If you want to play it safe, you can include logo treatments that designers and users should avoid, ensuring that logos are always applied correctly and consistently.Your brand fontsTypography plays a big part in your brand’s tone of voice. And, if you’ve been on Twitter recently, you’ll know that a lot of fonts take on personalities all their own. By using the right font-face, or font type for your business, you can help to develop your overall brand message.For example, you wouldn’t use Comic Sans* to write a police report but it would work well for primary school educational material. Relevancy plays a huge role in effective font choices too.  Baskerville Serif for a nursery would be harsh, but in a publication setting, it makes text easier to read and is instantly recognisable. (*as designers, we wouldn’t advocate that you use Comic Sans anyway…)Editing the number of fonts you use is also just as important. Having an array of different fonts tells your audience, clients, partners and sponsors that you don’t know who you are yet. The selection process might feel a little bit like choosing the right shade of white at times, but this attention to detail will have a huge impact on your brand trust.It’s not unusual for brands to focus on up to three different fonts for different things, but they should always complement each other and work together to carry your brand messaging, instead of fighting with it. Essentially, fonts are the window to the brand’s soul so choosing well is imperative.In your brand guidelines, you should include your chosen fonts along with their weights and a web-safe alternative, if necessary. Be sure to distinguish between fonts used for titles versus body copy, and include formatting preferences for the copy too. This will ensure that everything is used where and when it should be.Your brand coloursColours, much like fonts, help carry the brand tone. And, it also tells the audience how they should feel. Colour theory can help you determine the right hue and tone to position your brand in the right marketplace.A great example of this is Deliveroo’s instantly recognisable turquoise. It has a fresh and youthful feel, which is perfect for their target audience of 20-35-year-olds who prefer to order restaurant-quality food when they’re pushed for time, or the McDonald's yellow, a siren call to children everywhere.Once you’ve chosen your colours, list their RGB, CMYK and hex codes. These help designers and developers keep elements like buttons consistent across multiple web pages and in print.Brand strategyIt’s not all about the visual when it comes to branding, your brand identity is so much more than your logo and your appearances. It’s an experience that you give to your audience, and it what your customers say about you when ...
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    16 mins
  • #9: How To Reduce Business Owner Fatigue

    #9: How To Reduce Business Owner Fatigue
    Jul 16 2021
    Business owner fatigue is real! In this episode I open up about business burn out and how I took three months (ok maybe six) off of social media and podcasting and how it has helped me get back on track. I also give you my insights on some *ahem* odd things that I do to keep business fatigue at bay, including scheduling house work and setting alarms at the end of the day…
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    20 mins

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