Do you really need an expensive logo and creative for your company? Most agencies will tell you that great branding will propel your business. However, Ross Kimbarovsky has a different take and shares what every business owner should know about design and branding. He acknowledges that good design creates credibility, but shares that you have to invest as much thought into your design as you do into the product or service. Ross Kimbarovsky is the CEO of Crowdspring, which helps business owners and marketers tap into a wide network of designers and creators for branding needs. Crowdspring has over 220,000 designers across the world. This scale of creative resources allows them to cut prices from most agencies without sacrificing quality. In addition, the range of designs allows business owners to receive options that meet their creative needs. Ross shares how small business owners and anyone developing a personal brand can leverage design to facilitate connections with prospective customers. In our chat, he shares how any business can leverage creative resources that rival big marketing agencies, how branding and design really impact your business, and how to stand out with prospects.

Partner: Get A Free Digital Marketing Consultation from Rentsync

How to Leverage Design and Branding for Your Business

• From an attorney who was frustrated with available marketing services to Founder and CEO of CrowdSpring
• Developing the business model for CrowdSpring.

Marketing agencies work with us because they are good at strategy, but not phenomenally good at execution of design collateral.

• Behind the scenes at a marketing agency
• The importance of branding and what Ross is seeing in the market
• Why good design is good for your business

You have to invest in design as much thought as you invest in the product or service you provide.

• The psychology behind design and how it affects consumers
• Why you are forever anchored to your first impression (people process images 60,000 times faster than words)
• Tips on making a better first impression with potential clients, customers and/or investors
• Creating an easy dialogue and avoiding friction when communicating your message

What's most important about your brand is not what people say; what's most important about your brand is what people think.

• Using your brand to stand out and above the competition
• The first steps to take in creating or reimagining your brand or digital identity
• SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats)
• Real Estate marketing and branding advice

If you don't have a strong visual identity, people can't react to what you do, because they don't know you.

Bullseye Round:

Resources:

Complete guide to building a strong brand identity Complete guide on branding

Apparent Failure:We made mistakes when we first started CrowdSpring but everyone trusted us to get it right. The experience reinforced the importance of building one's credibility

Digital Resource:

BaseCamp (Project Communication)

Most Recommended Book:

Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders (L. David Marquet)

Daily Habit:

Exercise (rowing & biking)

Current Curiosity:

Racism

Me and White Supremacy (Layla F. Saad)

White Fragility (Robin DiAngelo)

Wish I Knew When I Was Starting Out:

How to measure success (money doesn't equal happiness)

Best Place to Grab a Bite in Chicago:

Gino's East

Lou Malnati's PIzzaria

Get in Touch with Ross:

CrowdSpring

Ross Kimbarovsky

@RossKimbarovsky (social handle)