The Busy Creator Podcast, episode 22 with Designer and Entrepreneur Brandy Shea

Brandy Shea (@MileOneCreative) is the founder of Mile One Creative, an independent design practice serving entrepreneurs and small business owners with brand development and marketing design. In addition to her design services, Brandy recently created the Quality Thrives project, an online video series and forthcoming book showcasing ordinary, hardworking business owners who provide craft and quality in their professional offerings.
 


 
 

 
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Here’s a teaser of the Quality Thrives project, which begins in earnest October 10, 2014. (Press release) Check out the full show notes to get all the contact details.

 
Show Notes & Links

Branding Branding, a website where the branding industry can define itself (or not)
Job Titles can change perspective, e.g. “I’m not a freelancer; I’m self-employed”
Kenneth Badgett, founder of Up My Average
Brandy and Kenneth work well together as a designer/sales team
Brandy studied behavioural science, entered marketing through an interest in consumer psychology
Prescott was a computer geek with an artistic background, discovered Photoshop in 1997
Mile One takes everything from brochure projects to websites
Entrepreneur on Fire, designed largely by Brandy and Mile One
More online these days, less print
The RGB world is kind of the default; print has become a speciality
node.js
“Jill of All Trades”
“Defining a brand needs organization.”
GTD Methodology — take a complicated task and break it down to obvious steps, especially at the start.
Brandy gained some “training” in organizational behaviour working as a waitress
United We Brand by Mike Moser
Startups/Entrepreneurs debate how much time they should spend on brand development
Prescott’s definition of “startup” is a new, small, rapidly growing company … not just internet/software
“[Entrepreneurs] may see the need for a lawyer, but they don’t see the need for a designer.”
“A CEO wouldn’t dress like he’s homeless.”
99Designs and Fivver, websites we don’t recommend for brand identity design
Quality Thrives, a new project from Brandy to instill a sense of appreciation for quality work over the bargain-basement offerings and sheer quatity
“Plumber-in-a-Can”, a metaphor for the attack on the traditional design industry
LegalZoom reminds us that it is not a law firm, but instead offers the work-product of expertise
Michele Harding, video editing intern
Annette Wong, social media marketing intern
“Snackable” content. (A word stolen from the junk food industry)
Grammar Girl
Todd Henry and Blake Stratton, former guests on The Busy Creator Podcast
Quality Thrives on Twitter, on YouTube, on Facebook, and onQualityThrives.org

Tools

Interns
LegalZoom
Plain notebooks for checklists
Teux Deux

Techniques

If you’re an introvert, team up with someone who is a natural salesman
Use the exercises in United We Brand — Core Values, Core Brand Message, Brand Personality, Brand Icons
Present a case study to clients where they can easily see the strength of good design
Consider replacing the To-Do list with the Done list, so you don’t beat yourself up

Habits

Build a routine with steady wake-up times
Something active 3x per week
Use your to-do list (but don’t freak out)