Back in October I attended a two day workshop, Brand Brilliance, run by Fiona Humberstone following on from her first book “How To Style Your Brand”. Having already been on one of Fiona’s workshops I knew what to expect and absolutely knew it was a worthwhile investment of both my money and time.
The Brand Brilliance workshop was a much smaller group than Colour for Creatives and spread over two days. It was held at the beautiful “Medicine Gardens” in Cobham Surrey in Blid & Hatton’s lovely space. Blid & Hatton did the catering at Fiona’s previous workshop I attended so I was looking forward to their food again.
It was a lovely beautifully styled space. So welcoming and almost homely in its feel. It was two days of incredible content that challenged us to think outside the box and dig deeper in order to create a unique business brand. I loved being part of that group of women. Again another group of like minded creative business women wanting to create beautiful destination brands. Fiona’s incredibly infectious passion around branding was both inspiring and motivating. She made the workshop fun and thought provoking.
I certainly had a number of ah-ha moments and made copious notes. Most importantly I came away feeling like I could truly create the kind of business that I wanted. That I could create a brand to attract my own tribe. For me it wasn’t just about the great content, which was worth every penny, it was the experience too. Wonderful atmosphere a beautiful creative space great food and drink and also a lovely sense of fun.
Oh and the goody bag. You have to love a beautifully put together goody bag!
Fiona spoke about her new book and I absolutely knew I had to get a copy. I’ve been slowly working on my business and building my brand to what I want it to be ever since reading Fiona’s first book.
To me this new book would be like having the whole of the two days Brand Brilliance workshop in one place. I ordered Fiona’s deluxe gift box version as it contained a signed copy of her book and her beautiful sketch book that I had loved when I did her Colour Creatives workshop. A lovely sketchbook for “hatching big dreams and grand plans”. And true to her brand “enchant your audience and ... ensure that the essence of what makes your business so brilliant shines through in everything you do”. - Fiona Humberstone.
“Brand Brilliance” is a beautifully written and equally inspiring and motivating as her workshops. She leads you through the process of creating a destination brand whether you’re a start up or just thinking about re-branding your business.
The first half of the book is all about helping you find out what your niche is. Getting brand clarity. What makes your business unique. What makes your business shine. There are wonderful examples of destination brands and stunning photography throughout the book. It could easily be a good coffee table book except there’s all this amazing content that will help you transform your business. Creating a business that you really desire. A business that works for you not the other way round. A business that is completely sustainable.
The second half of the book builds on from working on your niche to now creating good design and copy. And essential information for marketing your brand. Fiona calls it absolute essentials for modern marketers. I found it a refreshing look at marketing especially if the word marketing makes you uncomfortable like it does me. I love all the various brand stories and the “insider tips” that are peppered throughout the book.
It’s not an overnight thing for me but having this book on my desk is making that process much easier.