⏱️ How Much Time Should You REALLY Spend on Your Brand?

Hello hello!

Is your brand quietly falling apart behind the scenes while you're too busy doing literally everything else? Today I’m diving into what it actually takes to maintain a brand week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter (without burning out or losing your mind).

I chat about:

• Why maintaining your brand isn’t just “busy work”
• How your brand’s consistency impacts trust, visibility, and client attraction
• The real (and manageable) time it takes to stay on top of it
• My suggested maintenance rhythm (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
• 5 low-lift, high-impact brand tasks you can do this week to get your brand back on track

If you’ve ever wondered how people actually keep their brands tight without living in Canva 24/7, I hope you'll enjoy this ep.

Plus: I'm sharing a big pep talk on why your brand deserves your attention right now, because it’s not just a logo, it’s your business’s reputation.

Want your brand audited by me? Keep an eye on my Instagram (@the.fearless.designer) – brand audits are coming back soon!

Questions or aha moments from the episode? Slide into my DMs or email me at hello@thefearlessdesigner.com.au

Transcript

Hey, guys. Welcome back to the Fearless Designer podcast. I am Morgan. I am the fearless designer who's not very fearless, but I'm being fearless today. I wanted to have a conversation firstly. Sorry, how are you? I hope you're really well. I hope business is going so well for you and that you're feeling like you're in a real period of abundance, because I am not. I'm not feeling like that at the moment.

And one thing that I've found a real sticking point is that I want to introduce some more marketing activities into my week. You know, start my emails and create a new page on my website. And I just don't have the bloody time. So I thought today's episode might be a great one because I have probably made it sound really important, which it is. To keep maintaining your brand and keep showing up and keep doing all the things. Because the only way a brand grows is when you spend time doing it. But what does it actually look like to maintain your brand? And how much time do you need to do that? Every week, every month, every quarter? And I also got don't want you guys to burn out. So I thought I'd have a really open and honest conversation about what it actually takes to maintain your brand on a regular basis.

And. Yeah. So let's start there. Hello and welcome to the Fearless Designer podcast. I'm your host, Morgan MacDonald, aka the fearless designer, and I'm here to help you embrace your fears, level up your visual brand, and take your business to fearless new heights. For two decades, I've worked with business owners just like you, designing brands that are bold, consistent, and authentic. I've lived a profesh corporate life as a graphic designer, and I've also spent the last 13 years running my own brand and graphic design business. So whether you're running a six or seven figure business, craving a brand refresh, or just ready to add a little more wow to your visuals, I got you.

Each week we'll dive into fearless brand strategies, design tips that you actually can use, learning live brand audits, and interviews with fellow business owners who have dared to do things differently. So if you're ready to stop playing small, take control of your brand and lead with confidence, you're in the right place. Let's go. So what does it actually mean to maintain your brand? And I am not talking about constant tweaking, and I'm not talking about you logging onto Pinterest and trying to find the right vibe. Brand maintenance is really keeping your brand aligned, consistent and clear so that your audience knows exactly who you are, what you do, and why they should care. That means that the visuals should match the message. The tone of voice is consistent across all of your platforms, Your content reinforces your authority, and your presence builds trust. And if your brand is the reputation of your business, then the brand maintenance is about protecting that reputation.

And yep, it does take ongoing work. So what does it actually involve? Here's where most people get things a little bit twisted. They think that once their logo and colors and fonts are sorted, it's done. That technically is a fairly significant part of the process, and it is done. And you can give that little tick on your to do list. But keeping your brand tight means checking in on it too. It means, are your visuals great? Are your social media posts, your emails, your templates and your all of your visuals staying consistent and within your brand guide? And are things starting to drift into DIY chaos now? I say that because I find that I have given over beautiful, complete, filled brand strategies and brand guidelines to clients. And then next minute I check their social media posts and they've had trouble implementing it and then gone down this line with Canva and found a template.

And then next minute there's a different font sitting there on our social media grid. That's when things start to kind of lose that consistency that we were hoping that the brand guidelines would give. Is your messaging great? Probably a better word for that. But are your core messages still aligned with your offers and audience? And is your about still accurate? And is your bio current? We have so many bios in so many different places. Are they current? How do your different touch points look? Are your client onboarding documents? Are your proposals? Are your email signatures, podcast graphics, course slide decks, blah, blah, blah, lead magnets? Are they all on brand? How is your team using your brand? Is your VA or social media manager using the correct assets and templates? Does everyone on your team know what your brand rules are or are they winging it in Canva as well? And how is your audience perceiving your brand? What are people associating with your brand? The vibe, the value? Are you giving them what they want? Are you becoming recognizable or just present? So I've kind of put together a really simple, little rough framework of how much time you should actually be spending, you know, maintaining your brand. And I know this is the bit that I'm finding difficult, adding new, you know, new spots onto my calendar that take up time that I could be doing client work. But this is so important, especially if you want your brand to grow and flourish. So weekly I would suggest you spend maybe one to two hours a week on your brand maintenance and that kind of would look like reviewing up and coming content, making sure everything's on brand and tonally consistent, checking your brand presence across stories and posts and captions, reusing or repurposing branded content to maintain consistency and touching base with your team to ensure that your brand alignment, especially if you outsource your graphics or captions or social media are on brand monthly I would suggest you spend one to three hours do a brand audit of your public facing content.

I would in that time I would also review your bios, your pin posts, your email footers, your links. I would also tidy up all your canva folders or file structures to make sure that your most recent and well executed brand assets are accessible. I would update your testimonials, your offers, your client examples in your messaging, make sure that's really consistent and look at what's working, what's getting attention, what's being ignored. It's really important that we allow that time per month to keep that ongoing maintenance going for our branding. And I know I'm pretty sure we could all find an hour to do that. And we probably already are doing that. It's just switching it on and being really strategic in knowing that. Ah yes, this is the time I'm doing my brand maintenance quarterly.

I would probably look to spend, oh I don't know, maybe like three, four, five hours doing a deeper content and brand audit across your website, your email funnels and your lead magnets. I would definitely check your templates because we want to get rid of any outdated design that we're doing. I would run a quick audience poll or check in with your current audience to see how you're being perceived or check your stats to make sure that you are focusing on more content areas that are getting good results and reaffirm your core values, your visuals and your tone to make sure everything still feels right. I don't want to say something really lame, but it's like brushing your teeth with your brand. I wouldn't skip it and then just hope for the best. It's the same with branding. The more regular work we can do within our weeks, months, quarters, the better the results are going to be and the payoff is 1,000% worth it. You might be thinking, Morgan, shut up.

Morgan Macdonald:
That's a lot. And yes it is a lot. But here's what happens when you actually maintain your brand. And I probably don't need to point this out, but you actually Start attracting the right clients, ones that are happy to pay you what you want to be paid without needing to explain yourself all the time. You build massive trust because your brand is clear and recognizable. You stop second guessing everything because there's a strategy behind what you're sharing. You save time because your content is easy to plan, design and most importantly repurpose. And you get known for your vibe.

You get known for your voice, your value, which is what we want with our brand. Your brand maintenance isn't busy work, it's business building. It's what separates startup time poor brands from us. We have the time to do that. We are focusing on our brand because we know how important it is. So I'm going to wrap up with a few really low lift, high impact things that you can do this week to maintain your brand. Okay? Number one, create a brand checklist. List out all of your platform and brand touch points.

Do a quick once over and make sure you make notes of what needs updating. Number two, batch, create and reuse. Design one killer carousel or email header and repurpose it across Instagram emails. Pinterest, your lead magnet, Please stop reinventing the wheel. We are all about consistency. So if something is working, keep using it and repurposing it. Number three, keep your brand assets centralized. If you're using Canva, use the folders.

If you're using Google Drive, use Google Drive. Make sure that everything is in the one spot so you or your VA or your team aren't scrambling to try and find where your brand photos are and then find where your style guide are. Keep them all in one location. 4. Audit your bio and your pinned post monthly. I don't know how many accounts that I see that have pin posts or even like story highlights that are like 6 years old or pinned posts that are offering events that have already run or offers that aren't available anymore. Takes 10 minutes. It makes a huge difference to how new people perceive you.

And those pinned posts that sit at the top of your Instagram grid are huge real estate. So make sure they're updated and make sure they're on brand. And finally, please choose a brand day each month. Put it in your calendar. Make it a non negotiable. This is your CEO time. Make sure your brand still has your back. All right, again, my little pep talk for the day.

Morgan Macdonald:
Branding isn't a one time decision. It's an ongoing relationship. And I'm pretty sure like all great relationships, it needs to be maintained, it needs to be dated, it needs to be loved. It needs intention and it needs a clean out every now and then. And I don't mean that in a gross way. So maybe give your brand a little love this week. You don't need to rebrand it, you don't need to overhaul your fonts and colors, but maintain it just by being aware of it and what it's doing and how it's looking. That's the fearless way of doing it.

Little steps in the right direction every day. So I'm hoping this episode will help you reframe the way that you need to show up. What an achievable amount of time is to be spending maintaining your brand in different periods of time. And I'd love to know, are you spending this time already doing these things? Are you creating those checklists? Are you reviewing your content or are you too busy? Is this something that you could work into your schedule or get some assistance from one of your team members? This is an amazing opportunity to really focus on your brand if it is something that you are saying is really important to you. As always, let me know if you have any questions at all. I can't wait to reinstate my brand audits onto my Instagram again super soon. So please get in touch if you would like me to review your brand or give it an audit. And I can't wait to chat to you all again very soon.

Bye. And that's it for today's episode of the Fearless Designer podcast. I hope you're feeling really inspired, fired up and ready to go make some bold moves with your brand. If you love today's episode, don't forget to hit the subscribe button so that you never miss a dose of fearless branding goodness. And if you're feeling extra generous, drop us a review. It just helps more fearless legends like you find this podcast. If you've got any ideas or questions for future Epps, please slide into my DMs or send me an email. I would love to hear from you.

And until next time, keep being bold, keep being fearless. And remember, your brand is your superpower. So go out there and dare to be different. Bye.