If you’ve worked with me for more than a few months, you already know this about me. I hold the line on brand standards. Your logo doesn’t change on a whim. Your colors don’t shift because someone in your family thinks a different blue “pops more.” Your fonts stay consistent, even on the flyer you need by Friday.
Sometimes that makes me the annoying one. I’m okay with that.
The Problem I See Constantly
Walk into ten small businesses in Vermont and look at their marketing. Chances are good you’ll find a business card with one logo, a storefront sign with a slightly different version, a Facebook page with a third, and a website using none of the above. Colors that don’t match. Fonts that were picked because they were free, not because they fit.
Nobody planned it that way. It happens one decision at a time. A new sign gets made and nobody checks it against the old branding. A well-meaning employee builds a graphic in whatever program they have available. A logo gets “freshened up” for a sale flyer and never gets un-freshened.
Individually, none of these decisions feel like a big deal. Together, they add up to a business that looks like it’s being run by five different people who’ve never met each other.
This Is One of the Biggest Gaps Between Big and Small Businesses
Large companies protect their brand like it’s worth money, because it is. You will never see a slightly different Coca-Cola logo on a vending machine versus a billboard. Every color, every font, every ounce of spacing is locked down in a brand guide that someone gets paid to enforce.
Small businesses rarely have that kind of structure, and it shows. Not because small business owners care less. Because nobody ever built them a system, and nobody’s job is to protect it.
That inconsistency does real damage, even when it doesn’t feel urgent day to day. It makes a business look smaller than it actually is. It makes customers do a double-take instead of recognizing you instantly. And it tells people this business isn’t fully put together, even when the work itself is excellent.
Why I Push Back
This is where I sometimes become the bad guy for a minute.
When a client asks me to try a different color “just for this one post,” or use a logo variation that isn’t part of the actual brand kit, I’ll say no. That’s not me being fussy. I built that brand to work as a system, and every piece supports every other piece. Pull one thread and the whole thing gets a little less solid.
You hired me because I’m the professional. Part of that job is making the fun, easy call when it’s the right one, and part of it is making the harder call when it’s not, even if that means telling you no in the moment. I’d rather have an honest conversation with you now than watch your brand slowly turn into the same mess I see everywhere else.
What Consistency Actually Buys You
When your logo, colors, and voice look the same on Facebook, in an email, and on your storefront sign, people recognize you faster and trust you sooner. It signals that you’re stable and established. It tells them you take your own business seriously, so they take you seriously too.
That’s what I’m protecting when I say no. Not a logo file. Your credibility.
So if I ever push back on a “quick change,” know that it’s not me being difficult for the sake of it. It’s me doing the job you hired me to do.
