As WordPress really started to take off a few years ago, a certain WordPress theme designer came to the fore, leading the way with his popular themes.
He wasn’t the most talented developer, coder, or designer. Nor had he much experience.
Far from it.
Yet, he created several of the most popular WordPress themes, making them clean, simple, and easily customisable.
His name? Brian Gardner.
An example of a brand…
Brian’s rise to the fore of WordPress theme development, and custom WordPress design is a lesson worth learning, as he paints an excellent portrait of how to create a ‘brand’, even as a solo web designer.
For those of you doubting, make no mistake, the name ‘Brian Gardner’ is a brand. If it’s attached to any WordPress product, then that product has instant credibility in the eyes of countless thousands of people.
His name attached to a WordPress product makes people feel safe about buying it.
That’s the power of a brand.
How to build your brand…
Last week I mentioned the benefit of building a brand in getting more clients. It can literally save you the time, money, and effort often required to get more work.
However, I promised to share a tactic in how you can build your brand.
So, what is it?
Well, one of the best ways is to copy what Brian did.
That is, create quality freebies. It doesn’t have to be just WordPress themes. It can be anything people value, appreciate, and more importantly, need.
WordPress themes are good. But, you could try:
- Icons
- Photoshop brushes
- Even excellent web design tutorials.
Anything which gets your name out in front of people, and puts you in a positive light, helps to build your brand.
Go, build your brand…
You don’t have to be the best. Brian wasn’t. But, you do have to do something a little different, and do something which people appreciate.
Like I said last week, building your brand is important. It makes people feel safe investing in your skills, and puts you in demand.
People will always pay more to avoid pain. Wasting money on a bad web designer is painful. If you can build a positive brand, people will pay more to hire you.
Now, go build your brand! 
