Let’s dive into another small business’s brand analysis. This is not an analysis that I conducted for payment from the actual business owner, but this is an analysis from what I see outside looking in into a business that I really admire and a business that I’m actually also a full-paying client of.

You might have seen the business Created Colorful on my blog as well as on the Branding 5 at 5 series that I used to do on Instagram. The reason that I keep coming back to them is because they really have impacted my life for the positive. First, I’m going to talk about my experience with the company as a full-paying client, and then I’m going to dissect the business, focusing on parts about their brand and their marketing that I absolutely love that I think other small business owners can learn from and apply to their own businesses.

The Basics

First, let me tell you about the experience that I have had with Created Colorful. If this sounds familiar, then you have probably been around here for a while! I actually have ads for Created Colorful on my podcast because I am part of their affiliate program. So I truly believe in what they’re doing, otherwise I would not promote them. Like I said, they’ve had such a positive impact on my own life that I want to continue to push their mission along and spread that to other people who might need it.

Created Colorful is a virtual color analysis business, which means they help you identify your ideal color palette that makes you feel the most you – the colors that you can wear that bring out your natural beauty, that you can use in your makeup, in your glasses, in your hair color to bring out your natural features and the beauty within those natural features.

The Backstory

A little backstory about me, I have three kids and I had them within a span of four years between 2018 and 2022. After that journey of bringing three beautiful people into the world, I was struggling a little bit figuring out who I am as a mom. I think a lot of us probably feel this, so this story is not unique, but the delivery with our third child was pretty traumatic. After that traumatic delivery, I had a bit of postpartum depression and anxiety, and I just was not feeling myself. I wasn’t enjoying motherhood quite like I did after the first two kids. It had absolutely nothing to do with the beautiful baby that I was blessed with, but it had everything to do with the hormones and self-image issues that I had.

Our third child was born in August of 2022 and around my birthday in January, I was like, “I need to rediscover myself. I need to jumpstart this process of getting back to the old me again.” And here’s how I did that: For my birthday, I asked for a few different things from special women in my life. I first asked for makeup from my mom. Another fellow mother and entrepreneur gave me recommendations. She is an incredible makeup artist based out of Williamsburg, Virginia – shout out to Lyssa of Evergreen Beauty. She helped me out to figure out what in the world I needed to look like a human again, and my mom was so gracious to purchase those products for me.

From my mother-in-law, I asked for a color analysis from Created Colorful. I had tried a couple of other things, like therapy and just downright ignoring my feelings, but the sadness just wasn’t going away. So I made this pact with myself that I was going to do two of three things every day for a few months. Those three things were:

1. I was either going to get fully dressed (not leggings and a t-shirt, like my usual maternity leave attire).
2. I was going to do my makeup, like full face makeup (not just mascara).
3. I was going to do my hair, either curled or straightened. No messy bun.

I made a promise to myself that I had to do at least two out of those three things. Usually if I got two done, I ended up doing the third. So even just changing my appearance or taking a little bit more time to pour into my appearance really helped me.

When I asked for the Created Colorful virtual analysis from my mother-in-law, I had no idea really what to expect. My sister-in-law had actually just gone through a color analysis, but she did an in-person color analysis where they draped the different swatches of clothing over her, and was able to do it like in real time in person. So I knew what her experience had been, but didn’t really know what to expect in terms of the virtual color analysis. I soon learned that it was very similar. We still did the drapes of different colors, but I used what I had in my own closet. Thankfully, I ended up having pretty much all of the colors I needed, aside from maybe one or two. I stole either from my husband’s closet or my daughter’s closet to get those. If you go on my blog, you can actually see a picture of me with like a pair of toddler pants draped over my shoulders trying to get the color shot to send off for color analysis.

It was very clear that Lindsey had put a lot of thought into the process of how to make it as smooth as possible for her virtual color clients because she sent me a very specific list of all the colors that she needed initially. In that same email, there was a video that explained exactly how to take the photos, which angle to take the photos, how to wear your hair during the photos, and how to find the best light for the photos. These directions were very specific and ultimately very helpful to be able to get accurate results for the color analysis.

The Experience

From there, I submitted the first round of photos. I don’t remember exactly how long it was between the first submission and when I got a response back, but I remember it being pretty quick! That response basically said, “Based off of this initial color analysis, we want to see you in a few more colors to make sure our findings are correct.” So they gave me a second list of colors to drape over my shoulders. I did a second set of photos to send back into them, then a couple of week later, they sent me my color palette! But not only did they send me my color palette, they sent me an entire list of everything that I could need in order to make this the best experience possible.

They sent me:

• My ideal color palette
• My knockout colors, which are like the top five colors that bring out my natural beauty.
• Makeup recommendations based off of my color palette
• Recommendations when it comes to coloring my hair.
• Capsule wardrobe suggestions
• Access to a Facebook community of others who have gotten a color analysis done
• Links to an Amazon storefront specifically for my color palette (made shopping so easy!)
• Links to the Created Colorful blog with seasonal wardrobe selections and suggestions

A little side story: Apparently my God given hair color, which I hadn’t really seen in almost seven or eight years, is the color that brings out the most natural beauty in me. So just want to put that out there that you don’t always have to color your hair, get your nails done, in order to bring out the most natural beauty.

Throughout the process, Lindsey and her team made it very clear about that the color analysis was not about making the client more beautiful. Instead, this process is about enhancing the client’s natural beauty that he or she already has. When I received my final email, they gave me the sweetest, most individualized compliments. They specifically mentioned my eye color; they specifically mentioned the way that my hair complements my eyes. The way that it was individualized made for an incredible client experience.

There are four seasons to which you can be categorized. Within those seasons, there are sub-palettes as well. For example, I am a soft autumn, but there’s also a warm autumn and a deep autumn. Once you receive your color palette, all you have to do is go on her blog, go on her Pinterest page, go on her Amazon storefront and you can pull up your particular color palette to be able to explore all of the options and not even have to think about it. All you have to do is find something that’s your style!

The Brand & Marketing Analysis

Let’s dive into a few things that Lindsey over at Created Colorful does really well. Service providers – this is for you! When I say service-based, I mean largely that there is a direct exchange in time for money. There’s face time between the provider and the client. Of course, in Lindsey’s case, this face time is virtual, but it’s still an exchange in time for money (exchanging the time that it takes to do the consultation for the money or the cost of the consultation).

Relieving Pain Points

A color consultation is very easily a one-and-done type of service, which is a challenge that a lot of us service providers face. Once we have interacted with the client, the exchange is complete, and now we have to go out and find a new client. Lindsey’s has taken what would be a one-time service offering, and made it so much more, specifically to alleviate pain points for her ideal client. She’s done a magnificent job of pinpointing the pain points that we feel then she fixes them, giving us a lot of ease throughout the process.

Ideal Client Description

Let’s look at Lindsey’s ideal client. Her ideal client is most likely a female, probably either:

1. A high-achieving professional who wants to look her best on a daily basis, but may not have time to shop and curate a coordinated look
2. A mom (or any woman who has gone through a major identity shift) who’s wanting to treat herself by making herself feel human again and she almost certainly doesn’t have time to shop and curate the perfectly coordinated look

I fall into both of those categories, so I do feel like I am equipped to speak on behalf of her ideal client! This is where the Done-For-You model comes in that Lindsey has created. It’s a pretty simple model, but it works because she’s solving such a major need for her ideal clients. I’ve already touched on some of these, but I’m going to try and go into a little bit more detail of each one.

Creating Passive Income & Recurring Revenue

Within that final email that I received from Lindsey that had my color analysis results, she gave me a link to an Amazon storefront. The Amazon storefront allows clients the ease of access to the items that are already in their color palette. While there a time commitment is in the startup phase to curate that Amazon storefront, this is otherwise a form of passive income because she puts the links inside the delivery emails and sets and forgets them. Occasionally, she has the option to refresh the storefront, but ultimately, she’s capitalizing on the passivity that an Amazon storefront offers while serving her clients well in what feels like a personalized way. This Amazon storefront is just the starting point for her incredible recurring revenue though.

The second one is the seasonal blog posts that she has. This one I love. Each season she pops into my email inbox to give me a capsule wardrobe for each time the weather changes. So she’s not only helping me to understand which colors look best on me, she’s now continuing to support me through each season afterward when I may hit a stumbling block. Now, I’m no longer a one-time client. I could potentially be a source of recurring revenue for her four times every year.

The key feature here is that she’s solving a problem for me. She’s doing my shopping for me when I don’t have time to do my own. She’s allowing me to see the possibilities that maybe I wouldn’t have seen on my own and getting revenue from it.

The next way that she has the passive income or creates recurring revenue from a one-time client is also on her blog. She has specialty blog posts about other aspects of fashion and style, including nail polish, accessories, bathing suits, eyewear, pretty much anything you can think of. And you guessed it – they’re categorized by color palette, so I can go directly to soft autumn and find exactly what I need that’s going to look good on me. In fact, I actually did this last for a summer bathing suit selection as soon as she sent out that bathing suit blog post email!

The last way that she does this passive income is through Pinterest inspiration boards. Each of her blog posts has an accompanying graphic and she cross posts those graphics onto a Pinterest board that’s organized by color palette. She’s then able to link these graphics with the affiliate codes that correspond with the articles of clothing that they contain. This is genius because it is not only, again, making the buying experience easy for me, it’s also appealing to new clients on Pinterest.

This is where most of us service providers stumble. Like I mentioned earlier, a color analysis would typically be a one and done type of interaction, right? Once my colors are done, that transaction is complete and I don’t need to get it done again. This makes things really hard for the service provider because they are constantly having to find new clients and can’t sell to those that already know, like, and trust. But Lindsey found a way to be useful even after that color consult is complete, which is by creating those Pinterest boards, Amazon storefronts, acquiring affiliate links for certain other companies, all of those different things. Then she sorts them by color palette. So she even takes it a step further and makes it easy for me to say, “This is what I want. This is what I need.”

Client Experience

The next thing I want to touch on is her meticulously curated client experience. Remember those emails I told you about with all of those very specific instructions, like which colors to drape over my shoulders, how to find the best light and how she included a whole video tutorial on how to do all of those things?Remember those very specific kind compliments that I received in my final results? All of those things, those small gestures throughout the process – they added up to make a really great overall client experience.

Scaling

She perfected this experience to be able to then hand it off to team members. She now she has a team of over 10 consultants who can continue to help individuals embrace their most natural beauty. She created those standard operating procedures so that she could then scale the business.

Then she kept going by starting an affiliate program so that people like me, whose lives have been changed by her service, can shout their praises from the rooftops. If you’re unfamiliar with what an affiliate program is, I’m going to give you a quick description. It’s an incentive, usually monetary, to help a company sell their service or product. So every time someone purchases a virtual color analysis using my specific code, I receive a portion of the sale.

The other great part about affiliate programs is that her previous customers are doing her marketing for her. So she’s found yet another way to continue to convert previous one-time clients into recurring revenue streams.

Perfecting Your Offer

The final thing I want to point out about Lindsey’s business is going to be specifically poignant for those of you who have shiny object syndrome. Shiny object syndrome is when we have a new idea and want to execute it immediately and often at all costs, which often results in chaos. But Lindsey is different, and I’ll tell you why. Lindsey has been in business since 2020 I believe. Since then she’s hired around 30 people and Created Colorful has done over 20,000 consultations in four years. Every so often she updates her Instagram profile with the number of consultations they’ve completed (side note: that is an amazing way to provide social proof so that people know that you are the real deal).

But guess what? She was at 15,000 consultations before she ever launched a second offer. Her core offer was virtual color analysis for three years before she introduced a second offer. That second offer is a course titled “Love Your Closet.” It’s all about how to make shopping less intimidating, which she’s already been doing right by doing all of the Amazon storefronts and the Pinterest guides and the blog seasonal blog posts. But now she’s giving a more tailored/individualized way to make shopping less intimidating, which again targets her ideal clients needs to make their lives easier.  First, she has perfected the service offering of virtual color analysis before branching out into other offerings like her online course.I could definitely learn from her for this one and you should too.

Applying These Strategies to YOUR Small Business

Let’s talk about some of these strategies and how you can take them from a fellow small business owner and apply them to your brand and your business:

1. Know your ideal client in and out. Not just where they shop or what their hobbies are. Those things are important to know, but I also want you to know the motivations behind what they need, know the symptoms of their problem, know how to solve their problem. Oftentimes people will say, “I sell X, Y, Z,” but that’s too focused on the product or service that you’re selling. You actually sell something more – you sell comfort; you sell hope; you sell confidence; you sell a solution to a problem too.
2. Figure out the next step for your clients as a service provider. If you’re a service provider and don’t know what the next easy yes is after they have completed the service that you offer, then we need to figure that out. What’s going to be those next thoughts or actions after they complete the service offering process. Let’s figure out how you can be there for that next step. Bonus points if you can be there in a passive way, like the Amazon storefront that Lindsey hosts!
3. Perfect the one cornerstone offering that you have before moving on to other revenue streams. Make sure that the messaging is clear and that service offering is working like a well-oiled machine before launching a course or another product or another service offering.

If you are interested in having your virtual color analysis done, because I’ve just hyped it up this entire episode, I would love for you to go to the Created Colorful website. When you check out, you can use the code ALIRAE for $15 off your virtual color analysis.

I would love for you to pour into Lindsey’s mission, Lindsey’s business. If you are a service provider, I hope you took some inspiration away from Lindsey and from her business to then grow your own.

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If you’d like to have a brand analysis completed on your business, please inquire through the contact form on my website. I take five branding/marketing clients per quarter and would love for you to be one of them!