Brand Laboratory Membership
Build your brand the right way the first time, sis.
You’re building a business — ready to do everything it takes to make it happen — and you want to do it right. You know that presentation matters. You know that what will get you to the next level and set you apart from the crowd is creating a professional image from the start. And to do that, you have to do more than just build a business. You have to build a BRAND.
The truth is that most folks have no idea how to build a brand or how to keep it consistent. Many of us start off in business figuring things out as we go. Moreover, you don’t always know what you don’t know — just that you feel stuck and that you need help.
So, what if you had 12 whole months of guidance and support to make sure you are making the best possible choices for your brand? What if you had complete instruction for how to build it, step-by-step, so you can be confident your brand is giving what it’s supposed to give? Getting you started on the right foot is my superpower, sis, and I want to help.
The Brand Laboratory membership is the shortcut and guidance I wish I had when I was getting started.
I want to save you the YEARS I spent learning by trial and error.
The impact of branding is that it helps people to trust you. It helps them decide to do business with you and lets you stand out from the crowd. It communicates quality in a way that words alone do not.
BUT — branding also takes real work, and most folks just aren’t sure where to start, much less how to make consistent brand choices, especially without the help of a whole creative team to do it all for you.
As a result, your visuals end up being all over the place, nothing feels consistent, and you have no idea how to pull it all together.
Even more, you know that this inconsistency creates the perception that you’re just winging it — not really giving your business all the attention it needs. Cause the truth is that even if you are winging it, you don’t want to look like you’re winging it.
You need your branding to reflect the FUTURE of your business, not the inconsistent present. The only way to do that is to truly learn how to build a brand, so you can make consistent choices every day, whether you have a creative team or not.
Let me guide you through it, for 12 whole months.
Hey brand builder! I’m Jennae Petersen, designer extraordinaire and brand magician. For more than 17 years, I’ve helped business owners bring the ideas that lived only in their minds to life in a tangible, beautiful way. I’m a brand designer and branding coach who understands innately how to create a BRAND from an idea, and make ALL the visuals feel like part of the same ecosystem. For almost 2 decades, I specialized in giving my clients’ businesses and brands a million-dollar look to match their million-dollar goals — and then watched them achieve those goals.
I’ve crafted brands, websites and more for:
- Best-selling author and sought-after speaker and writer, Luvvie Ajayi
- In-demand photographers and best-selling authors, CreativeSoul Photography
- Natural hair trailblazer Koils by Nature and founder, Pamela J. Booker
- Emmy Award-winning blogger and TV host Oneika Raymond
- 8-figure group travel pioneer Travel Divas
- Religious decolonizer Unfit Christian
- …and so many more Black women who are thought leaders and pioneers.
And now, I want to support you as you build YOUR brand. Here’s how:
The BLUE AGATE CREATIVE BRAND LABORATORY is a 12-month membership that teaches you HOW to build your brand, with support and guidance as you do it.
The 12-month membership includes:
- Access to my complete, 6-part Brand Laboratory Course, at your own pace so you can take your time building your brand the right way the first time
- Access to EXCLUSIVE Canva social media templates that you can customize to match your new branding
- Bi-weekly live coaching calls — known as Office Hours — during which I answer your specific questions and offer live feedback on your brand-building progress
- Membership in the private Brand Lab Facebook group where you can ask questions of me AND fellow brand builders so you can commiserate on your collective progress.
- Access to the How to Work with Brand Reps eBook, which teaches you how to get photos of your products without spending cash
- Get 40% off any exclusive logo template from the Blue Agate Creative shop
- 50% off 1-on-1 Brand Clarity sessions, for any questions you don’t want to ask in a group setting
- Access to any new Blue Agate Creative eBooks and individual courses release during the course of your 12-month membership
If you’re hesitating? Don’t! Lock in your membership and kick start your brand journey today.
The Brand Laboratory Course teaches you, step-by-step, how to craft a well-thought-out, beautifully designed, consistent brand. It will teach you how to make the kind of brand decisions that it will take to grow.
In this 6-part course, I’ll offer comprehensive guidance to solidifying your entire brand presentation, from what you offer and exactly who you are serving, to your brand name to story and visuals, so you can walk in confidence that your brand represents you and your business authentically. Because guess what? Having a brand that accurately represents who you are and who you want to serve helps people trust you and choose to work with you — which will help you make more money, faster.
You will be part of a group of women who are fiercely committed to building amazing brands, and who want to do it with guidance and a like-minded community to hold each other accountable, commiserate over challenges, and celebrate wins.
In our live bi-weekly coaching calls — my Office Hours — I will offer real-time guidance on brand-building and be able to answer your specific questions AND address any resistance that might come up as you work through the lessons.
And resistance very well may come up, as it often does when you’re in expansion mode. This is when it is important to have a trusted coach to help you work through not just the strategic challenges of brand building, but the mindset challenges too.
The structure of the course is designed to give you a chance to really think about the materials and complete each lesson in a way that is true to you and your business goals. It’s not about rushing through, trying to get to the next task. This is why I’m presenting this offer as a 12-month membership. It is important that you consider each lesson carefully and follow the steps, and take your time doing so. That’s the only way this course will be effective for you. It works if you work it.
In the course, you will learn:
part 1: Your Ideal Customer & Products
Why are starting here? Simple. Because there is no way you can craft a brand look or a message that targets the right customers if you don’t know who they are and what to offer that solves a problem for them. This lesson is really the key to unlocking HOW to set your business up for success. It’s a lesson I wish I’d had 15 years ago when I was trying to do graphic design for any and everyone who would hire me. This is the piece of advice that would’ve saved me a lot of stress and worry and really opened me up to making more money a lot faster. You’ll learn:
- How even the largest retailers — who seemingly serve everyone — have an ideal customer, and how they tailor their brand design and messaging to that person, which draws in others by extension.
- Identifying your current customers, if you’re already in business, and figuring out if they actually represent your ideal.
- How to figure out who your ideal customer is, in detail. It’s about more than serving women or serving men. What kind of man? What kind of woman? What do they like? What do they dislike?
- How to create products that best serve your ideal customers. Once you know exactly who they are and the pain points you can alleviate for them, your ideal products will reveal themselves naturally.
- Worksheets to help you think through these questions in detail.
part 2: Naming Your Business
Even if you’re already in business, this lesson can help you figure out if you’re on the right path. Naming your business is a highly personal task, but it should still be guided by specific principles and factors that can affect how well your business name — and in turn, your brand website URL — perform and resonate with your customers. You’ll learn:
- Why you should always have the final say in what you call your business — not a chorus of random people you ask for advice.
- How to identify your brand story and use that — along with the ideal customers you identified in part 1 — to help you choose a business name.
- How to brainstorm effectively.
- What you should avoid when naming your business.
- How to find out if the name you choose is already in use, and what that means for your business.
- How to choose the best possible website URL and why your domain name truly matters.
- Worksheets to help you work through your choices.
part 3: Logo & Brand Style Guide
Time to start making your brand look the part! Whether you have access to Adobe Illustrator and plan to design your logo on your own, or you plan to hire a designer, you’ll learn what really makes a dope logo and how to create one — or choose one, if you’re hiring a designer. You’ll learn:
- Why your logo is NOT your brand, but still needs to be an amazing representation of it.
- How to figure out what you want your logo to say about your business.
- How to use — and not use — color in your logo.
- What will most appeal to your ideal customer, and how you can most simply and clearly communicate your message to them.
- The principles I use to create EVERY logo I design.
- The best way to approach your logo if you’ll design it yourself.
- What to request from your logo designer, to make sure your logo is versatile and ready to use however you need it.
- What fonts to avoid like the plague.
- How to create a Brand Style Guide, also known as the Holy Grail of your branding, which will direct everything from color palette to typography and overall brand mood.
- How to use your style guide moving forward to ensure your branding will stay consistent, whether you continue to work on your brand on your own or work with a designer.
part 4: Website Plan
Yes, you need a website. But understanding how to properly structure it for maximum effectiveness is infinitely more important than just having a website for the sake of it. And before you start building, you need to know WHAT to put on it. Trust me when I say that in all my years as a brand and website designer, this is where so many folks struggle. And I’m going to give you a roadmap that makes it SO much easier than going at it blind. You’ll learn:
- What information should be on your homepage, and what should not.
- How to capture your visitors’ interest in 10 seconds and maximize the space “above the fold” on your website.
- How to incorporate calls to action so they are most effective
- How to use your website as an automatic mailing list-building tool.
- How to create content that actually helps you sell rather than just fluff.
- How to know when you need the help of a copywriter.
- A comprehensive guide and checklist to help you plan.
part 5: Website Build
Now that you have a solid plan for your website content and structure, you can move on to actually building it. And while this course is not going to teach you to write code from scratch or make you a web designer overnight, it will teach you:
- How to choose the website platform that is right for YOUR business, not just what everyone else is using.
- How to choose a website host and hosting plan, if you haven’t already.
- How to choose a beautiful, functional, trustworthy website template that can look and feel custom, but more importantly, that will maximize your business goals.
- What you need to customize to make sure your website still looks unique.
- Why website templates with page builders are a good choice, and which ones are the most user-friendly.
- How photography can completely change the look of your site, and whether you need to invest in a brand photoshoot.
- A comprehensive list of resources to help you build your site.
part 6: Social Media Presence
EVERY business needs to have a social media presence — that much is obvious. But unless you have team or a social media manager, figuring out how to use it to the best advantage of your business can be a challenge. You’ll learn:
- Why it’s so important that your brand visuals on social media be consistent with the rest of your branding.
- Why visual consistency doesn’t have to mean being rigid, and you can still show up as your authentic self.
- How to plan your content for each platform to increase engagement and look amazing.
- How to figure out where your ideal customers are so you’ll know where to spend your time, energy and marketing budget.
- How going LIVE on social media and posting short-form videos like Reels and TikToks can boost your business, no matter what industry you’re in.
Ready to build your brand with guidance and support?
Sign up for the Brand Laboratory membership now, with affordable monthly payments, or save by paying in full.
STILL THINKING ABOUT IT?
Well, the truth is, you can’t beat this value. You get guidance and support from a branding coach and designer with nearly 2 decades of receipts. And if you do the work, you’ll walk away from the Brand Laboratory course with an amazing brand that sets you up for success.
So let’s take a moment to talk about the cost of NOT learning how to brand your business. 6 months from now, do you want your business and brand to be in exactly the same place as you are now? How about 12 months from now? 2 years?
Consider that you’ll have 12 whole months of support as you completely transform your business into a bonafide brand that you will be able to confidently sell and promote. You’ll have a guide at your side to answer your most pressing questions, in the private Facebook group and in our bi-weekly coaching calls. You’ll be part of a group of brand builders who are doing exactly the same, so you’ll have solidarity. More than anything else, you don’t have to go it alone.
But just so you know it’s real:
HERE’S WHY MY CLIENTS TRUST ME:
I recently hired Jennae to help me build an entirely new platform from the bottom-up. I can say unequivocally that her outsized talent, nimble responsiveness and creativity were everything I needed and more. When you hire Jennae, you not only get a contractor — you get a partner who will help transform your dreams into reality. I highly recommend her services, and will certainly tap into her expertise in the future.
— VANESSA K. DE LUCA, FOUNDER, THE EDITOR IN CHIEF
& FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF ESSENCE MAGAZINE, CURRENT EDITOR IN CHIEF, THE ROOT
I absolutely love working with Jennae. I’ve had a number of graphic designers over the years and she’s the one I’ve stuck with. I love that I can provide her with nothing more than an overarching idea and the associated text, without giving her any creative direction, and she comes back with something 100% on brand that is beautifully designed with exactly the look and feel that I want. It takes so much off my plate knowing that I can trust her creative direction when it comes to my brand aesthetic. She is a true creative director and you will not be sorry if you hire her. In a sea of folks playing around with digital art tools — who call themselves graphic designers — Jennae is a true graphic artist, who will undoubtedly uplevel the look of your brand, allowing you, as a small business, the ability to compete with Fortune 500 companies. You’ve got a lifetime client in me.
— GWEN JIMMERE, FOUNDER & CEO, NATURALICIOUS
I set out to refresh my brand of vegan, health conscious, energy-infused hair & skin care product packaging to better reflect who the brand is, what problems it aimed to solve, and what consumers should expect. It has been a journey…I was on the hunt for top-notch designers who instantly understood my vision and vibed with me. I lucked up and found Jennae Petersen, founder of Blue Agate Creative. What a blessing. She is talented, fueled to do what’s right, and has been fantastic to work with. A true blessing. My vision has been realized and beyond. Thank you, Jennae. My pockets are kind of light lol, but it has been worth every cent.
— CARLITHEA ABRAM, FOUNDER & CEO, POLLYNATION APOTHECARY
Don’t ignore the chance to have an experienced branding coach and designer walk you through the process of not just building a business, but crafting a brand, via careful, well-thought-out decisions, step-by-step. The bright, profitable future of your business is absolutely worth it.
