Let’s face it, AI is revolutionizing our society for better or worse. It’s giving us convenience on steroids in all facets of business. It has the ability to create almost anything in a matter of a few seconds. Having this tool within arm’s reach at all moments is revolutionary. But the term “AI Slop” was not popularized for no reason; not everything AI makes is amazing, creative, accurate, and far from revolutionary. Using AI for your brand is beneficial, but what good is utilizing it for your business if you have no clarity?

Lack of clarity and expert guidance on your brand journey can be incredibly hindering. You can utilize the online templates, AI platforms, and that cheap freelancer you hired one time, all you want, but none of the tools work without clarity and vision for what your brand stands for and where you want it to go. Without direction, no matter what you use, you’re just perpetuating a cycle of getting the same useless results, only faster. Who wants trash quickly?

Every business needs clarity because it allows you to be intentional with your planning. When a business has a lack of clarity, it just blows wherever the wind takes it. The difference in having clarity is that you’re more likely to end up where you want to go. Once you have your vision, that is the first step to seeing better results. Then better results equal more sales and then more eyes from your target market, which is what you want. Envision what your company stands for, what a typical consumer looks like, the values or mindset of that consumer, and how your brand benefits them. You can’t get in front of the right people if you don’t know who you want to be in front of, why they need/want your product, or what actually gets them to make the purchase. Successful big brands utilize research studies and psychology to make, promote, and sell their goods or services. And those same things can be true for your business, too, but first, you must have clarity and vision.

As business owners, I’m sure we all know the importance of flyers, promotions, service menus, photos, and more. Yet, while the importance of those types of media is known, what many people fail to understand is the importance of different types of files for various media. The typical PDF or JPEG are widely popularized file types, but what about PNG, MOV, GIF, or EPS, and when to use a different type of file? Being unaware of creative materials and their file type can be very costly, especially when it comes to the printing stage.

Here is a quick cheat sheet for file types and their purposes

• JPEG – Web, Social Media, Email – Universal compatibility; small file size.
• PNG – Logos, Web Graphics – Transparent backgrounds; no quality loss.
• EPS – Print, – Highest quality; scaleable vector; holy grail of your logo files.
• SVG – Logos, Icons – Scalable (infinitely resizable); SEO friendly.
• PDF – Contracts, Invoices, Proofs – Preserves layout; cannot be easily edited by clients.
• ZIP – Client Galleries – Compresses large sets of photos into one easy download.
• MP4 – Social Media Ads – Plays on almost every device (iPhone, Android, PC, Mac).

When you tell AI to “develop this graphic for more” or “make a logo for my plant shop”, the reality is the type of file you’re getting is typically a PNG or PDF. But for a logo or graphic, especially one you want displayed on your site, those file types are incorrect and could be negatively impacting your business. Using a cheap AI prompt to get a quick result will leave you in the same space as hiring a cheap, inexperienced freelancer; poor resolution, incorrect sizing, wrong file types and colorspaces, and an endless number of headaches that show up later on in the creative process

“Time is money,” a cliche phrase proven to be true. the time you spend hunting down online templates to fill in, or putting countless prompts into AI. paying other clueless people to help you with materials you end up wasting valuable time for a mediocre, non-timeless result that you still aren’t fully satisfied with. This is the time you could’ve spent in your genius zone, gaining clarity and constructing timeless materials that will last you years. 

It’s not AI, it’s you. You came up with your business idea, you got your business to this point, not AI. Take back creative control of your business and pour into it like you would a flower you want to grow. 

If you are ready to take that next step in your business, gain clarity and construct those very materials that will last you years and solidify your positions 

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