Monday Must: AMA: Madie Lerue

Madie Lerue is the founder and designer at Lerue Creative, a digital design studio. She partners with ambitious & thoughtful female-founded businesses and empowers them with brand-building digital design. 

This week Madie answered questions about all things digital design & branding - from websites, to social media, to email newsletters and beyond.

How do you build an Instagram account organically? It feels like everything will get lost in the noise, there's sooo much out there.

The strategies to build an Instagram account are ever changing and they can definitely be hard to keep up with or even really get a grasp on, but the first thing to look at is what "building" an Instagram account really means to you and your business. Is it the number of followers, amount of engagement, or how much conversion you get from the app into your business? To increase your followers you need to get your account in front of more people, which can be done through giveaways, online summits, and IG lives with other brands you're aligned with. But once you get in front of people, you need to tell a story and provide value on your account that people can connect with and that gives them a reason to follow, then engage, then purchase. The most authentic and consistent you can be, the better, and don't worry about perfection! A good practice to try when you're feeling lost or unsure what to post is to take a look at your favourite accounts and ask yourself why you like to follow them. When you're posting, you're really just giving someone a connection point. You don't need groundbreaking content, you just need to reach your hand out and lift people up with the solution that your business provides.

What has your experience been with working with female led brands and how does that inspire branding?

One of my favourite aspects of business is meeting new female entrepreneurs every week, understanding their vision and their branding challenges, and then figuring out how I can help bridge the gap between the two. No matter the industry, we can always connect around being female business owners and we often lean into that shared experience and perspective in the design process. Branding pulls together style, aesthetic and the emotions you want your clients or customers to feel when working with you, and I find female-led brands are really amazing at telling their story authentically. The possibilities for brands these days are endless, and each entrepreneur's unique approach is truly their superpower, their specific magic is what inspires their branding the most.

What do you focus on to develop your own brand? 

My first priority is always the client and providing the best service I can, because that is the deepest and long-lasting brand building you can do. Things like a strategic website, consistent brand visuals and a social media presence are all things that I'm continuously building and evolving one step at a time. Every year there's a shift that naturally comes with growth and experience, and I try to lean into my intuitive ideas along with advice from other business owners around me. I'm a big advocate of building a business in a sustainable way, taking calculated risks and challenging yourself with things that feel just outside of your comfort zone but that your gut knows is right. It's easy to look around and compare yourself to other entrepreneurs and their growth, but if longevity is your goal, stay focused on what's right for you!