So much to do. So little time. To prep our business for the holiday prime.

We’ve got our list. We’re checking it twice. We’re gonna find out if it’s muddled or precise. The holidays are coming to town!

Okay, okay… enough of the silly holiday jingles and my sad attempts at rhyming. I’m here to talk branding your business for the holidays and how to do it. I’ve got 4 tips for you that will help you give your branding a festive look for the holiday season. Let’s get to it!

Your current visual branding elements are things like your colors, fonts, and graphic designs. They’re things your customers see and associate with your business. It’s how people recognize you.

When you’re thinking about adding a holiday touch to your business, your best bet is to stick close to these elements so your business’s brand still looks like what people are used to seeing… just with a little holiday spirit added to it.

For example if you typically use blue and yellow for your branding colors… think about trying out an icy blue and gold to pull the holidays in.

Next up, what exactly do you want to change around for the holidays? Is it your blog and shop header? Would you like business cards specifically for the holidays?

Knowing what you want to add that festive touch to will help you when it comes to looking for inspiration and making decisions… which brings us to the next tip.

Inspiration is everywhere. Outside in nature, all over “big business” marketing, on design blogs, and in my favorite spot… Pinterest!

When it comes to getting inspired for the holidays, opening your eyes wide to all sorts of holiday goodies, be it photos, foods, brochures, or seasonal clothing, can get your creative right-brain flowing with ideas that you can pull into your business.

Start a Pinterest board for your inspired ideas. It’s easy to pin images from all over the web, and once your board is complete, you can look over it and see if there’s an overall theme or color that you’re seeing. Chances are, that’s a good place to start!

I think this tip is pretty self-explanatory. Simple is always better.

It helps to make subtle changes, and to not overdo it. Gaudy holiday branding will most likely have the opposite affect you were looking for and will draw the wrong kind of attention to your business.

Stick with the basic branding principles of 3-5 colors, 2-3 fonts, lots of white space, clean lines, and clear graphics. Keeping your holiday branding simple will have a much better affect on your business than going overboard.

This is the basis of all the other tips and the probably the most important one. At the core of any branding… holiday or otherwise… is your business’s vision and values.

When you make any changes to your business ask yourself if the changes reflect the vision and values you have for your business. If so, ask yourself if your perfect customer would be happy with your changes. If so, you’re in good standing with your business’s branding.

*These tips are from the Holiday Branding Planner that’s a part of the Deck The Shop – 2012 Holiday Business Planners. Learn more about the planners here and get your business organized for the holiday rush.

Do you have plans to spice up your business’s branding for the holidays? What are your ideas? Share your genius with me in the comment section below. You know I love hearing from you!