Okay so who needs to read another blog post about branding..been there done that, right?
So, why are we here? Obviously you love me 
Or your still searching for what will make you stand out.
I’ve been shooting pro for 8 years now and up until now I’ve struggled with branding, who am I, what do I stand for and how can I convey that to my clients!
One thing branding is not is copying someone else. I’ve got a few examples, ready?
Jasmine Star – Lifestyle photographer! I love Jasmine and she’s amazing, if you get a chance to hear her speak, do it! She’s creative and full of energy and when her name got out there and people started to go to her website and amazing blog….all of a sudden something happened….everyone became “Lifestyle Photographers”
Then there is this line:“I capture your event with emotion and passion!” I feel sorry for the person who first coined the phrase, because I don’t know a photographer who does not use it. Hello! I’m guilty of using it too. But I seriously do feel that way, but again, it’s not my tag line!
What I’m trying to point out is… Sure you can be a lifestyle photographer and yes you’ve got emotion and passion but what sets you out to make you YOU?
Who are you and what do YOU have to offer your client? What’s so special about YOU?
you take pretty pictures?
They are all in focus?
You’re cute?
You have a way cool camera?
Seriously? What is it about you that would make someone want to hire you?
They say our market is being flooded with “Uncle Bobs” (an amateur photographer who goes pro, without knowledge or education) because of the tough times, someone says I can take pretty pictures with my Nikon CoolPix’s I can be a pro!
So now we have all these “photographers” charging 500 dollars and saying they are pro, they can capture your day in emotion and passion. What makes them different then you? Price? You better find a new profession!
Okay, now we need to take a deep breath, look into the mirror and stand there for a while and look, then think, what is it about me that makes me special in what I do? Who am I? Why do I love what I do? What makes me great?
Now, get to some quiet place… inside and out, get some paper out and let’s think about YOU! Write what comes to mind. Keep writing till nothing else comes to your mind, or you get silly
Take that paper and put it on your desk and look at it, often. I promise you, it will come. Maybe not in the time you feel you need it, it will come.
Some of us are more capable of discerning who we are faster then others…for me, I’m the others! Takes a while. Till now….
and after a year of thinking, trying, writing, re-writing, asking friends for help, borrowing others quotes… it hit me. I saw a word in a magazine and it just fell into place. Laying on the floor flipping through a magazine and BAM. I found me!
“It’s all about relationships, yours with your family and friends and ours with you”
I hope you all find your own individual branding or sentence for yourself and I hope it brings you all the prosperity but more then that, I hope you are happy with what you are doing. If not, talk to me…I’m sure we can work that out!
It’s what I do, I help people find their passion. Not everyone is a photographer, writer or author. We just need to find where our passion lies, not just our ability to make money, but our ability to soar!
I want you to soar!
Credit for this image goes to Preston Monoc visit his Facebook
oh yeah and I did a little bit of editing to it, too
