Photography Websites, Blogs, Slideshow, Photo Cart

It is time to take your spiritual brand journey. Climb up the mountain, sit with the shaman, and come down with a brand. Yes this is not easy, but just like vegetables, this will make your business stronger. So, plug your nose, eat your spinach, and make your business big and strong.

WHAT IS A BRAND? A brand is not just a logo or colors. It is an experience that someone is left with after interacting with your business. The logos, colors, and graphic elements are just the outer shell of your brand called an identity. The identity is going to many times be the first element of your brand that your client interact with.

WHAT IS MY BRAND? Many times, we have a brand and we are not aware of it. One of the easiest ways to start understanding what your current brand experience is to ask your favorite clients why they enjoyed working with you. Some might say that you are easy to talk to. Others might say your customer service is excellent. What ever the reasons are, this is the brand experience that you are presenting already.

EXPAND ON YOUR BRAND? Now that you know why your favorite clients were attracted to you, it is time to make more of that honey to attract more of those bees. So, the next questions to ask are: How can I build an experience that exploits those strengths? How do I build an identity that represents those strengths?

YOUR CORE CLIENT What is the demographic of my favorite client? If you want to attract more of your favorite clients, then understanding your client is key. Do not try to service the entire world. It is better to always have a core demographic. This allows you to establish rules for your attracting your client. Are they women? Are they 20-30 something in age?

THE BRAND MESSAGE After you understand your client and your strengths, you can start to establish your message. This message is a few sentences that describe what you do, what makes you unique, and who you do it for. This will become the core of your brand experience. For example:

• MY SERVICE: We provide online marketing tools such as slideshows, proofing systems, websites, and blogs to professional photographers to help them create brand awareness and market their services.

• WE ARE UNIQUE BECAUSE: We are constantly striving to be innovative in the design and technology in our products. In addition, we provide a one on one “answer the phone” kind of customer service that creates a strong bond between us and our clients.

• OUR CLIENT IS: Our core demographic is the young (at heart), adventurous, trendy, tech savvy photographers that understand the importance of brand and innovation.

THE BRAND IDENTITY The brand identity establishes the rules for designing everything from print, to web, to packaging. The basics consist of a color pallet, logo, and fonts. If you don’t have a logo and are not sure about your colors, then you have no identity. No identity is sending the wrong message. When thinking about your identity you need to remember a few things: stay true to the brand message, be unique, and be consistent.

STAY TRUE TO THE MESSAGE Don’t try to be a brand that you are not. If you are trying to create a brand identity that is high end like BMW, but the experience that you provide is fun and cute like Hello Kitty…your brand identity will never represent your brand experience. Ultimately, you will attract clients that want a BMW experience but receive Hello Kitty.

BE UNIQUE Own your identity. What do I mean? What colors do you think of when you think of Coke, Pepsi, H&R Block? You need to establish your logo, fonts, and colors and make people identify them with your company. This is done through consistency.

CONSISTENCY Use your identity on business cards, print material, packaging, websites, etc. Make sure that when someone sees your identity, they can match it to all aspects of your business.

RULES, RULES, RULES One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to try to develop your blog or website while trying to develop your brand identity. This will ultimately fail, because there are no rules established because there is no identity. The brand identity is the rule book for everything you do visually. This will help you make decisions on textures, papers, patterns, sizes, etc. You should constantly ask yourself: Does this go with my brand and why?

MY BRAND HAS LIKES AND DISLIKES? This is the hardest part to grasp…Because you have established rules for your brand, it could potentially have likes and dislikes that are different from yours. For example, my brand could be colorful, approachable and fun. I might see a BMW commercial that is high-end and elegant. Stay focused and DO NOT try to mesh the two worlds or you will ultimately have a mixed up message.

COMMUNICATING WITH A DESIGNER If you were a chef, and someone came into your restaurant and said… “Make me something tasty, not to spicey, with a lot of flavor, that’s unique” You probably would not know where to start.

The designer is going to need more than just…. “I want a brand that is fun, but elegant, with a touch of funk.”

Once you have your message, start looking around at brand identities that fit your message. Find the common elements that you think fit your message. Talk with the designer about these brands identities and explain to them why you think they visually represent your message. Keep an open mind and always ask the question,…How does this fit my message?

WHEN SHOULD I CHANGE MY BRAND? Brands should always evolve. There is no right or wrong answer to when your brand needs to be refreshed. However, if you spend the time to build a brand experience and identity, it will naturally evolve at the right time.

GET STARTED It is time to start your journey….Why are you still reading this? Go.