Define the Brand...

Read this on the internet today:

"Sometimes a brand needs to be created, and sometimes it needs to be refreshed because everything around it is shifting. The most important thing is to convey who and what you are with clarity and simplicity. Identify your brand truths and use them to drive your business in a competitive marketplace."

Boy, is that spot on! It's so easy for all of us to get caught up in "marketing" and forget that the real need is for us to CLEARLY, and SIMPLY, communicate our message! What better time of year than now to identify what we want to accomplish and communicate?

Go back t the basics. Remember why it is you got started in this business in the first place. What kind of images do you want to take? What kind of studio do you want to own? What kind of photography do you want to offer? Are you doing it? If not, why not? Could part of the reason be that you are not clearly communicating those messages to your audience?

On a piece of paper, write down the kind of jobs you want to photograph...in as specific detail as possible. Now write the kinds of jobs that make up the bulk of what you are actually shooting. Now take a look at your marketing pieces - objectively. This includes any printed material you may handout, your website, your facebook page, etc. Anything at all that shows your work to an audience. Are you showing what you want to sell? In other words, are you communicating who you are with clarity and simplicity? If not, this might be the perfect place to begin a marketing overhaul in 2010!