4 Steps to Understand your Brand & Attract your People!
Getting to the heart and soul of your brand can be challenging but it's worth the effort.
Putting your brand under a microscope seems like tough, uncomfortable work. I can attest to that! When I first started out, I didn't bother with this. I figured “why would I need to take the same business planning steps as large companies?” I’m only working for myself. And the longer I put off this task, the more daunting it became. But do you know what? It's actually not as terrifying as I thought it would be.
Identifying your brand values, recognizing your ideal audience, and creating your mission statement not only give you more confidence in your business, but knowing these can also help you carve your path forward and seek out projects and people that will help you grow, spending time nurturing relationships that truly matter.
Before booking a branding photoshoot, I'd highly recommend you take a moment to explore the following, if you haven’t already.
pinpoint your brand values
If this sounds challenging to identify at first, ask yourself these questions:
What traits are you most proud of in your business?
How do others describe the work you do, or how you do it?
What do you want to convey to your clients?
These answers are vital in determining how you want to broadcast your story and which consumers you want to connect with. Sharing these values build community, which can increase your customer base, as well as invoke brand loyalty by being your wonderfully honest, lovable self.
For instance, these are my values:
Mindfulness
Gratitude
Authenticity
Compassion
FUN
Ease
identify your ideal clients
You may scratch the surface of this when writing your mission statement but I encourage you to dive deeper.
These are the clients that you'd want to fill your calendar with in a perfect world. Who do you want to help? Maybe it's working mums like you; or perhaps humanitarians who dedicate their lives to others; or maybe you want to help best-selling authors who provide others an escape with their words. It may not feel like it right now but you definitely will have people you want to work with - it just takes some digging to figure it out!
If you have a look at my mission statement, you'll see that I want to work with creative women in business, and from that you can glean some potential characteristics. It's likely that my ideal clients are strong, independent women who love color, or have bright personalities, among many other things!
Figuring this out will help you build stories within your marketing that speak to your ideal audience, and connect with them on a level that will keep them coming back.
create your mission statement
I have to admit that writing a mission statement was kind of scary at first. It seemed so formal to me and that I was taking myself too seriously, but in reality it took only a few minutes and it's actually identified direction in aspects of my business. Plus, it really can be quite easy to create. Ask yourself the following questions:
Who are you?
What do you do?
Who are you for?
What problem do you solve?
You’re welcome to use mine as a reference to help you shape yours.
Wild Kind Photography creates vibrant, authentic, images for creative eco-minded women to nourish their brands by sharing their stories and connecting with their ideal clients through relaxed personal brand photoshoots.
appeal to those clients
Putting yourself, as well as the values you've identified, out there to start attracting beautiful souls, is the best way to appeal to your ideal clients. As they say, YOU are what makes your brand unique, so fly your flag, shake your booty, and leave it all on the field. Your people will find you if they love what you're about.
Use your commonalities with these people to attract their attention, start conversations, and nurture relationships.
For instance, in my hippie heart of hearts, I know that I want to focus my work with eco-friendly female-led brands, which is why I openly share natural photos, my vegan diet, and mostly galleries from my female clients. You can see this all over my website and social media. And more often than not, these women will be in natural poses that come from movement or laughter as I do my best to invoke authentic moments during the shoot.
These are all done in obvious yet understated ways to demonstrate the types of shoots I do, client traits I seek, and values I represent.
However you approach all of these steps, don't be afraid to let them see who you truly are. That's where the connections form!
Are you looking to elevate your confidence & boost your brand?
I'm here to guide compassionate entrepreneurs like you through fun and relaxed personal branding photoshoots that boost your confidence and save you time with loads of gorgeous content. Together we plan your shoot around your story and passions
in order to build trust and connect you to other beautiful souls by showcasing the authentic you.
Check out what's involved in Personal Brand Photoshoots and reach out when you're ready to learn more!
It's ok (and very common) to feel nervous on camera - I'm here to support you through the whole journey!
Here are some tips that may help with your camera confidence.
Read all about the steps to planning your brand shoot in my FREE brand photography intro kit!
