Branding and Marketing

"Don't look at someone else's cake (finished product) and lament because yours doesn't look like that. Realize that you have all the right ingredients - mix it up and make your own cake!" - Thesha Bove (my good friend)

I have been led lately to reinvent myself as a photographer/business person. I started last year and strictly put myself in a box as a children's photographer. Everything from my website to my business cards were geared towards getting that market. Yet the people who have sought out my services have been musicians, actors, models and entrepreneurs. I realized that I truly enjoy photographing adults, and if I need a children fix, I've got my own beautiful subjects :) Not that I will never take pictures of other families and children again, but I'm just busting out of that box.

So in my quest to market and brand myself, I reconnected with a good friend from years ago, Thesha Bove. We attended the same church at the time (the infamous Jesus Is Lord) and have both since gone in separate directions. I had no idea that she is a marketing guru extraordinaire in the making. She has in two conversations reawakened me and lit me on fiyah! It's nice to have someone else do that for you when you absolutely love doing it for others (what's that thing about sowing and reaping? lol). Everything I had read said I had to pick a certain aspect of photography, that I had to label myself. She made me realize that I am a photojournalist, an editorial photographer, one who tells the story through pictures...and that story can be anything. She confirmed that the best advertising I can do is through networking (which I've avoided but can totally get into). She reminded me that my image needs to be edgy and artsy (which my friend Tarsha told me years ago). That completely resonates with me.

In searching out different branding/marketing articles on the web, I inadvertently came across Jasmine Star, a born again photographer from California. She is absolutely amazing and speaks to me on so many levels. She left law school to become a photographer after being inspired by her own wedding photographer (David Jay) and is now at the top of her industry after only two years. When Thesha told me the girl reminds her of me, I was floored. Seriously? That's when she said what I quoted at the top of this page. I am so super excited to mix up my own ingredients and get a cake, instead of trying to get the ingredients that will make all the pretty cakes I've seen. David Jay is another born again photographer from California who is equally amazing. He tours the country and gives lectures about photography. I just became his fan on facebook (lol).

I say all this to say that today I am inspired. I am inspired by my friend, Thesha, who has marvelously gotten me back on track. I am inspired by these two wonderful photographers that I've never met who are bold bodacious Christians, excellent in what they do. Most of all, I must say, I am inspired by all the wonderful things that are in ME that I get to pull out and use to paint a beautiful tapestry. I've spent so much time pulling out the gifts in others compared to the amount of time I've spent looking inward to find out what Yah put in me. I have a feeling there's some good stuff in there and I'm looking forward to what my own "brand" will look like. Let the baking begin!