We’ve covered a lot so far. You have discovered your purpose in business and created a clear message so your clients are not confused. Now, I’m going to cover how to create an impactful visual brand so your brand message and visuals are connected and cohesive.

Get Inspired

The first step to creating an amazing visual brand is to get some inspiration. Go to Pinterest and start a board of photos, colors, fonts, and other visuals that feel right to you. Pin at least 25-30 of these. Once you do that, you can go back through your board and see if there are any you need to remove. This is just inspiration, but it’s helpful for you to know your style and what you like before starting to think about your business colors, look, and feel!

Jot Down What You Want People to Think and Feel

The second step is to write down what you want people to feel and think about your brand. For example, let’s say you’re an earthy brand that sells organic skin care products. You’ll want customers to feel calm and refreshed on your site. What about a product for kids? You’d probably want them to be more excited and energetic. Whatever it is, think about (and write down) how you want people to think and feel.

If you don’t currently have a logo and website, or if you’re thinking of redesigning yours, these are really great steps to go through before you go to a graphic designer! A good designer will ask you all of this information and more to dive deep into your brand and create something that truly represents it. 

Nail Your Photographic Imagery

Next I want to talk about imagery. As a photographer, I’ve seen first-hand how essential strong imagery is for businesses. It doesn’t matter whether you’re selling a product or building a personal brand, you need images that convey the way you want people to think and feel when they come to your site.

If you’re building a personal brand, you’ll definitely need some amazing photos of yourself throughout your site. People want a reason to trust you, so they’ll need to be able to see your face and amazing smile often! When I do personal brand photos, I also incorporate props and ideas that show not only who you are, but what you do in the images. This way when someone sees a photo of you, many questions are answered with one image. 

If you have a product based business, it’s important to have product photos with simple backgrounds and good light. It can also be helpful to show your product in action, if possible, again with good light and simple backgrounds. Professionality is key here, because products that are presented poorly make it easy for customers to flee. 

Now that you have completed these steps, you’ll know which photos to put on your social media and website, and which ones to avoid. Go back to the list you created in our clarity section about how your clients’ lives are different now that you solved their problem, and see if you can find photos that show that outcome.

If you’re struggling to find photos and would like to go over your visual presence with someone, I’d love to help you do that! Schedule a chat here and we’ll get something on the calendar. 

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Here we are with the second foundational stone you need in your business — a clear message. I cannot stress the importance of this in the oversaturated social media age we live in. The amount of time someone spends on a website before making a decision whether to stay or bolt is approximately 2.6 seconds. If you don’t clearly state what you do and get someone curious about your business and your message, they won’t stay on your site. 

How do you find your message, though? How do you find ways to truly speak to your clients? I’ve come up with three questions that will give you a great start to discovering how to speak directly to them.

1. What are 10-12 things that describe your ideal client? I don’t want you to just write down where they shop and what brands they like, but think through the character traits that describe them, the creativity displayed by your favorite clients, or even the way they care for their families. Write down some things that best describe them, and remember you can always add and revise the list later.

2. What are your clients thinking and feeling right now? Do they have things they’re struggling with and that’s why they need your product or service? Are they searching for cute clothes for their kids? Are they overwhelmed with trying to design a website? Is there something that’s keeping them up at night? Write down as many things you can think of that they’re going through right now.

3. How would your clients’ lives be different now that they have purchased your product or bought your service? Are they thrilled with their new product purchase? Have you made their lives easier? Have you helped them organize their home so they can relax and enjoy their space? Write down as many as you can think of!

Once you have those written down, circle the ones that really stand out to you and you’ve got the start of a really great message. All of these things you just wrote down can be questions you address in social media posts and ways you talk about how you change lives. This is all about changing your customers’ lives and making sure they know how you’re changing it. Achieve clarity in your message, and you’re well on your way toward a better brand and a more successful business.

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Knowing yourself in business is critical if you want to make sure your foundation is solid. If you don’t know the reason behind your business and the reason you’re working hard as an entrepreneur, it’s easy to lose focus and go in directions that aren’t ultimately leading you where you want to go. 

If you’re not sure what your “why” is, here are a few questions to ask yourself so you can discover it.

1. What is it that drives you to do what you do? Is it your family? Is it giving yourself flexibility so you can travel? Whatever it is, thinking through the things that really push you forward when you are tempted to give up — these are important to recognize and write down so you can come back to them regularly. I’ve created a vision board for myself and I love having it on the wall by my desk to inspire me.

2. What is it that makes you come alive in your business? I know as business owners, we wear lots of hats. Some of them we like, some of them we’re pretty bad at, and some are what we absolutely love! I want you to think through your business and think of the things that truly make you come alive. Whether you are a product-based business or a service-based business, think through the parts of your business that keep you going. If you can write down five to ten things, that’s great!

3. What is it that you’re good at? When you think through the things you’re doing in your business and the way you’re serving clients, what are three to five things you truly excel at? If you can think of the things you are truly gifted at, that are second nature to you, these will help you realize what makes your company different from other companies. 

Having a written purpose gives you a direction for yourself and your team to head towards. It’s so important to make sure everyone knows the reason why a business is truly in business and to know the direction you’re going. We all go through different seasons and challenges in our time as business owners, and having something concrete you can look at to remember why you started is really important. I recommend setting aside some time yearly to look through your detailed “why” and reviewing the cliffnotes version quarterly. You’ll be surprised at how this one simple exercise can change your perspective!

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1. Knowing the Heart of Your Business

If you’ve never thought about the reason you’re building your business or working in your field, stop right now and do that! Write down some of the reasons you’re working in the first place. Starting off with “making more money” is fine, but I’d like you to dive even deeper than that into the heart of your business. What is it that makes you come alive in your business? Is it the flexibility your work affords you? Is it that you just love what you do and can’t imagine doing anything else? Is it your strong desire to serve people? Whatever your reasons, come up with as many as you can and write them down. This will help us as we go through the rest of the pillars.

2. A Clear Message 

I talk alot about this in my video, so go check it out if you have a few minutes. Creating a clear message comes down to identifying your ideal client, nailing their pain points, explaining how you solve their problems, and showing how their lives will change because of you. This can be a lengthy process, but it is definitely a worthwhile one as you create clarity in your brand message!

3. An Impactful Visual Brand

Of course I’m going to talk about this as a photographer! These days, so much of what we see and relate to is visual. It goes beyond the words we read. Our brand colors, look, and feel all need to match up with our Why and our Brand Message, or it will just be confusing! If you’re a high-end luxury brand, your photos and colors need to express that or there will be a disconnect in people’s minds. Remember, a confused mind always says no, and that applies to your visual brand as well.

4. Ways to Get Your Message Out

This is such a critical part of your business! You can have the best looking brand, the prettiest photos, and the clearest message possible, but if no one knows about you, it doesn’t do any good! This comes back determining where the ideal client you identified in step two spends time online and/or in person. From there, you craft your message, find ways to reach them where they’re at, and engage your clients. Once you find some ways that work for you and your business, you’ll find connections happening quickly and easily with a clear message and amazing visual brand.

5. A System to Handle Clients

So you have a strong brand, your website looks amazing, your message is working and you’re getting clients. Now what? The next part of making sure your brand says what you want it to is to have a system in place to take care of your clients. Mapping out the client journey to make sure they are taken care of from beginning to end is critical. These are the clients that will refer you, leave reviews, and ultimately be able to grow your business. This is the heart of your business and the heart of why you do what you do. Take care of them, and you’ll see amazing things happen. 

There you have it — the five things every business must have in order to grow, scale, and serve their clients well. I know it can be overwhelming, but keep in mind that this is an evolving process. You may not know right now who your ideal client is, but you can start somewhere. You might not know what photos portray your brand, but you can put something up now. Doing something is better than doing nothing! Just remember — you’re not in it alone. There are people out there (like me!) who love helping businesses find their heart and soul and share that with the world. Check back soon, as I’ll be unpacking each of these steps in more detail over the next few weeks!

-Susie

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Here’s how I see it: There are several parts to a brand: Visual brand (the look, feel, and photos you have) but another major part of your brand is your brand message (your copy, how you market). Brand strategy is really about taking those two parts of your brand, making sure they’re all cohesive across all platforms, and coming up with a strategy for your brand and your business. I’ve always LOVED business planning so adding in this portion of my business along with the branding photos is such a natural thing for me, and I just get excited talking to entrepreneurs about growing their businesses! 

Here are a few things that are included in my brand strategy coaching:

1. Create a very clear message for your brand

This includes creating a client avatar, coming up with pain points your client faces, and how you can change their lives with your service or product. It’s really a process that businesses will review each year, but I’ll walk with you step by step to create this for your business. Once we create a message that will speak to your ideal client, it’s onto the next step!

2. Add this message to your online presence

Chances are, we’ll need to update the copy on your website (this will typically include taking a lot of information OFF your site!!  More is NOT better in this case). We’ll also come up with ways and ideas on how you can write blog posts, social media content or create videos with the message we’ve come up with for your business.

3. Next we do a brand audit

A brand audit includes checking across all your social media platforms to make sure your message and visuals are consistent! We’ll update the about me sections, make sure you have photos that show what you’re about, and check to make sure links are all current and working. This can take some time, but it’s also a lot of fun! If you haven’t grabbed my FREE brand audit checklist, get it here!

4. Create a plan that includes practical implementation steps

Once we do all this work, we’ll come up with how to implement this into your business now and long term! We think about 1 year, 2 year, and even 5 years down the road and how to plan for your message to be far reaching through the channels that work for your business. Some of these steps we come up with might seem small, but if they’re done consistently over time, they can yield major results!

If you’re looking for someone to make sure your brand is consistent, your brand message is on point, and attracting the clients you need, follow along with me as I give more tips and strategies over the next few months that you can implement yourself! 

-Susie 

If you want to make sure your brand is consistent across all of your social media platforms, grab my FREE brand audit checklist.

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When I started planning this session with Aimee, it started like any other brand strategy call – finding out more about Aimee and her business. I never just show up on the day of a session and start taking photos! We do a lot of prep work so I know what stories we need told for this business. I ask lots of questions, listen even more, and then start writing a plan for how to visually portray her business.

Stories we told for A. Griffin Events

We came up with several different stories to tell for Aimee, including 1) Aimee the planner, 2) Aimee the designer & 3) Team brand photos. As we continued planning before the session I knew it would be amazing (Aimee’s creativity is 2nd to none!). The care and detail that went into this session I’m sure is only a small part of what goes into a wedding day for her couples.

Here are a few things we were incorporating into this personal branding session:
1) Aimee runs a client-centered company with a passion for service and kindness
2) She has amazing clients who need a company with high standards, attention to detail, and the ability to plan a personalized wedding that will be an incredible celebration of their family and friends.
3) Cool, calm, cheerful and kind are four words we wanted to come across in these photos.
4) This is a designer with great taste and a passion for what she does!
5) Her team also exudes the same values that Aimee brings to her business

Hair and makeup for the session by Makeup by Ana B

These are hand painted by LH Calligraphy just for this session – see what I mean by amazing details?!?!?!
Linens by Nuage Designs

Rentals by Something Vintage Rentals

These gorgeous florals are by Darling and Daughters Floral

-Susie

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When you’re creating your website, there’s a lot that goes into it. But, the first thing you absolutely have to nail is your home page headline, and here’s why. People today are spending 2.6 seconds deciding whether or not to stay on a website online. This means, in that time they have to be able to see very clearly what you do, who you do it for, and how you can help them in order to keep them on your site. 

There are three parts to creating an impactful header 1) Who are you serving 2) What is the problem you’re solving and 3) Why should they hire you? If these things aren’t clearly stated on your site, people won’t stay and you could be losing out on so much revenue simply because your message isn’t clear. You could be the absolute perfect fit for them, but if they don’t know it, they’ll be gone.

Who is your ideal client?

Let’s break these down a little bit more, and address them one by one. First of all, who are the primary clientele you serve? If you know who they are, that’s the first step! If you are still struggling to discover who you want to serve, spend a little bit of time coming up with an ideal client avatar for your business. Let’s say you’re a financial planner who helps women who are retiring or close to retiring, but don’t know how to invest money, or what to do with their finances from here on out. This will be a very specific age range – somewhere in the 55-65 range, and will help narrow down the rest of the process. Obviously there is much more to age range with an ideal client, but it gives us a starting point here!

What problem are you solving?

Using the example above, we have a few things that stand out. 1) The client is about to retire 2) They feel out of control with their finances 3) They don’t know what step they should take. This is a really great example of how this client is feeling, and the emotional problem we can help them with – they feel out of control. When coming up with your client’s problem think beyond just “they don’t have a car” or “they need a haircut”, but why do they need a car, and what will happen if they don’t get it. We want to be speaking to their emotional needs, rather than JUST their physical. People buy based on emotion (even if they don’t like to admit it!) 

Why should they hire you?

Now onto step three. This is where it can all come together for your headline. What will happen in their life if you take that pain point they are feeling and walk them through the process to solve it? Their lives will be better – so much better, in fact, that they’re willing to hire you! Again, using the example above with the financial planner, we know that the client would feel in control, know what to do, and be able to enjoy her retirement knowing she’ll be taken care of. This is where we bring it together in an impactful way, so they feel a sigh of relief reading your site, and saying “I need that!”

So how do we tie this all together? Let’s take these three steps now, and come up with something that we could put on a site to speak to this client. First of all, we know it’s women, we know they feel out of control, and we want to empower them to take control. We could do something like this “Empowering women to take control of their finances”. If we have room, we could add a tagline underneath that speaks to the retirement piece, and it could be something like this “Enjoy your retirement with financial peace of mind”. This way we’re letting them know they’ll be in control, they’ll have peace, and enjoy their retirement! That sounds like an amazing life right there!

Like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, crafting an impactful headliner is so critical to the success of your online presence! Not only does it give people the information they need as soon as they visit, but then you use that headliner to create so many marketing pieces to speak specifically to that client and how you solve their problems. If you don’t have clear messaging, you’ll be spinning your wheels trying to get clients, but when your message is clear, you’ll know what to say and when to say it so you can attract your ideal clients and make more money now.

-Susie

If you’d like me to help you out with crafting an impactful headliner for your website, click here to book a call!

The post How to Create an Impactful Headline for your Website appeared first on DC| MD Headshot and Branding Photographer.

First let’s look at what a brand is:

• A promise to your customer
• A name, symbol, or other features that identify your business as distinct
• The idea or image people have in their mind when thinking about your business
• A person’s gut feeling about your business or product that you sell

So, in a nutshell, branding gives meaning to your business.  

Let’s dive a little deeper into branding and talk about you and your business.  

How do you want people to think of your business?  

Why do you do what you do? 

How are you different from the competition? (You are different, trust me!)

Are you consistent on your online platforms and in person?

A strong brand isn’t just getting a new website or a new profile photo.  It’s not achieved overnight, either. Your brand comes from your core values and beliefs that you live over and over each day, and in each interaction with your customers. 

Take a few minutes, write down 3 of your core values.

Now write down 3 things you want people to feel and think when your company comes to mind.

Now go out and do those. Every day. In the same way.

That’s what will make your brand stand out. 

Do you have questions about your brand?  I’d love to chat with you! I’m offering 5 lucky business owners a free brand strategy call with me ($450 value), where we’ll go over your visual brand together and come up practical steps you can make to uplevel your brand!

Click here to apply!

Susie Hadeed
Brand Strategist & Photographer
www.susiehadeed.com

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Normally, the planning process for a personal branding session is much more indepth and intense, but since Lynn just went through the process with her brand designer, it didn’t take long at all. If you’re doing a re-brand, or even creating a brand for the first time, having your personal brand photos and the branding package done at the same time saves you a lot of time and energy!

Anyway, enough reading – on to the photos in this amazing house!

A few things that Lynn did a wonderful job with for her session:
1) Chose a meaningful and amazing location for the photos! This is a house where a good friend of hers lives (who just happens to be an interior designer!) and was gracious enough to let us use it for the session. When you’re planning your session, don’t be afraid to think outside the box when it comes to locations!
2) She chose a variety of outfits in her branding theme/colors. She chose some dressier, with a statement necklace, a fun piece (leopard print skirt, anyone?) a more casual outfit, and a fun pop of color with a pink skirt!
3) She had her hair and makeup professionally done. This makes such a difference, ladies!!! You want to feel amazing in your session and this works every time.

Lynn, it was such a pleasure working with you on your realtor personal branding photos! I hope these photos help show your potential clients how wonderful you are in real life!

Susie

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For now, though, enjoy these fun winter/holiday photos and feel free to tag me when you use them, so I can re-share your content! Here’s a preview of a few of them below:

Wishing you the BEST December ever!

Susie

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