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Are You Ready to Ignite Your Brand?

04.06.2016 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

Today’s guest post is from my friend Britney Gardner, a brand photographer who has just launched a very cool 7 day Quickfire challenge that has kicked my butt. It was so great I thought you should hear about it too. Thanks Britney!

welcome-quickfireResults.

I can talk about looking great, but when it comes to marketing photography, you want results. I know the photographs I create will help you carry more confidence into your business. And it will. But what my clients need to know is what results I deliver.

I deliver branded business photos to my clients, and it’s up to you what you do with them. Now, I know if I set you up properly before the photoshoot even begins, big results are a sure thing.

So how do I set my clients up before the shoot? I do branding work with them. There are a lot of myths around branding, so to clarify what I do, I help my clients determine their best client.

Gone are the days in which you can market to anyone. Time streams along nicely when you’re working with clients who are a great match. It halts and crawls when you’re working with a client who doesn’t fit well. You know that saying, 20% of your clients take up 80% of your time? It doesn’t have to be that way. When you know your own core values, it’s much easier to define your best client. We work through exercises that help you define your core values and that of your clients. Then we determine how to speak to and market to that best client.

We do the branding work together, and then we create visuals that show that brand. We show what it feels like to work with you in every element of your business, from photos on your website to how you create graphics for your next advertisement, whether on social media or in print.

I created a seven-day brand upgrade challenge that goes over many of the questions I ask my clients. It came as a result of feedback my own clients gave me. They asked for a checklist they could refer to whenever they had branding questions. A way to reinforce our work together. So I built that, a check list.

It didn’t perform well despite my clients telling me it was what they wanted. So I put on my brand strategist goggles and looked at the situation. I finally realized, it was too much information! I crammed the checklist into a single page PDF with another page of explanations. When I looked at it in thumbnail view, it was just one solid block of text. I tell clients all the time, white space is king in today’s skimming age. And yet I wasn’t following my own advice.

So I broke it up into seven days of actionable, bite-size chunks of information. Some days have just a few small tasks, others are still a checklist. They’re easy ways to look at your business like a strategist would. And when you complete this challenge, you’ll upgrade your brand and look the part of the successful business you’re ready to be.

You’ll attract clients who “get you” and don’t question your worth or services. You’ll spend less time explaining what you do and how you do it. You’ll have better clients that take up less time. Those are the kinds of results we’re talking about!

Enter, the Ignite Your Brand Quickfire Challenge.

In the fashion of the reality TV Elizabeth loves, it’s an easy transition to let you know why I named this challenge after the Top Chef Quickfires. First, the Quickfire Challenge was a great show opener that reaffirmed they entire show’s premise. The contestants were never quite sure what was going to happen, but they knew that their results would depend on quick thinking and action. Second, it’s exciting! Do you remember when you first started your business and you were excited and nervous at the same time?

That state of energy is exactly what you’ll get back as you move through these seven days. Looking at your systems, your branding, your website everyday can lead to you having a filter. It’s not so much rose-colored glasses, but not-noticing glasses. It’s like that moment, the day before your in-laws are going to arrive and you look at your house with a different pair of eyes. If you’re like me, you start noticing all those niggly little details that didn’t seem like such a big deal last week, but now MUST BE FIXED IMMEDIATELY.

You can correct a lot of those little projects quickly. That will give you a great sense of accomplishment. I recommend you write down these things as you complete them. Next month if you feel behind on some projects, you can refer to how many unleveling tasks you took care of this week. It feels great!

The final reason I chose the Quickfire theme? Well, I have a thing for fire. There are so many stories and connotations there, but it’s really the idea that we all have sparks. Those sparks are ideas. If you ignore the spark and don’t give it the attention it deserves, it dies out pretty quickly. The same is true for your business. If you ignore your marketing, don’t define your brand, your business will die. But if you fan the flame, great things will grow out of that spark.

Which kind of business owner do you want to be?

Categories // Branding, Marketing

Keep Your Customers Happy

03.16.2016 by Elizabeth // Leave a Comment

CancelledThe yoga studio where I take pilates has recently changed owners. And the owner has decided to make the studio more zen and less core/workout focused. So the pilates classes are over and so is my life for now. I understand the new owner needs to make money and so changes come to streamline the studio so it works for her and stays afloat.

However, she’s just lost a good chunk of clients. I walked by this morning at our normal pilates time and the studio was closed. My friend and I took Norm for a walk because we wanted and needed exercise. Two of us (at least!) would have been there giving her studio money. Had there been any class this morning we would have been there.

I understand that the owner and my instructor needed to part ways – but it sure seems easier to keep your clients happy even if you aren’t as interested in the class. Upon hearing this new last week, one woman was asking how to get a refund on her 6 month membership since there weren’t enough morning classes for her now. I had pre-paid for chunk of classes and only have 3 left on my pass. I may use them if I see an instructor teaching something interesting, but they were a bonus (4 classes) when I bought a package, so I’m not really out any money.

I was talking to my chiropractor today (2 doors down from the yoga studio) and his first comment was “doesn’t every business owner know it’s easier to keep the clients you have then try to find new ones.” And my response was that I sure thought so…

I understand that a business can pivot and change. And that’s OK. I understand that not everyone works well together and sometimes people need to move on to the next adventure in their life. But I do have a hard time understanding how you can tell a group of customers that you don’t want to serve them any more without giving them an alternative or ever directly communicating to that group.

Maybe I’ll hear from the studio owner. Maybe she’ll add new classes that are of interest to me. But in the mean time? Our pilates instructor has all our info and can’t wait to tell us when she lands at a new studio. And I can’t wait to give that studio my money.

Categories // Branding, Lessons Learned, Management, Sales

Hey Brands – What’s Taking So Long?

02.24.2016 by Elizabeth // 2 Comments

drink more beerI got a text from my friend the other day:

New business idea for you. Call all your fav breweries and have them got on their social media stuff and set up a system to do so. Because it shouldn’t take a week to like my tweet.

I LOVE this! Here’s the deal folks – if you’re on social media you have to BE on social media. No phoning it in. This isn’t a one way street, this is a back and forth conversation with your network. My friend and I often meetup at the Taphouse for a beer or cider and we’ll tweet at the brewery we’re consuming. Often the breweries will comment back to us or favorite or re-post our tweets. And that’s super cool when it happens! Correction: It’s super cool when it happens within a day of doing it. But a week later? That’s lazy.

I’m not asking you to favorite everything customers say about your brand, but I am saying you need to be on top of it. 5 minutes a day is fine. Just pop into your social media accounts – check out who’s tagged you or commented to you. Answer questions, thank people, repost a couple of cool comments if they’re there. 5 minutes, not 5 hours.

If I like your brand I’ll be tweeting about it. As long as you’re on Twitter and also active. It’s not fun to have a conversation with yourself. And on social media it can be even more obvious when you are.

Categories // Branding, Marketing, Social Media

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Yellow Dog Consulting is a sales and marketing firm located in Hillsboro, Oregon with clients around the world. We work with small business owners who love what they do, but the sales and marketing part of their job sucks their will to live.

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