It’s just got to be said, peeps…what the f is wrong with you? Not all of you, just some very specific ones of you who are outlined below.
If you’ve pigeon-holed yourself with your business name, I’m going to kindly ask you to get your hand examined. For example — and I’m not using real life examples, only inspired-by-real-life examples, here — let’s say you specialize in kids’ photography. You name your biz Pinwheels & Mudpies. Okay, great. Cutesy, childish, I can guess that you’re dealing with little ones.
One day, though, you want to branch into Senior portraits. Guess what? Your name is embarrassing for 18-year-olds to have to say, and will hurt your Senior marketing efforts, regardless of how fabulous your photography is.
Likewise, let’s say you name your biz (real-life-inspired) Gorgeous Bitch Photography. Well, aside from being insulting to half the population of the planet earth, your boudoir name is great. Then you decide to start doing newborn shoots.
Uh-oh.
There is no parent on the planet earth who wants to see the Gorgeous Bitch Photography watermark against her sweet little baby’s face. And shortening it to Gorgeous Photography is just stupid.
Your business name chooses your business path, if you narrow it to just one genre. While you may stay a boudoir photographer until your dying day, leaving a bit to the imagination won’t hurt you nearly as much as what happens if you work the other way ’round.
Great, you’re thinking, I chose my business name as MY name, because I’m smart.
Well, you may be smart, but I would argue that choosing a generic name allows your business to grow, to take on associates, and to be scalable income for you and yours. Just because using your given name is easy doesn’t mean it’s the right choice.
So, take a long hard look at your business name. Consider a doing-business-as subdivision of your company if you’ve chosen unwisely in the past, or want to switch genres without 100% new branding materials. Consider your long-term goals, and whether having associates or the ability to sell your business in ten years is worth switching business names.
And please, don’t let me catch any of you mixing newborn and boudoir portraits EVER. AGAIN.
Oh thank the lord!! I thought I was the only one who has chosen a name other than my own, 1) because as easy as my name is, people have a hard time with it and 2)I think another name is just more imaginative and can lend itself to the creativity of the brand. I spent weeks and weeks trying to come up with something that could work for any situation- and it sure is hard, especially since I’m drawn to more dark imagery but love to shoot kids, yet wanted something sophisticated enough for weddings as well. lol.
HAHAHAHAHA. that is all. Thanks for the words of wisdom for those still on the fence about First Name Last Name Photography or Beetles, Bugs and Butterflies Photography.
Hmmmmm…I sat with my jaw dropped as I read your post today. I am in the midst of this EXACT problem. I named my business Snickerdoodles Photography when I was JSO 2 years ago, thinking children, newborn, maternity, etc. And now…I’ve discovered that I’m pretty darn great at boudoir (not to mention that I LOVE it). I don’t advertise it – as you mentioned, it doesn’t mix with the other stuff. I do some senior stuff too. So, the question is…do I completely re-brand myself? Name my business to something else, entirely? I think my graphic designer would beat me. She’s (kindly) shoved branding and consistency down my throat from day one. Shower me with your words, oh-wise-one. xoxo
So I am currently shooting newborns and wanting to add my boudoir images on the site. What do you think?
*snickering*
Mands -August 20, 2009 - 4:13 pm
Thanks Kristen! this post was just what I needed to hear today, we have spent literally MONTHS arguing about our current business name (my name) because everyone both off and online told us that we should use our personal name for the business. That was fine until my husband started shooting weddings with me…and is now really amazing at it! but everytime images go up with just “my” name on them (cos it is the buisness name, kwim?) I can feel the tension between us….. sorry for being so honest on here! but it has caused issues ….. and we have another name we both like but for some reason I worry about making the change, it seems like such a huge “do over” and having to re-educate our clients too….would love a post on some of this stuff!
I’ve received some really vague requests for help through the TRAs lately, and they got me thinking: frustration in customer service can come from not getting your way.
But more often than not, frustration in customer service comes from not clearly defining what it is you want in the first place. If you send the request “it does not work” (complete with lack of punctuation, even!) you’ve given the person on the other end nothing to work with — what is it? What isn’t working? What product are we dealing with, here? etc, etc, etc…I can guarantee this person is frustrated as all hell with me, as we still haven’t nailed down what I’m supposed to be helping to fix.
Got it? If you’re clear with what, precisely, is frustrating you, you’re more likely to get it resolved. Of course, having NO expectations is dangerous, too! I recently attended a wedding and accompanied the bride to her hair appointment the morning of the big day. When the stylist asked what she wanted, she replied, “Something part down and part up and pretty” while making vague hand gestures.
Seeing the stylist’s panic face, I grabbed a book of hairstyles and helped the bride to communicate exactly which picture she wanted her hair to look like, preventing confusion and dismay a few hours later. This isn’t me being a hero or a miracle worker, just providing a way for the two parties to better communicate with one another. Both the bride and the stylist were thrilled with the end result.
How can you, as a consumer, better convey your expectations to those trying to help you? Better yet, how can you help your clients convey their expectations to you?
This week, I dare you to get out there and communicate. (Remember, your coffee isn’t ‘awful,’ it’s ‘bitter & stale, with the wrong type of creamer.’)
I spent many years as a makeup artist and I feel that stylist’s pain! I think proper nomenclature is definitely a problem at the root of it.
People would say they want red, when really they wanted more of a brown color. They’d say “smokey eye” and then be horrified that it was dark. I think they hear terms thrown around and don’t research them before hand.
Now I work in wireless part time, and people will say “phone book” when they mean their call log, or email when they mean text message. They’ll call the battery a sim card, or say they’ve got a family plan when really just 1 person in the family is on the plan.
Sometimes they even come in and say it like they know exactly what the problem is, and then get mad when you do what the ask because it’s not really what they meant! People seem to get frustrated when you ask too many questions as well. It’s so hard! I remember asking a lady a few questions to determine exactly what kind of lip product she would like, and she turned and pointedly said “I would like an EXPERT who knows what they’re doing and will stop asking me questions.”
I used to do tech support for Apple, over the phone. One time, I had a lady call in and say that her computer was “acting squirrelly.” Wh… what am I supposed to do with that?! It took close to 10 minutes for me to just figure out what, exactly, her problem was (and only 5 minutes to fix it).
I received this question via e-mail, and asked the sender if she’d be down with me posting it for answering here. She kindly agreed:
“So, short of me hiring a branding professional (which will be something I’ll do in the distant future) what’s your advice about melding your favorites into your brand. i.e. I have my logo, but I love Anthropologie but I also love the mini boden catalogs and old school hip hop and R&B and Gershwin. I love jeans and t-shirts but I also love a classy pair of black heels and a mini dress. All of my loves are no where represented in my logo, aside form my favorite color orange. I am soooo confused. Am I over thinking this?”
I have to be honest, here: I like all those things, too. Without vision and planning, my brand would look like the lovechild of a Florida tourist, a punk rock flea market vendor, and a snobby Parisian barista.
While knowing what you love is a vital part of the branding process, the next step is deciding which of those elements to play up in your brand.
Hip hop and the little black dress? Vintage clothing and Gershwin lyrics? Jeans and black heels? There are endless combinations of nifty elements that could create fabulous brands. What will YOUR brand represent?
Perhaps an easier question to help narrow your focus, here: which of those elements you love would your ideal client like to see included in your brand?
If you’re going for the modern mom who sports designer handbags and vacations in Cape Cod, your brand won’t look the same as when you attract the ultra-hip Senior or the posh but quirky bride and groom. You’re the same artist with the same interests — but your ideal clients determine the way your brand looks, in many cases.
Working backwards from your ideal client, then, can determine which aspects of your personality and your style will translate into a strong, cohesive, and distinct brand.
It’s easy to get caught up in the STRESS of running your own business and juggling your personal and professional life. You need to laugh, peeps!
Being a kids’ photographer, I don’t know *anything* about those kinds of kids.
After you’ve laughed, enjoyed, and generally had a break from stress, the next challenge: how and where can you add humor to your brand? Maybe you’re not funny, or hate humor and live in a dark house where you’ve paid a raincloud to brood and spit rain onto your roof 24 hours a day. But I hope you enjoy laughing, and are trying to attract clients who enjoy laughing. How can you entertain the people who support your business? What common themes or bits of pop culture can you play into or add onto? How can you add your comedic voice to the conversation about x, y, or z?
On in a recent series of commercials that I created for my business:
A low-budget, fun play on the Mac v. PC commercials that are all the rage.
Don’t stress about perfection — just go out there, get creative, and make people laugh this week!
It’s worth remembering: there will be bad days. Customers will freak out, ask weird questions, demand unreasonable things, or forget to show up for appointments. Your inbox will have 60 new e-mails three hours after the last time you emptied it, and your schedule will landslide itself right into Crazytown. It’s easy to lose a sense of what makes you YOU, of what defines your art, and of what your business tick.
So, take a breath. Put down your camera, turn off your computer, and chill. (I mean it.)
You’ll note, I did this yesterday and felt guilty for the entire day. My hands were itching to answer e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, return phone calls, place orders, process photos, and — well, to be honest, vacuum. My carpets were itching for a good vacuuming session.
But I acknowledged my need to breathe — to relax, to take a walk, to watch TV, to read a book, to snap a few pictures that have nothing to do with my business. You may feel guilty about not being ‘productive’ — but try it. Give yourself breathing room, and see what develops.
SO TRUE! A great reminder….I love what Anne Morrow Lindbergh once wrote in her book “Gift from the Sea” – “America, which has the most glorious present still existing in the world today, hardly stops to enjoy it, in her insatiable appetite for the future. ” Instead of being run by our TO DO lists, we could benefit by wiping it clean and doing one or two of the things we always wish we had time to do….like you said, read a book or take a day trip to somewhere we’ve always wanted to visit, etc. “Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day – like writing a poem or saying a prayer.” (Also by AML) Clearing that ‘list’ can do wonders for clearing the mind….
xoxo
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