The split began to manifest all last year and I honestly didn’t even know it was happening until the last quarter rolled around. I had a developed a system to get me in the doors of the places my target market would be spending time and money. I knew that if I wanted to establish a great referral from these business owners, I would have to offer them something, and that something had to be for free. I was captivated by the stories of my fellow entrepreneurs. They too took a risk and were experiencing some of the very same situations I was. It was incredible to see what they had built and what they were building. I dedicated one month to a new business owner, specifically a woman in business to tell their story, they would get free photos, and a video to share from my facebook page and if they loved the video they could purchase it. What I discovered while working with these ladies was one common denominator. All of them were struggle to a certain extent with how to market themselves visually, how to tell stories and how to communicate without selling. I was growing concerned with the businesses I did do branding images for and not seeing them utilize them to their full potential. What I discovered is that they were leaning on me to tell them what photos they needed and what to say and even after I would tell them, they were not executing my advice, at least not consistently. 

Brand photography is still in my opinion up and coming. Sure you can find a photographer to capture your store front, your products, your services, your team and more, but what doesn’t happen is a strategy with those photos. Far too often, business owners get their photos taken first, with some great direction and preparation and then they decide on what to say about them later. I found myself falling into that some cycle with my own branding clients and then it hit me. I have to teach them what I do. I have to teach them reverse engineer marketing first, that way, they can build a specific shoot list completely designed around their personality,  purpose and intention for their dream client or as I like to say, their avatar client/customer. I can’t tell you how many facebook, instagram and social media online courses I have taken, yet non of them have truly covered marketing in general. I wanted to put my strategy into an e-course that could help people anywhere to gain clarity on their brand awareness, build their avatar client using a magnet approach versus a target and last but not least a marketing strategy that includes a shoot list and the exact way I market for my own business. 

I decided that my business owners needed less of the “wine and dine me with pampering” luxury and needed, “teach me how to plan and use these images coaching” luxury instead. They didn’t need my fancy prints/boxes they needed a more economical pricing that included a bigger package of images and they needed coaching, thus the birth of my brand split. I didn’t want to confuse my legacy and boudoir work with my business or as they say, I didn’t want to mix business with pleasure. 

This is just the beginning of something incredible and as I continue to grow it my dream is to break this off completely and let my daughter take it over in the next five years. The Visionary Culture will be and already is more then branding photography and videography. As time moves, this company will grow. Until then, I invite you to jump on the train now so you don’t miss out on the new opportunities that will soon be coming down the pipeline and first up is my BAM approach e-course that will be launching next month! You can sign up to get updates on when the course will be available by signing up below!