YOU are the heart and soul of our brand! Let’s dive into some ways that you can bring more of your uniqueness into creating a living brand that will connect with your dream clients. I cannot wait to share my best tips and ideas for bringing out more of your greatness in your business.

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Your Dream Clients Are Praying To Find You (3:01) 

What Does It Mean To Create A Living Brand?  (3:27)

The Perfect Example Of A Living Brand (4:41)

Strategies To Create Your Own Living Brand  (8:16)

Blending Your Life And Your Business (8:24)

Find Your Story And Share It (12:13)

Sharing Your Daily Life (12:54)

Educate and Help (14:55)

Helpful Ideas For Sharing About Your Business (15:44)

Crush Your Fears (18:47)

Three Final Tips For Creating Your Living Brand (19:38)

Review the Transcript:

Welcome to Quianna Marie weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins big or small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode at quiannamarie.com/podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party. Ready? Love though.

Good morning. Beautiful. All right, I want you to picture this. If you have a plant in your home, a cute little house plant that is not doing so hot, maybe it’s not getting enough sunlight, or I don’t know, the conditions are just not appropriate for this little plant to thrive. Okay, what do you do, you typically will move the plant, take it out of the kitchen, place it into a bathroom that gets evening light. Maybe they’re getting too much sunlight, maybe they’re not getting enough sunlight, maybe we are flooding it with too much water, right? There are so many things that we can do to adjust the basically quality of life for these plants. And yet we never look at the plant and say it’s your fault, right? We never look at the plant and say, Oh, well, sorry, you did this to yourself as we are selfishly taking these plants from nurseries and from Home Depot and placing them in our home and just hoping they don’t die. Okay. So I know there’s a quote about this somewhere very specific quote, and I couldn’t find it.

I tried searching online and all over Pinterest. But the concept is there. When there’s plants in your home, that are not doing well, we move them. And this is going to lead right into today’s conversation about creating a living brand. I wholeheartedly believe that your brand, just like us, has a soul, your brand and your business has a thriving heartbeat, and is a real thing. And we are so much more than just our businesses, right. So this is full circle, I cannot wait to dive deep into this and explain exactly what a living brand is. I’m going to share an example that I think will totally click and help you make sense of it. And then as always, I am an action taker. And I absolutely love helping you strategize, give you checklist and just give you all the strategy it needs to, to just go out and just do it. Okay, let’s get started. So what exactly is a living brand, I kind of came up with this on my own, I like to give credit where credit’s due. But I’m pretty sure I just kind of jumped to this or just kind of fell into my lap, creating a living brand is creating the heartbeat of your business.

And it starts with you. Okay, I have said this a million times before on the podcast, and I preach it everywhere I go, I feel like this should be my life motto. But your dream clients are praying for you. Okay, they are seriously praying for you. Yes, they are searching for the products that you offer, the wedding experience that you offer, or the offers that you just are pouring your heart into. But at the end of the day, they’re secretly hoping to find you someone they can connect with, that they can relate to, and that they want to work with. So what exactly does that mean, creating a living brand is all about sharing your heart, sharing your life and sharing your experiences. So they can blast all over your feed all over social media and basically take who you are as a person in real life, and just blast it online. So we can scale it and we can get more eyeballs on our business. Now, before we even get started. I don’t want to overwhelm you with a million things. But I just want to remind you that it’s so important to focus on capturing instead of creating, okay, because I’m telling you, I’ve told us a million times, you’re already doing the work, babe, you are already running a very successful business.

Or maybe you’re just starting small. But I’m telling you right now, the efforts and all of the energy that you’re pouring into your business needs to be documented and needs to be recorded. And I totally understand that there are some moments that are just so gritty and so muddy and ugly and very depressing and very, like hard and I get it and we don’t always need to blast everything online. I’m totally not an oversharer like that. But my point is, is that this is just a great opportunity for you to truly share that grit and share that tenacity that makes you you. Okay, so I want to share the perfect example that I could find of someone that we know that is actually creating a living brand. Now I say we know her I don’t personally know her, but many of you can relate to the famous book queen. Miss Joanna Gaines. Okay, now, Joanna gains. And so chip and JoJo are from the HGTV HD TV show, sorry, it’s really fixer upper there from that show. And they have literally created this empire. I mean, I’m talking real estate empire, she’s all over target. I mean, they’re kind of a big deal. In fact, they have renovated literally blocks and blocks of Waco, Texas, his tiny little town literally in the middle of nowhere, you have to actually fly there, and drive two hours from any of the closest airports. And I’ve already been there twice.

Okay, so like, clearly, they have some magic dust going on. And I really wanted to introduce you to this concept of chip and Jojo, and how they have very successfully created a living brand. So I want you to think about for a second on any given day, any day of the week, Joanna Gaines could literally sell you a candle, a frickin house, like she could sell you a house, they have their Magnolia Realty, she could sell cookbooks, and recipes. She has her own cooking show, they even have their own frickin network. I mean, they are like Oprah status having their own network. It’s just insane. And the reason why I bring this up is because sometimes we get so tied, and we get so attached to our products and our services, that we forget that we have the power to potentially sell future things, or to mix it up, when these things don’t really relate. But they relate at the same time. Okay, so like, this is why it’s kind of, I don’t know, it’s kind of hard, like this concept is kind of hard to just paint right now as I’m just sharing these words, but I hope you can understand what I’m getting at, okay, because the power is in them, the power is in everything that they touch goes to gold, okay. And I think this is something that way we can learn from and we can start implementing in our business today. So that as we evolve, as things change, as we potentially move out of state, or we have to build up a whole new clientele, or maybe we are shifting and changing direction in our business, as we make those shifts. And as we make those changes. A lot of our followers, families and friends are going to stick with us because they’re along for the journey. They, they feel so connected to us, they are friends, and they want to support us, even as you’re making these changes. Now, of course, there is a caveat or that idea that you will lose followers as things change. But I will say the core of everything comes from then.

So like let’s say for example, if tomorrow morning, Joanna Gaines wakes up and all of a sudden, she I don’t know designed a new car, or like, I don’t know, if I’m just trying to think of something super random. If she came out with see basically everything I say this is this is the power of this. Anything that I say any object, anything, anything, she can always relate that back to her and her lifestyle, and her holiness and her family. So I’m looking around my office right now and trying to pick apart something that was just so random. I mean, even if she wanted to sell microphones and do a whole launch kit on podcast, like people would eat it up. Okay, I’m just looking at that because I’m talking to a microphone right now, you get the point. Okay, so chip and Jojo, they’re rocking it, let’s dive into some examples and some ways that we can create that living brand. Okay, so first and foremost, you’re simply blending your life and your business, let’s not keep them separate anymore. Yes, there’s a fine line between safety and just, you know, keeping a lot of our life a little bit personal and not blasting and online and I am totally a big fan of that when it comes down to it. blending your life in business is where the magic happens. So I hope you are constantly refreshing and sharing your offers and products. What are you selling? Why are you the expert? Okay, please, you need to tell us you need to actually show your audience why they need their your offers, why they need to work with you, and why you are overqualified to have the job. Okay, another way that you can blend your life in business and sharing your story, your why and what makes you you share your passion. Now I want to go off on a quick tangent, just a super quick tangent about my own story real fast before we continue, and I just want to share, I’m not sure if you know this, but when I was about 10 years old, my father passed away.

Now that obviously has left a huge impact on my life even today. And I’m shifting the idea about it was my like, it’s my story and I’m trying to translate that to it’s just a chapter in my story. Okay, it does not define me. It makes me who I am. It does not define me. And when this first happened, even up into my early 30s I’m still healing from this wound. I was always in hustle mode. I was always in this very masculine energy. I was stressed about finances because I never ever, ever want To be in a situation like my mom where that was just ripped from you. And so I never ever, ever dependent on a man financially, which of course has rippled into this crazy dating life in this these weird complexes. That’s another story. But at the root of it is just put me in hustle mode. And I felt that I couldn’t connect with a lot of other small business owners, because a lot of times people, in my opinion start businesses because they have a passion for it. And it’s fun. And then it kind of just rolls into a business. And in my story, it was like, Oh, no sister like this is you got to work it like you got to work. And that’s kind of how that energy made me feel. And then I’m not even joking, I started noticing that through the years of shooting weddings, I quickly noticed a trend. And I don’t even want to call it a trend because it’s it’s real life. But I started gravitating towards couples that have lost a parent. And I started counting, and I’ve lost count already, because there’s just way too many. I’m talking dozens and dozens, not just a couple. I mean, like 20 Plus couples that have lost a parent, either recently or in childhood. And it just made me think and realize how many front row seats were missing, how many sweet signs were during, you know, by the cake, or in the reception area that were saying if heavenward so far away, we know you’d be here with parents that were missing not only grandparents, and lockets, of course, to a lot of My Brides had sweet lockets of a missing parent that should have been there. And I started realizing that’s a piece of my story. Like that is a piece of my story that even though it’s agitating, and it feels like I’m scratching at a scar, it’s something that I can help. It’s something that another bride can look at me and say, oh my gosh, you get it. Like you get it, not only could I help share with suggestions about honoring their parents, but I understood, I just it’s just something about that experience that makes me different than other photographers, okay, I’m not saying better or in any other way, you know, the best choice, but just different. And that is where I want you to find that story. Now, it does not have to absolutely be this life changing sob story about your life that you need to blast all over the internet. That’s not what I’m encouraging you to do. But I want you to really dig up some things that make you you what are some things in your life that have changed the trajectory of your life? Because I can guarantee that there are people that are experiencing that, but that may not have anything to do with your business. Right? Okay, so that was a huge Sideswipe little commercial break for you there. But that is a piece of your story. And that is going to give you power, super, super power.

There’s nothing I love more than receiving Happy Mail. While there’s a sweet smile sitting on my counter among all the bills and all the crap that we get in the mail. Now imagine if you can create that same exact feeling for your clients. I know as a small business owner, we are constantly in the outreach mode, trying to reach new clients, new networks and bring new people into our business. But what if we are sleeping on and not taking advantage of a loving and taking care of our current and past clients, I whipped together a snail mail kit which I think would be absolutely perfect for you to get started with sending out mailers and happy mail to your clients today. This snail mail kit includes super easy drag and drop Canva templates, for postcards and cards and even the return mailing address labels. fully customize, I even include a video on there. So you can instantly start customizing the cards and all the stuff for your brand. So it’s so cohesive to you and your business. Please, please, please don’t pass up this opportunity to send smiles, send genuine hugs in the mail. And to make those clients of yours so grateful. And to keep you top of mind, head to the show notes and head to the podcast website to grab it today.

Then, of course getting back to blending your life in business, let’s chat about that your daily life. Share your routines and your adventures. Now, this is so important because it makes you human. This makes you real, okay? Not only just sharing your real life behind the scenes on wedding days, or behind the scenes while you’re touring homes, or you are working on your clients and in sharing your client experience. You’re actually just living your everyday life. Okay, this is where people are going to connect and think oh, she’s just like me, or oh my gosh, he did that. I do that too. Right. So this is another port important way to blend your life and business. And then of course, educate and help. So this is awesome. I am a huge fan of educating my my current clients and my future dream clients, okay. And that is just sharing tips and tricks, sharing inspiration, and above all creating content that is saleable, okay?

You can’t see my air quotes over here, but I’m like saveable. Make sure that it is something that they want to save to click to share with a friend, make them giggle, make them laugh, just create that education. And those frequently asked questions that they may not even know that they needed to know. But because you’re the expert, you’re already sliding in and you’re saving the day. And once again, being a superhero. This makes you so incredibly valuable. So I want to share now that you have some like Action List and some ways that you can blend, I want to go a little bit deeper, I want to share a couple more key tips that you can share about your life, but make it more about your business. Okay, so it’s kind of like I know, this is so silly. And this is totally a personality, but you know, you always have that one friend that can make everything sexy, like, oh, that’s what she said, right? Like, they can always take it to that next layer or that next level and, and make you giggle. But there’s, they can always make anything sexy. Okay, as goofy as that sounds. And I’ve topic as that is, that’s my point. Okay, so let’s talk about creating this living brand and doing everyday mundane things, but making them about your business. So for example, when you pull into the Starbucks line, or you are in line at your favorite little cop, like neighborhood coffee shop, instead of just posting a photo thanking you are or a video and sharing their business and sharing their hashtags or sharing their location. Why don’t you share that you are fueling up for an engagement shoot, or you’re fueling up your day for and you list three to five things that you’re accomplishing that day that have everything to do with your business. And then maybe the last one is going to see your your daughter’s soccer game, okay, something like that, right. So you’re not just sharing your cup of coffee saying, Oh, this is how I order my coffee, you’re sharing a little bit deeper. Okay. Another thing that you can do is when you’re packing your favorite snacks for wedding days, okay? So you’re off to the races, you’re off on your, your long day of work. And instead of just sharing a pack of cheese, it’s explain where you’re going and where you’re going and what you’re doing. Another thing you could do for fun are location hunting. So if you have a job where you have to get out and you’re driving around, I love to just go on hikes just with my own family and friends. And then I’ll post oh, by the way, here I am looking for future shoots. Like this is huge, right? I’m not just Yes, I am enjoying life and I’m out in nature and reconnecting. But I am tying it back to my business.

And other things. thing that you can do is the behind the scenes wedding day hacks, okay, so when you are on wedding days, and you’re shooting, don’t forget to share tips and key tips and ideas and just fun facts that people may not even realize what’s going on. Okay, another thing that you can do about creating that living brand is sharing your client reviews and testimonials. This is humongous. Don’t forget to share these people want to see that social media proof and that street cred online. Another way that you can do that is by sharing your own adventures and to share your why. Okay, so I absolutely love spending time with my little niece, we go on all these adventures, and instead of making it about, oh, Isn’t she so cute? Look how much fun we have. I make it about that freedom that I have to actually spend more time with my little cousin. Okay, so like, this is huge. This is so important, because once again, you’re digging deeper.

Okay, so I want to leave you with a couple key tips here. And I just want to share this reminder. What if you can crush your own fears of creating content by crushing the fears of your dream couples? Okay, I’m gonna read that again, crush your own fears of creating content by crushing the fears of your dream couples. So what I mean by that is, instead of stressing now and feeling flustered about creating content, and creating all the things online, what if you are fueled by helping others? What is your key tips or your little fun facts or your information and educational points that you’re sharing about your business is going to help that dream client feel heard and understood and just feel very well taken care of before they’re even your client. Okay, so I want you to kind of keep that in mind as you’re doing that. And Alright, so let’s go ahead and leave you with three key tips and let’s roll with educate, okay, so there’s a million times, use social media to prove that you’re the expert. Connect, share gratitude, and stay top of mind with current and past clients. This is huge. So one thing that I love doing I’ve mentioned this before, is I have a wholesale Mail kit for you where I actually send out seasonal cards, and postcards, and thank you cards, everything is customizable. So you’ll get a cute little template for creating your own postcards, creating cards, as well as Return Address Labels, because I’m all about branding and my return address labels actually have my picture on it. It’s so fun.

I love sending that to my little nieces and nephews and they send photos or FaceTime me with it. And it’s the cutest thing. So I have that as an offer for you. And and then of course Inspire. So get outside and make some magic. If you’re feeling blocked, or you’re feeling like you don’t really have much going on like you’re not in demand. Go make yourself in demand, get outside, go grab a coffee, go for a walk, go talk to a neighbor, and just just connect, okay, because the more that people connect with you, the more they will love and trust you. And then as things change, as things ebb and flow and evolve, people will evolve with you. And they want to be a part of the journey. They want to see it. I mean, I don’t know about you, but can you tell from our society that we’re obsessed with reality TV, like people love watching people. And I like to believe as much as people thrive on the drama. I actually believe people love those underdog stories. Even more. They love seeing people achieve things and they love saying they were a part of it. They love to be a part of that cheerleading team that said, Oh, I remember when, right. So let’s create those moments. Let’s create those excuses to celebrate. And to truly just create a win for all of us. All right, so as always, I’m cheering for you. It would mean the world to me if you could hit that subscribe button and stay connected. Please, please please, if you are enjoying this podcast, I would absolutely appreciate if you can leave a five star review. Share a quick little love note and please share with a friend. I absolutely love pouring my heart into my business as well as being a cheerleader for yours. sending all my love and light keep dancing. Dave.

That’s a wrap on another episode of Quianna Marie weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at quiannamarie.com/podcast. I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, keep on dancing.