To Be or Not to Be? | Hampton Roads Portrait Photographer

Hi!

I've been struggling lately. Feeling pretty lost, to be honest. Not the "what's the purpose of life" kind of lost but that's one I still haven't figure out yet, either; so if you know the answer to that one don't be afraid to share! ;)

I've been lost on the direction of Sarah Elle Photography.

A few months back I changed the colors up a bit and committed to a pretty drastic logo change (remember that?). But I don't feel I'm 100% "there" yet. There is something missing and I can't quite put my finger on it. And it's driving me INSANE.

For weeks and weeks I've been redesigning and getting feedback and input and opinions and help and allllll kinds of guidance from others---and I still feel stuck. Do I like polka dots? Or chevrons? Maybe Navy isn't my color? What about the market I'm moving towards? How will all of these factors attract or push-away my market?

My list goes on and on.

I'm absolutely itching to complete the branding experience for each and every one of you. I have HUGE (not just big but HUGE) ideas for the entire Sarah Elle Photography experience- from the second you message or e-mail me to the in-person consultation gifts to the day of the shoot experience alllll the way to the packaging and follow-up! And i'm DYING to get to it!

But I can't. Not without committing to and nailing down who Sarah Elle Photography is for certain at this point in its life.

Sure, I know my brand will change a bit as I evolve but who am I now? And who am I going forward? And most importantly: How do I express that? That is really what is stumping me.

Being patient about this is awful for me because I simply am ITCHING to complete the SEP experience for all of you. But the true experience won't be able to happen until I complete my branding. And waiting will be worth it....right?

Best,
Sarah



That Time I Was a Bit Irrational... | Hampton Roads Client

Hi!

This past Saturday was one of the days I look forward to every single year: it was the day of my and John's anniversary photo shoot! We are about to celebrate our anniversary (this week!) and, simply because it makes me happy, John dresses up EVERY YEAR and puts on a smile for pictures (remember how much I've harped about documenting life as it is- this is one of those times!).

For whatever ridiculous reason I decided I simply HAD to wear a yellow cardigan for our pictures.

It gets worse.

I then randomly saw an emerald green shirt somewhere in the weeks leading up to our session and decided I HAD to wear an emerald green BLOUSE (not just a shirt, but a blouse).... and a yellow cardigan.

It gets even worse.

It couldn't just be a plain emerald green blouse. It had to have frills, or stripes, or bows, or a sash. It couldn't simply be a plain emerald green blouse (anyone think I'm crazy, yet?).

Oh hey, guess what? I DON'T OWN either of these things.

 John is a seriously patient man (oh my goodness did I luck out when I met that man) so he offered to go with me to help me find my crazy specific outfit. All men everywhere are going "noooo, man, get out now! danger! danger!" but John survived. I think. I mean, he's still here, so....

But of course, because my "needs" were so specific I did not find anything when we went shopping. So a few days later I went back by myself- and spent TWO hours in the same store scouring EVERYTHING. I came home with 7 options (none of which were emerald green in color) and by the morning had decided none of them were what I wanted. (Ok now I'M feeling like a crazy person putting this all out in words)

We are now 2 days from the session.

Clients, I am FEELING for you right now. I totally know what it's like to throw everything out of your closet on to your bed trying to decide exactly what you want to wear- even worse if you're bringing more than one outfit for an outfit change!

John at this point is still very patient (see how we have reached yet ANOTHER wedding anniversary? It's totally because I'm 90% crazy and he's only about 2%) and offers to take me to a different mall before we meet friends for dinner. At this point I've let go of my green and yellow combo requirements and simply was desperate to find something I would be excited to wear to the shoot.

When I woke up the next morning to get ready for our session I realized that letting go of my requirements enabled me to find exactly what I had been dreaming about- the perfect outfit.

 Yes, it is yellow and green. But it's not emerald green. And it isn't a blouse; in fact, it's 100% cotton t-shirt! And it doesn't have stripes, it has polka dots. But every single other thing I had purchased (and have to remember to return to the store) was not yellow or green or any other silly thing I thought I needed. What I found was that all I "needed" was to let go of "needs" and find something that I felt incredible wearing. And you know what? I did :)

Thank you to my friend, Ashley, of Luke&Ashley for our fantastic and oh so "us" anniversary photos.

Best,
Sarah

"Hey Stella!" | Hampton Roads Business Consultation

Hi!

Last night I had one of those experiences where it has all the potential in the world to be totally AWKWARD, painful, embarrassing- the works! It even had the potential where you could slip up and admit you know way more about the person than you should- that's right, I met someone I've only ever spoken to ONLINE.

You know those people on facebook you follow and comment on their things like you're best friends? No? Well that's totally what I do. I have a thousand best friends- they just don't know it! The problem was I then won a FREE sounding board mentor session with this person- now I was stuck. I had to meet them! The meeting was only through Skype since Stella, the business mentor, consultant, and marketing guru of the awesome Ask Stella, lives elsewhere- but still! All I kept thinking the whole week leading up to it was: "Ok, Sarah, don't make a fool of yourself. You're not best friends."

But it was SO awesome! Off the bat Stella was welcoming, friendly, humorous, and completely approachable. Awkward silences? Nope! No joke, one of the first things I said to her was "Hi! I don't really know how to do this..." How embarrassing, right?! I was totally UN-COOL! But she seamlessly took us in to the good parts of conversation (you know the kind that flows and feels natural?) and I forgot completely that I didn't "know how to do this."

  

But what is a sounding board session you might ask? I didn't know either at first. I like to think of it more as a mentor session-that helped me to wrap my head around the concept a bit more. In this case the mentoring focused on branding and how to tie the Sarah Elle Photography brand in to everything- specifically packaging. As you probably know by now my brand focuses on mustard yellow (inspired by my obsession with my mustard yellow camera bag), a deep blue, and gray/silver. But how do I bring that in to everything? We're talking website, blog, thank you cards, business cards, rep cards, facebook, appointment reminders, session guide, session prep guide and on and on and on!

 Stella helped me to see how to accentuate my brand and bring out a sense of who I was AND who Sarah Elle Photography is. We discussed "feelings" and goals for the business and how I felt I wanted to be represented and how to tie that in to attracting my goal market. She SIMULTANEOUSLY skyped with me AND linked me to tons of websites, companies, and other resources to show me the different options out there that SPECIFICALLY FIT Sarah Elle Photography! How awesome is that?! It wasn't simply, "Oh, here's a company I like to use" it was "Here is a great company with high quality products that have boxes that match your brand and here I've linked you directly to that box!"

Stella not only knows her stuff she knows exactly where to find it, too! I'm the type of person who, if given a blank slate of options, will get totally overwhelmed and lost in the pretty colors. Stella linking me directly to examples that fit Sarah Elle Photography made it easy to envision those products in my life- and I didn't get distracted or overwhelmed by the rest of the BILLION OPTIONS on the sites.

After my session with Stella I am now BEYOND excited to pump up my packaging and highlight who Sarah Elle Photography is.

(For example I LOVE this digital paper pack from Sassy Designs she introduced me to- doesn't it scream Sarah Elle Photography?!)

 It's time to dig deep and bring everything together to help truly enhance each person's experience- from the first glimpse of the facebook page or website to the ribbon that ties together your box of images from your session- I want you to feel Sarah Elle Photography. I want you to enjoy each part of your time with me- not just your session day. I want each moment to be a new and exciting experience. And I want people to see a mustard yellow sweater in a Target commercial and immediately think of ME. Thanks to Stella and our first (yes, first, because I KNOW I'll be chatting with her again in the future) sounding board session I know just where to start to make it all happen!

And for those who were curious about my "best friends" comment from earlier you'll be happy to know Stella and I truly are best friends now! And she'll know as soon as she reads this blog post ;)

Best,
Sarah

*for more information on your own sounding board session or all of the awesome products/services Stella offers be sure to check out her website: www.stellareynoso.com