Ginny Corbett Photography

If you are a photographer, you have become familiar with the importance of “branding”.  If you’ve been following my work for some time,  you have noticed that I had a HUGE brand change in November of last year.  I have been so happy ever since.  When I was first starting out as a professional photographer, I had the wrong concept of branding.  I thought that you designed your website, blog, and products with the customers in mind.  Personally, I wanted high-end brides.  So, I paid big bucks to have a high-end, boutique-looking website designed.  It had nothing to do with my personal taste, it was all about attracting the right people to my website.  Well, that’s what I thought.  Boy I was wrong.

This next part is about surrounding yourself with friends who share your same interests and love you enough to tell you the truth…

Some of you have heard this story before, but those who haven’t I will spare you the paragraphs of details and get straight to the point.  I was at my friend, Lauren Clark’s house last November and we were chatting about life, business, etc.  Somehow we brushed across the subject of my website and Lauren basically told me that it was all wrong.  (I’ve always appreciated Lauren’s honesty with me.)  I began to explain how much money I had spent on that website.  I threw out excuse after excuse of why I should make it work.  She frankly told me to get over my buyers remorse and start over.  I honestly felt free!  I had been struggling to make my old image work for me, but the truth was that it wasn’t me  Was the website beauitful? Yes!  Was it Ginny Corbett Photography?  No!

So, I started over….bought a new website, got another blog, and had my friend, Memoree, design a new logo.  I felt so much better.  I felt like I finally understood the “branding” idea.  Branding is about selling yourself.  With the digital age, anyone can take pictures.  Everyone can learn Photoshop.  So, why is someone going to choose me over any other great photographer?  That’s what branding is all about…making yourself stand out from the crowd.

So, as I was at For the Love Workshop, I felt like I still have a few more changes that need to be made with my brand.  I’m not ready to tell you about those changes yet, but I’m not quite hitting the mark yet.  As I have been drawing close to the Lord, he keeps revealing truths about me.  I am an interesting person…I have many facets to my personality.  I can be super outgoing, but also introverted.  I can laugh and make others laugh, but I’m still very reflective.  My musical tastes are spread across a broad spectrum.  It’s hard to choose my brand with so many different sides to who I am.

So, as a challenge to you (if you are on this same quest), I challenge you to seek God over your brand and your business.  He is your creator…he knows you better than you know yourself.  Sure, you can pay big bucks for someone else to figure it out for you, but learn from my mistakes.  I wasted thousands on the wrong image.  Save yourself the heartache and ask the Lord for help.