Last week we launched our new segment “Be Inspired”, which is targeted at all of the amazing photographers from across the globe. When I put the idea out of Facebook, I was seriously in awe of the response I received from so many photogs out there. Melissa approached from a different angle, which was even more exciting! She volunteered to be interviewed on two things that I have found to vital to my business: Branding & Showit. Each is its own entity, however, the two combined are like a match made in Heaven. Showit gives us the power and tools to showcase our brand online. How cool is that?
Melissa, you are absolutely awesome and I am so honored you chose to be a part of this series!! :) Quite honestly, you ROCK!!
My name is Melissa Love and I design branding, websites and blogs especially for photographers. I get a lot of pleasure from photography myself and it makes me happy to work with other creative people. I love the way photographers can visualize what they want. I just have to translate that into something visual that speaks to them and which they can truly love and be proud to share.
What 3 things should we know about you?
1. I grew up in Australia
2. My family is everything is to me.
3. Sometimes I dream about fonts (sad!)
Define your style in 5 words:
My style is your style.
What is your specialty?
I love to truly connect with clients. I work with people all round the world but my favourite projects are those when I can really get to know the client I’m working with. It’s not always face to face, but I love to chat and find out what makes them tick. Building the relationship first and then the website or branding is what makes me happy. When I really ‘get’ someone, the ideas just flow.
Why is Branding so important?
It’s hard to separate branding from marketing because we are the sum of our actions as well as the images we choose to represent us.
I love the old William Morris saying, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.”
Every time I produce a logo, a website, print branding or even a Tweet or Facebook status, I test it against that thought. Is this beautiful and inspiring? Is it useful and fit for purpose?
Branding tells the world that you care about the way you do things and about how you interact with people. It let’s them know what kind of experience they are going to have with you and that you care about the details. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be consistent.
What can a business do to really stand out?
A clearly defined brand, and the experience of interacting with you, makes people feel comfortable and it lets them know that they have found the right person, with the right attitude at the right price point.
Why is it vital to have a killer site for a business?
Before I answer this, I’d like to qualify it by saying that not every business needs a website. But if you are selling something visual like photography, a carefully thought-out website may make the difference between a client booking you and someone else. It’s your shop window and the way you decorate it lets potential clients know straight away how seriously you take your job. Saying that, if you are just starting your photography business, you can still choose clean designs which let your images speak for themselves.
Divulge one of your dreams for your business:
I dream of being able to balance family life and business life a little better. Being a business owner and having a family can be hard to juggle. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to spend some time with David Jay and I’ve been thinking a lot about his thoughts on working to achieve freedom rather than working to get more work. I’ve decided that 2011 will be the year that I achieve this.
What inspires your work?
On a day to day basis, I take my inspiration from my clients. I get exited by what excites them. Turning their feeling and aspirations for their business is a reallly special job. Beyond that, I try to pay it forward as much as possible, supporting photographers and creative people with free advice, practical help and general love. Social media is a wonderful thing. I get a lot inspiration from online friends around the world and try to tap into new trends through internet word of mouth. Friend me up!
As a fellow Showiteer, tell us what you love about Showit:
How much do I love Showit? I hardly know where to start. An old friend, the very talented Jaz Ampaw-Farr, asked me to learn Showit to redesign her website. Not only did it save me hours of time that I would usually spend writing code, I soon realized that all of the photographers I looked to for inspiration, from Zach & Jody Gray to Becker and Jasmine Star, were all using the same tool to build their business. So, as a design tool, it rocks. But as a marketing tool, it completely blows me away. I don’t think we’ve even begun to realize Showit’s fulll potential in terms of winning business and viral marketing or ‘word of mouse’. And perhaps most importantly, having recently worked with the Showit team in London (DJ, Kevin & Andrew), I have seen firsthand how deeply they connect with photographers, how passionate they are about looking after Showiteers and how much thought they are putting into developing Showit. I’m excited to be part of the Showit family!
How does Branding & Showit fit together?
Showit is a tool that can take a photographer from the very beginning of their career to the top of their game. I meet a lot of photographers who have decided early on to just ‘make do’ until they can afford to spend money on website design and branding, whether that be with a template website or an off-the-shelf logo. When they discover Showit, they can’t believe that they can translate the designs in their heads into reality. What I particularly like is that Showit puts people in charge of their brand and gives them total creative control, if they want it. If they don’t want it, obvously that’s where someone like me comes in. But it makes me happy to see photographers updating their Showit sites themselves and keeping things fresh.
What advice do you have for creative minds?
Don’t let the creative part of you become part of the job. Find a way to nurture that instinct that led you to become a photographer. Join a photography project (my current obsession, as my Facebook friends will know), take a drawing class, learn to dance, or whatever keeps your creative thoughts flowing. I’m blessed to have a job where I get to work with creative people every day. Building relationships with other creative people really helps.
To paraphrase Seth Godin in “Purple Cow”, you can’t be remarkable and also fit in. Any business needs to choose what to be good at and then be remarkable at doing that thing. Once you have defined your target market, it makes that market so much easier to find.
I used to design and build websites for any business that asked me, as long as it fit in with my pricing structure, but I realized that working with other creative people (mainly photographers) and truly understanding what they do really made me stand out and more importantly made me feel happy and inspired. It gave me passion and I just didn’t feel that working with big corporate clients. I’m happy to be a specialist and I would advise all business owners to choose their specialisms and play to their strengths.
Do what you love and your passion will be evident for everyone to see. Find the people who love what you do and they will become your raving fans, which is the most powerful marketing of all.
Melissa, I cannot thank you enough for such an amazing interview! Your knowledge on branding and Showit is awe-inspiring. :) Thank you so much for sharing this with all of us!
Be sure to connect with Melissa:
Website: http://www.melissalove.co.uk/
Blog: http://blog.melissalove.co.uk/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/melissalovedesign
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/melissarachlove
