Goal #32 – WPPI 2014 Part 3: Brand Update and Creating Specialism

After attending WPPI this year, I came back full of energy and drive to make changes to our business that would help propel us forward over the next few years. Its actually kind of amazing to look back at where we were when we started our business two years ago, when we  took hold of the idea of being wedding photographers in 2011 and launched our website in 2012.

At the time, we had a vague idea of what we wanted our style to be and a vague idea that we wanted to focus our business on same-sex couples, but we still had a LOT to learn.  We still have a lot to learn (what small business owner doesn’t) but we are much more grounded in knowing what direction we see our business going in the future and, just as importantly, how to make sure we get there successfully.

One of the sessions I attended at WPPI was with Jeff Jocham, where he talked about specialism.  Not specialization, which he defined as identifying a niche in the market and then gearing your business around that niche.  Specialism is about creating a niche market around US.  About Heather and I identifying what makes us unique in our business and then marketing ourselves to reach clients who value that uniqueness because it relates to themselves, too.

After I got back from Las Vegas, we spent a few weeks talking about what we represent as a couple and how our experiences had shaped us from the start.

What we kept coming back to again and again was that we weren’t afraid to be in love–no matter what our friends, family, or the world thought about us.  Coming out was a rough road for us both– it led to a (brief) break up under stress with Heather almost dropping out of college mid-year to make her family happy; She was pressured by her church to renounce who she was; I think we were both mildly depressed at times; We got letters and emails from both of our parents, and visits from my parents to try to “talk me out of it”; Heather lost friends; I was afraid to be who I was in front of my family.

We both had to deal with a large part of our personal world reacting negatively to our relationship.

Thankfully we had each other and we both realized very early on that our relationship was worth fighting some battles for.  We also had some amazing support from our college friends and teammates who reminded us that we were loved and who went on the defensive for us.

When it was time to talk about “us” in terms of shaping our photography business, we realized that what makes us most unique is the same thing that made our coming out journey so difficult for us at times.

We aren’t afraid to be ourselves.

That’s powerful stuff.  And something we believe will resonate with couples who find us.  Its also a statement which can mean completely different things to each couple.  And we love that.  We want to celebrate the love of couples who reach across gender and orientation barriers.  Who are fusing religions and cultures. Who express themselves in a way that is representative of who they are as individuals and as a couple.  Who plan their wedding events around the things that make them happy, not what others say they should do.  And most of all, who love and embrace themselves as amazing individuals looking ahead to a lifetime with someone who is a perfect match for them.

So, with that in mind, we worked closely with Katie Bradford Osborne of The Roaring Artist to design our new logo, create a new color scheme, and help us vamp up our site to be more representative of us, our company, and the couples we want to reach.

Finally we feel like we are able to truly embrace the specialism of our business and we’re so excited to for the coming wedding season!