New years always comes with new excitement, new goals, and a fresh look on my photography business. I have spent a lot of time investing in education, brand and experience for my photography, and to be honest, it is one of my more favorite parts of running a business. The idea that Breanna McKendrick Photography is always growing and a “living” thing is thrilling! It has changed as I have changed and learned and it is picking up momentum in ways that have helped me discover more about myself. For instance, I have learned that I really enjoy creating a brand.

I carefully choose my client proofing sites, packaging materials, blog content to, etc, to be a cohesive experience for my brides and grooms. But in the last year, this focus and attention has made me really scrutinize the the experience I am trying to deliver. Since I have had this blog, 2 full years now, that experience has changed. It has changed ALOT.

I bought this blog in 2012 for $300. It has served me so well! I loved it when I bought it and it has helped me launch to being a professional wedding photographer that shoots around 20-25 weddings a year and 10-15 family and anniversary sessions a year! It is a template blog which has it’s ups and downs. A huge plus is that the design is already in place. I am not a graphic designer (as much as I wish I was). So it is hard sculpting ideas for websites, logos, business cards, bridal guides, etc. Having a pre-designed site that I could see, tour around and purchase worked out great. However, one of the difficulties is that it can be hard to customize. The little things that I wanted to tweak sometimes required going into code which can be scary and intimidating. I know to change font colors or side bar widths the CSS but I always feared that if I accidentally deleted a line of code, the whole site would crash. I always made back up copies whenever I wanted to change something just in case!

Well, I realized that enough things have changed in my business that I the current brand doesn’t represent my shooting style or my bride’s style anymore. It is a good thing to recognize, because I know my business will always be growing and changing, so I need to keep it up to date, looking fresh and clean. So drum roll please, I am happy to announce that Breanna McKendrick Photography is rebranding!!!! I am working with a graphic designer to develop a custom brand that is completely unique to my business. This is a large project and has already taught me a little bit about what goes into creating a brand and a little bit of self discovery!

Krista, who is helping me along the way has asked some great business searching questions to key into my market base and ideal bride. I started putting together a Pinterest board of favorite images, colors or stationary I was drawn to. This has been harder than I thought! I know I want to be blogging a little bit about my rebranding process, so I have been paying attention to things that have been helpful in creating a new brand, and things that have been frustrating.

rebranding part 1: be specific!

I am the kind of gal that enjoys Pinterest. I have a million different pins on what my perfect house will look like, even though my husband and I are just renters. 🙂 I pin recipes that I have never cooked and outfits that I like, but I know I probably wouldn’t wear.

So when creating a Pinterest board to show a designer of your style, you need to be specific. Don’t just start pinning away at things. (Which is what I did and ended up stepping back realizing that I had 4 different and clashing themes going on). Pin images that you like, but then take the time to write and explain WHY you like them. The more specific you can get, the better you can help your designer!

Here is a little peak to some of the images I have pinned for the new look of Breanna McKendrick Photography! It is still a little varied, but I am trying to focus it a little bit more.

All images found on Pinterest

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