Working with Madison was an absolute joy. She is so centered and calm, but also joyful and always looking to become the best version of herself. She is truly the embodiment of grace and growth.

I love working with full-hearted and creative women entrepreneurs, for I am one and I thrive when I feel my client and I are not only on the same page, but that we could talk for hours. Helping these kinds of women to show up as the face of their brand inside their business is truly an honor and, honestly, is just so damn fun!

Like many of my clients, Madison rented a beautiful home rental for her personal brand photo shoot. This option makes a lot of sense if your home and/or work space is dark or doesn’t align with the message you want to convey. The bright home with mainly light decor, woods and plants, combined with some pops of color really went along well with Madison’s brand of down-to-earth, positive, hopeful, and welcoming.

For her wardrobe, we stuck to light yellow, neutrals, denim, and some maroon.

The “struggle” - and I put that in quotes because very brand shoot has a struggle, but it’s not REALLY a struggle for me, it’s usually something that the client comes in with that we need to break through a little bit.

For Madison, she wanted to bring in some of her playful side, but she’s naturally shy in front of the camera. In this case, it’s all about making sure you have a connection with your branding photographer and being able to trust her. Personally, I’m all about being a goofball on my shoots and that really tends to put people at ease and help them open up so that we can really capture who they are!

Her website is beautiful - so centered and peaceful - and you can also see how she used her brand photos on it! I LOVE seeing how my clients use their photos on their website!

Scroll down to see some screenshots from her website!

SCREENSHOTS OF MADISON’S WEBSITE & HOW SHE’S USING HER BRAND PHOTOS:

If you hate the thought of posting on Instagram and find it difficult to come up with ideas for photos and captions and just generally want to throw in the towel, you’ve got a problem:

You have no idea who you’re talking to.

In fact, if this is you, you’re likely not really talking to ANYONE. My guess is that you have not-a-one person in mind when you’re posting.

Your brain goes like this (usually right when you’re trying to fall asleep at night, right?): 

Oh, my gosh, I haven’t posted in FOREVER! I need to post something ASAP so people don’t think I’ve gone out of business! I hate posting, I don’t know what to post. Ok, let me scroll through my camera roll and see if I’ve taken any Instagram-worthy photos lately…hmm...this one of all of us at the skating rink is fun. Skates are cool, right? It shows I’ve gone out, been social, that I do things…. Yeah, this’ll work. I know I should probably post something about my product or service, but that seems so SALESLY and I don’t want to be all yucky, so I’ll go with this shoes-with-wheels deal! 

*writes post, which consists simply of “Fun times!” or possibly “Fun times with friends!”*

*uploads post*

*feels immediate pit in stomach that was the entirely wrong thing to do*

Sound familiar?! Yeah. No game plan = last-minute posting of horribly-lit photos that have nothing to do with what you’d love to actually get paid for.

I GET IT. I have been there more times that I can to admit and more recently than I care to admit.

It’s SO EASY to forget that we are on Instagram FOR A REASON (which is NOT “make ourselves feel bad about our lives,” btw). We are on Instagram to GROW OUR BUSINESSES.

That means we need to connect with potential clients, people who could possibly help us, share about what we do, what we offer, how we are unique and, most importantly, how we solve a problem for our ideal client.

AH. There it is. That evil phrase: IDEAL CLIENT.

Why do we resist really digging in and figuring out who our ideal client is?! Well, it takes time and thought and planning and usually stepping away from the computer. It’s a process that doesn’t have a quick “check THAT off the list” feel to it, so instead, we skip it and do things that we CAN check off our lists quickly (like posting a photo that has nothing to do with anything).

So, we can’t get our ideal clients to pay attention to us, let alone want to part with their money for us, if we aren’t even talking to them.

Imagine this: You are standing in the doorway of a beautiful boutique storefront - it’s YOUR storefront! You have made it pretty and you have honed in on your product or service and you are standing there as hundreds and hundreds of people walk by, all ready to spend money at all these different boutiques! Suddenly, a group of grandparents and their little grandkids walk by! How cute! Oh, they’re so adorable! You start chatting, asking what their plans are, telling the little kids that you love their shoes and their hair bows and then you wish them all the BEST day as they walk by. As you wave goodbye with a huge smile on your face, you look past them on the other side of the street and you see them: a group of women wearing outfits like you sell! They have margaritas and cute coffee mugs - that’s what you have inside! Suddenly, you realize they are YOUR PERFECT CLIENT!!! But it’s too late! They are too far down the street and you were too busy talking to the little kids. They didn’t even know you were there. And they would have LOVED everything about your store. 

This is what happens when you don’t do the work. You waste time talking to the wrong people. And guys, you can talk until you are blue in the face, but it won’t matter if the right people aren’t hearing you.

This goes for Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, your website, your emails, EVERYWHERE that you show up as your brand. 

So what can you do?

The work. You figure out who the heck you need to be talking to. You figure out everything you can about them. 

But let’s make it easier. Let’s make it check-off-able so it’s not so overwhelming.

First, let’s get a rough idea of who you might be talking to. Just something blurry for now, okay? If you have had a few clients already where you’ve thought, “YES! THIS is how I want every client experience to be!” Then use them as your starting point. If you haven’t yet, you get to dream! Just think: Who would I LOVE to work with?! Could be a specific person you dream about working with or could be made up right from the start. 

Ultimately, you want to describe a SINGLE PERSON as your ideal client. You’ll even want to give them a name! This helps create things for them on a more personal level! Don’t worry, this is just your focus point. You’ll still attract plenty of people within this circle who might not be exactly this description. You know when you look on a map and it shows the center and then a 20-mile radius in a circle around it? That center dot is your focus point, your destination, your SINGLE ideal client. If you get to that, you’ll have a circle around you that you’ll hit in different ways - some will identify with parts of your ideal client and some with others, but, either way, you’re reaching that whole radius of people!

Now, let’s answer some questions that are check-off-able to help you knock this step out RIGHT NOW!!

If you really like checking things off and you like pretty checklists, I’ve created one for you for free that you can download! They’re the exact same questions as right here, but they just give you that yummy satisfaction of filling in your answers and checking off your boxes! And you’ll also have a pretty printout with all your ideal client info for easy reference!

TIPS: Keep in mind a few of your favorite clients. Ask a few people these questions who you think might be your ideal client. Look at some clients or friends on Facebook that you think might be your ideal client and look at the groups they are a part of and any other interests.

1. How old is your ideal client? 

2. Are they male, female or identify in some other way?

3. What is their marital status?

4. Do they have children? If no, is it by choice? If yes, what is the age range of their kids?

5. What time do they wake up?

6. What is the first thing they drink in the morning?

7. What do they eat for lunch?

8. What is a typical day like for them?

9. What podcasts do they listen to?

10. What books do they read?

11. What is something little that bothers them?

12. What is something big that worries them?

13. Do they work? What do they do for work?

14. What are 1-2 personal goals they have?

15. What are 1-2 business goals they have?

16. What do they wish they had more time for?

17. What would they do with an extra $1,000/month? An extra $5,000/month?

18. Where do they live? City? Suburbs? New construction house? Apartment?

19. What is their shopping guilty pleasure?

20. Who or what inspires them?

21. As it relates to your product or service, what is something they complain about that you can help with?

22. What do they worry about outside of your product or service?

23. What do you offer that can help them the most?

24. What 3-5 words would they use to describe themselves?

25. If they got to design their perfect living room, what would it look like? Color scheme? Where would the furniture be from?

26. Your ideal client walks up to a bar. What do they order?

27. What is their dream vacation?

Alright, if you answered those (and checked them off as you went!), you should have a pretty clear idea of who you are talking to!

What now?

Well, if you’re ready for the next step, I have another free resource for you! It’s a 16-page guide with 6 printable worksheets: “Is Instagram Repelling Your Ideal Client?. Now that you’ve got some ideal-client-clarity, it’s time to learn how to talk to them visually! Learn if you could even be repelling them, and learn what to do about it TODAY!