Why stepping away can be a powerful reset in marketing, business and branding

Marketing education for photographers

My last post about three unconventional self-discovery tools for branding was written the day before I left for an extended holiday. I visited the Canadian province of Newfoundland that has been on my bucket list for a decade. Incidentally, my sister moved there with her family last year when my brother-in-law found out that his biological family roots are there.

I mixed bucket list with family visiting. We travelled throughout the island, staying in Fogo Island (my super bucket list location!), Bonavista, Torbay and Mt. Carmel. Day trips and side trips to many places in between.

My mind didn’t turn off from my branding goals, but I took the opportunity during my holiday to allow things to incubate and also set an intention to open my mind to how any new experience could lend some new thinking to my re-branding journey. I wasn’t disappointed.

Newfoundland is a place of natural, rugged beauty. Sweeping ocean vistas, breathtaking cliffs, pretty harbours, wild berries, fog, and friendly people define the vibe. In a place like this, it’s easy to feel small, free, peaceful and awestruck. And I found that when I allowed myself to be carried away by these feelings, it helped me introspect and find some perspective.

What I learned during my travels that I can apply to my business:

You can be a blueberry amongst the waves

Nature is an impressive and harmonious system. I witnessed incredible waves crashing against rocks, and picked tiny, wild blueberries along some hiking trails. Each is nature’s creation and each contributes to the system. The tiny blueberries are no less powerful or important than a big wave that may catch more attention. We can easily feel like the blueberry - small, inconsequential and hidden, when there are big waves around us (i.e. other, more successful photographers). But the blueberry and the wave come from the same source and embody the same energy. They are different, but they are equally powerful for their different reasons, qualities and characteristics. I loved watching the endless ebb and flow of the ocean but I equally delighted in picking and eating sweet berries. One thing does not remove from the other, or any other.

In this same way, we are all part of a whole and we have our place and contribute in our own way. We are all equally powerful even if we are different, and especially because we are different. I can bring my gifts to the world and it doesn’t remove anything from anyone else, and there is room for an infinite number of things. Your personality may be more of a blueberry or more of a wave, but either way you can succeed and not feel like anything else can overshadow you. Claim your space!

Stories trump everything

I spoke with many people and learned a lot about their lives and their land. People in Newfoundland are warm, inviting and friendly and most importantly, have stories to tell. And they aren’t afraid of telling them! Engaging in a social hello/how are you in Newfoundland can often turn into a 45 minute conversation (and maybe even a dinner invitation lol), but it’s well worth allowing the time. I came away with an expanded sense of people and culture and was fascinated by other people’s lives. It underpinned that we all love a good story and that stories are bonds that link us with others and with the past. Isn’t that the reason we all love a good behind-the-scenes? Photographers are visual storytellers, and we can also be written-word storytellers. A combination of picture and words can be even more powerful than just each element on its own.

A focus on stories - and not just on technically perfect photographs, beautiful and aesthetic websites, or good SEO - is a critical element to a richer and deeper dimension of your art and your brand. It will speak to clients and inspire them to have their stories told through your unique lens.

inspiration lurks in unexpected places

Before I left, I was already entertaining some of the colours and moods that I thought would fit my new brand, but I scrolled through Pinterest boards endlessly before I left without anchoring on anything that touched me.

As I travelled and photographed, I made the realization that the trip and the landscape gave me everything I needed. The vibrant blues of the blueberries, the deeper blue of the ocean, the orange/yellow gradients of the setting sun, the turquoise highlights of wave crests, and the pops of colour in outports and harbours.

When I tried too hard, my overthinking got the better of me and I lost clarity. Removing my rational brain and concentrating on my art and the feeling of what I captured during this trip provided a tapestry of colour that I wouldn’t have conceived of on my own. Sometimes creation is as much an allowing rather than a doing.

I realize that not everyone may have a trip planned in the future. The timing of mine was coincidental with my desire to re-brand, although a part of me believes that nothing was by accident.

If you don’t have a trip planned, then start where you are. The trip also made me realize that I sought beauty when I went to Newfoundland, and found it because I was paying attention. In fact, I live in a beautiful place too. It’s not exactly the same landscape, but there are beautiful things around me too. I have nature, parks, and the lovely city of Montreal close by. Do a photo walk where you are, or even leave your camera and just pay attention. Explore, let go of all the thoughts around your business just for a short time. Tell yourself that you wish to be open in this time to receive inspiration - be it in the form of an idea, a colour, a texture. I stepped away for a few weeks but we should all step away in short bits often and practice the art of allowing our creative expression to shine through unencumbered. This is the final takeaway for me. I will make time regularly to step away and let whatever is beneath the surface to bubble up. I think my business will thank me.


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