Should personal values be reflected in your photography brand? Why ask this question when the answer seems quite obvious, right?! Well of course your values should be reflected in your branding…

Surprisingly, it is not easy to follow sometimes. In fact, you could make a QUICK decision without even realizing that you are going against your own values unless you deep dive further into the situation. This is often the case when something shiny comes along and distracts you long enough to make a rash choice. Now, I am not saying that every decision needs to be a massive ordeal but you SHOULD always circle back to “Does this follow my brand?”

You may be asking, “Calli, where is this rant going?” Let me start from the beginning.

Let your Brand help make your Decisions

Recently a large company reached out to me asking if I would be willing to write a blog post about their company and the services they offer (I am not going to drop names because that is besides the point). At this point, I had a range of thoughts. First and foremost, WOW I can not believe this large company actually wants my small blog to post about them! I must be doing something right (Que confetti and fireworks going off in my head)! I emailed back to find out more and how I can make the most of this AMAZING opportunity.

Unfortunately, I figured out quickly we had different ideas in mind for working together. This company wanted to PAY me to write a post on their company but were not looking to bring on additional collaborators. I started to rake my brain on how this can potentially benefit my Living Lenz Family…maybe a referral code for my clients to get a discount. Nope, they were not allowing new referral codes to be issued. Ok, I was a little deflated but Not a total loss though! We can still make this work!

What are your brand values?

I emailed back one more time asking about their company values. Up to this point, I was shot down to have any type of further personal conversation and only offered money for the post (You are probably thinking “GIRL, Why are you complaining? You can get paid to write a quick blog post”) The response was not what I was hoping for. Instead of just taking an extra 5 minutes to write a simple personal reply telling me about their company values, they referred me back to their website to learn more about them. Now if they would have taken that time, I would have done it for free just to support them.

At this point, I was faced with a choice to make…. Write a blog post for money or Walk away. Choice #1 seemed pretty fantastic… quick money for easy work! Choice #2 meant loosing out on potential income and for what reason?

I chose to walk away because of my photography brand values. The company’s values stated they care for their clients but contradicted themselves when they could not take the time to talk to me (a potential client and a source supporting their company) about their values. Ultimately I chose to not make their mistake.

Stick to your Brand

I state that I am for my Living Lenz Family and entrepreneurs who want to collaborate who hold the same values I do. To be a person who puts people first over money. So how can I agree to write a post for a company that does not stick to their values and decide to put money over people? I can’t.

This long story has a point!

You have a choice to make. In fact, It is not just one choice! It is a continuation of choices you make everyday that keeps you on track to your original dream or becomes corrupted that ultimately ends up in a place you don’t recognize. Your brand is meant to keep you on track when you loose sight of why you started. Stick to your brand with EVERY decision you have to make and KNOW that sometimes you have to give up the quick win for a long term goal. Let your photography brand values be your compass for decisions!

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