WHY YOU SHOULD WEAR YOUR BRAND
WHY YOU SHOULD WEAR YOUR BRAND
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When it comes to representing your business, it goes without saying that you want to ensure you convey a professional and credible image. However, if you really want people to connect and believe in the services you offer then you too have to show that you have belief in yourself.
If you look at all the other branding strategies that big companies use, it starts to become very clear how effective the introduction of business clothing can become to build your own brand awareness in your area.
What is Brand Awareness?
Brand awareness is the extent to which your brand is recognised by potential and existing customers and how they associate you with particular products or services. These are your visual elements of your brand - your visual identity, logo, colours and message that all work in unison with each other and how your customer perceives you.
You are not only building your business identity, but you are also building trust in your services and customer loyalty. The more awareness people have of your brand the more it drives your customers decisions when choosing between services from other companies. From this it encourages repeat bookings or purchases, which, in time increases your sales.
How aware are your potential customers of your company in your local area?
So how can you market your business with very little effort?
As a small business owner, you are always thinking of ways to maximise your exposure and expand your brand awareness, sometimes with very little budget.
A really effective, visual and low cost way to market your business is by wearing your own branding clothing. This allows you the perfect platform to send out your own message about your business wherever you are.
Branded clothing embeds brand awareness, creates familiarity and its a continual reminder to prospective customers who you are and what you do. It also brings your company up to the next level, gives a sense of pride and professionalism and creates real value to your brand in ways that you may not have considered previously.
There are lots of reasons why branded clothing could help your business.
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10 BENEFITS OF WEARING YOUR BRAND
1/ IT GETS YOU NOTICED
Your business name is everything in an over saturated world of companies trying to stand out from the crowd. Wearing your brand is an effective form of marketing. Wherever it is worn your business is out there and people will see it. Emphasising your business with custom clothing makes you instantly recognisable and reinforces your brand awareness, day in, day out. Wear your brand to become memorable.
2/ IT CREATES INTEREST IN YOUR BUSINESS
People tend to associate branded clothing with established businesses. By wearing your brand you are embedding professionalism and trust for your potential customer. As a result of this they gain confidence and assurance that you are they right person for the job. Branded clothing also allows people to know who you are and what you do. When reputation is everything in today’s world, informed and happy customers means they are more likely to recommend you and promoting your brand, which will attract more business in the future.
3/ IT INSPIRES CONFIDENCE
When people see others in branded business clothing it can instil confidence in your services. If potential customers can see that you wear your business with pride and you care about making a good first impression wherever you go it reinforces trust that you can deliver on the promises your make. This confidence is also important for you, the business owner or even members of staff you may have. Wearing your brand means that you too feel confident in your business services, it enhances a sense of responsibility and accountability, you feel part of a team and are ready to represent what you want to advertise.
4/ IT CREATES REASSURANCE FOR CUSTOMERS
When wearing branded clothing you are a walking advertisement for your business, but you also promote that you are well-established and that you take your job seriously. This is paramount when you are working with customers or working in people’s homes where trust is even more important. It is essential that people using your services feel reassured and have peace of mind, which makes them feel like they are in good hands.
5/ IT MAKES YOU LOOK GOOD
When you put on your branded clothing you have a sense of belonging. Your business may only be small but when you look and feel good this shines through in everything that you do. This can immediately boost the way you come across as an individual and positively reinforce a customers confidence in your business. Whilst looking good, you are also much easier to identify, especially in busy areas.
Popular branded clothing could include, T-shirts, Hoodies or jackets. As soon as any of these types of clothing have your business logo on you become easily identifiable and look like you mean business.
6/ IT STRENGTHENS CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
People see advertising every second of the day so you have to stand out from the crowd. When people have a positive experience with you and your brand it means they are more likely to return. People associate brands with experience. If someone has had a positive experience with yourself, then they will be sure to let others know about this, recommending you to friends and more than likely return to you again. Giving your customers a memorable experience embeds loyalty.
7/ COST EFFECTIVE CONTINUOUS ADVERTISING
Remember - every time you are seen in public your brand is getting full coverage too. You are a walking advertisement for your brand! Branded clothing offers you a high level of repeated exposure for very little cost, which in today’s world is a hard thing to achieve without continued investment and time.
8/ IT BUILDS YOUR SELF CONFIDENCE
Dressing for success is all about psychology. Your clothing affects how you act and feel and when you feel good and confident in what you wear you project this positivity into other peoples lives as well. Clothing plays an important role in dressing for success and you may need a range of looks depending on where you are working, but if you feel stylish and you are appropriately dressed for your line of business then this confidence shines through.
9/ IT HELPS PROMOTE YOU
Branding clothing or products don’t always have to be for you or your staff. Why not think of other ways that you can enhance your brand awareness but offering your customers branded items to take away too. Branded gift vouchers which could be given to customers to gift to friends, product packaging which has other uses, stationary or gimmick clothing that also advertises your brand.
Just think of the free publicity you’ll get! Everyone likes to take a good experience to social media and people love free gifts! The opportunities from the internet is vast and a shout out from a happy customer could mean a lot of new business for yourself.
10/ IT CAN BE FOR ANY SIZED BUSINESS
The great thing about investing in branded clothing is that it doesn’t matter what industry or how big or small your business is. Any business can take advantage of wearing their brand. Even a one person business can effectively promote and grow their brand by wearing their logo and business message at any opportunity for all to see.
ULTIMATELY...
Branding for your business is a small investment with maximum returns.
To be trusted and respected, every element and detail has to be acknowledged and branded workwear is one that really does matter.
If you want to make a great first impression, build your brand awareness, optimise your brand and reassure your customers then there in no better way then wearing your brand with pride.
Could you be getting more from wearing your brand?
At Pho.TEE’s we create wearable marketing for creatives that allows you maximum exposure for a low cost.
If you would like to discuss your branded workwear options in more detail, we’d be very happy to help – just get in touch with us or check out our website at www.photees.co.uk
WE DID IT!
It’s been a week since I returned from the biggest photographic convention in Europe held by the Societies of Photographers in Hammersmith, London. Having been for the last few years, it is always a great opportunity to attend a variety of training by some of the best in the business, visit the trade show and meet up with old friends and gain new ones too.
The show is always finished off in style with the highly anticipated awards night, which recognises photographers and businesses within the photographic industry. Photographers are encouraged to nominate companies or products that they feel deserve the recognition of the prestigious trade awards, so imagine my surprise whilst stood at the bar to hear Pho.TEEs being announced as the The Best Studio Accessory 2018! These awards are highly sought after by many of the leading suppliers and as a first time nominee it was just nice to see my name up on the stage….but to WIN! WOW!
Words still cannot describe how overwhelmed and happy I am that so many people choose to vote for Pho.TEEs Clothing and Design. Since I launched the business I have had such amazing support from so many photographers and I have the honour of calling so many of them my friends too. I continue to keep meeting so many inspirational and talented individuals and it is all of you that I owe my thanks. The support and encouragement I have received since the start makes what I do such an enjoyable journey.
Check out the award winning range here – www.photees.co.uk
The Show
This year the SWPP moved to a new venue and I must say it was fantastic. The atmosphere over the 4 days was brilliant and I had the pleasure of meeting and chatting to so many new faces. Pho.TEEs clothing was very much present across the convention too with many photographers wearing their branded clothing around the venue as well as us having the the honour of providing branded tees to world renowned award winning photographer Kelly Brown, owner of Little Pieces photography and good friends Cass Davies and Mr.Gary Hill for their training workshops too.
The international presence this year felt much greater too and I can honestly say that I have never met such a great bunch of creatives all under one roof. There is so much talent within the photographic industry and I feel very privileged to be part of it.
Congratulations!
This years awards night was not just special for me because I walked away with an award but because I also got to celebrate with so many of my friends who also picked up trade awards and other fantastic photographic awards for their talent and achievements. The SWPP continues to excel itself with the quality of entrants and the standard of work and I feel very proud of all those that I know that continue to strive to be the best they can. I have never been in room with so much love and support for one another and I really do feel so honoured to be part of such a great family.
Our Range
If you aren’t a proud owner of one of Pho.TEEs products already, theres no better time than now to check out our latest clothing and accessories. Tees to hoodies and bags to custom artwork we are steadily expanding our range every week.
www.photees.co.uk
A BIG Thank You!
This weekend is my birthday and as we are now an AWARD WINNING BUSINESS(high five!) I would like to offer you all a 20% off discount for any order placed over this weekend – Friday 1st February 6pm – Sunday 3rd February midnight GMT Timezone. That’s 20% off anything in stock and online ready to ship!
Cash in this amazing deal by using CODE – WINNER at the checkout.
What’s next for Pho.TEEs?
There are so many plans in the pipeline for Pho.TEEs this year and I am very excited for the year ahead. We have a new website currently being built and some great new products and design coming your way very soon. We will also be at a number of shows this year too where you will be able to see our range of quality products so please do come say hello! Thank you once again for voting Pho.TEE’s Best Studio Accessory 2018, it really does mean such a lot.
I am ready to head into our most successful year yet and I very much look forward to welcoming you along for the ride.
NEW YEAR. NEW YOU AND ALL THAT.
Every year I work for myself is another year that I learn more about my creative path and businesses. Recently I have found myself struggling to balance what I think I should be doing and what I need to do in order to stay inspired and continue my creative development. Social media is now such a huge element of any creative business in today’s world. It can be a creative visual playground but it also has it’s downfalls. Some days it can be your creative outlet and visual inspiration to drive yourself and other days you can find yourself more focused on needing to post at exact times for ‘maximum’ likes across at least 4 different social network platforms and spending too much time worrying about what everyone else seems to be doing.
My aim this year and advice to others is focus on what you want to shoot and do it from the heart. Shoot for yourself. Shoot with your heart. Find your inspiration, that crazy idea, then collaborate with other photographers, make up artists, designers and any other creatives and do something for you. For me, I didn’t start my design and photography journey just because it was a job. It was a passion and desire that came from within. When I capture a moment I feel a sense of accomplishment. I own it.
At this time of year my social media feeds are all filled with posts about the new year and resolutions. I am not one for big resolutions, more often than not I do not carry them out. I probably wont go back to the gym regularly and I wont stop eating sweets or drinking wine just because I think I should. It just isn’t going to happen. Instead, I am trying to use it to reflect upon my businesses and try and better myself for the year ahead. Hopefully, some of the below may help you too.
BELIEVE IN YOUR WORK AND YOURSELF
As creatives we all go through times of self doubt. We worry that we ‘are not there yet’ and at times this can have a reverse effect on our creative flair and passion for what we love to do. Is my work good enough? Will others like it? Is it as good as other photographers? We are all on separate journeys and have different lives. Some achieve the skill and know how straight away and achieve greatness that we ourselves may feeling we do not currently have. This should not hold you back. There is a big difference in wanting to become a better photographer and being so full of self doubt that we don’t push ourselves out of our comfort zone. I aim to make 2019 the year that I push through and progress as the type of photographer and creative I want to be. More training, practice, working towards qualifications or just being more creative. Whatever it is, make it happen this year. Believe in yourself and the work you create.
This year I have already started to make plans for lots of new things I could add to my businesses. I know that some of these things may not work, however, without trying them I will never know for sure. This afternoon I received a message from a good photographer friend to organise some creative shoot days. It’s something i’ve always wanted to sort out but never got around too. It has been spoken about lots, but DOING is often different to just talking about it. If I’m honest, for me, it probably comes back to being slightly afraid to step out of my comfort zone. I know what I want to shoot but will I get it right? Will it turn out as I hoped? What will people say if it doesn’t? All of these doubts have become reasons not to plan in play days, which in turn means I don’t get to practice, experiment and learn as I go with fellow photographers.
The more I think about it the sillier it becomes and I know that in order to better myself I must continue to develop. Not only my technical skills within my creative sector but also my confidence and believe in myself that I can achieve the outcomes I desire. So…where’s that diary to pencil in some dates.
In a study of the art and science of goal setting, it was revealed that ‘you become 42% more likely to achieve your goals and dreams, simply by writing them down on a regular basis’. What you choose to write down will motivate you, give you time bound targets and enable you to reflect back throughout the year.
Wishing you all a wonderful journey into 2019. Lets go get this together!