Monday, January 9, 2012

It's TIME!


Just so you all know, I wrote this post this afternoon, and the website has been ready....but the blog is not finished yet! My amazing friend Paige has been helping me, and we have literally been working on it every spare moment up to this point. There are just a few last things to be done and it will be ready! So! For now, enjoy the website and facebook page!


Yipeee!!! It's finally here. To be honest, I wasn't sure this day would ever come. The day I have a brand. The day I have a real website. The day I get to show off my amazing clients the in a more professional way.

This has been in progress for months. I mentioned earlier, it started in February when I learned how important branding your business is. I read a ton, tried to do a lot on my own, and got completely burnt out several times. Back in September I decided I was sick of it! I was ready to get this ball rolling. I was sick of not having a brand, and always telling people I was "working on it" (which I really was...I just needed help).

One of my friends encouraged me to do IPS's "Look Through" course. Click the link to read about it if you want to learn more. I prayed about it, talked to my parents, and decided to do it! In October I started the 8 week course. Jocelyn teaches the course, and she was awesome! Pushing me, making me make decisions (believe, that's a big deal...especially when it comes to my branding), and encouraging me. It was the craziest 8 weeks ever! I was shooting 2-4 sessions a week and doing look through at the same time. I thought I was going to go crazy. Every time I sat down at the computer I was working on something. Either editing or doing "homework" for the class. I think I might have started to hate my computer ;-)
It paid off! I still have a long way to go, and I have some big goals I want to accomplish, but this is a huge start! I'm excited about where it's all going to go!

This definitely wouldn't have happened without the help of several people:
Jocelyn, for teaching, coaching, and putting up with me.
Anna, for encouraging me, giving her opinion on things countless time, and....encouraging me ;-)
Babbs, for taking photos especially for the occasion!
Paige, for spending HOURS helping me get my new blog in order. This girl knows that HTML stuff. It's like a whole new language to me...but not for her! My blog...would probably be one of the template examples if it weren't for her.
And last but definitely not least...to you! All of my blog readers and clients! You've commented, encouraged, and stuck with me this whole time. My self-made website, unfinished blog, and unbranded business. THANK YOU!

For those of you that I've photographed, I loved every bit of it, and ....can we do it again? Please? I mean...wouldn't it be cool to have your photos on this awesome new blog? haha!=)

One of the biggest changes that has been made is the business name. It will no longer be Hailey Huggins Photography, but instead, Photos By Hailey. I'll explain the reason for the name change in the next blog post.

And then....there's the logo. Yay! It's the perfect mix of retro, clean, and funky. I had no idea where to start with a logo....but after lots of coaching from Jocelyn and skype dates, it was almost perfect. Sketch Block font, the perfect yellow, and a rustic film strip. But there was just one thing...the writing needed to be different. I changed it once again (sorry Jocelyn!) to where the title was tilted. I had the image in my head, and so I drew a picture and sent it to Jocelyn. My designer did an awesome job at making it into the logo.

So....check out all the new stuff! Ask questions, explore the blog, like the new facebook page, follow me on twitter, set up a shoot! I'm excited...aren't you?



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