Brandmerry Blog Archives
My Top Free Stock Photo Resources To Match Your Brand
MY TOP FREE STOCK PHOTO RESOURCES TO MATCH YOUR BRAND
You've probably noticed by now my branding is a little different from what you typically see in the industry. If, you are new here feel free to take a look around so you know what I mean!
Well, I struggled hardcore in finding stock photos in the beginning that would match my branding, so much so I just avoided it.
However, as I've grown, I've needed to rely on stock photos to create a cohesive look for my website, blog and social postings and that has led me to finding some truly kickass sites for getting stock photos.
In true fashion I wanted to pass along the information for you to incorporate into your own branding.
Disclaimer: The sites listed below are advertised as free sites, but please check to make sure for yourself and give credit to the photographers when necessary.
Pexels
Pexels offers a wide rage of photos, often very warm and rustic. There search bar makes it easy to type in keywords and find photos that easily relate to your brand or topic of choice.
Bucketlistly
For the entrepreneur who LOVES to travel this site is a must for truly beautiful adventure photos. You can even find photos specific to a certain location in the world - pretty cool!
http://photos.bucketlistly.com/
UNSPLASH
They have a very do whatever you want mentality for their photos which makes it easy to share on multiple platforms. Not to mention their photos are often ones you don't see used time and time again.
LITTLE VISUALS
Not only are the photos gorgeous, but the story behind this website and the creator makes you want to help spread the message. Although new photos are not added regularly, due to the unexpected passing of the photographer, it gives you the opportunity to share someones beautiful work and donate to a worthwhile cause.
Magdeleine
Magdeleine is an amazing resource for the well-branded entrepreneur because it allows you to choose photos that match a particular color palette - can you say jackpot?!
Raumrot
Raumrot gives you the opportunity to choose a category and then simply access a set of photos associated with that category - making it simple to put together photos that compliment your branding.
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>
PART ONE: My Top Tools for My Business That Allow Me to Automate More and Work Less
PART ONE: MY TOP TOOLS FOR MY BUSINESS THAT ALLOW ME TO AUTOMATE MORE AND WORK LESS
I'm all about being able to work from wherever - in fact since launching my business I've been able to travel to Europe and California all while still being able to run my business from afar.
In fact location freedom is just the third part of the Freedom Trifecta (copyright coming soon ;)) When you have all these pieces: Time Freedom, Location Freedom and Financial Freedom, you are golden.
One of the key pieces to achieve location freedom is automation! When we were on vacation in California this past month, I was able to take coaching clients, but also know that my emails, blog posts and social postings were on automate and ready to get in the hands of my community.
So, today I'm sharing part one of my favorite automation tools with all of you.
**Disclaimer: I've marked the tools that I am an affiliate for with a little *, so I can be super transparent with all of you. However, I totally use these tools for my own business and love them, hence why I'm an affiliate.
Ok, now on to the tools!
17 hats* - New automation, invoicing, contracts, questionnaires and bookkeeping
I use 17 hats for multiple parts of my business, but hands down my favorites are bookkeeping and questionnaires. Bookkeeping has made my life super easy, because all my accounts a streamlined with 17hats, allowing me to just run a report at the end of the quarter to see profit and loss. I utilize the questionnaires for weekly check-ins with my clients AND to capture new leads and automatically add them to my database.
Zoom* - Client calls (both 1:1 and group), trainings and discover calls
Zoom is a multi-leveled tool for my business, but I absolutely love it for my coaching calls. You can set up a meeting in Zoom (whether one time or on a set schedule) and set the recording automatic for your meetings, cause I'm constantly forgetting. I also love it for webinars!
Buffer - Social media posting to private group, business page, personal accounts and Twitter
A no-brainer and a free option as well, but super important for automating social media. I love Buffer because it is easy, affordable if you want to upgrade and allows me to schedule my posts across all platforms, including my private community Authentic Brand Builders, giving me more time to engage in other groups on Facebook and increase my visibility.
Convertkit* - Email marketing, funnels and opt-in lead pages
When I started my business I used Mailchimp as my CRM and I recommend it to my new clients if they aren't ready to invest in their email marketing platform just yet. However, I switched over the Convertkit when I wanted a platform that allowed me more tools to tag my clients, automate my business and create landing pages. Rather than having to invest in a separate platform for capturing leads, Convertkit allows you to do it all in one space (and save some serious money in the process).
Ready for Part Two? Check it out HERE >>
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>
How to Gain Visibility in Facebook Groups Without Being a Sleaze
It is no secret that Facebook Groups are changing. My coach tells me it was easier when she started because promotions were allowed in groups, but now there are often rules around promoting yourself in groups and more often than not they aren't allowed.
So how are you supposed to gain visibility in your business and make some money in groups where promotions aren't allowed (or super specific). Well today is your lucky day because I'm sharing this in this week's web series.
Today's post, is all about:
Gaining Visibility in Facebook Groups Without Being a Sleaze
I've implemented ALL of these tools I'm sharing and have seen major results from my efforts, so this is a video not to be missed!
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>
Repurposing Your Content to Reach More People in Less Time
REPURPOSING YOUR CONTENT TO REACH MORE PEOPLE IN LESS TIME
As entrepreneurs it is essential to master the art of time management. How else do you expect to juggle home life, work life and not lose your sh*t in the process.
When I was launching my business a little over a year ago I was constantly trying to come up with new and exciting content. I drove myself crazy trying to think of something NEW for my community on a regular basis, because I felt like I had to.
The truth is you're better off repurposing your content for multiple reasons.
1) Drive the Message Home
How many times have you opened an email, skimmed it and then deleted it. Then, an hour later you see a message pop up on your Facebook feed about the same topic so you investigate a little more just to see what it's about. Then, while scrolling through Pinterest you see a blog post about that EXACT same topic and of course you click and possibly buy. Well, that's the whole point of repurposing content, to send your message out loud and clear and get in front of your ideal client multiple times in a short amount of time.
2) Actually Reaching Your People
The reality is not everyone is going to read every email you send them or see every single message you post on Facebook (cause algorithms and all) so the more times you can get the same message out into your community the better. This goes for groups too - imagine someone seeing your post multiple times on different platforms, talk about free marketing.
3) It's a Freaking Time Saver
I always suggest my clients map out their content for the whole month at one time, and people often ask me how I'm able to do it in 30 minutes, well it's because of repurposing. Repurposing my content allows me to schedule stuff in less time, create stuff in less time and saves me the time and energy to focus on more money making tasks.
Repurposing has been a life-saver for my business and will be for yours as well - promise.
Happy Repurposing!
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>
How to Get Your Ideal Client to Stay on Your Website
HOW TO GET YOUR IDEAL CLIENT TO STAY ON YOUR WEBSITE
So you have people visiting your website! Good for you - I know it's such an awesome feeling when you get people to start viewing your hard work!
I know it feels like such a huge accomplishment that people have decided to take a step further and investigate what it is you are all about. But the problem is not getting people to your website, it is getting them to stay.
Fun fact, just last week I was doing a guest podcast interview and the host was telling me how easy it was to get pulled into my website and she suddenly found herself reading every page - pretty cool huh?
It's so freaking important to give people a REASON to stay on your website and to explore more about you and what you have to offer.
In today's web series I'm sharing How To Get Your Ideal Client to Stay on Your Website and I promise it's a whole lot easier than it sounds!
Michelle Knight is a Branding and Business coach for female entrepreneurs who are struggling to gain visibility and traction to take their business to the next level. She works with her clients to dive deep into their story so they can create a brand and message that positions them as an expert and allows them to create their desired income to free up time in their schedule for what matters most. Learn more >>