Copywriter and Content Strategist - Lisa Leslie of Magnolia Content →

Throughout the summer and fall of 2021, I created an Event called the Extraordinary Female Entrepreneurs and Leaders of the Seacoast. I set out to photograph and tell the stories of 25 women. I wanted to create an event that would celebrate the person behind the business. I was hoping to inspire other women and to create collaboration and networking. I had so much fun creating this gallery of photos. But… I am not a writer. So, I brought on Lisa Leslie of Magnolia Content to tell the stories. Lisa was so much fun to work with and created some beautiful stories to go along with the photographs. Here is Lisa’s story:

Lisa is a copywriter and content strategist who is passionate about using her love of writing to help business owners thrive. Her love for writing began as soon as she learned to write. Though her handwriting was questionable at the time, her passion for telling stories through written words was anything but. She genuinely enjoys listening to how people got started in their business, what keeps them going, and helping them share that with their target audiences — by stringing together words in a compelling way that inspires action. 

After working in several industries (finance, insurance, real estate, retail, marketing, etc.) in a variety of roles, Lisa decided to pursue her love for writing officially in 2015, when she created Writer By Default, a copywriting business focused on helping small businesses with affordable copywriting, including website copywriting, email content, press releases, blogs, and social media marketing. In 2019, she relaunched her business as Magnolia Method Consulting, adding content strategy and consulting services to her offerings. After a year of unprecedented ups and downs in 2020, Lisa rebranded again, settling on the business name, Magnolia Content. This name and brand change was a result of her desire to simplify her brand identity and clarify her passion — which is helping small, service-based businesses share their brand stories, attract their ideal clients, and grow their businesses organically, with authentic, relevant, and compelling content

Lisa is married with two teenage stepdaughters, a 4-year-old Great Pyrenees named Hainesy, an 8-year-old Labrador retriever named Honey, and a 3-year-old white Siamese mix cat named Casper. Her three favorite pastimes include hiking, skiing, and singing. She likes trying new things, and sometimes she likes to get crafty with paint and make art out of scrap wood.

“If the passion is there, do it! Don’t wait. Know that it will be terrifying, and you will have your doubts. You will have days where you want to quit, but you will also have days where you feel like you are one of the luckiest people in the world to be able to do what you love every day.”

For more information about Lisa visit her website at Magnolia Content, follow her on Instagram @Magnoliacontent, on LinkedIn @Magnolia Content and on Facebook @Magnolia Content.

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Blogs

How to develop your personal brand.

Why is Branding Useful and What in the world is Branding Photography?

I love the clean look of this Anne Klein ad! Even the model’s hair has a very clean look to it. It is no-nonsense, bold and the model looks like she is an executive.

81% of shoppers do online research before making big purchases. Even if your goal isn’t to attract clients online, people will still want to do research on you and you will still want to have a good, strong online presence. Therefore, it is a good idea to think about your brand.

But what exactly is a brand and what is branding? Branding is the promotion of a particular product or company by means of advertising and distinctive design. Brand photography is a suite of professional images that represent your business visually, and fit with your visual identity through their use of colors, tone, props, styling, sets and more. Good Branding allows who you are to line up with what you do so that your business is visible, easily recognizable, credible and people get a good sense of who you are and what you do. Your online presence needs to make your buyer feel comfortable and confident in buying from you or hiring you for a service!

Contrary to the Anne Klein ad, This Dolce & Gabbana ad is quite busy. There is tons of visual interest and the models pop in the ad from with the vibrant prints and colors. This ad portrays a sense of free-spirited luxury and spontaneity.

So how in the world do you develop your brand? One of the first questions you should ask yourself is, how do you want to be perceived? How do you want your shoppers to think of you when they look at your online media platforms? Are you a company that wants to be people friendly, down to earth, enticing every day people? Or, are you looking for a specific high-end niche? When developing your brand it is important to keep your target audience in mind.

In order to get a cohesive brand, you must use the same fonts, colors, and types of images across the board. Your look should be the same in your advertisements, your social media, your website, vouchers and gift cards. There should be a flow in your design, things should be interesting visually and draw the viewer in. I tend to like lots of space in my designs and photos and a more minimalistic style. An uncluttered space makes me feel better - that is my personal preference. Someone else might like something with more visual interest, like a style with lots of florals.

This Ralph Lauren ad evokes a sense of calm and luxury. You see the old-style villa in the background with the arch and stucco. The all-white outfit and relaxed attitude of the model also portrays a sense of luxury and calm.

I found when I decided to work on branding for my business, I was overwhelmed by it all. To be honest, I avoided it for some time. I knew eventually I would have to bite that bullet. I started by writing down adjectives that I thought described my style. I spent time doing research and going through magazines. Look at other websites, magazines and screen shot things that speak to you. Break down the reasons why you are attracted to certain brands. Do you like their colors and fonts? Why? What feeling do they invoke in you? I found my fonts and colors because certain magazines had a clean look that a really liked! This is a process that you can tweak along the way. 

Most importantly, you want people to be able to recognize your brand, your work and know that it is you. You want your customer to feel that your work is consistent. You want your customers to be confident that you will deliver the same product every time. Being consistent with your brand helps you to convey that feeling to your customer. Does your profile photo align with your colors and fonts? If your brand is clean and minimalistic - does your profile photo show you wearing boho outfits, vintage or something other than clean and contemporary? If your website is light, airy with a flowery script font, does your photo align with that? Or are you wearing black and looking more chic and severe? Make sure the visuals in your website and in your content align with the colors, the fonts and other details. Again, if you are clear about the type of client you want to attract, then you will have a better time attracting that client if your photos, and your style are consistent throughout!

Do you hate how you look in photos?

Like many people, I often don’t like the way I look in photographs. With the advent of cellphones and too many clicks that don’t flatter, I think the tendency to hate the way we look in photos has increased. Back in the day, before the advent of point and shoot cameras, people got professional photos taken. It was a thing to get the family together, dress up and have portraits taken - by a professional. Today everyone has a camera on hand and we are getting our photos taken quite often. Mostly the photos are taken in bad light, they are not posed well and they are unflattering. So it is no surprise that many of us hate the way we look in photos.

I have decided to adopt a mindset that passes off my really horrible photos to bad lighting and posing. This takes a change of mind and it takes effort. I know I am aging, and that is something that I cannot control. I am not expecting to be wrinkle free, but I want to look attractive. I want to look like myself at my best. I don’t want to look at my image and not like the way I look.

I have been putting off doing self-portraits for a long time. It is so easy to come up with excuses. In reality, I assumed that I would hate the way I looked. So here in quarantine, because I love to do portraits, because I cannot shoot clients, I was pushed into a corner. I had to do it - no more excuses!

I bit the bullet, and took a deep breath and set up a portrait session for me. I did my own hair and makeup, put on my favorite black turtle neck and set up flattering lighting. I did my best to do poses that I know are flattering. Without having anyone to direct me (like I would direct a client), this is a bit of trial and error. So far, I think my best look is with my face straight at the camera with my chin slightly lowered. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually like my photographs. Sure there are a few that don’t look good. That is normal in any shoot. With every client I will try different angles to see which is more appealing. I analyze which angle and expression looks best on them.

You need to exist in photos for yourself and for those that you love. Not someday in the future, but now.