Marketing Supplies: 3 Must-Have Items Every Business Owner Needs | Minnesota Wedding Photographer

branding materials, small business marketing items, branding inspiration

You’ve got your website. You’ve got your social media handles. But what other marketing supplies do you need to have when you’re starting a new business?

branding photos, business cards, marketing materials, with grace and gold

Business Cards

This may be a little obvious but you need to have business cards that tell prospective clients what you do, where to see your work, and how to contact you.

You never know when you’ll run into someone who needs your services. For example, I was photographing a senior this summer at a fairly remote area and I saw a mother and her two children playing. She commented that her family photographer had moved away…can you see where I’m going with this? If I hadn’t had my business card I wouldn’t have turned that totally random encounter into a client.

Not sure where to get your business cards? I love Moo and get all of my business cards, note cards, and other paper marketing supplies there. I exclusively order my business cards through Moo because they’re printed on high quality premium paper, I can have different images on each business card, and they’re reasonably priced.

Cohesive Branding

What the hell is cohesive branding? Let’s start by answering the question “what is branding?”

Branding involves choosing certain fonts, graphics, illustrations, logos, colors, and tone of voice. When you use those branding items consistently – on your website, social media, and marketing materials – that’s when you achieve cohesive branding.

If you don’t have any of these branding items, I suggest starting with a logo, brand colors, and your brand voice. Brand voice is a WHOLE topic so I won’t get into that here…if you want to learn more about brand voice, let’s set up an online coaching call and we can take a deep dive into it!

Branding headshot, lifestyle photo inspiration, small business headshot, photographer branding photos

A Recent Headshot

Some might not consider a headshot to be a marketing supply but to them I say, does every business need one? Yes…the answer is yes.

You need a headshot to let people know who the face of your business is and to build client trust. You headshot should grace the pages of your website and be your profile photos on all of your social media accounts (Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.). There’s that brand cohesion idea again.

How often do you need to get new headshots? In my dancing days, the rule of thumb is that you needed to update your headshot whenever you changed your look or every 1 to 2 years if your look stayed the same.

The same theory applies to business. At a minimum, you should get updated headshots at least once every other year. If you’re a content creator you’d do well to get new photos taken at least once a year if not a couple times a year so you have new content to post.

If you’re in need of branding or headshot photos, I’ve got your back! Not in my area? No problem! I travel and can come to you!! Set up your portrait session here and I’ll make sure you’re taken care of.

Are there other must have marketing supplies you think every business owner should have? Let me know in the comments!


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I'm a free-spirited love and adventure seeker who aims to inspire joy, compassion, and beauty. I hope to show each person I interact with how remarkable they are and that they have value.  

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How do we even start to say thank you for all the work and effort you put into our wedding day?

- Josie and Scott

Lauren played such a meaningful role in our wedding, capturing the day in photos that we'll look back on for the rest of our lives. She kept Scott and me calm and sane - Lauren is a miracle worker! She put in 100% effort and gave us her very best, and that means so much to me. Seeing our photographs makes me so excited and so happy that Lauren was with us on this journey.

Lauren made the process so easy and made us feel so comfortable!

- Amy and Luke

We just wanted to say thank you again so much for your amazing work. You were seriously incredible to work with and we loved the locations you suggested for both our engagement shoot and the spots in Stillwater. We were very worried about getting professional photos done since we had never done it before, but you made the process so easy and made us feel so comfortable. Thank you!

Working with Lauren was easy breezy and FUN! She gave us our most treasured photos ever!

- GRACE AND NICK

There was a chunk of time in our wedding planning when we thought we'd go without a professional photographer to save on cost (terrible idea!) but once we met with Lauren, we knew we'd be in good hands. She checked in often and asked questions that got us thinking about other parts of the wedding that we probably would've missed. Lauren captured exactly who we are as a couple!

Lauren's enthusiasm and passion make the photo-taking process so fun – she made me feel like a star!

- Alisa AND Adam

Lauren and her team are so much fun to work with! She made us feel so comfortable on the day of our wedding, providing both silly and helpful cues to help us relax and be ourselves in our photos. Lauren’s background in dance is super helpful in recognizing simple posture changes that make a big difference, too. Oh, and the photos we got are just stunning!

Lauren was pivotal in making our wedding day perfect!

- Emma AND Erik

My husband and I looked FOR MONTHS to find the perfect photographer and after meeting Lauren we knew was the best fit for us. She made our day so much fun and easy. She found little opportunities to make the perfect photo all with a  calm ease that comes from someone who has an artistic eye along with experience in understanding the flow of a wedding.

Not only is Lauren an amazing human being, but she is an awesome photographer!

- Haley AND Erick

I've been in several weddings and have worked with a multitude of photographers and I never felt as confident as I did with Lauren. I love how professional she is. She helped with the timeline way in advance and we stuck to that timeline the day of. She was also able to professionally and firmly keep unruly family members settled and focused and navigated family drama beautifully!

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