Boisterous laughter surrounded me like the overflowing knit of my favorite sweater as I sat at the table. The twinkling of the warm Christmas lights softly falling on every smiling face. Our plates long since empty and stomachs full, we sat for the simple purpose of filling our hearts with each others company. Quietly I sat back, watching the communion between friends and time began to slow. I memorized each loved one's expression and reveled in their joy, slowing down my mental pace to consume every detail... and there was peace.

It's important to slow and appreciate a moment. My spirit always finds deep refreshment in doing so. It's like sitting in a river, being fully part of a current but pausing to watch the droplets of every splash and notice every bubble as it swirls in the current.

There's been so much excitement and positive connection through Jasper & Fern lately that I've been thrilled to immerse myself in. Today though, I've found it necessary and refreshing to slow my mental pace, fill my spirit with pure appreciation and revel in each shared moment that has flowed into this moment in time.

Especially in a time where human connection is minimal and one of the best ways to care for each other is from a distance, I am most appreciative of all the people and business owners with whom we've found new ways to meaningfully come together and build relationships.

You are appreciated.
You are loved.
You are seen.

I'm looking forward to dinners and in person connections with you when the time is right.

~ With gratitude ~

Alyson

“It’s our differences that make us better as a whole.”

— Alyson, Head Photographer at Jasper & Fern

After the heartache of finding myself surrounded by negative company too often in the past, I absolutely love and am grateful for now being surrounded by women who honestly want to see each other succeed. There are no ulterior motives, no people talking behind each others' backs - just women stepping in to share their knowledge and skill for the betterment of others.

Branding Portrait for marketing coach, Mallory Schlabach. | Winston-Salem On location Brand Photography | Jasper & Fern

One of my favorite parts about my job is the opportunity to build community and support another small businesses' success. It's about more than creating pretty pictures. It's learning your needs, getting to see where you're going and be involved in your vision. It's stepping into the world you're passionate about and connecting with your heart.

I've always said that each person has been created with unique gifts with which they can use to impact their community. It's our differences that make us better as a whole. It's our choice to use those gifts for the betterment of those around us.

“Maybe, just maybe there’s some life left in these roots.”

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I left to go on vacation for five days with my family. All of our housekeeping boxes had been checked and listed out - feed the dogs, give them cuddles, get the mail, etc. Everything was well in hand. At least, that’s what I thought until I returned.

The days were long and hot while we were gone - a fact that now greeted me at our door in the form of my shriveled Japanese ferns. We’d gotten them just a few weeks prior as strong adolescent plantings. Their beautiful, lush, dark green leaves and numerous fiddle heads promised a viable, healthy plant. Then, in a snap of the fingers, they were hit with five days without water in the grueling heat. I cradled their now brown and crunchy leaves in my discouraged hands.

Being someone that gets attached to plants - picking them on their personality and naming them as such - I was disheartened by the death of my beautiful ferns. Examining their stems, I brought them inside and sat them in our kitchen sink. “Maybe,” I thought to myself, “just maybe, there’s some life left in these roots.”

For the next few days I nursed them with small showers and filtered sunlight, being careful not to let the soil rot. I pulled the dead stems from the soil and plucked the dried leaves from the stems that held the most promise of maintaining life. My beautiful ferns were now poor little scraggly leaves on jagged stems surrounded by uprooted soil. I wasn’t sure if they were going to make it.

Especially amidst this pandemic, many of us small business owners know the sinking feeling of coming to the realization that something in our business - maybe even our business itself - has shriveled up. It seems like our once flourishing or growing businesses were on the incline to maintaining sustainability and then *wham*, we get hit with this intense and immediate upheaval of a pandemic that puts the pressure on us and takes away our lifeblood.

[Take a deep breath here if you need it. Lord knows, I did.]

The new growth on our Japanese fern, Hope. | Winston-Salem Brand Photography | Jasper & Fern

This drought has been hard to navigate for a lot of us. Many of us have been reduced, called to eliminate what no longer works and called to cultivate new growth in areas that aren’t necessarily our strong-suits or where we have our wealth of knowledge. I’ve seen my fellow small business peers roller-coaster about in this new work. I’ve seen them struggle and seen them triumph. I’ve seen businesses flourish and others close their doors forever. I’ve experienced it myself.

It’s been a tumultuous and demanding few months, many of us yearning for the strain to break.

I realized this morning, while pulling a few more dead stems from my ferns, that we’re all in the recovery process; a course that, no doubt, will continue to be long and arduous. This process though, carries hope and opportunity for growth in the right direction, just like I’ve seen with my ferns. After a month of vigilant care for my ferns, five new fiddle heads have begun to unfurl, a few stems have started to recover and green leaves have been growing steadily while the soil has started to become healthy again. It’s hard to ignore the parallel. We, as businesses and communities, now have an immediate opportunity to find new was to serve our clients, new ways to connect on a human level with each other; more opportunities to be compassionate, showing love and grace; more opportunities to step in and help our neighbor, to nurture and provide support in our immediate circles.

All these opportunities, the ways in which we can impact our community, will eventually spread their growth and begin to overlap borders, bonding in strength. The days will still be long and hot outside, but we can adapt together to create an environment that will continue to promote growth.

What a crazy world to be shifting our lives and small businesses in - right?! With all the time in school studying history and the shaping of our world (not to mention living in a first world country) never did I ever think that I’d face a pandemic in my lifetime! Just like my own, the lives and businesses of my clients and friends have had to swiftly adapt for sustainability (and survival). With all the shifts needing to be made, our small business community needs all the support it can get. I’ve dug in to see how I can give some support to my fellow small business owners and compiled 3 ways you can connect with your customer during this craziness.

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1. Connect on a Human Level

Quote “Let’s be human together” - Jasper & Fern | Winston-Salem Photography Studio

Oof, big one right here!! Connecting with your customer is not just about keeping yourself top-of-mind so they can remain your client. It’s about being real, authentic and relating on a human level.

With the stay-at-home orders, limited re-openings and limits on how many people can get together at one time and how far apart we all need to stand, many of us (if not all of us) are feeling disconnected.

Remember, the more human you are in your business, the more you can connect with your customers on a human level!

How to Connect :

1. Use your brand images to showcase the humanity of your business and your employees. Pair a professional brand image of them - like a headshot or them at work - with a story (with their permission of course!) about what they usually do and what they’re doing now during their time at home. It can be a story of their humanitarianism, what they’re doing with their pets, what hobbies they’ve been able to delve into with the extra time, what they’re doing to give back to their community. Give your post some extra relateability by sharing a selfie or snapshot of them doing what you shared in their story.

2. Take the opportunity to rave about one of your employees or customers, sharing why you enjoy them, and pair it with a brand photograph featuring them (or post a snapshot of that particular customer’s review of your services).

3. Don’t be afraid to get vulnerable. Share your own story or perspective about how this every changing world is impacting you. It could be something you miss doing, people you miss seeing, positive changes that you’re excited to share - and, you guessed it, pair this vulnerability with a brand photograph that shows your face or the product/service you’re talking about missing or being impacted.

4. You can also schedule a Zoom or phone call with a client just to check in and see how they’re doing!

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2. Keep the Personal Touch

Team Portrait by Winston-Salem Photography Studio Jasper & Fern for local small business

This has come up in conversation SO much these past few months. With many businesses and corporations realizing that it’s not only cheaper but also more efficient, in many ways, to cut out the face-to-face interactions of employees with customers, personal touch has gone out the window. There’s no more flying to business meetings, grabbing a cup of coffee together, eating lunch with a client - all those personal actions to reinforce a customer’s value. But, as a small business owner, we know that many people are buying our services and products because of US - because of our personal touch - right?! So, how can this face-to-face interaction be so quickly eliminated??

As a small business owner, you likely immediately recognize that for you it’s simply not an option to take away that personal touch. It’s where we can show how much we value people, show that our customer is heard, show that the person we’re interacting with is more than just a bottom-line number. So how do we show up for our customers in this way while still respecting everyone’s health and safety?

Now, more than ever, you want to keep your face in front of people!

Here are our top Ideas :

1. Send a personalized card with your name on it. Give it some extra impact with a smiling picture of you or you and your team in or on the card, putting your supportive faces right in front of them. I guarantee your customer will feel appreciated!
(You can also send an email like this if you don’t have their mailing address on file)

2. Add a brand portrait to your email signature, your Zoom profile and your online business profiles.

3. Start including branded imagery that shows the faces of you or your team in your emails, blogs and social postings.

4. Send your client a small gift with a personalized note with a small photograph of you on it.

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3. People are moving online, Stand out in the market!

Sample of branded Layflat style image from Updog Wellness’s branding session | Layflats and brand photographs are images that small businesses and brands can use to market to their target audience while boosting their brand presence, building their brand personality all while keeping their brand aesthetics consistent, building trust and recognition over time.

Almost every single business has faced the urgency of moving online these days. Sure, before the pandemic you could do, meh, “alright” without having an online presence - tough although it might be, especially if you’re still building your presence in your markets. Now though, with all the stay at home orders and mandates for business operations taking out your in-person relationships? Eeesh…. it’s a nightmare if you’re not online and trying to still earn money. Sadly, I’ve seen a few of our amazing Winston-Salem businesses go out of business because they couldn’t adapt quickly enough.

Showing people what you offer - service or product - makes an impact on your bottom line. You don’t want to miss out on your customers who are willing and ready to support their local businesses simply because you’re not online. Having an attractive photograph will help you stand out amongst your competition. I’s truly a bonus if you can do so with engaging imagery that showcases your brand messaging and personality too!

Ideas on How You can Show Up :

1. If you already have brand imagery, put it out there! Getting your images and message out there - even if you’re repeating content - will make more of an impact right now than holding those goods back.

2. Use your brand photography in small video compilations - make a slideshow or ask your photographer to do it for you.

3. Showcase you and your team at work. Showcase your products. Showcase what it’s like working behind the scenes.

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What if you don’t have brand photographs to use?

Let’s face it, you may not have brand photography to use right now. If you don’t, here’s what we recommend.

1. Book a brand photographer to come and take socially safe branding photographs for you.

2. Ship or drop off your products for your photographer to photograph. (This one is great especially if you want to practice extra caution and aren’t ready to be around people, even in a socially safe manner)

3. Don’t offer products? Arrange for a photographer to photograph Layflat style images that feature tools you use to conduct business.

Layflats and brand photographs are images that small businesses and brands can use to market to their target audience while boosting their brand presence, building their brand personality all while keeping their brand aesthetics consistent, building trust and recognition over time.

Many times these tools feature your brand aesthetics. If you have these items on hand - like a computer laptop, iPad, phone cover, business cards or decorative items from your storefront - arrange to drop off or ship those items to your photographer. They can get creative and create images that, while they may not feature you, can still help showcase your brand personality or what you do.

If you’re not sure what these items could be for you, schedule a consultation with your photographer and they can help you figure out what would work best for you.

4. If you’re not in the position to hire someone to create polished professional images for you, just try your best to do a few images yourself!

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If you need guidance digging in deeper into how you can use brand photography to your advantage during this pandemic, feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to help you out!

Wishing you peace, sanity and sustainability,

The Jasper & Fern Team