Over the past year, I’ve had a struggle with FIVE12 Studio. I knew where I wanted it to be but I didn’t know how I wanted to get there. When I first started I thought, “I’ll design and take photos.” I didn’t have a clear path and thought I’d figure it out along the way.
A lot has changed since I started: how people blogged, what people blogged, how people sought information, how people made money, my dreams, etc.
And with that, came how I wanted FIVE12 to be presented.
I’ve always had this growing mission fueled by frustration to add diversity in lifestyle brands (read this post on my views of diversity in blogging). I also want to help entrepreneurs and bloggers who are afraid to start their dream to start. I want to help them find the right tools and avoid the mistakes I made for a smoother path to success.
Current FIVE12 wasn’t doing that.
However, with the launch of my new website, that will change. It will be officially part of my new services, and I couldn’t be more excited about it.
There’s also a bit of aggravation around me–seeing bloggers copy others because they feel their way is the only way. I have to wonder, “Why? Why do people mimic those around them?”
The goal of a lot of these masterminds, at least from what I gather, isn’t to do exactly what they do, how they do, using the same colors, fonts, words, and phrases as they do. I think their mission is to provide the tools to incorporate into your brand, blog, or business, all while still being yourself.
Maybe it’s a lack of confidence– not believing you’re enough to be yourself. Because if you were yourself, you would have been successful, right? If you were successful, you wouldn’t need help.
So since you don’t think you are, adopt the same type of tone from other people’s blogs–their sales page, from content to layout and structure. And buzzwords? Holy…the buzzwords are overwhelming.
The copying, seeing the same formula, gave me the itch to be different. I don’t want to be like everyone else, and I found myself becoming a failure in that because it should be what I want to do, right?
Nope.
I had to get unstuck and seek resources to help me and admitted I need help in my transition.
Especially when it’s in an area I work in, because if I can’t help myself, how can I help others? Am I meant for this?
Coming up with a strategy, listing what I want, what I don’t want, my short and long-term goals—finding out what was working, what wasn’t–if I need to fix it or ditch it.
This rebranding is probably one of the biggest soul-searching things I’ve done because I’m learning it’s OK to say no; it’s OK to take a chance on something I want to do that scares me.
Monday is the relaunch of the site, and it’s the renewal I need.
Until next time, C
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