I’ve been in love with Jasmine Star since March 2010 when my boyfriend first introduced me to her photography (no, he wasn’t insinuating anything but as a photography enthusiast he took notice of the experts).  I will confess to having spent countless hours pouring through her ever-growing portfolio, totally engrossed by the gorgeous photos she takes of engagements and wedding parties.  When someone takes photos like this…

or like this..

how can I not be enthralled?! (Let’s be honest, I really just wanted to share some of her fabulous pics.)

And then I found her blog. I wouldn’t call it an obsession but I have spent an inordinate amount of time reading every single thing she writes and even though I know that my homework won’t get done or my dirty dishes will continue to pile up on the counter, I come back looking for more. Jasmine pours her heart and soul into her blog, laying everything about her open and bare for you to read, embrace, or judge. And she doesn’t just post the pictures she takes, she shares beautiful stories about the people in those photographs. That makes the difference. That is what keeps me coming back. That is what makes me want her as my future wedding photographer. And that has spun itself into an absolute marketing success story that has made her one of the most sought-after and influential wedding photographers on the market.

Jasmine has her own style of marketing that diverges from traditional forms of print and online advertising. What has grown her business in enormous leaps and bounds is her unique strategy of marketing her big personality and crazy quirks, not her business, and harnessing the power of the Internet (through her website, blog, and social media) to multiply the spread of her personality and web presence.

To showcase your personality makes so much sense to me because there is no one quite like you in this world – that is how you differentiate yourself from all of your competitors. With the Internet making it so easy to quickly pull up hundreds of different wedding photographers, real estate agents, dog-sitters, what have you, there needs to be one defining facet that truly sets you apart from the rest. And I don’t think that is going to be the products you sell or the services you provide – unless they’re truly one-of-a-kind. But in most cases, there is so much similarity that, to me, one company blends into the other.

Jasmine sums it up perfectly:

“I have come to believe beyond all doubt that brides are choosing photographers not photographs, so stop focusing on that very thing that makes you the same”.

Just insert what you do and what you sell in the place of ‘photographers not photographs’!

My question is can you put too much of yourself on the web? Is there a point at which what you post becomes too personal to allow it to be professional? I believe that there is probably a delicate balance to be struck and your type of business will somewhat dictate how much is appropriate for you to put out there. But there is power in showcasing YOU over your products and services. I will buy into you, people will buy into you. It is much easier for us to feel a connection to people and that sense of connection becomes an open gateway for building trust. When I trust you, I will start talking about you and then I, and each of your followers, will become your advocates and the voices for you and your business.

Take a look at Jasmine tell it herself in The Importance of Being You: