Watch This Episode of MwahTV About Jo's Rebranding Case Study
In this episode, I show how a rebranding case study can be hugely different from business to business. See my chat with Jo of Little MisFit Jo about this here in her Pilates business.
Re-Branding Case Study With Branding Photography
L: It's the follow-up to my shoot day with Jo Proctor from Little Mis-Fit JoJo. You saw her shoot results episode last week here.
We sit down to chat about business and her rebranding case study fits straight after her turbo session wrapped. Join us hanging out at the beautiful TayloredFit Studio where we get into talking about rebranding your business when you work in the fitness and wellness world.
You already know that it's chatting like this that makes me love being a Creative Swiss Army Knife with both Branding and Brand Photography. Settle in and have a chat with us. Welcome to the show, meet my client, Jo Proctor.
After We've Wrapped
J: Hi!
L: So, we've just done a turbo session and I love how random it was in the way that you found me. So, I want you to tell everyone first of all, about a quick background of your business and what you specialise in, and then I want you to share the story of we ended up getting in touch.
J: Okay.
In A Previous Life
Jo: So when I was 16, I went to school and I always kinda loved sports and PE was one of my favourite lessons. And the Careers Advisor asked, "Is that what you want to do?" And I said, "Not really because it's what I'm passionate about and it's what I expected to get as a job and I didn't like, end up enjoying it anymore.
L: Yeah, that happens to a lot of photographers. Yeah.
J: And I wanted to travel the world, so I became a travel agent instead, so...
L: Did you have one of those crazy uniforms?
J: Yes! ...and I was really little as well, I was really small and so little -- when you have one of those pleated skirts, I was forever tripping over.
L: Aww!
J: And I had to wear those horrid shoes, had the scrunchie -- I refused to wear the scrunchie. I was so not a scrunchie girl.
L: The scrunchie. It was the scrunchie and then the little neckerchief, wasn't it?
The Travel Agent Neckerchief
J: I loved the little neckerchief! I did, I did love the little neckerchief. I did love that.
L: So, did you travel the world then as a result?
J: Yeah, I did! Yeah, I did.
L: Oh, fantastic.
Travel Agent Life
J: I did get to travel, like all over-- So when my friends were all -- I mean, my first holiday without my mum and dad, I went to Florida. Like, I was 17 years old and I went to Florida. And then in the following year, I went to Australia. Like, so when all my friends were like, you know, they would do the Malia and Magaluf holidays, I was, doing the full-on long-distance adventures. Yeah, I get to travel and stuff. And I have done like the Magalufs and things like that.
L: So how did you go from being a travel agent into being a pilates instructor?
Into Pilates Life
J: So, over the years, I did, like, I kept... For some reason, as a travel agent, I loved the perks I loved the travelling, but-- but the day-to-day stuff - being stuck behind a desk all day. It was always like, "something was missing" and I could never quite put my finger on it, and my best friend used to say I was a bit like a butterfly because I would flit because I would be like, "Oh, I've gotta go," and I just kind of, just...
L: You couldn't settle?
J: I didn't. And then, I ended up, going into business travel, and I did settle in for a little bit, but it still felt like something was missing. And then I ended up joining a gym and one of the instructors there was doing instructor training. he ran the training facility. So I ended up signing up, and nine years on, here we are. And I think I'm happy that I did it that way, I got to travel, and I learned a lot about customer service. And I think everyone should work in retail at least once in their life.
L: I totally agree with you. I also think that everyone should be a waiter or waitress one time in their lives because you'll learn so much about humanity doing that job.
Knowing when you "found it"
J: I can imagine! And then as soon as I started teaching, I was like, "this is it." Like, it felt--
- It feels good because it felt like I'd come home. I was like, "this is what I was meant to do."
L: And you've done a lot of different fitness principles before you settled on pilates, so what happened with that?
J: So I still do that. So I still like the hidden things and I still teach, like, a kids-style class, but for me, I just fell in love with pilates. I've kind of always ended up in the world of pilates. And then when I came to do pilates, it was my sister -- she was the first, she cracked her hipbones when she was a baby, and she still has them as an adult, and so many people do that have back issues, and it's from the way that we live now. So, I kind of just, from that I felt like I could help, with everybody, and I just love teaching it, and I found that those were the classes that were the busiest.
ReBranding Case Study: 9 Years On
L: So, let's get into the marketing and rebranding case study side of it. You've been in business for,
J: Nine years.
L: nine years now, a little bit longer than me, and I know what we were doing on our shoot just now, we were talking about the power of word of mouth. So what have you done in terms of marketing for pilates to build that word of mouth?
J: When I first started, social media was there, but we didn't have business pages, we didn't have Instagram or anything like that, so it was word of mouth. And, do you know what? A lot of my clients who were there when we first started classes are still with us today.
L: Wow. Well, that's a testament to you. And you have to build a relationship, I think, with people.
The Ripple Effect
J: Yeah. I think we need to kind of know the things they're gonna like, and those that do still, like, I've got the ones from the kid's stuff still, but then, the love applies equally.
And then I've got some lovely clients and my ingredient really is word of mouth. I do, obviously, I do my Instagram, I do my Facebook, and I'll put pictures of the classes on there, so people can see what we do, and sometimes we put like, little workouts on, and predominantly mine is, just word of mouth.
I live in a small community, so like, everybody kind of knows everybody. It is. And it is like, word of mouth.
That's why somebody will call us and say, "Oh, I know such-and-such" and it's just like, a friend of a friend, and it just never fails to amaze me.
Reverse Enginnering that for Brand & Business Growth
L: Well, I think that you can do a lot in terms of how you reverse engineer that word of mouth, and you can make it worth people's while and incentivize them.
And we are in a very friendly part of the world, I think. It just goes without saying. We are. And people like to talk and people like to look out for each other by recommending.
I think we're very good at natural referrals we don't even realize we're doing it But, it's one of those interesting things people will vote with their feet, and people will only recommend things that have really wowed them. So, that's incredible, and I know there's this big surge right now in the fitness and wellness world, of doing these online types of products, and it's something that you've already started, right?
J: It is.
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On Marketing
L: So how are you marketing for that then?
J: Again, I'm finding a lot of it is word of mouth, but I will put it on my Insta Story. Even if I've filmed a workout, I'll put it on my Insta Stories. You know, "Just filmed a great workout for my online guys," and they're brilliant. I've got one girl, She's a hairdresser, and she tells all her clients.
L: Oh, perfect. Hairdressers are gold dust! Totally! And then I've got another one who's a school teacher, and then I actually ended up going to the school, and teaching a yoga session to the kids, because they had Mental Health Day, which I thought was amazing! Wow, that is incredible! So forward-thinking!
J: I know, for primary school as well. And after I went in, three of her colleagues then signed up to the online programme. Yeah. Once, they met us, and then obviously she talks about it a lot.
L: Do you know the reach is now of this online? Because this is the beauty of doing online, is you can literally help anyone anywhere in the world.
Spreading Out Over Time
J: I know I've got one client, she's in Manchester, which actually isn't too far away, but yes. So it is just kind of still quite local, yes.
L: Because you have a principle of the word of mouth thing, I think it's one of those things that might grow slower than other people's, but what grows stays. It's sustainable.
- So how do people go out and find out about your online service?
J: So my online service is available, at the minute, it's available via a private Facebook group. But you can visit my website, which is www.littlemis-fit.co.uk
L: And people can find you on Instagram as well, and ask you some detailed questions if they want to know more about it.
Special Thanks To
I would officially like to thank the following businesses for their support and contribution toward the results of this shoot.
TayloredFit, County Durham
I would officially like to thank the following businesses for their support and contribution toward the results of this shoot.
Lips Hairdressing
Great hairdressing was created by Lips Hairdressing.
Get Some More Brand Photo Inspo
If you're thinking about a fresh shoot to help articulate your brand and business, why not get some more ideas by visiting my galleries?
Timestamps for this Episode of #MwahTV
Another Female Founded Fitness Business Story
Take a look at how Helen's brand photoshoot came together outside on the beach complete with some real-life fitness models.
This is a great way to gather up inspiration for your next session.
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