Now is the time to start thinking about 2018 business goals and investments. Every hustler, entrepreneur and small business owner needs to invest in their brand to see growth year over year. Here's a list of things that I invested in to grow Jasmine Diane from college blog to influencer/business with over 12k collective social media followers and 1000s of pageviews. This series will go in-depth on ways to grow your brand to see growth in brand awareness and coins.

3 Ways to Grow My Brand

Investments
Content
Connections

Brand Investment 1: DSLR camera and Tripod

You need a DSLR camera to take quality pictures. Quality images can take your site from a 1 to 10. Nobody is going to take you serious with pixalated images, bad lighting and bad angles. If you have extra money, invest in a photographer to get images for your website. You can always grab stock images online. Haute Stock has great stock images for side-hustlers. Here are ideas for camera/tripod use:

Product shots
Headshots
Event videos and photography
Facebook Live

My Picture Evolution

Point and Shoot Camera

DSLR Camera

Brand Investment 2: Laptop

Public computers just won't cut it. You need a laptop to run a business or at least a laptop. If you're a side-hustler, you don't have a lot of time to get things done so you need to be able to work anywhere. Mobility is cash flow when it comes to business. I am currently saving for a new Macbook for Jasmine Diane. I use my laptop to store images, write content, manage my money and so much more. My laptop is home for my business. The only time that I use pen and paper is to take notes and to brainstorm. Technology is the way to go when growing your business.

Here are a few ways to use your laptop:

To conduct webinars
To take notes during coffee shop meetings
To create content and schedule meetings
To store content

Brand Investment 3: Logo

Your logo says a lot about your brand. Invest in a good logo upfront to save money. Make sure you invest in a designer that believes in your vision and is in your niche. Here are a few of my favorite young and poppin' graphic designers:

My Logo Evolution

Current Logo by Neesh

My First Blog's Logo That I Created on PicMonkey.com.

Brand Investment 4: Branding with Jas

This is the same system that I used to turn from college blogger to sought after influencer. I've worked with brands such as Dairy Queen, Express, Dove, Bumble and Marie Claire. This year alone I've been on the cover of Kansas City's most popular millennial magazine, Ink Magazine.

Before, I was confused about the power of my brand and what it actually was. At that time, I struggled with growing my social media presence, separating myself from the crowd and expanding my audience.

So, I changed my strategy. Experimented with different ideas. And what happened?

Grown my social reach to over 11k
Landed paid gigs with Pepsi, Starbucks and More
Hosted 3 sold out networking brunches
Surpassed over 100,000 pageviews

Stop struggling to make your brand stand out from the crowd. Join my email list for branding hacks.

Brand Investment 5: yourself

"You" are your most important investment. Take the time to figure out why you are hustling. It's important that your brand serves others and brings you joy. Because a side-hustle with no passion, investments or research won't lead to any money. Investing in yourself means getting away from the noise, taking breaks, investing in your wardrobe, spending time with your family and so much more. You can't give from an empty cup. Make sure you are giving your body fuel and rest to go the extra mile.

My business changed when:

I started getting more sleep
Stopped shopping for unimportant items and starting making business investments
Started traveling
Started eating a warm breakfast twice a week

Questions

What is keeping you from investing in your brand?
What investments have you made that have made the biggest impact on your brand?

Thank you so much for reading! Leave your comments below. Please do me a favor and share this post with your girls. In the meantime, follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Peace and love!!