Over the past couple of week's, I have been asked by a couple online Facebook groups I am a member of to complete a Mini Brand Profile. These are really just some basic who am I, what do I do to let people know about my business and a bit about me. So here I am combining these two mini brand profiles to give you a bit of a deeper look at what I am about and what my business does. So here is the JRH Graphics Mini Brand Profile. I hope it gives you a deeper look into me and my crazy. If you have any questions of your own feel free to ask in comments. So, here we go…
A Mini Brand Profile: JRH Graphics
Who are you and what is your business / what do you do?
Well, let's start from the top, my name is Jonathan Howard. I am a business consultant, social media manager, photographer, graphic designer and lead content creator at JRH Graphics. So as they say in business I am a Jack of all Trades and Master of None.
I started my company, JRH Graphics about a year ago and we provide business consulting services as well as social media management, graphic design, and photography to small businesses in Washington DC. Our goal is to help businesses get the most out of the efforts they put into social media by helping them build campaigns that will educate and entertain their followers (edutain as I say).
What We Do
We help create the content and make sure that your brand is set up to support the business that will be created with that content. Having close to 20 years of management experience. Plus 10 years of social media experience gives me the skill set necessary to build campaigns that highlight the strengths of a business while telling their unique and winning story. The power of social media is most visible when a brand can tell their story in a way that connects with its followers. Capture the hearts of followers and you will be able to build a loyal customer base. Stories connect and create relationships, and relationships sell and sell and sell.
How long have you done what you do?
I could answer this by saying one of two things, not very long or forever. I started my business over a year ago after leaving my 18-year retail management career with Barnes & Noble College Booksellers. BNC is a company that was founded on the idea of building relationships that transcend transactions.
Our goal was to create a campus community in and around our stores. It was a company that allowed managers to innovate and reinvent the role of the campus bookstore based on each school's needs. As a store manager, I was allowed to do what was right for my store which provided me a lot of wiggle room to be a rebel with a cause. A role that I definitely enjoyed and still fill in my own business.
My community, students, and campus were my number one priority. We engaged our customers by listening to what they needed. Then we would find a solution. Our job was one of a storyteller, a facilitator and campus partner.
We Should All Tell Our Story
I am a storyteller now, that is my main job. I am a partner to my clients and I help them effectively tell their story. Social media is the platform I utilize to tell it but the idea is still the same. I help people tell a story in a way that engages followers. Stories have a way of transcending transactions and building long-term connections. Followers may not need your services now, but they will think of you when you do.
What got you into it?
Working at college bookstores my team became intimately familiar with social media from the moment it began impacting the way students would engage and shop. I was lucky enough to work for a company that adopted social media as a way to engage our customers early on. They provided us with key insight and allowed us to control our social media platforms ensuring that the content was “hyperlocal.” Some things we did were successful, other times we failed miserably but we got up brushed ourselves off and tried something new. We figured a lot out and we kept learning.
The impact of social media on traffic and engagement with our community was shocking to me. I wanted to know more so I began to take classes and read all I could find online about businesses using social media effectively. I also read a lot of stuff on millennials and how they engaged with businesses. The more I learned the more I knew I could make a difference helping businesses utilize social media correctly.
The Oh Sh!t Moment
My decision to leave my 18-year career happened about 2 years before I thought I would make that decision. It happened quick but the time was right. I was terrified.
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.
Can you share with us a time where you struggled and persevered?
Perseverance is a mandatory quality for an entrepreneur. If it is not a quality you possess you will fail. I jokingly say, “the struggle is real,” but it is true when you own and operate your own business you struggle daily. But can also celebrate your wins daily. Wins that are real and directly impact you.
When I left my career, every day was uncertain. I left on a Tuesday and I had a couple options… stay in bed and mourn my loss for a week or so or get up and do something. Wednesday I was applying for my business license. By Friday I had my first meeting with a potential client. Every day since then I have been working to make something out of my business and my ideas. I believe I have a good idea here. I know I can offer value to businesses that choose to work with me. The businesses I have worked with have seen a greater reach, and have felt an impact on sales.
A Year In: Well, I Am Writing A Mini Brand Profile
Now a year into my journey, I still struggle. But I still learn every day as well. I think the ability to learn and adapt is the flip side of the perseverance coin. You are going to struggle and you need to persevere. In each of these struggles, you must find lessons and learn from them. If you fail to learn from them you will continuously face the same struggles. In my humble opinion; failure to learn daily is a failure in life.
So tell us some things we wouldn't know…
So yeah, I guess I did a decent job telling my business story but I didn't focus on the real me. If I was one of my clients we would have had a point in our weekly conversation where I reminded them that a glimpse into what makes you tick is essential. It's an aspect of your story that builds a connection with your followers. So here we go…
Things You May Not Know Part of the Mini Brand Profile
I'm 37ish-year-old social media geek who loves what he does. Definitely bit of a goober, bit of a smartass, and a lot of a rabble-rouser. I learn all the rules and I like to find innovative ways to break them. I've been known to speak my mind with nothing held back. But I do it to make you better. My public persona pretends to have no feelings but in reality, I have all of them!
I live in Washington DC with my two puggle pups, Max and Ryder. These two have so much personality and stubbornness it can be hard to manage. But they love their Dad more then I will ever understand.
My escape from my work has unexpectedly become another job for me but I still love to take my camera out and photograph the city. These images are the basis for my Instagram feed which highlights the photography manipulation side of what I do that I barely spoke about here.
I have an amazingly supportive extended family that lives in Upstate New York and a younger sister who is getting married this year.
More Random Info
I am a huge fan of P!nk and have watched her Truth About Love Tour a frightening number of times. I am also a big Billy Joel fan and on occasion, I can be heard blasting his greatest hits as loud as the speaker can go and singing along. Yes, I know all the words to We Didn't Start the FIre.
What is something that you think you may take too seriously?
That's the easiest one so far, branding and brand identity. I am a stickler for posts being representative of the brand. Everything you do as a business should be guided by brand, even your unscripted content. Because your brand is defined by an emotional reaction from your followers. It is not defined by the brand identity guidelines you live by internally. Your unscripted content has the potential to create a brand identity crisis if you don't really believe in your brand and use it to guide those interactions. Like I said, take it too seriously.
What’s your best advice to someone who wants to become an entrepreneur?
If you have an idea. One that you truly believe in. Then it's time to get out and do it. Period.
What’s your best advice to someone who just started as an entrepreneur?
Don't look back with regret. Look back to see how far you have come and then forward to see where you want to be. It is going to be the greatest journey of your life and you are going to be terrified at times. Actually, you are gonna be terrified a lot.
Don't forget that the struggles teach us lessons that are invaluable. Keep learning, keep doing, keep innovating and keep adapting. Your business doesn't need to look the same as you planned it to look on paper. You may think there was one void that needed to be filled in the market but after a few months you notice that you are filling a different void. That is not failure that is a success. Maybe not the success you planned but who the hell cares a win is a win.
Keep racking up those wins.
If you don't have (blank) you will never succeed as an entrepreneur?
If you don't know how to interact and read people you won't be successful. You need to be able to step back and watch people and there actions to see what they really need. Translating what people say into actionable items. Motivating and inspiring employees. That is all based on your ability to interact and read people and their behaviors. Learn to be an active listener. Let people complete sentences and ideas. Don't talk over people. Practice ways to engage people and explore ideas and differences in a polite way that keeps the conversation opened. Be aware of your body language.
Can you share with us one of your favorite experiences on your journey to success?
It is not really one experience that I can look to as a favorite in this journey. It's the people. When I left Barnes & Noble College I left a family that I deeply loved behind, A family that knew my weirdness and quirks and tolerated my cursing. A group of people that will never be replaced.
Within a month, however, I was working with people who would start to fill that void. I never imagined I would be so lucky. These were amazing people who showed a tremendous amount of support and believed in what I do. They tell me when I am wrong. Help pick me up when I am down. Push me to keep going.
I met so many of these people via social media, just saying hey I love your work. Or hey, would you like an orchid? Do me a favor and if you ever need help with social media hit me up. I have nurtured these relationships. They have nurtured these relationships. And they have brought so much to my life in this first year of business.
People like Cody Alexander (who is 100% responsible for me doing what I am doing right now). Believers like Zack Wade, Dani Sauter and My Ly. Risk takers like Lea Berry, Pamela Moyer and Rinny from Oak Vino are all a part of my JRH Graphics Family. They always will be and that is the amazing part of the journey.So there ya have it a lot more about me… Wanna get to know even more or learn about our services click here
