Diane Whiddon - Branding in the Age of AI

Brand strategist and founder of SwayRise Creative, Diane Whiddon, joined me on Ditching Hourly to talk about how adding a discrete - and legitimately useful - AI-based productized service to her branding business tapped into a longstanding demand in her client base. Diane's LinksSwayRise Creative » https://swayrisecreative.com/Content Creator Lab » https://aicontentcreatorlab.comChapters(00:00) - Introduction and Guest Welcome (00:34) - Diane's Background and Career Journey (01:44) - Discovering Value Pricing and Meeting Jonathan (03:44) - The Impactful Discovery Call (07:18) - Focusing and Scaling the Business (15:08) - Incorporating AI into Business (19:16) - AI Photo Shoots and Branding (33:33) - Ethical Considerations and Client Expectations (34:57) - Technical Aspects of AI Image Creation (37:02) - Using Image References and Editing Tools (37:56) - Cost and Effort of Traditional Photo Shoots (39:15) - AI Photo Shoots vs Traditional Photo Shoots (41:36) - The Demand for AI in Business (42:54) - Challenges and Opportunities with AI (47:33) - The Importance of Adapting to AI (51:53) - Leveraging AI for Business Success (54:13) - The Future of AI in Various Industries (01:10:30) - Final Thoughts and Resources ----Do you know you need to niche down, but keep hesitating because you're afraid of picking the wrong niche, cutting off good opportunities, or boxing yourself in?You DON'T need more convincing that vague positioning is a problem.You DO need a way to make positioning feel less risky so you can finally choose a direction, test it in the market, and adjust without blowing up your business.On Tuesday, September 8th, 2026, at noon Eastern Time, I'm running a live workshop called Positioning For Soloists Having A Hard Time Niching Down.That's what we'll tackle in this workshop.It's the second session of my Fall 2026 Soloist Growth Workshop series for expertise-based business owners just like you.Live attendance is limited to 20, so don't wait.Learn more at: https://jonathanstark.com/sgsEnroll in Positioning For Soloists now »Hope to see you live in Zoom on Tuesday.