10 Things to do to help your Photography (or small business) NOW! : Burlington NC Newborn Photographer

It’s hard running a small business!  Super hard…while it’s fun and rewarding in so many ways, it can also be super challenging and if you want to make a profit very difficult at times.  I’ll be honest, it’s very hard to run a profitable small business, but it can be done!  Often, when I’m traveling or chatting with people, they find out what I do and the first response is “oh, I have a friend who’s a photographer”  and I nod and say “that’s awesome”  then after chatting a few more minutes they realize that I’m serious about what I do…it’s not a hobby or something that I do on the side, it’s my life…the way I support my family (right now the only income) so I take the business (small it may be) very seriously and you should too.

So I thought I’d take a few moments and share some things that you can do right now…yes, today, to help you business!

1.  Make sure your contact information is prevalent in everything you post and share online.  I can not tell you how many times I go to a site and have to hunt for the phone, email, location (this is huge) of the business I’m searching.  Make sure when you access your site from a mobile device, you can find it easily.  Most people don’t want to have to hunt for this information.

2.  Do an online evaluation:  Create a short questionnaire about your website and send it to several friends.  Ask them things like the following:

  • Is my site user friendly
  • can you find my contact info easily
  • do you know what I do (sell) from first glance
  • how’s my branding
  • can you find my pricing

3.  Update your headshot!  (if you need help with this, let me know…I’ll be glad to help)  but updating your head shot gives your online presence a new look, a new feel and draws attention to your site!  Also, if you don’t have a headshot…YOU NEED ONE!  You are the one your clients want to connect with get to know.

4.  Ad some fun personal information to your site:  Most of us are in some sort of service..if you are a photographer, your future clients want to get to know you.  So on your “about” page…make sure it’s not all business….let them get to know you!

5.  Network: If you are not already a part of a few networks…you should be.  The best is to find industry related people/small business owners and meet regulary with them.  This will energize you, help you grow, challenge you and you will learn so much from other small business owners.  But also meet those NOT in your industry.  I have built my business this way…by just meeting people, building relationships, and sharing myself with them.  Then sometime down the road, they need a family photographer, and I’m the one they remember because of that relationship.

6. Make sure you are serving a niche:  Now that’s not to say that you can’t provide a product for many different people, but your focus should be in one area.  One specialty.  I don’t go to my hair stylist to do my nails…I don’t go to my auto mechanic to service my lawnmower (though both of them could probably do that) serving a niche will help define you.  So while you may photograph weddings, families, newborns, pets etc…make sure your future client knows what your speciality is..it will help people find you and you will be seen as more of an “expert” than a “jack of all trades”

7.  Set 5 goals for your business today.  We all need goals to help motivate us., and when the first of the year comes around, we all set them, but do you set them on a regular basis.  Short term or dream goals?  I had to do this a recent conference and I realized how important it was.  Here are mine!  I have started to set “big dreams” and “small dreams”

BIG DREAMS:

  • Photograph a tropical beach session
  • Photograph a celebrity beach session
  • Shoot an editorial shoot (for a magazine, not something we’ve submitted, but something where we’ve hired to be the photographer)
  • Speak at a national conference
  • Open another studio (different location)

SMALL DREAMS

  • Have a full time assistant
  • MOTHERchild Project truly take off in other areas
  • Host a fashion show for teens
  • Re-brand, new website as we focus more on the education aspect of our business
  • Develop an online platform for local photographers and industry specialist to share, learn and grow

whew..that’s scary to put that all out there..but it is so good for you to do!

8.  Join Google +:  if you haven’t done this..you need to!  Google + is the best platform for social media for your SEO!  Create a business profile and use it!  Krista from the Palm Shop wrote an excellent article on this here

9.  Give back:  Not only with this make you feel great, but it will also help your business.  I am such a believer that as we give more, we truly receive more.  I am amazed at how that works.  I believe so whole heartedly in being part of a community and giving my gifts and graces back to that community.  Being a blessing to others will help keep your perspective in the right place.   Most of us are in our small business because we love what we do, and being able to bless others with that love is the most fulfilling thing!

10. Invest:  Invest in your business.  I know this is hard, especially in the beginning, but investing in conferences, mentoring, branding, SEO (search engine optimization) specialist etc will pay off tremendously in the future!  So today, even if it’s a small investment, think of a way that you can do that for your business and make it a goal to do that on a regular basis!

So go get em!

I’m super excited about sharing this sweet baby girls images!  Her mom’s beautiful snowy maternity session can be seen here!

She’s such a beautiful baby with a gorgeous head of hair (sometimes crazy) and the most perfect rosebud lips!

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