3 MISTAKES I MADE IN MY BUSINESS

Today I’m getting real with you guys, and getting real vulnerable. I am still a growing business but I’ve seen great success over the past few year. My business grows even though I started my photography career nearly 6 years ago. I contribute a lot of my success to working to fix these 3 mistakes I made in my business early in my career. I’m sharing this with you so you don’t make these mistakes. And so you can start seeing the growth in your business now, not 5 years from now.

Mistake number one is all about consistency.

And this is a two part mistake. One of the mistakes I still struggle with especially during this difficult season of my life. But let’s talk about what I’ve corrected, consistency in the style, look and feel of my images.

When I first started photographing families and couples I would just take photos I thought would be pretty, get home and start slapping some presets on them as I felt like it. Guys, if I showed you some of those galleries from the first few years you would have such a laugh. Some of the images were vintage, some were dark and moody and others light and airy. It was a hot mess. I learned a few years ago I needed to find one style I loved and stick with it. Not only did I need a consistent editing style, I needed to capture my images consistently. This is so important especially if I wanted to specialize in wedding photography like I’m now blessed to do.

Could you imagine being a Bride, falling in love with a photographers work…. not just the coloring but the poses and the emotion of the photos and when you get the gallery back none of the poses from their portfolio are in your gallery. You would feel like you missed out! I now have a system and core poses that I apply to shooting every engagement session and every wedding so all of my couples are getting images that are consistent with what they see on my portfolio.

The second half of the consistency mistake is being consistent in blogging and social media. This is still such a struggle for me honestly. Last year I made a goal that 2019 was going to be different, that I was going to start posting to the blog and social media consistently, and then my father got ill and that all went out the window. It was all I could do to eat and shower on a regular basis and social media definitely took a back seat. I don’t regret this at all, I needed and still need time to grieve. But, I still know the benefits that consistency can have on my business and it’s a mistake I’m determined to correct in 2019.

Mistake number 2, not sharing enough about myself and my life.

When I first started my Facebook and Instagram accounts I thought they were just platforms for sharing my work. WRONG. As a wedding photographer, I am lucky enough to be the vendor who spends the most time with the couple on their wedding day. This means, they need to like ME not just the pictures I take. I fixed this by creating a personal Facebook page that I can add couples on and started using Instagram stories to share more of my real life.

Sometimes it’s just highlighting my coffee addiction or a photo of my sleeping husband and dog. That’s just fine, it humanizes me and improves my business. Because I am amble make a connection with my couples before they even book me it makes it so much easier to capture their love stories. If I’m being real honest, this is an area of my business I’m striving to improve on. There are a lot of things holding me back from sharing more, and most of it is about being vulnerable. The internet can be a harsh place and well, I fear the criticism of me as a person and my life more than I fear criticism of my work.

Mistake number 3, I wasn’t using a client management system.

This mistake was a BIG one! Can you believe I was hand typing every single email I sent. Plus I was keeping track of clients and payments in an excel spread sheet. My brochure was a PDF that clients sometimes had trouble opening. I didn’t correct this mistake until, believe it or not, just last year. In 2018 I met my business BFF, Honeybook. I knew I needed an easier way to manage my clients and my business. Although there are several options out there Honeybook was by far the best choice. Now I can respond to new inquires with just a few clicks and provide them with a beautiful interactive brochure. I can even easily track income and expenses all in one place. I can even refer clients to other photographers I love without having to search for their contact info.

Honeybook has revolutionized the way I run my business. It has allowed me to give my clients the experience and customer service they deserve. Want to check it out for yourself? If you want to give it a try, you can sign up for a free trial at this link and if you make the commitment you’ll save 50% off your first year. (I get a little thank you for the referral too, but honest this has changed my business leaps and bounds) http://share.honeybook.com/katherine483

I hope that by me opening up about some of the mistakes I made in my business you learn a lesson or two. I love being able to share what has and hasn’t worked and I love being able to help others achieve their goals. As I mentioned on Instagram a few days ago, I am really excited to start putting more time and energy into education for fellow photographers. Where are you struggling? How can I help you? Leave it all in the comments below.