I’ve never thought of myself as a teacher. I’m a creative…a photographer, right? Looking back at the last few years, I see now how God has brought me to a place of insatiable learning and, in the process,  given me a heart for education. Here’s a little about my story of how we got here!

Last summer Joey and I had just signed papers to build our home … a long journey! We had worked for years to be able to start building our home. Joey and I finally signed THE papers and it was the biggest relief and excitement I had felt in years. I had spent so many years designing it, and the home was finally becoming a reality! With that off my plate, I knew it was also time to get my business in order.  It had been a successful season, but internally it felt tumultuous. I was booking the bookings, contributing financially to our family, and I was at a point where I was able to outsource all of my major pain points…. like accounting and taxes. (Hallalujahhhhhhh!) My business was running and it was running well!   I did not, however, have a good grip on my current marketing and advertising (and for a Marketing major… this doesn’t fly). I did not feel I had the why behind all my social media postings, or a goal to work toward. 

The WHY is imperative to me. I follow some incredible business women who clearly have a why and a direction. One of my core strengths is FOCUS, but there is a shadow side to this strength (thank you Laura): I find that when I can’t realign and wake up everyday to know my purpose and my why behind all the business things I’m doing, I freeze and have a very hard time just taking one step forward. Everything I do needs to be tied to bigger purpose. In my photography business, I had hit my photography skill goals, my sales goals, and my growth goals …. and  I hit them all faster than I thought I ever could. I had created a unique business through in-person sales that was benefiting my family in all the ways I needed it to!  However, I knew my website could be more efficient, I knew my marketing strategy should be more consistent, and I knew my my email system, my Instagram and Facebook accounts needed more consistency and recharging. I craved a systematic schedule for all my output: all the pretty things in my business and information. I also felt a pull in a new direction… we’ll talk about that later 😉

 

Here’s a peek at our brand board by Megan Martin!

So…. last July, I was sitting in my bedroom in our last home, and I was SO happy! We had just been approved for our new house and it was about to be built! Y‘all. This was a BIG DEAL! (More on that later!)

Then, my business received what would be the biggest blessing!  I received a newsletter email from Kat Schmoyer (whom I had met at the Memphis Creative @ Heart Conference in 2016), about Megan Martin and a website that converts to sales…not just a normal slap-it-up, show some photos, pretty website. Immediately I was intrigued. It had been in my head and in my heart for years to have an amazing website. I wanted my site to be able to sell for me and answer questions for me without fear of losing a client and without having to interrupt my time with my girls and Joey. That was becoming a real issue for my little growing biz — weekend calls, dinnertime texts, late night calls for photo print orders….. I think most of us have been at that same place as entrepreneurs! I knew I had to do something to protect my family time. 

This was in the email! 

TAKE MEGAN’S QUIZ

 

I was ready for a better way. Kat was sharing about Megan’s awesome conversion rate, and I had heard of her,  but I didn’t realize that she had been a member of our small little prayer group at Creative @ Heart Round 6! So random! (I remember her colors for her branding- so gorgeous!) 

 

Check us out in 2016! This was at my first Creative @ Heart Conference in Memphis, that November!
Meg’s on the far left, and I’m second from the right.

 

Okay! Back to it. After I emailed Meg, in the interim, some of my best friends had allowed me to take a few days at their beach house to unwind and refocus on the business and my future goals & direction.  While I was there, I did some DEEP thinking and clarity searching, and then Megan and I started exploring packages.  I knew her custom package was a big investment, but after some prayer and lots of discussion with Joey, we prayed about whether it would be the right one for us and for the vision I have moving forward in the business.

On a more practical, day to day side of things: I dreaded the back end of my website, I did not know how to blog efficiently, I did not know how to maximize SEO, and all the other things I should have been doing to grow my reach. I definitely wasn’t sharing my work regularly or with ANY consistency. (Enneagram Type 1 here… that stresses me OUT, y’all!! Ha!) I wanted an example of an effective and successful way to do all of that.  Once I started following and reading blog posts from Megan, I was like WOW! I could NOT have been more impressed. This lady takes basic info…. and literally converts them into websites that converts to sales! 

When I spoke to Megan, I told her that if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this right… so that was that! We jumped into this experience and haven’t looked back!

I hired Laura Foote to shoot our Branding Photos, and I LOVED them! She and Megan came to the studio in our little Perry Town! Megan styled the ENTIRE shoot, and Laura shot everything! Here’s a peek from that day at the Studio in December!

Megan styled the Studio perfectly!

Mama Sara’s Brooch & Earrings, and a few shots from our sweet session with Jenny Cruger Photography in 2016.

Ohhhh, my Emmie. 

More about the girls & their part in the story will come in our next Blog Post!

This sweet girl here was my very FIRST Birth Story, and I have LOVED watching her grow over the years!!
(She’s about to be a big sissy herself… YAY!!)

LOVED every minute of it!! If you’re considering a professional Branding Shoot for your business,  with the right photographer – I can’t recommend it ENOUGH!! It was so worth it!!

Lots more to come soon weekly, actually… now that Meg has me on a schedule 😉

 

till next time
xoxo
becca