4 Tips to Re-Build Your Business in a New Area

When my husband and I decided to make the big move back to my hometown in 2011, we were excited about the adventure that lay before us. A new town for him, reuniting with friends and family for me, and the gorgeous Mississippi Gulf Coast at our disposal whenever we needed a beach fix. While he was able to seamlessly transfer his job, I, however, had a different story…yes, I have a portable business that travels with me wherever I go, but how was I going to rebuild in a new area? Where were my clients going to come from? How was I even going to advertise or brand myself in this new situation? I’m excited to share with you some tips that helped me get my business off the ground…hopefully this helps someone out there!

•        * Learn As Much As You Can About SEO – If you are anything like I was, I didn’t even know what SEO stood for when I began learning about it. It’s still a somewhat intimidating item to me, but something that really helped me here is watching this RESTART session from Jasmine Star. They broke things down in a super easy way to understand, and I learned SO much. I felt like I had been let in on the biggest marketing secret ever! There are a ton of sources online to learn about SEO, so definitely take advantage of that!

•        * Get Involved – In our industry, it is crucial to be connected to other photographers and vendors in our areas. When we moved back, I knew that there was an established group of professionals already working together, so it was very important to me to introduce myself to them as someone who wanted to work with them, not against them. I attended regular networking events, workshops, luncheons, anything to make those connections. If you shoot weddings, offer your services as a second shooter. Leave your business cards with different boutiques, shops, doctor’s offices, mommy groups, and venues as you can. Just make as many personal connections as you can, so that vendors will be more likely to refer you to their clients!

•        * Always Be Inviting People to “like” Your Facebook Page – It’s no secret that Facebook is one of our greatest advertising tools, so make sure you are always adding new fans to your page. Make sure you tag your clients or any vendors you work with in each photo that you post to encourage their friends and associates to follow your work. If you don’t have a business page setup yet, you NEED to do this. With all of the new rules on Facebook about advertising on personal pages, you need to safeguard yourself by creating a business page for your business. I’ve seen too many photographers this year lose years of work and fan base because they started with a personal page instead of a business page.

•        * Be Consistent – One of the biggest areas I still struggle with is having a consistent posting schedule. Life happens, and things just get behind sometimes…but you would be surprised at what blogging on a regular basis and adding daily Facebook updates will do for the credibility of your business! People want to know that you are a working professional, so when they see you go weeks between posts, it doesn’t give them the best first impression.

Don’t be discouraged if it takes a bit of time for you to get up and running…have patience and stay active, and things will begin to fall into place for you before you know it. I wish all of you the best of luck, and most importantly…HAVE FUN!