Better Business: 3 Things EVERY Creative Entrepreneur Must to Do to Succeed {Alabama Wedding & Senior Photographer, Gadsden,AL}

Hey you! 

I'm so glad you're checking out this installment of Better Business by Twelve 50! Today, I'm going to talk to you about some changes I'm going to make in my business that I'm SURE will help you as well. 

It seems like I wake up every morning with the same goal in mind: "GET A BETTER HANDLE OF MY BUSINESS." Recently, I've added new team members to my business which means I have more things to handle. So of course, I woke up today feeling like I was SO behind on everything. 

Luckily, I started scrolling through the blog of one of my favorite savvy business ladies, Alex Beadon, and read this quote: 

"To run a successful business you must run your business as if it’s already successful."- Alex Beadon

You may be thinking, DUH! Yet, if we really believed this many of us would be living our dreams RIGHT NOW. So, I've put together 3 steps I'm prepared to take to make sure that my business is successful. I hope you'll apply them to your business as well! 

1. Become a CRAZY planner

Of course, when I'm gearing up for a session or wedding day, I make sure I have all of my ducks in a row. However, some days I don't do anything remotely productive concerning my business. So, as of today, I'm making a detailed schedule of what I should be doing every day for my business. And not just like a simple to-do-list. No, I'm going to write out detailed tasks at the top of my week that will keep me on track. The consequence for not completing it? No Saturday morning sleep-ins! It's going to take self-control, but I must do it! 

2. Move Outside of My Comfort Zone 

Yes, this is the advice for anything you try to do in life.  So, it's no different when it comes to your business. One of my most crucial mistakes in my first years of business was not getting out there and marketing! Mostly because I was scared that I couldn't measure up to the competition. No more of that! I'm committed to moving out of my comfort zone and marketing like CRAZY. Maybe I'm not the best photographer in my area, but I know that what I offer is valuable. No need to let my comfort zone hold me back from succeeding. I'm going to market like I'm already the #1 photography business in the state! 

3. Value My Work 

As new creative entrepreneurs it's so easy for us to under value what we do. In the beginning, we give so much of our work away or sell it for super cheap. One of the best pieces of advice I received from an older photographer was not to be the $50 photographer. In all honestly, it devalues your industry when you charge next to nothing for what you do. If your goal is to become a full-time creative, you have to make enough money to pay your bills. While you may lose a portion of your clients in the beginning by charging higher prices, I'm certain that the right clients for your business will always find you!

Let me know what you're planning to do for your business to make it a SUCCESS! 

Let's take this convo to Facebook, too! 

-Whitney

TWENTY 6: My goals for my 26th year {Alabama Wedding & Senior Photographer, Gadsden,AL}

Many of you know that I turned 26 yesterday! Whoo-hoo! The day certainly turned out much better than I expected. Honestly, I went into the day a little sad. I'm 26, unmarried, no kids and I've just decided on what I want to do with my life, kind of. I felt inadequate. 

I often look at the Instagram and Facebook posts of my friends and read their group messages as they excitedly share their recent engagement or latest job promotion and I cannot lie, I get jealous. I'm just not where I THOUGHT I should be at 26. 

I'm not quite sure where I got this idea that I was supposed to have my life all together by 25, but it's hard to shake it. Perhaps too many romantic comedies or episodes of unrealistic TV shows have corrupted my ability to just accept that everyone's path is different. Or maybe the pressure to live up to a standard set by people in my life from childhood just got to me. Either way, I just couldn't help but feel like maybe I missed something along the way. 

Yet, yesterday, I read so many inspiring messages from friends, family members, colleagues and old college roommates and I started to reflect on just how awesome life has been for me. Each of their Happy Birthday messages were filled with words like "I'm proud of you" or "You've become such an awesome woman" and "It's so good to see you go after what you want". As I read these messages of love and appreciation, I had to stop and Thank God and apologize. I thanked Him for the opportunity to live this life of mine no matter how crazy it seems at times and I apologized for not thanking Him more for all the little things. 

You see, I had forgotten how much I'd accomplished. I'd forgotten the graduation from Howard, the trips to Europe, the performances I've had or the courage it took to start my own business. I'd forgotten the fears I'd conquered and the bad days I'd come through. I'd forgotten the victories. How crazy of me, I thought. How could I forget so soon? 

It's easy. 

Yet, I want to encourage each of you not to wait until you read beautiful messages about yourself on Facebook or in your inbox to remember just how fantastic your life has been. Just take a moment and reflect. I'm sure you'll laugh at some moments and tears may come concerning others, but hasn't life been beautiful for the most part? And if you think it hasn't, just start with today. It can be beautiful starting NOW. 

I want to say THANK YOU to everyone for their kind words and for helping me to look at my 26th birthday as a moment to reflect on just how far I'd come and not get hung up on how far I have to go. 

So, with that said, my goals or should I say GOAL for this 26th year of my life is to just BE. Of course I will work hard, pray more, be grateful, reach out to the people I love more, but most of all I am giving myself permission to just BE...myself, in the moment, happy. I'm sure Twelve 50 will flourish as a result! 

I cannot wait for this year ahead! 

What are your goals for your next year or stage of life! Let me know in the comments below or let's take this convo to Facebook! 

xoxo

Whitney 

Sneak Peek: DEEP ROOTS

Natural hair seems to be the latest phenomenon in the African American culture. With countless celebrities and bloggers constantly talking about what makes natural hair so great, it's so common to hear about women "going natural". However, natural hair is nothing new for women of African decent. In fact, it's the hair we've embraced (and sometimes hated) for centuries. Luckily, this generation is choosing to embrace natural hair once again and declare that we are all beautiful just the way we were created. Deep roots is my celebration of natural hair. It's a series I hope to continue with more natural ladies. There is nothing more beautiful than natural  hair mixed with elegant looks and nature. I hope you enjoy! 

Be sure to head over to my Facebook page to hear the when the rest of the photos will be released! Be sure to "LIKE" it!

xoxo, 

Whitney

Photo Shoot & Model Winners! {Alabama Wedding & Senior Photographer, Gadsden,AL}

I'm so excited for my upcoming shoot (If you're a boutique or designer, I'm still looking for wardrobe)! 

As you all know, I ran a model casting for 3-5 models last month. About 25-30 women applied and it was SO hard to choose the ladies who would be included in the upcoming shoot. 

I already had 3 models that I knew would be working with me and I needed more beautiful people to compliment these ladies. Below you will see the lovely women (and one young girl) who will be featured in my 'CROWNED' photo shoot! I'm soooo excited to shoot these ladies! 

To see my inspiration for the upcoming shoot, check out my Pinterest inspiration board.

Love Session: Brandon & Frances {Alabama Wedding & Senior Photographer, Gadsden,AL}

My brother and sis-in-law are great peeps! In fact, if it weren't for them I probably never would have become a photographer. Back when all I had was a little Sony point and shoot (and before they were married) they would let me live out my photography dreams with them as my subjects. Even having to wait countless moments for the camera to process and the flash to fire, they were just as excited as I was. I've taken a lot of important photos for them from their engagement to the birth of my awesome nephew. I'm so grateful for their support. 

This shoot was just a little impromptu shoot I wanted to do because I had borrowed a new lens from Borrow Lenses (check them out photogs!). We shot this right out in their front yard and I was even chased by a bee. Oh, the joy of photography. :-) 

Be sure to "Like" us on Facebook and visit our Website! 

xoxo,

Whitney

BB:Re-branding, Part 1 (EEK!) {Alabama Wedding & Senior Photographer, Gadsden,AL}

BB is my new weekly series on business and marketing, which stands for BETTER BUSINESS. I've decided that while I'm striving to make Twelve 50 Photography the best brand it can be, I want to pass on any knowledge or tools to other photographers who are looking to the same. Now, I am not an expert on any of this, but I am a journalist so I've made sure to do all of  my homework and then some. I hope the BB series will help you whether you're a budding photographer or a veteran who's looking for new and exciting ways to attract your customers.

Branding (dun. dun. dun.) 

Why start with branding? Well this is where I am right now and I think this is probably the best place to start since those other two years I was in business, I was barely running a business at all and I've noticed that a lot of us get stuck there. Also, so many photographers I've spoken to lately are struggling most with identifying who they are as a business. It was a sign of sorts.

So, before we even talk about RE-branding, let's talk about what branding actually is.

Many businesses mistakenly believe that your logo is your brand or that your slogan is your brand or that your colors are your brand. While those things are a PART of your brand, your brand is everything you do, say or show concerning your business. Your brand is the total package. From packaging to the way you answer the phone. When you think about it that way, it's no wonder that some businesses do really well and others struggle to get their feet off the ground.

The brands we love are consistent in every aspect from their marketing and promotion to the bags they use to place their products in. These companies understand that everything you do is a part of your brand and it all matters.I think about the stores I love to go into. Not only are they aesthetically pleasing, but the small things like packaging or their price tags match what their brand is about.

What usually happens with us photographers is we wait until we've shot our first 6 sessions and then we think about what kind of bag we'll deliver the photos in or what company we want to print albums. Unfortunately, this sets us up for major disappointment and frustration. But, I'll come back to this.

Why I'm re-branding 

The reason I chose to re-brand Twelve 50 is simply because I wasn't happy with the way things were going. I was shooting babies, kids, families, weddings, birthday parties...EVERYTHING. Yet, what I wanted to do was provide fashion-styled shoots for engaged couples, weddings and high school seniors. I knew this early on. Yet, my brand wasn't speaking to them. My brand was attracting families who just needed images of their kids because they hadn't taken any in years or brides who just wanted the traditional photos to share on Facebook. There is nothing wrong with that, but this wasn't my ideal customer.

So, after a few tears and a lot of frustration I decided I would just stop shooting photography professionally. At that point, it seemed like the easiest thing to do. And nobody tried to stop me really. Everyone I told was like "awwww", because unfortunately it's so common to see people start a project and never really see it through. So, they didn't really push me to keep going or to look for solutions.

Luckily, I had fellow photographer and Howardite (Vincent Hunter) reach out to me and remind me that my work was necessary. So, I snapped out of my funk and decided I would just take ONE MONTH off from photography.

During that one month break, I read and researched and read some more about everything related to branding and re-branding a business. I learned about marketing and financial planning for a business and let me tell you there are TONS of FREE resources out there so much of what I found I didn't have to pay a cent for it.

Once I had all the information, I put it to action. Here's what I did: 

1. I stopped complaining about not attracting the right customers or not getting to shoot the sessions I wanted and owned up to my failure to take the time to learn how to run a business. YAY ME!

2. I evaluated what I liked and didn't like about my business. 

3.  I thought of 7 words that described my brand and that I wanted people to think about when they saw my images.   

4. I decided on what brand colors spoke to me and represented what I wanted Twelve 50 to be. 

5. I decided whether I wanted to keep or trash my logo.

6. I wrote a description of my ideal customer. 

7. I created a detailed monthly budget for my business and projected my yearly earnings.  

8. I created a marketing and promotion schedule. 

9. I  cried. I was happy, don't judge me. :-) 

10. I got to WORK! 

Check back next week to see how I did each of these things and how my actions are already yielding results.

Feel free to email me with your questions to Twelve50Photo@gmail.com  and check out my website at www.Twelve50Photography.com.

Have an absolutely amazing week!
LATER LOVELIES! 

Mini Sessions {Alabama Wedding & Senior Photographer, Gadsden,AL}

It's Mini Session time at Twelve 50!

Next week ONLY you'll be able to get the awesome Twelve 50 experience for just $50!! That's 75% off my usual portrait package.

Here's what all you get:

• 30 minute session
• 1 location
• A digital album to share for ONE month 
• 2 digital files and a print release* 

* You will be allowed to print these two images on your own or through Twelve 50. All other images must be purchased through Twelve 50. 

This offer only comes around twice a year, so make sure you take advantage of it. Also, these will be my last sessions shooting families and kids. In case you haven't heard, Twelve 50 is now a Wedding & Senior Portrait Experience brand. 

For more information, please visit the website at www.Twelve50Photography.com 

You can share the news about our wonderful week of Mini Sessions by saving the photo below and posting it to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or send it via email!