We recently connected with Ellie McLain and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ellie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. So, we’d appreciate if you could open up about your growth story and the nitty, gritty details that went into scaling up.

In the photography business starting out can be very intimidating and difficult. Because it’s an art form, not everyone will be your biggest fan and it’s hard to accept that in the beginning! Not to mention the right gear can be expensive so unless you’re starting out with an unlimited budget you can’t always have the best of the best. However in the photography world it is more about learning how to use the camera correctly and know your lighting conditions. I started my business with a used low grade crop sensor DSLR camera and countless hours of google, YouTube, and bouncing questions off a good friend who inspired me to take the jump into the photography world. My first ever session was an engagement session for a really good friend in my back yard, and to this day we love to compare the photos I take for them now to those first ones. From there, I was able to start “marketing” myself on my personal social media to friends and family. I booked a few more sessions for friends and then started my own social media for my business. During this time I also was still working full time, planning my own wedding, and helping my fiancé renovate our new home, so time wasn’t always easy to find.

I really started marketing myself by offering low cost Mini sessions to get my name out there and gather clients. From there, it was really word of mouth and people sharing their experiences with me and my work on social media. I would say probably 85% of my clients came from word of mouth, and the other 15% found me on social media. This was how I really got started having clients that weren’t friends or family. I eventually upgraded my gear and after a lot of trail and error I finally felt like I was where I wanted to be!

Once I finally felt like my business was becoming established, I had my son and that was (absolutely wonderful) but a setback nonetheless. Being a mom and trying to run a business was a whole new world I had to navigate and it honestly felt like starting from the ground up.

After that, I’ve started to learn that in this particular business, you’ll have strategies that work for a while to bring in new clients. But the most important part is client retention because those clients will continue to come back and share their experiences with friends and family.

Ellie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am the owner of EM creative Photography based out of Traverse City MI, as well as Co Owner of the up and coming, Glass Garden Studio (Photography rental studio and wildflower Garden). I have been in the business for about 7 years now. I also work as a Registered Nurse, and am a wife and mother to two beautiful kids.
What’s unique to my business is that I find quality so much more important than quantity. For example, I take limited wedding clients so that I can dedicate myself completely to each couple. I also cherish being a part of my clients special moments, it brings me such IMMENSE joy. Because of that, I try to offer early access to sessions and deals to clients who continue to come back year after year.
I also feel that my dedication to my clients and getting to know them personally truly shows in my work. Getting to know them means we can connect more which in turn makes them feel more comfortable in front of my camera resulting in amazing photos!

I feel like I am one of very few people who can say they truly LOVE what they do.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I personally think client experience is huge. So making sure my clients have a pleasant and fun experience and really getting to know them makes a huge difference. Because then they share their experience with friends and family!

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

A lot of clients have turned into friends, so we follow each other on social media and I get to continue to watch their families grow and it’s honestly the most amazing thing! I also have a client exclusive email list so that they have access to session bookings first and early access deals to minis sessions.
I also have recently implemented a client recommendation discount, where when I receive a new client and they say they were recommended by a current client they get a discount off their next session with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emcreativephoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emcreativephoto?igsh=MTFwbXB6ZXA2dGhmeg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15E2UDjSHk/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/glassgardenstudiomi?igsh=MTRlajhwYm1qazg1ag%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

  https://www.facebook.com/share/1AjRfpyEja/?mibextid=wwXIfr

  (Glass Garden Studio social medias)