We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hannah Yoder a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

I found my first client by simply putting myself out there so much that people would get sick of me. I was constantly networking myself by door, knocking different businesses, reaching out to hundreds of Facebook groups, posting multiple times a day and attending networking events several times a month. My first client was a wellness studio inside of a mall that reached out to me through one of the random Facebook groups I commented in. The second the owner signed an agreement with me, I felt like all of my hard work in creating my business and scaling it actually meant something. It gave me more hope and confidence in what I do.

Hannah, 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 started HY Verifye with one goal in mind, to create. I’ve always been an artsy child/teenager. I was a theatre kid for 6 years, which inspired a lot of my visual creativity. I used to write stories and music growing up. My dream has always been to be a film director and that passion never left. I started posting on social media in 2014, and grew a following over time. I didn’t even realize that you cannot only create a main source of income through social media, but you can actually help businesses grow through organic marketing. At one of my old 9-5 jobs, the social media manager (who would later be my tutor) explained to me the different levels of visual creativity, such as content, creation, social media management, photography, videography, and so much more. I had a camera lying around, picked it up one day and decided to go all in. After hours of research and free sessions with friends and family, I found my passion in creating sharp high quality visuals for social media through a lense.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I built an audience on social media by doing 2 simple things. Consistently posting and being myself. That may sound cliche, but it actually works! People like to see reliability, a sense of rawness in a person. Otherwise, they scroll. I’ve learned the hard way when I tried making my posts too aesthetic and “cookie cutter” to the other viral videos of the time. The key to a growing platform is constantly posting what you do or what makes you happy that you want to share. Annoy the For You Page with how much you’re posting. Don’t rely on what’s viral, but rely on what makes your content special.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I strongly believe in attending networking events. Some networking events are more formal while others are relaxed. My first networking event was at a content studio, and the one following that was at a bar. When you go to networking gatherings, you go with the intention of making connections, future partnerships and finding referral opportunities. Showing support in other local businesses is the stronghold in building your own. It all comes down to trust. Trust and results. Have something remarkable to show others when explaining what you do that gives you authority in your position, while also sharing kindness towards others hard work. It will always come back to you in your favor.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @HYVerifye
• Facebook: @HannahYoder
• Youtube: @ItsHannahYoder
• Other: My main INSTAGRAM is @HRYRenee (my content creator page). @HYVerifye is my business page.
  I also have a Tiktok @ItsHannahYoder

Image Credits

For the headshots of myself in the pink blazer, photo creds go to Gabbie with A&G Cinematiques