We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Abi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Rachel, thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
No matter what field you were in, I think the answer to this is the same: you need to fall in love with your clients. You need to committed to offering the very best products, service, education etc. And the only way to get ahead in every saturated market for excess is not to just work hard, but fall in love with who you’re working for. Know what they need, want, love… then we committed to creating the very best product, service etc. for that person.
You don’t need to be able to service everybody. You’re not gonna be everybody’s cup of tea you don’t need to be. Know who your customers and serve them immaculately.
Then not only will you be successful and bring an amazing numbers of clients, but you’ll have a blast in the process because you decided to love.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Hi I’m Rachel! I’m waiting photographer in Raleigh NC, who decided to make the plunge in becoming an entrepreneur when I saw the joy of being able to support a couple on a gigantic and important day of their life!
I made so many mistakes in the process of becoming a photographer, and learn from all of them the hard way.
Despite having made so mistakes and faced so much failure, my passion to love on couples made picking myself up again and forging the path not even feel like a choice.
As a person who struggled so deeply with being in front of the camera, I’ve invested over a decade and cultivating and studying how to make people feel completely at ease, comfortable and confident, in front of the camera and have a blast in the process!
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
“If you build it they will come “
This is the truth that I always believed. In reality it’s a story, not the truth. No matter how amazing your services, how fantastic your product is or how great you are, people don’t just flock to you… they can’t see that through the noise of all the rest.
If you love your clients and you’re devoted to creating an amazing experience, product or service for them : the sooner that you realize that you need to be loud about what you have to offer the better!
They’re going to hire someone, and if you’re not loud about what do you have to offer they are going to get a lesser product, service and experience.
It took me way too long to figure out this truth. I watched many couples that I knew get married hire a different photographer and had a terrible experience walk away with not only terrible pictures but stories of bad service… and I cost them that because I wasn’t willing to speak up.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
People like to make social media complicated it’s not.
What made you wanna be friends with your friends? When you hire someone why did you hire them?
People want authenticity. Because people want to work with people that they like and trust. You don’t have to do gimmicks you don’t play games. You need to know who your audiences and speak into their life, their needs, their stress, their passion…
Offer value. Offer vulnerability. Offer yourself.
If you know who your ideal customers, and you know what their questions are going to be, what their concerns are… then you know what your content should be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rachelabi.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachelabiphoto/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelAbiphotography/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachelabiphoto
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-m8jhN_HXGZsNs_PFQBhwwf4syCnV0-x
Image Credits
Comercial Photography NC