We recently connected with Blake Conner and have shared our conversation below.
Blake, appreciate you joining us today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are 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. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
Scaling up was a process of building a client base loyal enough to spread the word about my business. As a videographer, I’m providing a service that is people oriented, so it started with going above and beyond for each individual client. Slogging more hours than necessary, and anything for the recommendation. I also focused solely on one locale at the time, and built up a nice organic network of recommendations. From there, I was able to reach out and network with people at different events and start building traction on my own.
After those early days, it turned into a lot of marketing/advertising, building a website, and running campaigns targeted at different locations. I got in touch with a handful of other photographers/videographers and started scaling horizontally and vertically to include more services with my wedding packages. I still have a long ways to go, but this has been the journey so far.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My name is Blake Conner, and I am a visual storyteller. I’ve always loved entertaining people, and that brought me to major in digital video production while in school. I’ve worked for numerous brands and on all varieties of projects over the years, but I always loved weddings. Eventually, this turned into creating a business dedicated to creating cinematic wedding films, Digital Sunshine LLC.
Of all the wedding films I’ve shot to-date, I am most proud of my destination wedding trip I took to Colorado. I had the opportunity to film many beautiful landscapes there, and really get to hone in on the love story of a few of my close friends.
I want my clients and followers to know I am dedicated to the post-production work and making fun, energetic films for them to remember forever. I try not to get too basic or mushy with the feeling, but keep it light-hearted for the most part and intimate when it calls for it. I think my editing style is what separates me from most, and it’s why most people hire me!
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Taking every client. I did this in the early days to build a network, but I’m very selective of who I work with now. As a business owner, it’s easy to decline the people I don’t want to work with. In many cases, I value my mental health and sanity over working with some more unhinged people (which weddings have no shortage of).
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
Referrals and word of mouth. I’ve been a very personable provider to all my clients, and it has shown by the number of recommendations that are sent my way every year.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.digitalsunshinemedia.com
- Instagram: @digitalsunshinellc
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigitalSunshineVideography
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtdHgM2M6KREpUu3txL1G_A