We were lucky to catch up with Catara Lane recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Catara, thanks for joining us today. Alright, let’s jump into one of the most exciting parts of starting a new venture – how did you get your first client who was not a friend or family?
My first project came about while I was outside downtown in philly doing photography homework and a lady that was working with a clothing brand stopped me and was like are you a photographer and I let her know I was a student and she asked if I could come with her to a business meeting that she was having with her partner around the corner and I was like sure. Now I had about 30 minutes untill I went to work but I was also very curious so I followed this stranger now turned friend around the corner. I ended up doing 3 free photo shoots with them over the course of the next year. I am super grateful to have worked with them because it gave me a look into set life and I really figured out how to use my camera quickly while working with them. I will say that was the first and only free work I ever did as far as clients go. During that year on my way to one of the photo shoots I took an uber from my house to philly carrying some of my lighting equipment and that got brought up in a conversation with the uber driver who was an alumni to my school temple and also a business owner. We started talking about a range of things from what I was going to school for, what his business was which at the time was a CBD product line. And then that lead to a conversation about how social media works. He got my number before I got out the car and I didn’t know it at the time but what I was doing was called networking. A few weeks later he called me upset because Instagram shut down his account and he wanted to get a new one back up immediately so I was like sure and I charged him 150 a month for managing his social media pages. To me I was at the top of the world because I was getting paid to work from my phone, in my bed and I never thought of this being an option as something I could do. now Although I am not a social media manager anymore I still use skills from that first gig.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Catara Lane. I am a 23-year-old full-time videographer. I first got into videography because I went to film school at Temple University while I was in film school I would pick up different projects and when I graduated I decided to stick with it.
I work with nonprofits and businesses to create different videos to help them connect with their audiences online.
I have created brand videos, short video content, explainer videos, and more.
What sets me apart from a lot of people in my field is the diverse clients I have worked with. my clients come from many different diverse backgrounds and they all have their own unique stories.
I’m most proud of getting 2 of my short documentaries into film festivals
I solve the problem of not having enough video content to post and creating new ways to engage with their audiences.
I want people to know that whatever problem you are facing in your business a video can most likely fix it
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I love reading books about other people’s entrepreneurship journeys and a few that I have read over the past year that really made an impact on me was
6 figure freelancer by Laura brings
your next five moves by Patrick Bet-David
Hustle harder, Hustle smarter by Curtis 50 cent Jackson
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Word of mouth and networking has definitely been one of the proven ways to grow my clientele.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.clxcontent.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/clxcontent
- Facebook: facebook.com/clxcontent
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/catara-lane-40a1a5187/
- Other: Podcast website https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/BT8VdtUuswb