Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tori Hynds. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Tori thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My journey in the photography industry has spanned over many years. I have always been an artist in many forms. In high school, I developed a passion for manual film photography and could be found hiding out for many hours in the dark room enthralled by the process. Later in college, my passion for the craft continued to grow and I chose to select Design Arts with an emphasis in photography as my major and Communications as my minor. During my college years, I took many photography courses in manual film, digital photography and art history. I accompanied my art classes with business courses and communication courses in videography, public speaking, media relations and web design. In addition to these, I also took on a paid internship for one of the area’s most successful wedding photographers which gave me a look into what the industry looked like from a business owner standpoint and taught me the “ins and outs” as well as the “dos and don’ts” that lead to success.

After having graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree, life changed quickly for me as I got married, had our first child and moved away with the military which started a journey in my personal life as well as the life of my business. Throughout the years of our military journey, my business has sustained moves to three separate states. As one can imagine, one of the biggest challenges with this has been losing my clientele from one state to the next and building my business successfully from the ground up at each new place. This has required an immense amount of work, a faithful support system from both my family as well as my faithful clients. The best part about the military community, and more specifically the aviation community, is that it is very close knit. You often find that you may see one another again in another state, down the road, or that your clients know families at your new station. This has helped me immensely throughout the years and is one of the biggest reasons why I strive so very hard to form lasting business relationships and even friendships with my client families. However, just relying on those relationships is not enough; there is so much more that goes into relocating and rebuilding. Such as the legalities of closing your business in a previous state and opening it in the next, running paid advertisements through social media networks, altering your SEO through your website and google analytics, and networking in local area groups for the place that you will be relating to, to name a few.

I have spent the past seven years since having graduated gaining real world experience in the industry and building my business. However, one of the biggest challenges in the first few years has been finding my niche and honing in on that. While I do shoot genres such as couples, weddings and military homecomings, etc., and do love those, I have found that my passion lies with my families. I mainly shoot families, maternity and newborn. One of my biggest rewards is getting to see a family grow through my lens over the years. There are couples that I shot engagements and weddings for long ago that I have now shot maternities, newborns and yearly family sessions for as their children grow and that is my biggest passion.

Someday the kids will be grown and gone and the days of little ones running around, big messes and absolute exhaustion will be a thing of the past. In those moments, photos and memories are all that will be left. It is my passion to provide my families with lifestyle images that they can look back on years from now and smile at. A good photographer is an investment, but having those memories is never an investment that you will regret making.

Tori , 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 wrote about much of this in the previous question, however, I will elaborate a bit.

I strive to provide high-quality, lifestyle photography to document the little moments rather than just stuffy portraits and do this through prompts and often use activities or games to bring that to life. I look at the little things – the giggles, the kisses, baby’s toes, etc.

Many do not know just how much work goes into the process of a single session or event. Starting with all of the correspondence, drafting of contracts and payments, etc., preparations, commuting, shooting and then the immense amount of editing and gallery finalizations that come into play in post-production. A single session can take hours of work.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have built my entire business almost entirely business entirely on social media (Facebook, mainly, as well as Instagram) and the best advise that I can give is to invest. If you plan to manage it all yourself, invest in some form of education regarding social media management and marketing and how to manage SEO and google analytics. If you have no interest or time to do so, invest in a company that does this for small businesses. There is so much that your business can benefit from when these marketing tactics are used correctly and in a digital age, it is imperative.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The best strategy for growing my client base has been both paid advertising for new clients on social media and word-of-mouth from my current, loyal clients. The better experience you can provide your current clients, the more likely they are to come back as well as share your name as a recommendation with those around them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.hyndsdesigns.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hyndsdesigns

Image Credits
Tori Hynds