We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda Anglen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Amanda, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, let’s imagine that you were advising someone who wanted to start something similar to you and they asked you what you would do differently in the startup-process knowing what you know now. How would you respond?
If I had the opportunity to start my business over again, knowing what I now know, I would not rely more on word of mouth but really market my business in any way. I would get involved in the community, hand out business cards and flyers. Although word of mouth is best advertisement, it is not the only way to advertise. I would have also hired a social media marketing agency sooner. Doing these things recently has changed my business in a positive way and I look forward to continuing these strategies as it is better late than never.
Amanda, 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 am a true to color photographer. What does true to color mean? These days it is trendy for photographers to have a bright or dark mood editing style, I stay true to color. The correct skin color, the correct atmosphere colors. What you see is what you get. If there is a sunset, you will get a sunset. Although if my client wishes for something, I do what I can to produce that for the client. I am a small-town girl from Missouri. I packed up my car and moved to Orange County alone 5 years ago and have my place here. I love being part of this community and providing an affordable to service to everyone. I truly believe everyone deserves beautiful portraits to remember a time, a moment or a milestone. I take pride in what I do and love what I do. It is an honor to be able to meet families and continue to photograph their family throughout the year and watch them all grow.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As I mentioned, I am from a small town in Missouri. In Missouri I did not have access to a studio so I was limited to doing my sessions outside on location only and due to the weather in Missouri, I could not get many clients to stand outside in 30-degree weather to take their pictures. I was not able to go full time with my business for this reason and others. When I chose to move to California, I knew this would be my opportunity to continue to do what I do all year long. I was also able to have access to a studio within my city I reside. Moving here has opened many opportunities for me to be able to do what I love full time, however it was not an easy transition. Moving to a city/county where you know no one and have 0 connections, you are starting from the beginning again. I had to gain the clients trust and earn their business. I never gave up.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
A lesson I had to unlearn was believing that I needed a full-time job until I was too busy with my business to do a full-time job. I know now to apply the hours towards my business and the profit will follow.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stillshotscom.wordpress.com
- Instagram: https://www.threads.net/@stillshotsoc