We recently connected with Ciara Dutcher and have shared our conversation below.

Ciara, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back, do you think you started your business at the right time? Do you wish you had started sooner or later

I started my photography business when I was in college, I had no clients other than family and hadn’t really made a name for myself just yet. When I started my photography was pretty basic compared to other professionals at the time and I got discouraged that I wouldn’t be up to par and I couldn’t get clients like other photographers did. But I didn’t quit, I kept learning from not only the internet but other photographers in my area. I got new equipment and actually invested in not only myself but my business. And now I have a number of faithful clients that I now call friends, for being a part time photographer I have made a great name for my business that I’m proud of. If I would have started my business later I don’t think I would have had the drive to get better and improve my skills.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

For those who may not know my name is Ciara Dutcher and I own Ciara Dutcher Photography. I’ve been doing photography for about 5 years now but my business started getting more clients about a year and a half ago. I’ve had many challenges along the way and have had to invest a lot of time and money into my business and even now I still have lots of growing and learning to do. I have many things to be proud of with my business but mainly I’m proud of how much my photography has grown in such a short amount of time. I’ve got some amazing clients that have challenged me with sessions I haven’t done before and they’ve turned out amazing. I’m so excited to see Ciara Dutcher Photography grow in the next year.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Building an audience on social media can be challenging in some aspects, but the main thing you have to do is share share share. The more your name gets out there the higher of a chance someone will reach out. I tag my close friends and family I’m almost all of my photography posts and have them share, you never know who in their friends list is needing your service.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When starting my photography business I had to unlearn that criticism is bad. Criticism is one of the only ways you can learn and improve your skill. I encourage my clients to tell me if something was wrong or if they want me to change anything, my number one priority is to make my clients happy and I can’t do that without some sort criticism.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Ciara Dutcher Photography
• Facebook: Ciara Dutcher Photography