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

Danielle , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

In the realm of social media, particularly within the photography community, we often witness individuals achieving “viral” status. While it might seem effortless, the reality is that many omit the tedious steps taken to reach that point. As visual artists, going viral can undoubtedly boost our businesses, but for most of us, that isn’t the typical trajectory.

For me, building my business has been a gradual process, layering new elements onto the foundation I established the previous year. In my first year, my focus was on attracting more luxury clients comfortable with higher price points. The following year, I aimed to streamline and articulate my business processes. Each year presented a distinct goal, illustrating how steady growth is achieved—by concentrating on your destination and adding strategic steps to reach it.

As a creative business owner and solopreneur, there’s room for two types of goals. One pertains to creative growth—expanding your skills and honing your craft. The other relates to business goals, specifically regarding revenue. These are distinct yet interconnected objectives that can be pursued individually or concurrently. Achieving success in each area demands time, dedication, and different areas of focus.

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?

I own a Luxury Portrait Studio geared towards women. I walk the clients through each step taking the burden away the burden of getting in front of the camera. One of my favorite genres is Maternity Portraits. This is such a special yet challenging time for new moms, as well as 2nd and even 3rd time moms. As women we are trained to always want to see ourselves as smaller, yet during this time we are forced to train our brains to think the opposite and embrace our growing and changing bodies.

With my clients we have an initial consultation, and a planning session where we go over all the looks that we will photograph. My clients have the option to use their own wardrobe or a combination between their own closet as well as my client closet. They day of the shoot they are provided with hair and makeup, so they don’t have to worry about a thing. I guide them through all of the posing as we go through the looks we planned. After the shoot, I walk you through the reveal of your images where you choose your favorites for purchasing. This last step is one that most photographers don’t do, leaving the clients to choose there favorites on there, which often never happens. Once their selections are made, their images go into retouching, and then to print. I strive to deliver the highest quality images that can be cherished for generations to come!

I am most proud of how I am able to create a unique experience for each of my clients, creating images that they love and feel the most beautiful in. Most of my clients are not fans of being in front of the camera, so being able to help them feel comfortable is also very rewarding.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

For me, connecting with new clients on Instagram has always been a winner. Given the visual nature of my business, Instagram provides an automatic way for people to get in front of my portfolio. It also allows me to connect with other Mom’s in a relatable way other than just showing my work.

The second best source of clients is hands down word of mouth marketing. I am a small boutique business so I can serve each of my clients well. I strongly believe in the fact that not everyone who needs a photographer is my client.. so finding my ideal clients, and serving them well helps tremendously. Their referrals are as good as gold to my business.

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

While I definitely don’t have a massive following, I do have a consistently growing social media presence. I would say that being true to your brand, showing up consistently, and playing with some social media trends that fit your brand is a good place to start. The whole purpose of social media is to create connection, so really think about the audience you are talking to, and cater to them. If you don’t have an audience yet, think about who is your ideal client or audience, and talk to them! There are so many social media tools now that can help you create consistent visual content, as well as even creating a brand voice using tools such as chatgpt! We are in an era more than ever where it’s almost to easy to start creating a brand! The key is consistency, stay true to yourself, and just keep going!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.daniellenicoleportraits.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniellenicoleportraits/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniellenicoleportraits

Image Credits
Danielle Nicole Portraits