Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laurie Bishop. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Laurie, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I am a big fan of excellence in craft and education. So my first step after making the decision to start my photography business was to research any educational, hands-on or online, courses to understand how photography business models run and what I should do to become excellent at it – both the business side and artistic side.
Once I got comfortable enough in my craft, I began to develop my brand by writing, describing, sharing with friends, talking it out, building archetypes and avatars, and exploring colors and descriptors until they accumulated into a sincere and honest representation of me and my ideal client. It took time! It took revisions! And some late nights.
To learn more about my ideal client, and to give myself permission to work mostly with women in business I did a lot of research (i.e. talking!) and reading and listening to podcasts of like-minded women.
Already knowing how to set up and run a business, charge clients, pay freelancers etc really paved the way to creating the business entity so i could keep a focus on my craft.
From there I began networking like crazy, telling all my peers about what I was doing and what my vision was. That helped! If you believe in what you do and are passionate about it – that can really engage other people.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My roots are deeply embedded in graphic design and branding so much so that I founded a design firm in 2006 – Element Design Group – which I’m still running today. I absolutely loved designing, collaborating, working with writers and programmers and photographers and creating for clients and companies but about 15 years ago, i sort of ‘passioned out” of the designer role and fully embraced the role of Creative Director and Account Manager – supporting both the clients and the creative contractors.
When worklife started to get too repetitive I started searching for that next thing that lit me up, engaged me wholly and got me into a flow state. I looked everywhere and explored identities like massage therapist, rock climbing teacher, furniture design and on and on but nothing quite clicked.
And then, in 2013, my Dad passed away. And he happened to have a huge interest in photography. I inherited his cameras and part of my grieving process was picking up the camera and getting deeply engaged with it.
I was photographing everything from tiny bugs to big skies with the caveat that I would never photograph people! That felt way too intimidating!
Three years later, I became kind of obsessed with people, their faces, their brands, their business and I found myself thinking – you should photograph people. So I took course after course after class of portrait photography and lighting and business and I threw myself at every opportunity i could think of from weddings to events to pets and humans to see what felt right and to hone in my craft.
Finally, i gave myself permission to photograph portraits only and make a business of it. Quietly relating to each individual and talking to them about their brands, hearing their stories and about their businesses so my photography aligns with their needs is deeply fulfilling and fun and relatable. I hear so many stories about women in business and their struggles and successes that I finally decided I would specialize in supporting them.
Once I became crystal clear about my vision, I did what i know how to do – build my brand, create an avatar client, start networking with other business women and shout it from the mountaintops!
And here I am 10 years later, deeply passionate about photographing women – and very specifically photographing women who I relate to, as I just turned 60. And I feel like I’m becoming visible. And I want that for other women too. So much so that I’ve named my company Become Studios, because at any age we’re becoming and I want your becoming to be witnessed. That is my hope and desire for all women 50 Plus, who are feeling a little invisible. That’s how I got to be where I am today. And I’m in love with it. I love what I’m doing.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I, like many solopreneur photographers, was feeling too swamped to post regularly and didn’t think anyone was listening anyway so I wasn’t motivated to spend effort on social media except when it suited me and I was inspired.
Fast forward to the day I got advice to be posting consistently 3-4 times a week with on-brand messages and images that would speak directly to my favorite audience. Also, my coach suggested I give LinkedIn a try since most of the businesswomen I wanted to meet would be there.
My first post to LinkedIn garnered 4000 views/responses and got my voice and photos in front of a completely new audience! What!? I was amazed and started receiving requests for my work.
My advice now to my previous self would be:
– Don’t worry about getting each post perfect, just do it. Type it up, send it off and do so 3-4 times per week
– Know who you are talking to and what they care about. Research the audience you want to reach and get to know them, kinda like friends, and speak to them in your own words, from the heart.
– Write 10 posts at a time and use a social media posting app (Later.com or Buffer.com are what I’ve used). It makes a huge difference to my consistency to know that I have a month of posts already written, so I can get back to work!
– Interact genuinely regardless of the venue. Social media is ‘social’ and works best if you jump in and make genuine connections
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
When I wing it with finances or my process things start to fall apart.
As a creative business owner, I initially thought how great it was to be able to offer customized pricing and photography to anyone who came my way. The more I did that, the more I had to scramble to remember what I charged Client A and Client B and what I was offering each one and when I was photographing them. Gah! I felt overwhelmed and disorganized and my personal life suffered (i.e. no time for friends or family).
Again a lesson in consistency. I have my pricing and packages posted to the wall in front of me and I (almost) never waver. I have a spreadsheet to keep clients and prospective clients organized – I know when to reach out and when to follow up at my fingertips! When i get really nervous about talking pricing, I refer to a calculator I created for myself to generate the right pricing for a project which includes my overhead, contractors and time.
Having a go-to system and go-to pricing is crucial to my sanity now and gives my clients a lot of confidence in me too
Contact Info:
- Website: www.becomebeseen.com
- Instagram: become.by.laurieb
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/become.by.laurieb
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriebellbishop/
Image Credits
Laurie Bishop – Become Studios