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

Maggie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

To be quite frank, it all started in the midst of depression. I was states away from my family in Louisiana, working a “regular” job, feeling unfulfilled and unhappy. I was a hobby photographer back in 2o14 but knew nothing about how to actually work a camera to get the images I knew I wanted. With the support from my husband and a lot of fear of the unknown, I took the leap and bought my first real camera.

I knew I had to start from scratch, so I enrolled in a Photography Academy, bought my first prime lens, and a MacBook to get started. Every single day I would come home from my 8-5 job, sit down at the dining room table, throw in my Air Pods, and learn. I took notebooks worth of notes and practiced on my two dogs in our backyard each time I would learn something new.

After learning the ins and outs of my camera, I started to learn about marketing and putting myself out there to the world as a business owner. I applied for my business license, made my first business card, and started building my website from the ground up. I didn’t know anyone in the area I was living, so I would leave my business cards in the check folders at restaurants, leave them at the nail salon, pin them to the bulletin board at Publix – anything I could think of to get my name out there.

Then one day, I received an inquiry! I was ecstatic and in tears. My first real client that wasn’t a family or friend, someone actually wanted to pay me to freeze their memories. I was so nervous, I showed up an hour early to the shoot to make sure I knew where to park. It went great – although I have improved greatly over the years – but my dream was finally coming true.

Maggie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Maggie and I am a light and airy photographer in Panama City Beach, FL. I strive to make each session a memory and something you look forward to doing every year you vacation, not just something to check off your to-do list.

I provide a variety of on beach and off beach locations, digital and print products, family styling, and more!

I treat each person in front of my lens as a friend and not someone I’m providing a service to. This helps me capture the genuine smiles and laughs between families instead of the prompted and rigid posing. We will laugh and sometimes cry (I always cry at proposals). I’ll be your #1 cheerleader, making you feel comfortable, getting those babies to smile, and capturing the love between you and your family.

I provide each client with a style guide so there is no question about the colors and clothing options to wear to your session. A lot of my clients even send me photos and videos trying on clothes for my opinion – and I love it! The more comfortable you feel, the happier you will be.

I’m always down to jump in the water at the end of a session or to even stay a little longer to make sure your babies are fully warmed up to me. I know family photos can be stressful, especially for the Mama’s, so I am geared to helping in any way possible to make your session fun and provide beautiful images you will hang up above the fireplace.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I receive 90% of my booked clients from Instagram. I found a formula that works for me that is super easy!

Before I had any clients in my new area, I added myself to all of the local Mom groups I could find on Facebook. I promoted FREE sessions with 10 images included as well as my style guide. This post completely blew up and before I knew it, I had hundreds of comments and messages to go through. This was solely to build my portfolio, get some more practice, and give me a back log of images to post to social media as examples of my work.

I picked about 10 families/moms, provided them the style guide that fit my brand and the images I wanted to bring to life, told them where to meet me, and provided a free 20 minute session in exchange for posting their images on my social media accounts.

During the few weeks it took me to shoot these sessions, I was posting to social media at least 3 times a day – morning, noon, and around 5pm. I chose these times because I know that is when I look at my phone the most: first thing in the morning, while I’m eating lunch, and once I get home from work. I connected my Instagram and Facebook accounts so they would post simultaneously and give me more exposure to my audience.

I also did some research on the busy photographers in my area. I took some of their hashtags, combined them into my own, and added them at the end of every single picture I posted. Within a few weeks I was fully booked up!!

Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?

I offer 3 different collections to my clients, each having an image cap.

My 3o minute session includes 15 images, 60 minute session includes 25 images, and my 90 minute session includes 35 images.

When delivering a gallery, I edit and deliver every single photo I’ve shot with my watermark. This allows the client to choose their images in the final gallery as well as prompt them to purchase more images if they would like. I charge a certain dollar amount for each additional image or offer a discount for purchasing 10 or more, as well as the entire gallery.

This approach never fails, almost every client I have purchases additional images!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.maggiethornhillphotography.com
• Instagram: @maggiethornhillphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maggiethornhillphotography

Image Credits
My headshot: Payton Fore @paytonforephotography