We were lucky to catch up with Melanie Small recently and have shared our conversation below.
Melanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One thing we always find fascinating is how differently entrepreneurs think about revenue growth and cost reductions – both can be powerful ways to improve profitability. What do you spend more of your time and energy on?
I definitely spend more time trying to increase my revenue over cutting costs, although both are very important. I’ve written out detailed visions for my business and set realistic goals and quotas to help me with working towards increasing my revenue.
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
Well I am Melanie Small and I’m the owner of M. Jeanette Photography out of Dallas, TX. I provide portrait, lifestyle and event photography for the DFW area and beyond. I came into this industry because i had been dabbling in photography for awhile and I was looking for something that I could do to the best of my ability with the least amount of effort. I’ve been in business since 2012.
I guess that you could say that what sets me apart from other photographers is that I am not a pretentious photographer and that my work is accessible. I want future customers, clients and fans to know is that I value your memories just as much as you and that you deserve the best, quality images of yourselves. Your family needs to see how beautiful you are and I’m more than happy to assist.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
I’ve found that the best strategy for growing my clientele has been word-of-mouth or printed advertising. Now I’m not the type of person to be very extroverted, but I have to remind myself to never be too shy to wear my company shirt in public, because I never know who’s in search of me and what I offer. Also, I’ve been blessed with people who have love my work and have spoken my name in places as well.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I first started my business, posting every other day or week was very important in creating an online presence. I’d use those opportunities to showcase my latest work or my pricing. The end result would be people who liked my work would either follow me or contact me for work. In addition, my friends and family would also share my posts with their followers so that was helpful in extending my reach for my business. I took advantage of the advertising on Googl.e.com and I passed out business cards that directed people to my website and social media as well.
I would advise anyone that wants to see their business grow is to continue to post and share your work online. Don’t be shy about your work or achievements because whether you get any engagement or not, someone will see your work and if they see it enough, you’ll begin to see some interest.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mjeanettephotography.com
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/mjeanettephotography
- Facebook: Facebook.com/mjeanettephotography
- Other: https://g.co/kgs/miJiYU
Image Credits
M. Jeanette Photography