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

Hi Melissa, thanks for joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

It is crazy for me to look back now and realize my biggest failure led to my biggest success. Without one I would not have the other. I had been in business for 10 years and thought I was past all the benchmarks of when small businesses fail.

I decided to make a pivot in my photography business and move from weddings to lifestyle newborn portraits. I was tired of spending weekends away from my family and I wanted a change. But that meant basically starting my business over again from scratch. I had zero clients on my books and found myself in 25k of debt from out of control expenses. I knew my long term marketing strategy was going to be SEO but that takes time to build and I found myself looking for a quick fix to book clients. Those “quick fixes” always came with a large price tag and the results were never even enough to cover what I had spent.

So the day came when the credit cards were maxed out and there was no new revenue for the foreseeable future. I had hit rock bottom in my business and my husband said it was time to get a job that actually paid me money so we could pay off the debt. So I put my business on pause. I cut expenses down to the bone, I just kept my website and my CRM. I was able to utilize the social media skills I had learned for my business to get a job with a local jewelry store where I became their PT Marketing Director. (Director is definitely a loose term as it was a 1 person dept!)

While I was sad to walk away from my business I also felt relief. I no longer woke up with panic attacks thinking about my debt. I didn’t refresh my inbox constantly waiting for a new inquiry to come in. In fact when they did come in I was shocked because I literally was doing nothing for my business. Over the next 12 months my SEO work started paying off and my website started climbing the rankings. I started booking clients every month and working them around my PT job. Till I hit the point when my husband said ok it’s time to go back to the business. I was still scared it was going to fall apart again so I waited another 6 months before I actually quit. I also implemented Profit First during this time and gave myself strict spending rules that I still follow to this day.

My business flourished and then we moved to a new state where once again I had to start all over. Again I used SEO to build my business back up. At this point friends started asking me to help them with their websites and I pitched my failure story to a photography podcast. The day the episode dropped I woke up to messages from around the world of people inspired by my story. That snowballed into people wanting to hire me to help them with their SEO and that has led to where I am today. With a personal goal to make as much in one month as my initial debt was 3 years to the month of when I had to walk away.

I have always loved helping others and now I can see so perfectly the path I’ve followed to get me to where I am today was designed specifically to give me the experience I needed.

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’m Melissa Arlena, SEO Educator for Photographers and Lifestyle Newborn Photographer. I spent 10 years in the IT industry fixing peoples computers and explaining it to them in a way their could understand. That skill has become my USP or superpower as I like to call it.

As a former IT nerd, I have a knack for taking technical things and making them simple and relatable. Often I hear form others I never thought about it that way and it totally makes sense. My focus is on SEO for portrait photographers, getting them found on google so they can fill their calendar with ideal clients and raise their rates.

I’m also still a lifestyle newborn photographer because I believe that to understand my clients best I need to be one still. I know what’s going on because I’m in the trenches right there with them. Plus I love photographing couples who’ve just had their first baby. There is so much love and excitement around that time of their lives. I’ve worked hard the last 15 years perfecting my craft and have earned my Master Newborn, Family & Maternity Photographer certifications.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Hands down for my photography business it’s been SEO (search engine optimization). Figuring out what keywords my clients are typing into google when they are ready to hire a photographer. Then making sure my website is configured to show up for that keyword. Plus blogging topics that my ideal clients are also searching for.

SEO is like diet and exercise when you want to lose weight. It’s not super fun and the results take time but when you put in the work and you change your bad habits to good over the years you see the results.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Hands down Profit First! Anyone thinking about running a business needs to read it. It will set you up with a solid foundation for paying yourself, saving for taxes, keeping expenses in check and having a profit at the end. I am passionate about sharing it with others so they don’t end up in a situation like I did. It’s not hard to do at all and you can implement it right away. Your business and your future self will thank you for it!      

Contact Info:

• Website: https://melissaarlena.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissaarlena/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/raiseyourranking
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissaarlena/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Melissaarlenaphotography
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/melissa_arlena/

Image Credits
Melissa Arlena Photography (pictures of babies and parents) Kerry Renee Photography (photo of me with camera and me with framed prints) MSP Branding (photos of me wearing floral blue shirt)