We recently connected with Sarah Peterson and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, 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.
I think many people assume as a small business owner you put the work it at launch and then sit back and wait for your “big break”. Contrary to what it may look like on social media – I don’t think big breaks exist in the world of small businesses. There might be moments when you get featured, or publicity and brand awareness blows up, but when it comes to running a business operationally it is a daily feat. You’ll always be competing to stay up to date on the next new thing in trends, gear, social media, etc. Once you accept that running a brand is more of a never ending evolution than a prize is when your brand becomes truly successful. My photography company is now 12 years old and it has changed and evolved almost every year since! The first time you guys ever interviewed me was for my work in the commercial swim industry on the beaches of LA, fast forward 10 years later and my most notable work is now for my luxury wedding photography that spans the entire US market. Ironically, back in 2020 the pandemic actually helped me scale my business. The world was standing still, no one was pumping out fashion campaigns or throwing events with hundreds of people. I went from consistent business to having my entire industry frozen. Some would probably view this as the downfall of a business. I viewed it as the perfect time to dive into my existing business, strategize, reprioritize, and come up with a game plan for how I could build what I wanted for the next phase of Sarah Peterson Photography. I had been feeling really stuck up until that point. I had backed myself into a very niche market and I felt like I was out growing it rapidly. My own life had evolved, I was now in my late 20’s and I found myself loving all the weddings and engagements I was seeing amongst my friends and peers. I decided I wanted to re-brand and focus on what aligned with the phase of life I was in – but was unsure how to go from nearly-naked swimwear campaigns, to luxury weddings and events. Being in photography, I knew my photos could speak for themselves if I could just get a portfolio together. I dedicated those first few months of the pandemic to brainstorming content and planning beautiful couples shoots with mutual friends and anyone who would get in front of my camera. Once I had racked up the content I took a leap of faith and invested my savings into high end vendor sites that I knew would launch me into the wedding market. I low-balled my offerings to make sure I was one of the most desirable options and could bring in the most leads – low and behold within three months we were fully booked for the year. I know some people might take the stance that it’s dumb to not charge what you’re worth initially and question why I would low ball myself when I was already a very well established photographer in other markets. I viewed it more as a year-long sacrifice to set myself up for a forever career with a well-established business in a very competitive market, arguably the most competitive market for photography due to the high price tag of weddings. I didn’t want to just be an overnight success who did a handful of big weddings, I wanted to build a business, add in a team, and know that I was set for years to come. For that first year all additional income I made went directly back into my business because I knew if I wanted to add in a team, and to convince other photographers to join me I needed to stand out. I dedicated myself to the content I was creating, traveled near and far for unbeatable shoot locations, and really focused on being unique and creating things that would wow new clients and industry professionals, and make me worth the investment. By 2023 my wedding business had a few successful years under it’s belt and was self-sustaining. I knew this was my sign to scale up. Having only 50-100 weekend wedding dates in a year the largest way I could scale was to add in a team so we could do multiple weddings a weekend. Due to the decade of hard work already invested into my brand I knew I wasn’t just going to add anyone into the mix. I was extremely strategic about how I grew my brand. I started by nailing down my target market and fixating on California as a whole. Being a huge state, I knew I would need associates spanning the entire coast. I started networking at industry events all up and down CA, and finding people in all my target markets on social media. I even hosted and taught business building workshops for other photographers which in turn gave me so many new connections and fresh talent to watch. I then set up a zoom seminar and invited 20 photographers that impressed me. I pitched them my new business model, told them about my goals for scaling my business, and made the monetary value of joining my team unbeatable. To my surprise, all those who were invited wanted to join. I decided to pick out the top two in each of California’s biggest markets (Northern CA, Bay Area, Central Coast, Los Angeles & San Diego). With a team spanning the coast in place, I updated all my marketing efforts to cover the entire state. Currently in 2024 we’re now able to service all of CA and beyond, and can take on 5 weddings in a single weekend!
Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I’m Sarah and I’m the owner of Sarah Peterson Photography. I started my business 12 years ago in Los Angeles when some of my swimwear photography work was featured in notable fashion publications, and my career flourished. I found myself doing all kinds of things from commercial fashion campaigns, influencer social media marketing, model management & reality television. In 2018 I moved back up to my hometown of San Francisco where I launched my wedding photography company. Since then I’ve scaled my wedding business and added a team of associates. We now work all over the United States and love what we do!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
Initially my social media following found me when my work was featured by huge brands like Sports Illustrated and ABC’s The Bachelor. However, I quickly realized the following you gain with the overnight success of a campaign launch doesn’t necessarily bring you your dream clients. For me the best way to capture my ideal client is to be myself and make sure I’m putting my face and my personality at the front of my brand. Think about why you follow the people you do on social media, it’s likely because they amuse you and you feel like you know them or could be their friend. That becomes insanely important when building a brand people trust. This day in age social media can be an incredible tool for doing so. Yes, it can feel incredibly weird putting yourself out there and talking to your phone, but the success it brings in pulling in clients who have similar personalities and values to you in invaluable. Speaking about photography specifically, I always have to remind myself that my business is convincing people to get in front of my camera. If I’m asking that of them I should be able to do the same and share my personality to make them feel the most comfortable.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Remembering that everyone is on their own journey and timeline, it’s not a competition. Someone’s “fully booked” may be someone else’s “barely booked”. Many people view this industry as a cut throat competition, but at the end of the day there’s significantly more power in working together. I always remind my team theres only about 50 top wedding dates in a year. You’re going to end up booked for a decent amount and have to refer friends or other photographer so don’t burn bridges. Doing small things for other wedding vendors can go a long way too. Don’t make everything so transactional, if there’s a lull in wedding festivities take a moment to snag a few headshots for the wedding planner or get behind the scenes pics for the florist. Little acts of kindness like that help boost everyone’s business including your own referrals.
Contact Info:
- Website: sarahloupeterson.com
- Instagram: @SarahPetersonPhoto
- Facebook: facebook.com/sarahpetersonphoto
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/sarah-peterson-photography-san-francisco-2
Image Credits
Sarah Peterson Photography