We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Savvy Leigh. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Savvy below.

Savvy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

Especially in small businesses or creative industries, I think people start with a lot of passion and love for what they do, but don’t realize that so much of the job of being a business owner is the boring parts of running the business. They may perfect their craft, but neglect the business side of things, and that can cause a lot of problems early on.

I’m a photographer, but I would say only like 20% of my job actually has anything to do with photography at all. Most of it is things like answering emails, SEO optimization, trying out new marketing strategies, connecting with other vendors, etc. While I do consider myself skilled in my photography work, I think for most people (myself included) success actually comes mostly from developing those business skills.

As one of my favorite mentors likes to say, “staying in the game IS the game”. There are a few people in this world who can find success quickly or easily, but I think for most people, staying dedicated to the boring tasks for a long period of time really helps a businesses reach success.

Savvy, 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 am a wedding photographer in Charlotte, North Carolina. I love working with timeless romantics who want elegant and dreamy wedding photos!

I pride myself in being able to educate and personally connect with all my clients so their questions are answered before they have them, they feel confident in the photography process, and we can all work together to create a wedding gallery that makes them gasp each time they see it. I believe what sets me apart from others is that I strive to go beyond just “capturing the moment”, and create a work of art out of the moment instead.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

I was about to move to a new state, and it felt very much like starting my business completely over from scratch. I decided to look at all the different lead generation options my business could have, choose the best one, and absolutely dive into it before I moved so I could hit the ground running once I got there. I knew I didn’t want to dedicate myself to social media (it didn’t feel stable enough, plus I hate it), and I didn’t have any previous clients or networking connections yet in this new state, so I decided to focus my efforts on SEO.

Months and months of doing completely repetitive, boring, and seemingly useless SEO tasks made me want to rip my hair out. I’m a photographer, so going through my website and renaming, resizing, reuploading/downloading, and adding descriptions to every single image was a nightmare. That alone took me an eternity! But I knew if I could finally get myself on the Google “map”, it would be worth it.

I am so thankful that all of the tedious hard work paid off, because Google has been my #1 source for leads since then. I don’t know that my business could have survived the move without the SEO work to be completely honest. It at least would have taken much, much longer than it did.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

This is one of my favorite topics to talk about, because it’s made such a huge difference in making my job easier and more enjoyable! My couples typically book me about a year before their wedding, and I am very big on frequent and clear communication that educates them and sets expectations.

Previously, I had little communication with my couples once they booked me. I found myself becoming frustrated on wedding days for small things that would make my job harder (like not planning enough time for family photos or something). I would silently be annoyed that the situation didn’t provide me with what I needed to produce my best work, and then when I couldn’t produce my best work, I would blame it on the couple in my head. I knew I was being childish and something needed to change.

The truth is that our clients don’t know what we need. It is OUR job to tell them and our responsibility to educate them. I started writing blog posts and emails that explained exactly what my dream photography scenarios would be, and addressing common frustrations I had, and emailing those tips to my clients about once a month throughout their engagement period.

This was a HUGE win for my business. The thing is, both me and my clients want the best outcome. So when I let them know the things that would make my job easier, or make the photos look better, they are almost always happy to listen! Plus, they feel like you are keeping in frequently communication with them (a complaint I see from engaged couples often). Now I have a closer relationship with my clients, they feel prepared, they trust me, and I have the best working situation possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://savvyleigh.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savvyleighphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/savvyleighphotography/

Image Credits
Savvy Leigh Photography