We were lucky to catch up with Stephen Lewis recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Stephen thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Growth is exciting, but from what we’ve seen across thousands of conversations with entrepreneurs it’s also dangerous if costs aren’t watched closely – sometimes costs can grow out of control outpacing revenue growth and putting the viability of the entire business at risk. How have you managed to keep costs under control?

I am very diligent about keeping costs and overhead as low as possible. Of course this has to be balanced with the need for equipment and business services to ensure I can successfully run my operation and deliver a high quality product to my clientele. I try not to make purchases that wont pay for themselves within 3-4 months and I only upgrade equipment when absolutely necessary. Additionally, I handle a lot of my accounting and tax services myself instead of hiring help.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a commercial photographer and filmmaker. My specialties are product, food and lifestyle. I love the craft of photography and filmmaking more than anything. Client’s come to me with a new product or service and I get to tell their brand story through light, color, styling and art direction. What sets me apart from others is my fun and laid-back personality coupled with a drive for excellence and client satisfaction… I take my job seriously but in my experience, the more we enjoy our work the better the results will be. I got to where I am professionally through hard work and a bit of luck! I spent years developing my skills both artistically and professionally. It was definitely not easy! We all hit roadblocks and setbacks and I am no exception. It took a long time to market myself through work of mouth, Google SEO, portfolio reviews, collaborations with other creatives and sending spec work out to agencies and dream clients. I still experience slow periods when I have little to no work so I use that time to explore new creative possibilities and sharpen my skills. I am still a work in progress as is my business and that’s an exciting thing!

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

As a creative professional in the photo/video space, I wish I had known about American Photographic Artists (APA) and industry leaders/resources like aphotoeditor.com and asksternrep.com I have learned a lot about the business of freelancing from these websites, things that could have saved me time and sped up my growth had I known about them sooner.

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

I send out email newsletters 4-5 times a year and I try to send direct outreach emails or printed promos as well. I find the best way to keep clients coming back is through fostering a strong relationship, delivering high quality results every time and being fun/easy to work with.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.slpictures.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stephenlewisphoto/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-lewis-938798161/

Image Credits
Stephen Lewis