We recently connected with Yaw Ankrah and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Yaw thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

So I started off taking photos of my friends and family and would post it on social media for followers to see and as I progressed in quality people started asking me how much I charged and if I’d do a photoshoot for them. Then I realized there’s money that can be made out here doing photos for people to post on Instagram and then that grew into shooting content for a few local businesses and now I’m where I’m at today

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

Hey, my name is Yaw Ankrah and I started taking photos during the pandemic when I had a camera I was trying to sell and couldn’t find a buyer, so I decided I was going to use it because why not, I didn’t have anything else to do. So I slowly started learning how to use their Nikon D5600 at the time, and learning how to take a nice photo, and testing out the horrible video settings on that camera. I eventually had enough money of saving up and taking photos to commit to this path and buy a Canon EOS R5 after only taking photos for less than a year.

Fast forward to 2022 I started a social media marketing agency called ‘Ankrah Studios’ where we create and market for local businesses to grow organically from our content and through paid advertising on social media.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yea, so I started out as a freelancer taking photos and videos for people and businesses but I always wanted something I can grow and you can’t really grow a freelancing business outside of yourself, so I decided to start a creative agency at the start of 2022 so I can be “looked at” bigger and honestly, get paid more. The hard truth is as a freelancer you’re not looked at the same compared to an agency when it comes to some businesses. Mid 2022 I pivoted again into a full-service agency where we not only create content but we also provide marketing services to these businesses.

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

Outreach, outreach, oUtReAcH! You honestly have to stay persistent and constantly reach out to potential clients at the start. Eventually, you’ll learn and make a system that makes that process easier and faster, and eventually, after that, you’ll find a way to automate it.

Contact Info:

• Website: Ankrahstudios.com
• Instagram: @yaimages @ankrahstudios
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/YawAnkrah

Image Credits
@justoshoots