The beginning of a new year usually means a fresh start for most, and for me it’s no different. I like to take time out to think about what I hope to accomplish in the New Year and wonder what new changes might happen. I welcome this time of reflection each year mainly because it motivates and inspires me. But, one thing I have never done is to set aside time to look back on the previous year and deeply evaluate what did and did not work. I don’t know what it is about photographers or other creatives, but around this time of year I see the “What did and didn’t work” types of posts popping up all over my newsfeed. Truth be told, I love reading each and every one of them! It’s great to see where photographers came from and where they are heading, how their brand has shifted or how it has worked perfectly. It makes me feel like I am doing something right and that I’m not alone in this crazy challenging, amazingly fulfilling, and incredibly rewarding industry. I’ve always known how good it was to write things down (hello, I love journaling!!!), but I didn’t know what a difference it makes to be super detailed when writing out what did and didn’t work, my goals, and then action steps to obtain those goals. Duh! Where have I been?
Yesterday, Steve and I took the day to do just that. I expected it to be productive, but I never expected it to feel this good! Like, super motivated to start the New Year – like a boss – kind of good. We already have action steps in place as to how we are going to start chipping away at our goals!!! This is big time for me, friends. In the past, I have stumbled upon each goal throughout the year and then right smack dab in the middle of busy season I have tried to accomplish them. It should’ve been no surprise at all when I actually didn’t meet these goals or they weren’t accomplished with the gusto that I need for MY goals! Well, in 2015 there will be no haphazardrie (call me George Bush, I just made up that word)!! It’s my year to follow through. To have faith. To dream AND accomplish. To be passionate AND content. It’s my year to be JOYFUL in where God has me in this business. It’s my year and it’s your year. Lets get at it.
What didn’t work…
1.) Not outsourcing my editing – My editing takes up an incredible amount of my time. This is time away from my blogging, marketing, family, and clients. I want to build a relationship and even a community for my clients and I can’t do this when I am swimming in editing. I also can’t grow when I am maxed out.
2.) Business/family time at a whim everyday – We tried to stick to a schedule when Steve first quit and we did fairly well through the summer, but once he went to school in September our schedule was no more. And, it wasn’t good for us. I struggled with the balance between being with my kids and doing work from home. This year we will have specific social media times, blogging hours, email hours, editing hours, and family hours for me.
3.) Photographing posed newborns in studio/out of studio – This one is hard for me to admit because I loooooove me some chubby newborn babies. It’s even harder for me to admit because I adore connecting with those mommas who are beaming with love for their new babies. But, I have decided to leave newborn portrait photography and focus on marriage (engagement, wedding, and family). This doesn’t mean I am giving up newborn photography, but that I will only be offering lifestyle newborn photography in a family setting. That means, me coming to your home and photographing your natural love as a family. With my brand being more refined to the “love multiplied” feeling between fiancé and fiancé, husband and wife, mother and father, and family bonds, I am completely eliminating studio portrait sessions for newborns, babies, and children. If you want an authentic lifestyle session, I’m your gal! More to come on this later….
4.) Not having my studio finished – This year I was all over the place with where I did my work. Sometimes it was at the kitchen island, sometimes in my bed, sometimes on my couch or in my favorite corner nook. Whatever it was, it wasn’t in my OWN space. My Littles would be confused with me being on the computer and not playing with them and I would easily get distracted. I have a gorgeous studio and I can’t wait to use it this year for more office time, client meetings, and mentor sessions.
5.) Not being consistent with the new experience during busy season – I feel like I came up short on some client experiences towards the end of last year. I have a standard I have set for myself and I feel like sometimes I wasn’t able to meet that standard. A lot of that was partially because I wasn’t as organized as I needed to be and I was doing all of the editing, but some of it has to do with overbooking. In 2015, I hope to make the experience even more exclusive with a set number of clients that I can book each month. This is solely so that I can deliver the type of experience I dream of for my clients.
What did work…
1.) Switching my business structure to boutique with in home meetings– Gosh! Did I have a blast with all the beautiful families and couples who came into my home. I laughed with many of you, cried with some and just really fell in love with these bonds. And that was the cherry on top to the fact that most of these beautiful clients walked away with tangible, custom, beautiful art for their homes. I delivered dozens of wall gallery displays, canvases, and prints to my clients this year. Seeing your love printed and displayed in your homes is like a second love language to me. I can’t wait to offer more product in 2015.
2.) Switching my brand over to “love multiplied” to be more focused on the couple – After four years, I feel like I am finally honing in on my true passion – MARRIAGE, in all phases of life! It took me a few years of experimenting with some things, but I ended up coming full circle to what I started out as – A Wedding and Family photographer. These two genres fit my “love multiplied” brand perfectly and are my biggest passion.
3.) Shoot-Q – ShootQ is a website I started using this year to send my client contracts and invoice reminders, and it was a game changer. It streamlined my contract processes and kept everything in one place. The great (and sad) thing is that I am not even using a fraction of it’s capability. Steve and I have added this as an action step in streamlining our client communication process even more. 2015 is going to rock our organizational socks off!!!
4.) Investing in education – This year I attended three educational coaching/mentor sessions with three amazing photography business. Katelyn James, Justin and Mary, and Tiffany Farley. Although some may say that I over indulged in education this year, I would disagree. They each gave me perspective about this industry in a different way. I was able to take all that I learned from them and apply it almost immediately to our new business model, and there are a handful of other things I haven’t done that I hope to work on in 2015.
5.) Katelyn James workflow – The girl is an organizational genius. She had a great workflow system that I started using immediately after coming back from our coaching sessions that seriously gave me my life back and all it took is a clipboard and chart of action steps to check off with each client. My workflow is a whole lot more consistent and organized because of her.
6.) Having Steve home to help behind the scenes with the business – childcare, cleaning, prepping art and mailings, Shoot-Q, inventory keepings, Book-keeping, vendor communication, you name it and he has done it. As it turns out, with him being back at school and following his calling into the ministry, he wasn’t able to be AS involved with the business as we had initially expected, but he does a whole heck of a lot. I couldn’t run this business without him. Next year we will be adding a few more admin type stuff to his list, but we really want him focused on finishing up with school, interning at the church, and being the best Stacy Hart Photography support squad.
SO STOKED FOR 2015 Y’ALL!
XO,
Stacy
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