The move wasn’t easy for any of us. We had lived in Hawaii for 3.5 years and were heading to the East Coast.

Most of our time in Hawaii, I was a family photographer…often shooting for families right before Dad or Mom headed off to Afghanistan.   

We were on 6 month rotations during the height of the war.   I’d photograph their sweet family before deployment and then try to be there for the homecomings when the planes would land and the families would be waiting with signs and tears…and the Marines would be engulfed by the arms of their loved ones. It was a season of life and business that I will forever cherish.  

In fact, we were also one of those families.  Kevin left for a long deployment to Afghanistan while the girls and I stayed on that little island in the middle of the Pacific, trying to keep all the plates of school, volleyball, cheerleading, photography, and base chapel activities spinning. 

And in the blink of an eye (or more like 3.5 years)…it was time to move.  Orders came for NC and we packed up our little island life and headed East. There were times I questioned what was next, would I go back into the classroom or continue in photography full time?   

I prayed.  I waited. I unpacked. I prayed. I waited. I unpacked some more. I waited. 

And then I was offered a teaching job at our girls’ school.  I used those few years in that tiny little elementary school to make connections, grow my photography business back to a full time status, and make a hard pivot into an exploding photography business!   

If you find yourself in a new market, making a move, or simply wanting to move into a new genre of photography…let me tell you that you CAN DO IT!!! 

~Create a personal brand first…people will love you and follow you into each new season. 

~Use all of your connections and networking relationships. 

~Know that moving into a new market may take a little time…and that’s ok. 

~Keep shooting what you were shooting (just keep it in the background) while you show what you want to shoot more of.  We sell what we show. And I’m going to be sharing more about how I have gone from Families to Seniors to Branding seamlessly over the last 14 years.  

~GO FOR IT!  Don’t let fear hold you back.  You never know what opportunity is waiting around the corner.

When we focus on building the Know, Like and Trust factor in our business, it makes our growing, scaling and even transitioning into new seasons so much easier. That is what creating a personal brand does for you.

Even though I was new to the area when we moved to NC, I had spent years positioning myself as a family photographer that served military families really well and lots of my connections in our military community that had been made in Hawaii followed right along with me to NC. People were quick to refer me, tag me, and suggest me to their friends.

I think we often discount that personal referral piece in today’s digital marketing world!! It’s still so valuable…especially in photography. Think about it…we are often vulnerable when we are getting in front of a camera. So don’t we typically ask the people that we KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST who they KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST?!?!!

So what happens after we get the referral? You know they hop straight over to our websites and social media platforms.

How do we then become their 1st choice to work with for what they need? Does your online presence also stand up to the KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST test? You know how you can meet someone and instantly feel like you know them? Do people feel that way when they “meet” you online? Have you created an online space that feels like YOU? Can people get to know you there? Like what they see? And then trust that you are the person they are looking for?

That my friend is how we build the complete relationship with clients.

If you feel stuck in a place that feels like it’s preventing you from building that Know, Like and Trust relationship…I’d love to hear about it. Let’s talk it out and see how we can bring down those walls and build the bridges needed to get more connection for you in your business.

Actually, I’m sharing more about this in an email series about Branding. If you’d like to get in on that info…feel free to join us here!

Join our online community here!

Have a GREAT week!

Blessings,

Corry