***All images in this post are copyright Amy Smith.***

NEXT WEEK: Sarah Rhoads

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Amy, You have grown an incredible business in Orlando, Florida, you have two kids, a sweet husband, and you are a great photographer.  You have clients who turn to you for their photography consistently.  You've created great loyalty and client service.  You are generous and genuine.  I love it when I have the chance to talk to you.  I'm so excited to have you here.  Thanks for being on Women and Business!

You have your studio in your home.  Why did you make this choice?
 

Well I don’t know that I would call it a studio since I shoot completely on-location, more of an office.  I’d always planned on shooting on-location so when I started, a space wasn’t something I felt I needed right away.  As the years have gone on, I’ve become quite fond of working from home.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to sit around in their pj’s while answering emails?!  Plus, my girls are still very young and me working from home makes life easier.  I’m gone enough with the session load I keep, I’d hate to be gone more if I was trying to keep up with a space.  That’s not to say it’s not something I plan on having one day, a place for clients to meet me, look at products, etc.  (Secretly I just like to dream of all the yummy ways I could decorate it, ha ha!).  But for now, it’s not needed and I’m ok with that.

What does your workflow look like?  Do you outsource or keep everything in house?

I used to do everything myself, and then I realized I wasn’t superwoman.  I outsource my editing, although I still do any final tweaking before a client sees the images.  My editor is amazing and I doubt I could live without her.  I also outsource all of my bookkeeping.  Most everything else stays in house.  I do have a full time assistant.  She packages, uploads orders, does some photoshop work, designs albums, etc, etc.

What do you do to help your clients be so comfortable with you during a photo shoot?

I’m a chatty one, so I’ve found if I just keep talking and laughing, they do too.  I try to get to know their family.  It’s amazing how much you can learn about someone in just an hour or two, all in between the clicks of the shutter. 
 
You've made some great connections with local vendors.  How have you created such great relationships and what do you do to make them a win/win?

I have made some great connections and I’m so grateful for that.  I think making myself readily available, speaking with them in person, and helping them however I can has made it a win/win.  When partnering up, I don’t want it to be just about what I’ll get from the relationship, I like to let them know what I can do for them.  

What do you recommend women do who are just getting started in the industry?
 

Do your homework and make solid decisions about what you’d like to do, and how you’d like to do it.  That’s not to say that you won’t or can’t change your mind on things as you go, but so many jump in without really having an idea of where they’d like to be.  The amazing thing about many of us photographers is that we work for ourselves, we make our own path.  Make your path and own it!

What do you do for fun…that has nothing to do with photography?

Travel.  I love getting out and seeing the world.  And luckily this career has allowed me to do that. 

What are you most proud of as a business woman?

I’m very proud of how far I’ve come.  When I started this business, it was truly something I loved, but it was also because I married a police officer and there was no way we could live off of his salary and start a family.  I did not want to go back to a 8-5 job that I hated.  As I took the leap in starting this business, I kept telling myself, “What would you attempt if you knew you would not fail.”  I was scared to death.  We had bills, a baby on the way, a house under construction, and on and on and on.  I had to make it work.  And somehow I did.  There are days that I look back and try to figure out how I made it from that beginning to the amazing career I now have, and really how quickly it all happened.  I can’t pinpoint every little thing that went right, I’m just grateful that it did. 

What do you do to keep your marriage fun?

Time together, without the girls.  We try to go out one night a week, just the two of us.  We’re kind of like an old married couple that always goes to the same restaurant and orders the same thing, which is funny to us because we’re not that old yet.  It gives us time to talk and catch up.  We also take little trips out of town.  Mostly we wonder what we did with all of our time before we had kiddos as those are days that we barely remember now.  We wouldn’t have it any other way though.

You have a growing business and a large amount of return clients. What did you do to grow your business back when you were first getting started?  

I would say that 90% of my clients are referrals.  One person tells another, who tells another.  Word of mouth is an amazing thing.  I do my best to not only give my clients great photographs, but also a wonderful experience.  Happy clients talk.  When I was first getting started, I began proofing online.  At the time, it was mostly for the convenience factor.  I started to notice though that everyone would forward their galleries on to all of their families and friends.  And very soon the emails would come in from their friends wanting to hire me as well.  I loved this as many of them had spoken with their friends (my clients) and already had an idea of how I work, the average costs, etc.  They knew exactly what they were wanted and what they’d get.  And I haven’t changed it since.

What do you do to keep clients coming back?

This might not be an easy question to answer.  I don’t offer incentives or anything like that, so they typically come back just because they enjoyed their first session and want more.  I try to make the session more of an experience and my shooting style is one that will tell a story about the time we spent together.  They seem to enjoy that and planning each session we search for something new from their previous sessions. 

What are the top three things you did when you were first getting started in business to bring in clients?

When I first decided to forge ahead with this business, I knew I’d have to find someone who could help me spread the word.  My doctor was an amazing lady and somehow I knew she might be a good person to approach.  I offered to take photos of her children and mentioned we could hang them in her office.  She thought it was a wonderful idea.  Shortly after I photographed them, I made sure their photos were all over my website.  We have a large baby hospital here and before I knew it, I was getting calls from the nurses there.  Seems she’d go to work the night shift and would pull up my website for everyone to see.  I knew from day one that word of mouth would be the key to getting things going.  The second thing I did was offer mini-sessions.  People hadn’t heard of me before and I thought a reasonably priced mini-session would give them the opportunity to get a feel for what I was all about.  I planned on winning them over and then they’d be back for more.  Or if anything, they’d refer all of their friends.  And it worked.  I still do seasonal mini-sessions to this day and they’re extremely successful for me.  I’d say the third thing that was important to bringing in clients was mastering the art of photographing newborns.  At the time, there wasn’t anyone else in the area who really did that.  Babies are always being born and therefore it’s a non-stop flow of potential clients.  With my doctor by my side and all the nurses at the hospital now, I knew if I could do great newborn work, the referrals would come in.  And they did.  The best part about newborns is that I’m the first photographer their parents meet.  And when it’s time for 6 months, or 1 year photos, they know me and want to come back.  It’s amazing how many little ones I’ve seen grow and change over the years.  I love that.  

How do you keep your marriage safe from the stresses of your business?

Luckily I have some great photographer friends who will happily sit on the phone with me when things get a little stressful.  I’m the type that just needs to get it all out and then I’m fine.  So when I can, I pick up the phone and vent to someone who’s familiar with what I’m dealing with.  My dear friend Cheryl Muhr is usually the one who gets the brunt of it.  Thank goodness for her. 

 What is the best thing you’ve done to make your business successful?
 

Hmm, that’s a tough one.  Probably the relationships I’ve formed with other businesses in my area.  I have an upscale baby boutique that displays my work.  Both of her stores are in the heart of each of my target markets.  We have a great working relationship and so many wonderful clients have come from that.  I’ve also worked with a popular local parenting magazine since it’s inception.  That has provided many great things as well.

You are a mom, how old are your children?  What do you do to help them feel part of your business life?  

Ansley is 5 and Adaline is 3.  Ansley is just at the age where she’s curious about the people I take photos of, and why exactly they give me money to do it.  She likes to sift through the prints as they arrive in the office and ask me about the children she sees in them.  If there are little projects in the office that she can handle, she always wants to help with those.  They’ve both served as models for commercial and editorial shoots and find that to be quite fun. 

 You get great images of kids looking right into your camera.  How do you get kids to sit/stand still while you take their picture?

Ahh, the eternal challenges of a child photographer.  I do a lot of singing (poor kids, I’m really bad), noise making, game playing and talking.  I keep it silly and fun.  I’m sure I’m usually getting the look because they’re thinking, “this lady is crazy!”.  I have various tactics for different age groups.  I definitely get my workout at a session.  Although I’m not ashamed to admit that I will also put the parents to work at a session.  “Mom, yes, you, go grab Johnny and just keep putting him back over there.  Thanks!”   Oh, and balancing items on my camera.  Kids love that.  I know how to balance everything from a flip flop to a racecar.  It comes in handy.
 
What do you do to keep your family strong?

Luckily I have an amazing husband who is 100% my partner in our family.  We make family time a priority.  When working from home, it’s easy to be working all the time.  The computer is always there and almost always on.  I try very hard to not be on my computer or working when my girls are home from school.  Evenings are family time, weekends too.  So if I’m not shooting, I can do all of the other stuff later.  Does that add up to some late nights?  Yes. I’m ok with that, my family comes first.
 
What do you do to keep from feeling overwhelmed?

I can’t dwell on things too much or I will definitely feel overwhelmed.  If at any given point, I stop and think about everything I have going on, and everything that needs to be done, and everything that lies ahead, I might freak out a little.  Instead I forge on, keeping up pace and staying on track.  My to-do list is forever long but I’m not sure what I’d do if it wasn’t.  When I need a moment, I take it.  I like to think that there’s rarely a photographic emergency, things can wait if they need to, and that eases my mind. 

What three products or things help you stay organized?

I’m a bit of an old fashioned gal since I like pen and paper so most of my items refer to that.  We have a wall system that keeps every client in order, I’d be lost without it.  Each client has an envelope, and everything pertaining to them goes in it.  As they move thru the system, their envelope moves as well.  At any given moment I can go to the wall and figure out who is where, what we’re waiting on, etc.  Also my momagenda.  Yes, it’s a paper calendar/organizer.  And yes, I know I could totally keep my calendar on my iphone and in the computer but for some reason I like to be able to flip thru pages.  The third thing is my Entourage (my email system).  You see, I’m slightly technically challenged and when a friend finally set Entourage up for me, I was set free from email chaos (which I loathe but had been dealing with for far too long).  I get an insane amount of emails and Entourage helps me quickly sort and organize all of it.

What is something that you think women in the industry should not do?

Start a business before they are ready.  There’s seems to be an abundance of that these days and I think many would benefit from doing their homework and preparing themselves ahead of time.  A few months of planning and working your craft can really make a difference.

What is something that you think women in the industry should do?

Value themselves and their work.  I think what we do is amazing.  The photographs we take become family treasures that will get passed down through the years.  We capture families and people at some of their happiest times.  We stop time for them.  That is an amazing thing that is priceless. 
 
What five suggestions do you have for women who are trying to have a more whole, content, and blissful life?

Know that you can’t do it all, and that’s ok.  Ask for help when you need it and delegate if you can.

Make time for yourself and your family and your husband.

Stay true to yourself.  If there’s something that you don’t like, change it.

Laugh as much as possible. 

Every once in a while, take a nap.  Naps make everything better.

To see more of Amy Smith's work:

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blog

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