How to Build a Business from Scratch in 2 Weeks
Wow, it has been a quick minute since I’ve posted here.
My priorities have definitely changed in the last 6 months or so, but here I am. I feel like this is the appropriate time to say… I actually have something to say!
Let’s jump right in.
We don’t have to get into the details of why exactly I booked this Alaska trip, but the moral of the story is I was sitting in a wine bar in Rochester, New York and I just booked the dang thing. Nine days in a city that I’ve never been in, knowing three people from college and no one else.
After I realized just what I did… you know, 1/3 of my money-making time will be spent in foreign lands, I freaked out. I need to make some money while I’m there. I mean, I have to pay my bills…. But I also can’t come out of this trip in the negative. So I started plotting.
My main focus of the last few months has been booking weddings. Sometimes they flow in and sometimes it takes considerable effort. Mostly the latter.
I have been doing THE MOST. I’ve been attacking this photography career from every angle and sometimes it is hard to know what exactly it is that IS working, but all I know is that something IS WORKING. At the end of the day, it’s like making Aunt Gingi’s recipe and not knowing which ingredient really makes the whole thing THE BEST, but knowing you have to follow that list exactly to make that cake.
For all the entrepreneurs that have asked me to write this post, I want to tell you exactly how I started a business in a town I’ve never been, knowing three people, in…. three weeks.
First off, and this isn’t specific to Alaska, but I started consuming knowledge on my craft anywhere I could.
ONE : GET EDUCATED
Whatever you might be interested in, learn about it. Learn all the things.
-Listen to Podcasts
-Watch YouTube Videos
-Buy courses
-Ask other people doing the same thing as you, specifically people that are doing it well
The most essential part of this journey was surprisingly not the “action” I took because of all of this research… it was the immense amount of studying I did about making it all work.
In one of the podcasts I listened to, Ben Hartley interviewed a photographer that moved to Cleveland, Ohio and needed to uproot her photography business and start “fresh.” This is her story. She orchestrated a huge “mini shoot” for 4 days in Cleveland. She got into Facebook groups of people in the area and posted that she was doing mini couples shoots all day and she booked 40. FOURTY. She booked 40 mini shoots for those 4 days. And she was doing it all for free. But, she wasn’t really doing it all for free. She was doing it as a marketing strategy. What she was going to do was build connections with randoms in a new network. She was going to make connections, build relationships, go out for beers, do all the things. She looked up amazing locations and shot at all the places. I bet that was a lot of work. Actually, I’m sure it was. This woman got more out of it that she ever put into it though, she really exploded. She now has 40 little champions for her. People that will connect and use her for photos forever.
So, what did I do?
I did a huge beach photoshoot giveaway. I had several people win. I knew this wouldn’t be a very relaxing weekend, but it would be fruitful and it would be valuable to my success this Fall.
What ended up happening? A bit of the principal of reciprocity. I ended up shooting my first “proposal” (which I was paid for), doing an engagement shoot (paid), a family shoot or two, and getting some phenomenal photos with my friend Rachel playing in the water. I ended up making money, which wasn’t my intention, but I ended up with such an amazing set of photos from that weekend. Those connections have led me to several shoots, within just a month.
So back to Alaska.
TWO : COLD CALL
My first experience with cold calling was at Ameriprise Financial. I guess you could say they were typically “warm” leads, because I usually met these leads at trade shows, runs, events, etc… but I still had to drill the phone. I’ve felt a lot of guilt the last two years for not pursing photography right off the bat when I left college, but honestly, my sales training at Ameriprise has made me into the hustler I am and I am THANK-FUL. It gave me the confidence to call up a random person and convince them to meet with me. Thankfully it’s much easier to get someone to do a photoshoot than have them give you their life savings.
For Alaska, I didn’t technically call, call, call. But I DM’d, emailed, and searched the best hashtags. I liked countless photos that people from Anchorage (and surrounding sites) had posted, I messaged them telling them my story and how I was coming to Anchorage, I offered deals, I offered to do giveaways, etc. The main point here is that I offered them value. I wasn’t trying to “get something out” of the people or location I was going. I thought, “how can I help the people of Alaska?” and pursued that mentality. Just because it is technically the United States doesn’t mean it isn’t virtually a different country with a different culture… because, it is. I have had to yield, slow down, and give copious amounts of hours to this town… and I haven’t even arrived.
What did these messages sound like? I just explained that I was coming, listed the dates, my price, etc. in a kind and friendly manner. The biggest a-ha moment came when a random woman posted on her Instagram story “my friend Chelsea is coming to Anchorage and doing a family photoshoot deal.” She doesn’t even know me. She calls me friend.
Slowly but surely, shoots started rolling in. But this wasn’t over text. I mean, a lot has been over text and DM, but no, I spent *probably* an hour on the phone with 30 different people. THIRTY. Not an exaggeration at all. I have 30 Alaska contacts in my phone now. I know them by name, some not by face, but if you said their name I could tell you a thing or two about them.
I made friends. I have actual friends I care about, people that I haven’t even met.
This is the root of building a business in a new city. It isn’t about deals and it isn’t about your talent and it isn’t about Facebook Ads (we will get into that later)… it’s about community.
The world is small, and you can make yourself a community anywhere- you just have to give of yourself, be kind, and be ready to hustle.
THREE : COLLABORATION
My first task/idea for drumming up business in Anchorage was to use leverage. I needed to leverage the one, essential thing that I didn’t have- and that was; local followers. I started by sending out 40 emails. I looked up every single Wedding venue in town, bridal shop, flower shop, etc. and I sent a formal, but not too formal- email saying that I would love to do a giveaway with them and we could collect engagement leads which would help our business. I got one hit for a bridal shop and I got one hit for a venue… out of all-of-that-work. Orainda instantly gave me the low-down. Not just on the wedding industry in Alaska, but the people, the vibes, the town, the locations I had picked that would never work in November. I was very thankful for that hour long convo I had with a lady that had a 4 hour time difference while I sat, sipping a gin and soda in a chic New York hotel lobby. Wow, was I in for a treat. We connected with the venue and planned the giveaway. Our plan? Who cares about who wins. What? They get a discount here and there and a free engagement shoot in Alaska? Great. We don’t really care as much as we do about the losers. It’s the losers who will be our best bet for booking.
I reached out to ALL TWENTY, yes, twenty engagement leads. (Side note. DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO GET AN ENGAGEMENT LEAD IN PORTLAND? It’s hard.). I sat back, looking at my handwritten list of insta handles and I just smiled really big. This is my opportunity to reach out to them and offer them something even though they didn’t get the win. Honestly, it didn’t work quite as well as I planned… but I still got 4 engagement shoots out of it, which is great. FYI for photographers. There’s a 90% chance you book someone for their wedding if you crush the engagement shoot. Looks like I may have to come back up to AK a few more times *wink*wink*. I had my friend Larry put together a 3 day Insta/Facebook Ad (different from boosting posts, guys, boosting posts doesn’t do much, you have to do it in FB Business Manager to get the bang for your buck.).
Unfortunately I think the best use of Social Media was actually having the two Anchorage ladies post the giveaway on their Instas, I don’t feel like I got many leads, likes, or traction out of the paid ads, but like I started this whole thing off with… YOU NEVER KNOW WHICH PART OF THE RECIPE IS WORKING, you just know that it is the best brownie you’ve ever had.
FOUR : THE PRICE MUST BE RIGHT
I’d say the only big FAIL for me as I set this up, and my amazing roomie would agree, is that I shot too low. I didn’t have enough confidence in myself that I would book a bunch of paid shoots, so I just started giving shiz away for free right off the bat. Bad idea. I ended up having paid peeps coming in and regretting the shoots I had booked with people that were free. At this point, I only have one or two free, but still, it takes a lot of time and energy and you don’t want to drain yourself.
I am still doing discounts, you know? I need to make a family out of this place if I want a business here. And this is a side note, but I’ve been trying to get out of Portland for a while and I have yet to find a place I’d love to be… so we shall see if Anchorage is the place. Who knows. But yeah, I want to build some lifetime connections here, and I already feel like I have.
HUGE SIDE NOTE.
I started off 2019 not taking any shoot that wasn’t $X and then I dropped super low to get any shoots I can and now it’s all going back up to even higher than before because when you have 18 shoots in one month, you’ve got to work with the supply and demand principals, ya hear? I’ve had a lot of photographers say “raise your prices, I know it sounds counterintuitive,” but they were right. People are no longer gawking. My weddings are now at $4,000 and no one is gawking. I hope to get them to $5K by Jan 1.
Anyways, if I can attest to a mistake this trip it was not believing in myself right off the bat that I could get a bunch of paid gigs, not just charity cases.
It’s insane how much I already love these people, you guys, and I haven’t even met them.
FIVE : GIVE, GIVE, GIVE.
I don’t know what planet I was on when I thought it would be an “easy, happy-go-lucky” thing to create a styled bridal shoot with 10 vendors I had never met (all women, guys, lotta women), but I THOUGHT this was a good idea. It will be amazing, but holy cow, this was a lot of work. There were even times where I wanted to give up. I would ask the group for recommendations for hair, makeup, décor, blah blah blah and people would always have suggestions, but guys, they weren’t reaching out to these suggestions… I was. I have probably spent 30 hours just on this styled shoot, coordinating models, hair and makeup, dresses, décor, talking on the phone, sending ideas, creating huge Instagram group chats, everything. I even had a nightmare about this shoot one time. I even had a confrontation with a vendor in which I had to step down and get put in my place (and I’m so thankful for it!). There have been so many hiccups for this shoot, but I have to step back and say to myself; this will be worth it.
Why set up a styled shoot? Let’s get into it.
People recommend people they like. People they know. People they trust. Faith and trust are given easily but taken away quickly, and I know this just from life experience. You think Portland is small? Anchorage is SMALLER. People all talk. Everyone knows everyone.
If I’m going to shoot a wedding or two, or BE REFERRED (main goal, right?!), I need besties. I need champions for my brand. I need to trade, give, bless, engage with whoever I can who is in this crazy PSYCHO industry. Like, literally, I don’t know why I’m in the wedding industry; it’s insane.
Anywho. The best part of a styled shoot is that there are a few “great” rules. You have to give credit where it’s due. 10 vendors will be shouting me out, regularly. If someone asks who took the photo of their gorgeous cake, they’ll say @urbanbay and maybe tell them they liked working with me. Honestly, I am giving them photos, but I feel honored that they are willing to give so much more. We have people working on flowers, décor, dresses, hair, everything… all so that we have connections and content. It’s going to be a big deal, guys.
This was by far the hardest thing I’ve put together on this trip. The value I’ll get out of it is still ambiguous and guys, it’s a long, slow sell. I may get a lead for an Alaska wedding in 6 months… but that’s the game.
You’ve got to put in the hours now, and it’ll pay off later.
SIX : GO THE EXTRA MILE
I am not just setting up shoots. I am looking for super sweet locations and sending families my recs. I am googling Pendleton blankets and sending screenshots of good deals. I am facetiming a girl in Homer, Alaska for 1 hour. I am writing out the schedule, confirming, and plotting. This has been the hardest business dealing I’ve ever done… but its given me the confidence to say “shoot, I can do this anywhere.”
SEVEN : LEVERAGE YOUR OWN NETWORK
There was a point 2 weeks ago where I didn’t have a secured place to stay in Anchorage. Actually, literally last night, my place fell through. I had a godsend friend who figured it out with me, THANK GOD, but still. Two weeks ago I did what Gary Vee always preaches. I sent out 40 texts to people I love and care about asking if they knew anyone in Anchorage, Alaska. I got a lot of No’s. But I got some yeses. Those yeses led me to so many great things, including my place to stay last minute—I might add. One guy just took a list I sent him and crossed off the stuff I shouldn’t do. It was super valuable. So simple, so much value.
Anyways, my plane is about to land and I’m about to get into the dirty stuff. All of this prep work and hey, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows from here. With my luck I’ll be trapped in my rental truck on the side of the road, calling on my college friends to bail me out (knock on wood). All I know is that it will be the trip of a lifetime.
I hope you learned something!
BonVayage
Chels
