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2014 Reflections
I am so, so thankful for the ways God has blessed me and my business this year. In just two years, this thing has grown far more than I ever could have hoped. It wasn’t that long ago that I was graduating college with big dreams and very little experience. There have been times in my life when the fear of failure kept me from trying, and I’m so thankful to say that wasn’t the case with this business. I’ve learned SO much about photography, marketing and branding, interacting with clients, and even business taxes! It has been an absolute joy to find a way to succeed doing what I love.
Right now I’m working full-time doing photography and graphic design at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where my husband is in grad school. Being able to do both of these jobs at the same time has been a HUGE blessing in so many ways, but it means I stay BUSY! In 2014 I shot 14 weddings, and 9 of them were September-December. 9! I can’t believe how busy this fall was (I’m still trying to catch up on some blog posts!), but I wouldn’t trade it. The experience I’ve gained working both of these jobs as a photographer, a marketer, a businesswoman have been invaluable and lead naturally into my goals for 2015.
2015 Goals
Some of these goals I aim to accomplish in the next month or so, some of them are far-reaching plans that I hope to get rolling this year, but the bottom line is that I’m really excited about where Maria Estes Photography is going in the next couple years!
- Get Headshots Done – I’m a photographer. How sad is it that I’ve never had professional headshot taken? It’s always better when there’s a face to go with the name, and I want to be able to introduce myself better to my potential clients. Look for these in the next couple months!
- Update Portfolio – Can you believe that NONE of my 2014 work is in my portfolio or on the homepage yet? I’d love to get the homepage photos changed, update my portfolio and create a new featured wedding in the next couple months.
- Publish Fall Blog Posts – Some of these are ready to go I just need to post them and there are two weddings still to be blogged from September when all I could was get the photos delivered and set them aside. Look for some fun families and weddings coming up!
- Develop a Clear Mission Statement – This is probably something I should have done a long time ago, but honestly I think a couple years of experience will really help me be focused in my mission. Having a clear mission statement will help me be focused in everything else I do.
- Rebrand – What started off as a simple website face-lift has turned into a complete rebrand. I know this is a huge one, but I’ve got the time right now, and I’m REALLY excited about my ideas so far. As I began thinking about why I’m passionate about what I do, and what I want my brides to know first about me, I realized that I’ve really outgrown my website already. There’s nothing wrong with it exactly, but my style is more simple, clean, and classic, and I want my website/brand to reflect that. Here goes nothing!
Long-range goals:
- Define the Purpose of the Blog – This is related to the first one, but it’s a little more focused. So far my blog has been a place to post my recent work and not much else. I’d like to broaden that scope to include helpful posts for brides in the planning stage as well as photographers who are just getting started. I’d also like to write more personal posts to help my readers and clients get to know me.
- Be Disciplined in Social Media – One thing I’ve learned working at Southeastern is that social media can be a huge asset if it’s done well and consistently, and let me tell you, my facebook/twitter/blog posts have been anything but consistent. I would love to blog twice a week and post something to Facebook even more often than that. That’s going to mean more content generation and organization on my part, but I think it’s worth it!
- Get Published – One of the cons about being SO busy just keeping up with editing is that things like prepping field to send to blogs for publication don’t happen. This is somewhat of a short-term and long-range goal, as I’d like to prep a few weddings/shoots from last year as well as be more disciplined this year in submitting as I go.
Whew! There’s a lot going on here right now, but I am so excited. It’s so nice to settle into a rhythm and not feel so new at this anymore. 2015 here we come!
