My Story: Senior Photographer to Social Media Success

Send us a text

How I grew my business without Paid Ads. What if the key to future business success lies in the hands of today's high school seniors? Join me as I explore how my journey from x-ray tech to thriving entrepreneur can inspire your own path. In this kick-off to season two of Boost Your Visibility, I share the deeply personal story of building a photography business from scratch in a town where I knew no one. With the help of community connections, and my family, I've translated the art of capturing senior pictures into empowering business owners with the tools they need to shine online. You'll hear how the insights gleaned from working with teenagers have become the compass guiding businesses towards the trends of tomorrow.

Get ready to uncover the symbiotic relationship between photography and social media marketing, as I reveal the strategies that turned simple photo sessions into powerful marketing campaigns. Discover how collaborating with local businesses transformed my perspective and allowed me to create dynamic social media strategies that truly tell their stories. Whether you're a seasoned business owner or just starting out, this episode is packed with lessons on authenticity and growth. Tune in for an authentic conversation about balancing family life, entrepreneurship, and the ever-evolving landscape of digital visibility.

🎧 Like what you hear? Follow the show and leave a review it helps others to find this podcast.

📥 Grab your free Content Clarity Planner
📸 Connect on Instagram
🌐 Explore free resources + programs
💬 Ready to grow your business with clarity and less stress? Apply to work with me

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to Boost your Visibility.
It's officially season two and,although I love to keep this
podcast about you and growingyour business and all the ways
that we can expand your reachonline, since we're entering
another season of the podcast, Iwanted to do a little
reintroduction video so that youcan kind of learn how I can

(00:21):
best connect with you and helpyou, how I can best connect with
you and help you and relatewith you, because we're all
truly in this together and mywhy is really helping other
people.
And let's get to it.
I started out as a photographer.
I've been a photographer for 20years.
I just finished my 20th season.
In fact, I'm recording thisfrom the driver's seat of my car

(00:44):
as I'm waiting for twin highschool senior boys and their mom
to show up for their seniorsession.
So that side of my business isa huge part of my soul.
I love seeing teenagers findtheir confidence in front of the
camera and really help them tobe seen, and I feel like this

(01:05):
generation is very disconnectedand because of that I have a
very hard time letting go ofdoing senior pictures.
I do feel like there's atransformation that happens in
front of the camera for themthat can't really be replicated
or replaced in very many otherways.
So I spend my summers workingwith high school seniors taking

(01:27):
their senior pictures to honortheir senior year.
The other side of my businessis marketing and basically I
show people how I have grownorganically through my
photography business, but usingevery tool and lever that I
could find online and, believeit or not, these teenagers have
taught me or shown me most of it, and they help me every summer

(01:52):
to see what's coming, becausewhat teenagers are into is what
businesses will be doing in sixmonths to a year.
So I teach small businessowners and social media managers
all the ways that social mediaworks, but also the psychology
behind who uses what platformand why.

(02:14):
I hope that makes good sense.
But on a personal note, I am thewife to a robotics engineer.
We've been married for 27 years.
We have two kids that are juston the other side of growing up,
so my daughter is going to be22 this month.
My son is 24.
And they were three and fivewhen I started this business, so

(02:39):
I completely understand whatit's like to try and grow
something from nothing in a townwhere you know no one, but you
feel so passionate about itbecause nothing.
You want to grow something thatworks around your family.
That was what I did.
I was an x-ray tech actuallyprior to having kids and just

(03:01):
when my son was born.
And for me personally, Istruggled with that schedule and
my son had some health issuesin the beginning and I really
needed to be there and yet I wasgoing stir crazy being at home
all the time.
I know a lot of people areamazing at homemaking and taking

(03:23):
care of the house and doingamazing projects and cooking and
baking for their family.
I definitely am more of a techgeek and I need to be growing
something digitally, I guess,and photography really fed that
part of my brain and it alsohelped me to meet new people in

(03:44):
a town where we didn't knowanyone.
We had just moved here.
We live outside of Madison,wisconsin, in a small-ish city,
and it has been a great placefor our kids to grow up and for
me to grow a business.
I work with a lot of localbusinesses, helping them to grow
their social media online andbasically the way it started was

(04:06):
I did their family pictures thebusiness owners years ago and
over time someone would say hey,you know, I'm a remodeler.
I don't know if you know I havethis business, but do you think
you could come and photographthese new kitchens that I've
just completed?
I'll line up like three of themin a day and I did and I loved

(04:26):
it, and they would take thepictures and put them on their
website and never use them anyother way again.
And that started to gnaw at meand through time I started to
talk to them and say, hey, youknow, you could put them on
Instagram and they're like well,I could put them on there, but
what do I say?
And then that leads to a wholeother conversation and just
layers and layers of helpingthem to learn over time and they

(04:49):
taught me so much and theystill teach me.
There are certain corebusinesses that I work with
locally, still on an occasionalbasis, to help them with their
marketing strategy, and all ofthose businesses have completely
unplugged from paid marketingand these businesses are
multi-million dollar businesses.
They're not small, they'remid-sized, and they've been able

(05:12):
to do it with the help andtraining of an internal social
media marketing person that I'vehelped to train so that they
could grow organically and growa community online and
understand how all of thesedifferent apps reach different
people.
So all that to say, I loveworking with people.

(05:32):
So all that to say, I loveworking with people.
I love helping them to findtheir own confidence, whether
it's in photography or inmarketing or owning a business.
I love the transformation ofhaving someone start something
that they're not doing.
They weren't a super believerin meaning that they could do it
or that they have value to giveto the world.

(05:55):
And again, that relates whetheryou're having your pictures
taken or you're growing abusiness, because you have to
show your face or your team'sfaces sometimes, and that feels
very vulnerable.

(06:18):
How people are drawn to you andhow you start to find the heart
and soul of your brand and whoyou are and you start to see the
pieces fall into place ofmaking it a very natural part of
your everyday.
Again, whether you are a socialmedia manager in a business or
you own the business, socialmedia should just be a natural
part of your day.
It shouldn't take up yourentire day or your entire week.
It should just be somethingthat you grab your phone and

(06:41):
take a short video whensomething's happening and then
you put it back down and move onto whatever else you have to do
, but then how do you apply that?
That's where the gap is andthat's the gap that I've found
that I really am talented athelping people with.
So the final piece of the puzzlefor me, the big moment that has
really helped me to createonline education and I'm about

(07:05):
to launch a whole social mediamarketing curriculum course
community the missing piece thatI see with other online
education I guess onlineteachers, online coaches is
there is no personal, likecheerleader, I guess, or it's
very sterile and very like.

(07:27):
Here's the information now godo it, and for a lot of people,
that's all they want.
I personally and the peoplethat I work with need kind of a
BFF in marketing that they cansend a quick text to or send a
quick email and say, hey, I'mstruggling with this or that.
What do you think?
Or could you look at these 10TikToks and give me some

(07:50):
critique?
That's the gap that's missingfor most people, because you can
create things and follow steps,but to do that and consider the
storytelling portion of it andwhat it is that your customers
really want from you isdifficult.
It's really hard to see outsideof yourself and to see outside

(08:10):
of your business and to make itabout the customer.
That is a huge gap that I tendto fill well in teaching and
helping people to kind of pivottheir thinking to think like a
customer instead of a marketeror business owner.
So that is the long and theshort of who I am.

(08:31):
On a more personal level, I havetwo dogs One is a Cavapoo, one
is a Cavalier Yorkie and I adorethem.
We love them.
They're just as much siblingsas my two kids.
I love nature and going forwalks.
You know, doing these photoshoots with high school seniors
gets me out in nature and that'sanother huge part of who I am

(08:53):
and what I love.
I grew up way out in the country.
I grew up with artists forparents and grandparents and
that was during the like 70shippie days when my mom and my
grandpa would make jewelry andit was just a really cool way to
grow up being out in nature anddoing these crafts with them

(09:14):
and then going to flea marketsand craft shows and selling
those things and understandingpeople.
My grandpa was amazing atconnecting with people.
In our family we we joke thatmy grandpa always had a new car
and he never paid full price.
He always ended up getting abetter deal each time, and it

(09:34):
was because the salespeopleliked him so much, because they
felt so seen and understood andhe cared about them, that they
just gave him a deal every time.
So that is marketing and thatis, you know.
Those are the people that healso, you know, had as his
customers.
So it goes all ways.
You just care about people andthe rest falls into place.

(09:57):
You just need to learn theskills, how to implement it.
And as long as you care aboutpeople and your customers,
everything just happensbeautifully.
And I am the conduit, I'm thegap filler, I'm the one that
helps you to get from here tothere.
So that is the long and theshort of my introduction.
I would love it if youintroduced yourself in the

(10:17):
comments or if you want to shootme an email or find me on
Instagram.
I would love that too.
I will follow you back, brendaEckhart, on Instagram.
You can just look at my name inthe description here, and I
hope you have an awesome day andI would love to talk with you
more.
Follow, subscribe, hit the bellnotification so that you never

(10:40):
miss a podcast, and I'll talk toyou on the next episode.
Have a great day.