Do you feel like you’re in a rut with your business, that it doesn’t support the life you want to live, or that you just want more time to pursue a new interest?
Then this digital strategy story is for you.
Bethany Schiedel (who also happens to be my sister!) has been running her photography business, Images by Bethany, for over ten years. While she’s had many successes in her business, she’s also been frustrated with a lack of consistency in her salary and time. As a mother to an eight year old, Bethany wanted to better learn how to optimize and balance her time in the studio, and at home; to be more proactive than reactive.
She wanted the flexibility to spend more time with her daughter, exploring their community together on long walks home from school. She wanted the time to go to networking events and meet other women who are interested in healthy parenting, support local artists, and eat good food. She wanted the space to take a day off in her PJs if her family needed her.
She wanted to stop saying “no” to the things that would enrich her life just because she was too busy running her business.
Bethany and I sat down to review her business. We looked at her numbers from last year, and discovered that Bethany’s desire to be flexible in her offerings was actually manifesting as a lack of focus (which in turn impacted sales). She didn’t set a regular shooting schedule that she could rely on, and was offering so many different product packages that her clients became overwhelmed from the number of (admittedly amazing!) options they had to choose from.
That’s when we hugged it out and she was able to release her shame around that “I’m a shitty business owner” feeling so many women have from time to time.
Moving forward, we looked at how much money she wanted to make, what she was offering, and what she currently charged. We dug deep into what products lit her clients up and what products drained her energy.
Bethany mentioned a trend she had been noticing lately. Her clients were booking more mini-sessions—short sessions that she offered in her beautiful photography studio filled with gorgeous natural light— than any of her other offerings. (Bethany is a genius—give her ten minutes with a toddler and you’ll get the best photos you’ve ever had of your kid.)
Based on all that research, we created a simple mini-session package custom tailored for her clients with small, medium, and large pricing tiers. We also created another on-location portrait session package with three pricing tiers. Next, we looked at the span of 12 months, scheduled dates for these shoots, and made a plan to book out these sessions.
Then we did the numbers, and she’s now set up to make three times her business revenue from 2015.
The best part is that this revenue goal feels doable. From her strategic work with me, Bethany feels empowered and she has a clear focused path to a business that better supports her and her family.
Here’s what Bethany has to say:
“My business goals have grown. I allowed myself to dream a little bigger, even though it was a little frightening, and set larger goals for my business this year. Even though they are bigger, the goals are more focused, clear, and tangible.
“I am also much more clear on what I need to do every day. I’ve set weekly and monthly goals to achieve the larger, yearly goals. I feel empowered and rejuvenated with this new direction.
“The first concrete result is that I’m more efficient with my time. I understand and appreciate the value of my time more, and have been consequently working harder. The other result is that I’ve been booking new clients further in advance. With my clear monthly goals, I can see exactly when I need to start advertising and preparing to achieve those targets. From my work with Jamie, I’m much more prepared, pro-active, and far less reactive in my business!”
Would you like to feel more prepared and pro-active with reaching your business goals? Want to generate a business revenue plan that supports your life goals (instead of the other way around)? My Online Impact Accelerator was designed for you. Learn more right here.