16 of 101 Conversations about How to Build a Community Around Your Business
Learn how Annette Slade, a talented food and product photographer, has cultivated an abundance mindset and chosen her clients carefully in order to grow her network.
Location: Denver, CO
Her business: Annette Slade Photography
Annette is a very talented food photographer, but she says it has taken time for her to feel worthy of her success. Now that she has a more abundant mindset, she finds that more people approach her to work for them.
For a long time, Annette thought that she had to have a lavish studio or drive a certain type of car to be successful. Over the years, she has learned to value herself and her work more and more and now she realizes it’s not the lavish studio or the car you drive, but a comfortable, positive environment along with her presence, skill and creativity to give her clients exactly what they are looking for.
As she has gained confidence, and has put more positive energy out into the world, Annette has discovered that more of the right clients are walking in the door.
Working with the right clients is essential to growing a thriving network.
Something that I certainly struggle with, and that Annette and I spoke about as well, is knowing which clients to work with and whom to refer to someone else. It can be tempting to work with any client that comes in the door, even though sometimes it is better to walk away when a client doesn’t feel like a good fit.
From working with ideal clients, Annette has found some great advocates for her business. One of her newest clients asked if he could featured her on his company website without her asking him to, and another has continued to hire her every time he works with a new magazine because he wants to raise the level of creativity to show that there is a difference when a quality photographer is hired.
Knowing who to work with (and being able to say no to non-ideal clients) has the following benefits:
- It allows for collaboration with other people in your field: when you can match your nonideal client with a colleague who can serve them better than you can, they will likely refer clients to you as well.
- You will do a better job for the clients you do choose to work with, and they will therefore be more likely to be a repeat client and an advocate for you and your business.
- You will be happier, which always makes for better conversations and connections.
Annette is growing her network by meeting more people in person. She is:
- Creating custom promos and then hand delivering them to potential clients she wants to work for – she says that phone calls and mass emails aren’t effective enough. (Incidentally, in a class I am taking at Crankset, the teacher says, “The closer you can get to a hug, the more likely you are to make a sale.”)
- Teaching classes on studio lighting and is in collaboration with a chef to start teaching food styling/photography workshops
- Going out and meeting people at meetup groups and various business networking events.
My takeaways:
- Cultivating an abundance mindset naturally draws more of the “right” people into your circle.
- Even though it can be tempting to work with every potential client that walks in the door, there are lots of benefits to saying no and referring non-ideal clients to other people in your network.
Annette wants to connect with:
- Food and beverage companies, large and small
- Restaurants who want to showcase their food in a good light
- Cookbook authors
- Companies who have any kind of product that needs to be marketed
To connect with Annette on LinkedIn, click here.
1 step you can take to grow your network today:
Say no to an non-ideal client. Hint: You will know they are non-ideal if they want to pay you less than you want to be paid, if you feel that you aren’t the best solution to their problem, or if you are uncomfortable when you think about working with them. Trust your intuition.