I took my first photography class in high school, and I have had a camera in my hand really ever since. I live and breathe photography. I love it as a medium. I love telling stories, and I love capturing things that can last forever really.
I’ve volunteered for several years now with Susan G. Coleman, Los Angeles, and I did a book project where I brought 20 women that were breast cancer survivors and had hair, makeup, dresses, and I did a book of them. That’s probably my proudest moment as a photographer.
When I first started my studio, I was in many, many networking groups, but I needed to expand now that online was really becoming a popular way to get business, and one of the first things I embraced as a new business owner was Yelp.
When they first allowed you to claim your page, I claimed it right away so that people could find me. I thought it was going to be the next Yellow Pages, so I put pictures on there right away, made sure that I had a picture of the outside of my studio and my work. It gave me a great opportunity for people to see my business.
Since I’ve been advertising with Yelp, I believe that my business has doubled. I can tell by the statistics, I get more calls from my Yelp ad than any other advertising that I do. I’m not the least expensive photographer in my area, but I provide the best experience for my clients. So that’s what I want my Yelp Page to convey. My customers, even if they’re not Yelp users, will go to Yelp and look at what my clients have to say. If you’re a small business owner, you need to actually take control of your Yelp Page, make it be what you would want your clients to see, and work with it so that you have the full advantage of that Yelp Page. It doesn’t cost you anything, so why wouldn’t you do it?
