Tanya Goodall Smith is one of our incredible SLR Lounge Educational Ambassadors and frequent SLR Lounge Author, offering her professional brand building experience and business tips to our ‘Master the Business of Photography’ Facebook Group. Aside from being on our all-star Ambassador team, Tanya also represents The Video Glam Cam Kit. You can follow more of her work on her Instagram and Website.
Before you jump in, here’s a video of Tanya introducing herself! Read more about her in our artist interview below!
What do you feel like is the single biggest differentiator between you and other photographers/studios?
“At WorkStory we specialize in creating visual communications for corporate and personal brands. We’re not just “capturing moments” or creating beautiful artwork, we partner with brands to create images that will help them sell their product or service.”
At the beginning of your career, what is the single biggest thing you did to help you get your business off the ground?
“When I launched WorkStory I was new to Spokane. It’s a mid-sized city but has a “small town” feel and people seem to do business with their family and friends more often than not. I really had to put myself out there and do some hardcore in-person networking to get my foot in the door. I also spent a lot of time and effort building my on-line network, but that was a secondary thing to the in-person socializing. I would meet people briefly at an event, make sure to connect with them on social media and then continue to build the relationship and make additional connections from there. Building relationships in my community has had a huge payoff.”
Do you have a favorite place for inspiration/education?
“I really believe in having a mentor or a coach. At the very least being enrolled and participating in some kind of educational program. When I first started getting serious about photography, the SLR Lounge workshops were invaluable, their Premium program is unmatched for photography education. For personal development, I do a lot of mindset work and listen to The Life Coach School Podcast every day. Learning to manage my thoughts has transformed everything about my life and my business. For creative inspiration and to keep up with trends I like to look at Fashion, Architecture and Design/Advertising magazines. I tear out things I like a keep them in a huge binder. It’s like old school Pinterest without a million dessert recipes distracting me.”
Why does education matter to you?
Education and action are really the only two things that will make you better at anything. Better gear is useless if you don’t know how to use it. Consuming education is useless if you don’t go out and apply it. Education is the catalyst between ignorance and skill. Learn it, do it, fail and try again until you’ve mastered something and at that point, you’re ready to go out and teach someone else and learn even more like the teacher. If you’re interested in learning more about the business of corporate and branding photography please join me in my private Facebook group, Rock Your Branding Photography Biz, where we go beyond portrait photography basics and dive deep into the world of commercial photography for local and personal brands.
Join the Master the Business of Photography Facebook Group to get to know and learn from Tanya and our 10 other incredible Business Educational Ambassadors! The group is guided by our best-selling Photography Business Training System designed to help you create the photography business of your dreams!
All images used with the artist’s permission.
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