If you’ve ever seen my AdoramaTV interviews, you know that I talk a lot about the definition of success and what it means to have that work-life balance. One of the things I loved about this interview is learning about how fashion photographer Weber Pádua brings his passion for coffee into the studio.Whenever he has clients or guests, coffee is just a natural part of what goes on in his photography business. So much so that people almost know him more for being an excellent barista rather than just a photographer. Or as he puts it, in their eyes he’s a good photographer because he makes a great cup of coffee.
As business owners, let’s think about how we can incorporate these kinds of fun, personal touches into your business that will help set you apart from other photographers. What are things that you enjoy outside of work that can help you enjoy work more and help your clients see you as people rather than just as photographers?
I know it might sound a little hokey if you’re reading this right now and thinking, “I don’t know how my love of knitting can help me promote my photography.” Take a second to think about it and you can probably come up with a few different ways to help your work and life not just be balanced, but be intertwined.
For example, my husband and I love to make wine. We get a bunch of friends together and make a 50-gallon barrel of wine. We meet four times over the course of a year in order to do things like crush the grapes, rack the wine and bottle it. Each time that we get together, it’s about 10-15 minutes of working on the wine and then we spend the next two hours drinking, eating great food and hanging out with our very best friends.
I decided that this was going to be a part of my life that I would bring into my photography business. Now, I occasionally gift the wine that we make to my clients and almost always bring it up in conversation at some point as well. Since my clients typically meet with us in our home, they see the wine décor and use it as an opportunity to tell the story about how my husband and I make wine together. I’ll show them the wine, and if I’m feeling really confident about the couple and want to book them, I will give them a bottle of wine right there at the consultation. And yes, the labels on the wine do have my logo on it.
Definitely check out the interview with Weber as I know you’ll find his life balance inspiring. He truly is one of the greatest fashion photographers that I’ve ever seen. He adds an unparalleled raw emotion and creativity to his imagery that I haven’t seen anywhere else. Afterwards, take a second to think for yourself what are some of the things that you could do as a photographer to help incorporate your other passions into your business.
