Kelly Kirlin | Underwater Portraiture
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“Marketing Creatives helped me determine what I had, what I needed and what I wanted in my business. Then helped create the steps I needed to take to get there.”
Kelly is an exceptionally talented photographer, and she was working — but not on the kind of projects that she’d dreamt about when she went to photography school. Her real passion was underwater photography that created gorgeous fine art portraits for private clients.
The Challenge
Although she was a pioneer in the niche field of underwater fine art portraiture, she was starting to feel the pinch of competition — a wider group of photographers were attempting to sell this work, too. She couldn't rely on reputation alone. At the time, her website was lackluster, her materials disorganized, and her follow-up was haphazard — all of which reflected her lack of strategy and “kitchen sink” approach to marketing. She needed to stand out, to be a client’s first and only choice.
The Results
The Foundation work was critical for Kelly. It helped her clear through the noise and really focus on who she was, and what she wanted as an artist. By partnering with Marketing Creatives, she was able to create a whole new identity and developed a long-term strategy for cultivating new clients and encouraging repeat business.
Putting the One Year Plan into action, she scrapped her old website and hired a great designer to help build a new, modern site showing her work. We curated galleries, wrote a new bio, got her new portraits and created a brochure and price list so she never has to wonder again what she should charge.
Then, with a step-by-step plan she launched a 12-month follow-up campaign, created and produced to entice existing and new clients by demystifying the process behind an underwater portrait shoot. We upgraded her social media presence using a series of campaigns that upped her visibility and brought her new connections.
In Her Own Words
"Starting my own business was certainly a process! I began with a “try everything approach" — throwing different marketing tactics at the wall to see what would stick. I needed a better way!
It was time to get dedicated and professional help, so I could start chasing clients with intelligent and targeted marketing. I turned to Janie Hewson's Marketing Creatives. Her no-nonsense approach really resonated!
Janie is very intuitive, coaching you through the process and keeping you on track towards achieving your career goals. I needed that clear, pointed direction and point of view.
Janie helped me see that tackling my long-term goals required connecting and building on existing relationships. She showed me that it takes time to learn how to do good business but it’s a fantastic journey."
