Paradox Visuals | Retouching

“Be ready to work hard and have your brain hurt. But it’s worth it.”

Mark Cornellison of Paradox Visual is a digital retoucher with a heart of gold, an amazing talent and a collaborative point of view. The artistry of his “invisible” style of retouching goes beyond correcting imperfections: he uses his digital tools to imbue images with depth, impact and stunning detail. 

The Challenge

Mark knows his art but needed to become entrepreneurial fast. He needed an intelligent push in the right direction to build his business from the ground up — a logo, a website, a brand. He needed a Foundation, a custom One Year Plan and the action to make it go, the Plan in Motion.
 

The Results

What made all the difference was Mark's complete willingness to do what it takes to build a business to house his retouching art. Together, we were able to guide Mark’s talent into a business that works for him. He stopped waiting for jobs to come and started collecting work almost immediately. Now his experience, talent and creativity can really shine! He listened, learned, researched, practiced, gave no excuses and built Paradox Visual into a first-class entrepreneurial business. 
 

In His Own Words

"A solid shove in the right direction and starting the process from the ground up — that was what I desperately needed to birth Paradox Visual.

Coming highly recommended by a mutual friend, I had some idea of how powerful of an experience it could be working with Janie. During our first conversation, I was struck by how many questions she was asking about my life outside of work. She understands that all facets of your life affect your career choices and she knows how to guide you to making your business work for you.

With the Real Results Program, you create more than just a marketing plan. You create a life plan!

There was a lot to do, but by breaking it down Janie helped me accomplish everything, and more. I got my website up and running so clients could find me. I built a brand and a business from the ground up and started working. I learned what I wanted from my business. I found photographers that matched my style. Most importantly, I took charge of my career goals.

Working with Marketing Creatives helped me to be more confident in the "business" side of my company, so I can focus on the artistry of retouching and producing professional imagery for my clients. Janie helped me take a look at myself and to determine my strengths and weaknesses, not just in business, but in life — a sobering experience! I’ve been shaped into the best version of myself as a businessperson, so my experience, talent and creativity can speak for itself."

Kelly Kirlin | Underwater Portraiture

“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."

Justin Lewis | Adventure + Water Sports

“Janie helped me get back on track with a one-year plan to find new clients and expand my business.”

Rarely does a passion for adventure lend itself so well to a career than it does in the case of Justin Lewis. His vision translates to imagery with power, balance and beauty. His appreciation and love for nature is deeply apparent in his films and photographs and his immersive approach fills his work with detail and emotion. From water sports and lifestyle shoots, to nature films, popular stock images and undersea photography, Justin’s portfolio reflects the world as he sees it — and how many of us wish we could.
 

The Challenge

Justin wanted to make his heart’s work, work for him by allowing him to do what he loved and make a living doing it. He had the talent, and a portfolio overflowing with gorgeous imagery.

He'd seen success in shooting for stock photography, but with the many changes to that industry, he knew he needed to put himself out there to land more commercial assignment projects. He needed help shaping his massive body of work and learning how to get work in the new marketing arena. 

He needed a plan and someone to hold him accountable to his dreams. 
 

The Results

The Marketing Creatives' team delivered! With a hip new website, logo redesign and engaging social media presence we helped him hone his brand and his message for today's new markets.  He engaged his past, present and future clients with a strong telling of his story. Then he created his Plan to gain more visibility through strategic, coordinated marketing.
 

In His Own Words

"I will not tell you this process was all fun or easy. Being responsible to your choices to be in business is different than nurturing your passion. They fuel one another but they are very different animals with very different skill sets.

Marketing Creatives has amazing team members in design and social media who took the strategy we built and made it public with stories to tell past, present and future clients. Janie was relentless – reminding me that I had asked for that collaboration and accountability when we began to work together.

It was hard. It was expensive. It took time and work that I wished I didn’t have to do. But it was exactly what I needed – a new rendition of my best self.

Seeing my work in a beautiful new website was exhilarating. Creating new promotions was scary and more difficult than I thought it would be – staying true to my strategy so I could achieve my goals and make a living doing what I love proved to be very different from showing some images on FB or working on spec.

The hardest part is that this is just the beginning. Talking with Janie gets me all fired up and inspired. Marketing Creatives delivered smart consultation and strong accountability."