Lindsey Roman is a Hawaii-based travel wedding and elopement photographer based out of Oahu, Hawaii, and I was lucky enough to get to experience her photography magic during mine and Drew’s recent Hawaii trip!
Lindsey is a huge dreamer, an adventurer, a girl who always has her bags packed, and a wife to her husband, Andrew. She serves the world through storytelling – taking photos of adventurous couples in love in wildly beautiful places, and through encouraging others to value their worthwhile following their God-given calling.
I was introduced to the amazing Lindsey in my Photo Lab course, and have watched Lindsey’s photography business FLOURISH in the past few years. Today she is going to tell us how she developed her niche of photographing adventurous couples in Hawaii, why she decided to invest in her future, and what she has learned being the girl boss behind an ever-growing photography business!
MOVING LOCATIONS WITH A NEW BUSINESS:
One of the first topics we chatted about was Lindsey’s move when her business was just beginning. This was no small relocation, goal diggers…. This move took Lindsey (and her brand spankin’ new business!) from Kansas to Hawaii. It’s no secret that locations can make or break a small business, but Lindsey outsmarted the whole process. When I asked her how she managed to swoop in so effortlessly to Hawaii, she pointed out a plethora of small choices she used to make her stick out. She found location-specific hashtags, used social media to reach out, immediately started second shooting, and established her “ideal” bride from the get-go.
If you and your small business could be relocating soon, you NEED to listen to Lindsey’s tactics at ensuring you don’t just survive, but THRIVE.
DEVELOP YOUR NICHE:
Alright, guys, here’s a challenge for you. Think of that ONE client you’ve had that was a dream. The one you thought “if only every client was like this…”
I know a face and personality popped into your mind… and guys, that is your ideal client. That is who you are marketing towards. That is where your business should direct to.
Lindsey is a photographer who specializes in whimsical, adventurous photo shoots, elopements, and weddings… in Hawaii. Now if that isn’t a niche I don’t know what is– and guess what, she is thriving. But how did she do it? How did she create sustainable work from a niche-specific focus?!
ensure your dream client sees you, hears you, (and hires you!)
Step one: Share what your dream client is. Change your branding, your messaging, your outreach– to her specifically. Step two: Draw in your dream client and repel who isn’t yours. Stop sharing work that wasn’t of your dream client, promote your dream work. You’ll be amazed how this alone will multiply interest in your dream services. (Pssst: You might have to take work outside your niche, but only market your dream work.) Step Three: Wholeheartedly understand your WHY and your WHO. For Lindsey, she said it simply and perfectly, “I don’t want to be the photographer for everybody- I want to be the photographer for the wild and the whimsical”
THE PHOTO LAB:
Like I mentioned above, The Photo Lab is what originally introduced Lindsey and me. That’s right– she went from a follower, to a student, to my personal photographer all the way to a podcast guest! In the episode, I tell you about my first thoughts on Lindsey, and how I just knew she would run with the course. I loved chatting with Lindsey about the course in such a genuine, authentic way.
Lindsey bought it right when she was going full-time, and invested in herself fully. She had a vision for where she wanted to go, but didn’t know how to get there, and decided to “bet on herself” by signing up for a course. I loved how Lindsey said a course is a “fast track ticket” because it gives you all the information up front that would’ve taken years to learn.
She couldn’t have said it better, “When you spend the money on education and yourself– you will get that money back. Without a doubt, if you put the work in, you will get your investment back– and then some.”
Lindsey is SUCH a bright light- as a photographer, business owner, student, and just as a WOMAN. I can’t wait for you to meet this ray of sunshine, Goal Diggers!
Hi Jenna! (and Lindsay)
I listened to your podcast for the very first time today and I loved this specific topic. I love how much energy and passion you both have and to tell you how motivating this podcast was. I am wanting to branch out into destination weddings specifically Italy and Greece but was putting off the initial content creation piece. By the end of the day, I booked my airplane tickets and got the time off work to travel and do some content creation in these destinations. Thanks a lot and keep on motivating!