Come & Follow @maas_creative

Since I’ve been working with @reinaandco on how to find my dream client, there have been a lot of ‘Oh’ and ‘Ah’ moments when it clicked and I had to dig in and find my answer in regards to my own business. It has been quite an interesting learning experience since she makes you think about your business and the clients you’d like to attract with multiple different exercises. Those exercises open some spaces that, without this program, I would have never thought about. But one thing she made me think about was my handle on Instagram. Since I changed my business name late last year from ‘Designed & Shot by Elena’ (rolls easily off the tongue, doesn’t it *eye roll*) to just MAAS, I now also had to think about what to call myself on my social media channels which was just shot_by_elena. 

I started my accounts a while back when I was gung ho on leaving my designer career behind and solely focusing on photography. As life would have it though, an amazing design opportunity knocked on my door and as much as that opportunity scared the living hell out of me, I said YES. I love what I do and since then the ball has been rolling and more and more clients have been added to my roster. 

So, I now also had to think about a new IG handle. Let’s move away from the whole ‘shot by’ thing and move into a more professional direction. The result is

@maas_creative

New IG handle!!!

I’ve been known to be a bit of a click bait whore and I have looked and googled a bunch of different programs that will help you with your own business, mentor you, support you, provide the right help for you, but none of those programs have been as intense as Reina’s. So, even though I have fallen just a tad off the wagon over the past few weeks since I’m transitioning to a new job while also working on my little side hustle, I will take time this weekend to catch up and dig in. It has started to make me think about my own business in a completely different way. But the name change for some reason was a biggie and it feels good to have something less cutesy and a little more adult-y. 

So, for that little kick in the butt, thank you Reina. And the one or two of you who might be reading this, please come and follow me @maas_creative. 

Networking

Over the past few weeks I’ve attended some networking events that could not have been any more different (in a good way). The first one was a dribbble meet up that I only heard about by accident from an old coworker who offered to get me and my art director/friend Nikki into the already at capacity event. The setting of this event could not have been any better. A new building called the Willoughby with a rooftop terrace, cold drinks, and hot pizza. Talking and exchanging information with a lot of designers in all different fields and from various backgrounds was very interesting. We talked graphic design, UX/UI, photography, furniture design, etc. Rhyme & Reason put on an excellent event!

The Mavens from Mavenly.co (@mavenlyco) had their conference a few weekends ago and very much to my taste they organized a happy hour for people who had not signed up for their workshop. Nikki and I went and had a great time mingling with other professional ladies who are looking to become their own bosses. It was a great night for a bunch of women coming together, drinking wine, eating appetizers. 

Sometimes I wish I would have started networking way earlier in my life. I’ve met some very interesting people and if there is one advice I can give a new designer, it is ‘go out and network’. In the beginning, Atlanta gave me a hard time getting acclimated and meeting people but in regards to networking, getting to know new people, starting conversations about doing business together, it has opened doors, and by doors I mean the biggest doors you can imagine. 

One of the so far most successful networking sessions was the ‘Women, Work & Worth’ workshop where I met Charlene (@ceocharlene) who quickly got in touch with me and hired me to take headshots for people who had signed up at General Assembly for one of her workshops. 

Social media plays a huge part as well, and if you really want to you can find some great social groups who plan happy hours and outings on a regular basis. When I first moved to Atlanta I learned about Six Degree Society. It was a bunch of women who came together, some with their own businesses already, others still moping around in their 9-5 (I was one of them and still am). Simply exchanging experiences, getting to know how people went about starting their own business, involving business coaches and what not, was very interesting and valuable input for me. Since then I’ve attended outings like that pretty often and have formed some great business relationships and friendships with some of these ladies.

So, young people, entrepreneurs, designers, and photographers, all I can say is ‘network, network, network’.

My First Blog Post: The Awkward Stage

So… having been at a stage in my life where I feel I have to decide whether to keep rolling with corporate America or just dive in and really focus on my own business, I have submitted my email to so many different business advice sites, I can’t even count it anymore. 

But there is this one that I stumbled upon in my email account. Having had not such a great day, I thought I’d give it a try. Her name is Jenni Maroney (hey  @jennimaroney, here the first post I promised to tag you in ;) ) and she had some great input regarding websites. How bots scan websites and how you can get to be the #1 on the Google list when people are searching for photographers. My web knowledge is limited, but I do know how to figure a few things out here and there. I followed some of her steps while listening to her, and edited some of the meta data and whatnot on my website. One of the first things though, Jenni talked about, was BLOGGING… oh gggaaawwwddddd. I gave blogging a chance a few years back, but did not think or expect people to be interested in reading what I have to say. 

Now, feeling that I have reached this aforementioned weird phase in my life, I have to decide to go left or right. Since I don’t want to always be in the situation where I have to ask an employer for permission to take time off in order to spend a few days with my family in Germany, I have made the decision to give this blogging thing another chance, give those bots something to scan, and boost my website which will hopefully help in bringing in a little more business on the side. 

Be prepared to see and read a little more right here and hopefully you’ll enjoy it. If you have been where I’m at right now, please share some advice. Thank you kindly in advance. :)