Photo cred: La Vida Creations EEK! We are so excited to share ANOTHER awesome episode with you guys featuring the ever-talented Bethel Nathan!! If you tuned in last week, you already know that Bethel is the owner of a few awesome businesses based here in San Diego. She's a wedding officiant at Ceremonies by Bethel, as well as a business coach at Elevate by Bethel. Last week she chatted about modern weddings and how the wedding industry has changed (in a great way!) over the past few years. If you missed that episode, tune in here: http://photosparkshow.com/modern-weddings/ This week, she's chatting a bit more about the business side of things! She believes business owners need to work harder AND smarter to optimize their business's potential, and she shares some great tips with us on how we can do that too! She gives us 6 keys to grow your business... here are some of our favorites (you'll have to listen to the episode to hear the rest!) Key Takeaways:

1. Ideal Client: Ok.. we know we have talked about this A LOT. But it's SOOOO important!! If you aren't working with the right people, you won't be happy, and you probably won't be as successful! If you're working with people who trust you & love your work, you're going to enjoy & sustain your business better. These are also the people who are going to appreciate your services SO much more than others. You want to leave your event or shoot feeling appreciated, because it was exactly what they were looking for. This definitely builds self esteem for your business and will make you much happier in the end! Also... appreciative clients lead to more reviews & word of mouth recommendations, which leads to more business in the future from similar-minded people! Make sure your website & marketing materials clearly state who you are and what your business is about, because that's the best way to weed out people you aren't a great match for. Text and imagery is SO important & will do wonders to help grow your business!
2. Setting Smart Goals: Start by looking at your big goals, and work your way down to your smaller, easier goals. You have to know where you want to end up in order to grow your business accordingly. These are your personal, key goals... everything else leads to that. Setting quarterly goals tends to be a bit more effective than yearly goals... they're easier to attain & they'll help you stay on track. Bethel uses the SMART acronym to help define her goals:
   1. Specific: Who, What, When, Where, Why
   2. Measurable: You have to know when you reach your goal
   3. Attainable: Within reach & do-able within your industry
   4. Relavent: Make sure it's the right thing to focus on
   5. Time-Specific: There needs to be an urgency to the goal
3. Systems & Processes: As photographers, we have a ton of systems in place to help make our lives easier. From Shoot Q to email templates, there are many ways we can work more efficiently in our businesses. Bethel stresses the importance of looking at your process also. Take a step back & see where organization & efficiency can be boosted... if you can't handle the business that you have, you're going to struggle & let people down. So take a look at what areas can change to help you be more efficient. Consider hiring a virtual assistant if your workload is too heavy. Relinquishing control can be REALLY tough, but in the end if you're too overworked & inefficient, your business is going to suffer and you won't be able to grow your business.

Photo Cred: E3 Photography Thanks for tuning in to this episode... we are amazed at the plethora of knowledge Bethel shared with us (for free!!!). She's fantastic at what she does & we were honored to have her on the show two weeks in a row!! Be sure to check out the links below & visit her on social media! ALSO!!! Super rad!! Bethel has shared some free goodies with our listeners!! She shares a free PDF from last week's episode on key things you should be doing to work with the modern couple as well as a PDF from THIS episode on ways to grow your business! Check out both freebies here: http://www.elevatebybethel.com/podcasts Relavent Links:

• Elevate by Bethel
• Ceremonies by Bethel
• Asked to Officiate
• Bethel on Twitter
• Bethel on Instagram
• Bethel's Freebies for our Listeners

Download from iTunes Here Download from iTunes Here