Speaking at Creative at Heart

Let’s be real. Speaking at Creative at Heart was never something that I thought would ever happen for me. “I do NOT want to be an educator!” Those exact words are on an Instagram caption at the beginning of 2o2o. I am pretty saucy on my posts at times, and sometimes I eat my words. I know my character flaws and fully accept them. But in all fairness, I didn’t want to be an educator when I wrote those words. I was perfectly happy and content at finally achieving my dream of being a Charleston wedding photographer. But then, a small decision (along with a worldwide pandemic) changed the trajectory of my business.

Tik Tok Tik Tok

I started a Tik Tok account. At first, probably like you, I was weary of what I could do with Tik Tok for my business. But then something magical happened. It started to grow!! What? You can grow on social media? And I am not talking turtle growth like we saw on Instagram. I am talking 0-25,000 followers in 2 months!! HOLD THE PHONE!

Ok, ok! But what if I don’t want a Tik Tok account? Oh don’t you worry.. Mark Zuckerberg was not going to let all of the Tik Tokers have all of the fun. Introducing Instagram Reels in August 2020. And the online world for our industry’s head exploded. The shock, awe, disgust at people showing up on their daily newsfeed scroll to see business owners pointing and dancing. What was Instagram trying to do? Be Tik Tok?

Well yes! To be quite frank, Instagram is known to take what’s working from other apps and incorporate it into their own. Snapchat versus Instagram stories anyone? Instagram Reels actually helped people grow again on the app. And I was one of the first people to raise my hand in an effort to help business owners adapt to this new way of marketing. This opened the door for me to step into education, and I decided to step through it.

 

Educator at Creative at Heart

One year later, I had the honor and privilege to speak at my first conference, Creative at Heart. The biggest lesson that I wanted everyone to walk away with is that video content is necessary, and short form video is just one of the ways that you can use video content in your marketing strategy. This does not mean that you have to do Reels or Tik Tok. You can utilize video is so many ways in your business. But if they wanted to try something new, Reels and Tik Tok is an amazing way to grow right now.

While chatting with so many business owners about showing up on video, we realized that we all had very similar pain points when it came to video. And the biggest piece of advice that I shared was this… Grant yourself grace, and practice!! I encouraged everyone to send me a video DM on Instagram to start practicing being on video. And I am extending that same invitation to YOU!

Let’s Get Reel

HOMEWORK: I bet that you didn’t open this blog expecting to have homework. But yet here we are. I want to help you embrace being on video more. So if you need the help to show up on video, come over to my Instagram profile and send me a video DM and I will send one back to you. And stop by Nastasha Coyle Photography to learn about shop products and see more educational posts.

 

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Photography credit: AL Weddings