Dec 18, 2019
Today I'm interviewing Myrna of Myrna Loy photography. Myrna is a military spouse currently located in Guam. Though the first time I met Myrna was when her family was based in Los Vegas. Myrna is an exceptionally talented photographer who photographs families maternity and boudoir. Myrna is a dear friend of mine! I'm so excited for her to be one of my first interviews. Today we are talking about steps to take when relocating your photography business. Myrna is also launching a new online course with the step by step guide she has used as she moved her family and business across the globe! All of the information for this course can be found in the show notes below! Now without further ado, here is our interview!
What are some things you did before you move that help out with the transition?
I think the biggest thing I did was market and location research. I did a lot of that on social media as well as google. I researched who was here, what kind of styles other photographers had.
While researching, you can get a good idea for the locations you will roughly be photographing since other photographers will be sharing images. I was also looking to see if I needed any special permits. Las Vegas required tons of permits, so that was something I was looking into as well.
I also started using hashtags that all centered around Guam.
You mentioned reaching out to other photographers, how did you go about that?
When I lived in Vegas, there was a huge Facebook group for photographers, so I searched for one in Guam and found a group. I posted in the group that I would be moving there. Some reached out in a friendly way, and those people have now become great friends!
They already know the laws and permits and tax laws. Of course, you need to take tax advice you get from someone with a grain of salt, but it was beneficial to reach out to other photographers.
How far out from your move do you start looking at advertising in your new location?
So when we moved here, we had about a 6-month warning. The first thing I did was get started on SEO, so whenever I blogged a post, I would use Guam Photographer in my keywords. I made sure to note somewhere that I wasn't there yet, but I would be there around this timeframe.
Then for social media, I changed all my hashtags from las vegas to Guam.
What are some first steps that you took when you first arrive at your new location?
The first step was to scout what location I would want to shoot and then start setting up creative shoots so I can get that scenery into my portfolio, and social media.
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