Glynns Thomas of Glynns Thomas tells us how she helps companies and their team look their professional best.
Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded Glynns Thomas.
Glynns Thomas: I am former advertising and Fortune 50 marketing executive. After leaving that career behind, I moved overseas to experience more of the world, and I did a lot of that through photography. When I moved back to the U.S. in 2016, I decided to create a business helping people market themselves and their companies better with professional images. It’s a perfect meld of my strengths in advertising, love of photography, and love of people.
Do you have small habits that made a meaningful impact on your life and business?
Glynns Thomas: From my advertising days, I learned about goal setting, tracking results, and constantly making adjustments along the way. This has affected both my personal life and business in amazing ways. This focused and intentional approach led me to move overseas, start this business, not quit this business early on, and experience the successes I’ve created along the way. I feel like my success is largely due to a million small improvements I’ve made along the way.
How does Glynns Thomas market its product/services online?
Glynns Thomas: Search engine optimization is a great source of business for me. I look for ways to improve my keyword rankings in my local market, as well as where I can be listed as a reputable business. I have tried different social media channels and have landed on LinkedIn as my primary connection method. Lastly, I am constantly updating my website so that when people make it to my website, it serves them well and makes them want to take the next step with me.
What specific tools, software, and management skills are you using to manage your online marketing?
Glynns Thomas: I use Canva to create my social media posts and Hootsuite to deliver. I used Google Analytics to track my SEO efforts. I manually track my results in managerial spreadsheets that I created for my business.
What is your hiring policy/process, and how do you retain your employees?
Glynns Thomas: I am a business of one, but I do use freelancers. I find that writing out all the duties and step-by-step directions helps not only them but me to know what I need them to do. You think you know what you want someone to do for you, but you discover you don’t know enough until you write it out in painfully detailed steps. I also let them know that I am always open to new and better ways of doing things!
How are you funding your growth?
Glynns Thomas: I was self-funded in the start-up phase and now am able to continue to fund my growth through my sales. I price my business to accommodate growth. I have ideas to take this business even further but am still debating the pros and cons of that endeavor. That may or may not require outside funding.
Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?
Glynns Thomas: There are a ton of photographers out there. My plan has always been to become the best at my niche. Most photographers are a “jack of all trades” with a particular specialty. That means they are great at one thing and ok with other types of photography. I love my niche in headshots and business lifestyle images, not only in creating the photography but just as much in serving the people that hire me. I am dedicated to continuing to serve this niche and its needs with all I can!
Tell us a customer success story of yours.
Glynns Thomas: Most companies love to see their web page of headshots go from a mish-mash of different photographs to a cohesive look where everyone looks like they are on the same team and are friendly, accomplished experts. But I think a little known benefit is the morale boost your team feels when they are photographed by a caring and friendly photographer whose passion is to help them look their best. It’s not just the portrait but the experience. Your team is more willing to put themselves out there when they feel great about themselves and have a portrait they actually want to use.
I did have one customer who came to me looking for a new job and did not have any success. They decided to update their headshot on LinkedIn and their resume and said they went from no responses to four responses immediately, which one turned into a new job with a larger salary. They felt the investment in professional headshots immediately paid out.
Your final thoughts?
Glynns Thomas: Strive every day to be better than the day before, learning and improving, and you can’t fail.
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