Why Should You Be On Periscope?

This blog post is written specifically for my birth photographer colleagues. So if you are a client or a friend, consider yourself relieved from reading it! :) 

I'm a little bit obsessed with Periscope at the moment. It is a newer social media platform that's changing the world of social media. In a culture of immediacy, the live broadcasting service is quite frankly unbeatable. 

My colleague, Amanda Ditzel from Raleigh Birth Photography, is hosting a Birth Photography Periscope Challenge starting this Monday, March 7th. There are over 60 registered birth workers (you don't have to be a birth photographer to participate!) and it is a wonderful opportunity to practice on periscope with a community there to support you!

I know a lot of people are thinking "I don't need ANOTHER platform to manage," or "How is this even beneficial for my business?" I wanted to take a minute to address a few hesitations because, not only do I really believe Periscope is an incredible platform that every business owner can use, but having a challenge to participate in makes everything seem a bit less intimidating! My hope is that at the end of this blog post, you will be convinced to sign up for the challenge and join us on Periscope!

Why Should My Business Be On Persicope?

1. Connect with your clients face-to-face and build relationships. Periscope is THE fastest way to build the "Know, Like and Trust" factor! When you literally show up in your client's living room in REAL time and you talk directly to them, you are building TRUST. When people like you and trust you, they will invest in you and your business. It is honestly unbelievable how EASY and SEAMLESS this process is through Periscope. (It almost feels too good to be true, guys!)
2. Set yourself as an expert in your field. Using Periscope to share information and "teach" your clients is a wonderful way to set yourself as a leader and expert in your field (and community) without actually organizing an event and standing in front of 30+ people to teach. Less effort, equal benefits! Again - people invest into businesses they TRUST.
3. Build your tribe. Let me say it again. When people like you and trust you, they will invest in you and your business. But who has time to sit down and build an individual relationship with so many people? We have enough on our plates as mothers, wives, aunts, friends, and business owners! Periscope offers us the opportunity to meet with many people at once and investing in them and their interests in an easy way. This helps build your tribe and your tribe are the people who will always support you. 
4. Create enticement and anticipation by showing your products and services in real time. Imagine with me an "unboxing" periscope:
   1. You receive a box from UPS.
   2. Log into Periscope and begin a 'scope titled "Unboxing an album! Sneak peek before I deliver to my client!"
   3. Say "hello!"
   4. Set your phone on a tripod and open the box. Ooh and Ahh... with great enthusiasm, show your clients the quality of your product. Tell them the story behind the pictures and the family/clients you are delivering it to. Add romanticism. 
   5. Before you know it, you have an inquiry in your inbox that reads "I saw you on Periscope and I LOVE the album you showed! I'm interested in hearing more about what your studio offers!"
   6. Send me a virtual high-five, because, friend, IT IS THAT EASY.
5. Show behind-the-scenes of your work. You'd be surprise how much people want to know how all the magic happens! Use Periscope as an exclusive platform to only show "Behind the Scenes" clips of your business and your life. People feel more connected to you when they are getting exclusive peeks into your world... and... you got it, they will invest in YOUR products and services when the time comes for them to make that decision.

Are you getting the jist, guys? Periscope is incredible... it is truly changing the scene of social media!! I hope these quick bullet points will help give you the push to hit that Broadcast button! Or at the VERY least, download the app and watch some scopes! You will learn SO much!

If you are scared to do try your first broadcast (Who isn't?! It's SO intimidating!), I'd love if you would download this Free Periscope How-To Guide! It's 5 pages of information I've gathered to help you get on your feet in the periscope world!

And lastly, if you are a birth photographer and you haven't already signed up for the Birth Photography Periscope Challenge, what are you waiting for?!

So the question is... Will I be seeing YOU on Periscope next week?! Leave your username in the comments and I'll be sure to follow you!

10 Life-Changing Blog Posts for New Moms & Moms-To-Be

A few weeks ago I was finally able to meet the beautiful and unique soul behind the online personality, Way Crunchy. Azalea moved to my town recently from a city that didn't have a huge natural living community. In fact, she was the leader of the Crunchy Moms group in her larger city. So when she moved to our town with the motivation to bring her philosophy, vision and passions to life in a new area, she was met with a huge natural living community that wasn't necessarily in need of a leader (her words, not mine!).

After this quick conversation with her, I had a MOMENT! I realized how easy it is to forget that I live in a beautifully unique area with an incredible amount of support available for mamas and that the education I was led to is not always as available to women in other areas. As if I needed another reason to blog about the First 100 Days of having a new baby, right?! :)

I will say that my chat with Azalea got me off my tush and gave the motivation necessary to work on a handful of new blog posts for my mama blog readers! This brings me to the latest in my First 100 Days Series... 

Blog Posts for New Moms

20 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me About Postpartum
"20. It Gets Better. Postpartum kind of sucks. It just does. But it does get better. Your baby will sleep eventually. Your boobs will go back to normal (mostly). You’ll have sex again. Life will go on and you’ll figure it out. The haze will lift and you will love motherhood. This time feels endless, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel."

Tips for New Moms: A Girlfriend's Guide to Birth and the 4th Trimester, Part 2

10 Self-Care Tips for New Moms
"3. Buy Postpartum Clothes. Everyone talks about maternity clothes, no one talks about postpartum clothes."

Ten Things To Keep You More Comfortable Postpartum
"NO guilt. I just had a patient the other day say “Should I feel guilty when I leave her in the crib like that?” I did a exorcist head spin and said, “NEVER feel guilty for putting your baby down.” The guilt. Leave it behind."

A Toolkit for Postpartum Anxiety and Panic Symptoms
"The term postpartum depression can be a disservice to many, many women who struggle during pregnancy and/or postpartum. Many of these women don’t reach out for help because, well, they are not necessarily depressed and so therefore assume that their struggle is not with postpartum depression."

Blog Posts for Moms-To-Be

100 Little Things About Pregnancy, Birth, and Being a First-Time Mom 
"7. Don’t feel guilty if the gender of the baby on the ultrasound isn’t what you were expecting (or hoping for). It’s normal and will pass. (And you will be so happy about your little boy or girl that you’ll forget about it anyway.)" (Sidenote from Liz: I do want to say I completely disagree with #9. Buy whatever it takes for you to feel cute and happy, because 9 months is a long time to feel frumpy and uncomfortable... carrying a baby is tough enough on your body. :))

Tips for New Moms: A Girlfriend's Guide to Birth and the 4th Trimester, Part 1

3 Things We Would Have Done Differently
"As we were driving home from a wedding in Richmond this weekend, Mikey and I reflected on some things we were glad to know now but definitely didn’t for our FIRST born"

My Biggest Birth Plan Regret
"My birth plan ended with routine procedures we did and didn't want for our newborn in his (or her) first hours. But the part of childbirth I completely failed to plan for was recovery and bonding."

No-Fluff Baby List - What Do You REALLY "Need"
"Unless otherwise noted I recommend getting almost ALL these things used.  Hand-me-downs, buying at consignment stores or thrift stores are a GREAT option.  You have quite a long period of time to get ready for your new baby, spend that looking for great prices on the essentials — that way you’re not stuck with a big bill right as you head into maternity leave."

These posts speak my language, friends!! I love the variety of information available around the internet, but as great as it can all be, sometimes it can really drain us. I hope a few of the blog posts I shared above will help ENCOURAGE you and help you prepare for and/or feel better about where you are in your motherhood journey. 

You are doing GREAT, mama! :-*

P.S. If you are a local mama and you have not yet joined The Motherhood Collective at any of their variety of programs, PLEASE do yourself a favor and treat yo'self to at least ONE attempt at showing up. That's the hardest part, friends... but I know it is SO SO worth it! (And goodness gracious, if you do come and I'm there also, say HI!)

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Liz is a wedding and birth photographer in Central Virginia. She loves to photograph fun and easygoing couples in love as well as emotional and discreet birth stories and just about anything in-between.  

Barrett & Courtney | Liberty University Mountain Pictures

Barrett and Courtney met while working at a local kids gym... which if you ask me, takes a special kind of person to hold that sort of a job! When I learned that they BOTH worked with kids in an active environment, I immediately thought they must be fun and easy-going people! And they totally are! I had a wonderful time getting to know them while we walked the grounds of this beautiful property. You can't beat the stunning mountain views at Sierra Vista and combined with good light and two people in love... that's a recipe for a DREAM session! I had a wonderful time at Barrett and Courtney's engagement session and I'm really looking forward to their wedding day at West Manor Estate... which is right around the corner! 

One of my goals for 2016 is to back-blog all of my favorite sessions and weddings from the past few years. My poor blog has been so neglected and right when I was ready to make big blogging dreams come true last summer, life kicked into high gear and the poor blog was neglected yet again! So I am starting again and this time with a sure fire plan (and a combination of periscoping to bring in content to fill the gaps!) and I'm excited to get things rolling around here! :) 

Without further ado... check out this adorable couple and how comfy and cozy they are in the snow!! :) And a big thanks to Marianne at Sierra Vista in Bedford, VA for allowing us to shoot here! 

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Liz is a wedding and birth photographer in Central Virginia. She loves to photograph fun and easygoing couples in love as well as emotional and discreet birth stories and just about anything in-between. 

A Periscope Series #birthFAQscope

For the last couple of weeks I have been experimenting with and researching about the new-ish social media platform, Periscope. Periscope is Twitter's live video broadcasting app. If I'm being candid... it's basically like everyone was just given their own TV show and platform to use as they wish... for free. Some people ROCK it... some do not. In the meantime, I am trying to learn how I can use it as a tool in my business. 

I would have bet a million dollars back in college that I would NEVER be a public speaker. I actually won the "most improved" award in my college Speech 101 class because I was HORRID the first time I stood up in front of my class. And I think by the end I was... not so horrid. Hah! Honestly, who is honored to receive a Most Improved reward? That just confirmed that I was actually as terrible the first time around as I had thought. Hah!

Anyway... so it's been an interesting few weeks exploring this app and basically putting on my own live broadcasts. But the app has really grown on me and I've enjoyed getting to know people better and share information with others. What I love the most about the app is that there is a constant influx of information... I learn SO much from the other broadcasters! About everything from homeschooling to cooking, to social media marketing strategies and where to buy sparkly pink backdrops (which we all know won't be happening... so yeah sure, some of the info is useless ;)).

All that to say... I have officially started 'scoping daily, and this week I am starting my very first Periscope Series! I've been too afraid to invite you all to watch my 'scopes - but this ENTIRE experience has been about pushing past my fears (like going live with NO make-up on. That seriously happened...!) and taking the leap! And honestly... that's kind of how the entire last year has been. And I have loved it. 

So - if you are a birth photographer or if you are interested in what my life looks like while running a birth photography business and raising girls... or if you just want to see me make ridiculous faces and stumble over my words... come follow me! I'll be scoping twice every day this week! :) 

A Big Announcement | East Coast Birth Photography Workshop

It feels a bit surreal to be writing this blog post. For years, I have watched as colleagues and industry friends have grown their photography businesses to levels that have justified the start of industry educational opportunities. For the past few years, I have casually offered mentoring through my website on an as-needed basis. However, I have always stood firm in the fact that I am NOT a teacher. I don't have the talent of teaching... I even struggle with my own children! (Eek!) Regardless of this claim, I have met with numerous willing photographers and openly shared anything and everything they have asked me regarding photography business information. And surprisingly, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The best part for me, though, has been the relationships were introduced through this avenue. Some of my best industry friends have come out of these mentoring meetings!

One of these friendships has officially grown into a business partnership. It's so crazy to think of the journey I have walked with Emily Gerald over the past two years and where we are today! You guys... Emily IS a teacher! When I met her she was a grade-school teacher and had just finished her Master's Degree in Teaching. I mean... this partnership was destined to happen. :)

Earlier this week, Emily and I launched our first e-book we co-wrote (that you can download for FREE right here!), which was crazy exciting! I suppose it wasn't exciting enough, though, because today we are sharing MUCH bigger news! Ahh!

Emily and I are hosting an intimate, one-day, all-inclusive birth photography workshop! 

At this workshop in March, we will be sharing all we know about running profitable birth photography businesses to help equip and encourage other photographers to run their own businesses more efficiently and with great success. 

Our ultimate hope is that by sharing and teaching how we run our own businesses, the birth photography industry will grow.

The workshop agenda is packed full of content including portfolio building opportunities, information about the birth process, connecting and gaining wisdom from other birth industry professionals, the ins and outs of running a profitable birth photography business, client relationship tips and tricks, and more!

For details and to find out how to join us, click here.

Registration opens 02.01.2016 at 10AM EST! To sign up to receive an email reminder, click here!

I just want to say thank you to those of you who have given me the chance to share my knowledge and for all of you who have supported me in my photography career so far. It's the most incredible feeling to do what you love and know that you are helping others in the process! <3