Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Bennett.
Hi Melissa, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I launched Right Time Photo and Right Time Branding, the world had just entered into a pandemic. I had challenged my kids to expand their minds and start something new. My oldest took up the piano, my middle son tackled the guitar (for about a week) and my youngest started talking (this one isn’t really fair because he’s at an age when something is new every day). I followed my own advice and picked up my camera again after only using it at the ballfield for a few years.
Like a good student, I studied new trends and new poses. I studied the industry and where I could fit in. I had always loved photography and had taken headshots at start-up companies I was with and pictures of sporting events for friends and family.
My background is in marketing and sales operations. For 15 years, I worked in medium and small companies concentrating on business strategy, sales process optimization, and branding/marketing strategy. I have coached sales teams and marketing leaders on how to optimize their lead generation methods and helped companies increase revenue and cut costs.
After years of working for others and in the midst of a global pandemic, I built my photography and branding boutique business. It didn’t take long to notice there is a huge gap in the photography field and really in the small business world. A large gap, that I knew I could step into to help fill and more importantly to help small growing businesses succeed with branding strategy and personal images that help them get off on the right foot.
Hince, the world of Right Time Photo and Right Time Branding was born. It was the Right Time to step in, the Right Time to help out, and the Right Time to do it on my own. Now, I combine my photography and branding businesses and help small businesses (clients and fellow photographers) to streamline their businesses and optimize their websites and marketing strategies. Aiming to make it the Right Time to grow…even as the world falls apart.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s never a smooth road when you are trying to grow and establish your business. Originally, I started out to concentrate on just the photography side of my business, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to photograph. I spent the first year testing out different niches – weddings, couples, maternity, pet, families, events, branding, and seniors. The pandemic and restrictions on gatherings amplified this testing.
Just like many small businesses, COVID had a few curve balls to throw at us all. For me, COVID impacted the trajectory of my photography business and my branding business overall. Senior photos became more important to some, as families couldn’t get together for those milestones and celebrate graduations. Restrictions limited family gatherings, events, and wedding sizes. However, through the restrictions and working through changes, I started to concentrate more on capturing intimate emotional moments through micro-weddings/elopements, which became more of a trend, senior packages that celebrated milestones and the future, and couple engagements.
The first year of business also allowed me to recognize my calling to help entrepreneurs with more than just their images at a photo shoot. As a result, I pivoted and started using the rest of my skills to help business owners utilize the images I captured to create a more cohesive brand along with a branding strategy. This lead to the creation of Right Time Branding.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Right Time Photo and Right Time Branding?
I’m an MBA marketing and sales operations specials that views the world through a camera lens. When creating Right Time Photo and Right Time Branding, I concentrated on the user experience and the processes to make sure my clients are seen in their images, feel heard, and feel taken care of before, during, and after their sessions.
Right Time Photo specializes in capturing moments through the lens of a camera primarily for couples, entrepreneurs, and seniors. We have a smooth process that helps us get to know our clients as we plan out their sessions – including wardrobe advice, location suggestions, and posing guidance. Our goal is to make your photo session as easy as possible because we know many people don’t enjoy being in front of the camera. For couples, I take the time to get to know your story so that we can plan something specific to you – whether we are shooting an engagement, an elopement, or a micro wedding, the session is about you. For seniors, I get to know you and your interests so that we can develop a special senior session that celebrates who you are and what you want to do. This includes capturing activities and using props that mean something to you as you leave the past and step into your future.
Right Time Branding is a boutique branding agency that offers personal brand photography, product photography, logo creation, website creation, marketing strategy, and process improvement. We primarily work with entrepreneurs and small growth companies. I believe branding is all-encompassing. It is not just your image, logo, colors, or social media presence. It goes deeper than that and speaks to how your clients will interact with you. The goal is for clients to come to your business, understand what you do and convert them into paying customers. We do this by utilizing messaging, graphics, and pictures/videos, and by also utilizing processes and systems that make it easy to work. Everything you put out into the world should be tied together and make it easier to do business with you.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The biggest lesson I learned through the COVID crisis is that businesses need two things to survive: 1. The ability to adapt and pivot in a time of crisis.
2. The ability to make a personal connection with clients.
These capabilities include adapting to your customer’s needs or understanding their struggles – physical, emotional, or mental. We have all struggled to maintain balance and stumble through this global crisis. We gravitated towards companies that understood it was difficult to manage family, home, work, and basic needs. The community aspect of not just building a business, but maintaining life became more apparent. Restaurants offered basic necessities when grocery stores had supply issues. It became easy to drive up and pick up milk, bread, and eggs without worrying about a trip to the store.
While I didn’t have an in for bread and milk like a restaurant, I knew I could offer memories or a sense of normalcy to local families in my community. When COVID first hit and we were under a mandatory lockdown, I offered front porch photos to families in my town. This allowed families to get pictures still, but I remained on the street or sidewalk and families stayed in their yards. I also offered senior photo sessions that the seniors could do outside their house.
Many changes from COVID forced less contact and more automation. As a result, making personal connections became more difficult, but also more important. Often, I let my clients lead the way on this by offering them choices on contact or contactless options, listening, and offering grace if they needed more distance or needed to change plans due to illness. Almost all of my pre-planning work became electronic or via zoom calls. Relying on systems and processes that I established early on helped my companies adapt to this. However, having a fully automated system is not ideal for creating a personalized experience, so I kept weekly check-ins for my branding clients and zoom or phone call meetings for photography clients and explained that they are important for the relationship. I found most people wanted connection after the isolation that COVID forced.
Contact Info:
- Email: melissa@righttimebranding.com
- Website: www.righttimephoto.com and www.righttimebranding.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/melissarighttimephoto | www.instagram.com/righttimebranding
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/righttimephoto
Image Credits
Right Time Photo
