Instagram is my favorite way to connect with other business owners, creators, and moms.

It’s also the hottest social media platform out there at the moment.

So if you want to up your Instagram game, I’ve got 3 underused ways you can take your photos and turn them into something great for your account.

Yikes, friends! The competition is fierce!

Gone are the days of being able to set up a so-so website for online presence and run around handing out business cards.

When you hand out a business card now, you can bet a week’s income that the recipient is going to turn around and look you up online for credibility about what you say. And the state of your website will either attract them or deflect them from hiring you, buying your product, etc. This is where the investment in good photography can make a huge impact on whether your visual game is on point and whether you’ve given your brand the visual credibility it deserves.

I’ve been in business for 6 years!

In those 6 years, I’ve been on cloud nine, ready to throw in the towel, and everywhere in between.

I’m about to get super real here with my reflections and 20/20 hindsight, but I have to own that I’m grateful for all of the business experiences I’ve had because they’ve shaped where I’m at today. And my hope is that by sharing these thoughts, you might get some encouragement and clarity around things going on in your business.

Service-based businesses need photos, too. While they may not have any physical products to sell, service providers like designers, marketers, and branders, still use images for their websites, social media, and blogs. Good stock photography can give you the opportunity to stretch your image material for longer amounts of time, spend less than you would on additional custom brand images, and still have eye-catching photos to display online. And I’ve got an easy, pennies-on-the-dollar way to get beautiful stock photography, including some shot by yours truly.

I know clothing flatlay photography can be challenging for a lot of people.

For those of you who are struggling with it, let me make it a little easier.

In my work as a commercial photographer, I have lots of clothing clients and I actually really love these kinds of shoots. So here are my top 5 tips for this specialized area of flatlay photography.

“Scaling your business.” What does that even mean?

A lot of people think of scaling as hiring actual employees, but really scaling is about finding whatever avenues will work to run your growing business faster and more efficiently, leaving you with the time to keep growing your business.

Before founding Crystal Clear Creative Studios, I actually worked in HR for over a decade. So based on my corporate and entrepreneurial experience, here are my top 3 tips to make hiring and outsourcing a good experience so you can successfully scale your business.