Change is hard. Deciding to make the change and then executing it in the way you envision can be even more challenging. It takes not only a lot of work, but also trust, planning, patience, collaboration, more patience, and a strong vision that everyone believes in and is excited to work towards.
Once we decided it was time for an upgrade, it had been seven years with the same website after all, we knew turning to our long term friend and business connection Matt Maudlin at Memo Marketing Group was the right call for us. After our first team brainstorm session with Matt, the plan was made to survey our current client base to see what was important to them in a website and what features they’d like to see to enhance their experience and make working with us simpler than ever. The survey went out to a number of clients (thank you to all who participated!) and helped us decipher priorities within the site and how to make it most efficient.
After gaining feedback from our clients, we talked about what matters most to us. Of course, ease of use was at the top of the list, but it was also crucial that we highlight the 30+ years of work Lesle and our team has created in a beautiful way. They say a photo is worth a thousand words and we wanted our work to speak for itself, look simple and to the point, but also show consistency and make you think “Ah! That’s a Studio 13 photograph!” when you see it. This meant combing through decades of work to showcase our most prized and proud photos.
We also wanted to include sections on our website that we’d never published before, such as the company/family history and educational resources to help prospects and clients alike. This is where a ton of collaboration came in. Lesle worked with her mother, Georgia, to summarize our legacy that dates all the way back to the late 1930s. It was special to recollect the vision that developed through the years, the images and major projects created and grasp just how much our family has accomplished in our third generation business.
The collaboration didn’t stop there. Our administrative team, Connor and Katie, were tasked with creating the educational pillar to help guide those who visit our site on a handful of different topics like why you should choose a professional photographer for custom headshots and how to capture industrial spaces in a flattering light. This took hours of brainstorming, writing, editing, rewriting, sleeping on a thought and coming back the next day and then editing some more. Each article was carefully review by both sets of eyes before sent to Matt for final review and approval. This part was so fun to see come to life in the final product!
We kept our tried and true processes and made them even easier to access, like booking a studio headshot straight from our homepage. You can still see shots of our whole team, so you know the face of who you are working with on the day of your shoot, and the tribute to our beloved Tena remains.
It’s cliché to say an undertaking like this is a labor of love, but there is truly no better way to describe it. It took months and multiple meetings, long hours and careful selection.
We are so very proud of what we created together and we hope you enjoy it just as much as we do!
