382: Mia Stone – Gifting your photography skills to help small businesses

Mia Stone of www.miastone.com.au recently signed up to become a PhotoBizX Premium Member. After joining, we exchanged some emails and I learnt Mia was offering her services and skills to other local small businesses during the pandemic… free.

In one of her messages, she said:

During COVID I noticed a lot of jobs lost and business's having to close down. So I quickly sprung into action and have been rushed off my feet helping local business's go from a bricks and mortar store to online in a week.

I photograph their products and then create, design and launch their new website and also provide them with marketing assets to compliment the new launch.

I have been doing this free of charge since the pandemic hit in March and I have been filled with so much joy and gratitude by doing so. It has been an absolute pleasure being able to use my skillset in design, tech and photography to service those who truly believed their business would go under.

In this interview, we dive deep into exactly what Mia has been doing for other small business and how ultimately, it's likely to help her business in the long run and why gifting your photography skills to help small businesses could be a great move for you too.

Here's some more of what we cover in the interview:

• A brief background of Mia's business
• How the pandemic has affected Mia's business
• What Mia is doing to cope with the lockdown
• The importance of staying positive
• Why Mia is going out of her way to help businesses
• Is it alright to venture to other photography niches
• How Mia attracts clients
• What's next for Mia's business

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what Mia shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below, let me know what your takeaways were, what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in today's episode.

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Mia or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

Each week I check for any new iTunes reviews and it's always a buzz to receive these… for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they really are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome!

Secondly, iTunes is the biggest search engine when it comes to podcasts and it's your reviews and ratings that help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and ultimately a better show.

If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name.

Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast and email me your keywords or keyword phrase and where you'd like me to link to.

Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has made a difference to you and your photography business.