This little blog has always been a place where I can share about so much more than photography. I’ve written about our adoption journey, our marriage, our moves, and how life has changed over the past several years. Yet there’s one piece of my life that I haven’t shared in the interest of keeping photography as the focal point, but I think it’s finally time!
Truth is, I’ve been doing a lot more than just wedding and family photography for the last six years. Various jobs have come and gone, but a lot of my time is spent not just booking sessions and editing pictures, but filling out the role of digital and social media marketing for a number of different clients as well. I’ve never advertised this or even talked about it, but slowly the opportunities have grown, and since I truly enjoy this side of my business I’ve never been able to turn them down! So, in addition to photography, here are the other things I’m doing right now…
1) Social Media Marketing for Chick-fil-A in Hampton, Virginia
This has been the longest contract I’ve held, and one of the most fun! I run the Facebook page for a local Chick-fil-A, which happened after the owner/operator and I had a chat about his goals for the future and realized we were a good fit. At the time I was Director of Communications for my full-time job, and he had seen enough of my work to realize this was an area in which he needed to invest.
2) Digital Marketing for Island Time Films, Inc.
The director of a trop rock film, Chasing the Sun, contacted me a few weeks before its premiere in Key West. He wanted immediate marketing for the premiere and an ongoing social media presence. I have been working to promote this fun movie since the fall, and I’m excited about the upcoming digital release! Working on this project has been an exciting challenge, and I’ve grown SO much through it.
3) Digital Marketing for Peninsula Community Chapel in Yorktown, Virginia
PCC is actually our home church, and after a consultation when I reviewed their SEO practices and tried to improve their presence on search engines, they hired me on to run their social media and digital marketing. It’s an honor to be able to work for my church and help out in a small, but fun way. So if you’re reading this and you go to my church…surprise! I’m the one liking all your Instagram posts :)
4) Blogging for Tidewater and Tulle
I’ve also worked a long time for Tidewater and Tulle! I help Chelsea, the guru of all the things, by writing drafts of the weddings she features on this lovely blog. Many of my weddings have found a home here as well, and I’m proud to be part of her vendor family. It’s a wonderful little online community of creatives in the Hampton Roads area and beyond, and I’m thankful that I get to participate on a bigger level than most!
5) Social Media Marketing for a division of Gateway Church in Dallas, Texas
It’s hard to believe that May will mark three years of working for the business leaders program at Gateway Church. I do a lot more than just run their social media, and for the past few weeks I’ve been able to help out with email marketing as well, and it’s a lot of fun to work remotely with great people for an up-and-coming idea that is growing by leaps and bounds.
Whew - I’m pretty sure that’s it for the time being - sometimes it’s hard to keep track of it all! Because I’ve been doing so many other things, I finally made a simple online home for current and future digital marketing clients. Head over to MariaGraceLLC.com to see it! While I have no intention of changing what I’m doing now with photography, it’s good to finally have an outlet for all the other things I’m doing already. I’m excited to see what’s next!
