Ania Orlowska
Hiring a professional photographer can seem stressful, but Ania Orlowska takes the stress out of the hunt. She created Booking a Photographer to help clients and businesses select the best professionals for their needs.
Read on to learn more about Ania, her business, and how energy healing helps her.
Hustle Amsterdam (HA): Where are you from? And what brings you to Amsterdam?
Ania Orlowska (AO): Originally I’m from Poland but left the country about 20 years ago. I’ve lived in many different places like the U.S., Australia, and the Caribbean. Somehow though, I always come back to Amsterdam; there is something about this place that pulls me in every time. 🙂
HA: Tell me about your business? What is your mission?
AO: I help my clients, companies, and individuals book professional photographers. My main goal is to provide selected high-quality professionals to people who need them. It’s personal expert assistance for those who want to cut time searching for and have difficulty deciding who is actually the best professional for what they need.
Long ago, I noticed people wanted to be advised on who to work with, that’s why recommendation is a strong way to get clients. I’m that person who recommends the best professionals in photography in all categories. I take care of understanding the project, the selection of a photographer and team, and partly coordinate the photo shoots, depending on the size.
HA: How are you handling our new “normal” due to the coronavirus outbreak? What impact has it had on your business? How has the transition to working remotely been for you? Are you being strict with a routine or taking it day-by-day?
AO: Unfortunately, at the very beginning of the crisis, the photography business was entirely put on hold. The sad part is that creative industries get the first slap in a crisis like this. Thankfully, once the restrictions loosened up, business is slowly picking up again.
My way of work didn’t change much as I always worked online and mainly managed the details for the clients. Since we were stuck at home and in need to reflect and find new ways to work, I decided to focus on how I could support my community of photographers to help them get back on their feet as soon as things get moving again.
Online presence has always been important for photographers, but many don’t utilize all the tools that would get them visible and make sure that potential clients will decide to book them. It’s all about this first impression that will convince the potential client to make contact and not look any further.
My goal is to create an online course to let the photographers inside my head and show them the process when I look for professionals to book them for my clients. I have seen hundreds of websites and portfolios in my business, and there are very specific things that make me hit that contact button. The course is in the making and will be released in August.
That’s not the only way I use this bump in the road to expand my reach and contribute my knowledge for the greater good. I believe right now is the time to reinvent ourselves. It’s an opportunity to focus on these things that have always been in our interest and make them work now.
HA: You mentioned that now is a time to reinvent ourselves. How will you do that?
AO: Another side business I have been developing is mindset coaching using energy healing. It’s something I’m very passionate about, and I’m completely astonished by the results I am getting. It’s such a powerful tool to change our subconscious-limiting beliefs that are holding us back from the success, prosperity, and fulfillment we all long for.
Our society doesn’t put enough emphasis on the energetics of things, which play a huge role in even deciding who you will work with. We are all sending “signals” that our subconscious mind picks up as a vibration, and we feel pulled or repelled from the person. That’s when you say, “Someone had a good vibe.” It all depends on what is happening in our subconscious mind, how much self-love or self-hatred we carry, what we believe about life, if it’s a struggle or fun — all these are picked up by us subconsciously, and we make decisions based on these hunches often without even knowing.
Your vibe is what you attract into your life: How many clients are you calling in? How worthy are you to charge a high price for your work? How good do you feel about the results you deliver? How much money are you able to make in your business? What is your upper limit? All these answers are based on what you believe you are worthy and deserving of, and that comes from our subconscious mind. Amazing, isn’t it?
HA: Why Booking a Photographer? What brought you to photography?
AO: People often ask me if I am a photographer myself. I am not. But trust me, most of the work I do is not in the photography industry, it’s in customer relations and communication. It’s a crucial part of any business, but in photography, it’s especially important because a lot of highly creative people are not so great in clear communication and are bad at sales. 😉
I get it, their main goal and passion is in creating amazing images! I have always had a great eye for high-quality visuals and I’m good at clear communication. The combination of both makes me a perfect person to run this business. 🙂
On top of this, I’m a huge supporter of creative people in all areas. I find pleasure in seeing the talents grow and succeed. If I can help them do so, I’m happy. I am super excited to be equipped with tools like energy healing skills to help more photographers uplevel their business and life. To go from living out their passion and struggling, to living out their passion and thriving. I completely understand that people who created businesses from their passion struggle with finding clients, having enough confidence in their work, and dealing with all things business from marketing to answering emails. I know that everything can be shifted into something more pleasurable and fun when we change our limiting beliefs.
HA: What kind of obstacles do you face in your company? How do you handle them?
AO: There are many challenging areas in this business I need to focus on.
To name a few:
How to stay on top of Google search results.
How to find and reach out to more potential customers.
How to differentiate yourself from the competition.
How to make sure the photographers communicate clearly with clients.
HA: What has been your most successful moment so far? And how do you celebrate your wins?
AO: My most successful moments are always when the clients recognize the value of the service I provide and are happy with the results. I worked with brands like Zoom, WHO, Hotjar, and Forbes magazine, which booked great photographers. Every satisfied client is my win.
On the other hand, every happy photographer I work with and who sees the financial results and can live out their passion is a win as well. That's why it's important for me to help photographers grow their business by upleveling their success mindset through energy healing work. I celebrate each of these wins by being grateful for these amazing opportunities.
HA: How have you accomplished what you have? Did you go to business school? Did you wing it? Fake it till you make it? Get really lucky?
AO: I studied media and entertainment management, which gave me a lot of experience in building new creative concepts. It was a great background to set up my own business but really and truly, I don’t believe much in big business plans at the start of your idea, I believe that it’s all about doing it, testing it, and checking if people want it. Then you can think of how to grow your business further.
I have been around photographers and creative people all my life. I have assisted some in their photo shoots and saw that clients don’t really know what to expect and often what good quality is. Then, I thought it would be a great service to help them decide. I made a one-page website, very simple, put it up on Google Ads, and boom! People liked it, I got clients asking for photographers, and that’s how Booking a Photographer was born. If you sell something that people want and need, there is no “faking ‘til you make it” needed. 🙂
HA: Did you fundraise for your business? If so, tell me about your experience.
AO: My business needed a low-investment starting budget. But on the other hand, it needed lots of time investment. I have come up with the concept, branding, built the whole website myself, and did all the backend work. It was my full-time job for myself and I totally loved it!
I have worked with other professionals in different specializations like marketing or SEO to get to the point. You can only learn as much being one person. This was a game changer for me of course.
HA: How big is your team? And where are your team members located?
AO: I work with over 100 photographers on a regular basis in different places around the world depending on where my clients need them. Many others are on my list to go to when I want to book them. I’m very happy to collaborate with photographers around the world although my main playground is still the Netherlands.
“The best is yet to come.”
HA: Do you have a favorite motivational quote?
AO: “The best is yet to come.”
I think this one is my favorite reminders to always expect better. When you are tired and want to give up, (it happened to me a few times) you are reminded that it can only get better from here, so why quit now? 🙂
HA: What 3 tips would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs? What do you wish you had known before you started?
AO:
1. Don’t do it all alone! I don’t have any regrets of putting a lot of time into development of my idea, but when I started to work with specialists, I saved so much time and defined my ideas that were scattered all over the place. Shout out to Beth Farris, a marketing strategist who has helped me so much to grow my business!
2. Don’t waste much time on business plans. I don’t mean don’t think of a big picture, have something planned out. But before you know if this stuff works, don’t waste your time. Start small, but start it! Put it out there and test it first.
3. Work on your mindset! It’s absolutely crucial that you work on your success mindset and do a lot of self-development. Each level in our lives requires a new you. Without expanding your capacity for growth, your business can not grow. It is also strictly connected to your self-worth. Don’t think of business as something separate from you, it’s part of you, and it reflects your capacity to grow.
HA: How would you describe your working style?
AO: My working style is intuitive. I definitely believe in a creative flow and working in it to come up with ideas and designs.
HA: When you’re not working on Booking a Photographer — where can we find you?
AO: When I don’t work either on my business or on myself, I relax, take a walk in nature, see my friends and once in a while go out to dance.
HA: How do you find work-life balance while being an entrepreneur?
AO: I think this balance is a bit mixed up. When you relax, some great ideas tend to show up, so you end up planning things for your business outside business hours. The beauty of this is that it doesn’t bother you because it’s something you are building with passion.
HA: What is your passion?
AO: I’m passionate about energy healing work. I spend a lot of time working on myself using healing techniques I’m certified in. I love all things energy, soul, mindset, and self-development.
HA: What inspires you most about Amsterdam? Do you have any favorite spots to work or hangout?
AO: I love Amsterdam for its diversity of nationalities and lifestyle that allows you to move around whenever you feel like — jump on the bike and just go. I love the possibility of meeting so many different people from around the world in one place.
HA: Anything else you’d like to add?
AO: If you are a photographer interested in joining my team you can visit my website and apply. There you will also be able to find my brand new online course to help you polish your online presence to book new photography clients. Website members will be able to get it for a much discounted rate.
If you would like to work with me on your mindset change through energy healing to up level your life in all areas, visit my coaching website here.
Follow Ania on Instagram @aniaorlowska, and give her a like on Facebook here.
