My experience as a successful commercial photographer and business owner for over 25 years has given me the knowledge to help other creatives. Does your team need help taking better photographs for internal marketing on social platforms or out in the field? Let me help, reach out, and let’s see how we can work together on something informative!
Sheri Oneal
Consultations and Guest Speaking
My goal as a group speaker and mentor is always to see an individual grow their creativity and improve their business. As an adjunct instructor at Nossi College of Art for 10 years, I offered my expertise in educating students in business and marketing classes to prepare them as entrepreneurs upon graduation. As a successful self-employed business owner in the commercial photography industry, I have the insight and experience from my own success to help others prepare for the road ahead. My knowledge provides great insight for those starting a business in any creative field.
Common Questions
I am available as a guest speaker to discuss the commercial industry or any of the sessions listed here. I also offer one-on-one consultations on topics that appeal to photographers, artists, and other creatives on the road to starting their own businesses as self-employed creatives.
What does a consultation include?
Consultations run between 1-1 ½ hours and are tailored to your marketing needs, in person, in Nashville. Each session offers my expertise within the topic selected and an outline as a PDF download of the key topics discussed.
How do I choose?
Pick a session that appeals to your most important business need. If you prefer to do more than one I can help to decide the order based on your business knowledge. The focus will be on what is perfect for you and your brand.
What do I need to do before my session?
First, you must provide me with an outline of the type of business you have or plan to have. Then share what you hope to achieve within your session. After a conversation over the phone, I will customize your session in advance to ensure that you will walk away with the tools you need to achieve your goals. Once you have talked with me and provided me with your goals you will need to purchase your session in PayPal to lock in a calendar date.
Guest Speaking Workshop
Take Better Photos Using Your Phone
Guest Speaker Workshop Event
Are your photos falling flat? I have the answer– no experience required! This workshop reveals simple yet powerful techniques to take your photographs to the next level using any smartphone. You don’t need fancy equipment or years of experience – just the right know-how! This workshop demystifies the art of photography, breaking down key concepts into easy-to-understand techniques you can use immediately. From composition and lighting to editing and more, you’ll learn how to capture stunning images that tell your story. I’ll share inspiring examples, recommend helpful apps, and provide personalized guidance to help you develop your unique style. Ideal for businesses looking to boost their social media presence or capture professional-quality images in the field!
Consultations
Session A
Your Business Roadmap
In this session, I help you to outline and define what you are good at as a service or what you will sell as a product. You will determine exactly what your market is and what kind of work opportunities are within your market. You will determine if your product or service should appeal to the consumer or commercial markets. You will research who your potential clients are and how to approach them effectively.
Session B
Understanding Your Competition
In this session, you will research and determine who your competitors are and why. You uncover different ways that will help you stand out and rise above your competition. You develop what can you offer that is unique using your own creativity. I show you how to brainstorm and think outside the box so that your service or product will stand out.
Session C
Defining Your Business
In this session, you will learn how to design exactly what you plan to sell based on your market. You will determine what your market wants and choose your main keywords. I help you outline the important details of your elevator pitch, mission statement, bio, and tagline depending on your business model. This process is centered around the development of your brand showcasing your product or service to your market in a distinctly clear way.
Session D
Determining The Cost To Run Your Business
Do you know what it will cost to run your business? Having a budget and understanding the cost involved to start and maintain your business is crucial for success. But how do you determine the business cost if you haven’t started it yet? In this session, I help you develop a list of possible expenses that apply to your business model to determine the cost of running it. I help you develop a list of living expenses and outline your estimated monthly budget cost. Using your personal and estimated business expenses, you will develop your CODB (Cost Of Doing Business) budget to ensure you know how much it will cost to grow your business.
Session E
Developing Your Brand
Your brand is important in growing a successful business because this is how a customer identifies with you, your service, or your product directly. In this session, you will develop the essential elements that your brand should include, and what it should look like. You will determine the mood, color scheme, and other important visual elements needed to develop matching business materials. I show you how to create a brand-style template so you can use it to develop marketing materials such as your website, social shares templates, and business cards. I offer insight into services that will help you build your own marketing materials using your brand style once you have it developed.
Session F
An Introduction To SEO
In this session, I teach you the basics of SEO (search engine optimization) and why it is important with everything you do online. I help you understand how to strengthen your website content to help grow your online presence among your competitors. I share ways you can make the content on your site more appealing to google search as well as your customers. I share how to properly size your images and what information to include regarding ALT tags, descriptions, and image titles. Learning the importance of these elements is crucial for having a healthy site and being found by potential clients online.
Session G
Building Your Social Media Presence
Once you understand SEO you need to learn how to design precisely what you plan to sell based on your market. In this session, you will determine what your market wants and how you can reach them using keywords. Using the elements of proper SEO you will research and determine the right keywords that will reach the market you want to attract. Depending on your business model, I help you outline the important details using keywords and content that connect your brand and market successfully. Using those elements you will then develop an elevator pitch, mission statement, bio, and tagline. This process is centered around the development of your brand showcasing your product or service to your market in a distinctly clear way.
Session H
Time Management Principles
In this session, you will discover the best methods to help manage your time efficiently. I share with you potential apps and software that can help you use your time more efficiently. Tools that can you schedule calendar appointments directly with your clients, time blocking, task development, and proper allocation for successful planning.
Session I
Developing Your Chart Of Accounts For Quickbooks
This session helps you to develop your chart of account list for your income and expenses. I offer possible list items based on your business services and expenses. I also share the basic setup of these items in Quickbooks, which can easily help allocate your taxes. You will develop your own list that includes the aspects of your type of small independent business.
Session J
Developing Your Cost Of Doing Business
Prerequisite Session D- Determine The Cost To Run Your Business. In this session, I show you how to determine how to price your work based on your market. I work with you to understand how to use your personal and business expenses combined with income to create an average daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly budget cost outline to run your business. This prepares you for the costs involved to run the business you want with the lifestyle you desire.
Session K
Understanding What To Charge
Before you can sell a product or service you need to determine the market value of what you offer and the time it will take to deliver it successfully to your customer. In this session, we walk through the steps of how determining what you should charge for your service or product. You will research your competitors and market to understand the value of what you offer. Using that information you will determine your own pricing and develop your own list of possible products and services. I will also provide you with tips to how this information can be used in Quickbooks.
Session L
Bidding, Estimates And Invoices
How do you bid on a job? This session offers different ways to understand your client’s needs, determine the use, and possible expenses, to develop an estimate, proposal, and invoice. I share ideas for laying this information out clearly for your customer and what should be included in your estimates, proposals, and invoices. I offer tips for developing your steps and following up with your customers. After taking this session, you can create your own estimate, proposals, and invoices.
Contact me!
Are you looking for a guest speaker or are you in need of a consultation?
Contact me and let me know how I can help!
Here is what others are saying about Sheri!
“Thank you for speaking at ArtCamp on Saturday. It was the best seminar I attended. You were clear, had actionable steps to achieve goals, and were really engaging. Thank you again – wonderful, inspiring stuff!”
~Alison Logan
Arts Coordinator at Battle Ground Academy
“I wanted to thank you again for such an inspiring talk you gave at the Art Camp event. It really was the best seminar I attended. Wishing you the best.”
~Jeff Frazier
Freelance Photographer at Jeff Frazier Photographs
“Sheri, your classes have been my favorite general ed classes! I love the way you teach. You know how to break things down for students to understand easily. You are hilarious! I love how you are a teacher but yet you let your kids have fun in class and make jokes with you! You are awesome and I have learned so much from you! I am definitely going to miss you! Thank you for all that you have done!”
~Hannah Ingram
Freelance Photographer at Hannah Ingram Photography
“Sheri’s Business of Photography course taught me how to better communicate with others. Whether it be through an elevator pitch, a mission statement, a resume, or any other business channel, she helped me hone my skills to the point where I felt very confident when I had to communicate with others about my business. Upon graduation, I researched businesses in my area. I sent my resume and portfolio out to those I was interested in working with as a photographer. I was contacted a few days later by Joey Stewart of Stewartography, he said my resume and portfolio were very impressive and he would like to interview me for a position. When I went for the interview, I was prepared and excited, I spoke confidently while giving my elevator pitch and speaking of my experiences. I was hired that same day and I love working for them. Sheri prepared me very well and that self-confidence helped me land my first job less than a month out of college. Sheri truly cares about her students and their success. I am very thankful I had her as an instructor.”
~Dusty Draper
Wedding & Engagement Photographer for Stewartography