How stay-at-home mom Megan powered up her photography business with Sellfy.

Megan has been a successful photographer for years, and since April 2020 she’s using Sellfy to grow her business Megan Hein Photography. Her initial intention was to sell photography presets, but when Sellfy launched its Print-on-demand feature, she was excited to design a whole new line of products.

The quick setup process, automated order processing, and store customisation in Sellfy provide her with an easy-to-use storefront that matches her beautiful brand. Now she’s able to enjoy a stream of passive income while spending quality time with her family. We’re happy to share her story and tips for success with you.

Tell us about what you do for a living. 

I’m a stay-at-home mom with my own photography and mentorship business. I also host retreats and sell presets for photographers. And, I recently started selling my print-on-demand design products. 

My audience is a mix of clients who want their photographs taken and professional photographers. Among them are well-seasoned photographers as well as beginners trying to find a support system to get started. 

Why did you pick Sellfy?

I needed a quick and easy setup so I could start selling presets. I came across Sellfy because another photographer recommended it to me. I had done a lot of research and I was struggling to find something that was easy to use.

So, I looked at your website and decided to go with it because the other photographer had been successful with Sellfy. It wasn’t hard for me to figure out how to get my Sellfy store up and running as the platform is pretty self-explanatory.

What are the benefits of selling with Sellfy?

Sellfy has given me a way to earn passive income—I don’t have to be on my computer all day to send digital files or invoices. This allows me to spend more time with my family, which is so important to me. 

It’s not realistic to have a business where you need to be present 24/7 just to send digital files. Sellfy has made it easy for my clients to buy and download my presets whenever they want.

Describe your favourite Sellfy features.

I love being able to create a coupon code or host sales where I can put a start date and an end date, especially around the holidays. I don’t have to remember to launch and end the sale myself. 

I also like the customisable storefront and that I’m able to make it look consistent with my brand. I can have colours that match my website, Instagram, and Facebook. I can use my logo and have a professional appeal to it. In my opinion, this is what makes a store look attractive and I like that Sellfy offers that.

It’s important to have a consistent look or aesthetic for your store so that people can recognise your brand. So, Sellfy letting you customise your store to your liking is a huge benefit.

Some of the stores I came across during my research didn’t have that option. Having a store without customisation or a custom domain is a turn off for me. I really appreciate that Sellfy gives me the option to make my store look truly mine without being time-consuming.

What about Sellfy’s print-on-demand feature? I see you sell your own design mugs and t-shirts.

When I found out about it, it sounded really fun because I love creating and designing things. I thought it would be a neat opportunity to create something for other photographers. For instance, I have always loved the idea of selling my own t-shirts.

Sellfy lets you sell everything in one place and it’s super convenient. The process of creating mugs and t-shirts was incredibly easy for me. All I had to do was design my idea and upload it.

The longest part was just me designing the images in Photoshop. Within a week or two, I ordered shirts to check the print quality and if anything needed to be changed. And, I was impressed! I’m sure everyone has ordered t-shirts from other POD companies that turned out to be disappointing, but I was impressed with the softness and image quality of Sellfy’s products. This is important because I want my clients to be happy with my products.

I also love the fact that with print-on-demand there is no minimum for order count and you don’t need to have a stock of items. 

How do you attract new clients and boost sales?

I do it on Facebook and Instagram, with posts and stories. My approach to marketing is to focus on putting together content in a tasteful way and posting as frequently as possible. I try to market a lot because people tend to forget your brand when you’re inactive.

Social media is tricky and there’s an algorithm to it—not everyone will see what you’re doing every time you post. Whether I’m promoting a product or a photo session, people won’t know it’s available unless I’m consistently putting it out there. 

And, I make it easy for people to purchase my products. 

In what ways has Sellfy impacted your business?

The biggest impact has been the ease-of-use and the passive income. As a stay-at-home working mom with three children, that in and of itself is huge. Sellfy takes care of a lot of the behind the scenes work for me. 

I was also blown away at how quick your customer support were to respond. I thought it would take a week or two before I heard back from them, but that immediate response kept my business up and running.

Just knowing that the support team was there already working on a fix was huge for me, especially in getting the print-on-demand set up and live.

Any tips or lessons that you would like to share?

When I first started out, it was overwhelming to think about how to create an online store. So, I encourage people to not let that be a deterrent from getting started. If you have an idea for a product that you feel is of value and people keep asking you about it, don’t allow the overwhelm of trying to find a place to put your ideas out take over.

Of course, learning anything new can be intimidating and time-consuming, but this one was really simple and straightforward. Just find a great company to work with and learn as you go.  Sellfy was super easy to use. It was really surprising for me to see how easy it was to set up my store.

How do you see the future of your business in these uncertain times?

We’re all going through really hard times right now with the global pandemic. I think it’s amazing that we’re still able to market ourselves—this is how we support our families and pay our bills. Sellfy is an amazing platform that we can use to provide for ourselves.

I’m planning on launching some new presets as I would love to add more products to my store. The coffee mugs and the t-shirts are great. I’m really excited to see what Sellfy offers for print on demand in the future.

Head over to Megan’s Sellfy store to see and purchase her products.

Keep in touch and follow her latest updates on Instagram.