Michelle Dulieu Photography
Michelle Dulieu Photography
Chelmsford based Michelle Dulieu Photography expands network and finds new angle for her business with the Group2Grow peer network programme.
2022 will mark 5 years of Michelle Dulieu Photography. After working in finance in London for over 20 years, Michelle, who had always been a passionate hobbyist photographer, decided to make a change. After being made redundant from her role, she wanted to take her career in the direction she’d dreamt of, by making her passion for photography a viable business.
Specialising in headshots, Michelle has grown her business on her passion for creating a comfortable space for her clients to have their photos taken, and the referrals gained from happy clients. A key part of her success is her ability to draw on her own experience of not liking her own photo taken, which she channels into how she’ll handle her client briefs.
“I love working one-on-one, and I really believe in people having strong imagery on their online profiles, whether that’s networking on LinkedIn or actor headshots. I focus on helping them do that, even if they’re uncomfortable having their photo taken.”
Her photography portfolio also includes event shoots and food photography, but her focus and passion is headshots. She will often branch out with clients by using different background options and formats, driven by what the client wants to get the best result, with her editing built in to the service to ensure she delivers the best product.
Behind the lens
On emerging from the other side of the pandemic, Michelle recognised that her business is still fairly new. Although she felt confident in her photography skillset and what she could do, she felt she needed to work on getting herself out there, putting her best foot forward and driving her success.
Week to week, depending on client bookings, she’d been setting aside dedicated time to work on her website, attending online networking events and following up with clients. She felt that she wanted to have a stronger understanding of how to promote herself, and lay the groundwork of a solid base for the business for when life returns to normal.
“Even when I was unable to work, I kept the networking going, and now I’m just focusing on building it up. I feel like I’ve got much more structure around my business now than I did, and a much clearer vision about the type of work I want to do, who I want my clients to be.”
Finding Group2Grow
Michelle first heard about the Group2Grow programme after seeing it publicised on local business networking pages and newsletters from Chelmsford City Council. From having had experience working with business coaches during her finance career, she saw the value that the free one-to-one sessions that the programme offered might have for her own business.
The Group2Grow programme, delivered by expert business coaches on behalf of Backing Essex Business, was specifically created to bring together business owners from across the county to help them to solve issues their business is facing and find solutions. The cohorts of likeminded businesspeople come together once every fortnight to attend a session guided by their business coach, where they will discuss common problems faced in running a business and discuss how they can overcome it together. In addition to the group sessions, each participant benefits from 3 hours of 1:2:1 mentoring to discuss their individual problems and goals.
As the pandemic had put her business growth on pause for almost two years, Michelle felt that she needed to address some confidence issues in the process of growing her business and getting where she wanted to be, and Group2Grow might be able to help.
“‘I haven’t been a photographer professionally for 20 years, and I’ve only been going for 5 years instead, so I think it was an imposter syndrome I was dealing with.
I realised through Group2Grow is that most people struggle with confidence and have issues that they feel they need to fix with their business. It makes you realise you’re not the only one, and that makes you feel a lot better about it.’”
Strength in numbers
““One of the things that I’ve gotten out of Group2Grow is that it made me feel much more confident promoting my business. I’ve learnt tips and techniques on how to approach people, and overall a softer approach to sales that really suits me.” ”
The free 8 x 2 hour sessions centre around what the group participants feel they want to work on, with session content varying from marketing and sales techniques, to networking and confronting imposter syndrome. Michelle felt that the group element was invaluable, as it added an element of accountability ahead of the sessions and it was motivating to see other participants making positive changes week by week.
““The accountability of being part of a group and the bouncing ideas off one another made me feel much more energised in terms of getting my business running again and finding out what my next steps are.
It gave me validation, and the one on one coaching is just invaluable. The 1:2:1 sessions with David really made me think about the strategic side of my business, my business model, my type of client and justification for that. It helped me get more strategic about managing my client base.”
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Michelle notes that she’s already started to see positive changes in her business from implementing things she learnt during the Group2Grow sessions - such as asking previous clients to leave her Google reviews, which has since seen her website activity increase significantly.
Making connections
From the networking element of the programme, she’s been able to make connections with fellow participant and businessowner Stephanie from The CakeWorx, which she plans to collaborate with on a photo shoot for her cake making business to increase her food photography portfolio while providing new professional imagery for Stephanie’s website.
Now that Michelle has finished the Group2Grow programme, she aims to keep her confidence up in respect of promoting and marketing her business, and keep working on the visibility of her website and social media pages to gain more traction. From the sessions, she says she gained the confidence in knowing and valuing her work, which she hopes will aid her in pushing the business forward in the future.
We wish Michelle Dulieu and her business the best of luck for the future.
