I believe that in order to live my best life I always need to have an attitude of learning,” says photographer and educator Dorie Howell. Dorie got into photography by taking pictures of her family, and then friends started asking her to take pictures for them. “With my entrepreneurial spirit I took that idea and built a business that has lasted almost 15 years,” she says.

Right now, Dorie runs a branding business in the Washington, DC suburbs “specializing in providing images for the busy, camera shy, business owner.” Before that, she was a newborn and family photographer. 

She is known in the photography industry as being one of the primary people who put the modern IPS (in-person sales) process on the map. It has helped many photographers grow their studios by selling beautiful artwork to their clients. “I love working with my studio clients in capturing the images they need to promote their businesses and I treasure the time I spend working with photographers helping them grow their businesses,” she says.

Dorie describes her photography style as “clean,” requiring minimal editing and no over-the-top clothing or sets. She says “I want my images to be timeless representations of the people who gave me the privilege of photographing them.” She loves photographing faces because of the unlimited expressions. 

Dorie earned the Photographic Craftsmen degree (Cr.Photog.) from the Professional Photography Association of America for her service as a speaker and mentor. To earn her degree, she had to “satisfy several hours of teaching at approved events.” But, she never stops learning. Dorie listens to books, takes classes, and has “invested heavily in my education on topics I am passionate about.” She says everyone who is great at what they do has helpers behind the scenes. For example, “Professional athletes have coaches, musicians have directors, business professionals have mentors,” Dorie says.

In her teaching, Dorie talks about different communication styles for photography, marketing, and social media. She believes many people treat the concept of communication as a “one way street,” when in fact, ideas and thoughts need to flow both ways. “Not just if they understand us but also that we understand them and what they desire while we work together,” she says. Dorie says there are seven distinct communication styles, and most people fall into primarily one style. “But if you understand the different styles and how to work with them you can have much more successful interactions with different clients,” she says.

Dorie also believes that many photographers run their businesses like a hobby instead of a true business. “Some examples are not pricing profitably, not providing a consistent experience for their clients, not operating legally in paying taxes, not being properly insured, taking on jobs that they have not trained for, and not outsourcing tasks like editing in order to free up time to focus on what they do best.” She says hobbyists don’t need the systems and processes that businesses do. “Running a business means that you take on the responsibility of following through on the promises that you present to your clients,” she says. 

So what can photographers do to improve? She says “Most successful businesses have a team that works together to create what they offer to their customers. For some reason in photography we have an entire generation that feels that unless they do every single task in their company then they aren’t a true artist. Learning what you are really great at and then allowing someone else to do the tasks you aren’t good at is a fundamental idea in business that our industry just doesn’t seem to buy into.”

Dorie says she sees photographers on social media showing off all the hats they wear in their business and complaining that they have too much to do, can’t be with their families, and are up late editing every night. “There is no honor in this and we have romanticized it in a way that it is a duty to sacrifice ourselves for our business when our business is there to support all the things we want in our lives,” she says. Dorie believes business owners need to run their businesses sustainably so they don’t get burned out. That includes hiring other people, creating repeatable systems, and freeing up time to enjoy the business. Those are things she helps her coaching clients do.

Dorie says she feels like she’s been with PhotoBiz “forever. I love its simplicity, how I can change my website quickly (as I did when I changed genres earlier this year), creating forms, and new features like invoices and quotes allow photographers to run their business in a more streamlined way.” 

Dorie takes her recommendation to outsource tasks to heart. She uses PhotoBiz’s SEO Go program to help manage her online presence. She says it helps her “understand the power of my website and the tweaks I need to make in order for my website to be found organically in Google searches.”

And Dorie says creating her website with PhotoBiz was really easy. She started with a template and put it together in an afternoon. “It was a gift to be able to get a basic, functional website up in only a few hours.” Getting a great-looking site in a short amount of time was truly wonderful. And she loves PhotoBiz’s live phone support. “The team is great and always so incredibly helpful.”

What’s in Dorie’s future? She’s finishing preparing a communications class that will be available in November 2022. “I truly believe that once we master what it means to effectively communicate with our clients and navigate the differences we have with people, we can tackle any problem that presents itself and become a much better business owner.”

To get a taste of Dorie’s teachings, check out her weekly podcast, Focal Points. She shares tips on how to grow and manage your business and features a number of special guests. It’s available on all major podcast platforms and Audible.

She is also preparing to release a private podcast that will allow listeners a fun, unfiltered look at the photography industry. Dorie says she’s seen a lot of things and “can’t wait to pull back the curtain a bit and share my view of our industry, the good, bad, and ugly, with my audience.”

Believe it or not, there is more to Dorie than photography and training. In her free time, she loves to be with her family and travel the world, listen to podcasts, help in her community, and “work in the kitchen perfecting my thin crust pizza recipes.” 

Like Dorie, you can save time and quickly set up a website you'll love. Sign up for PhotoBiz today and you’ll have access to all of our tools and features!