Michelle Garey Photography

The Beginning:

I started my photography business, my third business, in 2011. From the beginning, specialization was key. Most of my competitors were photographers who offered all types of photography, and there were a lot of them. I recognized that they had missed out on the opportunity to dive deep immediately and become an early expert. I also recognized that I needed for them to not be my competition any longer.

I immediately specialized and built a competitive, niche, passion business in a little-known and rapidly evolving market. Through very targeted marketing, friendship-building, quality work, high-volume word-of-mouth, and a solid support system of professionals, clients, and family, I quickly gained market share and became an established name.

Specializing in a niche photography market offered endless creative freedom and opportunity for growth. It also offered a lot of work product visibility and potential for viral impact. For these reasons, the niche became very appealing to a lot of people quite quickly. As the niche grew, I, along with my fellow early birth photographers, became advisors and mentors to many.

The Birth Photography industry has continued to grow, to educate, to inspire, and to empower everyone it touches. Birth photography has played an instrumental role in creating momentum for change in the maternal healthcare system as people deepen their knowledge of the birth event, establish a more rounded and educated view of birth, and begin to demand better for themselves and their loved ones.

It’s been a tremendous honor to have played a small part in all that.

The Brand:

This business has experienced three total branding iterations. The nascent phase was defined by a minimalist, vibrant color blocking scheme. In the early days, print collateral was considered essential, in addition to trade show booths and visibility in affiliated business, such as obstetric and chiropractic offices, yoga studios, and 3D ultrasound providers.

The second iteration of the business involved a branding overhaul, name change, and relocation to the Denver market. A Birth Revered chased a more elegant aesthetic with a logo defined by its typeface, a fresh website, updated packaging, and luxury pricing. In anticipation of scaling up session volume with two additional photographers on staff, A Birth Revered adopted a Project Management platform and a multifaceted CRM system and never ever looked back. Because A Birth Revered benefited from such effective Search Engine Optimization, community reputation, word-of-mouth marketing, and relationships with midwives, doulas, obstetricians, and other birth professionals, print marketing and trade shows were retired as unnecessary, and unjustifiable. Our target market was no longer the average consumer browsing a trade show or visiting their doctor, due to the luxury branding and pricing. We were always #1 in the search results without ever paying a dime towards search engine advertising.

The third iteration of “MGP Worldwide” took the business back to its roots as a single-photographer business, but kept the beloved story-minded branding approach from A Birth Revered. A new pricing strategy was implemented with the goal of scaling back the volume of sessions, and greater emphasis than ever before was placed on the value of videography.

During 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, marketing efforts shifted to promote outdoor and lifestyle sessions, as hospital restrictions infringed upon the number-one profit center, birth.

The brand will continue to evolve and shift.