Differentiate, Stand Out, Tell Your Story
Hi, I am Yvonne Pearce and my husband, Alan and I would like to welcome you to Let’s Talk Shop Photography. Having run our own retail establishment for 14 years and a coffee shop for 3 years, I know the importance of portraying a professional image through excellent photography and branding. Not a day goes by where I don’t see a lot of businesses still us
ing cell-phone pictures to promote their food, products or services. Sure, a cell-phone photo is handy. You just whip out your phone and click-click, you’ve got photos of your product. But have a look at those photos; they’re too dark, grainy, blurred and odds are the flash totally ruined the image. No filter can save that or make it better. Do you really want that to be your potential customer’s first introduction to your business? No matter what product or food you sell, you need to think about how you’re coming across to your customers and clients. Visually, if you come across as cheap and low-budget, that’s what people are going to expect no matter how high the quality of your products or food. On the other hand, if you visually communicate quality to your customers, you’ll attract customers who value quality and are willing to pay for it too. The fact is something as simple as a photograph can either help or hurt your business and sometimes you have to put into your business what you hope to get out. If you want to present your business and what you offer in a professional light, it’s worth investing in the services of a professional food or product photographer who can achieve that for you. When you are ready to stop losing business to your competition because of poor imagery and start growing a better visual brand online or off, we can help. Contact us today to discuss your requirements and for a free quotation. A Bit About Me
Here is a little more about me and why I founded “Let’s Talk Shop”. As I mentioned above, my name is Yvonne Pearce and I am the original founder of the Bay Tree Home and Décor brand which I sold in 2015. I am also the founder and owner of The Committed Dreamer. My Story So Far
Getting Started
In 2002, when Alan and I first arrived in South Africa, we were eager to start our own business on the South Coast. Both of us are naturally “makers” and set about creating and making accessories for the home. We weren’t sure at first how we would market our products; this was before email marketing and e-commerce. After selling at flea markets and to Interior Designers, we decided to take a leap and open our own shop, “The Bay Tree”. I love designing furniture so we then decided to buy a furniture factory. We have been making furniture ever since. In 2006, we registered our business and changed the name to “Bay Tree Home and Décor”. With a careful eye on cash flow, both our shop and our factory grew by over 300% by 2010. It was at this time that we decided to take another leap of faith and added a coffee shop into the mix. That is when our other brand “Tea @ Bay Tree” was born. Taking off
2011 was an exciting year for us. We won numerous awards. One was for Best Customer Service in KZN, awarded to us by the SACSC (South African Council of Shopping Centres) and later that year we also won “Best Cappuccino” for the South Coast awarded by The Sunday Tribune. All through this, just like our business, our children, Carrie and Alfie were also growing up. We realised that Carrie, in particular, was going to have to start high school in 2014. With this in mind, we decided to move to Pietermaritzburg because of the good schools. We hated the thought of Carrie boarding, so we decided that we would sell our shop and coffee shop and all moved to Pietermaritzburg. Big Decision
When we moved to PMB, I found that I enjoyed being able to collect my children from school and have the time to take part in their schooling activities like sporting events and plays. But another dream came to the fore; one that I had put to the back of my mind for many years. As the days went by, the urging became stronger; the urge to help others grow their business like I grew Bay Tree. It is for this reason that I started “The Committed Dreamer” and “Let’s Talk Shop”. I have learned so much over the past 14 years. But the overriding lesson is the importance of portraying a cohesive image and creating a brand that is recognisable above the competition, and this all starts with impeccable photography.
