The founder of Good Food Clicks, an inspiring platform for food photography enthusiasts, Vanisha Rodrigues is great behind the camera not just as a photographer but as a stylist too. She has worked on over 50 food photography and strategic marketing projects along with top chefs in Mumbai, to create enticing and aesthetically appealing content for their brand-building initiatives.
With a knack for leading teams to ensure that work is planned, executed and delivered on time, she heads a group of 7 people that strategize social and digital marketing activities for SMEs across Mumbai.
Vanisha shares the highs and lows from her professional journey, talks about the strategies she employs to keep her Instagram page competitive, and also discusses her first milestone in terms of monetisation and recognition for Good Food Clicks.
1. What’s your educational & professional background?
I’m a Computer Engineer and I graduated back in 2019. I work as a Food Photographer, Stylist and Content Creator for brands in the F&B space.
2. What prompted you to start Good Food Clicks?
Back in 2015, Instagram was slowly picking up. The idea of travelling across the city to savour food and click pictures made me feel exhilarated. That’s what prompted me to create the page, share my food experiences with everyone and share Good Food Clicks, pun intended 🙂
3. Did you always want to be a food photographer & food stylist?
Honestly, no. While visiting new restaurants every day was joyful, clicking pictures of food gave me a different kind of kick altogether. I felt I had a knack for styling food and clicking pictures of dishes that made one want to eat them. And that’s what led me to become a food photographer.
4. What was your first milestone & how did you get there?
My first milestone was getting awarded as the Best Food Photographer at World On A Plate 2019. The legendary Chef Marco Pierre White gave me the trophy and I was ecstatic. It came after 3 years of working as a food photographer for F&B and hospitality brands across India.
5. How long did it take you to monetise Good Food Clicks?
It took us roughly 18 months since inception that we started monetising Good Food Clicks. Yes, the initial investment and waiting period are a little too much, but when marketers and agencies started noticing the kind of influence our page generated for products, they started reaching out to us for paid collaborations on the platform.
6. What kind of marketing strategies work best for your content?
With the ever-changing algorithms of Instagram, it becomes difficult to stay put with one strategy. For us, in parallel with promotions, we’ve focused on various themes for our grids and strategic collaborations with other Instagrammers and brands. This helps us be competitive in this space.
7. Do you have any tips for an aspiring content creator who wants to enter this space?
Anyone who wants to enter this space needs to be a little creative to stand out. Create content by following the current trends so that your content reaches the maximum number of people. Most important of all is to stay focused and be consistent.
8. Are there any online or offline courses that you would recommend before entering this space?
One thing to remember is that each person has a different way of creating content. While there are a lot of courses online for content creation, I believe that finding and cultivating your USP is the best and more fruitful kind of experience. Practice makes perfect so stay focused and keep perfecting things in your niche.
9. Which networking groups & showcasing events could help an aspirant generate work opportunities in this field?
I’ve been part of Mumbai photographers and a couple of networking groups like Networking Now, Media Movements, and many more. I’ve got a lot of leads from such groups. There are many groups that specifically host meetups for female entrepreneurs, which have proven to be beneficial as well. Living in a digital world has its benefits for lead generation. You just need to keep your eye open and sign up for groups that have conversion potential.
10. What are some investments (monetary or otherwise) one should be ready to make when entering the influencer/content creator space?
Investing a good amount of time and money on a professional camera or a phone with an exceptional camera is a must. Along with this, invest in a few props and backdrops to make your content aesthetic pleasing and differentiate it from others. It always helps if a photographer has basic aesthetic and styling sense as well.
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