Feature Friday featuring Tracey Hatter Smith of Midway Media

Welcome to another of our fabulous Feature Friday articles! Today we're featuring Tracey Hatter Smith who owns Midway Media - Wedding & Event Videographers. 

Thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat with us today Tracey - can you tell us more about yourself and Midway Media?
I'm Tracey, 37 years young and married with 2 teenage children. I have a degree in Law and worked for many years within a legal environment before taking the plunge and a risk into a completely new area of videography!

I am pleased to say that I am an associate member with the Institute of Videographers (IOV), one of the largest organisations in the UK for recognising, training and promoting professional videographers.

Midway Media purely specialises in weddings, events and corporate filming across the UK and wherever needed. No job is too small! I run Midway Media with my wonderful husband, Barry and together we make a cracking team! Midway Media has now been successfully running for 2 years and its good to see that the diary for the years ahead is getting fuller and fuller. Every weekend this summer we have either 1 or 2 weddings to film with no break until the end of October! Out of season weddings are becoming more popular. I got married during the winter season not for any particular reason as I had always wanted a winter wedding anyway. I can honestly say that although I work extremely long hours, I love what I do. I'm certainly committed to the cause.

I am very passionate and dedicated about filming. Weddings have always been something of interest to me since I can remember. I get a buzz from every wedding I film and even more so when I finally see the end result before sending it to the client. There is nothing more satisfying than to receive a text or email from your client to say that they loved their DVD it was amazing to watch and the bride becoming all emotional at watching it and that they can't wait to show family and friends! Not that I wish our brides to cry even though they are tears of happiness but it shows the impact of what a DVD can actually do!

Where did the idea of running this as a business come from? 
I have always had an interest in filming but, for a few years prior to Midway Media being set up, Barry would film friends and family weddings while I would purely assist in the background! I finally took the leap at a family wedding with my new video camera working alongside Barry and, although I was very nervous (and I still get nervous now), I filmed and loved it.

From that moment, I knew videography was for me; it seemed as though I had a natural talent for it, as my shots were captured well and were creatively done. From this moment I've never looked back and when Barry was made redundant we invested everything in getting my dream business off the ground and running! It has taken a lot of time, patience and dedication from both of us to where we are today.  

What do you love most about your business? 
I love filming weddings and enjoy working with people. It’s the people that really make the DVD that little extra special for the bride and groom. I also get to go to many different locations across the UK and film a variety of weddings. No two weddings are the same.

What would you like to change?
I would change the look of our website on some of the pages by adding more visuals to the page to make it more visually appealing with less text. The pictures would be those taken as screenshots from our video cameras. This also gives a more examples of our work to the potential client.

What is your aim for the next year? 
I would like to double our bookings for next year and film more corporate work and attend local area networking meetings.

Where do you ultimately see yourself? 
As well as running Midway Media, I would also like to partake in some freelance camera work for local television. I would also like to cover an equestrian event as I am a keen horsewoman!

What are your Top 5 tips for new Business Women?
Tip 1 Speak to other women in business to find out how they got their businesses started and how they found success
Tip 2 Speak to a local business advisor who specialises in business start-up
Tip 3 Attend networking meetings and meet key people that can make referrals on your behalf (become a recommended supplier)
Tip 4 Find your niche market using market research and target area and set your objectives accordingly
Tip 5 Use social networking sites and the internet to increase business interest

If any prospective clients are reading this, how can they get in touch with you?
I can be contacted via my website at http://www.midway-media.co.uk or by email at enquiries@midway-media.co.uk; I'm also on Facebook so they can "like" me on http://www.facebook.com/editalbum.php?aid=8640&add=1&id=117733244941078#!/pages/Midway-Media-Wedding-Event-Videographers/117733244941078 or they can Tweet me on http://www.twitter.com/midwaymediauk.

Thanks so much for talking to us today Tracey - your job sounds so rewarding and I can imagine being in the middle of such a fabulous event every day is so exciting, as is doing something you love!

Remember, if you are a businesswoman and would like your company to be featured on our regular Feature Friday slot, please drop us an email at creationcollaboration@yahoo.com and put the words "Feature Friday" in the subject like and we'll send you on the info.  Also, check out our forum at http://www.creationcollaboration.myfastforum.org - we love our Feature Friday women are all joining us there, and so can you!