How One Viral TikTok Helped Launch My Photography Brand in Gatlinburg
I’ve been in the marketing game for a long time, but I still get a little jolt of excitement when something takes off. That’s exactly what happened recently with a new TikTok account I launched to help promote a personal project of mine called Gatlinburg in Focus.
I’d only had the account live for a few days when one of the videos—nothing fancy, just a quick clip of a woman pouring moonshine samples at Ole Smoky—absolutely blew up. Within a week, it had over 230,000 views and close to 6,000 likes.
So what happened? And more importantly, what can you take from it?
The Project: Gatlinburg in Focus
Let me give you a little background first.
I spend a lot of time in the Smoky Mountains area, doing photo and video work for clients. But it’s also where I like to be. So I started a passion project called Gatlinburg in Focus—a way to promote my media services (photography, video, drone work) while also giving me a creative outlet to showcase the area.
The project has a central website at gatlinburg.photos, where I post photos and short writeups about them. There’s also a gallery of prints available for purchase, handled through a print-on-demand service. Around that, I’ve built out social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
The idea is simple: take cool content, put it out consistently, and see what sticks.
What Worked on TikTok—and Why
The viral video was shot with nothing more than a phone. No stabilizer. No mic. Just me walking around downtown Gatlinburg with my camera app open. I asked a moonshine pourer at Ole Smoky if I could film her doing her thing (she didn’t mind—tips are a big part of their job), and I caught a short, high-energy clip of her explaining what she was pouring.
That’s it. That’s the video.
A few days later: 230k+ views and counting.
I’ve played with TikTok enough now to understand that videos with people in them tend to do far better than videos without. There’s something about a human face, a voice, a little personality—that’s what connects. Walking videos and scenery are nice, and sometimes they perform well, but it’s the people that drive real engagement.
Key Takeaways for Creators & Small Businesses
If you’re trying to grow a brand or promote a business online, especially one with a visual or local element, here are a few things this experience reinforced:
- Don’t wait for perfect. Just shoot it. Your phone is more powerful than you think.
- Capture personality. People love people. Show the real stuff.
- Leverage moments. In tourist towns like Gatlinburg, there’s always something interesting happening—use it.
- Test platforms. TikTok is still in its early days in a lot of ways. It’s a fantastic place to experiment and build an audience without spending money.
Where It’s Headed
I’m still figuring this out as I go, but the ultimate goal is to use Gatlinburg in Focus to drive traffic to the website and grow awareness of the services I offer. And hey, if I sell some prints along the way? Even better.
If you’re a business owner, a photographer, or someone just trying to get your content out there, I’d encourage you to give TikTok a shot—especially if your work is visual. You don’t have to dance. Just tell stories.
Let me know what you think—or better yet, go check out the video that started it all on the Work Media YouTube channel. If you’re in the Gatlinburg area and want help with media, drone work, or promotion, shoot me a message.
More to come.