As usual, Kia Bondurant and Aubrey Lauren have completely different perspectives on the speaking world. Aubrey is brand new to the scene with lots that she is excited to share and help other people with. Kia has been a national level speaker in the photography industry for years, even creating the speaking line up for a national event and hiring speakers herself. Kia and Aubrey share their tips for getting into speaking from both perspectives. If you speak or have something you want to share, this episode is for you.INC magazine's article on Steve Jobs 5 step presentation processThe Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your PlatformToastmasters Speaking ClubMovement coach.   Kristi Coaches Communicators.     KristiBramlett.com 

As usual, Kia Bondurant and Aubrey Lauren have completely different perspectives on the speaking world. Aubrey is brand new to the scene with lots that she is excited to share and help other people with. Kia has been a national level speaker in the photography industry for years, even creating the speaking line up for a national event and hiring speakers herself. Kia and Aubrey share their tips for getting into speaking from both perspectives. If you speak or have something you want to share, this episode is for you.<a href="https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/follow-steve-jobs-5-step-presentation-process-to-wow-your-audience.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">INC magazine's article on Steve Jobs 5 step presentation process</a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Successful-Speaker-Booking-Building-Platform/dp/B0848TV11S/ref=sr_1_4?crid=XFY332A6USSL&amp;keywords=the+speaker+lab+book&amp;qid=1679501691&amp;sprefix=speaker+lab+book%2Caps%2C117&amp;sr=8-4" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform</a><a href="https://www.toastmasters.org" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Toastmasters Speaking Club</a>Movement coach. Kristi Coaches Communicators. <a href="http://kristibramlett.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">KristiBramlett.com</a>

Top 10 Tips for Getting Into Speaking

International Women's Day is March 8 every year and typically goes by without a huge amount of fanfare. This year was different for Aubrey Lauren and Kia Bondurant. They didn't expect to have a lot to say, but this episode interrupted their podcasting schedule with its urgency. As business women who have grown up in a conservative tradition, Kia and Aubrey talk about how they are growing and changing in their view of women's roles in business and in life. Don't be surprised if you are surprised:) They certainly weren't expecting to share as much as they have!Hashtag Primetime News ArticleDid Women Burn Their Bras News ArticleSong of Songs 2:10-13

International Women's Day is March 8 every year and typically goes by without a huge amount of fanfare. This year was different for Aubrey Lauren and Kia Bondurant. They didn't expect to have a lot to say, but this episode interrupted their podcasting schedule with its urgency. As business women who have grown up in a conservative tradition, Kia and Aubrey talk about how they are growing and changing in their view of women's roles in business and in life. Don't be surprised if you are surprised:) They certainly weren't expecting to share as much as they have!<a href="https://www.newser.com/story/331793/patricia-heaton-has-incredible-response-to-don-lemon.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Hashtag Primetime News Article</a><a href="https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/women-burn-bras-in-70s.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Did Women Burn Their Bras News Article</a><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Song%20of%20Songs%202%3A10-13&amp;version=NIV" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Song of Songs 2:10-13</a>

Surprise Episode: Girl Power!

Do you paddle board at your business meetings? If so, it may be why you have trouble making them a priority. Each season, Kia and Aubrey meet to plan for what's coming up in their business. Listen to find out how they organize their meetings, where they hold them and what books they've learned from. If you need direction or tips for creating vision and direction in your business, check this episode out!Book recommendations The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 MonthsAtomic Habits: An Easy &amp; Proven Way to Build Good Habits &amp; Break Bad Ones

Do you paddle board at your business meetings? If so, it may be why you have trouble making them a priority. Each season, Kia and Aubrey meet to plan for what's coming up in their business. Listen to find out how they organize their meetings, where they hold them and what books they've learned from. If you need direction or tips for creating vision and direction in your business, check this episode out!Book recommendations <h2><a href="https://www.amazon.com/AM-Club-Morning-Elevate-Life/dp/1443456624" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.</a></h2><h2><a href="https://www.amazon.com/12-Week-Year-Others-Months/dp/B08DFFS7K8/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2Z8HYLEUKVP60&amp;keywords=12+week+year+book&amp;qid=1679500771&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=12+week+%2Cstripbooks%2C103&amp;sr=1-3" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The 12 Week Year: Get More Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months</a></h2><h2> </h2><h2><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-James-Clear-audiobook/dp/B07RFSSYBH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HOMEAHC1IICR&amp;keywords=atomic+habits+book&amp;qid=1679500811&amp;s=audible&amp;sprefix=atomi%2Caudible%2C136&amp;sr=1-1" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Atomic Habits: An Easy &amp; Proven Way to Build Good Habits &amp; Break Bad Ones</a></h2>

Why We Prioritize Vision Casting Meetings

Join Kia and Aubrey as they discuss using a marketing formula for each generation. From romantic and traditional boomers to tech savvy gen-z, leverage your knowledge to better serve each client type and communicate more effectively. Kia and Aubrey share personal experiences working with each different generation type. Since Kia is Gen X and Aubrey is a Millenial, you'll get their different perspectives on interacting with and marketing to each generation.A fantastic blog about Gen ZBest Channels for Each Generation ArticleBlog for Strategies to Differentiate Your Marketing to Each Generation

Join Kia and Aubrey as they discuss using a marketing formula for each generation. From romantic and traditional boomers to tech savvy gen-z, leverage your knowledge to better serve each client type and communicate more effectively. Kia and Aubrey share personal experiences working with each different generation type. Since Kia is Gen X and Aubrey is a Millenial, you'll get their different perspectives on interacting with and marketing to each generation.<a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/gen-z-statistics/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">A fantastic blog about Gen Z</a><a href="https://techhq.com/2022/06/genrational-marketing-x-z-y-boomers-best-channels-methods-insight-review/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Best Channels for Each Generation Article</a><a href="https://www.zenbusiness.com/blog/15-key-strategies-marketing-different-generations/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Blog for Strategies to Differentiate Your Marketing to Each Generation</a>

Tips for Marketing to Each Generation: Part 2

One of the best tools to understand your clients and coworkers is knowledge about the different generations. What will motivate a Boomer will completely turn off a Gen Z teen and what will make a Gen X parent skeptical of your product will convince a Millennial parent you know what is going on. Listen to the first of a 2 part series on Kia Bondurant and Aubrey Lauren's approach to social media, buying trends and design direction for each of the generations!A fantastic blog about Gen ZBest Channels for Each Generation ArticleBlog for Strategies to Differentiate Your Marketing to Each Generation

One of the best tools to understand your clients and coworkers is knowledge about the different generations. What will motivate a Boomer will completely turn off a Gen Z teen and what will make a Gen X parent skeptical of your product will convince a Millennial parent you know what is going on. Listen to the first of a 2 part series on Kia Bondurant and Aubrey Lauren's approach to social media, buying trends and design direction for each of the generations!<a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/gen-z-statistics/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">A fantastic blog about Gen Z</a><a href="https://techhq.com/2022/06/genrational-marketing-x-z-y-boomers-best-channels-methods-insight-review/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Best Channels for Each Generation Article</a><a href="https://www.zenbusiness.com/blog/15-key-strategies-marketing-different-generations/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Blog for Strategies to Differentiate Your Marketing to Each Generation</a>

Tips for Marketing to Each Generation: Part 1 of 2

Are you curious about what actually goes on in a Day in the Life of Kia and Aubrey?Join Kia and Aubrey as they talk through their daily routines and share what their typical day looks like. They are often asked how they get so much done every day and you will see it takes 2 very different approaches!Aubrey is part of the 5 AM club and goes through each carefully thought out step of her rigorous morning and evening routines. This keeps her on a path to achieve the goals she sets for each day. Scroll down to see her morning and evening schedules. You may want to add these to your daily plans!No less productive, Kia is a complete contrast to Aubrey with her love of slow and relaxing mornings and days filled with spontaneity and creativity. It takes all kinds and you'll be encouraged to find new ways of making your days productive and enjoyable with this glimpse into daily studio life with Aubrey and Kia!5am club book  LinkAubrey's Good Morning Routine 🌞 4:45am - wake up, pray, meditate. 5:00 - make smoothie, get ready for workout 5:10 - work out for an hour 6:10 - straighten up house for cool down; dishes, clean counters, sweep, throw in laundry, plan food for day6:30 - drink greens and tea; journal, devotional, read Torah/bible 7:15 - work on language 7:45 - read 50 pages non fiction8:30ish - get ready for work 9:00ish - down in studio Aubrey's Good Evening Routine 🌙 5:00pm - make dinner 6:00 - free time; go on walk, spend time with fam, call friends, read, bake8:30 - shower/bath, brush teeth, take off makeup9:00 - finish non fiction reading for the day. 9:45 - plan the next days schedule and to do’s, review current day wins/losses 10:00 - quiet time. Pray, meditate 10:30 - sleep 

Are you curious about what actually goes on in a Day in the Life of Kia and Aubrey?Join Kia and Aubrey as they talk through their daily routines and share what their typical day looks like. They are often asked how they get so much done every day and you will see it takes 2 very different approaches!Aubrey is part of the 5 AM club and goes through each carefully thought out step of her rigorous morning and evening routines. This keeps her on a path to achieve the goals she sets for each day. Scroll down to see her morning and evening schedules. You may want to add these to your daily plans!No less productive, Kia is a complete contrast to Aubrey with her love of slow and relaxing mornings and days filled with spontaneity and creativity. It takes all kinds and you'll be encouraged to find new ways of making your days productive and enjoyable with this glimpse into daily studio life with Aubrey and Kia!<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=5am+club+book&amp;crid=34MCRW4OXDWE7&amp;sprefix=5am+c%2Caps%2C104&amp;ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_5" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">5am club book </a> LinkAubrey's Good Morning Routine 🌞 4:45am - wake up, pray, meditate. 5:00 - make smoothie, get ready for workout 5:10 - work out for an hour 6:10 - straighten up house for cool down; dishes, clean counters, sweep, throw in laundry, plan food for day6:30 - drink greens and tea; journal, devotional, read Torah/bible 7:15 - work on language 7:45 - read 50 pages non fiction8:30ish - get ready for work 9:00ish - down in studio Aubrey's Good Evening Routine 🌙 5:00pm - make dinner 6:00 - free time; go on walk, spend time with fam, call friends, read, bake8:30 - shower/bath, brush teeth, take off makeup9:00 - finish non fiction reading for the day. 9:45 - plan the next days schedule and to do’s, review current day wins/losses 10:00 - quiet time. Pray, meditate 10:30 - sleep

Day in the Life: Rigorous Routine vs. Spontaneity?

In this extra special BONUS episode of the Instagram series, Kia and Aubrey share how they use their personal Instagrams for their every day lives, rather than for business or promotion. In the first half of this podcast Aubrey shares how Instagram has become a type of dating app! She gives great tips on what does and doesn’t work for finding that significant other on Instagram. Be prepared to find out the best ways to slide into someone's dms and how to set up your feed to come across as someone truly dateable.The second half of the episode Kia shares her top tips for keeping Instagram enjoyable as a parent and gives some fun advice on creating your own personal "Mommagram". If you are a mom, you probably aren't a digital native so it's nice to hear another parent's perspective on what to share and not to share on social media.This episode was recorded before the holidays so feel free to get a little nostalgic when Aubrey and Kia both share about their seasonal bucket lists! Aubreys butternut squash recipe from Pinterest

In this extra special BONUS episode of the Instagram series, Kia and Aubrey share how they use their personal Instagrams for their every day lives, rather than for business or promotion. In the first half of this podcast Aubrey shares how Instagram has become a type of dating app! She gives great tips on what does and doesn’t work for finding that significant other on Instagram. Be prepared to find out the best ways to slide into someone's dms and how to set up your feed to come across as someone truly dateable.The second half of the episode Kia shares her top tips for keeping Instagram enjoyable as a parent and gives some fun advice on creating your own personal "Mommagram". If you are a mom, you probably aren't a digital native so it's nice to hear another parent's perspective on what to share and not to share on social media.This episode was recorded before the holidays so feel free to get a little nostalgic when Aubrey and Kia both share about their seasonal bucket lists! <a href="https://recipebook.io/home/recipedetails/rbk_5fe0d3c0a4252/hasselback-bacon-butternut-squash" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Aubreys butternut squash recipe from Pinterest</a>

Getting Personal with Instagram! 3 of 3 in a series - the BONUS instagram episode!

Want to know how to use Instagram when you don't have a business but work as an employee?Listen to this episode for the top 5 tips on using Instagram to get and keep your Dream Job!In this podcast episode, Kia and Aubrey discuss how they use instagram as an advantage in their jobs and practical tips on leveling up your social media. They also discuss how a few simple social media changes can protect you from missing out on potential job opportunities! Listen until the end to hear a great bonus tip on how to get directly in touch with your dream employer!

Want to know how to use Instagram when you don't have a business but work as an employee?Listen to this episode for the top 5 tips on using Instagram to get and keep your Dream Job!In this podcast episode, Kia and Aubrey discuss how they use instagram as an advantage in their jobs and practical tips on leveling up your social media. They also discuss how a few simple social media changes can protect you from missing out on potential job opportunities! Listen until the end to hear a great bonus tip on how to get directly in touch with your dream employer!

Get and Keep your Dream Job with Instagram! Episode 2 of 3 in the series

In the first episode of season 4, Kia Bondurant and Aubrey Lauren share their top 10 tips for Instagram for business. Both Aubrey and Kia have built their personal instagrams and two business accounts to convert clients, generate leads and inspire other business owners. Helpful Links:Download our social media guide hereDonald Miller podcast on brand clarityThe value of emojis articleHow to create an instagram aesthetic Our favorite app to plan ahead:  Planoly

In the first episode of season 4, Kia Bondurant and Aubrey Lauren share their top 10 tips for Instagram for business. Both Aubrey and Kia have built their personal instagrams and two business accounts to convert clients, generate leads and inspire other business owners. Helpful Links:<a href="https://www.bondurantstudios.com/instagram-best-tips" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Download our social media guide here</a><a href="https://buildingastorybrand.com/episode-30/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Donald Miller podcast on brand clarity</a><a href="https://www.unum.la/blog/the-right-way-to-use-emojis-in-social-media-marketing" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">The value of emojis article</a><a href="https://designpickle.com/creative-hub/social-media/how-to-create-an-instagram-aesthetic-for-your-brand/?utm_content=PMax_Services&amp;utm_feeditemid=&amp;utm_device=c&amp;utm_term=&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=Performance-Max_Services__Mar-22&amp;hsa_cam=16590332537&amp;hsa_grp=&amp;hsa_mt=&amp;hsa_src=x&amp;hsa_ad=&amp;hsa_acc=4795477014&amp;hsa_net=adwords&amp;hsa_kw=&amp;hsa_tgt=&amp;hsa_ver=3&amp;gclid=EAIaIQobChMIooCfmL2P-wIVOCitBh1ZGwI8EAAYAiAAEgI4GfD_BwE" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">How to create an instagram aesthetic</a> Our favorite app to plan ahead: <a href="https://www.planoly.com/referral/bondurantstudios" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Planoly</a>

Best Instagram Strategies for Your Business! 1st in a Series

Bo Nelson

We invited Bo Nelson on as our first ever guest who is not involved in the photography industry. As a local business owner and entrepreneur in the Kansas City area, Bo has been pioneering new ways of selling coffee. His philosophical and creative concepts are an inspiration to any business. Listen in to Bo's thoughts on the next economy that encompasses memory, vibe and experience. Get ideas from the concepts he is using in his business as a living laboratory to get immediate feedback and figure out how to create the Heartbeat and SOUL that your brand needs!More about Josiah "Bo" Nelson:Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters is at the heart of a Kansas City movement driven by innovation and craft. Every day, artists, entrepreneurs, government leaders, non-profit and startup leaders connect over coffee at Thou Mayest, fueling their passion to advance their city. Co-owner/majority stakeholder Bo Nelson is a big reason why.Bo is a homegrown Kansas Citian, whose blend of rural and urban life experience reflects the city he serves. Bo grew up on a farm, working his family’s 10-acre nursery where he honed horticultural skills, learned business basics, and developed a hard work ethic that is evident in everything he does. Bo traveled the world, but felt the call back home, inspired to put his mark on the culture of the city he loves. Bo started Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters in 2012, built upon the idea that communities grow through connections and conversations over a good drink. Thou Mayest is named in reference to a passage from John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, and the shop’s design/atmosphere is equal parts Jacques Cousteau, Frank Zappa and the Boy Scouts of America. One visit and it’s evident that Bo has created a magnetic space that is itself alive, gathering people of all backgrounds and interests to have a drink and foster collaboration. Links:Thou MayestCafe Equinox

We invited Bo Nelson on as our first ever guest who is not involved in the photography industry. As a local business owner and entrepreneur in the Kansas City area, Bo has been pioneering new ways of selling coffee. His philosophical and creative concepts are an inspiration to any business. Listen in to Bo's thoughts on the next economy that encompasses memory, vibe and experience. Get ideas from the concepts he is using in his business as a living laboratory to get immediate feedback and figure out how to create the Heartbeat and SOUL that your brand needs!More about Josiah "Bo" Nelson:Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters is at the heart of a Kansas City movement driven by innovation and craft. Every day, artists, entrepreneurs, government leaders, non-profit and startup leaders connect over coffee at Thou Mayest, fueling their passion to advance their city. Co-owner/majority stakeholder Bo Nelson is a big reason why.Bo is a homegrown Kansas Citian, whose blend of rural and urban life experience reflects the city he serves. Bo grew up on a farm, working his family’s 10-acre nursery where he honed horticultural skills, learned business basics, and developed a hard work ethic that is evident in everything he does. Bo traveled the world, but felt the call back home, inspired to put his mark on the culture of the city he loves. Bo started Thou Mayest Coffee Roasters in 2012, built upon the idea that communities grow through connections and conversations over a good drink. Thou Mayest is named in reference to a passage from John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, and the shop’s design/atmosphere is equal parts Jacques Cousteau, Frank Zappa and the Boy Scouts of America. One visit and it’s evident that Bo has created a magnetic space that is itself alive, gathering people of all backgrounds and interests to have a drink and foster collaboration. Links:<a href="https://thoumayest.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Thou Mayest</a><a href="https://www.cafeequinox.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Cafe Equinox</a>

Bo Nelson - An Entrepreneur Podcast

Welcome to “From nothing to Profit, a photographers podcast”.  Every week Kia Bondurant and Aubrey Lauren discuss topics that come up in their successful photography portrait studio business.

Awesome podcast to listen to! Actionable pieces of information every episode and such a diverse group of photographers and topics. Keeps me coming back!

Must Listen To!

I have been in the biz full time for 38 years so I know a lot of these awesome guests. Matt and Kia...you are doing a great job pulling out such great tips from each one.

Such a great lineup of amazing teacher/photographers

From Nothing to Profit

Sarah Petty

On this episode of From Nothing to Profit, Matt and Kia interview Sarah Petty, who is a huge name in the industry. Sarah also runs The Joy of Marketing. Sarah started as a marketer. You don’t want to miss how Sarah transitioned into being a high end boutique photography studio. Listen in to hear Sarah’s puzzle metaphor and advice about finding a coach/mentor. Sarah teaches, but also shoots, so she can stay relevant and understand her students’ challenges. You want to hear Sarah’s marketing tactics based around educating her clients. Sarah is fired up right now about ditching the digitals. The best advice Sarah ever received is to take advice from the people who are where you want to be. She recommends all Seth Godin, his blog and new book, “This is Marketing”, the book “You are a Badass” and of course her own book, “Worth Every Penny.” Joyofmarketing.com/marketingchecklist (free resource)

On this episode of From Nothing to Profit, Matt and Kia interview Sarah Petty, who is a huge name in the industry. Sarah also runs The Joy of Marketing. Sarah started as a marketer. You don’t want to miss how Sarah transitioned into being a high end boutique photography studio. Listen in to hear Sarah’s puzzle metaphor and advice about finding a coach/mentor. Sarah teaches, but also shoots, so she can stay relevant and understand her students’ challenges. You want to hear Sarah’s marketing tactics based around educating her clients. Sarah is fired up right now about ditching the digitals. The best advice Sarah ever received is to take advice from the people who are where you want to be. She recommends all Seth Godin, his blog and new book, “This is Marketing”, the book “You are a Badass” and of course her own book, “Worth Every Penny.” <a href="http://Joyofmarketing.com/marketingchecklist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joyofmarketing.com/marketingchecklist</a> (free resource)

Sarah Petty – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Matt &amp; Kia discuss high school senior model programs on this episode of the podcast. They compare the way they each do their programs and how they’ve changed the programs over the years. Seniors are busy these days and want to be part of something fun. Kia talks about making it as easy and simple and as stress-free as possible. Kia shoots with a wider lens for her fun mini sessions so the seniors have a different look than their senior pictures. Make sure to listen in to hear the fresh ideas discussed.  Read Full Transcript  Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.Matt: [00:01] Hey everybody, this is Matt and Kaia and you’re listening to from nothing to profit.Speaker 2: [00:06] Welcome to from nothing to profit a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.Matt: [00:22] Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast. So kinda here’s the deal. Okay. I want to ask you some questions and I mean at first I just thought this would be a really good episode for our audience and then I realized that actually a really good episode for me. So in terms of high school, senior model programs, we’ve been doing one for a long time. We’d been doing work for like eight years and I’m, I don’t, I feel like it’s unsuccessful, but here’s the catch. I actually know when I look at my numbers, it’s not unsuccessful. I think I’m just really bored with it. And so I don’t really know what I just want, just like, I don’t know if I even want fresh ideas, but just I kind of want to go through some do’s and don’ts and just to see if I’m actually still doing like what I’m supposed to be doing and I just think it’d be good for our audience to hear us have this conversation. A little bit about model programs.Kia: [01:09] Okay. So let me ask you a couple questions about yours. Like when you say you’re bored, are you bored? Like you’re like, ah, I don’t want to have to promote it. I feel like I’m saying things that are kind of uninteresting. Like your you board from the promotion side or from the photography side or what? What are you worried about?Matt: [01:27] I think a little bit of both. Like I just, I’m just like kind of tired of the grind of like launching the model program for another year. And then on top of that I also like, I’m just like, are they even into this? And I just, I, it’s hard for me to realize like, am I not into this? Are they not into this? And I know what I mean, they have been talking about high school kids but they seem to be booking. So I guess they are into it.Kia: [01:51] So have you started launching it? Yeah. And we’ve got a couple, we’ve got a couple of kids to sign up. Yeah. Okay, great. And so how do you do it? Do you do a, like an application and then you choose from that? Or do you like say you know, send specific invites or,Matt: [02:06] well yeah, so what we do is we get a list of names from our previous models and seniors and then we send an Instagram DM to them and invite them. And then yeah, they go to our website and they fill out just a, just basically name information, just their contact information. And then they schedule a meeting to sit down with us. And we do individual meetings now. We used to do a group meeting, but we, we’ve, we’ve moved to individual meetings a couple of years ago and then we basically just tell them and their parent about, about the program and I guess kind of hope that they sign up and see like I can just hear myself being bored in this wholeKia: [02:41] process, like as I’m describing. Do any like what part of it do you do?Matt: [02:46] Do I personally do?Kia: [02:47] Yeah. Like do you, do you sit in the meetings, do youMatt: [02:49] no, so I do, I do like the promotion of it, rebuilding the program every year to see if we need to tweak it and stuff like that and then do the promotion side of it. And then Allison does the meetings with them and yeah. So that’s that.Kia: [03:01] And then, uh, I know I’m asking a lot of questions. It’s kind of funny. That’s kind of probably not what you were thinking, but it helps to see, because I feel like you could do the model program a hundred different ways.Matt: [03:12] Right. So I can definitely tell people a little bit about my model program and then you can tell them about yours and then we can kind of compare notes.Kia: [03:20] Yeah. Yes. Because so well, or I can just ask, I guess, how about this, I’ll answer the questions that I ask too because I had like a list in my head. So is the model program the main way that you book high school seniors?Matt: [03:33] Uh, I would say yeah, it’s the majority of them. I mean we book probably, I mean half probably half our, our models half are not our models. They come in later but everybody knows about it. And the, the second half of kids that don’t, our models that like just book regular senior sessions, they tend to be, you know, just like over subscribed, you’re busy. So they just don’t have time to commit to it during the summer. And so they’d just like, I’ll just do my senior pictures with you. Yes, maybe they were like, they, they’re like on a club travel team or something like that.Kia: [04:02] Okay. So I have been in the business for 25 years and for probably the first 15, well probably 12 years, let’s see. No, probably the first, I don’t know, the first 12 years probably we did not do a model program at all. We sent out advertisements, you know, so we sent out catalogs and postcards and three days sales and we would book our whole summer on advertisement. So we never did a model program and then we started doing one because I thought it would be kind of fun to try it. Um, but it was definitely a small portion of our actual high school seniors did it. But now that I’m transitioned into my new studio, the model program is really the basis of my senior portraits. So it’s at least half if not more. Right.Matt: [04:47] My husband was saying here, I would say the same thing. We see the same thing.Kia: [04:51] Yeah. So then what do like what do your models get for being models?Matt: [04:56] Yeah, so they get like some group shoots during the summer. I’m going to generalize cause we actually have like three levels and they get different stuff. But they basically get group, like the at the beginning level is they get droop shoots and then their senior session. Okay. The middle one I think I have to remember how this works. The middle level we add a custom shoots so they basically get like two senior sessions so they can do two different looks. Would you miss a lot with our sports kids and like if they’re into horses or something like that where we, it’s really for us to kind of break up the session into two because two completely different looks and then the very top level they get their senior session group shoots and then they also get like a destination session. So we typically go to Moab, which is about a three hour drive from us and the sand dunes, which is about three hour drive from us and we do like on location kind of destination stuff.Kia: [05:53] That’s fun. Are those broken, like do they break down pretty or do most of them just do the beginning one orMatt: [06:01] last year? Like normally we do. We have a lot in the middle and it was kind of like fades off both sides. But then last year we, we had a lot of, a lot of just the entry level.Kia: [06:13] Okay. One, you know, I, one of the big things that I’ve noticed is that kids are busy and I think that’s hard. So our program has traditionally been based on doing fashion shoots with local boutiques. Yeah. And then being in a fashion show. Okay. So this is the first year that we have, are not doing the fashion show. Uh, my second daughter is a junior this year and she did the fashion show last year and she said she didn’t care if she did it this year. And I think a lot of the girls don’t really want to have to do it. It’s kind of, it’s, it’s just not as big of a draw. So we’ve dropped that and we are just going to be doing fashion shoots with local boutiques.Matt: [06:58] Okay. And that was about like, like they just get that in addition to their senior session.Kia: [07:01] Yeah. So, so when you call them group shoots, that’s what they are as the fat. So it was just more of a fashion edge to it.Matt: [07:07] Yeah. And ours is more like stylized, like we have kind of themes to each one.Kia: [07:11] Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s, it, what is interesting is I just sat down with the girl. We also used to do group meetings and now we do individual meetings. Uh, because uh, mainly because our individual meetings, we want them to be more about planning their senior portraits. Yes. Yeah. Not necessarily as much about the program, but I sat down with a girl last night who had been painted to, you know, had watched everything, knew about it all, had been paying attention to our social media and was ready to do it. And she didn’t really, she didn’t really know what it was. She just it to be one. And so I think we’ve been doing it the way, like the way we’ve been doing it with our Instagram, it’s called style music magazine for the last maybe four years, I think for probably four years this way.Kia: [07:58] And I just think that it’s just starting to build more and more the social media and the cache of being apart. So this year has been, is by far going to be our most successful year with it already. We are probably like, you know, we’re mid February right now and we’re probably where we were last year at the end of May. Okay. And so were are just your booking rate is so far up there and it’s just, I think it’s because we’ve, uh, our social media has just been really, really fun. Uh, we’ve been just doing a lot of fun things. I know that sounds funny, but I’m just really fun and really happy and that’s the track that attracts people for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And it’s just mine.Matt: [08:45] What do you think, like what do you think they were most of the high school seniors are most excited about to be a part of it? Like is there one particular thing that they’re like pumped about?Kia: [08:55] Yes. SoMatt: [08:57] we, last year during my senior sessions and mainly those sessions were my style muse models. I did a food theme, a happy food theme. And so we did, uh, the, the paper backgrounds, all the different colored paper backgrounds, and then I would brought in food, so cupcakes and pineapples and a coke cans and, uh, lacroix cans and did everyone donuts. I, so I photographed every girl with some sort of food doing like cute, like kissy faces and winky eyes and surprise faces and that type of thing. And I think that like super commercial look has, um, been really attractive to these girls. Okay. That’s good. That’s good to know. Yeah. Yeah, it’s been, it’s just bright, fun commercial and sort of looks like it could be in a magazine. Totally.Kia: [09:56] Yeah. And it was just something that I wanted to do, you know, I was like, I want to try this. And I, and what’s really funny is they created so many fights and a Abra who works with in the orders would say, oh my goodness, these er, these pictures are driving me crazy because the girls want them really the bad. And the moms are like, I’m not buying a picture of you drinking a lacroix. And so, um, so yeah, they just made our social media look really fun.Matt: [10:24] Yeah. So maybe I need to like do an audit of my social media and make sure like that. Yeah, we’re doing that. Cause I mean that’s really easy to do. That’s just a mind shift, you know?Kia: [10:34] Yes. Yeah. Because I think that that moody, like the Darker Moody Look is trendy. I just don’t know if it’s attractive to the high school scene,Matt: [10:44] especially when you’re asking me to be part of a program. They want to be a part of something fun. They don’t want necessarily want to be a part of something dark, you know? Yes. It’s probably very subconscious to them, but that’s probably a reality.Kia: [10:56] Yeah. So the other thing we did that we changed this year is, uh, we made our buyin cheaper just because, uh, we, we knew we wanted to up the volume, you know, number of sessions.Matt: [11:09] So we’re doing, this year we did a little bit of a drop toKia: [11:12] [inaudible] just because once they see the pictures, they love them and then we’ll order them. So getting them in the door. And then one other thing we did is we, like I said, we took out the fashion show and we’re, our goal with it is just to make it as simple and easy and stress free as possible for them because they’re just so busy. And so, uh, so yeah, so that we’re just sort of like, you don’t have to go to anything except for, we’ll make sure you get to one fashion shoot. We will make sure that happens for you.Matt: [11:42] Right. So talk a little bit about buy-ins. I’ll just explain how we do it. So we have the three different levels and we did something a little bit different this year with our price drop and I’ll explain in a second. But basically what they’re doing is they’re just basically putting a deposit down for their senior session. Is that what they’re doing for you guys as well or,Kia: [12:03] yeah, it just pays for, there are entry level session fee.Matt: [12:06] Okay. So what we did is we, we were going to lower our price to get more people in this year because we had been raising it over the last like three or four years. And we’re starting to get to a number that it was like, well we probably should have a few more people in this. And so what we actually did is we actually dropped our price for them to be a part of it with a deadline. So like if they book in February, they get it at the cheaper price. But if they get, if they book after that then they have to pay them what everybody paid last year. So I think is good because then we actually have some deadlines cause one of the things that we’ve always struggled with in the past, it’s like when we’re not well we don’t have reasons for them to buck.Matt: [12:47] They just, they can take like three weeks to book somebody in a sense because they’re thinking about it and then they go to do all their sports and their stuff and we just fall off the radar because they’re just trying to do, accomplish everything in life. So we’re like okay we just need some hard deadlines for them to do that. So, so our, our, our pro to get in with what the discount, they can either get into for 500, seven 50 or $1,000. So then af after February it’ll be seven 50, 1,012 50 is what it will be. Okay.Kia: [13:22] And they pay that at the time.Matt: [13:23] They pay that at the time and then they’re done. That money goes towards their senior order. Okay. So they basically get their session for free. We went to her session free.Kia: [13:35] Uh Huh. Yeah. That’s great. Yeah. Ours is $100. Okay.Matt: [13:39] No. Yeah. And so, yeah, no, there’s not a wrong or right way to do that. Yeah.Kia: [13:42] Yeah. It makes it simple. Yeah. Yeah. So what we’re doing too, it’s not necessarily to create the urgency, but it is creating the urgency is our different fashion shoots are going to all have. Um, like you said, you do yours themed and I was hoping to make them all, uh, launch related to this year because that’s my word of the year. So, uh, like maybe a hot air balloon for one, you know, walking with a big bunch of balloons in the city for another. So just those type of themes. And so, uh, we’ve been telling the girls about our plans. We don’t have them scheduled yet. Um, but we are telling them that we are letting them sign up in order. So the first people to sign up for the program or the F get first dibs on which fashion shoot they do. Okay.Matt: [14:32] Do they just do one or can they do more than one?Kia: [14:34] Well, they do one of the boutique fashion shoots. Okay. And so, um, so they get to choose. So the sooner they sign up, then the sooner they will be able to choose which fashion shoot that they want to do. And so that has been a really great way to, you know, I mean it’s, it’s, it has created urgency. It wasn’t specifically designed for that. Um, but then another thing we just did is, because it’s been, we were just talking before we started the podcast. It’s been a really cold, really a wintery winter here in Kansas. And I was getting tired of not shooting, uh, because I just didn’t have stuff that I could do. Typically. I’m, we’re doing the fashion shoots already, but we just could not get outside and yeah, I want the fashion shoots this year to be outdoors type things. And so, uh, we decided to do these little mini sessions because we used to, when we would have our group meetings, we would also do like a little, we would call it a, um, like an interview shoot.Kia: [15:34] And we would do something themed according like one year it was like tropical themed and we would do like a little tropical shoot, but a lot of times the girls weren’t ready and they didn’t know if they were signing up yet. When I took the pictures, they would just decide later. And so, uh, then last year we, we switched from doing the shoot at the initial meeting and we had a big party on Cinco de Mayo, which was really fun. And that was kind of our, you know, sign up and you can come to the party. And we photographed them there. But this year we uh, with felt like that was too many things for them to have to go to a, because of the, the boutique shoots in the fashion show, we just wanted to simplify it. So we did away with the party and then like I said, we just added in these little mini shoots and so we did a Valentine’s mini session with whatever girls could make it in and it’s just in the studio. And so we have some of those lined up and each girl if they want can do one of those mini sessions. And those are so great for social media. They were, they were so excited. Hey, on that note, let’s just take a quick break and we’ll be right back. Okay.Speaker 4: [16:42] Hey everyone, tell me if this sounds familiar. You look at your calendar and notice you need clients now. So you do a little marketing and get some phone calls. You get busy helping those new clients. They scheduled sessions, they...

Model Program Q and A– Episode 025 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Everardo Keeme

Make sure you listen in, as on this podcast, Matt interviews Everardo Keeme, who is a certified professional photographer and also a professional snorer. Everardo got into photography on accident. He was working a corporate job, loved it, won a trip to Greece and didn’t have a camera. Since he didn’t have any pictures from that trip, he bought a camera, started photographing cycling events, applied to photograph the Phoenix Open (having never been or photographed golf), got the job and has been a photographer ever since. He got into senior portraits when his daughter got into high school, hence Twelve Year Senior Portraits. He wanted a studio for senior pictures, hence Photo Fusion Studio. Everardo is very passionate about education and is excited about all of the conferences and workshops available now. Overall, photographers are very good about sharing information with each other. He’s also excited about technology and how that’s only going to keep making us better. Internet Resources: Steer away from FB groups – doesn’t want to learn from other strugglersPodcasts – Stacey Brown Randall, Steph Crowder, Everything is AliveBooks: 5 core ways of getting referrals – Stacey Brown Randall (https://amzn.to/2LAMfVV) Read Full Transcript  Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.Speaker 1: [00:01] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.Matt: [00:16] Hey everybody. Welcome to from nothing to profit so today will be a little bit different because kyle is not able to join us today because she’s got a sick kid at home. But I’m with my good friend Everardo Akimi. He has a really fascinating story. So I think you guys will be interested to know what he does. First of all, he’s a corporate event and headshot photographer. If you guys follow them online, that’s what you’d probably see. Um, I know he’s also a certified professional photographer. Um, I know that because him and allison both did that kind of at the same time. And then he’s been the official photographer of the Phoenix Open from since 2010, which I think is the most interesting part because I’m a sports guy and that’s always fascinating to every week when you get it every year for a week when you get to do that.Matt: [01:01] But then you’re the owner of photo fusion studios and the twelfth and twelfth year senior portraits. So welcome man. I appreciate you being on the show. Yeah, of course, man. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it. So I have to tell everybody a little bit of a backstory about when we went to sync together and I’ll throw you under the bus and totally embarrass you. But that’s how we, that’s how we start every podcast around here is we try to handle it. I’m a big boy so we all stayed. Joy verts has a condo down by where sync is hosted. So um, every year we go down there and we tend to stay at her, her condo, and you know, some people can make it every year, some people can’t or whatever. So at the last minute a bunch of people said they could go and enjoy, had already kind of filled up the condo. So what happened is that we started like having to like move people around a little bit and Everardo and I were the only two guys that were staying at the condo that day because I think mentioned Shaylon will actually, we’re staying in a different condo and uh, so we ended up having to share a room. So we had two twin beds and shared a room together. And I’ll tell you what, man, you’re the loudest store I’ve ever, I’ve ever hung out with.Matt: [02:09] It was, it was actually impressive. I felt like at moments that you were yelling at me, you start so loud. Well, I’ve always taught and uh, and kind of learned if you’re going to do something, do it right. Yeah, right. Yeah. I would say you figured out how to Snore, but all joking aside, obviously that was a super fun year in a super fund conferences always in. Um, I’m glad we got to do that. So. And now, you know, hopefully my parents live in Phoenix now where you live and so hopefully we can connect more and more every year as you know, since you’re in Phoenix. I’m definitely looking forward to it. And you know, and that’s the, one of the great things about living in Phoenix is um, we have about eight to nine months sometimes of perfect weather. And so, um, there’s always this old saying and I don’t know who to attribute the quote to, but it says, hey, don’t knock the weather because four to five people can start a conversation without it. Yes, that’s absolutely true. So is there anything else you want to share with the audience about yourselfEverardo: [03:00] or elaborate on what I said with your studio or anything like that? I’m just so they know a little more about you. Well, yeah, that was a good introduction. I mean really, I started photography by accident. I was working at a corporate job and I really liked it and they enjoyed it and I thought I was just going to be corporate for life and you know, doing the 401k thing and all that kinda good stuff. And um, I was in sales at the time and went on a vacation to, I won a as part of my bonus, a vacation to Greece and so here I am and like the, you know, the center of history for many different things and cultures and I don’t have a camera and I’m, the euro was really high, so the cheapy crappy little point and shoot camera that I had just wasn’t going to cut it and wasn’t really actually working well.Everardo: [03:43] Um, and this is before cell phones were they started getting used as cameras and so I had a blackberry. And um, so long story short of that is, um, I have no pictures from that vacation. And so the next year it was like, alright, I need to get a camera. And I actually just rented one and then I was racing bicycles at the time. And um, it kind of evolved into this thing of taking pictures at the races and because I had been involved in cycling and racing for pretty much my whole entire life, I was kind of well connected in the cycling community and just on a whim, just went to go photograph the tour to Utah and the tour of California. And that just kind of what launched me into photography. And it was, I guess the funny thing is a very, very good friend of mine, her name is Mary Schwamm.Everardo: [04:26] I’m going to give her a shout out. She is, I believe the only or one of the only female photographers inducted into the nfl hall of fame. And so I would always pick her brain for advice for photography. And for awhile there I was asking, it was like, Hey, can you give me some feedback and give, give me some advice, like how am I doing? I don’t want to do this full time. I just, you know, trying to be a better photographer. And she didn’t really respond. And about a month went by me sending her photos every week. And finally I just said, hey, come on, I need some feedback please. She’s like, well, I’ve been trying to figure out if you’re lucky or good. And she’s like, you know, why have you never thought of doing this? I’m like, I didn’t know I could make money doing it.Everardo: [05:00] And so that’s kind of how I got into photography as it went by accident and I’m right place right time, wrong time, I guess how you look at it sometimes as you know, I’m in the interview for the Phoenix Open. I don’t even know how I got it. Like I’m barely just starting out to have a portfolio and experiment and the guy’s interviewing. He’s like, all right, cool. Well we’ll tell me what’s one of your favorite things about the tournament and being here. I’m like, uh, I’ve never been a kind of chuckled. And he was like, really? You’ve never been to the tournament but you want to be at the tournament photographer? It’s like, no, I just, I don’t like big crowds. I like other. I’ve been to other tournaments at that point. He’s like, okay, well, you know, we can, we can get through that somehow.Everardo: [05:39] And I said, but I know everything about the tournament, like quiz me on it and asked me about the course or ask me about past winners or things like that. And so he kinda did and he was like, okay, well I guess he does know his stuff and he does know golf and he’s looking at my portfolio and he was like, you know, well you’ve got some good shots in here, so where’s the golf shots? My, I don’t have any golf shots. And he kind of looks at me again. He’s like, again, do you know what you’re applying for? And I go, look man, I know the game. I love the game. I liked the tournament, it’s in my backyard, but you know, gave me a shot. That’s all I’m asking for and if you don’t want to, I totally respect it if I’m in over my head.Everardo: [06:11] I said, but you know, I’m also coming at this with a, a corporate background and a good work ethic and I’ve been working full time ever since I was 13 years old. So like, I can do the job, you know, if you just give me a chance I can do it and if I don’t then how about this, you can ruin my name and my reputation around town. And he’s like, alright, well, you know, we’ll give it a shot. And so yeah, now it’s been coming up to nine years now of doing the tournament photography. That’s awesome. So how did you get into senior portraits and stuff like that? Uh, that really started with my daughter, um, my niece and my daughter are about the same age and when they were going through high school kind of same thing as through cycling and through sports and through everything, you know, he’d slowly evolve into becoming a portrait photographer.Everardo: [06:55] And so since I started with sports and started with events, it just kind of came natural to ask, well, can you take a headshot or can you take a portrait of someone? And so again, because it was sports related, I started working with the cheer team at the high school that I graduated from and I, I knew the cheer coach, uh, my niece was on the school at the time and, and then like I said, my niece and my daughter about the same age and going through high school together. And so I just started actually working with the team and it was really just not even about senior portraits. It was just about taking the action shots of them on the field or the activities that they’re going out and doing in the community and car washes and food drives and you know, uh, bringing toys to the needy during Christmas time and stuff like that.Everardo: [07:35] And then that’s what it turned into was, you know, well, can you take senior pictures? And like every photographer starting out the answers like, yeah, absolutely. And then behind the scenes you’re like, oh crap, how do I figure this out? And so you just call a bunch of friends and call her resources. And I think luckily enough, and I attribute my business, I commend to, you know, it was really good at networking at the time and reaching out to other photographers and presenting myself in a way that I’m not a threat. I’m not out there to hurt their business, if anything, I’m out to try to help and influence their business if I can and you know, in return can you help me out with how to do some portraits or how to work with seniors. So it just kind of evolved from there. And I did it.Everardo: [08:13] I’m not quite full time because I was still juggling the corporate jobs, still juggling the event work in the corporate work. And then doing senior portraits was probably about 25, maybe 30 percent of the business. Um, and then I just eventually got to busy after a couple years and really had to scale down and follow the corporate photography track. Um, and now with photo fusion studio, what happened there was we were a, I needed a studio at some point because the senior portraits I wanted to work in the studio and control the environment and learn about lighting and stuff like that. So I just became a member of a Co op studio and at first it was just renting it hourly as I needed it. And then as I got busier it turned into, you know, I’m renting a hours a week and then it turned into, well we have monthly memberships available.Everardo: [08:59] Why don’t you just join the studio from monthly? Um, did that for a couple of years. And then there was an opportunity where the studio owner actually had expressed interest and said, you know what, you’re, you’re always in the studio and you’re always helping the other photographers that are here with things. Do you want to split the business? Do you want to be more involved? She was a little bit more introverted. I’m a little bit more extroverted and so we partnered together and we co own the studio for about five years. And then just this year, recently she said, you know what, I’m, I’m Kinda done with the studio, I don’t need it anymore for the work that she does is mostly stock photography. And she was losing out or kind of widdling down some of the client work that she was doing. And so photo fusion had been running as this co op to help other photographers help them grow their businesses.Everardo: [09:43] We would mentor some photographers with their business, give them coaching, give them. And so it wasn’t just as a place to photograph out of it was actually, you know, revolved around the business because if their business thrived they will also stay a part of the studio too. So that’s, that’s the ulterior motive to it. But in the end, Phoenix is the fifth largest city in the U. s there’s enough work to go around. We’re not really stepping on each other’s toes. So with my partner leaving, so with my partner leaving and that makes sense. Um, I just really had to make that quick decision of, okay, am I going to keep the studio or you know, just let it die. And I wasn’t quite ready for it to die even though I was doing probably 80 to 90 percent of my work outside of the studio, I was still using it as like an office space or to work out over there, um, host client meetings or to meet with people.Everardo: [10:31] And so it was still nice to have a professional standpoint from it. Plus also I worked from home with my corporate job, but I didn’t have to entertain clients. Like I always went outside. I always took my clients out to restaurants or other activities. So I, I liked it. The idea that my home was my home and that way when I was done with work I could just leave it be. So that’s when I made the decision this summer to remodel the studio and remodel it specifically for high school seniors and were. So we’re kind of. Where is it located in Phoenix, like a east west side of town where you guys were about as central as we can get just a little bit north of the Phoenix airport. We’re a little bit east of downtown. The exact area or neighborhood is kind of called the biltmore and we kind of on the border of another neighborhood called Arcadia, which I know you’re familiar with because you’re from the area, but um, I guess for others to kind of get the reference from his, uh, and that was the other reason why I liked the studio two is we’re about as central as we can get.Everardo: [11:30] So, you know, I’d have clients coming out from Peoria, which is the northwest side of town, and I’d have clients coming in from anthem which is really far north and, you know, then I’d have clients coming out of Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert Chandler, which is on the East valley. Uh, so it’s, it’s really nice having a nice centralized location. Yeah, that’s, that’s awesome. I didn’t realize that you had remodeled the studio to come see it. Um, when I come down there in the spring for sure. So tell me, just kind of tell me a story of what you think is working right now in your business or what you think is working right now in the industry because that’s kind of the goal of this podcast always is to share these ideas with our audience. Well, as I talked to and I network with other photographers and I really am thankful of my corporate job because I knew at some point that photography was going to take over.Everardo: [12:20] And so in the process of kind of dwindling down the corporate job, um, and really in the end I didn’t quit. I was laid off so it was actually a good thing. Um, I wasn’t sad about losing the job. Sometimes you got to be pushed out the door to make that right decision, you know? Yeah, exactly. I mean, because you could sit there building the parachute all day long, but you’re really going to take time to do it. And so when you get that push out the door, you’re like, okay, well we gotta make this work. And as I’ve talked to photographers and big towns and small towns, the more that we actually work together and partner together, the better everyone’s going to be an a. and I know that’s the whole premise of and white organizations and kind of these moments of like rising tide have started, is because people are starting to realize that that as they work together, everyone gets better.Everardo: [13:05] And you know, at the end of the day, Matt, if you’re another commercial photographer here in Phoenix and you take one of my clients than you deserved it. And so did I, because I wasn’t taking care of my clients. You know, if I’m not providing good service, if I’m not providing a good product, then I don’t deserve to keep the clients I have. And, and that hurts. And that stinks sometimes. And you know, now that I have to pay 100 percent of the rent of the studio and other things like, uh, you know, puts a lot of stress on me. But at the end of the day, like what I’ve learned is when we are community and we work together, you, yourself as an individual. Actually thrive more, I’m at a, I’m a big part of this networking organization called Bni and one of their main, or they’re, they’re pretty much main top driven philosophy is givers gain and if you give to others the reciprocity and everything does come back to you at some point and you know, and it’s tough because like I said, sometimes you, sometimes I turn over a job to another, another photographer or refer another photographer that might be better and attack the exact same moment that I need to make my car payment or need to do something else.Everardo: [14:12] But in the end I’m not going to service that client the best that I possibly can. I’m not going to be the best for them. And in the end, what that’ll do is actually hurt my reputation. If I take a job that I don’t do well at or don’t give it 100 percent versus if I turn over a job and that client realizes, hey, you know what? And I’ve heard this from people actually who I’ve turned away and who’ve have not hired me, they’ve actually come back saying, hey, you know what? This is why we like Everardo because he’s honest enough to say yes, he can do it or no, he can’t do it, so let’s just go ahead and. Yeah, I mean I have some clients that I’m like their go Goto I guess referral person because they’ve caught up and said, hey, I’m looking for a newborn photographer.Everardo: [14:50] I, it’s not something you

Everardo Keeme – Episode 015 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

John Pyle

Ever sold an iPhone picture in an album?  Maybe you should. John Pyle explains why… In this episode, we talk to John Pyle. John Pyle specializes in senior portraits, lifestyle photos and model work. He’s been a photographer for over 10 years and recently became a licensed drone pilot. You’ll love this episode because John has a psychology Masters degree and has some really fascinating views on human interaction. He also has some amazing tips on how to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to pop culture (important for senior photographers) and how to keep your photographs fresh and on point. John talks about how he uses different mediums to photograph a senior such as his DSLR, his iPhone, a mirrorless camera, a go pro, and a drone. He also talks about some of the companies he uses for his albums and products.  Plus how to make great money in the senior portrait industry using social media. Resources from this episode: Finao Albums (https://www.finao.com/) Flipboard app (https://about.flipboard.com/) Joe Rogan’s Podcast (http://podcasts.joerogan.net/)   Books that John Pyle Recommends: 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos By Jordan Peterson (https://amzn.to/2NQimQX) The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles By Steven Pressfield (https://amzn.to/2SarHqi) Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink (https://amzn.to/2q2UHDz) Additional Free Resources at MattHoaglin.com Read Full Transcript  TRANSCRIPTION: Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. John: [00:01] Hey, this is John Pyle, you’re listening to from nothing to profit. Speaker 2: [00:04] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Kia: [00:20] Welcome everyone to from nothing to profit with Matt Hogan and Kia Bonderant. Today we are interviewing John Pile and we’re looking forward to a very entertaining and educational interview. John Pile is an award winning professional portrait model and lifestyle photographer in Columbus, Georgia and he specializes in senior portrait experiences and you will love his lifestyle work too as well. You can check him out on instagram and you’ll see a lot of great work under John d pile and we’ll talk about that later. John has been a photographer for over 10 years and I have to tell you that I’m pretty sure that he talked on the phone to my husband about starting his photography business at the very beginning. So I’ve seen John grow in the industry to be in one of the best photographers out there and he is also a licensed commercial drone pilot. And he is married to Sally Ann and has two little girls who are nine and five. Oh my gosh. They’re really grown up John. John: [01:24] No. Matt: [01:26] And there’s one more thing we can talk about. John, how about those bulk? How about those bulldogs? They look real good, don’t they? John: [01:32] We look awesome but we haven’t been tested Matt: [01:36] so we’ll see. But John: [01:39] Lsu away. Huge. We will say, but we look great right now. I don’t mind that. Matt: [01:44] Right, exactly. And by winning by a lot. So John: [01:47] yeah, I’ll try. Matt: [01:48] Awesome. Anything else you want to share with us, John, about, about yourself or we can even just jump right in and you can kind of tell us what your expertise is and what people should be watching. John: [01:58] Yeah, maybe a little bit about my background would help kind of give an idea of where I came from because I have an Undergrad and a master’s degree in psychology field and uh, really love the human interaction and studying humans and connecting with people and came out of graduate school and work for awhile in a counseling type environment. And then I actually became a pharmaceutical rep for 10 years after working so closely with the, uh, psychiatrist where I was working after Grad school and a drug rep came in one day and was detailing its own on a medication. Then he left and I thought, well, I can do that and I can do it 10 times better. And so I was in that industry for 10 years and five years into that industry, started the photography business and started building it up. So I guess I always tell people that a lot of the human behavior and emotions and connections that I studied and learned about and in graduate school, uh, helped me along with the business and marketing side of the pharmaceutical industry. So I kind of come from those, those two worlds. So, uh, but I always think that’s a good idea to share that. Kia: [03:13] Yeah. And you can see that in your work too, you can see the, your understanding of how people interact and catching those, those moments. So that’s, that’s pretty neat to think that you came from that side of it. John: [03:26] Yes. Thank you. Thank you. It’s two different worlds combined to a meeting in another world, but it helps. It does help. Matt: [03:35] Yeah. So, so kai and I have known each other for a long time, but uh, some of our listeners won’t know. So talk a little bit about like your expertise or what you’re known for and things like that. John: [03:45] Well, when I started, uh, you know, I grew up with my dad who was a college chemistry professor, but he loved to travel so he was kind of an advanced hobbyist and one of the things that always grabbed me was after a trip, if you remember back in the eighties, everybody went to Europe. That was like the big travel boom that took place. So he dragged us to Europe and I could not wait for like a month after we got home because on Sunday afternoon we would go to church, come in and have lunch and he would pull out the big slide projector with a big screen and the carousel and the lights would go off and we got to relive that entire trip with all the images. It’s like a big surprise. It was like going on a trip all over again to be able to see those images and um, you know, that’s where my love for photography came from was the emotion that I felt from, from seeing those images. John: [04:41] And I was the guy at Georgia at college that always had a camera with me. People would kind of joke around and be like, well, there’s pile with his camera again, but the ones that made fun of me for the ones that would be the first in line to see the pictures from a ballgame or from a weekend out in downtown Athens or at the beach or wherever. So when I started taking pictures and creating work, the only thing that really seemed to enjoy or that I enjoyed was, uh, people that wanted to get their picture, made a involved in wedding or things like that. Everybody was self conscious. They will put their hand up. Don’t take my picture, get the broad. I don’t want to be in a picture. And I was just so frustrated, like, why do you. I mean, that’s what we’re here for. This is a, an occasion. What are we doing? Why are you hiding from the camera? So when I came across seniors and people proudly or excitedly stood up to get their picture, made him want to be photographed, like the light bulb went off and that’s where I landed in the senior team and a little bit of family market. Matt: [05:46] And so just quickly, why do you, why do you think seniors come to you? You know, I know that’s a big part of your business. So why, why do you think they come to you? John: [05:54] Sometimes I’ll see on twitter, you know, if you’re familiar with twitter, you know, how volatile it can be. But uh, I remember a couple of years ago somebody posted up, John, if John Pyle can’t make you look good, which I thought was funny. I don’t know if that was a compliment or not. It’s probably a passive aggressive towards somebody. But I kinda, I kinda liked to think that then it’s my job to make you look and feel amazing no matter who you are. And um, I think that seniors, high school seniors, girl and guys come to me because they trust that they are gonna look and feel amazing and so do their parents. So I would say they, they know that the end result is going to be quality. Kia: [06:38] Yeah, I love that. So John, so you’ve kind of told us your area of expertise is and the seniors and the lifestyle and that type of thing. I think also something that you’re known for is your connection to what’s really in style and fashion and I remember just watching you grow your instagram account and how you immediately were tagging and you know, the high end brands. And so I feel like that’s something that is part of your expertise as well. Would you say that’s true? John: [07:12] Yeah. I feel like I want to stay ahead of the curve and, and current and pop culture and you know, even though I’m in the, well let’s just say I’m not a passed over 40 now Kia: [07:25] baby. John: [07:27] I need to stay current in that field or in that area with, with the quality brands that, that has lasted throughout. Not just pop up, but with, with quality brands like you mentioned Ralph Lauren, uh, things that have stood the test of time from, from music to the locations to hotel brands, luxury brands, things that have, have proven their worth over decades is what I like. So I want to stay dialed into those so I can bring that into my work. Kia: [07:57] I definitely feel like you identify yourself with them really well. So tell us, John, like the story of what is working now in your business or like one of the greatest ideas you’ve had and how that’s turned into success? John: [08:10] Honestly, right now they’re the combination of the work that I’m bringing because I’m able to own a session, get a lot done, but I am able to bring in kind of some, some lifestyle work. John: [08:27] Thank you. Thank you. And you see a lot of it on instagram so people relate to it. But I want to, you know, I love my lifestyle work to make you either wish you were there or which you were with the person that is there in the picture. So I want to grab that attention. But I also want to make sure I get quality, sellable work that parents and grandparents are going to love all. So. So I say what works, what’s working for me right now is the combination of, of those, uh, those genres is classic portraiture combined with, with lifestyle has been really successful in selling our albums because people come and see their work, you know, a picture of them laughing with her hair hanging in their face or you know, jumping off a wall or swinging a bat may not be a 40 by 60 canvas that mom’s gonna hang up. But they also don’t want to delete that image. I mean it’s, it’s important and yeah, as part of that story. So when, when you see those images and you see the story of the whole day and how, if you have one of our albums, you know, you flip through that and it’s in there and tell that story of the work is, is great and everybody seems to be happy. Matt: [09:42] So how do you strike that balance? I’m like, just mentally, what are you thinking through? I don’t know if you think about it in terms of percentages of, you know, pictures for mom and pictures for the senior and like how, how do you kind of strike that balance? John: [09:56] The first thing I do is, is always like to start out with a good solid headshot with the first outfit and the person look because that’s when they’re coming straight from hair and makeup down here in Georgia and it’s hot pretty much a 50 weeks out of the year. Here we are in the early October and it’s 93 today. Kia: [10:16] Down here. John: [10:17] Yeah. We’re in the middle of a heat wave. So, but there’s a hurricane coming which is kind of scary. About three hours away is Destin, Florida where we do a lot of our destination sessions and uh, there’s a tropical storm coming out of a goal that hadn’t, hadn’t right there. And we’re gonna get going to get some writing from that. But uh, back to the original point that it’s always hot and a little bit humid or not a little bit, a lot humid here. So I like a good fresh makeup before the hair curl start to fall, before they start to sweat underneath the hair or skin gets mad at or gravy and loses that matte finish. So I like to start off with some good solid headshot work that I know is going to either look good at the first page of an album or is going to be the quote unquote senior picture that they’re going to hang up in the home. Kia: [11:05] Yeah. I feel like they really want that. Now I feel like, you know, went toward more candid lifestyle and that was something that other people couldn’t create and now I feel like they want to look like they went and got senior pictures done. John: [11:21] Yeah. I would agree with that because I’ll tell you what I attribute that to is, is kind of the boutique clothing industry. I see a lot of repetitive volume work of girls that are modeling for the boutiques and they’re just kind of standing there looking off to the side, laughing with the, with the hill or with a, with a foot on my tip toes showing off the outfit. And you say that over and over and over again. So it is nice to see a, a picture that has a point to it. Like, you know, this is made, this is my, this is my hair, this is a, this is a headshot of me always going to be in place. Matt: [11:59] Yeah, I agree. That’s awesome. So let’s, let’s take a break right there real quick. Okay. We’ll, we’ll come back in just a second and we’ll talk about what you see is going on in the industry. I know that’s one thing you and I have always talked about is what’s going on in the industry and then we’ll do some lightening round stuff and figure out if there’s any resources and stuff you can recommend to people. So we’ll be right back. John: [12:18] Awesome. Kia: [12:19] Hey everyone, tell me if this sounds familiar. You look at your calendar and notice you need clients now so you do a little marketing and get some phone calls. You get busy helping those new clients. They scheduled sessions, they place orders and life is good, but once they’re done, your calendar is empty again. The reason is you didn’t have time to market while you were busy. Sometimes your business feels like a rollercoaster, and let me tell you something. It is, and believe me, you’re not alone. Photographers everywhere have the same problem, but I have some great news. Matt’s business, Allison Ragsdale, photography after years of trial and error has cracked the code. It works so well. He’s created a new class all about it. It’s called get clients now a dead simple approach to getting photography clients. Everyone add from nothing to profit is excited to share this info with you because this system helped Matt and allison book hundreds of clients this year at their studio, and the best part about this system is that it’s simple to set up and it works while you’re sleeping. Kia: [13:14] No hard selling or creepy marketing. All you have to do is help your clients answer their most pressing questions. Clients love the system and say it is the number one reason they book with Matt and Allison. If you’re interested in learning more about this system, go to photo, podcast.com forward slash simple. Matt has created a short free video that introduces this system, if you like what you hear podcast or listeners get an exclusive discount on the full class, so make sure you go to photo podcast.com forward slash simple and sign up for the free video. It will help you book more clients now and create the business you’ve always wanted. Matt: [13:48] All right everybody. Welcome back. So we’re speaking with John Pile and I have probably the most interesting question I want to ask him and that is John, what are you fired about up in the industry right now or what have you seen in the industry that you’re really paying attention to? John: [14:03] We mentioned they actually call, you mentioned a little bit of it earlier and that is the kind of the, the return of good solid portrait work, um, because a lot of people are quote unquote photographers and boutiques are pumping out a iphone, pictures of models wearing their clothes over and over and over again with the same pose is looking to the side laughing, fingertips on the sun, hat on with the toe kick up on the side, mark. All those kind of Tan lifestyle, they are forced fun. I like to call them a fourth fun shots. The volume of that actually helps because when you see a good, beautiful portrait come through on a, on a feed or a website or social media account, uh, it really stands out. So I think bringing that yes, yes. I think bringing that back and being able to create that at a high end quality level mixed in with some lifestyle work is what’s, uh, what’s making everybody happy because you gotta remember you’re the senior portrait. John: [15:12] Morgan is Andrew is interesting because you’re, you’re satisfying several clients. A, you’re satisfying dad who’s paying, and again, I’m speaking from stereotypical, but dad, who’s paying mom who wants to see sweet baby girl and senior who is trying to break free, you know, she’s, this is her senior year. That’s a big deal. These images, um, she’s going to be posting and sharing maybe throughout her senior year. You want them to have, uh, some, some link to him that...

Ever sold an iPhone picture in an album?  Maybe you should. John Pyle explains why… In this episode, we talk to John Pyle. John Pyle specializes in senior portraits, lifestyle photos and model work. He’s been a photographer for over 10 years and recently became a licensed drone pilot. You’ll love this episode because John has a psychology Masters degree and has some really fascinating views on human interaction. He also has some amazing tips on how to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to pop culture (important for senior photographers) and how to keep your photographs fresh and on point. John talks about how he uses different mediums to photograph a senior such as his DSLR, his iPhone, a mirrorless camera, a go pro, and a drone. He also talks about some of the companies he uses for his albums and products.  Plus how to make great money in the senior portrait industry using social media. <h2>Resources from this episode:</h2> Finao Albums (<a href="https://www.finao.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.finao.com/</a>) Flipboard app (<a href="https://about.flipboard.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://about.flipboard.com/</a>) Joe Rogan’s Podcast (<a href="http://podcasts.joerogan.net/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://podcasts.joerogan.net/</a>) <h2>Books that John Pyle Recommends:</h2> 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos By Jordan Peterson (<a href="https://amzn.to/2NQimQX" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2NQimQX</a>) The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles By Steven Pressfield (<a href="https://amzn.to/2SarHqi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2SarHqi</a>) Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink (<a href="https://amzn.to/2q2UHDz" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2q2UHDz</a>) Additional Free Resources at <a href="http://www.matthoaglin.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MattHoaglin.com</a> <a href="#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read Full Transcript</a> <h4>TRANSCRIPTION:</h4> Transcription was done by <a href="http://Temi.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Temi.com</a> which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. John: [00:01] Hey, this is John Pyle, you’re listening to from nothing to profit. Speaker 2: [00:04] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Kia: [00:20] Welcome everyone to from nothing to profit with Matt Hogan and Kia Bonderant. Today we are interviewing John Pile and we’re looking forward to a very entertaining and educational interview. John Pile is an award winning professional portrait model and lifestyle photographer in Columbus, Georgia and he specializes in senior portrait experiences and you will love his lifestyle work too as well. You can check him out on instagram and you’ll see a lot of great work under John d pile and we’ll talk about that later. John has been a photographer for over 10 years and I have to tell you that I’m pretty sure that he talked on the phone to my husband about starting his photography business at the very beginning. So I’ve seen John grow in the industry to be in one of the best photographers out there and he is also a licensed commercial drone pilot. And he is married to Sally Ann and has two little girls who are nine and five. Oh my gosh. They’re really grown up John. John: [01:24] No. Matt: [01:26] And there’s one more thing we can talk about. John, how about those bulk? How about those bulldogs? They look real good, don’t they? John: [01:32] We look awesome but we haven’t been tested Matt: [01:36] so we’ll see. But John: [01:39] Lsu away. Huge. We will say, but we look great right now. I don’t mind that. Matt: [01:44] Right, exactly. And by winning by a lot. So John: [01:47] yeah, I’ll try. Matt: [01:48] Awesome. Anything else you want to share with us, John, about, about yourself or we can even just jump right in and you can kind of tell us what your expertise is and what people should be watching. John: [01:58] Yeah, maybe a little bit about my background would help kind of give an idea of where I came from because I have an Undergrad and a master’s degree in psychology field and uh, really love the human interaction and studying humans and connecting with people and came out of graduate school and work for awhile in a counseling type environment. And then I actually became a pharmaceutical rep for 10 years after working so closely with the, uh, psychiatrist where I was working after Grad school and a drug rep came in one day and was detailing its own on a medication. Then he left and I thought, well, I can do that and I can do it 10 times better. And so I was in that industry for 10 years and five years into that industry, started the photography business and started building it up. So I guess I always tell people that a lot of the human behavior and emotions and connections that I studied and learned about and in graduate school, uh, helped me along with the business and marketing side of the pharmaceutical industry. So I kind of come from those, those two worlds. So, uh, but I always think that’s a good idea to share that. Kia: [03:13] Yeah. And you can see that in your work too, you can see the, your understanding of how people interact and catching those, those moments. So that’s, that’s pretty neat to think that you came from that side of it. John: [03:26] Yes. Thank you. Thank you. It’s two different worlds combined to a meeting in another world, but it helps. It does help. Matt: [03:35] Yeah. So, so kai and I have known each other for a long time, but uh, some of our listeners won’t know. So talk a little bit about like your expertise or what you’re known for and things like that. John: [03:45] Well, when I started, uh, you know, I grew up with my dad who was a college chemistry professor, but he loved to travel so he was kind of an advanced hobbyist and one of the things that always grabbed me was after a trip, if you remember back in the eighties, everybody went to Europe. That was like the big travel boom that took place. So he dragged us to Europe and I could not wait for like a month after we got home because on Sunday afternoon we would go to church, come in and have lunch and he would pull out the big slide projector with a big screen and the carousel and the lights would go off and we got to relive that entire trip with all the images. It’s like a big surprise. It was like going on a trip all over again to be able to see those images and um, you know, that’s where my love for photography came from was the emotion that I felt from, from seeing those images. John: [04:41] And I was the guy at Georgia at college that always had a camera with me. People would kind of joke around and be like, well, there’s pile with his camera again, but the ones that made fun of me for the ones that would be the first in line to see the pictures from a ballgame or from a weekend out in downtown Athens or at the beach or wherever. So when I started taking pictures and creating work, the only thing that really seemed to enjoy or that I enjoyed was, uh, people that wanted to get their picture, made a involved in wedding or things like that. Everybody was self conscious. They will put their hand up. Don’t take my picture, get the broad. I don’t want to be in a picture. And I was just so frustrated, like, why do you. I mean, that’s what we’re here for. This is a, an occasion. What are we doing? Why are you hiding from the camera? So when I came across seniors and people proudly or excitedly stood up to get their picture, made him want to be photographed, like the light bulb went off and that’s where I landed in the senior team and a little bit of family market. Matt: [05:46] And so just quickly, why do you, why do you think seniors come to you? You know, I know that’s a big part of your business. So why, why do you think they come to you? John: [05:54] Sometimes I’ll see on twitter, you know, if you’re familiar with twitter, you know, how volatile it can be. But uh, I remember a couple of years ago somebody posted up, John, if John Pyle can’t make you look good, which I thought was funny. I don’t know if that was a compliment or not. It’s probably a passive aggressive towards somebody. But I kinda, I kinda liked to think that then it’s my job to make you look and feel amazing no matter who you are. And um, I think that seniors, high school seniors, girl and guys come to me because they trust that they are gonna look and feel amazing and so do their parents. So I would say they, they know that the end result is going to be quality. Kia: [06:38] Yeah, I love that. So John, so you’ve kind of told us your area of expertise is and the seniors and the lifestyle and that type of thing. I think also something that you’re known for is your connection to what’s really in style and fashion and I remember just watching you grow your instagram account and how you immediately were tagging and you know, the high end brands. And so I feel like that’s something that is part of your expertise as well. Would you say that’s true? John: [07:12] Yeah. I feel like I want to stay ahead of the curve and, and current and pop culture and you know, even though I’m in the, well let’s just say I’m not a passed over 40 now Kia: [07:25] baby. John: [07:27] I need to stay current in that field or in that area with, with the quality brands that, that has lasted throughout. Not just pop up, but with, with quality brands like you mentioned Ralph Lauren, uh, things that have stood the test of time from, from music to the locations to hotel brands, luxury brands, things that have, have proven their worth over decades is what I like. So I want to stay dialed into those so I can bring that into my work. Kia: [07:57] I definitely feel like you identify yourself with them really well. So tell us, John, like the story of what is working now in your business or like one of the greatest ideas you’ve had and how that’s turned into success? John: [08:10] Honestly, right now they’re the combination of the work that I’m bringing because I’m able to own a session, get a lot done, but I am able to bring in kind of some, some lifestyle work. John: [08:27] Thank you. Thank you. And you see a lot of it on instagram so people relate to it. But I want to, you know, I love my lifestyle work to make you either wish you were there or which you were with the person that is there in the picture. So I want to grab that attention. But I also want to make sure I get quality, sellable work that parents and grandparents are going to love all. So. So I say what works, what’s working for me right now is the combination of, of those, uh, those genres is classic portraiture combined with, with lifestyle has been really successful in selling our albums because people come and see their work, you know, a picture of them laughing with her hair hanging in their face or you know, jumping off a wall or swinging a bat may not be a 40 by 60 canvas that mom’s gonna hang up. But they also don’t want to delete that image. I mean it’s, it’s important and yeah, as part of that story. So when, when you see those images and you see the story of the whole day and how, if you have one of our albums, you know, you flip through that and it’s in there and tell that story of the work is, is great and everybody seems to be happy. Matt: [09:42] So how do you strike that balance? I’m like, just mentally, what are you thinking through? I don’t know if you think about it in terms of percentages of, you know, pictures for mom and pictures for the senior and like how, how do you kind of strike that balance? John: [09:56] The first thing I do is, is always like to start out with a good solid headshot with the first outfit and the person look because that’s when they’re coming straight from hair and makeup down here in Georgia and it’s hot pretty much a 50 weeks out of the year. Here we are in the early October and it’s 93 today. Kia: [10:16] Down here. John: [10:17] Yeah. We’re in the middle of a heat wave. So, but there’s a hurricane coming which is kind of scary. About three hours away is Destin, Florida where we do a lot of our destination sessions and uh, there’s a tropical storm coming out of a goal that hadn’t, hadn’t right there. And we’re gonna get going to get some writing from that. But uh, back to the original point that it’s always hot and a little bit humid or not a little bit, a lot humid here. So I like a good fresh makeup before the hair curl start to fall, before they start to sweat underneath the hair or skin gets mad at or gravy and loses that matte finish. So I like to start off with some good solid headshot work that I know is going to either look good at the first page of an album or is going to be the quote unquote senior picture that they’re going to hang up in the home. Kia: [11:05] Yeah. I feel like they really want that. Now I feel like, you know, went toward more candid lifestyle and that was something that other people couldn’t create and now I feel like they want to look like they went and got senior pictures done. John: [11:21] Yeah. I would agree with that because I’ll tell you what I attribute that to is, is kind of the boutique clothing industry. I see a lot of repetitive volume work of girls that are modeling for the boutiques and they’re just kind of standing there looking off to the side, laughing with the, with the hill or with a, with a foot on my tip toes showing off the outfit. And you say that over and over and over again. So it is nice to see a, a picture that has a point to it. Like, you know, this is made, this is my, this is my hair, this is a, this is a headshot of me always going to be in place. Matt: [11:59] Yeah, I agree. That’s awesome. So let’s, let’s take a break right there real quick. Okay. We’ll, we’ll come back in just a second and we’ll talk about what you see is going on in the industry. I know that’s one thing you and I have always talked about is what’s going on in the industry and then we’ll do some lightening round stuff and figure out if there’s any resources and stuff you can recommend to people. So we’ll be right back. John: [12:18] Awesome. Kia: [12:19] Hey everyone, tell me if this sounds familiar. You look at your calendar and notice you need clients now so you do a little marketing and get some phone calls. You get busy helping those new clients. They scheduled sessions, they place orders and life is good, but once they’re done, your calendar is empty again. The reason is you didn’t have time to market while you were busy. Sometimes your business feels like a rollercoaster, and let me tell you something. It is, and believe me, you’re not alone. Photographers everywhere have the same problem, but I have some great news. Matt’s business, Allison Ragsdale, photography after years of trial and error has cracked the code. It works so well. He’s created a new class all about it. It’s called get clients now a dead simple approach to getting photography clients. Everyone add from nothing to profit is excited to share this info with you because this system helped Matt and allison book hundreds of clients this year at their studio, and the best part about this system is that it’s simple to set up and it works while you’re sleeping. Kia: [13:14] No hard selling or creepy marketing. All you have to do is help your clients answer their most pressing questions. Clients love the system and say it is the number one reason they book with Matt and Allison. If you’re interested in learning more about this system, go to photo, <a href="http://podcast.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">podcast.com</a> forward slash simple. Matt has created a short free video that introduces this system, if you like what you hear podcast or listeners get an exclusive discount on the full class, so make sure you go to photo <a href="http://podcast.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">podcast.com</a> forward slash simple and sign up for the free video. It will help you book more clients now and create the business you’ve always wanted. Matt: [13:48] All right everybody. Welcome back. So we’re speaking with John Pile and I have probably the most interesting question I want to ask him and that is John, what are you fired about up in the industry right now or what have you seen in the industry that you’re really paying attention to? John: [14:03] We mentioned they actually call, you mentioned a little bit of it earlier and that is the kind of the, the return of good solid portrait work, um, because a lot of people are quote unquote photographers and boutiques are pumping out a iphone, pictures of models wearing their clothes over and over and over again with the same pose is looking to the side laughing, fingertips on the sun, hat on with the toe kick up on the side, mark. All those kind of Tan lifestyle, they are forced fun. I like to call them a fourth fun shots. The volume of that actually helps because when you see a good, beautiful portrait come through on a, on a feed or a website or social media account, uh, it really stands out. So I think bringing that yes, yes. I think bringing that back and being able to create that at a high end quality level mixed in with some lifestyle work is what’s, uh, what’s making everybody happy because you gotta remember you’re the senior portrait. John: [15:12] Morgan is Andrew is interesting because you’re, you’re satisfying several clients. A, you’re satisfying dad who’s paying, and again, I’m speaking from stereotypical, but dad, who’s paying mom who wants to see sweet baby girl and senior who is trying to break free, you know, she’s, this is her senior year. That’s a big deal. These images, um, she’s going to be posting and sharing maybe throughout her senior year. You want them to have, uh, some, some link to him that...

John Pyle – Episode 004 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Matt Hoaglin

www.matthoaglin.com www.allisonragsdalephotography.com @allisonragsdale   In this episode Matt Hoaglin talks about how running paid instagram, Facebook and Snapchat ads is making a huge difference in his business.  Tune in to learn how he is converting these ads into paying customers. Here is a free video on what he is doing:  https://get.matthoaglin.com/get-clients-now-video/   Matt also talks about how he is seeing some photographers go back to a 9-5 job and why that is good and bad for you.   Resources:   Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University (https://www.daveramsey.com/fpu)   Books to Read: Profit First:  http://a.co/d/7sj5fEq Book yourself Solid:  http://a.co/d/5ojewWv Never eat alone:  http://a.co/d/1K3CUtH   Online Resources DigitalMarketer.com Digit App:  http://a.co/d/1K3CUtH  Read Full Transcript  TRANSCRIPTION: Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. Intro: [00:00] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kia, where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Okay. Welcome back everyone. Kia: [00:17] Two from nothing to profit. This is Kia Bondurant and I’m going to be interviewing my cohost, Matt Hoaglin today. Hi Matt. How are you? Very good. So I, uh, we already recorded my interview and I didn’t know if I would like this as much, but I think I like being the boss better. I’m like, Ooh, now I’m in charge, so I get to talk about you. Matt: [00:42] That’s, that’s perfect. You can be in charge of whatever you want, like we talked about in your interview. I can outsource everything to you. Kia: [00:51] That’s funny. No. So I’m Matt, you and your wife Allison Ragsdale, photography and drink. Oh, Colorado. And that supports both of you and allison. Uh, even though she’s not on this, we’ll talk about her. She’s fantastic. She never wanted to do anything besides be a photographer. So she started out being a photographer from the very beginning. Is that right? Matt: [01:13] Right from the very beginning she went to college and got her degree in photography and we started the business like the week she got out of college Kia: [01:19] and so you’re more like me. You actually, we both have education degrees, although yours is a high school math and you managed a camera store and now you run the marketing and the operations of your photography studio. Matt: [01:33] Yeah, exactly. So Alice and I actually met at that camera store, her part time job when she was so cool. Was that the camera store? So we met there and started dating and then eventually moved to Durango and got married and built. Built a business and stuff together. But yeah, so I taught high school math for awhile, which was really awesome. But I’m really glad I stopped doing that at the same time. Yeah. Now I just run like, like you said, operations and marketing for our business. So make sure that the phone rings in the calendar, gets booked so that she can go out and photograph. Kia: [02:01] Yeah. And you’re able to build your life around what you love to do. Matt: [02:05] So one of my passions, just total side note, one of my passions is fly fishing and so what I love about the business that we’ve built as I’m a I, I fly fish at least one day a week if not more. That’s awesome because I can do it on a random Wednesday when there’s nobody else on the river and I love the business that we built and the lifestyle that it’s given us for sure. Kia: [02:24] Yeah. And I think that that’s really good to bring that up because as photographers and as small business owners and entrepreneurs with this podcast, our goal is to teach people to go from nothing to profit, but part of that is making a business that works around who you are and who you want to be. Matt: [02:42] That’s definitely not good going from like entrepreneur to like business slave, you know, like that’s not the goal. It’s definitely, you know, to build a business that allow, that provides your lifestyle that you want, whatever that is. The lifestyle that and I wanted to build is we wanted to work together and be able to take vacations and stuff together. And if we’re working at two different, that would’ve never happened. And so it was really important for us to be on those exact same schedule. And that’s what we built. Kia: [03:06] Yeah. And one that you can take off whenever it’s convenient for you and you don’t have to worry about spring breaks or summer vacations or things like that. Matt: [03:14] Yeah. And we were just now after like 11 years of business trying to figure out how to like vacation and do things separately because we do so much stuff together. We traveled together a lot. Um, and this December I’m actually, uh, I have a week long fly fishing trip in Mexico for salt water fishing and she’s not going so it’ll be really interesting to see what it’s like to have a whole seven days with just my buddies and not have her there because like I said, the business and life we built was to spend a lot of time together. So it’s, it’s exciting to see what this, what this will bring. Kia: [03:46] It’d be fun to see what she does in her seven days without you too. Matt: [03:49] I know and she’s such a, she’s such a foodie person that I’m a, I think that she’s going to end up going somewhere where there’s like crazy good food for a week with her friends and you know, she’ll probably in the wine bill will probably be huge, but that’s okay. Don’t show love every minute of it. Kia: [04:05] That’s funny. You know, in my interview we didn’t really talk about this, but you know, my studio is built so that I go to work three days a week and then I can leave whenever I need to and I have four kids and that’s kind of how my life has been built around making it work for them. So I started out as a photographer just right out of college and then had kids and I was a full time photographer all the way through, but I’ve always worked my business around my family and what I wanted to do with them and so that I can be at everything that they do. So that’s awesome. Well that’s fun. So it’s kind of fun with these interviews to see where things go. That was a bit of a rabbit trail, but I think it’s really valuable to know how we structure our lives to make it so that works for us. Okay. So, uh, Matt, here’s my next question for you and I’d love for you to share some of your expertise. What is the area of expertise that you are known for both maybe Allison Ragsdale and just Hugh Hoaglin as well? Matt: [05:06] Yes, I’ll start with the studio. So we’re mostly a senior portrait studio. We’ve, we do a lot of family pictures and headshots now, but that grew out of our senior business where, you know, where you were like, Oh, here we have 100 seniors this year, we’re photographing, how can we get them back so we don’t have to market to them again because they’re already clients. And so we’re like, well, we’re going to photograph their family pictures and so that Kinda grew into this big family business. And then of course that has its own referrals. And then we did, uh, we, we kind of fell into headshots, professional headshots a lot because a lot of our parents of our kids were business owners or you know, doing the weather. They had a side hustle or they own their own business. We said, hey, can you do some head shots for me? Matt: [05:48] And were like, course we, that kind of grew as well. And then we do a few weddings a year and most of that’s our high school seniors eventually grow up, go to college, get. And so they have us photograph their weddings as well. So we don’t do a lot of weddings. I mean like a busy year of weddings is 10, but we do a few and so we kind of have, we kind of have a business that does a little bit of everything, but it all stems from our senior portrait business where that’s most of our energy and our focus and our marketing all goes into that. Yeah. Separate than that, I’m, I’m kind of known. I’m in the speaking world for marketing. I have spoken a number of conferences. That’s where you and I first met and I spent a lot of my day here at Allison ragsdale photography, like trying to figure out how to make the phone ring and how to book up the calendar so that we can have the lifestyle we want and everybody stays busy and the bills get paid and through that I’ve come up with some really cool marketing ideas that I’ve been able to share with the photography community and I think that’s what people know me most for some people do know me for like business operations as well because I have some advice there, but I would definitely say my passion is teaching photographers how to market so that they can make Kia: [06:55] more money. Well, and when I think of how you’ve helped me in my business, just from when we first met, sat down and talked and I feel like it’s the marketing side, but from a, like a systematic approach. So it’s kind of business operations and marketing put together so that it all works, you know, in a, in a system and it’s, it’s easily duplicatable. Matt: [07:20] Yeah. And so the way I. There’s two things that are really important to me and marketing of which tie right into that. One of them is consistency. I want systems in place so that marketing consistently happens, so it doesn’t just. It’s not like a rollercoaster where you know your market and you get some clients and then you work with all those clients and then when they’re all done and they’ve ordered, you have no clients again because you didn’t have any time to market. So I want consistency in marketing so that it just flows. People keep falling in no matter how busy we are. And then the other thing is I view marketing as a really simple idea. It’s basically moving one person from one conversation to the next conversation, so maybe they just have some general questions and then I want to answer those questions and move them onto the next question or the next conversation. That’s important. And so, you know, they may show up in their conversation, they’re ready to have is, you know, where are we going to go take pictures. But by the time they come to order, I want them to be thinking about what they want to order as well. So you know, there’s definitely, there’s systems there as well to move people along so that they’re always knowing what’s going on and they’re always educated and we’re always, you know, always on the same page. So it does feel very systematic because I view marketing as very systematic. Kia: [08:31] Yeah. It’s kind of like the order of operations. There’s some song or what’s, what’s the order of operations? So Matt: [08:39] yeah. Well we just, when I taught at, we just called it Pem dos. Kia: [08:42] Nice. Yeah. Yeah. I have a great video to send you a one of the kids I know who did a. made up a song to Das. Yes. Fantastic. Matt: [08:54] Yeah, exactly. I never did songs Kia: [08:56] in my classroom because I never went there, but we could do a order, a order of marketing operations song. Matt: [09:04] Yeah. Well if we, if we find a really good one, maybe we’ll link it in the show notes, but we’ll spare all these photographers, although Kia: [09:13] that would be fantastic. Matt: [09:16] Yeah. Maybe next time, next time we speak together, maybe we can do that Kia: [09:19] song and dance. All right matt. So my next question for you is tell us a story of what is working now in your business. Matt: [09:27] So what’s working right now is that we spent a lot of time, a little over the last couple of years building lead generation tools and our business and that and I just talked about that a little bit about how we want a system where we’re leads and people are coming into our business even when we’re busy and we don’t have time to market, you know, for say market. We’ve built a lot of lead generation tools like what to wear guides and location guides that people can download and basically they just, they trade their information with us to be able to download that information to answer they’re pressing questions and that’s been working really well because then then our customer service can just kick in and we can just call them and just say, Hey, saw you downloaded our guide. You know, how can we help? And then get them in for a consultation and the whole thing happens. Matt: [10:09] So that’s one part of it is that we have these tools that help customers raise their hand and let us let us know that they’re interested in photography, which makes our marketing a lot easier. And then the other part then the other part that’s working really well is that we’re running facebook and instagram ads to that and recently snapchat ads as well to those downloads and tools. That’s been super powerful because the amount of people you can reach with with a facebook or instagram ad and the power of targeting is really, really awesome. So those two things are really working really great in our business right now and I probably wouldn’t trade them for anything Kia: [10:45] for sure. Yeah. I’m actually truly jealous of your lead generation process and I know you’ve told me how to do it and I’ve sat down and worked on it, but it’s something that, uh, is, takes time to put together and put in place. But I know that it’s working well for you and it will work well for anyone in the photography industry. And I’ll, and I’ll share it Matt: [11:05] lincoln, the show notes where people can go watch a free video, you know, and kind of see what we’re doing and then I have a full class on it, but they’re all linked, allegra free video in the show notes so that people, if they’re interested in and building lead generation tools and how we do it, they can, they can see exactly. Kia: [11:20] That would be great because I think that a lot of people, once they hear what it is and understand what it is, they can see how it’s worked on them and then they can see how that can work for their, um, to bring clients into their business. So here’s my next question for you then. What is the one thing that you are most fired up about in our industry today? Like what gets you excited when it comes to our industry? Matt: [11:42] So right now I think there’s two things that are happening that are, I’m really excited about and I think a lot of photographers are actually really struggling with it. But one of the things that’s happening in our businesses consolidation, and since you and I have been in the industry for so long, we saw the 2000, eight, nine, 10 bubble of photographers. That was like, it was amazing. I mean so many people lost their jobs and had to go get side hustles or they decided they didn’t want to work in corporate America anymore. And so they became photographers and we just saw how many people flooded the industry. Well, I think that’s starting to change. I think Alicia, with unemployment being so low, there’s a lot of people going back to work and some of the people that just haven’t been making great money doing photography, look at it and say, well, you know, I’m staying up till midnight editing, you know, I might as well just go get a job where I can just come home at five and hang out with my family. Matt: [12:28] And they’re just choosing that lifestyle. So I think that I’m really excited about the hard part. I think a lot of photographers are struggling with this. That means there’s a lot of photographers in your market that are actually the marketing dollars or actually leaving your market and I think that when there’s, when there’s competition in your market, we all benefit from that because somebody may be running facebook ads and they think, oh, I need to do photography, but then they know you better. They have a relationship better. So then they call you and you don’t necessarily know why they call you because. Kia: [13:00] Oh yeah, that makes sense. So when, if when your competition markets you get, you get business from it? Matt: [13:07] Yeah, because everybody’s thinking about photography because we’re not competing really against each other. We’re more competing against, you know, like do they come do photography with us or do they take a trip to Disney or do they buy a new boat, you know, what are, what are they going to do with their extra money and we’re one of those options. And so when everybody’s marketing, our industry is top of mind, but when, when people are, when the industry is consolidated and people are going back to work and leaving the industry, I think there’s just less ad dollars out there right now kind of keeping us top of mind. So I think there’s photographer struggling, they can’t quite figure out why they’re down and it may be they may be down 10 percent because they lost three of their competitors that we’re advertising heavily. And so some of those add some of those dollars that consumers are spending aren’t necessarily come into our industry. Kia: [13:48] Wait, wait, wait. But why are you excited about that? You’re saying that that’s something that you’re excited about, but that sounds like a negative to...

<a href="http://www.matthoaglin.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.matthoaglin.com</a> <a href="http://www.allisonragsdalephotography.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.allisonragsdalephotography.com</a> @allisonragsdale In this episode Matt Hoaglin talks about how running paid instagram, Facebook and Snapchat ads is making a huge difference in his business.  Tune in to learn how he is converting these ads into paying customers. Here is a free video on what he is doing:  <a href="https://get.matthoaglin.com/get-clients-now-video/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://get.matthoaglin.com/get-clients-now-video/</a> Matt also talks about how he is seeing some photographers go back to a 9-5 job and why that is good and bad for you. Resources:   Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University (<a href="https://www.daveramsey.com/fpu" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.daveramsey.com/fpu</a>) Books to Read: Profit First:  <a href="http://a.co/d/7sj5fEq" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://a.co/d/7sj5fEq</a> Book yourself Solid:  <a href="http://a.co/d/5ojewWv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://a.co/d/5ojewWv</a> Never eat alone:  <a href="http://a.co/d/1K3CUtH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://a.co/d/1K3CUtH</a> Online Resources <a href="http://DigitalMarketer.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DigitalMarketer.com</a> Digit App:  <a href="http://a.co/d/1K3CUtH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://a.co/d/1K3CUtH</a> <a href="#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read Full Transcript</a> <h4>TRANSCRIPTION:</h4> Transcription was done by <a href="http://Temi.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Temi.com</a> which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. Intro: [00:00] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kia, where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Okay. Welcome back everyone. Kia: [00:17] Two from nothing to profit. This is Kia Bondurant and I’m going to be interviewing my cohost, Matt Hoaglin today. Hi Matt. How are you? Very good. So I, uh, we already recorded my interview and I didn’t know if I would like this as much, but I think I like being the boss better. I’m like, Ooh, now I’m in charge, so I get to talk about you. Matt: [00:42] That’s, that’s perfect. You can be in charge of whatever you want, like we talked about in your interview. I can outsource everything to you. Kia: [00:51] That’s funny. No. So I’m Matt, you and your wife Allison Ragsdale, photography and drink. Oh, Colorado. And that supports both of you and allison. Uh, even though she’s not on this, we’ll talk about her. She’s fantastic. She never wanted to do anything besides be a photographer. So she started out being a photographer from the very beginning. Is that right? Matt: [01:13] Right from the very beginning she went to college and got her degree in photography and we started the business like the week she got out of college Kia: [01:19] and so you’re more like me. You actually, we both have education degrees, although yours is a high school math and you managed a camera store and now you run the marketing and the operations of your photography studio. Matt: [01:33] Yeah, exactly. So Alice and I actually met at that camera store, her part time job when she was so cool. Was that the camera store? So we met there and started dating and then eventually moved to Durango and got married and built. Built a business and stuff together. But yeah, so I taught high school math for awhile, which was really awesome. But I’m really glad I stopped doing that at the same time. Yeah. Now I just run like, like you said, operations and marketing for our business. So make sure that the phone rings in the calendar, gets booked so that she can go out and photograph. Kia: [02:01] Yeah. And you’re able to build your life around what you love to do. Matt: [02:05] So one of my passions, just total side note, one of my passions is fly fishing and so what I love about the business that we’ve built as I’m a I, I fly fish at least one day a week if not more. That’s awesome because I can do it on a random Wednesday when there’s nobody else on the river and I love the business that we built and the lifestyle that it’s given us for sure. Kia: [02:24] Yeah. And I think that that’s really good to bring that up because as photographers and as small business owners and entrepreneurs with this podcast, our goal is to teach people to go from nothing to profit, but part of that is making a business that works around who you are and who you want to be. Matt: [02:42] That’s definitely not good going from like entrepreneur to like business slave, you know, like that’s not the goal. It’s definitely, you know, to build a business that allow, that provides your lifestyle that you want, whatever that is. The lifestyle that and I wanted to build is we wanted to work together and be able to take vacations and stuff together. And if we’re working at two different, that would’ve never happened. And so it was really important for us to be on those exact same schedule. And that’s what we built. Kia: [03:06] Yeah. And one that you can take off whenever it’s convenient for you and you don’t have to worry about spring breaks or summer vacations or things like that. Matt: [03:14] Yeah. And we were just now after like 11 years of business trying to figure out how to like vacation and do things separately because we do so much stuff together. We traveled together a lot. Um, and this December I’m actually, uh, I have a week long fly fishing trip in Mexico for salt water fishing and she’s not going so it’ll be really interesting to see what it’s like to have a whole seven days with just my buddies and not have her there because like I said, the business and life we built was to spend a lot of time together. So it’s, it’s exciting to see what this, what this will bring. Kia: [03:46] It’d be fun to see what she does in her seven days without you too. Matt: [03:49] I know and she’s such a, she’s such a foodie person that I’m a, I think that she’s going to end up going somewhere where there’s like crazy good food for a week with her friends and you know, she’ll probably in the wine bill will probably be huge, but that’s okay. Don’t show love every minute of it. Kia: [04:05] That’s funny. You know, in my interview we didn’t really talk about this, but you know, my studio is built so that I go to work three days a week and then I can leave whenever I need to and I have four kids and that’s kind of how my life has been built around making it work for them. So I started out as a photographer just right out of college and then had kids and I was a full time photographer all the way through, but I’ve always worked my business around my family and what I wanted to do with them and so that I can be at everything that they do. So that’s awesome. Well that’s fun. So it’s kind of fun with these interviews to see where things go. That was a bit of a rabbit trail, but I think it’s really valuable to know how we structure our lives to make it so that works for us. Okay. So, uh, Matt, here’s my next question for you and I’d love for you to share some of your expertise. What is the area of expertise that you are known for both maybe Allison Ragsdale and just Hugh Hoaglin as well? Matt: [05:06] Yes, I’ll start with the studio. So we’re mostly a senior portrait studio. We’ve, we do a lot of family pictures and headshots now, but that grew out of our senior business where, you know, where you were like, Oh, here we have 100 seniors this year, we’re photographing, how can we get them back so we don’t have to market to them again because they’re already clients. And so we’re like, well, we’re going to photograph their family pictures and so that Kinda grew into this big family business. And then of course that has its own referrals. And then we did, uh, we, we kind of fell into headshots, professional headshots a lot because a lot of our parents of our kids were business owners or you know, doing the weather. They had a side hustle or they own their own business. We said, hey, can you do some head shots for me? Matt: [05:48] And were like, course we, that kind of grew as well. And then we do a few weddings a year and most of that’s our high school seniors eventually grow up, go to college, get. And so they have us photograph their weddings as well. So we don’t do a lot of weddings. I mean like a busy year of weddings is 10, but we do a few and so we kind of have, we kind of have a business that does a little bit of everything, but it all stems from our senior portrait business where that’s most of our energy and our focus and our marketing all goes into that. Yeah. Separate than that, I’m, I’m kind of known. I’m in the speaking world for marketing. I have spoken a number of conferences. That’s where you and I first met and I spent a lot of my day here at Allison ragsdale photography, like trying to figure out how to make the phone ring and how to book up the calendar so that we can have the lifestyle we want and everybody stays busy and the bills get paid and through that I’ve come up with some really cool marketing ideas that I’ve been able to share with the photography community and I think that’s what people know me most for some people do know me for like business operations as well because I have some advice there, but I would definitely say my passion is teaching photographers how to market so that they can make Kia: [06:55] more money. Well, and when I think of how you’ve helped me in my business, just from when we first met, sat down and talked and I feel like it’s the marketing side, but from a, like a systematic approach. So it’s kind of business operations and marketing put together so that it all works, you know, in a, in a system and it’s, it’s easily duplicatable. Matt: [07:20] Yeah. And so the way I. There’s two things that are really important to me and marketing of which tie right into that. One of them is consistency. I want systems in place so that marketing consistently happens, so it doesn’t just. It’s not like a rollercoaster where you know your market and you get some clients and then you work with all those clients and then when they’re all done and they’ve ordered, you have no clients again because you didn’t have any time to market. So I want consistency in marketing so that it just flows. People keep falling in no matter how busy we are. And then the other thing is I view marketing as a really simple idea. It’s basically moving one person from one conversation to the next conversation, so maybe they just have some general questions and then I want to answer those questions and move them onto the next question or the next conversation. That’s important. And so, you know, they may show up in their conversation, they’re ready to have is, you know, where are we going to go take pictures. But by the time they come to order, I want them to be thinking about what they want to order as well. So you know, there’s definitely, there’s systems there as well to move people along so that they’re always knowing what’s going on and they’re always educated and we’re always, you know, always on the same page. So it does feel very systematic because I view marketing as very systematic. Kia: [08:31] Yeah. It’s kind of like the order of operations. There’s some song or what’s, what’s the order of operations? So Matt: [08:39] yeah. Well we just, when I taught at, we just called it Pem dos. Kia: [08:42] Nice. Yeah. Yeah. I have a great video to send you a one of the kids I know who did a. made up a song to Das. Yes. Fantastic. Matt: [08:54] Yeah, exactly. I never did songs Kia: [08:56] in my classroom because I never went there, but we could do a order, a order of marketing operations song. Matt: [09:04] Yeah. Well if we, if we find a really good one, maybe we’ll link it in the show notes, but we’ll spare all these photographers, although Kia: [09:13] that would be fantastic. Matt: [09:16] Yeah. Maybe next time, next time we speak together, maybe we can do that Kia: [09:19] song and dance. All right matt. So my next question for you is tell us a story of what is working now in your business. Matt: [09:27] So what’s working right now is that we spent a lot of time, a little over the last couple of years building lead generation tools and our business and that and I just talked about that a little bit about how we want a system where we’re leads and people are coming into our business even when we’re busy and we don’t have time to market, you know, for say market. We’ve built a lot of lead generation tools like what to wear guides and location guides that people can download and basically they just, they trade their information with us to be able to download that information to answer they’re pressing questions and that’s been working really well because then then our customer service can just kick in and we can just call them and just say, Hey, saw you downloaded our guide. You know, how can we help? And then get them in for a consultation and the whole thing happens. Matt: [10:09] So that’s one part of it is that we have these tools that help customers raise their hand and let us let us know that they’re interested in photography, which makes our marketing a lot easier. And then the other part then the other part that’s working really well is that we’re running facebook and instagram ads to that and recently snapchat ads as well to those downloads and tools. That’s been super powerful because the amount of people you can reach with with a facebook or instagram ad and the power of targeting is really, really awesome. So those two things are really working really great in our business right now and I probably wouldn’t trade them for anything Kia: [10:45] for sure. Yeah. I’m actually truly jealous of your lead generation process and I know you’ve told me how to do it and I’ve sat down and worked on it, but it’s something that, uh, is, takes time to put together and put in place. But I know that it’s working well for you and it will work well for anyone in the photography industry. And I’ll, and I’ll share it Matt: [11:05] lincoln, the show notes where people can go watch a free video, you know, and kind of see what we’re doing and then I have a full class on it, but they’re all linked, allegra free video in the show notes so that people, if they’re interested in and building lead generation tools and how we do it, they can, they can see exactly. Kia: [11:20] That would be great because I think that a lot of people, once they hear what it is and understand what it is, they can see how it’s worked on them and then they can see how that can work for their, um, to bring clients into their business. So here’s my next question for you then. What is the one thing that you are most fired up about in our industry today? Like what gets you excited when it comes to our industry? Matt: [11:42] So right now I think there’s two things that are happening that are, I’m really excited about and I think a lot of photographers are actually really struggling with it. But one of the things that’s happening in our businesses consolidation, and since you and I have been in the industry for so long, we saw the 2000, eight, nine, 10 bubble of photographers. That was like, it was amazing. I mean so many people lost their jobs and had to go get side hustles or they decided they didn’t want to work in corporate America anymore. And so they became photographers and we just saw how many people flooded the industry. Well, I think that’s starting to change. I think Alicia, with unemployment being so low, there’s a lot of people going back to work and some of the people that just haven’t been making great money doing photography, look at it and say, well, you know, I’m staying up till midnight editing, you know, I might as well just go get a job where I can just come home at five and hang out with my family. Matt: [12:28] And they’re just choosing that lifestyle. So I think that I’m really excited about the hard part. I think a lot of photographers are struggling with this. That means there’s a lot of photographers in your market that are actually the marketing dollars or actually leaving your market and I think that when there’s, when there’s competition in your market, we all benefit from that because somebody may be running facebook ads and they think, oh, I need to do photography, but then they know you better. They have a relationship better. So then they call you and you don’t necessarily know why they call you because. Kia: [13:00] Oh yeah, that makes sense. So when, if when your competition markets you get, you get business from it? Matt: [13:07] Yeah, because everybody’s thinking about photography because we’re not competing really against each other. We’re more competing against, you know, like do they come do photography with us or do they take a trip to Disney or do they buy a new boat, you know, what are, what are they going to do with their extra money and we’re one of those options. And so when everybody’s marketing, our industry is top of mind, but when, when people are, when the industry is consolidated and people are going back to work and leaving the industry, I think there’s just less ad dollars out there right now kind of keeping us top of mind. So I think there’s photographer struggling, they can’t quite figure out why they’re down and it may be they may be down 10 percent because they lost three of their competitors that we’re advertising heavily. And so some of those add some of those dollars that consumers are spending aren’t necessarily come into our industry. Kia: [13:48] Wait, wait, wait. But why are you excited about that? You’re saying that that’s something that you’re excited about, but that sounds like a negative to...

Matt Hoaglin – Episode 002 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Selessa is a senior portrait photographer in Michigan. Want to hear a great laugh? Listen to this podcast! She had her own advertising and design business before going full time photographer. She specializes in senior portraits and has great insight into senior model teams. Selessa is excited about seeing video and fashion inspired sessions in the industry. You’ll want to listen to how Selessa balances keeping things fresh and also photographing something your clients will purchase. You’ll also get the inside scoop on mirrorless cameras. And don’t miss Selessa’s “why” and the best advice she ever received, which will also be some of the best advice you’ve ever received! Don’t miss a great conversation about parents shooting cell phone pics during the session and how to handle that. @Selessastudio on instagram

Selessa is a senior portrait photographer in Michigan. Want to hear a great laugh? Listen to this podcast! She had her own advertising and design business before going full time photographer. She specializes in senior portraits and has great insight into senior model teams. Selessa is excited about seeing video and fashion inspired sessions in the industry. You’ll want to listen to how Selessa balances keeping things fresh and also photographing something your clients will purchase. You’ll also get the inside scoop on mirrorless cameras. And don’t miss Selessa’s “why” and the best advice she ever received, which will also be some of the best advice you’ve ever received! Don’t miss a great conversation about parents shooting cell phone pics during the session and how to handle that. @Selessastudio on instagram

Selessa – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Today we interview Rose Coleman.  Learn about her story of growing up in the industry and after years, switching from a boutique photography studio model to a volume studio based on club sports.  She said no to overhead and yes to profit.  It is important for Rose and her husband to stay debt free.  She shares some great ideas on how to have less debt and more profit.  As Rose says in this episode, it is all about the money you keep not the money you make.   Rose is known for photographing athletes, sports, dancers, and gymnastics.  Where she makes piles of cash is photographing 11 club teams in one night. Listen to her explain why this is such a profitable business model.   You can follow Rose on Instagram at @RoseColeman or @centerstageportraits and also on her website https://www.centerstageportraits.com/ Books from the Episode Strength Finders 2.0 https://amzn.to/2PwMIcJ Brendon Burchard https://amzn.to/2CkdlxW Girl Wash Your Face  https://amzn.to/2NH87hH Other Resources Matt’s Ant Farm YouTube side note: https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada Additional Free Resources at MattHoaglin.com Read Full Transcript  Rose: [00:01] This is Rose Coleman and you’re listening from nothing to profit.  Speaker 2: [00:03] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kia where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Today  Kia: [00:20] we are going to be interviewing Rose Coleman and rose has been part of the photography industry for over 18 years. I’m going to say more than that because she’s actually grown up in the industry and I’ve known her for forever it seems like, and I’m so excited to have her on here. She’s a as, as I said, she’s grown up in the industry and been a part of it, but what she’s done as a business owner, after her second child was born, she left behind the boutique studio business model and created a fast paced sports photos, photography company with her husband in 2015. She is known for her clean, beautiful work with dancers, gymnastics and athletes. And if you follow her on Instagram, you’ll see some of that amazing work. And just recently she and her husband purchased a five acre homestead that they are going to live on with their three darling children and they plan to create their dream studio there. So I’m assuming it’s going to go back somewhat to the boutique business model but still incorporate her love of sports photography. Is that true rose?  Rose: [01:31] Yes. We have been looking for a piece of commercial property and rent is very expensive and so kind of our business model has a lot to do with just our financials, like kind of more more of our decisions as we’ve kind of grown and evolved has been majority focused on like is this profitable enough? Like when we were in the large studios space, um, a lot of it went to general expenses and employees and overhead and upkeep of things. And as we continue to kind of move forward and we kind of gotten to a spot where it’s like we’re going to have in two years we’re going to have to have something and we rent only like two months out of the year when we need to have something. So we’ve always kind of known if we can get our hands in something local that has a home property, but also has a place for an exterior building, a metal building barns, something of that sorts with some land that was my ultimate dream and I’m kind of where we’re at those very expensive.  Rose: [02:32] So it’s like either commercial property or just can we evolve that into having it in a space or home. So, you know, most of our expenses would be, you know, linked into together and just be more efficient, be more profitable. So yes, we close actually next week on Friday and move into that building. It has five acres. I’m an older home that we’re going to fix up, but it has um, five acres and it has a barn because it was actually a ranch, like a horse ranch. And so there’s a 40 by 60 large barn, um, that they had stalls in and we’re going to convert that all into a studio space that we can shoot out of, you know, so we don’t have to use rent, we don’t have to continue to look for commercial property. Where are you guys located at? We are on the southwest side of Oklahoma City. Cool. Cool. Yes. This is so exciting.  Matt: [03:23] So one of the things that you mentioned in your bio that we didn’t mention roses, something about, um, kind of, you mentioned something about being debt free type of thing is so, and you were talking about finances when you just talked a second ago. So is, is that something you guys kind of focus on is definitely staying out of debt and does that kind of your thing?  Rose: [03:40] Absolutely, absolutely. We have not. I mean my husband will laugh and tell you that he married me. One of the main reasons is because I was debt free and everyone else has thousands and thousands of college dollar debt, a crew to them. But yeah, debt free is a big thing. Like we bought this and we’ve even talked about the piece of property, you know, it’s actually a 12 acre lot of land and work on a parcel off seven of it and sell it, you know, to cut down our expenses on that and then how we can get it actually paid off in five years. Like is that a doable thing? You know? So yes, debt free is huge to us it is all about the money you get to keep. I feel like when you work, especially when you work for yourself. And so that’s been a huge, huge focus on vest. So I mean we don’t have card debt. I mean we just, we just have our house debt now that we know it’s going to be larger, but we’re like very, very. It’s very, very important to us to have a debt free lifestyle and figuring out how to get those things paid off.  Matt: [04:35] Absolutely. Kind of makes fun of me all the time because when I married my wife Allison, I brought lots of debt to the Chi of, refers to me as the ultimate catch because definitely married up and not only looks but also obviously in the financial world as well. So.  Rose: [04:56] Okay.  Matt: [04:56] So real quick, kind of tell us what your expertise is or what you’re known for. Kind of talked about it a little bit and I’ve been on your website and seen some of your dancing pictures and stuff like that, but tell me a little bit about what you’re known for.  Rose: [05:08] So, um, I would say that I’ve known for shooting athletes and shooting sports. I come from a big portrait background in I love, I absolutely love and adore, but in the last few years it’s all been athletes. So we do a majority of dancers, gymnastics, volleyball players, anything that’s a club level sport, which in my world there’s either little leagues which are just the masses, you know, of like tee ball players. Then there’s club which is, um, a higher level like a parent is going to spend more money to put your kid in a club sport and um, we focus on that and then you have high school, junior high levels of the same kind of things. You could be a baseball or at high school you could be a baseball or in a club or you could be a baseball or in a little league, but we focus on club because there’s generally about, you know, at least 150 to 350 most often in a club sport.  Rose: [06:04] And those are people that have already, their parents are already paying a higher dollar to have their kid be in there. So, I mean, they’re already invested, you know, you’re going to get a sale from that and they all want photos because they’re invested in this. It’s just kind of the, the nugget we go for. So we shoot a lot of those. I do a lot of dance work. Um, my parents have a dance photography business. I still help them quite a bit with that. And um, a lot of gymnastics, a lot of volleyball, but club is really what we, what we’re known for and going for.  Matt: [06:32] And so you don’t photograph like high school sports or little league, you kind of avoid that and you’re just focusing more on the club?  Rose: [06:41] Yes. Um, we do. We don’t do any little leagues. We have done one or two in the past and I’ve regretted it every time we are not set up because because it’s really important to us to operate as efficient as possible. Between Tim and I, we have a few people that will work contract for us to make an event happen. But most shoots, I mean most shoots I can roll out with myself, my husband and one other girl. So it’s like we shoot, he sells in one girl shows. So we tried to target, you know, athletes and clubs that we can fit that and run as efficiently as possible within our business. And that is keeping it as minimal as staff as we possibly can.  Matt: [07:21] So when you go into a club, how many people are you photographing? Sorry, I’m just super interested in this business model.  Rose: [07:26] Yeah. Um, it is really unique because there’s not a lot of people that I, I guess educate on club photography. So it’s, it’s been a big eye opener for me. Um, so when we roll out to a club, like for instance, I can do a, like a good size volleyball, I can shoot about 11 teams and an evening from about four to [7:30] and what each team of those is going to have 10 people on that. Samir, anywhere roughly about 120 to 150 kids depend on how many we squished in there and I can do that in a night and we shoot and show and sell that same night. Boom, boom, boom. Right together.  Matt: [08:08] That’s so interesting to me because I’ve been looking at doing some more volume stuff and figuring out what that looks like and I think it’s so interesting that you’ve like niche to out and just say, Hey, we do clubs because you’re right, you can do, you can do little leagues, you could do all the high school sports and everywhere in between. You’ve kind of found like, okay, clubs is where it’s at because the parents are invested and they’ve paid extra for the kids to be in there. They probably have a couple uniforms and stuff like that, so there’s already this culture that the money is flowing when you’re in club and I think that’s just super, super smart.  Rose: [08:38] Yeah, absolutely. A couple uniforms. It’s definitely true. My son has three different uniforms and he’s forgets them and then we’d get in trouble and all kinds of things. So expensive. I mean. Oh yes. They’re very. And so having them is not something that’s valuable for sure. Absolutely. So Rose Good. Just going back to that, are you the main shooter then for the club events? Yes. I shoot everything. So your husband is just like the male model at the shoe. I mean he has. He has the same job I have where you showed up. It looks good, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. He knows the questions. He is the Schmoozer. He is. It definitely fits into his strengths. He loves connecting with people. He could like make a friend with a wall very easily. He just like, I mean he, he is that person. They asked me about an order or paying a certain price and I’m like, go to Tim. He can, he’ll handle it for you. I don’t want to handle that. I don’t want to hear your story of why you don’t want to order tonight. No, go, go to someone else.  Rose: [09:47] You’re such a bleeding heart rose. It just makes me nervous. I’m like, I feel your story and yeah, I want to make do. And he’s just like, no. Yeah, you’re going to order to. You’re going to see him. You’re going to order him tonight. Right now. Duh, Duh, Duh. Like he, he handles that very well. So yes, I do all the photography. That’s awesome. That’s great. So, so rose been in the business for as long as you have and seeing that from, you know, from your mom being a photographer to being in a family business, to now running your own portrait business. Tell us the story of what is working now for you or share one of your greatest ideas that you’ve had today and how you’ve turned that into a success. Either way, I probably can meld the two together, so when we decided after I had my second child, I took a year off and I did a handful of sessions, but I really did not end up thinking I was going to get back into photography.  Rose: [10:39] I was just like, what’s working? Really? Yeah. I did not think I was. I got. I did not know that part time job at our church and ministry and very part time and when we had my daughter I was working all the time, obviously working with informed my parents and I was kind of working all day, going home at night, eating, schmoozing, talking, put your kids to bed and I would go right back to work because I lived right behind our commercial. I bought a house right behind our commercial space so I would go back there and I was working till midnight and it was a good year and I mean right before I had her that I was just like, this is like I’m working to death. I’m working all the time and if I was making tons of money then I could kind of justify that like okay, do it for a season, rocket hard, do it hard.  Rose: [11:25] But I wasn’t because obviously I was working with my family and we had like four or five employees at that time and I was just like, I’m just, I’m the person that has to say...

Today we interview Rose Coleman.  Learn about her story of growing up in the industry and after years, switching from a boutique photography studio model to a volume studio based on club sports.  She said no to overhead and yes to profit. It is important for Rose and her husband to stay debt free.  She shares some great ideas on how to have less debt and more profit.  As Rose says in this episode, it is all about the money you keep not the money you make.   Rose is known for photographing athletes, sports, dancers, and gymnastics.  Where she makes piles of cash is photographing 11 club teams in one night. Listen to her explain why this is such a profitable business model.   You can follow Rose on Instagram at @RoseColeman or @centerstageportraits and also on her website <a href="https://www.centerstageportraits.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.centerstageportraits.com/</a> <h3>Books from the Episode</h3> Strength Finders 2.0 <a href="https://amzn.to/2PwMIcJ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2PwMIcJ</a> Brendon Burchard <a href="https://amzn.to/2CkdlxW" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2CkdlxW</a> Girl Wash Your Face  <a href="https://amzn.to/2NH87hH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2NH87hH</a> <h3>Other Resources</h3> Matt’s Ant Farm YouTube side note: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada</a> Additional Free Resources at <a href="http://www.matthoaglin.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MattHoaglin.com</a> <a href="#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read Full Transcript</a> Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=1.02" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[00:01]</a> This is Rose Coleman and you’re listening from nothing to profit. Speaker 2: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=3.98" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[00:03]</a> Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kia where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Today Kia: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=20.11" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[00:20]</a> we are going to be interviewing Rose Coleman and rose has been part of the photography industry for over 18 years. I’m going to say more than that because she’s actually grown up in the industry and I’ve known her for forever it seems like, and I’m so excited to have her on here. She’s a as, as I said, she’s grown up in the industry and been a part of it, but what she’s done as a business owner, after her second child was born, she left behind the boutique studio business model and created a fast paced sports photos, photography company with her husband in 2015. She is known for her clean, beautiful work with dancers, gymnastics and athletes. And if you follow her on Instagram, you’ll see some of that amazing work. And just recently she and her husband purchased a five acre homestead that they are going to live on with their three darling children and they plan to create their dream studio there. So I’m assuming it’s going to go back somewhat to the boutique business model but still incorporate her love of sports photography. Is that true rose? Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=91.66" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[01:31]</a> Yes. We have been looking for a piece of commercial property and rent is very expensive and so kind of our business model has a lot to do with just our financials, like kind of more more of our decisions as we’ve kind of grown and evolved has been majority focused on like is this profitable enough? Like when we were in the large studios space, um, a lot of it went to general expenses and employees and overhead and upkeep of things. And as we continue to kind of move forward and we kind of gotten to a spot where it’s like we’re going to have in two years we’re going to have to have something and we rent only like two months out of the year when we need to have something. So we’ve always kind of known if we can get our hands in something local that has a home property, but also has a place for an exterior building, a metal building barns, something of that sorts with some land that was my ultimate dream and I’m kind of where we’re at those very expensive. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=152.8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[02:32]</a> So it’s like either commercial property or just can we evolve that into having it in a space or home. So, you know, most of our expenses would be, you know, linked into together and just be more efficient, be more profitable. So yes, we close actually next week on Friday and move into that building. It has five acres. I’m an older home that we’re going to fix up, but it has um, five acres and it has a barn because it was actually a ranch, like a horse ranch. And so there’s a 40 by 60 large barn, um, that they had stalls in and we’re going to convert that all into a studio space that we can shoot out of, you know, so we don’t have to use rent, we don’t have to continue to look for commercial property. Where are you guys located at? We are on the southwest side of Oklahoma City. Cool. Cool. Yes. This is so exciting. Matt: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=203.89" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[03:23]</a> So one of the things that you mentioned in your bio that we didn’t mention roses, something about, um, kind of, you mentioned something about being debt free type of thing is so, and you were talking about finances when you just talked a second ago. So is, is that something you guys kind of focus on is definitely staying out of debt and does that kind of your thing? Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=220.48" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[03:40]</a> Absolutely, absolutely. We have not. I mean my husband will laugh and tell you that he married me. One of the main reasons is because I was debt free and everyone else has thousands and thousands of college dollar debt, a crew to them. But yeah, debt free is a big thing. Like we bought this and we’ve even talked about the piece of property, you know, it’s actually a 12 acre lot of land and work on a parcel off seven of it and sell it, you know, to cut down our expenses on that and then how we can get it actually paid off in five years. Like is that a doable thing? You know? So yes, debt free is huge to us it is all about the money you get to keep. I feel like when you work, especially when you work for yourself. And so that’s been a huge, huge focus on vest. So I mean we don’t have card debt. I mean we just, we just have our house debt now that we know it’s going to be larger, but we’re like very, very. It’s very, very important to us to have a debt free lifestyle and figuring out how to get those things paid off. Matt: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=275.47" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[04:35]</a> Absolutely. Kind of makes fun of me all the time because when I married my wife Allison, I brought lots of debt to the Chi of, refers to me as the ultimate catch because definitely married up and not only looks but also obviously in the financial world as well. So. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=296.24" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[04:56]</a> Okay. Matt: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=296.71" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[04:56]</a> So real quick, kind of tell us what your expertise is or what you’re known for. Kind of talked about it a little bit and I’ve been on your website and seen some of your dancing pictures and stuff like that, but tell me a little bit about what you’re known for. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=308.93" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[05:08]</a> So, um, I would say that I’ve known for shooting athletes and shooting sports. I come from a big portrait background in I love, I absolutely love and adore, but in the last few years it’s all been athletes. So we do a majority of dancers, gymnastics, volleyball players, anything that’s a club level sport, which in my world there’s either little leagues which are just the masses, you know, of like tee ball players. Then there’s club which is, um, a higher level like a parent is going to spend more money to put your kid in a club sport and um, we focus on that and then you have high school, junior high levels of the same kind of things. You could be a baseball or at high school you could be a baseball or in a club or you could be a baseball or in a little league, but we focus on club because there’s generally about, you know, at least 150 to 350 most often in a club sport. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=364.07" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[06:04]</a> And those are people that have already, their parents are already paying a higher dollar to have their kid be in there. So, I mean, they’re already invested, you know, you’re going to get a sale from that and they all want photos because they’re invested in this. It’s just kind of the, the nugget we go for. So we shoot a lot of those. I do a lot of dance work. Um, my parents have a dance photography business. I still help them quite a bit with that. And um, a lot of gymnastics, a lot of volleyball, but club is really what we, what we’re known for and going for. Matt: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=392.52" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[06:32]</a> And so you don’t photograph like high school sports or little league, you kind of avoid that and you’re just focusing more on the club? Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=401.72" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[06:41]</a> Yes. Um, we do. We don’t do any little leagues. We have done one or two in the past and I’ve regretted it every time we are not set up because because it’s really important to us to operate as efficient as possible. Between Tim and I, we have a few people that will work contract for us to make an event happen. But most shoots, I mean most shoots I can roll out with myself, my husband and one other girl. So it’s like we shoot, he sells in one girl shows. So we tried to target, you know, athletes and clubs that we can fit that and run as efficiently as possible within our business. And that is keeping it as minimal as staff as we possibly can. Matt: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=441.33" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[07:21]</a> So when you go into a club, how many people are you photographing? Sorry, I’m just super interested in this business model. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=446.98" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[07:26]</a> Yeah. Um, it is really unique because there’s not a lot of people that I, I guess educate on club photography. So it’s, it’s been a big eye opener for me. Um, so when we roll out to a club, like for instance, I can do a, like a good size volleyball, I can shoot about 11 teams and an evening from about four to [7:30] and what each team of those is going to have 10 people on that. Samir, anywhere roughly about 120 to 150 kids depend on how many we squished in there and I can do that in a night and we shoot and show and sell that same night. Boom, boom, boom. Right together. Matt: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=488.07" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[08:08]</a> That’s so interesting to me because I’ve been looking at doing some more volume stuff and figuring out what that looks like and I think it’s so interesting that you’ve like niche to out and just say, Hey, we do clubs because you’re right, you can do, you can do little leagues, you could do all the high school sports and everywhere in between. You’ve kind of found like, okay, clubs is where it’s at because the parents are invested and they’ve paid extra for the kids to be in there. They probably have a couple uniforms and stuff like that, so there’s already this culture that the money is flowing when you’re in club and I think that’s just super, super smart. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=518.8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[08:38]</a> Yeah, absolutely. A couple uniforms. It’s definitely true. My son has three different uniforms and he’s forgets them and then we’d get in trouble and all kinds of things. So expensive. I mean. Oh yes. They’re very. And so having them is not something that’s valuable for sure. Absolutely. So Rose Good. Just going back to that, are you the main shooter then for the club events? Yes. I shoot everything. So your husband is just like the male model at the shoe. I mean he has. He has the same job I have where you showed up. It looks good, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. He knows the questions. He is the Schmoozer. He is. It definitely fits into his strengths. He loves connecting with people. He could like make a friend with a wall very easily. He just like, I mean he, he is that person. They asked me about an order or paying a certain price and I’m like, go to Tim. He can, he’ll handle it for you. I don’t want to handle that. I don’t want to hear your story of why you don’t want to order tonight. No, go, go to someone else. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=587.12" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[09:47]</a> You’re such a bleeding heart rose. It just makes me nervous. I’m like, I feel your story and yeah, I want to make do. And he’s just like, no. Yeah, you’re going to order to. You’re going to see him. You’re going to order him tonight. Right now. Duh, Duh, Duh. Like he, he handles that very well. So yes, I do all the photography. That’s awesome. That’s great. So, so rose been in the business for as long as you have and seeing that from, you know, from your mom being a photographer to being in a family business, to now running your own portrait business. Tell us the story of what is working now for you or share one of your greatest ideas that you’ve had today and how you’ve turned that into a success. Either way, I probably can meld the two together, so when we decided after I had my second child, I took a year off and I did a handful of sessions, but I really did not end up thinking I was going to get back into photography. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=639.72" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[10:39]</a> I was just like, what’s working? Really? Yeah. I did not think I was. I got. I did not know that part time job at our church and ministry and very part time and when we had my daughter I was working all the time, obviously working with informed my parents and I was kind of working all day, going home at night, eating, schmoozing, talking, put your kids to bed and I would go right back to work because I lived right behind our commercial. I bought a house right behind our commercial space so I would go back there and I was working till midnight and it was a good year and I mean right before I had her that I was just like, this is like I’m working to death. I’m working all the time and if I was making tons of money then I could kind of justify that like okay, do it for a season, rocket hard, do it hard. Rose: <a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/ghCVUCynedX9jYw5dL401Tqr1lliRs_K85g618EMxKS1Sh-l2kGpq8-V1Ea3j6eoftN6D-39W7ArfsdYIFRb3AU_HEk?loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&amp;ts=685.23" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[11:25]</a> But I wasn’t because obviously I was working with my family and we had like four or five employees at that time and I was just like, I’m just, I’m the person that has to say...

Rose Coleman – Episode 003 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Leslie Kerrigan

Leslie Kerrigan is the creator of Seniorologie and also has her own podcast. Leslie has run her own senior portrait studio for 10 years and started Seniorologie to educate herself and also share what she is learning. Conference 12, put on by Seniorologie, is in Nashville this year. You don’t want to miss this podcast episode! Listen in to hear what is working for Leslie these days in her business and what she’s fired up about in the industry. Leslie gives great social media advice you won’t want to miss. Camera brands, education and business are hot topics in this podcast.Internet Resources:Find somebody amazing to learn from in marketing or business, not even in the photography industry.Seniorologie FB group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/SeniorologieCommunity/)Seniorologie.comhttp://www.conference12.com/BooksWork Party by Jacelyn Johnson (https://amzn.to/2C9ibgJ)Nasty Galaxy by Sophia Amoruso (https://www.amazon.com/Nasty-Galaxy-Sophia-Amoruso)Purple Cow by Seth Godin (https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Cow-Transform-Business-Remarkable)  Read Full Transcript  Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.Leslie: [00:01] This is Leslie care again and you are listening to from nothing to profit.Speaker 2: [00:06] Welcome to from nothing to profit a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Hello guys,Kia: [00:23] we are so excited to have Leslie Kerrigan with us today. As you can hear, she is great on the podcast already. She does her own podcast and she is the founder of see neurology it, which has a great Instagram account. And uh, I think you do, um, conventions and that type of thing. And so we’d love to hear more about you and your history and senior photography. Leslie.Leslie: [00:46] Yeah, thanks for having me. And Yeah, so I started senior photography and my own personal business, Leslie Kerrigan photography, Gosh, probably about nine or 10 years ago. And right around the same time I was trying to find information and learn about senior photography, um, and it wasn’t really finding what I was looking for. So I created senior urology to help other people as I learned. So I kind of used it as a learning platform for myself, but also to share what I’ve learned with others cause I thought, well maybe they need to learn as well. So I started seeing urology and it started out as just a blog that interviewed other photographers and shared inspiration from other photographers. And then it quickly grew into in person workshops. And then that grew into what we have now, which is a conference once a year called conference 12 yeah, that looks really fun.Matt: [01:44] And where’s that?Leslie: [01:46] So the conference conferences in a different city every year. And this year it’s in Nashville, Tennessee.Matt: [01:52] Oh, awesome. That’s really cool. Yeah, I’ve, I’ve been to Nashville for gungy conferences. It’s a really like conference friendly city. I really liked it. Yeah.Leslie: [01:59] Right. Yeah, it’s a great city. It’s not too far from me. Uh, but you know, we actually had conference 12 in Denver, which was one of our most popular ones. So Denver was a great place to,Matt: [02:10] yeah, I think I, that’s where I grew up. I don’t live there anymore, but yeah, Denver so centrally located. And sometimes I think it’s just forgotten about as like a major Midwest city, you know, but it seems like it’s pretty easy to get in and out of Denver for a lot for people from both coasts and stuff like that. So that makes sense that it’s was probably one of the more of the popular ones. And then you guys have guest speakers? Yeah,Leslie: [02:34] speakers, the conference 12 since 12 is the year, you know, the 12th year in school, they’re seniors. So then the conferences, that’s why it’s called conference 12. And then we have 12 different senior photography speakers who teach 12 different classes. So it’s kind of a well rounded. You get education from a lot of different people with a lot of different styles and, and you know, backgrounds and stuff like that. Yeah, I’ve been your release. I always find it fun to see how you kind of trickle out who all your speakers are. Yeah, we have fun. But then you also do senior photography yourself as well, right? Yes. Yes. So I have my own personal, um, senior photography business. I, um, really that’s all I shoot. I mean, every now and then I’ll shoot some other things. But the majority of my business is high school seniors. In fact, just last night we had our class of 2020 model informational meeting here at my house. So I’m kind of recovering from that today. I saw you had really cute cookies with your logo or is it wasn’t your monogram on it?Leslie: [03:39] Leslie Kerrigan photography. So it just said it. Okay. P across the front. So, and they were actually really yummy. We’ve actually had um, prettier cookies before that didn’t taste so good, like shaped like cameras and they were so pretty, but then they didn’t taste good. So I went with the tasting good route last night. That’s fun. That’s really fun. Um, so, uh, you can answer are we have a list of questions that we’d like to ask and you can answer them from both what you know about the whole industry or from your business. Personally, we would love to hear any, any sort of expertise. So, okay, so Matt, where are we going now?Matt: [04:16] Talk about like what’s working now. So when you, when you think of what’s working now in the senior portrait market, what, what comes to mind Leslie?Leslie: [04:26] Well, for me personally and my personal photography business really showcasing and experience and you know, going back to what I did last night, the model program, those things are working really well. For me personally, I know that across the country it really varies depending on your market. So I’ve learned through senior Ologie and through, you know, meeting a bunch of different photographers all over the country that the senior market is different depending on where you live. So, you know, it may be more popular as in it’s been around for awhile sort of on the west coast where they have to hire a photographer in order to have a photo in the yearbook. But for me it’s kind of a newer thing because here in the south they don’t get to put whatever photo they want, the yearbook, they have to go to the school appointed photographer and have the black drape kind of on the plain backdrop photo. So to have me in addition to that is sort of a newer phenomenon. So it’s, you know, a little bit newer have an industry here, which I love because when I started, nobody even knew what senior photography was other than that traditional yearbook photo. So, um,Matt: [05:47] I think you’re in, you’re saying like nine years ago, like there wasn’t really a senior market for you. Now you guys have had to kind of just build it.Leslie: [05:55] Yeah, I totally, what city are you in? So I’m located in Greenville, South Carolina. Um, and again, everything in the south, I like to joke about this, but it’s really true. Uh, all trends, no matter what they are, move from west to east, north to south. So we are absolutely the last people that do anything. Um, so yeah. So when I decided, hey, I think I want to do senior photography, there really wasn’t a market for that in my area. People are like, what are you talking about? What senior photography? Um, so I really had to create sort of a reason why anyone would hire me after they already had the yearbook photo taken.Matt: [06:38] That’s so interesting. Like, yeah. Cause you know, I feel like when people talk about senior photography, they talk about the way they just described it, the way you just described it. But you always just assume like, yeah, that was like 2,500 years ago. But like you guys are still living it. Like you’re still doing the super traditional yearbook pictures in South Carolina and your, and then this, the model program and this kind of lifestyle senior portrait stuff is kind of still new, which is really interesting.Leslie: [07:07] Yeah, totally. That’s really neat. So now let’s move on to the next question. Uh, because this fits in perfectly. What is one thing that you are most fired up about in our industry today? Like what makes you really excited about what’s, what’s happening? Oh my gosh. I mean I love seeing how it, to me, what started out as a little more posed portrait style is really big. And then now it’s kind of going into more of a lifestyle, um, style. Um, so I love seeing that because I feel like, you know, it’s great to get a few post photos of course, especially here in the south where we’re, we’re super traditional. Parents loved that, the smiling post photo. But I think the girls and the seniors are really getting a little more excited about more of a fashion blogger lifestyle type photo where you see some movement and you see, you know, um, perfectly post photos.Leslie: [08:07] So I think that’s exciting. I think the model program is always exciting because for me it changes every year. You know, my program started out with only four girls that I had to beg to be a part of it. Now it’s grown into, you know, I have over a hundred apply every year. So it’s fun to see how that’s changing as well. Those things get me excited. But then in the industry as whole as a whole, I really liked to see the huge movement for education for high school senior photographers and the abundance of, you know, places to learn because I really, I’m a strong believer in no one person has all the answers. So to be able to have choices of where you might learn about this business is exciting.Matt: [08:53] That’s really awesome. So let me, let me of dig a little bit deeper because I’ve been in this conversation in my own head and maybe you can help me with it. So like you’re talking about how how the industry has changed a little bit and how’s the senior market has changed a little bit. How do you feel like social media has changed in the last couple of years or even in the last year? Have you seen any kind of big changes there?Leslie: [09:16] Well, I think social media is changing daily. So yeah, I mean, you know, what was once a Facebook ruled world is now gone to hardly any high school senior is on Facebook anymore and they’re all on Instagram and snapchat and all these other avenues for social media. I said that in and of itself has changed. I think, you know, with photographers in general, posting about all sorts of things from education to their own actual work has changed. I think I see a lot more of that people branching into the education world. And posting about that. So that’s exciting. But yeah, I mean it’s one of those things when you’re in a teen, a heavy industry, you gotta keep up with all those trends. So, and of course it’s, it’s a little hard to keep up with every social media aspect. So I always say pick one that you liked the best that teens are using and really hone in on that one. So Instagram for me is that I don’t really snapchat because I feel like I can’t dedicate myself to several channels. I, I feel like I can do one really well. So that’s what I’m doing now. But you know, you have to be able to change if that then changes, cause you never know. Instagram may change just like Facebook did. I mean maybe teens, we’ll leave that sooner or later, who knows?Matt: [10:36] Yeah, it’s always a, it’s definitely always a moving target that’s for, that’s definitely for sure. Yeah. Okay. So we’ll jump right, we’ll jump into our lightning round real quick. And these are just kind of questions that can, that can kind of happen fast. But at the same time, if we need to spend a few minutes really diving into them, we, we can cause we got, we got plenty of time. Okay. So when you were first starting out, Leslie, what was holding you back from being a full time photographer?Leslie: [11:04] Probably fear, which I think can hold us back from a lot of things. You know, would I get enough clients? Would I make enough money doing this? So fear holds us back from a lot of different things. I mean, he’s still, to this day, there are many ideas floating through my head, but I don’t always go with them because maybe I’m scared that nobody will like that idea. But I think you have to just put yourself out there and really work your tail off to accomplish it if it’s something you truly believe in and want to do. Um, so I just think overcoming that fear is one of those things that you just, you have to do in order to be successful. You can’t, you can’t do it halfway. You have to do it, you know, with all your intentions and your full attention. So you can be successful.Matt: [11:54] And was it just like fail of, I can’t even speak about that fail fear of failure or was it like fail? I don’t know. Like what, was there one particular part that you were, you were worried about or was it just general failure that you were worried about?Leslie: [12:09] Why do you think there’s always a fear of failure? In fact, this week, senior urology podcast is all about fear of failure. Um, so I think in business, no matter what business you are, you are in photography or whatever, there’s always that fear that it might not work out. But I’ve done a ton of stuff that didn’t really work out. I mean, I’ll be honest, I’ve put workshops out there and gotten zero people signed up for it. I have, I try to rep program that first year and really didn’t get referrals out of it. I’ve done, I’ve done all of it. So I’ve failed a million times. So I think the thing that more than failure, fear of failure is to get back up and try again. So I just keep trying and keep putting things out there. And hoping something sticks to be honest. And how did you get into photography?Leslie: [12:59] W did you go straight into it or were you doing something else before? Oh, no, I actually, um, so I went to college for journalism. So, um, I started my first sort of job I guess was, um, in a hospital PR department. And then from there I went to work at a paper company, which was headquartered in my hometown. Um, so I was like an inside sales person, met my husband, we had cubicles across from each other and then he wanted to go back and get his masters at Purdue, which was in Indiana. And at the time we were in South Carolina. So I went and you know, we got married and we moved to Indiana and I worked in the events department of Purdue’s memorial union. So I planned weddings and things like that at Purdue. And then from there I actually started this crazy kind of how it all works out.Leslie: [13:56] But then from there I started an invitation company. So it’s kind of always in sort of the events planning. You know, I went from event planning to actually creating invitation for these events, uh, which was kind of my graphic design sort of interest. And then from then I had kids and I wanted photos of them. So I thought, well, I’ve always been interested in photography. I never taken a course or anything like that on it, but I started playing around with it, teaching myself. Um, so yeah, it’s totally self taught. I attended a one or two workshops back in the day that really gave me a foundation. I don’t know if you guys ever heard of Nicole van, but that was one of the very first workshops I attended. And she really kind of gave me the foundation of even how to even take a photo, what exposure was and that sort of thing.Leslie: [14:48] And then I, you know, kind of dabbled in everything like a lot of people. So I took photos of kids’ families, you know, newborns, weddings, whatever, and just kind of figured out that for me, I related better to high school seniors. I liked the fact that they wanted their photo taken as opposed to babies who maybe don’t or are husbands and families that don’t want to be there at all. So that kind of started the ball rolling and, and again, it was not really done in my area and everything else was being done. Um, and I’m the kind of person that’s like, okay, I want to, I don’t really want to compete, so I want to make myself different enough so I don’t feel like I’m competing with all the other photographers. So that was seniors for me because a lot of people weren’t doing it, so it just kind of fell into place from there. That’s neat. It’s always interesting to seeKia: [15:42] how our life experiences can make us good photographers, even though we all come from such different backgrounds. So yeah, absolutely. That’s really neat. Hey, on that note, let’s just take a quick break and we’ll be right back.Leslie: [15:56] Hey everyone, tell me if this sounds familiar. You look at your calendar and notice you need clients now. So you do a little marketing and get some phone calls. You get busy helping those new clients, they scheduled sessions, they place orders and life is good, but once they’re done, your calendar is empty again. The reason is you didn’t have time to market while you were busy. Sometimes your business feels like a rollercoaster, and let me tell you something. It is, and believe me, you’re not alone. Photographers everywhere have the same problem, but I have some great news. Matt’s business, Allison Ragsdale, photography after years of trial and error has cracked the code. It works so well. He’s created a new class all about it. It’s called get clients now a dead simple approach to getting photography clients. Everyone at from nothing to profit is excited to share this info with you because this system helped Matt and Allison book hundreds of clients this year at their studio and the best part about this system is that it’s simple to set up and it works while you’re sleeping.Leslie: [16:51] No hard selling or creepy marketing. All you have to do is help your clients answer their most pressing questions. Clients love the system and say it is the number one reason they book with Matt. And Alison, if you’re interested in learning more about this system, go to photo podcast.com forward slash simple Matt...

Leslie Kerrigan – Episode 024 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Matt and Kia are officially in Season 2 of From Nothing to Profit!! And this episode is with Scott Wyden, who is this podcast’s first repeat guest too! Scott tells us that 35% of websites are powered by wordpress. NextGenPro is Imagely’s plugin for WordPress that now offers auto print fulfillment. What’s so great about this is that your client’s don’t have to leave your site to order their prints. This podcast is not sponsered by Imagely, Matt and Kia just wanted to share this new option because Imagely supports our industry. So check it out!http://www.nextgen-gallery.com/295-0-3-12.html

Matt and Kia are officially in Season 2 of From Nothing to Profit!! And this episode is with Scott Wyden, who is this podcast’s first repeat guest too! Scott tells us that 35% of websites are powered by wordpress. NextGenPro is Imagely’s plugin for WordPress that now offers auto print fulfillment. What’s so great about this is that your client’s don’t have to leave your site to order their prints. This podcast is not sponsered by Imagely, Matt and Kia just wanted to share this new option because Imagely supports our industry. So check it out!<a href="http://www.nextgen-gallery.com/295-0-3-12.html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.nextgen-gallery.com/295-0-3-12.html</a>

Imagely – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Sam Marvin

Today, Matt interviews Sam Marvin Photography, while in Idaho speaking at their convention. Sam is an amazing high school senior photographer in Boise, Idaho. Sam is all about encouraging self confidence and self worth. You don’t want to miss what is working for Sam in his business and how he uses his model program. Sam talks about change and how senior clients are literally different every year. Listen in about how much social media has changed and is still changing. Matt and Sam talk about snapchat vs instagram. Fear of failing and being in our own way is what holds us back. You don’t want to miss what Sam would and wouldn’t spend $1k on. Sam recommends looking for just one nugget in books and conversations. Sam’s parting guidance includes making sure to find your whyBook Recommendations:Book: Start with Why, Simon SinekClockwork &amp; The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz (https://amzn.to/2Er5u2l &amp; https://amzn.to/2IwWHzS)Find Sam Here:CIC Pro labs – print company https://cicprolab.com/Samuelmarvin.com@sammarvinphotography  Read Full Transcript  Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.Sam: [00:01] This is Sam Marvin and you are listening to from nothing to profit.Speaker 2: [00:05] Welcome to from nothing to profit a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kaia where each week they talk to photographers. I wrote what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.Matt: [00:22] Hey everybody, Pat Flynn here. Hey, today I have an awesome episode. I’m actually in Boise, Idaho with my friends Sam Marvin. Um, I actually spoke at the PPA Idaho Convention this week and while I was here I was staying with Mark Lewis, Sam and having a really good time seeing what he’s doing in his studio. So we thought while we had a minute before his model meetings has senior model meetings tonight, we would do a quick podcast. So for, if you guys don’t know who Sam Marvin is, he’s obviously in Boise, Idaho and he has an amazing, amazing business up here with high school seniors. Um, does a really good job. So you should definitely check out his, his websites, stuff like that. But we’ll definitely ask him some tough questions today. So, so besides being my friend Sam, what else do we need to know about your studio? Or what is something that people wouldn’t know about you by just looking at your website?Sam: [01:13] I would guess that the most, the one thing that people wouldn’t get just out of my website is how passionate I am about really encouraging self confidence and individual worth amongst our teenagers. And um, that’s, that’s kind of, I think the one hardest thing that I try really hard to convey. But it may not come across as well.Matt: [01:36] Yeah, no, and I think that’s why your business is so successful up here. And you know, we didn’t even get a chance to go to grocery stores without be running into clients and people that wanted to stop and talk to you. So obviously you’re doing a good job of making those relationships with your customers. So I want to kind of jump right into it and the, the segment may be a little bit longer than normal, but I want to talk about like kind of what’s working now in your business. Like, what do you think being a high school senior photographer, like what would you tell other photographers that they need to be focused on besides, you know, making those relationships with their clients and building self worth? But besides that, like what do you think working right now really well in your business?Sam: [02:11] In my business, I think, uh, the thing that really does work is, well, I mean the, the biggest challenge in the senior industry is that you really are trying to please two completely different types of clients at the same time, uh, being the student and the parent. So I mean, as far as really what’s working for me, it’s the interaction on, on social media and our model program is probably the strongest aspect of our business. Um, and again, it just kind of boils down to a, that really devoting a lot of time and effort and attention into doing things that encourage that self confidence and building people up and not, you know, because I’ll tell you the one thing I’ve learned about this industry is girls are meaner than anything.Matt: [03:05] Yeah, no, I agree. And you may not even see it, but you know what, sub tweets and just the way they treat each other and stuff like that, it, it can be really bad. And so it’s ruthless. Yeah. So I think it’s awesome that you guys are aware of that and actually try to combat that in some way, you know, and bring them together and do really cool things. So for a second to kind of talk about your model program and what you think the most important aspects of it, because you’ll have your, you’ll have your first model meeting tonight and I mean you’ll have a ton of girls here and most of them will sign up and it’s, it’s pretty amazing what you guys are doing up here. But what do you think some of the most important aspects of your model program or what gets people excited about it? I think, let me say this. I think longterm they learn about that self worth and they learn about how to be nice to each other and stuff like that. But why do you think they’re going to be show up tonight and want to be a part of it?Sam: [03:52] Um, I think because of the exclusivity, um, wanting to be a part of something cool but also wanting to do something that not everybody can do. We do a lot of fun things throughout the year. The, I think really stand out and obviously it’s part of our marketing, but like we, we go to a big summer vacation area, uh, McCall Idaho and spend a day on the lake we boat and just have fun and barbecue, play volleyball, just do stuff to kind of almost in a sense team building. The whole goal is to really give the girls an opportunity to get to know each other. And I think one of the things I love about our model program is I’ve seen so many girls that have built really strong friendships with other girls from this that they never would have betMatt: [04:37] cause they went to, they go to different high schools and so they wouldn’t necessarily know each other until you put them on a volleyball court together. You know, at the lake kind of deal. Yeah. That’s cool. I think it’s also, I think in one of the important parts about that is you kind of taking them all to a neutral, like a neutral ground. Right. And taking them away from the areas that they know and stuff like that. And it’s like putting them all in like a strange place, which they probably have been there before, but then it’s like they have to start fresh, you know, they don’t have their stomping ground and stuff like that. So then, you know, they can start to build those relationships and they’d have an experience together. And once I have the experience together, that goes a long way for friendship for sure. Absolutely. Um, kind of what else? So you guys, do you guys do the Lake Day? Um, just tell it, just tell us a little bit more about your,Sam: [05:22] oh, well, my model program is actually, it really is a hybrid of a bunch of different model programs. I, I try to consider myself always open to education and learning. I, I would hope that, I never feel like I’m so good that I stop, but I do see some tendencies to, to like kind of put it aside because I feel like I just got too much going on. Um, but I, I’ve really, over the years I’ve developed a couple of different model programs I take little pieces from and that’s how I’ve made mine, one of them that I learned a long time ago was the, our fashion show. And despite, it’s a really challenging thing to do, the event itself, the event itself, it’s, it’s honestly, it’s kind of a nightmare. And, but, um, every year I ask our girls, I’m like, what was, what was something that really stood out to you?Sam: [06:12] And it’s so, I mean, just falling in line with our mission statement, seeing how much the girls, when they get up on stage and they’re just like terrified. They’re shaking and they’re like, oh my gosh, I can’t walk this 60 foot runway. And they walked down that runway and they’re a little bit fumbly and they pose at the end and all of a sudden they come back and they just got the biggest smile on their face and they’re stressed and like they’re supermodels and the next time out there, just like the, the hype is there and they are just rocking it. And I hear it from so many of them and so many of their parents like just the change that comes over them. So despite this as a big hurdle in their confidence properly. Yeah. And despite the fact that every year I’m just like, I don’t ever freaking want to do that again.Sam: [06:53] Right. Like I see it and like I just, it’s hard for me when it, when it false so much in line with our, our real core values that I just couldn’t, I can’t take that away from, unless I can figure something out that really could work better. Right. And know exactly what’s on just, and I think when they’re sitting there about to walk out on stage, it’s like they’re dealing with all their confidence issues. Everything that’s ever been said to them or anything that they’re thinking about themselves. It’s all right there on the surface. And then some of it just completely melts away on their walk back. Like, oh, all those lies I’ve been telling myself, yeah. Are now gone. And that just changes their whole life, I’m sure. Yeah. And it, it really, it’s bizarre because it’s almost like a visible melt when you say it just melts away.Sam: [07:39] It’s, it’s almost just so visibly obvious that it happens. And it honestly, it just caps everything for me. And um, and, and it’s a great opportunity kind of in the beginning of our model program for them to, to meet each other and then all of a sudden it’s from there. It’s like most guards are down and it’s just really kind of a pickup time from there to get to know each other. So how early in the model program, I mean, I know we’re here in February and how early do you do the lake day and how when you do the, the, the, uh, fashion show? So our fashion show will actually happen the very first part of me. So they’re juniors and they’re walking the runway as a senior model for us. But the end of the school year. Yeah. Yeah. And, and that’s the end of their junior year.Sam: [08:27] But the idea is obviously to, to generate some buzz about them and about us. And then we do lake day typically right before the 4th of July because we try to make a USA red, white and blue theme. And then we try to drop a video right around 4th of July that has something to do with, you know, happy birthday America or just something, you know, something fun. It’s kind of themed. Yeah. That’s really cool. About how many models we’ll use sign up in a year. Typically sign up the highest year ever had 55 and the lowest year, which was actually this year we had 28 we started out with 32 but we ended up with 28Matt: [09:03] yeah. And it’s so interesting and we’ve seen the same thing in our business. Not that the model program is getting smaller, but as you refine your business and you start clipping some of the edges, it just naturally gets smaller. But it’s not smaller. Worse. Like you were telling me earlier, like you had a smaller motor model program but you made just as much money, which it’s like you were, you’re not, you’re not, we’re talking about it. Like we kind of value our success on the amount of volume we do. We do. Yeah. So when we’re down in sessions, we’re thinking we’re losing, but the need to look at the numbers and you actually are in the same place. So it’s like a dream come true where you do as much money but less work like glass sessions. But while it’s happening and you’re like, yeah, we’re going down in flames, were going down in flames.Sam: [09:49] I weigh so heavily. I, I’m a numbers guy. I love numbers. Like it just, it jazzes me. Like I looked through my numbers all year long and I’m like, okay, I got to be right here to be good. You know, when we started out last year with fewer models, I knew we were more qualified models. Like I knew there were more qualified customers. And the, the great thing was is that I knew that we had trimmed certain things to make it better, but the fact we were down, I was just stressed as hell. I was like, oh my gosh, my year has just gone. I’m screwed. I’m finally hit my peak and I’m on the, yeah. Is that the way down? And even into October I was just like, oh my gosh, we’re down. Like we were, we were down 30 seniors from last year, but we did $20,000 more in sales. And I didn’t really see that until the end of the year. I started doing profit and loss and stuff. And I’m like, man, I gotta get my head out of these numbers. Yeah, becauseMatt: [10:41] it actually worked out for you. But I can imagine that journey through the year, you’re probably just talking to your wife, Michelle, and just like we’re losing. But we’ve seen some of that in our business as well. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but like you said, you and I think our co have a lot in common in the fact that like sessions equals number of sections equals success. And that’s not always dementia. That’s always the most important metric, you know. Okay. So let’s shift gears a little bit and let’s just talk about the industry. It was really cool being that pp a Idaho this week I spoke and Tim Walden spoke. So I think this is kind of a fresh question. Like what is one thing that that like you’re fired up about the industry or that you hold as true with industry. You can talk about how the industry’s changing and whatever you want to do, but like when you think about the industry, what do you think aboutSam: [11:28] change? Yeah, like, um, I think I’ve always tried to embrace change, but I don’t care who you are. Sometimes it’s scary. So, but I think change is really where it’s at. But another thing I’ve, I’ve really noticed is just kind of how the trends happen and when you’re in the senior industry changes literally every year. Yeah. We talked about you guys while we were driving aroundMatt: [11:54] that like it feels like every single year you’re reinventing your business. It is.Sam: [11:58] It literally feels like that. And I think that’s really the wave that people get tired of it and it’s like, you know, cause you just want something to be consistent and it just, it’s never consistent. Like, I mean there’s certain things that can be consistent, but your client, your customer is literally different every single year. And so,Matt: [12:21] oh and we were talking about this in the car too. I’m sorry to keep saying that to the podcast audience, but when we talked a salmon, I had a lot of conversations this week and I think the class of 2020 is going to be different than the class of 2019 and the reason is is because for 12 years they’ve been following the class of 2019 and so they see what they do and they don’t want to be the same. They want their own identity. They want to see that they see things differently. It’s no different than siblings. Right. The younger brother doesn’t want to be a lot like the older brother, cause he sees him get in trouble a certain way. He sees them act a certain way and he’s like, I’m never gonna act that way because I saw what it did. And it becomes their own personality. Each class becomes their own personality as well because they’re following the previous class. And I joke that they actually have like a phd in how not to be the class before because they’ve been fallen for 12 years. They have, uh, most of their lives, they’ve been looking at that class above and saying, I’m not going to do what they do. So it’s just interesting. But so yeah, so you have to reinvent it because what one class cares about one year, the next class doesn’t care as much about itSam: [13:26] and sometimes it can be just like drastically different.Matt: [13:30] Yeah, I totally agree. So what changes are you seeing right now? I mean, I know it’s going to be unique to your market and unique to your business, but what do you kind of seeing right now?Sam: [13:39] Right now? Um, I think one of the biggest changes I’ve seen is I, I’ve really watched a crazy roller coaster with social media and how we went from a time where everybody literally put just everything, every part of their day on social media and out there and the food they ate. And now the platforms, the way they’ve kind of rolled out, I’ve noticed that there, it’s almost like it’s the unwritten rules. And I think we were kind of talking about that and trying to figure out the unwritten rules. Like, oh, I can’t, I can’t post a picture more than once every three or four days. And, and it’s got to be a perfect picture and I can’t post a Selfie, which is what’s funny is they even call a picture that I took of them a selfie. And I’m like, like, did you forget what a Selfie is? It’s, it’s actually where you hold up the camera, take a picture of your, and they’re like, well, I can’t post a selfie because I posted one of those like three weeks ago. And so it’s like, it’s bizarre the changes that happened in social media and how they govern the teenage world.Matt: [14:43] Yeah, no, exactly. Because they, it is their brand and it is their portfolio. It’s their profile online and everything. And it’s, yeah, like they do, they care so much about it.Sam: [14:54] That’s really interesting that you say that. Cause I never considered, I never really thought about the fact that kids right now are literally becoming brand geniuses.Matt: [15:04] Yeah. No, I think about how much time Sam you spend building your brand every day and we talked about it all week and they do the exact same thing and they are laying in bed and trying to calculate exactly what they should be putting online and whatnot, putting a line because they know everybody can see it and it’s just, it’s so calculated now. And it used to not be used to just be this fun place you just threw stuff on and people liked it and commented and um, there’s this really fun place, you know, like just to interact. And now it’s way more calculated than I’ve ever seen before.Sam: [15:37] It’s almost like you got to get a degree in social media just to, yeah, but then it changes all the time. Like what we’re talking about right now. It wasn’t true three years ago, three years ago. It wasn’t that long. I know. I don’t think it was true a year ago. Like, I mean the, the amount that has changed just...

Sam Marvin – Episode 023 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Rod Evans

Looking for a more positive outlook on the coronavirus and how it will effect your business?  If so, this is the interview for you.  Rod is such a fresh breath of air in the time of doom and gloom.  He has been in the industry for a long time and has been through hard times before.  This recording couldn't have come at a better time.  

Looking for a more positive outlook on the coronavirus and how it will effect your business? If so, this is the interview for you. Rod is such a fresh breath of air in the time of doom and gloom. He has been in the industry for a long time and has been through hard times before. This recording couldn't have come at a better time.

Rod Evans - A more positive view on the Coronavirus

Teri Fode

You don’t want to miss this podcast when Kia and Matt interview Teri Fode (@terifode)! Teri has been a professional photographer for 15 years. She also owns and operates Voice Your Brand. Teri specializes in photographing seniors and their families. What’s working great for Teri now is telling the story of her brand on her Instagram stories and going deeper than just sharing behind the scenes. Teri believes our industry is missing the fact we need to market like influencers. We are the face of our brand. But be intentional about it. What is it in your life that people can connect with? Listen in to see what Teri recommends you purchase to help move your business forward. You also don’t want to miss the best advice Teri ever received and uses to this day. Learn about Teri’s personal habits of focusing on the top 3 things she wants to get done and spending 60 minutes a day moving the needle forward/working “ON” her business.Teri’s Online Recommendations:SocialMediaexaminer.comBook Recommendations: Building a Storybrand by Donald Miller (https://amzn.to/2VXZwg6)Why Simple Wins – Lisa Bodell (https://amzn.to/2Mfqs6C)Teri’s Free Branding Resource:Brandmybizstory.comhttp://voiceyourbrandgifts.com/brandstatementguide/  Read Full Transcript  Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video.This is Teri Fodeand you are listening to from nothing to profit.Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kia where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Hi everyone.We are so excited to have terry on the podcast today. Terry, he is someone that I really look up to. She is like one step ahead of me in life and so I’m always watching what she’s doing next. She just had a kid get married and how she approaches everything with wisdom and grace. I love seeing what she does in her personal life, but we have her on here today to also talk about a not she can talk about her personal life if she wants to, but also to talk about photography and the business of photography and Terry has been a professional photographer for 15 years with a really strong consistent marketing strategy and authentic storytelling and she photographs stylized seniors families and personal branding. She’s also the creative, the creator of voice, your brand, which is a brand that teaches photographers how to engage authentically, connect consistently and voice their brand message to the world with style, typically black and white and gold style, I think. Right Terry?Well that’s my style, but that may not be yours to all about color, which I love.That’s fun. So Terry, we’re really excited to have you on here and we’re excited to hear about the different things that you’re doing. And uh, Matt, did you have a one to start off and asked Terry a little bit about herself or do we want her to just do it an intro of what she’s, what she’s about.Terry, just kind of share with us whatever else you know you’re up to or anything else you want to add above what [inaudible] just said about you?Well, uh, I, like she said, I’m, I’m known for photographing seniors and their families, uh, and I’ve been in business for 15 years. I started a, seems like a coon’s age. Now I’m dating myself, but back then we didn’t even have facebook. So that’s been, you know, for those of us who’ve been around a while, we’ve had to learn how to navigate our businesses and grow our businesses on a whole new platform, which personally I can tell you I have loved, although I have had to really roll my sleeves up and learn it. So, um, I, I loved that part of it. I left Corporate America. I love sharing that story with photographers because they know there are so many of them out there that have the dream of being full time in. They’re currently part time. And I’m here to tell you it is possible because I literally, nobody knew this at the time because I was so embarrassed of it.I was so ashamed. I thought this is not a legit photographer, but I was selling out of the trunk of my car. Whatever I can fit my car is what I was selling. And I would go to people’s homes for the initial console, for the presentation, for the sale. I’ve always done in person sales from day one that way. And then all of my sessions were either in their homes, in their backyards. We have a lot of clients that have beautiful homes or on location, so that really has been the story of my business and from there we, we grew it into a beautiful boutique studio and uh, I really had to build that business, what I would say very quickly because I had to replace that income. I was the only income earner and I had to know how to make money with my camera. So in a nutshell, that’s, that’s my story. And from there I’ve just really learned how to grow it in the ever changing world of both photography and marketing.Yeah, that’s really awesome. I think what always drew me to you, Terry, besides, after I got to know you and how amazing of a mom you are and how amazing of a person you are, but that you had, that you did come from corporate America and so like you always kind of had a different spin on stuff. You know, when I was in conversations with you, you would, you would say like, oh, well what about this? Or have you thought about this? And it was like, yeah, that’s really smart. So I always really appreciated that about you. For sure.Yeah, that is I, I will say, um, I, I love the marketing, the business side of photography. I’m one of those photographers that I will tell you I even love that sometimes more than picking up my camera and everyone out there is going. Why? Because we have this vision of, you know, we would do this no matter what. I, I can tell you I am not the photographer that says I would do this even if I wasn’t paid for it because as much as I love creating a beautiful image, if I couldn’t make money doing it, I wouldn’t be doing this. I have to make money doing it. So I am just blessed and I’m fortunate that I found something that I love that I can also make money, but that, that’s been very important. So that really does flow from that business background and marketing background.That’s awesome. All right, well let’s jump right in. So the first question we always ask everybody is like, what’s working now? So if you could tell us a story about what’s working in your business or what you think is working in the industry right now, just to kind of give us a perspective of what is current for you.Absolutely. Well, I will tell you the number one thing for me that is working is, is telling the story of my brands now. I know that that’s kind of a buzzing that’s going on out there, but one of the things that I did kind of you mentioned that you saw my daughter knew that she got married and one of the reasons that you that people know that is because I was literally crafting that message as part of my brand and putting it out there on I believe is the number one platform for photographers or anyone in business. It has an online business to grow their business and that is instagram stories. And I connected with my audience by sharing that story of my daughter’s wedding. And I noticed something really, really intriguing to me and that is that my viewers, when I would share anything about my wedding, the wedding that was happening for my 24 year old daughter, the views out of, I mean they were just, they were out of this world.They were consistent. You can always tell him what you are sharing on instagram stories is engaging with your audience because they’re not falling off. They’re not watching the first story, meaning the first little clip at the end. They are staying engaged through the entire story. And what I noticed with that is everyone was watching the and it was likely couldn’t get enough. And I am. I researched, I was looking at my analytics. It was not just my high school seniors and it was graduated seniors. It was girls. And this is really weird. Guys that had graduated and were following me from three, four, five years ago. Now these are people in their twenties in addition to the moms and many other people that follow me. We’re watching, we’re engaged in a story from beginning to end. And I started testing my thought, you know, why I just started with a little bit and you know, we, I, I think one of the number one things that photographers have I’m wrong right now is that they think that all we need to share the behind the scenes and what our businesses and we don’t. We’re really sharing the story by saying, okay, well let me show you on my computer and Oh, let me show you I’m a packaging this product and we think that we’re sharing what people want to know. But what I have learned in the past year is that we aren’t going deep enough and we can go deeper and that’s what I’ve been doing. That is what’s working for me right now.Yeah. So this is really interesting. I’m trying, I’m scrambling to pull up this article that I downloaded the other day about social media engagement and of course I’m not gonna be able to find it fast enough. But hang on, Matt, you can just say that in just a second. I think what’s interesting when you were saying that, Terry, first of all I did, I watched it all and I’m your friend, but I still was like, I just wanted to know what you were doing and there was a sweetness about it that I think was very engaging to people. Um, you know, just the story itself. But, you know about boys. My daughters are, like I said, they’re a little bit behind your kids and so my daughters are in college and upper high school and the boys that are in their lives are very, like, they’re sweet.They want, they, they want to have that, um, that sweet life, you know, they’re, they’re thinking picket fence and happiness and I feel like this, uh, these young people, right? Really just want to create a, um, memories. It’s really important to them. I, my daughter’s friends and college freshmen in college, they all, boys and girls all gave each other Christmas gifts and I never received Christmas gifts from any of my guy friends in college unless they were dating me. And so, um, I think they’re, they do want to just, you know, see that sweet life experiences and share those with you.He hears something, I think that is more something that we can really say, Oh wow, that’s it. I think it even goes one step deeper and it’s the fact where are these people? My audience are high school seniors and, and I’ve always said we, we market to one person that turns into a family and then professional brand makeover, what I call head shots, what I call professional brand make-over shot. So I market to one person which is the senior, I don’t want to get too far off a tangent here, but to support this story. So her family, so the senior, her family, her siblings and then mom and dad, one of them or both of them have a business and, and more likely than not, they’re also are online. So every scene that walks through my doors with 10 k to me, because we know this, we have, we know that if I market and get one girl in the door or one guy in the door, that’s $10,000.If we treat our clients and what I call create a client for life, so now I have this audience in front of me and that story resonates that this sharing my life and my, my daughter getting married and on my son’s engaged because the girl I have always said my ideal client is girl who has been, you know, imagining and dreaming of her senior portraits, you know, since she was 14, but since she was nine, she’s been dreaming of her wedding and she probably has a secret pinterest board where she’s spending all of her wedding ideas and I know thissecret. My 16 year old was like, mom, I’m planning my wedding. And so I was like, okay, I’ll send you instagram post. Yeah, we’re, we’re planning it.No, you know, I speak directly to the moms who were, where I am now at this. Also interest younger moms who have younger kids, but she knows that she is. She is on the cusp of empty nesting and she’s on the cusp of planning this wedding. Now, here’s something that this evolved into is when I realized that my audience was eating this up, I stepped back and said, this is blowing my mind. I will tell you guys, and I mean I get so bored watching my own behind the scenes, it’s like, okay, we’re going through makeup. Okay, we’re going to do the outfits. Okay, we’re going to do this. Now. I am not saying that that is not something that we asked for target for. She continued to show, but what I am saying is that we are dealing with an audience who is being heavily influenced by multibillion dollar industry with a new term and that is called influencer marketing.So we are trying to appeal is already been conditioned. They have been set up for this influencer marketing. So I believe what we’re missing in our industry right now, there’s so many people, a lot of you know, many people are getting this, but most of our industry is missing it and that is we need to act like we are influencers by marketing like influence. Does that mean you have to have 50,000 followers? No, because I made $5,000 in December just with an instagram story desk with an srm straight. Let me repeat that again. I made $5,000 just with an instagram story overnight, but revenue. So is this working? Yes. Are we missing it as an industry? Yes, but I am finding that it’s because we are afraid. We’re gonna lose people by saying, Hey, guess what? My daughter’s getting married. He gets what I just decorated modern living room for Christmas and guess what?My, my living room or it’s going to blow your mind, but I have black and white in my living room just like I do in my brand. So I must have an authentic brand. And then I invite these people into my living room. I decorated my living room. I’m not losing them. What’s happening is they are becoming deeper and deeper connected to me. And you know, most of us can say that we are the face of our brand, right? I mean photographers are, we are the face of our brand in this day and age. And so it’s just blowing my mind that it has to be. You don’t get me wrong, I believe it has to be intentional. You can’t just. Nobody wants to see me making scrambled eggs. We’re going to say, you know, I’m not going to show you. Everything I put out there is just as intentional and just a strategic as when I was just doing my photography business in sharing that with the world. So there is some.Oh, you’re so lucky. So I’ve found what I was looking for. Oh wait, wait, wait. Let’s respond to what Terry to said. I don’t know. I feel like raising my hands and swinging them around or something. Terry, it’s so fun. What I really enjoy about it is I was like, okay, Terry is putting a lot of time and effort into this. Like she must be really excited about her daughter’s wedding. It never crossed my mind and certainly should have never crossed my mind that, uh, that you were doing that as a business reason.I was really new in and you didn’t even know.I know. I’m so. I’m so impressed with a little embarrassed. I’m like, well of course the butmagic. The magic is that it can’t be something this robotic, like I believe if you look in your life and you find because every part of our lives influence our, our brand, whether we want to admit that or not, and that is what really the brands out there that really are working right now or the ones that are multifaceted and that’s what people want to see and that’s what you’re choosing. Brands like I am not just picking up a camera, taking a picture and selling you an image. You know, we’ve all said for years that we’re selling an experience, but what this influential, this influencer marketing has done to everyone out there that is, you know, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling through instagram feed and watching. Now I believe more stories and the stats are proving it is. They are wanting, they’re getting hooked. It’s why reality TV works so well and now it’s transferred over to social media.I want to know really what you’re all about, Kaya. I want to know if you’re into cooking, like why I recently lost weight, gave for me a goal that I had for a long time and I really didn’t share too much about the journey until after I got to a certain point and I put it out there once and my dsms blew up, blew up. Now these were moms, a lot of, you know, I have a lot of and we all have photographers that follow us and other people and we always want to connect with everyone. And so I was painting these dmzs direct messages that were directly like having to do it, what are you doing? And now I’ve got like this little culture of people that are drinking cutter now these are future clients, past clients. And because you know, those of us who are educators, every photographer is a very, very valued client as well. I mean, you know, we’re peers and, and so I’m connecting deeper with people because I’m drinking water because I’m telling him how I drink a gallon a day. I mean, it’s just my mind, you know. So I asked people, my question is what is it in your life that people really can connect with that you can systematically be putting out there in the format of storytelling on line?And that’s what’s working for me right now. Really. It’s just kind of incredible that you have to save. Got Me totally curious what you found there.There was some data that came out, there was some data that came out that I saw it through some marketing stuff and it was talking about the what marketers post and what consumers actually want to consume on social media, you know, and so it’s a breakdown and it was like this huge report and if I can find the link to it, I’ll link to it in the show notes but I only screen captured like one part of it just to kind of prove my point to my staff. And so it’s interesting that about, and I’m just going to say they do have like 10 categories, but to prove your point, terry, that were not necessarily posting what we should be posting for our clients is about 18 percent of brands post a discount or a sale, you know, so not very much, you know, one, one in five posts a discount or sale, but 72 percent of consumers want brands to post a discount or a sale and they know it goes into like, I know you weren’t...

Teri Fode – Episode 017 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Lori Nordstrom

In this episode, we talk to Lori Nordstrom. Lori started her first business at 16 years old. She’s been a photographer for over 20 years and recently intentionally began to downsize her photography business and start teaching/coaching more. However, she discovered a hole that needed to be filled, which is personal brand photography. Awesome to have her perspective on this niche in addition to Scott’s last week. You’ll love this episode because Lori is fired up about the widening gap between “everybody is a photographer” and the “luxury photographer” and talks about how to step up and serve.  She also has some amazing tips on how to stay business focused and talks how important planning is. She says,  “You do have to wear that business hat a lot of the time, 80/20 rule. 80 percent of the time you have to think like a business owner, not an artist.” She talks about her morning routine and how the people she watches and learns from all have morning routines. Kia and Matt add some comedy and good advice.   Resources from Lori Nordstrom: Simplyblessed.life – freebie download Lori’s FB group – Simply Blessed Life – live on Wednesday’s Fundy Designer – album &amp; wall designer  First Five App (5 minutes bible study)   Books that Lori Recommends: Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod (https://amzn.to/2PVI88s) Millionaire Habits (https://amzn.to/2PQDU1I) Millionaire Morning (https://amzn.to/2D0UNE4) Other Resources Additional Free Resources at MattHoaglin.com Read Full Transcript  TRANSCRIPTION: Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. Lori: [00:00] Hi, this is Lori Nordstrom and you are listening to from nothing to profit. Speaker 2: [00:05] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Matt: [00:20] [inaudible] everybody. Welcome to from nothing to profit. So on today’s show we have Lori Nordstrom and I’m really excited to have Laura on the show because Laura has been in the photo industry for more than 20 years and recently she’s actually made a pretty big pivot in her business and she’s moved on to some coaching stuff and sold her business. And I just think it’s a real, it’s gonna be a really interesting conversation to see what her business has become because 10 years ago when I got another business, Laura was really big in the industry. She was onstage all the time. Allison, I learned a lot from her in the law, you know, last five years we’ve worked with Laurie more on a personal basis and really got some great nuggets of information from her. Um, but it’ll be interesting to see where she thinks the industry is going, see where her journey’s taken her, see how her coaching stuff is going and I’m just super excited. So welcome Lorrie. Lori: [01:09] Thanks. Thanks for having me. And Hi Kai. Kia: [01:13] We’re excited that you’re here, Lori, you, I think the wonderful thing about you is that you’ve been in kind of all parts of the photography business and I think you can speak to people on all levels and so I think this is really going to be fun to hear what you have to say. So I think, Matt, where are you going to ask Laura to share with us just a little bit more about herself and her areas of expertise? Matt: [01:36] Yeah, I think I just, I want to know more about what’s going on in your journey right now, Laurie, because I know stuff is changing pretty fast for you and you can kind of give us an update on what’s going on. Lori: [01:45] Yeah, well definitely things have changed as we all know and the industry thinks have been a roller coaster ride over the last 10 years at least. But, um, I have had my own business since I was 16 years old, so I’ve never worked for anyone else and becoming an entrepreneur in the photography industry wasn’t anything that was a scary thing for me. But I do know it’s scary for most photographers who are on the artists end instead of the business end. And so it has been an interesting journey for me along the way. Um, I did start into photography in the late, late nineties. I was in my late twenties. So that gives you an idea of how old I am. But I did start at that time and apprentice for a year in a, in another studio in Texas and worked for him for a year. Lori: [02:36] And then at the end of that year I moved from Texas to Iowa and that was really my launch. I decided when I moved I was done with my other business, which was a hair salon. And when I moved I just said I’m a photographer and this is it. And just kind of started out with a bang, just did it. Did I meet you like right after you moved to Iowa? Yeah, I think met, I was thinking about this today, Kira, and I think we had to have met in 2000. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense from the very beginning, which. Yeah, I know it is crazy. So we’ve known each other for almost 20 years. Yeah, Matt: [03:12] in 2000 I was in third grade. I’m not joking, I’m totally, totally lying. I’m much older than that, but I just had to take that opportunity to, to um, so, so what are you doing now? Laurie will tell us what kind of, what’s going on now? Lori: [03:30] Well, you know, over the years I have had different goals I guess over the years and even into different genres of photography. I think when I started it was all about kids and then I started photographing newborns and kind of became known for a newborn and maternity and then after that I was missing out on the kids and so I went back and started really building my kids business and that turn into families and they got older and became high school seniors. And so it all kind of evolved as my time and the industry went on as far as what I was photographing and what I was excited about. And then five years ago, I actually, it’s been, well almost six years now, but yeah, five years ago I got married again and at the time I got married, uh, it doesn’t feel like congratulations are in order anymore because it’s yours. Lori: [04:23] But at, at that time I was also down to kids out of the house, had one more child at home. He was going to be graduating in 2016. And so at that time I decided that I was going to very intentionally start downsizing my business. And I will say that as somebody who always goes into things with goals and a plan and more of a business hat than the artist’s hat for sure, it was very eye opening to me to start downsizing. And at that time, but I started downsizing. I kind of started hand selecting the clients that I was going to be continuing to work with. And really what it comes down to is every single year, digging into my top 20 percent or so, that 80 20 rule and what happened at that time was, I mean, I’ve always believed in the 80 slash 20 rule, but when I literally started taking action on this and choosing those top 20 percenters, my profit didn’t change very much. Lori: [05:23] And that just shows you how true and valuable that concept is if you really believe in dig into that, um, you know, and it just, it was there on paper for me as I started downsizing that each year as I downsize, it was like, yeah, you know, profits not really moving too much. And of course downsizing didn’t mean just the number of clients, but it also meant the number of employees, what I was outsourcing. It also eventually led to my overhead as I sold my giant studio. Which Chi, you’ve been to that studio. Um, but I had, you know, a big 8,000 square foot studio that was of course a lot of overhead. And I sold that two years ago. And so just each year downsizing, downsizing. And really as I started coaching more and being in that part of the industry, getting out there, speaking, coaching, teaching, um, I really thought that that was going to be my future. I really saw photography kind of completely phasing out for me. But what happened was as I continue to look for holes in the market, I started saying a big one as I was working with other creative entrepreneurs in business. And so I’m excited to share that with you and kind of the whole that I saw. Matt: [06:40] Next question we’re going to go to. I mean we’re definitely going through the less fast so you have not talked about this a couple of days ago so I’m able to kind of lead us in this a little bit, but you know, we’re talking about what’s working now and you were super excited when you were talking about doing some of this branding stuff. So we’ve got. Just dive right into it. What did you see is working right now in the photography business or photography industry? Lori: [07:00] Yeah. Well, and I will say that this is for me and I think there are so many great things happening in our industry right now and I’m excited to talk about that, but what happened for me is, and I think um, you know, Kayak can probably attest to this too, even watching her mom and then herself having been in the industry for so long because as we grow and change and as our kids go through seasons, our interest in what we’re photographing kind of changes as well. And so I would say that, yeah, when you were saying I did my babies and then I did my children, I was like, it sounds like it was following right along with where your family was at the time. Absolutely. And I know it’s not that way for everyone, but I do see that a lot as kids get older, you, you know, your interest just shift. Lori: [07:47] And so you get really excited about photographing different ages and stages as you know, as things change in your own life. But, um, I really did see. And part of this comes for me, I, I work with a lot of photographers who have to photograph, like they love shooting so much. It’s such a passion of theirs and this sounds terrible, but it just never has been my passion. My passion has been running a business and I went into the photography industry in that way that I’m a business owner that happens to have a camera in my hand. I’ve never had this. Like I got to shoot, I got to shoot. Like this is what drives me. And so I didn’t have a problem feeling like I was going to phase out of that part of my life. But then as I, you know, my kids are now out of the house. Lori: [08:31] I have three grandkids. And as I started working with more and more businesses, what I started seeing was bright. Now in the, in the industry, a lot of photographers are doing headshot sessions and so there’s not really a whole lot that special about them anymore. Just like most John Rose that we photograph. It cannot be just about the pretty pictures anymore. You’ve got to have something in the experience, in something in the, in the product and you know, the whole entire package and I do call it a full experience, you know, session even when I’m doing family sessions now, but what I found with these businesses that I was working with was that they’ve got opportunities all around them for quote unquote headshot sessions. But as I was working with them and asking them questions about who they are and what their purpose is, and I’m really digging deep into them as a person, which we all know personal branding is where it is right now. Lori: [09:31] Even large corporations. It is a personal brand and that’s why subway had jared and uh, you know, Wendy’s had little windy, you know what I mean? Like where it’s personal branding, it’s what is all about. And so with these small businesses, being able to take the idea of the headshot session and turn it into a complete branding experience, a branding session makes. I mean it’s so different and I think people will start picking up on this more and more, but right now there’s a huge hole in the market for this and people are just hungry for somebody who will listen and hear who they are, what their purpose is, and even ask them questions around that and then be able to capture that and photograph it for them. Okay. Laurie, that was awesome. I love hearing about personal branding and where you think things are going. Lori: [10:21] You’re doing the personal branding for people and you’re excited about working with them. Are you selling them like a package or are you doing like a session fee and then something later? Like how? How does that work? The process itself? Yeah, so this is the fun and the beauty of doing something that’s a little bit different. It’s just a twist on something and a lot of it’s just language and communication and then taking the time to sit down and go through questions with them and kind of dig some things out, letting them talk. I’m like, you know, doing things a little bit differently in this way. You really get to charge whatever you want because I don’t have anything to compare it to. And that’s a beautiful thing. And another thing that has happened with this is I have been a preacher around, you know, wall concepts and albums and something that they get to see and enjoy every day when we’re talking about family portraits in high school seniors. Lori: [11:17] But with branding, they do need, they actually need the digital files and so it becomes a different kind of session because that’s what it’s all about. And so, um, do you want to talk actual numbers? Sure. Yeah. Um, so I charge $3,000 and they get 30 files with that. So that’s quite a lot of files, but it’s also a lot of value. And what I tell them is we’re going to capture three types of images during these sessions and one of them is going to be head shots and I do want to come up with a different name for that. Maybe you can help me die. Uh, but uh, I’ve tried business portraits and that works sometimes, but a lot of people that I’m working with are there creative entrepreneurs so it might be a restaurant owner or a jewelry designer or a fitness expert and so business portraits doesn’t sound exciting, sexy, so, but those are the three things that I’m photographing our headshots lifestyle shots and so that’s going to be them doing what they do. Lori: [12:20] And then we do actual social media branding images like lifelabs, so branded images. Okay. So that’s going to bring in their product or their service or elements of their branding and we’re photographing them for them, those for them. And so I’m tick typically ending up with about a hundred images and they’re seeing them right after I shoot them. And so I’m, I’m doing this obsession. I treat it like a commercial shoot. Lots of planning around it. But then we, we photograph and then they see all their images and so I, they can narrow it down to 30 and that’s great. But I charge $100 per additional image and they typically do add on. So it really ends up being a nice, you know, a really nice profit points and it is digital files and while while I like to preach on the products, let’s face it, if we can charge $3,000 for a digital session that doesn’t have product included, our profit margin is much higher. Lori: [13:22] Yes. Well, and these are, you know, they’re not things that are going to be on the wall for 25, 34 years. There are things that they need for a certain time period and so it makes sense for it to be a digital product. Yeah, I think that it’s an interesting, I think the word portrait, you know, if you say you’re doing portrait lifestyle and branded images or something like that, like just one single word to describe each one or personality or because I feel like that that image needs to connect with them. Uh, you know, he needs to show who they are to the people and not necessarily just what they do. Yeah, for sure. And that’s part of one of the questions that I ask everyone that I work with and as we’re kind of narrowing in to their brand is, you know, tell me three to five words that describe your personality and that’s really going to dictate where the session goes because, and I, and I talked to them about this, is that, you know, you’re a personality should show up in your marketing and your branding and even in the end and your product and your service and the experience that you offer your client. Lori: [14:28] And so that’s what I want to show off. And that’s why a lot of times the quote on quote headshot doesn’t really work. But I like the personality portrait, you know, something like that. Yeah. And then so who are the clients for this? Because when I think about it, I have people that have big businesses that I’ve worked with and I’ve done honestly this type of Kia: [14:52] thing for them for years. And they are like a very specific client that I don’t really even try to go find or I’ve done this for people and I do it pro bono to help women grow their businesses. That type of thing. So who like if you were going to go out and find, you know, 20 of these clients, what, where would you look? Lori: [15:11] Well, for me, I really love working with small business owners and as a coach, one of my specialties is systems to six figures and so I’m typically my, my target market are women in business who are working to take the thing they love, create a business of it and reach that first six figures. So that is also my branding, a shoots that is my target client. However, I’ve also done these with complete hr teams and brandon that hr and what the culture looks like for that company. And so that can go into large corporations. You can do this for the c suite team, you know, the executives of any company. So, you know, this comes into play for really whatever your,...

In this episode, we talk to Lori Nordstrom. Lori started her first business at 16 years old. She’s been a photographer for over 20 years and recently intentionally began to downsize her photography business and start teaching/coaching more. However, she discovered a hole that needed to be filled, which is personal brand photography. Awesome to have her perspective on this niche in addition to Scott’s last week. You’ll love this episode because Lori is fired up about the widening gap between “everybody is a photographer” and the “luxury photographer” and talks about how to step up and serve. She also has some amazing tips on how to stay business focused and talks how important planning is. She says,  “You do have to wear that business hat a lot of the time, 80/20 rule. 80 percent of the time you have to think like a business owner, not an artist.” She talks about her morning routine and how the people she watches and learns from all have morning routines. Kia and Matt add some comedy and good advice. <h2>Resources from Lori Nordstrom:</h2> <a href="https://www.simplyblessed.life/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Simplyblessed.life</a> – freebie download <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SimplyBlessedBiz/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lori’s FB group</a> – Simply Blessed Life – live on Wednesday’s <a href="https://fundydesigner.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fundy Designer</a> – album &amp; wall designer <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/first-5/id997457664?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">First Five App</a> (5 minutes bible study) <h2>Books that Lori Recommends:</h2> Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod (<a href="https://amzn.to/2PVI88s" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2PVI88s</a>) Millionaire Habits (<a href="https://amzn.to/2PQDU1I" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2PQDU1I</a>) Millionaire Morning (<a href="https://amzn.to/2D0UNE4" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://amzn.to/2D0UNE4</a>) <h2>Other Resources</h2> Additional Free Resources at <a href="http://www.matthoaglin.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MattHoaglin.com</a> <a href="#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Read Full Transcript</a> <h4>TRANSCRIPTION:</h4> Transcription was done by <a href="http://Temi.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Temi.com</a> which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. Lori: [00:00] Hi, this is Lori Nordstrom and you are listening to from nothing to profit. Speaker 2: [00:05] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster. Matt: [00:20] [inaudible] everybody. Welcome to from nothing to profit. So on today’s show we have Lori Nordstrom and I’m really excited to have Laura on the show because Laura has been in the photo industry for more than 20 years and recently she’s actually made a pretty big pivot in her business and she’s moved on to some coaching stuff and sold her business. And I just think it’s a real, it’s gonna be a really interesting conversation to see what her business has become because 10 years ago when I got another business, Laura was really big in the industry. She was onstage all the time. Allison, I learned a lot from her in the law, you know, last five years we’ve worked with Laurie more on a personal basis and really got some great nuggets of information from her. Um, but it’ll be interesting to see where she thinks the industry is going, see where her journey’s taken her, see how her coaching stuff is going and I’m just super excited. So welcome Lorrie. Lori: [01:09] Thanks. Thanks for having me. And Hi Kai. Kia: [01:13] We’re excited that you’re here, Lori, you, I think the wonderful thing about you is that you’ve been in kind of all parts of the photography business and I think you can speak to people on all levels and so I think this is really going to be fun to hear what you have to say. So I think, Matt, where are you going to ask Laura to share with us just a little bit more about herself and her areas of expertise? Matt: [01:36] Yeah, I think I just, I want to know more about what’s going on in your journey right now, Laurie, because I know stuff is changing pretty fast for you and you can kind of give us an update on what’s going on. Lori: [01:45] Yeah, well definitely things have changed as we all know and the industry thinks have been a roller coaster ride over the last 10 years at least. But, um, I have had my own business since I was 16 years old, so I’ve never worked for anyone else and becoming an entrepreneur in the photography industry wasn’t anything that was a scary thing for me. But I do know it’s scary for most photographers who are on the artists end instead of the business end. And so it has been an interesting journey for me along the way. Um, I did start into photography in the late, late nineties. I was in my late twenties. So that gives you an idea of how old I am. But I did start at that time and apprentice for a year in a, in another studio in Texas and worked for him for a year. Lori: [02:36] And then at the end of that year I moved from Texas to Iowa and that was really my launch. I decided when I moved I was done with my other business, which was a hair salon. And when I moved I just said I’m a photographer and this is it. And just kind of started out with a bang, just did it. Did I meet you like right after you moved to Iowa? Yeah, I think met, I was thinking about this today, Kira, and I think we had to have met in 2000. Okay. Yeah, that makes sense from the very beginning, which. Yeah, I know it is crazy. So we’ve known each other for almost 20 years. Yeah, Matt: [03:12] in 2000 I was in third grade. I’m not joking, I’m totally, totally lying. I’m much older than that, but I just had to take that opportunity to, to um, so, so what are you doing now? Laurie will tell us what kind of, what’s going on now? Lori: [03:30] Well, you know, over the years I have had different goals I guess over the years and even into different genres of photography. I think when I started it was all about kids and then I started photographing newborns and kind of became known for a newborn and maternity and then after that I was missing out on the kids and so I went back and started really building my kids business and that turn into families and they got older and became high school seniors. And so it all kind of evolved as my time and the industry went on as far as what I was photographing and what I was excited about. And then five years ago, I actually, it’s been, well almost six years now, but yeah, five years ago I got married again and at the time I got married, uh, it doesn’t feel like congratulations are in order anymore because it’s yours. Lori: [04:23] But at, at that time I was also down to kids out of the house, had one more child at home. He was going to be graduating in 2016. And so at that time I decided that I was going to very intentionally start downsizing my business. And I will say that as somebody who always goes into things with goals and a plan and more of a business hat than the artist’s hat for sure, it was very eye opening to me to start downsizing. And at that time, but I started downsizing. I kind of started hand selecting the clients that I was going to be continuing to work with. And really what it comes down to is every single year, digging into my top 20 percent or so, that 80 20 rule and what happened at that time was, I mean, I’ve always believed in the 80 slash 20 rule, but when I literally started taking action on this and choosing those top 20 percenters, my profit didn’t change very much. Lori: [05:23] And that just shows you how true and valuable that concept is if you really believe in dig into that, um, you know, and it just, it was there on paper for me as I started downsizing that each year as I downsize, it was like, yeah, you know, profits not really moving too much. And of course downsizing didn’t mean just the number of clients, but it also meant the number of employees, what I was outsourcing. It also eventually led to my overhead as I sold my giant studio. Which Chi, you’ve been to that studio. Um, but I had, you know, a big 8,000 square foot studio that was of course a lot of overhead. And I sold that two years ago. And so just each year downsizing, downsizing. And really as I started coaching more and being in that part of the industry, getting out there, speaking, coaching, teaching, um, I really thought that that was going to be my future. I really saw photography kind of completely phasing out for me. But what happened was as I continue to look for holes in the market, I started saying a big one as I was working with other creative entrepreneurs in business. And so I’m excited to share that with you and kind of the whole that I saw. Matt: [06:40] Next question we’re going to go to. I mean we’re definitely going through the less fast so you have not talked about this a couple of days ago so I’m able to kind of lead us in this a little bit, but you know, we’re talking about what’s working now and you were super excited when you were talking about doing some of this branding stuff. So we’ve got. Just dive right into it. What did you see is working right now in the photography business or photography industry? Lori: [07:00] Yeah. Well, and I will say that this is for me and I think there are so many great things happening in our industry right now and I’m excited to talk about that, but what happened for me is, and I think um, you know, Kayak can probably attest to this too, even watching her mom and then herself having been in the industry for so long because as we grow and change and as our kids go through seasons, our interest in what we’re photographing kind of changes as well. And so I would say that, yeah, when you were saying I did my babies and then I did my children, I was like, it sounds like it was following right along with where your family was at the time. Absolutely. And I know it’s not that way for everyone, but I do see that a lot as kids get older, you, you know, your interest just shift. Lori: [07:47] And so you get really excited about photographing different ages and stages as you know, as things change in your own life. But, um, I really did see. And part of this comes for me, I, I work with a lot of photographers who have to photograph, like they love shooting so much. It’s such a passion of theirs and this sounds terrible, but it just never has been my passion. My passion has been running a business and I went into the photography industry in that way that I’m a business owner that happens to have a camera in my hand. I’ve never had this. Like I got to shoot, I got to shoot. Like this is what drives me. And so I didn’t have a problem feeling like I was going to phase out of that part of my life. But then as I, you know, my kids are now out of the house. Lori: [08:31] I have three grandkids. And as I started working with more and more businesses, what I started seeing was bright. Now in the, in the industry, a lot of photographers are doing headshot sessions and so there’s not really a whole lot that special about them anymore. Just like most John Rose that we photograph. It cannot be just about the pretty pictures anymore. You’ve got to have something in the experience, in something in the, in the product and you know, the whole entire package and I do call it a full experience, you know, session even when I’m doing family sessions now, but what I found with these businesses that I was working with was that they’ve got opportunities all around them for quote unquote headshot sessions. But as I was working with them and asking them questions about who they are and what their purpose is, and I’m really digging deep into them as a person, which we all know personal branding is where it is right now. Lori: [09:31] Even large corporations. It is a personal brand and that’s why subway had jared and uh, you know, Wendy’s had little windy, you know what I mean? Like where it’s personal branding, it’s what is all about. And so with these small businesses, being able to take the idea of the headshot session and turn it into a complete branding experience, a branding session makes. I mean it’s so different and I think people will start picking up on this more and more, but right now there’s a huge hole in the market for this and people are just hungry for somebody who will listen and hear who they are, what their purpose is, and even ask them questions around that and then be able to capture that and photograph it for them. Okay. Laurie, that was awesome. I love hearing about personal branding and where you think things are going. Lori: [10:21] You’re doing the personal branding for people and you’re excited about working with them. Are you selling them like a package or are you doing like a session fee and then something later? Like how? How does that work? The process itself? Yeah, so this is the fun and the beauty of doing something that’s a little bit different. It’s just a twist on something and a lot of it’s just language and communication and then taking the time to sit down and go through questions with them and kind of dig some things out, letting them talk. I’m like, you know, doing things a little bit differently in this way. You really get to charge whatever you want because I don’t have anything to compare it to. And that’s a beautiful thing. And another thing that has happened with this is I have been a preacher around, you know, wall concepts and albums and something that they get to see and enjoy every day when we’re talking about family portraits in high school seniors. Lori: [11:17] But with branding, they do need, they actually need the digital files and so it becomes a different kind of session because that’s what it’s all about. And so, um, do you want to talk actual numbers? Sure. Yeah. Um, so I charge $3,000 and they get 30 files with that. So that’s quite a lot of files, but it’s also a lot of value. And what I tell them is we’re going to capture three types of images during these sessions and one of them is going to be head shots and I do want to come up with a different name for that. Maybe you can help me die. Uh, but uh, I’ve tried business portraits and that works sometimes, but a lot of people that I’m working with are there creative entrepreneurs so it might be a restaurant owner or a jewelry designer or a fitness expert and so business portraits doesn’t sound exciting, sexy, so, but those are the three things that I’m photographing our headshots lifestyle shots and so that’s going to be them doing what they do. Lori: [12:20] And then we do actual social media branding images like lifelabs, so branded images. Okay. So that’s going to bring in their product or their service or elements of their branding and we’re photographing them for them, those for them. And so I’m tick typically ending up with about a hundred images and they’re seeing them right after I shoot them. And so I’m, I’m doing this obsession. I treat it like a commercial shoot. Lots of planning around it. But then we, we photograph and then they see all their images and so I, they can narrow it down to 30 and that’s great. But I charge $100 per additional image and they typically do add on. So it really ends up being a nice, you know, a really nice profit points and it is digital files and while while I like to preach on the products, let’s face it, if we can charge $3,000 for a digital session that doesn’t have product included, our profit margin is much higher. Lori: [13:22] Yes. Well, and these are, you know, they’re not things that are going to be on the wall for 25, 34 years. There are things that they need for a certain time period and so it makes sense for it to be a digital product. Yeah, I think that it’s an interesting, I think the word portrait, you know, if you say you’re doing portrait lifestyle and branded images or something like that, like just one single word to describe each one or personality or because I feel like that that image needs to connect with them. Uh, you know, he needs to show who they are to the people and not necessarily just what they do. Yeah, for sure. And that’s part of one of the questions that I ask everyone that I work with and as we’re kind of narrowing in to their brand is, you know, tell me three to five words that describe your personality and that’s really going to dictate where the session goes because, and I, and I talked to them about this, is that, you know, you’re a personality should show up in your marketing and your branding and even in the end and your product and your service and the experience that you offer your client. Lori: [14:28] And so that’s what I want to show off. And that’s why a lot of times the quote on quote headshot doesn’t really work. But I like the personality portrait, you know, something like that. Yeah. And then so who are the clients for this? Because when I think about it, I have people that have big businesses that I’ve worked with and I’ve done honestly this type of Kia: [14:52] thing for them for years. And they are like a very specific client that I don’t really even try to go find or I’ve done this for people and I do it pro bono to help women grow their businesses. That type of thing. So who like if you were going to go out and find, you know, 20 of these clients, what, where would you look? Lori: [15:11] Well, for me, I really love working with small business owners and as a coach, one of my specialties is systems to six figures and so I’m typically my, my target market are women in business who are working to take the thing they love, create a business of it and reach that first six figures. So that is also my branding, a shoots that is my target client. However, I’ve also done these with complete hr teams and brandon that hr and what the culture looks like for that company. And so that can go into large corporations. You can do this for the c suite team, you know, the executives of any company. So, you know, this comes into play for really whatever your,...

Lori Nordstrom – Episode 006 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Justin Lofton

On today’s podcast, Matt interviews Justin Lofton, who is not a photographer. Justin works in marketing, SEO, Facebook ad agencies and coaching. Justin’s passion lies in helping entrepreneurs skip some of the challenges we face. Listen in to see what he says about your energy. Delegate or delete things that drain your energy. Do more of the things that you enjoy and that you are still excited about doing when you go to bed at night. Listen to your body to avoid burnout and stay connected to your passions. You don’t want to miss how serving yourself first lets you serve others at your highest level. 80/20 your relationships. Observe what got you where you are and what you need to focus on to get you where you want to go.Contact with Justin80/20 Business – 8020business.com – free strategy callZenfusion.com – Facebook ads help   Read Full Transcript  [00:00] This is Justin Lofton and you’re listening to from nothing to profit.[00:04] Welcome to from nothing to profit a photographers podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.[00:19] Hey everybody. Well, I’m going to podcast. So as you heard in the introduction, I have Justin Lofton on today and you’re probably thinking Justin Loften photography. I don’t know who that is. Well actually he’s not a photographer and he’s somebody that I’ve ran in the same circle with for years. And Justin, we met years ago at icon, which is infusion site was, it was Infusionsoft’s like annual conference for their users and Yup. And for people that don’t know, Infusionsoft is a CRM that we use in our business. But you had some businesses there I think when we first met, when you were doing syncsumo. Yep. And um, and so to that, tell us a little bit about like kind of what you do and stuff like that. And then I’ll tell, I’ll tell my audience kind of why we have you on the podcast.[00:57] Yeah, of course. So you know, I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was a kid and I really owe the last, call it 12 to 18 years. I’ve been doing a lot online selling products and I’m doing marketing. I’ve done a ton of SEO, search engine optimization, manipulating Google’s algorithm. And I’ve, I’ve run, you know, tons of Facebook ads. I’ve probably spent over 15 million now on Facebook’s ad platform. And so I’ve done it all in terms of running an agency, which I still have syncsumo, which is a software as a service company that connects CRMs like infusion soft with a Facebook ad platform to sync up those contacts. So I’ve got multiple e-commerce brands now. Like I said, I’ve got zen fusion, which is a Facebook ads agency. And then, you know, really my passion project is one on one coaching, helping entrepreneurs and business owners accelerate the growth of their business through the use of the business acceleration lifecycle, which I’ve developed over the last 20 years.[01:55] That’s awesome. Yeah. And so that’s kind of how we ended up here. So I’m interested enough, like I literally reached out to you yesterday afternoon after I saw a post on Facebook that you’d post, cause we’re obviously friends on Facebook and it comes from, you know, your, Your 80 20 coaching branch of, of your world now. And you were talking about, and I just want you to share this with the audience. And so you were talking about this concept that I’m going to butcher, but if the idea is that it’s all about an energy game, right? And it’s like, so talk more about exactly what you mean by that and how you look at business now.[02:29] Yeah. And just like your listeners, you know, I’ve been through this, I’ve fallen on my face so many times over the years. And really that’s where my passion comes from now really helping entrepreneurs and business owners sort of skip a lot of those challenges that I faced. And I’m sure that many of them have already faced some of those challenges. And at the core level, one of the things that I learned from one of the many things that I learned was that, you know, a lot of what we were taught through the system from our parents, you know, they did the best they could, but you know, they have their own limitations, right? We all, we all do, right? And so we only learned what the system at that stage when we came into this game, you know, could teach us. And one of the big things in terms of how this game works is that it’s really about your energy and that should really drive your decisions and what you do throughout your day and what you do in your business.[03:23] You know, the whole concept of right and wrong and good and bad and all these, all these Duke, what I call dualistic concepts that kind of are based on the current reality that we live in. Those really don’t exist. And really what that is, is the system trying to drain your energy. That’s the, uh, what I like to call the screen. It’s sort of like our world around us is constantly throwing stuff at us to distract us and to keep us from fulfilling our passions. You know, what’s, what’s deeply in our heart energy. And what happens is that we start to make decisions based on perceptions that aren’t accurate in the reality. And so really what you need to be thinking about is making decisions that support and benefit your energy because we sort of been taught to just work hard and grind and hustle and do all this hard work.[04:17] And so by the end of the day, we’re just completely exhausted and we hope that we get enough sleep, which is an opportunity to sort of refresh the body and the mind and, and regain some of the energy that we used up through the day. And we certainly consume calories and try and get in the sun when we can because all those things are actually helping you restore energy and keep your energy levels. But instead of thinking of your personal energy as sort of something to be drained throughout the day and making sure that your energy levels stay high enough until you can hit your head, can hit the pillow at night. It’s really about thinking about how can you start to build your energy by making better decisions, by observing what’s happening around you and make decisions that benefit your energy as opposed to, you know, taking away your energy.[05:03] And that really, in many cases, some people say, well, you know, it sounds like you’re being selfish or you’re, you know, you’re putting yourself first. Yes, I am. I think that’s the most important thing. You can’t really help other people and bring value to their lives and bring value to your marketplace that you serve if you’re not focused on yourself first. Right? So, you know, if you’re in an airplane and an accident happens, they say put it, put the oxygen on yourself before you start helping other people. It’s the same thing in this conversation here about your personal energy. You can actually start building your energy and when you go to bed at night, your excited about the next day, you’re not exhausted from the day that just passed you. You’re actually building her energy and you’re not giving it away to things that don’t serve you, that don’t benefit your energy and your state in this reality. Right. And so where this resonated with me, I’ll talk about kind of like my personal example, but then I also talked about what I see in[05:57] our photography industry as well. But in my personal example, if I’m working on a project that I’m really passionate about and I’m excited about it, like I can put a, you know, I can put a 24 hour day in, but you know, realistically like a 12 hour day in pretty easy. And then I, when I go lay down to go to bed, I still want to be working on it and I’m excited and I’m passionate. But then when I’m doing things that I don’t want to do, I mean I instantly zaps my energy and kind of takes me off my game for the whole day. And it’s like, well I got to do this but I don’t really want to. Or there’s things on my to do list that I never want to get to and I keep putting them off. And so when I saw your Facebook posts, which for you guys that missed is, I mean it’s exactly what he just explained. I thought about man, you know, I think the right thing is do is just focus on things that fill your energy bucket. You know, am I, am I getting towards what you’re thinking too?[06:45] Totally. And, and you know, the beauty with that is, is you can start to observe that, that feeling, right? Oh Wow, this is really zapping my energy. I’m not excited about this. That’s you. That’s your source self trying to tell you that this is not where you should be putting your energy. That’s this is not what you’re passionate about. Find a way to either delegate or delete it. Okay, fine. Either find somebody that can do it for you and there’s lots of resources out there across the world that can do a lot of these things that do drain our energy or delete it altogether. You know, you mentioned my coaching business, 80 20 business, a core focus of everything in my life is based on the 80 20 rule, which says that 20% of your efforts produce 80% of your results. And so again, when I’m looking at anything I’m doing, but on this topic in terms of energy, I’m looking for those 20% of opportunities that generate the most results in building my energy.[07:39] Right? So just to your point, like, Hey, I want to focus on my passions. I’ve got multiple businesses, I’m excited about all of them in different ways. But what of my true passion is, is helping entrepreneurs and business owners exponentially grow their business. To tell you a little story at when I ran the SEO business back in 20 2010 to 2014 time, I would just be, I would just do calls with small business owners all day long. And at the time I was like, well I want to do these calls and figure out if I can help them with SEO. And what I ended up doing with most of those calls and telling them, hey, SEO is not right for you. You need to be doing this and this and this before you, you know, you work with us, you’re not ready for us. And what I learned a few years ago was that the reason I wanted to do all those calls all the time and I enjoyed them was because that was really my passion was helping business owners.[08:29] Cause I had already developed these, these formulas on how to grow businesses. At the time I was just doing, you know, SEO because I was very good at it. I knew how to manipulate Google’s algorithm very easily. But really my passion at the core was continuing to help others through business, sort of expand their own personal wellbeing as well as help them exponentially grow their business easily. And that’s why that’s my passion today, because I had to go through many years of just sort of doing it and not realizing that listening to my source self telling me, hey, you need to be doing more of this instead of the SEO work itself. That’s what you enjoy. And so you need thing to those signals, you know?[09:10] Well, yeah. And I think we had the same conversation when years ago when we talked about when you started sync sumo, so that was your branch of your world that, you know, syncs contacts in the CRM with Facebook so that, you know, you can market to segments of your, of your email list. And you were talking about like, you know, my passion is just to help people grow their business and this is just a huge opportunity right now. You know? So like at the time it was just the tool that was going to help entrepreneurs and business owners achieve the next level of their business. Cause so it wasn’t necessarily about the Facebook, but I think you saw it as like, here’s an opportunity to do this bigger mission that I’m doing. Exactly. Yeah, that’s awesome. Okay, so here’s where I think it applies to the photography world.[09:50] So, and it probably applies, this is probably true in all businesses, but my world is photography and so I see a lot of Facebook posts and different things like that from photographers and they’re like, should I do this or should I do this? You know, like should I do a or should I do B or you know, how do I do this the right way? And I heard you and in your Facebook posts talk about there’s not really like a right or wrong way. I guess the way I would, I would say that I would answer them after watching your videos, I would say, you know, don’t do a or B or if you’re going to pick one, which one fills your bucket, there’s not a wrong or right way. It’s like, which one, you know, gives you more passion, more energy so that you actually accomplish it, you know, at a higher level. Is that fair to say as well? Yeah,[10:33] I mean, yeah, absolutely. So you know what, which decision benefits me from an energy perspective. Not like, Oh okay I’m going to go make some money or whatever. Sometimes we make decisions on that. But also, you know, you want to be looking to say what also challenges me because that actually surge your energy, those challenging opportunities helps you break through so that you can actually grow your energy. So, but yeah, absolutely. It’s really about that simple decision you make in your head in a, in a microsecond is basically saying, well that decision or that project benefit my energy or will it drain me?[11:09] Right. Well and the interesting thing as some people say, you know, say it’s not always about the money either and cause some people aren’t motivated by money. So if like if money doesn’t help you actually with your energy, then yeah, you may meet no need to make the decision based on financial reasons, you know, it could be other, other reasons as well.[11:25] Yeah. And I think in general, people as a whole, we’re not motivated by money. We’re motivated by the things that money can help us achieve. And I think that’s key to remember because in today’s world we’re, we’re sort of, you know, they dangle the carrot on money and making you assume that more money is going to create your happiness. Happiness is already inside of you and no matter what you have and in the material world and they want you to think that it’s on the outside of you and that money is, is a big proponent of somehow delivering you, you know, with happiness. And that’s just not the case.[12:00] Yeah, that’s a really good point. So my wife went to Africa like 10 years ago and like, you know, did some work and stuff over there and uh, produced, uh, a photo book and stuff like that. And she just talked about when she got back the Mo, one of the most interesting things she saw is like, just how hopeful and happy everybody over there was, even though they didn’t have any material stuff, you know. And I think that made her realize, you know, it’s not about material stuff. It’s about, like you said earlier, listening to your body and listening to like, this is what I need to be working on right now. I’m not listening to what other people say will make me happy, or what society or the school system or my parents or whatever said it’s what is my body telling me right now that is going to give me the most energy in my day so I can complete this task of the world? Like really high level.[12:43] Yeah, no question. I know that a lot of photographers get into that business because they have a true passion for it and they also have, you know, the programming of a society that tells them they need to make x amount and have a specific things in life and all that. And, and I think that they struggle with that sometimes in terms of finding that balance of, okay, I’ve got to pay the bills, but also, you know, not losing the passion that I have for the, in the reason that I got involved in photography. So I think it’s really important that using that sort of 80 20 approach on why you’re truly doing what you’re doing and in the situations where we have to take on and do work because we need the money to pay the overhead that we have, that we look for opportunities to either challenge ourselves, learn or create amazing relationships in those situations. When on the surface we say, you know what, it doesn’t feel like this is gonna benefit my energy, but I need to do it and I’m going to look for opportunities to improve myself, be a better version of myself in this, you know, challenging job or situation or project that I have to do to support my family. And you’ll come out the other end of it with a completely different perspective on whether that decision benefited you or not.[14:01] Yeah. Because when our industry, we talk a lot about, about burnout and on, so I’m just, I think, I feel like I’m just putting buzz words on top of what you’re saying. Way better than some of these buzz words actually say. But a lot of people come into our industry and they have a passion for photography and then all of a sudden they take on overhead and bills and then they have, then they start listening to Facebook groups or listen to other people that tell them this is how you run a business and stuff like that. And all along the way, I think they’re making the wrong turns. You know, they keep turning towards things that are probably not fulfilling them and they’re moving towards things that are actually burning them out. And then at some point they get to, they get down the road and they’re like, you know, this isn’t worth it.[14:39] This is not what I signed up for. And the truth is, it’s not what they signed up for because they didn’t necessarily listen to themselves. They listened to a Facebook group that said, you know, you need to charge this much and you need to do this type of session. And you needed that. It wasn’t, that’s not, that wasn’t their passion. It actually may have been the opposite of their passion. Sure. And so they ended up just burning out. And then they’re like, I’m going to go so funny on that. And then you probably hear this in your industry too, but then they were like, I’m going to go get a real job, you know, which is one of my favorite lines. But, but yeah, I think if you’re not listening to yourself, it totally, it totally burns you out.[15:11] Yeah. No. And it’s, it’s really important that we don’t just get disconnected and get distracted from our true passions and, and fall into that societal, this is the, you know, hey, this is, this is the thing I need to, I need to just sort of accept this as, you know, I just, it doesn’t work for me. I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not good enough to do this because we’ve listened to other people that told us what we need to be doing. One of the things that I recommend that you do in any of those situations, and in general, this is how you should be thinking about it from an 80 20 perspective and how you can sort of get yourself back on a better path is look at the relationships that you already have. Do an 80 20 on the relationships that benefit you most.[15:54] Okay. And again, I want to remind you that I don’t speak from a dualistic perspective of selfishness and unselfishness. Actually anything that you do has an element of both. So think of it as serving yourself first so you can serve others with higher value over time because you’re building on that energy...

Justin Lofton – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Amanda Holloway

In this crazy time we wanted to hear what Amanda Holloway is thinking and doing during this time when photographers are not working and bills are still coming in.  She has some great insights and as always, a very honest view of the world we live in.  

In this crazy time we wanted to hear what Amanda Holloway is thinking and doing during this time when photographers are not working and bills are still coming in. She has some great insights and as always, a very honest view of the world we live in.

What does Amanda Holloway think about this whole Coronavirus world we live in now

On today’s podcast, Matt &amp; Kia interview Vickie Black, who is the owner of Senior Style Guide. Vickie started out photographing everything, then fell in love with photographing seniors. Senior Style Guide started out as a blog in 2011. It grew into a magazine in 2012. Right now the Hot 100 submissions are happening, which is a huge image contest. This year, Vickie is opening up the contest to 25 people’s choice winners too. Vickie is starting to travel for meet ups and is getting ready to announce Push, her annual conference. Push will be in a new location and in November in 2020. Vickie just wants to bring everyone together. Don’t miss what Vickie is fired up about in the industry, the good and the bad. Vickie recommends podcasts and becoming part of a FB group community.Thepushconference.comSeniorstyleguide.com#seniorstyleguide@seniorstyleguide

On today’s podcast, Matt &amp; Kia interview Vickie Black, who is the owner of Senior Style Guide. Vickie started out photographing everything, then fell in love with photographing seniors. Senior Style Guide started out as a blog in 2011. It grew into a magazine in 2012. Right now the Hot 100 submissions are happening, which is a huge image contest. This year, Vickie is opening up the contest to 25 people’s choice winners too. Vickie is starting to travel for meet ups and is getting ready to announce Push, her annual conference. Push will be in a new location and in November in 2020. Vickie just wants to bring everyone together. Don’t miss what Vickie is fired up about in the industry, the good and the bad. Vickie recommends podcasts and becoming part of a FB group community.<a href="http://Thepushconference.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Thepushconference.com</a> <a href="http://Seniorstyleguide.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Seniorstyleguide.com</a> #seniorstyleguide @seniorstyleguide

Vickie Black – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Melanie Anderson

Today’s podcast is with Melanie Anderson, who is constantly teaching and giving back to the industry. She has a retail studio space that is full service, including portrait work, extreme volume and commercial work. Listen in to hear Melanie talk about re-inventing herself every few years and how important that is for the mentality of creatives. She’s fired up about the leadership in education in our industry right now. You don’t want to miss Melanie talk about the importance of print. Melanie also talks about grace, body rhythm, being the best version of your authentic self and fully understanding the 5 love languages. Melanie talks about starting every day with what she’s grateful for and with the perspective of being open to serve however she’s called. This a podcast you’ll want to listen to over and over again!Resources:https://www.danijohnson.com/Books:The BibleGo for No! Yes is the Destination, No is How You Get There (https://amzn.to/2Q8CikW)The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Chapman (https://amzn.to/2Q7ddGS)Connect with Melanie:http://melanieandersonworldwide.com  Read Full Transcript  [00:00:01] Hey everyone, this is Melanie Anderson and you’re listening. Two from nothing[00:00:06] to profit. Welcome to from nothing to profit of photographers podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.[00:00:23] Hey everybody, thanks for joining us again this week. So I have my friend Melanie Anderson this week. Um, Kaya and I have known Melanie for years and years and years and uh, we run cross paths all the time. I’m a nice Melany ass on you some a couple of times this year. I saw you at sink this year. We’re going into each other in North Carolina all over the place. So, um, you’re always doing your best to give back to the industry and travel around and, and just for indoor industry. And so first of all, I want to say thank you for doing that, but I’m also, I’m excited to have you on the podcast because you have a lot to share with our audience for sure. So[00:00:58] yeah, thanks guys. I am so excited for this. So I really appreciate it and it’s a huge honor. So thank you for your time.[00:01:05] So Kaia when was the first time you met Melanie? Do you remember?[00:01:09] Oh goodness, this might not be fair. I what I remember is, uh, your video, you are doing video. So that’s what I remember the most about. Um, we started doing video for sync. So[00:01:21] yeah, I think that’s like when I got to know Melanie as well.[00:01:24] Yes. So that was several years at what, probably about four or five years ago. Uh, through the relationship of sync and dirty. We just sort of said, hey, we need these videotape, we need behind the scenes and we want to create that for you. And that was one of the first things we’d ever done that big of a deal video wise. So that was kind of cool. And like you said, that was an opportunity for us to all meet.[00:01:47] Yeah. That’s awesome. Okay. So then I saw you at North Carolina and you spoke on volume, sports and then I saw you at sync. You did a Miller’s thing alongside of me. And you did a lot about how to like implement ideas from a conference. So you don’t just go home with this list of stuff to do and never accomplish anything, which everybody, everybody loved. And I know you’re like a workbook and all kinds of stuff. So I know you talk about a lot of stuff. So kind of tell me, tell our audience if they don’t know who you are, like you know what you do on the photo side and all everything cause you do so much.[00:02:19] Sure. Um, yeah, that’s a lot. It’s like you almost go, okay, how much time do we have? Because you know, when you like you guys love this industry and have a passion for it. It’s all in. So I have a, a, a retail studio space in western Maryland. It’s about an hour from Washington DC. We have employees and we are full service. So we do all genres of portrait photography. We do extreme volume sports. Uh, so that would be the team and the individuals. We have an incredible banner program and we do a lot of commercial photography and video. Uh, I’m very blessed to be able to travel the world doing motivational programs alongside of photography programs. My specialty is definitely client communication, really connecting with people. And I take that throughout everything that I do from beginning to end in all things. So with relationships in your home life, your family or your marriage, your, your friendships, and then how do you translate that into your clients and to your employees and still have some sanity left at the end of the day.[00:03:23] Wow. I like the word you just used. You said you’re a full service studio. I feel like so many times people think, you know, you have to, you know, do one small thing, one genre or something like that. But it really makes sense that you, you know, as a photographer you do meet all the needs all the way around.[00:03:42] So exactly when I have somebody in our community that says, hey, I need a photographer, I want them thinking, call Melanie Anderson. And I will frequently be tagged in Facebook posts relating to that, even if it’s not my client. I want people thinking that. And so the number one question we ask our clients, every single client that calls communicates with us, and there’ll be asked this probably two or three times throughout their touch points with us. How did you hear about our studio? And the number one answer we get is your everywhere. And we’ve worked really hard to do that and that is what allows us to be able to sustain maybe those slower seasons because portrait photography is year round. If I was only high school senior, that is seasonal. If I was, you know, I don’t do a lot of weddings are weddings I do are going to be higher end or relationship based and the commercial photography is year round and it allows us to have a little bit more stability. Although I’m not going to say we’re not immune to feast or famine at seasons, you know, because we are a small business. But what allows us to stay in business 13 years later is a diversification. That’s really important to me, not only as a creative entrepreneur, but as a business in our community that I can serve whatever your needs are, I’m there.[00:05:07] Yeah, that makes sense. And we’ve expanded our business a lot to cover a lot of things as well, just to get rid of, get rid of that seasonality. Because boy, I tell you what, like if you’re in a seasonal business, the the self doubt and all and kinds of stuff starts creeping in that flow. And like for somebody like me, that’s not a good place to be, you know? So I try to avoid that at all costs.[00:05:26] [inaudible] same and we can definitely go down that road. You know, the, the mentality of creative entrepreneurs. I talk very openly about that and how we must maintain strong mindset. And that is a daily challenge. Every single day you’ve got to wake up and make decisions. Okay, this is where I’m at today and this is how I’m going to behave and be an act and this is how I’m going to serve today. Because otherwise the alternative is it’s fear and it’s anxiety and his depression. And I’ve been down that road many times. So I, I love talking very openly about that.[00:06:02] Yeah, that’s, that’s awesome. So let me kind of tell you where I want to go with this. Kind of the main thing of the podcast is like what’s working now. So you can kind of give the audience some nuggets or whatever. So tell us a story about like what’s working now in your business or what you think is working in the industry right now?[00:06:19] Oh Great. So for me, I tried to reinvent myself every two to three years and I’ve noticed a pattern so that it kind of start in that and why I do that. So I started out as a newborn photographer. I’ve photographed probably close to 600 newborn newborns in my career. And then once I knew I mastered that. So I’m, I’m a big believer the, although I diversify, I’ve mastered certain genres one at a time because we can’t, you know, when you’re a new photographer trying to master all of these things, that could be very overwhelming. So I did start in a certain area and then a few years later I went to high school seniors and dominated that in our community. Then I started taking on volume the team and individuals dominated change in the industry, in our community and how the sports are looked at and how we do banners.[00:07:08] And then a few years later after that, it was into commercial photography. Commercial Monogamy’s always been a big part of my business. We’ve got contracts with our hospital, with the chamber, with all kinds of businesses. And what I’m doing now is getting into more of that branding styles. So instead of somebody just sitting in front of my camera and me doing like that passport, headshot, photo kind of going, okay, what more can I do to serve? Am I doing enough? And giving them a little bit more alternative for personality. Because many times the people that come into for me are going to also be small business owners and how we can give them imagery to relate to whatever their branding is. So it’s kind of saying, okay, what more can we do to serve? And that’s kind of been my mindset. So what is working now for me is saying, you know, you kind of come off of a year of laziness when you’ve kind of got, you know, you think in your mind, I don’t know how we are about cussing on this, but when you got your shit together and you’re like, okay, hey, you know it’s going and we’ve got a smooth oiled machine and things are great.[00:08:15] And then all of a sudden you’re like, oh wait a minute. Um, I’ve gotten a little lazy. I need to step it up again and go, okay, back to relationships. So I’m going to take that full circle and say, what’s working for me now is picking up the phone, sending emails, texting clients I’ve had for years that I haven’t maybe seen lately and saying, Hey, you know, what’s going on? What are your needs? How can I serve? And this is some new things that I’m doing. And that would be in the branding, kind of changing the, the vision of our company and really just looking at our and beyond. So I’m now even going, what more can I do that’s maybe an hour away from me and how can I serve clients out there? So that’s really where my, where I’m headed right now and exactly what we’re doing in our studio right now.[00:09:10] Yeah. And like, you know what I like about the way you think about it as like you, so you do newborn photography forever and then you kind of get a well oiled machine out and you kind of get wax on it. Yep. And I think it’s really hard for just to say, Oh crap, we got to lax and just push yourself back into it. So what you’re doing is you’re, you’re, you’re taking that energy and you’re just pivoting in a little bit different. So I think it feels fresh and new and yes. Like it’s self fulfilling. You know, it’s so true because you know, when, when we’ve been doing this for so long, It really is a well oiled machine. And I could do this with my eyes closed. I’m about systems and processes. I don’t overthink things. I dive in and then I just do it.[00:09:48] And then I create a process and a system for that. So on the days maybe you’re not feeling well or you’re not feeling sociable, you just don’t have that high energy. Well, I have a system in place that I can still go through everything that I’m doing to my client. It’s still an amazing experience. So I’ve simplified so much in my business and the other thing that I’m doing is I’m constantly educating myself. I’m always learning. I’m hungry for knowledge. And so what I just did was I just came back from Texas school and the last two years I was there as an educator. This year I went as a student and I said, who can I take? Where can I go? What could I learn that is completely opposite of what I’m doing? And so I dived into a program this last week on fine are portraiture paintings.[00:10:38] I’m going, oh my goodness, this is like so not me. And let’s push myself and go, what can I pull out of that and, and, and put into my business that’s going to create a new product line, a new look, a new feel for clients that may be, I’ve not serviced the super, super high end, the ones that are looking for lifesize wall portraits that are custom framed and have an oil painting to them. And I’m excited to see where I take that. So it’ll be interesting in another six months if we were to have this conversation again, we’ll, I have a whole new product line and a whole New Vision. And I think that’s really important for us as creative entrepreneurs to go, okay, what else can I do and who can I learn from? And really just humble yourself to that and you send somebody else’s class and I’ll tell you, it’s not easy, but, um, it was, I pulled away, you know, several pages of notes of things I’m going to be implementing over the next few weeks.[00:11:40] That’s fantastic. So let me ask you, you know, as you talked about, you know, what, uh, what your teaching yourself the next step in the next step. Um, it’s funny because I’ve actually done the same thing, like started out as a senior[00:11:54] photographer and then I, you know, when I would help with a baby session, I would put the bean in upside down. I didn’t know what I was doing. And so I was like, I need to learn how to do this next. And I, and so I definitely identify that with that. But what happens to your existing, you know, 600 newborns? Are, is someone else photographing them or are you transitioning away from them? Like how do, how do you work that way in your business? No, that’s a super serious, great question. Because what happens is, and I’ll be completely honest, you know, the older we get, I, you know, deal with severe psychotic. And so when you’re doing newborn screening, newborn photographer out there, you know, physically just like, you know, for those that maybe have a hard time photographing weddings, you know, that full day.[00:12:36] And then the physical exhaustion that happens to your body. Well that happens for newborn photographers as well, that the lower back gets to be, you know, so you’ve gotta really be careful in how you photographing, but what had happened or what happens is once you dominate an area in your community, you have a lot of other photographers that come along. And I’m very much an advocate of community over competition. I believe in that. I’m chairman of the board for the state of Maryland Professional Photography Association. So I want, I don’t, I don’t mind, you know, that, that there are others. So what I do is go, okay, how can I step it up again? How can I step it up again and still be of service and a resource. But what happens is, you know, you know, being completely real honest, transparent, and that’s, that’s the way we should be as educators.[00:13:28] That we’re inundated right now with newborn photographers, with senior photographers, with family photographers. And that’s why I pushed myself even more. And so now I’m going, Hey, I have a studio and most photographers don’t. I need to be using this more. Even though I prefer photographing outside, I like light and energy and you know, newborns I can do with my eyes closed. But now I want to push myself differently creatively. So there are plenty of photographers servicing those newborns. I still have newborn displays at hospitals and doctor’s offices and, and if the client is willing to invest because I am a wall portrait photographer, if they’re willing to invest and that’s my client, come on in. If not, you know, I have other areas that I need to invest my time. And so the, I would say I go anywhere, we’re probably photographing, I don’t know, maybe five to 10 newborns now. It’s not nearly, I mean, gosh, I used to have that in a week when I first started back in the film days. But you know, times have changed. And so what are we going to do about it? That’s what I always say, okay, now what are we going to do about it? Yeah. Well that makes complete sense though. So what you’re doing is transitioning away from those genres that you’ve learned how to do. And, and dominated and you feel like those are red waters[00:14:52] where you know all kinds of people are there and moving into areas where you feel like there’s more of a blue ocean for you too.[00:14:59] Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. That’s the only way we will thrive. It’s the only way that myself is going to be able to continue to support my family. And what I’m also doing is being very strategic. Even in the way we’re scheduling. So we’re now going and saying, okay, we’re, we’re going to fill the studio three days a week. That’s it. You know, I, I’m in a season of my life where my children are older now, you know, one is finished college, one is in college, one is in and out of college. And then I have a, a son who’s 17 and in high school. So we have one more year with him. So what I’m doing is being very strategic about that. I will be in the studio Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. If I’m not traveling the other days I am doing whatever the heck I want to do a whatever that means, whether it’s traveling or building the, you know, more on the education. I do a lot of one on one mentorships and masterminds and then allowing me time to breathe and serve and be for my family as needed even more.[00:16:01] Yeah, that sounds great. So Matt, what’s the next question that we want to ask about this? The next question and then we’ll take a break right afterwards is do you want to talk a little bit about the industry? You’re kind of going there, but what are you fired up about the industry or you know, what, what are you paying attention to or what do you hold true about the industry? I mean, however you want to word the question, but when you think of the industry, what are you, what do you think of,[00:16:22] Oh, well, you know, I’m such an advocate for our industry, so I am fired up. I love our industry and I love the leadership that’s happening right now with the education. I love that we’re on this platform of print for success and and how vital it is that we have a responsibility as professional photographers. It is our responsibility to educate our clients and to educate other photographers and the vitality of printing. I did an article a few years ago about an image that triggered a memory of mine from when I was a child and how it would never have been in such an emotional experience for me had there...

Melanie Anderson – A Photographer Podcast Interview

If you’re a regular listener, you already know some of Matt and Kia’s favorite books, as well as have a long list recommended by all of their guests. In this podcast, listen in to hear their all time top 5 must read books and why. Don’t miss Matt and Kia’s “cliffsnotes” so you know which books you want to read first! And they couldn’t resist mentioning a bunch of other awesome books you’ll want to add to your list as well, including, of course, Profit First by Mike Michalowicz.Matt:Book Yourself Solid – Michael Port (https://amzn.to/2MG3DNp)Hug Your Customers – Jack Mitchell (https://amzn.to/2Xn64oQ)Purple Cow – Seth Godin (https://amzn.to/2JUxm2I)Customer Mania – Ken Blanchard (https://amzn.to/2WC4QsI)High Performing Habits – Brendon Burchard (https://amzn.to/2JWpu0K)Kia:The Secrets of World of Mouth Marketing – George SilvermanBlue Ocean Strategy – W. Chan Kim &amp; Renee Mauborgne (https://amzn.to/2MBHBeG)Getting Stuff Done – David Allen (https://amzn.to/2If1Fho)StrengthsFinder 2.0 – Tom Rath (https://amzn.to/2MrpQhK)Boundaries – Henry Cloud and John Townsend (https://amzn.to/2MmTx3t)Love Does – Bob Goff (https://amzn.to/2XppnxB)  Read Full Transcript  [00:00] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.[00:15] Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast. Today’s episode is gonna be kind of fun. As you know, probably from listening to the podcast, Kai and I are big book fans and so we wanted to kind of share our top five books for each, I guess just top five bucks. So kind of do you have your top five bucks? Are you ready?[00:31] I do. Now I kind of have a top five books in lots of different categories into books. So I tried to make this one my business top five, so yeah.[00:43] And that’s what I kind of did too. So these will be, what’s interesting is I think there’ll be business books, but there’s so much like kind of this self help in there and just about like getting rid of head trash and stuff like that. So, but I think, yeah, the minor definitely business centered for sure. So[00:55] yeah. Yeah, I always do books that like has kind of shaped my life because I do have certain authors that I feel like their viewpoint on the world has helped me figure out who I want to be. Like Madeleine L’Engle or Anne McCaffrey, which are not really, people don’t really read those very much, but I felt like for this podcast I want him to be pretty specific and do things that are going to help people straight up in their business. So I’m a cyber fraud.[01:21] That’s where I’m at too. Cool. So do you want me to start? I’ll start. It doesn’t work. Yeah. Yeah, you do your first one. Okay, so the first book, this one I’m doing first because it was one of the first books that we read that actually launched our business and helped us and it’s actually book yourself solid by Michael Port. Have you read that one yet? No, I haven’t. Okay, so it’s a, it’s a general business book. It kind of talks about like basically he has likes on some philosophies in there like a red rope policy, which is basically like not everybody can do business with you kind of thing. And that was really good for us so that he starts to make you think like, okay, you have the small set of people that you’re marketing to and that you’re working with and you don’t need to work with everybody. So it’s just a really kind of a general book about business, but it’s, it’s super good and really comprehensive. It’s a pretty easy read. He’s entertaining and he’s got, he’s got some other ones out since that I haven’t read all of them, but um, so my first book, his book yourself solid by Michael Port.[02:13] What’s like the one thing that you took from that you said maybe that you, you wanted to make it look like you were over subscribed essentially your people, you know, people couldn’t necessarily all I’ll get in. Is that the main thing you took from that?[02:25] No, that’s more, has more as like his is like a red rope policy. Like, okay, so you’re going to become a portrait photographer and you only want to shoot one session a week while knowing that then you need to have a policy in place that everyone comes to. You has to spend x amount of dollars kind of idea to make it worth it. You know what I mean? That you’re not going to do, you’re not going to do your one session a week on somebody that’s going to spend $50 so he just helps you like build Your Business Plan and then tells you how to protect the business plan and then not then starts to move into how to market that business plan. So it’s like, it’s kind of like planting your and saying okay, this is what our business looks like. And it helps you decide what that is based on your goals and who you are as a person.[03:05] Yeah. So he kind of aligns your business with you and then, and so when I’ve read it the second and third time I looked, I was in business for years and I’ve read it and I was like, okay, we’re doing this one thing over here and it’s actually not aligned with who we are and what we want to do. So we’d just like could cut it. So it’s just like, it helps you align your business to you and then align your business to your customers and just makes a healthier business. So yeah. That’s awesome. Okay. Are you ready for my first one? Yeah. Yeah. What’s your first one?[03:32] Okay, so I went through actually my bookshelves because I like to keep my books physically where I can get to them and I actually write, I was writing in them a lot before and I think I’m going to start doing it again because looking back I’m like, oh, I can see what I liked about it when I underlined and I write notes in it. So this one is the secrets of word of mouth marketing by George Silverman. Okay. Haven’t heard of that one? No. Hold on a minute. How to trigger exponential sales through we’re runaway word of mouth, which really, it’s so funny because when I read it probably 10 years ago, I was like, oh my gosh, this is so amazing. But now it’s even more so like more important.[04:08] Well in here and I, I don’t want to take too big of a tangent, but I haven’t been really struggling with like online marketing stuff. Like Facebook ads aren’t working as well as they used to and things like that. So I’m like, what would I eat? What did I used to do? So that may be,[04:19] yeah, word of mouth. Yeah. So I’m opening up to page 21 just out of curiosity to see what I liked. And so I have a little note that says senior models, speakers gambles in Ted’s many sessions at stores. Okay. So I don’t know what that meant, but I’ll read you the paragraph that says why easier. The best way to avoid work and still get something done is to have someone else to do it. That’s what advisors, experts and peers do. It’s a way of getting out of people to put in the work and risk of getting, gathering information and trying products. That way you don’t have to take the time spent on research as an anchor. The rest of doing it yourself there for the best way to increase profits is to accelerate your little product decisions. So essentially he’s saying have other people tell other people about your products.[04:58] Yeah. So yeah, cause yeah, cause then your whole sale system can be much shorter because you’re getting qualified people in that already kind of are down the road and you can have somebody else do that lifting for you. Yeah, yeah. Super Smart.[05:10] Yes. The secrets of word of mouth marketing by George Silverman. And I think it’s so funny I knew it, I was afraid this was going to happen and then I knew it was going to happen. I’m probably going to have to read this again. Have like, yeah, I’ve dog eared most of the pages in it.[05:23] That’s all. It’s obviously a good one. Yeah. So what do you think the chances are that we get through our 10 bucks and we, neither of us have read either one of us.[05:30] Strive not to do the ones that were there that I knew for sure would be the same. So we may have to do as same book. One, two. Okay.[05:37] Yeah, and I know there’s actually one book on the end that you know where I’m going to finish because I figured I figured you wouldn’t but it just in case somebody hadn’t listened to that doesn’t listen to podcasts regularly, they can get the book. Okay. Anyways. All right, my second book, my second book. Let me find the author is hug your customers. I’m looking it up real quick by Jack. Have you read that one? No. Okay, so it’s this whole book about, it features the case studies of a couple of businesses. The one I remember from the book is this. There’s a company in New York that sells suits and it’s like this little small mom and pop type soup place that actually has a lot of sales people because they’re very busy, but it’s like on a corner in New York, it’s been there for forever.[06:17] Like you would never go there to buy like a $2,000 suit. But like everybody goes to this place to buy like a $2,000 suit. And the idea is he looks at these businesses and figuring out why they’re so successful and when he finds out is that they have some type of customer database where they keep track of things that are happening in people’s lives so that when they come back in, you can talk to them about what’s going on. So you take Andy, he goes and buys a suit. He mentions like, yeah, you know, we’re doing soccer right now and cars on the road and soccer and stuff like that. They just make a note, no big deal. They talk how they have the conversation. Make a note next time Andy comes in and says, hey, is soccer still happening? You know what’s going on.[06:52] And he just boom, instantly like, wow, these people care about me. And the conversation just instantly starts like, oh no, no, soccer is over, you know, you know, whatever. And so when you’re there, it becomes a conversation about like friend of friend instead of like salesmen to suit buyer. You know what I mean? Yeah. So it’s really cool. So he features a couple of businesses in this, but the, this is the one I remember. So here’s an example. So this guy buys us really nice suit and he’s like flying. He’s flying to Japan to do a presentation. So he buys a new suit for this presentation and for whatever reason it doesn’t come together and it’s like kind of a mass and it’s like one of their best customers are really worried. The next customer comes in and they’re talking in there and he says, you know, they’re all kind of friends at this point.[07:32] And he says, well, what’s going on over there? What’s all the commotion was about that? And they said, oh, you know, so and so, or a suit. We didn’t get it done in time. He’s on is on a plane to Japan and it doesn’t have a suit. We feel awful, blah blah. And he said, Hey, I’m going to that conference. I’m just taking the red items to Japan. I’ll take his suit for him. And like, so the guy buys a suit, it takes it somebody else’s suit because like of that relationship they’ve built and actually takes and delivers the suit at no cost and just to do the right thing. But it’s this whole concept that like if you hug your customers, what relationships you can build and what, what it actually does. So just a really cool customer relationship book. It’s feel good stories but also has like systems and it on how to actually do it and stuff like that. So it’s really, really good.[08:10] I have your card. I love that because when you’re a smaller in a business, you really can’t do that. I mean, I think that’s what makes most businesses successful when they first start out, especially a sales type business. But yeah, it’s been putting it in a system so that everyone that works for you can do it. Yeah, that’s really smart.[08:28] Well it’s really interesting. We do a pretty good job of this, but we should do a better job. But the way they do it as like, you know, they just like the very first thing they do is say like, Oh, let me look up your measurements real quick. And so they’re not allowed, I mean they’re looking up the measurements with what they’re looking at. It’s all the notes. And then they go over and they say, let me show you our new suits that we got in. Oh by the way, first conversation and then it just takes off. And so anyways, it was just super slick. So, well the way we, we’ve used to do it and we just don’t do, like I said, good job is like we always say, hey, let me pull up, let me pull up your past order and then we can look at all their notes and stuff too. So just an idea. Okay. So what’s your second book?[09:01] So my second book is called Blue Ocean strategy. Yep. I’ve read that one. Have you read that one? Yeah. Bye. I don’t know the, cause you said w Chan, Cam and then Renee mal born. I don’t know.[09:11] Yeah, there’s like two professors at a Harvard or something like,[09:14] yeah, yeah, yeah. So I, um, when I read this book, it was really eyeopening I think because I’ve been in the business long enough, 20 years to see times when everyone’s doing the same thing and you know, they’re getting mad about all the competition and then the business changes some way it goes, you know, black and white to color film or from color to digital or digital prints to digital products. And it talks totally shakes everything up. And then there are people that come out of that doing something completely different than everyone else and they’re in the blue ocean rather than being where the everyone was before in the red ocean where everyone’s fighting for the same clients doing given the same products. And so we have to offer cheaper offerings. And so what I love about this book is I feel like it just kind of informs my decision making all throughout being a business owner is thinking what are, what can we do, what can we offer that no one else is offering right now? Because now when the digital world is pretty much everyone just gives digital files to be a studio that offers framing and albums and printing is a blue ocean.[10:21] Do you worry is to be the norm.[10:23] Yeah. Or to be a studio with a studio that’s a blue ocean. Having props, the backgrounds that other people can’t get. So[10:30] yes, I was talking to grant, you know, our business because we found him on the podcast before and what you’re talking about today about our meeting this morning was about leveraging our studio, like more so than we’re already doing because we pay for it. So we might as well get the most out of it.[10:43] So yes. Yeah, absolutely. And that’s one of the things that I’ve done this year is creating backgrounds and sets. We’ve spent hours working on creating things that are going to be really fun to shoot and make our Instagram feed look fantastic, but it’s also about creating a blue ocean.[10:58] Awesome. Yeah. So let me talk about my experience with Blue Ocean real quick. So I read the book, I thought it was like horribly written, obviously written by like two non authors at um, at Harvard, you know, like literally a boring, like I think it was probably a research paper that they just put a card back on it. But it’s so interesting. I read it, I was so bored while reading it and then I’ve thought about it for like literally the last eight years, you know, you read some books and they just like whatever, they come and go in one ear out the other. But I’ve literally thought about that book. So it’s like the concept and it is so profound that it sticks with you. You just have to find a way to get through the actual yeah.[11:36] Type of stuff throughout the read. Why you will notice that I did not mention that I was willing to read it again.[11:41] Right, right. It’s such a profound topic and they do such a good job with it. So[11:48] yeah. Yeah, this is fun. It’s what I like about it is all of our books have been about different things, so. Okay, so that, what’s your next book?[11:56] Okay, so my next book is purple cow by south of Cook, Seth Goden. A lot of people actually works with blue oceans a little bit. So I read all Seth Golden’s books and he has amazing books. He actually has a book, I think. I don’t remember. I’d have to look it up. What? Like, I don’t know who stole my doc or something like that. But it’s basically all of his blog posts. I read that like every day, like I’ll wake up and just read one of his blog posts. It’s really good. Yeah. So, but anyway, so purple cows, one of his books that came out and it’s about how to do remarkable things so that in a sense like marketing takes care of itself and his whole concept is that like if you do something different and you do something remarkable, people will talk about it. And therefore the book you yes.[12:35] Similar to blue ocean strategy where it’s like if you’re doing something different than everybody else in leveraging that, then you’re going to, you’re going to be just fine. So I don’t have to say much more because it’s very similar, but it’s a, it’s an entertaining book. Super a south garden. If you don’t follow him as one of the smartest guys in the world and you can watch them on youtube and stuff like that as well. But um, yeah, so purple cow is probably my favorite book. If you’re going to pick one up, it’s probably my favorite, but he’s got like 12 bucks out now. His latest one that’s called like this is marketing and it was really good. Like it’s a really good reset for everybody that I think digital marketing in some aspects of it made a lot of us marketers lazy cause we’re like, oh, we can just run a Facebook ad and people call. Um, and he kind of calls everybody out about being lazy about marketing and his new book, which is good too. But anyways, first one pick up his purple cow. So[13:19] that’s good to know. I really love listening to Seth Godin and whenever I get a chance, I listen to podcasts. He does, but I get frustrated with his writing because I feel like I can only read a snippet before I feel like I need to take action. And so I can’t just sit and enjoy reading. So it’s not a novel, it’s not a novel or in a bus on a research paper either. It’s a couple of sentences that make you want to get up and go do something.[13:45] Yeah, he has a really, so he has this really unique writing style. That’s cool. Like, so his blog, I don’t know if you know that his blog is like...

10 Must Read Books for Photographers

On today’s episode of From Nothing to Profit, Kia and Matt talk about money. Listeners wanted to know how to choose what to sell and how to price those things, what to spend money on and what not too, and more, so Matt and Kia answer those questions in this podcast. Kia is always looking for new ways to hang client’s images on their walls, like super ornate frames or acrylics. Matt is always testing different versions of products to see which sells best. Make sure to take notes about how Matt and Kia markup their products to make sure their costs are covered and make a profit. Matt and Kia both keep a list of things they want to be able to purchase and things they wants to invest in, with that profit. Education is always high on that list, as well as large wall displays for their studios. You’ll also want to listen in to what Kia and Matt buy that they shouldn’t. Kia uses StudioCloud and Quickbooks, doing her own books and payroll. Matt used to use Successware, then switched to a bookkeeper with Quickbooks. Matt cautions losing visibility into your numbers when you start outsourcing your books. Know your numbers.Books: Profit First (https://amzn.to/2Ri24Gj)Good to Great (https://amzn.to/2GFAz5l)Resources: Digit (https://digit.co/r/-ksipC9aI-?wn) Read Full Transcript  Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. Speaker 1: [00:01] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.Matt: [00:16] Hey everybody, welcome back to from nothing to profit. So today’s gonna be a little bit different because Kira and I have gotten some feedback and some of you listeners wanted to hear a little bit more from us. So Kira and I came up with a theme today, what we’re calling the money talk because there’s been a lot of questions sent to us about this. So we’ll kind of go back and forth on these questions. But real quick, let me tell you guys the questions that people have asking so I’ll just run through them real quick. So what do you guys decide to sell or how do you guys decide to sell certain things? Um, how do you price items and how do you deal with markup now that you’ve made money, how do you know what to spend it on? What’s lead into questions like what are some really smart things to buy or use your money on and then what are some dumb or irresponsible things to buy? What do you buy a lot of and shouldn’t and should not buy. So that’s like what our, what our guilty pleasures that were like really bad about buying. And then how do you do your bookkeeping because in some previous episodes we talked about bookkeeping. Um, so how do you do bookkeeping it? And then there was a lot of questions around some more questions around profit first and what that’s done for our business. And then also some Dave Ramsey questions. So Kaya, I’m excited for this one. This should be definitely a good one.Kia: [01:34] Yes. Yes. I’m so excited to be here and I think this is a, a, you know, a question that works in great with the, you know, the whole point of a from nothing to profit is, you know, what do you do with that profit and how do you create it? So I’m excited to be answering these questions today. I think it’s going to be great.Matt: [01:52] Yeah. And I think it’s interesting that people wanted to hear a little bit more from us because, you know, we kind of designed it as this interview thing, but as we’ve been doing it for awhile now we realize like, well yeah, I guess we do have a lot to offer as well and people want to hear from us, so we’ll spring will sprinkle these types of episodes in here, especially around the new year here. Um, we’ll definitely get some in to talk about what we do around the new year and stuff as well. All right, so let me start with the first question. Kind of, so how do you go about deciding what to sell in terms of products and your business? Like, you know, when you, when you go to a trade show, how do you decide what to add? Not to add to what you’ve said, you know, all those different questions.Kia: [02:25] This is a great question because I think, uh, you know, some of the things are obvious, you know, we sell, we sell portraits. And so the first thing that people used to ask about is how much are your eight by tens and now the next, the question that they ask are, how do I get the digital files or do you include them in your session? And so I think, uh, every year I want to do a couple of things. One, I want to create actual session experiences that are new and different and so sometimes that may include like go in some place specific or you know, making a really elaborate set for children’s session or you know, doing something like, you know, adding hair and makeup for families or for seniors. So I think it all for me starts with the experience and then I’m on the product side of it.Kia: [03:16] Then there are so many different options that I like to be, you know, experiment with it. But I also like to do things, especially for my business that give my clients different things to put on their walls. And so, you know, obviously with digital’s you can offer like different, um, different treatments to the images. You know, you can do like a vintage look or hand color or that type of thing, which we have done in the past, uh, although I don’t think that’s really in vogue right now, but then for me, I’m always thinking like how can we create, you know, new and creative ways to present the images on the, on my client’s walls as art. And so that’s one of the main things that I look for, you know, is um, like frames that no one else has or you know, ways to frame the images that’s new and different from what I’m doing for my clients. And so one of the things that people are really liking is I’m like acrylic wall portraits, so not necessarily the metals but like, um, images with acrylic on them. And so they are more like clear glass and a little bit more contemporary. So that’s the direction we’re going as a lot of contemporary or super ordinate.Matt: [04:29] That’s really good. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen a lot of those acrylics and we haven’t added them yet. Um, we saw them. One of the big trade shows maybe like two or three years ago and they were just coming in and I was like, well that’s something to keep an eye on, but I haven’t circled back to it so maybe that’s something that we’ll try this year as well. So.Kia: [04:44] Well let me so well, so a couple more things. One of the things I like to do is like with specific sessions, if I do like a themed portrait session for children, a lot of times I try to create a product that goes along with it. So you know, I’ve done like a mud pies session and then Donna frame with it that had like hand prints in mud on the frame that then we lacquered yeah. So creating products that actually go with themes or you know, get people excited. So what, how, let me ask you matt, what do you decide to sell? Like how do you determine what products do you guys do?Matt: [05:20] Yeah, so I mean we just don’t them very similar and I, I kind of think about it this way, like we kind of pick a focus for for a year maybe and we really dive into something and really test a bunch of things out. So I think we’re constantly testing and I don’t just test it for, you know, like a quarter, like we’re testing for a year. So two things that we’re testing right now that I kind of had two different outcomes. One of them is a standouts, which is basically just a wall art style where it’s printed on foam core and it’s like maybe an inch or two inches thick and then they finished the edge either in black or black and white or steel. Um, I think some of the companies have like a light wood and the dark web that they finished them but it’s just, you know, so like the picture sticks out from the wall, but the edges I’m finished and something that’s not a picture.Matt: [06:09] And so we tested those and those really didn’t sell on our studio. We, we moved them around our studies, a couple of different places, but they just didn’t sell as well as like canvases and metals and image blocks and stuff like that. So that’s something that we’ve tested and they’re probably on the way out. This year they’ll probably would be taken off our walls because they just didn’t sell. I’m actually glad they didn’t sell because they’re one of the more expensive products to buy. And so the Qa, because we saw all of our walls are kind of at the same price. It doesn’t matter what finish you pick. There are all of our 60, my twenties are all the same price so that one had the least amount of margin in it so I’m kind of glad that one away is really way up on that one, so I’m kind of glad that one didn’t work out as well.Matt: [06:52] But I’m the. One of the things that we tested that worked really well is image boxes and so we did a lot in the last year around that basically some kind of box that holds like 20 Matt matted prints and those sold really well. We brought in a ton of versions of them to see what sells and we’ve already removed a couple that, you know, just not to overwhelm our clients because they didn’t sell from the very beginning. Um, and then what we’ll do here around the new year is actually go in and look and see which ones actually sell, what samples we need to keep out because we want to keep it as simple as possible for our customers and also give them a variety at the same time. So we’ll clean that up and then that feels pretty good about that. That’s kind of wrapped up and then we can sell it for a couple of years until it kind of loses the energy and we have to revisit it.Matt: [07:38] But we’ll pick focuses. Like we’ll pick it, we’ll, we’ll say, okay, this year let’s focus on Walmart and we’ll really dive into all the different options are we’ll say let’s dive into a gift ideas or gift prints or one thing we’ve done before. It’s like, what? What can we do for table tops? And so we’ll just dive into those. And really, I mean, once you get kind of get focused and clear about it, you can find a lot, a lot of options and then start pricing them out and figure out what’s going to be profitable, what’s not going to be profitable because there’s some stuff in the industry that if you mark up a certain way, they just become so expensive that the, that’s just their sticker shock on them. They don’t, they don’t have the value in the customer’s eyes that require, that is required to charge that much. And so some.Kia: [08:22] Yeah. And that, that is one of the things that also helps me decide whether I’m going to do something or not, you know, is whether I can mark it up and make it worth the time to do it because there are some things that are on the next question. The next question, if you want to dive right into it. So like how do you price and how do you mark up your stuff? So typically what I do is, uh, I, I’m mark up things. So with photography it’s different. You know, my dad had a furniture store and so everything was marked up like double essentially and then if you you did a sale on it or that type of thing, then you made less than double. And so that was a typical markup. Whereas photography, it’s like 10 to 20 percent is what your costs should be because photography is not just a product, it’s a service and so a lot of the cost of the product is actually the time in creating it, you know, physically sitting are you sitting at the computer creating it the time you work with them. And so I look for things that I can do 10 to 20 percent markup, but then I also have my digital products which don’t have any cost of goods and so they will a lot of times offset things. So a lot of times I’ll package digital and physical products together where the physical product might have a higher cost of goods. But my digital does, you know, has very little cost of goods. It’s just more time. And then that gets me to my ideal, my ideal markup.Matt: [09:50] How about so and so just to clarify, so when you say in like 10 or 20 percent, you’re saying like if you pay $10 for something, you want to charge $100 for it?Kia: [09:58] Yes. Yeah. Because, and that’s just it. It sounds like an amazing markup and a lot of people when they start out don’t do that. And that’s why photographers I think have such a hard time staying in business when they first start out because they don’t realize that you have to charge so much for your time.Matt: [10:16] Yeah. And so we do something similar like, so we just, this is kind of my baseline where to start and then we adjust it. I’ll explain that a second. But basically yeah, we, we take the cost of the product that it costs to actually order it from the lab and then like our time. Um, so we’ll budget like, okay this product is going to take, you know, x amount of time because it has five images in it. So it’s going to take that much time in editing and then you know, all the different time costs. And then we put a little bit of shipping in there just to save our, but if we have to ever ship it and then what we do is once all that’s bundled up, we kind of multiply it by four, which is like kind of a 25 percent markup or four times markup and that’s kind of my starting point and sometimes we don’t even stick with that number.Matt: [10:56] But like when I’m shopping, I’m at a trade show or whatever. I’ll look, I’ll flip it over, look at the price and add some, you know, retouching time and stuff into it and say, okay, this is gonna. I could sell this for $200, I can sell this for a thousand dollars. And then it kind of says like, you know, and then I’ll take Alex and I both did that kind of separately and then we’ll take each other back to bruce and I. and I’ll pick up something and I’ll say, hey, can we sell this for a thousand dollars in her gut responsible? But yeah or no. And that kind of helps us narrow it down as well.Kia: [11:25] Good way to do it because I think sometimes I’ll be like, there’s no way anyone’s ever going to buy this for this much, you know, just like you were talking about the standouts. We call them bamboos because we just put them only on bamboo and um, I, you know, when I first looked at them I was like, people are not going to spend that money on it and uh, but we have had a few people that did love them and did do it, but they were something that, that I would probably be like, you know, just, just looking at there, just don’t look as expensive as they need to be.Matt: [11:58] Yeah. Because I remember one bamboos first came out to looking at him and thinking man, like, you know, this was me making up numbers, but like, you know, this canvas costs a dollar and those bamboo thing cost $7. Like it’s just like, that was just crazy that the market wasn’t going to work, you know. Um, but then, then one of the things that we do is we adjust it. Right? If something selling really well, we know we can raise the price a little bit and we don’t do that a lot, but like sometimes we under priced stuff often so like we’ll priceline at like at $400 and then we realize everybody’s buying it. It’s like well okay, that’s probably too cheap or we’ll play something at like $1,200 and we realized Oh, you know, it’s not selling so maybe it’s the price. And so if we still believe in the product, well we’ll drop it down to a thousand dollars and see if it sells and sometimes there’s just a little price thresholds that you can hit where things do sell, you know?Kia: [12:45] Yeah. We also adjust ours based on how much time something takes. So for instance, an album a may not cost as much, but the time to create and put together the album is definitely cost prohibitive. So. So that’s something that I would charge more for just because it takes so much more time involved in it too.Matt: [13:07] Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Okay. So let’s move on to the next question because I think we’ve covered that pretty good. So now that we’ve made the money or the is made the money, like how do you know what to spend it on? Like how do you think about that?Kia: [13:19] Well, I, it’s so funny because we doing that profit first book definitely makes a big difference, but I actually have a list that I keep and so for specific equipment for big events, things like that. And so I, once I know that I have a surplus, then I will, uh, spend it on those specific items and I definitely, you know, for me I like to, to invest in new computers, new cameras, uh, things that are going to make things go more smoothly and then definitely you know, samples that I can show in the studio. So those are the areas that I really like to invest in. And then education, I like to invest in that as well.Matt: [14:03] Yeah. And I definitely think education is one of the top of our list. So we do the same thing. We make a list and then people are here. Here was the nuance I figured out a couple of years ago that I thought was really good for our business. So we say this thing around our studio and we say a broke list as a better list and when we mean broke, we don’t mean like broken lists. We mean like the list we made when we were broke, when we have no money is like the best list because when you have money and you start making a list, when you have extra cash on hand, like it’s amazing what gets thrown on there. It’s just I just like stuff we will never use, you know, we, we own the Lens Baby, a little lens and it’s one of those things that we bought that was not on the list that we bought when we had extra money and we’ve used it like three times, you know, so it, that would have never made the list if we would have made the list when, when we are in our slow season and had no money.Matt: [14:53] So make start to make your, to do our year, to buy list when you don’t have money. So then when you do have money, you know exactly what you wanted because this is the different mental exercise.Kia: [15:03] It’s like going to the grocery store after you’ve had lunch rather than when you’re starving. That’s exactly what it’s like.Matt: [15:10] So what are some of the smart things that you think people should buy when they have extra money or things that they should invest at? You already said a couple but any others that you want,Kia: [15:18] things that you know will make you money. So for me, if I like one of the things that I like to buy our props, so for me like backgrounds, chairs, things like that. And so if I know like each year I do a um, like a st nick’s set...

Money Talk – Episode 016 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

Jamie Swanson

In this episode of from Nothing to Profit, A Photographer’s Podcast, Matt and Kia interview Jamie Swanson, who is really leading the personal brand photography market.  Jamie is actually starting a new podcast about building a personal brand so make sure to listen in. She also has a Facebook group for personal brand photography you should go join now. In the beginning, 2011, Jamie really focused on wedding photography. Then Jamie really focused on Moderntog, helping other photographers grow their businesses, in all genres. Now, Jamie focuses solely on personal brand photography and growing her client’s following, through Moderntog. She offers a 6 week course on how to transition to personal brand photography. Jamie also offers a membership for photographers who have taken her 6 week course. This started because Jamie was looking for an ongoing personal brand photographer for herself and she couldn’t find one. So she decided to train them up. Client’s are willing to invest in their business and they need your work on an ongoing basis. This gives you steady and consistent income as well. Jamie also talks about goal setting, starting with her yearly goals, then breaking them down into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily steps to reach those goals.Resources:Link to Jamie’s class:  onekweekend.com or https://www.personalbrandphotography.com/Book:Start with Why – Simon Sinek (https://amzn.to/2BGuArv) Read Full Transcript  Transcription was done by Temi.com which means it’s an AI generated transcript. The transcript may contain spelling, grammar and other errors, and is not a substitute for watching the video. Speaker 1: [00:01] Welcome to from nothing to profit, a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kayak where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.Matt: [00:16] Hey everybody. Welcome to from nothing to profit with Matt and Kaya. So today we have a really awesome guest that I’ve, Jamie Swanson, who I’ve been friends with kind of via the Internet for a couple of years now, but we, if you guys listened to some earlier shows and people have referenced Jamie because Jamie’s really leading the personal brand photography movement and I know she believes that that’s the future of the industry. So I’m excited to talk to her about it. But she’s both an online entrepreneur and a photographer and you may know our because she founded modern tog or the modern tog back in 2011. So you may have been part of her community. Um, but you know her, what she kind does is help photographers and you know, live their life of being a, being a photographer. I know Jamie personally because we’re in a facebook group that’s called like photographer blogger group and it’s like, it, it ranges in size, but it’s anywhere from like 40 to 50 people have a bunch of people that put together resources for photographer. So we’ve been in that together for a number of years and you just announced the other day and in that group that you actually have a new podcast coming out as well. So do you want to take a quick second and plug your pro, your new podcast and tell us anything else we need to know about you?Jamie: [01:33] You’re the sweetest thing. Sure. Um, so my new podcast is called the personal brand journey with Jamie m Swanson and basically since 2011 I’ve focused on growing the modern tog brand because I didn’t want to have to be the face of my business. I think a lot of us, you know, don’t want to have to be like the person, but I’m seeing more and more that the way to get ahead is to really build those personal connections. And so it’s basically chronicling my journey of starting a personal brand. So it’s not photography specific, but if there are photographers listening who want to be more of the face of their business, I mean your art, if, if your name is your business then you already are doing that in some respects. But basically I’m just talking about all that I’m doing and the strategy behind it so you can find that. But otherwise I have a personal brand photography group on facebook that’s free that you can find by going to PBP community.com. And that’s probably, I’m on instagram to you, Jamie, m swanson, but that’s the best way to find me. Thank you.Matt: [02:33] Yeah. Awesome. So share a little bit about your, like your expertise and what you’re known for and for the people that haven’t come across to you yet in the industry.Jamie: [02:42] Sure. So I started my photography business back in 2008 and I, I started like many people do kind of doing whatever I could get paid to do, but in 2009 we decided to niche down into weddings and to pursue doing photography full time. And so, um, we did, we, we focused in on weddings and we did that a full time starting in 2011. It took us about a year and a half to go from just starting out to completely supporting our family with photography. And then I did that for quite a while and then we moved to Minnesota and had our fifth and sixth children and we had a really hard time finding childcare up here. So since moving up here, we’ve just kind of done a little bit of portraiture on the side, um, and then had focused more on helping other people get clients through the modern tog.Jamie: [03:33] And last year it was about a year ago now I had made this decision to start doing more of the personal brand stuff and was going to focus on instagram originally. And I needed photos. Like, yes, I can take photos, yes, my husband can do some. But I wanted somebody who could come and do these photos for us and we couldn’t find. I mean, we can find thousands of photographers who take beautiful images, but we had a really hard time finding people who really understood what we needed as online entrepreneurs in like to grow the social media following that we wanted and to really not just take a pretty headshot or a perfectly posed photo, but really understood how to capture our story and do it in such a way that it would help strengthen the personal brand that I wanted to grow. And so the light bulbs went off and basically I would the modern tog I had been.Jamie: [04:24] I started that in 2011 and had been teaching pretty much any kind of photographer how to grow their business because I love photography. But I’m even geekier about the business side. Like I love the business side. And I, um, so I was helping wedding photographers and portrait photographers and um, it was pretty generic. And since last December, I’ve niched down and focused all in on the personal brand photography because I realized that I wasn’t the only entrepreneur, an online entrepreneur or influencer who needed images and that there were a ton of other people out there who would want these images on an ongoing basis because if you’re trying to grow on Instagram, you need to post daily and you don’t want to be spending half an hour a day taking selfies that aren’t even going to necessarily strengthen your brand and all that. So yeah, it was really big eyeopener.Jamie: [05:14] But I’ve, I’ve niched out and I really believe that that’s. I know you said that, but that’s where we’re going in the future with, um, the industry and professional like to be profitable as a professional photographer. And so I’ve completely focused on that since it was, I think December 27th was the day that I shared about it with my audience for the first time. And since then it’s been my sole focus because it’s, it’s just made everything easier for my photographers. And it’s, it’s really, I’m seeing so many businesses transformed and I’ve done some shoots since then with that too. I, I love it because it’s kind of like wedding photography, but it’s way less stressful because there’s no, like crazy mother of the brides running around. Right. So anyways. Yeah. So Jamie, since I,Kia: [05:58] since we haven’t ever met in person before, I have heard of modern tog and I’ve heard your name before. I would love to know even back further. So you say you have six children, how old are they? What did you do before you were a photographer and what is your husband involved in the business now or that type of thing? Just to get to know a little bit more about who you are.Jamie: [06:19] Sure. So I’m back in 2008. When I started my photography business, I was working as an actuary for an insurance company full time. At that point I think we had, we had three kids when I started working as an actuary or do we have to know? We had to, when I started my business, we’re about to have our third of my kids right now are 13, 11 and nine and then five, three and two, sorry, we’re, we’re in that stretch of birthday so I have to stop and think about who’s had their birthday yet or not. So we have everything from teenager all the way through toddler and it’s, it’s insane. That’s true. So back when we, when we started the business, it was just me and my husband was still finishing up college and so he was just doing some community classes on the side while working a part time as well.Jamie: [07:13] And when he was done with his classes for that and when he graduated, uh, he decided I made him come with me to a wedding or to, to carry bags. And we got excited by all the really fun, you know, Dslr gear because gear’s fund and um, he, I, you know, like probably like most photographers out there, I’ve been like, look at this photo, look at that. I get so excited. And he had a really great eye for it. So I’m like, well if you’re here you can grab a camera and you know, I basically, we took an afternoon and I taught him the basics of shooting manual and I’m like, just shoot for fun, you know, like, we don’t need any of the images, but he was really, really good at it. And so he did that while he was in college for a little bit with me, just kind of practicing. But then when he left college he did join me in the wedding photography full time and I mean he’s, it wasn’t like he was a second under me by the time he was through with college and we did that full time. He was just as strong of a shooter as I was. And so we did that together until we moved to Minnesota in 2013. And um, so we. What did you want to know about kids? I can’t remember.Kia: [08:23] No, I want to know how old they were and uh, and where you came from. And then. So now I just to, so I understand. So modern tog is what you do for a living, both of you. It’sJamie: [08:36] the majority, I know he doesn’t do that at all. He’s got a business and the pickleball industry of all things, but um, so I, we do, I mean I do a handful of shoots per year but I get so much more joy out of watching, like helping other photographers get clients and still do some because I want to be relevant. I want to know what’s going on, what’s working and you know, all of that, but the majority of my time is spent helping other people to really grow the businesses they want to have so they can have, they can leave the job they hate or they can finally do photography full time and actually make a living beyond just, you know, minimum wage or less. And so that’s where I focus the majority of my time. Okay. Awesome. And so modern tog what you do with it as help people by blogging and facebook groups for thin view, like you sell products or is it a subscription or how to.Jamie: [09:30] How do people kind of get your, get your expertise? So I’m with the modern tog right now everything I’m doing is personal brand photography based and so I, um, I sell a course that helps photographers pivot into personal brand photography. It’s a six week course. I offered a couple times a year and then before I run the course, I do a challenge because most people, the beauty of personal brand photography is that since clients need this over and over and over again, you can actually book clients that work with you for years at a time every single quarter. Right. And so I, most of the photographers now that I’ve been doing this year only need about 12 ongoing clients, these recurring clients to make a full time living and because it’s commercial in nature, you can charge more for it than regular portraiture. And so it’s really my focus on helping people get these recurring clients.Jamie: [10:27] That’s what the course does. It helps them pivot into it. And then, um, before I run the course, I do this challenge because it sounds too good to be true. Like, you know, only needing 12 clients and not having, you know, once you’re fully booked, you don’t have to worry as much about marketing and all that because you have your clients. Right. And so, um, a lot of people say, well, how do you find these? These people don’t exist. They’ll just do it themselves. Nobody’s going to pay, you know, as much as a wedding or whatever for a single shoot. And so I do this thing called the [inaudible] weekend challenge where I basically, I do it for free and I tell people, Hey, I’m going to be opening my course up, but I know that um, you know, this might sound too good to be true or whatever else.Jamie: [11:03] So let me help you get your client, like get some clients for some portfolio building clients to, you know, to see if they’re out there. Because most people don’t realize how many online entrepreneurs that are because they may have friends that they don’t even realize sell stuff online. Or I’m making a really great living online because they don’t necessarily live any different than them. And you know, people don’t always get it, huh? Well a lot of people are in such a niche group that you don’t, you don’t find them unless you’re looking for them. Totally. And so I basically give them a script in it. I call it the, I think I call it the starter script where they can take it word for word and posted on social media. And the goal is to help them book at least two clients at $500 a piece over a weekend.Jamie: [11:52] And so I give them the script, I give them the process, we walked through it together as a community. It’s really fun. We do this huge event and then, um, we watch what happens and the goal is that they could make at least a thousand dollars over the weekend. That’s why it’s called the [inaudible] weekend. And then if they do decide that they want to continue moving forward with this and really pivot into the personal brand photography, then they’ve already got the money. They need to take the course. So I do that for free. I have the course and then I do have a contract that I created with an intellectual property lawyer because personal brand photography is kind of like a hybrid between traditional commercial photography and portraiture. It’s, it’s a mix between traditional commercial photography and portraiture and so the contract is kind of a hybrid between the two as well.Jamie: [12:42] And we. I had, I had recommended a different commercial contract for a while, but so many people were having to customize so much of it where there are lawyers that I just, I found a lawyer who was willing to work with me and create something that’s specific to this niche. So I have the contract, I have the course, and then for anyone who goes through the course, they get an exclusive invitation to a membership that they can join to work with me on an ongoing basis, but that’s only available to people who have gone through the course and that’s specifically focused on taking it and doing all of the marketing going forward. So that’s, that’s kind of the things. I do have some old products that are still out there that people can buy, but that’s what I focus on. I’m sharing with photographers.Kia: [13:24] I’m really impressed because what you’ve done is found a need for photographers, but not necessarily like it doesn’t sound like it was what you were doing for yourself, but you created you. You’re teaching people how to do it even though you didn’t necessarily do it first. Right. Would that be.Jamie: [13:41] Well, what have to say? What happened was that I. I was my ideal client, like I wanted this and I couldn’t find. I literally went to Google. I searched every term I can think of because there wasn’t a single term that was one of the things I’ve really pushed us using the term personal brand photography and I’ve been using it within my entrepreneurial communities as well to help raise awareness with entrepreneurs so they know what to look for when they’re looking for a photographer for this, but basically I’m like, okay, these people like they. There’s so many photographers who can take beautiful photos, but they don’t get what I need. They don’t understand my mindset behind this. They don’t understand that I’m not going to credit them on a facebook ad because I’m paying to get that out there and I don’t want to have to credit people every time I use a photo because it’s going to hurt my business and the goal is to help my business, right?Jamie: [14:35] Or they don’t necessarily want to give me rights to let a graphic designer edit the photos, which I know makes every photographer bristle. But if I’m going to have a designer creating marketing materials for me, they need to be able to, uh, and I don’t do big editing tweaks, but if, you know, if, uh, if somebody does have a very distinct style on their instagram or something, they need to be able to apply their filters to it and not have the photographer freak out. And so there’s differences in personal brand photography that are very different from traditional portrait shirt. And a lot of them actually, um, are like the opposite of best practices in traditional portraiture that make it very different. And so I basically said, what is it that I need? And then because I wanted a photographer, I could hire on an ongoing basis and I just could not find someone out there that, I mean there was a couple people and I saw the opportunity to help photographers get clients like me who were willing to pay for it even though I could do it myself and I had all the gear who didn’t.Jamie: [15:36] I’m, I’m at a point where I want to grow a team to leverage what I’m doing so that I’m not doing it all myself doing it myself as not ideal. And I know you love, you could cut your own hair to write your own toenails, but you pay someone else because it makes your life easier. So it makes complete sense. Yeah. And so it’s just, I basically took what I needed and said, okay, there’s this massive need for this. I know I’m not the only one who needs this. And um, I, I do have, I’m in a mastermind of other photographers are not photographers, other entrepreneurs that I pay to be a part of. It’s not one that I’m leading. And I was talking with them. They’re like, oh yeah, it’s so hard to find a photographer who really gets it, and like everything just resonated with what I was saying.Jamie: [16:21]...

Jamie Swanson – Episode 014 – A Photographer Podcast Interview

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