Brands that Book with Davey & Krista Jones

One of the most common reasons people reach out to me for coaching is that their bookings aren’t where they want them to be. I often hear from people who are coming off a great year that they feel the current year is slower or that inquiries have dropped off, and they’re not sure whether or not potential clients can even find them. There’s a sense of panic that things are falling apart, and then overwhelm because it can be hard to know where to start correcting course. And that can be scary. Fortunately, there are a number of practical strategies people can employ to get things back on track. Much of this post assumes you’ve had work in the past. If you haven’t, and you’re just starting out, these tried-and-true strategies can still work, but they’ll likely take a little more time. UNDERSTANDING WHETHER THERE’S ACTUALLY A PROBLEM When I chat with people who are panicking over the number of bookings they have, I first ask them how this current quarter has stacked up against the same quarter last year. Often times people don’t know because they don’t keep track of their inquiries or bookings. If you follow us, you know that I’m a big believer in keeping track of this information because it can reveal whether there’s actually a problem or not. We highly recommend keeping at least a simple spreadsheet of the inquiries you receive that tracks where that inquiry came from and whether or not it turns into a booking. You can access a free inquiry tracker at the end of this blog post. Keeping track of inquiries will help you better understand the seasonality and patterns in your business. 5 TIPS FOR QUICKLY FINDING INQUIRIES Below are a few things that I would do today to find inquiries quickly. To listen or read more, go to https://daveyandkrista.com/quick-inquiry-referral-tips/.

Today’s guest is wedding photographer Abby Jiu. Abby has been named one of Martha Stewart Weddings’ top wedding photographers, and has been published in places like Martha Stewart Weddings, Southern Weddings, and the Knot. Today Abby is sharing how she was able to jump from shooting $500 weddings to six figure weddings. And she also shares a few tips for getting published. For show notes and additional resources, check out https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-abby-jiu-episode-44/.

Today’s guest is wedding photographer Cheyenne Shultz, who is based in Charlotte, NC, and we’re chatting all about client experience. We walk through her entire client experience and chat about things like the tools she uses and gifts she gives. Cheyenne Schultz is a wife, mama to four, professional photographer and photography business educator and coach living in Charlotte, North Carolina. With more than a decade of business experience, Cheyenne genuinely loves helping creative entrepreneurs achieve the goals they have set for themselves and teaching them what she has learned about how to sustain long-term as a business, turning clients into raving fans and standing out in a saturated market. She believes in dog rescue, homemade lattes, good chocolate, blankets and loving her family well.

Jess and I chat about moving beyond a client profile and actually writing copy designed to convert visitors into clients. I appreciate the practical questions that Jessica outlines in this episode to help people think through the their copywriting. Jess Jordana is a copywriter (a.k.a. heart-translator) who helps creative business owners turn their passionate mumblings into words people actually "get." She is a 24/7 iced coffee drinker, and firmly believes if date night isn't tacos, you're doing it wrong. She builds her tribe through the motto: "We don't do shallow friendships"; and she wouldn't survive a day in business without her cute husband (Presley) and pup (Joey Tribbiani). You can follow her adventures on Instagram @jessjordana.

Today’s guest is Shay Cochrane, founder of the SC Stockshop and Social Squares. If you’re not familiar with those brands, the SC Stockshop is a 'styled stock' photography shop that provides access to premium styled stock photography for your brand, while Social Squares is a membership that provides monthly access to styled stock photos for things like social media and blogging. I’m really excited about this episode, and it’s a bit different than the others. Shay and I are chatting about how she stopped trading her hours for money, and turned a service-based business into a product based business. Before SC Stockshop, Shay was doing brand and product photography for creatives businesses—until a remark from one of her clients led to an idea that eventually turned into the SC Stockshop. Shay shares a lot of great business wisdom as she walks us through founding SC Stockshop and Social Squares. For the show notes and access to more resources, go to: https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-shay-cochrane-episode-41/

Today’s guest is communications coach and strategist Lauren Carnes. Lauren helps creative and lifestyle brands bridge the gap between imagery and copywriting. And her marketing, PR, and social media background includes experience working alongside some major brands. Today she is sharing the recipe for a successful pitch. We chat about what exactly that means, and everything from setting yourself up for success through tips for the actual pitch itself. With a background in public relations and social media marketing, Lauren has always been a lover of telling great stories. For 6 years she worked alongside international brands including Nike, Airstream, the John Maxwell Company, and Chick-fil-A in defining unique elements of their stories and serving as their brand voice through digital, print, and in-person engagements. In 2014, she made the leap to launching Lauren Carnes Photography serving couples, creatives, and foodies through wedding, branding, and food photography. After successfully growing her photography business, she focused on merging her two creative passions into one business by coaching creatives on consistent brand voice, marketing & sales strategies, and imagery. Since then, she's worked alongside brands like the Rising Tide Society & HoneyBook, Natalie Franke, Megan Martin Creative, Rachel Allene, Creme Brands, Creative at Heart, and more, infusing communications strategy and consistency into a variety of brand elements. When she's not in the office, she can be found cooking, hosting friends, or exploring new cities with her husband, Chip, son, Oliver, and their fur-baby, Sophie. For the show notes and more resources, head on over to https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-lauren-carnes-episode-40.

Today’s guest is Stephanie Thacker, the founder of Steadfast Bookkeeping, a company that provides full service bookkeeping, tax planning and preparation, and outsourced CFO services. Stephanie shares about how to find a bookkeeper if you’re looking for one, tips for bookkeeping if you’re tackling it yourself, and what to do if you find yourself in over your head this tax season. For show notes and resources, go to https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-stephanie-thacker-episode-39.

Today’s guest is Julie Paisley, a destination wedding photographer and educator based in Nashville, TN. Julie’s work can be found on every major wedding blog, she's been published countless times in print, including a feature on the cover of People, TWICE. And she has a client roster featuring some names that you probably recognize. Today we’re chatting about how to increase word of mouth referrals—both from clients and other businesses—by keeping things personal. Before we get started: If you are hybrid photographer—you shoot both film and digital formats—there’s a conference I think you need to check out that’s hosted by Julie along with Jonathan Canlas and Belinda Olson. It’s called The Hybrid Collective, and this is year it’s happening in Nashville from May 6th-8th and registration is currently open! Head on over to the hybrid co dot com to check out the speaker line-up, styled shoots, breakout sessions, and master classes. I’ll be there teaching… and I’ll be giving out some awesome bonuses during my classes—I hope to see you there! For show notes and other resources, go to https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-julie-paisley-episode-38

Today’s guest is Charity Maurer of Charity Maurer Photography, a luxury level Photography business serving the Phoenix area. What’s interesting about Charity’s business is that she didn’t start out as a luxury brand. It wasn’t until a few years into business that she decided she wanted to go after the luxury market so that she could create more margin in her life. We walk through steps that Charity took in rebranding her business and entering that luxury level market focusing on everything from finding new networking groups to changing up the copy and imagery she was sharing on social media to making big pricing increases. For show notes and other resources, go to https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-charity-maurer-episode-37.

Today’s episode is a bit different: In this episode I am being interviewed by Catherine Guidry, the host of the Mistakes Make Magic podcast for an episode of Mistakes Make Magic. Cat was kind enough to let me also air this episode here. Today we’re chatting all about podcasting. If starting a podcast is one of your goals for 2019 or if you’re just interested in a little behind the scenes of the Brands that Book podcast, you’ll want to stay tuned! Afterwards be sure to check out Mistakes Make Magic. Catherine’s podcast provides business advice and lessons learned from failure, and she’s had some pretty awesome guests on her show. Show notes can be found at http://catherineguidry.com/blog/051-davey-jones/.