Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Maggie Robinson of www.dinkyfeet.co.uk and www.togacademy.com is a wife and mother of two, originally from Poland and now based in the UK. She started in newborn photography and developed into a family photographer as her young subjects grew. She's accumulated many awards, including Newborn Photographer of the Year 2018. Today, she divides her time between her photography business, Dinky Feet and The Tog Academy, where she specializes in personal coaching and in-person sales training for photographers. With more than 15 years of experience in business management and entrepreneurship and 7 years in photography training and coaching, IPS is her thing, and she loves seeing photographers worldwide increase their revenue. In this interview, Maggie shares proof that clients crave special and that location doesn't define success in photography business. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Building strong relationships and delivering exceptional client service. Challenging the idea that location guarantees business success. Creating unique client connections that resonate regardless of market size. Standing out in a crowded market by focusing on quality and differentiation. Clients are willing to travel for special experiences, not just location. Understanding client needs and motivations, regardless of geographic location. Tailoring experiences to individual client preferences. Overcoming biases about location affecting business success. Finding creative solutions for displaying images in small spaces. Tailoring product offerings to client preferences and market differences. Building long-term relationships with clients based on trust and personalised service. Utilising genuine social media engagement with humour and storytelling. Leveraging cultural identity and background as a unique selling point. Sharing personality and values online to attract like-minded clients. Focusing on client happiness and building lasting relationships. Transparent pricing and minimum spend to ensure quality work. Offering prints over discounts for tangible keepsakes. Utilising soft sales techniques and emphasising client comfort. Presenting images for impact with early product exposure and framing. Targeted vouchers and innovative sales tools for client engagement and growth. What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Maggie shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode. If you have any questions I missed or a specific question you’d like to ask Maggie or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​   THIS WEEK — DON'T MISS IT! Feeling stuck in your ordering sessions? Struggling to close sales with confidence? Turn your photography purchasing appointments into profitable sales conversations with this Sales Masterclass. Stop: Feeling pressured to push clients to buy Wasting time on “maybes” who never materialise Losing control of the sales process Start: Confidently guiding clients towards the perfect package Boosting sales and maximising profits at every session Creating a smooth, organised, stress-free sales experience This proven system from a 7-figure earner includes: Live training with Audra: Ask questions and get expert guidance. Lifetime access to the course: Review key strategies at your own pace. Talk tracks & scripts: Eliminate sales anxiety with ready-made responses. Disqualification techniques: Identify clients who aren't a good fit, saving you time & energy. And more! Don't miss your chance to transform your sales conversations and increase revenue. Guarantee: If unsatisfied, let me know, and you'll get a full refund. Click here for more info and to register: ​https://learn.photobizx.com/sales-masterclass/​ If you'd like to hear more from Audra before registering, check out her recent PhotoBizX interview here. Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: TOG Academy Website TOG Academy Bootcamp TOG Academy on Instagram TOG Academy Facebook Group Dinky Feet Website Dinky Feet on Facebook Dinky Feet on Instagram Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Maggie for sharing her thoughts, ideas, and experience building a super successful photography business in today's tough market, no matter where you're based or who your target clients are. That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew The post 554: Maggie Robinson – Clients Crave Special, Location Doesn’t Define Success in Photography Business appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Liz Hansen of www.chicago-boudoir.com and www.milliondollar.studio has a million-dollar boudoir photography studio business. She says… Having a baby is the hardest thing I’ve ever done; having a business is the second hardest. The third-hardest is growing that business. Liz has been a professional photographer since 2011 and opened her studio in 2018. She quickly grew it to over a million dollars per year in revenue and believes a big part of her success is focusing on same-day sales sessions for her female clients, who all receive professional hair, makeup and lashes. She has an all-female staff and has helped other photographers grow their studio businesses quickly and successfully. In this interview, Liz shares the pathway to building a million-dollar photography business today — from client-attracting targeted marketing to workflow and editing effectively and sales strategies that work. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Achieve Million-Dollar Revenue: Implement efficient client workflow and strategic pricing, while streamlining operations through outsourcing tasks. Building From the Ground Up: Begin with a solid financial plan and commitment, focusing on luxury experience and scalable growth. Overcoming Challenges: Build a portfolio through strategic free sessions and establish reasonable session fees for client investment. Remote Work and Staffing: Efficiently hire and manage remote contractors, utilising automation tools for streamlined operations. Attracting Clients: Offer unique experiences to target demographics, utilising targeted marketing strategies and partnerships. Strategic Demographic Targeting: Targeting older women (35+) with SEO and Google ads, forming partnerships for wider exposure and revenue. Personal and Professional Growth: Reflect on a transformative journey and adaptability, sharing insights and experiences to inspire others. Marketing Strategies: Use Facebook ads and strategic content creation to maximise sales opportunities with same-day offers. Boosting Sales with Timely Offers: Capturing Moments and Increasing Sales with Same-Day Photo Purchases Efficient Workflow and Editing: Optimize editing process for quick turnaround, prioritizing client satisfaction and seamless experience. Album Creation: Focus on image quality and impactful design, offering personalized albums for enhanced client experience. Scaling Success: Provide coaching and mentorship opportunities, implementing proven strategies for rapid revenue growth. Sales Strategies and Client Focus: Prioritize client preferences and satisfaction, offering personalized experiences and genuine engagement. What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. The number one thing that really helped me go from not being able to pay myself to being able to pay myself was creating a repeatable process in my marketing, my shooting and my selling, so that I knew what would happen and it wasn't just like a mystery everyday when I woke up. – Liz Hansen You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Liz shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode. One of the reasons I did those 40 Free shoots, which was a ton of work for no pay, was to build a little bit of trust online. I got videos of those women saying, ‘Liz was great.' ‘I loved working with her.' ‘She didn't sell me into captivity.' That's what I needed out of those 40 shoots more than money. – Liz Hansen If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Liz or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! Photographers have to have the systems in place to make this work because you can have all the clients come to you in the world. If you don't know how to get them from A to B, you're going to end up with just a headache and a mess and unhappy clients because you don't have the process to help them through from beginning to end delivery. – Liz Hansen Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. People are willing to pay luxury prices for boudoir because of what it is. And if you create a good experience, you're selling not just photos and albums, but a moment for someone to feel something and they are willing to pay for that. – Liz Hansen Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​ Feeling stuck in your ordering sessions? Struggling to close sales with confidence? Turn your photography purchasing appointments into profitable sales conversations with this Sales Masterclass. Stop: Feeling pressured to push clients to buy Wasting time on “maybes” who never materialise Losing control of the sales process Start: Confidently guiding clients towards the perfect package Boosting sales and maximising profits at every session Creating a smooth, organised, stress-free sales experience This proven system from a 7-figure earner includes: Live training with Audra: Ask questions and get expert guidance. Lifetime access to the course: Review key strategies at your own pace. Talk tracks & scripts: Eliminate sales anxiety with ready-made responses. Disqualification techniques: Identify clients who aren't a good fit, saving you time & energy. And more! Don't miss your chance to transform your sales conversations and increase revenue. Guarantee: If unsatisfied, let me know, and you'll get a full refund. Click here for more info and to register: ​https://learn.photobizx.com/sales-masterclass/​ If you'd like to hear more from Audra before registering, check out her recent PhotoBizX interview here. Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Million Dollar Studio Program Million Dollar Studio Website Million Dollar Studio on Facebook Chicago Boudoir Photography Website Chicago Boudoir on Instagram Chicago Boudoir on Facebook Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Liz for sharing her thoughts, ideas, and experience on building a super successful photography business in today's tough market and how to generate million dollar revenues with your photography business. Sometimes clients will tell you they love something. But you only know if they really love it if they vote with their credit card. What they buy is what they really actually like. It doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter what they talk about. What they vote with their credit card means what they actually love. – Liz Hansen That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew The post 553: Liz Hansen – This is the pathway to a million dollar photography business appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

Financial advisor Danielle Hendon shares expert insights on pricing photography services, managing cash flow, and making smart investments. She emphasizes understanding financial statements and offers guidance on achieving financial success. Topics also include separating personal and business finances, maintaining positive equity, and strategic debt usage for business growth.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Josh Beaton of  www.joshbeaton.com and www.thetweenesteemproject.org creates and photographs luxury portraits with an edge. If you check out his clean but attention-grabbing website, you'll see he is one of Chicago’s Premier Portrait Photographers. His portraiture has a distinctive, dark, romantic look, and it's easy to see why clients would be drawn to him and his photography. What's interesting about his journey is this is all relatively new! He only recently left his full-time job and has gone all in with his photography business, including taking on a lease for a new and large studio. Josh popped up on my radar when Premium Member Kerry Struble emailed me to say… Hi Andrew! Have you heard about photographer Josh Beaton? He runs a teen-empowering non-profit called The Tween Esteem Project and just had a beautiful gallery show. It's not just a portrait promotion, but rather, an entire program for underprivileged teens and teens that have self-esteem issues, struggle with bullying, addiction, etc. There's a whole self-help component that includes connecting with a mentor, social media training, and more. He's actually started a legit non-profit organisation! That was enough to have me reach out to Josh for this interview, where he shares how he was able to use his photography to finance a project that helps underprivileged children in his community and, hopefully, the country. At the same time, being paid for his photographic skills and mastery. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: From Employee to Creative Boss: Discover how Josh transitioned to full-time photography, defying the “starving artist” myth. Beyond the Benjamins: Learn their fulfilling approach to business, prioritizing artistic expression over fixating on specific revenue. Scaling Up Your Studio: Overcome pricing, marketing hurdles, and explore expanding your space to cater to a specific niche. Finding Your Signature Style: Unleash your creative vision! See how Josh draws inspiration from iconic photographers to attract clients who crave modern aesthetics. Boudoir Bonanza: Step into the world of boudoir-inspired photography! See how Josh empowers women aged 30-45 to celebrate life's milestones. Six-Figure Vision and Beyond: Learn about Josh's business goals, from expanding art sales to breaking the six-figure barrier, and discover their insider networking tips. The Power of Connection: Leverage groups like the Chamber of Commerce and BNI to open doors and explore new photography avenues. Giving Back with “The Tween Esteem Project”: Be touched by their non-profit offering free photoshoots to underprivileged children, and hear about their ambitious plans for nationwide expansion. Sustainable Giving: Learn how Josh seeks grants for long-term support while prioritizing community involvement over corporate sponsorships. Free Confidence Boost for Teens: Witness the impact they make by offering complimentary photoshoots to struggling teens with a streamlined application process. Turning Snaps into Support: See how Josh organises charity events featuring donated prints, leveraging community engagement for impactful fundraising. The Lens of Self-Esteem: Get inspired by their ded ication to using photography to boost self-esteem on a national scale. Empowering Youth with Passion: Be moved by their unwavering commitment to helping struggling teens and tweens, and prepare to be inspired by their openness to growth opportunities for even greater impact. What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. My business wasn't ready when I took the jump. I just, you know, jump and the net will appear. We kind of really leaned on that. — Josh Beaton You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Josh shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode. I don't want to lower my price, because I don't want to devalue the work. It's a lot harder to go from $100 shoots to $10,000 shoots versus, you know, kind of just going a little bit in the middle there. — Josh Beaton If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Josh or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! Moving into my new studio was a little overwhelming when I first moved in. — Josh Beaton Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. I haven't done boudoir, but my guess is that I would look for a boudoir client that really doesn't want to take their clothes off. Right? And then like that's okay, great. — Josh Beaton Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​ Here is the latest review… ★★★★★ Mind Blowing! Via the PhotobizX Members Group by Luxurious St. Louis Boudoir Photographer, Matthew Kauffmann, on February 1st, 2024. Regarding the recent AI for photographers training delivered by Brianna Shrader. This was absolutely mind-blowing. Completely worth 12x the cost of admission! Registrations are open to anyone looking to up their sales game! For any photographer to succeed in business, you need to be able to confidently consult with your clients on what works best for them. Yes, that means sell. Sell with integrity. Sell with purpose. Sell with confidence. Sell with the ‘helping’ mentality. How do you get better at selling? Instead of stumbling through to see what a solid process may be for you, learn from someone who owns a company that has sold more than 5 million dollars (US) in digitals and products for clients internationally. If you've always wanted to be better at sales, OR YOU HAVE A STAFF MEMBER who needs to be better, don't miss this training. Our GUARANTEE to you: Take this training, and if you don't get enough value to increase your csales, let me know I'll happily refund you. For more details and to register, click here:  https://learn.photobizx.com/sales-masterclass/ If you'd like to hear more from Audra before registering, check out her recent PhotoBizX interview here. Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Josh Beaton Website Josh Beaton on Facebook Josh Beaton on Instagram The Tween Esteem Project The Tween Esteem Project on Instagram The Tween Esteem Project on Facebook Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Josh for sharing his thoughts, ideas, and experience on launching and building a non-profit based on photography to help underprivileged teens. These kids walked in to pictures they've already seen with their drawers on the floor. And their mums were crying and I couldn't understand it at first. — Josh Beaton That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew Episode Transcript Email Download New Tab Andrew Hellmich: Today's guest shoots luxury portraits with an edge. And if you check out his clean but attention grabbing website you'll see he is one of Chicago's premier portrait photographers. His portraiture has a distinctive dark romantic look and it's easy to see why his clients would be drawn to him and his photography. Now what's interesting about his journey is this is all relatively new he only recently left his full time job has gone all in with his photography business, including taking on a lease for brand new and large studio. Now he first popped up on my radar when Premium Member Carrie Struble emailed me to say, Hey Andrew, have you heard about the photographer Josh Beaton: . He has a teen empowering nonprofit called the tween esteem project. He just had a beautiful gallery show. And it's not just a portrait promotion, but rather an entire program for underprivileged teens and tweens that have self esteem issues, struggle with bullying and addiction, etc. There's a whole self help component that includes connecting with a mentor social media training and more. He's actually started a legit nonprofit organization. So that's when I went and had a deeper look, I fell in love with everything that I saw, reached out to Josh, and asked him to come on for this interview. So I am rapt to say that Josh is here with us now, Josh, welcome, mate. Josh Beaton: How you doing? Thanks so much for having me. Andrew Hellmich: Does it feel all brand new still Are you like deep in the trenches now and just like head down, bum up? Josh Beaton: Well, with the between the Tween Esteem Project in particular, we just finished, like you said, we just had our gallery show at this point, I think it was about three weeks ago. So we're in this little like calming part before we gear up again next year for that. And then for my business in itself, it's all marketing, right? It's all glad handing everyone and trying to trying to fill some spots. Andrew Hellmich: Unreal. Was I right in saying that this is all relatively new? Josh Beaton: The Tween Esteem Project itself is definitely new. We've had it for one year. My photography business is new as my full time gig here. Like I just it was in February that I took the leap to give it a go, you know. Andrew Hellmich: And how you feeling about that decision now? Josh Beaton: There are mornings that I hate myself for doing that. And then there are mornings that I love it. So just like any other solo business, right, there's a sense of uneasiness, especially with your first year, first couple of years, you know, just getting kind of a foundation built under you, versus when you have a full time job. And it's just kind of like, oh, whatever, I didn't book anyone for the last two weeks, it's no big deal. I have a paycheck. Now it's like, you know, I have bills to pay. So I'm out there begging. Andrew Hellmich: And so were you part time, you know, working as a photographer, you know, while you had the full time job? And then did you get to a point where you thought, Okay, I'm ready to make the leap? Or did you just take a gamble? Josh Beaton: Well, so I went to school for graphic design. So for the last 10 years or so, I've been a creative director. And so there's a lot of photography that goes along with that job. I did a lot of video, I did a lot of photo. But I've always loved portrait photography. And so I've been kind of doing it on the side, you know, a lot of it was free stuff. But you know, earlier than then I realized, you know that you can actually make a living doing this. So I started charging more, I got a smaller studio a few years back. And yeah, I just kind of slowly turn the faucet more and more and more and more until you know, the water was warm enough that I felt like I could I could jump in now. Andrew Hellmich: So what got you to the point? What was the point where you thought I can jump in? And I'm curious to know if it was your photography was referrals? Was it what people were saying about your work? Or was it your marketing? Josh Beaton: Well, to be completely frank, I just wasn't happy at my job. And it got to the point where I started, you know, obviously I talked to my wife about this, but I didn't just come home and say, Hey, by the way, I'm done. But I started really talking to myself and talking to my wife and just trying to decide how long am I going to work at a job that I don't enjoy. And let what I love just be kind of an afterthought in my life, right? You get older, and pretty soon you find out that you spent all those years doing something you hated. So my business wasn't ready. When I took the jump. I just, you know jump in the net will appear we kind of really leaned on that. And then that's only kind of there. Andrew Hellmich: You're still stitching it together. Josh Beaton: Absolutely. Absolutely. Andrew Hellmich: Well, like I said, Did you go into this or did you sit down with your wife? It's Danielle, isn't it? Your wife? Josh Beaton: Yes. Yep. Andrew Hellmich: So did you sit down with Danielle and and say, Okay, this is our target. We want to reach $100,000 in revenue for the first year or 50,000 revenue. Josh Beaton: Well, we didn't know like we knew. So Danielle has a full time job as well, so it wasn't like, if I didn't make any money, we would be out on the streets. But obviously, I can't just not make money, right, like, as a one income household, it wouldn't really work. So we just talked about, we had goals, more of we want clients, right, we want to get so many clients, and obviously those clients need to pay. But when I first started, my pricing was kind of, I wanted to come in at a nice full, like, good high price, right, I considered it a very luxury item, and wanted to come in at a high price. Well, I found that I didn't really get any clients doing that. And then it was that internal struggle of, well, I don't want to lower my price, because I don't want to devalue the work, it's a lot harder to go from $100 shoots to $10,000 shoots versus, you know, kind of just going a little bit in the middle there. But I also had to pay bills. So I kind of played around with some things I tried every deal under the sun, right? I've tried campaigns I tried, I'm even doing Christmas sessions this year that I never do. And I probably won't do again, they weren't that weren't a great hit. But I'm just trying everything and kind of seeing what sticks. I've had mentors, I've, you know, joined groups, like, you know, the mentorship type groups and stuff like that. And I'm just kind of looking for that magic bullet that I know probably doesn't exist, and that it's more of just a bunch of little things than one big thing. And so I'm still kind of, you know, finding what is going to be the best, not so much niche for me, I kind of have my niche, but what is going to be the best way to fill that niche, Andrew Hellmich: Right. You must have some positive signs because you quit your job. You went for a small studio, now you're into a lot like the listener can't see you bet you have a big space around you right now. And you said before you've got room to run around. Josh Beaton: Yeah, yeah, frankly, it got a little overwhelming when I first moved in, like I was telling you earlier, I moved from 185 square foot studio, where a lot of the work that people have seen on my Instagram and everything was shot in that 185 square foot studio. And then the problem was when you start offering makeup and things like that, we can't all fit in that studio. So we found out that we'd have to like rent another studio in the building for two hours to do makeup. And it just didn't make any sense. So now in this studio, we can kind of have a say we because I consider my wife sort of part of the business. But really, it's just me. We could have you know, the makeup is just right to my left here. And we have a bunch of backdrops and scenes kind of set up behind me versus I had two backdrops nailed to either wall in the other studio. And I would just turn around. And that would be my two, my two sets. So that's a lot more that can breathe easier in here. Andrew Hellmich: Right, so, the signs must have been good to have you make that new leap. Josh Beaton: Yeah. I think a lot of it what, I didn't have the business at the time, but I had a lot of people telling me that my work was great. And that, you know, I, I was in no shortage of people supporting me verbally write emails about it. Like, the ego was really high for a while. And I what I found out is a lot of that ends up just being taught. And you know, you can tell me, I'm great all you want, but if you're not going to hire me as your photographer, well, you know, thanks. It's like getting a Christmas card. Yeah. All right, thanks for the card. But so it was, we were hopeful, right? My wife and I, when we talked about it, we saw a lot of potential in the business, we still do, we really think we can make a living out of this and you know, comfortable living. And I fully believe in my work. They just, you know, I'm just trying to find that missing piece, which it's funny too, because my wife and I both come from design and marketing. She's more of the marketing, and I'm designing and it should be there. And we shouldn't be able to just run this business like, you know, any other ad agency would run it. And I don't know, we're still kind of trying to find our footing. Andrew Hellmich: Well, now I love the fact that you sharing this because this is real life isn't I mean, you've got the images, you could sit there and say, Hey, we're doing we're doing half a million dollars here. And I would believe you or anyone would when they see your work. And exactly like you said, it's nonetheless people actually parting with their cash. That's, you can say, Okay, this is this is really working. So for the listener, I mean, I described your work as dark and romantic, moody even. And I'm going to have some images accompany the audio when this goes live. But for the listener that can't see your work. How would you describe it? And who is your ideal client? Josh Beaton: Yeah, so a lot of people like to throw around dark and moody right? But I never say that because it gets really confused with like dark and moody wedding photography, which is very different than this. I love the word romantic. You know, some people have called it like vampy and I say well if it's gonna be vampy then it's more like Interview with a Vampire than blade. Right? There's no like blood and all of that, but it's like yeah, like Victorian romantic is kind of how I think of it right? Which doesn't mean it looks old. You know what I used to have on my website, it was called luxury with an edge. And that's really kind of how I feel like it is it's fine art enough to hang on your wall. But it's not necessarily for your grandma. You know what I mean? It's modern renaissance. Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, it is. Josh Beaton: I'm just making up words right now. So I don't know. Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, but that's right. Yeah, I would go with that. These images that I'm looking at even on your Instagram right now, they would look, you know, totally in place in any gallery, they would look amazing in the right home. But then you've gone towards a darker background, as opposed to a light and airy background. Yes, the opposite of that. Josh Beaton: Yeah, yeah. My hero in life is Annie Leibovitz. And I don't care, like we can argue all day, it doesn't matter if you're going against the brick wall here. I don't want to hear it. She's just my hero, you know. And so I took a lot of my initial inspiration from her and I loved like the olive backgrounds and things like that. And then I just kind of just like any anyone else, when you start photography, right, you find your heroes, you kind of emulate them a little bit. And then eventually, it kind of turns into your own style. You take a little from here a little from there, and it becomes something else. So I don't think my work looks like Annie Leibovitz now, but I think if you know that she's my hero, you can see, like, bits in there, right? Andrew Hellmich: 100%, 100%. Absolutely, yeah. But you've also you've obviously spent a lot of time learning or getting a good understanding of posing, and particularly women, there's mainly women on your feed. There's some men but you know, you look like you know, what to do with their hands, how to pose the face, shape the body, do all those things. Is that something you actually studied? Josh Beaton: I did not. But I mean, I guess I studied by looking at magazines and didn't, but I wasn't conscious, right? I wasn't like looking saying, all right. Oh, that poses great, you know, and like cutting it out or anything like that. It's just kind of like you absorb it after a while. But what I find is, when I'm doing a shoot, I don't necessarily say, All right, now, put your right hand like this, and put your left hand like this, and your legs like this. But I'll give little tips, right. So I'll say for instance, put your feet your feet shouldn't be side by side, right, pick a foot and step forward a little bit, then you'll feel yourself kind of drop into that hip, just let that happen right. Now, put your left hand here. And now your right hand is freestyle, do whatever you want with it. And we kind of do that a little bit. So it's not like I'm putting them in this mold. I'm more kind of guiding them and then letting them have a little bit of say in it as well. Even the people who come in here that are like I don't know what to do. You know, they still feel like once they kind of get into a little bit of it, their inner model comes out and they started popping poses. And it's it's really great. Awesome. Andrew Hellmich: I love it. So who is your ideal client? Because I mean, you could say it's clamor. You could say I mean, it's got a boudoir feel without any of the raunchiness. I mean, they look like if you spoke to a boudoir photographer, right? interviewed a boudoir photographer, I feel like you and them would be looking for the same kind of person to attract into the studio. Yeah, Josh Beaton: I guess for me, I haven't done boudoir, but my guess is that I would look for a boudoir client that really doesn't want to take their clothes off. Right? And then like That's okay, great. We can do that. I guess. Yeah, I mean, that's a good description of it is it sort of boudoir without the nudity, because it is that dark romantic look that a lot of boudoir has. But it's set in a backdrop. It's not like in a in a bed or you know, in a bathtub or you know, the other things that boudoir does. And a lot of it is not necessarily costumed. But I have you know, a lot of wardrobe. And here's a little side topic, like these big poufy dresses that you see a lot of the models wearing. That was a COVID project for me. And I decided to just try and learn how to sew a skirt. And so I made those. Andrew Hellmich: Wow, Josh Beaton: Yeah, it was I took a sewing class just to learn the basics. And then you can find anything you want on YouTube, let me tell you, and it's just how do I sell a ruffle and you just go and it takes like 20 hours per skirt? Probably not for somebody who's really good at it. So when people get these skirts on and everything, it just kind of it becomes they're almost acting right? They can be somebody else once they step onto the stage. So I'm not somebody who's probably ever going to do like a raw campaign. Right? Come in and just come as you are I'll take a picture there'll be no editing. I think that's amazing. The people that can do that. There's a lot of editing that I do, but it's not I don't change your body. But I'll you know, I obviously do a lot of color correctly. I do like 12 to 15 layers of color correcting, you know, so I make it that style that it is but so to get back to your original question the person that I guess my ideal client ends up being I say I take everybody's photo but it's like you said 95% women, the guys that come in normally come in with somebody and it's a couple shoot or whatever, but it's been And I would say 30 to 45. In that age range, they seem to be celebrating something. So that could be getting married, that could be getting divorced, they could be turning 40. You know, things like that just kind of these milestones seem to be when people come in. I've had a few people come in and say, I'm just getting older. And I want to document myself right now, because this is the best I'm ever gonna look right now. Right? Which, whatever, that's debatable, but so I have AV women coming from that. And then I've lately it's been a lot of couples. I don't know what happened. But all of a sudden, I got in some couples radars. I had a couple of fly in from Sweden. Wow. Yeah, it's wild. I don't know. For a while there, I was getting way more clients from out of state slash country than it was in Chicago. And I don't know what happened. I thought I was your hashtags. Was that hashtags? Andrew Hellmich: I mean, if you're pricing where you want it to be now, yeah, Josh Beaton: I think, you know, you hear a lot of people talking about like, the $10,000. Sale, that's like the pinnacle. Right, that's where you want. And right now, I don't know that I'm really set up for that, unless somebody bought like a lot of big wall art, they'd have to buy like four pieces of big wall art for me to get into that range. So maybe I'm a little low. But because my clientele isn't there, right now. I'm still sorta I mean, nothing's out of the question. You know, if you were to say, Hey, I looked, and you should raise them all. $10,000. Okay. I mean, it's not, it's not out of the question right now. Andrew Hellmich: So what does the average client take home? What do you want to see leaving the studio after a session, Josh Beaton: Big WallArt, I think that my work is best large. And on the wall, like 30 by 40? Yeah, I can make the biggest I normally sell, I have a 30 by 40. option. But then like 24 by 36 is like the biggest that people normally would buy. And it's actually kind of rare, I have a lot of smaller thing, I have a folio box. So I've sold that. Otherwise, people seem to be wanting smaller prints, which I can only talk them out of so much. So I'm trying to figure that out. That's kind of one of my, you know, unanswered questions right now is how to get people into this larger art, which I've recently got a whole bunch on my wall. Now, because I moved into this new studio, there was way more wall space. And I had to wait a little bit to be able to put all the art up on the wall. But I have now more 24 by 36 framed canvases on the wall that hopefully people will see and it'll help sell. Andrew Hellmich: So what's the target revenue for this? 12 months? Josh Beaton: You inflate like it for a yearly revenue? Yeah, yeah. Well, I'd love to break the six figure mark, that would be amazing. Once if I do that. That's kind of a great, now we know what to do. And now we can we have a foundation once I break that six figure, but we have a foundation. And now we can, you know, build from there. Whereas if I don't hit that it's not quite a foundation yet, right? We're still trying to figure out what works until we can build that six figure Foundation, right? Andrew Hellmich: So if when you say six figures, so let's say $100,000? That's a gross revenue, isn't it? Because out of that, you got to take out the studio expenses, don't Josh Beaton: You? So that's what I'm saying is so if you make 100, what it's 33 for taxes. So that brings it down to like 66 or 67. This is going to be real bad to show my math skills here. But Andrew Hellmich: if you say 50%, you take home, you get in close. Josh Beaton: Yeah, right. Right. Kind of like that. Right. 50% you take it on. So then it's $50,000. Right. Now, that's not enough to like that can't just be what it is. But if I'm bringing in $50,000 a year, I know. Okay, great. Like I feel confident that that's a base pay, yes, that I want to wait make way more of, but I want to know that I can make that like without even thinking I want to know that I have that coming in. Sure. Andrew Hellmich: That makes total sense. When you say you throwing things out there looking for that one golden nugget that is probably not going to be that it's going to be a whole lot of little things that make up the success and you've tried coaching and mentors and groups. If I said to you, okay, Josh, you got to pull one of those things away. You can't do that anymore, which is the one that would scare you the most to lose. Was it a particular campaign? Is it a group? Is it a coach you've had? Josh Beaton: Wow, that's a great question. If I had to lose one, not just keep one if I had to lose one. And you said what would be the scariest to lose? Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, which one would make your heart jump and go 'Ohhhh, I don't want to lose that. I'm looking for the one that's working the best. Josh Beaton: Yeah, well, I think so far and just networking seems to be working the best. Like I've decided to just start going I joined the Chamber of Commerce here and I just I'm going to go to every single possible thing they have and a member of the PPA here I don't deal with PPA over there. Andrew Hellmich: We used to have it all folded. We had an AIP which folded, unfortunately. Josh Beaton: Okay. But do you know you know what I'm talking about? And I said so you know that There's a local chapter that's actually like an hour and a half away from me is the closest, which is crazy to me that I live in Chicago, and there's not one in Chicago, but whatever. You can start one. Yeah, well, I'm going to something in three days for them. And I'm like hanging, I'm going to be that guy that raises this at every meeting, whatever. But I go to everything that they do. And I've started to also do workshops and stuff. I never at least right now don't come to a business workshop if I ever made one because I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to business. But when it comes to lighting and making like the head pieces that you see, I make those so I like currently right now I'm doing like a headpiece workshop, right. So I'm trying to get people to come in. And basically you pay a fee. You come in, everything's here, and I teach you how to make a headpiece and you leave with it. And now you know how to make a headpiece, right? So I'm using my other skills to try and fill the holes where photography is lacking right now. Andrew Hellmich: So when you go to Chamber of Commerce, are you run a program on making these headpieces? Are you trying to convert those people into clients or you just want them to scream your name from the rooftops? Josh Beaton: Well, currently, so I'm trying to think of who would really like to be photographed the way I shoot and would be able to afford it. So right now, I'm exploring more like medical spas, like injectable Botox places and things like that. And just today, I reached out to my chamber of commerce about it. And they sent out a few emails introducing me to Area Medical spas and stuff and I have a call with one tomorrow morning now, so you know, I'm not necessarily looking for them to hire me because like every other photographer, I do headshots, but I don't love headshots, right. So that's not, that's not where my passion lies, there's better headshot photographers in Chicago that just focused on headshots. So I really, you know, every once in a while, I'll get a headshot in but what I want is for you to come in for your headshot, see all this other stuff and say, Oh, I would really actually like to come in for that. I've also been kind of toying around with doing branding photos. In this Vanity Fair style versus the, you know, my argument is always you don't need to be in a white room on a bright couch smiling, like, you know, if it doesn't have to be your branding photo. So we'll see what happens. And that's when the chamber kind of is helping with that is getting me in front of those kinds of businesses, Andrew Hellmich: right? So just, I haven't heard that. So you're a member of the Chamber of Commerce, you contact them, you say, can you put me in touch with a botox clinic, for example? And so is the Botox clinic? Did they have someone that's in the Chamber of Commerce, or someone just reaches out to a company says, Hey, this is us. I want to introduce Josh. Josh Beaton: Oh, no, it's so they look for other Chamber members. So I can reach out and say, any industry that I want, and I can say, hey, let's say restaurants, hey, can you introduce me to any restaurant that you think would fit this? And then they'll send an email introducing me and saying, Hey, here's his work. I think you guys would really work well together. I'm kind of gonna leave it to you now. And so that that's the Chamber's been great for that. Andrew Hellmich: That's amazing. That's so good. Okay. And is that different or similar to the BNI? Group? Do you have that in America, too? Josh Beaton: We do. Yeah, I was just invited to two different ones, maybe BNI groups a little different, just because there's at least the BNI groups that I've guested at, there's been, I think, maybe 15 People tops, were at the Chamber, it's hundreds, if not 1000s of businesses, depending on the size of your chamber. And so you can and it's not just one person, it's the whole business has the chamber membership. So you'll get different people coming to different meetings, which maybe if you didn't vibe with one person from that business, but this other person comes in and you find out you're from the same hometown, and you know, you never know. So those meetings have been had been pretty great. Andrew Hellmich: Well, okay. So if I look at everything you've shared so far, I certainly wouldn't describe you as a struggling artist, because you're past that. But you're still looking for everyone to discover and find you and see your work so they can fall in love with it and book you. So you're on the road up, you're going up the staircase. So what begs the question is why start the Tween Esteem Project.? Like why aren't you putting all your effort into the business instead of doing these giveaways? Well, Josh Beaton: So I'll give you the story. So I was doing this in my small studio. And a friend of a friend, a friend of a friend's goddaughter was kind of looking to be an extra right or wanted to experience what it's like to be an extra we have a lot of movies and shows that film in Chicago. And so godmother wanted to bring her to just get headshot like actor headshots done and just kind of experience a little bit what it would be like. She didn't want to pay what I was charging because it was just for fun. So I had a friend come in to take those shots and I was just kind of sitting around the studio talking to the godmother, so she was doing her headshots, and the godmother was telling me how, you know, she's been struggling a lot with her self esteem and you know, school has been hard and you know, She's very shy, things like that. And just on the spur of the moment thing I said, you know, her name was Emmie, the young girl. I said, Why don't you bring Emmie me back in? We'll do a full portrait session on me. We'll just do one. Let's just help kind of see what this does for her. She came in, did the shoe. And it was great. I mean, she walked out of the shoot, a different person, but they all do, right. So like, yeah, like, okay, it's just like any other portrait session, I sent the image to her. I mean, the godmother was crying the images, I sent her many images godmother was crying, me, apparently, I wasn't there for that. But apparently, I mean, when she saw it, she was in a bad mood. And she was showing the photo. And then she got a lump in her throat and was trying not to cry. And eventually what it turned into is, and he's a different person. Now she ran for school office, she just carries herself differently. I get texts from her godmother every once in a while just saying, you know, if you think she's over this, you're wrong. She wrote a little paragraph about me at school of somebody who made a difference in her life. And just, you know, things like that are just like, super emotional. And I didn't realize how much of that would affect me. And when I saw this, and you know, I'm a dad of teenagers as well. So I've seen my teens go through similar things where you know, especially in the age of social media, and we just went through COVID, and like their self esteem, and confidences were all over the place. And I just thought this would be great to do for kids. So I just started offering it as a package, a paid package, I would get people that came in, but they were always the same people, which were, you know, wealthy kids from the suburbs. And I knew, especially in a city like Chicago, there's so many kids here that need this that would never be able to afford me. So how do I do this? And I was talking to a mentor, and she said, you know, what you should do is looking for sponsors, that that's a great idea. And you know, McDonald's is based here, and the YMCA is based here and things like that. And so I'm like, okay, great. This is gonna be awesome. I'll pitch to businesses, but I don't know how to do that. So we reached out to another friend, and he's a fundraiser. And so I met with him just for like a drink. And he said, You're making it way too hard on yourself. Start a nonprofit. And I said, I didn't even know you could just start a nonprofit. And sure enough, you can. And we bought 20 steam.org that night. And then we found out all the other stuff you actually had to do to start a nonprofit, you know, and like, we got our 501 C three in April, I think. But it took about eight or nine months to get that. And we've trademark tween esteem, but it's like in two weeks, we will get like more information about it. It's been a year and a month so far from that, and just everything takes forever. But so we decided to go ahead and start this nonprofit. And I made a commitment to shoot 25 kids this year, and it was all for free. I would donate 25 sessions. And my wife is donating all her time as the executive director. But what we're doing is kind of treating it like the tween esteem project is hiring Josh Beaton: photography, right. I'm just the contractor. Right? And because of that I'm just donating right now. But moving forward, now that we've done 25 kids moving forward. Now we arranged a payment now. So like I said, going forward next year, I'll be getting paid for every photoshoot we do, but it's all grant and donor funded. Right? So anyway, we're being as transparent as possible. This isn't just give me business is we pay the makeup artists we pay the stylists, we like we it's a whole team that comes together to do this. And we also want to make this expand across the country in the next few years. So we'd have a photographer in Houston or a photographer in Baltimore, and they would get paid as well. And it's just, we had one year under our belt, we learned a lot of things. So it's a lot of things are changing in January, but the base of it is helping these kids. And watching these kids come in as a whisper. I mean, one girl in particular came in, she whispered like, Oh, it's so thank you so much. And by the end, she was dancing and talking loud. And I mean, they're different kids. And when we saw them, I'm sorry. This is like a diatribe. I'm going on here. But and like I said, we had our gallery show just a few weeks ago. And at this gallery show all these kids had seen these images already. I sent them the digital images. They got them. They could do whatever they want with them. They've seen them. But at the gallery show they came in and they were 24 by 36 framed canvases donated by pro prints. They're amazing. And these kids walked in to pictures they've already seen with their drawers on the floor. And their moms were crying and I couldn't understand it at first like what you guys have seen these already. But what I realized is these kids have never seen them. themselves imprint, or at least not to the size. I mean, it was such an impact not only on them, but on me just to watch this happen, that it really changed how I thought about people needing these images for their homes. Andrew Hellmich: Plus, they're out in public, they these are big, massive prints. It's not just in someone's home in an album, right. Josh Beaton: And we didn't do this just in like my studio or whatever. We rented an art gallery, a legit Art Gallery, and it was an event. We had people there, we had a bar, like we had a whole like event with it. And it was just amazing. We had a churro cart for the kids. That's great. Andrew Hellmich: All right, I've got 1000 questions, I'll try and limit it. But it's a nonprofit. Yes, that's still it's registered business. It has money coming in that it can distribute towards contractors, but it can't show profit. Is that right? Andrew Hellmich We're gonna finish up in just a second, I guess. Before I ask you my last question, what where's the best place for the listener to see more of your work and The Tween Esteem Project? Josh Beaton: Sure, well, for me, my website is joshbeaton.com. Nice and easy. And or Instagram which is @joshbeatonphoto. And then with tween esteem, it's thetweenesteemproject.org is the website and @tweenesteem is the Instagram and those are the best places to find us both. Andrew Hellmich: I'll add links to all those in the show notes so listeners can easily find you also has an images to accompany the audio which are incredible. Final question, which might be a tough one for you. Josh Beaton: Oh, good. Andrew Hellmich: Just what you love, ey? Which side of the I want to call it businesses which which business are you more passionate about? Is it Josh Beaton: Photography or is it Tween Esteem? Josh Beaton: Wow. That's what you're gonna hit me with at the end here, huh? Well, so. Hmm. Okay, let's see, how... Andrew Hellmich: Let's pretend your wife is not listening. Josh Beaton: She's always listening. Now, so, right now I have to be more passionate about Josh Beaton: Photography, just as a business. But and let me tell you like doing that gallery show, you get kind of caught up. It's like planning a wedding, right? You just get caught up and it's like overwhelming. And then you finally have the event. And you're like, God, I just want this to be over with. And then you see these kids come in, and you're just like, oh, yeah, that's that's what this was all about. So the nice thing is seeing these kids react that way. That's how my clients react to Josh Beaton: Photography too like the adult clients. So that whole passion kind of plays into each other. Right? So I'm passionate about The Tween Esteem Project, because what it does for the kids, but I'm also passionate about Josh Beaton: Photography, because it does that same thing for adults, and especially that you don't know how many adults have come up to me and said, God, I wish I had Tween Esteem as a kid. Like that, that is what I've always needed, and I can see it happening even when they're 40 years old. You can see them come in one way and leave a different person. So I guess if I had to give one specific answer, it would be Josh Beaton: Photography. Andrew Hellmich: Nice. I wasn't gonna push you that hard but that is a great answer. And I look listening to you and the way you describe both separate businesses. I can see how easy it would be to get caught up with The Tween Esteem Project because you've got the gallery show you're seeing the kids tears the families are praising you I'm in. It must feel incredibly satisfying and rewarding. But yeah, Josh Beaton: It really does. Andrew Hellmich: And I forgot that you get the same though at Josh Beaton: photography, the older women. So, yeah. Josh Beaton: And you really you don't realize it, I didn't realize it until I did Tween Esteem . And when I saw myself reacting to how the kids reacted, and then realizing, well, that's exactly the same way that everybody reacts when they get their portrait taken. And not just by me, right when they get their portrait taken by anybody. It's so important. Portrait photography as a whole. I know we're getting into the AI age and, you know, whatever. There's 100 arguments to be had there. But when somebody comes in, no matter how confident they are about themselves, no matter how many selfies they've taken, and they think they look great, and all this stuff, when they walk in, when they leave, or when they actually are presented with their work. They've never seen themselves like that. People don't have this done every year or anything. You know, this isn't your average Christmas holiday shoot, or you know, what a Mother's Day shoot, it is something that everyone really needs to have done at some point, just to remind themselves that you know, their works of art. Really. Andrew Hellmich: That's true, that's true. 12 months time we chat again? Josh Beaton: Yes. Andrew Hellmich: In a perfect world. Where do you see Josh Beaton: Photography, and The Tween Esteem Project? Josh Beaton: Sure, we'll start with Tween Esteem. The Tween Esteem Project, I would love to see in the next, say three years nationwide, I would love to see us have 25 to 30 cities, where I'm more of, we still do a Chicago one. But it's more of a creative director role type type thing, right? Just go around and make sure you know, we would pick the photographer's that to work with, obviously and make sure you know they check all the boxes that we need. And just being able to know that we have Tween Esteem Baltimore, and we have a Tween Esteem Dallas, and you know, I'm making up cities here, you know, I don't know where we'd go. But just knowing that this isn't just happening in Chicago, it's very important for us selfishly to do it in Chicago, because, you know, we've started this and it's so great. But I want to see this nationwide. And we've had people reach out from England and wherever just saying, Hey, how can I do this where I am? And my answer is always well, we have it trademarked. But you can I encourage people to do this on their own, of course, like if you can, but it's a lot of work. And really, we're going to be building this program ourselves. And we can just sort of hire you. You know, you can do that without all the legwork that we're doing. So start your campaigns, wherever city, whatever cities, you're in to help kids. That's great. I encourage it. I'm not scared of the competition. I'm doing air quotes here. Because, you know, that's not competition, right? If we helped 1000 kids a year, that's still not even close to how many kids need to be helped. So, you know, I encourage everyone to help all the teens and tweens in their area. Now, selfishly with Josh Beaton: Photography, I mean, this year is an important year for me because like, I don't think I can do another year of not really making it right. So I mean, I see I just need a little, I don't know if it's a little luck, or a little karma or something, just to get in front of the right people. And I think then it will just kind of take care of itself and become a snowball down a hill. But I'm just looking for that one little spark. Alright, so hopefully I find it soon. Andrew Hellmich: Amazing. Josh, mate. I've got to say it's been a real pleasure talking to you. I appreciate how honest and open you've been. It's been fantastic to hear about both businesses or projects and now I'm so I'm so glad Kerry reached out and, and said Hey, go and check out this Josh guy. He's doing amazing stuff because you really are. Josh Beaton: Thank you. So I'm gonna reach out to her and say thank you. I didn't know that at all. Andrew Hellmich: It's a he. So, so yeah. Josh Beaton: Oh, he? Andrew Hellmich: Yeah. Josh Beaton: Oh, geez. So, now I feel really stupid. Andrew Hellmich: No, no, not at all. Not at all. Josh, mate, thank you so much. Josh Beaton: I'm going to reach out to him. Andrew Hellmich: Yes, yeah, I'll put you in touch. But mate, thank you so much, honestly. Josh Beaton: Thank you. It's been a real pleasure. And I'm not just saying that. Scroll back to top Sign up to receive email updates Enter your name and email address below and I'll send you periodic updates about the podcast. powered by The post 551: Josh Beaton – How to use your photography to finance a passion project and get paid appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

Calgary-based photographer Laurie Brown discusses building a successful long-term photography business with a focus on serving women. Topics include client-focused Zoom sessions, transitioning from a corporate job to photography, utilizing Zoom for consults and sales, organizing uplifting art exhibits, and empowering women through photography.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Richard Grenfell of www.thriveboudoir.com.au has been featured on the podcast several times in the coaching diary series. He started working with photography business coach Steve Saporito after shutting down a long-running and successful pawnbroking/money lending business in Queensland, Australia. He moved into a shop front studio and focused on serving local families with his new photography business and high expectations. Twelve months later, there were issues with the leased shopfront, and he was facing a move, something he wasn't crazy about. Instead of relocating, he constructed a purpose-built studio outside of town, on his property. He changed his photography focus from families to headshots and boudoir and is averaging just over $3000 per client. His next big plan is to work six months and take six months off to travel and live overseas. In this interview, Richard shared exactly how he has made the successful and profitable move from family to boudoir photography. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Studio Optimization and Growth: Relocate your studio to avoid local challenges and establish an exclusive studio on your property to grow your business. Building Your Dream Studio: Tackle pandemic-related construction issues to create a spacious studio near the highway. Transitioning to Popular Photography Genres: Shift from family to boudoir and headshot photography, enjoying the creative satisfaction of boudoir work. Success in Your Photography Niche: Master luxury photography by focusing on work that brings personal joy and success. Attracting Boudoir Clients: Attract clients through referrals, Facebook groups, and personal charisma, increasing bookings through online community engagement. Community and Business Strategy: Grow within a supportive photographer community while strategically planning for business growth amidst challenges. Advertising and Growth Tactics: Implement credit card strategies for advertising payments and create targeted ads to reach your niche market effectively. Innovative Lead Generation: Generate real estate photography leads using Facebook ads and a strong website presence, complemented by effective follow-ups. Sales Techniques Mastery: Plan advertising campaigns well in advance and master client interaction by setting clear expectations. Pricing and Client Engagement: Manage client calls with a standard booking fee and offer varied pricing plans to meet diverse client needs. Boudoir Pricing and Client Relationships: Seamlessly navigate sales with a standard booking fee and prioritize uninterrupted sessions for enhanced client experiences. Photography Sales and Preparation: Strategically prepare for photo shoots and professionally showcase your work in a dedicated reception area. Wall Art Sales Techniques: Create personalized wall art for clients, using emotional storytelling to enhance sales without getting too technical. Trust in Payment Plans: Build trust for phone payments and share insights on offering payment plans, focusing on the positive aspects. Strategic Business Practices: Empower clients by letting them choose their payment amounts and maintain an abundance mindset for business success. Enjoying Boudoir Photography: Explore boudoir photography's profitable and enjoyable world, including behind-the-scenes studio footage. What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. You need to specialize in what you like doing. Otherwise, the language doesn't work. – Richard Grenfell You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Richard shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode. If you're not a luxury brand, if you're wallowing in the middle and worst and the bottom, it's just a recipe for disaster. – Richard Grenfell If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Richard or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! I post in my Group every day. If I can't think of anything to post, I just posted a dumb meme or something funny. – Richard Grenfell Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. “Imagen AI has taken hours off my editing workflow. I could just send them off now to AI, and they're back within 15 minutes, ready to upload.” – Trina Julius Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​ Here is the latest review… ★★★★★ The Best Podcast to Grow my Business! Via Google by family portrait photographer Rob Thomas in the USA, on January 20th, 2024. I have recently joined Photobizx (paid content) after listening to the (free) unpaid content for about a month now. And, I must say it is by far the best photography podcast I have ever listened to!! Not only does Andrew/PhotoBizX have the best content for photographers (i.e.) sales, luxury branding, CRM, email capture, marketing and just every other facet of the business side of photography but, he knows how to ask the pertinent questions that I would want to ask of his guest to help grow my photography business!! And, I love how I can listen at 1.5x the normal listen rate and catch up on all of the older episodes (at warp speed) before I joined! Plus, Andrew has a great sense of humor and an excellent Aussie accent which makes it doubly good to listen to and enjoy! ELEVATE: photography & business intensive with Katie K and Jez of Heartstory Photography Perfect if you want to learn the systems, strategies and secrets of a portrait photography business with consistent half-million dollar years, multiple photography awards and 15 years of continual business growth Click here to learn more and register — Elevate: Photography & Business Intensive Dates: 1-4 March 2024, Canberra, Australia Here's what Katie has shared with me about the upcoming intensive… It's that time of year where we start to make plans and often rethink, reevaluate and redesign the way we want our businesses to look. If you're finding yourself in that headspace, you might also find yourself battling familiar thought patterns like: Do I actually have what it takes to make this happen?' What if it doesn't work?' Is this even possible?' Can I do this on my own?' After 40+ years of photography business experience between us, we know these thoughts really well. We've been through all the stressful chapters, the exhausting hustle, the too much bending over backwards for clients, the trying a million things and nothing working, and the rollercoaster of feast and famine. We've come out the other side of all that and built a business that supports our family, pays us really well, gives us 12 weeks of holiday a year, brings us amazing clients who love us and come back year after year, and so much more. We are ready to share this knowledge with you and want you to succeed. What portrait photographers do is such important work: you deserve to have a business that feels rewarding creatively and financially and suits you and your uniqueness. Our 3.5-day intensive Elevate is for photography business owners who:  – know they're worth it – want caring and customised support, strategy and know-how from people who are actually doing it – are ready to step up and create their dream business – value connection, creativity and excellence We have an amazing group of photographers from various genres and experience levels. We are so excited. All that's missing is you! More details here: https://photobizx.com/KatieK BONUS: Register with the link above and receive 12 months of Premium Membership for PhotoBizX Use the code is “countmein”  on ‘pay in full' and ‘payment plans' until 11.59pm January 31st and get in for a SPECIAL price. Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Thrive Boudoir Website Thrive Photography Headshot Website BTS at a Luxury Boudoir Photography Experience at Thrive Photography Thrive Photography on Facebook Thrive Photography on Instagram Richard Grenfell on LinkedIn Episode 397: Richard Grenfell – The Coaching Diaries with Steve Saporito Episode 348: Steve Saporito – How to excite and delight your portrait clients to better sales Episode 425: Jeff Brown – How to use LinkedIn for photography lead generation Episode 534: Mary Beth Wood – Setting expectations leads to big portrait photography sales Episode 530: Audra Harris – How to successfully outsource lead qualification calls in your photography business Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Richard for coming on and sharing his thoughts, ideas and experience with building his new home-based studio and making the successful and profitable transition into boudoir photography. I try and make them the hero. And me as the guy, which is kind of a story brand thing. So I don't ever try and get into that thing of like, ‘we're awesome.' That's not what we're about. It's more about like, you know, she came in, she was really nervous, and this is how she looked, and this is how she feels now. – Richard Grenfell That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew The post 549: Richard Grenfell – The successful and profitable move from family to boudoir photography appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area. Trina Julius of www.artofkindyphotography.com and www.redcherryimages.com.au was interviewed for episode 443, the podcast. We focused on her business, Red Cherry Images, where she does preschool photography or kindy photography as it's known in Australia. Since then, as you may have heard from Tracy Mock, in her interview two weeks ago, Trina has started the Preschool Photography Academy, which Tracy referred to. By all accounts, Trina teaches you everything you need to know to get started as a preschool photographer. I asked Trina back onto the show to find out more about this new academy, how it all works, who it's for, what the cost is, and basically, get the ins and outs on this new academy. “I don't believe in commissions or kickbacks. That is something that used to be done 10 years ago. I sweeten the relationship with service and prints for the schools.” – Trina Julius In the interview, Trina shares her journey from a seasoned photographer to a thriving preschool photography business owner. With her decade-long experience, Trina offers a deep dive into the unique aspects of this niche – from mastering the art of capturing preschoolers in natural settings to evolving as a business-savvy photographer. She covers essential shooting styles and software choices and addresses common industry challenges, providing practical tips for beginners and experienced photographers. Trina’s expertise doesn’t end there; she reveals key sales, communication, and relationship-building strategies crucial for preschool photography success. Learn about her innovative approaches to registrations, sales tactics, year-end strategies, and insights into global trends and camera gear preferences. Whether you're just starting out or looking to enhance your skills, this episode is packed with invaluable advice and inspiration for anyone passionate about capturing the innocence and charm of preschool photography. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Preschool Photography Start-Up: Explore an all-encompassing guide to kickstart your journey into the world of preschool photography. Photographer to Business Pro: Uncover the transformation from a skilled photographer to a thriving business operator, navigating team expansion. 10+ Years, Natural Light Focus: Gain insights from a decade of preschool photography, focusing on the charm of outdoor, natural light styles. Business Evolution: Navigate the challenges and benefits of expanding your preschool photography business. Shooting Style Tips: Embrace shooting in natural light and outdoor settings, with optional strobes for the comfort-driven photographer. Software Essentials: Discover the recommended Sytist software, emphasizing customization and flexibility in your operations. Challenges & Solutions: Tackle the nuances of managing a preschool photography business through adept software selection and effective communication. Start Small, Grow Smart: Test the waters with a small centre before making extensive investments in your preschool photography venture. Sales Tactics: Elevate your sales game with diverse poses, catering to parents' preferences and boosting engagement. Average Sales Insights: Unveil the dynamics of averaging $100 per child, influenced by the centre size and the number of children. Director Relations: Build robust relationships with childcare directors, a cornerstone for successful registrations in preschool photography. Permission & Contacting Parents: Navigate the post-photography process by securing permission and strategically adding parents to your mailing list. Remarketing & Mailing List: Master the art of effective remarketing through timely email updates on new sessions, galleries, and expirations. Image Storage & Fees: Strategically store images offline after a year, offering retrieval options with an unarchive fee. Year-End Strategy: Boost your year-end sales with strategic email campaigns and timely reminders for parents. Pricing Wisdom: Explore incrementally increasing registration fees, acting as valuable credit toward purchases. Inclusive Group Photos: Craft inclusive group photos, including registered children, while embracing traditional styles that include all children. Director Communication: Set clear expectations through effective communication with childcare directors, fostering smooth collaborations. Community Support: Embrace the strength of a supportive photography community for insights and shared experiences. Relationship Building: Strengthen bonds with centre managers by offering complimentary class photos, staff photos, and promotional discounts. No Commissions, No Kickbacks: Reject the commission model, focusing on delivering value through complimentary services. Clear Communication: Prioritize transparent communication with both centres and parents, simplifying the process. Storypark App Usage: Leverage the Storypark app for efficient parent communication and contribute valuable content for centres. Marketing Mini Course: Unlock the secrets of marketing, portfolio building, and successful centre bookings through an upcoming mini course. Male Inclusion: Acknowledge the presence of successful male photographers in the predominantly female-dominated preschool photography field. Academy Details: Dive into the Preschool Photography Academy with a $1197 investment, offering modules, PDFs, and ongoing support. International Applicability: Recognize the global relevance of the academy, catering to photographers worldwide and adaptable to diverse software ecosystems. Camera & Techniques: Explore preferred camera gear, including a 50mm prime lens at f/2.2, with an emphasis on mirrorless cameras and AI editing. Post-Processing Efficiency: Streamline your editing workflow with Imagen AI, significantly reducing the time spent on post-processing. What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. “I've had to let go of control a bit and trust other photographers to take the lead. It's essential to have a backup plan, especially when facing unexpected challenges like injuries or illness.” – Trina Julius You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Trina shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode. “Building relationships with childcare directors is crucial for successful registrations. Clear communication with directors sets expectations, fostering smooth collaborations.” – Trina Julius If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Trina or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! “Variety in poses boosts sales. Offering numerous options for parents is my strategy. Making it hard for them to choose leads them to buy more, sometimes the whole gallery.” – Trina Julius Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. “Imagen AI has taken hours off my editing workflow. I could just send them off now to AI, and they're back within 15 minutes, ready to upload.” – Trina Julius Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​ Here are the latest reviews… ★★★★★ My Go-To Resource! Via Google by Italy Vacation Photographer Kirstie McConnell, in Italy on January 12th, 2024. Week in and week out, Andrew releases interviews with well-sourced guests. Over the last ten years, this podcast has been my go-to resource as I’ve established and grown two photography businesses in two separate genres and on opposite sides of the world. I can honestly say that I’ve met my goals because of lessons learned through the information Andrew has his guests share. If you’re not already a premium member, sign up now! ★★★★★ Game Changing and Highly Recommended! Via email from Atlanta Creative Portrait Photographer Mike Glatzer in the USA on January 12th, 2024. Mind. Blown. We finished the first training session, and I had no questions to ask because I was still absorbing how incredible the tools, prompts, and outputs of the AI tools were that Brianna demonstrated! I really appreciated how she walked through each step of the process, by copying & pasting a few pre-written prompts with minor modifications. And the outputs were scary good; like, absolutely nailed the language and audience! From what she taught, I can envision having an entire month’s worth of client-focused content ready to go in a matter of a couple hours. This was game-changing! Highly recommend taking this course to make your life easier and make posting on social media bearable again. Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Art of Kindy Photography Website Art of Kindy Photography Academy with Trina Julius — use code PBX20 for 20% discount ($239.40). Expires 31st March 2024 Art of Kindy Photography on Facebook Art of Kindy Photography on Instagram Red Cherry Images Website Episode 443: Trina Julius – Everything you wanted to know about the kindergarten photography business Studio Eclectic Photography Episode 546: Tracy Mock – Unlocking the kindy photography goldmine: secrets of a thriving kindy photography business Sytist — image storage and client delivery software, recommended and used by Trina Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Trina for coming on and sharing her thoughts, ideas and approach to building a successful preschool photography business and the new academy to help other photographers looking to break into this profitable niche. “You can spend five minutes with a child and easily get 15 different images. Offering variety makes it hard for parents to choose, and they end up wanting to buy them all.” – Trina Julius That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew The post 548: Trina Julius – Preschool Photography Business Success appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area. Kaity Griffin of www.kaitygriffin.com is a Google AdWords expert… with a difference. She has a knack for cutting through a lot of the technical jargon associated with Google Ads and is super focussed on getting her clients measurable results. Look at her reviews and testimonials, and you'll find examples like this one from Stacey… It's so refreshing to see someone in this space who cares about seeing people succeed (actually getting leads and making sales) rather than just a pricey ad manager who doesn’t care about delivering a result. On her website, she says what she does is for small business owners who want to cut through the tricky tech and create seriously profitable Google Ads. She has a podcast on the topic, multiple courses, from basic to advanced and offers consulting services and Google Ad audits too. To date, over 1500 students have benefited from her training. In this interview, Kaity breaks down Google ads for photographers and shares how you can use this lead-generation machine effectively. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Starting with Google Adwords: Kaity's journey of starting her business using Google Adwords. Managing Google Ads: Whether hiring someone or enrolling in a course to manage Google Ads is better. Outsourcing Considerations: Factors to consider when deciding to outsource aspects of your business. Measuring Ad Results: Determining when an ad has produced results and the importance of conversion tracking. Landing Page Strategy: Advocacy for sending potential clients to a dedicated landing page rather than a homepage. Specific Google Ad Campaigns: Exploration of the possibility of running highly specific Google Ad campaigns. Text-Based Ads: Noting that Google Ads are generally text-based. Facebook vs. Google Ads: Comparison of adoption rates for landing page campaigns on Facebook versus Google. Distinguishing Google and Facebook Ads: Understanding the differences between Google and Facebook ads. Evolution of Google Searches: Observations on how Google searches have evolved. Ad Placement and Sequencing: Insight into how Google determines ad placements and sequencing in search results Metrics Importance: Emphasizing the importance of knowing metrics before running Google Ads. Google Ads Keyword Planner: Considerations and insights on using the Google Ads Keyword Planner. Negative Keywords: Explanation of what negative keywords are and how to use them. Ideal Client Targeting: Strategies to ensure your ideal client finds you through Google Ads. Google Ad Charges: Explanation of how Google Ad charges work. Keyword Research for Photography Business: Kaity's approach to finding the best keywords for a photography business. Testimonials for Keywords: Using client testimonials to identify keywords that resonate with your business. Speed of Results with Google Ads: Managing expectations regarding the time it takes to see results when investing in Google Ads. Lead Magnets and Facebook Ads: Clarification that lead magnets are more suited for Facebook Ads. What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. If you're spending $3000 to $5000 a month on ads, that's a lot of leads. Focus on converting them rather than focusing on scaling the ad spend. – Kaity Griffin You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Kaity shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode. People are actually searching for you as a solution when they're on Google rather than being sort of in the awareness, interruption style marketing that Facebook will serve. – Kaity Griffin If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Kaity or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. New Masterclass THIS Week If you're tired of spending hours on social media trying to attract clients, only to see minimal results. Or you're ready to break free from the content creation grind and focus on other things. Good news! Brianna's training with be a game-changer for you. All the details are here –>> ​ https://learn.photobizx.com/ai-marketing-for-photographers-registration/​ Here's what you'll learn… How to attract your ideal clients using AI tools that identify their online haunts and deepest desires. Generate engaging social media content in minutes with AI-powered prompts that resonate with your audience. Master the “perfect post formula” that converts followers into paying clients. Build an AI-driven content strategy for consistent growth on social media so you never have to guess what to post or when. Develop captivating lead magnets and marketing content that turns prospects into clients. Imagine: ???? Having a month's worth of social media content done in just one day. ???? Posting content that stands out from the crowd and attracts your dream clients. ???? Saving hours of work every week thanks to the power of AI. This is what's waiting for you in the ​AI-Powered Marketing for Photographers training.​   The live training is Thursday, 11th Jan at 8 am Sydney local time. Your local time is here. Cost is $197 and doubles after the live training.  Early bird bonuses… $100 off any existing PBX Course purchased in 2024. AND, 20 done-for-you AI prompts for instant content creation, social media strategy, lead magnets, sales blueprint, & more! All the details are here: https://learn.photobizx.com/ai-marketing-for-photographers-registration/ The future of photography marketing is here. Master AI before it all gets too hard. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! It pays more to get the click but it pays less to get the lead. Focus on what the output is not what the input is. – Kaity Griffin Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. When you are in Keyword Planner, focus on relevance over number of people searching because the higher the number of people searching, the broader your reach will be. – Kaity Griffin Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​ Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Kaity Griffin Website Kaity Griffin on Facebook Kaity Griffin on Instagram FREE Keyword Course for Photographers — https://photobizx.com/keywords A keyword needs at least 10 impressions per month to be able to show. – Kaity Griffin Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Kaity for coming on and sharing her thoughts, ideas and approach to building a successful lead generation strategy with Google Ads for photographers. Anyone indicating that they are price shopping, if you're on the premium side, they're not your people. – Kaity Griffin That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew Episode Transcript Email Download New Tab Andrew Hellmich Today's guest is a Google AdWords expert with a difference. And from what I understand she has a knack for cutting through a lot of the technical jargon associated with Google ads, and really is focused on getting her clients measurable results. If you take a look at the reviews and testimonials, when you go searching for her name online, you'll find examples like this one from Stacey, where she says it's so refreshing to see someone in his space, who cares about seeing people succeed, actually getting leads and making sales, rather than just a pricey ad manager who doesn't care about delivering a result. And on her website, she says, what she does is for small business owners who want to cut through the tricky tech and create seriously profitable Google ads. She also has a podcast on the topic, multiple courses from basic to advanced and offers consulting services, and Google Ad audits as well. To date over 1500 students have benefited from her training. I'm talking about Katie Griffin and I am rapt to have her with us now. Katie, welcome. Kaity Griffin Thank you, I have not read that testimonial or review out loud from Stacey. I should actually, you know, go back on a bad day and look at them because I do have some good, some good ones that gave me a little bit messed up that one. Andrew Hellmich You do. And is it the vibe you get when people will discover you that, you know, 'Oh my God, finally someone who actually cares about getting results?' Kaity Griffin Yeah, I think there's a couple of points of difference that work in my favor in that the marketing space can often be dominated by men. And that for females can be quite intimidating a lot of the time. So most of my students are actually women. We have men as well. But, you know, they actually want to upskill rather than just be talked to in a really confusing way. And also, you know, I'm pretty straightforward and down to earth. I don't really put a lot of mayo on things. So I think when you just talk in everyday language, it is refreshing rather than trying to overcomplicate things. I mean, it's always inevitable that there'll be acronyms and jargon in any industry, but trying to just bring things back into how it relates in everyday kind of language rather than fancy marketing speak. Andrew Hellmich It feels like your business is like, like a mechanic's, you know, where your stereotypical woman doesn't want to go and see the mechanic because they feel like they're gonna get ripped off. Kaity Griffin Yeah, that's actually a really good analogy, I should use that I'm gonna swap that. But it actually is better. And I'm also the mechanic that's like, the old school mechanic that doesn't have a fancy place and kind of in the back alleyway, you know, I'm very much like nothing is that it's about my business. I don't really care about aesthetics or social media, I don't really care what things look like, it's about how it performs like the numbers wise. So I'm probably Yeah, a lot like that old school mechanic that gets results, but isn't overly, you know, fancy, I feel like the things that make your business look pretty aren't necessarily the things that affect the bottom line of your business. I mean, photography, and all that sort stuff, obviously. But when it comes to like, perpetuating you know, this really making things really pretty all the time, I don't think I think that often gets in the way. Andrew Hellmich Yeah, I like that. I like that. How did you get into Google AdWords to start with? Kaity Griffin Yeah, so I was an E commerce business owner, trying to figure out how to grow that store. This was 10 years ago now. And was listening to podcasts on SEO and Facebook ads was dabbling in sort of all that stuff. And until I listened to a podcast on Google ads, I was like, I think, like, I think I can do this. And I tried to fumble my way through some YouTube videos and set things up. And even though I didn't really know what I was doing, I was able to get some results. And I really liked that visibility between I can spend this amount of money and get this amount back in, I can see the orders coming through. I can tie back results where I'm very impatient. So SEO was like, oh, yeah, I've done some stuff, some optimization, but I can't say for sure that it's like this tangible benefit. So I really liked that clear link between money spent and money received. So then I realized that it sort of suited all my skills. I really loved numbers and data and all that sort of geeky stuff. So I decided to sell the E commerce business and go agency side in the Google ad space. Where is it one of Melbourne's most, it has one of the best reputations worldwide really of being a Google Ads agency. It was founded by a guy called Mike Rhodes, who literally wrote the book, The Ultimate Guide to Google ads, joined his team and just had the best experience working there. And then was there for about three years before I had my second baby. And I was like, I don't think I can commit to like that full time in the city kind of job anymore. I need to come take a back step. So wanted to have my own business where I have a bit more flexibility. So had been running this business, which is how split between the done for you client work and half split between the teaching side with courses started about four and a half years ago, and I'm still part time I'm like, I only work three to four days a week. But I'm able to, you know, get the best of both worlds, do the teaching and also do the client management? Andrew Hellmich Nice. And it's not just you in the business either, is it? Because I've been speaking to Hannah to set this interview up? Kaity Griffin Yeah. So I've got a team now and amazing team. Actually, Hannah and Lily were two of my students. So Lily's been with me for about four or five months now. They're both Kiwis, based in New Zealand. And they were both students of mine going through my big course, which is like a 12. Week, Google Ads course to upskill. They were both freelancers are going through it to run ads for clients. And then I advertised positions, and Hannah joined me over two years ago, Lily, nearly six months ago. So they bring a lot of viewpoint of a student. So we really see ourselves as I think often when you're doing a course or even hiring someone to be a client manager. Having that experience of actually being on the other side is really helpful. So me being an E commerce business owner gives me a lot of insight to be have to know how much the client cares about the money and cares about what's going on. And Lily and Hannah can know what it's like to be a student on day one, not knowing anything about Google ads, and how to piece all those puzzle pieces together those steps together. So and then we've got a couple of admin support teams. So it's about we're a team of 5 now, which is, yeah, awesome. Andrew Hellmich Fantastic. So you mentioned there, like you have clients where you manage the ads and the ad accounts, and you also have courses, when a photographer is thinking about going down the road of utilizing Google ads, which is the right avenue to go to, or is there a split when you think, Okay, this is the better road for me? Kaity Griffin Yeah, it's a great question, particularly with photographers, you guys aren't going to have a huge ad spend, because there's only one or if it's a, you know, one person photographer, you can't go nationwide and have that goal isn't volume, it's really steady leads, lead flow writes lead flow, not orders. So it's a different mindset than it is or a different strategy than it is with E commerce, e commerce you're looking volume. And so you might get up to spending, you know, I've got a client that over this Christmas period, they might spend $200,000, in a 30 day period, but talking about a lot of scale. So absorbing our feed into that, which might be $2,000 is a drop in the ocean. But when you're a photographer, you're probably not going to go past like the $500 mark a month adspend. So absorbing that $2,000, it doesn't make the most sense. So my kind of tipping point is, when you reach that three to $5,000 of ad spend, and you're looking to scale up, then it's time to consider outsourcing. However, I don't think photographers will ever get to that point. Because if you're spending 3000 to $5,000 a month on ads, that's a lot of leads, focus on converting them rather than focus on scaling that ad spend. So there's slight differences between that in that ecommerce you're looking at like an average order value. It depends on what type of photographer you are, you might be a newborn photographer, or a maternity photographer that also offers newborn and family sessions. If you get someone in the newborn stage, you might have a lifetime value of 5000 a day, then go through and do the newborn photo shoot. And then a couple of family shoots lead down the track. So you could still outsource because that fee could be compensated against that lifetime value. But I wholly believe like we I wouldn't personally take on a photographer as a client, I think it doesn't make sense for you guys to be outsourcing and paying a fee, it'd be better off upskilling and say our course, it might be the cost of three months of outsourced management. But you've got that skill to be able to then go and run ads for yourself. And we've had photographers go through it, and then they're able to dial in that lead flow. So then when they've got it, like if they're booked out, they just content, wind down budgets for a few months, if it's coming up to their busy season again, and they've got some capacity, turn up those budgets. It's really about dialing in, what are the keywords that lead to inquiries that suit you and your specialty? Andrew Hellmich Right. Or I'm going to ask you about keywords in just a minute. Kaity Griffin Yeah, sorry. I jumped the gun. Andrew Hellmich That's all good. So good. That makes total sense that when earlier you said you know you loved your ecommerce business and having the Google ads, you can turn them up, you can you know, you can increase your spend, and obviously making more sales, you can measure that you get all geeky. How do you know that your ad has produced the results. And it's not just an organic sale? Kaity Griffin Yeah, conversion tracking. So conversion tracking is my number one non negotiable in any ad account. So for a photographer that might be your Contact Us form, placing a bit of code on the thank you page, or the Thank you, whatever it indicates that the form has been submitted, and having that fed through to Google ads. And then what happens that Google is intelligent enough to say that if this keyword someone clicked on this ad, and then they filled in a form, they can feed back that information and we can say, Okay, well, we had 10 form fields this month, and three of them came from this keyword four of them came from this keyword and another three came from this keyword so you can see what is generating those leads. And then the goal is to try and figure out Which are the ones that drive the best, you know, the highest volume at an appropriate price, and which ones are duds. So, again, I was looking at a student account today. And there was one keyword in an ad group that had spent maybe $500. Another one had spent $20. But the $20 one has been converting. So what happens, we turn that $500, one off, that's just churning through money, and allocate more budget to that. One that's actually converting. But yeah, conversion tracking allows us to be able to tie back that information and tell Google, if someone hits this thank you page. And they've come through an ad, make sure you attribute it back to the keyword that drove that click, Andrew Hellmich Okay. So do I need to have a separate Thank You page or separate lead form for each different campaign? I'm running. For example, if I'm running a Facebook ad, I'm also running Google ads. Can I direct them both to that same landing page. And Google still knows that it's come from Google? Kaity Griffin Yeah, So when someone clicks on an ad, it's what's called a GCLID gets added to the URL of so if your landing page, my landing page, Katie griffin.com, if I was running a Google ad, anytime someone clicks on a Google ad, it has this thing called a click or Google Click ID cleared attributed to it. And then that's the way that Google measures that back. So it doesn't matter what URL it is, it just matters whether the GCLID can tie back that information. So you don't need to have separate landing pages at all. And the setup, the actual setup of that conversion will depend on what site you're you're on. Are you on? Squarespace? Are you on WordPress, whether you have a thank you page, a lot of sites don't have thank you pages attached to contact us form fills, it's easier to set it up if you do, but they might have just like a success message. So if you think about the execution of setting up a conversion, if you can just tell Google, if someone hits this URL, that means they've converted, that's a lot easier, rather than if they clicked this button on this URL. That's a bit more technical, but still doable. So it's not a separate landing page. It's just a separate bit of code. Andrew Hellmich Okay. So if I have a WordPress site, I'm probably gonna have a plugin that allows me to add that code. Kaity Griffin Yeah, correct. So we usually do that through Google tag manager, which there's a plugin on WordPress, called like, GTM for WP or something like that. GTM for WordPress. And that allows basically asked to enter code without messing with the theme and the back end and stuff like that. So it's, it's sort of an intermediary plugin that we can use. Andrew Hellmich Got it. Now, you said something interesting that caught my ear. And I'm guessing the listeners as well is you said, if you're running an ad, you're going to send people to your landing page, Katie griffin.com. And to me like, whoa, that's your homepage? Would you send someone to a home page, if you're a photographer? Kaity Griffin No. Not necessarily, sorry, I was just using that as an example. It just attached the GCLID to that. My ideal wouldn't be sending to a homepage, it would be to send to the most relevant landing page to what you're trying to get the person to buy or opt into. So if it is your wedding photography package, then a wedding photography page with, you know, that you already should have on your page, your services page, or whatever it is. So the relevant services link, that then gives more information, and then also a chance to make that call to action. So whether it's submitting a form filling out an email, you know, whatever it is, but just taking out the step from just sending everyone to the homepage, and then having to navigate around, take that to make it easier for the end user and send to this specific service or offering that you're trying to advertise. Andrew Hellmich Got it. got it, okay. With the ads, like, there's a lot of listeners to this podcast that have a lot of success with Facebook ads. And a lot of the time what the photographer is doing is running a style of AD, whether offering a free session, or print credit, and then getting people because it's a no risk to you. So let's say you see that ad in your Facebook feed, you think, oh, that sounds pretty cool. I've got a photo with my two kids and my husband, and there's no risk, I'm gonna get the free session, I'm gonna get a free print or free credit. That's super successful for us. Can I run something like that as a Google ad? Or do I have to be more general with my advertising on Google? Kaity Griffin You can use that offer. But think of it in that when someone's browsing Facebook, you're trying to actually get in their head and say, I haven't thought about a photography session. They're not consciously aware of that yet, or they haven't looked, they're not looking for that at that particular moment. They might need it, they might like in their mind, I need to get those family photos. But you're getting in their face when they're not actively searching for that. On Google, people are typing in, you know, family photographer near me, whatever it is, they're actively searching for that solution. So you don't need to have a specific offer in order to run ads. Because also remember that your ads are generally text based, you're not able to use like your video or as much imagery with Google ads. So what you're really trying to do is get people to your site, and then you can have that offer on your site as like a when they get there. They realize that they've got that offer but you don't need to But it's a great idea like, you'll probably increase your conversion rate, and you'll get, you know, better lead flow from that. But the difference is people are actually searching for you as a solution when they're on Google, rather than being sort of in the awareness interruption style marketing that Facebook will serve. So both complement each other. Andrew Hellmich Right. So if I hadn't even thought of this, but you just planted the seed there. So I could run a Google ad campaign, and send people to a landing page, which actually has that offer on the landing page. So I'm just going to try and get the clicks from Google to that offer. Kaity Griffin Yes. But with Facebook, there's a better adoption rate of those type of landing page kind of offers, right? So if it's like a, you know, opt in to get this, that's much more suited to Facebook, I would have it as, as long as it doesn't look really promo we like really heavy on the, and I'm sure you don't do this, but you know, those ads that are like, you click here, and then it's like a one, Click Upsell, and then it's this. And then it's that, obviously, it's not gonna be like that, but habit actually still addressing the fact that they're looking for that photographer, because you're not trying to convince them that they need one, you're trying to convince them that you're the right person to take photos of them. Andrew Hellmich Right. Okay. Kaity Griffin So with a Facebook ad, you have to convince them that you're trying to convince them that this is what they need in their lives. Andrew Hellmich Yeah, like don't miss this. Kaity Griffin Yeah, they've already decided that you're trying to convince them that your style of photography is the right style for them. You're the person that's meant to photograph them in their family or their wedding. Andrew Hellmich Right. Okay. So you could have a more silly mark me and my style as the right photographer for you on the landing page, and then have the offer at the bottom. Kaity Griffin Correct? Yeah. Andrew Hellmich A little bit more subtle. Kaity Griffin I wouldn't hit them with the offer straight up. Because they're probably like, oh, I don't know, I think with a Facebook ad, you're probably mentioning that in the Facebook ad. And it's probably a key part of the Facebook ad copy, or whatever it is in click for the Facebook ad. With Google, they probably don't even read in the ad copy to be honest. It's just where you see on the page ad-wise like think about the amount of times you've Googled something and probably haven't even read the headlines or anything like that. It's really just are you showing, are you there? And then they clicking through. And if they're clicking through and seeing an offer that they weren't expecting to? It might be a bit disarming. So yeah, put it down a little bit. Andrew Hellmich Got it. Got it. Just a side thing here. I just noticed now or just the last couple of days that Google has changed. They're like when you do a search now on the page, it's not page 123456. Just a long scroll. Kaity Griffin I know. It's really annoying me. I just noticed about the other day as well. And like there's ads like throughout the page. Yes. It's very, I don't like it. But yeah, there'll be four ads, I mean, up until I'm recording this in November. And as of now there's up to four ads at the top or text ads for search ads at the top of the page. And I used to say there's can be up to four at the top and maybe four at the bottom. But now I'm like, oh, three in the middle and you keep scrolling. So it's pretty annoying. But yes, it seems to be just a one big long scroll. Andrew Hellmich Yeah. I'm curious that I think personally, that more of those ads in the middle will get clicked now. Because I used to think I'm going to skip past the ads and go to the the organic posts first. But now they're sort of hidden in there, halfway down. Kaity Griffin I get but I didn't know like, yeah, I don't know, the interesting to say, we used to be able to tell, we used to be able to have this metric inside Google Ads called average position. So you could say, you know, for this keyword, our average position is number seven, which meant that you were the seventh listing on the page, or one, whatever it is, you don't get that now. So it'd be interesting, like, what sort of click through rate those lower positions get? I don't know. Okay, Andrew Hellmich so how do you choose? Or how does Google choose? Who goes in position? 123? Or four? Is that a bid an auction? Kaity Griffin Yeah, it's, I mean, there's other factors that come into it, which are more technical, you know, quality score, blah, blah, blah, the most basic level, you pay high, you get higher on the page, right? So the goal is to not be concerned about what's my click cost, you know, I don't want to pay too much. But I'm willing to pay $100 for the top position, not that I would, but $100. For the top position, if it means that I'm gonna get conversion rate of 20%. You know, I'll convert that all day long. So it's about working out which keywords deserve to be spending enough money to get them on the top, because those keywords might have a four to five times higher conversion rate, which means, yes, it pays more to get the click, but it pays less to get the lead. So focus on what the output is not what the input is, often, people get hung up on this keyword, I need to get this keyword that average cost per clicks too high and easier down there. Just looking at one stat and I look a little bit across on the screen, I can see if that's your highest converting keyword and it's got the best cost per acquisition. Why are you focused on bringing that cost down? Let's focus on how we can bring it up so we can get more. Andrew Hellmich Right. Yes, that makes sense. Kaity Griffin You know, like cost per click is irrelevant if it's converting within your goals. Andrew Hellmich Absolutely. Okay, so let's I'm gonna go into Google Ads gonna set up a campaign for my photography business. And I know, I've looked at my numbers, and I'm willing to spend up to $100 to get a bomb on the seat to get someone in front of my camera. That's the maximum I'm prepared to pay. So I might need 10 leads to get that one booking, I might need five leads to get that one booking. So is that a metric that you need to know or I need to know before I start my campaign? Kaity Griffin I mean, if you know that you're steps ahead of everyone else. So what we like to do is work backwards and say, you know, as a client manager, or if you're running your own account, have a goal to work towards if you're just like, you know if you have no benchmark of what's a good cost per acquisition? And what's a bad cost per acquisition, you have nothing to optimize again. So a having a metric like that $100 is great. But they having a metric that's established from real time data. So you know that so we always like to teach people that, okay, let's work backwards. So if you know that your lead conversion rate, so any everyone that comes to your site, 10% of those people fill in a contact us form, then out of those 10%, how many of you convert as paying, like, how many become clients? Then we can work backwards and say, Okay, well, is this an achievable CPA or not, because we've got the data on our app, we'll say the average industry cost per click is going to be x, you're going to send, you know, we can work, we can use the numbers to actually extrapolate and say, we'll get based on your lead to client conversion rate, this looks like a really achievable number. And I have a calculator that I work, I've just G shape calculator that I give to students to say, to be able to plug in those numbers, plug in your existing sitewide conversion rate from you know, like a lead conversion rate, then lead to client conversion rate, and then your average client value, the average client value is $2,000. And those numbers like how much can you afford to pops out sort of this is what sort of data you're looking at, and what a cost per acquisition could be for you. I know I've just yelled a lot of jargon Andrew Hellmich No, no. That's okay. So is it the cost per acquisition? Is that the ultimate number I'm trying to find? Kaity Griffin As a service based business? Yes, you're trying to find how much can you afford to pay per lead and still be profitable? So what is the number because the and it's not just a breakeven, it's sort of like, say, if you're, because I've sort of worked backwards there, say your average package rate is, your average booking is $1,000, as a photographer, right, so if you're willing to pay $100 per lead on the Google ad side, and you convert, you know, one in every three of those, you're really paying $600 for each booking. Now, if your average customer value is $200, and you're paying $600, for a booking, that's pretty crap. But if your average booking value is $5,000, and you're paying $600, that's really good. So the other stats will also impact there's no one single, this is a good cost per acquisition. This is a bad cost per acquisition. It's all relative, but that's the stat that you're optimizing against. Because everything comes down to when you're looking in an account, what keywords come in, under our cost per acquisition goal, what keywords come in over? How can we even an all out to make sure we're minimizing the bad getting as much as we can out of the good. Andrew Hellmich Basically, I have to start somewhere, throw some mud at the wall and see which ones start working. I've got to put some skin in the game Kaity Griffin 100%, you'll know it like, I never promise that anyone's ads will work. Because we don't know until we put the data out there. It's like a real time experiment, you'll have the best opportunity to succeed. But we can't predict how someone's going to what keyword someone's going to resonate with your you know, that's all testing, finding that sort of stuff out. Andrew Hellmich Alright so let me give you an example. So I opened up the Google ads is at the dashboard. And I've opened up Keyword Planner. And I've put in a few search terms here like a family portrait photographer, Central Coast portrait photographer, Central Coast, wedding photographer, Central Coast, and a couple of the searchers have a couple of search terms have, when you look under the average monthly searches, nothing, just a dash, and the other ones had from 10 to 100, or 100 to 1000. So if it's just a dash, does that mean that there's not enough to even go after, Kaity Griffin I rarely take the keyword planners word for things, because they'll often usually when sort of data just means essentially, they don't have enough data to give you that, but 10 to 100, still a really broad range. And you have to also remember that for that exact match term, there could be variations of that, that your keyword is matched to that aren't included in that those stats. So again, I wouldn't just if that's a relevant term for you focus on and when you're in Keyword Planner, focus on relevance over number of people searching because the higher the number of people searching, the broader your reach would be. So an example would be if you're a photographer, and you specialize in, you know, rustic weddings, let's say, if someone is typing in wedding photographer, yeah, that could be interested in you, but they also could be interested in a retro wedding or this or that you don't know. And you might convert 1% of those people. If they type in, you know, rustic wedding photographer, that qualifying word of rustic indicates a lot more purchase intent, because you're much more likely to convert someone if that's what you offer. So even though that's probably got a 10th of the search volume behind it, you're probably going to convert a lot more of those people have a lower cost per acquisition. So it's relevance over reach, right? And then if you went one step further, and say you're a female rustic wedding photographer, and that's what someone's looking for, again, you're looking for you're wanting people to qualify themselves at the search term level. Because one of the biggest thing and what I mean by qualify themselves you indicate what they're interested at the search term level. So when they're typing something into Google, if I'm typing in the word photographer, most ad accounts for photographers will just be targeting photographer within 13 kilometers of my geographic, whatever it is. And the accounts go bust because photographer might have a lot of people searching for it. Are they searching for a photography course? Are they searching for how to become a photographer? Are they searching for what two photographers charge? Are they searching for? Should I use a photographer we don't know, they have not indicated at the search level, what they're looking for, compared to someone that searches for female rustic wedding photographer in Tacoma, okay, suddenly, that person has indicated exactly what they're looking for. And those people are a lot more primed to convert, if that's the service you offer. So people get really, because I think with an SEO game, it's a mind switch. Because with an SEO game, and with most things, you're looking to kind of get as much visibility as possible. Google, you're not trying to get visibility, you're trying to get the right type of visibility to the people that are going to convert. Andrew Hellmich I love that. Okay, so I'm thinking, I guess, SEO or branding wise and thinking about the terms how I would brand me my photography, my style myself, and then using those keywords in my Google ads. Kaity Griffin Correct. And not the keywords in the Google ads, because Google ads, think of that as the ad copy those keywords to target people, which don't necessarily need to be in the ad copy. And then layering that on top with things like things called negative keywords, which then block people that might be searching for what you offer, but are indicating that they're the wrong type of lead an example, cheap wedding photographer. Cheap should be a negative keyword, so that anyone searching for cheap, budget friendly, you know, whatever, anyone indicating that they're price shopping, if you're on the premium side, they're not your people, Andrew Hellmich right, so you can make that a negative keyword. So your ad doesn't show to that person, even though they're looking for a female rustic wedding photographer in Tacoma. Kaity Griffin It's a Venn diagram, where you've got, you know, the, what's it called when you've got Andrew Hellmich overlapping circles Kaity Griffin overlapping. So you've got your keywords, your negative keywords and your location targeting. And the bid in the middle is where your ad will show. So if you've got a keyword of rustic wedding photographer, but a negative keyword of cheap, and someone searching for a cheap, rustic wedding photographer, Google's like, oh, it matches the keyword, but the negative keywords blocked it, so it won't show. So it's a way to, you know, block those people that might be indicating they want what you offer, but aren't the right type of fit for you. Andrew Hellmich So could I run an ad that specific that might only show once a week in Google and I can still get results from that, I would just continue to run that for the life of my business. Kaity Griffin A little bit. But a keyword needs at least 10 impressions per month, to be able to show. So if you get there's a column in Google Ads called status, and you'll be limited by like low search volume, that indicates that Google can't run that keyword yet, because it's getting less than 10 searches per month, it doesn't mean you should pause that because in six months time, it might increase the threshold, like it might start getting more popular and get searches for it. So what you are trying to work out again, like you said, it's not about trying to spend your daily budget every day. And it's about how can I, you know, maybe spending six months to try and figure out which of the keywords that resonate with the people that want to book with me. And then allocate $10 to those keywords every day, and leave that tick along. So but dialing in those keywords is the tricky part understanding what what how people, because you might think they're going to search for rustic but they might search for, you know, moody, for example, you know what I mean? Oh, like Yes. Oh, craft, you know, people won't use the same terminology. So it's about understanding, how does my ideal client want to find me? And that might be asking a client? Or hey, how would you describe my photography style, because they might not use the fancy terms you've used. And it could be our she's just really like, relaxed and friendly. And she's great with kids. relaxed, photographer, relaxed family photographer, you know, those sort of words indicate that's where you're trying to get intel on? How would someone describe my business? How would someone search for me if they were interested? Andrew Hellmich So with the great with kids time, I would then I use that in my ad copy not in my keywords? Kaity Griffin Yes. Correct. Because they're not probably going to type in great with kids photographer, they're probably going to type in, relaxed, family photographer, but then in the ad copy, you can have you know, great with kids, family photographer, all ages, you know, whatever it is to indicate that your family friendly, you love kids that goes in the ad copy, but what someone's searching for, and what you're trying to target goes in the keyword, which is not front facing. Andrew Hellmich So can I have say one series of keywords and then multiple ads that show up like on a rotation basis? Or am I what I'd be competing with myself? If I did that? Kaity Griffin No, you'll never be competing with yourself Google might do that to you. But you can have say you could test different ad copy to overcomplicate things. I would probably just stick with one ad at the start because they got the new ad type that Google had is called a responsive search ad, which basically you feed it up to 15, headlines, and four descriptions, and it'll combine them into a lot of different variations. So it'll do that kind of mixing and matching for you, depending on the user and stuff. So to make things straightforward, I just say, start with one ad 10 really targeted keywords, and see how it goes. Andrew Hellmich Right. Okay. Staying with the keyword planner, and I'm gonna ask you, why is it not to use it so much? Yeah. But like, on this particular page, I've got open in front of me, it says top of page bid low range and say it's got 273 to $2.73, top of page bid high range of $6.79. So is that what I would expect to pay for my ad to show up? Or if someone clicks on it? Kaity Griffin Yeah, so Google charges on a cost per click basis, so you don't get charged anything to print impression. So if the ad shows 100 times and doesn't get a click, you don't pay anything? So that'd be a click cost Andrew Hellmich Do they stop showing your ad, though if people aren't clicking, it just keeps showing it? Kaity Griffin Well, if you're prepared to pay to go in the auction, yeah. Andrew Hellmich But it's only I'm not getting charged for an impression. So Google is getting no money for showing my ad, unless someone clicks it. Kaity Griffin Yeah. But they're probably getting money from the other people that are showing in the in the auction. Andrew Hellmich Okay. Right. Kaity Griffin Yeah. So they don't, they wouldn't necessarily penalize you like, oh, this, this, click through rates low, we're going to penalize this seller, at least advertise at none. I mean, you will get a click on it, if you but you only get charged for a click right. But this is why I don't like a keyword planner. Because those stats I find highly unreliable. And also, it will, like it depends on the settings, you've got an A keyword planner, if you're looking at Australia wide, if you're looking at just a specific Geo, it'll depend on a few different factors. And it's good for a guide, but students often get hung up and they're like, the keyword planner told me this was going to be $2. And I'm paying $2.50. And I'm like, that's just what happens, you know, there's no rhyme or reason to that Google giving you a range might be lower, might be higher, the only way to really, truly find out what you're going to be paying per click is to, it's a good free indication. So you can get an indication, okay, in the photography industry, you know, I might be expecting to pay three bucks per click, that's a good indication. But I wouldn't be using those stats as like, why I wouldn't bid on a keyword. That's the reason I don't like the keyword planner is because often really relevant keywords, people see that it's got a higher bid. And they'll be like, Oh, I won't go for that one, then it's like, but that's the better keyword, you know, don't get put off by that bid. Andrew Hellmich Right. Okay. Okay, so then what drives that cost up is if there's other photographers in my local area, targeting the same keywords, and we're competing against each other to sharpen Google? Kaity Griffin Yeah, so at the very basic level, you need to pay what the person above you is paying one cent more than your highest bid. So if, yeah, the competition drives it up. So yeah, if you're paying, but the top person who's only paying one cent less, once more sorry, than the person next to them. So if they've got a bid set to they're willing to pay up to 10 bucks per click, and the person below them is only willing to pay $2, they'll get probably charged $2.01. So it's not going to just charge you that $10 fee, just because you've said I'm willing to pay that it's based on what other people are paying. Andrew Hellmich Right. So I can set a maximum. And I might not ever reach that Kaity Griffin 100% Andrew Hellmich But if unless the person below me pushes me up to that level, correct. Kaity Griffin Correct. So I've had in situations and there's different bid strategies that are more complex, I won't go into that don't use that sort of cost per click bid strategy. But you know, when I'd be running ads for businesses that say they've got 10 Really good keywords, I might have their keyword bid at $20. The average cost per click is only probably $2. But what I'm telling Google is, give me that top spot. Andrew Hellmich I want it. Kaity Griffin Yeah, I want it and they'll charge me one cent more than the next person. Andrew Hellmich Right, okay. So you've said it a couple of times, you don't like Keyword Planner? So should I be using something like, is it SEM Rush or other third party software? Kaity Griffin Photographers don't get too complicated? It's really as simple as what we just spoke about, like, how do people describe you, you would have Intel around that? What's your specialty? Often the keyword research side of things gets people really, people overcomplicate it, you can see in Keyword Planner, you know what a, but you could use chat GBT and type in good keywords for rustic wedding photographer, and it would spit out you know, you could do things like that. So you don't have to necessarily, you can use Keyword Planner, you can use sem rush, whatever it is, I don't use any paid tools for my keyword research. Because keyword research, I'll look at what the website, you know, if it's an E commerce business, I'll look at what sort of categories they have, what their specialty is, that they're sustainable, is it that they're, you know, linen, whatever it is, I'm using actually more common sense, then try it. Because common sense will be more beneficial than a tool that's telling you keyword research, like you actually need to use, you want to try and find the people that are going to buy or book with you. And you probably already have that knowledge if you ask a few people. Andrew Hellmich So are you also then I miss a little part of what you said there about with linen or the biodiversity, whatever you said there? Are you looking at the competition? Are you looking how people would look at your own business? Kaity Griffin I don't care what the competition does. I'm interested in what I want to do. Like I might look at competitor websites and see what but I'm really looking you know, great ways to look at what Watch. And you would know this at your own business that great ways to figure out really good keywords is to look at the about us page and see what are those qualifying keywords like, you know, for example, for a fashion product could be plus size and inclusive. So plus size dresses or inclusive dresses could be really good keywords. So when you're looking at a photography business, what are the about us? Or what are the testimonial saying? What are those words that people are using to describe you? It's not really like, I always encourage you run your own race, don't worry about what keywords someone else is showing up for. Don't worry, if somebody's sitting above you on the page, they probably have a crap out account that is, you know, set up poorly. It's bleeding money. You don't want to copy someone else's strategy when you can't see what the strategy is. Andrew Hellmich Right. That makes good sense. Okay, so I can really put the blinkers on if I'm running Google ads, just stay in my lane and work out what's going to work for me. Kaity Griffin 100%. I rarely would even, like, look at what the competition is doing. Andrew Hellmich Because you do hear about these tools about you know, spy on the competition, see what key... Kaity Griffin Yeah, I don't care. Andrew Hellmich Right. Okay, so it's a waste of time. Kaity Griffin We don't get any data behind it. I might be spending 10,000 hours on that keyword, but what are they getting from it? I don't know. So and also don't know if I can, like, I know what's happening in my ad account, my clients had account. So I've got the full end to end picture. I don't want to be making decisions off half baked data. Andrew Hellmich Got it. Okay. If I'm going to try this for the first time where the listener is, when would you expect to see results like should be a week, a month, three months, like how long you have to give it to say, Okay, this is a waste of money, or I'm doing something wrong here, Kaity Griffin at a minimum, happening your mind that are going to give it a real red hot crack for three months, and say, I'm going to try and get this to work for three months, in terms of how long can it take to succeed, or get leads and get conversions. You could set up an ad and it could generate a conversion tomorrow. And we've seen that happen. It's not about length of time, it's about trying to match intent versus what you know, find the right people. So it's not necessarily and it's again, different depending on what your prices are, what your site's like, it's got all these different variables, but it's possible to see results within the first week within the first month. But it's also possible not to see results for three months, it really does depend on your setup, paired with your offer, your targeting, you know, all those sort of things. But it is entirely possible to get conversions within a day. But I'm not promising that I'm just what I'm saying is like, there's no like standard, you need to give it a week for the system to start working. There's none of that sort of stuff. You could, like I've had, we've got a 12 week course that just ended a couple of weeks ago. And there's two students that I'm thinking of one's a service based business, that selling software subscription for, like sports club membership. So if you think about that purchase decision, and through the 30 days that her ads have been running, she hadn't had a conversion. But if you think about how big that decision would be for a club to decide what management's or what membership software they should use, it's probably not something they're going to make in a week, they're probably going to need to talk to a sales consultant, talk to their team, you know, come up with a plan to migrate their existing system, if they have one. That's a long decision window and a big decision window. It's like starting to switch banks or deciding it's, it's a really big, you know, switch I'd cost compared so she hadn't seen a conversion in the month that was running compared to the E commerce student that sells baby swimwear, like with nappy snaps that are really easy for young kids. And she had had like three conversions in her first week. And I was like, You don't understand how good this is. This is so great, because it's probably a quick purchase decision. She's bidding on keywords that indicate that someone's looking for nappy snap swimwear for toddlers. And when they find what they're looking for they buy. So if you're a wedding photographer, it might take you a few weeks, because probably someone that needs to talk to their husband have, you know, think evaluate a couple of other options, find out what your prices are. So you know, it depends on the length, or the purchase cycle or the purchase decision making cycle. Andrew Hellmich That makes sense. That makes sense. So with a sporting team, software solution example or wedding photographer, if I'm the account holder, and I'm the website owner, there's no way I get an indication of who visited my website, only the fact that someone did. Kaity Griffin You get an indication of how they visited your website through the search term report. So that's a way to optimize to say, Okay, it's been 30 days, I haven't heard an inquiry yet. Oh, but the search terms are saying cheap, or the search terms are saying suburbs that I don't offer I don't really go to and so it could be that you're you just need to do some more optimization to craft a tell Google, hey, here's the people who to go after, stop focusing on these people. So you get an idea. You don't know who they are, by name, but you know, what they're typing in to Google. Andrew Hellmich Okay, so that example you use the first time with the sporting team software solution, she would know that she's getting site visits. Yes. And just that she hasn't made a conversion at that point. Kaity Griffin Yes. And there's the discussion that I've had with her is, you know, I think there's, and they know that there's a bit of a leaky funnel there. But there's a few things that need to happen on the optimization side on the actual site that Google Ads can't get around like, Google ads won't be able to fix If people are having trouble actually signing up for whatever you're offering. So if your contact form like a photographer that went through the course, her contact form had probably 15 fields. So before someone could actually get in touch there, they had to decide on what the shoot date was, what the time they wanted, what sort of outfit they, you know, all these decisions before they even get in touch with you. Why not let them make those decisions, after they've got in touch with you and just have it as you know, a simple name, phone number, email address and message. That's a lot less buy in from someone and a lot more likely you're going to get the lead, how can you make it easy for someone to convert? So that bumped up her conversion rate and made it so that she got more leads. So it's about also helping Google ads by making sure your customer journey or your user journey is also dialed in. Andrew Hellmich Right. So, do you like to see for a photographer, if a visitor comes to the website via Google ad, that there's a lead magnet or a contact form Kaity Griffin No. Contact form. Andrew Hellmich You want a contact form, but not a lead magnet. Why not a lead magnet? Kaity Griffin Well, again, lead magnets would be more suited to Facebook ads. Because if you're looking to book a photographer, you probably don't need a lead magnet to convince you that but if you you know, it's kind of one step in the wrong direction, you want them to book a call with you not just download something about how to prep for a photo shoot, whatever it is, it will probably actually sit on their desktop and not do anything, they probably won't read it. So I don't recommend using opt ins as a metric of success in an ad account. Like an example, my own business, I have opt ins for my business, I don't use Google ads for that, because it might cost six times more to get a free opt in, or than it will on Google on Facebook ads. It's just the nature of the platforms, it's not as suited, is trying to really get someone to be Yeah, fill in a form, give you a buzz. Those are really the key booking appointment. They're really the key metrics you'll be looking at or the key conversions. Andrew Hellmich And that's again, because someone on Google has got that buying intent. That's what they're searching for. Kaity Griffin Correct. Andrew Hellmich Okay. Got it. You mentioned and I mentioned in the intro that you've got courses, I know you've got a waitlist for I think for the big course, you've also got a couple of smaller courses. Like if I wanted to dip my feet in, like, should I go all in just like, Okay, let's just do this? Or do I just get my feet wet? Kaity Griffin A number of different ways. So I've got a free keyword series that expands more on kind of what we've spoken about today. That's totally free. That's my opt in. That's certainly phrase on my site, then there's a $30. It's us in US pricing $30 bootcamp, which is essentially Module One of my course, the real focus of that mini course, is giving you enough information for you to make a decision about whether you want to invest in the bigger course. Because the big Of course, it's an investment, it's like photography, it's an investment that you're going to make in upskilling. So at least do one of the smaller ones to identify like, you know, it'll give you more tools to be able to say, Is this something I want to continue further with? And then you can make the decision about the bigger course. But yeah, I'd go with keyword series, free couple of videos, and you'll be able to start doing some research on what keywords might be a good fit for you. With photographers. It's, yeah, it's quality over quantity. It's going to be a small ad account, probably one campaign one or two campaigns. The stuff we teach you in the big course is the optimization the account set up because Google ads is very technical, and it's hard to get it right on your own. That's all covered in the big course, the mini course is really giving you information on do I want to here's here's the theory, do I want to give it a more of a go Andrew Hellmich route? Okay? How many people do you encounter, have tried Google ads and lost a shitload of money and thought, Okay, I've got to learn how to do this properly. Kaity Griffin 95% of people, I mean, majority of our students are gonna say, No one, no majority of my students are coming to me. And they've usually gone through even for five agencies who burn through cash, we just got a client last week that was with an agency for six months, I looked inside the account, it's terribly set up and, you know, really poorly executed, and he's paying money for that. We've had students in the past that have come to the course they've been, like, I'm so broken, because I had four ad managers that were taking money. And I realized now after going through the course, that I was getting taken for a ride, and I also take my money, and they get better results when they learn how to do it themselves. So the skill of learning how to run your own ads is really, it's a hard skill to master because it is flexing the new muscle. It's learning a new language of ads and metrics and all that sort of stuff. It's hard. Google ads is hard in terms of the platform's not easy to navigate. It's confusing. But once you master it, and you don't have to outsource it, that's where the magic happens. majority people get really taken for a ride, particularly if I can give any advice is if you're going to give it a go yourself. Don't listen to what Google are recommending to Google or recommending things that are going to line their pockets. And it's essentially my number one bit of advice would be, ignore Google don't do what they're telling you to do. They don't know what your account strategy is, they don't know what your goal is. They don't know what you're selling, you know, they're thinking with their best interests at heart, which is money in their pocket, you need to ignore that. And that's why you need to upskill because you can't trust the system, because our system will burn you as well. Andrew Hellmich Right. Okay. So like, with all that being said, like with the long course, how long is the long or the big course? Kaity Griffin Yes, it depends on, you know, we usually get between three and six months of support in form of calls and Facebook support. But then you have access to the course for the lifetime of the it's you get, you get unlimited access to the course, it's not capped. So the students go through it, and then either decide to sign on to our rolling kind of membership with support, ongoing support on a monthly basis. Or they get that big dose of support over the first three, six months. And then they go and added a loan, because I've always got access to the portal, we update videos, because Google changes everything all the time. So yeah, it's kind of a, it's your one stop shop to continuously refer back to the upskilling. And go through again, to that, did that answer the question? Andrew Hellmich You know, did you have to dedicate a little bit of time to learn this? But once I've learned it, I should be right. Kaity Griffin Yeah. And the learning curve is steep. Like, I don't want to sugarcoat that your brain will be like, Oh, my God, like all the, you know, it's different to Facebook ads, they're a lot different. It flexes a different muscle. It's less creative. It's more data and stats. But the benefit can be really huge if you can tap into the right people on that platform. Andrew Hellmich Love that. Awesome. Okay, last question for you. Like, if I'm running Google ads, does Google reward me in any other ways? Like, do I go? Do I get better SEO rankings, for example? Because it's been nothing? Kaity Griffin No, they won't. They'll say stuff yeah. Andrew Hellmich Okay. All right. Kaity Griffin No, you don't get a bump anywhere else. Andrew Hellmich Okay, so it's a standalone thing. It's got nothing to do... Kaity Griffin Stand alone platform. It's like, if you're running Facebook ads and expecting a bump in Google organic SEO, it's not gonna happen. So even though they're owned by Google, they're completely different sort of arms to their business and completely different tools. They don't have, you know, a cross over. Andrew Hellmich Awesome. Okay, got it. All right, Katie, where's the best place to go and learn more? Kaity Griffin Yeah, KatieGriffin.com. That would be where my website is. It's got everything there. They'll probably be a pop up that will get you to sign up to that keyword series if you want. Yeah, that's really where everything lives. Awesome. Andrew Hellmich I'll add links to that and your other social accounts with the shownotes. And this has been awesome. Well, thank you so much for letting me throw those questions at you and Kaity Griffin No worries. Andrew Hellmich You're awesome. Thanks. Kaity Griffin Thank you. Pleasure to be on. Scroll back to top Sign up to receive email updates Enter your name and email address below and I'll send you periodic updates about the podcast. powered by The post 547: Kaity Griffin – Google Ads For Photographers: From Clicks to Clients appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area. Tracy Mock of www.preschool.studioeclectic.com.au is a kindergarten photographer who made the full-time jump into the genre after testing the waters and finding both joy and success. In this interview, she unlocks the kindy photography goldmine secrets and how to build a thriving kindy photography business. This interview came about following a recent chat with Trina Julius of Red Cherry Images, who specialises in kindy photography. Trina was interviewed for episode 443 of the podcast, and since then, she has kicked off the Pre-School Photography Academy. She teaches everything you need to know about kindergarten photography, from shooting to business. While chatting, I asked if Trina could recommend any students who have been through her training for a possible interview. One of those was today's guest, Tracy Mock of Studio Eclectic Photography in Sydney, Australia. I looked around and saw that the studio was mainly focused on weddings, families and headshots. They set up a subdomain off their main website for the kindy photography, and from the outside looking in, things look to be going great! The website is bright, easy to navigate, answers clients' questions, including pricing, and the photography looks great! Looking a little deeper, it seems Tracy moved from shooting in the main business to focusing on running and coordinating the kindy photography side of the business. The plan was to learn more about why add kindy photography to an existing photography business and if this is something worth considering in your business. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Heartfelt secrets: Discover how photography led Tracy to love (and marry a fellow photographer – the good, the bad, and the beautiful!) Building your dream team: Learn how to delegate and scale your business like a pro (without losing your creative spark). Kindergarten goldmine: Is it truly all glitter and giggles? Tracy unveils the financial realities and reveals what sparked her passion for kindy portraits. Proposal power: Craft irresistible pitches that charm school administrators and land you in classrooms bursting with photography opportunities. From crickets to cameras: How Tracy went from a booking drought to a session symphony in record time (hint: it's not just about adorable models!). System savvy: Ditch the duct tape and messy spreadsheets! Tracy's got the tools and tech to streamline your workflow and free up your creative flow. Testing the waters? Tracy's sage advice for dipping your toes (and lenses) into the kindergarten pool. Beyond “been there, done that”: Why even seasoned pros like Tracy swear by photography courses (and the surprising business makeover she underwent after taking the plunge). The golden metric: Forget likes and follows! Discover the one number that truly unlocks your business growth. Saying “no” with grace: Learn how to set boundaries and avoid burnout without crushing client dreams. Winning the school race: Convince administrators that you're the “it” photographer, leaving the competition in the dust. Protecting little treasures: Navigate the tricky waters of child privacy policies with confidence. Tailoring your packages: From budget-conscious families to VIPs, cater to every wallet and win over hearts. Volume = victory: Why shooting a high volume of sessions is the key to kindergarten photography success. Behind the scenes with Tracy: Peek into her action-packed kindergarten shoot process and steal her time-saving tricks. Kickbacks and quid pro quos: Dealing with unsavoury requests with professionalism and poise. Ready, set, shoot! Tracy's actionable roadmap for launching your kindergarten photography journey. Bonus tip: Leverage the power of subdomains to keep your niche specialties shining bright. What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. Our unique thing that we bring to the table when we do approach new centers is not only our experience but just that we give them the option to choose. – Tracy Mock You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Tracy shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode. If you want to start kindy photography, it's a lot of work. But once you setup your systems, it is much, much easier. – Tracy Mock If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Tracy or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. New Masterclass Next Week If you're tired of spending hours on social media trying to attract clients, only to see minimal results. Or you're ready to break free from the content creation grind and focus on other things. Good news! Brianna's training with be a game-changer for you. All the details are here –>> ​ https://learn.photobizx.com/ai-marketing-for-photographers-registration/​ Here's what you'll learn… How to attract your ideal clients using AI tools that identify their online haunts and deepest desires. Generate engaging social media content in minutes with AI-powered prompts that resonate with your audience. Master the “perfect post formula” that converts followers into paying clients. Build an AI-driven content strategy for consistent growth on social media so you never have to guess what to post or when. Develop captivating lead magnets and marketing content that turns prospects into clients. Imagine: ???? Having a month's worth of social media content done in just one day. ???? Posting content that stands out from the crowd and attracts your dream clients. ???? Saving hours of work every week thanks to the power of AI. This is what's waiting for you in the ​AI-Powered Marketing for Photographers training.​   The live training is Thursday, 11th Jan at 8 am Sydney local time. Your local time is here. Cost is $197 and doubles after the live training.  Early bird bonuses… $100 off any existing PBX Course purchased in 2024. AND, 20 done-for-you AI prompts for instant content creation, social media strategy, lead magnets, sales blueprint, & more! All the details are here: https://learn.photobizx.com/ai-marketing-for-photographers-registration/ The future of photography marketing is here. Master AI before it all gets too hard. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! We usually wait until the numbers come through before we make big decisions about money. – Katie Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. 9/10 of a good photo is not what you see but what you feel. And if you feel it, then it means something. And if it means something, you got to want to look at it. – Jeremy Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​ Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Studio Eclectic Photography Website Studio Eclectic on Facebook Studio Eclectic on Instagram Episode 443: Trina Julius – Everything you wanted to know about kindergarten photography business Art of Kindy Photography Academy with Trina Julius — use code PBX20 for 20% discount ($239.40). Expires 31st March 2024 AI-Powered Marketing for Photographers: Fill Your Calendar with Dream Clients Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Tracy for coming on and sharing her thoughts, ideas and approach to building a successful, kindy photography business. Be really clear upfront with parents about the pricing, the packages. You don't want them to think that it's like the old school. – Tracy Mock That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew The post 546: Tracy Mock – Unlocking the kindy photography goldmine: secrets of a thriving kindy photography business appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area. Katie and Jez of www.heartstoryphotography.com.au and the upcoming Elevate Photography Business Intensive are back for what was initially going to be a 15-minute segment about the current state of business and their upcoming photography business workshop. Instead, we went deep into all things marketing, advertising, sales, and still loving photography and photographing families after so many years of doing the same thing. If you haven't stumbled upon their portrait work yet, these Canberra-based photographers don't just take portraits; they capture souls. Every session they conjure a story whispered in light, and their talent has brought them multiple Australian Family Photographer of the Year titles. Beyond the photography, Katie and Jez are wisdom whisperers, business ninjas, and all-around photography guns. They've built their studio from the ground up, battled the same anxieties and late nights we all know, and now they're burning with a mission: to show you how to ditch the struggle and embrace the joy of capturing stories through portraits while being profitable in business and living the life you want. In this interview, discover what makes Heartstory tick and how they can be so in love with their business, clients, staff and processes… after doing it for so long. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: What to expect during the highs and lows of a business How to deal with low sales How to boost sales numbers How to efficiently reschedule client appointments What an amazing sale looks like How Katie and Jes spent 50k The importance of taking a business break Katie & Jeremy's sales tactics What is the secret to success Know your locations and how light works Katie and Jeremy's photo sessions process Appropriate attire to wear during photo sessions Why you need to look after old clients than newer ones How to re-engage past clients Has marketing changed over the last years Despite their success, why hold a workshop Advise to photographers who fears too much of the unknown What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. One of the upside consequences of approaching our business the way that we do is that I've never loved photographing families as much as I do right now. – Jeremy You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Katie and Jeremy shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode. You have to know your locations and you have to know how the light works. And you have to be confident that you can go there and replicate some images. – Jeremy If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Katie and Jeremy or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. Can I trust Alex Vita of ForegroundWeb? Last week, I recommended and shared the fact Alex Vita has some availability if you're looking for a website redesign, an SEO audit, or a new and high-converting website. I received this follow-up email from Adrienne… I looked over Alex Vita’s website; he does some amazing work. I am very sceptical of working with somebody that I don’t know and lives out of the country when dealing with so much money being exchanged, especially with something as important as my website. Is there anything reassuring that you could tell me about where I could consider using him in the future? As always, thank you for your feedback and thank you for your podcast. Adrienne Angelo Dragonfly Portrait Design Photography My reply… OMG, Alex is the most amazing, trustworthy person, and I can’t recommend him highly enough. In fact, I was having issues this weekend (today) with the last two episodes not showing up on podcast apps. I emailed him, and he has fixed everything. I’ve known him for more than five years now, regularly email him, have interviewed him several times and pay him a monthly fee to look after my websites. Plus, he has built and rebuilt the PhotoBizX website, which is massive and super complicated with all the courses, the membership, premium and free podcasts, etc. If you need someone like him and he’s available, you will not find a better person. Hope this all helps. Speak soon Andrew A response to Dave LePage's interview by Tony Knight Following last week's interview with Dave Le Page, Tony Knight of www.thisismylife.com.au shared the following email with me regarding a couple of things Dave shared and that I referenced in this week's episode: Hi Andrew, Tony from This Is My Life I thought I would drop you a line regarding Dave’s interview as he made some comments that I thought could be alarming for some listeners, and I thought I would throw my opinion in. He commented that he felt that in the near future, we won’t need stills photography, only Video; as the Video was getting that good, we will take Stills off the footage. Yervant made the same comment ten years ago when 4K first started becoming more mainstream, and he started making 11 x 14” prints from the video – it was very short-lived. The reason is that when you shoot video, especially for a wedding, you need motion flow between the frames, the rule of thumb is if you are shooting 30FPS, then the shutter is usually around 60th, and if you have any flickering lights, then you may even need to drop to as low as a 30th or even a 15th and as you know in a low light situation even with stabilizing, this may not be sharp enough, because remember unlike a stills photographer the camera is usually moving with the subject and not locked off if it is locked off then the composition is probably boring for a stills shot and may need cropping which is going to compromise quality again. For my commercial clients, I shoot 4K 60FPS pretty much all the time onto Ninjas in RAW C-Log as well as 120 FPS when I need to really slow it down; I also shoot 8K in Raw Clog as well, depending on the shoot. I do provide still images from the 4K and 8K for web use only when requested, and we have used the AI software to enlarge for packaging when desperate, but they are a compromise, and because they are not composed as a still, they are truly a poor second compared to a dedicated still. A typical commercial shoot for me is stills and Video for that reason. To get a good still of the video, we need to expose at a higher shutter of around 250th, even with IBIS, because we are moving, which means a truckload of light depending on the aperture and the area we need to light. They are still a compromise, but if I was shooting for a wedding or anything with mood, I want a really slow shutter to have that motion flow between the frames, which you can add with software, but it is just not as good and of course needs a heap of CPU as you need to render every frame and considering that I now talk Drives in TB, not GB, my Mac Studios would have smoke coming off them, and they are maxed out already. The other thing Dave mentioned was to start with Davinci Resolve because that’s where you will end up; whilst Davinci is a great program and is awesome for colour grading and does have a pretty good free version, it is not the industry standard by a long shot. Premiere stills ranks number one for ease of use and there is also Adobe Rush for mobile. The other big consideration of using Adobe is that they all talk to each other, and a lot of the shortcuts are common between them; I can add an image in Premier and right-click it and edit in PS, make the change, CMD S and it updates in Premiere, and the same applies for Audio into Audition, Logos, into Illustrator, and the big one, After effects which are just amazing (but a huge program to master) and then when you want to send it out to Youtube or Facebook etc you use Adobe Media Encoder and all the Codecs are built-in and allows you to use premier to edit other jobs or the same job, while it is encoding in the encoder. Your CPU is directed towards Premiere, Whereas Davinci and other programs will make you wait while it encodes from the program, so you are twiddling your thumbs. Love em or hate em, Adobe has it sewn up. Within the Adobe platform, we get all the AI too, and all the content aware fill is available in Video; we even have AI in Sound. If I have a piece of music that is 2 minutes long and I need it to be 2 mins 34 secs or 78 secs, I dial in the duration. Adobe uses AI to adjust magically, just like Generative fill; I get a few options to choose from, so why would anyone use Davinci? I don’t know. The list is long for reasons to stick with Adobe, and I have touched on a few. This is just my opinion, of course. I thought I would throw it in the mix so everyone doesn't run off taking Dave’s advice un-challenged, but in saying that, OMG, his work is awesome. I love his films, and he is so undervaluing his work. He needs to work through an agent and get paid much more. Whilst I respect his opinion to explain his costs before his client asks, he must have been beaten up by many clients to have been conditioned to be so reactive. Stay well, and have a happy Christmas. Regards Tony Knight You can also hear Tony's interview here: Episode 242: Tony Knight – How to Create a Photography Business with No Competition iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! We usually wait until the numbers come through before we make big decisions about money. – Katie Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google, and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show, and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name. 9/10 of a good photo is not what you see but what you feel. And if you feel it, then it means something. And if it means something, you got to want to look at it. – Jeremy Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​ Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Katie and Jeremy – Elevate Business Intensive The code for a $250 discount off pay in full or payment plan is PBX250, valid until Dec 31st. PBX112 Episode: Katie Kolenberg & Jeremy Byrnes – Putting Your Heart and Hard Work into a Great Portrait Photography Business Heart Story Photography Website PBX402 Episode: Katie Kolenberg – Take control and thrive with your photography business during the pandemic PBX470 Episode: Katie Kolenberg – Profitable photography book projects Q&A Photography Book Projects for Profit Course PBX087 Episode: Sue Bryce – How to Make Real Money From Photography Alex Vita — I do have a few more spots available to take on website support clients. That's either WordPress maintenance (see here https://www.foregroundweb.com/web-design/wordpress-care-plan/) or a more comprehensive platform-agnostic website support plan (info here: https://www.foregroundweb.com/web-design/website-support/) Alex Vita — Web design for building/redesigning photography websites from scratch: https://www.foregroundweb.com/web-design/custom-website/ 484: Brianna Shrader – How to grow a fantastic team to support a fast moving and profitable photography business 517: Jon Cripwell – How to use and benefit from Chat GPT in your photography business Thank you! Thanks again for listening, and thanks to Katie and Jeremy for coming on and sharing their thoughts, ideas and approach to building a successful, long-lasting portrait photography business that thrives on happy clients and fantastic sales. It's so important to look after the clients that you already have because more energy has to go into generating new ones, right? Less energy has to go into your current clients. – Katie That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business! Thanks, and speak soon Andrew The post 545: Katie and Jez – How to elevate your photography business appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.