This podcast episode is the first in a four part series featuring graduates of the ReWork’s Art of Selling Art Business course. These students have spent the last six months ReWorking their businesses and applying the concepts they’ve learned in the course.

As a part of each interview in the series, I ask each Art of Selling Art Graduate three questions: 

1) How did principles in the Art of Selling Art course change your business or mindset? 

2)If a Genie appeared, what is something you wish you could fix in your business? 

3) And what advice or encouragement do you have for struggling photographers?

Their answers will enlighten you and inspire you to ask tough questions of yourself about your own portrait business. 

Today’s guest, Diane Dultmeier, tried her hand at a variety of photography niches before she realized that portraits were her perfect match. She’s been in the industry for 20 years, and in the 6 months since she attended the Art of Selling Art course, she has increased her income by 30% and drastically decreased her client numbers, allowing her to live a healthy, balanced life!

Like everything in life, building your dream business won’t happen overnight; it is a continuous learning process involving a lot of rethinking, reworking, and redoing. This episode with Diane will equip you with some extremely valuable knowledge which you can use on your own journey in the industry! 

 

Here’s a glance at this episode…

• [01:43] Introducing today’s guest, Diane Dultmeier.
• [02:52] Types of photography that Diane has done throughout her career, and why portrait photography is the best fit for her.  
• [04:36] Some of the ups and downs Diane has experienced over the past 20 years she has spent as a portrait photographer. 
• [06:29] Why Diane only did a shoot-and-burn session once in her life. 
• [07:38] Life-changing realizations that Diane has had over the past few months. 
• [10:24] Implications of being a location photographer, and the best way to get your clients to respect and value your work. 
• [13:09] Support that Diane has felt from fellow attendees in the Art of Selling Art course. 
• [14:29] What the photography industry was like when Diane first started working in it, and how it has changed since.
• [16:42] Why Diane has started asking clients to send her photographs of walls in their houses before they come in for their shoot.
• [20:35] A business-related fear that Diane is still in the process of overcoming, and how she gathers the confidence to face it.
• [22:47] How Diane’s sales have increased since she implemented the lessons she learned during the Art of Selling Art course.  
• [26:43] The height of Diane’s monthly client numbers (before she changed her business model) in comparison to the number of clients she shot over the past year.
• [30:54] Changes that Diane still wants to make in her business. 
• [34:18] Advice for how to respond when clients request something different than you expected. 
• [36:31] A major difference between the Art of Selling Art course and other courses in the photography realm. 
• [38:38] The importance of establishing and maintaining connections with other people in the photography industry.
• [39:55] A book that had a profound impact on Diane’s life. 
• [42:36] Qualities that I really appreciate in Diane. 

 

Links and Resources:
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Do The ReWork
Website | Instagram

Allison Tyler Jones
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn

Diane Dultmeier
Website | Facebook | LinkedIn

Essentialism by Greg McKeown
Book