Helping Photographers Go Full Time

There are many successful family photographers in the world and they run their businesses in a multitude of different ways. Over the years you can tailor your approach but I feel the best way to run a family photography business is to do an in-person design consultation and to do in-person sales.

A design consultation is where you meet people (I usually go to their home) before you’re hired. This has many benefits:

It’s much easier to build rapport in person than on email or on a phone.

You can chat about what they want from the shoot.

You can see their home and see where the spaces are on the walls so you can see what products and sizes of wall portrait will work best for them.

You can go through your portfolio with them to see what they do and don’t like.

And a whole bunch more… we have a whole course on design consultation on the membership site – it’s called ‘Why you must always meet portrait client before you’re hired’.

In-person sales is where you’re with your clients when you show them the photographs from their shoot. You don’t put them online and you don’t just do shoot and burn.

There’s a whole process to that too and we discuss that in the premium section of this episode. Members can also check out a whole kaleidoscope of information on In-person sales on our membership site under the ‘Sales’ tab.

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

A simple trick for knowing how good your website’s About page is

We run through what we’ve written for Jae’s About page and explain the simple system anyone can use.

How to reveal your prices to clients before they hire you

How to remove the stress from in-person sales (IPS) and talking about your photography prices

The importance of doing an in-person consultation before someone hires you (or at least a telephone consultation).

How to avoid being stood up by family photography clients

Photography is all about connecting with people, so why try and do all your communicating online and over email?

Why I like doing in-person consultations (i.e. the meeting you have BEFORE you’re hired) in people’s homes.

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

The effective system I use when doing in person sales sessions

The importance of emotion in your photography business

How Jae helps clients understand the importance of using a professional print lab (which helps her get people away from thinking digitally and investing in quality printed artwork)

The products I sell to my family photography clients

Why you should never do sneak peeks for family photography sessions

How to make pricing your photography easy

I put together a frame order on One Vision Imaging within seconds to show how quick and easy it is using their online frame builder

The videos on the membership site that give you even more information on how I do in-person sales for family photography sessions

Why it’s good to not just do packages if you’re not keen on (or good at) selling

Links to things we discussed in this episode

* www.onevisionimaging.

Most photographers aren’t great at writing and in particular they struggle with writing about themselves. This makes it particularly hard to write an website About page!

However, About pages are important because when people hire a photographer they’re generally hiring YOU specifically, so they want to be confident they’re going to like and trust you.

No-one wants a miserable git stalking them through their wedding day, or a creepy weirdo photographing their family.

So you have to write something that’s going to make people believe you’ll be a pleasure to be around.

Too many photographers play it safe and hardly write anything. But then your website visitors will feel disconnected and may even have a level of distrust, particularly if there’s no photograph of you either.

Or they’ll move onto the next photographer who sounds more interesting, with a stronger brand / personality.

In this episode I give you a template for creating an effective About page that’s also really easy to write.

We also talk about a whole bunch of other stuff too, for example…

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

* Some extra features of ProSelect we’ve not spoken about before that will help you streamline your service and make you look more professional to clients.

* What’s important in a photography business

* Having a ‘clean’ looking website vs having an effective website that brings in enquiries.

* How to have lots of information on your website without it looking ugly

* A template for writing About pages for photographers

* Should an About page be about you or about how you help your clients?

* What I tell parents not to do before a family session

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

* Should your homepage have one big photograph?

* How to lay out your photographs on your website

* How I told Jae to respond to a wedding email enquiry (which she subsequently booked a consultation with!)

* Tips on responding to photography email enquiries

* A clever way to follow up with email enquiries in a way that doesn’t sound pushy

* Why having a ‘CAT’egory on Jae’s website about her cat Milo might be an excellent idea.

* An update on the 4 family sessions Jae booked through her Facebook advert

* How much deposit I request for weddings

Links to things we discussed in this episode

* Anna Pumer’s (who was a guest on episode 19 of the podcast) has a website where her business partner creates logos for photographers: http://wearerebeluk.co.uk/branding/

Improve your Google ranking by leaving us a review on iTunes!

If you leave us a review on iTunes and let us know what keyword phrase you’d like to rank for then we’ll link to your website in the show notes of the following episode, using that phrase. This is a nice little boost to your Google ranking with 1 or 2 minutes of work. A lot easier than writing a guest post for someone, or begging the local wedding suppliers!

How to leave a review:

* Go here:

One of the reasons photographers struggle to get the success they want is that they’re too scatter-gun and not focused enough.

There are so many things photographers need to do that it can be hard. One minute you’re a photographer, then you’re a marketer, then you’re changing your pricing, then you need to do selling and buy samples. Ooh and then some smarts like me tells you that your branding isn’t clear so you need to do some deep internal thinking at a Yoga retreat!

In this podcast episode I’ll be interviewing Tom Jeavons who’s a talented wedding photographer from Kent who has just made the leap to full time photography a month ago!

I feel it’s important to hear how a wedding photographer recently managed to go full time because it’s easier to relate to someone who’s only a little further ahead than you are.

You can hear Tom’s journey to full time wedding photography and implement the lessons he learned in your own business.

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

* The simple reason Tom gets great sales

* Why Tom feels clients who pay higher prices are generally easier to work with

* Why it’s ok to be selective about who you work with

* How Tom changed his prices over time until he got to his current price of a minimum of £1850 for a wedding

* People still ask for prices even though they’re on Tom’s website

* How Tom responds to people asking for his prices

* Why Tom has prices on his website

* Does Tom follow up with enquiries who don’t get back to his first email response?

* Tom’s booking rate on email, on the phone and in person

* How Tom is able to charge above average prices

* The mindset Tom has when dealing with every enquiry that helps him book more weddings

* How Tom manages his time and gets everything done

* Why Tom likes mirrorless cameras

* Being a specialist vs being a generalist

* What Tom feels is the secret to his success

* If Tom started his career again, what would he do differently?

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

* Tom’s 2 best marketing strategies, one of which brought him 8-10 wedding enquiries in the last week!

* What I feel is the secret to Tom’s success

* How to select the photographs for your portfolio and website that clients will love most

* The biggest obstacle Tom had and how he overcame it

* The importance of having the right mindset

* Phrases and techniques for doing wedding group photographs

Links to things we discussed in this episode

* Tom’s who I interview on today’s episode is a Kent wedding photographer and you can check out his beautiful work at www.tomjeavonsphotography.co

* www.addpeople.co.uk is the digital marketing company Tom used for Google Ads

Improve your Google ranking by leaving us a review on iTunes!

If you leave us a review on iTunes and let us know what keyword phrase you’d like to rank for then we’ll link to your website in the show notes of the following episode, using that phrase. This is a nice little boost to your Google ranking with 1 or 2 minutes of work. A lot easier than writing a guest post for someone, or begging the local wedding suppliers!

How to leave a review:

* Go here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/helping-photographers-go-full-time/id1355402160

* Click on ‘View in iTunes’ which is a link just under our logo

It’s hard to do the marketing for your wedding photography if you’re not good at writing.

But what do you do if you’re not a good writer?

Yes, you can do face-to-face networking, but you still need to write effectively on your website and within your social media.

In this episode I assess wedding photography page on Jae’s website and give her a template that any photographer can use to talk about their photography in an engaging, helpful and entertaining way.

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

* The greatest asset in your photography business

* The second greatest asset in your photography business

* The importance of being able to write effectively so you can promote your business (I give some writing tips and ideas for photographers in this episode).

* The 3 things to put in your writing when you’re marketing your photography

* Ways of differentiating your wedding photography service

* How to overcome the fact that words like ‘emotion’, ‘capturing the moment’, ‘memories’ and ‘last a lifetime’ are very overdone in the wedding photography industry

* What Jae wrote about her wedding photography services and what changes I made to improve it

* How to get the most out of your client testimonials

* A tactic that makes it easy to write about your wedding and family photography

* The thought process behind booking weddings and launching a wedding photography business

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

* How to help people visualise the value of wedding photography

* How to add personality into your writing

* An Albert Einstein quote that will help you with marketing your photography

* How to ensure people will happily read your website despite the fact there are a lot of words (and words are good for SEO by the way!)

* How to write about yourself on your About page

* How to easily write about your photography without feeling overwhelmed

Links to things we discussed in this episode.

* This is the website Jae is getting inspiration from to help her promote her documentary family photography: https://www.dfpeducation.com/

* www.mariannechua.com is the fun photographer who writes well on her website

Improve your Google ranking by leaving us a review on iTunes!

If you leave us a review on iTunes and let us know what keyword phrase you’d like to rank for then we’ll link to your website in the show notes of the following episode, using that phrase. This is a nice little boost to your Google ranking with 1 or 2 minutes of work. A lot easier than writing a guest post for someone, or begging the local wedding suppliers!

How to leave a review:

* Go here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/helping-photographers-go-full-time/id1355402160

* Click on ‘View in iTunes’ which is a link just under our logo

* Once in iTunes you click on ‘ratings and reviews’ and leave a review

* Let us know what keyword phrase you’d like to rank for by emailing us at [email protected]

* BOOM! You’ve got a powerful and relevant link to your websi...

My old mentor (Charles Lewis) used to say “If you’re the same as all the other photographers then the only thing that differentiates you is price”. In this podcast episode I explain how to be different from other photographers. That includes thinking differently and doing things differently from other photographers. For example, in the intro I explain how you can get ranked at the top of Google without doing any SEO or paying any money!

It’s great to be inspired by other photographers and look at what your local competition is up to – but ultimately success comes from following your own path.

Being true to yourself and utilising your strengths.

That’s why we’ve been talking about branding in the last few episodes because you need your photography business to stand out from the rest. You need to attract some clients and repel others.

Your photography business can be different from the competition in so many different ways. For example:

Most photographers don’t reveal their personality enough in their marketing

You can offer different products to your competition. Archival prints, for example.

You can offer different services from other photographers.

You can differentiate your photography business through your branding (you could be quirky, or utilise the beauty of nature, or being the studio lighting genius, or edgy, or wholesome etc…)

You can specialise in a very specific niche to be different from other photographers (pets, newborns, elopements, alternative weddings, extended families, parties, headshots, boudoir for over 40s, composites etc.)

The most important thing you can think about within your business is how you can be different. If you can stand out from everyone else then you’ll attract more clients and they’ll be less price sensitive.

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

How to get ranked at the top of Google without doing any SEO

What to do if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the business side of photography or you’re losing your love for the business.

How to ‘follow your flow’ so marketing your photography becomes easier and more enjoyable

Business opportunities are all around you if you’re looking and brave enough to take action

Pricing business headshots

The secret to ‘getting lucky’ in photography and life

Why Jae has stopped using her personal Facebook account

Why you need to look busy to get busy

Photographers who are good at blogging about weddings and families

How to differentiate your wedding photography from the competition

The wedding album supplier I use and why

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

More ways to differentiate your wedding photography service

The 3 things to add to the way you write about your service to ensure clients will be eager to call you

Why I stopped doing most half day weddings

Is a mood board a good idea or not?

Links to things we discussed in this episode

Tales by Light is an excellent photography series on Netflix a...

How to promote your photography business

One of the hardest things to do in photography is to get the phone ringing and the email rattling. In this episode we chat about  how you can promote your photography business.

There’s an update on how Jae is getting on with a Facebook promotion I created with her and we discuss her website and a whole bunch more…

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

I give Jae the tips about her website that Anna Pumer suggested in the last episode

The one question to ask yourself when you’re feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list

Why your website needs to reflect your personality

Should your website have lots of information or be clean and simple?

The software that helps Jae a lot with her writing

How wedding photographers can differentiate their service

How to talk about a money back guarantee so it sounds positive and not like you regularly screw up!

What happens if someone isn’t happy with your wedding photography service and mentions your guarantee

How Jae got 26 family photography enquiries through a Facebook advert idea I gave her

How to connect with potential clients in your adverts so they feel comfortable contacting you because they realise you understand how they feel

Considerations for filtering your enquiries when doing a Facebook Tornado advert

The importance of following up and why you should never be shy or worried about doing it

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

* The simple process that helps you create a strong brand for your business that will attract your ideal clients

* I ask Jae some specific questions to help her start formulating her brand

* The secret ingredient for making testimonials and guarantees more powerful

Links to things we discussed in this episode

* www.grammarly.com

* www.annapumer.com is Anna’s personal branding photography website

* www.annapumerphotography.com is Anna’s wedding photography website

* www.kickassphotographers.com This is where you can purchase Anna’s About page generator and Blog post generator

* www.facebook.com/groups/kickassphotographers is Anna’s Facebook group to help photographers find their ideal client

* Anna does a quick website review of Jae’s website: www.jae-mariephotography.co.uk

Improve your Google ranking by leaving us a review on iTunes!

If you leave us a review on iTunes and let us know what keyword phrase you’d like to rank for then we’ll link to your website in the show notes of the following episode, using that phrase. This is a nice little boost to your Google ranking with 1 or 2 minutes of work. A lot easier than writing a guest post for someone, or begging the local wedding suppliers!

How to leave a review:

Go here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/helping-photographers-go-full-time/id13554021...

I’m very excited about today’s episode because I’ll be interviewing Anna Pumer who’s a sorceress when it comes to photography branding and she’s a jolly soul as well.

If you’re not getting enough of the right kind of enquiries then your branding is usually the first place you should look.

After all, if your website and message and photographs look the same as everyone else’s then there’s no reason to choose you.

Similarly, if you’re not telling people about yourself on your website, on Facebook etc. then it puts people off contacting you because they don’t know what sort of person to expect.

Your goal is to have people feel like they know you and like you just by reading your website and social media posts.

When people feel comfortable that they’re going to like you and feel comfortable talking with you they’re much more likely to get in touch.

That’s the power of effective photography branding.

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

How can you get your brand across if you’re not a good writer?

Why you shouldn’t copy other people’s websites

Why your website and branding needs to match your personality

The definition of branding for photographers

How do you create your photography brand?

How your brand should influence your business decisions

We discuss straplines for documentary photographers

Why you shouldn’t be afraid to change your brand

How to get people to love your brand

Anna’s welcome pack for wedding clients

How clothing impacts your brand

Why and how small details in your life can help you build a brand

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

Anna reviews Jae’s website

How to get more people to call you by branding effectively on your website

Should you have more than one type of photography on your website?

Photographers who we feel do a good job of branding themselves (see the links section below for the list of websites, plus a few more I’ve thought of since)

How to use smartphone videos to get people to fall in love with your brand

The things I say in family sessions to get natural smiles and interactions

Links to things we discussed in this episode

* www.annapumer.com is Anna’s personal branding photography website

* www.annapumerphotography.com is Anna’s wedding photography website

* www.kickassphotographers.com This is where you can purchase Anna’s About page generator and Blog post generator

* www.facebook.com/groups/kickassphotographers is Anna’s Facebook group to help photographers find their ideal client

* www.wearerebeluk.co.uk is Anna’s copywriting and branding agency for small business owners.

* Anna does a quick website review of Jae’s website: www.jae-mariephotography.co.uk

One of the hardest things to do as a family photographer is to create effective Facebook adverts and promotions. In this podcast episode we continue on from last week’s discussion on how to structure a Facebook advert.

Get Pro Photo Club members have access to an entire video course on exactly how to create every single step to ensure your advert brings in lots of high quality clients.

Members also have access to an entire year’s worth of family photography promotions and a year’s worth of wedding photography promotions. They’re all written out for you to copy and paste into Facebook and into your email newsletters.

No more struggling to write new campaigns, or wondering where your next clients is coming from. Your marketing will be planned out for the year and you can get on with enjoying your photography.

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

* We talk through Jae’s latest Facebook advert and how to create effective Facebook adverts for photographers

* How to make family photography adverts really targeted to make them more effective

* The one ingredient every photography promotion needs but most photographers don’t think about. It helps you not look desperate for clients!

* What to do if Facebook rejects one of your photography adverts

* How to change the text in a Facebook advert without losing all the comments and likes and shares (I’ll create a video about this for our members)

* The Facebook advert that brought me in 5 wedding bookings without having to do any kind of discount or promotion.

* Beware of using certain words in your Facebook adverts that Facebook doesn’t like.

* How to filter the enquiries you get through your Facebook promotions.

* The best time to get back to an enquiry.

* What to say to someone who asks how much it is for all the digital files

* The Photoshop Actions I personally use (see link below)

* The print lab that I personally use

* How many photographs to show family photography clients

* The secret to finally getting clients to realise why they shouldn’t get digital files

* How to always get the maximum sale from each client by ‘selling down’

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

Why my portrait pricing system removes the awkwardness and scariness from in-person sales

Why I get good sales by selling my portrait photography A La Carte

The payment plan service I use

The 4 questions to ask someone who enters your Facebook promotion

I roleplay calling an enquiry I get through a Facebook Tornado Advert Promotion

What to say if Jae is BREAST FEEDING!!

Links to things we discussed in this episode

paintthemoon.net is the Photoshop Action set I personally use. I accidentally called it Shoot The Moon in the recording (sorry!)

www.

In this episode we dig deeper into sales and marketing techniques and how they relate to Jae’s documentary style of family photography.

We bounce around the following straplines for Jae’s business:

Jae’s idea was ‘Naturally thoughtful’ and my list was:

Your life’s story

Real life photography

Jae Marie – photographic storyteller

Your life brought to life

Your story, beautifully told

Family matters

Natural. Real. Beautiful

We also talk about Jae’s most recent in-person sales session and how Jae could improve her process (although she still got a £495 order).

And for premium members I share the advert structure that has brought me dozens of wedding and family photography clients. I even share the exact advert I’ve written specifically for Jae.

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

How many photographs should you show family photography clients?

How to help people decide what photographs they want in an in-person sales session

How to avoid customers feeling overwhelmed when choosing their photographs

The key questions to ask family photography clients to help the sales process

The problems that occur when you show people too many photographs

How to use blog posts in your marketing so they’re constantly bringing in clients

Why it’s a good idea to keep reusing the same Facebook advert and the mistake to avoid.

The kind of profile photograph to avoid having on your About Page

The importance of having wall portraits of your own family in your home if you do sales sessions there.

The importance of quickly getting your brand across on your website homepage.

Branding ideas for documentary style family photographers

The best question to ask yourself every morning

The things that matter regarding SEO and the things that don’t

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Become a member of Get Pro Photo Club and you’ll not only gain access to the full recording of each episode, but you’ll also get access to everything you’ll ever need to become a full time photographer. Plus, you’ll be able to ask questions and get help on anything you’re stuck with.

Here’s what’s in the premium version of this episode.

The quickest way to get money in your bank right now

The Facebook advert I created for Jae and why it will bring her lots of enquiries

How to avoid freebie hunters

What’s the best method of capturing leads

How to filter good enquiries from bad ones.

Links to things we discussed in this episode

I’ll be interviewing Anna Pumer next week. She’s a branding expert and quirky wedding photographer in Kent. Here Facebook group is Kiss Ass Photographers.

Improve your Google ranking by leaving us a review on iTunes!

If you leave us a review on iTunes and let us know what keyword phrase you’d like to rank for then we’ll link to your website in the show notes of the following episode, using that phrase. This is a nice little boost to your Google ranking with 1 or 2 minutes of work. A lot easier than writing a guest post for someone, or begging the local wedding suppliers!

How to leave a review:

Go here: https:/...