Over this year I've read almost 20 books, some of which were business related and other just personal. Of the business books I read, these FIVE incredible books changed how my business was this year but will exist the next decade!

Books take time, but the knowledge is worth it! I'd encourage you to read at least one of these books within the New Year to really take your business to the next level. Here are some affiliate links to the books:

Profit First

10x Rule

How to Win Friends and Influence People

The E-Myth Revisited

Overlap

--

Join The Patreon (Editing, Mentoring, Business Tips)

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

Every year around this time, creatives and especially wedding photographers wonder what next year will be like. Some are confident and prepared for the next year: finances are in order, lots of clients are booked for next year, and they can rest easy during the holidays. 

For others, it's not that simple. Maybe it's an inconsistent year or you haven't booked what you thought or what you need to make life work. The emails come in, but you're not hearing back from clients after you send them your pricing or maybe they've decided to go with someone else. You feel hopeless. 

In this episode, I discuss why you're not being booked, reveal data from over 600 photographers and where they're at for next year and what you can do now to level up during the holiday season. 

--

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

When you first start any hobby or business, you begin ironing out your processes. Everything from how you collect payments to prepping for a particular gig. Surprises happen and then you learn from those surprises. Eventually, you get into a groove. 

But years from now, you, you may need to make bigger and bolder changes. That entire groove you were in, may need to change. It's scary, but sometimes it determines how successful your business will be in the future. 

In this episode, my good friend Sarah Bradshaw is honest about the decisions she thought she was "supposed" to make and how after coaching and researching, she decided against making those decisions. Sarah is an incredibly successful and magical wedding photographer in the Washington DC area. 

See Sarah's work on Instagram: @sarahcbradshaw

--

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

If you're like me, the word "brand" makes you want to throw up in your mouth a little bit. It gets thrown around and honestly, I think that makes many of us not want to work on it. 

But the truth is we can't hide the facts that 1) we have a brand 2) it does have importance and 3) we want the brand to reflect what clients we are looking to attract, so we can continue to enjoy what we do. 

In this episode, photographer and food-lover Lauren Carnes describes how her background in branding and marketing has helped shape her photography business as well as shape it over the years to reflect her current passions. If you're dying for a change in your business or simply want to try something new, this episode is for you. 

--

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

Multiple times in my business, my personal work has captured the attention of those who were willing and ready to pay for it. It was awesome. Ashleigh Bing is a master of that now and has even gone viral in doing so.

Ashleigh Bing has been featured on Inside Edition, The Huffington Post, ABC News, CBS, NBC, Good Morning America, and the Today show just to name a few. All of this from one idea, one post, one piece of personal work she decided to take on. She shares about this and more in this episode!

Follow Ashleigh Bing@ashleighbing

https://www.ashleighbingphotography.com/

--

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

What would happen if you weren't able to work all of a sudden? Do you have a plan in place? People that you'd trust to continue the work for you?

Like many of us, Katelyn James had built her business to rely solely on her ability to show up and make things happen. But when things happened to her like a surprise tax bill or an urgent surgery, she knew she needed to have a plan in place for her sanity and her family. 

In this episode, Katelyn James shares the details of adjusting and planning for transition times in her life, dealing with sticky client situations, and talks about her finance philosophy for both her business and personal life. 

Follow Katelyn James: Instagram: @KatelynJames Website: http://katelynjames.com/

--

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

Instagram! Everybody loves Instagram but only a portion of those people are generating actual leads and income from the app. Like many of you, I've been there. I put time into Instagram, the feed, the photos, the captions, even the description, but nothing.

It doesn't have to be that way. Through Tyler McCall's education, he's been able to help small businesses convert followers into paying clients and maximize their efforts. He also gets super real and talks about dealing with struggle and loss in his personal life, and how that affected his business.

Connect With Tyler McCall: @tylerjmccall The IG Advantage Facebook Group FollowerToFanSociety.com 

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

New photographers! Want to break into the wedding business? What about second shooting? What if you could use second shooting as a way to grow your own business while still honoring the other photographers in your community?

I see a lot of new photographers make mistakes when they want to start doing weddings and second shooting. In this episode, I'll teach you how to be the most sought after second shooter in your community, make more money, and become a better photographer. From getting second shooting gigs, to maximizing your photos after the wedding, this episode is for you!

Connect With Me: @masonphotography

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

What do brands like Apple, Nike, and Whole Foods have in common? They all have a group of their customers that are their tribe! A tribe is your most supportive past, current and sometimes future customers that end up doing a ton of marketing FOR YOU. 

Hope Taylor has done just that with her photography business.  Between weddings, education and a thriving senior spokesmodel program, Hope Taylor has created a group of clients who are so ecstatic about her work that they can't help but share about it. She's also been able to formalize the process of getting potential clients excited about working with her, before they even send their first email. 

Hope Taylor is 21 years old. She started her business at just 16 and has essentially skipped college to maintain her amazing business. In this episode she shares tips on how to start your own tribe, how she dealt with malicious people, and encourages people to be authentic. 

Connect With Hope Taylor: @hopetaylorphotography

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason

Have you ever used an external hard drive? Is your data safe? If your computer broke into pieces today, would you have all of your client images?

In this episode, I talk about my backup strategy and how I keep all of my data safe. From my computer to my external hard drives and cloud backup, this is a nerdy episode about everything I do to backup and what you should do too!

Dropbox: Sign Up Backblaze: Sign Up 

--

Editing Tips & Tricks, Mentorship & More

Join The Facebook Group: The Bearded Tog Podcast with Adam Mason

Follow Adam Mason Blog Instagram Twitter

My FREE Pricing Guide: Pricing Webinar and FREE PDF

Leave an iTunes Review: HERE

What did you learn from this episode? Have suggestions on another one? Let me know how it’s going

Email me: [email protected]

The Bearded Tog podcast is created by mashed potato lover Adam Mason