The Pet Photographers Club Podcast Archives

The Pet Photographers Club podcast is back for 2024 and if like me, you’re taking advantage of this quieter season to update your website and put a blog strategy in place to get you closer to position one on Google, then today’s episode couldn’t be better timing for you. 

Late last year I decided to hire a PR consultant for my new photography business. After learning from today’s guest, Zoe Hiljemark back in Season 9 and then following her Facebook Group for a while, I knew she was the perfect fit. She’s been busy pitching journalists for me over the last few months while also sharing extra advice with me on blogging and SEO. Based on her advice, I made some changes to my website which had an immediate positive impact.

I asked Zoe to join me again on the podcast to share some of these insights with you all and you absolutely will not be disappointed.

If you’re not a Club member yet, this extended episode with Zoe is alone worth the annual fee. We broke down the customer journey, giving you suggestions on what blog topics to cover for each stage. Zoe shared the biggest mistake most photographers make with their blogs, and among everything else also got into backlinks and understanding Domain Authority.

WHAT WE COVERED:

• What is SEO and why should we focus on it
• Where do blogs come into it
• Minimum word count per page and how to make the copy digestible 
• Site structure and submitting sitemaps through Google Search Console 
• The pages we should have on our website
• Why should we blog 

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE

• Blogging beyond sharing client galleries
• Customer journey and how that impacts blog strategy
• Blog topic examples for a cold audience, warm audience, hot audience
• The importance of re-engagement content or nurture content 
• How to do keyword research
• Understanding keywords 
• Breaking down the technical SEO optimisation of blogging: Meta description, Titles, heading tags 
• The biggest mistake photographers make with meta descriptions
• How internal links help SEO
• What are backlinks, why do we want them and how can we get them 
• Guest blogging and how to approach it 
• Understanding Domain Authority

To make it even easier for you to get started with blogging this month, I’ve put together a blog planner with a table of ideas! Everyone can access it for free until the end of January via the show notes, after that, it will be a bonus for members found only in the portal! Grab yours now!

ACCESS THE FREE BLOGGING PLANNER AND IDEAS

MENTIONED LINKS IN THE SHOWNOTES: https://thepetphotographersclub.com/podcast/1509

Today’s guest is the proof that following what makes you happy, can also lead to financial success. She’s big on diversifying and multiple income streams, but her main business is helping fellow pet photographers improve their craft, which aligns perfectly with the lifestyle she has. 

I’m talking about Emily Abrahams of Inspawration Photography and in this episode we covered all of that and in the members half, we got into the details of income options for content creators, particularly breaking down the difference between user generated content vs promotion, and what are media kits. We also chatted all about Social Media strategy which is full of tips for pet photographers.

We extended the episode to also discuss teaching and the education realm so if you’re thinking you’d like to get into education.. Stay tuned for that part!

And to wrap up, we had a little extra chat about AI.

Yes, we covered a lot, and absolutely you don’t want to miss this episode! 

WHAT WE COVERED:

Emily’s journey

Why Emily went straight to teaching instead of growing a business shooting for clients?

What are Emily’s income streams

The importance of diversifying your income 

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE

Content creators: What is a media kit & what are engagement rates

What if you don’t have engagement

User generated content Vs promotion on your IG 

Knowing your audience on Social Media in order to create relatable content 

Teaching isn't for everyone

Emily’s tips for someone who wants to get into education

Should we be using AI for client work

Today’s guest has been a working photographer for almost 20 years. She started out in weddings in the UK and switched to portraits when she moved to South Africa. Fast forward to today, she’s reworked her pricing structure to ensure her business is profitable with the 150 clients per year she shoots for, 80% of which are pet shoots. I’m talking about Emma O’Brien of Emma O’Brien Photographer.

I’m sure you’ll be impressed as me to learn that she doesn’t do any paid marketing but instead uses a strategic networking approach to ensure her calendar is full so if you’re looking for free marketing strategies, but sure to listen to the second half of this episode where we go into those in detail. 

What we covered:

• When and why Emma introduce pets
• Studying photography and is a diploma still necessary
• Why to stop looking at other photographers work
• How to avoid creating work that looks just like everyone else’s
• Using the move to South Africa from the UK to start fresh 
• Burn out

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE

• Emma’s change in business model to make more money 
• Working with a coach
• How Emma worked out she needed to double her prices
• South African incomes
• How does the that affect your marketing
• Knowing your ideal client 
• What are business card drops and why do them
• Collaborations with other brands
• How many clients is Emma photographing per year, and what percentage are for pets
• Emma’ shelter work and the bonus marketing that comes from that

I’ve asked many photographers what they’d do to start their business if they moved to a new place.. And today’s guest has actually done it. She completely transformed her business from shoot and burn family photography in South Africa, to a profitable, full-service specialised pet photographer in New Zealand. She studied and implemented what she learned in order to make that transition successful and now she’s consistently booking clients who typically spend $1800. I’m talking about Salome of Yellow Pet Photography.

We covered:

• Moving from South Africa to NZ 
• Website
• Shoots per month
• Home studio 
• The impact of working with a coach
• How Salome decided which coach would be best for her
• Printed reveals and In-Person-Sales
• Working with an SEO expert

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE:

• Salome's best marketing strategy
• IG & Tik Tok Strategy 
• Collaboration marketing and auctions 
• Pricing structure
• Salome's strategy to sell more to clients, months later
• Offering hair and make-up

MENTIONED LINKS:

• Sue Bryce Education: The Portrait Masters 
• Jono's SEO business: https://noursemen.co.nz/
• Yellow Lab: Instagram
• Yellow Lab: Website

Are you blaming the economy, or the Facebook algorithms for your lack of leads and clients? The tough love in this episode with Johl Dunn is for you. There was lots of real talk, and actionable ideas shared by Johl who ran a photography business for 22 years- pre-Facebook, through the GFC and during Covid too. 

WE COVERED:

• What is mindset
• Examples of impact of mindset change 
• Why is now so hard
• Are there still people who can afford photography 

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE:

• So how can we get in front of these people 
• What comes first when re-launching your business
• These marketing ideas you mentioned: it’s a lot to be doing on the side of another job.. So what do you recommend 
• Fundraisers on steroids

Mentioned links:

ENTER JOHL'S GIVEAWAY

Johl's Instagram

Today’s guest started her business just before the Pandemic. She utilised the time through Covid to lay strong foundations for her business and hit the ground running when the world opened back up again. She uses direct marketing with giveaways to book clients year round and from those strategies has an average sale of around $2800 and her highest sale to date is $16k! Remember that she’s been in business just a few years! I’m talking about Marie Wulfram, tune in to hear how she achieves all of this. 

We covered:

• What Marie did to set solid foundations for her business from the get go
• How Marie found and booked her initial clients
• Why her strategy is the opposite of cold calling
• What building a relationship through IG looks like
• How to book free shoots, and what the sales from them can look like

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE:

• Using text and DM to communicate
• How Marie leverages events
• Average spend and what Marie is doing to achieve consistent high sales
• Google Ads

Mentioned links:

Marie Wulfram Photography

Photobizx Podcast

Do you feel like your work isn’t good enough, or you have too much competition and you’re unsure of how to stand out or why a client should choose you?

In today’s episode with Karinda Kinsler we discussed the real reason clients book you, and in the members half of the episode we delved deep into how you can truly connect with those clients to grow your sales.

Between all of that we also covered the mistake Karinda learned from in her previous businesses and the impact of implementing change based on that when launching her equine business.

We covered:

• Karinda's journey from livestock photography to newborns and weddings, and into equine
• The biggest business lesson Karinda faced
• People comprehend in different ways 
• The rule of 8 in sales
• How to prepare your clients to spend without a price list 
• How to feel comfortable with big numbers 
• Why would someone choose you? 
• Clients don’t care how good your work is

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE:

• People buy your why 
• How to connect with your client and make it about them
• Building trust with clients
• Ask your clients questions and truly caring about them
• Client workflow in order to build a relationship 
• The importance or not of connecting somehow before the first call
• Go-to questions for the first call

MENTIONED LINKS

Mindset and Money Mastery for Photographers Podcast

Master your Mind & Money Coaching with Karinda

Find Your Why by Simon Sinek

As if niching into pet photography isn’t a defined enough market, today’s guest, Kristen Murray has gone even more specific and has created three sub-niches that she serves; bird hunts, underwater dogs and fall adventures- and it is working! Her clients are spending multiple thousands for wall art and box sets or albums, and better yet, she enjoys these adventures with her clients! 

For the first half of the episode, I asked Kristen about finding these clients and then we got deep into photographing hunting. The episode comes with a warning, we did discuss what those photoshoots look like, including the details of one form of hunt in particular so if you don’t want to hear about that, just fast forward past. I’ll put a little warning at the time. 

In the members’ half of the interview, Kristen really was an open book, talking about why she’s showing her clients lots of images, and how her process avoids the overwhelm that might otherwise come with that.

We also spoke about her pricing structure, popular products and client response.

On top of all that, she got into the specifics of how to get started with underwater dog photography, and we spoke about her newest offering, travel sessions! 

WARNING: We spoke about hunting in detail between minutes 11-15 of the first half. The conversation around photographing hunting dogs continued from a more business perspective after that until minute 22.

We covered:

• Kristen’s Journey to get to 6 figures from year one
• Who is Kristen’s client
• Photographing hunting
• Getting into the specialty and the most important things to know

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE:

• Showing 100 photos +
• Average spend and pricing 
• Underwater dog portraits, the pricing differences and selling 
• Travelling dog photography

Mentioned links:

www.kristenjmurray.com

Coaching with Karinda: Master your mind and money

We’ve all seen the popularity of video increase through social media over the last couple of years, but what about video for a more permanent solution? Something not only to be viewed once and posted as a Reel or Tik Tok, but to be held onto closely as a beautiful keepsake to refer back to time and time again.

That’s what today’s guest, Andrea Fleury is offering pet parents. Videos that capture the true personalities and the relationships these clients share with their pets. She captures the tiny moments that would otherwise be the strongest memories of these pets- think snuggles on the couch, audio of a pet snoring or a puppy running in slow motion with ears flapping. 

It starts with an upsell to the client, then comes the storyboarding and of course, shooting and delivering the finished cinematic film- and in today’s episode, you’ll learn exactly how that all works!

We covered:

• Andrea’s journey into pet videos
• Working with an assistant 
• How to find and hire an assistant and the costs
• Who wants video of their pet?

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE:

• Andrea’s marketing plan for video
• What is a storyboard, what goes into planning a video, the questions to ask
• Preparing for a video shoot
• Equipment for video 
• Pricing, video and albums
• and more!

Mentioned links:

https://www.dogtography.ca/

https://www.dogtography.ca/videowaitlist

Today’s guest is a videographer turned pet photographer after documenting his mum's senior dog for the last 6 months of her life. Fast forward to today, his website is ranking page one of Google in the highly competitive London market, and his layered marketing approach converts super well thanks to a refined enquiry process. I’m talking about Alex Class and if you want to know what building a successful business looks like- tune in!

We covered:

• Wendy’s story 
• Transition from video to photography
• Alex’s Ideal client
• How Alex’s clients find him and what they buy

IN THE MEMBERS-ONLY EXTENDED EPISODE:

• Alex’s client process
• What is Cinemagraph Pro
• Adding a website lead magnet
• How Alex added a website chat bot
• What has helped Alex’s website rank so highly 

Mentioned links:

https://www.thefullybookedphotographer.com/

https://flixel.com/products/mac/cinemagraph-pro/

www.pawscelebre.com

https://learn.thepetphotographersclub.com/2023-conference