The Pet Photographers Club Podcast Archives

Do you know who knows which products truly sell the best? Or if you as a print-based photographer are genuinely busy or not? Your lab.

They have unique insights into our industry and in this episode we has Patricia Won of GTA Imaging share the answers to questions like, how do I calibrate my monitor?”, “how do I make hanging prints easier for my clients?”, “how do I offer unique products?” or “what can I add onto wall art orders?”.  

Tune into this deep-dive conversation to find out all these answers and more, plus some great tips for how to work better with your printing lab.

Have you considered leasing or purchasing a commercial space to open a studio but always find the cost prohibitive, or the location is just never right? Beth Alexander found the same problem and so she decided to come up with a creative solution- a mobile studio which she had built from the ground up for a fraction of the price of a storefront!

Tune in to todays episode to learn all about it including a break down of the costs, the important considerations to make in terms of sizes and requirements plus what Beth’s client experience looks like!

MEMBER's ACCESS EXTENDED EPISODE

• Beth’s typical client
• Attending events
• The most important images to Beth’s clients
• What happens with parking and local council

MENTIONED LINKS

Beth's resource: https://unleashpetphotography.com/store/trailer-build

SEO Workshop: https://petphotographerseducation.thrivecart.com/supercharge-your-seo/

How would you feel if you could say you’ve raised $250k for charity through pet photography and that those sessions were booked 6 months in advance?

This is the reality for today’s guest who prior to Covid worked with Shelters all over the country but despite being proud of the fundraising efforts, he wishes he did it all differently!

Key discussion points:

• How Adam went from a marketing role at an animal shelter to professional pet photography
• What shelters really think when they receive your collaboration proposal 
• What Adam’s packages looked like and how they evolved
• How and when he fit 300 dog photoshoots into a month!

Members-only extended episode:

• Facebook Ads
• The marketing strategy that’s working now for Adam
• The current pricing model and insights into one of these mythical $10k sales
• PLUS: Adam’s biggest piece of advice for those of you who are just starting out

p.s. If what Adam says about In Person Sales sparks you interest, definitely check out our Fly on the Wall video. It’s a recording of a real sales session I had with a client to take them from a $1500 digital only package to a $5k sale: https://thepetphotographersclub.com/pricing

Links:

agoldphoto.com

• B&H How to Take Better Pet Portraits in the Studio: 5 Tips with Adam Goldberg
• Westcott Lighting YouTube - The Importance of Shelter Pet Photography | Adam Goldberg
• Seth Casteel’s YouTube

If you’ve been looking for your next marketing idea, then today’s your lucky day because our latest podcast episode is out now and it’s all about Pet Photo Bingo. It’s a totally unique strategy that Marika Moffit launched and it’s a tonne of fun for you to play with your pet loving audience. Marika is an expert at building community and quirky marketing strategies.

We chatted all about:

• Re-branding
• Finding a business name
• What is Pet Photo Bingo

Member Extended episode

• Common obstacles in implementing Pet Photo Bingo
• Example of a bingo card and collaboration opportunities 
• Why you would implement this strategy

There’s something for everyone in today’s interview with printing expert, Debbie Bedford from Loxley Colour. If you’re just starting to dip your toe into the world of printing, Debbie shared some great tips for selling prints online.

And if you’re an established pet photographer interested in taking your products to the next level, you’ll love our deepdive conversation about fine art printing in the extended episode.

Wherever you are in your business, keep listening for another supplier spotlight interview where we get the answers to your most frequently asked questions.

In the extended member-only episode:

• Do you really need to understand Colour profiles, Colour Space and printing specs?
• Paper weights and what to offer
• Handling fine art prints Vs the durable lustre prints

About Loxley | www.loxleycolour.com

Based in Scotland but shipping worldwide, Loxley Colour has provided professional photographers with high quality, hand crafted prints and photo products for pet photographers for over 30 years. To this day, they continue to creative innovative and unique ways to display your photography.

Other mentioned links:

Upcoming workshop with Les Walklings: Register here

Unhappy clients are an unpleasant, but inevitable, part of running a small business. And while negative feedback or criticism can feel like a real blow to our confidence - especially as photography is often such a personal, intimate service - there are strategies to handling unhappy clients that can turn the situation around. In today’s episode, Caitlin share five, easy-to-follow steps to effectively resolve complaints in your pet photography business.

p.s. in case you haven’t grabbed your ticket for the upcoming FREE Inbox Zero Workshop yet, make sure you do that soon. Head over to https://thepetphotographersclub.com/inbox-zero-workshop to grab your free ticket!

Inbox Zero Workshop: https://thepetphotographersclub.com/inbox-zero-workshop

We all know that the business of pet photography can be challenging, and adding to that is the loneliness that can come with the self-employed life. In this member spotlight video episode we chatting with An Di all about the difference it can make to your business if you do get involved in the community of pet photographers.

If you’d love to chat with other pet photographers (and maybe even make some new friends!), don’t forget we have out free Members Virtual Meet Up this Sunday on Zoom! Find out more about that here: https://fb.me/e/3hippYaL9

TOP THREE TOPICS:

1. The biggest challenges An Di found when launching the business and how to get through it

2. How being confident in your offer allows you to support others

3. What An Di is working on now for The Faithful Hound

LINKS:

Website: www.thefaithfulhoundphotography.com
Social Media:
https://instagram.com/thefaithfulhoundphotography
https://facebook.com/thefaithfulhoundphotography

Does the idea of doing an in-depth analysis of your competitors make your insides squirm? First of all - you’re not alone (because, same!) But our guest today, Julie Christie from Togs in Business, is insisting we do the hard work to really help our businesses. Tune in for a deepdive discussion into the most important elements of a good, useable marketing plan for your pet photography business

And if you listen to this interview and realise you need a simple template to write your plan in, click here for THE ULTIMATE PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS PLAN, an awesome FREE template that Julie has put together.

Most of us start out as pet photographers because we love animals, and we love taking photos. We combine these two passions into a hobby, and at some point, that hobby becomes a source of income. Accepting payment for something that you truly enjoy is a strange concept in this modern world. Even once we start doing business orientated tasks, it can be hard to forget that this all started as a hobby. If that sounds familiar, tune in to this weeks episode as Kirstie shares her top 5 tips to help you evolve from a hobbyist to a professional pet photographer!

Surround yourself with a great support network

Start using the phrase “I’m going to work” and “I’m at work” instead of “I need to do some editing”, or, “I have a photoshoot tonight”.

Stop doing work for works sake! Try these productive options instead:

a.) Visit your local dog-friendly parks, beaches, trails and cafes- photograph dogs and chat with their owners.
b.) Simplify your booking system
c.) Revisit your numbers to find areas of improvement - leads, booking rate, average sales, etc
d.) Contact your local media with a press release
e.) Launch a local petpreneaurs coffee group
f.) Check your bank account for recurring expenses, and cancel the subscriptions you don’t use!

Proudly introduce yourself as a pet photographer and show examples of what you do when people ask!

IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT, IMPLEMENT! Ideas and education are great, but they don’t have any impacted until they’re implemented!

Links:

Business Foundations Website: https://foundations.thepetphotographersclub.com/
July Members Meet Up: https://thepetphotographersclub.com/events

Like everything good in life.. we’ve grown! The podcast that Caitlin and I started in 2018 as a tiny passion project has since grown into so much more. The Pet Photographers Club is now a thriving community which hosts the awards, events, an active membership, delivers courses and more! With all this growth, we thought we better let you know what The Club is all about!

HERE’S A RUN DOWN ON WHAT WE DO AT THE PET PHOTOGRAPHERS CLUB

We’ve switched up the seasons, which are now year long with bi-weekly podcast episodes. Extended episodes for members stay!

If you are the type of person that absorbs information better when reading than listening- then you’re in luck because every second week you’ll now be getting written content to your inbox!

You’ll be getting more and more workshops + events

Sometimes you just need a step-by-step guide to implement an idea you hear.. that’s why we are putting out more courses + ebooks - like the Marketing Intensive For Pet Photographers, The Self-Publishing Program and the Business Foundations Challenge, among others!

You don’t have to be a member to join in any of that.. BUT.. members get fabulous discounts and we do offer tonnes of benefits to our members.

LET’S RECAP ON THOSE MEMBER BENEFITS..

You would have noticed a bunch of new member perks this year if you entered The International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards which included an extended entry deadline, the option to edit your entries and of course, the option to enter 4 extra images!

Member perks haven’t stopped now that Award entries have closed though. You continue to get:

Access to the Private Mastermind group

Extended podcast episodes

An upgraded listing in the Directory

Shout outs on Instagram and the opportunity to be featured in our Member Spotlight series

Discounts for EVERYTHING plus free access to a bunch of resources.

MEMBERS GET ACCESS TO ALL THIS FOR FREE:

Ultimate Marketing Manager ($24.95 value)

Planning for pet photographers ($24.95 value)

Guide to Instagram Reels ($9.90 value)

Pet Holiday Calendar ($4.95 value)

Pets are the new people ($4.95 value)
That’s a value of $70 for FREE!!!! PLUS easily access these freebies

Average Sale Calculator

Build your gear and resources library

Getting Started with Google Calendar

Six steps to a fully booked calendar

10 tools to automate your business

Shot list for pet photographers

Five common self-publishing mistakes

Website Design Checklist

The Workflow Worksheet

With all these benefits, there’s only one thing left to do.. join today for just $10 a month!

And if you’re new around here- Thanks so much for joining us! And of course to our long-standing members, we appreciate you! Thank you for growing this community with us!