If navigating your business sometimes feels like going through a maze, that’s because it is. Standing between you and the next big goal or milestone is a series of decisions that can feel very much like turns in a maze - some giving you a short cut to the solution, others leading to a convoluted series of twists and turns. But there’s a secret to the maze that any successful businessperson knows, and that’s what today’s podcast is all about.

Show notes: thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/048

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

In this episode of Mini Mentoring, Dana Walsh and I discuss the best way to navigate the minefield that is mini-sessions… setting yourself apart, maintaining your brand, attracting the right clients, and pricing your minis in a way that brings people in the door without sacrificing profit.

Show notes: thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/mm-047

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

The Family Narrative crew is back on the podcast, and this time we’re talking about finding the right way to allocate the education budget in your business. Do you invest in online courses? In-person workshops? Mentoring programs? Memberships? With so many options (and a thousand teachers for each platform), how do you decide?

Kate Thompson, Posy Quarterman and I chat about our own personal experiences and strategies, and give a bit of insight on how we turned those ideas into the basis for The Family Narrative - the family photography conference and membership site we founded together back in 2016.

• Monthly Marketing Magic for Photographers: Get your first month of The Consistency Club for just $1

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

In this episode of Mini Mentoring, Melissa Jeffcoat and I discuss the best way to introduce a big price jump to the clients you love and don’t want to lose… a necessary and often intimidating step that most of us have to make at least once in a while!

Show notes: thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/mm-045

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

Today I’m talking about a sneaky mistake that most of us make at least occasionally - something that seems when we’re doing it like it’s a way to make big changes less risky, but which often derails our efforts entirely. HBS professor Michael Porter calls this particular mistake “straddling,” and as I’ll point out in my examples everyone - from individuals to giant corporations to YOU - is vulnerable… at least if you’re not careful!

Show notes: thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/044

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

In this episode of Mini Mentoring, Jess Koehler - one of the women who joined me for the CRM roundtable discussion in episode 32 - joins me to talk about questionnaires … what to ask and when.

Show notes: thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/mm-043

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

I met Amanda Thorson in Australia last summer and we became fast friends - we share a sarcastic sense of humor and a very practical approach to our work - and when I decided to talk about alignment on the podcast, I knew I wanted to have her on as a guest. 

You see, when I talk to photographers about the three successful models, nearly everyone immediately self-identifies as a workhorse or a unicorn. The only examples of a donkey business we seem to think of are the Olan Mills’ and the Lifetouches of the world. But Amanda runs a highly successful donkey model portrait studio, and one look at her work will prove to you that she most DEFINITELY isn’t some mall pop-up photographer. Today I’m thrilled to chat with her and have her share all the details of why she chose that model and how it works for her.

Show notes: thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/042

• Monthly Marketing Magic for Photographers: Get your first month of The Consistency Club for just $1

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

In this episode of Mini Mentoring, I talk with Paige Daniels about marketing your business - best practices and how to know if they’re working.

Show notes: thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/041

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

In 2019, I gave a talk at The Family Narrative called “Creating a Business that Feeds Your Soul (and Your Family)”. My initial intention was to put together a talk on pricing, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt like the talk needed to be about alignment. Pricing, after all, isn’t a one-size-fits-all thing… but in order to work, pricing DOES need to be in alignment with your business model and your market.

This episode is the second part of that talk, covering the five areas of your business that need to be aligned in order to be successful (check out Episode 38 for part one if you haven’t listened already).

To go with these episodes, I’ve created a MONSTER download that will guide you through the alignment process, with questions, examples, and a summary of the important parts of both episodes.

Show notes: https://www.thiscantbethathard.com/podcast/040

• Monthly Marketing Magic for Photographers: Get your first month of The Consistency Club for just $1

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

In this episode of Mini Mentoring, I talk with Carolyn Soling about how it’s still possible to make time for your business while quarantining at home with kids.

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!