Is Your Life And Photography Business Like Tug-of-war?
I love this recent article from Dave Gillen.
“26 long days ago (who’s counting) my wife gave birth to two milk-swilling intruders twins and our lives changed.
Needless to say it’s been a challenging time for my business – I have less time, less sleep, and more to do.
So what do you do when life happens?
Do you downgrade your business goals?
Delay them?
Forget about them?
Well it might surprise you, but three weeks of sleep deprivation and unrelenting demands on my time are resulting in the biggest steps forward for my business in two years.
Here’s how I turned what seemed like obstacles into a breakthrough.
“Three weeks of sleep deprivation and unrelenting demands on my time are resulting in the biggest steps forward for my business in two years.”
I remembered what I was really chasing
When you’re chasing a goal of creating a photography business and something starts eating away your precious time it can be frustrating.
But sometimes we forget what we were chasing in the first place. I remembered that money and business success are just stepping stones to getting what I really want, and started seeing that many of the obstacles popping up were in fact the very things I want in life.
Life events (good and bad) are not just diversions and time outs, they’re often the most important things and need our full attention.
I’m instantly happier when I remember that my kids and the time I spend with them are not obstacles at all – they’re the nuggets of gold I’m seeking.
I realised that my life is the canvas for my business.
We tend to ask questions like “Which business model is the best?” and “Which niche is more profitable?” as if we’re designing the perfect business on a blank canvas.
But no business is ever built on a blank canvas.
Your life is the canvas and your business needs to fit its unique size and shape.
When life changed I caught a glimpse of the shape of my canvas changing. That was a breakthrough for me because for the first time I saw the type of business I needed to fit my life and goals.”
Do your life and photography business work together or is it more like tug-of-war?
Your Time To Shine
You have the tools for your photography, now you need the business tools to fill your business with customers.
Is it time for you to take the next step in your business?
Is It Your Time To Shine?
Welcome to my BRAND NEW “ONE ON ONE” Coaching Program called “GETTING STARTED” in your Photography Business.
It’s ok to make a little money from your photography passion, and live the lifestyle tyou want.
Everything I know about marketing, I learned from Santa Claus.
Set yourself up for an incredible new year with the 12 marketing lessons every photographer should learn from the man in red…
1. DELIVER ON TIME – Would we still believe in Santa if he missed a year, or came late?
2. EVERYONE LOVES A GIVER – Don’t be a taker. Move the free line, and win your prospective clients over with your generosity.
3. HIRE A TEAM OF HARDWORKING ADMIN PEOPLE TO MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD – Santa gets the glory, but the elves work hard to make it all look easy. Maybe you need to hire some elves next year (Think hardworking, talented, and offshore)
4. BUILD YOUR DATABASE – Santa makes a list and checks it twice. Most photographers don’t even have a list 🙂
5. TEACH YOUR CLIENTS HOW TO TREAT YOU – Every kid knows to leave out Milk & Cookies, and leave carrots for the reindeer. Do you get your clients to give you testimonials?
6. QUALIFY HARD – Do you grade your prospective clients? Santa even grades KIDS either naughty or nice! Which of your clients has been nice? Which prospective clients have been naughty? You know what to do…
7. LEVERAGE – Santa has a team of body doubles who have been working for the crowds at every shopping centre on the planet for the last 4 weeks. (While the real Santa sips margaritas by the pool in his big house by the beach.bZZAZ)
8. LIMIT ACCESS – Santa’s got things set up, so you can’t get him on the mobile, or just see him whenever you want. You have to send your request to an obscure PO Box in the North Pole. Are you too easy to get?
9. RUN SPECIAL EVENTS – He’s the original Product Launch Formula guy. He builds massive anticipation and even gets your kids counting down the sleep until the big day.
10. COSTUME & SELF-PROMOTION – If he just wore regular clothes, he’d be no big deal. Do you present yourself in clothes that make you THE photographer?
11. GET OTHERS TO TALK YOU UP – His P.R. elves get everyone talking about Santa, so he never has to talk himself up. Have you worked on gettingb lots of raving fans ?
12. BUILD A BUSINESS THAT GIVES YOU FREE TIME – With all his body doubles and the team of elves, Santa really only works a three or four days a year.
Happy New Year!
This year has been an amazing year for me as a photography business coach.some of the photographers that I have coached.
One studio that has been in business for many years had the best month of turnover EVER, and they have over 20 portrait bookings for next year!
Another had a $4,200 portrait sale from the Facebook Challenge that I initiated on Photobiz Exposed http://www.photobizx.com
My own business broke a few records……I had 9 x 1 hour consecutive Skype sessions on Wednesday, the most I have rever done in one day.
My clients were in UK, USA, New Zealand and around Australia, and because of different time zones, I stared at 6.30am and finished 9 hours later. Great fun!
I have had over a 1,000 “one on one” one hour Skype sessions this year, ( that’s right, over 20 a week! ) helping photographers to grow their businesses, which is the most Skype sessions I have ever done in one year.
Does this make me the world’s number one photography business coach?
My catch phrase has always been “Your Success Is My Success.”
This year lots of my photographer clients achieved best months ever, highest sales, and best years ever.
That means after 5 years as a photography business coach it has been my best year EVER!
What records did you break in your photography business this year?
Part of my strategy for next year is to launch a brand new 5 week “one on one” coaching program called the Getting Started Coaching Program, specifically for those who are wanting to start their own photography business.
The program will give a solid business foundation, and will specifically cover, Pricing, Marketing, Selling, Photography, and Overcoming Obstacles.
I guess the answer to that question is different for everyone. It depends where you are in your photography business story, because a business like the life that it is attached to, is continually moving.
I come across lot’s of these stories a s a photography business coach.
You may be where Linda was in the story below. Read on and see if you can you relate to part or all of it.
Linda’s Story
“I was so excited! I love photography and two years ago I started a business from home. I just did portraits of children and did a “shoot and burn“, offering a CD of images for $175.
After a little mindset change and going through a lot of learning curves, and after making some hard decisions, I am now charging closer to my real worth, and I am regularly selling nearly $1,000 per sale. I have also had quite a few sales even higher than that.
What it took me so long to learn, was that people will pay a lot more than what you think you are worth.
I used to photograph a lot of sessions a week, and I thought that I was making good money. But the time and effort involved was just not worth it.
I was just about to give my photography passion away, and go back to my previous job as an administration officer for the local council, when a close friend who was also a photographer, suggested I contact Bernie to see if he could help me.
I didn’t have much hope that anyone could help me, as I am no good at selling, so I could not see any way out of my situation as I only knew Shoot and Burn.
I would show my customers their images on my computer and then give them the CD, and they would leave.
I organized to have a free Skype session with Bernie. He asked me lots of questions, and then suggested that he could help me in the key areas that I was lacking.
One was that I needed to stop Shoot and Burn, and start selling wall portraits.
Then to design a structured price list, and then to adopt a simple selling system.
The structured price list was the most important thing. Once I had that, all I would have to do, was to adopt Bernie’s unique, and easy selling system.
I would show the customer the products that I have for sale, go through all of the prices, and sit back to let them make their own decisions.
Simple really. But it worked!
Having an effective photography pricing strategy, combined with a simple selection of products to sell, resulted in less work and a lot more money.
By the way, I understand if you’re charging less than $35 each for your Gift Prints of 8×10 inches, because I was doing the same.
All I can say is that you are probably cheating yourself, because I know from my own experience that the customer is willing to pay heaps more than you think.
If you love what you do, and are passionate about your photography, sometimes you forget about the money.
You take photographs because you love it. It could be the only thing that you have found that you are really good at.
I just got so tired of working so hard and having no money in the bank.
I have spent the time, money, energy, and then even more of my time to take better photographs, so why was I giving it away?
Yes it was scary at first trying to lift my self worth and lift those prices up.
But when I did, my customers respected me more, and raved about their photographs.
My advice would be to get rid of that nervous and devalued mentality, if you have it, and get help to develop a photography pricing plan and selling structure that will take you to developing a strong photography business.
Who Is Bernie Griffiths?…World’s Number One Photography Business Coach….
by photographer Andrew Hellmich
Bernie Griffiths is a business coach to wedding and portrait photographers and in this interview I ask for his professional advice on a whole bunch of things. I came onto this interview with a list of questions and it seemed each answer led to another and it was sidetrack after sidetrack with useful and actionable content a plenty.
The beauty of what Bernie has to share is that he has been in exactly the same position you are at some stage in his career. He had his own photography business for over 40 years… the difference may be that he ran his business as a business from the start and before anything else. Yes, he loved photography and creating beautiful images but he loved business just as much and as his sole income in a new country, it had to work as a business from the start.
Here is some of the business strategies he spoke to me about…..
• social media bundling for wedding clients
• selling digital files to portrait clients
• is any client the right client for your business?
• staying organised
• renting or buying photographic equipment
• advertising budgeting and getting a good deal
• where is the best place to source clients?
• what to do if bookings drop and how quick should you react?
• are photography awards important to the success of your business?
• testing and measuring your marketing efforts
• core products, what are they and do you need them?
• why you shouldn’t be looking at what other photographers are doing
• photography excellence awards
Nowadays, Bernie uses his knowledge of the industry as a business coach and was happy to share plenty of real life examples in this interview. I challenge you to not make changes in your business.
What is your big takeaway?
Following the interview, I’d love to know what your biggest takeaway is – what is the one thing that you’d like to implement after listening to what Bernie had to share? Let me and other listeners know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.
Better yet, if you do actually implement something, click on the voicemail tab to the right of the page and let me know what changes you’ve made and any differences you’ve noticed as a result.
Shout Outs
– https://www.berniegriffiths.com
Advanced Success for Wedding & Portrait Photographers – http://www.aswpp.com.au
Bernie on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/aswpp
Bernie’s Book – Success Secrets of a Professional Photographer
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paul pennell
Boom – my head just exploded and this guy is the bomb……..!!!!!
Andrew Hellmich
Haha, love your comment Paul!
How good is Bernie and how many marketing ideas does he have… what a resource he is.
Joey Joiner
Speechless!
I felt like I was Batman (Christian Bale) as he took advice from Alfred (Michael Caine)Subconsciously I kept wanting to hear Bernie say, “Yes, Master Wayne, this is how you become a Master Photographer”.
What a cool guy, this Bernie Griffiths. I could listen to him all damn day. His voice alone is amazing. He should sell an audio version of his book. Talk about sales!
I’m definitely going to be listening to this interview again. And then maybe again. Damn you, Andrew, now I’m going to have a become a premium member, to get my hands on his e-book.
What a treasure that interview was/is.
My head is spinning right now. I don’t even know what my biggest take away was/is. So much great info.
Will have to get back with you.
Many thanks!
Joey Joiner
Fort Worth, Texas
USA
And Bernie, if you’re reading this, you are amazing, Sir. Thank you for your giving us a glimpse into your wisdom.
I don’t even know what else to say right now, except a big from-the-heart Thank You!!!
Andrew Hellmich
Love the references Joey I’m sure Bernie will too!
I had the feeling that this was going to be one of those interviews that will have listeners pulling over in their cars or interrupting their retouching to take a note or two about things they can implement in their businesses. Sounds like you were happy with what Bernie shared.
Thanks for commenting Batman!
Chris & Shae Pyke
That is exactly what I was thinking! Bernie had Alfred’s voice, and wisdom. Thanks for all the great advice. Like he said, we have so many things that we aren’t taking advantage of that we should be. We have video on our cameras, and free access to youtube, so why not use them for the clients, and us with the testimonials and video thank you cards. So many great tips in this one. The interviews just seem to be getting better and better.
Chris & Shae Pyke recently posted…Family Photo Test
Te
Loved Bernie’s interview! Its so timely cause I just started mentoring with Bernie yesterday! Photography business coach.
The point about entering awards was awesome. I think it would be a massive confidence booster to win or even get positive feedback from a judge.
Now I have a bunch of things to go work on and pick his brain about
Te recently posted…City2Surf – my run & the 5 things it taught me
Andrew Hellmich
Hey Te – what a coincidence! From what Bernie had to share in this interview, it’s plain to see you are in good hands.
Can’t wait to hear about your progress! Keep us up to date.
Matt Smith
Really enjoyed Bernie in this this interview, what a wealth of information, a gentleman and devoted educator. I love how obvious but straight forward some of Bernie’s ideas are to engage the client e.g.; video interviews of the couples testimony at the reception. I think this guys mentoring services would truly be worth every cent. Thanks again Andrew for sourcing another quality interview.
Andrew Hellmich
Hi Matt – have to agree with your takeaway being one that stood out for me too. A quick video testimonial on the day or night of the wedding is so easy and I’m sure will pack loads more impact than a written sentence or two on a blog or website.
Glad you enjoyed the episode Matt.
Joey Joiner
Upon listening to the interview again, I picked up on the fact that Bernie regularly watches the Home Shopping Network (or the equivalent in Australia) in order to see and listen to how they sell/market each item. Brilliant. I never would have thought of that one.
Joey Joiner
Andrew Hellmich
Crazy good interview and to be expected, that’s the thing about Bernie, he gives it to you straight and he is always willing to help. I went and saw him at a seminar in his South Melbourne office a few months ago and now have just signed up for mentoring. I’ve done a few sessions already and looking forward to doing more. Great interview Andrew, cheers!
Andrew Hellmich
Hey Sash, thanks for adding your comments and totally agree, Bernie was great to chat to and offered plenty! Don’t forget to let us know how your business progresses as you start implementing what you learn. Who knows, we may see you on one of Bernie’s YouTube videos soon
Claire
My biggest take away was to GET COACHING FROM BERNIE!!
amazing interview, and I like the compliment he gave you about your interviewing! its very true and love listening to these!
Andrew Hellmich
1.
Shane Jackson
This was a amazing interview with Bernie!!! Thank you sooooo much for taking the time to produce this. I’m going to become a premium member soon and can’t wait to see the extra content.
I am also going to be speaking with Bernie soon..
Andrew Hellmich
Hey Shane, thanks mate, love that you’re enjoying the podcast.
You won’t be the first or only listener to get in contact with Bernie, I just received an email from Kim who started consulting with Bernie after hearing him on the show and judging by the other comments here, there will be more.
Don’t forget to stop by and let us know how it goes or better yet, leave a voicemail that I can share on the show
Caitlin McColl
Consider my mind blown by Bernie. Still in the middle of listening, but I’m loving the tips about recording testimonials for You tube and the idea of a social media bundle!
o
Jamie October 27, 2014 at 12:03 pm – Reply
Another great listen Andrew! I loved to hear Bernie’s ideas on using video testimonials. Great stuff. Why didn’t I think of that?
No wonder that Bernie is regarded as World’s number one photography business coach
photography business coach
How easy is it to get “sucked in” on the internet.or a successful photography business.
Secret 1 …From zero customers to 20 a month without any marketing.
Secret 2… One photographer making $10,000 monthly in her portrait photography within 3 weeks of starting without any selling. Secret 3… Position yourself with pricing so that customers will queue at your studio door. Secret 4… A guaranteed way to create a photography business in a competitive market, that you don’t have to work in.
Easy to believe everything you see about making money in photography, and then buy things that you will never use, or that will never do what they promised.
Do you really believe that you can make money easily in photography?
Do you really believe that you can make money while you sleep without doing too much work?
Do you really believe that you can start a photography business and turnover $100,000 in the first year?
Some educators/photographers selling various products on Facebook will tell you can have a great photography business working just a couple of hours a week, or less.
Some claim that you can succeed simply by buying their free E-book.
I guess from time to time we all look for the easy way out, the magic wand, the goose that lays the golden eggs.
We are grown up mature adults right?
You will see some of these photography educators running Facebook ads, doing free preview webinars and seminars, sending numerous emails, doing podcasts, and generally selling their fantastic money making photography products on social media.
Maybe some photographers who succumb to these unrealistic claims will have a little success, but believe me, the majority will fail.
But when we get desperate or get “sucked in” by advertising we start to believe in anything.
So what is the reality?
Creating and sustaining a successful photography business takes a lot of commitment, willpower, planning and TIME.
And, of course it takes a lot of work.
The key is to work on doing the tasks that will give you financial growth, and I don’t mean sitting at your computer playing with your files!
The alternative is learning by trial and error, which can be a big waste of your time.
We all have a certain number of hours in each day, days in each week, and weeks in each year to achieve success in our photography business.
Untested methods may work, but if you just keep doing the same things and expect things to change, then you will be very, very disappointed.
In fact, Albert Einstein once said that the definition of insanity was “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. “
I believe you can only achieve a successful photography business, by trying new things, but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
It is better to learn from those who have had many years of success, than trying to learn from a multitude of many different less experienced sources.
From my experience with over 40 years of running a successful studio, and with over 3,000 hours of coaching photographers, as a photography business coach, I can tell you that creating a consistent income stream in photography is not easy, and can be very challenging.
It also can be very fulfilling, financially rewarding, and a lot of fun.
So please mister internet don’t tell me all it takes is just an hour a week, or an 8 week online course to create my dream photography business.
In my experience what you do NEED is a real person that you can be accountable to.\
A person who you can trust, a person who can guide, advise, encourage, motivate, and help you on your journey.
You need a person to SHARE your struggles and your successes.
You can’t get this level of support off the internet.
You need a person who cares.
Let’s face it, the Internet just doesn’t care, like a person does!
Try hugging your computer after you have had a bad in person sales experience and see if it cares.
You need a wife, a partner, a husband, a really good friend or a coach.
Are You Missing Out On Facebook
Did you know that as of September 2017 there are over 17 million people a month in Australia active on Facebook.
This love of Social Media is growing at a rate of thousands of people in Australia each year.
Facebook and Instagram are the most powerful platforms available for photographers to get more clients and therefore generate new business.
I get frustrated sometimes when I’m talking to a lot of photographers and they talk about they’re not doing that well or whatever.
And then if I talk to them further and find out what they’re doing about the marketing, they’re not doing anything.
Now whether this is as you say whether it’s just that they don’t know what to do or whether they don’t see it as important, whether they think that you just open your door and you get a queue outside every morning one and the photographs taken.
That just ain’t going to happen.
So we have to get out there, as I say I can’t ever recall any day where I as I say where I would have to file on the police to say can you control all these customers outside my studio. It’s hard.
You’ve got to draw them in. Lead generation is what we’re about, we have to get leads, right?
We have to get leads, we have to get people to know about us.
Then we have to connect with those people, then we have to in a lot of cases nurture them until the time is right and it’s all about timing when the time is right for them.
But we have to be connected when that light bulb goes on the head and I think, “Yeah, I must do that.”
Look at the numbers.
The other thing is with marketing of course the difference that’s changed is people need a reason to do things, people need a reason to have the photograph taken.
The reason that I want my family photograph taken because it will be preserved for posterity is not a good enough reason.
We have to give them other reasons to draw them in.
Not many photographers know how to use their social media effectively.
They spend hours wasting their time posting on Facebook and Instagram without really knowing what they are doing or why they are doing it.
Social Media is your biggest and cheapest way available to get you leads and clients.
There are thousands of potential clients out there, who want photographs taken, and if you don’t start capturing them now, you will be left behind.
Use Facebook to grow your following, strengthen your brand and elevate your business and your income.
As a photography business coach I have created thousands of dollars for my clients from Facebook.
Facebook Rocks!
Facebook is quite simply a part of our daily lives.
Your customers are on it and your future customers are on it.
If you’re not generating business from it, you may be missing out on more enquiries and sales that you can handle.
Your Photography Business may not exist in the next 12 months if you don’t start to make Social Media a priority.
If the photographers in your town haven’t started utilising the potential and power of Social Media, then there is a good chance that they will.
Facebook Is Powerful Targeting
With Facebook you can “ bulls eye” target your customers, in your town.
You can target specific genres to photograph, choose your suburbs, how much money you want to spend on an ad, when you run ad, and you can do it all from your phone, computer or laptop.
Whether you are looking for women with newborns, engaged couples, pets, families,
kids 3-6 years old etc you can select them in your Facebook Ad.
You can also target the household income and even what car they drive!
The specific targeting available with Facebook is quite simply amazing!
Facebook is also so easy to engage with clients and prospects, and is by far the least expensive way to get clients in front of your camera.
Nothing comes close.
It also enables you to easily communicate to your audience and the wider community around you.
There are thousands of people who want your photography, and Facebook can help you find them.
Facebook Can Lift Your Brand
Facebook is still the “go to” social platform.
It has highly engaged and loyal audiences made up of consumers, businesses and brands. It is a visual platform, making it ideal for photographers like yourself.
As a photography business coach I have learned that people consume content on Facebook a little bit differently than you may think.
If you use it correctly, and avoid the pitfalls that most photographers fall into when trying their hand at posting, you will have Facebook getting you money in the bank.
I hate to see photographers struggle when I feel that I could help them.
As a photography business coach I am always looking for those photographers who want to grow their photography business a lot faster than if they were to try and work everything out by themselves.
Who Is Facebook For?
Whether you are a full time or part time photographer, if you are looking at getting more clients to your business with minimal investment, then Facebook is for you.
It’s all about making a difference in your business, and earning a lucrative living to enjoy the freedom and flexibility of being a professional photographer.
Check out this webinar recording that I did with Facebook expert Loren Bartley.
I felt that the workshop that I presented in New York was a great success, and did show that photographers around the globe face the same challenges that photographers do in Australia.
The main challenges for the photographers attending were …
Getting customers in the door
Attracting the right Customers
Getting good sales.
We had great feedback from those who attended, and they felt that the information that I had presented would help them in overcoming the challenges that they were facing.
“Presentation was great, super informative and revelatory. I just wish it was longer
Thank you very much for a great time and your fantastic book”.
Next week I am off to Atlanta in Georgia to present another workshop.
Being a photography business coach I am very nervous, but excited to be flying from New York to Atlanta in a small 40 seater plane!
Ha ha…..wish me luck.
Products Can Make You Profit
In the competitive world that photographers are in, one of the ways that we can succeed is by offering different products.
By offering a variety of products rather than selling photographs, we can start to attract a different type of customer.
A customer who doesn’t perhaps want digital files, but a customer who wants to buy images that will personalise and enhance their home decor.
Fitzgerald Photo and Jorgensen Albums have some great new products that you may have not been aware of, and Paul and his team are doing a road trip around the country to give photographers the opportunity to see and handle their new product range.
You can also attend a workshop on “How To Easily Design Portrait and Wedding Albums” and I will be doing a short presentation on my “Soft Sell System” that will help you sell more products, and take the pressure off at sale time.
Their first stop is NSW in April, with dates and places as below.
Many Portrait Photographers around the world struggle with getting more customers in front of their cameras.
Without customers there are no sales and no money!
I have spoken to photographers who are either trying to start their business or re-invigorate an existing business which is not getting results.
There is a common theme – photographers are passionate about their photography but are frustrated that they can’t get enough good customers to sustain a viable business.
They need help!
Why sit by the phone waiting for it to ring.
Get paying customers now.
How much money are you losing right now using your own marketing methods?
Wouldn’t it be great to have your camera in your hands, and be doing what you are passionate about?
Facebook Rocks
Facebook and Instagram are quite simply a part of our daily lives.
Your customers are on it and your future customers are on it.
If your are not generating business from it, you may be missing out on more enquiries and sales that you can handle.
Your Photography Business may not exist in the next 12 months if you don’t start to make Social Media a priority.
If the photographers in your town haven’t started utilising the potential and power of Social Media, then there is a good chance that they will.
Facebook Is Powerful Targeting.
With Facebook you can “ bulls eye” target your customers, in your town.
You can target specific genres to photograph, choose your suburbs, how much money you want to spend on an ad, when you run ad, and you can do it all from your phone, computer or laptop.
Whether you are looking for women with newborns, engaged couples, pets, families, kids 3-6 years old etc you can select them in your Facebook Ad.
You can also target the household income and even what car they drive!
The specific targeting available with Facebook is quite simply amazing!
Facebook is also so easy to engage with clients and prospects, and is by far the least expensive way to get clients in front of your camera. Nothing comes close.
It also enables you to easily communicate to your audience and the wider community around you.
There are thousands of people who want your photography, and Facebook can help you find them.
Instagram Can Lift Your Brand
Instagram is slowly becoming the new “go to” social platform.
It has highly engaged and loyal audiences made up of consumers, businesses and brands. Instagram is a more visual platform, making it ideal for photographers like yourself.
As a photography business coach I have learned that people create and consume content on Instagram a lot differently.
Let Murielle and myself show you how to use it correctly, so you can avoid the pitfalls that most photographers fall into when trying their hand at posting on Instagram.
Why Are We Doing This?
Many of you may be wondering why Murielle and I are giving you such valuable information, at such a cheap cost?
After Murielle and I had completed our series of “A Day For Photographers” around Australia earlier this year, many of the photographers attending told us that they would love us to do a specific presentation on how to implement Facebook and Instagram strategies into their business.
We also hate to see photographers struggle when we feel that we could help them.
As a photography business coach I am always looking for those photographers who want to grow their photography business (as Murielle did) a lot faster than if they were to try and work everything out by themselves.
WHEN……….Thursday 16 November.
WHERE……..Parkview Hotel. …562 St Kilda Road Melbourne.
TIME…………10am – 3pm.
COST …………$47.
Who Is This For?
Whether you are a full time or part time photographer, if you are looking at getting more clients to your business with minimal investment, then this is for you.
It’s all about making a difference in your business, and earning a lucrative living to enjoy the freedom and flexibility of being a professional photographer.
Our previous presentations around Australia were BOOKED OUT… so don’t miss out.
Venue capacity is limited, so the sooner you grab your ticket the better will be your chance of attending.
BERNIE GRIFFITHS The “Go To’ Photography Business Coach.
After having a successful studio for over 40 years, Bernie transitioned into being a Photography Business Coach.
He is now the “go to” coach for those studios looking at taking their business to the next level.
His studio experience, expertise in Facebook Marketing, and down to earth approach to business, has enabled him to help and guide photographers globally in growing their business processes, and generating thousands of dollars more income.
MURIELLE SASSINE “The Photography Queen of Social Media”
Murielle has run a successful photography business from home for over 17 years, and has achieved great success with her sales in the areas of family portrait and glamour photography. Her portrait sales this year have been “mind blowing” and she had a record turnover for her business, over the past 12 months, largely due to her use of Instagram and Facebook Marketing.
She will outline how she uses Social Media to create new customers and continually strengthen her already strong brand.
Andrew Hellmich from Impact Images “I used to pay for online ads that weren’t working – Google adwords and Facebook Ads. These ads weren’t generating bookings, so I used to tell myself, at least it’s good branding… my name is getting out there.
Then I stopped spending on any advertising at all. I was tired of wasting money.
Until I realised I was doing it all WRONG!!
I learnt one simple tactic from photography business coach Bernie Griffiths about Facebook Ads and booked 7 engagement shoots, made print sales to almost all the couples and booked 6 weddings from those shoots. Ahhhmaaazing!
One couple even cancelled a booking with another photographer and lost their deposit to book me, all from one ad!
I used the same tactic with another FB ad and booked over 20 portrait sessions. FROM ONE FACEBOOK AD.
Paid Facebook advertising works… if you do it right.”
Let Murielle and I show you how to create money from Facebook and Instagram.
As a Photography Business Coach I am able to get a good insight into my clients needs, in a work/life kind of way.
I mostly find that having a good a well balance life is what most of them aim for.
It certainly isn’t ALL about the money.
Yes money is important but not to the detriment of living a happy and fulfilling life.
I came across this story during the week and although i have shared it before, I feel that a lot of photographers may have not seen it.
I think that it emphasises what a photography business can be, if left unchecked.
By Paulo Coelho
A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.
“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?
“That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.
“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.
“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”
The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed.
I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such childish games.
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about this sons questioning.
How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son.
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often.
The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.
“Are you asleep son?” he asked.
“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.
“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.
“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.
Maybe a client that just didn’t order anything after you had worked so hard to take some great photos?
Maybe you have had a client that wouldn’t return your phone calls after you had left a message after they didn’t show up for their sales session, even though you had confirmed the appointment the previous day?
Being a photography business coach my clients (on the odd occasion) ask for my help in resolving difficult or confused customers.
This email was received a day after the photography session………
“Me and my partner have been talking and we are not going to be able to afford the photos after all we are not financially stable at the moment and just scraping by just to buy groceries for our family.
We are really sorry about this, but still would love to come and have a look”.
Or this the day after a purchasing session…..
“Nicole and I would like to have the picture of Will with the football printed as an 8 x 10, as included in the gift voucher we received.
Unfortunately, we will not be purchasing any of the other photos at this stage. I feel that it is important to provide you with feedback regarding the reasons why.
First and foremost, we consider the pricing to be quite expensive. Your cheapest package price of $495 is a substantial amount of money for our young family.
Having resolved that we weren’t willing to pay for a package, we discussed ordering just one or two prints, as your cheapest canvas at $750 was also out of the question. Two 5 x 7 prints would set us back $290.
To put this in context – if we went to an above average print shop, to print a 16 x 20 canvas there the cost is $125; two 5 x 7 premium matted photo prints is $10; the cost of printing your cheapest package would be $31.20.
Whilst I appreciate you are a professional running a business for profit, these differences in pricing seem large.
Even considering our thoughts on pricing, we are still human and swayed by emotion. Had there been an outstanding family shot with all four of us in frame that we fell in love with – unquestionably we would have been more inclined to justify the purchase.
For whatever reason, out of the 20-30 pictures we viewed there were only a handful that had us all in frame and certainly from our opinion none of these fell into that category.
Overall, we were left feeling slightly disappointed with the whole-family shots. Although we did really like a couple of the shots with just Will and several of the shots where Nicole wasn’t in them; it was important to us to get at least one shot with us all together.
I hope this helps you to understand our decision. Kind regards, John and Nicole.”
What about this after a purchasing session, which only the mother attended.
“It was lovely to see you today and to see the amazing photographs that you have taken of my babies. I loved them.
My husband however, is furious that I have agreed to spend way more than we can afford. This is not your fault – totally my own – I’m just wondering if there is anything we can do now that I’ve already paid the deposit.
I wouldn’t ask this if I wasn’t desperate, but is there any possibility of you reducing the final cost?
Colin is comparing it to professional photographs taken of the children at pre-school (6 x individual portraits professionally printed at 5×7 in a book plus one 12×8 for a total of $49).
I think he feels like we’ve been duped as I originally told him it was donation for the charity of $50 which included a professional print.
Like I said, this is my fault, I felt somewhat under pressure to buy the pictures (which I love) but I’m now in a position whereby I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.
My husband accepts that the cost of the custom framing is possibly not unreasonable but is flabbergasted that I have agreed to the cost of the photographs themselves.
I hate to ask, but please let me know if there is any possibility that you can help us by reducing the final cost. Thanks ..Jess”
Even the biggest and best business has its share of customer complaints, but the key is to handle them in a professional way.
The old saying that “the customer is always right” is not always true.
The challenge in my photography business was always to turn a complaining customer into a raving fan!
I have done this many times, and I must admit it took me a while to learn how to do this.
The first thing you must do is take the emotion out of the conversation, although you may have been hurt by what the customer has said.
A complaint can be upsetting and emotionally draining, so it is best to act (after careful thought) and get back to the client quickly.
Do not treat any complaint as though it is trivial, as it gives out a negative vibe toward you and your business.
In my experience as a photography business coach, the longer you leave the complaint unresolved, the more sleep you will lose.
Base the path toward a resolution on the facts of the complaint.
MAKE SURE YOU LISTEN to the customer and hear what they say.
Firstly THANK THEM for bringing it to your atention.
This will surprise them and will give them a sense that you are taking it seriously and are willing to solve the problem.
Get the customer to write down exactly what it is that they are not happy with, especially if there is more than one thing that they are unhappy with.
Then think about “giving in” to some of their demands and work towards a compromise to resolve the issue/s.
Having a structure and meeting a customer’s complaints head on will enable you to obtain a fairly quick and equitable solution.
Turn them into a raving fan by giving them something extra like doing an extra print or one or two files of files.
Remember……your challenge is to turn them into raving fans.
Facebook Ads Equals Customers And Sales
Being a Photography Business Coach I have done a lot of marketing over the years and as much as I’m happy to work on SEO, build relationships with other business owners for 3rd party marketing opportunities, sponsor raffles and auctions, have a newsletter and email list, go to bridal expos… Facebook remains by far the best way to get new customers and create income.
Learn how easy it is to have your ideal clients chasing you up for shoots, with this step by step Facebook Ads Course.
The beauty of these proven Facebook ads for photographers, no matter if you’re shooting weddings or portraits – and when I say portraits, it could be newborns, toddlers, families, pets or couples – using targeted ads the way I cover in the course, means you you can reach your best clients so easily.
If you want to grow your photography business and get some consistency, do this simple and repeatable system. There are only a few things to implement and you’ll be off and running.
PLUS if you buy the course within the next 3 days I will give you a FREE ONE HOUR Coaching Session, and answer all your questions to help your business grow.
🙂
