#122: How Rachael Transformed Her Brand Session Experience
Take It Personally
Rachel, of Rhody Ray, shares her journey from having a scattered approach to photography to niching down and strategizing her brand photography business. Through the Build a Strategic Brand Session training and Rebrand coaching, Rachel was able to have a plan to transition from wedding photography to brand photography, while keeping her clients top of mind. Rachel discusses the challenges of shifting her brand's focus, the importance of strategic planning and client questionnaires, and how pitching to potential clients has enhanced her business and confidence. Her experience with returning...
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#121: The One Thing You Need to Sell Out Your Mini Sessions
Take It Personally
So often I hear from other photographers that their mini sessions were a failure. When asking them about it, they share they only promoted it a few times but because no one was booking, they stopped sharing about it. This mistake of essentially quitting before starting is something I commonly see with mini sessions. The only way to fill your mini sessions though is to talk about them! Many photographers get really in their head about marketing their mini sessions, but their mindset around it is so important, which is the topic of this episode. Any time you are struggling to market your mini...
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#120: How Sean Booked 30 Mini Sessions as a New Photographer
Take It Personally
In this episode of Take It Personally, Sean, owner of Unique Unicorn Photography, shares his transformative experience with the . Initially struggling to attract clients after deciding to fully commit to their photography business, Sean and his wife discovered mini sessions as a strategic entry point for client acquisition. The episode delves into how this approach not only built their portfolio rapidly but also significantly increased their client base by booking 30 families during a single weekend. Sean discusses the importance of marketing, branding consistency, and the value of community...
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#119: How I Consistently Have High-4-Figure Mini Session Days
Take It Personally
In this episode, I share my successful strategy for conducting high-4-figure mini session days! Since starting mini sessions in 2020, I have seen significant revenue growth and average $7,000 on these mini session days. I'll be sharing an overview of the simple strategy I have in my business that allows me to accomplish this. Here are the main highlights from this episode: 00:52 My Mini Session Journey: From Start to Success 01:58 Strategic Insights: Transforming Mini Sessions into Brand Builders 03:29 Yearly Growth: A Deep Dive into My Mini Session Evolution 05:55 Maximizing Profits with...
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#118: Do I Really Need an Email List as a Local Business?
Take It Personally
The topic of email marketing seems to be coming up more and more both inside of , my group coaching program, and just in general. When I am talking to other creatives, it's always things like, "Do I really need an email list? Should I start using email as opposed to social media?" I've utilized email marketing in my business and am a huge believer in it. But I personally have a few issues with how email is being sold to a lot of creative entrepreneurs, specifically local service providers, like photographers who serve a local market. If that is you and you've had related questions about...
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#117: Leveraging AI in your Photo Business with Tech Savvy Creative
Take It Personally
Dawn is a former software engineer, turned wedding photographer, who pivoted back to technology to assist creatives in overcoming their intimidation with tech. Dawn is currently juggling roles as a Product Marketing Manager at Flodesk and running Tech Savvy Creative. In this episode, she shares her journey and the importance of integrating technology into creative professions. Topics we discuss in this episode are the transformative power of AI in photography, tools like ChatGPT for content creation, highlighting how AI tools can significantly save time and enhance productivity, and tools for...
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#116: How I'd Handle Business Money Differently If I Were Starting Over with Gina Knox
Take It Personally
One of my goals at the beginning of 2024 was to act like a grown up when it comes to my finances, and I have to say, I'm killing it so far–and that is in huge part to the program 6 Figure Saver. I'm thrilled to have Gina Knox, the financial coach behind 6 Figure Saver, on the podcast today. Gina is known in her circle as Money's Mom, and helps entrepreneurs with variable income save six figures in their businesses. In under three months, I've saved just shy of $40,000 in this program without cutting expenses or strict budgeting. Instead, Gina emphasizes the significance of spending on the...
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#115: Using Blogging to Connect with Ideal Clients with Kate Wark
Take It Personally
Kate has been on the podcast before talking about , and I love what Kate is doing with her business. Her photography business sort of started “accidentally” and after working together in , she was able to drop down to part-time in her 9-5 to be able to spend more time on her photography business. Alongside taking brand photos, Kate also helps clients with copywriting! She took her PR skills to be able to grow another arm in her business where she offers blogging services to creatives. Visuals are a huge part of personal branding, but messaging is so important too. Kate is sharing tips...
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#114: Why Personal Branding is CRUCIAL as a Photographer
Take It Personally
I did my annual mini session day in January, and I had multiple photographers be a part of it. They admitted to me they felt uncomfortable on the other side of the camera. It essentially allowed them to have more empathy for their clients because they can understand how it feels being in front of the camera during a branding session. I think this is a crucial part of building a personal brand and specifically as a brand photographer. You can tell your clients everything about how branding photos are important and how people will connect with photos of themselves more and they can help them...
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#113: What to Post If You Want to Book More Clients
Take It Personally
In the last episode of Take It Personally, we talked about attracting your dream clients and treating social media like a giant networking event. A second part to this is related to a question I get asked frequently in various ways: “What should I be posting?” If you’ve wondered what you should post if you want to book more clients, grow your business, stand out as a brand photographer, etc., this episode will be covering it all. Here are the main topics discussed: Getting back into a place of service and figuring out how you can help Using frequently asked questions for content...
info_outlineI have been approaching sales a bit differently in my business for the past year and a half. I used to rely really heavily on social media for sales and overall recognition. I still love social media, but I have been relying more on email marketing!
I have been pleasantly surprised at the results that I’ve had and the increase in sales I’ve made by focusing on email marketing, both for products and in-person services. One of the changes that I’ve implemented more recently that has been a game changer in my launch is what I want to share with you today.
I gave waitlist launching a go with my Content Toolkit product (it’s basically the ‘what’ when it comes to “what do I post on social media?”). I launched this product on Black Friday, and I launched it to a waitlist. It did really well and sold primarily to those on the waitlist.
In episode #50, I shared about launching to my waitlist for my brand mini sessions that led to a $5,000 successful day. I think a lot of that success came from waitlist launching, but you can listen to it here because there were other factors that also went into it.
All that to say, waitlist launching has been really helpful within my business! I know you might be thinking, “Ugh, I don’t want to do more with email.” But please keep listening because I believe that waitlists are really a great way to get started with email that can actually be simpler and less overwhelming than creating a freebie or funnels.
So let’s talk about it! Why waitlist launch at all? How will it help your business? How do you go about it? Here are the main things I discussed in this episode:
- Taking pressure off of selling on social media
- Gauging your audience’s interest before you start launching
- What it means when someone is signing up for your waitlist
- What to do if sign ups for your waitlist are slow
- My favorite email platform
- Why people are more likely to buy via email rather than social media
- Creating landing pages and segmenting
- Utilizing Instagram story links to get people on your list
- Quality over quantity
- Giving your waitlist first access
- How this can build your confidence
- Offering a discount to the waitlist
If you are ready to grow your email list or preparing to launch, I encourage you to experiment with waitlists! I've seen a lot of great results from this method within my own business and think it can provide great results for you too.
I mentioned my favorite email marketing platform within the episode - Flodesk! You can get started with Flodesk and get 50% off your subscription here.
If you are curious to learn more about using email within your business, check out this episode of Take It Personally: Episode #44: Everything You Need to Know About Starting an Email List with Jenny Roth
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Full show notes here
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