From behind the lens to going viral on TikTok: Angela Brushe's Story

Join us for a lively start to Season 3 of Wedding Empires, where we sit down with the talented Angela Brushe, a photographer whose journey from Adelaide to the Sunshine Coast is as captivating as it is humorous. Angela shares her childhood fascination with photography, sparked by a simple camera gift, and her unexpected detour that landed her amid a thriving wedding scene. Her tales of navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, all with a touch of serendipity and resilience, add both depth and delight to our conversation.

Curious about the magic behind viral social media content? Angela spills the beans on her reluctant yet rewarding plunge into TikTok during the pandemic. Her authentic, behind-the-scenes wedding footage, peppered with humor, garnered significant attention and taught her valuable lessons about the unpredictability of viral fame. Explore with us the balancing act of maintaining personal authenticity while upholding professionalism online, and how Angela crafts connections with her audience through relatable storytelling.

For those eager to boost their social media prowess, Angela’s insights are a treasure trove. From TikTok to Instagram, her thriving online presence serves as both inspiration and guidance for budding photographers. Angela discusses her mentorship services, providing a helping hand to those keen to master digital branding. Whether you’re drawn to her stunning photography or seeking advice on elevating your own social media game, this episode offers a wealth of knowledge and inspiration for anyone in the creative industry.

To find out more about Angela visit: www.angelabrushephotography.com 

Chapters

• 0:00 Wedding Industry Experiences and Challenges
• 8:38 Social Media Growth and Engagement
• 23:42 Balancing Personal and Professional on Socials
• 36:57 Social Media and Photography Collaboration

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:28

Hey everyone, it's Ben and Jack, and welcome back to Season 3, episode 1 of Wedding Empires.

Speaker 2: 0:34

I didn't think that I'd get that much commitment out of you Three seasons.

Speaker 1: 0:37

Wow, I know I'm just as shocked as you are to be here All this much material actually. Ben, I'm surprised, as you are.

Speaker 2: 0:48

But here we are. Here we are. It's been a while, definitely.

Speaker 1: 0:51

It has been a long time between drinks and you're on water today, which is are you all right? I don't.

Speaker 2: 0:56

You're covering your last night's wine. What are?

Speaker 1: 0:58

you talking about. I did a wedding yesterday. My lovely other half helped me with the wedding yesterday and it was large.

Speaker 2: 1:07

Yes, Okay, big night, we both saw it today.

Speaker 1: 1:10

Ah, okay, we both look all right, considering Quite secondhand. Yes, she does look fantastic Anyway the joys of working in weddings.

Speaker 2: 1:18

Now we have somebody with us who, I'm sure, also understands the joys of working in weddings.

Speaker 3: 1:25

Is that right, Angela?

Speaker 1: 1:30

Yes, I also shot a wedding yesterday.

Speaker 2: 1:32

Look, that was a good segue.

Speaker 1: 1:36

I love a cheesy segue that. So we want to welcome Angela Bruch with us today. Angela is an amazing photographer from the Sunshine Coast, as well as many other things. So, angela, do you want to share a bit about Angela who's Angela? And give us a bit about your background?

Speaker 3: 1:49

Well, hey, I'm. I'm a photographer from the Sunshine Coast. I actually originally grew up in Adelaide. I had a passion for photography since I was about 14. It was the weirdest thing. I remember my dad handing me this little point and shoot camera at one of my mom's singing events and he was just like, oh, angela, just go take some photos. And I was like, oh, okay, and then I just got really excited and I started doing all these different angles. And then, I think, like a couple of weeks later, I said to Dad, oh, I think I might want to do photography. And my parents went, oh, here's another hobby that's going to cost us money. But lo and behold, dad took me to Harvey Norman and I got a Canon 1000D at the time. And then, I think about two months later, I was enrolled in a Cert IV, which I did between. I started it at the end of year 10 and then it went to the end of high school. So during high school I was then also doing a Cert for in photography and then, after high school, I went and did an advanced diploma of photography.

Speaker 3: 2:59

Then, in between all of that, on the weekends I was second shooting weddings in Adelaide and then I was probably just paddling about for about a year between aftertaste and then I found a job on the Sunshine Coast which I actually originally thought I was applying for a job at the Gold Coast. And then they called me from Maroochydore and they were like, can you come up for an interview? And I was like, sure, where is it? And they were like Maroochydore? And I was like, oh cool, I definitely thought this was the Gold Coast. Anyway, came up and then started to work in that photography studio for about nine months. During that time I just started to think, oh, I'm not really happy with this full-time wage. I kind of would like to earn a bit more money. And I kind of thought, well, I have a bit of experience second, shooting weddings, why don't I just advertise for weddings? And of all things I advertised on Gumtree, which I would not touch Gumtree with a 10-foot pole these days, neither would I as a groom.

Speaker 3: 4:06

Yeah, this is going back to like 2017. So, like 2017, I started with this sale on Gumtree and had a couple people inquire. I remember one of my first clients wanted photos at One Tree Hill. And it's so funny because at the time I was like what's One Tree Hill? Like who cares about One Tree Hill? Like so weird. I was like what, what is what is this place?

Speaker 3: 4:33

Anyway, rocked up, obviously realized it was one of the most photographed places on the Sunshine Coast for weddings.

Speaker 3: 4:40

So I just got a couple banger photos from there, pretty much just pushed that photo that I got from One Tree Hill on socials for about a year and it just like made people think that I'd been on the Sunshine Coast for years, when in fact, I had been photographing weddings on the Sunshine Coast for about three months. So, and then from there it just kind of like took off, took off, took off, and I just also had no idea that I had moved to the number one spot in Australia for weddings. So business just zoomed and then I went and then I decided to quit my job at the end of 2019, a glorious four months before COVID hit. I was so excited. I was like, wow, I can finally. I can finally leave my job and be self-employed. And then, four months later, covid, yeah, um, but we all pulled through COVID, so that was good, and it's brought us here today right wow, yeah, it was such a great industry to be in, wasn't it?

Speaker 2: 5:44

I had a wedding planning business and a travel agent license it was just like bombshell, bombshell yeah and then no. Just you know the stress, the refunds, the credits, the without. With me as a wedding planner, most of our job was done before the day, so you know to have some someone say you know, oh, we're not, we can't go ahead, so can we get a refund? Um, you know, so that was, that was challenging yeah yeah, I think I got quite lucky.

Speaker 3: 6:17

I think I had maybe only one or two people request a refund. Most of my couples actually went, just moved the date by a year or they just kept it in that year, just had a much smaller wedding or just like moved it further than a year. But I I somehow got very lucky during that time. Don't ask me how. I just thank all my blessings I was.

Speaker 1: 6:41

I was one of those people as well. I got, I got pretty lucky during that time as well, so a lot of my clients just moved and I was one of these people that didn't make it hard, like because this everyone was everyone was giving back deposits and then charging fees for changing dates and I'm just like no.

Speaker 3: 6:57

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 6:58

Just, we've got to wear it.

Speaker 3: 7:00

Yeah, I was the same. I was just like I don't really want to make this any harder for anyone than it has to be. Especially, it's not like anyone's got COVID coming, so you couldn't just be like, oh well, this is an inconvenient reason. It's like well, the entire world has had this thing happen to them. Like we may as well just try and work through it together rather than trying to get more money out of people.

Speaker 1: 7:24

In my opinion, it's a good run through if something stupid ever happens again which I'm sure it will.

Speaker 2: 7:29

Yeah, look, I ended up spending a lot of money getting all my contracts redone. Happens again, which I'm sure? Yeah, look, I, I ended up spending a lot of money getting all my contracts redone. Uh, I had to be done by a lawyer, but, yeah, I, I thought, you know what, during this off time there were a lot of things that I tweaked on the website and whatnot, but we definitely got. It was expensive, it was a couple, you know, maybe six grand or something to get them all redone, but it was just watertight. You know, in that, if this happens, yes, you know, yes, we can move the date and whatnot, but if there's additional work required, it will be charged at this hourly rate, you know, to move things around and whatnot. Like all that stuff was fixed. So, you know, I've since sold that business, but it's now definitely sort of protected for the future if something like that happens again.

Speaker 1: 8:07

Speaking of the future, oh, here we go, well, no, we're going to go to the present. Oh, here we go, well, no, we're going to go to the present. So, angela, because I'm the one who's put all these questions together, I've got to tell you I do everything in this podcast, for God's sake, oh, whatever. So, because I've come up with all these questions, I'll probably be asking most of them, and Jack's just going to nod and smile for a bit of it, he reckons.

Speaker 3: 8:29

Nod and smile, but it's audio. Only he reckons. Not his smile, but his audio only.

Speaker 1: 8:32

Yeah, yeah, that's it. Yeah, Shut up, angela, just spitting crap. I've noticed you over the last sort of year or two. You've become a bit of a social media kind of queen, shall I say, on the Sunshine Coast and there's a lot. You look on Instagram and there's a lot of Angela around.

Speaker 3: 8:55

So, in the most positive way, I'm definitely a bit hard to miss. I will say yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 9:02

So for everyone. Can you tell us, like, how, for the greater audience, how have you managed to grow your social media and do so so effectively and relatively quickly? Here we go, that's a great.

Speaker 3: 9:14

You know what, ben? That's a great question. We're going to start at the beginning.

Speaker 1: 9:17

I did send you this before.

Speaker 3: 9:19

Which is almost going to lead off from where we just finished. Right Start of COVID. Let's get to it. So, start of COVID. What did most people do? They jumped on TikTok.

Speaker 3: 9:32

Yep of COVID what did most people do? They jumped on TikTok and I refused to look at TikTok for, I want to say, a good couple of months. And then I had to do two weeks isolation at my parents' house in Adelaide. And so I downloaded TikTok and firstly, I started it as a personal one and I was just uploading some funny videos don't worry, those videos are all gone, you will never be able to find them but then I decided to then I decided to make one for Angela Bruce photography because I had for the last two and a half years, up to that point, I was taking behind the scenes at a whole heap of weddings.

Speaker 3: 10:11

So I had all these behind the scenes from weddings of, like funny moments groom reactions, champagne pops, you name it fun, posing ideas, whatever and I just went, I'll just, I'll give it a go, I'll start posting them. I remember the first video that I put on TikTok. That went viral. I was sitting on my parents' couch and just watching the view numbers go up and I was just like mum and dad, I will take my dinner on a gold plate, thank you, I am viral, and anyway. And then from there I just you know what it is. I think, more than anything, it's posting consistently. For one thing, the algorithm just likes you more when you post consistently. So then, once that one video on TikTok went off, a lot of my other videos started to go off.

Speaker 1: 11:06

So can I jump in there? Yeah, the first video that you said went off for you. What were the characteristics of that video? Because we quite often hear people say, hey, yeah, we had a video that went viral, but they don't actually like no one shares what the characteristics of that video were Like. What made it go viral is kind of how graphic can I get?

Speaker 3: 11:35

Because there's one element to the video that that's why it went viral.

Speaker 1: 11:39

Okay, Right on share.

Speaker 3: 11:42

Okay. So it was the first one that went viral was from groom prep, and I love to do this one shot where I get the groom in front, I don't tell him what's happening, I get all the boys behind the groom, I get them far enough away that the groom realistically shouldn't be able to hear, and I get him into a bit of a huddle and I go all right, I want you guys to like run at him, give him like a big hug. Don't tackle him, don't injure him, don't injure the suit, but I want you to give him like a big hug, give him a bit of a jump scare. There was about seven groomsmen. They'd all had about a couple of beers each.

Speaker 3: 12:22

I didn't even actually notice this until the comments started to come through, but so they all run at him and he's super scared and it's really funny. And then one of the groomsmen one of the groomsman's hands, went up and under his pants for like half a second, but like. So it was like a little like sack tap, but because it was in slow-mo, it was just this little like quick sack tap and then the hand went back out.

Speaker 3: 12:45

Never heard of this and then all these comments just started going. Did you see the hand? And I was like I didn't even see the hand until people started commenting that.

Speaker 1: 12:54

I was like I didn't even see the hand until people started commenting that I was expecting something more outrageous, like a groomsman running up with his wang out or something like that.

Speaker 3: 13:03

Wow, I don't know what the rating is on this. I don't know if you've got it rated as G or PG.

Speaker 2: 13:08

Can I just ask? My most important question is where does the phrase sack tap come from?

Speaker 1: 13:14

My most important question is where does the phrase sack tap come from? Is there normally a sack where what, what's that name? I've heard a sack where I know.

Speaker 2: 13:22

Sack tap. No, is it?

Speaker 1: 13:24

a thing For everyone listening. Jack lives under a rock.

Speaker 2: 13:28

Well, I can assure you I don't. But is it like a preference thing People go I'm into sack taps. No, no a. Is it like a preference thing, people?

Speaker 1: 13:34

go. I'm into sack taps. No, no, no, it's just, it's a boy thing like what do you mean? Walk past and just go like with the outside, like the back hand of their hand, like just walk past and go like that, and just a little one like that, like that, that'll fold you in half I just broke the third wall.

Speaker 2: 13:55

There's another person here. Fourth, wall.

Speaker 1: 14:00

A well-timed and well-placed sack whack will fold you in half as a boy.

Speaker 2: 14:04

Wow, sorry to all the ladies that are listening to this.

Speaker 1: 14:09

Anyway, I'm sorry, yeah.

Speaker 3: 14:11

I know. Another good one is sometimes you see the guy's face just go ooh, because someone's like stuck a finger.

Speaker 2: 14:19

Okay, all right let's go back to TikTok Eject, eject. I think. The point, though, is that you can get all at weddings is what we're saying. Well, it's the stuff that maybe you think about cutting out, is the stuff that might make you viral. Yeah, is that the lesson.

Speaker 3: 14:37

It's all the. I personally find the moments that people go viral for are usually the moments that you might not necessarily think to have the camera out, but you just happen to be recording at the right time and you just post it. But the other thing to consider is you could even post something at the right time that you think it's the right time, but then it's not the right time and the algorithm doesn't boost it. So it's like I can't even just sit here and say, oh, if you do this, this, this, this and this, you'll go viral. It's like you could do this, this, this, this and this and this, you'll go viral. It's like you could do this, this, this, this and this, and the algorithm could just go nuts. Or you could just post something at a completely indifferent time, like you know 10 pm, and then, for whatever reason, the algorithm goes, love that going to boost that.

Speaker 2: 15:30

But consistency is definitely.

Speaker 3: 15:32

I would say consistency is probably the hardest thing to do, but the thing that helps you through.

Speaker 1: 15:42

I'm going to agree with that because over the last couple of weeks I've been posting a bit of behind-the-scenes stuff, yep, and I did a wedding for a couple of gay guys a couple of weeks back and I love doing same-sex weddings because it's just, it's a riot the whole day long. There's no traditions, there's no nothing, it's just fun and wild and and there was a lot of inappropriate things that were said and done by them and myself at that wedding and I've been posting them on instagram like just short little clips with the actual photo that I took. Much to my horror, some of those or all of those clips have gotten more attention and more views and more everything else than my beautiful photographs that I've been training myself for 20 years to take.

Speaker 3: 16:29

Oh, what was that one I commented on the other day, the one that was like she was like spitting, or he was spitting the champagne like out of his mouth so the groom's drinking the champagne.

Speaker 1: 16:38

They're back to back and she's spitting out a mouthful of champagne. That's, it's fantastic. And then there's one of me lying on my back shooting this gay wedding and I'm the one going who's your daddy? And they're losing it and yeah. So, wow, there you go. So I guess, in answer to that consistency and the things that you may not think should be shown so much, could probably be shown more.

Speaker 3: 17:08

Look, I would say and this is relevant to the 20th of October 2024, because in three months time it could change, but at the moment I'm finding the best ways to potentially go viral is use of relevant hashtags. We're not using too many hashtags, so I never really tag more than like five to seven hashtags. Tag more than like five to seven hashtags, um, using a trending sound because, realistically, unless you're a famous person, no one really cares about your original sound. It needs to be something that's trending, or a song that's trending in the background and then the algorithm likes that, tries to boost that more because it's showing that people are engaged to it. Yeah, um, and then you also need to be posting with a purpose. So it's like you need to genuinely find that video funny, sentimental, emotional, whatever. If you don't actually think it's funny, no one else is going to think it's funny.

Speaker 2: 18:07

That's a really big point. Yeah, I like that.

Speaker 3: 18:10

Or like if you don't find it sad, no one else is going to find it sad. If you don't find it, if it doesn't tug at your heartstrings, why would it tug at anyone else's heartstrings? You have to believe in what you're posting. Like if you just post for the sake of posting, people are going to see that so I'd like to know how are you turning these interactions into actual inquiries?

Speaker 2: 18:32

you know whether it's views or likes or whatever like. Have you got tips around transferring them into an actual lead?

Speaker 3: 18:41

so the interesting thing with reels and tiktoks is that I wouldn't necessarily say that it's then turning into actual bookings straight away. Like the whole thing with weddings is that you've got to play the long game right. So I get a lot of people that will say, from a viral video they'll start following me, but then they might not actually get engaged for like 18 months. But all you've got to do is get them to your profile, get them to start following you, and then then from there they start to see my stories, they start to see my posts I pop up more often. They then start to feel like they know me. By the time they actually get engaged then they're like, oh my god, ang, I've been watching your videos for so long, I'm finally engaged. Can you see if you're free on my wedding day?

Speaker 1: 19:32

yeah, great, okay, so it's essentially a multiple touch point situation and do you have anything um like, how techie are you?

Speaker 2: 19:40

do you have anything set up where, like you do a deal and someone dms you and? And do you play with any of those sort of tricks and messenger like funnels and things like that?

Speaker 3: 19:51

um, from time from time to time I'll do discounts off packages. I try not to do them too often because otherwise I feel like it devalues your business. If you are just constantly doing a sale, people will just wait for the sale, you know what I mean so?

Speaker 3: 20:09

you don't. Ideally you want people paying the price that the package is. You don't want them coming in on a sale. But in saying that, you know, coming up to Christmas like when it's Christmas time, when it's a quieter time you know I do like to do a sale here and there. I usually don't let them go for too long. It's usually, like you know, three days. Get your inquiry in, get your booking in, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 20:40

So I was talking to you a couple of weeks back now at an event we had on the Sunshine Coast here and I was telling you how my Facebook ads account had been disabled because they didn't like my payment gateway and blah, blah blah, and you had a bit of a laugh and you said who needs to be calling me about Facebook ads and that sort of stuff? I do great on social media already. So my question there is social media ads or sort of traditional and digital marketing. Is that something that you use or do you just rely on the generation of leads through your organic content that you post out?

Speaker 3: 22:39

I would say these days I don't really touch Facebook ads. I will do boosted posts on Instagram, but I don't really do a lot of specific ad marketing, purely because I feel like these days, with everyone a lot more engaged in short form videos and just funny things that when you try and just purposefully sell to people, they're just disinterested, they don't want to be sold to. They would prefer to, you know, have a feel like they have a connection with you or a you know, friendship with you and then they're more likely to book. That's why I try and just always update my stories and update this and update that, because then when they are finally looking to do a family shoot or they're looking to get married or they're looking for a photographer for something, then when that story pops up, they go oh, that's right, that's that photographer that I've been following.

Speaker 1: 23:42

Yeah, so I'm going to go a bit rogue here.

Speaker 2: 23:51

I've got questions not on here and jack's like leaning. Well, I have a few questions of my own that I just thought up with my own brain did I not do one.

Speaker 3: 23:59

Well, you kind of, yeah, you did I didn't like your one I, so I hate it when mom and dad fight whatever.

Speaker 1: 24:05

Just it's been a while so I now I forgot what I was gonna say. Oh yeah, the personal side of things. So you spoke about authenticity. Before and over the the last couple of years that I I have noticed, ang, everywhere there's been like a you're laughing now. There's been a bit of personal stuff that I've seen. So there's there's been, you know, reels of you sitting on the floor cross-legged, talking to the, talking to the phone and that sort of stuff there's. I've seen photos of you from, from um, like not kind of semi-boudoir sort of shoots and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 24:43

How, how does the, the authentic, personal stuff go alongside, I guess, the, the more, what's what's the word? I'm looking for, the, the, the stuff that you don't expect to see on a wedding day, so the behind the scenes stuff versus the personal stuff, because I I've seen you do a lot of both and I'm curious as to you know how, how things have gone in that regard and and whether you've seen a difference in engagement and it goes back to the whole authenticity thing so I always find that minus the viral reels that I make, the posts like the stagnant posts that I make that usually get the most engagement is when I say something about my life, whether that's a story, like on my stories, or whether that's just like a post of, like a.

Speaker 3: 25:33

This is what's been going on recently. Like I genuinely think people just enjoy getting to know the person behind the screen. They don't just want to view you as again this salesy person that's trying to get a wedding, like they want to have a friendship with you. Like I would feel confident in saying that majority of my clients even if I don't necessarily meet them before the day, they usually feel like I can walk into that wedding and pretty much just feel like a friend because they've been following me on Instagram for that long or they've been replying to my stories, they've been doing this, they've been doing that. Um, so I feel like but and I do I do also feel like it's a. It's a fine balance.

Speaker 3: 26:20

I don't want to get too personal because also the amount of people that I have my business profile don't need to know everything that's super personal about me, but I do feel like letting people in about general things or things that are affecting a lot of people at the moment, and just showing that, like I am human, like sometimes I have weeks where I just don't want to edit or I'm very overwhelmed with editing. Like at the moment I'm very overwhelmed with editing. It is like me behind a computer for like 12 hours a day doing the photo editing and the video editing, plus doing the sneak peeks, plus doing the admin, plus doing meetings. Like it's a lot. But I feel like people appreciate it more when you're actually just honest about it rather than just trying to be like oh guys, like it's all good, it's fine, like everyone's just, like that's bullshit.

Speaker 2: 27:16

Like yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1: 27:18

I'm. I find that, so it's counterintuitive for me Like I'm repressed head case.

Speaker 2: 27:25

If they really knew, they'd run.

Speaker 3: 27:29

But that's what I mean. It's like it's a very fine balance of like you don't want it, like I do see some businesses that I would consider it possibly too much of an overshare, like I and I do feel like there's a difference between the personal stuff that you might see on Angela Bruce photography versus the personal stuff you see on my personal Instagram. So it's like if you're seeing the stories on my personal Instagram, you know that you're there to like see the fun, see me on a holiday, like see me out drinking, like all the fun things like on Angela Bruce photography. I would never post me like having a drink and like out partying. You know what I mean. So it's like being professional but being relatable. And then it's like if you want to see like Ang justge, it's like you can just go to my personal account. But I do prefer to like keep those two things separate.

Speaker 1: 28:27

Separate. So, as a creative or as an artist, I really struggle to differentiate myself from my work, and I think there's probably a whole lot of creatives out there that are listening to this that probably feel the same way, and I'm just not one of these people. That sort of goes oh, I'm just going to share a whole lot of not personal stuff, but share stuff about me on social media because I'm like, do people really want to hear that? Do people really want to know? Like, do they really want to know about the repressed head case that is me?

Speaker 2: 28:58

I don't know. There's a lot to that question, because I think of, like I love the Real Housewives, for example, I think of Bethany's, just come to mind, if any of you know who that is. I don't know who you're talking about. You do? No, I don't.

Speaker 3: 29:13

Okay, well, she was a Real Housewife. My guilty pleasure was the Real Housewives of Melbourne.

Speaker 2: 29:18

Yeah, there you go Loved it.

Speaker 2: 29:26

Bethany's just come to mind because she went on a reality show. Uh, she came up with the skinny girl margarita. She sold it to jim beam for like 100 million dollars or whatever. Um, and now she's, you know, super famous, got this whole skinny girl brand, which has turned into shapewear and all the rest of it and but everything is authentically her and her podcast is is like she's she's super smart but she's ditzy and she tells these funny like stories that are like stuff that's really happening in her life her divorce, her being a single mom, now, um, and and I just lap it up like because she's just it's like if she didn't do that you'd be be like, oh, that's Bethany and she's a businesswoman or whatever. But listening to these stories, I kind of buy into her brand and her public persona much more.

Speaker 2: 30:11

Right yep, but I don't know like, that's just an example that came to mind in that you know that's somebody who does it really well and she's warts and all what she's showing. You know the ups and the downs, the divorce, the. You know all that sort of stuff.

Speaker 1: 30:25

So I guess the moral of the story is creatives, don't be afraid to share yourself and your work.

Speaker 2: 30:30

Just maybe not your OnlyFans.

Speaker 1: 30:35

Well, I don't have one of those, so the link to Jack's OnlyFans.

Speaker 3: 30:46

Follow my link in bio Spicy link.

Speaker 1: 30:48

Yes, yes. So I guess, angela, to sort of wrap us up a little bit, what advice would you give someone who's just starting out their business when it comes to socials, like what platforms, what should they do, you know, and that sort of thing?

Speaker 3: 31:03

It's really hard because this might get outdated very quickly because social media changes so much all the time. So you say back in 2020 to probably beginning of 2022, I would have said TikTok, I would have said TikTok. Now I just I'm not going to say that TikTok's nothing, but I do feel like the algorithm has changed quite significantly, that they're trying to go more towards paid ads and they're not doing as much of just letting videos just go viral unless you're paying. So these days I've actually found it better on Instagram. Um, probably at the beginning of the year, I started actively trying on YouTube. Um, because I had an instance where I had this groom reaction go just absolutely gangbusters, I think, across all my socials. It would have got by now over 30 million views, wow.

Speaker 3: 32:05

And this one company had messaged me and had been like oh, can we use your video on YouTube? And me, being naive, I went, oh, yeah, sure, like I don't care, like that's cool, like I'm not making any money off it, like go for it. Like you know if I can get some exposure, just make sure you know. You tag Angela Bruce photography. Um, anyway.

Speaker 3: 32:29

And then it was so funny, my, my boyfriend, who does not use social media but he watches YouTube, found that video and was like hey, ange, your video has like 22 million views on this YouTube account. And I was like what? And then he explained to me that because they had over a thousand subscribers, they actually had more like almost a million subscribers and the video had 22 million views. The amount of money they would have made off that video disgusted me. Like I'm talking, I think, from a quick Google. They would have made like $5,000 off that video. Yeah, wow, which? Then? Because I had said, okay, in air quotes, I'm doing air quotes and I just realized this is audio, but because I had said in air quotes it was okay, then, oh, what was that? I just got balloons on on. Okay, we're going to start that again.

Speaker 1: 33:25

Anyway, it's because you're doing air quotes. You're on, you're on an apple, so that's on. Don't start that. Put that away where's the heart?

Speaker 3: 33:35

so, because I had said it was in air quotes, okay, um, there's nothing I could do about it, like I can't, I can't, I can't go after them, I can't tell YouTube to take it down, like so all I had to do was pretty much cop that on the chin and then be like well, you know what, no one's using my stuff ever again on YouTube and I am gonna try and make myself something on YouTube. So now I am also like I think like 800 subscribers away from like 40,000, and that's like most of those subscribers is from that one reel. So I've ended up posting that groom reaction and I think now on YouTube it's got like 10 million views.

Speaker 1: 34:20

Okay, so yeah okay, there's a lot. I'm not going to ask you the other questions, like how do you think social media is evolving, because we've kind of kind of covered it yeah it's evolving quicker than any of us can keep up and I hate to say it, but it's.

Speaker 2: 34:34

It's like social media is like a sink or swim I'd like to know, after you do a wedding, um, and you've edited your pictures and everything like that, how much time do you dedicate to sort of chopping those up and making reels and and getting getting that sort of material out of that wedding?

Speaker 3: 34:50

this is so I'm actually the worst. I do not plan anything until about 30 minutes before I'm going to post it. I will literally just scroll through the Reel section or I'll go to trending audio and then I'll just pick an audio and then just in my head I'll be like, oh, let's do this wedding, or I haven't posted this wedding in a while. I'll just do this and I will just make it up in like 20 minutes and then post it. Not about it again. I had a job. So after the first job I worked in in Queensland, I then worked for an activewear company and that job was a lot of I need it done yesterday. So I got very good at being able to just do things in the spare of the moment, which is probably very toxic, but it has made me, in turn, very good at social media, because I can literally just pump things out. Yeah, wow.

Speaker 2: 35:54

Great.

Speaker 1: 35:55

Okay, yeah, that's what I need to do.

Speaker 2: 35:57

Well, it sounds doable, I need to be a bit more fluid.

Speaker 1: 36:00

Yeah, be the teapot.

Speaker 3: 36:03

Right, but I think also, once you get in the hang of it, then it becomes easier. So also like, for example, my groom reactions I know that if I post a really good groom reaction it's going to go viral because I know exactly how I need to edit it and what text I need to put to keep people interested to then get to the end.

Speaker 1: 36:25

Sure, yeah, wow.

Speaker 2: 36:27

Thank you, Angela, Thanks Angela.

Speaker 1: 36:28

That's been informative.

Speaker 2: 36:31

It has. I'm quite scared of TikTok, so I've got to get out of it. Yeah, I'm not a TikTok fan, so at all, but a lot of people are in our position where you know we've got beautiful content right, it's just yeah.

Speaker 3: 36:46

Look at me Anyway on that note, honestly like I said, I don't even know if I would bother with TikTok at the moment. I would put your time and effort into Instagram.

Speaker 2: 36:57

Yeah, wow, Angela. How can people find out more about you? Have you got a social handle that's the same across your accounts?

Speaker 3: 37:05

Yeah, so please find me on TikTok, instagram and YouTube at Angela Bruch Photography, which is A-N-G-E-L-A-B-R-U-S-H-A-T Photography Awesome. And what's the website? It was wwwangelabruchphotographycom. Awesome.

Speaker 1: 37:23

And do you help people with social media at all?

Speaker 3: 37:25

Yes, if anyone would like to send me a message, feel free. You can pretty much just slide on into my Instagram DMs and I can send you some prices on social media mentorship if you would so like.

Speaker 1: 37:39

Awesome. Thank you In stereo.

Speaker 2: 37:40

All right.

Speaker 1: 37:40

Thanks, angela, lovely speaking with you In stereo, all right.

Speaker 2: 37:43

Thanks, angela, lovely speaking with you.

Speaker 1: 37:46

Thanks, Angela. It's been fun and no doubt I'll run into you again.