Ep 34: Client Spotlight: How Liv Booked more Photography Clients in 1 week than Last Year

🌐 Website: www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com

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💻 Join Hometown ADvantage: www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/hometown

Anna and her husband run a handyman and remodeling business, and when she joined Hometown ADvantage four months ago, she was spending a dollar a day on ads she couldn't read or measure. You'll hear how she went from 75 Instagram followers (accumulated over seven years) to consistent local leads — including 25 qualified requests in January alone, which is typically their slowest month. You'll also walk away with a really honest look at what a small, intentional ad budget actually looks like for a local service business that just needs a reliable pipeline, not a million-dollar funnel.

Transcript

0:00

Welcome, welcome to Hometown Advantage, the Go-to Local Ads podcast for you to get the inside scoop on what actually works and what it actually takes to successfully market your local business, especially using paid ads. So I'm so excited for you to hear today's episode because I got to sit down with one of my clients who went through my Hometown Advantage program. Her name is Liv. She is a photographer right in my local area, coincidentally. She is been in business for over 10 years. She has put in the work, she has hired social media managers. She has consistently shown up online for years, and still she found herself in this place where consistent bookings were not coming in. Now, one of my favorite parts of this story is the way that Liv found me when I first started my agency, the very first brand photos I ever got were actually taken by Liv and I found her on social media through her organic content. And this was years ago when content worked differently. I did a mini shoot with her, got a couple headshot years go by, and I get a DM from her because she was at a photography concert, a photography conference in a different state, and she saw my name and picture. The brochure that they handed out with suggestions of podcasts to listen to, which that was really cool for me to see that somebody was promoting my podcast at a photographer conference and she just told me, I saw your picture, and I'm like, I recognize that girl. I should reach out to her. She b, the podcast on the drive home from the conference and the rest is history. We have worked together in several capacities and like I said, she had worked so hard on her marketing, so I'm gonna let her tell you what happens when using the Hometown Ads method. And we're gonna get into it really quick. Before we do, I have a free strategy session coming up. It's called the Beyond Boosting Masterclass, specifically for local businesses that want to learn how to run ads like Liv has. After the masterclass, I will be promoting an amazing promotion. On my program, hometown Advantage, you are gonna have the chance to get$500 off, plus have my team create two lead generating reels for you to use in your ads. So the link to sign up for that is www.nicoleeldridgemedia.com/local ads. Make sure you're following me on Instagram, Nicole Eldridge ads. Make sure you're reading the emails that are coming through over these next couple weeks, and I will see you there. Let me know how you like this episode.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 2:48

Okay. We have live here. She is a photographer. She does boudoir photography. Brand photography. She's actually local to me, so she's right down the road and she came through my program, hometown Advantage, and I'm so excited to chat with her about her results. She also did a two hour intensive with me. We're gonna talk about the results from that, but to start us off, Liv, can you just tell us about yourself and your business and how you got started?

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 3:15

Yeah, of course.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 3:16

Okay.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 3:17

for having me today. I'm so excited to be here. Like you said, my name is Liv. I am a photographer based out of Metro Detroit, and I actually started my photography career back in 2011, which is wild to me and I. I feel like every year that I've been in business, I keep thinking, oh, next year, next year's it, I finally figured this hard thing out. And then the next year comes and it's a total curve ball and it's some brand new hard thing that you have to figure out. And I feel like a lot of times you forget how far you've come and. This year is no different. And so I was so excited when I discovered you because I was just having one of those years and it just felt like everywhere I turned, I was running into road bumps. Everywhere I went, I was just really struggling to get bookings and to get my name out. And you would think that after almost 15, 16 years in business, you wouldn't be running into that anymore, and you still are. And so I would wanna say to anybody listening, if you're hearing that. And if being an entrepreneur feels really hard, really hard. Sit in that feeling because that is authentic to all of us Something special about us that just makes us love it and thrive it and keep on going, and it gets easier, but you just kind of have to keep, keep being so 110% connected to your business.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 4:38

Oh yeah. It's like the hard dealing with the hard gets easier kind of thing.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 4:43

Yes,

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 4:44

So that makes me curious about what was the timeframe? Or was it just that general, okay, this is feeling hard to get bookings that made you start thinking ads. Like when did ads start feeling like they could be the solution and you might wanted to maybe explore it?

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 5:01

Yeah, that's a great question. So I have been mainly shooting branding.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 5:05

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 5:05

backtracking to your last question. I

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 5:07

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 5:07

photography a lot and I started shooting boudoir photography and I freaking love it. There's something about boudoir photography that is so fascinating to me and so interesting and so fun and it has a lot of stereotypes of being a certain way or being really like, I don't know, something you don't talk about Sex is something you don't talk about. And so I love that with boudoir photography, you're able to. Really strip away all of those expectations and all those stereotypes and just, I love to focus on the woman in front of me and making her feel beautiful and comfortable and connected with her body in a way that you don't really do on a normal daily basis. So to jump back into your question, I finally, I had not like. Done any continuing education in probably three or four years. I've just been like working, grinding, getting it done. And so back in April of 2025, I decided to go to a boudoir workshop out in Chicago, and it was hosted by a girl that's from Canada and another girl from Kansas City. And while I was there at this workshop, talked about you and I was like, wait a second. I know this girl, she lives like down the street from me. What is happening

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 6:18

And we didn't mention that I had gotten brand photos taken by you when I first started my business. It was like the first photo shoot I ever did. Like I had just started, I was just getting my page started and I came to one of your mini session things.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 6:31

Thank you for that.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 6:32

I forgot.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 6:33

I was like, I know this girl,

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 6:35

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 6:36

which was like such a small world moment and

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 6:38

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 6:39

cool, and I learned a lot of stuff at the workshop, but the one thing that they didn't really dive into, and the one thing that. piqued my interest the most was paid ads

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 6:48

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 6:49

I feel like I have been. Fairly consistently, like posting on social media, putting in the time, putting in the work, showing up for five years. And I just felt like last year it was still so hard to get bookings and I just felt like there has to be a different piece of this puzzle that I don't see. For context too. Like at this point in my business, I had worked with social media managers. I had invested thousands of dollars into professional help for my content, for my social media, on top of just myself showing up regularly and doing the best I could, and it still wasn't really, I. Like showing the results that I wanted. And I was building a really beautiful community online and I have so many people that follow me and support me and are just like showing up for me, which I think is the result of being so consistent.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 7:37

Yes.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 7:38

wasn't translating into bookings and it wasn't translating into the sale.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 7:43

Yep.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 7:43

that's how I discovered paid ads and starting going down that path.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 7:47

Yes. That was so cool that they mentioned me at that conference or had me in their little pamphlet'cause I didn't know that they were going to do that. And I had worked. Like I had just connected with I think the girl who was hosting it before. So that was, and I didn't even know that she took much away from the connection that we made together. So that was so cool. When you then reached out to me, you're like, you're in this brochure at this random conference in a different state. I'm like, ah, ads. That's a, that,

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 8:17

how podcast, so

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 8:18

yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 8:19

B Podcast, the whole drive home oh my

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 8:21

Like she just started her business. Yeah, when we had met and had been a couple years, but yeah, and then I obviously had grown so much since then too, so That's so cool. And another little non, monetary win from ads.'cause I only met that girl'cause she saw my ad. And she reached out to me and we had just chatted and she purchased some low ticket offer. I was running at the time cool. So I love how you touched on the fact that you were really working hard on social media and you had invested in social media and like the organic side just wasn't quite doing it yet. I will say and put a caveat for others listening that you have such a great brand built up and like a good content base and like you're really good about getting. Good content. And I would think I have, I've worked with several photographers, not a ton, but I would think that would be a photographer's strong suit is getting the base, but then learning what to do with it as far as the ads is where we needed to get some direction. So talk about joining Home Ton Advantage. Was it mostly just like listening to the podcast or when did you decide, okay, I'm gonna learn this?

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 9:30

Yeah, no. I like devoured your podcast. I think I listened to it for four hours straight. It was like maybe three days later and I was caught up to where you had Podcasted to At that point I was like, I need more and from listening to that free resource of your podcast, I was learning. So much and it was just enough to be like, oh, I don't know anything.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 9:50

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 9:51

And so once I got to that point, I signed up to your email subscription and started learning about Hometown Advantage and realized that you had the course. And one of the things that I really loved about it is that you taught me how to do it. I don't know at that point that I was like, oh yeah, I can totally do this too. I feel like entrepreneurs have a little bit of that in our blood,

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 10:11

Oh.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 10:12

The reality side of it was like, okay, but let's just see what it is, see how it goes. I feel like ads are almost like taxes in the sense that you wanna know enough to know what's happening, but not so much that you actually are like, yeah.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 10:26

That's such a good analogy. Oh my gosh.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 10:29

So that was like the real big thing. But honestly,

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 10:33

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 10:33

point, the thing that really made me. Purchase Hometown Advantage was the fact that it was so focused on local ads, because there are so many free resources about paid ads and doing things, and almost like that, like shiny. We can bring you thousands of dollars, thousands of clients, but as a local entrepreneur, I don't need that many clients. I need 20, and so to know that you understood that already from the get go. Really helped me trust your perspective and trust the strategies that you were going to teach within Hometown Advantage. And then I was just really looking to do something new. I

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 11:07

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 11:08

I've been doing has been working a little bit. It's been getting me to the point that I am now, but I knew that I wanted to grow and that what I had been doing gonna get me there. So that was the main reason why I signed up for Hometown Advantage.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 11:21

It makes me curious about, a huge, I wouldn't say pushback, but just something that's so understandable that people bring up when they're thinking about joining is like the time they're like, I don't feel like I have time to learn something new, which I totally understand. What was your thought process around that? You're a, like a newer mom, like you're, you have a toddler, but at the time she was probably even, obviously it wasn't probably, she was younger and, busy business owner, wife, all these things. What was your perspective about taking time to learn something new?

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 11:50

Yeah, I feel like the time component was a big thing, and I think the bandwidth was a big thing. Said, like some people have time, but they don't have the mental space. And some people feel like they don't have the mental space or the time. And I think that knowing that it was such a, it's a big commitment, but there's an end in sight with

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 12:09

yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 12:09

like. Please correct me. It's a few weeks

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 12:12

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 12:13

For this long and What you need to know.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 12:15

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 12:15

And so that was very comforting to me of okay, this is it. Some never ending. Three years from now, I'm still gonna be learning stuff. It's, we're gonna have weeks of this and we're gonna cover this and this every week. And by the end of it, you'll know how to do it.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 12:27

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 12:27

So I think for me, being able to sit down and be like, if you're saying you want more bookings, if you're saying you want growth, if you're saying you want something new. The price of that, the sacrifice of that is having to sit down, buckle up, and so that was something that made it a very easy transaction in that sense of

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 12:46

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 12:47

this is what you have to do to get it.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 12:49

Yeah. Love that. It's so true. Yes.'cause that is one thing that I'm making sure people know coming in is ads can work really quickly, the results, but it does take some time to learn and get all the pieces put together. The beautiful part is once the pieces are put together, it can be fast, things can be quick. It can be a matter of just switching out a post and things like that. To get all the pieces together in the start is going to take some time.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 13:17

yeah, yeah.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 13:19

Okay.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 13:19

worth it.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 13:20

So worth it. Yes. That being said, let's dive into the fun stuff. Let's talk about results. When you first got started with ads, like one of the first ads I teach in the program is what we just call a visibility ad, or sometimes we use it as a local follower ad. And this is really my way to help you get an ad up quick. Affordably, like a good, dipping your toes into the waters for people who haven't run ads before, we're not coming out the gate with this big campaign of, spending$30 a day, like we can spend as low as a dollar a day,$2 a day,$5 a day with that. If you remember, do you remember anything about what surprised you once you got those up, how it felt to get those up, your results, any of that?

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 14:02

Yeah, absolutely. So I was coming from a unique starting point. I have been a photographer, like I said, for over a decade,

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 14:09

Yeah,

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 14:09

main Instagram account page for my photography live in the moment, photo has been doing really good. It's had. 10 plus years of growth onto it. Now, at the time that I joined Hometown Advantage, I had rebranded my boudoir photography side of the business to Juno Boudoir, and I was running into some complications from a content strategy standpoint of trying to maintain the privacy and integrity

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 14:34

hard.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 14:34

keeping the delicate nature of it private.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 14:37

Yeah,

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 14:38

some other PDO photographers that I feel like sometimes, like it's almost a freebie of if you post the photos. You don't need to go viral like you're posting beautiful hot women on your Instagram. Okay. But like you're gonna

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 14:50

they speak for themselves.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 14:52

Thank you. And I knew that I didn't want to do that, and I really wanted to have an online community of followers that were clients. Women interested in booking a photo shoot. So I actually have two Instagram accounts for my boudoir page, and one is a completely private page, which is beautiful and I love it and I wouldn't change it any other way. But as a private account, you are not able to do ads to promote, to boost, to do anything. You don't even really get analytics back on. Anything. So it was really a struggle and you're basically just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it So at the time of joining Hometown Advantage, I had just opened a brand new second public PG Instagram account for Juno boudoir that had no followers, no credibility, no social what's the word,

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 15:43

S Social pro. Yeah, social proof.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 15:45

No social proof. Exactly. And so I was in a really unique situation with that. But

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 15:51

Yeah,

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 15:51

love that'cause I feel like it gave us such a fantastic starting place to test hometown

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 15:56

totally.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 15:57

okay, I got nobody like does this work after I did the first visibility post that one that we just pop up real fast, get

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 16:05

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 16:06

like you said, I think at the time. I think I did a dollar a day.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 16:10

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 16:11

was very much like I got nothing to lose. Let's start nothing.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 16:15

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 16:16

And after a week, I think I had over a thousand followers.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 16:19

Oh my gosh.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 16:21

it up.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 16:23

That's crazy.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 16:25

oh, sorry. I loved one

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 16:26

I keep going.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 16:27

this, that paid ads, I can specifically target women. In my area, in my age range, I know that I'm not spending money getting men to follow my boudoir account when I'm already trying not to get them. You know what I mean? So that was another like win for me, for my niche of business that I think a lot of other women entrepreneurs that serve women totally take advantage of.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 16:50

That's so good. I love that so much. And my, actually, I have a little sister, she. Two years younger than me, she lives in Grand Rapids and she just had a baby and she used to take photos for fun. And I think, that typical thing that happens to a new mom that's she's got her camera back out and now she's looking for more ways to make money outside of her nine to five. And she's I'm gonna ask my friends, if I can take their pictures for, a small fee and things like that. And it's, you know, starting to snowball. It's your typical story of A mom and starting a business and. She started an Instagram page and I was like, we have to run the follower ad for you. And she's I just started, I don't know. I'm scared that people, what people are gonna think.'cause I'm just starting out. And I'm like, no, we're gonna say that in your ad. We're gonna be so authentic. We're not trying to show up as like this. Super established photographer that has all this content and things to use. We're gonna say, Hey, grand Rapids I just became a mom and I love taking photos of my family, your family, like all this. I would love to connect with you and have you follow me. And she is growing like crazy and just making connections and booking some of her you know, some of those early day type of bookings. And it's just so fun because. Even in her ads manager, there's all these numbers you can see and there's some that are important and then most that are not, but it's only showing that she's gotten like 30 followers from the ads directly. But what's happening is like people are seeing a, and then sharing'em with somebody or sharing them, or it's like a friend or a fellow photographer that's like trying to support her or different things like that. So there's a ripple effect once you get in front of the right person. That helps speed things up if you just get in front of the right person to begin with. So cool.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 18:33

It's that snowball effect and Growing.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 18:35

exactly. Okay, so the big thing that I was so excited to have you here to talk about was your Black Friday launch. So we worked together, and that comes back to that time piece where you had learned the skills and strategies, but you were like, I would love if someone could just come in and take my idea and. Put it into fruition. So you had the backend built, and that's what we did together. So can you kind of tell us about the Black Friday offer and how you planned it to work and how it did end up working?

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 19:05

Yeah, I'd love to. I'm so excited about it. So for a little timeline, I think I joined Hometown Advantage like in June. July,

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 19:13

right.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 19:13

That's when I was like in my figuring out what is happening, what is it felt like a new language of

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 19:18

Oh, totally.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 19:18

a lot of words and a lot of numbers and I don't know what's happening.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 19:22

Totally.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 19:23

And so week by week I got more and more comfortable and I was experimenting with my content, with my ads and seeing what was resonating with people. And so then by the time that my Black Friday launch was starting to come up, I had about four to five months worth of retargeting. Retargeting clients of people that had interacted that were interested. And so it really set me up in a beautiful position to actually go, if that makes So every year for my boudoir side of the business, I do a crazy Black Friday sale. It's the one sale I do all year long, and it's like my catch all for all the people. It's all my clients' friends that have been following me and saw their friend do it and just need that little extra

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 20:06

Totally.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 20:06

to be like, oh, I wanna do it, but I'm not as pretty as her. I'm not as Her. I'm not as brave as her. This is for all those people of you don't have to be, You need that little extra insight and. Then this is the Black Friday sale. So this is my fourth year doing it, and every year I do it, I build out a little bit more of the launch. So the first year it was like Instagram only. The next year I added on email marketing to support it, and this was the year that I feel like it all came together and I had content leading up to it. I had Instagram, I had dms going, I had my email marketing going, and I had paid ads, which. Oh my gosh, Nicole, it just really blew up in the most beautiful and. Humbling and all the ways. And so my strategy behind the scenes was to do ads, starting to tease it out very early November. My community already knew it was coming. I'd been teasing it since maybe September, just to my local

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 21:02

Right.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 21:04

and I was really pushing for them based on your recommendation for the first week of my launch to join the email subscribers list. And that was the way that we could take cold leads and start warming them up in the emails. Without even telling'em book now, without even giving them the opportunity to book it all. And when I tell you that was the most nerve wracking

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 21:23

Oh

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 21:23

my entire year

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 21:25

yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 21:26

of talking to them, hoping they book, but not giving them the chance to book yet. Oh my gosh, And then the second week of that launch was when it went live on social media. During the second week was when my email subscribers got their first chance to book ahead of everyone else They were an email subscriber. And then on the actual Black Friday day was when the link went totally live to everybody. Anyone from Instagram, Facebook, emails, everybody could book. It was a limited duration. I had a limited number of photo shoots available for my 2026 season. So there was a lot of strategy behind that as well, I just found that. From running the paid ads. Oh my goodness. It was crazy. Like the conversion rates, the number of followers I got, the number of bookings I got it was like record year for me as far as all of that goes. And I know that it would not have been the same if I had not done paid ads Had not booked the ad intensive that we did. up to it point I knew enough to know what I wanted to

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 22:26

yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 22:27

but I wasn't confident enough to know that I was doing it exactly the right

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 22:31

Right.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 22:31

was such a high stakes launch for me. So it was really good to be able to get all my content lined up, get all my captions, have an idea of what I wanted to do, and then bring you in as a professional to be like, okay, what would you do if this was your launch?

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 22:45

Yeah. And you had it. You had it so good and set and ready and I'm like, we just need now more people to know that you're doing this and bring people in. And then just to hear about this offer because this is the thing you planned it so well. And what happened was. Since you had your organic posts, your emails and your ads going out, and you're making connections to people in dms, different things like that, they're hearing about it for some time and over again that by the time. It opens and is ready for the public to buy. They're bought in, they're completely bought in, and they're ready and they wanna make sure that they get a spot. I, and I love this strategy'cause it's how I sell the program too. I'm talking about a free workshop and this is, and I'm promoting that, and then I'm also saying, Hey, by the way, you can buy my program at a great rate. On the day of this workshop, and it's the same thing. I'm spending all my money up front without being completely sure what's gonna happen on the other side. And it can be,

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 23:46

Yeah.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 23:47

you gotta really regulate through that. It's a lot.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 23:50

it grumpy. I was like, I am on pins needles right now. I five more days.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 23:56

No, that same conversation happens at my house a lot. So yes, I totally understand. But I think it's what having all the pieces together can do and having that extra visibility, because then. People who followed you and who are on your email list who maybe aren't paying super close attention to their emails.'cause let's be honest, not everybody does and who aren't seeing all your organic posts are gonna start seeing you now through the ads. And then also we brought in new people too, because you can't always just sell to the people who are, already following you. You gotta keep bringing in new people. So That was so awesome.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 24:34

and just to give some numbers to it.'cause I know that it's so

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 24:38

Huh.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 24:39

and in some ways like when you hear things like this, you're like, yay, another ad helped another person. But

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 24:44

So

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 24:44

Just for some numbers, like this was the biggest Black Friday results I've ever had. I pre-booked 25 photo shoots for the upcoming

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 24:54

that's crazy.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 24:55

and last year I only booked 28 clients

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 24:58

Like total.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:00

completely book. It

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 25:01

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:02

wild and such a pressure off of my shoulders.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 25:04

Oh

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:05

Friday launch brought in over$10,000 for me in

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 25:08

yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:09

and.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 25:10

So good.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:10

my IPS after sales, I know that it's gonna be

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 25:14

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:14

amount, double that, maybe more going into next year. And so the investment of time, like we were talking about and energy like we were talking about, and money, because I know the program is expensive. It's Penny, but you almost have to pay to play a little bit and then to pay for the ads, like I invested probably just for the Black Friday launch. Maybe two grand

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 25:36

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:36

it may be 10

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 25:37

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 25:38

And now I'm in such a position going into this year to really see how I can elevate more, how I can book more. And like you said, that ripple effect of the analytics, even outside of what I know from this ad, I know I have over a thousand new followers. That know about me. Know that they were people that I was talking to and they didn't end up booking, and I

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 26:01

Totally.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 26:01

have regret it, and now they're seeing all their friends do it, It's just so empowering to know that you're not helpless, you're not lost, you're not screwing up is not you. You can't blame the algorithm. Results from doing paid ads that will truly impact your business and your personal life when you take the time and energy to learn how to do it.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 26:22

Ugh, that's so good. And then you have a strategy that you know worked well and you can iterate and just rinse, repeat hopefully this year and following years, like years to come. And I think that. There is something to be said about your time in the industry and your efforts and you showing up and being like, Hey, I just started with an Instagram page, and then it's okay, I need to make sure I'm. I'm also doing my email list and all of that, and then you did that, and then a year next, the next year, you're like, okay, one more thing. And it's not that we always have to be doing something new, but it, to me, it's more about that layering piece that you don't always have to be doing everything. You just master one thing at a time and then move on to the next. And

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 27:03

absolutely.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 27:04

what you've done. And it's worked out. It's just so amazing. Okay, Liv, thank you so much for this. Oh my gosh, this is gonna be so great. I think it's gonna be really good, especially for other photographers. So obviously I support all local business owners, but photographers, I do have a large audience of photographers and PE photographers that are curious about getting started with ads. Anything photographer specific that you would say to the photographers out there who are nervous like this might not work for me.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 27:33

For the photographer specifically, I know like sometimes it's difficult. It feels easier if you sell a tangible

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 27:40

Totally.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 27:41

when you are first coming into Hometown Advantage, when you're first coming into paid ads, because it almost feels like limitless of the amount of things you can sell, the amount of product you can move, and the. Mindset and just the reality of being a service provider is very different, and in some ways it makes it feel way more attainable because like I said, you need 20 clients that would make or break your year as a photographer, as a service provider. But at the other hand, it feels like you have to fight tooth and nail to be able to convince those people to work with you. I feel like if I was talking to photographers and telling them like the difference it can make. It just takes so much of the weight off of your shoulders, and it is to be used in combination with your own content strategy. But when you know that you have fresh people and fresh eyes and new potential clients coming into your digital orbit every single day, it is so motivating and exciting to be able to show up online and to be able to post your beautiful sessions and your beautiful behind the scenes reels, knowing that every time you hop on Instagram, there's somebody new. Wants to book with you. And so even though it felt like a lot of. Like extra responsibility when I first was starting my ad strategy and first setting them all up. Now six months later, every time I hop on Instagram, it's so energizing to know that there are so many new people that I get to introduce myself to and tell them what I do. And I feel like it's been a very long time since I felt excited to post on my Instagram as a photographer.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 29:15

Yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 29:15

also just one of the unexpected benefits of doing paid ads.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 29:19

Thank you so much, Liv. This was amazing. Thank you.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 29:24

Oh, thank you. I had so much fun in getting to chat. Like I said, I still listen to your podcast all the time and it's just very exciting to be able to tell everybody how awesome you are, how great the podcast is, and that it really does work. And

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 29:36

Ugh.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 29:37

when I felt so. Desperate and so lost of what to do next. It was the missing piece, and it has opened up five new missing pieces for me, and how the lifestyle goes, and it's so exciting that it's such a big part and such a weight off of my shoulders now.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 29:54

Ugh, so amazing. Any thoughts for your next step with ads? Are you just riding the follower ads or what were you thinking about next?

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 30:03

Thank you. I love that question. After the Black Friday launch worked so well, I like had this holy moly, I don't know if you swear on here. I

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 30:12

Oh yeah.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 30:12

gosh. Like this just unlocks so many new things for me. So right now. I took a step back from paid ads, and I really have been putting in the work of determining who my client is, what her pain points are, what her objections are. Who it's for, who it's not for, and really doing like I had an idea, every business owner has an idea, but after seeing how certain ads worked really well and other ads didn't work as well, it really made me curious about what about these ads? What about my ideal client? And so I've been doing probably about a couple weeks worth of deep diving on that. And now I'm getting ready to start new. Variety of launches through 2026 in addition to having just boudoir photographer, generic welcome, Juno kind of ads to just keep going all the time to bring new people in on top of the really specific launches that I have planned coming up.

squadcaster-647b_1_02-25-2026_120137 31:11

So cool. Another beautiful part of learning your own ads is you having that full control of I'm gonna crank it up during this time and I'm gonna take a break during this time and turn it back on. Turn it back off. So love to hear it. Thank you for being here and we will talk soon.

liv-stouffer_1_02-25-2026_120136 31:27

I can't wait. Thank you so much, Nicole.