141 - Belfast-based photographer Graham Crichton hates talking to people. But he knows what it takes to run a successful photography business—wildly successful last year, in fact. So when it's time to schmooze with clients, have drinks with his competition or build community connections, Graham's ready to turn on what he calls show mode.
Hear how Graham Crichton Photography grew to where it is today, and the direction he sees for his studio's future. You'll also get his spicy take on bad reviews—he lives for them, improbable as that may seem!
What To Listen For:
Whether you're like Graham and me—business people who take photographs—or you consider yourself an artist first, you'll enjoy this week's lively chat!
Resources From This Episode:
JOIN THE PARTY:
141 - Belfast-based photographer Graham Crichton hates talking to people. But he knows what it takes to run a successful photography business—wildly successful last year, in fact. So when it's time to schmooze with clients, have drinks with his competition or build community connections, Graham's ready to turn on what he calls show mode.
Hear how Graham Crichton Photography grew to where it is today, and the direction he sees for his studio's future. You'll also get his spicy take on bad reviews—he lives for them, improbable as that may seem!
What To Listen For:
Whether you're like Graham and me—business people who take photographs—or you consider yourself an artist first, you'll enjoy this week's lively chat!
Resources From This Episode:
JOIN THE PARTY:
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Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.
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I'm your host,
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Nicole Begley.
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And if you are in a photography business and you want
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to figure out how to get more clients in the door
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and some ideas for marketing your business,
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well, you definitely want to stay tuned today.
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I'm talking with Graham Crichton from Belfast,
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UK, up in Northern Ireland about his incredible business that he
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has built over the past seven,
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eight years and how he continues to get qualified clients in
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through the door.
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Stay tuned.
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Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.
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If you're a pet photographer,
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ready to make more money and start living a life by
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your design,
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you've come to the right place.
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And now your host pet photographer,
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travel addicts,
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chocolate martini,
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calmness sewer,
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Nicole Begley.
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Hey everybody.
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Welcome back to the hair,
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the dog podcast.
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I'm your host,
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Nicole vaguely.
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And today I have a very special guest previous academy member
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Graham Crichton from Northern Ireland over there in Belfast.
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Welcome Graham to the podcast.
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I'm so excited to have you here in chat business because
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you are very businessly astute.
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And I love chatting with that kind of stuff.
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And yeah,
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we're gonna seek out on all sorts of good things,
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but before we get started,
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why don't you tell us a little bit about your business
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and, you know,
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you photograph more than just pets,
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but I know pets are close to your heart.
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So tell us a little bit about what your business looks
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like today.
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I'm primarily a dog photographer based in Belfast in Northern Ireland.
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As Nicole said,
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we run a commercial portrait studio.
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So we do dogs and we also do family portraits.
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We do head shots and we do graduations.
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So there is a broad range of different things that we
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do. The primary focus is on pets.
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We do more pats than we would do of any other
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genre, but we do a variety of different genres as well.
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Nice, nice.
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And you've have you always done studio or his,
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have you done natural,
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like outdoor stuff as well in the past?
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No. Well,
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I came from a background of working in theater as a
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stage manager.
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And then when I went into photography,
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the only way into photography at the time was to do
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weddings. So For years and years,
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I think we calculated it.
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And a total day to over a thousand weddings time,
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I finished in rallies.
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So we did weddings,
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which are obviously on location and then also engagement shoots that
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went alongside with those.
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But I never did any portraiture or anything like that on
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the Wedding.
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Yeah. It was a lot of Saturday mornings.
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So it was the wife would say,
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Yeah. Yeah,
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for sure.
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So, yeah.
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So you were theater stage director.
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Did you love the photography part of it?
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I think we've had conversations in the past where you're like
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me, that you love the business piece of it.
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And you really liked the photography part of it too,
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that you definitely love the business piece.
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Kind of what,
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what drove you to that photography?
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I've definitely,
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I would say to people I'm a business person who takes
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photographs. I'm not a photographer who runs a business ever since
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I was about two foot off the ground.
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I always wanted to be the managing director.
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I was wanting to be the boss.
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I always wanted to run my own company.
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So that's kind of how,
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that's how I went from,
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from being employed then into starting my own business,
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to become a photographer.
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I'm one of those weird ones that I know this doesn't
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get on well with everybody,
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but I could give up photography tomorrow and it wouldn't be
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the end of my world.
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It's as long as I was still my own boss.
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Yeah. I like to say I'm completely unemployable now because the
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thought of having to work for someone else,
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that's just,
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that's a non-negotiable It's funny.
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That was the first thing that hit my head during COVID
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was, was w whenever everything shut down was what the hell
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do I do?
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Because I'm not,
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I'm qualified to be a stage mileage,
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and otherwise I'm not qualified to do anything.
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I'm not even qualified to work at Tesco.
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So it was actually quite terrifying.
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Ah, well,
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glad we're turning the corner for that,
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for sure.
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At least.
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Yeah. So you did weddings.
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And then how long ago did you start your studio?
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Portrait business Started doing studio stuff in 2012 by 2014.
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So I had a studio at home and I started like
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photographing babies,
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and I knew nothing about babies and thugs newborn at the
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time, newborn photography.
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Wasn't really a big thing.
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So I thought,
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oh, well.
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And then I moved into,
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we rented a commercial space,
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we're moving hosts.
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So we needed to get the business out of the house
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and took on a commercial space and to kind of justify
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the expense when I needed to make it,
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I needed to do studio stuff.
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So that was,
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I think,
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2015, we moved into we're in an old linen mill.
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So Belfast is famous for producing Lennon.
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It was called Linden Annapolis back in the day,
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it was the capital of linen in the world.
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So we're in a big old linen.
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In fact it was the building we're in,
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it was the largest flux spinning mill in the world.
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So it's a really historic Google building.
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Oh, cool.
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I bet the building's beautiful.
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I love those old mill buildings.
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Oh, you would love this because everybody comes in and says,
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oh, do you live here?
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You wouldn't want it.
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It's freezing cold.
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Yes. Damp and cold in the winter.
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I'm sure.
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That's awesome.
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Yeah. I think a lot of people that maybe have some
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interest in studio didn't fail to get started because of not
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having the space to do so.
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And maybe are nervous of setting something up in their home.
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Did you have a dedicated space in your home because houses
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in the UK aren't necessarily,
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you know,
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like extra spaces everywhere.
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I mean,
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it seems to be a lot of the homes over there
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are utilizing every space.
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So did you,
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where did you find the space in your home for the
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studio was a dedicated space.
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There's only in our house.
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There's only the way for me and the dog.
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And back when we were doing that,
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it, we rented a five bedroom house.
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So it was a five bedroom,
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tiny house.
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So it was a very,
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very big,
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huge house,
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but it's had an entire floor with a large room,
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you know,
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the studio,
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I think it was three meters by five meters.
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And then there was a big office.
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And then there was a big dressing room as well,
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all on one floor.
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So it was fantastic.
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There was a lot of space,
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but the downside with that was you didn't have parking,
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you know,
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you didn't have signage,
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it wasn't run as a commercial,
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a commercial business.
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You didn't have zoning or anything for it.
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So it was very limited in what you could do.
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Yeah. Yeah.
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How did your business change when you went from the home
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to the commercial space?
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Was there anything about it that changed drastically?
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Well, this there's the pressure of having to pay for this
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because when I took it on as well,
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I do remember thinking,
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oh God,
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how the hell am I going to pay for this?
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Because back then,
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as well,
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you didn't,
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you know,
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it was only a dream to have customer after customer,
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after customer a day was a dream.
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So you could go days and you could go weeks without
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ever seeing a customer.
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So there was,
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it began like that.
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It was slow because as well,
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when you start,
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like nobody knows doing that,
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who you are whenever you move premises is we're going to
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discover by moving premises shortly.
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Of course,
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Google won't even know you're there.
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It takes a while for things like that.
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So it was,
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it was better.
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It was better structure.
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I, I prefer a good,
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I like a good corporate structure.
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The wife would say,
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so I run our businesses.
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One very corporate,
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like, and moving over to the home,
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it set off a size,
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for example,
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that you,
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you know,
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you had to work and then you go home and still
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sneaky and turn the laptop on the button.
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And what work you can do at home was it's actually
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good. It's good.
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Yeah. No,
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that is a nice,
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a nice perk because I am very guilty of,
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oh, let me just pop in my office for a minute.
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Oh my God.
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It's been three hours.
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The wife has to tell me all for going to bed
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at 3:00 AM in the morning.
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And it was just,
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oh, just give me another week,
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minute. Just to,
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That's funny.
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I never got sucked into the overnight cause I like my
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sleep too much.
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And I'm more of a morning person than the night owl.
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So after 8:00 PM,
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I am just like spent and nothing good can come out
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of my brain.
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But yeah,
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I know a lot of people that are very opposite of
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that. So for sure.
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All right.
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So that was back 2015.
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So were you in that same space because you're moving to
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a new space right now,
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were you in that same commercial space for those past,
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you know,
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six, seven years?
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Yeah. It's so it's a 550 school,
265
00:08:24,180 --> 00:08:26,360
550 square foot space.
266
00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:27,460
And I've,
267
00:08:27,710 --> 00:08:29,510
we've been there since 2015.
268
00:08:29,510 --> 00:08:30,710
So December,
269
00:08:31,580 --> 00:08:34,340
2015, we're moving out in July.
270
00:08:34,340 --> 00:08:36,380
I've been told everything will be finished for the end of
271
00:08:37,850 --> 00:08:40,460
June. So we're moving light on the differences we're moving from
272
00:08:41,390 --> 00:08:42,410
there, which is,
273
00:08:42,410 --> 00:08:42,620
you know,
274
00:08:42,620 --> 00:08:43,760
it's a studio four,
275
00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:45,320
four by five meters studio space,
276
00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:46,400
a reception area.
277
00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:47,450
That's, you know,
278
00:08:47,450 --> 00:08:47,780
products in the wall,
279
00:08:47,780 --> 00:08:49,250
a kitchen and then an office.
280
00:08:49,430 --> 00:08:52,010
And we're moving from there to a 1500 square foot space
281
00:08:52,010 --> 00:08:53,870
with some like 14 different rooms,
282
00:08:53,870 --> 00:08:54,080
you know,
283
00:08:54,090 --> 00:08:55,230
it's it's yeah.
284
00:08:56,670 --> 00:08:57,660
That's fantastic.
285
00:08:57,750 --> 00:08:59,640
What prompted you to make the change?
286
00:09:00,660 --> 00:09:06,690
Can you say writing off tax is that Part of the
287
00:09:06,690 --> 00:09:08,400
reason we did particularly a good year last year and I
288
00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:08,850
thought, you know,
289
00:09:08,850 --> 00:09:09,930
why should you sell this money?
290
00:09:10,110 --> 00:09:14,250
But also I can see the way I'm usually quite good
291
00:09:14,250 --> 00:09:18,240
at seeing things in the industry that are working before they
292
00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,610
happen. So I could say that,
293
00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:21,180
for example,
294
00:09:21,180 --> 00:09:21,990
when I give up weddings,
295
00:09:21,990 --> 00:09:23,310
I could see that in Northern Ireland,
296
00:09:23,310 --> 00:09:24,840
the wedding industry was on the decline.
297
00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:25,800
And I thought to myself,
298
00:09:26,100 --> 00:09:26,820
if I don't change,
299
00:09:26,850 --> 00:09:28,050
I'm going to be out of business in a few years
300
00:09:29,250 --> 00:09:30,540
with pet photography,
301
00:09:30,540 --> 00:09:32,520
it starting to get more saturated.
302
00:09:32,850 --> 00:09:37,170
But for what I do there aren't really that many studios
303
00:09:38,310 --> 00:09:39,510
there aren't we have competitors,
304
00:09:39,510 --> 00:09:40,740
but there really aren't that many,
305
00:09:41,220 --> 00:09:42,630
there's lots of different pet photography,
306
00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:44,850
but there aren't really many studio pet photographers.
307
00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,530
And particularly there aren't height,
308
00:09:47,430 --> 00:09:48,570
I'm sure you've seen it where you are,
309
00:09:48,570 --> 00:09:49,080
but the,
310
00:09:49,110 --> 00:09:50,670
what we would call the high street studio,
311
00:09:50,670 --> 00:09:51,960
they don't really exist anymore.
312
00:09:52,710 --> 00:09:57,420
So I could see a gap in the market for the
313
00:09:57,450 --> 00:09:59,880
kind of the resurgence of a high street studio,
314
00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:01,920
but focusing on pets.
315
00:10:02,820 --> 00:10:05,190
Cause there isn't anyone really doing that,
316
00:10:05,190 --> 00:10:05,610
where we are.
317
00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:09,360
Yeah. I actually heard the stat yesterday and it blew my
318
00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,770
mind. And that is that the pet photography industry is a
319
00:10:13,770 --> 00:10:17,010
$4.1 billion industry.
320
00:10:17,070 --> 00:10:18,870
Now billion with a B.
321
00:10:18,870 --> 00:10:20,970
That's a lot of zeroes.
322
00:10:20,980 --> 00:10:22,350
I, I,
323
00:10:22,410 --> 00:10:24,300
I suppose it depends on who you ask.
324
00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:25,330
If you ask photographers,
325
00:10:25,560 --> 00:10:26,130
I didn't flip,
326
00:10:28,500 --> 00:10:29,430
But it's growing.
327
00:10:29,670 --> 00:10:29,970
I mean,
328
00:10:29,970 --> 00:10:31,950
it's, it's exponentially growing.
329
00:10:31,950 --> 00:10:34,650
And I know a lot of people get in their head.
330
00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:37,500
They get really concerned when they start to see more competition
331
00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:39,420
in the market of,
332
00:10:39,450 --> 00:10:39,900
you know,
333
00:10:39,900 --> 00:10:41,940
their brain immediately goes to,
334
00:10:41,970 --> 00:10:44,730
oh, they're going to be lower priced.
335
00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,040
Oh, there's no room for higher end in the market.
336
00:10:47,070 --> 00:10:48,690
Oh, there's too many photographers.
337
00:10:48,690 --> 00:10:49,830
There's not enough pets,
338
00:10:49,830 --> 00:10:50,310
yada, yada,
339
00:10:50,310 --> 00:10:51,720
yada, all these bad places.
340
00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:54,960
However, I choose to look at that a little bit differently.
341
00:10:55,260 --> 00:11:00,180
I actually like seeing new competitors in the market because until
342
00:11:00,180 --> 00:11:01,620
we get to the point where,
343
00:11:01,620 --> 00:11:03,690
when somebody asks what you do and you say I'm a
344
00:11:03,690 --> 00:11:05,220
pet photographer and their answer,
345
00:11:05,220 --> 00:11:08,250
that's so fun instead of wait,
346
00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:09,600
that's a thing like,
347
00:11:09,610 --> 00:11:12,870
like so many people don't even know that pet photography is
348
00:11:12,870 --> 00:11:13,890
a thing still.
349
00:11:14,130 --> 00:11:17,340
So as these additional people enter the market,
350
00:11:17,550 --> 00:11:19,110
that's more market awareness.
351
00:11:19,140 --> 00:11:21,330
Then that industry is going to continue to grow,
352
00:11:21,330 --> 00:11:22,470
continue to expand.
353
00:11:22,470 --> 00:11:25,050
And the client base is going to continue to grow too.
354
00:11:25,470 --> 00:11:27,090
And that,
355
00:11:27,090 --> 00:11:31,470
that level of excellence in the market is always available.
356
00:11:31,470 --> 00:11:35,670
There's always room for more clients when you have an excellent
357
00:11:35,670 --> 00:11:39,230
product, when you have great customer service and,
358
00:11:39,230 --> 00:11:42,990
and when you are actually getting out there with your business
359
00:11:42,990 --> 00:11:43,710
and marketing.
360
00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,440
So I don't think we need to be afraid of anything.
361
00:11:47,940 --> 00:11:51,030
I think competition is a healthy thing and there's a lot
362
00:11:51,030 --> 00:11:52,770
of people are very scared of competitors.
363
00:11:53,050 --> 00:11:56,020
The industry just going back in history has always been an
364
00:11:56,020 --> 00:11:57,400
oversaturated industry.
365
00:11:58,630 --> 00:12:01,270
And you tend to find that ever since the day of
366
00:12:01,270 --> 00:12:01,540
the box,
367
00:12:01,540 --> 00:12:02,230
Briony there's,
368
00:12:02,230 --> 00:12:05,590
the professional photographers have increased tremendously.
369
00:12:06,040 --> 00:12:07,090
You will always find though,
370
00:12:07,090 --> 00:12:07,630
that will be the way,
371
00:12:07,630 --> 00:12:09,550
particularly in times of economic hardship,
372
00:12:09,580 --> 00:12:10,900
you find this more photographers,
373
00:12:11,530 --> 00:12:13,150
more people start photographic businesses.
374
00:12:13,150 --> 00:12:13,420
And one,
375
00:12:13,420 --> 00:12:14,530
when the economy recovers,
376
00:12:14,530 --> 00:12:17,890
people generally disappear again and it kind of speaks and troughs,
377
00:12:18,250 --> 00:12:20,320
but I think having competition,
378
00:12:20,560 --> 00:12:21,190
you should always,
379
00:12:21,190 --> 00:12:22,720
you should never ignore your competition.
380
00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:25,300
You should always be aware of your competition and know what
381
00:12:25,300 --> 00:12:25,840
they are doing.
382
00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:28,360
But I think competition is generally quite a healthy thing.
383
00:12:28,510 --> 00:12:29,530
My main competitor,
384
00:12:29,530 --> 00:12:31,000
I've I one rail competitor,
385
00:12:31,870 --> 00:12:33,490
him and I have drinks together.
386
00:12:33,490 --> 00:12:34,180
And him and I,
387
00:12:34,390 --> 00:12:34,840
when the,
388
00:12:34,870 --> 00:12:35,950
when it's hitting the fan,
389
00:12:36,250 --> 00:12:36,840
we're on the phone,
390
00:12:36,860 --> 00:12:37,300
each other going,
391
00:12:37,330 --> 00:12:37,780
oh God,
392
00:12:37,780 --> 00:12:38,320
what are we going to do?
393
00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:39,280
You know what we would,
394
00:12:39,340 --> 00:12:41,170
we would probably slit each other's throats middle of the night
395
00:12:41,170 --> 00:12:41,440
as well.
396
00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:47,530
There's always that they're fiercely competitive.
397
00:12:48,550 --> 00:12:49,030
I love it.
398
00:12:49,360 --> 00:12:49,870
I love it.
399
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:51,880
Yeah, no same here.
400
00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:53,860
And my other main competitors here in this market,
401
00:12:53,860 --> 00:12:54,400
we're all friends.
402
00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,190
We sometimes all get together and have a little,
403
00:12:57,250 --> 00:12:59,410
a little dessert and cocktail and yeah,
404
00:12:59,410 --> 00:13:00,070
it's a good time.
405
00:13:00,190 --> 00:13:03,190
It's, it's really a great thing that we should not be
406
00:13:03,310 --> 00:13:04,030
scared of,
407
00:13:04,060 --> 00:13:05,410
but just yeah.
408
00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:06,610
To use it as a,
409
00:13:06,790 --> 00:13:09,160
it's something to continue to keep us on our toes and
410
00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,430
to continue to make sure that we are providing the best
411
00:13:12,430 --> 00:13:14,470
possible product and the best images.
412
00:13:14,800 --> 00:13:15,640
And you know,
413
00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:17,830
that kind of goes the same way with technology.
414
00:13:17,830 --> 00:13:21,040
People get really scared with new technology coming out because I
415
00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,130
mean, I didn't even take my big camera on vacation because
416
00:13:24,130 --> 00:13:26,620
my cell phone can capture everything I want from that.
417
00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:31,300
And it does a damn good job capturing a lot of
418
00:13:31,300 --> 00:13:35,740
images that my DSLR would actually need to have edited.
419
00:13:35,740 --> 00:13:37,960
Like it comes out of my phone looking way better than
420
00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:38,950
my professional camera.
421
00:13:38,950 --> 00:13:39,820
Before I edit it,
422
00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:41,380
I bought a,
423
00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:45,010
I bought an iPhone for our marketing person and work on.
424
00:13:45,010 --> 00:13:47,570
I must say I took that on holiday recently on the
425
00:13:47,570 --> 00:13:48,250
tech camera,
426
00:13:48,430 --> 00:13:48,940
the camera,
427
00:13:48,950 --> 00:13:49,990
not things fantastic.
428
00:13:50,140 --> 00:13:50,680
It is.
429
00:13:50,680 --> 00:13:51,370
It's amazing.
430
00:13:51,370 --> 00:13:52,180
And the new,
431
00:13:52,210 --> 00:13:55,630
I believe it's the new iPhone has a function where you
432
00:13:55,630 --> 00:13:57,460
take a video and say,
433
00:13:57,460 --> 00:13:58,120
you know,
434
00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,360
whatever, there's a person and a background and your video and
435
00:14:01,360 --> 00:14:04,180
you have it focused on the background.
436
00:14:04,540 --> 00:14:05,710
Well, the video is taken,
437
00:14:05,770 --> 00:14:06,340
it's done.
438
00:14:06,340 --> 00:14:08,050
It's in your phone camera roll.
439
00:14:08,470 --> 00:14:10,240
You can now go in and say,
440
00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:10,660
no, no.
441
00:14:10,660 --> 00:14:13,390
I want the focus here on this person and change the
442
00:14:13,390 --> 00:14:15,880
focus of the video retroactively.
443
00:14:16,540 --> 00:14:17,470
And it's amazing.
444
00:14:17,470 --> 00:14:20,320
It really it's it's you can see why people use these
445
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:22,270
cameras. It's it's fantastic.
446
00:14:22,270 --> 00:14:22,990
Actually, I'm blown away,
447
00:14:22,990 --> 00:14:24,790
but not that I'm ever going to become an apple fan
448
00:14:24,790 --> 00:14:27,760
boy, but I am blown away by the most I've fought
449
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:29,020
so far down in the apple.
450
00:14:29,620 --> 00:14:30,410
Aalborg it's,
451
00:14:30,410 --> 00:14:31,180
it's not even,
452
00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:32,080
it's not even helpful,
453
00:14:32,530 --> 00:14:34,180
but yeah,
454
00:14:34,210 --> 00:14:34,690
I, I,
455
00:14:34,690 --> 00:14:37,150
and I think technology is going to continue to evolve.
456
00:14:37,150 --> 00:14:39,610
So then the other place that a lot of people go
457
00:14:39,610 --> 00:14:40,720
is to this place of,
458
00:14:40,750 --> 00:14:41,290
oh my gosh,
459
00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:42,670
I'm going to become obsolete.
460
00:14:43,060 --> 00:14:44,290
But you know,
461
00:14:44,290 --> 00:14:45,370
for, for certain,
462
00:14:45,970 --> 00:14:47,260
if it's just super basic.
463
00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:47,950
Yeah. Maybe,
464
00:14:47,950 --> 00:14:49,900
but the phones still can't light.
465
00:14:49,900 --> 00:14:52,610
Well, if you don't know what you're looking for for lighting
466
00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,420
the phones still can't elicit great expression from these animals,
467
00:14:56,540 --> 00:14:58,580
the phone doesn't set up a studio,
468
00:14:58,580 --> 00:15:00,230
the phone doesn't remove leashes.
469
00:15:00,230 --> 00:15:00,620
The phone,
470
00:15:00,620 --> 00:15:03,320
doesn't get great group shots by merging them in Photoshop.
471
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:03,920
If you need to,
472
00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:05,180
because none of the dogs are trained.
473
00:15:05,540 --> 00:15:08,570
Like there's still so many things that we can create and
474
00:15:08,570 --> 00:15:10,340
do and serve that.
475
00:15:11,030 --> 00:15:12,950
I don't think we need to be that worried about,
476
00:15:13,610 --> 00:15:14,690
about the new technology,
477
00:15:14,690 --> 00:15:15,860
like the competitors,
478
00:15:15,860 --> 00:15:16,760
keeping an eye on it,
479
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:18,500
but not losing sleep.
480
00:15:18,770 --> 00:15:21,890
The phone is no different though from a 35 mil camera
481
00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:23,000
it's, you know,
482
00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:23,300
there were,
483
00:15:23,300 --> 00:15:24,050
there were 35,
484
00:15:24,050 --> 00:15:26,270
but there were millions of those in the wild to make
485
00:15:26,270 --> 00:15:27,200
everybody a photographer.
486
00:15:27,470 --> 00:15:31,130
And there were those that will the type of phone cameras,
487
00:15:31,130 --> 00:15:31,820
et cetera,
488
00:15:31,940 --> 00:15:33,350
cheap cameras or people with,
489
00:15:33,350 --> 00:15:34,580
with lack of experience,
490
00:15:34,580 --> 00:15:36,020
they will cater to a certain crowd.
491
00:15:36,020 --> 00:15:37,850
And there's always going to be that crowd.
492
00:15:37,850 --> 00:15:39,050
There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.
493
00:15:40,430 --> 00:15:41,060
I say to people,
494
00:15:41,060 --> 00:15:41,660
what I sell,
495
00:15:41,660 --> 00:15:42,260
for example,
496
00:15:42,260 --> 00:15:43,490
I don't sell photographs.
497
00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:44,630
I sell,
498
00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:46,070
I sell an experience.
499
00:15:46,730 --> 00:15:48,980
It just so happens that our experience has photographs.
500
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:52,070
So all of my job of what I do and what
501
00:15:52,070 --> 00:15:55,790
I'm selling the photography weirdly is the smallest part of it.
502
00:15:56,390 --> 00:15:57,290
Yeah, no,
503
00:15:57,290 --> 00:15:58,400
that's fantastic.
504
00:15:58,430 --> 00:16:01,580
What types of things make your experience stand out Really,
505
00:16:01,580 --> 00:16:02,660
really good customer service.
506
00:16:02,660 --> 00:16:05,240
So it's from the moment that people contact us.
507
00:16:05,270 --> 00:16:05,950
You want them to,
508
00:16:05,990 --> 00:16:07,610
they want to feel that they're a million pounds,
509
00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:13,160
because you want them to spend them as well.
510
00:16:13,340 --> 00:16:14,990
The more fuss you make over people.
511
00:16:15,620 --> 00:16:19,010
That's what they will remember because people have had photos taken
512
00:16:19,010 --> 00:16:21,020
before people have had school photos taken before.
513
00:16:21,020 --> 00:16:22,610
And it's starting to the experience.
514
00:16:22,610 --> 00:16:23,450
If you ever say to somebody,
515
00:16:23,450 --> 00:16:24,880
oh, would you like to have your photo taken?
516
00:16:24,910 --> 00:16:25,460
Most people go,
517
00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:27,560
no, because I haven't thought before it's terrible.
518
00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,470
And they usually relating that to an experience.
519
00:16:30,470 --> 00:16:33,320
So if you can create an experience that is a level
520
00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,920
above what they're expecting and that you can relate time and
521
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:37,370
time again.
522
00:16:37,370 --> 00:16:39,290
So if their friends come and you can replicate that again
523
00:16:39,290 --> 00:16:39,650
and again,
524
00:16:39,860 --> 00:16:40,970
you're onto a winner.
525
00:16:41,150 --> 00:16:43,370
And then they actually weirdly forget about the photographs.
526
00:16:43,370 --> 00:16:44,790
Even though the photograph that,
527
00:16:44,790 --> 00:16:44,960
you know,
528
00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:45,260
you could,
529
00:16:45,290 --> 00:16:48,280
you could take great photos or you can take mediocre food.
530
00:16:48,290 --> 00:16:48,860
It's not that I do,
531
00:16:48,890 --> 00:16:50,000
but they will be,
532
00:16:50,060 --> 00:16:51,950
they'll be more invested in you as a person.
533
00:16:52,220 --> 00:16:52,700
And you're,
534
00:16:52,850 --> 00:16:55,790
you're a brand rather than being invested in the actual photographs.
535
00:16:55,970 --> 00:16:57,290
And that's how you can get some,
536
00:16:57,380 --> 00:17:00,320
you can build tremendous loyalty and those people will tell their
537
00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:01,970
friends and that's better than us,
538
00:17:01,970 --> 00:17:02,600
better than any money.
539
00:17:02,630 --> 00:17:04,100
Cause that will translate the Mormon life.
540
00:17:04,610 --> 00:17:05,900
Yeah, absolutely.
541
00:17:06,500 --> 00:17:08,030
I see so many people asking,
542
00:17:08,030 --> 00:17:08,270
you know,
543
00:17:08,270 --> 00:17:09,860
how do I do a referral program?
544
00:17:09,860 --> 00:17:11,720
And I'm a big believer that okay,
545
00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:13,310
if you have an official referral program,
546
00:17:13,310 --> 00:17:13,850
that's great.
547
00:17:14,120 --> 00:17:17,840
But the actual real referral program is just knocking the socks
548
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:19,190
off of all your customers.
549
00:17:19,190 --> 00:17:21,560
So they want to sing your praises and let everyone they
550
00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:23,420
know know about their experience.
551
00:17:23,840 --> 00:17:27,230
And they don't need any motivation Last and leave a review.
552
00:17:27,230 --> 00:17:29,660
So many people are scared of asking people to leave reviews
553
00:17:30,270 --> 00:17:31,370
review. Yeah.
554
00:17:31,550 --> 00:17:32,870
Well I just case in point,
555
00:17:32,870 --> 00:17:33,110
I mean,
556
00:17:33,110 --> 00:17:33,650
I just came,
557
00:17:33,650 --> 00:17:34,160
I was telling you,
558
00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:38,300
I was in Costa Rica last week and we had a
559
00:17:38,300 --> 00:17:39,800
chef come to the house one night.
560
00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:43,700
We had like some other services and even the house was
561
00:17:43,730 --> 00:17:43,970
like, oh,
562
00:17:43,970 --> 00:17:48,050
if you could leave a review and I want to,
563
00:17:48,050 --> 00:17:48,410
and I,
564
00:17:48,410 --> 00:17:49,590
because it was a great experience,
565
00:17:49,620 --> 00:17:50,370
but just today,
566
00:17:50,370 --> 00:17:50,840
a possible man.
567
00:17:50,840 --> 00:17:51,150
And I'm like,
568
00:17:51,180 --> 00:17:53,730
oh, I should look that up and find a place to
569
00:17:53,730 --> 00:17:54,540
leave their review.
570
00:17:54,870 --> 00:17:56,280
Where like Airbnb,
571
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:57,030
when you stay there,
572
00:17:57,030 --> 00:17:59,070
it sends you an automatic email and it's like,
573
00:17:59,100 --> 00:17:59,370
oh yeah,
574
00:17:59,460 --> 00:18:00,420
I'll leave that review.
575
00:18:00,690 --> 00:18:01,680
So people just need,
576
00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:03,180
you need to make it easy for them.
577
00:18:03,180 --> 00:18:06,270
And you need to remind them because they very much likely
578
00:18:06,270 --> 00:18:08,250
want to help you and want to leave a review.
579
00:18:08,250 --> 00:18:09,480
But they're just busy.
580
00:18:09,750 --> 00:18:11,220
Well, life gets in the way people,
581
00:18:11,790 --> 00:18:12,450
you're not the most.
582
00:18:12,630 --> 00:18:13,180
W we,
583
00:18:13,210 --> 00:18:15,630
we like to think we're the most important thing going on
584
00:18:15,630 --> 00:18:16,470
in those people's lives.
585
00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:17,760
Particularly when I did weddings,
586
00:18:17,760 --> 00:18:20,490
you'd have people would order their wedding album eight years after
587
00:18:20,490 --> 00:18:20,820
the wedding.
588
00:18:20,820 --> 00:18:21,700
And you're,
589
00:18:21,700 --> 00:18:23,970
you're not the most important person we seem to get hung
590
00:18:23,970 --> 00:18:24,380
up on.
591
00:18:24,570 --> 00:18:24,780
You know,
592
00:18:24,780 --> 00:18:25,200
we are,
593
00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:26,160
but this I,
594
00:18:26,190 --> 00:18:26,850
we, for example,
595
00:18:26,850 --> 00:18:27,540
give out cards.
596
00:18:27,540 --> 00:18:28,800
So every time the is in,
597
00:18:28,810 --> 00:18:29,760
when the customer pays,
598
00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:31,590
the customer gets a card and it says,
599
00:18:31,710 --> 00:18:32,400
we're a small business.
600
00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:33,210
Please review us.
601
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:34,490
And you make a point of saying,
602
00:18:34,740 --> 00:18:36,210
please you'd really be helping us.
603
00:18:36,210 --> 00:18:37,530
If you enjoyed the experience reviews,
604
00:18:37,710 --> 00:18:38,940
if you didn't enjoy the experience,
605
00:18:38,970 --> 00:18:39,540
let us know.
606
00:18:40,530 --> 00:18:41,670
There's a lot of people as well.
607
00:18:41,700 --> 00:18:43,020
Don't take ownership of,
608
00:18:43,020 --> 00:18:43,350
and that's,
609
00:18:43,350 --> 00:18:45,180
that's a problem to do with experiences too.
610
00:18:45,180 --> 00:18:47,790
A lot of people don't take ownership when things go wrong.
611
00:18:48,660 --> 00:18:50,820
Those people that it's great to get the good reviews,
612
00:18:50,820 --> 00:18:52,860
but you also have to know how to answer the bad
613
00:18:52,860 --> 00:18:55,470
reviews. And it is heart sinking.
614
00:18:55,470 --> 00:18:56,580
Whenever you get a bad review,
615
00:18:56,580 --> 00:18:56,850
you're like,
616
00:18:56,880 --> 00:18:58,380
oh, it's the worst thing ever.
617
00:18:58,380 --> 00:19:00,630
But it is how you respond to that as is more
618
00:19:00,630 --> 00:19:01,830
important than the good reviews.
619
00:19:02,220 --> 00:19:03,210
Yeah, absolutely.
620
00:19:03,210 --> 00:19:08,250
And hopefully you're able to find out about those potential issues
621
00:19:08,250 --> 00:19:09,450
before the review time.
622
00:19:09,450 --> 00:19:12,240
I think a lot of people are scared to ask because
623
00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:16,680
they're scared that the client's gonna not be happy with something,
624
00:19:17,010 --> 00:19:19,110
but if you're asking if they're happy with something and they
625
00:19:19,110 --> 00:19:20,190
turn out that they're not,
626
00:19:20,190 --> 00:19:22,620
well, then that's a golden opportunity for you to fix it.
627
00:19:22,980 --> 00:19:26,460
And I've found when I've had some issues with clients in
628
00:19:26,460 --> 00:19:27,570
the past that,
629
00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:27,810
you know,
630
00:19:27,810 --> 00:19:30,180
maybe something wasn't as expected or there was an issue with
631
00:19:30,180 --> 00:19:30,840
their artwork.
632
00:19:31,590 --> 00:19:32,190
You know,
633
00:19:32,340 --> 00:19:34,260
I fixed it and I made it right.
634
00:19:34,260 --> 00:19:38,490
And then they were even more enthralled with my services because
635
00:19:38,490 --> 00:19:42,360
I offered a great solution to take their experience and make
636
00:19:42,360 --> 00:19:43,920
sure it was exactly what they wanted.
637
00:19:44,430 --> 00:19:45,810
And you won't be able to do that all the time
638
00:19:45,810 --> 00:19:48,870
because you will get genuine customers here just bought pieces of
639
00:19:48,870 --> 00:19:51,690
work, who will go out of their way just to be
640
00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:52,200
a troll.
641
00:19:52,460 --> 00:19:54,540
I have been known myself for trolling on Facebook,
642
00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:59,220
but you will get people who go in deliberately that will
643
00:19:59,220 --> 00:19:59,850
not be pleased,
644
00:19:59,850 --> 00:20:03,300
or that are genuinely in the role who usually comes down
645
00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:08,190
to expectations that they've got wrong expectations of it.
646
00:20:08,190 --> 00:20:08,490
But again,
647
00:20:08,490 --> 00:20:11,010
it comes down to how you handle it because as photographers
648
00:20:11,010 --> 00:20:11,610
too, we're,
649
00:20:11,630 --> 00:20:13,140
we're too scared.
650
00:20:13,140 --> 00:20:14,970
A lot of the time that people will leave bad reviews.
651
00:20:15,210 --> 00:20:16,740
We're too scared that people will,
652
00:20:16,750 --> 00:20:17,670
will Bob with us.
653
00:20:17,820 --> 00:20:21,170
But the truth is you're a business person and I,
654
00:20:21,170 --> 00:20:23,220
I was bullied as a child and I can be damn
655
00:20:23,220 --> 00:20:26,070
sure I'm not going to let anybody in my professional career
656
00:20:27,060 --> 00:20:27,750
believe me either.
657
00:20:27,750 --> 00:20:28,590
So I quite,
658
00:20:28,900 --> 00:20:30,900
I kind of live for the day that people leave bad
659
00:20:30,900 --> 00:20:35,220
reviews cause I go in for them and they never take
660
00:20:35,220 --> 00:20:35,580
me on that.
661
00:20:35,580 --> 00:20:36,180
So shall we say,
662
00:20:38,220 --> 00:20:39,000
Oh man,
663
00:20:39,030 --> 00:20:39,540
I love it.
664
00:20:39,870 --> 00:20:40,320
Yeah, no,
665
00:20:40,320 --> 00:20:41,700
those are some good lessons there though.
666
00:20:41,700 --> 00:20:43,110
We should not be afraid of it.
667
00:20:43,110 --> 00:20:44,370
And, and just,
668
00:20:44,400 --> 00:20:47,470
just make sure that we can do what we can and,
669
00:20:47,540 --> 00:20:50,470
and approach everything from a business perspective and take ourselves out
670
00:20:50,470 --> 00:20:50,620
of it.
671
00:20:50,620 --> 00:20:53,710
I think the hard part is that we are so personally
672
00:20:53,710 --> 00:20:57,100
attached to this business because if we are running a business
673
00:20:57,100 --> 00:20:58,180
selling like widgets,
674
00:20:58,420 --> 00:21:02,830
it's not our personal art that we created in our personal
675
00:21:02,830 --> 00:21:03,970
name and all of this,
676
00:21:03,970 --> 00:21:07,600
just like personal ego stuff wrapped up in this business.
677
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:09,790
So that makes it sometimes extra hard.
678
00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:12,670
And we're quite photographers generally quite insecure people.
679
00:21:12,670 --> 00:21:13,330
So it is,
680
00:21:13,570 --> 00:21:16,630
it is hard to even meet even my competitors.
681
00:21:17,230 --> 00:21:19,090
It doesn't matter how successful you are.
682
00:21:19,090 --> 00:21:20,170
You're still scared.
683
00:21:21,340 --> 00:21:23,230
There's not a day that goes by where I don't wake
684
00:21:23,230 --> 00:21:24,430
it up with my heart going on my goal.
685
00:21:24,430 --> 00:21:24,850
I'll, you know,
686
00:21:26,110 --> 00:21:26,590
at the minute,
687
00:21:26,590 --> 00:21:27,100
at the minute,
688
00:21:27,100 --> 00:21:30,010
it's only about a shot every day.
689
00:21:30,010 --> 00:21:30,490
You kind of,
690
00:21:30,930 --> 00:21:32,320
that energy keeps you alive.
691
00:21:32,590 --> 00:21:34,090
It's it's I would say,
692
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:35,800
I used to say to people when I did weddings,
693
00:21:36,070 --> 00:21:38,560
whenever you stop caring and whenever you stop,
694
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:39,820
when your heart doesn't beat,
695
00:21:39,820 --> 00:21:40,960
when you stop getting scared,
696
00:21:41,230 --> 00:21:43,210
then that's when that's when you make mistakes.
697
00:21:44,410 --> 00:21:47,740
So it's important to be scared that people will like to
698
00:21:47,740 --> 00:21:48,220
think we're,
699
00:21:48,220 --> 00:21:50,170
we're not as scared as we are and be bigger than
700
00:21:50,170 --> 00:21:50,410
we are,
701
00:21:50,410 --> 00:21:52,450
but there's obviously nothing wrong with being scared,
702
00:21:53,230 --> 00:21:54,010
Right? Yeah,
703
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:57,910
absolutely. I have people are always surprised when they hear me
704
00:21:57,910 --> 00:22:00,490
say that I still get a little nervous before shooting.
705
00:22:00,490 --> 00:22:00,730
I'm like,
706
00:22:00,730 --> 00:22:03,970
okay, I hope I can deliver what they expect for me
707
00:22:03,970 --> 00:22:04,540
this time.
708
00:22:06,070 --> 00:22:07,030
It's been 11 years,
709
00:22:07,030 --> 00:22:07,540
but I don't know.
710
00:22:07,540 --> 00:22:07,900
I might,
711
00:22:07,900 --> 00:22:09,610
I might just not know what I'm doing anymore.
712
00:22:12,070 --> 00:22:12,880
It's kind of annoying though.
713
00:22:12,890 --> 00:22:14,260
But whenever we would go to a wedding,
714
00:22:14,290 --> 00:22:16,300
I would always sit in the car cause I didn't drive.
715
00:22:16,780 --> 00:22:18,070
So we'd go to the wedding,
716
00:22:18,100 --> 00:22:20,470
but on the way to every single wedding or even now
717
00:22:20,530 --> 00:22:22,510
whenever I go to commercial shoots or anything,
718
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:29,140
I used to clear my throat to TCS.
719
00:22:29,140 --> 00:22:30,970
I only ever do it when I'm nervous.
720
00:22:31,420 --> 00:22:31,960
Oh, that's funny.
721
00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,760
I know now that she's pointed out that I do indeed
722
00:22:36,290 --> 00:22:36,700
doing that.
723
00:22:36,700 --> 00:22:37,480
Whenever I'm nervous.
724
00:22:40,420 --> 00:22:40,810
I used to,
725
00:22:40,810 --> 00:22:41,890
whenever it was a stage manager,
726
00:22:41,890 --> 00:22:43,720
I used to be the same just before a show would
727
00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:45,190
start. I would bail my goal,
728
00:22:45,190 --> 00:22:45,520
my goal.
729
00:22:45,760 --> 00:22:46,510
And once I went,
730
00:22:46,510 --> 00:22:47,950
the lights went up for that show.
731
00:22:48,310 --> 00:22:51,220
I was absolutely fine until the end of the show when
732
00:22:51,220 --> 00:22:51,820
you go to the thing.
733
00:22:51,850 --> 00:22:52,270
Oh Lord.
734
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:53,740
Yeah. Yeah.
735
00:22:53,740 --> 00:22:55,240
I think that's a common thing.
736
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:56,800
Whether you're playing sports.
737
00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:57,010
I mean,
738
00:22:57,010 --> 00:22:57,640
it's that way with,
739
00:22:57,670 --> 00:22:57,970
you know,
740
00:22:57,970 --> 00:22:59,260
showing my horse for you in the ring,
741
00:22:59,270 --> 00:22:59,530
you're like,
742
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:00,490
oh, a little nervous.
743
00:23:00,540 --> 00:23:01,330
Then you start to ride.
744
00:23:01,330 --> 00:23:01,660
And you're like,
745
00:23:01,690 --> 00:23:02,410
oh, we're good.
746
00:23:03,070 --> 00:23:04,360
Same thing with the shoots,
747
00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:05,500
with business,
748
00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:06,550
with a sales session,
749
00:23:06,550 --> 00:23:07,690
with an inquiry.
750
00:23:08,110 --> 00:23:10,240
I think all the things we build it up in our
751
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,100
heads sometimes so much before that it,
752
00:23:12,220 --> 00:23:12,670
it just,
753
00:23:13,540 --> 00:23:16,300
we allow ourselves to focus on what could go wrong instead
754
00:23:16,300 --> 00:23:17,110
of focusing on,
755
00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:18,010
you know,
756
00:23:18,010 --> 00:23:19,030
how we can serve this client,
757
00:23:19,030 --> 00:23:19,480
how we can,
758
00:23:19,810 --> 00:23:21,040
can have a great outcome.
759
00:23:21,460 --> 00:23:22,030
It's very,
760
00:23:22,030 --> 00:23:22,930
it's very easily done.
761
00:23:22,970 --> 00:23:25,390
The wife says to me that whenever I go into a
762
00:23:25,390 --> 00:23:25,960
shoot or whatever,
763
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:27,190
I go into a meeting customer,
764
00:23:27,190 --> 00:23:28,450
she says anything customer facing.
765
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:29,590
She always says to me,
766
00:23:29,620 --> 00:23:30,640
I go into show mode.
767
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:34,330
So the grim that our customers see is not the gram
768
00:23:34,690 --> 00:23:35,110
at all.
769
00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:38,920
Doesn't like ordering pizza over the phone,
770
00:23:38,920 --> 00:23:39,220
you know,
771
00:23:40,270 --> 00:23:41,830
but the great work has to pick up the phone and
772
00:23:41,830 --> 00:23:42,370
talk to people.
773
00:23:42,370 --> 00:23:43,180
And she says,
774
00:23:43,180 --> 00:23:43,930
there's a real difference.
775
00:23:43,930 --> 00:23:45,920
When she sees me open the door to the customer,
776
00:23:45,950 --> 00:23:47,420
all of a sudden it's show mode,
777
00:23:47,420 --> 00:23:47,570
you know,
778
00:23:47,570 --> 00:23:48,710
the smile goes on the,
779
00:23:49,670 --> 00:23:50,450
you talk to people,
780
00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:55,550
but I have to hit talking to Talking to me.
781
00:23:58,410 --> 00:23:59,390
Oh no,
782
00:23:59,390 --> 00:24:00,050
I'm the same way.
783
00:24:01,340 --> 00:24:01,670
All right.
784
00:24:01,670 --> 00:24:04,520
So let's talk a little bit about,
785
00:24:04,790 --> 00:24:05,270
you know,
786
00:24:05,300 --> 00:24:08,090
back when you are building your new business.
787
00:24:08,120 --> 00:24:09,380
And do you,
788
00:24:09,380 --> 00:24:12,290
have you used kind of similar marketing strategies from when you
789
00:24:12,290 --> 00:24:14,990
were kind of newer in business versus now,
790
00:24:14,990 --> 00:24:17,060
or has that changed as your business has grown?
791
00:24:17,780 --> 00:24:18,250
I think I've,
792
00:24:18,250 --> 00:24:20,090
I've learned a lot from the marketing strategies is that we
793
00:24:20,090 --> 00:24:21,920
have used the things that haven't worked,
794
00:24:22,700 --> 00:24:23,780
I've thrown money.
795
00:24:23,900 --> 00:24:26,300
Like you wouldn't believe it campaigns over the years and some
796
00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:27,890
things have worked and some things haven't worked.
797
00:24:27,890 --> 00:24:28,280
So I think,
798
00:24:28,670 --> 00:24:30,860
and also to be honest over even,
799
00:24:31,010 --> 00:24:31,310
you know,
800
00:24:31,370 --> 00:24:34,580
what's up since 20,
801
00:24:34,580 --> 00:24:35,900
20 14 or whatever things have changed,
802
00:24:35,900 --> 00:24:36,650
you know,
803
00:24:37,100 --> 00:24:37,640
magazine ads,
804
00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:38,710
nobody pays for magazine ads,
805
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:40,550
nobody reads magazines.
806
00:24:40,550 --> 00:24:42,530
So different things have worked different things.
807
00:24:42,530 --> 00:24:44,600
Haven't one of the things that worked really well for me
808
00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:45,590
in the past,
809
00:24:45,590 --> 00:24:46,670
which I don't know if it,
810
00:24:47,090 --> 00:24:47,780
well, again,
811
00:24:47,780 --> 00:24:50,570
is trade shows.
812
00:24:50,570 --> 00:24:51,860
So exhibitions or expos,
813
00:24:51,860 --> 00:24:52,490
those have worked really well.
814
00:24:52,490 --> 00:24:54,020
But now in a post COVID world,
815
00:24:54,410 --> 00:24:55,670
I don't know if these are going to work.
816
00:24:55,670 --> 00:24:56,030
So it's,
817
00:24:56,420 --> 00:24:59,480
you've got to kind of adapt particularly as well,
818
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,510
campaigns at the minute for things like what our little Russian
819
00:25:02,510 --> 00:25:04,220
friend is doing in Russia,
820
00:25:04,250 --> 00:25:05,240
causing a lot of problems.
821
00:25:06,020 --> 00:25:08,150
People are going to have less disposable income as a result
822
00:25:08,150 --> 00:25:08,450
of that.
823
00:25:08,450 --> 00:25:10,400
So you you've gotta be wary.
824
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,770
You've gotta constantly be seeing what the world is doing and
825
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,220
adapting, Marketing,
826
00:25:16,580 --> 00:25:17,960
adopting and changing you can't,
827
00:25:18,020 --> 00:25:19,880
you can't just put all your eggs in one basket and
828
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:20,630
roll died every year.
829
00:25:20,630 --> 00:25:21,200
Cause it won't work.
830
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:22,920
Agreed. Yeah.
831
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,580
I like to say that like marketing is a hundred percent,
832
00:25:26,580 --> 00:25:29,430
a combination of many different avenues and activities.
833
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,760
And I feel like so many people are always looking for
834
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,860
this one magic solution.
835
00:25:34,860 --> 00:25:35,210
It's like,
836
00:25:35,220 --> 00:25:37,530
let, just tell me the one marketing strategy I need to
837
00:25:37,530 --> 00:25:40,740
do, but I don't think there is a one marketing strategy.
838
00:25:41,820 --> 00:25:42,900
I'll pay them if you knew what it is.
839
00:25:45,090 --> 00:25:47,370
Honestly, there kind of is.
840
00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:49,680
It's not the only thing you can do,
841
00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:51,330
but if you're not doing this,
842
00:25:51,330 --> 00:25:53,970
all the other marketing strategies are going to be very,
843
00:25:53,970 --> 00:25:54,660
very hard.
844
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:57,690
And that is actually making connections in your market,
845
00:25:58,050 --> 00:25:59,010
talking to people,
846
00:25:59,010 --> 00:26:00,150
getting yourself out there,
847
00:26:00,150 --> 00:26:03,660
having some brand awareness in your market and just those human
848
00:26:03,660 --> 00:26:04,590
to human interaction,
849
00:26:04,590 --> 00:26:09,060
relationships that if you are not always focusing on that,
850
00:26:09,420 --> 00:26:12,750
then no matter what marketing strategy you're trying to implement,
851
00:26:12,930 --> 00:26:16,710
I think it's a lot harder to actually implement because you're,
852
00:26:16,710 --> 00:26:19,470
you're going up the hill because you don't have that relationship
853
00:26:19,500 --> 00:26:21,870
basis that all businesses built on.
854
00:26:22,530 --> 00:26:23,130
Well, you have to,
855
00:26:23,130 --> 00:26:24,990
if you think we're in the industry of people,
856
00:26:25,020 --> 00:26:26,430
that's really what it boils down to.
857
00:26:26,700 --> 00:26:28,320
And if you don't do that,
858
00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:30,660
if you don't approach people and you haven't got people make
859
00:26:30,660 --> 00:26:31,410
it aware of you,
860
00:26:31,620 --> 00:26:33,060
you haven't built that relationship up.
861
00:26:33,060 --> 00:26:33,780
You haven't got that brand.
862
00:26:33,900 --> 00:26:34,890
The phone's not gonna ring.
863
00:26:34,890 --> 00:26:35,700
Cause there's going to be nobody.
864
00:26:35,700 --> 00:26:39,330
Laughter people,
865
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:45,150
massaging people is the most important part of what we do
866
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:46,080
for them.
867
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:46,680
The new business.
868
00:26:47,220 --> 00:26:50,820
Yep. And I can hear all the introverted dog photographers across
869
00:26:50,820 --> 00:26:54,930
all the land shutter in unison as they hear that.
870
00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:55,770
I think when,
871
00:26:55,780 --> 00:26:57,600
when they're sitting there being introvert thing,
872
00:26:57,630 --> 00:26:58,230
think of me,
873
00:26:58,560 --> 00:26:58,830
think of,
874
00:26:58,830 --> 00:26:59,970
you know,
875
00:27:00,060 --> 00:27:01,170
nobody likes doing it.
876
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:02,400
Nobody really likes doing it.
877
00:27:02,580 --> 00:27:04,080
So whenever they're sitting there thinking,
878
00:27:04,110 --> 00:27:04,750
I, you know,
879
00:27:04,750 --> 00:27:05,670
I could do this.
880
00:27:05,700 --> 00:27:06,300
Think to yourself,
881
00:27:06,330 --> 00:27:08,280
put the shoe face on and put the show mode on.
882
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:09,270
You're not being a bit,
883
00:27:09,270 --> 00:27:10,170
you're being a character.
884
00:27:10,350 --> 00:27:11,190
Be that character,
885
00:27:11,910 --> 00:27:12,780
be yourself at home.
886
00:27:13,170 --> 00:27:15,960
Yeah. Ask yourself what your business needs and,
887
00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:17,490
and be that person.
888
00:27:17,820 --> 00:27:18,900
And you know,
889
00:27:18,900 --> 00:27:22,320
sometimes maybe you psych yourself up bright down what ne what
890
00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:23,670
you need to ask.
891
00:27:23,670 --> 00:27:26,940
I know that's what I did for a long time.
892
00:27:26,940 --> 00:27:29,550
For anytime I had to phone a client back for an
893
00:27:29,550 --> 00:27:32,280
inquiry or I was gonna have my pre-session consult on the
894
00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:33,840
phone or anything like that.
895
00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:34,740
Like I had a list.
896
00:27:34,740 --> 00:27:37,140
I had kind of a script that I would go from
897
00:27:37,380 --> 00:27:38,910
that I wouldn't read word for word,
898
00:27:38,910 --> 00:27:41,100
but I had the questions in front of me.
899
00:27:41,460 --> 00:27:43,200
So cause my biggest fear was like,
900
00:27:43,230 --> 00:27:43,560
I don't,
901
00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,930
I'm not going to know what to say and or I'm
902
00:27:45,930 --> 00:27:47,220
going to forget something important.
903
00:27:47,550 --> 00:27:48,510
So, you know,
904
00:27:48,540 --> 00:27:49,410
that helped me.
905
00:27:49,830 --> 00:27:53,520
You can practice just with friends.
906
00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:55,680
You can practice with other photographers.
907
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:55,980
You know,
908
00:27:55,980 --> 00:27:57,510
if you're in our hair,
909
00:27:57,510 --> 00:27:58,230
the doc community,
910
00:27:58,230 --> 00:27:59,490
their members are a free group.
911
00:27:59,490 --> 00:28:02,490
Like get a buddy in there and go through your little
912
00:28:02,490 --> 00:28:05,340
inquiry process or do a little call with each other.
913
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:06,060
Like there's,
914
00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,900
there's so many ways we just like to make excuses on
915
00:28:09,930 --> 00:28:11,640
why we can't or why it's hard.
916
00:28:13,830 --> 00:28:15,630
I have a notice board in front of my desk.
917
00:28:16,230 --> 00:28:17,880
Do you know what there is pinned my notice for this
918
00:28:17,940 --> 00:28:19,680
there's two things immediately in front of my monitor.
919
00:28:19,980 --> 00:28:23,220
One is a Nicole Bagley phone script.
920
00:28:23,970 --> 00:28:27,630
So I remember watching one of your modules about phone scripts.
921
00:28:28,050 --> 00:28:28,990
I, so I've,
922
00:28:28,990 --> 00:28:31,290
I've caught all the bits that I like and modify that.
923
00:28:31,380 --> 00:28:32,520
And that's my phone script.
924
00:28:33,660 --> 00:28:35,550
The other thing that's in front of me in very large
925
00:28:35,550 --> 00:28:37,140
texts on 84 pages,
926
00:28:37,380 --> 00:28:38,850
what would you like to do with,
927
00:28:38,970 --> 00:28:40,500
have you had a think about what you would like to
928
00:28:40,500 --> 00:28:41,400
do with your pictures?
929
00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:44,010
And that was again from one of your,
930
00:28:44,190 --> 00:28:44,940
one of your modules.
931
00:28:47,550 --> 00:28:48,750
So it's the underlying thing.
932
00:28:48,750 --> 00:28:50,160
You've got to remember those underlying things.
933
00:28:50,190 --> 00:28:51,480
And sometimes we do need help.
934
00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:51,900
We need,
935
00:28:52,170 --> 00:28:52,950
we need a script.
936
00:28:52,980 --> 00:28:53,280
We're not,
937
00:28:54,100 --> 00:28:54,750
we're not old people.
938
00:28:54,750 --> 00:28:56,430
You can just come out with stuff like that.
939
00:28:56,430 --> 00:28:56,660
You know,
940
00:28:56,830 --> 00:28:57,810
if I can make and stuff like that,
941
00:28:57,810 --> 00:28:59,130
I'd probably end up in court for a lot of us.
942
00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:04,350
So I love it.
943
00:29:04,350 --> 00:29:04,860
I love it.
944
00:29:05,070 --> 00:29:05,520
Yeah. That,
945
00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:06,120
what were you would,
946
00:29:06,180 --> 00:29:08,970
what would you like to do with your photos is by
947
00:29:08,970 --> 00:29:11,520
far the most important thing,
948
00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,620
you can ask your potential clients all the way through the
949
00:29:13,620 --> 00:29:16,290
process because it opens the door for being able to have
950
00:29:16,290 --> 00:29:18,390
the conversation of what makes you different.
951
00:29:18,630 --> 00:29:20,160
Because so many people,
952
00:29:20,190 --> 00:29:20,550
you know,
953
00:29:20,550 --> 00:29:21,480
it's 20,
954
00:29:21,480 --> 00:29:23,980
22, they come in thinking that,
955
00:29:23,980 --> 00:29:26,550
oh, I just want the digital files because they've seen so
956
00:29:26,550 --> 00:29:27,450
many photographers,
957
00:29:27,450 --> 00:29:28,410
it's like a hundred bucks,
958
00:29:28,410 --> 00:29:29,370
all the digital files.
959
00:29:30,270 --> 00:29:32,040
So they just have been trained that,
960
00:29:32,070 --> 00:29:33,480
oh, this is what you do now.
961
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,170
So they might not even realize that all this artwork and
962
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,080
all these other products are even an option.
963
00:29:40,500 --> 00:29:43,810
So by asking that it just opens that door and no
964
00:29:43,810 --> 00:29:45,010
matter what their answer is,
965
00:29:45,010 --> 00:29:45,640
whether it's oh,
966
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:46,870
the digital files or,
967
00:29:46,900 --> 00:29:48,370
oh, you know,
968
00:29:48,370 --> 00:29:49,030
I'm not sure.
969
00:29:49,030 --> 00:29:50,200
Or the rare unicorn,
970
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:50,530
that's like,
971
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:52,000
oh, I'd like to get some art for my house.
972
00:29:52,090 --> 00:29:52,510
And then you're like,
973
00:29:52,510 --> 00:29:56,050
yeah, We pull,
974
00:29:56,060 --> 00:29:57,070
we as photographers,
975
00:29:57,070 --> 00:30:00,010
fall into a hole where we're so used to terms,
976
00:30:00,040 --> 00:30:03,340
we watch so many things with so many influences online that
977
00:30:03,340 --> 00:30:04,510
we find all these terms,
978
00:30:04,510 --> 00:30:06,490
like story storyboards,
979
00:30:06,490 --> 00:30:06,940
you know,
980
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,800
lay flat albums customers don't give a monkey about those things.
981
00:30:12,460 --> 00:30:13,450
They don't know what they are.
982
00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:15,910
So why would we try and say somebody,
983
00:30:15,940 --> 00:30:17,170
oh, would you like a folio box?
984
00:30:17,410 --> 00:30:18,490
What the hell is a folio box?
985
00:30:19,180 --> 00:30:20,470
Why do we not want to simplify?
986
00:30:20,470 --> 00:30:23,320
We should be simplifying things as much as possible to make
987
00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:24,670
it so easy for people to go,
988
00:30:24,700 --> 00:30:25,600
oh, I just want to spend money.
989
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:27,220
Yeah, exactly.
990
00:30:27,370 --> 00:30:28,270
A hundred percent.
991
00:30:28,990 --> 00:30:32,050
What are some of your most popular products that you sell
992
00:30:32,050 --> 00:30:32,530
over there?
993
00:30:32,530 --> 00:30:33,700
In, in Belfast?
994
00:30:33,940 --> 00:30:35,170
We sell a well,
995
00:30:35,410 --> 00:30:35,920
it'd be different.
996
00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:36,360
I know from,
997
00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:37,270
from my competitors,
998
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:39,640
I know what he sells.
999
00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:40,540
He knows what I sell.
1000
00:30:41,540 --> 00:30:42,700
One of his staff.
1001
00:30:42,790 --> 00:30:45,670
I noted my brochure a few weeks ago and I phoned
1002
00:30:45,670 --> 00:30:46,150
him up and said,
1003
00:30:46,150 --> 00:30:47,620
did she download my brochure?
1004
00:30:47,620 --> 00:30:49,870
And he said that she was meant to not put her
1005
00:30:49,870 --> 00:30:50,350
name on it.
1006
00:30:50,650 --> 00:30:51,070
So I said,
1007
00:30:51,070 --> 00:30:52,030
well, you can say,
1008
00:30:52,210 --> 00:30:53,920
you can send me a copy of your brochure.
1009
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:54,280
And he did,
1010
00:30:54,460 --> 00:30:57,370
but the most popular product that I would sell,
1011
00:30:57,370 --> 00:30:58,570
I'm very much about frames.
1012
00:30:59,950 --> 00:31:00,550
I'm a simpleton.
1013
00:31:00,580 --> 00:31:01,450
I like things simple.
1014
00:31:01,510 --> 00:31:03,280
So, but we sell a,
1015
00:31:03,310 --> 00:31:04,690
what we call a storyboard for him,
1016
00:31:04,930 --> 00:31:06,520
which is a collage and a frame.
1017
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:08,860
Really? So it's a square for him with,
1018
00:31:08,890 --> 00:31:09,130
you know,
1019
00:31:09,130 --> 00:31:09,970
four pictures,
1020
00:31:09,970 --> 00:31:10,900
nine pictures,
1021
00:31:10,930 --> 00:31:13,390
16 pictures in a frame.
1022
00:31:13,390 --> 00:31:15,220
And it's a very cost-effective product.
1023
00:31:15,460 --> 00:31:18,130
Nice. But I like them because I have good relationship with
1024
00:31:18,130 --> 00:31:18,700
my framer.
1025
00:31:18,760 --> 00:31:20,020
I have a good we've we've,
1026
00:31:20,030 --> 00:31:21,580
we've worked together in a good price,
1027
00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:24,190
but I find them really easy to do.
1028
00:31:24,190 --> 00:31:25,840
Especially if we're using something like pro select,
1029
00:31:25,900 --> 00:31:27,490
once you get your templates mocked up,
1030
00:31:28,630 --> 00:31:29,020
it's easy,
1031
00:31:29,020 --> 00:31:30,670
but I'd probably sell more of those because those are the
1032
00:31:30,670 --> 00:31:31,870
ones I know where they're good value.
1033
00:31:31,870 --> 00:31:32,890
And those are the ones I like.
1034
00:31:34,300 --> 00:31:35,290
Whereas I should be,
1035
00:31:35,620 --> 00:31:36,370
I should be selling others.
1036
00:31:36,410 --> 00:31:39,190
I was looking today before this call actually a different type.
1037
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,080
I was looking at multiple frames as one,
1038
00:31:41,260 --> 00:31:41,770
one order.
1039
00:31:41,770 --> 00:31:43,990
So what would call a cluster I guess,
1040
00:31:45,370 --> 00:31:48,070
Because, but I've always stayed clear of them because the profit
1041
00:31:48,070 --> 00:31:50,230
I find has been in storyboards.
1042
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:52,960
I have multiple products.
1043
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:54,550
Yeah. Well,
1044
00:31:54,550 --> 00:31:55,090
it's a nice,
1045
00:31:55,090 --> 00:31:59,380
I get jealous of your studio photographers because the clusters always
1046
00:31:59,380 --> 00:32:02,740
look so nice or the storyboards,
1047
00:32:02,770 --> 00:32:04,990
things like that when you have multiple images,
1048
00:32:04,990 --> 00:32:08,230
because the images all have a very similar lighting and feel,
1049
00:32:08,470 --> 00:32:11,110
but sometimes when you're off and you're doing an on location
1050
00:32:11,110 --> 00:32:12,970
session, you have 40 images from,
1051
00:32:12,970 --> 00:32:13,180
you know,
1052
00:32:13,180 --> 00:32:15,700
some are Twilight in summer backlit and some,
1053
00:32:15,700 --> 00:32:16,030
you know,
1054
00:32:16,180 --> 00:32:19,060
various areas and you're moving around and people are like,
1055
00:32:19,150 --> 00:32:20,620
oh, I want to put these all on your wall.
1056
00:32:20,620 --> 00:32:21,100
But then you're like,
1057
00:32:21,100 --> 00:32:24,250
well, that's all going to look terrible altogether on the wall
1058
00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:28,540
because things are a little bit different from them.
1059
00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:29,890
You're you're the one doing that.
1060
00:32:29,890 --> 00:32:31,180
Your customer's not going to be doing that.
1061
00:32:31,180 --> 00:32:32,800
You're the person setting doing that.
1062
00:32:32,800 --> 00:32:36,250
So we've got to remember that what our customers want to
1063
00:32:36,250 --> 00:32:38,710
buy isn't necessarily what we would want to buy.
1064
00:32:39,620 --> 00:32:41,210
So I'm what we think again,
1065
00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:41,920
you're sitting thinking,
1066
00:32:41,940 --> 00:32:42,380
going, oh,
1067
00:32:42,380 --> 00:32:42,620
you know,
1068
00:32:42,620 --> 00:32:44,150
the colors are different customers.
1069
00:32:44,150 --> 00:32:45,800
Generally don't give a flying monkey.
1070
00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:51,200
Not because you care,
1071
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:52,520
we're putting that on the customer.
1072
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:54,130
So I,
1073
00:32:54,170 --> 00:32:55,460
yeah, I wouldn't be so concerned about that.
1074
00:32:55,460 --> 00:32:56,930
But even in a studio,
1075
00:32:56,930 --> 00:32:57,500
to be honest,
1076
00:32:57,500 --> 00:32:57,920
you still,
1077
00:32:57,980 --> 00:32:58,790
it's still a variables.
1078
00:32:58,790 --> 00:32:58,940
You know,
1079
00:32:58,940 --> 00:33:00,740
lights would always flash all the time.
1080
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:02,120
You might have a shadow.
1081
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:03,950
The subject may be slightly further away.
1082
00:33:03,950 --> 00:33:04,430
So it's not,
1083
00:33:05,210 --> 00:33:06,830
it isn't always as rosy as that.
1084
00:33:06,830 --> 00:33:07,460
Cause people may go ahead.
1085
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:08,630
Right. Right.
1086
00:33:08,750 --> 00:33:09,680
Yeah. Yeah.
1087
00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:11,930
Well, I think that's one of the reasons you mentioned how,
1088
00:33:12,530 --> 00:33:12,770
you know,
1089
00:33:12,770 --> 00:33:15,110
you sell a lot of the storyboards because you find the
1090
00:33:15,110 --> 00:33:17,420
value there and that's kind of what you want to be
1091
00:33:17,420 --> 00:33:21,710
selling. I love for me just like a big signature piece.
1092
00:33:21,980 --> 00:33:23,150
So that tends to be more,
1093
00:33:23,150 --> 00:33:25,880
what, what I sell is just like one image on the
1094
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:26,480
wall really,
1095
00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:27,080
really big.
1096
00:33:28,460 --> 00:33:29,210
And you know,
1097
00:33:29,210 --> 00:33:31,910
it's, I have other pet photographer,
1098
00:33:31,910 --> 00:33:33,860
friends that they just sell albums.
1099
00:33:33,860 --> 00:33:35,570
I don't sell a ton of albums.
1100
00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,560
There's another Kim Hollis is photographer in my market here in
1101
00:33:39,560 --> 00:33:41,840
Charlotte that she sells mostly metals.
1102
00:33:41,840 --> 00:33:45,470
And I don't even have metals on my price list because
1103
00:33:45,500 --> 00:33:46,430
I don't love metals.
1104
00:33:46,670 --> 00:33:49,910
So it's all about finding things that you love.
1105
00:33:50,180 --> 00:33:51,260
I'm the same with canvases,
1106
00:33:51,270 --> 00:33:51,890
my framers,
1107
00:33:51,890 --> 00:33:53,510
trying to get me into doing canvases at the minute.
1108
00:33:53,510 --> 00:33:53,900
But when I,
1109
00:33:54,140 --> 00:33:55,310
when I see a canvas,
1110
00:33:55,310 --> 00:33:58,940
to be honest in my experience of calmness production is I
1111
00:33:58,940 --> 00:34:00,590
could go into Asda and get a canvas.
1112
00:34:00,590 --> 00:34:01,490
So in my head,
1113
00:34:01,490 --> 00:34:01,760
I'm like,
1114
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,160
I don't want to sell that everybody has done like we,
1115
00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:06,710
we don't sell metal or acrylic.
1116
00:34:06,710 --> 00:34:08,710
And the reason we don't do that is when I started
1117
00:34:08,720 --> 00:34:12,290
out the cost of production of those products that the professional
1118
00:34:12,290 --> 00:34:13,630
labs charge is,
1119
00:34:13,630 --> 00:34:14,690
is hefty.
1120
00:34:14,690 --> 00:34:16,390
Some of your,
1121
00:34:16,390 --> 00:34:19,430
your cost of goods Was frames for me.
1122
00:34:19,430 --> 00:34:20,480
I can produce a frame,
1123
00:34:20,900 --> 00:34:21,290
you know,
1124
00:34:21,380 --> 00:34:22,490
20% or less.
1125
00:34:22,580 --> 00:34:22,880
And that's,
1126
00:34:24,140 --> 00:34:24,770
that's profitable.
1127
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:26,150
The framer you're working with,
1128
00:34:26,150 --> 00:34:28,670
is it a local framer that you have a partnership with?
1129
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:31,760
That's fantastic.
1130
00:34:32,420 --> 00:34:34,040
And then the nice thing about working with locals too,
1131
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:35,390
is she's got me out of a hole quite a lot
1132
00:34:35,390 --> 00:34:35,990
of times.
1133
00:34:38,180 --> 00:34:38,780
That's nice.
1134
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:39,410
That's nice.
1135
00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,470
Perfect. What would you say is,
1136
00:34:42,500 --> 00:34:44,540
well, you just mentioned 2021 is a great year,
1137
00:34:44,570 --> 00:34:45,230
which is awesome.
1138
00:34:45,260 --> 00:34:51,050
Congratulations. What was your best marketing strategy last year in 2021?
1139
00:34:52,880 --> 00:34:53,660
I don't rain it well.
1140
00:34:53,780 --> 00:34:56,630
Well now 2020 last year for us was a very good
1141
00:34:56,630 --> 00:34:58,040
year for several reasons.
1142
00:34:58,460 --> 00:35:00,290
For one people started spending money on pets again,
1143
00:35:00,290 --> 00:35:03,740
but we also got into doing graduation photography and I saw
1144
00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:06,530
a gap in the market at the time that the university's
1145
00:35:06,530 --> 00:35:07,250
role closed,
1146
00:35:08,210 --> 00:35:09,110
but there were still,
1147
00:35:09,110 --> 00:35:11,900
we've two big universities and they have a lot of students,
1148
00:35:11,930 --> 00:35:14,810
but you can't get the GYNs for graduations because they're all
1149
00:35:15,200 --> 00:35:17,180
either owned by the universities are owned by companies.
1150
00:35:17,510 --> 00:35:18,980
So I went,
1151
00:35:18,980 --> 00:35:22,550
I bought all of the guides for a local universities and
1152
00:35:22,550 --> 00:35:24,170
that meant in Ireland and Northern.
1153
00:35:24,170 --> 00:35:27,020
And we were the only people able to do the graduation
1154
00:35:28,180 --> 00:35:30,350
down. So it was crazy.
1155
00:35:30,350 --> 00:35:31,010
And it was crazy.
1156
00:35:31,010 --> 00:35:31,760
Cause we were in the summer,
1157
00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:33,770
I was working from 7:00 AM to 10 at night,
1158
00:35:33,770 --> 00:35:35,450
seven days a week for like four months.
1159
00:35:36,110 --> 00:35:36,890
But it was crazy.
1160
00:35:36,890 --> 00:35:38,010
So that was a very good,
1161
00:35:38,010 --> 00:35:39,450
that was a good one.
1162
00:35:39,450 --> 00:35:41,580
But with regards to pat,
1163
00:35:41,610 --> 00:35:45,120
probably building up relationships with local charities and local businesses.
1164
00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,210
So we had a number of influencers on a number of
1165
00:35:48,210 --> 00:35:51,630
local businesses who we knew had a lot of followers and
1166
00:35:51,630 --> 00:35:52,950
building up relationships with them.
1167
00:35:52,950 --> 00:35:53,880
And then for example,
1168
00:35:54,570 --> 00:35:55,950
with one company we work with,
1169
00:35:55,980 --> 00:35:57,510
which is a,
1170
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:02,190
a company that manufactures customized clothing and they do it in
1171
00:36:02,190 --> 00:36:04,410
a really quirky way on this beautiful.
1172
00:36:04,540 --> 00:36:05,370
This stuff's really beautiful.
1173
00:36:05,760 --> 00:36:07,380
We work with them and then they would,
1174
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:07,980
for example,
1175
00:36:07,980 --> 00:36:09,780
give out a gift Fletcher who each customer,
1176
00:36:11,790 --> 00:36:14,010
but because they're pre-qualified because the people,
1177
00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:17,880
their customers are pre-qualified by buying their clothing and their clothing
1178
00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:18,480
isn't cheap,
1179
00:36:19,230 --> 00:36:20,700
then you you've,
1180
00:36:20,700 --> 00:36:22,620
pre-qualified the customers to come out to you.
1181
00:36:22,620 --> 00:36:25,350
Whereas if we'd gone into a really cheap business and given
1182
00:36:25,350 --> 00:36:25,860
out voters,
1183
00:36:25,860 --> 00:36:26,580
you've, you've already,
1184
00:36:27,870 --> 00:36:28,860
people will still come to you,
1185
00:36:28,860 --> 00:36:30,450
but it's the opposite effect that won't spend money.
1186
00:36:31,710 --> 00:36:33,690
And we worked as well with a number of charities and
1187
00:36:33,690 --> 00:36:39,030
did things was a calendar competition on a dog food brand
1188
00:36:39,060 --> 00:36:39,900
competition as well.
1189
00:36:39,900 --> 00:36:41,160
So a number of number of different things,
1190
00:36:41,190 --> 00:36:42,870
you've got to constantly come up with different ideas.
1191
00:36:43,350 --> 00:36:44,730
Yeah, absolutely.
1192
00:36:44,970 --> 00:36:47,730
And testing them and seeing some will work some won't.
1193
00:36:47,730 --> 00:36:50,400
And just always knowing that that marketing is,
1194
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:54,600
it's always just an experiment and what works for somebody in
1195
00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,190
one market might not work in another.
1196
00:36:56,190 --> 00:36:57,660
You might have to tweak it a little bit.
1197
00:36:57,660 --> 00:36:58,560
And like you said,
1198
00:36:58,560 --> 00:36:59,910
even year to year,
1199
00:36:59,910 --> 00:37:01,230
things might change.
1200
00:37:01,530 --> 00:37:04,170
And so you have to adjust things a little bit differently.
1201
00:37:04,990 --> 00:37:08,100
Question with that business relationship,
1202
00:37:08,100 --> 00:37:09,450
with the unique outfits,
1203
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:13,140
those vouchers did you did,
1204
00:37:13,140 --> 00:37:13,980
or the clients,
1205
00:37:13,980 --> 00:37:15,090
when they get the voucher,
1206
00:37:15,540 --> 00:37:18,510
did they still have to pay anything to get in front
1207
00:37:18,510 --> 00:37:19,050
of your lens?
1208
00:37:19,050 --> 00:37:22,040
Or did that voucher like totally cover their session fee and
1209
00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:25,830
they Over the entirety of it?
1210
00:37:25,860 --> 00:37:27,420
However, however,
1211
00:37:27,870 --> 00:37:31,470
something I did learn again from your fair self was charge
1212
00:37:31,470 --> 00:37:34,560
a flippant deposit because it really does.
1213
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:36,450
It's. I remember when I,
1214
00:37:36,510 --> 00:37:37,560
when I watched your video on that,
1215
00:37:37,560 --> 00:37:38,430
because I didn't use to,
1216
00:37:38,430 --> 00:37:39,330
because there's always the fare,
1217
00:37:39,330 --> 00:37:39,630
you know,
1218
00:37:39,630 --> 00:37:42,180
of people won't charge a deposit.
1219
00:37:42,180 --> 00:37:43,920
So we have four vouchers.
1220
00:37:43,920 --> 00:37:45,660
People pay a 25 pounds.
1221
00:37:46,290 --> 00:37:48,240
What we call refundable booking fee,
1222
00:37:49,680 --> 00:37:51,570
because I know as well in your particular part of the
1223
00:37:51,570 --> 00:37:53,310
world, the word deposit means different things.
1224
00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:56,910
So we have a refundable booking fee in the PO the
1225
00:37:56,910 --> 00:37:58,500
terms, the conditions are that,
1226
00:37:58,500 --> 00:37:58,770
you know,
1227
00:37:58,770 --> 00:37:59,310
they come out,
1228
00:37:59,370 --> 00:38:00,120
they come to the shoot,
1229
00:38:00,120 --> 00:38:00,840
they come to the viewing,
1230
00:38:00,870 --> 00:38:02,160
they'll get their 25 pounds back.
1231
00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,830
If they don't buy anything or they'll get 25 pounds off
1232
00:38:04,830 --> 00:38:07,740
product. But by the time most people generally have forgotten about
1233
00:38:07,740 --> 00:38:08,520
that 25 funds.
1234
00:38:10,350 --> 00:38:13,050
I tend to find this a few people won't and bizarrely,
1235
00:38:13,230 --> 00:38:15,930
the people that don't forget about us are people who work,
1236
00:38:15,990 --> 00:38:17,610
who come like wanting something for free.
1237
00:38:18,810 --> 00:38:20,550
And then they want their 25 points back.
1238
00:38:20,730 --> 00:38:23,610
And those people are usually you'll love this people who work
1239
00:38:23,610 --> 00:38:24,390
in the dog industry.
1240
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:25,350
We work in the pet industry.
1241
00:38:26,430 --> 00:38:27,150
We've allowed dog,
1242
00:38:27,150 --> 00:38:27,810
walkers, dog,
1243
00:38:27,810 --> 00:38:30,030
groomers, people like that would come out and they they're the
1244
00:38:30,030 --> 00:38:31,980
ones that they want the money back and they want to
1245
00:38:31,980 --> 00:38:32,290
buy them.
1246
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:33,540
Right. Right.
1247
00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:34,380
Oh, that's funny.
1248
00:38:35,770 --> 00:38:37,510
Oh, I was going to say something else about that.
1249
00:38:37,990 --> 00:38:39,340
Oh, well it'll come back to me.
1250
00:38:39,730 --> 00:38:41,620
Yeah. The I'm having,
1251
00:38:41,650 --> 00:38:44,680
oh, I know what it was the word deposit,
1252
00:38:44,890 --> 00:38:47,470
which I was always under the impression that there were certain
1253
00:38:47,470 --> 00:38:48,370
ways that you could,
1254
00:38:48,370 --> 00:38:50,920
or couldn't refer to retainers or deposits in the U S
1255
00:38:51,190 --> 00:38:54,190
I just did an interview with Rachel<inaudible> from the law talk.
1256
00:38:54,220 --> 00:38:56,440
She's a US-based photographer lawyer,
1257
00:38:56,830 --> 00:38:59,080
and that is not necessarily true.
1258
00:38:59,140 --> 00:39:02,260
So you guys will have to listen to Rachel's podcast episode,
1259
00:39:03,070 --> 00:39:05,980
which just came out a couple before this one,
1260
00:39:06,310 --> 00:39:09,430
and she will set you straight on what you can and
1261
00:39:09,430 --> 00:39:09,970
can't call it.
1262
00:39:11,020 --> 00:39:12,280
So, all right.
1263
00:39:12,460 --> 00:39:13,330
Awesome. I love it.
1264
00:39:13,360 --> 00:39:13,810
You know,
1265
00:39:14,080 --> 00:39:16,060
you know that I also love working with the charities.
1266
00:39:16,060 --> 00:39:17,290
I feel like that is.
1267
00:39:17,530 --> 00:39:19,570
And just it's my,
1268
00:39:19,570 --> 00:39:24,400
one of my favorite marketing strategies is finding a local charities
1269
00:39:24,430 --> 00:39:30,580
and offering some special sessions to their supporters that also benefits
1270
00:39:30,580 --> 00:39:31,450
the charity.
1271
00:39:31,780 --> 00:39:35,290
Is that how you kind of set up your charitable marketing
1272
00:39:35,500 --> 00:39:37,270
things? Or do you do anything else unique?
1273
00:39:37,990 --> 00:39:38,380
You've got to,
1274
00:39:38,390 --> 00:39:39,850
you've got to remember a charity.
1275
00:39:39,940 --> 00:39:40,720
Well, first of all,
1276
00:39:40,720 --> 00:39:41,560
charity begins at home.
1277
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:43,570
So you're all of us are business people.
1278
00:39:43,690 --> 00:39:45,580
So whenever we do anything that's charitable,
1279
00:39:45,730 --> 00:39:47,530
we have to ensure that we're still making money.
1280
00:39:47,530 --> 00:39:48,720
That it's not costing us money.
1281
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,680
Cause there's no point in you doing a big campaign for
1282
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:52,030
charter, then figuring out how do you know?
1283
00:39:52,030 --> 00:39:53,110
Well, I've actually lost money.
1284
00:39:54,070 --> 00:39:55,110
Even, even the little,
1285
00:39:55,110 --> 00:39:56,470
all of the world's top charities,
1286
00:39:56,470 --> 00:39:57,490
they will make money in a,
1287
00:39:58,660 --> 00:39:59,710
it is a business ultimately.
1288
00:39:59,950 --> 00:40:02,050
So whenever you work with charities as well,
1289
00:40:02,050 --> 00:40:04,480
it's important to choose the correct charities to work with.
1290
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,090
So you want to choose charities that will fit in with
1291
00:40:07,090 --> 00:40:07,690
your brand.
1292
00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:09,250
They'll fit in with the way you think,
1293
00:40:09,340 --> 00:40:10,600
because you can then get behind them.
1294
00:40:10,930 --> 00:40:12,130
But also at the same time,
1295
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:15,070
you want to ensure that if you're doing it for the
1296
00:40:15,070 --> 00:40:16,090
purposes of making money,
1297
00:40:16,090 --> 00:40:18,520
that you're going to get the people through the door that
1298
00:40:18,520 --> 00:40:21,070
are going to spend the money that you're asking.
1299
00:40:21,460 --> 00:40:23,350
So you've got to choose your charities very,
1300
00:40:23,350 --> 00:40:25,930
very wisely and choose the people who do knit to charities
1301
00:40:25,930 --> 00:40:26,380
very wisely.
1302
00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:28,600
I tend to find that this might not be for everybody,
1303
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:31,060
but campaigns that we run with different organizations.
1304
00:40:31,390 --> 00:40:33,400
I tend to find actually the people that spend the least
1305
00:40:33,460 --> 00:40:35,080
are rescue dog owners.
1306
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:38,680
Usually, usually people who are more invested in their pets from
1307
00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:39,340
being a puppy,
1308
00:40:39,940 --> 00:40:40,480
tend to,
1309
00:40:40,510 --> 00:40:42,490
we tend to have better averages of people like that.
1310
00:40:42,490 --> 00:40:45,340
But we do a lot of stuff with different rescue charities
1311
00:40:45,340 --> 00:40:48,550
because I like their ethos of rescue trials.
1312
00:40:49,570 --> 00:40:50,530
And it's,
1313
00:40:50,620 --> 00:40:52,330
I think it was while we've got to remember when doing
1314
00:40:52,330 --> 00:40:53,170
stuff with charity too,
1315
00:40:53,320 --> 00:40:54,550
it's not all about the business,
1316
00:40:54,550 --> 00:40:56,020
but it is very much about the business,
1317
00:40:56,230 --> 00:40:57,070
but it's not all,
1318
00:40:57,070 --> 00:40:59,110
you still have to make sure that you're giving back.
1319
00:40:59,110 --> 00:41:00,520
You're not just taking from a charity.
1320
00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:01,870
So you're not just getting customers,
1321
00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:03,220
you're giving something in return.
1322
00:41:03,670 --> 00:41:04,390
Yup. Yup.
1323
00:41:04,570 --> 00:41:06,310
Yeah. And that's one of those things too,
1324
00:41:06,310 --> 00:41:11,260
that I've found that create so much Goodwill towards your brand
1325
00:41:11,260 --> 00:41:12,640
where I would have people,
1326
00:41:13,060 --> 00:41:13,300
you know,
1327
00:41:13,300 --> 00:41:14,530
when I first started my business,
1328
00:41:14,530 --> 00:41:16,540
I did a lot of things with our,
1329
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:18,610
like the Western Pennsylvania humane society,
1330
00:41:18,610 --> 00:41:22,810
which is our bigger kind of our bigger shelter in the
1331
00:41:22,810 --> 00:41:25,900
Pittsburgh region and The guy that you were in Pittsburgh.
1332
00:41:25,930 --> 00:41:26,260
I used to,
1333
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:28,750
I used to go to college in green county in Winnsboro.
1334
00:41:29,830 --> 00:41:30,820
That's so funny.
1335
00:41:30,820 --> 00:41:31,630
It just down the road,
1336
00:41:33,290 --> 00:41:34,190
small world,
1337
00:41:36,090 --> 00:41:36,650
it's all good.
1338
00:41:37,370 --> 00:41:37,820
But anyway,
1339
00:41:37,820 --> 00:41:38,840
for years,
1340
00:41:38,840 --> 00:41:41,630
even after I didn't have the time to like go in
1341
00:41:41,630 --> 00:41:42,980
and take photographs for them.
1342
00:41:42,980 --> 00:41:45,500
So I would volunteer with them and some other ways with
1343
00:41:45,530 --> 00:41:48,260
charitable marketing and do things that would help raise money instead
1344
00:41:48,260 --> 00:41:51,560
of necessarily donating my time for like individual things.
1345
00:41:51,770 --> 00:41:52,730
But for years,
1346
00:41:52,730 --> 00:41:54,320
people would always tell me how,
1347
00:41:54,350 --> 00:41:56,600
oh, I found out about you because your work with humane
1348
00:41:56,600 --> 00:41:57,350
society. Oh.
1349
00:41:57,350 --> 00:41:58,010
And you know,
1350
00:41:58,010 --> 00:41:58,610
because of this,
1351
00:41:58,610 --> 00:41:59,300
because of that,
1352
00:41:59,810 --> 00:42:05,420
and it created so much brand Goodwill because they care about
1353
00:42:05,420 --> 00:42:06,200
that charity,
1354
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:07,940
whatever charity you choose to partner with,
1355
00:42:07,970 --> 00:42:09,050
they care about that.
1356
00:42:09,050 --> 00:42:10,580
And so then you care about that.
1357
00:42:10,580 --> 00:42:11,300
So all of a sudden,
1358
00:42:11,300 --> 00:42:14,330
now you guys have this in common and that Goodwill rubs
1359
00:42:14,330 --> 00:42:15,500
off onto your brand.
1360
00:42:15,740 --> 00:42:16,370
So you're,
1361
00:42:16,370 --> 00:42:19,430
before you even make that inquiry response to them,
1362
00:42:19,430 --> 00:42:22,190
they already love you because you've been,
1363
00:42:22,490 --> 00:42:22,910
you know,
1364
00:42:23,090 --> 00:42:25,850
helping something that's close to their heart And they,
1365
00:42:25,850 --> 00:42:26,990
they, they knew what you do.
1366
00:42:27,620 --> 00:42:29,600
It's also working with charities as well as something,
1367
00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:30,410
if you do it right.
1368
00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:31,610
And that everybody's back,
1369
00:42:31,610 --> 00:42:32,300
get scratched.
1370
00:42:32,660 --> 00:42:33,110
You can,
1371
00:42:33,140 --> 00:42:33,470
you can,
1372
00:42:33,470 --> 00:42:35,000
you can rule it out again and again,
1373
00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:35,690
because it is,
1374
00:42:35,900 --> 00:42:38,670
I find a lot of charities that don't have some,
1375
00:42:38,780 --> 00:42:39,740
it's not maybe,
1376
00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:40,100
I don't know,
1377
00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:41,450
loyalty. There's a lot of,
1378
00:42:41,450 --> 00:42:43,310
particularly if new photographers come in,
1379
00:42:43,310 --> 00:42:43,760
they'll just go,
1380
00:42:43,790 --> 00:42:44,240
oh yeah.
1381
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:45,110
So it's important.
1382
00:42:45,110 --> 00:42:47,780
The charity wants to pick you again and again and say
1383
00:42:47,840 --> 00:42:50,180
no to getting other people in the door.
1384
00:42:50,690 --> 00:42:51,410
Right. Right.
1385
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:52,490
Yeah. And that,
1386
00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:54,290
again comes down to relationships.
1387
00:42:55,070 --> 00:42:55,400
You know,
1388
00:42:55,400 --> 00:42:58,340
it comes down to being a good human,
1389
00:42:58,340 --> 00:42:59,720
to connecting with other humans,
1390
00:42:59,720 --> 00:43:01,190
to talking to the charity.
1391
00:43:01,460 --> 00:43:04,070
One of the easiest ways I find to get kind of
1392
00:43:04,070 --> 00:43:06,680
a foot in the door with those charities is by donating
1393
00:43:06,680 --> 00:43:08,810
to any silent auctions that they might do.
1394
00:43:08,810 --> 00:43:10,610
Do you guys have many auction,
1395
00:43:10,610 --> 00:43:12,590
silent auction Things Over there?
1396
00:43:12,620 --> 00:43:13,690
No, But what,
1397
00:43:13,690 --> 00:43:14,300
what what's,
1398
00:43:14,300 --> 00:43:16,470
what I would do instead of that is I would donate
1399
00:43:16,490 --> 00:43:19,100
to cold hard cash because it's tax it's tax deductible,
1400
00:43:19,100 --> 00:43:21,860
get a receipt sometimes to get into the door of some
1401
00:43:21,860 --> 00:43:22,340
of these charities.
1402
00:43:22,340 --> 00:43:23,810
You might actually just have to put your hand in your
1403
00:43:23,810 --> 00:43:25,880
pocket and give a donation,
1404
00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:26,060
you know?
1405
00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:27,320
Yup, yup.
1406
00:43:27,590 --> 00:43:28,820
Yeah, for sure.
1407
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:30,740
But it's always,
1408
00:43:30,740 --> 00:43:34,640
it always the conversation with the businesses and the charities always
1409
00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:37,340
needs to come from a place of,
1410
00:43:37,370 --> 00:43:38,840
Hey, how can I help you?
1411
00:43:38,840 --> 00:43:41,840
How can I serve you instead of coming at it from,
1412
00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:42,740
Hey, I have this idea.
1413
00:43:42,740 --> 00:43:46,280
That's going to help me because yeah,
1414
00:43:46,340 --> 00:43:46,910
they, they,
1415
00:43:47,060 --> 00:43:51,170
they have to make sure that they're helping themselves because that's
1416
00:43:51,410 --> 00:43:52,040
their job.
1417
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:54,620
Totally. They've got to everybody's back,
1418
00:43:54,620 --> 00:43:56,480
has to be scratched auctions.
1419
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:58,970
Aren't really something we do here that we do what you
1420
00:43:58,970 --> 00:43:59,780
would call benefits.
1421
00:43:59,780 --> 00:44:01,130
So we would do dinners and things.
1422
00:44:02,330 --> 00:44:05,240
But I generally see the praises that we were doing it
1423
00:44:05,270 --> 00:44:05,950
to charities.
1424
00:44:05,960 --> 00:44:06,260
Let's say,
1425
00:44:06,260 --> 00:44:07,940
I give away a framed portrait,
1426
00:44:08,420 --> 00:44:11,990
95% of those<inaudible> you would give to charities.
1427
00:44:11,990 --> 00:44:13,340
You'll never see anyone through the door.
1428
00:44:14,300 --> 00:44:15,500
We would never have them claim them.
1429
00:44:16,190 --> 00:44:20,690
I have about 50% claim rate here.
1430
00:44:20,870 --> 00:44:23,180
I was the one thing I did do on mine that
1431
00:44:23,180 --> 00:44:25,190
helped get their information quickly.
1432
00:44:25,190 --> 00:44:25,910
Cause you know,
1433
00:44:25,910 --> 00:44:26,900
with privacy laws,
1434
00:44:26,930 --> 00:44:29,810
the charity won't always tell me who won sometimes they do,
1435
00:44:29,810 --> 00:44:30,260
which is great.
1436
00:44:30,260 --> 00:44:31,100
And I'll always ask,
1437
00:44:31,110 --> 00:44:32,520
Hey, can you let me know who wants so I can
1438
00:44:32,520 --> 00:44:34,530
reach out to them so they can schedule their prize.
1439
00:44:35,250 --> 00:44:36,930
But sometimes they won't because of privacy.
1440
00:44:37,590 --> 00:44:40,230
But what I would put on the voucher that they would
1441
00:44:40,230 --> 00:44:43,890
win is please contact the studio within seven days to activate.
1442
00:44:43,980 --> 00:44:45,690
Or you could put a little QR code on it,
1443
00:44:45,690 --> 00:44:46,050
like, Hey,
1444
00:44:46,050 --> 00:44:47,460
go here to activate your voucher,
1445
00:44:47,700 --> 00:44:49,890
which to make it even easier.
1446
00:44:49,890 --> 00:44:51,630
It could be like a landing page that just says,
1447
00:44:51,630 --> 00:44:53,790
Hey, put in your information here and we'll be in touch.
1448
00:44:53,970 --> 00:44:56,220
So that way they don't have to like go find your
1449
00:44:56,220 --> 00:44:59,850
email or give you a call because people don't like phones,
1450
00:45:00,060 --> 00:45:00,270
you know,
1451
00:45:00,270 --> 00:45:02,460
giving them multiple avenues.
1452
00:45:02,500 --> 00:45:04,200
However they want to get in touch with you.
1453
00:45:04,660 --> 00:45:05,880
That's really helped.
1454
00:45:06,390 --> 00:45:07,410
I would say,
1455
00:45:08,010 --> 00:45:08,490
oh gosh,
1456
00:45:08,520 --> 00:45:10,470
I don't have the actual stat in front of me,
1457
00:45:10,710 --> 00:45:11,160
but well,
1458
00:45:11,160 --> 00:45:14,010
over half of any auctions that I donated to,
1459
00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:15,210
since I started doing that,
1460
00:45:15,540 --> 00:45:18,180
the winner would get in touch with me that first week.
1461
00:45:18,450 --> 00:45:20,700
And which was great because then I could be like,
1462
00:45:20,730 --> 00:45:20,910
all right,
1463
00:45:20,910 --> 00:45:22,110
what time of year are you thinking?
1464
00:45:22,110 --> 00:45:23,100
And if it's not to like,
1465
00:45:23,130 --> 00:45:25,470
oh, we want to do next January.
1466
00:45:25,500 --> 00:45:27,270
Then I can put on my calendar,
1467
00:45:27,750 --> 00:45:28,080
you know,
1468
00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:30,810
as the month approaches to get in touch with them and
1469
00:45:30,810 --> 00:45:31,200
say, Hey,
1470
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:32,160
it's time let's schedule.
1471
00:45:32,550 --> 00:45:33,570
So that's,
1472
00:45:33,720 --> 00:45:35,430
that's definitely super helpful.
1473
00:45:36,150 --> 00:45:37,390
I find people with,
1474
00:45:37,390 --> 00:45:38,430
with vouchers and things,
1475
00:45:38,430 --> 00:45:40,260
for things like that for auctions it's,
1476
00:45:40,590 --> 00:45:40,950
for me,
1477
00:45:40,950 --> 00:45:42,130
it's more of the benefit of,
1478
00:45:42,140 --> 00:45:44,880
of your name being kind pulled out rather than the actual
1479
00:45:44,880 --> 00:45:48,960
return. And you've oftentimes with these price things,
1480
00:45:49,740 --> 00:45:50,520
particularly a few doing,
1481
00:45:50,520 --> 00:45:50,940
for example,
1482
00:45:50,940 --> 00:45:54,570
we do a competition in a coffee shop official.
1483
00:45:54,930 --> 00:45:57,900
They, because they're not pre-qualified clients.
1484
00:45:57,900 --> 00:46:00,330
You tend to get a okay span.
1485
00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:01,080
Not a great span,
1486
00:46:01,110 --> 00:46:01,800
but no case man.
1487
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:02,820
But you have to,
1488
00:46:02,820 --> 00:46:06,000
again, you've got to not be afraid of putting your hand
1489
00:46:06,000 --> 00:46:09,300
in your own pocket because was photographers were all like,
1490
00:46:09,330 --> 00:46:09,630
oh, you know,
1491
00:46:09,630 --> 00:46:10,320
we want stuff cheap.
1492
00:46:10,320 --> 00:46:11,790
You see this word all over the web.
1493
00:46:12,180 --> 00:46:13,890
Does anybody know a reasonable web designer?
1494
00:46:13,910 --> 00:46:14,400
I don't know.
1495
00:46:14,610 --> 00:46:17,820
I don't know too many unreasonable web designers and nobody's ever
1496
00:46:17,850 --> 00:46:18,690
no one's ever punched me,
1497
00:46:18,870 --> 00:46:22,080
but we're all too fond of thinking,
1498
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:22,890
how do we do stuff cheap?
1499
00:46:22,890 --> 00:46:25,710
But you've got to feed your marketing is it's.
1500
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:27,150
If you were doing Facebook ads,
1501
00:46:27,150 --> 00:46:28,050
you'd be paying Facebook.
1502
00:46:28,050 --> 00:46:29,700
But in terms of things like charity things,
1503
00:46:29,940 --> 00:46:31,080
you still have to pay for that.
1504
00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:31,800
You just do,
1505
00:46:32,040 --> 00:46:32,850
you do it a different way.
1506
00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:33,690
People forget,
1507
00:46:33,690 --> 00:46:35,430
you have to put your hand in your pocket to make
1508
00:46:35,430 --> 00:46:37,020
money, but that's post.
1509
00:46:37,530 --> 00:46:38,190
Right, right.
1510
00:46:38,370 --> 00:46:40,890
You just want to make sure that it is beneficial.
1511
00:46:40,890 --> 00:46:41,460
Like you said,
1512
00:46:41,460 --> 00:46:43,530
like a magazine advertisement,
1513
00:46:43,530 --> 00:46:45,750
probably not going to give you much return on your investment,
1514
00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:48,750
but, but doing something where you're making these relationships with these
1515
00:46:48,750 --> 00:46:50,700
other businesses definitely could,
1516
00:46:51,120 --> 00:46:54,630
do you have any tips or tricks for getting in touch
1517
00:46:54,630 --> 00:46:58,680
with, for profit businesses or these businesses that you've had relationships
1518
00:46:58,680 --> 00:46:59,280
in the past?
1519
00:46:59,580 --> 00:47:01,830
Or do you have any words of wisdom for people that
1520
00:47:01,830 --> 00:47:04,080
might want to contact a for-profit business?
1521
00:47:04,080 --> 00:47:06,840
Well, do do your research into who the businesses are,
1522
00:47:07,470 --> 00:47:10,980
pick somebody who pick businesses that you like send a boatload
1523
00:47:10,980 --> 00:47:11,970
of things out to them,
1524
00:47:11,970 --> 00:47:12,990
but the best way to it,
1525
00:47:12,990 --> 00:47:14,490
social media go onto the social media,
1526
00:47:14,970 --> 00:47:15,660
become known to them,
1527
00:47:15,660 --> 00:47:17,070
click like follow don't.
1528
00:47:17,220 --> 00:47:19,080
Don't ever contact somebody who you haven't followed,
1529
00:47:19,080 --> 00:47:19,890
for example,
1530
00:47:23,580 --> 00:47:24,990
go onto their Facebook or their Instagram,
1531
00:47:25,020 --> 00:47:26,430
like, like them for a few weeks.
1532
00:47:26,460 --> 00:47:27,990
And then maybe comment on a few posts.
1533
00:47:28,290 --> 00:47:30,490
Cause that person then going to know who you are because
1534
00:47:30,490 --> 00:47:31,630
of course they're sitting at home,
1535
00:47:31,630 --> 00:47:32,990
bored on their sofa looking,
1536
00:47:33,040 --> 00:47:34,270
oh, somebody commented on my post,
1537
00:47:34,690 --> 00:47:36,130
then send them an email,
1538
00:47:36,130 --> 00:47:36,340
you know,
1539
00:47:36,340 --> 00:47:37,690
be, be warm and fluffy,
1540
00:47:37,690 --> 00:47:40,810
always be warm and fluffy when corresponding with people,
1541
00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:43,810
particularly small businesses because they're sitting there as well.
1542
00:47:43,810 --> 00:47:45,790
These for-profit small businesses like us.
1543
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:48,130
They want to know how am I going to benefit from
1544
00:47:48,130 --> 00:47:48,670
this too?
1545
00:47:49,630 --> 00:47:50,830
Right. I love it.
1546
00:47:50,830 --> 00:47:53,050
I just had a visual of Graham putting on his warm
1547
00:47:53,050 --> 00:47:55,720
and fluffy face before you go off to contact us for
1548
00:47:56,200 --> 00:48:01,990
business It.
1549
00:48:03,280 --> 00:48:04,180
Oh, I'm just kidding.
1550
00:48:04,780 --> 00:48:05,650
Just check me out.
1551
00:48:07,540 --> 00:48:08,290
Oh man.
1552
00:48:08,350 --> 00:48:10,690
Ah, this has been such a good conversation.
1553
00:48:12,070 --> 00:48:13,930
Thank you for taking the time.
1554
00:48:14,260 --> 00:48:14,680
I just,
1555
00:48:15,130 --> 00:48:18,010
yeah. I wanted to kind of have this conversation with you
1556
00:48:18,010 --> 00:48:21,490
because you are out there doing the marketing,
1557
00:48:21,490 --> 00:48:22,420
doing the work,
1558
00:48:22,600 --> 00:48:22,870
you know,
1559
00:48:22,870 --> 00:48:24,460
you're not sitting and just being like,
1560
00:48:24,460 --> 00:48:26,370
okay, I've got a great website and I've got a building
1561
00:48:26,380 --> 00:48:27,220
now, where are my people?
1562
00:48:27,220 --> 00:48:28,120
They should come to me.
1563
00:48:28,330 --> 00:48:28,540
It's like,
1564
00:48:28,630 --> 00:48:32,200
you're you're up in because the just randomly build it and
1565
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:32,650
they will come.
1566
00:48:32,650 --> 00:48:33,640
Does not actually work.
1567
00:48:34,770 --> 00:48:36,820
I might be sitting doing that in July when I opened
1568
00:48:36,820 --> 00:48:37,180
this news,
1569
00:48:39,400 --> 00:48:40,060
You might need like,
1570
00:48:40,060 --> 00:48:41,800
yeah, like quick little break after I,
1571
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:44,020
cause I'm sure as with all things construction,
1572
00:48:44,020 --> 00:48:45,160
it would be the end of June and be like,
1573
00:48:45,190 --> 00:48:45,820
oh my God,
1574
00:48:45,820 --> 00:48:46,930
is it ever going to be done?
1575
00:48:47,170 --> 00:48:48,280
And somehow it'll get done,
1576
00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:49,300
but it'll be very stressful.
1577
00:48:49,300 --> 00:48:49,690
I'm sure.
1578
00:48:51,610 --> 00:48:52,450
Oh man.
1579
00:48:52,780 --> 00:48:53,290
Oh Graham,
1580
00:48:53,290 --> 00:48:54,040
thank you so much.
1581
00:48:54,070 --> 00:48:58,270
Do you have any last minute tips for any pet photographers
1582
00:48:58,270 --> 00:49:01,000
out there that are just getting this business rolling?
1583
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:02,470
And they're just wondering,
1584
00:49:02,470 --> 00:49:03,460
man, how do I,
1585
00:49:03,490 --> 00:49:06,310
how do I start getting some more people into my business?
1586
00:49:07,510 --> 00:49:09,640
What, what kind of overarching tips do you have for the
1587
00:49:09,640 --> 00:49:11,710
whole? I would probably say stop worrying.
1588
00:49:11,770 --> 00:49:12,970
Honestly, take a deep breath.
1589
00:49:13,000 --> 00:49:15,340
I wish I would probably got years of my life back
1590
00:49:15,340 --> 00:49:16,270
if I haven't worried as much.
1591
00:49:17,420 --> 00:49:21,580
So we're also too fond of we've got into this,
1592
00:49:21,580 --> 00:49:22,510
this kind of way of,
1593
00:49:22,570 --> 00:49:24,010
of, if we just Chuck money at stuff,
1594
00:49:24,010 --> 00:49:24,400
it will,
1595
00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:24,910
it will happen.
1596
00:49:26,350 --> 00:49:29,110
Photographers are extremely easily part of their cash.
1597
00:49:29,380 --> 00:49:34,000
Don't just sit back and have a think and evaluate don't
1598
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:34,240
as well,
1599
00:49:34,240 --> 00:49:35,740
become obsessed with competitors.
1600
00:49:35,890 --> 00:49:38,290
It's far too easy to become obsessed with what Joe blogs
1601
00:49:38,290 --> 00:49:38,650
is doing,
1602
00:49:38,650 --> 00:49:41,230
right? The corner to the point where you actually will fall
1603
00:49:41,230 --> 00:49:43,660
backwards and you'll forget what you're meant to be doing yourself.
1604
00:49:43,660 --> 00:49:46,660
So just take a deep breath and think,
1605
00:49:46,660 --> 00:49:48,790
always think these two steps ahead,
1606
00:49:48,790 --> 00:49:49,030
you know,
1607
00:49:49,300 --> 00:49:50,740
never, never going backwards.
1608
00:49:51,280 --> 00:49:52,180
Yeah, for sure.
1609
00:49:52,210 --> 00:49:52,660
I love that.
1610
00:49:52,660 --> 00:49:53,440
That's great advice.
1611
00:49:54,190 --> 00:49:54,760
Thanks again,
1612
00:49:54,760 --> 00:49:55,690
Graham, for being here,
1613
00:49:55,690 --> 00:49:58,510
can you let everybody know where they can follow you on
1614
00:49:58,510 --> 00:50:01,060
the interwebs if they want to keep in touch with you?
1615
00:50:01,210 --> 00:50:03,880
Yeah, you can go to you can go to retail,
1616
00:50:03,880 --> 00:50:06,040
tails.com as well.
1617
00:50:06,040 --> 00:50:07,060
If you would want to follow me,
1618
00:50:07,060 --> 00:50:10,090
that would be great because we've been nominated for that pet
1619
00:50:10,090 --> 00:50:12,820
photographer of the year with the Northern paddleboards.
1620
00:50:12,820 --> 00:50:13,270
So if you could,
1621
00:50:15,430 --> 00:50:16,690
I know voting begins in June,
1622
00:50:16,690 --> 00:50:17,800
so I'd really appreciate it.
1623
00:50:19,780 --> 00:50:20,080
But yeah,
1624
00:50:20,110 --> 00:50:21,400
we tell tales.com
1625
00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:23,110
or grim Crighton photo.
1626
00:50:23,110 --> 00:50:24,200
I think on Insta thing,
1627
00:50:27,170 --> 00:50:28,490
I'm not our social media person.
1628
00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:31,790
I That's fantastic.
1629
00:50:32,180 --> 00:50:33,020
Ah, Graham,
1630
00:50:33,020 --> 00:50:36,140
always a pleasure to chat with you and we will see
1631
00:50:36,140 --> 00:50:37,370
you around.
1632
00:50:37,370 --> 00:50:39,200
And thanks for being here with us.
1633
00:50:39,500 --> 00:50:39,830
No worries,
1634
00:50:39,830 --> 00:50:42,830
Nicole. All right,
1635
00:50:42,830 --> 00:50:43,340
bye everybody.
1636
00:50:43,340 --> 00:50:43,910
See you next week.
1637
00:50:44,960 --> 00:50:47,120
If you enjoy this podcast episode,
1638
00:50:47,120 --> 00:50:50,510
go ahead and take a screenshot of this episode on your
1639
00:50:50,510 --> 00:50:53,780
phone and post it up there on your Instagram stories and
1640
00:50:53,780 --> 00:50:57,650
be sure to tag us at hair of the dog academy.
1641
00:50:57,950 --> 00:51:01,520
And we would just love to see how you're listening and
1642
00:51:01,520 --> 00:51:02,660
a full disclosure.
1643
00:51:02,780 --> 00:51:06,200
Sometimes we just like to give away a little pet photographer
1644
00:51:06,200 --> 00:51:10,070
swag in the form of hair of the dog t-shirts and
1645
00:51:10,070 --> 00:51:12,890
sweatshirts. So what are you waiting for?
1646
00:51:13,220 --> 00:51:16,310
Go ahead and share that screenshot of this episode.
1647
00:51:16,580 --> 00:51:18,440
And don't forget to tag us at Hare,
1648
00:51:18,440 --> 00:51:19,250
the dog academy.
1649
00:51:19,880 --> 00:51:20,870
And while you're there,
1650
00:51:21,350 --> 00:51:23,600
maybe you want to jump on over to our account and
1651
00:51:23,600 --> 00:51:26,810
see what we're up to on the gram would love to
1652
00:51:26,810 --> 00:51:27,500
connect with you.
1653
00:51:27,530 --> 00:51:29,810
Thanks for listening to the hair of the dog podcast.
1654
00:51:29,870 --> 00:51:32,300
This was episode 1 41.
1655
00:51:32,300 --> 00:51:34,130
If you want to check out the show notes for access
1656
00:51:34,130 --> 00:51:36,350
to any of the resources that we mentioned,
1657
00:51:36,350 --> 00:51:41,930
simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/
1658
00:51:44,120 --> 00:51:45,080
1 4 1.
1659
00:51:45,080 --> 00:51:47,690
Thanks for listening to this episode of hair of the dog
1660
00:51:47,120 --> 00:51:49,550
podcast. If you enjoyed this show,
1661
00:51:49,580 --> 00:51:51,320
please take a minute to leave a review.
1662
00:51:51,500 --> 00:51:52,400
And while you're there,
1663
00:51:52,550 --> 00:51:53,900
don't forget to subscribe.
1664
00:51:53,960 --> 00:51:56,180
So you don't miss our upcoming episodes.
1665
00:51:56,690 --> 00:51:57,440
One last thing,
1666
00:51:57,830 --> 00:52:00,500
if you are ready to dive into more resources,
1667
00:52:00,770 --> 00:52:06,140
head over to our website@wwwdothairofthedogacademy.com.
1668
00:52:06,470 --> 00:52:09,680
Thanks for being a part of this pet photography community.