The Podcast for Pet Photographers

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S17E03 | How free publicity has shaped this pet photographers business with Belinda Richards
Podcast, Interviews, Season 17 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 17 Kirstie McConnell

S17E03 | How free publicity has shaped this pet photographers business with Belinda Richards

I initially had just one question prepared for today’s guest, Belinda Richards, and it wasn’t anything to do with PR. Yet we just spent over half of this interview diving into why Belinda is putting most of her marketing energy into getting newspaper articles, blog posts and even a radio show segment! And let me tell you- the information she shared will make you go back to your client avatar, look at where they go for information and find a way to feature there.

In the members half Belinda shared her top tips for getting free publicity and then we moved onto her approach for successful expo’s- which really had little to do with being there on the day. I took us well over time but I know you’ll be glad because the episode is full of so many great take aways, oh and eventually I did get to my one question- how and why Frog Dog Studio’s is charging for pre-shoot consults.

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S16E06 | Skipping the shortcuts and staying focused on a million-dollar business goal as a pet photographer with Gabi Kline Leon
Podcast, Interviews, Season 16 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 16 Kirstie McConnell

S16E06 | Skipping the shortcuts and staying focused on a million-dollar business goal as a pet photographer with Gabi Kline Leon

Today’s guest, Gabi Leon of Gavriella Pet Photography, moved to the U.S. 4 years ago. In the lead up to her move she laid as many foundations as possible to be ready to hit the ground running. Since then, she’s stayed focused on her goal which is to offer a high-end luxury photography business and build a million dollar business.

She isn’t quite getting consistent bookings yet, but the ones she does get, spend enough that it doesn’t matter- which by the way, is on average between $5-6k.

She’s gotten creative with her marketing too and in this interview, she shared one strategy that I haven’t heard of before and if you’re aiming for high sales, you could certainly replicate.

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S16E05 | The journey from dog sports to portraits with the help of great education with Michelle Crandall
Podcast, Interviews, Season 16 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 16 Kirstie McConnell

S16E05 | The journey from dog sports to portraits with the help of great education with Michelle Crandall

Today’s guest launched her dog sports photography business in late 2019.. Within months the 25 upcoming events she’d booked had all been canceled due to covid. Having quit her career job, she was forced to pivot and spend most of 2020 learning as much as she could to relaunch as a pet portrait photographer. Implementing everything she learned, her focus became building relationships which now means most of her clients come from referrals. I’m talking about Michelle Crandall of Pets in Focus and you’ll want to tune in to hear all about that and her business today.

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S15E13 | 25 years of dog photography with Margaret Bryant
Podcast, Interviews, Season 15 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 15 Kirstie McConnell

S15E13 | 25 years of dog photography with Margaret Bryant

Margaret Bryant of Bryant Dog Photography started out shooting dog sports on film but quickly realised that wasn’t sustainable (for the time) and moved into studio portraits. Since then she’s photographed thousands of dogs in her home studio in Texas, and even published a couple of books.

We covered a lot in this episode, from Margert’s experiences in the early days of her business, to who our biggest competitor is and how we can book clients anyway. And if you’ve been thinking about offering puppy packages, definitely tune into the second half to hear exactly what Margaret is offering.

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S14E08 | Co-hosting a super-charged event for a $6k mini-session day
Podcast, Interviews, Season 14 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 14 Kirstie McConnell

S14E08 | Co-hosting a super-charged event for a $6k mini-session day

Do you always here that one of the best marketing avenues is to attend dog-friendly events to get in front of the right audience.. But, there aren’t any around you.. Or not enough? Then tune in to today’s episode to hear how our guest created her own dog day out, and it wasn’t even as overwhelming as that sounds!

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S11E12 | Catchathon Craziness with Carolyne Cowan
Podcast, Interviews, Season 11 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 11 Kirstie McConnell

S11E12 | Catchathon Craziness with Carolyne Cowan

Our guest today has raised thousands of pounds for dog charities with her trademarked “Catchathon” events and her latest event is garnering attention from news outlets all around the world. So we caught up with Carolyne Cowan of Carrie Southerton Dog Photography to ask her all about Catchathon, charitable marketing and how to host successful photo events.

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S1E10 | Making the Most of Pet Events with Erin Bonilla
Podcast, Interviews, Season 1 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 1 Kirstie McConnell

S1E10 | Making the Most of Pet Events with Erin Bonilla

Our guest today, Erin Bonilla, successfully manages an extreme balancing act between traditional studio pet portraiture and brilliantly bizarre conceptual animal artwork. She runs her studio, Bonilla Pet Photography with a team of three others in Chesapeake, Virginia and her mission as a photographer is to capture the personality and uniqueness of each pet in front of her lens.

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