The Podcast for Pet Photographers
Listen free below, or join the Club for access to extended episodes
S16E02 | How a structured business plan lead to a $200k first year in business for Ryan Erickson
I initially asked today’s guest on the show when I learned about his super successful truck studio and we did talk about it, but he also shared so much else including what gave him the confidence to take out a loan to build this business.
I’m talking about Ryan Erickson who last year, in his first year of full time business turned over more than $200,000 from 150 clients spending an average of $1500 each. There’s tonnes of really great insights and learnings in the first part of this episode, but if you want to know how he found those clients, and here the benefits of his business plan and what that included, be sure to listen to the members-only half.
S16E01 | High sales start with a flawless processes, and a great location helps with Kim Buccheri
How does an $8500 average sale sound to you with a cost of goods of just 5%. That is reality for today’s guest who deliberately moved their studio location to be in a town that aligns with their studio brand. I’m talking about Kim of Kimberly Sarah Photography. She joined us back in season five to share all things client experience and I’ve got her back today to share her insights into achieving consistently high sales. They’ve also just launched a new business, Hey Winston and if you’ve ever dreamed of outsourcing your sales- then it is for you!
S15E06 | Using a move to set up a profitable pet photography business, the right way
I’ve asked many photographers what they’d do to start their business if they moved to a new place.. And today’s guest has actually done it. She completely transformed her business from shoot and burn family photography in South Africa, to a profitable, full-service specialised pet photographer in New Zealand. She studied and implemented what she learned in order to make that transition successful and now she’s consistently booking clients who typically spend $1800. I’m talking about Salome of Yellow Pet Photography.
S13E08 | How to sell products to your clients, and get the ego boost that comes with it!
Are you selling digital only but would love to sell more product? Or perhaps you offer product but you find you can’t sell it? In today’s episode I chatted all about selling product with Maggie Robinson. We also covered the impact of booking a shoot for yourself, how her background in sales helps her in photography and the benefit of IPS that no one likes to mention- the ego boost!
And if you’re a member you’ll hear Maggie share her entire client process in the second half, including the questions she asks on the phone, when she shares her prices and how, how she starts her sales appointments and leads that into a top package sale, and a few key lines that she uses too plus so much more!
S12E08 | Inside Your Client’s Mind with Sam Jacobson of Ideaction Consulting
As a pet photographer and an animal lover, you’re painfully aware of the limited lifetime that we get to spend with our pets. We all wish that they could be around forever - and we all know they won’t be.
It’s often one of the most powerful reasons our clients hire us for a photoshoot - so how do we communicate it with sensitivity?
In today’s interview with Sam Jacobson of Ideaction Consulting and the Own Your Business Podcast, we dive into this and so many other questions about navigating buyer psychology for higher conversions. He’s an absolute expert in sales, pricing and communication, you definitely don’t want to miss this one!
S11E09 | How to Work with Dog Brands with Kerry Jordan
Do you have clients who have their own pet-related business? Perhaps you’ve received enquiries from local dog brands before, or you know of small businesses that you’d love to work with, but you’re not sure how to serve them. Are you always wondering how you can create a package that would best serve them - stumped between your normal pricing, recommended licensing pricing, and giving everything for free? Stay tuned.
S11E06 | How to start a pet photography business that’ll last
I remember exactly how I felt when starting my business. It was completely overwhelming. I just wanted someone to give me a checklist and say “here, do this” so today, I’m doing exactly that and sharing my 5 steps to creating a sustainable pet photography business.
S11E04 | Enter 2022 with a profitable price list
What are your business goals for 2022? If one of them is to feel more confident in your prices, (and increase your income) then todays episode is especially for you with my three steps for creating a profitable price list! Spoiler alert, it has nothing to do with the prices of the photographer down the road or multiplying your costs by a random number!
1. Know how you spend your time and your desired hourly rate
2. Know your cost of business (download free calculator)
3. Sell what you love- at prices that meet your targets!
FREEBIE: https://www.thepetphotographersclub.com/freebie-required-average-sale
P.S. we are taking a little break over the festive season and hope you are too! If you’re missing us, we recommend you dive into the archives during this time!
P.P.S. Are you in your first 18 months of business or haven’t officially launched yet? Join Kirstie in our Business Foundations Challenge for weekly Zoom class to set up a profitable and lasting business in just 3 months!
S10E09 | Improve your images with better composition
Have you ever looked at your image and thought "something is just not quite right?" but you can't put your finger on what's making you uncomfortable? It could be one of many things; colour temperature, focus, the dogs expression, to name a few.
Sometimes all we need is to step back to the fundamentals of photography and look at them as individual aspects. In today's members only episode, Craig and Charlotte do just that as they review the composition of 10 submitted images.
Craig and Charlotte are the co-founders of Unleashed Education. Between them they have over 30 years of photography experience.
S10E08 | Getting started with offering professional printing and products as a pet photographer with Atkins Photo Lab
Making the transition from an all-inclusive, digital only photographer, to offering products can be overwhelming. Firstly, there are so many suppliers, and each of them have so many unique products to choose from! And even once you choose products- how do you price them?! Then there is the file handling and the preparing images for print. Is it all worth it?
Paul and Kate of Atkins Pro Lab in Adelaide Australia joined me in this episode to answer all your questions, and to reassure you that it doesn’t have to be complicated.
S10E05 | Personal Branding Photoshoots for Small Pet Businesses with Meg McMillan
If you’re a pet photographer who works with - or would like to work with - pet businesses then you’ve likely already realised that everything you already know about working with private clients really isn’t applicable when you move to the B2B space. Throw into the mix that most of the commercial photography education out there doesn’t apply when dealing with small, local or boutique pet businesses and you might find yourself totally lost about how to best serve these clients. We’re talking your local groomer, doggy day care, pet bakery - all businesses who could potentially bring in a fantastic new income stream - if only you knew how to serve them best.
That’s why we invited Personal Branding photographer Meg McMillan of Meg Marie Photography onto the show today. Meg is killing it in the world of small business and personal branding clients and today she shares how you can take that same approach and apply it to your pet photography business!
S10E03 | Rewiring Your Money Mindset for Sales Success with Johl Dunn
Every now and then we have a guest on the show who gives me the exact kick-up-the-bum I didn’t know I needed. Johl Dunn of JD Mindset Coaching is that guest! He was one of our most popular presenters at the Pet Photographers Conference earlier this year, so we just knew we had to get Johl back to the Pet Photographers Club to share more of his expert advice and actionable tips for rewiring your mindset. We were so caught up in the conversation with Johl that we ended up going DOUBLE overtime (oops, sorry Johl haha) - it’s a fascinating conversation and one you definitely don’t want to miss!
S10E01 | What to do when your mini sessions don't fill.. combining other skills with your pet photography and setting up a pet photography business with profit in mind
We kicked off Season 10 with a Goal Trackers call. Goal Trackers are a member perk- a way to get to know other pet photographers, discuss your current goals and get some feedback from others. This quarters I was joined by Ina, Angela and Suzy.
S9E08 | How to Use the Storybrand Website Framework in your Pet Photography Business with Ryan Toth
Have you heard of Storybrand? It’s a very popular and proven marketing strategy that helps businesses clarify their message and build a sales funnel into their website. In this 7-part framework, you cast your clients as the hero - rather than your website being all about YOU, your website tells a story that your client can relate to. Sounds intriguing, right? We interviewed website expert and certified Storybrand guide, Ryan Toth of Clearbrand to find out all about this powerful framework and how pet photographers can use it to improve their websites.
S9E07 | Creating Pre-Shoot Questionnaires to Skyrocket your Sales
Join The Pet Photographers Club co-host, Kirstie McConnell, for a free workshop to build a pre-shoot questionnaire that is actually useful AND easy for your clients in this replay of our live workshop, now available to Club members!
S9E03 | Choosing Three Locations to Offer Your Clients (brought to you by nPhoto)
Are you an on-location pet photographer? In today’s special episode, with Pet Photographer of the Year awards sponsor nPhoto, we discussed the benefits of giving your clients just three set locations to pick from for their photoshoot. We recommend a park option, beach option and urban option - but of course, you could adjust these to suit your own environment. If you’re still leaving the location scouting up to your clients, this is a must-listen episode!
S8E11 | Using Wall Mock Ups for marketing material
Following on from last weeks interview with Michael Puck, we wanted to share with you how to get your clients thinking more about wall art before they even contact you! In this episode Kirstie focuses on Room Mock Ups for your marketing material.
Covered in this episode:1.Why you need Room Mock Ups2. How to Create them and Kirstie's top pick of platforms to use3. Choosing a room view4. Making them look realistic5. Where to use them in your marketing material
S8E08 | Partnering with Dog Friendly Accomodation - Deepdive
Partnering with local pet-friendly accomodation is a fantastic way to tap into a market of potential clients who really, really love their dogs. So how do you go about setting up that sort of partnership? One of our long-time members, Rebecca Kostka of Shy Wolf Photography, reached out recently with this very question. So Caitlin sat down with Bec to answer all her questions - and we recorded it so that you can learn too!
S8E07 | In Person Sales with Rachael Boer of IPS Mastermind
In this week’s episode, we chat to the In Person Sales mastermind, Rachael Boer, about all barriers and blocks that photographers experience when selling their artwork. Rachael shares everything, from her top tips to breaking down mental barriers, the experience of switching from online galleries to IPS, how IPS has changed with COVID (and what you can do to adapt) and in the extended episode we addressed the elephant in the room - can you do IPS and still sell the digitals?!
S8E02 | 3 Mistakes Pet Photographers Make
Over and over again we see the same mistakes with pet photographers related to their services and the way they’re getting the word out. These mistakes are attracting the wrong people and keeping you from making the money you deserve. So today we’re going to go over 3 mistakes that are keeping you from dream pet photography clients and consistent income.