The Podcast for Pet Photographers

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S7E07 | Why Your Clients Love You with Kim Hartz
Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell

S7E07 | Why Your Clients Love You with Kim Hartz

Have you ever asked your clients outright why they love you? Kinda awkward - but SO important. Our guest today, the fabulous Kim Hartz of Kim Hartz Photography and Through the Business Lens podcast, battled her nerves and called up some of her best clients to ask them that very question - “What is it that you love about working with me?” The answers surprised her!

Tune into this episode to hear how Kim used those calls in her rebranding journey, plus so much more (including insights into setting boundaries when you work from home, getting personal on your about page, setting yourself up for success with Planning Client Sessions and how to attract your ideal client). Yes, this is a jampacked episode, one you DEFINITELY don’t want to miss!

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S7E05 | How to Raise Thousands of Dollars AND Build Your Business, with Jessica Wasik
Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell

S7E05 | How to Raise Thousands of Dollars AND Build Your Business, with Jessica Wasik

Jessica Wasik focuses on celebrating the joy and love between Pittsburgh pets and their people. In addition to capturing pets through playful portraits, high-energy action shots, and small moments in time, she is also the mastermind behind an annual pet calendar contest which has welcomed hundreds of entries and raised tens of thousands of dollars for Pittsburgh's local rescues and non-profits and in this episode, we’re finding out exactly how she manages that!

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S7E04 | Why You Should Interview Local Pet Businesses with Carol Moorhead
Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell

S7E04 | Why You Should Interview Local Pet Businesses with Carol Moorhead

When Carol Moorhead of Dog-Tog mentioned doing more “Zoom Casts” during one of our members Goal Trackers meetings, we were instantly intrigued. What on earth is a Zoomcast and how is she using it to build her local network? Tune into our latest Member Spotlight video to learn all about how Carol is interviewing local pet businesses.

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S7E03 | Ease "Photographers Back" as Kirstie McConnell shares some Pilates Stretches
Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell

S7E03 | Ease "Photographers Back" as Kirstie McConnell shares some Pilates Stretches

Co-host Kirstie McConnell was a pet photographer for 8 years before moving to Italy this year. Before her move she always studied to become a Pilates instructor and now teaches classes online to her clients around the world. As a photographer herself, she understands the aches and pains that come with the job, when you don’t give your body the attention it asks for! And so she has created the FOCUSED Pilates program especially for photographers. Next program begins in November. Find out more here.

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S7E02 | Photographing Service Dogs with Cris Skinner
Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 7 Kirstie McConnell

S7E02 | Photographing Service Dogs with Cris Skinner

Cris Skinner of The Journey Photos is a dog photographer based in the rugged and picturesque state of Alaska, USA. As a former United States Marine, she was inspired by Cooper, her medical alert service dog, to create two special photography series. These projects - ‘I Am Your Constant In The Chaos’ and ‘I am Your Calm in the Storm’ - are about honoring the incredible work of Service Dogs. Join us in this video Member Spotlight episode as we chat to Cris all about her business, her photography and her inspiration behind these incredible images.

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S6E12 | The Personal Photo Series Medley (how seven different photographers are using photo projects in their business)
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E12 | The Personal Photo Series Medley (how seven different photographers are using photo projects in their business)

If you ever feel like you’re in a creative rut, or you have a photo series that you’d would love to evolve into something bigger, you’ll definitely want to tune into the season six finale - it’s a Medley episode!

Hear from seven different photographers, each with their own unique success stories and insights into Personal Photo Projects. We’ve combined interview highlights from our chats with Andrew Hellmich, Jack Jackson, Jennifer Zapatka, Diana Lundin, Erin Bonilla, Craig Bullock and JB Shepard for this inspiration-packed episode.

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S6E11 | Photo Series and Book Deals with Diana Lundin
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S6E11 | Photo Series and Book Deals with Diana Lundin

After working as a reporter, a television producer and a website editor, Diana Lundin returned to photography, her first love. She began photographing her neighbours’ dogs and cats in 2013 and knew squeaking plush toys and waving pheasant feathers would be something she would be doing the rest of her life.

In this episode we chatted with Diana all about photographing a series of work, and how that turned into book deals! Her first photography book, “Dogs Vs. Ice Cream,” was published by Familius in August 2019 and she is under contract for a second book to be published in 2021. She hopes to turn the Dog Noir series into a book.

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S6E10 | Kirstie McConnell Reviews a Member's Website
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E10 | Kirstie McConnell Reviews a Member's Website

Kirstie McConnell is an award winning Photographer, an internationally respected photography business coach, co-host of The Pet Photographers Club and passionate believer that givers get.

She created her own website to ensure that those who land there, book a photoshoot, and she is now giving pet photographers around the world the opportunity to have their website built in this same way.

In today’s Expert Review, Kirstie dived into the website of club member, Judy Reinford from Judy Reinford Photographic Artist and is sharing her top ten tips for improving your own website. (p.s. Are you keen to have an aspect of your business reviewed by an expert? You can apply in the Member Zone, or nominate a guest if you have someone you really want to learn from).

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S6E08 | Winning the 2020 Pet Photographer of the Year Awards with Sara Glawe
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E08 | Winning the 2020 Pet Photographer of the Year Awards with Sara Glawe

When Sara Glawe won the 2020 International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards with an outstanding 3 out of 4 entries placing in the Top 25 Shortlists AND two images picked for the Judges’ Choice Awards, we couldn’t wait to chat with her and find out all about her story! We learned that Sara Glawe is a German pet photographer with a passion for colour harmony, and that she balances her thriving Arts with Heart business with a full time job. Tune into this episode of the Pet Photographers Club podcast to hear all about Sara’s tips for entering (and winning) the awards, how she taught herself about colour and so much more!

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S6E07 | From Planning to Printing - the Full Customer Experience with Jennifer Zapatka
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E07 | From Planning to Printing - the Full Customer Experience with Jennifer Zapatka

Jennifer Zapatka fell in love with photography as a high school student, developing black and white film in the darkroom. Over the years, she lost touch with the craft - until her first puppy, Oats, arrived on the scene. All of a sudden, all she wanted to do was photograph her adorable new furry friend - ‘With Love & Oats’ was born!

Now in her third year of business as a full-time pet photographer, Jennifer specialises in creating an exceptional client experience. We sat down to chat with her all about process, from planning to printing, the strategy behind her limited edition sessions and how she balances business with creativity through her passion project - ‘With Love & Dogs’.

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S6E06 | Welcome to Goal Trackers (with Danyel Rogers, Cris Skinner and Carol Moorhead)
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E06 | Welcome to Goal Trackers (with Danyel Rogers, Cris Skinner and Carol Moorhead)

What better way to inspire and motivate yourself than by listening to the goals and strategies of fellow pet photographers around the world?

Today I was joined by Danyel Rogers of Wag to My Heart Studio in Portland, Cris Skinner of The Journey Photography in Alaska and Carol Moorhead of Dog-Tog in Florida. We had our first ever Goal Trackers meeting and I loved hearing all about the plans of these three very different pet photographers.

From self-publishing books, to working on personal photo series, from transitioning to In-Person-Sales to introducing new packages - this 20 minute episode is packed with great ideas and I’m sure it will inspire you to set your own goals for the next two months.

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S6E05 | Video Marketing for Pet Photographers with Andrew Hellmich
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E05 | Video Marketing for Pet Photographers with Andrew Hellmich

Hands up if this is you . . .

- You know that you should be doing more video in your marketing. 🙋‍♀️

- You might have halfheartedly attempted a few Instagram stories or maybe even a Facebook live, but you just feel so awkward talking to the camera. 🙋‍♀️

- You keep hearing about how video marketing is the way forward. The all-powerful Algorithm loves video, potential clients connect with you via video, video advertising is so powerful - THE LIST GOES ON! But still, you keep putting it off because it’s also really overwhelming and you’re not really sure where to start? 🙋‍♀️

SAME!

That’s why we’ve brought photography marketing expert Andrew Hellmich back to the Pet Photographers Club show. Andrew has been successfully using video to grow and market his photography business for years, and he’s now teaching other photographers how to do the same with his Daily Vlog Challenge.

We were so impressed with everything that Andrew taught us in this episode that we both personally enrolled into his next challenge! Tune into Season 6, Episode 5 of the Pet Photographers Club to hear Andrew share some of his best Video Marketing tips - this is an episode you won’t want to miss!

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S6E04 | How to Win the Awards
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E04 | How to Win the Awards

Tune in to todays Deepdive for our Top 9 tips on how to win photography competitions, in particular, the 2021 International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards.

The first top is share free on iTunes, but to hear the rest, and to watch the video, you’ll need to go to the memberzone or watch in the Facebook Mastermind group.

Find out more about the 2020 awards in the video below.

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S6E03 | The Paws for Oz Movement with Karen Black
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E03 | The Paws for Oz Movement with Karen Black

On the heels of a dinner party in which the Australian wildfires and their catastrophic impact on wildlife was discussed amongst animal-loving friends, our guest today was inspired to create a fundraising initiative that saw pet photographers all around the globe joining forces and raising over $20,000. Listen in as we chat to Karen Black of Indigo Pet Photography all about her Paws for Oz initiative.

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S6E02 | Mark Rossetto Reviews a Member's Price List
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E02 | Mark Rossetto Reviews a Member's Price List

So we’re very excited to introduce a NEW type of episode for Season Six of the Pet Photographers Club - the EXPERT REVIEW. And what better way to launch this than with formidable photography business coach, Mark Rossetto?

Mark Rossetto is an award winning Master Photographer, an international keynote speaker and a qualified Photography Business Coach. He is highly regarded and has coached hundreds of photographers from beginners to seasoned professionals all over the world including Australia, USA, UK, Europe and NZ.

In today’s Expert Review, Mark dived into the price list of club member, Rebecca Kostka from Shy Wolf Photography. We’ve picked out an awesome audio clip from this episode to share on the podcast, but this is a video episode so really we recommend that your watch the full Expert Review in the Member Zone. Mark is truly an expert, so you won’t want to miss this one!

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S6E01 | Photographing LGBTQ People and their Rescue Dogs with Jack Jackson
Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 6 Kirstie McConnell

S6E01 | Photographing LGBTQ People and their Rescue Dogs with Jack Jackson

Beautifully timed with the end of Pride Month, we’re starting this season learning all about the Don’t You Want Me project. This documentary photographic series showcases the beauty and resilience of LGBTQ+ people with their rescued dogs. Jack Jackson, co-founder of the project (and fellow member of the Pet Photographers Club!) joined the podcast to tell us all about it.

Don’t You Want Me is a global social impact photo project - think Humans of New York, except with powerful queer and trans narratives combined with cute dogs - the project is bringing people to tears.

Photographers, dog lovers and humans on a mission Jack Jackson (Toronto) and Deb Klein (UK via Brooklyn) have joined forces to tell these powerful stories. In today’s episode, we chatted with Jack to find out their inspiration behind the project, the impact it’s having in the community and their goals for the future of DYWM.

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S5E12 | The International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards - Now Open!
Podcast, Interviews, Season 5 Kirstie McConnell Podcast, Interviews, Season 5 Kirstie McConnell

S5E12 | The International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards - Now Open!

Have you heard - the 2020 International Pet Photographer of the Year Awards are now open!

With a talented panel of judges, over $2500 in prizes and eight difference categories to win, you don't want to miss your chance to be crowned the 2020 INTERNATIONAL PET PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR.

There are three experience levels (Professional, Emerging and Amateur Pet Photographer) so there's opportunity for anyone and everyone to win.

What are you waiting for?!

Entry is FREE and closes on SUNDAY 14TH JUNE.

Tune into the latest episode of the Pet Photographers Club Podcast to hear all about the categories, prizes, judges and more.

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