A Place to Grow
Let’s not confuse free with selling your soul. By that, I mean, grabbing whatever meager profits you can grab from a session and calling it a day.
Because it feels good.
By that I mean, low cost session, high number of files, no sales process in place. Zero strategy. Nothing but a temporary blast of dopamine. And a slightly inflated ego.
Ego is always the enemy. It feels good.
“Free” isn’t a bad thing in photography. When it has a legit marketing strategy and big picture purpose.
Metamorphosis is the word that comes to mind. John attended an 8 day silent retreat to meditate on his situation brought about by some bad financial decisions, debt and whether to ‘throw in the towel’ with his photography business.
The answer came to him. Stay in the biz. I personally have had similar events in my life, just not as intense as John’s.
Erol Tosh Marketing meeting replay
Erol had a lot to say. Yes, we had some temporary tech glitches but we got on track. Some good info and lessons including:
Years ago I interviewed, in two parts, Reg Mess, master photographer, on selling.
I asked: “What is the most common sales objection you hear from clients in the sales room?”
Reg answered, and snickered: “I don’t.”
What he means is this….when it comes to the proofing session the clients are so primed, so educated, so pumped, so ready to buy, there are literally zero objections.
I see this all time. And it’s a huge mistake. I think also, it’s human nature.
Example, years ago I knew a lady. Let’s call her Jean, cuz that’s her name.
She sold gold and jewelry, in people’s homes. You know, a home party. Like Tupperware and such.
Someone on Quora ( one of my favorite places) asks: “How can a novice photographer level up?”
I answered:
You need to be more clear first off. What do you mean ‘level up’? I’ll go with get better at photography and answer from there.
My three points to consider:
Last week we had an 1.5 hour powerhouse presentation with Edmonton photographer Robert Bray.
If you joined us you know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, the highlights and member replay link is below.
I was chatting with Robert Bray yesterday while running a tech test for tonight’s webinar. He, like many of my guests, is a webinar newb.
We set it up and made sure all systems are go vs trying to solve any tech troubles at the last minute.
I also thanked him for offering to join us and talk about his success and struggles as a photographer.
Can you still make money in photography?
Can you “still” make money in photography these days? Asking for a friend.