In this episode, I am going to challenge you to forget everything you think you know about crafting a high-end photography brand.
This week, I'm slicing through the industry fluff to reveal that the true luxury in photography isn't found in the props or the studio space, but in the exceptional service and deep understanding of your clients' needs. Whether you're just snapping your first professional shot or refining your established brand, you'll walk away with a fresh perspective on how to make your business thrive by focusing on what matters most.
Plus, I'll let you in on how some of my coaching clients are securing sales with nothing more than a detailed description and their contagious enthusiasm. By the end of this episode, you'll be armed with strategies to simplify your offerings, prioritize client convenience, and maximize the profitability of your photography business without the extra frills.
Join Your Magic Year here.
Use the code PODCAST to receive special pricing when you enroll.
Join Your Magic Year here.
Use the code PODCAST to receive special pricing when you enroll.
Connect with Karinda!
Thanks for listening!
In this episode, I am going to challenge you to forget everything you think you know about crafting a high-end photography brand.
This week, I'm slicing through the industry fluff to reveal that the true luxury in photography isn't found in the props or the studio space, but in the exceptional service and deep understanding of your clients' needs. Whether you're just snapping your first professional shot or refining your established brand, you'll walk away with a fresh perspective on how to make your business thrive by focusing on what matters most.
Plus, I'll let you in on how some of my coaching clients are securing sales with nothing more than a detailed description and their contagious enthusiasm. By the end of this episode, you'll be armed with strategies to simplify your offerings, prioritize client convenience, and maximize the profitability of your photography business without the extra frills.
Join Your Magic Year here.
Use the code PODCAST to receive special pricing when you enroll.
Join Your Magic Year here.
Use the code PODCAST to receive special pricing when you enroll.
Connect with Karinda!
Thanks for listening!
Welcome to Mindset and Money Mastery for Photographers the podcast. We help overwhelmed photographers make more money while simplifying their business by mastering their you guessed it mindset and money. Tune in each week for practical and actionable tips to take your photography business up a notch. Let's dive right in.
Speaker 2:Hello everyone, and I hope you're all having a magical week. This week's episode is inspired by a Facebook post that I saw on a photography group, and I just knew that I had to come on here and debunk this myth for all of you because, as you probably know, there's a lot of things that I like to debunk in this photography industry. I think that there's a lot of great advice, but there's also some advice that tends to stick in people's heads and make them think that they can't do this because they don't have enough or they don't have the right space or they don't have the right resources, and I just really want to flip that upside down on its head today for all of you, especially those of you that are in the business building phase of being a photographer. So someone asked how can a new photographer offer a luxury experience if they can't invest in client wardrobe, hair, makeup and samples of those expensive products, or even something like a studio? When I saw they're saying you had something I had to talk about here. To be honest, you don't need any of those things.
Speaker 2:Having a luxury experience and getting clients to invest in those higher price points isn't just about hair and makeup, client wardrobes, having amazing products or having those beautiful studio or storefront space where you can wind and dine your clients. It's really just about serving your clients and if you're in the early phases of building your business, I would strongly encourage you to go back and listen to the podcast episode called what Should I Charge if I'm just starting out, and also go back and listen to the podcast called what Should my Session Fee Be, because in both of those episodes I'm going to break down exactly how to figure out what you need to be making for clients, and I'm also going to address the fact that, even if you're just starting out, you should set your prices where they need to be, not for today, but for five or 10 years down the road, so that way you are set up for success and you will get there so much faster and you will get off that hamster wheel of reinventing your photography brand when it comes to a luxury experience. A luxury experience is more than just physical things or cool things like the hair and makeup, the client wardrobe, all of those things. The luxury experience is about serving your clients, taking care of the every need and really getting to know them so that you can serve them the way they need to be served and solve their problems. You might think I see all these luxury photographers with client wardrobes, hair and makeup artists on staff, but this isn't what makes them high end or profitable. It's really about so much more than that. So I want you to hang on and really listen to this episode and if you've been using any of these excuses about I don't have these resources or I don't have this or I don't have that, take this as your sign to just go for it. Build the business of what you have. Start with where you're at. It doesn't have to be what you see other people doing and there's absolutely zero reason you have to do what other people are doing. Do what works for you. Do what feels good for you. Start simple. Start basic. Start adding extra things until you really master the basic, simple service of just taking care of your clients.
Speaker 2:You all might not know this, but I actually do have a physical photography studio on our property. I built the studio when I was doing newborns and I actually used it for a few years and then I realized that my clients didn't want to have to drive to my studio and meet with me and I could just do Zoom meetings and my life is easier. I didn't have to clean my studio, I didn't have to put on real pans, I could just hop on Zoom with my clients and have these meetings with them. And this is back when we had a really terrible internet, by the way, like awful, and I would have to go on Zoom and I have to call in and do the audio over my phone so that the audio didn't lag, and then turn my camera on so they could see my face and we could interact. But it worked and I think when I started shifting to those virtual meetings partially it was huge a necessity it was due to having clients that were living out of the area, out of state, and I started to travel a lot more. So I was doing my clients that were long distance on Zoom and then my local clients in person, and it just got too confusing and I was like I'm just going to do everything on Zoom. It seems to be working just as well and we're going to see what happens and my clients were so much happier, to be honest with you.
Speaker 2:So you do not need to have that studio, you do not need to be able to shoot indoors during the winter time or the summertime or any of those things. Let's just get rid of that thought in your head. Yes, it's cool and fun to say you have a studio, but take it for me. I have a studio and it is just a glorified storage space for all of my guild campuses between events. So don't worry about it, guys. If that's not in the cards for you right now, don't feel like it has to be. And also, please, for the love of all things, do not feel like you have to have a studio to shoot through the winter or maybe the really hot summer time, depending on where you live, to be profitable, because that is not true. You can shoot only when there's good weather. You can only shoot outdoors and you can still make money as a photographer. That whole myth of I need a studio to shoot indoors when the weather isn't good or the only way to make money and work around the Stavis studio is a lie, let me tell you. Don't let that get in your ear and don't let that set yourself up for failure, because you're thinking that you need that to be successful in this industry. You do not.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about the client wardrobe thing next, because I personally have a client wardrobe. It's epic, it's beautiful, it's amazing. But, to be honest with you, my clients rarely use it and I think that a lot of times my clients have this idea already of what they want to wear, where they're going to go shopping, this idea of going shopping and the experience of finding the perfect outfit for their session and, honestly, that's fine. That tends to be what they do. Sometimes they do use my client wardrobe. I find that my kids and teenagers use it a lot more than my adults. But, honestly, I've spent a lot of money, a lot of time and it really doesn't do anything for my business, other than it's cool to say I have a client wardrobe and show off my pretty dresses that just sit and don't get used to a whole lot.
Speaker 2:A lot of times to get my client wardrobe used, I will literally just bring the dresses with me and be like, hey, can you just throw this dress on for a few and they'll put it on and they will love it in the end. But sometimes it does genuinely feel like I'm twisting my client's arm to get them in the dresses. Now it's different if you have, like, a super unique style or something you're doing that is genuinely hard for your clients to find clothing in that specific style. I do kind of have a style that I like to shoot, but a lot of times there's some variation within that and my clients like to put their own twist on it. So it's not really a deal breaker for me if my clients don't wear my dresses and I'm going to push them and force them into it. However, sometimes I will just be like can you please do it for me and they will Don't feel like you have to go buy all those dresses.
Speaker 2:It is really not an SSB and it is more for you and not for your bank account, because it is very bad to get a client wardrobe addiction. Just trust me and you'll just sit there and stare at a bunch of dresses and then one day you'll think to yourself oh, I should really sell these. I say that because I've watched many of my photographer friends go through that, where they get really addicted to buying all these beautiful dresses or wardrobe pieces and then eventually they're like I don't really use them. I should probably sell them because I'm tired of just staring at them. So please keep that in mind. It is not a necessity, it is something that is fun, but you don't have to have it and don't go overboard unless you know you're going to use it.
Speaker 2:I would say start out with a few staple pieces that are pretty versatile. If it's something you really have your heart set on and if you find your clients really loving and using those often, then that's fine. Like, I have one dress that I use more than anything else in my client wardrobe. It's my favorite dress. I've actually worn it for my own portraits and my clients love it, and I have it in this hand color and a navy color and, hands down, if someone's going to wear something for my client wardrobe, it's probably going to be that, and I have multiple clients that have worn the same dress, and that's the other thing I will encourage you.
Speaker 2:I think sometimes you feel like if you get a client wardrobe, you need to like spice it up so everyone has different outfits. No, the purpose is to be able to reuse the same things and buy staple pieces that are reusable. So do keep that in mind in the back of your head. And also buying items that are versatile in size, so size adjustable, like can fit small through extra large type dresses are always great if you can find outfits like that.
Speaker 2:I also find that, as a horse photographer, a lot of the really beautiful epic dresses that are so cool and like oh my gosh, I want to photograph that they're not really practical for working with horses or for the normal horse person to wear with their horse, unless you have somebody that's like has a saintly horse that will just put up with just about anything. So that's the other thing is like it's very easy to see, like you know, those epic style shoots with the parachutes. Granted, I have my own parachute dresses that I have literally sewn by myself. Well, the chances that most of your clients are gonna wear that are pretty slim to none. So if you want to do it to be fun and creative, then that's fine, but don't spend a ton of money, time, energy and effort in it until you've really built your business to a place where you just have that disposable income to spend on that type of stuff. Resist the temptation, trust me, it's not gonna make or break your business. It's just gonna cost you money. Probably at this point, and maybe it might make a bad spending habit, and those of you that have a client wardrobe you'll have to send me a DM and let me know if you agree or disagree with that statement. I know there's a few of you that use your client wardrobe all the time and that's amazing, but for most people that's not the case. So next up, let's talk about hair makeup. Everywhere you look in the high-end photography space you're gonna see photographers including hair and makeup and eating the cost in their session fee as well.
Speaker 2:I decided a long time ago that juggling hair and makeup artists and scheduling with outdoor sessions was just a pain, and it was something I wasn't ready to do because I also travel a lot. It just is too hard to have hair and makeup artists all over the US and know who to go to, so it just made sense to really cut it out, and it didn't make sense juggling all the different locations and all the people I would need, plus the weather. When you're working with a hair and makeup artist, you're typically having to give them notice if you need to reschedule. You can't wait till last minute, like if you don't have all these extra people involved. So I just decided it really wasn't worth the extra step and the extra piece to figure out in my own business the other thing about hair and makeup.
Speaker 2:Although it can be amazing, I think that personally, when I have hair and makeup done for my own personal portraits with other photographers, the experience is really fun and cool, but I don't always love the way I look in photos. I have this set of pictures that they're stunning. I love the pictures, but my eyebrows look crazy. My eyebrows are not my normal eyebrows. They're so thick and drawn on and shaped and beautiful that I just see it. I'm like what is weird about me in those pictures? And then I'm like, oh yeah, my eyebrows do not look like that in real life. So I think sometimes too, you have to consider who are your clients and how are those people that you're working with, because there might be some people that you are thinking this is amazing, I'm going to have a hair and makeup artist.
Speaker 2:But your clients don't necessarily want that because it's not who they are as people. A lot of my clients, as horse people, are very minimalist. They don't wear a whole lot of makeup on the day to day unless they're going to a special event, and if they do, they know how to do their makeup fairly well. I'm never going to encourage my client to wear more makeup than they normally wear in everyday life. I would say give me like 10% more, but don't go overboard for your portraits, because I want them to see themselves and see themselves, not see someone completely different. I want them to wear a solid foundation that's like good coverage, and I want them to put mascara on and a little bit of something on their lips. But I do not need them to be full glam if that's just not who they are and that's not their go-to. Now, when I have a client that comes to me and that is their go-to, that they love doing full glam, chances are they already have their own hair and makeup artist they know and they're comfortable with, and then that's great because I don't have to deal with it. So I would just keep that in mind.
Speaker 2:When I used to do weddings, I actually had a few experiences when the makeup artist would leave and the bride and the bride's maids would go in and wash their face off or redo their hair completely because they just didn't love it and it didn't look good on them and it wasn't what they were used to and they were seriously unhappy too. So maybe I'm a little bit scarred from my wedding photographer days. Really great makeup artist. Just the girls would look at themselves in the mirror and be like this doesn't look like me, and they would freak out and be washing their faces and putting new makeup on as we're supposed to be taking pictures. And then I also had a senior come to me last year that worked with a senior photographer that did hair and makeup and she hated her pictures because she hated her makeup. And she came back, hired me, had me redo her senior pictures and hired her own makeup artist instead, which I thought was really interesting, that they still did hire a professional, but they hired somebody that they're used to working with.
Speaker 2:I've had so many instances where it's just been weird situations or, personally, from my experiences as a client, I've had weird things that I didn't love. So I would just say it's not a necessity and it doesn't have to happen. Simplify your life, simplify your business. Don't worry about all this extra fluff, don't worry about the client closet, don't worry about the hair and makeup. I think instead, what you should focus on is getting to know your clients and figure out who they are as a person, if they are the type of person that wants to find a hair and makeup artist. Have a relationship with someone that you can send them to and they can go schedule it and take care of it. If they're not and they're minimalistic, give them tips and tricks on how to make their makeup look good. If you don't know, go watch some TikTok or YouTube videos. Point them in the right direction and guide them and direct them, but use some very strategic things when you're talking about these things.
Speaker 2:What do you normally wear? Do you normally wear a lot of makeup? Little makeup? Do you never wear makeup? What does that look like for you? Do you ever get your hair and makeup done? What do you think about it when you get your hair and makeup done? Do you love getting it done or what has your experience been like? Do you have something that's done in the past that you love it? Just asking simple questions, you can guide them in the right direction and you can help them get to where they need to be. I really think that having hair and makeup artists wouldn't make me more money in my business. It may make my clients' life a little bit easier, but honestly, I just don't think it's going to make me a whole lot more money in my business and I think that it doesn't really make or break my business. So don't feel that pressure to do that. Also, just know that it might not be for everybody and if it doesn't feel like it's for you and your business, then that's fine. If you feel like it's for you and your business, then try it, see how you feel about it, see if you like it and then make a decision where you want to go from there.
Speaker 2:Now let's talk about this sample situation. Once upon a time I had somebody tell me that instead of learning how to do business, they should just buy a bunch of samples and show them to their clients and they will magically sell those products. And that is not true. You don't need samples to sell wall art or albums. Let me repeat that. You do not need samples to sell wall art or albums.
Speaker 2:I have plenty of coaching clients that have come through my program that have started selling wall art and they don't have their samples in yet of their Guild Canvas, because Guild Canvas does take weeks to be made, because they're a handmade, custom item. And I have coaching clients come through. They put them on their price list. I can't offer them until they get here and I'm like no, you can Just start talking about them, and they start talking about them and they sell one without having a sample. And I'm like, see, I told you so you don't have to have a sample, you just have to be able to talk about the product. You can show stock photos from your supplier's website. Guild Canvas has so many amazing videos and pictures and just resources you can show.
Speaker 2:But really it's about the way you talk about it. Your clients are going to buy something based on your excitement about it, regardless of if they can see it and touch it. Now, seeing and touching it doesn't hurt, but it's not a necessity. I have clients that don't see my products all the time. I would say, when I traveled a lot more, like 70% of my clients didn't see all my products because I would just travel with whatever samples I had that were small enough to fit my suitcase, and so I had a lot of clients that didn't see products and they were buying them. No problem, I would just talk to them about them or I'd show them to them on Zoom. Now I do have a lot more clients that get to see my products. I do take them to my sessions and show them at my sessions, and that's really the time when I see and interact with my clients, but it's not a necessity, guys. I'm not going to lie. Sometimes I leave my house and I'm like, oh crap, I forgot to grab my samples. No big deal. The clients still spend money. They still buy their products. It does not make or break your business, so don't worry about that.
Speaker 2:And you don't have to show giant samples If you don't have a studio. You're driving in your car. You can't fit a giant sample in your car. That's fine. Have an 11 by 14 or 16 by 20. I promise it's not the end of the world to have small samples either. It's really not. I just hope that you take this whole studio topic, the client wardrobe, the hair makeup, the samples, those four topics, and I hope that you really take some time to sit on this.
Speaker 2:If any of these things are running in the back of your head and keeping you stuck or keeping you feeling like you can't raise your prices, you can't offer the high end products, you can't do those things because you were lacking in one of these areas, I'm here to tell you you're not lacking, you are perfect. You're probably doing the same thing I do, which is the minimum, which is fine. It doesn't have to be overly complicated to run a high end portrait business. You don't need all this fluffy stuff. Ask yourself these questions when you're thinking about doing something in your business. Say does this make me more money or does this really impact my client's life? Chances are you're doing a lot of things in your business that don't make you more money and don't really impact your client's life that much.
Speaker 2:Another example of this that I'll throw out there while we're on the topic of this is I drop ship my products to my clients. I don't get my clients items and repackage them and deliver them. No, I just have stuff drop shipped to their house. Makes my life easy, my clients life easy, and you know what? That's fine. This is a discussion I had with one of my coaching clients a couple years ago. She really really fought me on drop shipping our products and I'm like listen, how much time are you spending getting the products, opening them up, repackaging them, setting up delivery to your clients? Say, you have 50 clients a year. Let's compound this by maybe an hour to two hours per client. It adds up. Do you think that your clients will be just as happy if the stuff got to their house two days sooner or a week sooner than it takes for you to get it to you, repackage it and deliver it to them yourself. Heck yeah, they're gonna be happy if they get it sooner. It's not gonna make or break your business.
Speaker 2:So if you're sitting here and you're feeling like I'm doing a lot of things, I don't know if the things I'm doing are serving me. I don't know if they're really serving my clients. I would just write down all the things you're doing in your business and really just examine them. Do I like this? Do I wanna keep this around? Is it serving me and my clients? Is it making me money and is it impacting my clients life? If it's not making you money or making a positive impact, that's like huge in your clients life. It could be more so overcomplicating your life or overcomplicating your clients life, then maybe it's your time to cut it out.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I think I see photographers doing that's actually an overcomplication of their clients life, even though they think they're helping their client, is things like in-home planning, consultations or wall art installation. And y'all might come at me for this, but listen to my logic here. People are busy. They don't want to have to schedule time for meetings that are unnecessary. So if they can pick up the phone or hop on Zoom and spend 15, 20 minutes getting something done, I think people are a lot happier with that than having to set up a physical in-person meeting or have someone come to their house. So let's talk about this like in-person planning consultation.
Speaker 2:If you have somebody come over to your house and they're like I'm gonna come over to your house and help you plan your session and pick your outfits and blah, blah, blah, blah as a person, karinda is going to be like whew, I don't want you to come into my house. I have to clean my house. I have to look presentable. My closet is a disaster. You do not want to go in there. The thought of somebody coming to my house and saying they're gonna go through my closet and help me pick clothes is just a full onset panic attack to me. So like I would never, ever offer that to my clients, because I know how uncomfortable that makes me feel. But thought of some person coming into my house and going through my closet and my clothes with me it makes me so uncomfortable.
Speaker 2:I think sometimes photographers in general we forget to look at it from that perspective is like you see people going in homes and doing planning consultations and you don't realize that maybe there's a flip side to this. Maybe your clients don't actually watch you coming to their house. Your clients don't actually have to clean their house or their closet or the other end of the spectrum, which is at the very end of the session wall art installation. This is something you see photographers doing from time to time and it's very popular for photographers to hire somebody to go install their wall art or they go install wall art for their clients. But as a client, I'm like look, I know how to put a nail on the wall and hang a picture up. It's brain surgery at all. I'm not selling these huge, complicated gallery walls or anything crazy like that. I'm selling like sets of three to five images. My clients can use a tape measure and a hammer and figure it out.
Speaker 2:Guys, as a client for a photographer, I would not want them coming to my house to install wall art, because I'm gonna get the wall art, I'm gonna walk around my house and look at it in different places, even though we've designed it for this one wall, and I'm gonna play with it and I'm probably gonna do something different than I originally intended on it anyway. And then if the photographer showed up to install it and they were like we're gonna put it in this place, I'd be like, well, I wanna experiment and put it here. What if we do this? And what if we do this differently? I don't know. I just think that from a client perspective, it's not something that I would personally love, so it's not something I do for my clients.
Speaker 2:So just kind of some contradictory opinions on things that photographers are doing nowadays to share with all of you. And don't take this the wrong way. If you're doing those things Like if you're doing those things and they're working for you, that's great, but also consider, could there be a flip side of this that you're missing? Actually, I was having a conversation with somebody and the topic of wall art installation came up and I shared with them my opinion on that and they said to me Corinda, like I'm so glad you said that I would have never thought about my clients literally thinking to themselves I don't want someone coming to my house that makes me uncomfortable. I wanna be able to do it, or I'm competent enough to put a nail on the wall.
Speaker 2:I think that was an interesting realization and I realized I needed to share this with you on the podcast, because obviously not everybody's thinking the same way I am and maybe it's just the anxious person inside of me. I'm a super anxious person and I'm kind of like my house is my house. People don't really come over to my house, it's kind of a mess most days and people come in or my house stresses me out, so maybe it's that piece in me that makes me feel like that. But I just want you to always consider all sides of the options and consider them what's best for you and what feels good to you, and consider what you think is best for your clients, not just doing what everyone else is doing, because it's whatever the photographer out there in the world is doing. And that's really my encouragement for you with this podcast episode. So, wherever you're at, if you're new, if you've been in this industry for years, wherever you're at, whatever resources you have, know that you are capable of providing a luxury, high-end service and making thousands of dollars from each and every client that comes through your door, simply by simplifying your business and just getting to know your clients and serving your clients how they need to be served. I want to leave you with this Gonna challenge you to find ways to make your business feel magical and good for you deep down on the inside and build your business what feels good for you, not what the world is telling you to do.
Speaker 2:Guys, I mean plenty of those mistakes building my business, of doing things that other people told me I should be doing, which led me in a lot of dead-end goose chases and it led me to a lot of like why am I doing this? Why am I here? How did I get here? And it also led me into doing things that didn't fit me and didn't fit for my clients. The biggest thing I did was go against the grain, go against the grain and do what felt right. But it took a lot of years for me to get there and be confident enough to make the decision to go against the grain of my business and to do what I wanted to do and what felt good for me. Now I was always checking in with the business side Does it make logical business? Does it make sense from a business perspective? Does it make sense from a financial perspective? But if it checked out and the logic was there. I was gonna test it and try it and if it didn't work, I was gonna pivot. So keep that in mind Build the business that feels good to you, build the business that feels magical for you. And if you were in a place where you're like I really want to figure out how to do this, corinda, send me a message and let's chat more, because I would love to help talk you through this.
Speaker 2:And this year, in 2024, we have our your Magic Year program, which is absolutely amazing. It's been so good guys, the feedback has been phenomenal and people are really loving it. It's a great way to get your feet wet and get started in the right direction in your business. Or if you're like I want the full help, I want the A to Z, I want the one-on-one, I want the hand holding, I want the guidance, then message me and tell you me that you want all in and master your mind and money our full coaching program, and I can get you the details about joining us there. I love each and every one of you. Thank you for joining us today. I hope this helps you find inspiration to go out there, offer the luxury service, despite all the things you feel like you need to do and just go for it. And remember that luxury service isn't about things. It's about service and getting to know your clients.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to support the podcast, please make sure you share it on social media or leave a rating and review. As always, you can check out the links and resources in the show notes over at masteryourmindmoneycom. To catch all the latest from me, you can follow me on Instagram at masteryourmindmoney and don't forget to join our free Facebook group photography business. Tune up with Corinne Decay. Thanks again and I'll see you next time.