In this episode, Christa shares her journey from earning $35K to $350K as a photographer. She emphasizes the importance of not staying small and stuck in your photography business and highlights the expenses and costs involved in running a photography business. Christa discusses the need to practice and improve your photography skills and the importance of building relationships with clients. She also talks about the challenges she faced and the mindset shifts she made to achieve financial success. Christa explains how she transitioned from shoot and burn to offering products and shares her strategies for attracting clients who value and are willing to invest in photography.
Takeaways
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Connect with Christa on Instagram HERE!
Enjoy a free 20-min training on adding $50k in income from products HERE!
Apply for Uncapped HERE!
In this episode, Christa shares her journey from earning $35K to $350K as a photographer. She emphasizes the importance of not staying small and stuck in your photography business and highlights the expenses and costs involved in running a photography business. Christa discusses the need to practice and improve your photography skills and the importance of building relationships with clients. She also talks about the challenges she faced and the mindset shifts she made to achieve financial success. Christa explains how she transitioned from shoot and burn to offering products and shares her strategies for attracting clients who value and are willing to invest in photography.
Takeaways
Thanks for listening! We’d LOVE if you left us a review!
Connect with Christa on Instagram HERE!
Enjoy a free 20-min training on adding $50k in income from products HERE!
Apply for Uncapped HERE!
Christa (00:00.616)
Welcome. So on this episode, I'm going to be talking about my journey from 35 K to 350 K as a photographer. And I'm really excited to dive in because as you guys know, I'm so passionate about just shouting from the rooftops to photographers that you don't have to stay small. Don't have to stay stuck. There's a better way. Like if you're, if you're not loving what you're doing and how it's going, you can change that and
I'm also passionate about it because I have seen in the photo industry how much we pour into our craft, we pour into our clients. I see how expensive it is to run a photo business and all of the expenses and costs involved. And I want you to know that yes, it can work. And I say this because so many photographers I've talked to this year and so many students I've coached were at that point of like make or break.
where they really thought about quitting and once they found a better way, the sky was the limit. So let me share, let me start with what things looked like when I was in that 35K range. And this is just a general range. And so when I was at that range, I was building, you might call it a little bit frantic of just really getting my footing and bearings. And yes, I know that's a pretty high amount to still be doing that, but I was doing a lot and I loved it.
I was in college working hard at this. And when I say 35K, that's not what I paid myself, that's what the business did. And when I say 350K, that's not what I paid myself, that's what the business brought in. So when your business brings in money, like let's say you're charging $300 for a session. A third of that, so 100 of that goes right out the door to taxes. You're left with 200, right? And then what? Well, you have your costs, your gas, your time.
your Lightroom subscription, your memory cards, your equipment, your external hard drives, your equipment insurance, the bigger you get, actually the more expenses you have. So when we look at that and see $300, we're really not left with much. And I would argue you're gonna actually make more doing a 10 to 15 hour job somewhere than doing a photo shoot. And I don't say that to discourage you.
Christa (02:20.808)
I say that because I wish someone had told me that sooner because at that 35K I'm running around frantic just doing all the things for everyone. And it's okay to have a season like that in your business where you're like, I just want to get out there Krista. I want to pick up my camera. I want to shoot. I want to get better at my skill, at my craft. Like, yes, do that. That's one of the main things when I talk to photographers really just starting. It's like you have to just get out there and shooting. That's how you're going to get better.
Right? Some of you, it's like, I don't even think twice about my camera settings. It's second nature now. You show up to shoot and just, you know, set it. But when you think about the beginning, when you pull out your camera and you don't know what to set it on and stuff, like, you have to keep practicing it. You have to keep doing it. And that's where I was at. But I would argue from the beginning, maybe not the very beginning, but around that point,
I did really want this to work and I almost developed, I like to call it shiny object syndrome, right? Where you're trying to make something work, you're trying to figure it out. I remember one time setting up like a newborn studio in my parents' basement for a shoot. And guess what? I didn't want to do newborns at the time, but I posted it and then got all these newborn inquiries, right? So what did I realize? You need to only post what you want to shoot more of, right? So I had a lot of lessons like that that are basic business, but I had to learn that.
sometimes the hard way, and learn just about systems and processes and backing images up because cards sometimes corrupt and I had multiple external hard drives crash and navigating through that and just figuring out those things that are basics to running a photo business that serves your clients really well. But one thing that I just always loved from the beginning was people. And that was the thing that I knew when I thought I want to make this work. It was because, goodness, I really like working with people.
I love these relationships. I love just how photo shoots, you just really tap into like who that family is or that senior, just really get to know them. And I've just always loved working with people. But there's also that balance of that backend work that a lot of people don't see of sitting behind your computer working. And I still remember I had a client that I really loved, really, really loved. They asked me to do their engagement photos and they said, Krista, will you do our wedding? And I was like, no, I can't do a wedding.
Christa (04:40.648)
And then I thought about it more and more and I was like, what if I did? What if this is the pivot that I need to make to grow? And it was actually less about the money at the time and just more about like, which direction should I go? And when I told them, hey, I can do your wedding, they actually broke their contract with a photographer they had hired to hire me because we just, we resonated so well. And I'm so grateful because it actually was a nice wedding downtown. And it was one of those things where like,
like whatever you want to call it for me, like the Lord's leading of like the perfect client to really kind of help me get in the door and build my portfolio. So all that to say at 35K, running around, doing a lot of things, all the people, birthday parties, seniors, babies, weddings, really shifting into weddings probably around that time. And I'm trying to think of my exact journey of like what I did when, but still sticking with it and still building consistently.
still trying to learn and reading things on how I could be better, still doing those small steps consistently that I was reading about that could lead to big results. And as I was building, I got a little past that, but I did hit that point though where I was like, there has to be more. And I remember I paid taxes. It was the January after my husband and I got married and my mom is my accountant.
So paying taxes meant she just took it out of my photo account. And it was like, goodness, like this isn't good. And at that point I had been building up with weddings. I thought that's what you had to do to be successful. And I just remember that frustration and that discouragement knowing I'm pouring a lot into this. I'm a good photographer. I'm really focused on serving my clients well. Why is my bank account not showing it?
I don't want to go work for someone else at this point, right? Like this has to work. I am all in here. But why is this not working? And I was past the 35k point at that time, but not crazy far past it, but really seemed to really get ahead, not just to the next step, but the eons beyond that. Like, what do I do here? I'm not some industry leader. I don't have, you know,
Christa (06:59.592)
30 ,000 followers on Instagram wanting to book me. Breaking into the luxury wedding realm is its own beast. And there's plenty of education out there if you want to pursue that. But it just, it was just hard. And some of you might be feeling that where you're like, I know I'm a good photographer, Krista. And I feel that too, leaving my clients of like, they loved it, I loved it. I remember one time leaving a wedding that I had in Charleston.
And the mom gave me this huge hug at the end and was like, Krista, if you had charged $10 ,000, it would have totally been worth it. And it kind of hit me because it was like, something's missing on the front end, right? Like that'd be great if I, and I have had $10 ,000 weddings, but at that time only charging two to 3000, it was like, how, how can I get that ahead? How can I share that value ahead of time? Because I feel the same. I do feel like I left it all out there. I do feel like I should be compensated higher with what I'm leaving out there.
Christa (07:58.024)
And two, three, $400 sessions, it's fun for a bit, like seeing that money come in, hitting your bank account. But you hit a point when it's really like pedal to the metal, I'm doing this. And we have that fun, exhilarating time starting a business. And I do too. I want you to know I'm right there with you. And you don't want that to go away, but it's really easy for it to, if you see I'm not getting paid my worth.
Krista, your right, taxes came in. I'm not left with much. You're right. I had to buy a camera, right? I'd get a second camera because I'm doing weddings now, I need a backup. What am I left here with? And I see photographers race to the bottom in Facebook groups, and it's just not going to work. One of my top students that I actually just met up with this week, she's on track for 200 ,000 this year doing weddings and portraits. Her portrait average is now over 1 ,000.
And when she started coaching with me, she was around 300. And I was talking to her and she said, the moment for me was when I added up all of my portrait income for the year and saw I can make more with one single wedding than all of my portraits for the year. And it just like hit her like, what am I doing? Right? We get to a point where it's not working. So I'm going to fast forward and share what things looked like when I was at 350K in my photo journey. I'm going to be very transparent here.
I didn't niche down and that's something that niche niche niche, whatever you want to call it. Okay. I didn't niche down and that's something that I hear a lot of photographers say is I, Krista, I just really like shooting a lot of different things. Awesome. You can build a business doing that. And I say that because I thought I had to niche down. Okay. And I'm going to talk about that transition, but I didn't niche down. I did mostly families. That was the majority of my income in the highest type of portrait session I did, but
I did seniors, I still do seniors. My sessions this year have been seniors, a newborn session, a commercial session, right? Like I love doing that. I love like a variety of things. That might not be you and that's okay. You might, I have a few students just thrive in the senior space and have built incredibly solid businesses there. That's great, right? Another thing, my average continued growing, right? So those years between,
Christa (10:13.224)
Well, once I changed my process and I'll be sharing about the process in a sec, but I saw like the sky was the limit, even at 350 K where I was doing that. And I knew I could even grow this further if I want, I'm not capped. It's not because, because I changed what I was doing where clients can now spend as much as they wanted. It wasn't a matter of adding in volume to be able to grow. I could do that. I did do high volume, but there comes a point where if your calendar is so full, how are you going to grow from there?
How are you going to add 25 % to your income? How are you going to give yourself a 10 grand raise next year? And all those things are so possible. Another thing I did was I did really uncomfortable marketing methods others are too afraid to do. And because others are too afraid to do them, because they're uncomfortable, I stood out and I was able to make really wonderful connections. Another thing about my business at 350k, I was excited to serve clients at a high level. It wasn't I rolled. They're going to ask so much of me and I'm not getting paid enough.
That's a huge red flag that something isn't working in your business. It's actually less about the client and more about how you're operating your business if you're feeling that way. Because if you're letting clients book you and offering a service where you're annoyed with them, right? And they're just taking you up on your offerings and maybe asking for a little bit more. It's a huge red flag. I had 10 to 30K months. Think at my peak, I had an October where I had a 40K month. Okay. So really bringing in a lot of income.
I had a pricing system that worked that I could tweak as I wanted to based on my terms and the volume that I wanted to take on or if I was traveling. But I was able to take so much off of my clients plates. I was able to do a high volume of products in and out, clients in and out, really good systems in place to account for that. And I did this all with having one employee. I outsourced other things like editing, but as far as like me hiring on my team, I had one employee.
And we built an incredibly solid relationship and she just took a lot of things off of my plate that I didn't need to be doing because I realized I need to be shooting and selling. And those are my main income generators. And so I wanted to touch on the bridge between that because you're like, that sounds great, but like what on earth did you do to get from 35 K to 350 K? That sounds like a dream. One thing I told you was going to be transparent on this at 350 K I did a high volume, but I was averaging a lot per session. So I was averaging about two K per shoot.
Christa (12:36.872)
per portrait session. I was still doing weddings at multiple 6 to 10K weddings that year. And going back, now having a child, I wouldn't be as high volume as I was then, but I did that intentionally where I wanted to hustle and fill my calendar. But you don't have to. You definitely don't have to. What I was doing then, I wouldn't fill my calendar with as much now having a child, but I'm still able to have a high average.
and coach plenty of students with kids making a significant amount that allowed them to spend more time with their kids. So what it looks like personally is, yes, I was busy. I was building financial freedom for our family. I was excited about the possibilities and so excited to build actual wealth. And what this led to is building my business. It led to Edward and I buying our second home and making the first a rental. And we actually just closed on our second rental.
It meant us paying for my new car in cash. Guys, it's not Mercedes. It's a Honda CRV, but still like paying in cash. I don't have a car payment. Neither of us do. It looked like Edward quitting his second job that he had had for the insurance benefits. And now that looks like he's able to spend a lot of time with our daughter along with myself. That's something really important to me that we both are spending time with her. And that's the freedom that building this business in a solid way brought us that I wouldn't have been able to do.
if I had not made specific changes. So let me tell you what I did to get there. I'm really, really excited about this. So the first shift that really started escalating growth majorly is I viewed myself as a business owner first and then a photographer. So making decisions, it was less about the pretty pictures and more, yes, that was important. And I served my clients really well. And I made sure that I was really good at my craft and had invested in education to get there.
but they're got to a point where, yeah, I did the editing and posing and shooting courses. And I was confident in my work. I had to take it a step further. This is where I see a lot of photographers stop is they're looking for that next level and they're looking for another preset or they think it's, I need to shift my entire posing style or my entire editing style. And they don't really think if I'm a better business person, where can I be? And I say this because I've coached photographers with all different types of styles, in all different types of niches. They think they might need to shift their niche.
Christa (15:05.608)
and they're able to have really big success. So I first had to put my business hat on and I had to take myself seriously. And to do that, I actually hired my first coach to really help me with that. And it was a big investment for us, but I'm just going to be very candid with you guys. It didn't feel like that huge of a kick in the stomach investing in that first coach because I had full confidence that what I was doing was not getting me to what was possible and that
she could fast track that and she did. And I ended up having coaching with her for, I want to say four or five years. I really love having like long -term coaches. So I hired a coach to really fast track this because I was focused on the business. She wasn't helping me with my shooting. She wasn't helping me with my editing or my gallery workflows, right? We were focused on business. And so as I did that, I realized there's a much more sustainable way to build portraits that shoot and burn, which is just
sending the gallery and calling it a day isn't going to get me to. I didn't want to just hike my prices up charging the, like doing the exact same thing, charging more for the exact same thing and not offering more. And I think a lot of photographers get worried about that and think, Krista, surely no one in my town is going to pay more. Yeah, maybe not for exactly what you're doing, but instead if you can offer more at a higher service, that just goes in tandem, right? Higher service and higher value, higher price point. That makes sense.
It doesn't make sense to just shoot your rates up there for the exact same thing that you're doing. That's when it feels out of alignment. And I want you to know it got hard when I was pivoting to this. I had big identity crises because I realized I can make a lot more and really enjoy life more doing more portraits than weddings. But I had viewed myself as a wedding photographer for so long that that was hard for me to think, okay.
My step isn't gonna be like I'm gonna be this luxury, world renowned photographer that I maybe thought I could be, like if I worked hard enough. And instead realizing, portraits seem like a much more sustainable way to operate my business because I'm building my average up. Now it's at 700, now it's at 1K, now it's at 1500, now it's at, there's something here. And it was hard to make that transition mentally. It was hard for me to get handed three grand checks when before I was so used to getting paid $300 for a portrait session.
Christa (17:26.76)
There were shifts there. There's a lot of mindset work with growing a business the right way. But because I began focusing on my goals and not someone else's, I became laser focused on getting to that next step. So on Instagram, I didn't scroll through and see what someone else was doing and think, my gosh, I should go do that and run and do it, right? Or, my gosh, they're offering this now. I should go do that. Or, they're over here and they did this type of studio senior session. Look, I gotta go figure out how to do that.
Instead, I was so focused on my goals and where I wanted to be that it allowed me to not stop at the nose because I heard more nose than ever when I switched my business model, more than ever. And I tell my students, you should be hearing no if you're not, there's probably actually something that's a red flag not working in your business because I began not wanting to be the photographer for everyone and being the photographer for someone wanting to throw a couple hundred to shoot their daughter's birthday party.
That wasn't my ideal client anymore. And the reason I was okay with that is I saw that's not sustainable. I'm not making any money going to a birthday party for $200. I'm not really leaving with any of that, with all my costs. And I'd rather serve a client really, really, really well and get paid for it, right? And get paid my worth and be able to keep doing what I'm doing and love it and be able to keep growing my income. And around that time when I added in portraits, COVID actually hit, right?
awful time to be transitioning business models and trying to grow. But I was able to double my income during COVID. And I'm just going to shoot you guys straight. One of the biggest ways I was able to do that is mindset. And I didn't really sit around focusing on how COVID could absolutely destroy my business like it had other photographers and what's going to happen to my business. And is this going to work? But I realized I'm going to build up my business where it does work. My wedding schedule went kaput. It went haywire.
things all around, canceling, pushing things out a year, right? And I didn't ever have to get too stressed about like the income around that because my portraits were just growing. Now, sidebar, I was in an area where I was still allowed to shoot and I know that wasn't the case everywhere, but for me, I was allowed to. And I had friends that that was not the position they were in. So that looks very, very, very different than where I was at.
Christa (19:44.328)
but I was able to continue growing my average in weddings and portraits. And what I would say is, I hear a lot, I'm so nervous, Krista, to shift what I'm doing. The economy is shifting, people are saving money. If you focus on that, yeah, people aren't gonna book you. If you focus on people don't have money, I can't raise my rates, you won't be able to. But if you focus on the fact that if people are getting cut, if photographers are getting cut, it's gonna be the one, two, $300 photographers
because you're not gonna have a photographer come to your daughter's birthday party for trying to save a lot of money. That's what you cut. But instead, if you're attracting a client who really values this experience and really wants it, they're still gonna invest in it. Even during an economic downtime, they're still gonna make it work. And that's a huge catalyst for growth is I just attracted the right client and just served them really well. Economic downtime or not, like they value this and that's okay. And others walked away and said, I can't do this and that's okay.
But I didn't stop at the nose. Some said I can't with the economy. No problem. That's okay. And there's a photographer out there for them if they want to spend 150 to 300. But that's not where I was anymore. And because I focused on serving the right client intentionally, I was able to grow. And one of the biggest things I hear, and the student I was telling you that I was talking to this week said, I think the biggest holdup for me before investing, because I actually talked to her. I was like, what brought you into coaching with me? And now we've just skyrocketed her growth.
She said, I think the hardest thing was wondering, are there people out there that actually spend thousands on portraits? And are there people in my area that are doing that? And she goes, and then I realized there are people spending thousands on portraits. And I'll tell you that, it might not be with you right now, but there are people who spend thousands on their portrait sessions. And she said, why not me? Why not invest that with me? Why not me be the one offering that experience that allows them to spend that and that serves them really, really well?
And I tell my students, if people, if there's Lexuses in your town, if you see someone carrying a Louis Vuitton bag, right? I have a Louis Vuitton bag. I drive a Honda CRV. I'm not making any statements here, but there's certain things that we invest in. There's certain things that people say, Hey, I might not have a nice car or whatever it looks like. I might not spend a lot in other areas, but I really want to invest in my bag. And that's important to me or, or shoes, or I really want to do the nice Disney vacation, even though
Christa (22:08.968)
Other areas I'm cutting back in like people spend money on what they value on some friends It's private school and they make sacrifices in other areas others. It looks like something different Okay, it's it's a vacation. It's a vehicle. It's it looks different But people spend money all people are always spending money But it's going to be on what they value and when you find those people and attract them But you're really good at sharing the value. That's what happens and guys the way I was able to do this
is by shifting off of shoot and burn and adding in products. And it wasn't just adding in products and saying, here's a product line and that escalated my growth. And I wish that could be the case. And that's why sometimes I talk, I've had multiple of my top students actually had tried product sales prior and it had flopped. Why? Because there's a system that we have to do it to share the value. Just like if you saw a Louis Vuitton bag hanging in CVS for two grand, you're not gonna buy it.
because you don't see the value versus when you go into a Louis Vuitton store and they sit you down, pour you a glass of champagne, it sets the setting where it makes sense to spend that amount and the value's there and you treasure that item, even if you're rolling away in a minivan, right? So not all of your clients need to roll up in Teslas or the new Mercedes. And yes, I've had clients do that, but one of my other top clients drives a minivan, right? Another top client, gosh, I remember like when she told me where she worked.
And this is really bad. You shouldn't do this. But in my head, I was familiar with what that looks like and even wrote her off a little bit. Not wrote her off. That sounds too strong. But I assumed the sale would be lower than it was, not knowing. She had this money set aside. She had three grand set aside because she valued this and wanted this so bad, right? Because she valued it. I'm not going to, I don't want to give away at all any details that pertain to this client, but I know she wasn't making a lot, but this was something that she really, really valued.
And so when we say clients won't spend this, my area can't sustain people spending thousands, that's actually a mindset block from ourselves that we're putting out there. And I'm here to tell you, yeah, people are spending thousands on photos. It might not be with you right now, but you can become that photographer who attracts that client who values it because there's people who value photos everywhere, even if their kids aren't in the ritziest private schools, even if they're not rolling around in the new Tesla, that's okay.
Christa (24:33.64)
but they can really value photos. Now, if you find an affluent crowd with a lot of expendable income, that's great. I'm all for that, building intentionally to people with more expendable income. That's basic business knowledge. Many businesses are doing that, but the ones that are attracting a client who's very budget -conscious, like Kmart down the road just closed during economic hard times because that's not sustainable. Okay. Okay.
The other thing that I want to mention that I did is you can set up your packages really intentionally. And what I personally did is I had a package that was as much as what I was charging before. And I think some photographers don't become full service and add in products because they think every single client spends two, three, four, five grand. And that's not true. And you can, you can build this in a way where I, I'll be very transparent with numbers. I was charging about $400, 450 before transitioning to being full service.
And what I did is I charged a small session fee and my base bundle was $4 .99. Why? Well, if people really wanted to work with me, you're basically paying the same, maybe a little bit more, but the same. And you're actually getting products within that and in some digital, okay? So you can set things up intentionally where you still have a solid entry point. But then I became really good at sharing the value and guiding clients through so that they were able to walk away with so much more. So clients coming in thinking, I just want that $4 .99 bundle.
end up spending over a thousand because they see, wow, you're right. I do really want this wall portrait and this album and or whatever that looks like. And this for my mom, this all like, I love this, but you have to have the right system in place. And guys, I teach photographers exactly how I set this up. I teach photographers how to show the value to clients at the beginning. It's not just offering products and having a studio menu. I literally could give you how, like my exact products that I offer in my studio menu. And I,
assure you it wouldn't just work because there's a process involved. And there's a way that we share the value beforehand with the client. So even clients coming in the door thinking, I think I want all digital's, end up spending thousands of products. Why? Because of how I set it up and share the value and walk them through this experience. And I teach my students exactly how to do that from the inquiry all the way through closing the sale.
Christa (26:56.584)
And you might say there's no way people are gonna spend two or three grand. That's okay. Maybe right now your goal is to sell a couple like a hundred dollars more by offering one product to them that they can walk away with. That's still serving better. That still leaves more income for you and you can grow from there. You don't have to jump in always like having clients spend two or three grand. I have some students who do and that's awesome, but you don't have to. If that's what's stopping you push past that and just think, Hey, if I can set things up, if I can even have a bundle, maybe close to what I'm doing now.
and offer some products with it. Like how exciting would that be to then open the door to this arsenal of other products and other images. And the other thing that I remind students on the fence and photographers on the fence is it's not up to us what our clients should and shouldn't spend. And often they're not spending more because we're actually the ones shutting down the sale. And a lot of my clients transitioned over with me and a lot didn't. But the ones that did, I saw, wow, they would have bought more. I just wasn't offering it to them.
Right? How could they have paid more when I wasn't offering it to them? And I'm not talking about in the gallery because our clients aren't wall art designers. They're not album designers. And that's why I've set up this intentional system where on the front end and on the back end, I share step by step by step how to lead the client throughout the beginning so that you show up to the shoot already having an idea of what products they want and the images they're going to be wanting. And then after how to wrap it up in a way that's not ick.
but serves the clients well, that ensures they have beautiful, tangible products. And guys, like with this system, it is just everything in one place that I had needed that I worked through over that five years of being full service and building my average up to over two grand, but all in one package with a bow. And here's the thing, students have results with this. Yes, some of them are still refining their work, but most of them, it's the same work, right? How are they able to go? I had a student, Audrey,
have a 690 average and have multiple 3K sales. Same work, same exact work. For her, actually same clients too, right? But she started offering more. I had a student who less than a month had a client who already booked, who ended up spending $700 on products, right? How is that possible? She shared the value using our scripts and our framework. So I'm here to say there's a better way that leads to much more escalated growth. And I promise you,
Christa (29:20.776)
I could not have gotten to that level, that 350K, actually by the end of the year, it ended up being 400K. I could not have gotten there doing shoot and burn, not doing products or just sending this studio menu after saying, I can help you with products. It would not have worked. When you look at the time, the volume of clients needed, I don't think there would be enough time in the calendar to get all of that in. And you might say, well, that's fine. I don't want to be at 400K. I just want to be at six figures. Even then, there's a much better way.
And I say this as someone who's been in the industry for 10 years, who loves photography, but who knew this has to work. And I want to serve my clients well. And it's how I have a student in a very small town of less than 1500 in Nebraska pushing, she's over a $1 ,500 average, right? You don't have to be in some big affluent area. I have students in Florida.
I have a student crushing it in California. I have a student crushing it in Texas. I have students in North Carolina. I have students I coach down the road from me. I have a student in Alabama who was charging $250, and now is at an over $2 ,000 average because there's people who value photos everywhere. And I'm just really going to encourage you to check yourself when you start saying, people, Christo, people won't pay more than the three, four, 500 I'm charging now. They will. But it takes sharing the value correctly. It's not just shooting them your pricing.
It's not updating your PDF, trying to share more about you and five things you love because I promise they're skipping to the pricing and they're comparing it with other photographers. And instead I teach a way that stands out from those three $400 photographers that they're all competing against in those $1, $200 mini sessions. I had a student have $1 ,500 sale from a 15 minute, wait, was it 1500 or was it two grand? Anyway, it was an over a thousand dollar sale from a 15 minute mini session, right? And she was in a spot where I...
She told me she borrowed money to join Uncapped, right? Because she knew there had to be a better way. She had little kids and wanted to spend more time with them. So what I will say, if you're a photographer who knows there's more, who knows your work is great, but you're just so ready. You're so ready for that growth and to build something sustainable that when you look at the numbers, when you look at, you know, I want to hit three, four, five, $6 ,000 months, you're not going to have to take on 15, 20 shoots to get there. Do the math on that.
Christa (31:41.544)
see how much it's gonna take to get there. But instead, you know that if you have this set up the right way and you have someone say, here's how to get this set up, here's how to market intentionally. I share how I went from only being known as a wedding photographer to building up this incredible portrait line of over 100 shoots a year. And guys, yes, my city is affluent, but it's not one of those world renowned cities, right? Because people value photos everywhere. Success is so possible with this. And I would love to chat with you. I'll have a link.
in the show notes of where you can apply to work with me to see if you're a good fit or just shoot me a DM on Instagram. And I would absolutely love to chat with you.