Launch strategies aren’t just for educators, and it’s something that I wish I had learned sooner in my photography business. This week on the podcast, I’m diving into the must-know launch strategies that can take your photography business to the next level. We’ll talk about creating intentional content and automating your processes to make everything run smoother. I’m super excited to have Dolly DeLong, a family photographer and systems educator for creatives, with me to share her top tips.

Keep scrolling for links to the episode, show notes, and a full transcript.

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Show Notes

Dolly DeLong: http://www.dollydelongphotography.com/podcast

Free Launch Resource from Dolly DeLong: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/the-launch-bundle-kajabi

The Systems + Workflow Magic Bundle: https://systemsandworkflowmagic.com/the-systems-and-workflow-magic-bundle-seo-waitlist

Template Shop: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop

Save 50% on Flodesk: https://flodesk.com/c/LIBPSANDRA

Takeaways

• Launch strategies can be applied to various types of businesses, including photography
• Promoting yourself and staying top of mind with clients is essential for success
• Email marketing is a powerful tool for nurturing relationships and generating leads
• Planning and strategizing for launches can streamline the process and increase success
• Understanding your ideal client and catering your marketing to their needs is crucial

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Misconceptions about Launch Strategies
06:18 How Launch Strategies Differ for Photographers
10:49 Streamlining Launch Processes for Photographers
18:10 Planning and Strategizing for Launches
25:38 Automating Launch Processes and Lead Generation
35:28 Promoting Yourself and Staying Top of Mind
39:04 Conclusion and Next Week’s Episode

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About Dolly

Dolly DeLong is a wife, mom, believer and a photographer turned systems educator for creatives. She loves teaching other creative business owners about the power of systems, workflows and sops to better impact the backend of their business so that the front end of their business feels streamlined (and magical).

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What do your taco choices reveal about your wedding photography business? Take my quiz to find out!

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Other Episodes You’ll Love

054 How Brand Photos Help You Stand Out In An Oversaturated Market with Angie McPherson

Experience the Difference of Long-Term Marketing with Kara Duncan

042 Next Level Email Marketing Strategies with Candice Coppola

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00 Introduction and Misconceptions about Launch Strategies

[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: Before I started my business working as a system strategist, I truly thought that launch strategies just didn’t apply to me.

[00:00:07] Every example I saw when it came to launching had something to do with educators and coaches. And so as a photographer, I just felt like it had no application for my business. But once I started learning more about how to actually launch things like this podcast and my group coaching program, I realized how incredibly wrong I was.

[00:00:26] Not only do I do several launches a year with my mini sessions, but these strategies can really be applied to things like the start of booking season for weddings or doing print sales or anything like that in your business. Launch strategies have actually helped me increase my mini session bookings by 30%.

[00:00:44] So when I was brainstorming about this episode, there was just one person who came to mind and that was Dolly DeLong.

[00:00:50] Dolly DeLong is a photographer turned systems educator for creatives. Love to see it. She loves teaching other creative business owners about the power of systems, workflows, and SOPs to better impact the backend of their businesses so that the front end of their business feels streamlined and magical.

[00:01:08] During our interview, Dolly and I talked about the importance of email marketing, how photographers can promote themselves in a way that keeps them top of mind with their clients and how being intentional with your content will be a game changer for your next launch.

[00:01:23] Welcome to keeping it candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the backend of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. On a more personal note, I’m a strong enneagram three wing two who’s obsessed with tacos and my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems workflows and beating burnout as a business owner.

[00:01:53] Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends. So go grab your favorite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode

[00:02:13] Dolly, I am so, so excited to talk more with you today, but before we dive into all of the goodness that I know we have waiting for us, I want to give you the floor for a quick second. If you want to just introduce yourself and let everybody know a little bit about what you’re all about.

[00:02:26] Dolly DeLong: Definitely. First of all, Sandra, thank you so much for having me on your podcast. I’m very honoured you reached out. My name is Dolly DeLong. I am a Nashville-based family photographer and I also am a systems and workflow educator for other business owners. So what that means is I love teaching other small business owners, the importance of setting up systems.

[00:02:51] Workflows and SOPs to better run the back end of their business so that they feel more streamlined and confident running the front end of the business. So that is a little bit about me on the business side. And other than that personal life, I am a wife and I am a boy mom to two wild boys. And, yeah, I’m based in Nashville, Tennessee.

[00:03:15] Sandra: I love that. I am all about systems and workflows and SOPs. So you’re totally singing my language with all of that. My stepson is actually at his mom’s house right now but he’s 16. So he’s very self-sufficient. I did actually have a coaching call with my business coach yesterday. It was like two hours long.

[00:03:31] And I said to my stepson, like, this is a meeting that you can interrupt. So anything that you need, just come and get me. Yeah. But of course, he comes in like the only time during the whole call that I’m talking. There was a good hour and a half. Where I wasn’t speaking and I was just hanging out, listening to everybody else.

[00:03:46] But then they’ll like, when it’s finally my turn, it’s like all of a sudden he needs something.

[00:03:49] Dolly: I can’t imagine my son being a teenager. I cannot fathom it. I have nephews who are teenagers and they are like, well, to me, they’re very sweet. I’m sure my, my sister-in-law, as they have like, you know, a different mother-son relationship, but.

[00:04:06] I cannot imagine having a 16-year-old that just blows my mind.

[00:04:10] Sandra: It’s, it’s definitely hard to wrap my mind around some days, especially because I actually started dating his dad when he was only four months old. So I’ve been there watching him grow up the whole time. But I will say now, mind you, maybe I just remembered my teenage years, which were not the greatest of years, but like my stepson is such an easy teenager.

[00:04:29] And I worry that I’m going to jinx it but I don’t know. I’m just sitting here waiting for the other shoe to drop because of course he has attitude and things like that. But yeah, that’s human. I feel like there’s, there’s just a different approach to it now with how we recognize mental health and support our kids and things like that, that I don’t see a lot of the behaviours in him that I recognize from like myself and my friends when we were teenagers.

[00:04:53] So that has been really nice. We actually really enjoy having him around. So I hope that that rings true for you too.

[00:04:59] Dolly: Yeah. No, I’ve heard it like so many people with teenagers or who have Kids who are older now, like adult children, they, they always are reminding me like just, and let them know that you enjoy being around them, even when they’re little turds, that’s like the best way, the cleanest way of saying that they need to know, they are loved even when they are just being little, little rats, like they need to know they’re still lovable. So I am always thinking about that, like, okay, he just needs to know, both my sons need to know they’re so lovable even when, Oh, they are grading my innermost being right now, but I still need to let them know that they’re loved.

[00:05:41] Sandra: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, unfortunately, the, like, grating on the last nerve doesn’t go away, but I wonder, I should call up my parents and be like, so am I still doing that to you at 37? Like, is this ever going to go away?

[00:05:54] Dolly: It never goes away, but I just like, love them so much.

[00:05:57] Sandra: It’s so true. Well, I am so excited to dive into all the things about systems and specifically launching.

[00:06:05] I wanted to talk about how launching you think differs for photographers versus educators. Because I know before I got into the education space, I would see people talking about launching and I didn’t think that it applied to me.

06:18 How Launch Strategies Differ for Photographers

[00:06:18] But then as I got into the education space and started working with launch strategies more, I realized that I’ve been launching my mini sessions several times a year, but I just had no strategy behind it. So I would love to hear your take on how launch strategies differ for photographers who are not in the education space.

[00:06:37] Dolly: Yeah, so I have a really hot take about launching and I’m sure it’s not really controversial, but I’m just setting it up to be a hot take. It’s this, I believe that launching is, is essentially promoting yourself. Like. All the time in some way, selling yourself and promoting yourself. And regardless, if you are a service-based business owner, or if you are like have online courses, or if you have a group program, it doesn’t matter.

[00:07:05] You have to promote yourself. You have to sell your services in order to run your business. And so that’s how I look at launching, just promoting myself. It has helped that I am both a service-based business center with photography and then I also am an online educator with systems and workflows.

[00:07:27] So that’s kind of like helped me. Kind of like bridge that definition for me. I am essentially promoting myself in different ways. Yes. It looks so different as a service provider versus an online, online educator, but essentially the foundations are the same. It’s knowing how to sell yourself and knowing how to promote yourself at different phases, if that makes sense.

[00:07:53] Sandra: Oh, yeah, absolutely. I know my like when I say I had no strategy for my mini sessions, I was the like post it once and then we’re done kind of person. And for some, some years it worked. Some years it was an absolute disaster. I’m glad that I’m not doing that anymore. But yeah, that definitely makes so much sense and just how important it is to keep talking about ourselves and keep promoting ourselves.

[00:08:18] I don’t remember if it was with my business coach, or if I read it online or wherever it was, but there was this conversation that I was having last year about how we are the only ones who get tired of talking about our businesses because we are the ones who are talking about it all the time. But.

[00:08:32] Everybody’s not hearing it all the time. And so that was definitely like a mental hurdle that I had to get over.

[00:08:38] Dolly: I like to piggyback on that, of what you just said, Sandra, I was at a conference a couple of weeks ago. It was the creative educator conference led by Laila Ahmadi and she had invited a guest speaker, Ashlyn Carter, who is a copywriter for creatives.

[00:08:55] And Ashlyn was specifically talking about the power of launching. And so she. Said this quote that I’m never gonna forget as long as I’m an online Educator, it was like when you feel like you’re screaming about your offer over and over and over again You, in reality, are barely whispering to your audience. They are barely hearing a slice of what you are trying to promote and so that’s kind of like your permission slip to just like to keep on pushing yourself and to keep on promoting yourself because what you perceive as like, well, I’m just being annoying.

[00:09:34] I am like being redundant. I am just talking about this too much. Like. No, keep on promoting yourself. Like you can do it in different ways to where it’s not, it does. It’s not icky, but you still need to talk about yourself because of what you perceive as yelling. It’s really coming across as barely a whisper online.

[00:09:57] Sandra: Oh, that’s such a good analogy. I loved how you were just talking about how it can feel redundant and like we’re saying the same thing over and over again. That was one thing that brought a lot of clarity to me and kind of figuring out my footing in creating a launch strategy was just finding different ways to say the same thing.

[00:10:16] And so I felt like, you know, I, in my lack of strategy, when I would post it once and forget it, and I was trying to build off of that, it was like, well, how many different ways, or how many times can I say spring minis are now booking or don’t forget to book your session. And it just felt really dry. It felt really like not engaging in any way.

[00:10:35] And so finding different ways to send that message out but keep it fresh brought like a new excitement to it for me so that I didn’t feel like I was like you were saying like screaming a whisper of just the same thing over and over again.

10:49 Streamlining Launch Processes for Photographers

[00:10:49] So, what are some ways that photographers can streamline things during their next launch, whether that be for mini sessions or, you know, a wedding sale or anything that they’re going to be launching this year?

[00:11:00] Dolly: So I am going to try to encourage both the photographer who’s listening in, who might be in year one of their business. And then also a lot of what I’m saying is speaking directly to the photographer who might be in the messy middle. So like years three to five, they are figuring things out very slowly.

[00:11:22] And they have a little bit more figured out than what they had in year one. So if you’re in year one, just like keep on putting your foot forward, and try to see what’s working best for you. Because really like by the time year two, year three rolls around, you should have a cadence with understanding when your high season is and when your low season is, like you should have a really good understanding of when, like those fall minis are going to traditionally book out or spring minis are traditionally going to book out.

[00:11:53] And the reason why I bring this up is that once you get that basic understanding of like, okay, I know for a fact that based off of my last two years or three years of being a photographer, I traditionally tend to sell out of my minis around April and then in, I’m just throwing out examples and then in October and November.

[00:12:15] Okay. So I would say take that information. That is like literal data for you. And then I want you as a photographer to put on your strategist hat. You might just be like, no, I’m a creative. I don’t want to be a marketing strategist. And, but you are like, you are most likely running the show on your own.

[00:12:36] So I’m encouraging you to put on a strategist hat and marketing hat and work backwards. So let’s say you are planning some spring minis and you know that there is this Gorgeous floral field in your district. And like, you always sell out, like, but you’re already stressing out about, Oh, what if I don’t sell out?

[00:12:58] Or what if like this happens? Like those insecurities are coming up and you don’t have to be insecure about it. If you know, like, based on the data from the last two or three years, you can have a system and streamline this.

[00:13:13] So you look at when you ideally want those mini sessions to happen, then work backwards. I would say eight, like if, if that’s too much for you, maybe six weeks backwards.

[00:13:28] So let’s say. April 27th, and so starting March the 2nd is 8 weeks from April 27th, then I want you to be very intentional about the type of content that you are going to create to start bringing awareness to your mini sessions. Does this mean that you, in every piece of content, you’re going to hard sell your mini sessions?

[00:13:51] No. But, you can take, like, your two years’ worth of photography content that you’ve created traditionally around that setting. And you can create different pieces of content leading up to the mini session date. That’s like eight weeks of content. And for me, like, this is exciting. And for a listener who is like, this is stressful.

[00:14:14] I don’t want to do that. Like, hear me out, hear me out. You have to start planting seeds in people’s brains and minds early on. Because just because you post about it. Once that doesn’t guarantee everybody’s going to see it. And most likely the algorithm, like we all talk about the algorithm, but most likely your viewers won’t see it.

[00:14:37] So you really have to be intentional about sprinkling and reminders leading up to that April 27th date. How do you do that? Like you were saying, Sandra, you talk about different facets and different factors of the mini sessions. So you don’t have to say the same thing all the time. But you can, like, get people interested, and excited about working with you.

[00:15:00] Okay, so one way to streamline it is to work backwards, to plan ahead and work backwards and be intentional. A second way to streamline it is if for sure you know you want to set up Mini session dates on April 27th. I would say plan ahead then and just do everything on the backend in your CRM tool, like HoneyBook or Dubsado or 17 hats, whatever CRM tool you use, like make sure you have all of those puzzle pieces put together in order for a streamlined mini session booking to happen. So if a person does, let’s say you start announcing it on March 2nd, they’re like, Oh, I want to book it right now.

[00:15:41] You can send them the link. So that is one way to streamline, just like, so you don’t have to go back and forth with potential clients. So make sure you have that set up right off the bat. A third thing that you can really be intentional about to streamline your success, is by maybe carving out once or twice a week.

[00:16:02] Like being. Very forward-facing with your marketing and messaging and help cast a vision, like, let’s say on Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and on Thursdays at 10 a.m., that’s when you’re either going to go live on Instagram or you’re going to do something that That, you know, where your audience is and you can then start like creating content pieces about, okay, like I’m going to talk about why I would book a mini session over a full session if you have children and then another day you can talk about like how to prepare for a mini session.

[00:16:41] You can create different forward-facing content to get people excited about booking those mini sessions with you.

[00:16:48] Sandra: Those are such great examples. And as you were talking, I was thinking about how often we see things like that in the wedding photography industry, where people are creating reels with like, you know, this is what you do want to do with your wedding.

[00:17:00] This is what you don’t want to do with your wedding. We can really do it the same way across the board with any kind of portrait. And I definitely, Don’t see it as much in the family photography industry. So I’m so glad you brought that up.

[00:17:11] Dolly: Yeah, it’s really good too, I’m a family photographer, but what wedding photographers really good wedding photographers do really well, I’ve noticed is like, they are really good about talking to their potential couples.

[00:17:25] 6, 9, 12 months down the line, like, because if you think about it, like, it’s not like somebody’s going to book your services and then next week you’re going to do their wedding, like, no, like you are most likely if you’re Like, again, really good at casting that vision as a wedding photographer, you are going to be booking clients like nine months, 12 months, sometimes even like a year and a half ahead of time, because you are presenting like this vision to them early on, as soon as they get like either they’re planning on getting engaged, they’re already engaged, and then you’re helping them cast that vision.

[00:18:04] So as a family photographer, you can do the same thing. Maybe at a little smaller scale, like obviously somebody’s not going to book you for a year and a half down the line for family portraits. That’s very rare unless you’re a travelling family photographer going international, but we’re talking smaller scale here.

18:10 Planning and Strategizing for Launches

[00:18:25] So I want you to like, if this is an April mini session and you are sitting in February, start thinking through like. What is happening in April that a lot of families are like really heavily involved in like I can tell you like normally This is like a month of Easter sometimes even like depending upon where you live in the country spring break Mother’s Day is coming up.

[00:18:53] So you need to start like Looking ahead in your marketing and see, okay, like what can I start talking about right now so that my families can start planning for the next two, three months, because I’ll tell you this as a mom, it’s not helpful for me to only like plan on a day by day basis.

[00:19:13] I have to really like look ahead. And my husband’s way better at this than I am. And like, I’m sure some families are like, what? Like what? Your husband’s better at this than you are. Like, yes I have to give credit where credit is due. My husband has helped me out a lot in this, as far as being more intentional with our family goes, but we are already thinking ahead of like what we need to do as a family in June, July, and August.

[00:19:37] Like, and we have like the things that we’re doing now, it was decided like. November and December. Oh, like, these are things we have to keep in mind for February, March, and April. So, put that, if you are working with families, you have to like, put on the thinking cap, the strategic cap of like, what are they thinking about right now?

[00:19:58] It’s not most likely what’s happening now. Yes, they’re bogged down with like, what’s happening, like, technically, but they’re really thinking about, oh, I need to like, start Start planning out like what we’re going to do for Easter. And I need to do like, what are we going to do for summer break? So get in there, get in their shoes in a way, and like be at the top of mind for yourself and that will benefit your business in so many ways.

[00:20:24] Sandra: Yeah, that is such a good point. Putting ourselves into our client’s shoes or potential client’s shoes is so important. I don’t think there’s really a way to successfully market your business if you don’t do that and you don’t know who it is that you’re speaking to.

[00:20:39] Dolly: Yeah. And like, it’s, And especially, that’s why I wanted to mention that in the very beginning of this episode, like, if you are in year one of your business, like, don’t beat yourself down because you’re still figuring out who you want to ideally serve, and who you want to photograph like if I’m speaking directly to photographers or and if I’m not speaking to photographers Then who in general who do you want to serve because it might feel like you’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall and figuring out But once that’s spaghetti starts sticking and like if things start clicking then, you know, like, okay These are the people I want to talk Talk to and serve and then you’ll know like what they’re You’ll see like what their buying behaviour is like, what their patterns are like.

[00:21:25] It really, when you are intentional about looking at that, you will see like, Oh, like this is true, it started clicking for me like a year or so ago with, a certain type of clients buying behaviours. I was like, Oh, when I market this during this time of year, they are most likely to buy versus if I market this month, like They won’t buy it. It’s just so crazy how that works out.

[00:21:50] Sandra: It’s so true, but it just kind of goes to show how important it is to pay attention to things like that and not just have inquiries coming in and out. And like all of that is great, but understanding where they’re coming from, why they’re hiring you at certain points definitely gives you an advantage when it comes to marketing your business in the future and not wasting your time on maybes and just focusing your energy when you know you’re going to be getting those yeses.

[00:22:16] Dolly: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Exactly.

[00:22:19] Sandra: So there are any ways that you’ve been able to automate launch processes that photographers and business owners might not necessarily have thought of?

[00:22:26] Dolly: Yeah, definitely. Well, this is not so much an automation, but just a system I have put in place for myself at the beginning of the year.

[00:22:35] And then I assess every quarter. So for those of you who are like, you love casting a vision and planning ahead for the full year, you’re going to love this point. And for those of you who are like, I don’t like planning the full year then you’ll like point two. So point one is I love at the very top of the year, I love Casting a vision for the full year of like how my, I know what my services are already.

[00:23:03] I know what makes me money already then. And so I like to plan ahead for, and you see Sandra, Sandra can see like my calendar right behind me. I know when I’m going to be busiest with family photography.

[00:23:16] Sandra: Hey friends, I’m interrupting this episode because I wanted to remind you that the waitlist for my brand new template shop is now open.

[00:23:24] This template shop is going to be filled with everything you need to simplify and streamline your business behind the scenes, including things like HoneyBook smart file templates, email swipe files, workflow processes, and tutorials to help you get them built inside your CRM. So many good things are coming.

[00:23:40] So head over to SimplySandraYvonne.ca/shop to get on the waitlist and you’ll also have a chance to enter to win a free bundle as well as get a little special something to say thank you for being here. That’s SimplySandraYvonne.ca/shop.

[00:23:58] Dolly: Then, that, like, flip, I know, like, we’re using photography as an example, but, my other service is Systems and Workflow Education.

[00:24:07] So, then, once I know my busier seasons for family photography, I can look at my slower seasons when I’m not getting as many inquiries, because, like, in January and February, it’s like dreary and gross here in Nashville. And so I’m not getting as many inquiries for outdoor photography. So that’s when a lot of my systems and workflow education picks up.

[00:24:31] And so I know, okay, this is when I’m going to be heavily marketing certain things, for the education side of my business. And so that’s how I’m able to like market and plan out. My entire year and see, okay, this is what I’m going to be talking with to my families. Okay. This is when I’m going to be amping up my promotional for my students for systems and workflow education.

[00:24:56] Again, it’s taken me like five, almost five years to get, like, to understand like the ebbs and flows of like my business. But okay. So let’s talk about for the students, for the. Client, the listener who’s listening in and you’re like, I do not, that makes me want to vomit, like just thinking ahead for a full year.

[00:25:16] Okay. I hear you. I would encourage you to look ahead for the next 90 days. Like what is happening in the next 90 days. How you can be better prepared as a photographer and what is happening? Like, I know right now we’re recording this in February and 90 days out is March, April, and May. And again, that season is like spring minis, motherhood sessions.

25:38 Automating Launch Processes and Lead Generation

[00:25:45] So, If I was like, Only wanting to do, If I did not like the idea of like casting a vision for the full year, Then I would just do every, like, 90-day assessments. Like what’s happening in the next 90 days?

[00:26:00] Okay, how can I create content that serves the next 90 days that helps people help me keep, helps people keep me top of mind or helps me stay top of mind to my ideal client? How can I create content that helps me stay top of mind? And not just content, short-form content, but what type of long-form content.

[00:26:25] Okay. This might be getting a little more like… A little bit more strategic and I don’t want people to like tune me out. How can you create long-form content that not only answers the question, like immediate questions for the next 90 days, but is more evergreen for, I don’t know, like summer.

[00:26:44] Like, so how can you balance both? Like, can you take, let’s go back to the Tuesday, Thursday example on Tuesdays. You are intentional about creating the next 90 days worth of content that speaks directly to what’s going on in the next 90 days. And then on Thursdays, you’re like, okay, summer is happening in the next quarter after this quarter or fall, okay, what type of content should I be creating that will attract the right type of client to me? And so maybe making Tuesdays the more next 90 days content and then Thursdays the more evergreen content, like seasonal content. I really hope I’m making sense.

[00:27:27] Sandra: Oh yeah, absolutely. That makes total sense. It’s just so important to always be thinking forward. I’m going to go back to using my mini sessions as an example again, but there was a large portion of time that I was Booking my weddings and not taking any time to plan when I wanted my mini sessions to happen, but I love doing mini sessions.

[00:27:48] And so it was like every season I was like, Oh no, I have to launch this or I’m not going to have enough time. They’re happening in a month or whatever the case may be. And I would just have to. Find a date that I could squeeze them in around my weddings. And I eventually had to kind of make a decision for myself.

[00:28:04] Like, what is my priority going to be? If I want my priority to be weddings, then maybe I ditch the mini sessions. If I want to keep doing mini sessions, then I have to make those dates a priority. And so I think even just for like our own sanity, it’s so important to have an idea of what’s coming up next, but just finding those, like.

[00:28:22] tangible chunks of time that it’s easy to look forward on. So like you were saying, like the 90 days and just kind of breaking it down into quarters or whatever it is, that’s going to work for you.

[00:28:31] Dolly: I will also say another strategy that I really wish was taught to me a year one and year two was this. And I know like, again, this is not like a sexy TikTok viral video strategy I’m about to share.

[00:28:44] This is about lead generation. So email marketing. So again, before you, before the listener tunes me out, hear me out on this one. You should always have email marketing, and email growth at the, like, at the very front of your mind every single day, because what, like, as you’re growing your email list. They should be funnelled into like, some sort of nurture strategy.

[00:29:09] You’re nurturing them either weekly, bi-weekly, once a month. And then, your email subscribers are most likely, they will. I, I, it’s not a most likely scenario. They will be the ones that book with you before your social media books with you, unless it’s very weird where you are just, I don’t know, like, I haven’t, I have only experienced the cause I have a very small family segment.

[00:29:43] Of subscribers, and those are the ones that book me out year after year after year, versus my bigger Instagram audience on my photography page, like, it’s very, it’s very clear to me. Every year, as I go into like, I really need to always focus on email marketing, nurturing my newsletter every week, reminding them what I do, reminding them about blog posts, reminding them about family photography, reminding like, just like every single week.

[00:30:13] And so when I do open up those doors to many sessions, they’re the ones booking me first. And then I’ll have a few stragglers from either SEO or Instagram stories.

[00:30:25] Sandra: Yeah. I’ve noticed the exact same thing in my business too. I really started leaning into email marketing for my mini sessions last year.

[00:30:32] And of the 12 sessions that I did for my family mini or my family minis, my fall minis, 10 of them had come from my email list and they were repeat clients. And the other two had come through social media. So that was really eye-opening for me as someone who even had been doing email marketing for a long time was just like, wow, like I kind of have just been half-assing it because it was like, cool, I’ll get a few from here.

[00:30:57] But like I was really focusing my energy on social media and when I flipped that and put my energy into email marketing and just casual content on social media. It was like a night and day difference with the level of sales I was making.

[00:31:10] Dolly: Yeah, that’s so true. And to listeners who are like, okay, Dolly, can you give me tangible examples of like, how to do this in the next 90 days?

[00:31:20] Like, how do I grow my email list out? Well, if you’re brand new to email marketing, I do want to share this. You have to like, have an incentive for a person to actually be added to your email newsletter. An incentive you- or you’ve heard it called a freebie, a lead magnet. Just whatever. But why would a person like me hand over their email to you? Like, make it really easy for them. Don’t just like put it on your website, like join my newsletter. That has a conversion rate of less than 3%.

[00:31:56] Like it’s very bad. But have a real incentive. They, if, if somebody really does want to work with you, like maybe a really simple way, what would be join my newsletter and get 20 percent off for your next session, like that’s an incentive right there, or a big incentive that works for me is a style guide.

[00:32:21] Because moms, like, I know, as a mom, and then I serve moms, like, we are, like, stressed out about how could, like, how do we dress our kids? Like, how, how do we, like, show up and, like, make sure that these, like, I’m investing a lot in photos. I want to make sure my kids, and my family looks good.

[00:32:41] Like I’m not a stylist. Like, how do I do this in the most stress-free way possible? So I’ve created freebies and guides on like a free style guide so that they can use that regardless if they’re working with me or if they’re working with someone else, they show up and they show up well. Another idea I have that I’m kind of like thinking about doing is a private podcast for families. Not for family photographers, not like education, but for families who are especially moms, because moms don’t have time to sit around and read a novel about like, Oh. Now, like, this is how you get dressed, and you go through your class, like, I, as a mom, I’m like, I need, if I’m gonna learn something, I need to learn, I’m gonna pop it in my earbuds while I’m driving my children to school.

[00:33:31] So, photographers, maybe consider, Putting your, if you have a style guide, or if you have blog posts, or if you have a series, put that series in the form of a private audio podcast and do that as a lead magnet. And then it’s like a fun and cool and new way, to deliver free value to your potential clients.

[00:33:53] And then they’re thinking about you cause they’re listening to your voice. They’re making that little emotional connection with you. Through your voice, and then hopefully that also adds. Like they’re segmented into your weekly newsletter and then you are again building that relationship with them.

[00:34:10] Sandra: That’s such a great idea. I love that. I mean, video is not my favourite, but I do it because I know how important it is. So I love the idea of doing something that’s audio-based for clients so that they can listen to it on the go. I’m sure photographers across the board can find that as a takeaway, but definitely family photographers.

[00:34:27] You brought up such a good point about how a lot of parents. Don’t have time to just sit down and read through a PDF of tips. But if it’s something that they can listen to while they’re on the go, then that is going to go so much further. And I really loved what you said about how you give the style guide, even if someone is not going to be working with you.

[00:34:46] This is just available on your website. And I think that When it comes to a lot of tips and tricks, photographers are worried about sharing that information because what if they take that and they go work with somebody else, but it’s going to happen. It’s totally going to happen.

[00:35:00] And so I just love that you have that information available to potential clients and if it helps them somewhere else, that’s amazing. But if it helps them and they want to book with you, then it’s really contributing to that like, know, and trust factor.

[00:35:15] Dolly: Yeah. And so like how this ties in, cause your question, Sandra was like, how does this tie into like your promotional period, your launching period as a photographer, so consider this as yours. Like promotional phase of growing at being very intentional about lead generation.

35:28 Promoting Yourself and Staying Top of Mind

[00:35:30] Let’s just say growing out your email list. If that’s like simple layman’s terms right there. So I want you, the listener to be very intentional and have a plan of action of how you are going to push people. I’m going to say, I’m going to be aggressive when I say this.

[00:35:51] Every single day, like, have like some sort of call to action on your stories, or if you don’t use Instagram on TikTok, if you don’t use TikTok, like, wherever you are presenting yourself, you need to also be very intentional about growing out your email list every single time you post. Like, it might seem overwhelming to you, but the whole thing is, like, you really need to, like, bring people in and grow your email list.

[00:36:17] The right people. The right people. Not just everybody. The right people. Because then, that way, they are being nurtured by you year-round, hopefully. I, I’m not saying they’re going to guarantee book with you like next week, but you will stay top of mind to them. You are delivering value to them, hopefully.

[00:36:37] And if not every week, maybe every other week, if not every other week, once a month. And then, when that time comes, they will either book with you or they will send somebody your way because they’re like, wow, Sandra, like has all these great tips about like either how to get ready or, I don’t know, like those tulip sessions she did, like they were so beautiful.

[00:37:00] And I have a friend who really loves tulips. So I’m going to send her your way. I don’t know. Just like, just as an example, it’s just really important to stay top of mind. And again, let me reiterate. It’s important to sell yourself all the time. You can like, you just need to get over the, the sorry, like you need to get over the mindset of like, it’s really icky and gross to sell.

[00:37:25] I mean, you can make it icky. You can make it sleazy, but it’s really like you have to really learn how to get comfortable with promoting yourself because they’re like other people’s opinions aren’t paying your bills. Like you, you have a business to run. You have overhead to do like, to contribute to, you have your family to contribute to.

[00:37:47] And so, and I, I think I got better at selling once I started having kids. Cause I’m like, Oh, like I need to start buying diapers. I need to start buying formula. Like, Oh, other people’s opinions don’t matter as much because I have a business to run. And so I’m just going to keep on, keep on going, keep on pushing towards my goals because it impacts my sons and impacts my, family.

[00:38:11] Sandra: Yeah, absolutely. That’s so important. I love that. Well, before we wrap things up, Dolly, I would love if you could just quickly share where everybody can find you on social media so they can come and give you a follow.

[00:38:23] Dolly: Yeah, definitely. If you are more interested in just The photography side, you can find me @dollydelongphoto, but if you want more systems and workflow education to apply to the back end of your business, you can find me @dollydelongeducation.

[00:38:39] I also have a podcast, the Systems and Workflow Magic Podcast. Those episodes come out every Monday and then I have YouTube episodes that come out every Friday. I love diving into different systems, workflows and SOPs and just making it really tangible for you, the listener, so that you can take more baby steps to be more streamlined.

[00:39:03] Sandra: Love it. Well, thank you so much again for joining me. This was such a fun interview, and I know that listeners are going to have so many takeaways that they’re going to be able to apply regardless of what they are launching this year. So thank you for everything that you are sharing, and I hope that our paths cross again one day soon.

[00:39:17] Dolly: Thank you so much for having me, Sandra.

[00:39:19] Sandra: Of course.

39:20 Conclusion and Next Week’s Episode

[00:39:20] Oh, that was such a fun interview. And if there’s one takeaway that I really want you all to leave this episode with is that launching is essentially just promoting yourself regardless of whether you are a service-based business owner, or if you’re an online educator, everybody needs to be promoting themselves.

[00:39:38] One thing I’ve talked about a lot with my own business coach is how we are the only ones who get tired of talking about our businesses because we have to talk about it so many times for people to actually hear about it, and there are two major factors. There’s probably more, but two major factors that go into play with that are one only about 1 to 2 percent of people are actually seeing the content that we’re putting on social media.

[00:40:02] And I know for photographers, a lot of what we’re doing for marketing, we’re relying on social media for that. Hopefully, after listening to this episode, you’re going to be feeling more confident about leaning into things like email marketing, but I know a lot of people are really focusing on social media.

[00:40:17] So I get that. And then the second thing is that studies have shown that the average person needs to see something at least seven times for it to resonate before they actually realize that they’ve seen it. So if you have to show somebody something seven times, but they’re only going to actually see one to 2 percent of the things that you are actually posting, realistically, like you could be looking at hundreds of times that you have to talk about something before someone is actually going to buy.

[00:40:46] So, the next time you’re putting together an email, or you’re creating a blog post, or you’re writing a social media caption, and you’re feeling cringy about promoting yourself, just remember that. You are the only one who knows you’ve been promoting yourself as often as you have. And if you’re not going to be promoting your business, then you can’t expect anybody else to be promoting your business.

[00:41:08] So it’s time to get comfortable with promoting yourself. Start telling everybody how amazing you are, because we know that you are, and it is time for you to sing that from the rooftops because everybody else deserves to have some of that amazingness in their lives to.

[00:41:21] Now, next week, I am going to be back with a short and sweet little episode. With family photography being such a huge passion of mine and something that I’ve been doing as long as I’ve been doing weddings, I feel like there’s definitely a place for it here on the podcast.

[00:41:35] So if you’re a family photographer or interested in getting into family photography, definitely come back next Wednesday, where I’m going to be talking all about my three favourite family session prompts to get natural emotions in your photos.

[00:41:49] Until then friends, have a great rest of your week and stay cool, however you can, if you’re in the midst of summer like I am.

[00:41:56] Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/shownotes. In the meantime, let’s connect! You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search Simply Sandra Yvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review until next time!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small amount of money if you make a purchase from any of our affiliates. This is done at no cost to you!

Have you ever wondered how I tackle the ups, downs, and all the in-between that happen on a wedding day? This week on the podcast I’m sharing a step-by-step look at how I manage two very different weddings, each with its own set of logistics and demands. I also dive into what I’ve learned about healthy diets and proper carb intake when you’re working a high-energy job like this. My mind was seriously blown!

Keep scrolling for links to the episode, show notes, and a full transcript.

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Show Notes

Timeline Freebie – https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/timelines

Template Shop: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop

Massage Gun & Tens Machine: https://www.amazon.ca/shop/lifeisbeautifullondon/list/1N8RQD8D6WL82?ref_=cm_sw_r_cp_ud_aipsflist_aipsflifeisbeautifullondon_8P7KA28E18XVQ74H4JK7

Save 10% on Aftershoot: https://account.aftershoot.com/referral-signup?referrer=YT1AEQW8

Takeaways

• Wedding photography involves physical and mental exertion, and it is more than just pressing a button.
• A well-planned photography timeline is crucial for capturing all the important moments of a wedding day.
• Taking care of one’s physical and mental well-being before, during, and after a wedding is essential.
• Carb-loading before a wedding can help maintain energy levels throughout the day.
• Proper hydration and nutrition can contribute to a better overall experience on a wedding day.
• Using tools like massage guns and TENS machines can aid in muscle recovery after a long day of shooting.
• It’s important for photographers to have a hands-on approach to the photography timeline and work closely with other vendors to ensure a smooth wedding day.
• Each wedding is unique, and photographers should be adaptable and flexible to meet the needs and preferences of their clients.
• Taking time to relax and enjoy the wedding day can lead to better photos and a more positive experience for everyone involved.

Chapters

00:00 Preparing for Two Different Weddings
15:28 The Importance of a Well-Planned Photography Timeline
20:49 Fueling Your Body for a Wedding Day: The Role of Nutrition
25:12 Taking Care of Yourself: Preparing Physically and Mentally
28:20 The Physical Demands of Wedding Photography
29:10 Collaborating with Vendors for a Successful Wedding Day
31:52 Enjoying the Wedding Day: Balancing Work and Fun

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What do your taco choices reveal about your wedding photography business? Take my quiz to find out!

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Other Episodes You’ll Love

040 Creating A More Accessible Photography Business with Erin Perkins of Mabely Q

022 3 Mistakes Every Wedding Photographer Makes

034 Self Care For Wedding Photographers with Chronic Illnesses

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00 Preparing for Two Different Wedding Days

[00:00:00] Sandra: If you’ve ever wished you could peel back the curtain in somebody else’s photography business and see exactly how they approach a wedding day, then today is your lucky day.

[00:00:09] My last two weddings were so different from one another. So today I am so excited to be diving into how I prepped for both weddings, how the days went, the differences between the two hurdles that we came across and things that went well, and then how everything went after the wedding was all said and done.

[00:00:27] My last wedding was just a few days ago and I have so much to say and so many thoughts to share.

[00:00:33] Sandra: So here comes the intro and then we will get right into it.

[00:00:37] Welcome to keeping it candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong enneagram 3 wing too who is obsessed with tacos, and my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

[00:01:07] Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends. So go grab your favourite notebook and pen, and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

[00:01:23] For anybody who’s been a long-time listener of the podcast, you know that I have really been pulling back on the number of weddings that I take on every year because I have so many other things going on with my health and things like that, that the physical toll that it takes on my body.

[00:01:37] Just is too much for me to be doing this every single weekend. So this year I have a wedding in June, July, and August. And with my June and July weddings out of the way, I thought there was no better time than to kind of give a behind-the-scenes day in the life look at what it looks like for me on a wedding day.

[00:01:56] I’m going to start with my June couple. They got married on June 22nd, and in my area, we were in the midst of a major heat wave. Earlier in the week, I believe the humidex hit, close to 41 degrees Celsius, which is, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe a hundred and five-ish for anybody who’s listening in the U. S. and is using Fahrenheit for temperatures.

[00:02:21] But thankfully, by the wedding day, it did cool off, and I’m using some air quotes here, cooled off a little bit, and it went down to 36 degrees Celsius, or roughly about 96, 97 degrees Fahrenheit. So, still hot as hell, but we were ready to make the best of it. As wedding photographers know, wedding vendors know, there’s nothing you can do to control the weather.

[00:02:43] But the day we figure it out, I know we are all going to be rejoicing because it will make our jobs so much easier. Anyway, so I woke up at 8 a.m. that day and I had done a few things the day before to kind of help myself get ready. I had a high-protein dinner, some chicken breast, and some steamed vegetables, and then when I woke up the next day, I had Greek yogurt for breakfast. I had some chicken salad and some cold vegetables for lunch, and I packed a couple of protein bars to bring with me for the wedding day.

[00:03:18] I also packed a ton of water. I did the math on all the water I drank that day and it equalled out to about Four and a half litres of water, which is more than a gallon for all of my American listeners. It was a lot. And I was still dehydrated. Like that’s how hot it was. So I get all of my protein bars and my water and everything loaded up into the car.

[00:03:43] And then I had about a half an hour drive to go and meet my assistant Emily. And we started with the groom’s getting ready photos at a hotel. This was a lot of fun because it’s hit and miss on whether or not the groom and his groomsman or his side of the wedding party are going to be really into photos.

[00:04:03] This time we had a bunch of guys that were just really excited, ready to participate in photos, and that always just makes the photos turn out so much better. So we got that all done, thankfully, keeping everybody inside and the air conditioning at the hotel.

[00:04:18] It didn’t make much of a difference for me. I started sweating from the second the day started and I did not stop sweating until I got into the shower after the wedding was over.

4:30 How Your Cycle Impacts Your Body Temperature

[00:04:30] Part of the reason for that was it was hot as hell outside, but I was also in a phase of my menstrual cycle where my body temperature just naturally increases. For a lot of people who menstruate, this is going to happen the week before your period starts.

[00:04:45] For me, it lasts a little bit longer just because of how my hormones are interacting with my body, having endometriosis and things like that. So it was a very, very sweaty day for me. Once we finished up with the guys, we headed over to the venue because the bride was getting ready at the same building as the ceremony and the reception, which was nice.

[00:05:06] I love being able to cut down on any sort of travel time so we can really maximize the time we have for photos.

[00:05:12] So once we got there, we unpacked all of our stuff and we headed inside and this venue is a, it’s gorgeous. It’s a really old train station, but you all know, with really old buildings, this typically means that there are air conditioning issues and airflow issues.

[00:05:28] So, even though there was air conditioning in this building. You really wouldn’t know it unless you were standing like directly over a vent. We headed upstairs where it was even hotter and we went to go and start the bride’s getting ready photos.

[00:05:42] But as we were doing details, I noticed that the bride wasn’t feeling well. She asked if we could just take a few minutes so she could have something to eat and something to drink. And of course, when it comes to a wedding day, my priority is to make sure that the couple and Everybody having their photo taken can relax and enjoy themselves.

[00:06:01] The priority is not the photos when it comes to whether or not the bride is feeling well. So we shifted things around. I shortened the time that we were going to need for photos. I told her that we could do photos with her bridal party later on during our wedding party photos. So that eliminated some time and we could just let her sit, try to cool off, hydrate herself, and we would keep going from there.

[00:06:25] And so what we ended up doing was my assistant and I took the bride into the bathroom and we plugged in a whole bunch of fans. A couple of her bridesmaids were in there as well, and I was the one who did up her dress. The bridesmaids that were in there had no experience with a corset dress.

[00:06:42] And so, of course, I was more than happy to step in and do that for her while my assistant and her bridesmaids tried to keep her cool. And then once her dress was all ready to go, we took her out and we did some mock photos with her mom. That way she still had those memories captured while we were able to take that extra time to cool her off and make her more comfortable.

[00:07:02] Thankfully that ended up being exactly what she needed. And we were able to head downstairs to start our pre-ceremony photos.

[00:07:10] When I do pre-ceremony photos, I like to section off about 20 to 30 minutes prior to the ceremony, and that gives us a chance to get photos of all of their ceremony details of the guests coming in and saying hi to one another and getting seated. And then, of course, most importantly, making sure that our camera gear is all ready to go for when the ceremony starts.

[00:07:30] Now, because of the heat, cocktails were moved into the reception area. So I had to make a quick little last-minute change. Once the ceremony started, I sent my assistant over into the reception space to start getting all of those details before all of the guests filled the room.

[00:07:47] Thankfully, the ceremony space that we were in was pretty compacted, so it was really easy for me to get all of the necessary angles and moments without being intrusive and being able to send my assistant off to get those photos.

[00:07:58] And that’s a perfect example of how as wedding photographers and wedding professionals we really need to think on our toes and sometimes make some last-minute changes and go with the flow of the day to make sure that we get the photos, even if we had planned it all perfectly and things aren’t exactly going according to that.

[00:08:15] One of my favourite parts of the whole day was actually during this ceremony one of the bridesmaids came up to do a reading, and she actually did a reading from the movie Crazy Stupid Love, which is one of my absolute favourite movies. If anybody listening has seen it, It was the part where Steve Carell is talking about the first time he ever lied to his dad about being in love with the girl that he had just met. And it was such a perfect reading and it was the first time I’ve ever heard somebody quote crazy stupid love. So I will definitely not forget that.

[00:08:46] It made me so happy. And then after the ceremony was over, we headed outside the train station to take advantage of a nice breeze that was finally rolling through and we used the old brick and natural light to do their family formals and the wedding party photos.

[00:09:02] For the newlywed photos, they had originally planned on going to a secondary location to have photos done, but because of how hot it was, they decided to just scratch that and take advantage of the great,

[00:09:15] and take advantage of everything that the train station had to offer instead.

[00:09:19] We did photos with them walking around out back of the building, And then we went back upstairs into that room where we had started with the getting ready photos, which had thankfully cooled down because it has the most gorgeous wall with exposed brick and some old drywall still hanging on.

[00:09:34] It’s one of the biggest selling features that this venue has and why so many people love getting married there. so I was really glad that we were able to go back in and take advantage without making the couple pass out to have their photos taken.

[00:09:48] Once we got all of the formal photos done, it was time for our reception prep. This is the same as the ceremony prep that I’ve already mentioned, where we set aside about 20 to 30 minutes before the reception to get photos of the decor, to get candids of everybody as they’re taking their seat and socializing with one another, and making sure that our camera gear is all ready to go for when the grand entrance starts.

[00:10:14] When the grand entrance did kick off, it went right into the cake cutting, and then speeches were split between rounds at the buffet. I have to give the biggest thank you to this couple because where they sat me at the table, the pasta portion of the buffet was literally right behind me. And I’m not going to lie.

[00:10:35] It was some of the best pasta that I’ve ever had and I don’t know if that’s because of how hot it was or how hungry I was or if it really was the most delicious pasta ever.

[00:10:44] Either way, I had a lot of it with no regrets because there was tons left over and I hate seeing food go to waste. After dinner and dessert were all said and done. It was time for the first dance. And then the dance floor opened with all of the guests invited to come out and join them. And at that point, the incredible wedding planners helped me bring my vision to life for the night photo that I wanted to do with the couple. There was beautiful drapery all on the wall behind the sweetheart table with twinkling fairy lights in behind it and I had a vision of using that as the backdrop for their night photo.

[00:11:19] So the planners helped me move the sweetheart table out of the way and get it all cleared out so that the couple didn’t even have to leave the dance floor. The guests just moved their dancing a little bit off to the side and the couple came out onto the center of the dance floor

[00:11:33] and we ended the night with a bang. I’m going to be sharing this photo over on my photography Instagram account, which you can find at @lifeisbeautifullondon. I am going to be posting that later today when this episode airs, so definitely go and take a look if you are interested in seeing what the outcome of that was.

[00:11:49] And it was super fun because they had all of their guests just cheering them on and getting some more natural reactions out of them for the photos.

[00:11:56] Then after about an eight-and-a-half-hour photography day, we were all finished and we packed up our gear and we said goodbye to the couple and we went and headed outside. I had brought my laptop with me because my assistant and I live on totally different ends of the city. So we just hung out in the parking lot.

[00:12:14] Cool off a little bit While we uploaded our photos onto my hard drive.

[00:12:17] And then we said our goodbyes and headed home. Now, for me, this drive, I gotta say, was not fun. It was about 40 minutes from the venue to my house. And with it being a combination of my first wedding of the year, not the most convenient time in my cycle, having an already increased body temperature, and then also dealing with a heat wave, as soon as the adrenaline of the day started wearing off when I got in my car, all of it all kind of culminated, and I was so sick on my way home. I spent almost the entire 40 minutes dry heaving. I just did not want to pull over and get sick, so I tried to just, like, breathe through it as much as I could.

[00:13:07] And my husband, I just love him so much, he was standing outside waiting for me to get there, and he had a ginger chew candy, which they are,

[00:13:16] I mean, they’re exactly what they sound like. They’re candies that, these ones I get are mango flavoured, and they’re just a chewy candy, and they are also made with lots of ginger to help settle your stomach. They’re the best. So yeah, as soon as I started eating that ginger candy, I started feeling a lot better. I went inside, I immediately showered With one of the coldest showers I think I’ve ever had.

[00:13:38] Afterwards, I started importing all of my photos, and Then I went to bed, but the fun wasn’t over there because I was so overstimulated from the day, that it took me until about 5 a.m. to fall asleep.

[00:13:52] Sandra: Even though I was so physically exhausted, my nervous system just would not slow down. So I had to just ride it out. I finally fell asleep at around five o’clock in the morning and the wedding hangover lasted about three days. Which is pretty quick. I expect it to last about four days normally. So when I actually started feeling a lot better around day 2. 5 and then by day three was back to my regularly scheduled programming. It was mind-blowing. And the one thing that I had to thank for that was that my husband actually bought me a massage gun for Christmas. And I used that to roll out the muscles on my thighs, my calves, my biceps.

[00:14:40] I used a different attachment to get into my hips and my glutes.

[00:14:45] And it seriously made all the difference.

[00:14:49] I am all about trying different things to help with pain management and getting your body to recover faster. and of course, exercise is always the best thing, but for me and my chronic pain and my chronic health issues, that’s not always a possibility. So having this massage gun work so well was great.

[00:15:06] I also have a TENS machine that I’ll use, which sends small electric currents into your muscles. And I’ll use that for anything that’s like real deep down that my massage gun can’t get to. And the combo of the two of them had me back up and running at least a good day or more quicker than normal.

[00:15:24] So that was amazing.

15:28 Wedding Timeline Freebie!

[00:15:27] Even if your couples are hiring a wedding planner, I think it’s so important for a photographer to have a hands-on approach when it comes to tackling the photography timeline for the wedding day. It’s so important for vendors to all work together with the couple to make sure all those important moments are going to be captured perfectly. But when it comes time to actually write that timeline, it can be so tedious. So I put together a timeline template inside Google Sheets that you can download for free if you go to my website at simplysandrayvonne.ca/timelines. This Google Sheets template has four different tabs.

[00:16:03] One for notes, where you can put contact information, And anything else you’ll need to refer to a tab for the timeline with simple drop-down menus in 5-minute increments to make sure that you are able to note every single part of the day.

[00:16:16] A family shot list tab where you can write in every single family photo you’re going to do and also put notes for the relation of who the people are so you know exactly who’s standing in front of your camera. and then lastly, you’ll also find a vendor tab where you can put all of the vendor’s contact information, get their social media handles and more to make sure that it’s super easy to tag them and share photos going forward.

[00:16:39] If this is something you need in your wedding photography business, I want you to head over to simplysandrayvonne.ca/timelines to get your copy.

16:49 A Different Approach To A Wedding Day

[00:16:49] Once I was out of the wedding hangover, I did have the following weekend off. So that was nice. And then it took me to my next wedding, Which just happened this past weekend

[00:17:01] This couple had a six-hour package and they really wanted a low-key, candid approach to their wedding day. Not that the other couple in June didn’t want a low-key approach either – that’s kind of my vibe that I bring to the wedding day but they had more hours and wanted a lot more with like the getting ready and post photos and things like that.

[00:17:24] Now for this wedding, when it came to how I was eating and how I was going to be nourishing my body before and during the wedding day, I decided to take a totally different approach. And I want to explain where my thought process came with this. So normally I associate protein with energy. and I think that most of us do, We know that having lots of protein in our diet is important and plays a huge role in how we can hold our energy throughout the day. And then if you’re like me, I’m 37, and if you are anywhere in my age bracket, you know that we grew up during a time when the world was very anti-carb.

[00:18:05] And I know there’s a lot of reasons that go into that, and for some people, obviously grains and things like that with gluten, it is an issue for them. But for me, I don’t have a gluten allergy, and I think that my understanding of how carbs play a role in your diet and your energy levels and things like that came from that negative approach to carbs.

[00:18:28] And so I was thinking about how that June wedding went, where it was really, really hot, and I’d eaten a lot of protein, but I was struggling to keep up throughout the day, and I assumed it just had to do with the heat And the fact that I was where I was in my cycle and things like that, but when it came time for dinner, I had some chicken and then I had that pasta that I was saying earlier was like the best pasta I ever had.

[00:18:52] Even though I wasn’t feeling that hungry because of how hot it was and how busy I was, I could not get enough of this pasta. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but as I was preparing for this next wedding in July, My wheels started turning and a light bulb went off about how the fact that athletes will typically carb load before a game.

[00:19:12] And so I decided to do a little bit of research. I did some reading myself and I reached out to some friends of mine who have more experience when it comes to nutrition and how it impacts your body. So I first talked to my friend Sid over at In Ink Weddings. Shout out to Sid. She is amazing at all things wedding.

[00:19:31] But she also just completed a marathon running through the Inca mountains in Peru and I’m not going to lie. I was fully online stalking her because I just found this to be so inspiring. And so I knew that she had been training for that for a while and that diet was going to play a huge role in that.

[00:19:50] So I reached out to her. And then I also reached out to a friend of mine who is a personal trainer and nutritionist and a couple of friends who are massage therapists. And these people all were able to give me so much insight into how carbs can actually help you on a wedding day. They do play a role along with protein and how you’re able to keep up your energy levels throughout the day. there’s also science behind it about how your muscles are able to heal after high-intensity workouts, which isn’t just at the gym. Anybody who’s worked at a wedding knows wedding days definitely count for high intensity. So I’m so glad that I reached out to them and I decided to take this different approach to my diet for this wedding.

[00:20:31] And I want to give a disclaimer that this is not advice by any means. I want to make sure that you are consulting who you need to consult before you make any changes to your diet. This is just something that I knew I would be able to try safely on my own and I wanted to share what the outcome of that was.

20:49 Fueling Your Body for a Wedding Day: The Role of Nutrition

[00:20:49] So, the day before the wedding for dinner, I had pesto pasta with chicken and some veggies, and then I had a Danish for dessert. The next morning, I had the rest of my Danish for breakfast. Definitely could have made healthier choices, but I was just going with the food that I had. So I ate the rest of that Danish for breakfast.

[00:21:09] And then for lunch, I packed myself a chicken salad sandwich. And of course, all the water again. This time we had a late start for the wedding day. We didn’t actually start until 4:30 pm, but the couple was getting married at a venue with a private beach, so my assistant Shannon and I decided to go up early and we spent a few hours laying out in the sun and swimming in the lake before we went inside and got cleaned up for when we had to start photos.

We were starting right with the ceremony this time, no getting-ready photos, but regardless of that, we always make sure that we have that time ahead of the ceremony to make sure we’re able to get photos of the details, guests as they’re arriving, and making sure that our gear is all ready to go for when everybody starts walking down the aisle.

The ceremony was running a little bit late, and it was very sunny outside, so the guests lingered around the edge where they were able to hang out in the shade and enjoy some water and things like that until the ceremony got started. It was a short and sweet ceremony with the most beautiful exit as the couple walked down the aisle and they had their guests do a petal toss, and then we really got into embracing the low-key, candid aspect of the day.

[00:22:17] We had a few family photos to do, but as guests were trying to make arrangements for their kids, use the washroom, get a drink, and things like that, we floated around doing candids until everybody was available, and we just fit those family formals in where we could.

[00:22:31] We didn’t do any wedding party or newlywed formals before the reception started, allowing the couple to mingle with their guests and take time to just enjoy their day.

[00:22:41] It also gave us lots of time for reception details and to get to know some of the vendors that we were working with because most of them were actually new faces.

[00:22:49] As the couple did their entrance into the reception, They did a Polish tradition where they take, I believe it’s a shot of water and a shot of vodka, but this couple opted to just do shots of water and then eat some, bread with salt on it. And then receive a Polish blessing and be on your way to the head table.

[00:23:07] And then immediately after the grand entrance, we went into speeches, which was really nice to get those done and out of the way so that everybody could just sit and enjoy their dinner.

[00:23:17] Towards the end of dinner service, the couple headed onto the dance floor for their first dance. And then we headed right outside into a golf cart. The staff from the venue drove us down to the beach for the most beautiful sunset I have had on a wedding day in so long.

[00:23:33] It was seriously like the picture-perfect sunset over the water, which made my photographer heart happy, but also made me even happier for my clients because I know specifically the bride booked this venue for that reason. And so it was so nice knowing that all of her wedding day sunset dreams came true.

[00:23:52] Once we went back inside the venue, we did some more candids on the dance floor, and then we headed home. This drive home was thankfully a lot less painful than the last one. I did not get sick. And once I did get home, I showered and went to bed and fell asleep at a normal time. So a huge difference compared to a couple of weeks ago.

[00:24:15] before. Overall, I felt so much more mentally clear and energized throughout the entire day. I forgot to mention during dinner, I went really carb-heavy again. I did have some chicken to make sure I was getting that protein in me, but I had two dinner rolls. And then I had some potatoes and vegetables, and really just made sure that I kept running with those carbs.

[00:24:36] My total water intake on this wedding day was about two and a half litres of water, which is about 0. 6 gallons for all of my American listeners.

[00:24:46] Now, even though I was at a much better, much more energetic part of my cycle, I really do think that the way I approached my diet and my carb intake for this wedding day was the catalyst for me feeling so much better.

25:00 Taking Care of Yourself: Preparing Physically and Mentally

[00:25:00] Not only did I stay so much more mentally clear and energetic throughout the entire day, But I also cannot tell you the last time I felt that good waking up the day after a wedding. Normally my thighs, my calves, and my biceps are all burning and sore and inflamed. None of that happened this time. My joints were still really sore.

[00:25:24] But that’s something that I know my joints are really needing to be strengthened and stabilized. So that’s something that I’ve been working on. Just starting to go swimming and things like that to try and get some low-impact exercise in when I can. But it was just shocking to me how different my muscles felt overall.

[00:25:42] And I didn’t wake up with a migraine the next day! No matter how much water I drink or how long I have my sunglasses on, or if I put a hat on when it’s really sunny and we’re doing photos outside, I’ve tried all the things and nothing has ever helped me escape that Sunday morning migraine that happens after a wedding, but this time I did not have a migraine and so I don’t know.

[00:26:07] I’m not a nutritionist. This is my first time doing this. Again, I don’t want to say that this is the absolute way to feel good on a wedding day, but it was enough for me to be really intrigued and for me to want to step back and look at how I’m approaching my diet, especially around work.

[00:26:26] And yeah, it’s also kind of been a little bit humbling to realize that something that I thought I really had a handle on was… Not necessarily totally wrong, but a little bit off base in terms of how to approach a high-impact wedding day versus how you would approach your diet for everyday life.

[00:26:46] So take that for what it’s worth. If it’s something that you can safely try and you’re interested in trying, increase your carb intake and see how it feels for you.

[00:26:55] There are lots of different ways that you can approach eating more carbs. For me, I’m thankful that I don’t have any sort of gluten allergy, and I love bread, so I will take any excuse to eat more grains. You don’t have to ask me twice. And so the next time that I have a really long, high-impact day, Day will be in a few weeks when I have my summer mini-sessions on the beach.

[00:27:17] And as of right now, I have eight families booked in and I still have a few more spots open that I’m hoping to fill before then. So I will be taking this same approach for that, where I’m going to try a really high carb, high protein diet around the time of the session and see how it goes from there.

[00:27:36] Now I know my story and my approach to a wedding day is going to be different than a lot of people listening. It’s not everyone’s story, but it is for a lot of us. And when it comes to listening to people talk about the photography industry from those who are not actually in the photography industry, they say things like it’s just pressing a button and they don’t understand why yada, yada.

[00:28:00] I get really frigging frustrated because it is so much more than that. Like, let’s ignore all of the editing and all the things that we have to do to prep and do behind the scenes in our office and things like that. On the actual wedding day, we are running, we are climbing, we are standing in weird positions.

28:18 The Physical Demands of a Wedding Day

[00:28:18] We are going nonstop for hours, and the physical toll of that is huge. There’s also a mental toll that goes along with it when you have to be on for that many hours. You’re not only having to think about what you’re actually doing, but you’re having to think about everything that is still to come.

[00:28:35] You’re probably thinking about everything that you’ve already done. You have to navigate not only your clients but all the guests that have attended the wedding. It can be a lot. I know I’m preaching to the choir here while I’m standing on this little soapbox, but we all know it is so much more than pushing a button

[00:28:50] and those physical requirements and the toll that it takes on a person’s body are a big reason as to why I’ve pulled back so aggressively on the number of weddings that I do.

[00:29:00] if you want to dive in a little bit more into how to tackle before, during, and after a wedding day to alleviate some of what you have to go through during the wedding hangover, after the wedding day is all said and done, I want you to go back and listen to episode 31 of this podcast, where I was joined by Kassandra Fuller, who is an ex wedding planner, turned personal trainer and nutritionist, she shared so much valuable information that I know is going to help you immensely throughout this wedding season. The link for that is going to be in the show notes. And I’m also going to throw some links in there for some of the things that I’ve talked about today, like my massage gun that I use, the tens machine, my big water jug and things like that.

[00:29:39] So make sure you go and get all of those details if you are interested. And that wraps up everything for me for this week’s episode. I hope that this gave you some interesting insight into how somebody else approaches a wedding day. Whether you learned something that you thought “I’m absolutely never going to run my wedding day like that, or you’re like, that’s a really great idea. Both are super valuable. So I hope that you had some sort of takeaway from it and enjoy the rest of your week.

[00:30:08] Have a great wedding this weekend if you’ve got one and I will be back next Wednesday.

30:14 Episode Sponsor – Aftershoot

[00:30:14] Today’s episode of Keeping It Candid was sponsored by Aftershoot. Aftershoot is an AI editing and culling software that is going to be an absolute game changer for your photography business.

[00:30:25] You can upload your photos, cull them and do base editing all in one platform before pulling your photos over into Lightroom to make your final tweaks.

[00:30:34] The culling software will go through and filter out photos that are blurry or where people are blinking, it will pick out the best of the best, and it will continuously learn from you every time you modify the selections. From there, you can pull it in for some AI editing that again is trained off of your personal editing style and will apply those settings to your photos It’s able to do cropping white balance levels, adjustments, curves adjustments, split toning – anything you could need to, and they’re even now beta testing an AI subject masking feature, which for a beta, you guys, it is so good, and I am loving it.

[00:31:15] From there, I pull my photos in the Lightroom, and I apply my final tweaks, and then they are ready to go to my client. For my spring mini sessions this year, I had 10 clients come in and I had all of their photos fully edited and delivered within eight days.

[00:31:31] Yeah, you heard that right. Eight days. Aftershoot is going to save you so much time and take so much work off your plate this year. It’s not meant to replace you, but it is going to be your new favourite tool in your toolkit to work more efficiently and get those photos out sooner so that you have happier clients and can spend more time behind your camera or even taking some time off.

[00:31:54] To try out Aftershoot, head over to my website, simplysandrayvonne.ca/resources, or check out the show notes for today’s episode, and you will find a link to save 10% off your first year.

[00:32:06] Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/shownotes.

In the meantime, let’s connect! You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search Simply Sandra Yvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small amount of money if you make a purchase from any of our affiliates. This is done at no cost to you!

Do you ever feel like your photography business is lost in the masses of so many others in your area? I get it. The market’s saturated, and standing out can feel impossible sometimes. But listen, brand photos are your secret weapon to change that!

As photographers, brand photos are the key to building trust with the best kind of clients, and booking those weddings and sessions you’ve been dreaming of. Wondering how brand photos can elevate your biz and skyrocket your success? On this episode of the Keeping It Candid podcast, I chatted with brand photography guru Angie McPherson. She spills the tea on why brand photos are essential for photographers and wedding pros, how to attract your ideal clients with killer photos, and bring in more revenue in the process. Plus, Angie’s sharing some pro tips on hiring a brand photographer to ensure you get the most out of your next session.

Keep scrolling for links to the episode, show notes, and a full transcript.

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Show Notes

Angie McPherson: https://angiemcpherson.com/

Get Angie’s Free Branding Photoshoot Inspiration Cheat Sheet – https://angiemcpherson.com/cheat-sheet

Template Shop: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop

Save 10% on Aftershoot: https://account.aftershoot.com/referral-signup?referrer=YT1AEQW8

Takeaways

• Brand photos help businesses stand out in an oversaturated market and attract the right clients.
• When hiring a brand photographer, look for someone who provides a planning guide, questionnaire, and shoot plan.
• Brand photos should have variety and consistency to be effective.
• Personal connection is important in building trust and attracting clients.
• Brand photos can lead to increased revenue and opportunities.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Overview
02:14 Introducing Angie McPherson
03:34 The Importance of Brand Photos in an Oversaturated Market
08:08 Tips for Hiring a Brand Photographer
13:42 What Makes a Good Branding Session
23:40 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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About Angie

Angie McPherson is a branding photographer, marketing strategist, and hype-woman for creatives. She photographs entrepreneurs, brands and influencers throughout the country, providing custom imagery to elevate their brand. Angie helps branding photographers build an impactful and profitable business through courses, digital products, and coaching.

Photo by Shannon LeBlanc

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What do your taco choices reveal about your wedding photography business? Take my quiz to find out!

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Other Episodes You’ll Love

040 Creating A More Accessible Photography Business with Erin Perkins of Mabely Q

037 Up-Level Your Client Experience With This One Simple Question

030 Breaking Into A New Market with John Mansfield

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00 Introduction and Overview

[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: Welcome back to the podcast, everybody. I hope you are having an amazing week so far. I hope that you’re hanging in there this far into wedding season. I know everybody in my area is about a month, month and a half into their season. So I hope that things have been going well. Your couples have been amazing.

[00:00:17] The days have been stress-free. Most importantly, you are absolutely loving the work that you’re producing. Last month on the podcast, I interviewed my friend Yasi Salavatian about incorporating brand voice into your business and your marketing. You can listen to that on episode 50 in case you missed it.

[00:00:35] And today I am talking to Angie McPherson about the visual side of your brand, more specifically your brand photos. Angie is a branding photographer, marketing strategist, and hype woman for creatives. She photographs entrepreneurs, brands, and influencers throughout the country, providing custom imagery to elevate their brand.

[00:00:56] She helps branding photographers build an impactful and profitable business through courses, digital products and coaching. She and I chatted all about how brand photos will help you stand out in an oversaturated market, which I think is something that we can all relate to regardless of where we live.

[00:01:12] We also talked about what to look for when you’re hiring a brand photographer and even how to get the most out of your next branding session. Angie is such a sweetheart And I know that you are going to love every second of this interview. So let’s get to it.

[00:01:26] Welcome to keeping it candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong enneagram 3 wing too who is obsessed with tacos, and my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

[00:01:56] Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends. So go grab your favourite notebook and pen, and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

02:14 Introducing Angie McPherson

[00:02:15] Thank you so much again, Angie, for joining me. I am so, so excited to get a chance to connect and talk a little bit more. but before we dive into all things, brand photography, I would love for you to just take a quick second to introduce yourself and let everybody know a little bit more about you.

[00:02:30] Angie McPherson: Yes.

[00:02:30] Hi. Well, thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to chat today. I’m Angie McPherson. I am a branding photographer, marketing strategist, and hype woman for creative entrepreneurs. I’m located in Virginia and I photograph entrepreneurs. worldwide. And I’m just excited to chat with you today. I’ve had a 10-year photography journey from pivoting from wedding photography to branding photography.

[00:02:54] So I know both sides of the coin there and I’m excited to chat.

[00:02:58] Sandra Henderson: I actually did my very first official branding session last year. And I loved it. I can totally see how so many photographers kind of like, it’s like you, you get that spark and it’s like, Oh, I really like doing this before I felt so intimidated to just pose a single person, but getting the chance to do some brand photography.

[00:03:18] I was like, okay, I see why this is so great.

[00:03:21] Angie McPherson: So much fun. It’s so much fun. And just. Less stressful than other, you know, niches of photography. I’ve just settled into it and I’m just like, I love it. I love it. And I just want to. Go deeper and deeper and reach more people and, and have more, you know, more experiences with branding photography.

[00:03:39] So it’s definitely a fun niche.

03:42 The Importance of Brand Photos in an Oversaturated Market

[00:03:42] Sandra Henderson: Oh, I love that so much. So why do you think that brand photos are so important for small business owners, whether that be wedding photographers or really no matter what industry you’re in?

[00:03:52] Angie McPherson: Yeah, I, I think it is so essential because we are, you know, especially photographers, When I was a wedding photographer, this is literally how I pivoted into branding photography.

[00:04:04] I was shooting weddings and, you know, in my local industry, everyone was showing photos of bouquets and rings and their clients. And not a lot of people were showing photos of themselves, the person behind the camera. And so my friend and I actually were like, Hey, and back in this day, it wasn’t called branding photography.

[00:04:24] It was like lifestyle headshots. My friend and I decided to meet up for lifestyle headshots and just swap another photographer. And I swapped and we brought like five different outfits. We’ve got our hair and makeup done. We were very intentional about the photos we were taking because we wanted them to align with our brands. We wanted them to go on our website, social media, and email marketing. So we were very intentional and we were doing this for the sole reason of setting ourselves apart from everyone else who was just posting photos of their work, of their clients. And as soon as I started posting photos of myself, my business just blew up.

[00:05:00] I mean, people were wanting to work. with me, not only because my work was beautiful, but because they wanted to work with me. And those are the type of inquiries you want to get in your inbox when someone’s already made the decision that they want to work with you. They’re not price shopping. They don’t like, you know, just a specific style of your photography.

[00:05:18] They are zoned in on you and they just want to know, how can I book you? And so that was the business that I had gotten into after I started sharing my branding photos. So they’re so important for. Small business owners, because every market is oversaturated. And that’s totally fine because we have our own unique personal brands or our unique personal, you know, personalities are unique approaches in our business.

[00:05:41] And if we share that, if we put that out into the world we’re going to be attracting the right people who can really have a transformation by working with us who can really sing our praises, you know, they’re going to have great testimonials for you. So you really want to connect with people on that personal level so that you don’t get the price shoppers so that you don’t get the people who are, you know, zoned in on something specific people who just truly see your potential.

[00:06:05] Your experience, your personality and your vibe. And you guys can just create magic together.

[00:06:12] Sandra Henderson: That was the best explanation as to why everybody should immediately be getting in front of the camera instead of just sticking behind. But one thing that you said that I really loved was talking about how it sets you apart.

[00:06:24] So when I’m looking to hire someone, I’ll go onto social media and see what kind of profile they have. It really stands out to me when I’m scrolling and scrolling and scrolling on Instagram, and I have no idea who you are or what you look like. For me, that sort of visual connection is really important.

[00:06:44] I want to know who you are as a person. And so that’s one thing, especially in markets. I love that you said that every market is oversaturated because it is so true. But we all know, being wedding photographers, like we feel that in the wedding photography industry, it seems like for every one photographer that leaves the industry, we’ve got 20 more that are joining.

[00:07:02] And so taking really beautiful photos isn’t enough anymore. And little things like putting yourself out there and letting people get to know you are so important in bridging that gap and getting people to see you and remember you as opposed to everybody else.

[00:07:18] Angie McPherson: Yeah. I, I hear so many people say, you know, in their respective industries, Oh, the market’s oversaturated.

[00:07:23] There’s too many, you know, X, Y, Z is exactly what I, you know, what I am. And I’m like, okay, you can’t control that, but what you can control is your narrative and how you connect with your audience and get people to be attracted to what you’re putting out there.

[00:07:38] Sandra Henderson: Focus that stress where it needs to be focused to be stressed

[00:07:43] Angie McPherson: on things that you cannot control. You cannot control the oversaturation of the market, but you can’t control yourself.

[00:07:50] Sandra Henderson: So what do you think makes a good or even not-so-good brand session?

07:55 Tips for Hiring a Brand Photographer

[00:07:55] Angie McPherson: Oh, I love this question. So what makes a good, a good branding session? I mean, both, I’m going to give you the same answer on different sides of the coin. What makes a good branding session is variety. Because there’s, there’s, there’s ways you can take headshots. You can take product photos, but in a branding session where you’re going in for a couple of hours, you have different ideas and different concepts, and you’re going to execute different props and accessories.

[00:08:22] A successful branding shoot is going to give you variety that you can use. across various platforms. So vertical images that you can use for Pinterest and Instagram, you know, real covers and then horizontal photos that you can use across your website, you know, as you’re scrolling down the page or YouTube thumbnails of a good, a good session is going to give you a lot of variety, but it’s also going to be consistent.

[00:08:47] The photos, the lighting, the colours. All of that is going to be consistent, even though you have variety in the types of photos you’re putting out there, lifestyle photos, headshots, product photos, behind the scenes, you know, things like that, that’s, that’s where the variety lies, but you’ve got to be consistent in how the photos actually come out because you want to have that brand recognition.

[00:09:08] If someone goes to your Instagram profile. And you have a gorgeous, you know, headshot as your profile photo. And then they go over to your website and the colours are completely like, it’s like, you almost have like a totally different photographer, your Instagram profiles, all bright and airy from one photographer you connected with.

[00:09:26] And then your website’s dark and moody. It screams inconsistent. And when things look inconsistent, you’re losing that trust factor. You’re losing that no like and trust factor. So a good branding photoshoot is going to give you consistent images with lots of variety. A bad branding photoshoot is going to get you a lot of inconsistency and really, No variety.

[00:09:48] So the same photos, you know, the same exact photos. Imagine you’ve done a branding shoot in your gallery. Everything looks the same. That’s not really a great branding shoot because you didn’t really leverage and maximize the time that you had. So, yeah, both sides of the coin. They can really, you know, make or break a branding photo shoot.

[00:10:05] Sandra Henderson: As you were saying that, my wheels were just turning about how that applies to my own business, but I’ve always done my branding photos, like, on the beach or, in like a white studio and my, My style editing and everything is all light and airy, but I live in Canada and we have four seasons here.

[00:10:23] I don’t just have beach weather all the time. And so I was just thinking, as you were saying that, like, it would make so much sense for me to get some photos in the fall so that I have photos that are consistent with the work that I’m showing to use all year round, and that would really maximize the amount of space I could stretch these photos out for.

[00:10:44] Angie McPherson: Yes, absolutely. And I love that you said that because I recommend people get branding photos done at least twice a year, like four times a year if you want to really do something special, but at least twice a year, because like you said, seasons change in your environment. Seasons change in your business.

[00:11:01] There are different seasons that you want to have different photos, different concepts, and different looks. I remember for myself, I did a branding shoot in the summertime and we went to a pool, I had vacation outfits on, I had magazines, I had, you know, fruity drinks and things like that. And I had, I use these from like May to like early September.

[00:11:21] And come in the fall, I was like, uh, I need fall photos. I need sweater weather and coffee and leaves in the background. And so I recommend at least. twice a year so that you’re able to show up year-round with fresh photos and be very relevant to what’s going on.

[00:11:38] Sandra Henderson: That is such gold. And that actually leads me perfectly to my next question for you.

[00:11:43] Do you have any tips for wedding photographers who are looking to hire a brand photographer for the first time?

[00:11:50] Angie McPherson: Oh, well, the first tip is to hire an actual brand photographer. Yes. So I come from the wedding photography world. I know what it’s like. Like I said, my first branding shoot was me and another wedding photographer.

[00:12:02] We met up, we swapped and that was before I, you know, pivoted. And it was great, you know, but when you’re at this level and you’re already a photographer. You’re going to have, if you’re already a wedding photographer, you’re going to have these preconceived notions in your mind about what you need. And if you connect with another wedding photographer, and of course, if you don’t have the budget for a branding photographer, absolutely fine.

[00:12:22] Go with a friend, go with a photographer, go with a wedding photographer. If you’re looking for an actual brand photographer, make sure that person is actually a brand photographer, and you’re going to know that by not them just saying, Hey, I’m a branding photographer, but their experience, ask them what the process is like, if they’re just going to show up and photograph you on the day of.

[00:12:45] It’s not really a legit branding photographer. It’s more of a lifestyle photographer capturing what’s in the moment. A branding photographer is going to send you a planning guide. They’re going to send you tips for planning and prepping for your shoot. As far as, you know, outfit inspiration, location ideas.

[00:13:01] What props to bring accessories, things like that. They’re going to set you up for success to help you prepare. They’re also going to send you a questionnaire because they want to get to know your brand. They can’t photograph your brand if they don’t know your brand. So they’re going to give you a questionnaire to really help the client.

[00:13:17] Of course, the photographer, you figure out. What their brand actually is. A lot of people are ready for a branding shoot, but they really don’t know what their brand is. And that’s how a branding photographer can help with branding. I call myself a marketing strategist because that’s what I am. I’m not just going to show up and take branding photos.

[00:13:31] I’m going to help you figure out what is the intention for the shoot? What’s your vision for the shoot? How can you use these photos to really connect with your audience and actually sell your services and products? And so when you’re looking for this branding photographer, like I said, make sure they’re sending you some type of guide or prep tips to get ready.

13:48 What Angie McPherson Thinks Makes a Good Branding Session

[00:13:48] Make sure they’re sending you a questionnaire so that you too can really nail down your vision for the shoot. Make sure that you are creating, like a vision board for them, a Pinterest board, a vision board, because there’s one thing about answering questions and there’s another thing about putting the vision into practice you know, a visualization that you can share.

[00:14:08] Sandra Henderson: Hey friends, I’m interrupting this episode because I wanted to remind you that the waitlist for my brand new template shop is now open. This template shop is going to be filled with everything you need to simplify and streamline your business behind the scenes. Including things like HoneyBook Smart File Templates, Email Swipe Files, workflow processes and tutorials to help you get them built inside your CRM. So many good things are coming. So head over to simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop to get on the waitlist and you’ll also have a chance to enter to win a free bundle as well as get a little special something to say thank you for being here.

[00:14:45] simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop.

[00:14:49] Angie McPherson: I’ve had clients send something in a questionnaire. I’m like, Oh yeah, I’ve got it. This is great. And then they send the pinch, the pinch board. And I’m like, Oh, I see. They were going in this direction. And then I didn’t have that. It would not be in alignment with what they’re doing.

[00:15:06] So make sure that the planning guide questionnaire ends up a Pinterest inspiration board, and the number one thing I can say is make sure that you guys have a shoot plan. Most branding photographers will do this themselves but have an actual shoot plan that takes all of what you’ve talked about, the vision board, the questionnaire, the prep, what you’re bringing, and they’re putting into some sort of document that you guys can work from on a photo shoot day.

[00:15:31] So my shoot plan includes literally the addresses for all the locations that we’re going to, down to the street name, the zip code, and where the nearest parking lot is, because you’re working with a limited time. My branding shoots are three hours. We don’t have time to be circling the parking lot for 20 minutes looking for parking.

[00:15:48] And it also includes. This is a brief overview of their brand story. So I can really remember who they are as a brand. This also includes the concepts that we’re shooting. So I usually do 2 to 3 concepts for branding shoots. And by concepts, I mean, for example, if I’m working with a yoga instructor, one of our concepts might be, You know, meditation and, and I’ve worked with the yoga instructor and one of her concepts was meditation.

[00:16:11] So we took photos of her with, you know, headphones and their coffee with a notebook and, and captured a concept of her meditating and getting ready for the day. Another one of her concepts was one-on-one instruction because she does in-home yoga instruction with high-end clients. So she brought in a friend and we had her pose the client.

[00:16:31] And so those are just different concepts that you can have. So when you’re thinking about your own branding shoot. What concepts do you want to have in your business? What type of topics and content are you planning to share? What type of services are you planning to share? And so my branding shoot plan includes those concepts and the shot list for concept number one, the shot list for concept number two, the shot list for concept, number three, the prop list for concepts, number one, two, and three, the locations, and so just having it be thorough, but also giving space for the photographer to be creative. You don’t want them to go and feel like they’re like in the military checking off a checklist, you know, one, two, three, you want to make sure that it’s a guide and it’s a starting point so that you aren’t completely thrown off.

[00:17:16] Sandra Henderson: So two things, one, I need to go and find a real brand photographer immediately, like no offense to all my wedding photographer friends that I have done headshot swaps with, but that sounds like an absolute dream. I am so like, I’m such an organized person. And so type a that like that just, it would be so nice to have everybody just handle all of that for me.

[00:17:38] And then also I was thinking like for all the wedding photographers that are listening to this, I think your big takeaway is that your branding photographer should be treating you the way you treat your wedding clients when it comes to planning.

[00:17:50] Angie McPherson: Yes, exactly. Yeah, we know, we know wedding photographers.

[00:17:54] We know we don’t just show up to a wedding day. There’s a whole, there’s a whole, you know, front end of it where we’re prepping our clients and where we are getting the timeline of the day. And even my shoot plan includes the timeline, you know, if we’re shooting from 12 to 3, my timeline says 12 to 12, 15, we are setting up.

[00:18:14] Concept number one, 1215 to 1245, we are photographing these shots, these props, et cetera, et cetera. It’s not just a, Hey, we’re shooting 12 to three and we’ll figure it out when we get there. We need to know a timeline so that we can stay on track.

[00:18:27] Sandra Henderson: Yeah. That is so important. So for any photographers who are listening and have never done brand photos before, really feeling that hesitation of getting in front of the camera, do you have any words of encouragement to help them get past that intimidation?

[00:18:44] Angie McPherson: Oh boy – to not be intimidated my words of motivation are: It’s only going to help your business having branding photos is only going to help you connect more with your clients. It’s going to help you to stop just showing your work and actually showing a variety of the client experience. It’s going to help people connect with you on a personal level.

[00:19:11] It’s going to bring in more clients. More inquiries, more, more revenue and really more opportunities. Not only has branding photography brought me more clients, but just putting myself out there as a personal brand has. Got me speaking on stages, speaking on podcasts, you know, speaking in different groups, and just building my business that way.

[00:19:33] So having branding photos in your business, intentional branding photos that are just consistent and really showing who you are is only going to benefit you. And so, you know, some people say, Oh, I, you know, You know, I don’t have the time or, you know, I, I don’t think that people are going to care about me.

[00:19:54] Trust me, they will care about you. Think about the brands and the people that you interact with. Are you interacting with them because of what they’re selling, because of what they are, you know, what they’re putting out there for you to buy, or are you interacting with how they, how they give you great education on a specific topic?

[00:20:16] How the, for example, let me think of an actual, of an actual brand. Let’s just say maybe like a nutritionist, you know, she offers. meal plans. She offers things like, you know, like a 10-a-month meal plan or something like that. If I’m looking for a nutritionist, I’m not just looking at Instagram pages with a bunch of pretty pictures of food.

[00:20:36] You know, I want a variety of content. I want to know who this person is. Why should I trust her? Why is she the go-to nutritionist? You know, what’s her background? I want to know what she’s doing on the weekends. Is she going and she picking up local, you know, produce at the farmer’s market, that’s going to put her as an authority in my mind, because I’m seeing how she’s living personally in addition to what she’s actually selling. Now, she was just saying, here’s my meal. Here’s my meal. Here’s how you can sign up. You know, here’s a delicious… I’m just like, okay, great. That’s all great. I can get that from. You know, HGTV, not HGTV. What’s it called? The Food Network or a magazine. But if you want me to invest in you, then I need to be able to connect with you.

[00:21:25] And not only that, I’m going to tell. my friends about you. I’m going to, you know, send your link around to everyone else, especially, you know, with branding photography, it’s a great way to share your education as a business owner. You should be really educating your ideal clients to really show that authority that you have in whatever niche that you’re in.

[00:21:46] And so would you rather educate with just a bunch of like bullet points and text and stock photos and things like that? Or would you rather educate Show your face and say, Hey, here’s what I have to say about X, Y, Z. Like that is going to connect your clients more than just a regular stock photo that you took off of Google.

[00:22:07] Sandra Henderson: And there is nothing better than working with clients. That you just clicked with and connected with. They’re totally your people. You can be best friends with them outside of the wedding. And that happens when you’re able to make that personal connection. And we can even look at like big corporations.

[00:22:23] That’s why they have celebrity ambassadors and things like that because it gives a face for us to relate to.

[00:22:30] Angie McPherson: You’re still right. You’re still right. When you think of, like you said, when you think of brands and companies and you think of like Flo from Progressive. You know, like nobody was talking about progressive before Flo came along, and now Flo has like a team.

[00:22:47] She has like the, like two or three people that, you know, show up in these commercials and you know that look at Jake from State Farm, like I have State Farm, you know, and I’m just like, oh, like I, yeah, Jake from State, like you just connect with people. And if we’re just hiding behind what we’re selling.

[00:23:05] We were losing out on that connection. Branding photography is only going to bring you more revenue, clients, and opportunities.

[00:23:14] Sandra Henderson: Yes, absolutely. I think that is the perfect place for us to end. That was a mic drop moment, anything else that we say cannot top that. But that leaves me with my new favourite part of the podcast.

[00:23:27] I have a little, would you rather question to end things with. And so for any of our listeners who aren’t familiar, Angie was, on the TV show, press your luck.

[00:23:37] So I wanted to know, for your next TV game show appearance, would you rather go on The Price is Right or Family Feud?

[00:23:46] Angie McPherson: Oh my goodness.

[00:23:47] Okay. At this point, I have been on a couple of game shows. It is literally my hobby to apply for game shows. I really wouldn’t go on the strip one. I love that so much. And so, when I lost Press Your Luck, it was a devastating moment in my life. And it really was about luck. And so I think my next, my next game show, I want to pick a show that would have, I would have the best luck.

[00:24:16] So Price is Right. It’s like, hopefully, you get picked from the crowd. Hopefully, you get called up. Hopefully, you win. With Family Feud, it’s literally your family against someone else’s family. And I will take my odds on family feud any best family members that I can bring.

[00:24:36] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, for sure. I also am a huge Steve Harvey fan.

[00:24:40] So I got family here too.

[00:24:43] Angie McPherson: Yeah. And one of my, one of like my, my bucket list items is like having like a video go viral and but not like a video like I put on Instagram but like something funny like on Family Feud so my goal would be to like say something so funny and silly and it’s just like goes viral but hopefully nothing bad you know like something funny not like oh my gosh that was such a dumb answer.

[00:25:07] Sandra Henderson: Love watching the clips of Steve Harvey reacting to men who have said horrible things about their wives and then realized what they did after they said it. And Steve Harvey just looks at them like, no, what are you doing? I could watch this for hours. They’re so funny.

[00:25:25] Angie McPherson: I love it. I love it.

[00:25:27] Sandra Henderson: Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Angie.

[00:25:29] This was such a fun conversation. I know that listeners are going to have so many takeaways to apply for their next branding session and hopefully they’ll find some inspiration to get in front of the camera the first time. So actually before we wrap up, if you could just let listeners know where to find you on social media and all the places where they can follow you.

[00:25:47] Angie McPherson: Yeah, you can check on my Instagram. It’s Angie Janine. So Angie and then J A N I N E, my middle name. Someone else had Angie McPherson, unfortunately, and then my website angiemcpherson.com.

[00:26:01] Sandra Henderson: Thank you so much again, Angie. This was amazing. You enjoy the rest of your day, and I can’t wait to connect again soon.

[00:26:07] Angie McPherson: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

23:40 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

[00:26:11] Sandra Henderson: Whether you’re doing a photo swap with friends or hiring a brand photographer, I think one of the most important takeaways from this interview with Angie is that you should be getting a variety of images beyond just new headshots. You also want to have photos that you can use for projects and launches down the road to get longevity out of the photos that you’re having done.

[00:26:29] When it comes to social media and your email list, it is never a bad idea to frequently reintroduce yourself to your audience as it grows, because you have to keep in mind that not every single person is seeing every piece of content that you’re producing. So letting them know who you are, and showing your face in various places on your website to help people get to know you and recognize you.

[00:26:49] These are all places where you are going to find your brand photos really come in handy. Another great benefit is that when it comes to sessions or consultations, I very rarely run into an instance where someone can’t find me because they know exactly who they’re looking for.

[00:27:04] I have my photo in my email signature.

[00:27:06] I have it included in my pricing guide. Everywhere that they could possibly be interacting with me, they’re gonna find a photo of me, so they’re always able to place a face with the name. And I mean, who doesn’t want to avoid awkward situations where people don’t know who you are or you think that someone is someone that they’re not?

[00:27:25] I, After 11 years in the industry have no shortage of embarrassing moments and situations that I’ve run into. And I will never forget waiting in a coffee shop for a consultation. And I saw this woman walking towards me and it was right at the time my meeting was supposed to start. She smiled in my direction.

[00:27:42] So I stood up, I introduced myself, and said, so nice to meet you. Then she replied by letting me know that she was actually there to see the person who was sitting in the booth behind me. She was not my potential client. And. So yeah, who doesn’t want to avoid a situation like that? Right. And having my photo all over my website and social media has definitely helped with that.

[00:28:03] And then being able to include photos when it comes to mini sessions and other launches that I’m doing in my photography business has really just been so helpful. So make sure that you’re getting a variety, especially if you don’t love being in front of the camera, because then you can get the most out of one session.

[00:28:21] And you don’t have to constantly be doing new sessions every few months or every year when you have new things that are coming out.

[00:28:26] And that wraps up another episode of the podcast friends. If anybody needs me, you can send me a DM, but I am laid up on my couch with my phone. So, um, I’m going to be talking a little bit about how I got my feet up, nursing myself through this wedding hangover.

[00:28:40] I had a wedding on Saturday and for anybody who is familiar with my story and my chronic illness journey, my wedding hangover is not just one day. It is usually about three or four days, if not more. And so I am in the thick of it right now and giving myself the time I need. To be able to rest. I plan this into my calendar ahead of time when I book weddings.

[00:29:03] So thankfully I don’t have a to-do list that’s piling up on me. Everything was scheduled around this. Highly recommend doing that. If you are listening and aren’t making time off a priority, it needs to go into your schedule first, but that’s a little side tangent soapbox for another day. You guys enjoy the rest of your week.

[00:29:20] Get some rest if you need it. And I will be back with our first July episode next week.

[00:29:26] Today’s episode of Keeping it Candid is sponsored by Aftershoot. Full disclosure, I took a break from using Aftershoot and have talked a lot about how incredible some other AI editing platforms are. And don’t get me wrong, that hasn’t changed.

[00:29:39] But I cannot deny how amazing Aftershoot’s new features are, and there was no question that I had to make the switch back. Aftershoot is an AI culling and editing platform that learns your style of editing based on the photos that you’ve already done in the past. And then applies that to new photos going forward.

[00:29:57] It’s not like finding presets where you just apply it to your photos and it doesn’t make any changes and you really have to heavily edit each one yourself. This actually learns your editing style and applies Lightroom settings to your photos the same way you would if you were the one who was actually physically moving the sliders yourself.

[00:30:16] With the AI culling feature, it’s able to sort through photos where people are blinking, photos that are blurry, and anything else that you might want to weed out as far as duplicates and things like that leaving only the best of the best for you to have to go through in a few minutes as opposed to a few hours.

[00:30:31] And the feature that brought me back to the platform is that all of this can now be done all in one. There is no more need to upload photos in Lightroom and then cull them an Aftershoot, and then load them back into Lightroom, and then edit them into Aftershoot.

[00:30:47] But now everything can be done inside the platform. The only time you have to bring them over to Lightroom is if you want to make any tweaks to the individual photos themselves. It’s an absolute game-changer and will save so much time. If you’re interested in trying it out, I want you to head over to simplysandreevon.ca forward slash resources to get a 10 percent discount using my affiliate link.

[00:31:07] Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/shownotes.

[00:39:29] In the meantime, let’s connect! You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search Simply Sandra Yvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review until next time!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small amount of money if you make a purchase from any of our affiliates. This is done at no cost to you!

Maintaining consistency in a photography business is so important, but it’s not just about posting on social media every day. So today on the podcast, let’s talk about WHY it matters so much! To put it simply – consistency in client experience, brand materials, response times, tone of voice, and photo delivery is crucial for building trust and ensuring long-term success.

Keep reading for show notes and a full episode transcript!

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Show Notes

Template Shop: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop

Save 50% on your first year of HoneyBook: https://share.honeybook.com/Sandra

My favourite photography business resources: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/resources

Takeaways

• Consistency in client experience, brand materials, response time, tone of voice, and photo delivery is crucial for long-term business impact.
• The use of CRM systems, such as HoneyBook, can streamline business operations and enhance client experience during busy wedding seasons.

Chapters

00:00 Recognizing Juneteenth and Supporting the Black Community
03:39 The Importance of Consistency in Wedding Photography Business
08:05 Streamlining Business Operations with CRM Systems

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Check out my free, on-demand Masterclass! Inquiry To Onboarding – Creating An Effortless Client Journey | CLICK HERE!

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Other Photography Podcast Episodes You’ll Love

Up-Level Your Client Experience With This One Simple Question

HoneyBook & Pic-Time Are Doing What?!

Creating A More Accessible Photography Business with Erin Perkins of Mabely Q

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: Diving into today’s episode, which is airing on June 19th, I wanted to take a moment to recognize the Black community and say happy Juneteenth to anybody who might be listening that celebrates

[00:00:14] Juneteenth is a date recognized in the United States as a commemoration of the end of slavery.

[00:00:22] Even though the Emancipation Proclamation was announced in September of 1862 to go into effect January 1st, 1863, it wasn’t until June 19th, 1865, that the Emancipation Proclamation was enforced in the southern state of Texas.

[00:00:37] Because of this, June 19th, or Juneteenth, is officially recognized as the end of slavery and celebrated by Black communities across the U. S. and worldwide.

[00:00:49] If you’re interested in learning more about the historical legacy of Juneteenth, I want you to head over to the show notes for today’s episode where you will find a link for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

[00:01:00] I have also included a second link for the National Museum of African American History and Culture where you can make a donation if that is something that you are able to do. The Smithsonian has agreed at the time of recording this from what I can see on their website to match any donations up to 25, 000 in order of Juneteenth.

[00:01:19] So, if you are able, definitely go and check that out, read a little bit more into this, and then do a little bit more instead of only reading about the hard times and the horrible things that have happened to the Black community in history, look to find ways that you can support Black entrepreneurs and the Black community in your area.

[00:01:38] Okay. I have a little bit of a scenario I want to start today’s episode with. So press pause on all the things that you have going on around you for a second if you can. Close your eyes if you want to, and just walk with me through this:

[00:01:51] You get a wedding inquiry that you could not be more excited about.

[00:01:55] It’s at a dream venue. And this couple has the budget for your highest package. No questions asked. And at the consultation, you got along so well.

[00:02:04] You tell the couple that you’re gonna send over a proposal the next day and your anxiety starts building as soon as the consultation is over because you want to book this wedding so badly. Now, the next day you have a session in the morning and it takes every last bit of energy you have, so you unexpectedly have to take the rest of the day off. While you’re out of the office two more wedding inquiries come in.

[00:02:28] You’re feeling better on day three, and that’s when you remember that you have to get a gallery sent out. So you hop into Lightroom because you don’t want to deliver the photos late and you get those done. That evening, you have an engagement session out of town. So you pack up, you get in the car, you go to your session and by the time you get home, it’s time to call it a day.

[00:02:47] The next day is day four, and you’ve got a wedding. And on day five is wedding hangover day, when nothing is happening except for binge-watching some Netflix.

[00:02:56] On day six, you finally have a few minutes to go and check your inbox. And that’s when you realize that you forgot to send that proposal to the couple that you had a consultation with last week because they emailed you asking where it is and when they can expect it.

[00:03:10]

[00:03:10] And then those two wedding inquiries that came in, well, it’s been four days since then. Both couples have already booked consultations elsewhere and have told you they’ll get in touch if it doesn’t work out in the thick of wedding season. This scenario is all too familiar for photographers and wedding pros as a whole.

[00:03:28] So today I want to talk about what consistency means beyond posting on Instagram every day and what kind of impact it can have on your business long term.

[00:03:37] Welcome to keeping it candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong enneagram three wing two who is obsessed with tacos and my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

[00:04:07] Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

[00:04:23] More often than not, when I hear people talking about being consistent in their business, they’re talking about showing up on Instagram and social media. We hear it from quote-unquote social media experts and Instagram experts all the time that we need to be consistent, and consistent means showing up every day and doing all the things.

[00:04:40] But one, Consistency can look a lot of different ways, and two, there is a lot more to consistency than just showing up on Instagram every single day.

[00:04:50] When it comes to client experience, consistency can look like getting emails and other important documents sent out when you say you’re going to send them, delivering on brand materials like pricing guides and proposals that match everything else you’re putting out into the world, responding in the same window of time for every single person that contacts you, Using the same tone of voice and writing style in all of your email templates and delivering photos within the same time frame for all clients when you say you’re going to deliver them.

[00:05:21] I’ll be honest, especially that last one. I struggle with it. I would have a date in mind that I want to have these photos sent out, but if anything gets in the way of that happening, it completely throws off my game and I end up getting those photos out by the due date. And that is not what I want. It gives no consistency for when people can expect their photos and things like that.

[00:05:42] So, If you’re listening to this and you can relate to anything that I just said, don’t get down on yourself. It happens to everybody. And we are going to not focus on the things that we are doing wrong, that are not consistent, but we are going to be focusing on what we can do to make these things more consistent and easier in our businesses.

[00:06:02] So let’s talk a little bit more about why each of these is important and what kinds of tweaks you can make to make them more consistent. When it comes to having everything on brand, it’s like a cherry on top. It keeps everything visually appealing and easily recognizable.

[00:06:16] So when someone receives your pricing guide, everything looks exactly like they remember it from your website. It’s how they remember it from your social media. And there’s no sort of brain confusion on who they are talking about. Really makes it easier for people to remember who you are.

[00:06:31] When you’re consistently responding in the same amount of time, people know what to expect from you and it will stop people from following up incessantly because they, quote-unquote, aren’t sure if you received their email yet. We all know how annoying emails like that can be.

[00:06:48] Having a consistent tone of voice, again, lends to brand recognition the same way that having your visual brand colours and everything like that comes together. It gives your clients the feeling of having a personal experience, even though you’re working with so many other clients just like them. They know that it’s you speaking, but they don’t feel like they’re getting emails from four different people who sound nothing alike.

[00:07:10] And then consistency in delivering your photos within the same time frame, no matter what that looks like. Whether it be two weeks or six weeks, I don’t think that one is better than the other. you have to do what is right for you. So no matter what that looks like, it sets your clients up to know exactly what to expect from you every time they work with you.

[00:07:30] That every time they work with you might not apply if you are exclusively in the wedding industry. Hopefully, for the sake of your client’s marriages, they don’t have to come back to you a second time for wedding photos. But for my family photographers that are listening or newborn photographers, branding photographers, if you guys are working with your clients more than once, a lot of the time.

[00:07:50] And so, Making sure that they know what to expect and that they’re going to get that same experience every time they work with you is what keeps people coming back year after year. Beyond having them come back, we also want them to tell all their friends about us, right?

[00:08:04] Word of mouth is so powerful. And that consistent experience is what’s going to have people singing your praises from the rooftops, and then when someone that they know is looking for a photographer, you are going to be the first person that comes to mind.

[00:08:17] During busy season, it is so easy for things to start falling through the cracks when you have a million other things on the go. I have been there more times than I can count. And the best advice that I can give you is to set yourself up with a CRM system. I use HoneyBook, but whatever CRM that is going to be for you, create some workflows in there, get some on-brand templates set up and start delivering that consistent experience right from the very beginning.

[00:08:43] HoneyBook, in my humble opinion, is by far the best CRM out there for photographers, hands down, because of all the branding capabilities that it has. You can customize everything from colours to logos to fonts to the photos that you include, and they have so many templates that are pre-made for the photography industry.

[00:09:03] So all you really have to do is go in and drop your information and everything else is designed and ready to go.

[00:09:10] Now that you are in the thick of wedding season, I know you are probably thinking, okay, Sandra sounds good, but there’s absolutely no frigging way in hell I have the time to set up a new CRM system right now, let alone get any workflows ready. And I totally understand that. Don’t worry about it. My honey book moving day service is exactly what you need to get everything up and running while you focus on your clients and busy season. Honeybook moving day is when I get your Honeybook account set up and ready for you. Just like hiring professional movers on a moving day, I go in and I do all the heavy lifting and all you have to do is pick up your keys at the end of the day when it is all ready.

[00:09:48] If you are already living inside another CRM platform and you want to move over to Honeybook, I will be moving everything over there for you. If you are a new Honeybook user, then I will make sure that your account is running efficiently and has all of the settings set up that you will need to start building your templates and navigating your clients through the HoneyBook platform.

[00:10:08] And then I also have VIP days available where I will pop into your HoneyBook account and I will create templates for you and build out workflows so you can start enjoying all of the freedom that streamlined systems and automations can bring you again without having to do any of that heavy lifting yourself.

[00:10:25] I can’t believe that next week is already the end of June and we’ve got one more podcast episode coming out this month. Next week I am joined by the one and only Angie McPherson, an absolutely incredible brand photographer and educator.

[00:10:38] She is truly a gem. And I loved every second of our conversation. So make sure you come back next week to give that a listen, have a great rest of your week, and I will connect with y’all soon.

[00:10:50] The waitlist for my brand new template shop is now open. This template shop is going to be filled with everything you need to simplify and streamline your business behind the scenes.

[00:11:00] So head over to simplysandrayvonne.ca/shopto get on the waitlist. You’ll also have a chance to enter to win a free bundle, as well as get a little special something to say, thank you for being here. that’s simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop.

[00:11:17] Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok. Just search simply Sandra Yvonne. And if you’re loving this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review until next time.

Let’s talk about the struggle we all know too well: keeping up with social media. Instagram engagement is down, and new followers are few and far between. All in all, it’s exhausting! But here’s a refreshing thought: you don’t need to be everywhere all the time to make a big impact. Imagine focusing on the platforms that truly work for you and using strategic tools to lighten the load. Today on Keeping It Candid, I’m talking to Kara Duncan from The Kara Report, who shares insights on how to create a sustainable marketing strategy, the long-term magic of blogging, and the wonders of AI in content creation.

Ready to transform your marketing game and keep your sanity intact? Keep scrolling for links to the episode, show notes, and a full transcript.

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Show Notes

Template Shop: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop

Wedding Photography Workflow Freebie: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/wedding-workflow

The Kara Report: https://thekarareport.com/

Kara Duncan’s Marketing Roadmap Freebie: https://thekarareport.com/roadmap

Save 10% on Aftershoot: https://account.aftershoot.com/referral-signup?referrer=YT1AEQW8

Takeaways

• Engagement on Instagram is down and gaining new followers and consistent engagement is harder than ever.
• Being consistent in marketing doesn’t mean you have to be on every platform every day. Choose platforms that work best for your business and focus on them.
• Blogging has long-term benefits and can drive traffic to your website for years.
• Using AI tools can help with copywriting and repurposing content for different platforms.
• Regularly evaluate which marketing tools provide a return on investment and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Chapters

00:00 The Challenge of Instagram Engagement and Gaining New Followers
06:22 Being Consistent in Marketing Without Being on Every Platform Every Day
13:42 The Long-Term Benefits of Blogging
25:07 Evaluating Marketing Tools for Return on Investment

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About Kara

Kara Duncan is the writer behind The Kara Report, a content marketing agency serving women-owned service-based businesses. She specializes in website copywriting, along with offering done-for-you marketing services to get your business found in a sustainable search-driven way using Pinterest and Blogging. She’s worked with both six and seven-figure businesses across a variety of industries from wedding pros, course creators, fashion designers, and more.

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Click here to get instant access to my brand-new free masterclass!

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Other Episodes You’ll Love

042 Next Level Email Marketing Strategies with Candice Coppola

033 Ghosting: Why It’s Happening & What To Do About It with Michelle Harris

041 How AI Can Change Your Photography Business – And Your Life with Cameron and Tia

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: This year, we have been seeing a really big shift in Instagram, arguably even bigger than when Reels were first introduced and when video started being prioritized. Regardless of what kind of content you’re creating, engagement is down across the board. Gaining new followers and authentic, consistent engagement has literally never been harder.

[00:00:22] I gotta tell you guys I’ve been on Instagram since it first launched. I had all the terrible filters and all the things that went along with it and I’ve had my photography business on the platform since having your business on Instagram became a thing… and I don’t even enjoy being on the platform anymore.

[00:00:40] I feel like my feed is just filled with suggested posts. And if I want to look at things that people I follow have actually posted, I have to jump through hoops to try and find it. 

[00:00:48] So for me, it has really just been taking away from that user experience and then from the business side of things, it’s really hard to want to put your energy into something that you’re not getting any return on investment on. I’ve never really been one to care about getting likes on my posts and new followers and things like that, but at the same time, when you put a lot of work into something and there are crickets after you put it out there, it is so frustrating and so so draining. 

[00:01:14] And so that is where my guest on today’s podcast comes in. Kara Duncan is the writer behind The Kara Report, a content marketing agency serving women-owned service-based businesses, specializing in website copywriting, along with offering done free marketing services to get your business found in a sustainable search-driven way using Pinterest and blogging. She’s worked with both six and seven-figure businesses across a variety of industries from wedding pros to course creators, fashion designers, and more.

[00:01:42] I am so excited for you all to hear the amazing things that she has to offer during this interview. But selfishly, I knew that I had to have Kara on the podcast because I know she genuinely knows her shit, and any conversation with her always leaves me with a smile on my face, so I will literally take any chance to connect with her.

[00:01:59] We talked all about how you can be consistent in marketing without showing up on every platform every day, the long-term benefits of blogging, and how you can use AI to help you with Pinterest and copywriting. And we’re going to get right to it after the intro. 

[00:02:13] Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way.

[00:02:28] And on a more personal note, I’m a strong enneagram three wing two who is obsessed with I’m obsessed with tacos, and my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

[00:02:43] Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

[00:03:01] Kara, thank you so much for joining me. I’m so excited to have you on the podcast, but before we dive into all the good things that I know are coming our way this episode, I would love it if you could just take a quick second to introduce yourself and let everybody know a little bit about what you’re all about.

[00:03:16] Kara Duncan: Yeah, I’m so excited. I love your podcast. I’m Kara. So my business is The Kara Report. We do a done for you blogging, Pinterest and website copy. And I’m a former destination wedding planner. And actually the business is still open and subcontractors just do the actual wedding planning work. So it’s kind of cool that I get to kind of treat my first business like a client and like experiment with marketing and all that kind of fun stuff.

[00:03:41] But I don’t do any of the planning. I’m full on marketing now. So it’s been super fun. 

[00:03:46] Sandra Henderson: That’s awesome. I absolutely love. I mean, I’ve been in the wedding industry for about 12 years now, and so one of my favorite things at this point is just seeing how people’s careers progress, the things that change the things that were important to people at one point that aren’t important at another point.

[00:04:02] And so it’s super cool to see, like, What being in the wedding industry can lead to without it, like, you know, you going from planning weddings to planning birthdays, like you were able to still stay in the wedding industry and be a part of it all without having to keep planning events over and over again.

[00:04:21] Kara Duncan: Yeah, I totally agree with you. Like it’s, it’s so interesting to watch people’s careers progress in like unexpected ways, like I feel like a natural trajectory is like you said, like you go from wedding planner to maybe more event planner or coaching or like you progress that way. But it’s really cool when people do not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s just really cool when people branch off and like, like you do systems and blogging and that kind of like, it’s fun to see people like explore different interests and then do what they like.

[00:04:49] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, I totally agree.

[00:04:50] Kara Duncan: I know, possibilities are endless. 

[00:04:51] Sandra Henderson: Right? Yeah. I mean, as like, more and more we saw over the last few years, people are just Flocking towards opening small businesses and being entrepreneurs. So there has, there’s definitely no shortage of avenues that you can take when, you know, if you ever reach the point where you’re just tired of what it is that you’re doing right now, which I can totally relate to.

[00:05:13] I, I always, whenever I talk about this, I’m like, God, I hope none of my wedding clients are listening because I love them and I don’t want it to sound wrong, but like, it’s definitely time for me to be phasing myself out of the wedding industry over the next couple of years. So yeah, clients, if you’re listening, don’t worry, everything’s still good.

[00:05:29] You’ll, nothing will happen to your booking. 

[00:05:32] Kara Duncan: Yeah. Not tomorrow. Just in the future. Yeah. Just in the future. 

[00:05:36] Sandra Henderson: And so I am so excited to dive into all things consistency in marketing with you, because when it comes to marketing and copywriting and all the, that side of like the creative side of your branding, you are the first person I think of.

[00:05:51] So I know listeners are going to have so many takeaways from this episode. But why don’t we kind of like start things off right in the beginning at the very basics and talk about what it means to be consistent. consistent in your marketing. Does it mean that you have to show up on every single platform every single day?

[00:06:09] Kara Duncan: Yeah, I love this question because I also think, okay, so much in marketing is like, there’s the people that are like, consistency is the most important thing. You have to do everything every single day. Like that’s how you get results. And then there are people that are like, consistency can mean anything.

[00:06:24] Like just. You know, blog once a year, like, whatever, as long as you’re consistent. And you’re like, there is a balance where you’re like, okay, how consistent? Like, first you have to choose something that is consistent. You know going to be possible for you to actually execute on but you also have to look at like what consistency means to actually get results.

[00:06:44] So like and it’s different per platform which is something you should think about when you choose your platforms. Like for example, one post per week on Instagram is consistent but it’s likely a waste of your time because in my opinion with the algorithms today like it’s not going to go. Grow your followers.

[00:07:00] It’s not really enough to nurture your followers. Like, it’s like, if that’s all that you have the time for, that’s all you have the time for. And there’s no judgment around that, but it’s like, maybe explore other avenues where that time could be better spent. Like one blog post per week, for example, is more than enough to be consistent.

[00:07:16] So by doing like less platforms, well, you know, you can be more consistent while still getting the results that you want. 

[00:07:25] Sandra Henderson: I think it’s so important what you were just talking about, about kind of like thinking what you have the capacity for and not necessarily having to show up on the same platforms as everybody else.

[00:07:35] Because like you said, like one post on Instagram a week is probably not going to get you very far, but one blog post a week could be giving you a return for years after this. And so just kind of like, Exactly. And so I think just give it people giving themselves permission to do things differently is something that I am always advocating for because you don’t, you don’t have to be on Pinterest or sorry, I shouldn’t, you should be on Pinterest, but like, you don’t have to be on Instagram.

[00:08:03] You should be in all the places, but you don’t have to be in all the places. Like, I think there are so many successful businesses out there that are not on all the platforms every single day. So I’m so glad that you brought that up. 

[00:08:14] Kara Duncan: Yeah. And I think like we see as like. Confirmation bias, right? Like, we’re seeing that everyone’s telling us we have to be on Instagram, but it’s like, where are people telling us that on Instagram?

[00:08:26] Right? So you’re like, you’re listening to people that believe Instagram is the best way, but there are a lot of people that are just not active on Instagram that are still running profitable businesses, but you’re not there. Seeing them because you’re only looking at on Instagram. 

[00:08:38] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, absolutely. And I always think too, when I see people saying like, you have to post two reels a day and you know, a static post and show up in your stories 10 times, like they come up with all these numbers on how many times you should be on Instagram in a day or how many times you should be posting on TikTok in a day.

[00:08:56] But the goal and like the information they’re giving is not wrong, but the goal is to get more followers. And so when I hear photographers like focusing so heavily on like, well, I’m not showing up on this platform enough. I always ask them like, well, what is your goal? Is your goal to have 10, 000 followers or is your goal to book clients?

[00:09:15] Because these tips that they’re giving you are, if you want to. Yeah. 000 followers. It’s how to succeed on Instagram. It’s not how to succeed in your photography business. 

[00:09:25] Kara Duncan: Yeah, I totally agree with you. There’s such a pressure to hit like a certain metrics and especially in the wedding industry. I know you have listeners across, you know, industries, but sometimes it’s like, how many clients do you need?

[00:09:38] Like we don’t need a thousand followers to get the amount of clients you want. 

[00:09:43] Sandra Henderson: Oh, such a good point. And I think that like. The amount of clients that would come along with having like a million followers on Instagram, I don’t have the time for that. I don’t know anybody else who has the time for that.

[00:09:55] So if that, if that applies to you, then all for it. But I definitely do not want the client influx that may come along with having that many followers. I’m current, well, words are going to be a struggle today. But I am like totally okay with not like being an influencer and not going viral, my client load that I have.

[00:10:13] Coming from my blogs and word of mouth and things like that is totally manageable. So I think just like your overall capacity is super important to think about too, when you’re vying for goals, like having all these followers and things like that. 

[00:10:26] Kara Duncan: Yeah, 100%. 

[00:10:28] Sandra Henderson: We talked a little bit about if it’s important to show up in all the places every single day.

[00:10:34] And one thing that was a huge game changer for me going back to Instagram again, cause I think that’s like the platform that we all think about the most when it comes to our marketing. With somebody saying like, if you’re in your stories and you’re replying to messages and you’re posting, those are all forms of showing up on Instagram and being consistent.

[00:10:54] It doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to have a static post seven days of the week. You could have a static post. Three days of the week and be showing up in your story six days of the week responding to DMs. And that is still you active on Instagram. 

[00:11:08] Kara Duncan: Yeah, I totally agree. Yeah. I think there’s like so much pressure.

[00:11:12] Yeah. To, like you said, mean that showing up means posting and it doesn’t necessarily, there are so many other ways. Like, I like to think of like, I think a lot of this. Stuff that goes like viral on Instagram or advice on Instagram is about using Instagram as like a top-of-funnel strategy, right? Like, it’s like, how can I get the absolute most people to find me?

[00:11:36] Which is like, okay, reels. I feel like that’s a general thing that people are agreeing on. If you want more people to find you, reels are kind of where it’s at. But it’s like where I find Instagram to be so effective is like as a nurture. Right. So that’s in your stories and in your DMs and like commenting on other people.

[00:11:53] Like I don’t really use Instagram that much for my business. And I just like literally only pop on like every couple of days to like check what my clients are doing. And. That’s a good one for me to connect to them. And like, even though they’re already clients, I’m not getting extra clients from it, it’s like a great way for me to like nurture that relationship and stay in touch with their business and show them that I care about them and your clients might feel the same way.

[00:12:20] And even in the wedding industry, like I kind of said, I use my other wedding business to test things. And like our Instagram strategy is literally like, we’ll do a post whenever we book a new client. Yay, the countdown begins. Do you know what I mean? And so it’s like, that is sometimes very, very infrequent.

[00:12:38] And also We just like to update old blogs because we wrote a ton of blogs in like the first few years and now we just update them. Like we haven’t really published a new blog in three years, like since COVID. Oh, that’s amazing. And it’s like, Google’s our number one referer. It’s amazing. 

[00:12:57] Sandra Henderson: I hope that gives everybody listening a little bit of motivation to hit their blog because some of my most successful blogs like I have one for fall mini sessions that written back in 2017. And now it’s 2023. And these are still. sending hundreds of people to my website. We have Magnolia trees in London and I have actually keyworded all of my blog posts for Magnolia trees to cherry blossoms because that’s what people are looking for in the spring.

[00:13:27] And we don’t have any cherry blossom trees here, but most people don’t know that they’re not cherry blossoms. And so I, this. April and May had 1500 people come to my website from two blog posts that I wrote back in 2016. So I hope that, like, it gives people a little bit of motivation to see what the power of taking that time that you have instead of, you know, Trying to force yourself on Instagram seven days a week, maybe take some of that energy and pop out a blog post and just reap the benefits of that for a long time going forward.

[00:14:00] If you’ve done it strategically, I should say. 

[00:14:02] Kara Duncan: Yeah. Well, you know what? Yeah, to add to that, I totally agree with everything you just said. I would also say that like blogs don’t necessarily always have to be perfect to rank. Like I look at my wedding business and I started it as a blog and You know, like my first blog post I look and it’s like, how are these ranking?

[00:14:21] And many of them aren’t right. But if you’re like, some of them are, and you’re like, sometimes it doesn’t need to be perfect if people find it helpful and stuff like that. And then also I kind of relate it lately to like, I don’t know if everyone else’s TikTok is blowing up about this, but I get a lot of like print on demand, like get rich with print on demand or like, whatever.

[00:14:42] It’s like the latest trend. And one of the big things that they say is like, you’re going to create a hundred designs and like two designs will make you rich. Right. Or whatever. And it’s like, I find the same with blog posts. Like you can’t just write, you know, it’d be nice if every single blog post you wrote brought in like hundreds of hundreds of people every month or whatever.

[00:15:02] But oftentimes it’s like, no, but you wrote once a week and like, let’s say that’s 52 blogs. And then like five or six brought you enough to fill your calendar for the year. Right. So. 

[00:15:14] Sandra Henderson: Yeah. And that would be an amazing return on investment. Is it true that publishing these blogs, like we’ll keep going with this once-a-week reference that if you did publish these 52 blogs in a year and only five or six of them were actually like generating revenue for you, doesn’t Google and other search engines take it as like a green check in your favor that you are constantly posting onto your website?

[00:15:36] Kara Duncan: Yeah, totally. Google like any other platform values consistency.

[00:15:41] Sandra Henderson: I know that a lot of people are feeling the weight of Instagram and especially in the wedding industry, feeling the weight of like, things being really quiet this year for bookings in comparison to how it has been the last few years. So I’m hoping that people will take advantage of this lull in bookings and really focus on blogging because that is, I know for me anyway, and for a lot of other businesses out there, it’s been such a game changer. 

[00:16:06] Kara Duncan: Yeah, I think like, one of the reasons I like love blogging or like Pinterest, like you said, I kind of consider the two hand in hand, because like if you’re blogging, you take the time to also put it on Pinterest, but you’re like thinking of like the frame of mind people are in, like when people are on Instagram, they’re just like scrolling, and when people are on Google or Pinterest like they’re looking.

[00:16:26] Right. I’m like catching people at a much better time. And one of the things like, let’s say your website ranks without a blog. It’s like a blog can keep them on your website and like warm them up. So like if I found your website, I read a few blog posts and I hit your contact form. I’m like much warmer than if I just found your website, and hit your contact form.

[00:16:48] And then maybe I’m like, Oh, you know, I’m having fun planning my wedding. Like, I’m going to go back to Google and just like, look at other options. Right. It’s like really good way of keeping people in your orbit. And again, in like a sustainable way where like, it’s not like Sunday morning and you’re like, okay, what am I going to post on Instagram today?

[00:17:04] Like interrupt family time or like, whatever.

[00:17:07] Sandra Henderson: Right. And for me, like, if I’m posting on the fly, that means I’m not posting because I just, I will sit there. I’m like, I don’t know what to say. I don’t have the energy to think of something to say, or I’ll start writing and then I’ll be like, okay, I’ll post that later because, you know, trying to think of the good time to post, which.

[00:17:24] I go so in and out of like, there’s no such thing as the good time. And then maybe there is a good time. And I’m back into like, there’s no such thing as a good time. But I would save these posts and like, I’m going to post it in the evening when Instagram says it’s better. And then I would just forget about it.

[00:17:37] And so like, I’m totally like I have to plan out my content. And I usually plan it for a whole month. If I can get it. Halfway through that month on schedule, then I’m pretty happy with myself but it just feels good to at least have it all laid out so that I can come in and out as my energy flows and schedule allows so that I always know what’s going, even if I haven’t posted for a couple of days, 

[00:18:01] Kara Duncan: totally.

[00:18:02] Sandra Henderson: You actually mentioned I want to dive into this a little bit further, but you talked about if you are blogging to please also be putting that up on Pinterest. And then I was going to raise my hand and be like guilty because I’ve done it a couple of times. I’m definitely not doing it every time, and it’s one of those things that, like, when my schedule gets busy, I’m like, Pinterest is gone.

[00:18:20] Like, that’s gonna free up at least some mental space. But I would love to talk about how you are able to utilize content on multiple platforms, and how that can help photographers be more sustainable when it comes to their marketing efforts. 

[00:18:36] Kara Duncan: Yeah, definitely. So, like, like you said, using a scheduling tool definitely helps.

[00:18:40] I love Tailwind for Pinterest. I wish other platforms Did what tailwind could do But basically, it’s like yeah when you write a blog depending on how consistent you are with blogging if you’re blogging sporadically, please still keep doing it. Google doesn’t penalize not being consistent as much as other platforms But then maybe you’re gonna create like five or ten pins and like just schedule them You know, manually on Pinterest or using Tailwind. Tailwind is nice cause you can kind of do multiple boards, which gives you more pins for your bang for your buck or whatever. 

[00:19:16] Sandra Henderson: And I think you get like 20 free pins a month on there for you or something like that. 

[00:19:20] Kara Duncan: Totally do. And, it doesn’t need to be up the second that you post, like if you are blogging once a week, like, you know, schedule your pins once a month or something like that.

[00:19:29] And don’t forget to do all the blog posts too is what I always tell people. So like when I’m doing Pinterest for a client, I’m not just like looking at their new stuff. I’m looking at like, what are their top performing blogs like last year during this season, or like, what’s going to be, what are people going to be searching for in the winter and like prioritize those.

[00:19:49] But Pinterest is a super easy platform to batch and they don’t require you to show up every day. Another thing that I do for Pinterest clients is I will download their Instagram Reels, especially the ones that don’t look Instagram-specific. So like if you’re putting like, read the caption on your Reels, it’s a little harder to reuse.

[00:20:07] On Pinterest, you can put it in the description, but it’s not a super great user experience. But for like, Ones where photographers specifically it’s like, you know, there’s like two seconds of a video or something and then it’s like 85 different photos Like you could definitely download that and put it on Pinterest.

[00:20:23] I like to use it as a video pin Instead of an idea pin it’s kind of up in the air what they’re doing with idea pins They kind of said they’re getting rid of it. And now they’re saying they’re merging it So honestly, I’ve seen better results with video pins lately So 

[00:20:36] Sandra Henderson: yeah, yeah, I have to quickly interrupt you because I admit I’m not a huge Pinterest user.

[00:20:43] I go on like every now and then to update inspiration for what my clients should wear to their family sessions and to look for the odd recipe. But I, so because of that, I actually, I’ve heard the term idea pin so many times and I keep meaning to find out what the hell an idea pin is. And now you’re saying that they might actually potentially get rid of it.

[00:21:02] So please quickly explain to me, even if they are getting rid of it, what is the difference between a regular pin and an idea? 

[00:21:09] Kara Duncan: So idea pins, you couldn’t add a link So they weren’t okay for business owners. They were You know, maybe good for content creators, but at the same time, Pinterest followers are not as like highly valued as like Instagram followers.

[00:21:24] So like if your content, you’re trying to leverage your metrics. I don’t know. It wasn’t really a win-win for everyone. Anyone except maybe the consumer because the consumer can have access to like zero click content like where they don’t actually have to go to your website and you’re sharing the recipe in like An idea pin could be like a mix of video and pins.

[00:21:43] So like think about like an Instagram stall or something like that like you so you could like in theory Pinterest wanted you to share like a how-to or like You know a whole wedding so people can swipe through and stuff like that And then they never have to go to your website But business owners didn’t necessarily love using it because people business owners want it Up to their website, right?

[00:22:05] So right it was something I feel like they tried and they tweaked, you know to make work But ultimately I don’t think I don’t know I don’t think it was super successful because then they tried adding idea pins, but it was only in beta And now I think they’re gonna just get rid of it, but I could be wrong 

[00:22:20] Sandra Henderson: Today’s episode of Keeping It Candid is sponsored by Aftershoot.

[00:22:25] Full disclosure, I took a break from using Aftershoot, and I’ve talked a lot about how incredible some other AI editing platforms are. And don’t get me wrong, that hasn’t changed. But I cannot deny how amazing Aftershoot’s new features are, and there was no question that I had to make the switch back.

[00:22:43] Aftershoot is an AI culling and editing platform that learns your style of editing based off the photos that you’ve already done in the past and then applies that to new photos going forward. It’s not like finding presets where you just apply it to your photos and it doesn’t make any changes and you really have to heavily edit each one yourself.

[00:23:02] This actually learns your editing style and applies Lightroom settings to your photos the same way you would if you were the one who was actually physically moving the sliders yourself.

[00:23:13] With the AI culling feature, it’s able to sort through photos where people are blinking, photos that are blurry, and anything else that you might want to weed out as far as duplicates and things like that, leaving only the best of the best for you to have to go through in a few minutes as opposed to a few hours.

[00:23:28] And the feature that brought me back to the platform is that all of this can now be done all in one. There is no more need to have to upload photos in Lightroom and then call them in Aftershoot and then load them back into Lightroom and then edit them into Aftershoot. But now everything can be done in 

[00:23:45] inside the platform. The only time you have to bring them over to Lightroom is if you want to make any tweaks to the individual photos themselves. It’s an absolute game-changer and will save so much time.

[00:23:58] If you’re interested in trying it out, I want you to head over to simplysandrayvonne.ca/resources to get a 10 percent discount using my affiliate link.

[00:24:08] That makes a lot of sense. Like from the consumer standpoint, it’s nice to not have ad generated content. But. I feel like all, if not like 99 percent of the people creating the posts going on Instagram are business owners that want to redirect off the platform.

[00:24:25] So from our standpoint, I can definitely see how like that doesn’t make sense and would cause a lot of problems for people. 

[00:24:30] Kara Duncan: Yeah, like it’s kind of like if you go to get a recipe and you have to like scroll through the food bloggers like stuff. Story first. Life story. But yeah, it’s like, okay, nobody actually wants that.

[00:24:40] So if IdeaPens just like skip to that, but then at the same time, yeah, food bloggers have to make money. Otherwise, what’s the point of them doing it? Right? Right. There has to be somewhat of a win-win, because it’s like, you as a business owner, like, we don’t want everyone to stop creating content. And like, that’s kind of how I feel about like, Google is making some changes. So people are like, a little nervous about it, right, especially if they rely on SEO.

[00:25:04] And it’s like, ultimately, like, Google is Just testing things, right? They’re not like permanently changing anything. Algorithms are always going to be changing. And if you like, because I think one thing that they’re testing is like just an AI generated answer at the top, right? And you’re like, that’s fine.

[00:25:21] But if everyone that is creating the content that is ultimately like giving Google that answer if they stop because it’s not worth it to them. That’s not going to be good for Google, right? So it’s like, it really has to be this like win win we have to do. We have to serve our customers. And then we also have to make sure that we’re doing things that give us an ROI.

[00:25:40] So just balancing that and then one quick tip that I’ve been doing more that I want to share with repurposing your content. If I’m writing a blog post, I’ve started using AI to be like, create a caption from this one paragraph. Cause I think I know you have AI people coming on the show or maybe have already been on the show.

[00:26:01] But I feel like there’s like a lot of like, AI is unethical or stealing other people’s content or whatever. And like all valid, but it’s like, you can also use it for your own content and be like, can you just make this paragraph of this blog post? You know, if your blog post has like three or four, you know, the meat of the paragraph or whatever, it’s like, that can be three or four Instagram captions and you can like, and it’s your own content, own ideas and that kind of stuff.

[00:26:26] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, I am totally with you. Like, all the hesitations and concerns around AI are totally valid, but I absolutely love what, like, something like ChatGPT is able to do with your own content. Like, I’ll take something, a paragraph that I’ve written that says, It’s two, three, four sentences long. I guess two sentences are not a paragraph.

[00:26:47] The English nerd in me was just raging as I said that, like two sentences is not a paragraph, but like if I have a paragraph and I want it to be longer and I’m just like struggling to elaborate on what I want to say, it’s nice to be able to put it into chat, chat, GPT and just see what it says. Like I’m never using anything word for word, but it’s saving me so much time getting me out of ruts that I get stuck in.

[00:27:08] And I just, I love it. I could go on forever, but the photography side of AI, 

[00:27:13] Kara Duncan: I know I’m like pro AI as well. And yeah, like you said, sometimes I’ll literally be writing like three sentences. Cause I’m like looking through, you know, like if I’m blogging for a photographer, I wasn’t at the wedding.

[00:27:25] Sometimes I just have to think like, okay, how am I going to put this all together? So it’ll be like, you know, bridesmaids wore green dresses, the couple had a first look, this was the venue. It’s like, can you turn this into a paragraph? 

[00:27:40] Sandra Henderson: Right. Turn it into a story that people actually want to read, not point form with like random thoughts about the day.

[00:27:46] Kara Duncan: Right. Yeah. It’s super helpful. And like you said, it’s like, literally, can I just copy and paste that? But it’s like, sometimes it will give me ideas on how to like flow these like things together. 

[00:27:57] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, absolutely. Or like there’s times that I’m like, no, that’s 100 percent not what I want to do. And so it’ll like, there’s been times where it’s just reframed the way that I’ve approached things.

[00:28:07] And so, yeah, I think there’s so many benefits to it. And I’m excited to see it because this is just the beginning. At the start of it we are not even at the tip of the iceberg. So yeah,

[00:28:15] Kara Duncan: I totally agree like I had what was I writing? I wanted something about like being a wedding copywriter, like to rank on that keyword.

[00:28:22] So I’m like, Oh, write a blog about this or whatever. It wasn’t chat GPT was a different one. And it literally like wrote me an entire 3000-word blog post on like But it was geared toward couples hiring a wedding copywriter for their wedding website, which you’re like, to my knowledge, that’s not a thing.

[00:28:40] Thank you for the 3000 words, but like, none of this is usable. Not one word. 

[00:28:46] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, when I first started playing around with it, it was definitely like writing everything to like the couple that was looking to hire a photography coach. And I’m like, no, like, that’s not quite what we’re going for here 

[00:28:58] Kara Duncan: and we’re using it. I feel like, I’m excited. And like you said, I feel like a lot of the Instagram stuff that we see is all about, like how you can use AI to write stuff. And it’s like, I’m so excited about the non-writing stuff we can use AI for, like you said, for photography and like, you know, like a fathom note taker is one that I see in almost every zoom room now.

[00:29:20] And it never used to be a thing, right? And you’re like, there’s like tango for SOPs. You’re like. All of those things I’m like, so excited about. 

[00:29:29] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, I’m totally with you and just like, There’s so many different ways we can use it. And I’m excited about all of it. So just kind of like, going back to like, we’re saying, use this as inspiration and a tool to get you started.

[00:29:40] When I was first playing around with chat GPT, I was saying how, like, it was really just making everything geared towards the couple that was looking for a photography coach, which did not apply. I did ask it to just write out a workflow for wedding photographers because I was just curious as to what it would see what it would say to do versus the workflow for wedding photographers that I already have shameless, plug.

[00:30:02] I will include the link for that in the show notes because I do have a freebie for that. But the workflow that it wrote for me had the couple reaching out to the photographer to confirm their contract details one month before the wedding day. And so when I saw that, I was like, okay, guys, we don’t need to worry about AI taking our jobs.

[00:30:22] Like, totally fine. We are still years away from a point where we have to worry about that because if couples are taking this advice and they are trying to finalize a contract with a wedding photographer one month before their wedding, they are going to be sorely disappointed. So, yeah, I definitely do not have any concern whatsoever at this point that AI is going to be taking my job in any capacity.

[00:30:44] Kara Duncan: I totally agree.

[00:30:46] Sandra Henderson: So that wraps up all the questions that I have for you, but if you could leave listeners with one final takeaway that will help them stay consistent with their marketing, what would that takeaway be?

[00:30:56] Kara Duncan: I think it would just be like regular check-ins on what marketing tools are providing you an ROI. And considering the best practices of a whole platform and not feeling like you have to be on one platform. Right. So like if. Like, for example, TikTok. I love TikTok. I think it’s a great marketing channel. I do not have the bandwidth for, like, what it demands.

[00:31:19] Maybe I will in the future, right? And, like, the busier you are, the, you know, the more dialled in I think you have to be. Like, if you’re in the start of your business, I like to say, like, Do try everything. Like, don’t do everything perfectly, but try everything. Because a lot of times I think people start their photography business, obviously they start on Instagram, and they are, you know, then surrounded by people who tell them Instagram is the only way.

[00:31:42] And it’s like, consider the source, right? And like, be open to other ideas. Because like, if anyone’s going to tell you, you can’t run a business without Instagram, like you absolutely can. Many people are, and you’re just not seeing them because they’re only looking on Instagram. 

[00:31:59] Sandra Henderson: Such a good point. And you were saying like, you don’t have the capacity to do all the things that TikTok they claim to require.

[00:32:07] I literally just like, take, I saved my Instagram reels and I posted over on TikTok and I don’t change anything. And it’s been so interesting to me to see how completely differently they perform. And like, there’s yet to be a reel slash TikTok that has seen It’s performed equally on both platforms. It either does really well on Instagram and does horribly on TikTok, or it does really well on TikTok and it’s just like mediocre on Instagram.

[00:32:34] So that has been… 

[00:32:35] Kara Duncan: which I feel like is like, where it’s hard, right? It’s like when you’re comparing things, you’re actually comparing them with data instead of like, well, I like sharing photos of my coffee more than I like blogging, which same.

[00:32:48] Sandra Henderson: Yeah. And I think it just like, hopefully, it will give people permission to show up a little bit messier. And just kind of evaluate what is working best for you to make educated decisions in your business. And if you don’t have the capacity to show up in all the places, that’s okay. I think like we’ve driven that point home a few times in this episode.

[00:33:07] And I know that that’s something that I think is super important as a business owner. So I’m glad that we got to touch on it so much.

[00:33:13] Kara Duncan: Ya absolutely. 

[00:33:15] Sandra Henderson: I just have one last fun little, like, would you rather question for you? Now I know you are retired from the wedding planning industry, but would you rather plan a celebrity wedding, which like we can all imagine would probably be one of the most stressful, difficult weddings to plan, or would you rather copywrite for someone who hasn’t taken the time to figure out who they are, what they do and who they want to work with?

[00:33:42] Kara Duncan: Oh, I think I would rather copywrite and the reason is because sometimes I will have people come to me like that. And even though I try and get it out of them, sometimes it’s like, well, I’m just not good with words or whatever. And it’s like, that’s great because part of my job as a copywriter is like, I’ll invent an angle that I think will work for you.

[00:34:04] Sometimes people are like, they think that they’re bringing me all this not to go on another tangent, but they think they’re bringing me a lot. But it’s like that their ideal client is between 25 and 35 and makes 200, 000 a year. And you know what I mean? You’re like, This is like, and it’s so much and like, how helpful is it really?

[00:34:20] So sometimes I’m like, Oh, Hey, like after I like stalked your Instagram for the last four years, I decided that this angle is actually like what makes you different. Even though, you know, cause it’s an outsider. I’m like, I’ve never seen that before. But as you as a business owner, sometimes you’re like, I don’t do anything special.

[00:34:37] Whatever. 

[00:34:38] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, for sure. It’s nice to have a different perspective on it because like I was saying earlier, like, I feel like I, my consistency is all over the place. But then I have someone like you following me, we follow each other and you’re able to see that. And you can give that like, different insight into how things look because.

[00:34:55] We are definitely our own worst enemies when it comes to running a small business. I think we are all going to be guilty of that. So that’s nice to know that working with someone like Kara for copywriting, they’re going to come in. And if you aren’t quite sure what’s going to happen or what you should be doing, you’ve got a professional to help you steer you in the right direction.

[00:35:12] I know, like for me, my ideal client was totally like the 25 to 35 for up until about a few years ago, for everybody that’s listening, Kara and I work with the same business coach, Candice Coppola, I give her a little bit of a shout out. But yeah, it was like every single person who teaches ideal clients in the photography industry is like, how much did they make?

[00:35:32] What gender are they? What’s their name? Like, let’s come up with just a basic dating profile for them. And it wasn’t until I started working with Candice and took a workshop with someone else that taught Just kind of like diving in really deep to think about what their concerns are and like what their values are in life and things like that, that I was like, oh, okay, now I understand why this is such a game changer.

[00:35:54] Kara Duncan: Yes, yeah, totally. Because you’re like, well, I don’t get it. I’m filling it out. Right? How come it’s not working? Yeah, right. Yeah, I would vote that unless it’s like Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, then I’ll come out of retirement, but anyone else is not worth the stress. 

[00:36:08] Sandra Henderson: This, I, I am all for little tangents, so now it’s my turn to do a little tangent.

[00:36:12] But it has been like, I live for making fun of sports. I am not a sports person by any stretch of the imagination. And so like my good friends who are really, really sporty and like my best friend is like so into sports. And so like I get my entertainment from just like kind of poking the bear and making fun of it a little bit.

[00:36:31] So this whole Taylor Swift Travis Kels thing is like. Raining down from the heavens for me and like, I saw a t-shirt that was like something about here to see Taylor Swift’s boyfriend play I saw another thing about how, like, Taylor Swift is visiting all these stadiums before they get turned into Mojo Dojo Casa houses, and I’m like, oh, this is everything I need in my life.

[00:36:51] So thank you, Taylor Swift, because I’m going to be, I’m going to be looking at this for months. It’s just so much fun.

[00:36:58] But thank you so much, Kara. This was such a fun interview and I know listeners are going to have so many takeaways that they can apply to their businesses.

[00:37:04] Sandra Henderson: It was so great chatting with you. Thank you so much again. And I look forward to connecting with you again in the future. 

[00:37:11] I recorded this episode with Kara back in October when the media entirely revolved around all things Barbie, Taylor Swift, and Travis Kelce. And honestly, as I was listening back and doing the editing, I was seriously patting myself on the back for being able to drop the words Mojo Dojo Casa House during an interview about marketing.

[00:37:30] Now, if you want to find Kara online, you can find her on Instagram at TheKaraReport, and you can also listen to her podcast, also called TheKaraReport. It is one of my favourites to listen to, and I know that you guys are going to love it as much as I do. Now, my own takeaway from this episode confirms what I’ve already been feeling.

[00:37:48] I need to start putting more energy into marketing platforms that have a long-term return, like Pinterest and my blog, because it’s how I will be able to stay consistent no matter what I’m dealing with health-wise. That’s what drives everything I do in my systems business, that drives so much of what I talk about here on the podcast, and so it’s time to start practicing what I preach and really embracing those long-term marketing strategies this year.

[00:38:12] If blogging is something that you are struggling with, I do offer a blog writing creation service. That’s not something that I really talk about a whole lot because it’s just something that I do when I have the free time in my calendar available, but I absolutely love writing. And off and on over the last 12 years, I have actually been ghostwriting blogs for other photographers.

[00:38:31] So what this looks like, it can be just content creation. Whether you are doing educational blog posts or if you are a photographer or a wedding pro writing about a specific wedding or photos or anything like that, we can do content that is more client-facing.

[00:38:46] And then I also have add-ons for things like doing keyword research and having your post built out inside your blog platform.

[00:38:53] All you really need to do is decide on what topics you want talked about, and give me any photos that you want included, and then I handle the rest. If you’re interested in more info on that blogging service, just send me an email at hello@simplysandrayvonne.Ca and I would love to talk more.

[00:39:10] All right friends, that is another podcast episode in the books. Thank you so much for being here. Have an amazing rest of your week and I will be back next Wednesday. 

[00:39:20] Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/shownotes.

[00:39:29] In the meantime, let’s connect! You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search Simply Sandra Yvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review until next time!

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I may receive a small amount of money if you make a purchase from any of our affiliates. This is done at no cost to you!

If you’re a photographer looking to streamline and boost your print sales, using the right tools can be a game-changer. Efficiently managing your client galleries and automating the post-session sales process not only saves time but also has the ability to significantly increase your revenue. I’ve seen it first-hand in my own business!

Today on Keeping It Candid, I’m diving into the benefits of using innovative gallery platforms – specifically Pic-Time. The right gallery service will not only simplify your operations but also offer features designed to maximize your earnings and elevate your client experience. Whether you’re frustrated with your current system or just curious about improving your business efficiency, this episode is for you!

Keep reading for show notes and a full episode transcript.

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Show Notes

Template Shop: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop

Get one free month of Pic-Time: https://lifeisbeautifullondon.pic-time.com/referral (affiliate link)

Save 50% on your first year of HoneyBook: https://share.honeybook.com/Sandra

One free month of Showit: https://showit.com/referral/?referralCode=sandralibp

My favourite photography business resources: https://simplysandrayvonne.ca/resources

Takeaways

• Pic-Time is a platform that allows photographers to automate sales after a session, leading to increased revenue.
• Switching to Pic-Time can result in a significant increase in sales revenue, as experienced by host Sandra Henderson.
• Pic-Time offers pre-made automations, email templates, and seasonal campaigns to make the sales process easier and more efficient.
• The integration of Pic-Time with HoneyBook provides a seamless experience for managing client galleries and bookings.
• Affiliate links are available for a free month of Pic-Time and a discount on HoneyBook.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background
01:21 Frustration with Previous Gallery Platform
03:15 Passive Income and Automation with Pic-Time
04:05 Positive Sales Experience with Pic-Time
05:01 Automation Features of Pic-Time
07:13 Integration of Pic-Time with HoneyBook
09:02 Affiliate Links and Conclusion

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Take my quiz to find out what your taco preferences reveal about your wedding photography business!

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Other Episodes You’ll Love

021 Taking A Look Back At 2022

049 What’s A Photography Locations Gallery? I’m Glad You Asked…

019 The Local Vendor Series with Life is Beautiful Photography

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Sandra Henderson: Over the last month on the podcast, I have been talking a lot about pick time because now that I am back behind my camera more regularly, it’s a platform that I am spending a fair amount of time in, and I am regularly reminded about why I love it so much. The biggest reason by far is how easy it is to automate sales after a session.

[00:00:18] Since switching to pick time. I have been able to achieve a 90 percent increase in sales revenue from digital photos and printed products in just 13 months. And today on the podcast, I’m going to tell you how I was able to make that happen.

Welcome to keeping it candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach.

[00:00:40] I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong enneagram 3 wing 2 who is obsessed with tacos and my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

[00:01:02] Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends. So go grab your favorite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

[00:01:21] Back in 2022, I was beyond frustrated with my old gallery platform because there were so many features that they were releasing that weren’t available to users living outside the U. S. If you wanted to use these features, you had to go with U. S. printers and charge U. S. currency, which for anybody living in Canada or outside the U.

[00:01:41] S., that can really start to add up when you’re factoring in the exchange rate and shipping and things like that. I talked to the company multiple times. They kept reassuring me that Canadian options were coming soon. And they said that for a couple of years before I finally just got fed up and knew I needed to start looking elsewhere.

[00:02:01] So, after doing a little bit of research into the different options and talking to friends, I tried out PipTime and I have truly never regretted that decision. I made the switch in November of 2022, which is arguably my busiest time of year because I knew that it would be worth it, even with all that extra work on my plate.

[00:02:20] My total sales from digital photos and prints in 2022 was a whopping 250. It’s great. I’m not, I shouldn’t say I’m not complaining. It was great. I like it. Everybody can use an extra 250, but I knew that there was a lot more room to grow there. I actually had a few clients tell me that they weren’t placing orders because they didn’t want to pay the exchange rate and I don’t blame them for that.

[00:02:45] I would have done the exact same thing if I were in their position, so I needed to find a new way to do things. After making the switch to PickTime, my sales increased by 90 percent to 2, 500 within 13 months of switching to the platform. Upselling is so important, especially if you have a chronic illness because more often than not, we have fewer working hours than someone who doesn’t have health issues, but we still have the same bills to pay, sometimes even more, and we still have a life that we want to live.

[00:03:15] When you use a platform like Pic-Time, it becomes passive income to sell digital photos in print. Of course, there is a bit of work that you have to do on your part, in the beginning, to get your storefront set up, but after that, you can literally sit back and let your clients self-guide themselves through the ordering process, having their order sent directly to the printer, and even shipped directly to the client, all without you ever having to get involved.

[00:03:40] I hate it so, so much when you’re online and you see people talking about making money in their sleep because nine times out of ten, it’s absolutely bullshit. But I literally woke up last Thursday to a 110 sale. And since that client is having it shipped to their home, all I had to do was click approve the order and then it was done.

[00:03:59] And clicking the approve order button is even an option that you can turn off if you want to be completely hands-off, but I have a little bit of a trust issue with technology. And so I just want to make sure that everything looks okay before I send it to the printer. No matter which option you want to go with, Picktime makes it so, so easy.

[00:04:19] Y’all know how much I love systems, automations, workflows, and getting things just working in a streamlined and simple manner. And Picktime has so much that’s already built into it to help make that happen. There are automations that are already existing and made ready for you to just apply to any gallery that you’re sending out for things like celebrating someone’s wedding anniversary, giving them a discount as a thank you after they’ve made a purchase, for something like giving an abandoned cart discount, which you may have seen on other e-commerce sites where if they put something into their shopping cart and then they don’t purchase, you can automatically send out a discount for them.

[00:04:55] All of these are already made and live inside everybody’s Pic-time account as soon as you sign up. Hey friends, I’m interrupting this episode because I wanted to remind you that the waitlist for my brand new template shop is now open. This template shop is going to be filled with everything you need to simplify and streamline your business behind the scenes.

[00:05:14] Including things like HoneyBook smart file templates, email swipe files, Workflow processes and tutorials to help you get them built inside your CRM. So many good things are coming. So head over to simplysandrayvonne.ca/shop to get on the waitlist. You’ll also have a chance to enter to win a free bundle, as well as get a little special something to say thank you for being here.

[00:05:39] That’s simplySandraYvonne.ca/shop. 

So it literally is as simple as just applying it to a gallery. The email templates are ready to go. You can change the colour and make them on brand if you’d like to, but otherwise, you don’t need to do any work at all. They also release seasonal campaigns for things like Mother’s Day, Christmas, and things like that throughout the year.

[00:06:02] So you can constantly be sending out Automated sales campaigns with just the click of a few buttons. Another thing that I do in my business is that I gift every client a 30 percent discount that’s good for 30 days when I deliver their gallery. And that discount can also be shared with their friends and family.

[00:06:19] So that gives them the opportunity once they receive their gallery and they’re getting their digital downloads to take advantage of that excitement, all the emotions that they’re feeling when they look at their photos and go and order some prints for their walls or gifts for family members and things like that.

[00:06:33] It has been really, really beneficial for my business. And outside of ordering prints and products, one of my favourite features is one that I actually use for my mini-session clients. So they are able to log into their gallery and they can choose the photos that they want included. They can have instant access to downloading those photos, and they can purchase more if they would like to upgrade their gallery.

[00:06:57] So if they want to order one extra photo, three extra photos, get the whole gallery, They’re able to do that and do the selection process, the purchasing, and the downloading, all automatically without me having to be involved. Before I switched to Picktime with the old gallery service I was using, I sent my clients their gallery.

[00:07:15] They went through and picked their favourite photos. Then they had to send me an email to let me know they were done making their selections. After that, I would have to go back into their gallery. I would have to activate downloads specifically for the photos that they selected. Then I would have to send them another email to let them know the downloads were available.

[00:07:32] There was a lot of back and forth and I really hate anything that involves a lot of back and forth emailing the clients. So switching to pick time made it so that I don’t have to do that. I have automatic emails set up to remind people that their gallery is expiring. There’s truly no shortage of options when it comes to being able to customize this for your business to serve your clients and help you make some more money.

[00:07:56] And if I haven’t sold you on using PickTime yet, one other thing that I am absolutely obsessed with is the fact that PickTime integrates with HoneyBook. I was already using both of these platforms separately before this announcement was made, so I was truly jumping for joy because they are able to be integrated.

[00:08:13] When a client books with me through HoneyBook, a new gallery is automatically created. created for them inside pick time. And once I upload all of their photos into their gallery, I’m able to see those inside their HoneyBook account as well. So it’s super cool how everything is able to be integrated and you’re able to get a more comprehensive picture and idea of everything that is going on within one specific client.

[00:08:36] I don’t know about you, but I hate having things in all the places, trying to keep track of what lives where. So having one spot where I can just go into their honey book account and I can see all the things there are quick links and access to the gallery from there. It just makes things so much easier.

[00:08:52] If you want to give pick time or honey book a try, head over to simplysandrayvonne.ca/resources, or as always check the show notes for this episode there. There you are going to find affiliate links to get a free month of pick time in addition to the free month trial that you already receive when you sign up. And you can find an affiliate link for 50 percent off your first year of HoneyBook.

[00:09:14] Next week, I am going to be back with another interview, this time joined by Kara Duncan from the Kara Report talking all about consistency in marketing. Until next time, friends, have a great rest of your Wednesday. I am off to go spend the weekend feeling really, really old because my stepson is turning 17.

[00:09:34] And I really just don’t understand how we got here so fast. So I hope that your weekend comes with nice weather, amazing weddings, great clients, and not feeling as old as I do. Are you looking for a simple, easy-to-use website platform that will help you incorporate your brand voice after you’re done listening to this episode?

[00:09:54] ShowIt is exactly what you need. It is truly the best website platform for photographers, hands down. Trust me, because I have tried a lot of them, and I’m pretty sure at least half of the gray hair on my head came from trying to navigate the horrible platforms I was using before. With ShowIt there are so many templates available that you can choose from that are geared towards the photography industry.

[00:10:17] All you need to do is implement your photos, your own brand colours, and your own copywriting. Everything else is designed for you, so instead of having to put together an entire website from start to finish, from the ground up, laying every single piece along the way, you can just pop in the information and you are good to go.

[00:10:35] The SEO strategy that you can build into every page is incomparable and the customer support is amazing. So if you’ve been feeling like your website could really use a new facelift, or if you just want to get started with your very first website, I want you to head over to my website, simplysandrayvonne.ca/resources

[00:10:52] or check out the show notes for today’s episode to get my affiliate link, which will give you one free month of show it. I promise you will not regret it. Again, that is simplySandraYvonne.ca/resources, or you can find the link in today’s show notes as well.

[00:11:11] Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandrayvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok. Just search simply Sandra Yvonne. And if you’re loving this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review until next time.

Today I am joined by Candice Coppola, author, podcast host, business coach, and entrepreneur have to do business or happy hour alone. Call me biased, but I can confidently say that she is the best business coach out there. I’ve been working with her since 2021 and it’s easily one of the best decisions that I have ever made.

I absolutely adore this woman. I could sing her praises a million times over. I’m a little bit of a fangirl, but it’s okay.

As a successful entrepreneur who grew a business from the spare bedroom of her home into a multi country multi six. figure company. It’s safe to say that Candace has navigated the bumpy road of entrepreneurship.

She started her first company Jubilee Events during the great recession in 2008 with no experience and no contacts. She grew it into a recognizable brand and team over 12 years. She worked with clients from all around the world and produced events in excess of a million dollars. [00:01:00] She launched the Power In Purpose podcast in 2008, a show that explores how to build a profitable business with purpose and the stories behind the successful entrepreneurs who have Candace and her audience have meaningful conversations about business and life as they explore the strategies and techniques that build profitable businesses. Her podcast is rated five stars and sits on the Apple podcast charts as one of the top 100 podcasts in the entrepreneur category.

Her work and voice can be seen in many publications, but most recently, and most notably in her two books, The White Dress & Color Inspiration for the Modern Bride and The White Dress Destinations, The definitive guide to planning the new destination wedding. Candace joined me for an interview to talk all about email marketing and how wedding photographers can utilize it to generate sales in their businesses and take some of the pressure off themselves to always be showing up on social media. Everything that Candace has to teach is absolute gold and she has no bullshit approach just like me. So I know you’re going to love it.

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Transcript of my interview with Candice Coppola

[00:02:00] Sandra Henderson: (Intro Music) Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the backend of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three-wing too who’s obsessed with tacos.

And my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows and beating burnout as a business owner. Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

(Music Fades Out)

Well, thank you so much for joining me for an interview. I’m so excited for the shoe or like our roles to be reversed and to be on the other side of this. But anybody who has been following me online for any amount of time over the last couple of years knows all about you because I talk about you all the time and how much I love being a part of your mastermind.

But for any listeners who are maybe new around here, why don’t you take a quick second to introduce yourself and let everybody know what you’re all

[00:03:12] Candice Coppola: about. Well, Sandra, thank you for having me on your show. It’s a great honour to be here. I’m so flattered that you wanted to have this conversation and the feeling is mutual in terms of love and respect and admiration.

What you’re doing here is amazing. And I just think the world of you. So thank you so much for having me on this show. For those of you guys who don’t know me, I’m Candace Coppola. I’m a business coach for wedding pros, and I help you build a profitable business with purpose in a former life though. I was a wedding planner, so I understand all the weird things about the industry firsthand because I lived it myself growing a business over 12 years.

Uh, I help clients all over the world celebrate moments that matter in their lives. And in 2019 I [00:04:00] decided to sell my business and to go all in on helping wedding pros build their business. And that was like a long time coming. I had slowly started to not love my job as much as I used to when I started and in those growth years, my lifestyle had changed pretty dramatically, which definitely played a role.

And I just loved doing stuff like this, talking to Sandra, talking to you guys and just exchanging ideas and helping people build a business that really supports their life.

[00:04:32] Sandra Henderson: Well, I, for one, am very grateful that you’ve made that change because it brought us together. So sorry for everybody who’s missing out on you planning their weddings, but we love having you over here.

[00:04:43] Candice Coppola: And I’m happy to be here. Trust me.

[00:04:45] Sandra Henderson: So I wanted to connect for this interview to talk a little bit about email marketing. I would love to kick things off by just hearing your thoughts on why you think that email marketing is so overlooked in the wedding industry as a whole, especially for wedding photographers.

[00:05:01] Candice Coppola: You know, I think wedding pros are just getting by with the marketing that they can muster. You know, we’re really focused on Instagram. That’s kind of like our place where we focus and network. I like to call marketing for wedding pros this holy trinity of Instagram, networking and blogging/SEO.

I think those are the three things that work best for wedding pros, but I feel like email marketing is one of those things that wedding photographers might find to be scary. Maybe you tried it before and it didn’t work and I can understand why because it is something that you have to be very strategic about and you can’t just, you know, throw something on your website, ask people to sign up for your newsletter and then expect to be Making thousands of dollars from your email list. It requires that you understand how email marketing works, but once you get the gist of it, then you can see the opportunities and the possibilities. But it needs to be better described for wedding pros because my email marketing is a lot different than what a wedding photographer would do, right?

Email marketing is like the backbone of my business, to be honest. Email marketing is one of the oldest forms of marketing. Before there was email marketing, there was direct mail marketing, which everybody remembers getting catalogues in the mail as a kid, you know, and like just getting direct mail, which still happens.

I don’t get a lot of it, but I know a lot of people’s mailboxes are full of bullshit. Well, email marketing is the new generation of direct mail marketing. It’s one of the oldest forms of marketing and it works for a wedding photographer. You need to think about it differently than what I would do as a coach and maybe what a store would do that’s selling products or something like that.

[00:06:51] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, I totally agree. And it’s so true. That was kind of like the, the key that flipped everything for me was just kind of thinking about how it’s different than the average businesses, email marketing. And something triggered my thought process to go this way. But my husband actually the other day was like, could you please stop spamming our family email address with all of your email marketing?

And I was like, no, how am I supposed to test it out? I need it.

[00:07:16] Candice Coppola: And also PS, you should be encouraging me to send it so that you can see what I’m doing.

[00:07:23] Sandra Henderson: I’m going to bring that back to him. It’s his birthday, so I’ll wait until. tomorrow.

[00:07:26] Candice Coppola: That sounds like, that sounds like a fair thing.

[00:07:28] Sandra Henderson: He gets a day off from me giving him a hard time.

So why do you think that email marketing is so important when it comes to making sure that your business is sustainable long term? Like I know a lot of people start to feel so burnt out when it comes to social media, and especially Instagram. I feel like I’m saying this all the time more and more as the years go on. But it’s never been harder for businesses to get their info out there on Instagram.

[00:07:54] Candice Coppola: Yeah, it’s true. Instagram has become more difficult to stand out because everything kind of looks the same over there. And Instagram has moved in the direction of serving creators. And let’s be honest, we didn’t open our businesses to become creators.

It’s sort of a byproduct of having a business these days; you need to create content, but what you really want to do is photograph weddings. You want that connection with your client. That’s where you want to spend your time. And so Instagram has evolved into this almost unsustainable channel for marketing. We have to be there. It’s sort of a necessary evil. And I think that if you can diversify your marketing channels and really make that top of funnel broader where you’re bringing people in…

So think of your marketing – and just for somebody who’s like, what the heck is she talking about? I want you to think of business sales like a funnel and you have your top of the funnel and that’s what’s feeding in all of these potential leads.

And for most photographers, the top of their funnel is going to be word of mouth. Okay. So you’ve got that networking vibe, you’ve got Instagram and then hopefully you’re blogging. If you’re not blogging and doing SEO, that’s a separate conversation that I’m sure Sandra will have with you, but those are the top of your funnel.

We’re looking for interesting ways to add to that, that don’t take too much of your time or don’t require you to be front and center like Instagram does daily, multiple times a day. So email marketing is great for wedding pros in the sense that it’s something that you can, you can kind of set and forget. You can’t set and forget anything. You have to pay attention to all areas of your business, but you don’t have to pay attention to it. Even closely though, even what you do with blogging, you don’t have to pay attention to email marketing the same way you could essentially set up a funnel, an email funnel that you create and that automatically.

It helps to bring in leads, helps to nurture those leads to help them go through that know, like, and trust and that leads to bookings. But you can also use it for the very same purpose on your existing clients. Here’s it’s something that wedding photographers really mess up – product sales. You guys, like I’ve coached so many of you and we go through your pricing and we go through your revenue streams and I’m like, okay, so how much are you making on products? And everybody’s like, Oh, I don’t make anything.

[00:10:27] Sandra Henderson: I remember when I was first starting my business, word for word, I was like, I literally don’t care where people print their photos. I’m just giving them their digitals and be on their way. And Oh, do I regret saying that.

[00:10:42] Candice Coppola: it’s a missed opportunity, right? It is one of the fundamentals of sales, is it’s easier to sell to an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one.

And so if you take anything out of our interview today, out of our conversation, aside from email marketing, I want you to really get serious about how you can increase the value of every customer you already have. And you might be doing this by having shoots beyond weddings after the wedding. So offering yourself up for family or portrait sessions, things like that.

That’s great. But product is something that a lot of photographers fall short on, and you can easily sell products and even add-ons to your services using email marketing in an automated way. So email marketing adds a layer of sustainability to your photography business marketing and when used well and when used strategically can really help to increase your revenue.

[00:11:40] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, that’s so true. Now, what are some ways that you think that photographers can actually grow that list and gain inspiration for those top-of-funnel steps? One thing that I see a lot of photographers doing that are in my little network, is doing like tips for engagement sessions and things like that. So is that the right kind of like path that photographers should be thinking along?

[00:12:02] Candice Coppola: Right. This is a great question. And this is where I think email marketing gets, it’s a make-or-break situation because how you bring people on your list really matters. And we need to be very strategic about this. Think about it like this.

You have this funnel. You want people entering the top of your funnel at or around the point where they’re ready to buy and if they’re entering your funnel with, you know, 10 things to have on your wedding day to get ready or how to prep for your engagement session, they may be entering your funnel with a photographer already.

It’s guaranteed, right? Somebody is Googling engagement session ideas. They’re looking for ideas to use with their photographer who P. S. is not you. So, it’s kind of like you want to think strategically about getting somebody on your list at or around the point where they’re going to be ready to buy a certain product from you.

And for this instance, we’re going to talk weddings, but we can also think through a variety of other shoots that you may do during the week or to diversify your income. We also want the opt-in or the way that we’re bringing them into the funnel to be location-based. The locations in which you serve if you’re a destination wedding photographer, cool. There’s a lot you can work with on that. Speaking to the destinations that you are known for want to be known for, but if we just throw out an opt-in, like how to get ready for your engagement session and you’re based in Connecticut, anybody can download that across the world and then what you’re doing is you’re bringing in leads who are in your area.

It just doesn’t make sense to support them. Right? So when you’re thinking about your opt-in, I want you to think, okay, first, what are some topics that somebody might be searching for using Google that I can rank for? The questions that they have or things that they’re looking for that are around the time that they are going to buy from me.

And what do I want them to buy? Is it wedding photography or is it something else? And then how can I tie that to my location that acts as a filter and makes it very location-specific, which honestly is fantastic for people who are searching in that location. That information is like insider information based on where you’re located.

[00:14:20] Sandra Henderson: Oh, that’s such a good point about being insider information. Do you think that it matters if photographers create something that other photographers in their area have already done? That’s the one hindrance that I hear a lot of people say, ‘Well, I don’t have a unique idea and this person and this person have already done this.’ What are your thoughts on that?

[00:14:40] Candice Coppola: It is absolutely not a problem to create something that somebody else has already created because first of all, if you see a lot of people using a certain type of opt-in the likelihood that they’re using it is because it works. And so that’s validation. It shouldn’t be something that, you know, that you feel restricted by like, Oh, I can’t do that because she’s doing it.

See it as validation, but what you’re going to do is you’re going to put your brand on it, your approach on it, your thought process process on it. You know, maybe you see another photographer doing like the 10 best wedding locations in insert your area and you do the same. You may not mention the same locations.

I wouldn’t even download the opt-in. I would just be like, okay, I’m seeing that a few people are doing this. That must mean it works. Let me just take that concept and then do it with a fresh set of eyes and not see what anybody else is doing inside their offer. But no, that, that to me says, ‘Hey, this is viable. This means like, it’s been vetted.’

[00:15:38] Sandra Henderson: So when wedding photographers are creating these opt-ins and thinking about how they’re going to lead people through their funnels, what are some ways that they can make sure that that exchange is profitable for both sides, like both for the client and for them?

[00:15:52] Candice Coppola: I think one of the biggest hang-ups around email marketing is that we don’t want to bother people, right? This is what detracts people from getting into email marketing because, and even I, sometimes I’m like, ugh, hitting send on this. I’m like, I hope I’m not bothering anybody. This is kind of ridiculous because it takes this mindset shift to say, you know what? Maybe I’m helping someone. Maybe sending this email and whatever I’m saying in it or whatever I’m telling them in it or sharing or giving them information about is actually being of help and of service to them rather than being a nuisance.

So I think first before we go any further, you need to recognize that when people opt-in to hear from you when they download a freebie; when they say, ‘Hey, I’m actually searching for this information. I’m interested in it,’ that’s them telling you that they want to hear from you and they’re interested in this subject. So you have permission to speak to them.

There’s also an unsubscribe button. So at any time, people can tag out, they can be like, you know what? I don’t need this anymore. And then you don’t have to pay to have them on their list. So it’s a benefit for everybody. They can self-filter themselves.

When we think about email marketing though, I want you to think of it like this, and this is something that I heard somewhere, maybe in some Clubhouse room or maybe, I don’t know. I heard it somewhere, maybe on a podcast. It was from a copywriter and they were like, ‘Write emails that people want to read.’

And when you think about the best emails that have come across your inbox, they tend to do a bit of storytelling. They have humanity behind them, probably a bit of humour, the personality of the writer. It doesn’t feel formulaic. It doesn’t feel like, you know, some of those emails. I don’t need to describe them, but you know what I mean? Emails that just feel detached. And they’re speaking to the crowd as well. They’re like, Hey guys, or Hey everybody. But. The best emails are ones that tell stories, they show your personality, they’re relaxed, they’re not too professional or corporate in any way, and they speak to the one person reading.

[00:18:00] If you’re not on Sandra’s email list, you should be because she writes great emails. And I’m not just saying that. Sandra understands how to write and she also understands how to write an email that people want to read. They’re engaging with their storytelling. They offer support and knowledge. There’s a point to it. You kind of get lost in the story she’s telling. It makes sense to what she’s sharing with you. And it’s just a pleasure to read. If you want your email marketing to be successful, you need to do it with strategy. And I want you to feel comfortable writing. In a tone and in a way that connects people to you.

[00:18:41] Sandra Henderson: I think that’s so, so important. And thank you for those kind words about my email marketing. It’s one of my favourite things to do now that I’ve kind of learned some of the things that you’ve been talking about in this episode. And the one person that I was thinking of that I know you love getting these emails to is Jen from Tonic Site Shop. That’s another email list, if you guys aren’t on it, you definitely want to go and sign up because even just her subject lines are so funny. They’re a major inspiration for me, for sure. Now, we’ve talked a lot about opting in and things that people can do to get people to opt in comes next. What are some things that wedding photographers should be keeping in mind in those other steps of the funnel?

[00:19:25] Candice Coppola: Right. So I also want to say, do not put up a form on your website and say, subscribe to my newsletter. Nobody wants to subscribe to you. Literally nobody, unless your newsletter is about gossip or something juicy, you know, nobody’s interested in your newsletter.

And also you’re never going to send the fucking newsletter. People are going to be opting in for this newsletter that never gets sent. I’ve been there too. And I’ve also been on the other end of opting in for something from somebody and never hearing from them, and then suddenly they email me a year later and I’m like, who is this?!

[00:20:03] Sandra Henderson: Right?! Oh, that happens to me all the time. I’m like, why are you in my inbox? I don’t even know your name and unsubscribe.

[00:20:09] Candice Coppola: I know. I know. So when somebody opts in to hear from you, what I want you to do is think, how can that opt-in be connected to a product or service that I offer?

So let’s just take the 10 best wedding venues to get married in Connecticut as an opt-in, right? The person is looking for a wedding venue, which means they definitely haven’t hired a photographer yet. So they’re like in the right moment to know about your services.

They download this guide and you’re sharing with them your favourite venues from a photography perspective. Why they’re so great, images of your work that are throughout this guide are fantastic. You deliver it to them and then through a series of automated emails over several days and even weeks, you’re going to email them related to the opt-in and then related to your services. So you’re going to think first, okay, this person downloads this opt-in. Maybe I check in with them three or four days later and ask them if they had a chance to review it, or if they have any questions about the venues that are in the guide, and just be of service, right?

So you’re going to serve them. And then a few days later, you might be like, Hey, I have some cool blog posts that I want to send this person in case they want to kind of check out some other options. Maybe let me serve them again in another email, direct them to some of my work and maybe say like, Hey, you should really check out Candice and Jason’s wedding at this venue.

Or, check out my work there, just check out how they designed it. Blah, blah, blah. So you’re serving, you’re serving, and then the next email you send, you might say, Hey, why don’t you schedule a consultation with me? We can talk more about my photography services, and I can maybe answer some of your questions about the venues you’re looking at.

So do you see how we are serving them information? We’re guiding them. We’re guiding them to more resources. Maybe we’re even answering some frequently asked questions that your couples have before they book a venue or before they find a photographer. We’re trying to raise brand awareness. We’re trying to kind of leave an imprint on them, and we’re trying to help them get to that date so then they can get to us and book our services. So we talk, I talk about this model of serve, serve, sell. And so in your emails, just think about how can I serve, serve and then sell. How can I serve, serve and then sell? How can I offer support and value and feel really good about doing that?

But then also give them an option of something that may help them it. Get to where they want to go faster, right? Which is booking a photographer, and maybe shouting out some of your favourite planners that can help. Like all of that is just goodness for the client. So to me, that is what email marketing is not sitting down on every Tuesday and having to think about like, what the fuck am I going to send these people-

[00:22:56] Sandra Henderson: – talking about the weather at the beginning of the email, which is what my go-to was.

[00:23:02] Candice Coppola: hope you’re doing well. You know, these automated emails, everybody who downloads it goes through the funnel and then you can start to get feedback from people and you can maybe even get on a call or two with people and you can feel out some things and then add to your nurture sequence. And that’s what this is called. It’s called a nurture sequence.

Now in your nurture sequence, you should definitely introduce yourself. You should share more about yourself and invite them to come follow you on Instagram or wherever it is that you would like to draw their attention to. Instagram is probably going to be one of those places.

And don’t be afraid to share with them about you. Why you do what you do, your photography style, and then information on how they can book a consultation with you. Information on how they can connect with you multiple times throughout your nurture sequence. And you can have many nurture sequences, so you can have different nurture sequences for different opt-ins.

And that kind of makes sense because if somebody is opting in for the 10 best venues in Connecticut and another person’s opting in for a checklist for hiring your Connecticut wedding photographer, they’re in two different stages. So it makes sense to have two different nurture sequences that speak to the problem they’re experiencing that led them to your opt-in.

[00:24:24] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, that is such a good point. And I love what you were saying about serve, serve and sell. That was really the key thing that flipped my approach to email marketing and helped it feel a lot more authentic was just removing that. And I think that whether you’re in the education space or in the wedding industry, in the photography space, there are ways that you can help your clients out or help potential clients out without just constantly selling to them over and over again.

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Sandra Henderson: Friends, I am interrupting this interview because I am so excited to tell you that I just launched a brand new quiz called Let’s Talk About It, What Your Taco Preferences Reveal About Your Wedding Photography Business.

When I was growing up, I loved nothing more than taking quizzes in the back of teen magazines. If any of you listening were born in the 90s, you know exactly what I’m talking about. They were in the back of teen magazines, they were in the back of Cosmo magazines. And now if I’m being totally honest at 36 years old. When I see a quiz pop up on my Buzzfeed, there is no better way to waste a few minutes of my day than to take that quiz. I just love them.

So if you are like me and you love taking quizzes or you’re just interested in finding out what your taco preferences reveal about your wedding photography business and what the hell the two of them have anything to do with each other at all, I want you to head over to my website, simplysandrayvonne.ca/quiz and you can find out, and then don’t forget to pop over to my Instagram – @SimplySandraYvonne – and let me know what your results

[00:26:01] Candice Coppola: Yeah. I mean, listen, it’s about the human connection, the experience, so make it authentic to you. But what I want you to know is there’s nothing wrong with asking for a sale and you have to recognize that you’re in business to solve problems for people. It’s why you opened your business with folks who are getting married and who want a photographer. That’s a problem that you solve. And maybe you even have more of a niche. So maybe you serve the LGBTQIA+ Community. And that’s you so you are friendly to that community. Or maybe you understand a certain culture or background for certain types of clients, and so you serve them at understanding that nuance. Either way, you’re in business to solve your customers’ problems. People are coming to you with this problem and you’re in business to solve it. Don’t feel bad about saying, ‘Hey, I can solve this problem for you. It’s why I opened up my business.’

I feel like we have to be more comfortable and confident in our sales. You know, we need to feel more empowered that we’re here to help people. And we do that by having a transaction, which is when money gets deposited in your account and then you help the people, right? But you can also help people by just being supportive in your email nurture sequence. You write it, you might test it and pay attention to it, and then you can kind of forget it.

Another thing that I want you to think about too, and this goes back to the product sales. You can create nurture sequences that trigger for your clients at certain stages of their wedding planning or post-wedding where you are gently trying to get them to purchase albums and prints and other things that you might sell.

And they might even bring awareness to the fact that maybe you only shoot things outside of weddings for your past wedding clients So if they buy a new home or they maybe they decide to start a family; those are things that you can come in and photograph for them. But this nurture sequence raises that awareness

The problem is, we’re all so busy and this is what I hear from photographers all the time. I’m too busy to worry about the products. I’m just trying to edit and get things out in a timely fashion. Well set up an automated email sequence at certain stages of the client journey that helps them buy additional hours for their wedding. Add an album on before the wedding, give them a print credit. I don’t know. There are so many fun things you can do that help to increase that value per customer with email marketing, too. And you don’t have to sit at your computer every Tuesday and type out some email. It’s already banked, it’s there, and you schedule when you want it to go out.

[00:28:47] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, that’s such a good point. And I think it’s important for photographers to remember, and this is something that I was so guilty of, is that you can’t just expect people to know. So if you’re offering other services outside of wedding photography that are exclusive just to your clients, or even if they’re not exclusive just to your clients, you can’t assume that people are going to know. I get emails from past clients all the time asking me, do you do family photos or do you do maternity photos?

And like, even with me posting that and having done it the entire time I’ve been in business, they still don’t know. So there’s so much opportunity to just continue using your email in a way that can increase your revenue without you having to do all that extra work. I know I am all about more money.

[00:29:29] Candice Coppola: Yeah, and sustainability, right? So I mean, that’s something that I know is really important to you, Sandra, for a variety of personal reasons and also professional reasons, you know, we need to be looking at how we can safeguard our business for life circumstances that may arise that are outside of our control.

And when it comes to marketing, if for some reason you couldn’t get on Instagram or you couldn’t blog; if you couldn’t continue doing the same thing you’re doing right now, wouldn’t you like to know that there’s something working for you behind the scenes to help your funnels still gather leads? I think that’s really important to consider when we think about sustainability for our business and what life has in store for us, you know, because it’s, there are some years where things are really rocking and rolling and things are great and we’re able to keep all of our commitments and we feel good about the work we’re doing.

And then something happens in life. You no longer are able to keep that frequency, but with something like email marketing, SEO, and blogging, those things live on despite you not tending to them like you would have to with Instagram.

[00:30:39] Sandra Henderson: And I think everybody, regardless of what your life was like in 2019, like we’ve all learned that lesson in 2020 and 2021, like having those backup plans for when we just physically and mentally don’t have the capacity to be posting on Instagram and things like that. Those are key for sustaining your business through those rocky times. So I’m so glad that you brought that up.

Do you have any final takeaways that you would love to share or that you hope that like, if there’s one thing that you take from this episode, this is what I hope you walk away with?

[00:31:14] Candice Coppola: Oh, wow. I hope you walk away with a few things. Don’t be scared to sell. I want you to know that the easiest way to make more money is to sell to the people who already have bought from you.

And I also hope that you consider email marketing and you consider it doing it strategically. And trying to come up with an opt-in or more than one that helps to bring the right customers to you. The opt-in needs to be something that people are searching for or a problem they have, a question they have that you can then answer.

And then all you need to do is create a nurture sequence that shares with them more resources and more support, answers more of their questions and leads them to book a consultation with you or leads them to learn more about your brand. So when they’re ready to buy, you’re one of the people on their list.

[00:32:03] Sandra Henderson: One thing that I have loved since I implemented an opt-in funnel sequence for my business is the amount of people that actually reply to these emails. So I wrote these emails, I think the end of 2020 or spring 2021.

Basically, whenever you released The Client Cocktail, a little slight plug guys, if you have not checked out Candice’s Client Cocktail, and you want to get into opt-ins, a hundred percent go and check that out because it was such a game changer for me. But when people are going through that sequence, I actually get emails from them as they’re going through it, where they’re emailing me and thanking me for answering questions that they had not even asked me yet, or telling me how helpful the information was and they’re excited to book a consultation. So that’s been a really interesting after effect that I’ve noticed from implementing my business.

[00:32:54] Candice Coppola: And I love a good chance for conversation. I get so many people responding to my origin story email. It feels weird saying origin story. But you guys know what I mean? That’s like a business term of this how I started my business, being on the couch with appendicitis. It’s a very relatable story, you know?

And people respond to that all the time; telling me their story of why they might be getting into wedding planning or wedding photography. Like what was the catalyst? It’s so great to read those stories and you actually glean a lot of information and insights that you can leverage in your marketing and in understanding your ideal client sort of frame of mind.

So here’s a bonus thing to think about. I’m actually speaking about this at the Book More Weddings Summit coming up probably after this airs. But anyway, maybe I’ll make this presentation available in some form or fashion, but It’s data mining. It’s looking at information and allowing that information to help you make better decisions in your business.

And those emails that you get back with people responding, saying, ‘Thank you so much for answering this question. Here are some other questions I have,’ that gives you information that you can then use to sell, to serve, to post on Instagram for the next email you write. We don’t just take it at face value. Take it as information that you can use to get inside your client’s head to better understand what they’re thinking and the challenges they’re facing.

Boy, wouldn’t we love to know more about why it’s been so quiet this year directly from the source, not from gurus? You know, I see people talking about the wedding gap and all this stuff. And like, okay, but you’re not economists. Like, you don’t really know what’s going on here. I don’t know what’s going on. I just know a lot of people aren’t getting married right now. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could talk to some people and really understand why. We have our theories, but we don’t know. When people respond to your emails, you’re getting in their head and you’re starting to kind of unravel things that maybe you hadn’t considered.

So when people respond to your emails and really with any interaction you have with an ideal client, see it, not just at face value, but also ask yourself, what are they trying to tell me in their questions? What are they trying to tell me about the conversation that we’re having? But that’s a whole other podcast episode.

[00:35:22] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, we could dive in forever, but that was so amazing. Thank you! I know that everybody listening is going to have some amazing takeaways. I do have one last question in store, something that I am doing for season two of the podcast, a little fun ‘Would you rather?’ question, and I’ve been especially excited for yours.

So if you were to go out for dinner with one TV star, would you go out with Jax from Vanderpump rules or The Situation from Jersey Shore?

[00:35:57] Candice Coppola: Why are you making this so hard?

[00:35:59] Sandra Henderson: Which train wreck would you rather go out for dinner?

[00:36:05] Candice Coppola: Well, first of all, listen, I’m leaning towards The Situation, ’cause The Situation loves foods, right? Right. You know that you are going to order the whole menu, right? But Jax, he’s like, an absolute prick and I would, I actually kind of like him in some weird ways.

Like I can actually relate to him on some stuff.

Sandra Henderson: Honestly, me too.

Candice Coppola: And I would want all the Vanderpump Rules tea. Like I would want the real lowdown tea.

[00:36:34] Sandra Henderson: Yeah, and you know he’s gonna spill it like without any hesitation.

[00:36:36] Candice Coppola: He is. I mean, what do I want more? Food or tea? I want tea. So I’d probably… Surprisingly, I would probably pick Jax from Vanderpump Rules.

[00:36:48] Sandra Henderson: I have to agree. I would go the same. No matter which you chose, like you’d be in for a good time, but with The Situation, it’s like the food and the life quotes, and then with Jax, it’s all the tea, but yeah, I got to go with the tea. I love some good tea.

[00:37:03] Candice Coppola: I don’t know if I need the T-shirt quotes, you know, like, I’m good on all of that, even though I love Mike The Situation, but I definitely think Jax. Like I don’t even need to eat, to be honest. Like we can have a couple of drinks. Like I don’t even need to eat. Skip over the food. Yeah.

[00:37:25] Sandra Henderson: Yeah

Candice Coppola: Oh my God. What a fun question. I love that.

Sandra Henderson: Well, thank you so much again for joining me. I absolutely loved this interview and I’m sure we will talk more soon.

[00:37:34] Candice Coppola: Well, thanks for having me.

[00:37:35] Sandra Henderson: I cannot believe that I had THE Candice Coppola on for an interview. I know I’ve known her for a few years. We’ve had the chance to work together, but she is still is just like on a pedestal for me. Candice, if you’re listening, I love you. Thank you for everything!!!

Okay. Okay. I will get back on track. I’ve been using email marketing in my business for as long as I can remember, but I really started to lean into it in the fall of last year, and when I did, I honestly was mind-blown. More than 80 percent of my bookings for my fall mini sessions, and 90 percent of my bookings for both my tree farm and holiday studio mini sessions, came through my email list.

I sent out four emails. The initial open for booking, Some encouragement on why family photos are important because I want to build a know, like, and trust relationship with them outside of just selling. I sent a reminder just over halfway through, and then one last email with a last chance to book. And from those four emails, I was able to generate $5000 in sales.

Social media just doesn’t have that kind of return on investment. And in this scenario, your investment is your time. The time you’re using to create and post online versus the time you’re using to write and send a few emails.

For all my chronic illness friends, this is the secret ingredient you need in your business this year. It’s so hard to show up on all the socials when you’re dealing with another flare and trying to juggle so many things that are so much more important. So now that we’re in off-season, it’s the perfect time to set aside a day or two and draft up some emails for 2024 and schedule them throughout the year.

I use Flodesk for this and I have ever since it launched. It’s the perfect platform to easily create aesthetically pleasing and on-brand emails that won’t land you in people’s spam folders. If you head over to simplysandrayvonne.ca/resources, you’ll find my Flodesk affiliate link there to save 50 percent on your first-year subscription!

Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time.

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About Candice

Candice Coppola is an author, podcast host, business coach and entrepreneur who believes that you shouldn’t have to do business (or happy hour!) alone.

As a successful entrepreneur who grew a business from the spare bedroom of her home into a multi-country, multi-six figure company – it’s safe to say she’s navigated the bumpy road of entrepreneurship.

She started her first company, Jubilee Events, during the great recession in 2008. With NO experience and NO contacts, she grew it into a recognizable brand and team. Over 12 years, she worked with clients from all over the world and produced events in excess of 1M.

She launched The Power in Purpose Podcast in 2018, a show that explores how to build a profitable business with purpose—and the stories behind successful entrepreneurs who have. Candice and her audience dig in and have meaningful conversations about business and life, as they explore the strategies and techniques that build profitable businesses. Her podcast, rated 5 stars, sits on the Apple Podcasts charts as one of the top 100 podcasts in the entrepreneur category.

Candice’s work and voice can be seen in many publications, but most recently and most notably in her two books The White Dress in Color: Inspirations for the Modern Bride, and The White Dress Destinations: The Definitive Guide to Planning the New Destination Wedding.

Her favorite color is pink, she’s obsessed with all things skincare + bravo TV, she’s always overdressed, and now lives in beautiful Barbados with her husband and two pups. Catch her on Instagram for business advice and tips–but stay for the island life and house plants.

Instagram | Website | Power In Purpose Podcast

Sandra Henderson (00:00.126)
AI blew up in 2023. And I think it’s pretty safe to say that it was the most talked about topic in the entire photography industry. I know there are a lot of people who love it, there are a lot of people who hate it, and I completely understand and respect everybody’s opinions, and everybody’s hesitations, but personally, I am embracing the shit out of it because it truly makes my life so much easier.

My friends Cameron and Tia feel the exact same way, so I wanted to have them on the podcast to talk all about different ways that you can use AI for things like content creation, editing, how it can improve your client experience, where to start, and so much more. If you’ve never heard of Cameron and Tia before, they are wedding photographers and photography business coaches based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They met in second grade at Jonathan Elementary School, and 16 years later, Cameron proposed to Tia at the same elementary school.

Can we please pause for a second and talk about how freaking cute that is? That is the most adorable story. Cameron is an ex-attorney and Tia is a past dance teacher who transformed their passions into a career that allows them to have a life together filled with independence and tons of travel. Now they teach others to create the same flexibility and freedom in their own businesses. This was such a fun interview and Tia’s energy is contagious. I know you’re going to love it.

So sit back and enjoy after the intro.

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Transcript of my interview with Cameron & Tia

(Intro Music)

Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m your host, Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the backend of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three-wing too who’s obsessed with tacos.

And my love for travelling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows and beating burnout as a business owner. Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

02:15 Introduction of Cameron and Tia

Sandra Henderson (02:15.702)
Before I dive in, Cameron and Tia, I would love it if you guys would quickly just introduce yourselves and let everybody know a little bit about what you’re all about.

Tia
Yay. Yes, Sandra. We are so excited to be here. It has been long overdue. We are pumped. It’s going to be so freaking fun. So to introduce ourselves, it’s complicated because we’re husband and wife, so our story actually starts in the personal realm, but it’s very intertwined throughout there. So Cam and I actually met in second grade. We went to school all growing up together. It’s insanity.

We started dating at the end of our senior year of high school. So we’re barely high school sweethearts, but we rep it. We make it a freaking thing. You know the deal. And so post-college was when photography started coming into play. Cam had been photographing here and there, high school, college, but like elective kind of vibes. And all of a sudden I was like, what if you made this a business? How freaking fun would it be to make like a logo or like an email address? We had no clue. We thought that would be the highlight of our existence.

But we really did not make it side-hustling. We were photographing high school seniors for almost three years, so part-time. We do not even call it a side hustle. It was like we would photograph a senior and it would fund our date night afterwards. That was the vibes until we got married. We got into the wedding industry and we’re like, wait, this is freaking fun. Why have we literally not been considering this?

And it was just because we were doing our own careers. Cam was actually in law school at the time. He was going to become an attorney and I was a dance teacher, a dance coach. And we were just on our own pathways until we were like, hey, let’s try to book like three to five weddings for the following year. Let’s see what’s up. We quickly found out we are not “dip our toes in the water” kind of people. We are like “dive head freaking first.” And so we ended up booking 18 weddings. It just kind of snowballed. That was literally Cam’s first year as an attorney. So it was like burning the candle on both ends.

And we really quickly figured out that, hey, we do not get time together. We were working two different careers where Cam had something very standard, typical work hours, nine to five, but it was also like first-year attorney. So like, let’s get after it. And if you’re not getting after it, you’re not going to do well. Whereas I worked with a school schedule. And so I was starting 2pm and I worked till 10.30 and we did not see each other as this first year married when we were building our lives.

And I think we didn’t know it then, but photography became something where it wasn’t out for us. It wasn’t out of careers where we didn’t get to spend time together and it became something where it was full of freedom and flexibility. And so that’s why we latched onto it. We dove headfirst and we haven’t looked back. So we’ve been working from home together since 2017. We’ve both been full-time since then and it’s so fun doing it together.

Sandra Henderson
That is so amazing. I am a dive headfirst in the water kind of person too. I mean, unless we’re talking about actual water, I don’t like anything cold. And so like to get into actual, I am a very slow and steady kind of person. But for everything else in life, I like to dive in head first. But I always love hearing stories about couples who work together because my husband and I, we’re on the same page that we were never going to work together like to keep our marriage healthy and keep us sane. We’re never going to work together. And we both are in agreement on that.

Tia
So it’s always so interesting to me to hear just like how other people have come together and made it work. And in full transparency, day to day, like working from home, Cam and I do not work together. We are fully CEOs of our own things and all the divisions within the business and we really only go to each other when there are like anomalies in the protocol of like, oh, what would we do for this? Or how do we want to restructure this? Then we’re working together. Obviously, we’re in shoots together. But the rest of the time I’m like, no, no. We could not be sane if we were constantly…

Well, actually… In 2017, I tried to get us a long desk where we sat right next to each other. It didn’t go well. It’s not my long desk. Now it’s just Cam’s long desk.

That’s so funny. But yeah, it doesn’t matter how much you love a person. Every second of every day together is too much. You need some time. So I totally relate to that. I thought about getting a long desk once to like, my husband’s like, maybe I can help you out. Or like every now and then he talks about getting involved with video. I’m like, go for it. I want nothing to do with that. I have no issues admitting that videography is way harder and I want no part of it.

And so, yeah, there’s been times that I’m like, we could just work side by side. And then I’m like, no, that’s not a good idea. The dream is okay, but then the reality sinks in. I’m like, no, that would make for some really uncomfortable work days.

Tia
Yes. I was like, oh, we’re going to sit next to each other and chat. And then I’d want to dance and sing along to the music. And Cam would be like, I cannot focus. I cannot get a single thing done.

Sandra Henderson
That’s so funny. My husband is just like you, Tia. He would be singing and like doing all the things. And I just feel like, can you stop while I try to work, please?

Tia
Yes, and you need that balance.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, exactly. There’s times that I’m trying to like get one last email done and I just kind of like side-eye him if I’m trying to do it from the couch. And I’m like, I love you, but how do I politely tell you I need you to go away just for 10 minutes and then you can come back but like while you’re here, I’m never gonna get this email done.

Tia
Oh, hilarious.

07:42 The Excitement and Hesitations of AI

Sandra Henderson
Oh, it’s so funny. Well, today we are talking all about AI, which I am so excited about. I think it’s been like the number one talked about topic in the photography industry this year. And so I am excited to hear what your take on it is, and how do you feel about it, about this new wave of AI coming into the industry?

Tia
Freaking exciting. I think we’re at a really cool point because, so listeners, if you’re listening to this later at the time of recording, we’re in the fall. And I think we’ve hit this wave where in the spring, so many people were chatting about AI and it was like, if you’re not talking about it, I don’t know what you’re talking about. And now there was like a lag of like a lot of people going through a busy season and maybe just like resting on their laurels. Is that what the phrase is?

I tried to pull that out and I was like, I’ve never said that in my life. But just like their standard workflows that they’ve been using for years upon years and maybe AI fell by the wayside or maybe they couldn’t quite figure out how it worked into the workflows. And so we’re going to be able to chat about that today as people start heading into maybe an off-season for them, a lot of people seasonally and how that could kind of look. And so, so excited. I will say in retrospect, I was the person who was very not into AI. I was just… Okay, pretty close. Spill the tea cam. What was the vibe?

Cameron
Yeah. I mean, so our personalities in this respect are very different. I am very techy, very much wanting to be on the leading edge and test out new products and new software and all this stuff. Tia very much is not. When obviously this huge wave is coming and Tia’s like, I don’t think AI is something we should be using or I don’t know. I was like, why? Yeah, it’s too much work to do something like Tia. In our daily life, you use AI all the time. You just don’t realize it or you’ve come to accept it and the role it’s playing in your life.

You like that in our car, every time we navigate somewhere, you’re using AI to help do that. Our car itself has some AI driving features. It will self-drive.

Tia
Cam and I literally have a Tesla that self-drives and I self-drive 90% of the time.

Cameron
We have tools in our house that will automatically close the lights at certain times or when certain things like these different automations, various AI tools. Like, I love that all of our shades are automated to automatically close a half hour after sunset. Like, it’s a vibe and like the laziness in me is living for that. And every time you’re asking Siri to do something for you, you’re using AI. So just like all these things in your daily life, over and over again, you’re using AI to help improve your life, make it a little easier, make it a little better. This is a bigger scale, granted, but it is the same.

Tia
So any listeners that are sitting on the fence feeling like, I’m still not sure, or I don’t even know how this actually integrates into my business with my clients. That was me. That was 100% me. And now you’ll hear me throughout this. Like, I am the number one cheerleader of AI tools. I am a proponent. Like, let’s freaking go. So anyone who’s feeling like that, let’s get you off that fence.

Sandra Henderson
Yes, I love that. I was so excited about getting involved in AI in my own business. But I’m kind of like a combination of the two of you where I like I was super excited for that tech side of things because I hate culling, I hate editing. So I was like – anything that’s gonna take this off my plate, I’m so here for it! I hate saying anti-mirrorless camera, but I was just like, if it’s not broken don’t fix it. I can use my camera perfectly. Well, why am I gonna run out and buy a new mirrorless camera? Just because it’s the newest tech on the market.

And then last year, a local camera store had an unbelievable deal where I could trade in equipment and then get an extra 30% on top of that if I spent in-store. So I got like a whole mirrorless kit for like $1,300 Canadian, which would be under $1,000 American. It was just unreal. And now I use my mirrorless and I just even yesterday I was editing photos and I was like, what was I thinking? Why did I not do this sooner? And like, I’m totally the person who doesn’t think the camera makes the photographer. But photographers who’ve been in this a while, you know, like, sometimes that one little change in your gear can be the missing piece of the puzzle. And so that was totally what happened when I switched over to mirrorless and leaning into AI this year to get all the rest of the work done has really just been like the icing on the cake for sure.

Tia
Yeah, Sandra. Okay, the mirrorless is a really good example because when we first got mirrorless and started using eye tracking, I felt, and I think this is going to lead into our conversation later, I felt like it was kind of cheating. I was like, this is so easy. Like I’m not refocusing. I’m not recomposing. Like, wow, this is just like, I’m cheating. I’m chilling. But you know what it allowed? So much more time for everything else on a shoot.

So much more time to actually have composition nailed, have picking out locations, posing, all of our attention to clients. It allows so much more capacity for that because of something, a little tiny part of the puzzle that became so much easier. And so I think AI and a lot of tools that we’ll talk about today, they don’t need to be revolutionary. They don’t need to take a huge part of the weight off of you, but I think some will.

But some of these little ones can take little pieces of the puzzle out of there so that you have more time and energy to allocate to everything else that is in your wheelhouse.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, absolutely. I think what you just said is the biggest takeaway that I hope people get in terms of overcoming any hesitations they have about giving up control when it comes to using AI is that AI is just another tool in our toolkit. It’s just like Photoshop, just like our flashes. It’s not meant to just completely take over for you. And I know a lot of people that I’ve talked to have had that hesitation. So I’m so glad that you brought that up.

Tia
Losing the personal touch element to it, losing the, hey, how is this going to be customized for my clients? And if I don’t have this hand in it or if I don’t have this personalization to it, is it going to feel like something that they don’t necessarily want? But two concerns that are two like arguments to that. I think number one, I was really resistant to using a scheduling tool for a long time, especially for our client-facing things. This business-to-business like scheduling for a podcast interview, I was like, oh, 100% because I know that client or whoever I’m interacting with is used to that. But I was really resistant for our engagement sessions using a scheduling tool.

And that was so counterproductive because I was just thinking, oh, they need this personalization. What if they really need a Sunday? And I know we have limits on our Sundays and we don’t want to shoot on Sundays, but what if they really need it? Then somehow we switched over to a scheduling tool and never scheduled a Sunday ever again. And it’s because I was making assumptions about what clients wanted.

And clients are really living in an Amazon era. They’re living in this era where people know that they need answers and they want answers immediately and they want to be able to book things immediately. They want to be able to buy things immediately. And I was making these assumptions for them just, I don’t know, resting on my laurels of what I thought they wanted. And so I think that it’s really important that we really assess, is this just something that I’m used to and that I want to make assumptions about them? Versus what do they really need, what do they really want? And then there’s also what’s gonna save me time.

Cameron
Yeah, I also think there’s a mindset shift that needs to happen with AI tools in accepting that these are tools to help you rather than like people replacements. I mean, I think so often, especially early on, it became, okay, well, this is going to entirely replace human editors or it’s gonna entirely replace human copywriters. But if we step back and treat this as a tool that can help us get more done or help us focus on other things on our shoots or focus on other things while we’re driving, let’s say. Like all these little things, AI is a tool to help you refocus or put your focus somewhere else that you would rather have or that is more money-making for you, to be honest.

Sandra Henderson
Such a great point. So what are some of your favorite AI tools that you’ve been using throughout this last year?

10:31 Favorite AI Tools for Content Creation with Cameron and Tia

Tia
So here’s where I fear that we’re going to get deep and we’re going to get meaty in here. And I don’t want to… because I want to give listeners not just the tools, I want to give them a little bit about what you can do with them because otherwise, the reality is no one’s going to spend time investigating them, doing trials, anything like that. So please interrupt, Sandra, at any point because we want to hear your experience too, especially you already mentioned some culling, some editing. We want to chat through things like that.

And I want people to be able to leave here thinking, “oh, hey, this tool could be a good fit for XYZ in my business, so I actually want to explore it.” So I think there’s three big categories that Cam and I categorize AI tools in. Content creation, photo video, and then home, like Cam already mentioned a little bit. So content creation, let’s start there.

Chat GPT. I think everybody knows it now. We don’t need to run down what are the basics of it, but let’s talk a little bit about what you can use it for. Email subjects, email copy, putting together… literally when you’re like, hey, I’m in my off season. I actually don’t have a workflow. I don’t have a whole bunch of email templates for this new type of session that needs something. Start at ChatGPT. Start with your first draft and then probe it and probe it and prod it so that you can get a third draft and a fourth draft that really is speaking in your voice, that really has a tone so that you are getting something meaty there with ChatGPT.

So I think that’s a basic one that I just wanted to highlight. If people are not using it yet, get in there, and start exploring. I know it’s hard and it feels like, “oh, this is something extra that I need to explore.” But off-season, oh, what a time for it. What a time to just spend some time here and there. Hey, let me try it for writing my blog post. Hey, let me try it for writing my meta descriptions. These little minute tasks might not take a lot of time, but compound, right?

If you’re doing a blog post for every single family session or every single wedding recap, writing a meta description in ChatGPT where I literally don’t need to tweak the meta description, I can tell it what my keyword is, I can tell it how many characters it needs… Boom, it’s done. That time is going to compound and that time could be spent, for me reading a spicy novel, for Cam watching Netflix, like whatever that is, spending time with your spouse, spending time with your children. That can be really important in the end game. So content creation, that’s a big one.

17:53 Favorite AI Tools for Photo and Video Editing

Tia
Let’s get deep into photo video since a lot of your audience are photographers.

Cameron
Let’s get into it.

Tia
So let’s talk editing, let’s talk culling. Cam and I use AfterShoot. What are you using, Sandra?

Sandra Henderson
I’m using Imagen.AI right now. I did play around with AfterShoot and I loved it. I had no complaints, but there was just, at the time there were features that Imagen.AI had that AfterShoot didn’t. And I know, I keep tabs on both of them and they are pretty neck and neck in terms of what they offer, but it was just kind of, I was saying earlier, talking about mirrorless cameras, it’s kind of like, it’s not broken, so I’m not going to fix it. I absolutely love Imagen.AI, but I’ve heard incredible things about the changes that Aftershoot has been making too.

Tia
Totally, which is so valid. And I think it is shocking the amount of time that you save. You can speak a little to this too, Sandra. What do you think, Cam? How has it been this busy season?

Cameron
Hours and hours of editing work. So specifically to Aftershoot versus Imagen.AI, we’re using both. We’re training both because obviously, we want to keep up with this and like make sure that we’re on the right track, but at the same time for us specifically, we love to do same-day slideshows at weddings and a lot of times we’re at venues that either don’t have wifi, that hasn’t given us access to their wifi, but we don’t want to try to use our hotspot randomly because we don’t have cell service either. Like all these random things, Aftershoot works offline. And so that’s a big reason that we absolutely love it. And we push it hard.

But as far as time-saving, it’s incredible. I mean, it’s like all these topics or this conversation we are just having about saving time and energy. It’s definitely not perfect. Like every single time we edit a gallery, there are photos that are just wrong that I wouldn’t want to deliver as is, but it is saving me 80, 90% of my work. It’s putting me at this amazing starting point that I’m just going through and individually tweaking photos and that’s it, and then it’s ready to send.

Tia
And I think a testament of growth from the time saving that we’ve seen with editing, culling tools is that Cam and I had put off having… So Cam and I primarily photograph weddings and we had put off having an associate team for years upon years for myriad of reasons. Myriad of reasons. Sandra, I’m like pulling out crazy words, things I have never said in my life. I love it. I love it. I’m saying. Whole bunch of reasons. One of them being is that editing isn’t necessarily something that we’re passionate about. Cam does all of our editing and that isn’t something that he’s like, oh, I’m so pumped about so let me take on a lot more work with an associate team where I can just edit and crank out those edits. Aftershoot has made that possible for us.

And so this past year, we started booking up with a team. We started booking next year with a team and our income, it is crazy the difference. People talk about teams all the time and how that looks and we’re still in the baby stages of it, seeing how it’s going to look and how it’s going to flesh out for us.

But because of the time-saving power of AI tools with editing, is a big reason why that made it possible for us to now three times our income, just not doing anything extra, anything extra with our time. So kind of crazy. Are you doing culling in an AI tool as well right now?

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, so Imagen.AI has had a beta of their culling, which has been great. That’s actually what kind of started me in the whole world of AI for photo and video was I was an Aftershoot user for culling for absolutely ever like, I think within the first year of it launching, and just it’s unreal the amount of time it can save. One thing that you guys have mentioned, and I think is really important for listeners to remember about AI is a lot of it does take some drafts like you mentioned with ChatGPT, you go in and like make some tweaks and make sure that tone matches what you’re looking for. And these AI programs like Aftershoot, Imagen.AI, they have a learning process with them as well.

And I know that’s another hurdle that I’ve spoken to some photographers about where they were like, it’s just adding more work onto my plate, which, it can happen, but thankfully I know Imagen.AI and I think AfterShoot have added the ability to tweak your profiles. So I think that will help with that learning curve. But yeah, it’s important to remember that it’s a tool that has to learn your process. And so I’ve been using Imagen.AI long enough now that it’s had a chance to kind of like refresh my profile a few times. And like you were saying, Cam, it’s like it takes my photos to about 90 percent. I go through, I add in some masks if I need to do spot removal and things like that.

Sandra Henderson (22:09.49)
But I did like 35 photos in a mini session in half an hour this morning because all of the work was already done for me. Crazy.

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Tia
Yeah. So I think that the first draft, second draft, and third draft are really important. We need to have the mindset shift that not only are we going through how can we learn to use this tool better, but the tools are continually getting better. So getting in like Sandra, at the ground floor of like, hey, I’ve been this Aftershoot user. I am an OG. Like, let’s get after it. She’s seen it evolve, she’s learned how to utilize it as it evolves and gets to reap the benefits of it evolving.

Cameron
Yeah. And having the mindset of, yes, you do have to put in maybe a few hours of work to get these programs up and running, even a bit like what you want. And that is daunting, especially during busy season. The idea of like putting in another five hours of uploading all my past galleries to this to make sure that I can learn how I like to edit is very hard and daunting. But I have to say also that next wedding, instead of spending 8 to 12 hours editing the whole wedding, I’m spending two to three now. And every single wedding moving forward is going to be that same thing, which is incredible. We always like to say it’s like a step to the side. Don’t consider it a step backwards. It’s like a step to the side in your progress, but it’s going to catapult you forward 10 steps. You’re merging into the fast lane.

Tia
Yeah, it’s nuts. And so holler at that off-season again. What a perfect time to spend this time right now when you have a little bit more white space. If you can dig in and like, hey, I’m going to train my editing profile and let’s get after this. That is the perfect time.

Sandra Henderson
You guys already mentioned a little bit about how this has helped you kind of triple the income that you’re bringing in and start building out your associate team. What are some other ways that photographers can use AI to help them better, like grow their businesses, thrive in their businesses, and even better the impact that it’s having on their lives?

Tia
Yeah, 100%. Okay, the lives, all of these are going to circle back to the impact it can have on your lives. I mentioned spicy novels that I love to read.

Sandra Henderson (24:10.346)
Me too.

24:10 Using AI to Increase Productivity and Improve Client Experience with Cameron and Tia

Tia
How much more time (are you going to have)? So increase productivity. You’re going to be able to increase your productivity. We already heard Sandra and Cam talking about just editing. Let’s talk about, I love a tool called Descript.

Descript is what we use for kind of making any of our reels. We do weekly content that is YouTube, which is education for other photographers. So there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes. There’s a lot of business tips there for repurposing that content to reels, what I can do is pop it in a tool called Descript. And at the base level, Descript does an entire text transcript of whatever you’re talking about. It auto-populates that. And it is scary good. It is crazy. I’m going to be honest.

In the past, I saw people making videos like this and I thought that they were hand typing out their script. I was like, huh? How did they have time for that? I was so concerned. Descript automatically will do that entire text script. And then you can, if I was going to repurpose something, so maybe you have a behind-the-scenes video from your family session that you want to repurpose and you want to make it a reel and it was recorded landscape, you can take it into Descript. It can make it vertical for you and it can make that ratio and then it can do what’s called dynamic text. And so it will pop up the text on the screen following along.

So here’s the deal with that. I love to use it. We use it for all of our reels now, and anything that we’re repurposing. In the past, I would have tried to do anything like that, so let’s say I was trying to change the ratio just in Final Cut Pro, that takes time. Let’s say I was typing out the script. I did not make a script for this. That takes time. Let’s say I was making dynamic text popping up on the screen while I was saying these… Holy cow, the time there. So I think not only are these tools allowing you to do things that you might not have ever had the capacity to do, or it’s taking things off of your plate that are allowing you productivity in your zone of genius.

It’s getting the mundane, repeatable tasks off of your plate and it’s allowing you to just focus on the things that need your human touch or that need your specialty, your special sauce. It’s allowing you to get those out of there and then you to just focus on those. So increased productivity allows you to focus on your zone of genius. And I would argue 10 out of 10, it’s allowing for a better client experience.

I get it. I get the hesitation like we already talked about that you don’t have these tiny sentences of personalization that you might have elsewhere without an automation. But I think in this age of Amazon and this age of instant gratification, having a seamless client workflow, that is fast, that gives them immediate responses trumps everything.

And so all of those three categories then circle back to allowing you more time for life. It’s allowing you more time for your hobbies, more time with your significant others, more time with children, all of those things. And that is freeing. And that’s what we’re all chasing as entrepreneurs. We’re trying to take off all those mini hats and put a hat instead on ChatGPT and now allow me more time to read.

Cameron
Yeah, and in addition to that too, like for those of you who maybe really enjoy working, like in addition to that time savings, you can use that time savings to deliver better product also. I mean, you’re talking, Sandra, about using Imagen.AI, getting 90% of the way and then now you’re going and adding masks or spot removing. There are some times when I’m editing a full wedding and it’s taking a long time. It’s a weird day for some reason. It’s taking an extra long time. I don’t want to go through and do that extra work. But now if AfterShoot or Imagen.AI is doing 90% of that work for me is getting me there, all of a sudden it’s like, oh, okay, I’m a little freed up to actually put in a little bit of extra work to make these photos incredible versus just deliverable.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, absolutely. The possibilities like I know it sounds so lame, but the possibilities are endless of what you can do with all of this extra time. Like it, I wish I had my Imagen.AI open right now. But the love that it keeps track of the number of hours that you’ve saved. Because it’s just – every time I open it, it’s just like this calming wave washes over me. Like that’s 35 hours of editing that I didn’t have to do.

Tia
Yeah, so fun. So exciting.

28:48 Advice for Photographers Hesitant to Use AI

Sandra Henderson
Do you have any words of advice for wedding photographers who are hesitating to get on board with AI in their business?

Tia
Yeah. Okay, we’ve hit this a little bit, but as we enter off-season, I think there’s going to be like three camps of people. Like one, the people who have literally not touched AI. Two, the people who hit it hard in the spring and they’re like, I’m trying to ChatGPT for everything. And then they got into their busy season and it just fell by the wayside. They didn’t have it integrated into workflows or the people who are using it regularly but it’s not in their workflows at all. You know what I mean?

Like it’s like, hey, I have to circle back to this. Oh, I forgot that I should be using this for this. Let me go over here and like use it for that meta description but I don’t necessarily have that in my Asana workflow, like my project management tool where I check it off. Busy season is the opportunity for this. For all three of those camps, you can just take one step forward to move to the next camp or heck, get after it and put it in your workflows. I think that there’s power to getting into a tool. So let’s just use ChatGPT. Getting in a tool, exploring it, and then saying, oh, I do really like it for putting together my email subject lines or for putting together just like my slugs at the end of my blog post. That feels really good to me and it feels like a really easy way to use it that makes sense and I’m seeing success in it.

Okay. So now I go back to my workflow that already exists and every time I do a family blog post, I am now going to have a line item where I head over to ChatGPT, it’s bookmarked up top there, and I put together a slug, and it puts together a really great slug that’s hitting my keywords for me. And now it’s integrated into my workflow so that I am armoured up when I go back into a busy season, I am already integrated into using these AI tools.

And so I just want to encourage you to take whatever that step to the side is for a hot second to then take those steps forward so that you can go into a busy season armoured up, ready to use it, taking dedicated time to just be curious. Take time to see what new is out there, and what tools could help you influence your business or improve your business in some meaningful way.

Cameron
And sometimes it’s a flop too. I know that too. I spend every Friday, I have an hour set aside that I just research. Sometimes that’s just an hour that wasn’t super productive this time, but it was fun and it was enjoyable. Other times I’ll find a tool like Aftershoot or Imagen.AI or something else that improves our lives in some way that saves countless hours in the future or literally thousands of dollars because we found this tool in beta and now we’re getting it for free for life because we invested time in them. All these little things, just taking a little bit of time to get curious and see what’s out there can pay you back tenfold in the future.

Tia
Yes. So we call it a curiosity hour. Cam just said it was an hour on Friday in busy season, and off-season, it’s like a day. That’s like in his batch working schedule is curiosity hour. But we encourage your listeners to set aside time to get curious. I think it’s really hard because it doesn’t feel like there’s an ROI on that initially. It feels like, why would I just kind of like search around for new tools or like search around for solutions to problems I’ve been having when it’s not immediate? It doesn’t feel like, oh, this is on fire. I need to solve it right now.

But we would encourage you to just hop on and start searching around, start exploring, start looking into things that maybe you’ve screenshotted but never spent the time to dig into the tool or dig into what people are using for this. Because there can be a lot of power and the ROI can be what Cam says. It can be that you find something early on and that you’re paying a founder’s rate forever or you paid $200 and now you use this CRM for life for free. Those things are huge ROI.

So off-season is a great time to start a little curiosity hour. Start it, allocate it in your schedule, block it off and use that time for it. And I know that can be challenging, so we actually have a link that we’d love to share with your audience, Sandra. It’s cameronandtia.com/keepingitcandid. On there, it’s a page full of AI tools. So right now, like we talked about, I don’t know, like four today, it is full of it. It has probably like 30 tools on there that if you set aside a curiosity hour and your listeners want to dig into that page, you can click on them, you can explore them, you can see, oh, is this something I need? Is this something I want? Does this make sense in my life? And it can be a really great starting place for curiosity hour.

Cameron
Yeah, and also use that to test out tools too. Like, spend that hour uploading photos to Imagen.AI to see, hey, maybe this tool can save you time and money moving forward too.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, absolutely. That is amazing. I will definitely make sure to include the link in the show notes for that so everybody can go and check it out. And I definitely will be as well because there’s nothing that I love more than digging through new apps. It’s become a new love of mine over the last year. I’m sure Cameron, you’ve probably heard of AppSumo. But I just switched to a new online calendar for like booking my clients, like mini sessions and stuff like that. I paid $30 US for a lifetime deal and like that’s replacing $144 US a year for my calendar. So I’m like, it’s so addicting. I’m like, bring me more startup companies.

Cameron
Yes, that’s so fun.

33:06 Dream Weddings vs. Automated Weddings with Cameron and Tia

Sandra Henderson
Oh, it was awesome. Well, I have one last question for you guys. This one is a fun little would you rather question… So, would you rather have 10 absolute dream weddings where you cannot use AI to do any of the work that goes along with them? Or would you rather have 10 just-okay weddings but you can fully automate every part with AI imaginable?

Tia
Ha ha ha. That’s hard. 10 is a lot. 10 is what got me, Sandra. I’m looking so hard now to go back and have to almost relearn certain things. I’m thinking about eye tracking, and how much we rely on that just every day. And then we just had an issue with a camera at one wedding, so one of our backups doesn’t have eye tracking. And so I was shooting, literally moving the focus point again. I’m like, oh my God, this is so hard. And it’s just so much more work. And so to have to do that for an entire wedding, like that alone, on top of the editing… Wait. Is eye tracking AI?

Cameron
Yeah.

Tia
I’m choosing the 10 average. But the eye tracking would get me. I also think I would not want to start with a blank screen to type up a blog post. I would also have to relearn that behaviour. That’s not a huge time suck, but I just dread waking up in the morning and looking at a blank screen for a blog post. I’d be like, oh, this feels like the bane of my existence. I choose the 10 average. What do you choose?

Cameron
I might still have a dream. I might put in the extra work, but… For only 10 and never again. 10 is the best. We never have another dream client.

Sandra Henderson
That’s like when you see things online that’s like, you know, you have to live on this remote island with no cell phone service or laptop for a year, but you get a million dollars. I’m like, guys, it’s only a year. Like, I’ll be fine. Give me the million dollars, please, and then give me my cell phone back when the year’s over.

Tia
There you go. Yeah. So you would choose that?

Cameron
I would definitely have to, I think I would do the 10 dream weddings and have to fully automate it and then like just suck it up for the 10 and then I’ll be done with it and go back to AI from there. And I can catapult your business moving forward too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, but you would choose to live on an island with no laptop, cell phone for a year for a million?

Sandra Henderson
Oh, I mean, in 2023 standards, we might have to up that up. Like that million better go up with inflation a little bit. But yeah, I could totally do a finite amount of time with all of my luxuries. I think I could do that. But if it’s just like you have to give them up forever. I’m like, no, there’s not enough money in the world for me to give all that up forever.

Tia
No, no, no. A year. I don’t know if I could do a year. So I was going to mention this earlier when you were talking about diving into water. Are you a Survivor fan at all? Survivor the TV show?

Sandra Henderson
I haven’t watched it in forever, but it used to be like way back in the day. My photography teacher when I was in high school had a Survivor, almost like a fantasy football type thing where we had to pick who we thought was gonna win and like rank them and things like that. And I ended up winning. I had a good guess.

Tia
Okay, Cam and I are diehard Survivor fans. Our friend group has watched together for years and we watch it every single Wednesday. We do a draft… actually do multiple different versions of drafts. We bet every episode. We’re very into it. It’s very fun. I’ve currently decided that I am auditioning for Survivor. I am going to audition this off-season. That is my off-season task. So obviously you go without a laptop, computer or anything like that, but it’s only 29 days, so it’s no big deal.

Cameron
Yeah, I’m a little worried about that, to be honest, but I’ll get after it.

Tia
For a million dollars, that’s the grand prize. And we still have other people. So I mean, like that’s something that we all learned back in 2020. Like having just people around can really fix a lot of things. As long as there are people that you like, you get your little like alliance and then everybody else.

Sandra Henderson (37:24.962)
Well, that’s awesome. I am so excited for you. I hope that it all goes well, and I can’t wait to say that I know somebody on Survivor.

Tia
Okay. Hold your horses. People apply for like 10 years, or 20 years, and then they finally get selected. So I’m starting at 32. We’ll see what’s up.

Cameron
But you’re still expecting to be selected.

Tia
Oh, I will be selected. I should be selected.

Sandra Henderson
I love that.

Tia
Okay. We’ll report back.

Sandra Henderson
Amazing guys. Well, thank you so much again for joining me. This conversation was so much fun and I know listeners are going to have a million takeaways to dive into AI in the off-season. It was great connecting with you and I hope our paths cross again one day soon!

Tia
Yes, cannot wait.

38:18 Closing Remarks and Encouragement

Sandra Henderson
Okay, how fun was that interview? I absolutely loved talking to Cameron and Tia and the interview went so well that I honestly didn’t have to edit it. I had to trim off some at the very beginning and very end where we were just talking about random things, but the conversation flowed perfectly and you were literally hearing an unedited version of that from start to finish.

For all my chronic illness friends who are listening, I really want to encourage you to lean into AI this year. It’s important to remember that AI is not meant to replace you. These services and apps are tools for your toolkit to help you work more efficiently and when you have a chronic illness, working more efficiently means you have more time to rest.

Remember, it’s entirely possible to run a thriving business within your limitations. So here’s your permission this year to lean into whatever tools you need to make that happen.

Sandra Henderson
Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time.

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About Cameron & Tia

Cameron & Tia are wedding photographers and photography business coaches based in Minneapolis, MN. They met in second grade at Jonathan Elementary School. Sixteen years later, Cameron proposed to Tia at that same elementary school. Cameron is an ex-attorney and Tia is a past dance teacher who transformed their passions into a career that allows them to have a life together filled with independence and tons of travel. Now, they teach others to others to create the same flexibility and freedom in their own businesses.

Instagram | Website

00:00 Introduction and Importance of Accessibility

Accessibility should be a top priority for all business owners, but let’s be honest, it is something that is overlooked more often than not. It’s something that I really hope we start to see changing in 2024, and that is why I knew I had to have my friend Erin on the podcast.

Erin is a deafblind accessibility educator and the owner of Mabely Q. Her mission is to make the world a more accessible place one business at a time. She loves getting to teach businesses how to do just that by leaning on her life experiences that she shares with others to foster true inclusion at all levels. This is a do-not-miss episode. So absolutely make sure that you grab your notebook and pen or if you’re busy and listening to this on the go make sure you come back to it because there are some really, really important takeaways for you in this episode that you’re gonna be able to apply to your business and start delivering an even more incredible client experience every step of the way.

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Transcript of my interview with Erin from Mabely Q

(Intro Music)

Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m your host Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach. I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the backend of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three-wing too who’s obsessed with tacos. And my love for travelling, combined with navigating chronic illness life, are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner.

Join me every week for a candid behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer, where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here friends, so go grab your favourite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

Sandra Henderson
Erin, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today. I am so excited for this conversation. But before we dive right in, I would love it if you would give listeners, just introduce yourself and give them an idea of who you are and what you’re all about.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Sandra, thank you for having me. I really like genuinely appreciate you inviting me on this podcast. I am Erin Perkins and I am the CEO of Mabely Q. Mabely Q is all about creating accessibility education for small business owners because unlike in the corporate world, which is where I came from, like a lot of these things, they already have the budget, they already have all these things built out for them, so they’re able to do that. But when you’re a small business owner, you don’t have access to these resources, you don’t necessarily understand…

And to be honest, accessibility is very dry. It’s very misunderstood. It’s vague. Like all those things that you can think of that I found that I ended up teaching people because I, myself, am deafblind. And I’ve always had resources given to me growing up. You know, my parents had to make sure that their kids had access.

But not everyone goes to have that fortune. So I just ended up doing it and I really enjoy it. And it makes me very excited to just be able to help people really lean into the values of their business.

03:08 Challenges for Small Business Owners

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, absolutely. I love that so much. And I think that is so, so important. And you brought up a really good point that bigger companies and corporations have so many resources at their fingertips to be able to approach different aspects of incorporating accessibility into their companies. But for small business owners, we don’t have those same resources. And I think when it’s just us, it’s such a complex and nuanced subject as well because there are so many different groups of people that need accessibility. It’s not just about one group of people and I think that is something that I know from conversations I’ve had with other people. It’s something that kind of hinders them from going forward because they’re worried that they’re gonna do something wrong.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
I want people not to be scared of… We’re all gonna make mistakes. I’ve made so many mistakes. I mean, my first branding was completely not accessible with the script font. And I kind of had to learn because it’s not something that is taught in school. And it’s just like, and here’s the thing. Corporates grew up big time as well. I would like to use Meta and Instagram as the most recent example, they launched Threads. And it was completely inaccessible to screen readers, people who use alt text and all of that. They could not use it at all. And if a company that had this system set up in Instagram and Facebook screws up on Threads, you as an independent business owner, are allowed to screw up.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I totally agree. I think we all need to just get more comfortable with making mistakes because we are imperfect people and the important thing is not to be perfect right now and never make a mistake going forward. It’s to be open to like owning up to those mistakes and correcting whatever that mistake was and learning from it going forward.

Erin Perkins
Yeah, and that’s like really all I teach is like, you know, you make a mistake, okay, how do you correct? However, I will 100% say if you do it over and over and over again, that means you don’t really care. And okay, I don’t want to be part of your world then.

06:16 Improving Accessibility Online for Wedding Photographers

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I completely agree with that. So what are some ways that you think that wedding photographers can improve their accessibility online when it comes to their websites, their social media presence and things like that?

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
I think this is like really tricky because a lot of disabled people… (Missing transcript)

One, they already don’t see themselves in the wedding arena. They don’t see themselves represented. However, it’s also like, they don’t want to be the token of that wedding photographer. So it’s very hard trying to find that fine line of being able to showcase that you do welcome them, you do want them to be represented. But at the same time don’t make them feel like it has to be a part of their story. Like for me, I got married 13 years ago, so Pinterest was still brand new at that time. So it was interesting because I do not want my hearing aids to be shown in the wedding pictures and stuff like that, just because I don’t think it’s aesthetically pleasing.

But it didn’t mean that my being deaf is not part of my story. So it was like tricky, like trying to find that fine line. I think a lot of photographers could, they can change their language a little bit and like make sure that people feel like, oh, you know, I feel included in this. It doesn’t matter if I have any sort of disability, but the reality is most disabilities are invisible. So, it’s like, how do you represent that? And I think it’s by language and representation on your website.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that is so, so important. One thing that I started doing, I think in 2021, that… (Missing transcript)

08:05 Using Questionnaires to Understand Accessibility Needs

Sandra Henderson
It unfortunately doesn’t make an impact on the outward presentation because it’s for the clients that I’ve already brought in. So I’m working on making some changes to not tokenize people for my social media presence and things like that. But for people who have hired me and want to work with me, I send out what I call a welcome questionnaire and I ask them things if they need any accessibility, if they have any limitations that they don’t want stairs or lifting people or sitting on the ground or anything like that. And I think that is so important, just making sure that every person that you’re working with is comfortable and not being put into a situation where they don’t feel safe or don’t feel comfortable going forward.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, I mean, I think a questionnaire is a great place to start because it allows them to disclose things that they want to disclose. They’ll be like, if they ask that question, it will be comfortable. If a photographer had asked me like, what are some things that I can do to create more access for you during the photo shoot? I would say one of the things like use a little bit more hand gestures because I’m not seeing your face when you are counting three, two, one or something, or if you’re like telling me something…

It’s funny because I did a brand photo shoot and the photographer was great, but there were certain things that I was like, this is interesting because they will be talking to me behind the camera and I would have no clue what they’re saying. So sometimes it’s like, all right, we need to kind of set up the scene before we take pictures so that I’m kind of aware of what I need to do. So I think communication is really essential.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that’s a really good point that you brought up about requiring things like gestures and things like that. I personally am terrible at verbalizing my posing instructions. So I always like to do hand gestures. But that’s something that I’ve never thought of is that some people when they can’t hear and things like that, that those are going to go a really long way.

And I love that you said that the questionnaire allows them to disclose things that they want to disclose. I think that is a really important takeaway because we shouldn’t be putting our clients into a position where they feel like they have to give us this information. But if they want to give us that information and they’re comfortable, then it’s really important to use that.

09:46 Effective Communication and Adaptability

Erin Perkins of Mabely Q
Yeah, like especially nowadays, I feel like more and more people are saying, you know, have ADHD or stuff like that. And like that’s cool. Maybe their partner has ADHD, but their partner doesn’t necessarily want to disclose that. The other one is like, I just want them to be aware of like, they will lose their patience if you don’t keep it moving. Yeah, they get distracted very easily. I think it will help the photographer be able to adapt pretty quickly.

Sandra Henderson
If there’s one thing that you hope that wedding photographers start doing the minute they finish listening to this episode, what would that be?

Erin Perkins
Update your questionnaire for sure. And then the other thing is giving multiple ways for people to contact you.

Sandra Henderson
Oh, good point.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Because a lot of people have their preferred method of communicating. I hate it when people just call me and say, oh my god. I have like serious anxiety about that. So you need to set up some sort of workflow that allows them to contact you the way they want to originally, but then funnel them into like your questionnaire and stuff like that.

But like, if they say they would rather just talk to you on the phone, like the client, like you do have to adapt for that. If they prefer to communicate through email, adapt to that. Or if they want video chat, you do have to adapt to that. So it’s like, flexible. I know in this day and age where people are like, oh god, I gotta go on video? I prefer video more than anything. Video gives me that human connection. But if someone wants to talk on the phone, I will do it. Not my favorite though.

Sandra Henderson (12:26.214)
Yeah, completely understandable. And such a great point about being flexible. I think that business owners as a whole, but being in the wedding photography industry, I see it so much with wedding photographers is they get set in their way of doing things, which I think is important to have your boundaries and the way that you like to do things because that’s your zone of genius and you can excel that way.

But you do have to have flexibility. There needs to be a little bit of wiggle room. It can’t just be all about you. And if people aren’t willing to meet me where I am, then we’re not gonna work together. Like you need to be more open and welcoming to the different types of people that you’re gonna be working with.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, like I know so many people, they just generally have like so much anxiety about being on the phone. And like my husband, he’s different. He would much rather call than write an email. (Missing transcript)… an hour to an hour and a half typing an email on my dude did not need to be that long. Yeah. He would rather talk on the phone, though we have different things there. But it’s very interesting how people are.

(Missing transcript) … everything on the phone and it pushed me so far out of my comfort zone, but it’s just one of those things that you got to step up and do sometimes, unfortunately.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, for sure. So I’d love to jump back to some of the things that we were talking about at the beginning of the episode when we were talking more about websites and social media and things like that and the accessibility that wedding photographers are putting forward online.

You brought up a really good point about your first website and branding with script fonts. This is something that I see so much in the wedding photography or wedding industry as a whole – everybody wants to make everything look pretty… and I wear glasses, but my vision isn’t that bad I can see without my glasses on but I really struggle to read a lot of fonts that are scripted on people’s websites.

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14:01 Considerations for Website Design and Color Contrast

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Oh Yeah. I mean, it’s almost stereotypical. For weddings, like anybody in the wedding industry, it’s almost mandatory to be very light, very scripty, and very pretty in the stereotypical way. And I’m not saying you can’t use script fonts at all, but keep those to like the headers.

Like maybe only two headers, like header one and header two, that’s it. Um, but like, I know a lot of people are guilty. I was guilty of this when I built my website. I’m not a web designer by any means, but I have a background in graphic design. I wanted my script font to be kind of like represented on the website, but it wasn’t like what it wasn’t part of the font choices.

So I would create a graphic and put it on the website, but then I would forget the alt text because I was still learning at that point. At that point, I was more focused on graphic design and working for other people as opposed to creating accessibility. And I realized that those images are not readable when you have your script font that is embedded in the image. It’s not readable. So you have to make sure you have alt text for that.

And then the other thing is the colour contrast. Oh my God. So many people like pink and gray or pink and white. Don’t get me wrong. Pink is one of my favourite colours. (Missing transcript) … when it’s like low contrast like go to cooler.co and check your colour contrast you will find that your colour contrast is not good at all. Like I’m questioning if people can read some of that I’m like can you read your own stuff? I know you’re trying to keep that aesthetic but shouldn’t we like kind of like throw that aesthetic out the window and create something that really feels like you?

Sandra Henderson
I completely agree. And going forward, or going off of what you were saying about if people can even read what they’re putting up there, I think the same thing when I see people’s Instagram stories and they have their text so teeny tiny that I’m like, with my phone here, I cannot even read what they’ve written.

Erin Perkins
I’m like, I understand you’re trying to condense things into one screen, but like, that’s just not realistic. You need to spread that story out over several pages and I will read it. I promise you I will read it. But if it’s all crammed into one, like, nope, I’m skipping ahead. There’s nothing wrong with having multiple screens to share a story.

18:05 Proper Use of Alt Text

Sandra Henderson
You were talking about alt text and it kind of gave me a light bulb moment. Something that I see a lot in the wedding photography community when they’re talking about blogging and things like that to help with their SEO. A lot of people have the idea that alt text is just an SEO tool where they put in keywords. So I would love it if you could take a second to just kind of explain the proper way to use alt text.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
(Missing transcript)… actually designed for people who have vision limitations or maybe even they would rather consume things through the screen reader audio but they’re still looking at the image and if you just say wedding couple um something I don’t know what photographers do for their blog. But if you just like basically keyword stuff, you are hurting your SEO, because Google knows. Google knows what you’re doing. And then you’re hurting yourself because the people who are on your website, they’re listening to it through the screen reader, they’re automatically leaving. 85% of the people leave their website when it’s not accessible to them.

So the minute they hear something and they get this frustration, I feel like we all do it. Doesn’t matter if we have a disability or not. If there’s a problem with the website, we automatically leave it and we’re like, nope, not going back to that. It’s just like we do not have the patience. So imagine what it’s like for a person with a disability. You’re adding layers of problems to that. Like, sorry, I’m going to leave.

So when it comes to curating your blog, yes, you do have to write a brief sentence. I’m not saying it has to be a million sentences long, but one of the things I learned from somebody else who has a line, he said that we were doing alt text wrong. And he had a point. He said, I don’t care why… let me just use myself as an example. I would describe myself, I’m a white woman with a short haircut, Bob on one side, and I’m wearing a blue, dark navy blue and pink top. He’s like, I literally do not care what you look like or what you wear. I wanna know why you’re wearing that blue dress.

So he’s like, he actually pointed out he wants us to be more intentional about how we write out our alt text and why we’re doing it in a sense. So I think we have to find that fine line of being descriptive enough so that people feel like they can envision the image. But at the same time, not just throwing images in just for the hell of it. Like I think we want to, when you’re putting together a blog, you want to be intentional about what images you’re putting in there, like why you show that image.

21:42 Alt Text vs. Image Descriptions on Social Media

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that makes so much sense. And when it comes to using alt text on social media, some people put it in like the alt text feature that’s in behind the photos the same way it would be on a blog. And then some people do an image description at the bottom. Do you think that there’s one that’s more beneficial than the other when it comes to people using screen readers and things like that?

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
I mean, alt text is definitely designed for screen readers. Image description is more so for people who might not. I would never use a screen reader. But sometimes an image description kind of helps me get a better idea, especially if I can’t read the font text or something, and the image description kind of explains it for me. So there’s no wrong way of doing something, but I think one of the most missed opportunities that people have is that when you are posting something on Instagram, you need to be very…

I want people to think more about what they’re posting. You’re not just posting at random, and a lot of people, they’ll post some kind of graphic, and then not even say what that graphic is saying. That is such a missed opportunity because you know that graphic cannot be read by screen readers. So, and I guarantee you, most people aren’t putting stuff in alt text.

So like, make sure what you put in the graphic is also being written in the caption. Like, it’s just such a missed opportunity for so many people.

23:02 Inclusivity and Accessibility without Limitations

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that’s such a good point. And it kind of leads to one last question that I wanted to ask you. This is something that I think came up a lot during the pandemic because we saw that Clubhouse was a really popular platform. I’m sure that was a topic of conversation that you had a lot. Um, but the thing with Clubhouse for anybody who doesn’t know is almost like a social media platform, but only audio. So it heavily excluded a huge community of people who can’t hear.

And I know there was a lot of like blowback from that with the company and things like that. We’ll save that for another day. But one thing that I noticed when all those conversations were happening, there were a lot of people that were saying, we’re inclusive, but, or we have accessibility, but, where like there would just be this group of people has to be left out, but that’s really not inclusivity and accessibility if there are buts that go along with it. So I would love to hear your thoughts on something like that.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, because the word but, actually, I remember somebody explaining this to you, if you’re apologizing to someone and then you add the but. It almost eliminates the first sentence, to begin with.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I say that my husband and I say that all the time.

25:21 The Impact of Inaccessible Platforms

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, it’s like you have to be like really thoughtful in how you’re saying it. It’s like yeah but I’m like everything you just said you just negated it with that word but. And that’s like really hard for people because we’re used to that. I am that person that is very much like a grey area about everything. And it drives people in that. I’m the middle child in my family. So like, I see my older sister’s point. I also see my younger sister’s point. I’m like, you’re both right, but you’re also both wrong. So figure it out.

And I think that’s like the issue is like, we’re never going to get it… We’re never going to get it right. You are going to eliminate somebody unintentionally and you need to be okay with that. However, when you think about a platform like Clubhouse, they knew what they were doing in the first place. They are 100% knew what they were doing. The reason why I say that is because the founder, one of the founders, I know for a fact, had a child with a disability. And yet they knew what they were doing with the setting up Clubhouse. They knew exactly. It’s like for me, like with podcasts, like I still have this extreme frustration is like, I know how much stuff I’m missing out on.

But yet anybody who is not deaf, I challenge you to actually go to your favourite podcast and tell me how many clicks it takes for you to find that transcript. I bet you it was gonna take you a minimum of four or five clicks. Which is why, like, you know, I want that access. Like, I want it to be one or two clicks to get to the transcript or have it captioned and I don’t like it when I watch videos. I don’t have a problem with turning on the caption, but I have no problem with that because that’s just one click. But when you ask me to do four or five clicks, and it doesn’t even guarantee that I can find that transcript, I’m just not going to do it.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah. And you mentioned a lot of people with ADHD earlier, and that is something that comes into play when you are kind of giving people the runaround, and they have to click five, six, seven times. People who are neurodivergent are going to get distracted along the way or they’re not going to be able to find their way around. So it’s super important to just make sure that we’re making things as easy as possible for everybody that we’re working with.

27:44 Moving Towards Genuine Inclusion

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
So I just launched a campaign called Hello Genuine Inclusion. And the thing is, I’m trying to get us away from this whole superficial accessibility because we need to get away from that. It’s so easy to do so many things I’ve taught. But like, I’m asking people to really take a look at what you’re doing in your business. And like, let’s figure out how to make it much more inclusive without you feeling, you as a business owner, feeling like you’re doing 10 times more work.

Because to be honest, when I have to transcribe my video, my video takes me three, to four times longer for me to edit, than it does for a hearing person. So like, you don’t have the right to complain in a sense. I’m just asking you to genuinely, truthfully include people with disability, because we are a huge infrastructure of people in this world. We are 25% of the US population. If you get rid of that 25%, you’re going to see how much support we have provided for everybody else. You’re going to notice that we are missing.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, that’s so true. You brought up a good point earlier too, that most people who have disabilities, it is invisible. And so I think that a lot of people kind of overlook the fact that the disabled community is a solid foundation for everything that happens in our world. And I completely agree with you. If we were to eliminate that 25%, I think it would be a real eye-opener for people.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah. And I think that happened during the pandemic too. Like noticing people who are actually such a strong support, not able to be that support anymore. People with disabilities, like we are so strong. But man, we are tired. Yeah. So tired.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, understandably for sure. Well, I hope that this episode starts taking some of that workload off your plate and inspires everybody to go out and make some changes to their website, their social media, how they’re approaching their clients in person. And do you have any final takeaways you would love to leave the listeners with?

29:39 Starting from Where You Are

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
My biggest thing is just start from where you’re at now. Don’t feel like you have to go back, backtrack and like redo everything. Start from where you’re at now, once you are aware, start trying to incorporate accessibility throughout your business from this point on.

Sandra Henderson
Oh, I love that. That’s huge because I think a lot of people get… They keep pushing it off because it’s like, oh, it’s so much work for me to go redo my entire website, but just start where you are. And then when you have time, you can go back and do little things here and there, but it’s more important to start doing it now and make it a habit for going forward.

Erin Perkins
Yep. That’s true.

30:28 Fun Question: Snowboarding vs. Stand Up Paddling

Sandra Henderson
Awesome. Well, this has been an amazing conversation. I have one last question for you. Just something fun that I’m doing for this season of the podcast, a little would you rather-question.

And so since we have connected earlier this year and I’ve had a chance to kind of get to know you through social media a little bit, I wanted to ask, would you rather snowboard a mountain or go stand-up paddling in the ocean?

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Snowboarding a mountain.

Sandra Henderson
Snowboarding in the mountains?

Erin Perkins
Yeah, when I’m paddling boarding in the ocean now. There’s too many unknowns in that ocean. No.

Sandra Henderson
It’s so true. I went kayaking for the first time last summer and it was in a very shallow lake. And then I was in Florida and I was looking at kayaking and I was like, I don’t know, there’s bigger things in this water. The water’s a lot bigger.

Erin Perkins
I know. With the mountains, I feel like I have a little bit more control. While with the ocean, it’s like, I don’t know what’s under there. It’s humongous and things that live in it that like, I have zero desire to go, well, I can’t anyway, scuba diving, snorkeling is already like pushing it for me.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I’m the same way. I am not like, I don’t mind being on a boat for a short period of time or like in water where I can touch. But I like I went parasailing one year and I had so much fun being up in the air. But then I was just in shallow water on the beach and a little fish touched my foot and I screamed. I was terrified from this tiny little fish, but being up in the air was no big deal.

Erin Perkins from Mabely Q
Yeah, it’s just like that, like, oh God, what just touched me? And you can’t see it and it’s just like, no, no.

Sandra Henderson
Yeah, I totally agree. Awesome. Well, thank you so much again, Erin. It was so great chatting with you. And I hope that our paths get to cross again soon.

Erin Perkins
Yes, for sure. Thank you for having me.

Sandra Henderson
Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search @SimplySandraYvonne. And if you love this podcast, I’d be so honoured if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time.

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About Erin from Mabely Q

Erin is deafblind, though she can still hear with the help of her hearing aid & cochlear implant (without them, she’s profoundly deaf). She can see only 50 degrees (most people see 180 degrees)… if you’re waving to her, and she doesn’t wave back…the chances are pretty high that she didn’t see or hear you!

She started Mabely Q under the guise of being an operations manager and graphic designer. It wasn’t until she worked with business owners and mentors that she realized how few actually understood what accessibility was. She pivoted right into accessibility education.

She loves that she gets to teach businesses how to be accessible by leaning on her life experiences which she shares with others to foster true inclusion at all levels, and also teaching in a way that feels good. Her mission is to make the world more accessible one business at a time.

Instagram | Website

This week’s episode of Keeping It Candid is a fun recap of some of my favourite things from 2023. I hope you enjoy it!

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Sandra Henderson (00:00.174)
Welcome back to the podcast, friends. Happy 2024. Happy New Year. I am so excited to finally be back after an unexpected hiatus in Q4 of last year. I started November going to San Diego for a retreat with my business coach and some of the amazing ladies that I’m in a mastermind with. And it quickly turned into me catching the flu when I got home. Then my husband and stepson both got COVID.

I got a sinus infection, I lost my voice, I got bronchitis. It was just one thing after another and after about a month and a half of being sick and losing my voice, I knew that I just had to throw in the towel on the podcast for the rest of the year and take some time off to rest and finally feel better. So.

I am finally back recording this episode for the beginning of January and it is going to be one to start the year off with some easy listening. Normally I encourage you to go and grab a notebook and pen so that you can take notes, but today I’m going to be diving into my top threes of 2023 so you can just sit back and enjoy. Welcome to Keeping It Candid. I’m your host Sandra Henderson, an international wedding and family photographer and business coach.

I help wedding photographers use systems to build out the back end of their businesses to gain control and continue to thrive no matter what life throws their way. And on a more personal note, I’m a strong Enneagram three -wing too who is obsessed with tacos. And my love for traveling combined with navigating chronic illness life are just two of the many things that drive my passion for all things systems, workflows, and beating burnout as a business owner. Join me every week for a candid behind the scenes look at what it’s really like working as a wedding photographer.

where I’ll give you actionable steps to take your business to the next level. Absolutely no fluff here, friends, so go grab your favorite notebook and pen and let’s dive into this week’s episode.

Sandra Henderson (01:57.046)
Alright, let’s get started with some of my top three photography related things. The top three things that I had in my camera bag in 2023. First is my mirrorless camera. I bought a Nikon Z6 II in November of 2022. Yes, I said Zed because I’m a Canadian and that’s just how you roll. And I will be totally honest, I was really hesitant to get on board with mirrorless cameras.

When it comes to most things, especially technology, I’m an if it’s not broken, don’t fix it kind of girl. And so I just had no reason to replace my camera. I also think it’s so much more important to know how to use your gear really well than it is to always have the newest camera bodies and lenses on the market. But I had a chance to do a trade in deal that I could not pass up and got this mirrorless camera and I am obsessed.

The capabilities that it has for low light conditions, the quality of the photo that is coming directly out of camera, it is incomparable to the camera that I had before when I was using the D750. It was a great camera, but this one is, it just blows it out of the water. So I’m super happy that I made this switch. Next, number two in my camera bag for 2023 is my 70 to 200 lens.

It’s a beast. I literally have to go to Cairo and massage therapy regularly to get my wrist adjusted because the weight of this lens is just unreal after a really long day, like after eight hours of carrying this around at a wedding, my wrist is pretty much done. But it’s worth the trade off for me because I absolutely love the depth of field that you get with this lens. The bokeh on it is absolutely beautiful.

and I just haven’t found another lens that compares and gives me that same quality that I’m looking for. I used to use an 85 all the time, like I’ve tried all the different lenses, but I’m willing to take the weight of the 7200 because it is just my favorite. And then number three is the color -coded memory card cases that I have. So I have three different cases that I keep in my camera bag. One’s yellow, one’s blue, and one is red.

Sandra Henderson (04:09.294)
The yellow and blue are used for my 32 and 64 gig memory cards. I do use smaller cards because I try to change them out throughout a wedding day. That way, if worst case scenario, anything were to happen to one of my cards, then it would only be the getting ready photos or a small section of the day rather than the whole day being lost. So I just have never had a reason to upgrade to like 128 gig cards or larger. The 32 and 64 work perfectly for what I need them for.

And then the red case is for any cards that I have just finished using that need to be uploaded. Once they bring them into my office, I do actually have a fourth case that stays in here.

And that’s where I put all of my cards after they’ve been uploaded, but before they’ve been delivered to the client. So I never reuse them until long after my client has downloaded their photos and we have finished our time working together. And I thankfully have enough cards that I just used one at the end of 2023 that had photos on it from fall of 2022. So having enough cards is how I make that possible, but that’s a little side tangent.

Anyway, let’s keep going with some of my favorite extras in my camera bag. I’ve had a Buzz Patch stickers for quite a while to use on myself and on my clients because they’re really small citronella stickers that are easy to hide in people’s clothes. But I did some sessions in September that were in a park and we had more mosquitoes than I have ever dealt with on any given day, but especially in this park.

So my first client of the day actually said that she had citronella wristbands in her car and she ran to get them and it was a lifesaver. So I’ve actually bought more to put in my camera bag because I was able to just wear it around my wrist and with the time of year that it was, my clients were all wearing long sleeves in their photos and so I was able to actually tuck them up inside the sleeves for the kids and things like that to help protect them from the mosquitoes during their session.

Sandra Henderson (06:07.182)
I don’t know if anyone else out there feels the way I do about mosquitoes, but mosquito bites are one of my least favourite things in the entire world. There are not enough expletives in the English language to really appropriately describe how much I hate mosquito bites. I’m not allergic to them, I am just hyper sensitive to the itching and I won’t sleep for days until they go away and it’s just…

I hate it so much. So anything that will save me from the mosquitoes and save my clients from the mosquitoes, I’m going to take it. Now, number two in my camera bag is the shower curtain that I always have. Seems pretty random, but I use this because it is really easy to wrap around a few people or a big wedding dress when you’re needing to move from one location to another on a wedding day.

I always have umbrellas too, but as we all know when we’re using umbrellas, it’s really only doing a great job of protecting our heads, our shoulders, and then some of our torso. But our legs are pretty much at the hands of nature. And so I want to do what I can to try and keep my clients dry in between photos. And the shower curtain is just a great way to do that, especially with big ball gowns and things like that are a little bit more difficult to move quickly in. Okay, my top three systems for 2023.

First should be absolutely no surprise to anybody who listens to the podcast, but that would be HoneyBook. HoneyBook is the CRM system that I use for my business. I’ve been using it for more than six years now, and I truly don’t know how I would manage day to day without it. I’m not gonna go on a huge tangent about all the features or anything like that. There’s lots of other episodes on it, and I just wanna keep things nice and quick and easy today, but if you’re looking for a new CRM or new management for…

or new management for your client files, then you definitely want to go and check it out. Next is PickTime, which if you go back a couple episodes on the podcast, I actually did a whole episode on PickTime’s integration with HoneyBook. So now you can easily get all of the information for your client galleries inside your client’s HoneyBook file. And you can do things like automate when someone makes a payment in HoneyBook, it’s automatically creating a gallery for them in PickTime.

Sandra Henderson (08:22.414)
Little things like that are going to be such a game changer and I’m super excited to start playing around with those automations and see what kinds of things I can do for 2024. Then last but not least, we have Imagine AI, which I may or may not have been fangirling about all year because it has been the biggest game changer for my post -session and post -wedding workflow. I’m able to get things done so much faster and especially after a wedding when my body really needs a lot of time to rest and recover.

It gives me so much peace of mind knowing that my photos are being edited while I’m resting on the couch taking a nap. One thing that I think is always important to remember about AI is that it’s meant to be a tool to help you work more efficiently, not replace you all together. So I am able to get through a wedding in a fraction of the time, but I’m just going through and making little tweaks.

The base editing for my tones and white balance and things like that is all being done by Imagine and it’s honestly like having my own in -house private editor. Speaking of editing tools, let’s talk about my top three of those for 2023. First is AI Select in Lightroom. This came out at the end of 2022 and it has been so much fun to play around with. It saves so much time from having to like zoom in with a brush and try and get all those individual little pixels.

If you haven’t played around with the AI select people yet, definitely check that out because you can literally get as specific as just selecting their lips, just selecting someone’s white of their eyes, just selecting their shirt, and it really will make your life so much easier for making those fine tune adjustments in Lightroom and not having to pull those photos into Photoshop. Next, we’re still in Lightroom for the number two spot, and that is the denoise feature.

I did some holiday mini sessions in studio at the beginning of December and I intentionally decided not to use a flash because I really wanted the lights on the trees to glow. And I know that I could have done that with flash but I was just in the studio for a short amount of time. It’s a rental studio so I didn’t have a lot of time to really play around with my lighting and so I just decided to make the best of it with my manual camera settings and the natural window light and worry about the rest.

Sandra Henderson (10:36.182)
When I tell you that these photos were so fucking grainy like they were almost unusable but I ran them through Lightroom Denoise overnight because my computer is slow as shit and They you never would have known that there was a single bit of grain in them when I looked at them the next morning They were still sharp. They were smooth and they were everything that I needed them to be When it comes to things like low light wedding receptions nighttime weddings and things like that. I

This feature is going to be a game changer for so many different scenarios. And then last, in the third spot, we have Topaz Sharpen AI or possibly Topaz AI Sharpen. Either way, you get the idea. I forgot to look up and double check what order those words went in before I started recording. But what this does, I use it as a last step after I’ve exported my photos.

after I’ve exported my photos out of Lightroom, but before I upload them into a gallery to send to my client. If there are any photos that I have missed focus on or somebody has moved, I’m able to run those through Topaz to have them sharpened so that you would never know that there was any issue with them. It’s different than the sharpen feature that you’ll find in Lightroom with the slider because the slider is just sort of trying to make the best of what you already have.

When you put it into Topaz, the AI feature is actually able to modify the pixels of your photo to make them more sharp. It’s really kind of hard to explain, especially because I’m not a super technical person, but if that’s something that you think would be helpful to you in your business, I highly recommend going to check it out. If your photos are completely out of focus or have huge motion blur, it’s not going to be able to save those. But for anything that is just subtly off or if you zoom in, you can notice the difference, maybe,

you focus on a tree behind a couple or something like that, those types of photos are definitely going to be saveable with Topaz. All right, that’s all I’ve got for…

Sandra Henderson (12:37.548)
All right, that’s all I’ve got for the… All right, that’s all I’ve got for photography related top threes. Next, I wanna talk about my chronic illness toolkit and what my top three for 2023 were in there. First is the Moody app. If you’ve seen me in person anytime over the last few months, there’s a good chance that I’ve talked your ear off about this. I’m not affiliated with the company in any way. I am just genuinely obsessed with this app and the information that it can give you.

when you’re tracking your menstrual cycle. There’s free and paid versions. I just use the free version, but I use it to track my cycle and my symptoms. And it has features like graphs to show you how your symptoms are fluctuating with your hormones. It gives you tips on things that you can eat during your cycle to support your body and your hormones. It also gives you things like suggestions on different foods and nutrients you can provide your body at different parts of your cycle. And…

It gives you tips on exercise. It gives you tips on getting a better sleep. There’s so much information in this app. And for someone like me who has endometriosis, tracking my cycle is the only way that I can feel like I have some sort of control over my life. So being able to get that in depth in the information around my hormones has been a total game changer in planning how my work week goes.

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Sandra Henderson (14:55.598)
Number two is my ergonomic seat cushion. And again, if you have seen me in person at any point over the last few years, you have definitely seen me walking around with a cushion clipped to my back and I bring this with me everywhere. I actually have a few different ones. I have one in my office, I have one in my car, and I have one that I bring with me on the go. These seat cushions are because I have a lot of pelvic pain from endometriosis and I can’t really sit.

on regular chairs or hard surfaces for more than about five, 10 minutes before I start getting really uncomfortable. And the longer that I’m having to sit there for, the worse the pain starts to get. And it does get to the point where I start having trouble walking and it takes me days to start feeling better again. So using these seat cushions has been a game changer in managing that pain and just helping me stay comfortable when I’m out and enjoying my life.

I used to be in agony after a long editing session in my office. So if that is something that you struggle with, even if it’s not endometriosis related, if you’re having back problems or anything like that, definitely pop on Amazon and get an ergonomic seat cushion because you will definitely notice the difference. And then number three is my running shoes. And I really hated putting this at number three. I’m not gonna lie to you. I’m not really ready to be in this sensible shoe era of my life.

I’ve always been a cute flats kind of girl and runners were something that I only ever wore if I was going to the gym. But here we are. I’m 36 now. I have chronic illnesses. My joints and my body is not what it used to be. And so I’m trying to embrace this running shoe life. It doesn’t help that my running shoes are so ugly and they don’t match anything that I own.

They were cheap $20 runners that I bought at Walmart one day just because I needed them. And they are like gray and purple. Not only do like they’re not tones that match one another, but purple is my least favorite color. They were just the only ones that Walmart had in my size that day and I was in a jam. So I bought them and they’re comfortable. Give them that. But they’re just so ugly. So I definitely need to buy some new runners.

Sandra Henderson (17:16.174)
If you have some recommendations for cute ones, I want you to slide over to Instagram, hop into my DMs and give me some recommendations because it kills my soul a little bit every time I have to wear these shoes. That being said, my joints feel better, my limbs feel better, my body overall just feels so much better after I’m working. So I’m gonna have to make peace with it. And any tips you guys wanna give me, I’m here for it. Next, let’s talk about some…

Top Culture Favorites. My top three favorite shows for 2023. Two of the three are Bravo shows and I easily could have made all three Bravo shows because that’s pretty much all I watched last year. Nobody really warned me that it quickly becomes your entire personality when you watch Bravo. But here we are learning that lesson and having no regrets about it because it’s just the kind of entertainment that I need in my life right now.

I started watching Real Housewives here and there in 2022, but it wasn’t until a scandal broke in early last year that I really just needed to know what all the hype was about. And so I started watching Vanderpump Rules and I’m obsessed. I can’t help it. I know there are definitely going to be some listeners who feel the same way. And it really just spiraled me into watching more and more and more Bravo shows. So number two, also a Bravo show is Below Deck Sailing Yacht.

And then number three was the summer I turned pretty. That was the show on in Canada. Anyway, it was on Amazon Prime. I’m not sure if it’s the same for any of our US listeners, but it was just a super cute show. I really liked the storyline. I liked the actors. I loved the soundtrack so much T Swift and it was just really fun to watch. I tried to read the books and just a couple of days ago decided that it was going to be the first in my didn’t finish trial of 2024.

The show I just enjoy more. So this year I’m not forcing myself to read books that I’m not into and I got about halfway through and just decided I’m gonna hold it and find out what happens when the next season comes out. For my top three favorite movies, Barbie obviously gets the number one spot. I was so excited for this movie to come out long before they released a trailer or anything. I had no idea what to expect.

Sandra Henderson (19:40.75)
but I just knew that it was going to be fun. So I was super pumped for it. And then when it came out, I was blown away by the storyline. I was blown away by how well it was put together. America Ferrera’s speech at the end makes me cry every time I watch it. It was just such a well done movie. And I’m so, so glad that it turned out to be better than I was expecting it to be. It would not have surprised me even a little bit if it turned out to be a super ridiculous and something that turned into a cult classic.

I would have been really happy with that too. But as a feminist, I’m just loving all the messages behind Barbie and I can’t wait to see what happens if we get more Barbie or if people take this as inspiration for new storylines. But we need more of it. Now, my next choice is a movie called After and some of the subsequent movies that came in the series After it, not the very last one because it is so far from the original storyline.

makes no sense at all. But anyway, these movies and I’m going to talk about them again in books, I just really enjoyed the way they depicted the relationship between the main characters. In full honesty, one word that you could describe it is toxic. It is not a relationship that people want to model theirs after whatsoever. But the reason why I really liked it is because I appreciated that it showed

dynamics of a relationship for both the main characters and some of the sub characters that weren’t all sunshine and rainbows. And I’m always a really big fan of things that are realistic and relatable. We all know it doesn’t matter if it’s your relationship with your partner, if it’s a relationship with friends, if it’s a relationship with family, even a relationship with your kids. Relationships aren’t easy. They all have ebbs and flows and ups and downs.

And so it’s just really refreshing to see things that are not all sunshine and rainbows all the time. And then last but not least, this movie called Love at First Sight that came out on Netflix at the end of last year. Again, thought it was super cute. 2023 was definitely a year of romances for me. I really liked that the storyline for a romance movie was different. It wasn’t the same thing that has been done over and over and over again.

Sandra Henderson (22:02.232)
I would like if you watch a Hallmark Christmas movie over the winter, you know it’s the same framework for the storyline for every single movie. And so it was really nice to have one that had its own flow. Jamila Jamila’s in it and she’s always fantastic. So if you haven’t seen it, definitely go and check that one out. Just a couple more to go. So let’s talk about my top three favorite books for 2023.

These are actually book series because I couldn’t narrow it down to just one book. So first we have the after series, which I was just talking about that movie. There are books and movies. Normally if I watch the movie or TV show something first and then I read the book, I won’t get through the book. Just like I was saying with the summer, I turned pretty. And a lot of times if I read the book first, it ends up the movie just can’t hold up to it. So it’s…

It’s usually a toss up, but with the after series, I definitely equally loved the books and the movies. One didn’t take away from the other. And even though they are fairly different, they’re still consistent enough that it doesn’t throw you off across the whole story. Next for number two is the Things We Left Behind series by Lucy Skor. There were three books in this series, each one about the first two were about brothers and then the third one was about their friend.

These books as well as the after series books are a little spicy so if that’s not your jam you may want to take a pass on these. But these Lucy score books were really really well written and I couldn’t put them down. I got through them so quickly because all I wanted to do was keep turning pages. I can’t tell you how many nights I stayed up way past when I normally go to sleep because I just couldn’t put it down. Number three is the Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert.

These books were so funny and so enjoyable to read. And I really loved that there was a culturally diverse cast of characters, plus storylines that revolved around things like chronic illness, neurodivergency, and navigating both family and personal relationships. They were so incredibly relatable. Like, Get a Life, Chloe Brown, which is the first book in the series, is about a woman with a chronic illness who adopts a cat named Smudge. And I have…

Sandra Henderson (24:21.102)
chronic illnesses and a cat named Smudge, so definitely, definitely relatable for me. But just really enjoyable read and I’ve been recommending these books to everybody. Now to wrap up my top threes, I want to talk about the top three trips that I took for 2023. And first, I’m going to start with my trip to San Diego that I took in November.

This was a retreat with my business coach, Candice Coppola, and a bunch of incredible women from the mastermind that I have been working in for the last few years. These women are all so amazing, so inspiring, and being able to spend a few days with them brainstorming about our businesses and coming up with goals and supporting each other on how we’re going to get there was just the most amazing experience.

If you have any opportunities this year to participate in any sort of group coaching or retreats or anything like that, I highly, highly recommend you do it because there isn’t really a proper way to explain how incredible it is until you experience it yourself. Number two, speaking of going to conferences and things like that, last January I went to Dallas for the Creative Educator Conference.

I’m unfortunately not going to the 2024 conference and I have major FOMO about that, but it was just such a great opportunity to get together with other creative educators to better our businesses and the offers that we’re creating for people like you listening. And then number three was a trip to Niagara Falls that I took with my husband last March. It was my 10 year anniversary for my business in…

It was my 10 year anniversary of my photography business on the same day that Niagara Falls was turning yellow for Endometriosis Awareness Month. So we got a hotel and we went down for the weekend. I’m obsessed with Niagara Falls. It’s one of my favorite places in all of Ontario to go to. And we got dressed up. We went out for a nice dinner. We got some.

Sandra Henderson (26:21.952)
amazing cake boss cake from a vending machine which sounds sketchy but oh my god it was so good and i’m still talking about it almost a year later and then we watched the falls change from the comfort of our hotel room so we didn’t have to go down and freeze over by the water it was just such a nice relaxing weekend and still kind of surreal to think that we were celebrating 10 years since i had started my photography business back in 2013 i had to give myself a few moments

while we were there to just kind of take it all in and let myself celebrate such a huge milestone that I don’t know if I ever actually thought would happen. Like it was something that I hoped would happen, that I dreamed of it happening, but I don’t know if Sandra back in 2013 really thought that it was possible. So that was an awesome experience for sure. Now, as we head into 2024,

I’ve decided that I’m going to be tackling my goals quarterly this year rather than trying to come up with a full forecasting game plan for the entire year. There are some things that I want to do in Q3 and Q4 that are really dependent on some factors happening in Q1 and Q2. So it just doesn’t make sense for me to try and plan things out that I know are very likely going to have to change. So I’ve come up with some sales goals for Q1. I’ve come up with some personal goals and some fun goals.

but I also took some time to really think about the kind of impact that I want my businesses to make this year. So here’s what that looks like for Q1. I want to focus on creating content that will help photographers, especially my chronic illness friends, simplify the way they do things behind the scenes. I want to continue to build and foster communities where everyone feels safe, seen and heard. And I want to have fun because running a business shouldn’t always be stressful.

Having these impact goals in mind has really given me perspective to filter everything that I’m doing over the next few months. It’s helped me think about how I wanna show up for my clients and how I wanna show up in online spaces. It’s given me so much clarity. So if you’ve never taken the time to think about the kind of impact you want your business to make, here’s the perfect time to do it. We’re now in off season. You’ll have a little bit extra time compared to what you do in the summer. So take some time and really think about not just,

Sandra Henderson (28:41.742)
what kind of money you want to make this year or how many weddings you want to book, but how you want your couples to feel and what kind of impact you want to make on them in the time that you’re going to be working with them. And that wraps up everything I have for this episode, friends. Thank you so much for listening and thank you for coming back after this unexpected hiatus. I’m going to be back next week with our very first interview of 2024, where my friend Erin from Maybelline Q &I are chatting all about accessibility in your business.

Thank you so much for listening. You can find full show notes from today’s episode at simplysandryvonne.ca/keepingitcandid. In the meantime, let’s connect. You can find me on Instagram and TikTok, just search SimplySandraYvonne. And if you’re loving this podcast, I’d be so honored if you’d go ahead and hit that subscribe button and leave a review. Until next time.

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About Sandra

Sandra Henderson is a wedding photographer, business coach, and podcast host based in Ontario, Canada. She specializes in helping wedding photographers create strategic systems for their businesses to help them get their time back so they can spend it doing the things they love most. As an entrepreneur who also navigates chronic illness life, Sandra also takes a unique approach to using systems that will help businesses thrive no matter what life throws your way.

On a personal note, she loves tacos, 90’s music, travelling, and spending time at home with her husband, step-son, and two cats!

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