PhotoBizX The Ultimate Wedding and Portrait Photography Business Podcast

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area.

Michael Anthony of www.michaelanthonyphotography.com has a phenomenal set of wedding photography images on his website. Visit the site, and as soon as you land on the home page, if you're anything like me, your immediate thought will be... holy crap, this photographer is bloody fantastic!

The lighting, posing, locations, drama and post-production all combine in a way to make me feel like I'm looking at scenes shot on movie sets with multimillion-dollar production budgets.

It's that good!

Dive deeper, and you'll see these are real clients photographed on actual wedding days.

Michael's studio is based in California and started as a partnership. The company grew with their popularity, and they began to train other photographers to shoot in their style.

They have photographed around the world with a team of photographers.

In this interview, Michael shares how to build a seriously successful wedding photography business with tactical marketing, incredible photography and more referrals than you could handle.

Here's some more of what we cover in the interview:

• Michael's thoughts on his website
• Running a photography business based on data-driven decisions
• Using data to determine what to place and where on your website homepage
• Google Analytics to measure click ratios
• SEO tools to use in your photography business
• Quitting a regular paying job to work full time as a wedding photographer
• Hiring associate shooters to grow your photography business
• A snapshot of Michael's wedding photography revenue
• How Michael hired his first associate shooter
• Who are Michael's target clients
• Average client spend
• How to serve your clients better
• How to prepare clients about potentially spending $15-20k on wedding photography
• Michael's booking inquiry process
• Packages and pricing
• Hiring a salesperson to do sales consultations and IPS
• Lead generation and conversion are the heartbeat of Michael's business
• Why couples aren't booking you
• How to increase your conversion rate
• Why lead generation is the sexiest part of marketing your business
• Diversify your lead sources
• Using Facebook Ads for brand awareness
• Vendor referrals have the highest conversion rates
• How to increase your vendor referrals
• Michael's process for referring vendors
• How to be included on a vendor's preferred suppliers list
• Michael's photography gear for weddings

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this interview – the full length and more revealing version where you hear the absolute best tips and advice from every guest.

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus special member-only interviews.

I love business. I love photography but there comes a point where we got to focus on what the next thing is. – Michael Anthony

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. There are also FB live video tutorials, role-play interviews and special live interviews happening in the group. You will not find more friendly, more motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business.

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what Michael shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below, let me know what your takeaways were, what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in today's episode.

You c...

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area

Courtney Bryson of www.cmbryson.com is a US-based pet photographer who lives in a rural community of only 800 people.

However, she has an average sale of $6000!

It was this email from PBX Premium Member Laurie Elmer that prompted me to request this interview. She wrote...

My good friend and amazing pet photographer, Courtney Bryson, has developed an innovative hybrid process for in-person sales, out of necessity due to her location relative to her clients.

She has managed to combine all the personal touches that make IPS so successful, delivering them via pre-recorded video, including album and wall art mock-ups. I bet listeners would love to learn more about her process.

That was enough for me!

Still... In addition to that email, I took a look at her easy-to-navigate website. I saw beautiful albums, stunning wall art, terrific photography and clear navigation to get in touch and book a session for your dog or horse.

Requesting this interview was a no-brainer!

In this interview, Courtney shares how to sell albums and artwork without in-person consults (either in person or via Zoom). This is the perfect sales strategy for introvert photographers.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

• Why Courtney’s happy to drive 3 hours to a shoot — and how it pays off
• The small-town marketing approach that brings in big-city bookings
• How she ranks #1 for “Atlanta pet photographer” — and stays there
• The simple referral line that brings in her best clients
• How a six-email sequence turns leads into high-paying bookings
• Why charity sessions are a win for her calendar and her bank account
• What happens when you tell clients: “10 summers, not 18”
• Why she only markets to dog-obsessed professionals — and ignores the rest
• How talking price early makes everything easier later
• Charging £1,000 to book? Here’s how that filters for serious clients
• Why albums, wall art and emotion are the real close — not the pitch
• The 20-minute video that replaced her in-person consults
• No Zoom. No pressure. Just a hybrid sales system that works
• Why she doesn’t sell files — and how artwork leads to bigger sales
• How outsourcing and drop-shipping helped her earn more by doing less
• The business model behind earning a full-time income with 35 clients a year
• “I’m a business owner first” — the mindset shift that changed everything
• How her introvert-friendly system sells while she walks the dogs

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

I want all of my clients to have one image like that, so it's like one big statement image where your dog looks like an art piece. And then I want them to have a small gallery wall of images that are a little more intimate... That would be kind of the ideal sale for me. And then an album, because everybody gets an album. – Courtney Bryson

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

I love getting to work with just the clients that I want to work with, the ones that are obsessed with their dogs. Those are the people that I want to work with. – Courtney Bryson

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Courtney shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below;...

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area.

David and Whitney Scott of www.whitneyscottphotography.com came to my attention when PhotoBizX member, Mark Hazelton, mentioned their class at PPA called “Marketing for introverts”. In this interview, the focus is on how to attract high-end photography clients to make high-end sales.

David and Whitney are a husband and wife team who have been married for more than 20 years and have worked together for 15! When they started working full time together in 2009, they were ridiculously optimistic, and incredibly poor; but they were together and doing what they loved.

Since then, they've built a business they are incredibly proud of where they focus on portraiture – both in-studio and outdoors.

And when I say portraiture, I'm talking families, kids, seniors, headshots and personal branding photography.

They offer a full-service experience, starting with in-home consultation and finishing with artwork installation in the client's home!

Here's some more of what we cover in the interview:

• David and Whitney's separate business roles
• What is relational marketing
• How to find your ideal clients
• David and Whitney's booking process
• Relying on referrals to find high-end clients
• How to generate high sales
• How to close low spenders
• Establishing brand identity to weed out doubt from clients
• What to tell clients who are not the right fit for you
• How to avoid shocking clients with your photography pricing
• The sales sessions process in detail
• The importance of making it simple for clients to choose which images they want to keep or let go
• How to plant the seed for large wall art sales
• What to tell clients who cannot afford to make any purchases without killing the sale
• Structuring a business to avoid ending up as a charity business
• The benefits of offering to install wall arts for clients
• How to bring in clients fast, if required

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this interview – the full length and more revealing version where you hear the absolute best tips and advice from every guest.

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus special member-only interviews.

It's in our best interest to establish brand identity as best as we can to weed out any question marks a client or potential client has. – David Scott

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. There are also FB live video tutorials, role-play interviews and special live interviews happening in the group. You will not find more friendly, more motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business.

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what David and Whitney shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below, let me know what your takeaways were, and what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in today's episode.

You need to know what you're looking to sell to people. Because if you know what you want to sell, then you kind of know how many images to show and how many images you want them to cut down to. – Whitney Scott

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask David and Whitney or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

Each week I check for any new iTu...

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area.

Seva Mozhaev of Sev's Pics and The Sevo Show on TikTok, is a photographer, videographer and social media guy based in Perth, Western Australia but coming to you from Italy!

It was long-time listener and PBX member Jakub Redziniak who connected Sev and me with this message...

Hi Andrew!

I'm reaching out because I wanted to make an introduction to a fellow photographer that has been crushing it on TikTok, and I thought he might make a great guest everyone can learn from.

He's booked up two years of weddings until 2024, with 70% of his bookings coming from TikTok.

I hope this works out, as I can't wait to hear what he has to share!

I jumped over to TikTok, and Sev immediately drew me into his videos. I loved his self-deprecating personality, his candid approach, the raw honesty and fun of it all! No wonder he's a total hit and has over 1.2 million followers!

In this interview, learn how to attract photography clients with TikTok videos.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

• What is the role of an influencer
• How often should you produce content on social media
• Do you need to upload real-time content on your socials
• Demographic reach with TikTok
• Seva's thoughts about running ads on TikTok
• Why you should build an organic channel before doing ads
• How many videos should you upload before running ads
• Are ads effective on TikTok to generate photography bookings
• How Seva started his TikTok journey
• What kind of videos should you upload to TikTok to grow your business
• The formula for creating viral videos on TikTok
• How to incorporate value when posting comments on social media
• Can you repurpose content on multiple social media platforms
• Best practices when uploading content to TikTok
• Uploading videos giving solutions to common problems on Facebook groups
• Best way to edit video content for TikTok
• Use keywords in your captions when uploading content to social media
• Is it okay to use clickbait titles
• How clients reach you via TikTok
• How to build trust on TikTok and gain followers
• The importance of being authentic
• How Seva's TikTok consulting service works

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this interview – the full-length and more revealing version where you hear the absolute best tips and advice from every guest.

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus special member-only interviews.

You don't have to make content everyday. Make 30 pieces if you can in 1 or 2 days. – Seva Mozhaev

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. There are also FB live video tutorials, role-play interviews and special live interviews happening in the group. You will not find more friendly, more motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business.

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what Seva shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business due to what you heard in today's episode.

If you want to do it, if you believe in it, it will work but it does takes time. – Seva Mozhaev

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Seva or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel...

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area.

Holly Cook of www.hollyccook.com and Marika Moffitt of www.dirtiedogphotography.com feature in this slightly different podcast episode.

Both pet photographers have separate businesses, both competing for the exact keyword phrase and are self-proclaimed soul sisters.

Both women are based in Seattle in the USA, have gorgeous portfolios, create and sell books, albums, and wall art to their clients.

Holly specialises in working dogs and lifestyle images, while Marika's focus is the family dog and capturing how important they are in our lives.

So why two guests for the one interview?

Late last year, I saw that Charlotte Reeves and Craig Turner Bullock — both past interview guests had teamed up to create Unleashed Pet Photography Education.

Part of what they offered was a 6-month interactive challenge-based dog photography course called Embark.

I asked Charlotte if she could share the names of some of the participants so I could ask more about it from a student's perspective.

Amongst a list of photographers, Charlotte told me Marika and Holly worked together through the challenge, and both did great.

I guess these two are as thick as thieves and would be perfect to have on the podcast together.

I'm happy to say they both agreed... well, Marika agreed for both her and Holly. ?

In the interview, both women shared a ton about their pet photography businesses, their differing marketing and sales approaches, and how and why they participated in the interactive challenge-based dog photography course together.

Here's some more of what we cover in the interview:

• A snapshot of Holly and Marika's photography businesses
• Holly and Marika's annual revenue
• Reasons to join photography courses
• Going through a total rebrand and why
• The challenges of joining a pet photography course
• What is the Embark dog photography challenge all about?
• The importance of trying new techniques to hone your photography craft
• Why you need to stop giving away free prints
• Discovering your true passions by participating in photography projects and competitions
• Instagram has more success rates with model calls for pet photographers
• Why spend money to join a photography challenge despite being a successful photographer?
• Why Holly prefers using Shootproof over IPS and Zoom meetings for sales sessions
• What is a working dog (it's not what I thought)?
• How to convince potential clients you have a unique approach to photography
• What to do when your chosen niche is not generating enough sales
• The importance of staying true to your vision
• Why Holly has made her working dogs her focus
• Is it better to choose a wide photography niche over a specific or unique one?
• It is not all about building a million-dollar business
• How to generate high sales with pet photography
• Marika's pricing and packages
• Qualifiers to weed out non-paying clients
• How to handle clients who say they can't afford your pricing
• How to say what your average cost is without surprising new clients
• Marika's booking and sales process
• Offering incentives for high paying clients
• Generating pet photography sales through coffee table books
• How to attract pet photography clients for coffee table book projects
• Cameras and lenses that Holly and Marika prefer to shoot with
• Thoughts on second shooters or photography assistants
• The best thing Holly and Marika have done to grow their businesses
• How to measure success as a pet photographer
• How to handle unhappy clients and complaints
• One thing to bring clients in fast

Marika Moffitt Photography

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this interview – the full length and more revealing version where you hear the absolute best tips and advice from every guest.

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus special member-only interviews.

What...