This Can't Be That Hard

We are all being bombarded with sales pitches nearly every waking hour. As a matter of survival, our brains have become very good at saying "oh that sounds interesting... I'll get to it later."

Without a compelling, time- or scarcity-based call to action, we tend to put off non-essential decision-making - including the decision to book a photographer - even if those decisions involve something we genuinely want.

To sum this month's lesson up in a single sentence, creating urgency is good; abusing it is bad.

Most photographers I know are so worried about coming across as pushy or manipulative that they miss out on one of the most powerful strategies to increase conversions.

But leveraging sales psychology doesn't have to be manipulative. As long as you are honest about the parameters of your offers and use them sparingly, they can give the people who want to hire you anyway the permission/kick in the pants that they need to do so today rather than tomorrow.

This month, we're going to explore different ways to encourage your followers and subscribers to "act now," (but maybe without using that "act now" phrase, which most of us associate with late-night infomercials).

Learn more about Revenue on Repeat at thiscantbethathard.com/revenue

• Watch the Simple Sales Masterclass where Annemie teaches the 6 steps to running a profitable, sustainable photography business you love.
• Join the TCBTH Facebook Group - a supportive, business-focused group for photographers.
• Leave a review!

Raise your hand if you’re the kind of person who agonizes over decisions. If you write long pro/con lists or take months to decide on the next move, I’m looking at you!
While that kind of thoughtful, contemplative approach is to be commended in many areas of life, in others, there's potential for getting stuck in analysis paralysis... and that can be deadly when it comes to business.
Instead, as scary as it sometimes is, I try to live by the philosophy that there are truly no "mistakes" in business... only lessons learned. Within responsible reason (no going broke, please!), as long as you learn and grow, risks lead to progress even when plans don't pan out. Staying stuck and fearing failure helps no one.
Instead, I want to encourage you to ask yourself "what's the worst that could happen?" when considering opportunities to push your business forward.
Let's get unstuck by abandoning the idea of mistakes and find the freedom that comes from accepting uncertainty and imperfect choices as normal parts of the learning process.

Resources:

• New to the podcast? Go to thiscantbethathard.com/welcome to get access to 3 of Annemie's best free resources.
• Join our community! We'd love to welcome you into our supportive, business-focused private Facebook group. Go to facebook.com/groups/thiscantbethathard to request access.
• Long-time listener? Leave a review!

Welcome to the Consistency Club, a monthly bonus feature of the podcast dedicated entirely to marketing your photography business.
This month Annemie and Dayna talk about the power of finding your smallest viable market - and how, when you learn to speak directly to them, your marketing really starts to shine.
Don't forget! These episodes expire, so be sure you're subscribed to the podcast so you never miss an episode.
Links:

• Purchase access to this month's templates or subscribe to get early access and special savings: www.thiscantbethathard.com/club
• Watch the Simple Sales Masterclass where Annemie teaches the 6 steps to running a profitable, sustainable photography business you love.
• Join the TCBTH Facebook Group - a supportive, business-focused group for photographers.
• Leave a review!

Welcome to the Consistency Club, a monthly bonus feature of the podcast dedicated entirely to marketing your photography business.
This month Dayna and Annemie talk about how adding (ahem) consistent value to your marketing materials is a surefire way to keep your clients coming back for more.
Don't forget! These episodes expire, so be sure you are subscribed to the podcast so you never miss an episode.
Links:

• Get this month's templates at www.thiscantbethathard.com/club
• Watch the Simple Sales Masterclass where Annemie teaches the 6 steps to running a profitable, sustainable photography business you love.
• Join the TCBTH Facebook Group - a supportive, business-focused group for photographers.
• Leave a review!

Happy December, and happy final Consistency Club installment of the year! This first year of the Club has been amazing... we’ve seen some incredible success stories of photographers building their email and social followings and - even more importantly - effectively translating that growth into booked clients and money in their bank accounts.

All that to say, if you liked being part of the Club this year, get excited: based on your feedback, we’re implementing some changes for next year that we believe will make your membership even more valuable to your marketing strategy in 2024!

Here’s a sneak peek at some of what you can expect:

• Free access to our first-ever Marketing Summit (coming in January!)
• Earlier drop dates (the 15th of the month before)
• Private podcast access to the audio lesson (listen on Spotify, etc.)
• An over-the-shoulder guide to each month’s templates (as in, rather than reading this newsletter, we’ll be talking through each month’s templates and the secret strategy as part of the audio lesson.)

I’m so excited for these changes, and - as ever - so grateful to be on this journey with you. Happy holidays!

• Watch the Simple Sales Masterclass where Annemie teaches the 6 steps to running a profitable, sustainable photography business you love.
• Join the TCBTH Facebook Group - a supportive, business-focused group for photographers.
• Leave a review!