Going pro is a big decision. We all three regularly mentor photographers making this move in their life — and we have some wisdom to offer to you if you’re considering hanging out your shingle as a professional photographer. Even if you have a photography business up and running, this episode will offer you ways to grow and expand your business practices and mindset.

It's time to laugh, learn and take your photography to the

next level with your favorite cowgirls with cameras, Cara,

Kim, and Phyllis.

Welcome to the cowgirls with cameras Podcast.

I'm Kim Beer with Kim Beer photography and Be More

Business.

I'm Cara with Fast Horse photography.

And I'm Phyllis with Phyllis Burchette

photo. Hey guys, hey, everybody.

Hey, before we get started this week, I want to

tell the audience about our events and a couple of them that

we have coming up that are really cool and that are filling

up. So if you've been sitting on the fence, kind of thinking you

might want to come to one of our events, it is the time to get

yourself registered if you're going to come to one and 2023.

So we have two fantastic experiences coming up. One of

them is our cottonwood Guest Ranch, which had such rave

reviews last year. This place is truly special. But lodging a

special the people are special. And I'm going to say the

photographic fodder, there is chef's kiss. I mean, you cannot

ask for cooler dust cooler backgrounds, really good cowboys

and cowgirls amazing opportunities to shoot herds of

horses, and people doing Hellboy and cowgirl work as well as

Western lifestyle stuff. I mean, this place is truly special. And

this event is truly special. Because it is a place where

we're going to do some intensive learning things. So if you've

been seeking to really take your photography up to the next

level, if you've been looking to expand your business, if you're

feeling like you're stuck in your creativity, this is the

workshop for you to come to, to get all of that growth moving in

the right direction and to get unstuck from where you are,

because we do so many cool things in this particular event

to help you with all of that. So that's our cottonwood guest

ranch adventure. It is at the end of August the 24th through

the 29th. It's five days, five nights, and it's in wells

Nevada, and you can find out more about it on cowgirls with

cameras.com and just head to the events page and then click on

cottonwood guest ranch experience. And trust me, it's

worth your while to take a look just so you have a heads up. The

way that this works is we do talk to all of the participants

ahead of them registering completely for this event,

because we want to make sure it's the absolute perfect fit

for you. So don't be surprised when you click on the buttons if

it asks you to go ahead and make an appointment. So please do

because we can't hold your spot until we get an opportunity to

speak with you. Trust me it's painless, it's easy and just

click the button and follow the instructions and we're all good.

The other thing we have going on this fall is a new event for us

and it's the trappers Lake Lodge photography adventure. Now I'm

going to tell you I have sampled this place and it is truly an

adventure and it is some of the most breathtaking scenery you

have ever seen in your life. We're hosted by a wonderful

young photographer named caisson and caisson is amazing. She has

planned so many cool things for us to go photograph. She has

such deep knowledge of this area. It is truly a special

place. And it is in the wilderness. It is beyond

beautiful, I can't even begin to describe it in words, I suggest

you head on over to the website and take a look at that this is

an event where we're just going to shoot there's education

available to you if you need it. But this is more of a relaxing

sisterhood. Let's have a lot of fun shooting and really enjoy

ourselves and get some amazing photography for portfolios or

stock imagery or art. Anything that you are looking for. I'm

going to tell you this place has to offer it. It is five days

four nights from September 29 to October 3 It is near Meeker

Colorado. I'm not gonna say it's in it because it's quite a few

miles away from there. But it is beautiful and at the time of

year that we're going to be there. This is peak color season

in Colorado and I mean the Aspen's just simply light up the

planet. So it'd be a really good place to come and join us for

that particular adventure. So again cowgirls with cameras.com

is a great place to find information on both of these

events. All right, ladies, now that we've got that in the bag

and have told people about what we're doing, I'm curious about

what you guys have been up to in the last couple of weeks. Thank

you for doing that Kim

I'm super excited about some of those

events, I'm glad we had an opportunity to share them. I

have been doing a ton of deliveries this week, which has

been difficult up until just a couple days ago because my truck

has been broke down. So got my truck fixed. And now I've been

delivering albums. It seems like it's I'm on like an album rush

right now. So that's what I've been delivering is a bunch of

photo albums to clients. I've had a couple of photo shoots, I

had a really beautiful equestrian senior portrait shoot

a couple of days ago, it was over at Princess Place Preserve,

which you both have now been to from the horses on the beach

workshop. So we shot over there, I was able to pull out my Godox

lights, and just really lit up the beautiful big old oak trees.

And it's gorgeous, a gorgeous shoot had so much fun doing it.

I'm still recovering from the ticks though my gosh, there's, I

think I got in a nest of them or something. But it was just a

beautiful shoot. I'm also working on I'm a little late, a

little late this year, but I'm working on updating my artwork

guide. A lot of the vendors that I really love to work with have

done some product changes that I'm just really crazy about. So

I'm updating pricing, updating what I'm offering my clients to

just kind of reworking and kind of reconfiguring how that is

laid out and the pricing structures. So I've been really

busy this week on top of all the cowgirls with cameras stuff, so

but it's I'm happy to see your faces. What about you, fellas?

Well, this time of year is just a lot of

office work. For me, I think I mentioned before I was signed by

a new publisher. So I'm trying to get artwork submissions,

organized for them, and then getting new work from my old

publisher, trying to get some other stuff done on an old

publisher that is no longer in business. So I'm switching those

images over to the new publisher. So that's extra work,

which is all good. I'm happy to have the work very happy, very

thankful. I'm also working on images from my website, update

that Denise over it Storm Lily Marketing is doing for me. And

she wants a bunch of old pictures of me, which is a

little worrisome pictures of when I used to show horses and

stuff. So that's kind of cool. And actually, it's kind of been

I don't know, it's just been kind of neat going back through

these old pictures of when I used to show horses and a lot of

travel like with my sister and stuff. And she wants pictures

from all that from when I very first started photography and

before so it's been very bittersweet, kind of a good

thing and a bad thing. Just looking back at old times,

you're taking a walk down memory. So

I am taking a very, very long walk down memory

lane got some family stuff going on. My sister's still obviously

recuperating from her knee surgery, and I've been home

working or trying to help her some and then just it's been so

pretty here. It's of course it's raining today. But it's really

been in the seven days most days here and everything's blooming

and Spring has sprung Of course now it's going to be a cold snap

next week, which is what we do here in Georgia, we get hot and

then we get cold and then we get hot and then we get called again

for Easter. So but that's about it for me, Kim, what do you been

up to?

I have been the networking queen, you have heard

of the dancing queen? Well, I'm the networking queen. So I have

an extended stretch when I'm not traveling. So I have been a few

places this year so far. But it's it's been this time a year

it's more at home kind of stuff. And I'm working on building some

groups and stuff for my Gestalt business. And so I've been like

super concentrated on that. However, it's funny to me that

even in my other life, I run into so many photographers, they

like end up in the same circles that I'm in. So I have had

photographers in almost every class that I have taught around

business in the last couple of weeks and it's been super

fascinating to sit and talk with them about what we do as equine

photographers and western lifestyle photographers because

a lot of them have never experienced that and they find

it really really awesome to hear about what we all do as cow

girls with cameras versus being I guess just a person with a

camera. So that's been a lot of fun so yeah, I've been I've been

out promote my book I've been I don't know signing books and

kissing babies and just talking to people about joint ventures

and creating opportunities which is you know, as Cara is sitting

there smiling so big and Phyllis too they know that that's me and

my element right? That's me doing what I love

talking I was Yes, exactly.

I'm sitting here smiling because I'm like she's actually like

it's such a chore but she loves every minute of it

certainly is not well and you laugh at that but

and I know people on this thing are gonna go oh my god, what is

Kim doing now? But I'm also in this Hypnosis Training Course

like I've taken uncut slate, deep dive six months, incredibly

in depth Avenue to Learn hypnosis. And I have lots of

ideas around that that I want to bring to our community here to

help with creative blocks. And to help with getting resistances

out for businesses. I have millions of ideas, which is

another thing I'm never short of. But what's funny about it,

and I'm terrified is when I started into this, like I went

to these hypnosis and like training sessions, and I've been

to hypnosis, and I came home and I told my son I said, I think I

have found, like, the ideal career for me because basically

what hypnosis is, is you talking people into a coma. So it's

truly up my avenue to talk people into a coma. So natural

talent for I do, it just comes really natural.

I was just sitting here thinking about that

you had asked me to be one of your guinea pigs for your

testing. And now when you tie coma now I'm a little bit

worried about what is she going to have me doing while I'm under

the influence?

Well, I fully assure you that hypnosis is not

what you've seen on TV and I cannot convince you to do

anything that you would naturally be disappointed

inclined to do. It is a little disappointing Cara, because

dammit, I really wanted to send her to town to rob a bank and

bring us back a lot of money so we could all buy new camera

equipment.

Hey, speaking of that, Cara just did buy a new

camera equipment.

She came to the dark side. Yes.

Congratulations, Cara.

Thank you, it's arriving today. I'm super

excited to test out my first mirrorless camera so I'll still

be shooting with my go to 1DX Mark ii. I love that camera. So

it isn't going anywhere. And I really love it for video. So

it's definitely sticking around for video. And then I'm gonna

give this R5 a try and see if I can enjoy it or not. Otherwise,

I'm sending it right back.

Oh my god, don't even say that. You're gonna love

it so much. I tell you I'm sitting here thinking about it.

Don't tell Ed this but it's like getting a new boyfriend. You

know that new boyfriend feel when you're all in love and told

that he can't wait to see them and think about them all the

time. That's what the our five is for photographers. Yep.

Well, I have to sign for it. So it might

actually arrive while we're recording today. So I've got to

keep keep an eye out for it. I thought it was coming yesterday,

I misread the alerts. And I sat here in my office all day

waiting for it to arrive. And it was supposed to arrive by 4:30.

And I had to leave at 4:30. And it didn't come and so I was like

man, I really missed it. I came home it wasn't sitting on the

front porch just thinking randomly would be delivered and

went back and looked at the email. And it was today. So I

sent home all day yesterday waiting on it. And today's the

actual delivery day. So I guess maybe I'm subliminally under the

radar excited?

Well, I think we'll excuse you if you have to

get up and leave while we're doing this. So maybe you should

go first and our chosen subject of the day, which is going from

hobby to Pro. So that way if your camera arrives, Phyllis and

I'll be talking

Yeah, so we're talking about going from

hobby to pro today. Kim normally does a really nice job of

introducing the subject. So I will make an attempt at that. So

we work with I mean, we come in contact with photographers every

day that are making the decision to take their hobby to the next

level and either form some type of business or try to monetize

their hobby in some way. We've all been there. I mean, I

started as a hobby photographer, Phyllis, you were a hobby

photographer originally right and enthusiastic hobbyist, I

think is how you described it to me at one point. Yes,

absolutely. Yeah. And Kim, I don't I can't remember if you

jumped right in and started making money or if you started

as a hobby photographer, do you remember I

was a hobby photographer cuz I was 13 and

couldn't get quite figured out how to make money. But yeah, I

dove into the making money part pretty quick.

So our hope is to talk a little bit about

some thought processes around that and give you guys some tips

for anyone that's out there and they want to take their

photography just to the next level they want to make it a

business they want to try to monetize some element of their

photography. I think in my two cents on this subject is that

you have to start by considering how that relationship with

photography is going to change if you have your hobby being

photography and it was something that you do for fun, a stress

reliever. I know for me photography started as a hobby,

and I was shooting when I was doing domestic violence work. So

I was doing really heavy domestic violence and sexual

assault work and photography and getting the camera out was a way

that I relieve stress. It was a way that I kind of just was able

to shut all of that off. and go out and just kind of be one with

the world around me and capture that. And when it was no longer

my stress reliever, and was no longer something that I just did

for fun, it really did take on a different role in my life. And

it just isn't my hobby anymore. So I'm sure that you guys will

have some things to add to that. But I do think that's a big

piece of it. It's no longer one of the things you do for fun,

it's now a responsibility, another responsibility. And I

think people have to consider, you know, do you have the time

do you have the grit, do you have the ability to develop a

consistent photography product that will sell and build your

photography brand, build a client photography, client base,

all while working, potentially working your nine to five, your

existing job, in my case, while being a parent, and all of the

other responsibilities that come along, you know, with everyday

life, so there's a balance there that happens. And my personal

experience, it was a balance that it was a struggle, because

I was going from this one extreme work experience, and

then taking my hobby, to something that was originally

something that was for stress relief, and then making it into,

you know, into a new responsibility for myself. And

then the next piece of that was, are you ready to monetize your

photography. So I think one of the things I learned real quick

is that people loved my photography and my work when it

was free. They loved it. I mean, I would get all the kudos. And

people would tell me how great my work was. And they would bend

over backwards to let me come out and shoot their horses for

free and, and let me photograph their families for free. But

things change when you suddenly have to when they have to pay

you. So you know, being aware that that is going to be a

shift. And that you may have to realize that those people that

loved your photography, when it was free are probably not your

client, if they're not willing to pay you. So I think as new

photographers, or someone wanting to jump into the

business you need to spend before hanging your shingle, you

need to spend a little time researching your competitors

actually look at your existing target market, I spoke to

someone the other day, and we were on the phone and we were

chatting, and she said I don't think that there's anyone else

in my area doing horse photography. And without even

Googling, I was able to list three different photographers in

her general area that I just happen to know that are in the

business. And so I just said, you know, I think you should

spend just a little time just researching who's already

they're already doing the work already in your market,

determining if there's a need, and I will never be someone to

say there's not room for you, because there probably is room

for you. But you have to figure out what makes you different.

And how you're going to be able to stand out in a crowd of

professionals that are already established and already in that

market. So spend a little time figuring how many photographers

are already in your area and how you're different. And like I

said other photographers, there does not mean that there isn't

room for you, you have to figure out why you're different. And

then I think the next step that is often overlooked,

photographers will jump right into their business, but then

they and then they do a lot of backpedaling is get straight on

the legal stuff. And we do have an episode coming up on this

topic where we're going to go through some of that. But you

need to understand your legal business structure, you need to

get your contracts in place, you need to get your insurance, you

need to understand your tax benefits and liabilities, you

need to spend the time doing that work. And I'm going to say

do it when you're getting started before you get started,

figure all of that out. So you don't have to deal with the

aftermath and the mistakes when you're already a year down the

line and you're sitting down and you're trying to figure out how

to do your taxes. It's a mess, take it from someone who's been

there, it's a mess. And then the last little piece of that is Do

you know the existing channels to access your target audience?

So you know, how do you plan on? How are you going to reach out

to people that you want to have be your clients, people

automatically think website social media, and I would

challenge you to think beyond that. And I like to talk about

what I call boots on the ground marketing, but it's really just

networking, you know, where are you going to get your

information out into the world and start thinking about what

your options are? And are you connected, I'm sure that each of

us can agree that we've met with photographers that want to get

going, they want to take their hobby, but they have no

connections in the equine world yet. So they've got some work to

do to establish where those channels are and where they

exist and how they can access them. So that's my two cents.

The last little piece of that is get help find a mentor, find

someone that's been there that's done it that's walked that path

and can help guide you. It's going to save you so much in the

end in terms of the struggle, the mistakes that are made,

hopefully they can help head off some of that and kind of smooth

that path for you a little bit more and save you the time and

struggle that a lot of folks go through when they first get

started. Fellas, I know you have a lot of nuts and bolts to Add

here why don't you jump in?

Wow all good advice Cara I appreciate

everything you just said and ditto on every bit of it, it's

all good advice. My first thing I'm just gonna bring out seven

interesting or very, very good points for people that are

thinking about going pro or are already there is first off know

your technique and your niche that would be number one for me.

Number two, of course would be to know your market understand

the needs and wants of your potential customers or potential

clients that you want to work with understand the day to day

life of a full time pro, it's number three. Number four, and

this is a real big one is build portfolio. If you don't have a

portfolio in place before you even start your professional

career, then you're way behind. Number five, as Cara said,

mentioned, client contracts and pricing, number six insurance

and business licenses. And number seven, which probably

should be a little bit higher up is have the proper gear. So I'm

just gonna go a little bit into each one of these are a little

bit more is when regards to finding your niche, have a set

genre that will help you solidify your brand and allow

you to focus on your energy on developing your own style, and

marketing to the right audience that you're wanting to gear your

photography business to. And like Cara did I think it's

really cool how you might even want to consider incorporating

your niche into your brand name, which I think is cool the way

Cara has Fast Horse Photography and her name instead of like me

who has Phyllis Burchette Photo. But I think that's cool is

thinking about trying to put that in your niche into your

brand name. Number two, build your portfolio. Gosh, without a

portfolio, no one's going to know what you can do. So before

you try to turn your hobby into a business is important to build

your portfolio and start working on images that reflect your

style of shoots that you want to do on a regular basis. A great

way to do this is by signing up to go to events to workshops,

tours, like ours. For instance, there's so many great places to

go shoot, finding things to do and go shoot in whatever niche

that you've chosen, be sure to focus on that your portfolio

will be one of your main selling points. So make sure you put

your best images and the style you specialize in. And I can't

emphasize this enough. It's funny how some people will I

know the other two, I get this a lot. Do you ever take a bad

photo? Well, of course we do. We just don't let people see them.

So yes, that's very important. As always put your best work out

there for people to see engage some subjects to help you set up

shots if you have to. I mean, you can there's if you have

friends, you don't already have them in your existing portfolio,

make sure that you have all the equipment, you need to create a

portfolio of images that will truly showcase your talent. So

and you can do this you can grab friends, I mean and set up photo

shoots on your own. But building that portfolio is really key to

your business.

We actually did a whole episode on that

subject on using models and putting models to work for your

business. So that's such a good point, fellas.

Yeah, yeah, we did. I forgot about that. Good

point. Thanks. This is something that I'm really especially on

your website, I think it's really important to always tell

people where you're located as well. And along in that same

line is include your prices there's nothing more

unprofessional than a photographer that doesn't have a

price list. If you're going to jump in from being a hobby to a

business, make sure to list your prices and clearly outline what

is included in your various packages. If you're going to

have packages Cara is a great one to work with. If you're

going to be a portrait photographer in respect to in

person sales, I highly recommend talking to her and doing a

mentorship with her. If you're jumping in the professional

pool, take the time to work out the cost for your services and

ensure that you're on par with other photographers in your

nation in your local area. Be sure to create some marketing

and branding materials if you haven't already done so you'll

of course need a business name some other you'll need logo a

business card, digital flyer maybe to kick start your

business. It's a really good idea to set up a website of

course and as well. I think having social media presence is

big too. It certainly has helped my business grow in leaps and

bounds. That way your clients can review your portfolio and

services at any time. They can go to your website or they can

check out your social media pages. This is a perfect way for

customers to review some visual marketing before they need to

contact you. But be sure that your email is listed somewhere.

Don't depend on social media to be your way to correspond with

potential clients or old clients. Find a way to generate

leads and consider freelance work. Whether you advertise on

Google or Facebook, or do job boards for people looking for

it. Photographer equine photographers dotnet is a great

place for that as well. You'll need to do something to find the

work as it won't. It won't just magically come your way A

although we like to think it will, but you have to put some

effort into it waiting for work to come in when your photography

is just a hobby can be fine. But when it comes to your full time

business, it's vital for you to ensure you have regular

inquiries and work coming in, especially if you're depending

on that income for your day to day expenses. If not, you can of

course end up with some serious cashflow issues. Consider

approaching local clubs, schools, art galleries events, I

don't know if you want to I personally did enough weddings

that I found out I didn't want to shoot weddings anymore. But

some people do that a little bit on the side at first just to

boost their income. But find out what's happening in your local

area and maybe go to those and maybe hand out some marketing

material. I think when you're starting out too is put your

hand up for as much work as you can, and set up a range of

different options for lead generation and options for any

kind of photography work that that you can find that will be

in your genre. When you're starting out your phone's not

going to ring much. But it's always good to have other

options. Of course, when the time is required to build up

your sales and meet your cashflow needs. One way to do

this, of course, is by getting referrals and testimonials from

either clients or even people that you've done, maybe some

free work for actually, if you do a job at no charge, treat

that like it's a paid job and have that client or have that

person that you did the shoot with actually go through the

whole process of of setting up an appointment and going through

the whole process. And then ask them for a referral or a

testimonial afterwards. I know for me when I was doing client

work, that was my best advertising was my past clients.

Potential clients often do use testimonials when they're trying

to make a decision about whether or not to book a photographer.

So make sure to ask previous clients or of course, those that

were happy with your work to write a short testimonial that

can include your portfolio, your social media, and your website.

Another thing too, I think that's been really helpful for

me to build my businesses, the email system, send out an email

with a questionnaire to create these and use them in your

marketing. Thanks Survey Monkey is one that does that. So don't

be scared. I mean, I know. I know, for me when I was going, I

kind of felt the same way. Cara did because the hobby part of it

was what I did for fun but and I'm back to that now at first it

was scary trying to think about having to make a living and

depend on this income to you know, to pay the bills and pay

my mortgage and all that with and at first, it was very nerve

racking having to worry about that. But now I'm back to really

enjoying photography and sharing my passion for photography with

others. So I hope that if you're considering this, that you'll

take all these into consideration before you jump

into the professional pool.

Well, I'm gonna interrupt real quick

because I really loved what you said about like in the

beginning, the early days, you may not have a lot of clients.

But that doesn't mean that you can't be like still busy and

working on your business and working in your business. And

one of the things I knew I needed to do early on was I

needed content, and I needed connections. And so I did a ton

of just going out and shooting and I was doing it weekly, so

that I needed that visual content, I needed it for my

website, I needed the practice, I needed it for my social media

channels. And through all of those. That part you mentioned

about the referrals and testimonials, I put those people

through my process. And I made that part of shooting doing the

work for free. And I'm putting that in quotations because even

though I didn't get paid money at the time, I was getting paid

and other really valuable things, which were the

testimonials, the referrals, I asked him to do a certain number

of social posts, that sort of thing. So that's really huge.

And Kim, I know you want to jump in here, so I'll shut up now.

But thanks for letting me jump in Phyllis, because that was

such a that just really triggered such an important

thought in my brain. So thanks. You're welcome.

So for those of you who out there who are

considering going pro, and I know you may have been sitting

there for a little while thinking I really want to be a

professional photographer. But I don't know if I'm going to be

ready. I don't know if I'm ready, I may need to do this, I

may need to do that. You're ready. I mean, honestly, to be

straight honest with you, you're never going to be fully ready

for this. Because you don't know what you don't know friend. And

until you dive in, you're not going to figure those parts out.

So as you sit there listening to this, and I think Cara and

Phyllis have given you some outstanding advice for that. And

if it gets you excited, and now you've taken notes and you're

ready think oh gosh, I've learned another step in this.

But I don't know if I'm completely ready to do this. I

may not know everything about my camera or everything about how

to pose a horse or everything about how to pose humans. You're

not going to know at all. All three of us learn something new

Every single time we work with a client, every single time we go

out to shoot, it's always going to be a learning and expansive

experience. And business is something you're going to have

to experience. You can read about it, you can do all your

bed books and studying, you can interview people, you can do all

kinds of things. But until you get out there and get your hands

in it, you're not going to learn how to navigate it. So you are

ready. I had a person in one of my classes yesterday, who was

not anything near photography, it was a food business

conference, I was talking to people who own restaurants and

food trucks and one lady had software and another guy was

doing a kitchen competition. I mean, it was a really hodgepodge

of rooms, but everybody had food in common with each other. And I

did have a comment from somebody this is I just don't know, if

I'm ready to launch my business. And I'm like, You're never going

to be ready, you just got to pull the trigger and go. And

when I say that was, you know, how do you actually move in this

day, it's not like when you become a professional

photographer, that all of the sudden, you know, you like go

by, you may. But most of us don't do it this way, like go

get a studio and have a place to go to work every day. And all of

those kinds of things. You're talking to three photographers

I'm in my home care is in her home, Phyllis is in her home.

Cara has probably the most organized space. I don't know

I've been to Phyllis his house. But I know of Cara is she's got

the most dedicated space where clients come in and out my

photography clients, I don't think I've ever seen the inside

of my office except on Zoom. So you're typically going to be

working in your house, which is going to be if you've come from

a world of where you get an hourly salary, or where you have

a day job, where you go somewhere to work, working from

home is a whole challenge in and of itself. And I'm going to give

you a couple of tips there. One, how successful your business is,

is a direct result of how often you show up for your business.

So you do have to show up. And I know Cara, Phyllis both hinted

at that to say calm even when you don't have clients be out

there shooting using your camera building your skills. Yes, I

totally agree with that. But even when it's a rainy day, and

you wished you had a client, even if you can go ahead and get

dressed. And I say in the beginning, once you're advanced,

and you're a senior photographer, you can come to

zoom meetings with your pajama pants on. But until then get up

get a dress like you could go do your job. Like if somebody

called in that moment and said I want to go have a meeting with

you about doing my photography, that you wouldn't have to go

change your clothes and put your makeup on or do your hair or

whatever it is that you do. And that you could just get up and

walk out and meet them. There is a psychological little tick in

there that when you get up, you get dressed, you are official,

you show up to your desk or your studio. And you really have a

dedicated place to work that is for work that you have a door on

the room where you can shut it and tell the other people who

live in your home that you are working. Now your work in that

space may not all be photography, it's gonna be the

things that these two ladies mentioned, it may be writing a

blog post, it may be doing your social media, it may be putting

together your portfolio, it may be looking up that competitive

research, it may be a million other things that you have to

show up for your business, because that's the way

professionals walk through the world. That's one of the

differences between a hobbyist and a professional photographer,

is a professional photographer shows up and works on their

business, not just in their business. Along those same

lines. You really need to start embodying who a professional

photographer is, even when you're not quite there yet.

start presenting yourself to people as a professional

photographer. Don't caveat when people say what you do, you

don't say what do you do? Well, I'm a photographer. I don't give

them a lot of extra information. Like I just bought my camera a

couple of years ago and I feel like I've gotten really good at

using it. And I'm going to start charging people money here

pretty soon for doing my photography because I'm moving

over to being a professional photographer. No, no, no, no,

no, you are a professional photographer. The minute you

flip that switch in your brain, you know what? I'm going to

anoint you as an official professional photographer. So

show up as one when somebody asks you what you do. I'm a

professional photographer I work with whatever happens to be your

niche. Make sure you embody that professional photographer, even

if you're not sure about what you're doing fake it till you

have a complete under standing above it, that is the way you're

going to learn how to embody yourself as you're moving

forward as a professional photographer, adopt it as really

who you are part of who you are, at least you don't have to tie

your entire identity to your business in photography. But

definitely, when you're showing up as a photographer show up as

a professional photographer, not a hobbyist, Cara and Phyllis

both mentioned competition, and to look at the competition in

your area and understand where you fit into that niche and how

to kind of look at it. I think that all three of us as

professional photographers have utilized our niches very well.

So in other words, the people that we work with, there's a

definite brand to who we are, and there's a definite audience

to who we have as our clientele. I'm gonna tell you, that did not

happen overnight. I didn't wake up one morning and decide that

my career was going to be built around reining horses, and I

have a second niche around people who partner with horses

and healing modalities. I didn't wake up and say those are my

niches. What I did was found that I was magnetized into those

things. And over a few years, I developed a portfolio around

that. Now Phyllis, more mindfully did this. I know

because I've had this conversation with her, where she

started to make her Instagram account, which is a booming

success, very focused on Western imagery. So she very mindfully

focused in on it, I kind of blindly tripped over what I was

going to have for my niche. I've never talked to care about kind

of how she settled on what she was doing in her area. But I

think it's an important thing to know that there's many roads to

get here. And if you don't immediately know in this minute,

what you're going to do as a professional photographer, what

your brand is, what your style is exactly what your niche is,

don't sweat that, don't sweat it, it's a small stuff, you will

figure it out, be mindful about it and start focusing in on it

because you will be more successful. When you're

targeting a specific group of people than a broad group of

people. I always tell my marketing clients, when you're

marketing to everybody, nobody will hear you. But when you

start marketing to a specific group, they will hear you loud

and clear. So that's the reason why you want to develop that

niche. But you may take a little bit of time, and I want to give

you some allowance to be able to do that. Also understand

competition is a good thing. If there are a bunch of Equine

photographers in your area, chances are there's a bunch of

horses. So there's a lot of opportunity, when you see that

when you see other photographers, knowing where you

fit in, as Cara gave you that advice is absolutely key because

it gives you a place to position yourself among the pack. Think

of it like a herd of horses, there's always a hierarchy,

everybody has a position, nobody's getting kicked out of

the herd. But they all have a function within that herd. So

make sure you know where your function is within the herd of

photographers that are in your specific area. The last little

thing I want to talk about is the part of photography. And

being a professional photographer, that was probably

one of the hardest parts for me. And it's a part that nobody

really tells you it's like is that you are going to have a lot

of people giving you creative direction. When you're a

hobbyist, you get to make all of the decisions about your

photography, you get to make the decisions about how you show up

what you shoot, how you're going to go about shooting that when

you start shooting for other people, especially if you're

doing work like I do, which is commercial photography, you have

a lot of other people with creative visions, and specific

ideas that now you have to modify your vision for in order

to create that for them. That can be a blow on your

creativity, it becomes difficult because now you have to be

creative on demand by somebody else's expectations. And those

other people are going to critique you. So it's a very

difficult thing to navigate and I think both ladies recommended

that you have a mentor or that you get some somebody to help

you. Having a another photographer is photographer is

one of these rare industries where there's actually like a

whole mentoring sort of system among photographers, not all

business people have that. But I think it's important to have

another photographer to help mentor you through some of that,

because you can get disheartened really, really quickly. So first

of all, no, it's not you. It's not you. It's not your work. It

is just a hard transition to make. And it's one that's what

worthy of making because I'm going to tell you something as a

secret about it, it's going to make you a better photographer.

And it's going to make you a better business person. But it

can be a little rough. So be gentle with yourself and get

someone to kind of help you through those things. We did an

episode just I think it's the last episode we did on

creativity. If you're struggling with that, go listen to that

episode, that's a good place to get some help. But understand

that you are going to have a lot of bosses, there is going to be

a lot of what feels like critique, but it's really people

just expressing themselves. So it's an important thing that you

hang in there, and just learn how to work through that

particular situation. I think that's my two cents on this

subject. I hope that's added a level and depth to what we

talked about with this. Because I think it's just so important

that we keep bringing new photographers in with the right

mindset. And with enough support so that they're able to be

successful, and not get discouraged. I hate to think of

all the people that have hit the barriers, going from hobby to

pro and just gave up because it didn't feel like it was

possible. It's completely possible. It's very doable. And

we're here to support you through this podcast through our

website through our events. This is one of the things that we all

three have a big passion about

beautifully said Kim beautifully said ditto

to all that yeah, no, that was just so perfect. Okay, so we

would love to have you guys join us sometime soon at one of our

events, so head over to cowgirls with cameras.com hit our events

tab and find the experience that is right for you. If you have

any questions you can reach out to us anytime we are on social

media at cowgirls with cameras on Instagram and Facebook. So

many great things are happening over on our social media

channels right now. I am doing my best to make sure that you

are getting some of the just the best resources from Phyllis and

Kim as they pulled them out. And just really good engaging

content over there. We've got some really amazing

photographers that are engaging regularly. So definitely join us

over there as well. And I haven't forgotten about the CW

see photo challenge. Thank you to everyone who has been

participating with that in that on Instagram, to this week's

challenge is sunrises and sunsets are sunrise and sunset.

So we would love to see your sunrise and sunset images. Go

ahead and post them and use #CWCphotochallenge. And when I

go in and look for those, I'm happy to share them and share

your photography with our audience. So we hope you guys

are having a good day and you're out there shooting

and kudos to you Cara on doing an amazing job

with our social media.

Yes ma'am. Yes ma'am.

It's hit or miss. It's hit or miss. Thank

you. All right. Well, everyone we hope you enjoyed this episode

and we will see you next time.

Thanks for listening to this episode of cowgirls with

cameras. Don't let the laughter and learning stop here. Join our

community on social media. And be sure to visit our website for

more opportunities to fulfill your photography goals head to

cowgirls with cameras.com That's cowgirls with cameras.com See