Shownotes
BUSINESS BUILDING INSIGHTS
- Be everywhere. Go out and meet people. Create connections with entrepreneurs in your industry.
- Don’t get stuck in comparison. More competition does not mean less business. It means more people need your service.
- Always be communicating what your brand is and the benefits it provides.
- Clearly define what you have to offer. If you confuse you lose.
- Good businesses educate in addition to providing a product or service.
- When talking about your business, position it as the client's story and experience of working with you.
- Lack mentality will hold you back. There is business for us all.
RESOURCES MENTIONED
Send Out Cards Write Solutions Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller Tuesdays Together - The Rising Tide SocietyCONTACT LINKS
Website Facebook InstagramJoin Our FREE Gift Biz Breeze Facebook Community
Become a Member of Gift Biz Breeze If you found value in this podcast, make sure to subscribe so you automatically get the next episode downloaded for your convenience. Also, if you'd like to do me a huge favor, please leave a review. That helps other creators like you find the show and build their businesses too. You can do so right here: Rate This Podcast Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Spotify Thank so much! SueTranscripts
Gift biz unwrapped episode 266 If you confuse,
Speaker:you lose.
Speaker:And so there's a lot that goes into how are you
Speaker:even telling people that you're available for them and how are
Speaker:you telling people that you can show up for them and
Speaker:help them Attention?
Speaker:Gifters bakers,
Speaker:crafters and makers pursuing your dream can be fun.
Speaker:Whether you have an established business or looking to start one
Speaker:now you are in the right place.
Speaker:This is gift to biz unwrapped,
Speaker:helping you turn your skill into a flourishing business.
Speaker:Join us for an episode packed full of invaluable guidance,
Speaker:resources and the support you need to grow your gift biz.
Speaker:Here is your host gift biz gal,
Speaker:Sue moon Heights.
Speaker:Hi there,
Speaker:it's Sue and Since I say it every show,
Speaker:you know how happy I am that you're joining me here
Speaker:today. This is episode two in our four part series.
Speaker:I'm business owners who have gotten creative to manage through these
Speaker:crazy current times.
Speaker:I'm so inspired by the ownership and control of your destiny
Speaker:that so many of you are exhibiting and the solutions that
Speaker:are being devised are genius.
Speaker:It's also exciting to know that some of these new concepts
Speaker:are working so well that there'll be incorporated into the plan
Speaker:long term.
Speaker:My goal with these four episodes is to spark ideas for
Speaker:you. If you're just starting out in your business,
Speaker:there are ways to attract customers or provide creative services that
Speaker:you may not have considered yet and if you're an established
Speaker:business, these examples may trigger another idea to use now or
Speaker:in the future.
Speaker:And speaking of established businesses,
Speaker:I've heard from a number of you asking how to get
Speaker:into maker's MBA.
Speaker:This program is created to take a brand new business dreamer
Speaker:from concept to profitable business in a proven step by step
Speaker:manner. But I'm hearing you because the truth is even when
Speaker:you have a business up and running,
Speaker:things can get messy and important.
Speaker:Foundational elements like website and email marketing and all the things
Speaker:can be forgotten or never set up in the first place
Speaker:because you're busy.
Speaker:And interestingly,
Speaker:we have many people who have gone through maker's MBA and
Speaker:were already in business but wanted to join just for that
Speaker:reason. They're ready to clean up and strengthen the business and
Speaker:for the continual growth and support opportunities that the program offers.
Speaker:So I've created a new option for my established business listeners
Speaker:who have had the business running for two years or more.
Speaker:If that's you and you want to know more,
Speaker:please head over to gift biz unwrapped.com
Speaker:forward slash makers MBA there you'll see a link for established
Speaker:businesses and you can go from there.
Speaker:Let's move on now to today's show.
Speaker:We're to hear from Sarah,
Speaker:A photographer who's watched her photo shoot schedule,
Speaker:receive cancellation after cancellation after cancellation.
Speaker:Can you just feel that sinking feeling in your gut right
Speaker:now that Sera must've experienced but fear not?
Speaker:You're about to hear how she re-engineered her business for the
Speaker:short term and how it will serve her so well in
Speaker:the future.
Speaker:Today I am so excited to introduce you to Sarah Hogue
Speaker:of Sarah hug photography.
Speaker:Sarah has been a photographer for over 13 years.
Speaker:She specializes in personal branding imagery and helps businesses get personal
Speaker:by showing who they are,
Speaker:what they do,
Speaker:and why they do it.
Speaker:Through powerful imagery.
Speaker:She believes that good businesses educate their clients and should illustrate
Speaker:that message through images as well.
Speaker:She offers photography,
Speaker:branding packages and one minute brand story videos to clients.
Speaker:Sarah lives in Litchfield park,
Speaker:Arizona and frequently travels to the San Francisco Bay area,
Speaker:Southern California and Chicago for shoots.
Speaker:Sarah, welcome to the gift biz on repped podcast.
Speaker:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker:I was so excited that you were willing to come on
Speaker:the show and before we even get started,
Speaker:any of you gift biz listeners who have been over to
Speaker:my website before and seen the wonderful video that's front and
Speaker:center. When you go onto that page,
Speaker:that is a demonstration of Sarah's fabulous work.
Speaker:Got a tease everybody.
Speaker:Now you see what I did?
Speaker:They're going to have to go over to the side.
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:So Sarah,
Speaker:I have a traditional question as we start off each show
Speaker:and that is I'd like you to describe yourself by way
Speaker:of a motivational candle.
Speaker:So if you were to imagine a candle by color and
Speaker:some type of a quote or saying that really speaks to
Speaker:you, what would your candle look like?
Speaker:I love this question.
Speaker:I really thought about it and now I really want the
Speaker:candle. I like that.
Speaker:Like so anybody out there listening that makes candles hit me
Speaker:up, send one over.
Speaker:So I'm real green.
Speaker:I love green.
Speaker:It's just like a happy color for me.
Speaker:It's my birthstone as well.
Speaker:And then I was thinking like what is my very favorite
Speaker:smell? And it's that I live in the desert and it's
Speaker:that smell of rain or when it's about to rain,
Speaker:that's actually,
Speaker:it's called I think a creosote Bush and it gets wet
Speaker:whenever it gets wet or it's even about to rain.
Speaker:It emits that smell.
Speaker:So it's that desert rain smell.
Speaker:And then I was even thinking I love adventure,
Speaker:but my quote was adventures in you so it's not out
Speaker:there or somewhere else.
Speaker:It's really inside of you.
Speaker:So those are my three.
Speaker:I was thinking of the movie adventures out there.
Speaker:I'm just always on an adventure.
Speaker:But I think the greatest adventure is really within you and
Speaker:try and self and finding out that you have everything you
Speaker:need. I love that because as a small business owner,
Speaker:if you feel like you have the power,
Speaker:it's in you.
Speaker:You just have to tap in and access it.
Speaker:That feels like you're so much more able to pursue and
Speaker:actually fulfill your dreams than if you're counting on someone else
Speaker:to be able to provide to you what you need.
Speaker:So I like that it's in you.
Speaker:You just have to tap in versus having to reach out
Speaker:for someone else's help.
Speaker:Absolutely. I think I was stuck for a lot of years
Speaker:on always thinking that somebody else had the answer.
Speaker:And then you realize as you get older,
Speaker:no, they just have an answer and somebody else has another
Speaker:one. Right.
Speaker:And that doesn't mean that you don't have people help you
Speaker:and ask for guidance.
Speaker:It just means you have to be the one to initiate
Speaker:that. Absolutely.
Speaker:Okay. So Sarah,
Speaker:I mentioned in the beginning that you did my one minute
Speaker:video and it was amazing how,
Speaker:because I'm not going to go through the whole thing of
Speaker:how it happened,
Speaker:but I was in Arizona for an event.
Speaker:I had been wanting to do a video.
Speaker:I talked with Abby Herman who has been on the podcast
Speaker:already. Who did she use for her video?
Speaker:She said it was you ends up you were going to
Speaker:be at the same event I was.
Speaker:And so I like cornered you and I'm like,
Speaker:okay, Sierra at this event,
Speaker:could we video everything,
Speaker:all the footage we need?
Speaker:And I think you looked at me like I was insane.
Speaker:No, I love it.
Speaker:And I was doing a lot.
Speaker:I was teaching that weekend as well,
Speaker:and I was doing some headshots as well as capturing a
Speaker:little bit of video and whatnot.
Speaker:But I'm all about just get it done,
Speaker:just do it all while we're here trying to piece together
Speaker:everything is so hard.
Speaker:So being able to get some shots and being able to
Speaker:get some video and do it all.
Speaker:Yeah. Well,
Speaker:it worked out beautifully and luckily I always pretty much dressed
Speaker:in my brand colors.
Speaker:So that ended up working out well.
Speaker:But what you did with very little planning came out beautifully.
Speaker:So can I already hire you if the show happens next
Speaker:Arizona time?
Speaker:Can I book you like right now on the podcast?
Speaker:I'm serious.
Speaker:You don't think I'm joking?
Speaker:I'm serious.
Speaker:I'm done.
Speaker:I don't know how that came up.
Speaker:That was not planned,
Speaker:but we're doing it.
Speaker:I'm serious.
Speaker:Okay, so photography.
Speaker:Tell me how this all happened.
Speaker:How did you get started?
Speaker:So my dad was an amateur photographer.
Speaker:It's a long story,
Speaker:but I can talk fast is what I say.
Speaker:That's okay.
Speaker:My dad was an amateur photographer and so he was always
Speaker:teaching us kind of messing around.
Speaker:When we would get film developed,
Speaker:he would go through every photo with us painstakingly and talk
Speaker:about what was working or not working in that photo and
Speaker:what was trash essentially.
Speaker:You didn't have a light room at home or dark room
Speaker:at home,
Speaker:but he would definitely send away for the film and we
Speaker:get it back.
Speaker:We had to sit there because it was money,
Speaker:every role and every time you developed it,
Speaker:it was expensive.
Speaker:It's not like digital where you can just delete.
Speaker:Right. And remember when you never knew if a shot taken
Speaker:well Or not until you had to wait all that time
Speaker:to find out.
Speaker:Right. So he ended up buying one of the first digital
Speaker:DSLR cameras in like 2002 2003 and then 2004 I was
Speaker:getting married and he passed away right before we got married
Speaker:and then I ended up moving like it was sudden.
Speaker:But it was a wild time.
Speaker:And then a year went by and no one had done
Speaker:anything with my dad's camera.
Speaker:I moved to the Bay area with my husband.
Speaker:I asked my mom,
Speaker:can I have dad's camera?
Speaker:Nobody's using it.
Speaker:She said,
Speaker:fine. So I ended up taking photos and I was working
Speaker:in a church at the time and it was just a
Speaker:big community of people in.
Speaker:They started asking,
Speaker:can you take photos of my baby?
Speaker:Can you take photos of this?
Speaker:Can you,
Speaker:Oh, you have a nice camera.
Speaker:It really just started with people saying,
Speaker:Oh, you have a nice camera.
Speaker:And that happens a lot to photographers,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:or you see somebody at a wedding,
Speaker:Oh, you have a nice camera.
Speaker:That must mean you take good photos.
Speaker:And that was your dad's camera?
Speaker:That was my dad's camera.
Speaker:Yeah. How beautiful is that?
Speaker:Yeah. So I often say I became a photographer by accident,
Speaker:but it wasn't intentional.
Speaker:I got my BA in education.
Speaker:It wasn't on my radar whatsoever.
Speaker:And so I just started taking photos and then I ended
Speaker:up getting pregnant with my first child and stopping working for
Speaker:a little while.
Speaker:And that actually was the catalyst for me really going ahead
Speaker:and taking all of these offers that people were saying and
Speaker:saying, okay,
Speaker:I have to charge.
Speaker:But it was such a stumbling mess of starting a business.
Speaker:It was like,
Speaker:no, no,
Speaker:I'm not qualified.
Speaker:I can't do this because I don't have a degree or
Speaker:I don't know what to do.
Speaker:And YouTube was just getting popular.
Speaker:And so it was teaching myself with YouTube and with some
Speaker:books and learning software and things like that.
Speaker:But I mean,
Speaker:I was like getting pulled into it because people kept asking,
Speaker:kept asking,
Speaker:and so I had to start figuring out what to charge.
Speaker:However, I have always been pretty entrepreneurial.
Speaker:I've had a lot of different jobs,
Speaker:I've done a lot of different things for money,
Speaker:were taught,
Speaker:swim lessons and things on the side.
Speaker:So that was always in me.
Speaker:But starting a business was just very unintentional.
Speaker:So fast forward,
Speaker:10 years in the Bay area,
Speaker:ended up being wedding photographer doing a lot of different things.
Speaker:And then my husband ends up losing a job and we
Speaker:decide to parachute into Phoenix,
Speaker:Arizona. Just not knowing anyone,
Speaker:not having a job,
Speaker:not knowing anything,
Speaker:not even where we wanted to live.
Speaker:It was just our big,
Speaker:like we ready to get out of California,
Speaker:we want to be able to afford a home.
Speaker:And so we just did a big leap.
Speaker:And so what was the attraction of Phoenix?
Speaker:My husband just had it on his heart.
Speaker:He had just kind of woken up like this is where,
Speaker:and we went for it.
Speaker:Wow, that's brave.
Speaker:I didn't even question it very much.
Speaker:When you look back,
Speaker:there was other big leaps of faith,
Speaker:of big catalysts of things that we just did,
Speaker:but at that point he had had some severance.
Speaker:So we had a buffer and we just thought like,
Speaker:we want to plant roots somewhere,
Speaker:and we weren't in the market for a million dollar home
Speaker:with where we were living.
Speaker:So we ended up in Litchfield park,
Speaker:Arizona, cutest little community historical community,
Speaker:and I just had to look at everything.
Speaker:What do I do?
Speaker:Do I restart my business?
Speaker:Do I go get a nine to five?
Speaker:Do I go back on what I have my BA in?
Speaker:I have three little kids at this point.
Speaker:My youngest had just gone into kindergarten and so I was
Speaker:like, man,
Speaker:I really stink at marketing and branding.
Speaker:What do I need to do?
Speaker:So I started reading and educating myself and thinking like I
Speaker:got to get really good at marketing.
Speaker:And meanwhile,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:I was just having a lot of imposter syndrome,
Speaker:a lot of doubt and self analyzing.
Speaker:Am I good enough?
Speaker:Looking at the other photographers that are out here.
Speaker:Wow. They're really amazing.
Speaker:Comparing and getting stuck in,
Speaker:I don't even know anybody.
Speaker:I had my community around me before to support me and
Speaker:continue to pump me up and to refer me.
Speaker:They were my system as most businesses are,
Speaker:they are your referral system and then when that's gone,
Speaker:how do you tell somebody just go start,
Speaker:Right. You really had to believe in that adventure is within
Speaker:you. Quote that point.
Speaker:So true.
Speaker:I didn't even connect that,
Speaker:So I ended up falling in love with it.
Speaker:And with marketing and branding and there's a resource called building
Speaker:a StoryBrand by Donald Miller.
Speaker:It's a book.
Speaker:It's a podcast,
Speaker:and the beautiful thing with that,
Speaker:it's a framework for businesses.
Speaker:I'm not sure if you're familiar with it at all,
Speaker:so Yeah,
Speaker:I've actually heard him speak in person.
Speaker:Yeah. Love them.
Speaker:Yeah, really great and really simplistic.
Speaker:That was one of the biggest catalyst for me to actually
Speaker:change my business from being,
Speaker:so let me back up just a little bit.
Speaker:I ended up making a lot of friends here with other
Speaker:photographers, other female entrepreneurs and businesses because we would just talk
Speaker:about all of these things like how do I market it?
Speaker:How do I do this?
Speaker:Okay. How did you make the friends?
Speaker:This'll be important for people who aren't feeling like they're connected
Speaker:within any community that could serve them on a business angle.
Speaker:What did you do to come in contact with these people
Speaker:to become friends?
Speaker:So I looked at events on Facebook that were coming up
Speaker:in my area.
Speaker:I looked at event bright,
Speaker:had a bunch of different events.
Speaker:I went to networking events,
Speaker:I went to women's luncheons.
Speaker:I went to just moms connecting things.
Speaker:Okay. As somebody who didn't know anybody,
Speaker:you just did it.
Speaker:Absolutely, and I made a goal for myself that I went
Speaker:to at least one thing a month,
Speaker:just one a month.
Speaker:So it didn't even have to be,
Speaker:it sounds like I was just everywhere,
Speaker:but it was just once a month and it was like
Speaker:a one to two hour event and then I really networked
Speaker:with a lot of photographers.
Speaker:So there was another group called Tuesdays together.
Speaker:I mean it's for a creative community,
Speaker:so a lot of your listeners it would be perfect for,
Speaker:it's by the rising tide society and Tuesday's togethers for creative
Speaker:entrepreneurs that get together.
Speaker:They have the curriculum done and they have usually a leader
Speaker:and usually it doesn't even cost anything.
Speaker:It's just free.
Speaker:And so there's a lot of florists,
Speaker:there's a lot of photographers,
Speaker:there's a lot of event planners in those spaces.
Speaker:And then a lot of the photographers were the ones that
Speaker:were referring me business things that they couldn't do.
Speaker:That was my biggest source right away was photographers.
Speaker:And then I started to look for photographers in my area
Speaker:and ask them for coffee.
Speaker:I would search Instagram hashtags for my city or things that
Speaker:I was looking for and find other people and ask them
Speaker:for coffee.
Speaker:So a lot of one-on-ones I would try and do at
Speaker:least one a month and that adds up.
Speaker:Sue, it adds up so much.
Speaker:It's funny because I've lived here for four years now and
Speaker:people are like,
Speaker:you know everyone.
Speaker:And what's also funny is that I don't think I know
Speaker:that. I guess I am outgoing,
Speaker:but I'm not like somebody who has to be around people
Speaker:all the time.
Speaker:I'm perfectly content at home.
Speaker:So getting out was a struggle for me at times.
Speaker:Other times it was life-giving,
Speaker:but you just kind of have to do it.
Speaker:If you are going to own a business,
Speaker:you better go out and meet people.
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean I would say your friendly and approachable.
Speaker:You're easy to talk to.
Speaker:I can see completely how this would happen,
Speaker:but what I find really interesting is a lot of people
Speaker:would say,
Speaker:well why would you go to other photographers if you're getting
Speaker:into photography?
Speaker:Because didn't they see you then as a competitor?
Speaker:And I don't think they would think of taking that approach.
Speaker:Yeah. And you know,
Speaker:I really recommend this to anybody is find other people in
Speaker:your same industry and befriend them.
Speaker:As you know with gift business,
Speaker:you have tons of friends who are in the gift business.
Speaker:You just do better in community with people who have like
Speaker:struggles and when you're there to support and the more you
Speaker:get to know these people,
Speaker:the more your imposter syndrome or your thoughts that all the
Speaker:other people have the right answers or they have it figured
Speaker:out, they start to go away,
Speaker:they start to diminish because you realize these are just other
Speaker:people. They have a lot of the same struggles.
Speaker:You tell them one thing that is just like brilliant to
Speaker:them and they tell you one thing that's brilliant to you.
Speaker:Like why have I been doing it this way?
Speaker:So true.
Speaker:Honestly, if you buy into the fact that there's enough business
Speaker:out there for everybody and you're not having to hoard like,
Speaker:well, if they got a job,
Speaker:then that's one less job you have available.
Speaker:I don't buy into that kind of thinking.
Speaker:And it sounds like,
Speaker:and I'm guessing with photography you wouldn't either because how many
Speaker:weddings can you do in a weekend?
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I get some point.
Speaker:You have overflow,
Speaker:you can't take everything.
Speaker:Absolutely. And this is the thing,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:okay, so when I started out and I was doing it,
Speaker:there wasn't a ton of photographers.
Speaker:And then with the digital boom,
Speaker:there's now hundreds of thousands of photographers and everybody knows somebody
Speaker:who's a photographer.
Speaker:But actually that's okay because now getting your photos,
Speaker:your family photos professionally done or your business photos professionally done,
Speaker:that is more widespread common.
Speaker:So that means more people now you're not convincing people they
Speaker:need it,
Speaker:they know they need it.
Speaker:Does that make sense?
Speaker:So just because there's more doesn't mean that there's less business.
Speaker:It means that more people are requiring it or demanding it
Speaker:or needing it.
Speaker:That's a very good point.
Speaker:Yeah. So it just stops the lack mentality.
Speaker:There is abundance for everyone and there's not the right fit
Speaker:for everyone.
Speaker:And that is a big,
Speaker:big part of this story as well as just really delving
Speaker:into who am I,
Speaker:what do I have to offer,
Speaker:stop comparing what is it that I can offer somebody and
Speaker:really seeing the camera as a tool in my hand and
Speaker:not my identity.
Speaker:Like because I could get stuck on,
Speaker:I'm only worth how quality of photo I could take.
Speaker:And that wasn't true because believe it or not,
Speaker:everyone that has a business,
Speaker:they say this is from Donald Miller.
Speaker:The highest paid businesses are not necessarily the best quality or
Speaker:the clearest.
Speaker:They're the ones that can communicate well and they can tell
Speaker:you what they have to offer and they can make the
Speaker:system or the process easy.
Speaker:So those are the,
Speaker:tends to be the most successful and are out with connections
Speaker:like you're talking about.
Speaker:Absolutely. Making the customer journey comfortable.
Speaker:Like it was so easy and fun to do photo shoot,
Speaker:the one we've done so far together.
Speaker:So there's a lot of other things that go into it
Speaker:over and above just the final result,
Speaker:I'd say.
Speaker:Absolutely. Yeah.
Speaker:So their motto is if you confuse,
Speaker:you lose.
Speaker:And so there's a lot that goes into how are you
Speaker:even telling people that you're available for them and how are
Speaker:you telling people that you can show up for them and
Speaker:help them.
Speaker:So it ended up transitioning my business into a B2B business,
Speaker:lifestyle photography and brand photography for businesses.
Speaker:And it was just like a light bulb that went off.
Speaker:This is the conversations I love to have these the people
Speaker:I love to work with.
Speaker:These are my girlfriends,
Speaker:these are the people that I see them struggle and I
Speaker:know I can help them communicate what they're doing.
Speaker:And so it was just this huge aha for me to
Speaker:say like,
Speaker:I just want to work with these people.
Speaker:These are my friends.
Speaker:And understanding that people are showing up more on social media.
Speaker:They have Instagram and Facebook,
Speaker:but they're showing their inside lives.
Speaker:People want to see the behind the scenes,
Speaker:but they also want to see the professional professionalism,
Speaker:that things that go into your craft and how you're doing
Speaker:what you're doing.
Speaker:One time I was walking down the craft fair by my
Speaker:house walking up and down and I saw these knives that
Speaker:were for sale and there were $400 for his little knife
Speaker:and I was like,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:look at that price tag.
Speaker:And the bigger one was a thousand and something like they
Speaker:were all displayed out and I just thought,
Speaker:goodness, I can't imagine ever buying a thousand dollar knife or
Speaker:$400 knife.
Speaker:Of course I'm not a Hunter either,
Speaker:but, but I looked up at the back of the booth
Speaker:and the man had these beautiful photos up on the back
Speaker:of the process of these knives from creating them to putting
Speaker:the handles on and it showed him in the photos and
Speaker:I just went,
Speaker:that is what I want to do.
Speaker:I want to show the behind the scenes.
Speaker:I want people to see,
Speaker:because now the value of that knife just went up.
Speaker:When we can see,
Speaker:when we're involved in people's processes,
Speaker:when we understand what does it look like to work with
Speaker:you. I mean we have so many coaches out there now,
Speaker:but people want the help but they don't know what that
Speaker:looks like.
Speaker:And so if that's where it goes back to in my
Speaker:bio, when I sit good businesses educated as a business owner,
Speaker:you should be continuously educating and that's what we have Abby
Speaker:in common as well as she's a content creator.
Speaker:If you are continually looking at what is the content,
Speaker:what are you serving your audience with?
Speaker:What are you helping them with?
Speaker:Then you can show them what it looks like to mentally
Speaker:move in and work with you.
Speaker:Yeah, those are the kinds of photos that you should be
Speaker:looking to capture in your business because you should be showing
Speaker:people what goes into the process.
Speaker:They love to see,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:if you have a pretty gift basket,
Speaker:cool, but like what went through the process,
Speaker:the ribbon machine that we've talked about,
Speaker:that custom,
Speaker:those touches,
Speaker:those little things,
Speaker:all the things that are behind the scenes that gives people
Speaker:the value of why they should buy your product or service.
Speaker:Agreed. Totally.
Speaker:And I think just as we were talking before,
Speaker:you were making the comment that you don't have to convince
Speaker:people now that they need photographers for weddings or special events.
Speaker:I think the same thing now is happening where people are
Speaker:really understanding that the behind the scenes is becoming more and
Speaker:more valuable and a lot of people are doing it now.
Speaker:Facebook lives,
Speaker:right? All of that,
Speaker:very casual behind the scene.
Speaker:Here's what I'm doing today and they're showing inside their workshop,
Speaker:but there's also the value to what you're doing,
Speaker:which is more upscale,
Speaker:professional video and those have certain places where they are best
Speaker:used. Also,
Speaker:you're just talking about a booth at a show.
Speaker:Having a nice loop of a video,
Speaker:a professionally done video in your booth could be a great
Speaker:idea. I have one on my website now in other areas
Speaker:too and I love the fact that you've gravitated to small
Speaker:business to business and sharing the owner's story.
Speaker:I don't know if it's all just small business or you
Speaker:have some big brands too,
Speaker:but I love the niche you're in because most photographers,
Speaker:I'm not going to say don't get it yet,
Speaker:but they don't understand some of the specific scenes or visuals
Speaker:that are needed.
Speaker:And you obviously do because when we were talking to,
Speaker:you're like,
Speaker:okay Sue,
Speaker:I want you standing there and I want you walking to
Speaker:me and you already knew exactly what you were going to
Speaker:use that for.
Speaker:I had no clue.
Speaker:All I knew was I was supposed to walk.
Speaker:Well, you know,
Speaker:part of it's just kind of capturing some of those shots
Speaker:about you and just seeing you,
Speaker:but some of that's just listening to the person of like,
Speaker:what do you talk about and what do you do?
Speaker:And you'd be surprised at how many people can't communicate that
Speaker:very well.
Speaker:So a lot of times after people are done working with
Speaker:me, they're like,
Speaker:say you're a photographer,
Speaker:but really you're like marketer.
Speaker:You help with this exercise and clarity.
Speaker:And that's going back to StoryBrand is if you confuse,
Speaker:you lose.
Speaker:You've got to get clear and when I called the one
Speaker:minute story brand video or your story video,
Speaker:it's not your story.
Speaker:It's the story of the client's process of working with you.
Speaker:What does it look from start to finish of what their
Speaker:problems are to what the process you take them through to
Speaker:how they're going to feel at the end of the rainbow.
Speaker:That aspirational identity and so good businesses are the guide to
Speaker:the hero who is the client and you're taking them through
Speaker:that process and so what does it look like?
Speaker:And then they feel like,
Speaker:ah, I'm so glad I worked with Sue because now I've
Speaker:got these problems answered.
Speaker:Cause again,
Speaker:every good business solves a problem.
Speaker:You've just demonstrated everything right there.
Speaker:Sarah, how much do you know?
Speaker:That was beautiful.
Speaker:Absolutely fabulous.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:It's really fun because you get to,
Speaker:and I talk to people who have a great idea,
Speaker:is really just even introduced these thoughts to them.
Speaker:I know you have questions generally about resource.
Speaker:I can't scream enough about building a story brand because what's
Speaker:so nice is that you no longer feel salesy or smarmy
Speaker:or cheesy or any of those things.
Speaker:And I can directly go up to somebody and say,
Speaker:I can help you and I know how I can help
Speaker:you. Because I can see the process of how their client
Speaker:works with them and I can see when they're missing it
Speaker:too, when they're missing,
Speaker:telling people about that.
Speaker:So that's a big key piece.
Speaker:And so I'm unapologetic about going after certain people that I
Speaker:know I can help because I really believe the value that
Speaker:I'm giving them.
Speaker:When we even just talk about those illustrative pieces,
Speaker:it's like,
Speaker:you know what you should do.
Speaker:And a lot of times I'll just give those ideas away
Speaker:for free.
Speaker:If they come back to me and they want to book
Speaker:with me,
Speaker:great. But I'm happy to just have those again,
Speaker:those conversations and those happen around a lot of business owners,
Speaker:so I just enjoy it,
Speaker:enjoy the conversations and all of it.
Speaker:Well, I can hear it in your voice.
Speaker:You found your niche?
Speaker:For sure.
Speaker:Without question.
Speaker:I can hear the passion and I've seen it demonstrated already.
Speaker:So now dunt on thumb.
Speaker:March, 2020 happens and we're still in the middle of this
Speaker:as we are talking right now,
Speaker:but we're not over it.
Speaker:It's not behind us yet,
Speaker:but what has this done to your business?
Speaker:We're going to hear Sarah's answer to this question as well
Speaker:as her creative approach to pivoting right after a word from
Speaker:our sponsor.
Speaker:Yes, it's possible increase your sales without adding a single customer.
Speaker:How you ask by offering personalization with your products.
Speaker:Wrap a cake box with a ribbon saying happy 30th birthday,
Speaker:Annie, or at a special message and date to wedding or
Speaker:party favors for an extra meaningful touch.
Speaker:Where else can you get customization with a creatively spelled name
Speaker:or find packaging that includes a saying whose meaning is known
Speaker:to a select to not only our customers willing to pay
Speaker:for these special touches.
Speaker:They'll tell their friends and word will spread about your company
Speaker:and products.
Speaker:You can create personalized ribbons and labels in seconds.
Speaker:Make just one or thousands without waiting weeks or having to
Speaker:spend money to order yards and yards,
Speaker:print words in any language or font,
Speaker:add logos,
Speaker:images, even photos.
Speaker:Perfect for branding or adding ingredient and flavor labels to for
Speaker:more information,
Speaker:go to the ribbon,
Speaker:print company.com
Speaker:Well, I did have a lot of cancellations.
Speaker:I even had people ask for some money back.
Speaker:I have deposit that's non-refundable,
Speaker:but I also have a lot of times people that just
Speaker:pay in full before we've even done their shoot.
Speaker:So I had to refund and I had the beginning,
Speaker:a little bit of a freak out moment because my income
Speaker:is really important to our family and so I just told
Speaker:myself to just chill out and believe that the next best
Speaker:thing was coming the next day.
Speaker:And sure enough I got a great person call me up.
Speaker:I just kind of kept things rolling and then I also
Speaker:saw that there were photographers offering front porch sessions.
Speaker:These are like five minute go out in front of people's
Speaker:house just as they are come outside,
Speaker:take a photo.
Speaker:I saw some people charging for them and I saw other
Speaker:people giving them away for free.
Speaker:Were you seeing it online or through your networks or where
Speaker:were you saying it?
Speaker:Yeah, Instagram mainly.
Speaker:Okay. The other photographers that I follow and so I don't
Speaker:even know who it originated with.
Speaker:I debated back and forth whether I wanted to do it
Speaker:and then I just put it out there that I was
Speaker:going to do Litchfield park where I live in Goodyear,
Speaker:which is the city next to me.
Speaker:And I had an overwhelming response to people that wanted to
Speaker:do it.
Speaker:So let me back this up.
Speaker:Okay. So you are then taking photos of families that are
Speaker:coming out of their house,
Speaker:onto the front porch in whatever manner they are with who,
Speaker:whatever combination of the family is there.
Speaker:Right? Cause we're all cocooning in all crazy places.
Speaker:Right. And then you're taking photos to document.
Speaker:In a way,
Speaker:this is really cool because think of it like a hundred
Speaker:years from now,
Speaker:this is going to be in the history books,
Speaker:this pandemic,
Speaker:right? So this is something to document for short.
Speaker:I mean clearly we'll enjoy the pictures way before that too.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:I see this as such an interesting thing to be doing.
Speaker:Alright, so how,
Speaker:so you said you put it out into your community Facebook
Speaker:emails. So yeah,
Speaker:I created Facebook and Instagram is really where my people are
Speaker:at that follow me and I put on a Google form
Speaker:so that they could put their information and what's nice is
Speaker:it just goes into a spreadsheet.
Speaker:So I would group whose homes were close to each other
Speaker:and then I would text them,
Speaker:Would they book right there at that time.
Speaker:So basically I chose not to charge and I did decide
Speaker:I'm going to put it out there,
Speaker:what I have,
Speaker:like I have Zelle and Venmo and PayPal and if somebody
Speaker:wants to go ahead and support my business.
Speaker:And I was trying to be careful about saying donate because
Speaker:I'm not a nonprofit.
Speaker:Good point.
Speaker:Cause some were donating to other businesses and I was like
Speaker:well some photographers it's not a full time job for them.
Speaker:For me it really is.
Speaker:It's a full time,
Speaker:full time job.
Speaker:And so I just said,
Speaker:you know what,
Speaker:I'm not going to charge because at this point people's jobs
Speaker:and everything that's going on,
Speaker:they may or may not be able to afford it.
Speaker:And I think it was the best thing I did because
Speaker:I've had the gamut of donation.
Speaker:But I mean I spent two hours the first night,
Speaker:two hours the next night and like two days later I
Speaker:had over $1,500
Speaker:in donations.
Speaker:That's incredible.
Speaker:People were just overly generous.
Speaker:It was like way more than I would have charged and
Speaker:so I'm continuing to do them.
Speaker:There have been people that haven't donated.
Speaker:I'm absolutely fine with it.
Speaker:I knew it was just going to be a wash,
Speaker:but what has been really,
Speaker:really cool is it's like I have that circle of community
Speaker:of the people that I know,
Speaker:they're the ones sharing this information and then I get to
Speaker:meet their friends and family and their friends and family.
Speaker:So my circle just rippled out larger.
Speaker:Right. So a lot of the people that that you're doing
Speaker:the porch sessions with aren't people who have already been clients
Speaker:with you before.
Speaker:Right. I would say that 35% are and then the rest
Speaker:are all new that I haven't met yet.
Speaker:So now I do family and business.
Speaker:I don't do weddings any longer unless they're existing clients.
Speaker:And because I just want them to know me.
Speaker:If they're asking for me by name,
Speaker:then I'll go ahead and do the wedding.
Speaker:But I'm not showcasing weddings any longer,
Speaker:anything on my site.
Speaker:But so you do like when people want a nice posed
Speaker:picture for like a holiday card Or,
Speaker:yes, I do.
Speaker:Family, yeah.
Speaker:Is new baby something you do?
Speaker:Just not the big events All within the umbrella of lifestyle
Speaker:photography meaning just true to life.
Speaker:And so the baby isn't,
Speaker:I'm not like super posing the baby or doing studio like
Speaker:photos. I'm just staying in that documenting them at home because
Speaker:that's a big thing is managing expectations of what does that
Speaker:look like.
Speaker:And as you can see with the gamut of photographers,
Speaker:we're not the same.
Speaker:And so I really make sure that I ask the right
Speaker:questions to be clear.
Speaker:Like do you want this kind because I have a photographer
Speaker:for you,
Speaker:I have a photographer that I can refer you to with
Speaker:like every different type and every different style.
Speaker:Right. And I love to refer.
Speaker:So that is another big shift that happens as well when
Speaker:you are not stuck in comparison any longer For sure.
Speaker:Okay wait,
Speaker:I have some questions now.
Speaker:I just love this port session strategy so much and I
Speaker:know it wasn't a strategy you created,
Speaker:it just kind of started to happen.
Speaker:You saw it and now you're developing from there.
Speaker:So you have all these people now that have never interacted
Speaker:with you before and now have had a wonderful experience and
Speaker:you have their email because that's how you deliver their photography
Speaker:when it's done right.
Speaker:So now you have all these new people on your list
Speaker:and so what are you going to do?
Speaker:Cause I know you're not pushy,
Speaker:whatever marketing books you used served you really well cause you're
Speaker:just very comfortable in your approach.
Speaker:So what is your plan with this moving forward?
Speaker:So I've probably done over 60 of them at this point,
Speaker:didn't you tell me you have a waiting list?
Speaker:So I do have a wait list but I basically created
Speaker:the wait list for,
Speaker:and that's through a Google form as well.
Speaker:Highly recommend doing anything like that.
Speaker:Whenever you create a form it will go ahead and naturally
Speaker:go to a spreadsheet and you can organize that sheet,
Speaker:the Google sheet however you want.
Speaker:And so I start grouping them in color,
Speaker:coding them by,
Speaker:I have an assistant so it's not all me who will
Speaker:color code them by zip codes.
Speaker:And so then once I get enough in that one area
Speaker:I'll text all of them and say I'm going to head
Speaker:to you at this time.
Speaker:And so it just goes pretty smoothly.
Speaker:But it's been so fun to like I have people jumping,
Speaker:I have like kids jumping in their pool with their PJ's.
Speaker:I have people with their like off road vehicle that are
Speaker:coming out,
Speaker:everyone in their beach cruiser that wants to just kind of
Speaker:go down the street cause it's not just on their front
Speaker:porch. Some people are like,
Speaker:I don't even have a front porch.
Speaker:We've gone in the backyard,
Speaker:we've gone out in the street,
Speaker:we've gotten to a favorite place.
Speaker:And they've just been super fun.
Speaker:And so it has been a great way of connecting.
Speaker:But I think that,
Speaker:well I tell people at the end that I do family
Speaker:and I do businesses and that the reason I even being
Speaker:my tagline,
Speaker:making business personal is because I just believe your business is
Speaker:personal. I love to work with heart-based businesses,
Speaker:people who care about what they do and they do it
Speaker:for their families and their dreams.
Speaker:And so that's all very personal.
Speaker:And that's what's so tough about what's going on right now
Speaker:and the push pull that people are having with,
Speaker:with businesses and saying what's just money?
Speaker:And it'll be fine for some people.
Speaker:This is their dreams.
Speaker:Oh it's incredibly personal.
Speaker:Yes. And if people think it's just money,
Speaker:it's like no,
Speaker:no, no.
Speaker:It's much,
Speaker:much more than that for people's whose businesses are suffering.
Speaker:But yeah,
Speaker:I'm going to be emailing them,
Speaker:reach out to them and going to actually be sending them
Speaker:cards, the send out cards with their photos on them to
Speaker:just tell them how much I appreciated this experience.
Speaker:It's been fantastic to just get to know all these people
Speaker:and they have businesses and that's the thing.
Speaker:All these are families but they also,
Speaker:a lot of them have businesses.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:And it sounds like it's been a great experience and fun
Speaker:for you too,
Speaker:cause you never know what they're going to have you photographing.
Speaker:Absolutely. It's been an adventure.
Speaker:And the other really neat thing is that I've been taking,
Speaker:I have three kids and I've been taking one of them,
Speaker:so each one of them have come with me more than
Speaker:two occasions and learning with my other camera how to shoot.
Speaker:So I've been teaching them.
Speaker:So it's been really like a family experience,
Speaker:especially because we're all homeschooling and with having a second shooter.
Speaker:I've been telling the kids like go over,
Speaker:stand here and get that side view of the family.
Speaker:So these families are also getting these different angles of the
Speaker:photographs and the kids are just loving it and I'm paying
Speaker:them 20 bucks each time they come out with me.
Speaker:So they're fighting over who gets to go.
Speaker:But what a learning for them too.
Speaker:Absolutely. And this is the big thing.
Speaker:This is where it kind of goes full circle is everybody
Speaker:is asking my whichever child's with me and it's totally fine.
Speaker:Are you going to be a photographer like mom when they're
Speaker:kind of nodding and yeah,
Speaker:you're going to be a photographer.
Speaker:For me going through everything I've gone through with my identity,
Speaker:what I tell them,
Speaker:and when you get in the car and what we've talked
Speaker:about is that the camera is a tool in your hands.
Speaker:You can be whatever you want to be and still be
Speaker:a great photographer.
Speaker:Or if you want to do this and take photos of
Speaker:this or this,
Speaker:it is not your identity.
Speaker:You can just enjoy having that tool and that skill.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:And yeah,
Speaker:I mean photos.
Speaker:I am not a good photographer.
Speaker:Thank God my husband loves to take pictures cause I just
Speaker:want to always be in the moment,
Speaker:which is why Instagram is so challenging for me Because I
Speaker:always felt like I should've taken a picture of that.
Speaker:I'm not good at that,
Speaker:But I think you know,
Speaker:whether it's to start some type of a business down the
Speaker:road or any type of business because they're absolutely seen what's
Speaker:behind the scenes with you.
Speaker:Especially, you know when mom leaves,
Speaker:what is she doing now?
Speaker:They know,
Speaker:right? It's so cute to hear them like,
Speaker:I mean it's a front porch session,
Speaker:but I heard my son talking to his friends like,
Speaker:yeah, I just did a headshot session with my mom,
Speaker:so, Oh so cute.
Speaker:I got paid for that.
Speaker:You love it.
Speaker:It is.
Speaker:But it's fun to see that they have confidence.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:yeah, it wasn't really a headshot session but close enough for
Speaker:now. I love that the vocabulary is in there somewhere that
Speaker:they overheard when they hear me working with people and they're
Speaker:starting to pick up the language.
Speaker:I think the big overarching lesson here and the reason I
Speaker:wanted to have you on is I still feel that a
Speaker:lot of people are using this time and saying,
Speaker:Oh I can't do anything.
Speaker:And there are some people who are thinking and trying to
Speaker:be creative and trying all these different types of things to
Speaker:figure out how they can do something during this time.
Speaker:And granted there are some people who aren't going to be
Speaker:able to make an income or tweak what they have available
Speaker:in one way or another,
Speaker:but a lot of people can,
Speaker:and I mean I think this is a great idea to
Speaker:look online and see what other people are doing in your
Speaker:industry because you might not do exactly what they're doing,
Speaker:but it might spark another idea.
Speaker:Absolutely. Like for instance in the gift business,
Speaker:doing the gifting for medical workers,
Speaker:I mean even like gifting for teachers,
Speaker:we just had teacher appreciation.
Speaker:There's so many things and you can just look at what
Speaker:your fellow colleagues are doing,
Speaker:tweak it,
Speaker:do it differently for your community and yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. And it isn't always money.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:look at what you're doing.
Speaker:You're still taking your core capability,
Speaker:right? Which is the photography and doing something to make people
Speaker:feel good too.
Speaker:There is not a question that that's going to come back
Speaker:to you.
Speaker:Oh, thank you so much.
Speaker:But it has been life giving for me.
Speaker:It's been so fun.
Speaker:Like even there's days,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:or go,
Speaker:Oh my gosh,
Speaker:I've got six of these.
Speaker:I don't really want to go right now.
Speaker:And the minute you just walk out the door and you
Speaker:get to the first person,
Speaker:everybody's smiling and you're bringing that energy.
Speaker:I just feel my ferret lift.
Speaker:You just feel happy and it's,
Speaker:I mean we're supposed to be in community with each other,
Speaker:so this is why it's also been so tough is not
Speaker:seeing people and people will Sue.
Speaker:You would have no idea how many people have told me
Speaker:they were going to shower.
Speaker:They were so excited.
Speaker:They were going to snap words For the first time in
Speaker:a week.
Speaker:Oh Sarah,
Speaker:you're coming.
Speaker:I'm going to shower.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:I'll do my hair.
Speaker:Or it's a five minute session.
Speaker:And so after it's over they go,
Speaker:so now what?
Speaker:Where do we go down up now?
Speaker:Where are we going?
Speaker:Walk back in the house.
Speaker:But like I said,
Speaker:some people are wearing PJ's,
Speaker:some people are barefoot and it's just really nice to be
Speaker:able to see you and smile even if six feet,
Speaker:10 feet away.
Speaker:Yeah, and there's a lot of photographers,
Speaker:so I had a lot that said we had photos scheduled
Speaker:and that was canceled and maternity and babies and things like
Speaker:that. That all got canceled due to this.
Speaker:It just depends on people's comfort level,
Speaker:what they are.
Speaker:Okay with ahead.
Speaker:Other photographer reach out to me saying,
Speaker:don't do it.
Speaker:Other photographers are really being shamed for doing this.
Speaker:I mean,
Speaker:you're always going to take a risk and have to make
Speaker:hard decisions for yourself and your business and how you want
Speaker:to do things.
Speaker:But I've been careful to keep my space and be respectful
Speaker:of everyone And it's their choice whether they want to do
Speaker:it with you or not too.
Speaker:Absolutely. I don't think that anything any of us do.
Speaker:I mean I think that's just the world we live in.
Speaker:No matter what we do,
Speaker:there are going to be people who have something to say
Speaker:differently. Absolutely.
Speaker:It just is.
Speaker:And then if you didn't do it,
Speaker:they'd say,
Speaker:why didn't you do it?
Speaker:Like you can,
Speaker:you're not going to win,
Speaker:right? Yeah.
Speaker:You cannot please them all and that is the reality of
Speaker:like I'm here to serve the clients that do want me
Speaker:to do this and stay within the guidelines.
Speaker:Yeah. I mean I so appreciate your sharing what you've done
Speaker:and I hope that we've been able to spark some ideas
Speaker:or creativity or just the different angle for some of the
Speaker:people who are listening here as we move out of this,
Speaker:because we will at some point,
Speaker:this will be over.
Speaker:What guidance or advice would you give to someone who's a
Speaker:small business owner?
Speaker:I'm even going to go as far as they've done.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:they've got some professional headshots done because they've listened and they
Speaker:know that needs to happen.
Speaker:Maybe they have a couple of photos of their shop or
Speaker:their products,
Speaker:but that's all they have.
Speaker:Where would you take someone like that next?
Speaker:So I would really,
Speaker:some of the questions that I ask on my questionnaire is
Speaker:what does the day look like for you?
Speaker:Kind of think about your day in the life of your
Speaker:business, what is the process?
Speaker:And then also say,
Speaker:what do you do that people don't know you do?
Speaker:Oh, that's a good one.
Speaker:So it's like if there's a part of the process of
Speaker:your service,
Speaker:especially service based businesses,
Speaker:they're not necessarily product based or there's a service along with
Speaker:your product or how it gets to them or how is
Speaker:something's created.
Speaker:Maybe a part of what people don't realize.
Speaker:So the process,
Speaker:something in the middle of it.
Speaker:Yeah. Or even like where you say your product's made in
Speaker:USA and like you want people to know that most people
Speaker:don't know that those,
Speaker:they're all great things to talk about.
Speaker:So you should be talking to your audience ongoing.
Speaker:And the best way to do that is to show the
Speaker:photo of it.
Speaker:So also brand photography is kind of keeping things in the
Speaker:same look and feel.
Speaker:So the emotion that goes around your business,
Speaker:what do you want people to think and feel when they
Speaker:think about your brand is another piece.
Speaker:Like do you want,
Speaker:because I was able to teach the groups at the national
Speaker:gift basket convention,
Speaker:you know what I'm saying?
Speaker:Like just taking gift baskets.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:you could be a brand that is all about celebration.
Speaker:You could be a brand that's all about appreciation.
Speaker:You could be a brand that's all about love.
Speaker:They're all very different.
Speaker:They seem like they're in the same place,
Speaker:but they're very different.
Speaker:And so you have to delve deeper into those emotional things
Speaker:to be able to continue to communicate what your brand is
Speaker:and showing all of those steps.
Speaker:And all of those processes with that overarching theme of appreciation.
Speaker:We appreciate these people,
Speaker:firefighters, teachers,
Speaker:healthcare workers.
Speaker:That can be what your whole business is built around.
Speaker:And so you got to keep showing it.
Speaker:That's one of the best ways.
Speaker:Yeah, and I guess I would extend that to say that
Speaker:if you can't define it,
Speaker:if you're going to have pictures done,
Speaker:your photographer doesn't know where to go with it.
Speaker:Absolutely. And that's where a lot of times people aren't necessarily
Speaker:ready for that.
Speaker:You're looking for people who are and those who aren't.
Speaker:There's other people who aren't.
Speaker:But delve into that question,
Speaker:those questions and ask yourself those answers.
Speaker:And again,
Speaker:StoryBrand is a great resource for that because they will ask
Speaker:you those questions in the book or anything you listened to
Speaker:and there's some free resources online.
Speaker:And then talk to your friends,
Speaker:talk to other people.
Speaker:What do you see about my business?
Speaker:Or what do you think that we represent?
Speaker:But you,
Speaker:that's the work that you have to absolutely have to do
Speaker:if you want to grow and be clear.
Speaker:Got it.
Speaker:And then where do you feel like the video that we
Speaker:did together,
Speaker:where does that fit?
Speaker:Should everybody have them best case scenario and where does that
Speaker:fit? So I think everyone best case scenario should have it
Speaker:because it is just start to finish kind of the overarching
Speaker:story of your brand.
Speaker:And again it's that client's journey through it.
Speaker:So if you kind of listen to it,
Speaker:you'll hear in the beginning starting with those problems that people
Speaker:are having because it helps script it with Abby,
Speaker:it's grabbing the people who have identified with those problems and
Speaker:being able to go through that journey.
Speaker:And so for me that is like the best because we're
Speaker:visual people and if you land on a website and there's
Speaker:just tons and tons of words,
Speaker:you are not going to pay attention.
Speaker:You're also not going to pay attention with like my story,
Speaker:I started photography 13 years ago when I got my dad's
Speaker:camera. People don't want to hear that story unless it's in
Speaker:the context of what I got to on the other side
Speaker:because if they can identify in that,
Speaker:but if you start your website with some big story like
Speaker:that, they are not going to pay attention.
Speaker:They're going to pay to you identifying with their problems and
Speaker:you being able to help them and so the more you
Speaker:can keep doing that,
Speaker:the better.
Speaker:I agree with you.
Speaker:Totally. And good demonstration to this.
Speaker:I again would send people over to look at the video
Speaker:on my page.
Speaker:Abby Herman,
Speaker:her page,
Speaker:right, right solutions.
Speaker:Anyone do you have one on your page I'm guessing or
Speaker:some examples over there?
Speaker:Lots of examples of videos.
Speaker:Oh perfect.
Speaker:So just,
Speaker:yeah, so just go over,
Speaker:give his listeners,
Speaker:you know that there's a show notes page with all of
Speaker:Sarah's links so you can go over and see this demonstrated
Speaker:in several different ways just to get a feel for what
Speaker:we're talking about.
Speaker:I actually really got the itch to do one of these.
Speaker:When I saw Abby's,
Speaker:I'd started seeing them in certain places and I'm like,
Speaker:but who does that?
Speaker:Because I didn't know a lot of photographers in my area
Speaker:who do it.
Speaker:Or you'll love this Sarah.
Speaker:They weren't telling anybody they were doing it.
Speaker:Right. Cause if you don't tell people they don't know.
Speaker:Absolutely. And that was another big thing with this pandemic and
Speaker:everything going on is I made a post that said open
Speaker:for business and I did that before they even the front
Speaker:porch sessions and I said look I can stand six feet
Speaker:away. I can be within this.
Speaker:These are the types of things that I can still do.
Speaker:That was prior to it.
Speaker:And I think sometimes that's just also the big key that
Speaker:you can tell people how you're operating,
Speaker:like post about it.
Speaker:Tell people,
Speaker:Hey guys,
Speaker:I'm doing this right now because what happened I think to
Speaker:a lot of people is we all just kind of hunker
Speaker:down. Like everything stopped.
Speaker:Yeah, everything's stopped.
Speaker:So tell people you're still going and tell people how you're
Speaker:still going and what you're doing and however you keep going.
Speaker:Just keep telling people.
Speaker:Absolutely couldn't agree more.
Speaker:This has been wonderful,
Speaker:Sarah. I just,
Speaker:I love everything you've talked about.
Speaker:First of all,
Speaker:I didn't know your whole story,
Speaker:so that was so interesting to hear how you're integrating your
Speaker:family into this now so that they're really understanding what mommy's
Speaker:doing in playing a role is so awesome.
Speaker:You know I love the porch sessions.
Speaker:I wish you were here.
Speaker:I know you don't though because it was still snowing last
Speaker:month. You only come to Chicago in the summer,
Speaker:right? I usually come in June and to Highland parks specifically
Speaker:and then Chicago area.
Speaker:Not this year,
Speaker:unfortunately. Yes.
Speaker:Not this year.
Speaker:Yeah. Well hopefully I'll be coming to you.
Speaker:Yeah, but thank you so much so,
Speaker:so appreciate you and what you're doing for businesses as well.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:This has been wonderful.
Speaker:Take care Sarah.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:Bye. Bye.
Speaker:I want you to do something.
Speaker:Now that you've listened to this episode,
Speaker:think about how you tell your business story.
Speaker:Are you doing it through the experience of the customer?
Speaker:Is it clear and concise?
Speaker:Remember what Sarah says?
Speaker:If you confuse you lose.
Speaker:If necessary,
Speaker:make some adjustments not only in your spoken message,
Speaker:but also on your about page.
Speaker:This is well worth the thought and time to get it
Speaker:right. Next week we're going to hear from someone who is
Speaker:no stranger to natural disasters,
Speaker:Living In California with a firefighter,
Speaker:husband and experienced many a time when daily routine has been
Speaker:interrupted and plans needed to change on the fly.
Speaker:But even so,
Speaker:this pandemic stretched her business survival instincts to a new level.
Speaker:You're going to walk away with so many new ideas for
Speaker:now and for the future.
Speaker:That's on tap first thing next Monday morning.
Speaker:Remember, if you subscribe to the podcast,
Speaker:you'll have it ready and waiting for you.
Speaker:Oh, and one more thing for today.
Speaker:If you're feeling a little bit generous and have a second.
Speaker:Could I ask a favor?
Speaker:It would mean the world to me.
Speaker:If you would rate and review this show,
Speaker:just go to rate this podcast.com
Speaker:forward slash gift biz unwrapped and leave a comment.
Speaker:Maybe tell me why you listen or something that you've learned
Speaker:recently. With that,
Speaker:this show is all wrapped up.
Speaker:I'll see you next Monday.
Speaker:Be safe and be well.
Speaker:Bye for now.
Speaker:I want to make sure you're familiar with my free Facebook
Speaker:group called gift is breeze.
Speaker:It's a place where we all gather and our community to
Speaker:support each other.
Speaker:Got a really fun post in there.
Speaker:That's my favorite of the week,
Speaker:I have to say where I invite all of you to
Speaker:share what you're doing,
Speaker:to show pictures of your product,
Speaker:to show what you're working on for the week,
Speaker:to get reaction from other people and just for fun because
Speaker:we all get to see the wonderful products that everybody in
Speaker:the community is making.
Speaker:My favorite post every single week without doubt.
Speaker:Wait, what aren't you part of the group already?
Speaker:If not,
Speaker:make sure to jump over to Facebook and search for the
Speaker:group gift biz breeze.
Speaker:Don't delay.
