The Best Marketing You're Overlooking

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You're listening to Take It Personally, a podcast for

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photographers about the personal side

of business and the art of standing out.

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Here, I'll help you build a business

and a brand that is uniquely you.

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If you want to attract dream clients

and stop looking at the competition

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to decide your next move, if you are

ready to show up as a confident branding

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authority to help you serve your clients

and consider your goals and priorities

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too, if you want to make your mark in a

new, underserved niche of photography,

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then this is the place for you.

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I'm your host, Maddie Peschong, South

Dakota brand photographer and educator.

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I'm a straight-shooting,

Instagram-obsessed, diehard Swiftie

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who has built a multi-six-figure

business on the back of brand

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photography, all while raising a

family, and I know you can do the same.

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Let's get ready to take it personally.

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Speaker: Everybody always

wants to talk about how to get

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more clients, including me.

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I love talking about

how to get more clients.

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But what if your biggest growth

lever isn't your marketing?

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I know, that's coming from the girl

who loves marketing, but what if

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that's not your biggest opportunity?

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What if that opportunity is

actually sitting with what

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happens after someone books you?

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Yes, marketing matters, branding

matters, positioning matters.

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These are all things that I will argue

until the end of time matter if you

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want to book more and better, more

aligned clients in your business.

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But today we're gonna go back

to the basics and talk about the

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system that makes all of this

work So first let me ask you this.

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I want you to think about from the very

first inquiry that someone sends into

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your business to final delivery, what does

your client experience actually look like?

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And is that client experience driving

more business into your business?

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If it's not, it should be,

and I want you to listen up.

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So whether you are brand new or

well established, I'm willing to bet

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that your best clients are probably

coming from referrals and returns.

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I've had this conversation so often lately

as people are feeling really burnt out

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when it comes to their marketing and

creating content and making sure their

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website looks perfect, and all of these

things that, again, I'm going to argue

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are really important and do really matter.

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However, I say that knowing

that the best clients in your

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business are probably coming from

other people who've booked you.

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They're coming from reviews.

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They're coming from referrals.

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They're coming from maybe someone

posting about you on social media

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or telling a friend about you.

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Or even from a client who booked a couple

of years ago and has now come back, or

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a client who booked a wedding a couple

years ago and now is launching a business.

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Those are probably your best clients,

and that isn't going to change.

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It also doesn't mean don't market, right?

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It doesn't mean that you

don't need a great website.

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It doesn't mean that you don't

need to understand Instagram

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strategy or social media strategy.

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But it does mean that you can

recognize that a great client

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experience is marketing.

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And in fact, it's some of

your best marketing because

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the trust is already built.

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The sale is easier.

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The relationship is warmer.

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There's a statistic that it's a million

times … That's not the statistic,

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but it's a million times easier to

sell someone on your business to book a

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client if they have already booked you.

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It is easier to book a return

client, or it's easier to turn a

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wedding client into a newborn client.

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That is easier than selling a new client.

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And I don't…

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I was joking.

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I don't know exactly what the statistic

is, but it has been proven that's easier

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to do because the trust is already built.

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It already exists.

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This is especially critical when you are

early and building a name for yourself.

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The client in front of your lens right

now is your most powerful marketing tool.

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Your next client is probably going

to come from the client who is

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currently in front of your lens.

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That is really exciting, but it's

also a big problem if your client

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experience is not set up in a way to

actually make that come to fruition

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So let's first talk about your

inquiry process because this

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really sets you up for either

success or failure, quite frankly.

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Not to be dramatic, but it's

an incredibly important process

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that you really want to nail, and

you've got one chance to do that.

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So I want you to ask yourself,

is it easy to inquire with you?

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Because any friction here is going to

cost you bookings before you even get

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the chance to talk to this person.

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The questions that you ask during

inquiry, during that discovery call.

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So once they've come through your contact

form, you've emailed back and forth, you

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have that discovery call on the calendar.

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The questions that you ask during

inquiry are often why someone books

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you over another photographer,

even if they don't realize it.

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A lot of people are sleeping on this

because most photographers will get in

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their inbox and respond to an inquiry,

or get on a discovery call and chat with

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a potential client, and they will ask

questions like, "What date works for you?"

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Or they will just talk the whole time.

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They'll talk about their process.

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They won't ask the right questions.

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But great photographers

ask the right questions.

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They ask things like, "What's

your goal with this session?

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What are you going to

use these photos for?

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What do you have coming up that

we need to create content for?

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Where do you feel like you have

gaps in your marketing right now?

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Where do you want your

business to be in five years?

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Have you had brand photography before?

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What worked?

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What didn't?

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Have you thought about this?

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Have you thought about it this way?"

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Every time that you ask a

strategic question, your client is

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thinking, "Oh my gosh, the other

photographer didn't ask me that.

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In fact, nobody has asked me that."

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And that gives them pause when it comes to

booking a photographer besides you, even

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if that photographer is maybe cheaper or

available sooner or whatever it might be.

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When you ask the right questions, it

makes them go, "Oh, wait, does this

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person actually know more than the

other photographer that I've talked to?"

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And the answer is yes, right?

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Because we are strategic

brand photographers.

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We are not just offering brand

photography and doing like

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vibey headshots in a studio.

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That's not the name of our game.

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We are strategic about how we are

creating sessions that are actually

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going to make our clients money, and

it starts with the questions that

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we are asking on discovery calls

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So the next time that you go into a

discovery call, or even if you're going

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back and forth via email, if you're

not doing discovery calls, remember,

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you're not just gathering information.

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You are positioning yourself.

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Your positioning is not just what's on

your website or what's on your Instagram.

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It's every time that a potential

client has an interaction with you.

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That's positioning, too.

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So in a situation like this, we want

you to be positioning yourself as the

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expert before the shoot even happens,

before the shoot is even booked.

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That information also

becomes the blueprint for

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everything else that follows.

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So from here, we move on to designing

the session from what you know.

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How are you taking the information from

their inquiry, from their discovery call,

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and actually using it to design the shoot?

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Or from their questionnaire or whatever

you're using to gather information.

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This is where good photographers

become really unforgettable ones.

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Being able to really listen to

your clients and what they're

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struggling with and what their

hopes and dreams are for their brand

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and how you can really help them.

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This is where you get to collect all that

information that is going to make it so

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much easier for you to design a really

unforgettable shoot The challenge here is

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that a lot of your clients are probably

doing work that isn't inherently visual.

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They're maybe on their

laptop, they're on calls.

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The work is happening like in

their head or behind a screen.

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It's not super visual.

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Not all of our clients are

florists or interior designers

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or even graphic designers.

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Not all of our clients have

these really visual jobs.

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We've got clients that are accountants

and lawyers and bankers and coaches,

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and they need our help pulling out

the visual elements of their brand.

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So do you have a process for translating

who someone is and what they do into

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creative and purposeful imagery?

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Because that's the difference

between pretty photos and photos

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that actually work for a brand.

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When your client sees that you

took everything that they told you

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and like, built this incredible

shoot around it, that's the moment

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that their loyalty is locked in.

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They're not gonna be able to shut up

about that to their friends because they

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feel so seen and understood, and they're

excited about their business, right?

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It reinvigorates them, and they're

excited to market and sell again, And

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that is more visibility for them, and by

extension, it's more visibility for you

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because you're helping them get there

Okay, so we've talked about inquiry.

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We've talked about really creating

and designing the session.

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Now let's talk about

the experience on set.

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This is wildly underrated.

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Almost nobody talks about this, at

least in the brand photography world.

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Does your client feel comfortable?

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Are they having fun?

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Do they feel taken care of?

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So often clients walk in the door,

and I will ask how they're feeling,

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and they're like, "I'm nervous.

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I don't want to be here.

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This is scary."

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And my job in that moment is

to validate those feelings.

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I had a brand shoot recently,

and it was like pulling teeth.

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The only reason that I did it was

because my web designer was like,

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"Matti, we need more photos."

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So I understand what it is like to

be on set and not want to be there,

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but to know that I need to be there.

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And so when a client comes

to me and says, "I'm scared.

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I'm nervous.

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I don't want to be here.

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This is nerve-wracking," I'm not

saying, "Don't worry, it'll be fine.

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You look great," even

though that's true, right?

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It will be fine.

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They do look great.

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I'm saying, "I totally understand.

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I've got you.

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I promise now that you're here

you've done all the hard work.

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Now it's my turn.

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It-- this is my job time.

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You don't have to worry.

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You just have to follow directions.

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I have got you."

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So I'm validating that they are scared.

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They are nervous.

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That's a normal feeling.

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I feel the same way, and you've

already done the hard part.

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You're good.

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From here on out, we're just gonna

play music and have fun, and all

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you have to do is follow directions.

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Your work here is done.

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And in that moment, they can

breathe that sigh of relief.

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So are you making them feel

comfortable from the jump?

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And if we want to go even further

back than this, what does that

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look like leading up to the shoot?

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Are you in their inbox periodically

helping them prep for the session?

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Do you hop on a call?

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Do you send them a shoot guide?

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All of these things are building

their confidence in you, building

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their confidence in themselves,

buildin-building their confidence

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in the shoot that's coming up.

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All of that impacts how they feel on

shoot day and, by extension, how they feel

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about the shoot in general Even the most

nervous clients should leave feeling like

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it was their day, like they rocked it.

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Even if they're like, "Whew, I don't

wanna do that again for a while.

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That was a lot."

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That, whatever.

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They should still feel like they nailed

it, and that was really their day,

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and it was a good use of their time.

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Just based on the energy and the

excitement from the shoot, and seeing

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those couple of photos on the back of your

camera, they should be feeling that way.

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Are you engaging all

five senses at the shoot?

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Are you setting the mood,

the music, the energy?

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The experience is the transformation.

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I will talk about this

until I am blue in the face.

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It is about so much more than photos.

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It is the transformation

that happens at the shoot.

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And the transformation and that feeling

of transformation can't happen if

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the client is just a nervous ball

of energy the entire time, right?

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We have to work to help them relax and

help them feel confident and empowered.

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That's what they're gonna go

home and tell their friends about

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this could be little things.

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It's selecting the right playlist for the

shoot, making sure you have music, period.

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That's gonna fill the silence so

much better than just dead air.

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Are you asking their coffee

order and bringing them coffee?

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Are you serving them a mimosa when they

sit down in the hair and makeup chair?

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Does the studio smell nice, right?

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Has it been cleaned, and it is

a nice place to be in, and it's

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not chaotic energy everywhere?

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All of these things impact

our client experience.

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We want them to really

feel like they are…

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Yes, they're taking this day to invest

in their business and all of that.

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Yes, it's a write-off, and it's for

your marketing and all of those things,

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but it should also feel like they're

spoiling themselves a little bit.

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They're spoiling themselves in a way

that's going to grow their business And

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that's going to impact their bottom line.

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We want them to enjoy this A client

who had fun is a client who's going

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to refer you without ever being asked.

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I want you to think back in your

Rolodex of clients that you've had

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over the years, and think about

sessions where you've just had fun.

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The client is having a good time, you're

having a good time, you're vibing.

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What's that client's take once

they get their photos back?

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Do they talk about you?

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Do they tell your friends?

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And I ask this because I have had

sessions where I deliver photos and

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I'm like, "Those photos are good."

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I'm proud of them.

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It's not something where I would

do a reshoot or anything like that.

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But maybe I'm like, "Ugh, it's not

my best work, and the sun wasn't

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in the best place, and I struggled

with the lighting," whatever.

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But if we had a good time, and I'm

thinking back to especially when I

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did family photography or weddings.

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If the kids were happy, if the

day felt like a party, if they

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were genuinely having a good

time, then they loved the photos.

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And they didn't care that the

sun was a little too bright, or

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they didn't care that there were

mosquitoes or, I don't know.

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Whatever it might be.

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If they had a good time, they are

going to love the photos, and that

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is still true with brand photography.

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If they had a good time, they are so

much more likely to love the photos,

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and they are so much more likely to

refer you to their friends and family

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without you even having to ask, and

just to talk about the experience in

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general, which is half the battle.

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Because it's great if someone

will say, "I'm looking for a brand

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photographer," and your client will

say, "Oh, you should go see Maddie."

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That's great.

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We love that.

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It's even better if they have their brand

shoot on a Thursday, and they're at happy

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hour on Friday, and they're like, "Oh

my gosh, I can't wait to tell you guys

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about this brand shoot that I just did.

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I have to tell you about this Maddie girl.

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I loved everything about…"

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That's so much better, right?

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We want people to talk about us without

even being asked because they had such

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a great experience, and that happens

when you create that kind of experience

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on So then we're on to delivery.

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And I know that you know when

it comes to delivery, you want

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to underpromise and overdeliver.

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You wanna do that on your timeline, on

quantity, on presentation, all of the

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above, underpromise and overdeliver.

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So you tell them they're gonna

get their photos back in three

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weeks, you deliver them in two.

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You tell them they're getting

100 photos, you send 110.

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You send over a really beautiful curated

gallery with a Maddie's Favorites or

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Photographer's Favorites subfolder so

they get this amazing curated experience

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right when they open their gallery, right?

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So you are underpromising and

overdelivering the entire time,

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especially during delivery.

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And then are you asking for a review?

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Are you asking for feedback?

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Today inside of Rebrand, my group

coaching program, we talked about

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all of the changes with SEO and AEO,

and one of the biggest pieces is that

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reviews are more and more important

for your local business on Google.

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So consistently asking for reviews after

you wrap a session is really important.

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If you don't have that worked into

your workflow already, make sure that's

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something that you really make a priority.

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And are you inviting these people back in?

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Do they know that they should be getting

brand photos regularly, and that when

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they're ready, you're their person?

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You wanna start planting the seed as soon

as, honestly, even at the session, but

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certainly once you deliver the photos.

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You can start saying things like, "Okay

when you start to feel like your content

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library is running low, that's usually

the sign that it's time to shoot again.

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Here's what that looks like.

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I offer a special rate

to my returning clients."

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A really great delivery process

doesn't close the loop here.

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: 00:16:53

It creates the opportunity

to open the next one.

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: 00:16:56

So it just becomes something

where your clients are returning,

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: 00:16:59

raving, reviewing constantly

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: 00:17:02

I know that this is a lot.

318

: 00:17:05

Client experience is a lot.

319

: 00:17:07

And when you're talking about something

as strategic and thoughtful as a brand

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: 00:17:11

session that, oftentimes the planning

process is spanning a few weeks or a

321

: 00:17:15

few months, there's a lot of moving

parts here that you wanna make sure

322

: 00:17:18

are really locked in when it comes

to the full experience of the shoot.

323

: 00:17:24

But it's so important because all the

marketing in the world won't work if the

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: 00:17:28

experience behind it doesn't hold up.

325

: 00:17:32

You cannot pour into a leaky bucket.

326

: 00:17:34

If your process isn't creating raving

fans, more marketing just means more

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: 00:17:39

people finding out faster that something

is off, and that you're actually

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: 00:17:43

not all you're cracked up to be.

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: 00:17:44

And that's terrible.

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: 00:17:45

That's not what we want at all.

331

: 00:17:47

We want those referrals to come

in and be even more blown away

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: 00:17:51

than they thought they would be.

333

: 00:17:52

So this has to come first.

334

: 00:17:54

It's not the boring backend

stuff, it is your marketing.

335

: 00:17:58

The people in front of your lens right

now, this week, this month, that's your

336

: 00:18:01

future marketing, with the goal being

that every single client who works with

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: 00:18:05

you should leave thinking, "Oh my gosh,

I need to tell everyone about her."

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: 00:18:11

So if this episode has made you realize

that you want to be more intentional about

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: 00:18:14

what you're actually creating inside the

session, not just the experience around

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: 00:18:18

it, but really the strategy behind the

images themselves, that is exactly what

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: 00:18:23

my upcoming free masterclass is all about

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: 00:18:27

Speaker 2: Inside the Sessions That

Sell masterclass, I'm gonna teach you

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: 00:18:31

how to design brand sessions with a

strategy behind them from the start.

344

: 00:18:35

So the photos actually do something,

the client gets a real result, and

345

: 00:18:39

you have a story to tell that makes

your next client say, "I want that."

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: 00:18:43

Your brand sessions should not only

create images that sell for your clients,

347

: 00:18:48

but your brand sessions should help you

sell your brand photography services.

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: 00:18:52

That's what we're covering

inside Sessions That Sell.

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: 00:18:55

Speaker 3: which is on

June 25th at noon Central.

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: 00:18:58

So you can go to

maddiepishong.com/masterclass

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: 00:19:02

to register or head to the

link in the show notes.

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: 00:19:05

Can't wait to see you there.

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: 00:19:09

Speaker 7: Thank you so much for

listening to Take It Personally.

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: 00:19:13

If you haven't already, would you head

over to iTunes and leave us a review?

355

: 00:19:17

This is the best way to let other

photographers know about the show and

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: 00:19:21

help keep us creating content you crave.

357

: 00:19:24

And if you want more tips and tools to

build your personal photography brand,

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: 00:19:28

head over to my website, maddiepichon.com.

359

: 00:19:32

Here, you can access my downloadable

ultimate personal brand session shot

360

: 00:19:36

list to get your clients singing

your praises, and browse my blog for

361

: 00:19:40

more trade secrets to help you hone

your craft and grow your business.

362

: 00:19:44

Love to learn while you listen?

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: 00:19:45

Visit maddiepichon.com

364

: 00:19:47

and click on Podcast for all things Take

It Personally, from show notes to recent

365

: 00:19:53

episodes and incredible guest profiles.

366

: 00:19:56

Remember, friend, the most important part

of any brand is the people behind it.

367

: 00:20:01

Branding and business is personal,

so let's take it personally.

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