When I left my 9-5 job in 2018, I was a wedding photographer, and at one point I ventured into product photography.

I got connected with a brand called Little Sleepies and worked with them for a few years. They were my first official brand photography client, and I learned so much through that experience.

I think what really worked with this relationship was Little Sleepies and I were both new at the same time. This concept of connecting with new businesses is something I help my clients with who are looking to explore brand photography. Shooting for free or at discounted rates to get experience and build relationships is actually an unpopular opinion I have.

This episode shares my thoughts on that, my experience with Little Sleepies, and details for a live masterclass happening October 17th.

Episode Highlights:

00:00 Masterclass Details

01:57 Transition from Wedding to Brand Photography

03:50 First Brand Photography Client: Little Sleepies

06:01 Lessons Learned from Little Sleepies

10:04 The Value of Free Shoots

14:35 Client-Centric Approach in Brand Photography

CONNECT WITH MADDIE:

Instagram

Website

LINKS:

I'm hosting a live masterclass, Three Secrets to Booking Brand Photography Clients, on October 17th at 12pm Central. Sign up here! (Replay available if signed up)

Full Show Notes

MacBook Pro Microphone-1: On October

17th at noon central, I am giving a

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brand new, never heard before live

masterclass called the three secrets

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to booking brand photography clients.

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I would love to see you there.

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You're going to want to mark your calendar

to spend about 90 minutes with me.

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So we have plenty of time to answer

any questions that you might have.

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You can sign up at Maddie Prashan.

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Dot com slash masterclass.

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I'll also make sure that the

link is in the show notes.

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There will be a replay that sent out

after, but you have to sign up for

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the class in order to get the replay.

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After the masterclass, I will be opening

the doors to my signature group program.

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Rebrand, and if you attend the

masterclass, you're going to get

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access to bonuses and discounts.

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So you really don't want to miss it.

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Make sure you sign up at Maddie Pasha.

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sean.com/masterclass.

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You're listening to Take It Personally,

a podcast for photographers about

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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

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competition to decide your next move.

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If you are ready to show up as a

confident branding authority to help

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you serve your clients and consider

your goals and priorities too.

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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 Pachon, South

Dakota brand photographer and educator.

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I'm a straight shooting, Instagram

obsessed, and Instagramer.

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Diehard Swifty who has built a multi

six figure business on the back of brand

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photography all while raising a family.

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And I know you can do the same.

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Let's get ready to take it personally.

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MacBook Pro Microphone: When I left my

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but I knew that I wasn't going to

be a wedding photographer forever.

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One of the big reasons that I left my job

was because I felt completely burned out.

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I had two really young kids.

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I was working a full-time job.

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And then I also had my side

hustle that had turned into

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much more of a full-time job.

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And I felt like I wasn't

doing a very good job.

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As a wife, as a mom, as a business

owner, as an employee, like I just

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felt like I was stretched way too thin.

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And I knew that wedding photography

and being a full-time wedding

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photographer, wasn't necessarily

going to end that I knew that with

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two young kids and with a family

and enjoying my nights and weekends,

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like I knew that wedding photography

wasn't going to be my end goal.

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But at the time, I was just kind

of in a season of saying yes to

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things and figuring out what I

liked and what I didn't like.

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And for whatever reason, I had gotten

the idea that I thought it would be

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really cool to be a product photographer.

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I think what I was really already

starting to recognize was that I would

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like to be a brand photographer, but I

didn't quite have the words for that yet.

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And I noticed that a lot of these

items that I was purchasing as

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a new mom, pacifier is cute.

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Baby clothes.

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Little girls bows.

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I noticed that they had really

cute product photography.

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So I started following some of the

photographers that were getting some

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of these photos, and I just started

following some of these brands.

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And I eventually came across this

Facebook group where it connected

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brands with photographers.

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And typically it was newer brands and

photographers who are trying to kind

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of break into brand photography or moms

who wanted to make a little bit of extra

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money or wanted to get free product,

but not necessarily like do photography.

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Full-time.

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So I started posting in this

group whenever people were

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looking for photographers and I

ended up getting connected with

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a company called little Sleepy's.

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You may have heard of little

Sleepy's now, but at the time

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they were just starting out.

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This is a pajama company

they're based out of LA.

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And if you aren't sure about the name,

you've probably seen their stuff in

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children's boutiques or even online.

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They have gotten really big in

recent years, but like I said, at

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the time they were just brand new.

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They were looking for a photographer and

I threw my hat in the ring and I must've

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been one of the first people to comment.

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And Meredith the owner got in touch

with me and said, Hey, we would love

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to send you three Zippy pajamas.

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And in exchange, you

can send us some photos.

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I think it was like 10

photos or something.

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It wasn't, it wasn't a time.

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And I thought, okay.

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This is my chance.

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I rented a studio.

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I picked up coffee for the moms.

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I made sure that I prepped the moms

and let them know like, oh, you

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know, make sure that you have your

daughter's hair pulled back and,

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um, bring a really neutral diaper.

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So you can't see it through the Zippy.

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And.

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Really tried to make sure that I

had everything figured out and I

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put up my own money for this shoot.

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It wasn't paid from the company

because we were doing a trade, but

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I wanted to do a really good job.

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So they would potentially want to work

with me again and so the moms who were

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bringing their kids into model, so they

started to think of me as this like

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brand photographer, product photographer.

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So we had the shoe, I delivered the photos

back to the client back to little Sleepy's

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and she was like, Hey, we love these.

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We're looking for a full-time

photographer to be able to send product

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to whenever we have drops or launches.

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Would you be interested?

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I was like, oh my gosh,

this is exactly what I want.

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And so I went on to work with

little sleepies over the period

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for, I think it was about two years.

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When we started working together, I was

shooting for them a couple times a year.

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Then we moved to quarterly.

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Then we moved to monthly.

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And by the time we parted ways, I

think it was like every two weeks,

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like they had just gotten to be huge.

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They did a licensing deal with Disney

right before our partnership ended.

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Like it was just incredible.

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And it also taught me that I don't want

to be a photographer for baby brands.

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A big reason as to why I love

brand photography so much is

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because I get to work with adults.

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I get, I get to work with the grownups.

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Um, I love my children, but I don't

necessarily want to go to work and

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work with a bunch of little kids,

even though they are to date some

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of my most favorite images because.

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It doesn't get better

than cute kids in pajamas.

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Right.

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But it was so much work to

get those really great photos.

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However, I will always look back on

my time working with little Sleepy's

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so fondly, and honestly, I'm just

so grateful for our relationship.

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First of all, super cool company,

super cool owner, really great

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team, like just really good people.

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And we really grew together.

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Obviously.

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They're huge.

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Like they have gotten to be.

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An absolute like household

name as far as I'm concerned.

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And I am absolutely still, you

know, a team of one, but it was

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really cool that we, Meredith and I

left our jobs at the same time and

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started working on our businesses.

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And there was just a really cool energy

to some of those early days, but really, I

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am incredibly grateful for my relationship

with these guys because it taught me

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so much, they were such an excellent.

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First brand photography client.

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And so many of the things that I learned

from them, I carry with me to this day.

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One of the reasons that I think this

partnership works so well for so long was

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because we were both new at the same time.

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So when we first started working together,

I was charging pretty low prices and that

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worked really well for them because they

were just getting off the ground too.

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I'm sure that they had a

ton of overhead expenses.

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I cannot fathom being

in the product industry.

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I think that that would be

incredibly overwhelming.

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So it worked out really great,

but , I was a talented photographer,

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but someone who was just getting

started with brand photography, so

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my rates were a little bit lower.

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But I was still absolutely

thrilled with being able to charge

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what I charged for this client.

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Really the fact that we found each

other at all, as a Testament to the

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fact that we were both new at the

same time, like they were willing

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to exchange product for photos.

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And I was willing to make that work.

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I had little kids.

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I knew that I would use.

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The product that they were sending me.

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And I also knew that this would be a

really great portfolio builder for me.

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One of the things that I teach

when I'm working with photographers

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who want to be brand photographers

is to pitch new clients.

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And oftentimes they get really

hung up finding the businesses who

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aren't new, who maybe have some

really great brand photography.

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And that makes sense because that's why

they're attracted to their profiles.

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But I think the reason that

this relationship with little

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Sleepy's worked so well is because

they were new and I was new.

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So if you're in that stage of wanting to

pitch a new client and work with a new

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client, I really recommend trying to find

someone who is also new to their industry,

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who doesn't have photos, who hasn't

worked with a brand photographer before.

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It really makes you use your

creativity because you have

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nothing to look at previously.

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You have to look at other people in

their industry and you have to get

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to know their brand really well.

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So you can understand how to create

brand photography for this client.

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They're also going to be way more likely

to say yes to you, because if they

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have galleries and galleries of really

great photos from other photographers,

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they don't have as much buy-in to

get more, really great photography.

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Whereas if you're working with a business

that is new, they likely need help in

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just about every facet of their business.

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It can be really appealing to

want to pitch brands that are

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a little bit more established.

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But I think about the impact that

really good brand photography

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can have on a newer business.

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And that gets me really excited.

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So even if they don't become a longterm

client, or even if I offer them a price

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and I'm not going to offer them that

price again, like it's a one-time thing.

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These photos are still going

to benefit them so much.

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And that makes me feel really

good about the job that I'm doing.

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Little it's like these also taught me that

it is not a bad thing to shoot for free

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or to shoot for a free or reduced rate.

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The first photo shoot that I did with

little sleepies was a free shoot for them.

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And I spent my own money.

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Probably around 300 to $400 to rent the

studio and then a little bit more to get

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coffee and props and that sort of thing.

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So it's not like I was spending thousands

of dollars, but for a photographer who

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had recently left her full-time job.

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Wasn't new mom was trying out

a new niche of photography.

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And like I had no idea

how it was going to go.

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Putting up $400 of your own money,

can still feel intimidating,

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but ultimately I'm so glad that

I did it because I think that.

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It made me show up in

a really different way.

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And it also showed the

company that I was serious.

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I treated this shoe.

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Like it was a paying client

and the images reflected that.

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And I think that's a huge reason

as to why they hired me to be

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their photographer going forward.

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I also recognize that a lot

of it was timing and luck and

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that was absolutely at play.

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The fact that they were

looking for a photographer.

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Blows my mind, but I also have to credit

the work that I put in to make sure.

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Okay.

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Even though that this is a free shoot.

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I want the client to feel

like it's a page shoe.

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And I also want to be able to

add these photos to my portfolio,

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to get more clients like this.

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So again, I want this to

look like a paid shoot.

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I was scrolling on threads the other day.

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I'm kind of obsessed

with threads right now.

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And I came across this thread.

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Of a new photographer saying, I just

can't get anyone to book me right now.

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And I don't know what to do.

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And I offered her some advice,

but when I was looking through the

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responses, I was surprised and not

surprised at the amount of people

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who were like, don't shoot for free,

whatever you do, don't shoot for free.

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And I just don't agree.

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I think that that's insane advice.

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I think that it's really tone deaf to

think that the only form of payment that

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we ever receive is in the form of money.

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That's just not true.

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I have done so many free shoots

that have given me something else.

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They've grown my reputation.

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They've given me really

great portfolio work.

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They've given me connections.

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I understand that free shoots don't pay

the bills and yes, you absolutely have

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to be discerning with how often are

you going to say yes to free shoots?

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There was somebody inside rebrand

the other day who had gotten

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approached for a free shoe.

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And honestly, it was like a pretty ballsy

ask on behalf of the potential client.

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So I understand that photographers

are a little burned out by people in

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the industry asking for free stuff.

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I get that.

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But at the same time, there's a time

and a place to shoot for free and

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you can't convince me otherwise.

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Especially when you were at the very

beginning of your photography journey

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and you don't have any portfolio

work to show for the industry or for

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the niche that you want to go into.

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It makes sense for you to

shoot for free to build your

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portfolio with that type of work.

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And I teach a way to do that where

you don't have to shoot for free.

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But sometimes you do, like, sometimes

it just makes sense to say, Hey.

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This is what I want to do for you.

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Here are the boundaries around it,

but at the end of the day, it's

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not going to cost you any money.

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And if that is an ideal client type shoot,

and you're going to walk away with a

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gallery full of killer images to use in

your marketing and to use on your website,

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you still benefited from that shoot.

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I also think that there's something to

be said for shooting about shooting for

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free, from an energetic perspective.

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It feels really crappy to just be sitting

on your hands, not booking anything.

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So sometimes to get out of that funk,

just taking a free shoot to get out of

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the house, get your camera in your hands.

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Be among the living, remind yourself that

you're talented and you can do this and

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you have value in all of those things.

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It can be really helpful for your mindset.

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I will sometimes do free

or really discounted shoots

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when I'm in a bit of a lull.

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And I do it for me.

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Like I do it to benefit the business

that I'm offering a free shoot too, but

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I also do it because I feel better about

myself when I'm contributing to something.

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An object in motion stays in motion.

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And if that means that once in a while,

you're doing something without exchanging

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dollar bills, at least you're in motion.

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So you can move that much closer

to your next paying client.

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The third thing that little Sleepy's

taught me is a lesson that I

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take into every single session.

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And that is, it is

about the brand, not me.

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Towards the end of working with little

Sleepy's, they got really particular

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with how the colors were shown.

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And while it was sometimes frustrating

to go back and like have to kind of

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re color great things and to tweak

presets and all of those things.

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I completely understand

where they were coming from.

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And a lot of the time when they would

email me and be like, Hey, sorry,

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like these colors aren't right.

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I would kick myself because

I'm like, oh my gosh.

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Yeah, you're right.

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Like, that's totally my bad.

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And now I got to go back and fix it.

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It's really important, especially

when you're talking about products

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that those colors are reflective

of what the actual colors are.

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How often have you gotten something that

you've ordered online and you get it?

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And you're like, I thought this was

supposed to be red and it's very

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much more of an orange and it makes

for a very annoying experience.

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Of course they were concerned

about that type of thing and it

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taught me such a good lesson.

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That it's not about me.

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It doesn't matter if I don't

like a particular color.

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So I want to like tone down the

red tones, which I wasn't doing,

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but you get the idea right?

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This comes up a lot.

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When it comes to editing

for brand photography.

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I do find that for the most part, I get

clients who want my editing style because

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that's the style that I'm marketing.

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It's what they see on my website.

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It's what they see on social media.

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And so I feel like typically clients

who are hiring me trust that's what

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the photos are going to look like.

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And so they don't try to micromanage it.

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But I also have no issue if a client

were to come to me and be like, Hey, we

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love everything about everything that

you do, but we want the photos to be a

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little bit darker or moody or whatever.

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Can you edit them in that way?

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And if I feel like I'm up for

the job, like if I feel like I'm

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a good fit, the answer is yes,

because it's not about my brand.

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It's about bears.

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Same thing for if a client takes

a photo after you've delivered

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it and puts a filter on it.

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It's not about my brand.

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It's about theirs.

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I don't care if they edit it a little bit.

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I don't care if they put a filter on it.

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I don't care if they crap out the

subject and put it on a white background

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so they can make a poster out of it.

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That's the point of brand

photography that my client can

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use these photos for her brand.

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As a brand photographer, it's really

important that you act as a partner.

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In your client's business.

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It's not to say that photography is

not an art form and that photographers

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are not artists, but brand

photographers, especially really have

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to put their business owner hat on.

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And sometimes, you know, it

kind of shove that artistry

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off to the side a little bit.

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And that's not to say that you can't have

fun and you can't do artistic things.

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But at the end of the day,

your client is hiring you for

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something for their business.

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They're hiring you to create something.

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That's going to allow them to

grow and market and scale and

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make more money in their business.

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That's your job.

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And if that means that they put a filter

on a photo, I could really care less.

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I also try to approach this topic

overall with empathy because it's hard.

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It's hard being a business owner,

and it's hard showing up as the

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face of your business and posting on

Instagram and updating your website.

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That can feel really hard.

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And I can't imagine my client

getting over the hump of posting

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on Instagram and me being like,

oops, you put a filter on that.

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So you're going to have to take it down.

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Like.

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I just, I don't want to

slow their roll like that.

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I don't want to make them paranoid

of how they should be using

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the photos that they paid for.

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As long as they are within

the licensing agreement.

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I have no issues.

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And in fact, I will encourage them.

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I will comment on that

post with a filter on it.

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I.

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I will share it to my stories.

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Like I will make sure that they

know they are supported and

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not being watched like a Hawk.

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I'm such a believer that every single

client in your business, even if they

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turn out to be the type of client that

you realize you don't actually want.

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Every single client makes a difference

in your business and every single

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client teaches you something.

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I absolutely loved the years

that I worked with this company.

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Even though I ultimately decided that

I didn't want to do the type of work

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that I was getting from this client.

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I learned so much from working with

them and I am so grateful for the

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opportunities that working with them.

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Got me.

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Whether you are looking for your

first brand photography client or

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your next brand photography client.

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I really hope that you

join me on October 17th.

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We're going to talk all about

the three secrets to booking

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brand photography clients.

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the masterclass is at noon central.

376

You can sign up at Maddie

Dot com slash masterclass.

377

Thank you so much for listening

to Take It Personally.

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If you haven't already, would you head

over to iTunes and leave us a review?

379

This is the best way to let other

photographers know about the show and

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help keep us creating content you crave.

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And if you want more tips and tools to

build your personal photography brand,

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head over to my website, MaddiePichon.

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com.

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Here, you can access my downloadable

ultimate personal brand session shot

385

list to get your clients singing

your praises and browse my blog for

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more trade secrets to help you hone

your craft and grow your business.

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Love to learn while you

listen, visit MaddiePachon.

388

com and click on podcast for all things.

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Take it personally.

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From show notes to recent episodes

and incredible guest profiles.

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Remember friend, the most important part

of any brand is the people behind it.

392

Branding and business is personal,

so let's take it personally.