Allie Siarto, Author at Photo Field Notes Podcast: Career Advice for Photographers

Episode 49: Creating a Luxury Photography Brand with Liz Fogarty

May 3, 2017

As soon as you visit Liz Fogarty’s website or Instagram account, you’ll notice instantly that Liz cares about her work— that she’s something special. Liz has perfectly curated images with a brand to match, and the work she’s put in has paid off.

A few topics from today’s show:

Growing your community through Instagram
Curating Instagram images to create a strong, cohesive brand
Using Instagram as your mini portfolio
Understanding your brand voice
How to get published (where to start, how to cultivate relationships with editors)
Working with photography assistants
How to capture wedding day details (and why it matters)
Educating your couples

Related Links:

@lizfogarty (Instagram)
elizabethfogarty.com

Check out some of Liz’s work below.

Did you enjoy this episode? I would absolutely adore a review on iTunes to help others find the podcast.

Episode 48: Alternative Ways For Photographers to Make Money with Carrie Swails

April 26, 2017

When Carrie Swails of Carrie Swails Photography went all in on offbeat weddings, she actually lowered her prices slightly to appeal to her perfect clients. She knew that she had to make up that income somewhere, so she started experimenting with new ways to make money as a photographer.

A few topics from today’s show:

Standing out by appealing to a very specific client type
New ways to make money as a photographer beyond sessions and weddings
Affiliate marketing

Related Links:

Carrie’s Educational Courses for Photographers (Carrie is launching a full course on May 12 about alternative revenue paths in wedding photography—it’s called “How to Make More Money Photographing Weddings”)
Photography Awesomesauce, Carrie’s education blog for unconventional wedding photographers
ShootProof (take 25% off any annual plan with the code SWAILS25)
Pixifi Business Management Software

Check out some of Carrie’s work below.

Did you enjoy this episode? I would absolutely adore a review on iTunes to help others find the podcast.

Episode 47: Molly Mahar on Goal Setting and Self Confidence For Photographers

April 19, 2017

Molly, like many of us, woke up one day and realized that the life she had built for herself—working what she had imagined to be her dream job at a boutique hotel—simply wasn’t making her happy. Cue crisis, a search for herself, and after a lot of self discovery and travel, a new life.

Now Molly runs Stratejoy, where she empowers and gives tools to other women to help them find joy in a messy world. I’ve been through one of Molly’s courses myself, and it was so life changing that I knew I had to have her on the podcast.

A few topics from today’s show:

Inner conflict, feeling unfulfilled, making giant leaps and learning to adult
Gaining clarity for your dreams and your goals
How to set goals that will actually make you happy
Jealousy, comparison and defining “success”
Getting away from the expectations of others

Related Links:

The Joy Equation Course From Stratejoy (running live from May 6 – June 19, 2017)
The Holiday Council from Stratejoy (running every December)
Gretchen Rubin: What Kind of Person Are You? The Four Rubin Tendencies

Did you enjoy this episode? I would absolutely adore a review on iTunes to help others find the podcast.

Episode 46: Prepping for a Busy Photography Season

April 12, 2017

It’s finally Spring here in Michigan (although you might not know it from the snow we’ve had in the past week), and I’m just a few short weeks away from really jumping into my “busy season” as a wedding photographer.

In today’s solo episode, I’m talking about what I’m doing to prepare my business so that it continues to run smoothly when my workload picks up.

Episode 45: Feuza Reis on SEO for Photographers

April 5, 2017

We all know that search engine optimization is a huge deal as photographers, but how many of us actually know how to take action and make ourselves easier to find online?

Feuza Reis has a unique perspective as a photographer and SEO expert.

A Few Topics From Today’s Show:

The biggest SEO mistake photographers make
Image optimization
How to get found in local search
How to name your blog posts
Plugins to use to improve your SEO

Resources From Fuse:

Episode 44: Lauren Carnes on the Business of Storytelling

March 29, 2017

Lauren Carnes started her career telling stories for brands as a public relations professional, and she transformed those skills into her own business—combining her storytelling skills through both words and photos to create a business with a unique angle.

I truly hope you’ll find inspiration for your own business in this episode—I know I did. How can you use the skills you’ve gained from previous experiences and careers to help your own photography business stand in a class of its own?

Find Lauren at laurencarnes.com and on Instagram at @laurenlcarnes

Photos by Lauren Carnes - food on a table and a wedding couple — Lauren Carnes Photography

Episode 43: How to Start Selling More Products in Your Photography Business

March 22, 2017

I started using Swift Galleries about a year ago to show clients what their photos would look like to scale on their own walls, and it completely changed my business for the better, so I knew that I needed to talk to Swift Galleries founder, Chris Scott, for the podcast.

Here’s an example from my own business of a mockup in Swift Galleries that inspired the client to buy exactly what I showed:

Topics From Today’s Show:

How to start selling wall art and keepsakes in your photography business.
Why your mindset toward selling products is all wrong, and how to shift it.
What you can do today to start attracting clients who want to buy wall art and products.

Related Links:

Free Product Photoshop Templates

I have a special treat for you because you’re a Photo Field Notes listener. You can grab three free product templates below. All of the images are customizable—insert your own photos to share on social media to get your clients excited about displaying their final photos in product form.

Specific product resources will be listed with the download. Enjoy!

smart templates to add your own photos to an album design

smart template to add your own photos to frames to preview to clients

Smart template to add your own image to a frame with an album

Episode 42: Q&A: Building an Associate Photography Team

March 15, 2017

Today’s episode was inspired by a list of questions from a photographer who is thinking about starting her own associate wedding photographer program. Melissa, props to you for doing your research and asking questions before starting a program yourself. I hope this episode is helpful to you!

A Few Questions From Today’s Show:

How do you find the right person to be your associate photographer?
How do you advertise associate photographers?
How do you manage associate photographers (client meetings, payments, etc.)?
Do you provide assistants and second photographers, or does your associate provide them?
Who edits the weddings and sessions?
How do you handle branding if your associate has a business of his or her own?
How do you handle liability with associate photographers?

Related Resources:

How Sara Allen Grew onelove Photography to a Team of 40 People

Photo by Lauren Nicole, and Allie & Co. Photography Associate Photographer.

Episode 41: Bootstrap Your Brand

March 7, 2017

I’m back after a bit of a hiatus with my very first solo episode of Photo Field Notes! Today I’m talking about how to bootstrap your brand—how to create all of your branding elements (logo, color scheme, fonts, website, packaging, etc.) without spending a fortune and going into debt.

To go along with this episode, I’ve put together a one page resource guide with my favorite resources for inexpensive branding elements. You can download it here:

Topics From Today’s Show:

How I use Pinterest to understand my ideal client
How to create a logo for your photography brand without spending a fortune
Using fonts in your brand
How to find color palettes for your brand
Putting together your brand packaging
Where to find templates for building your website quickly and inexpensively
How to handle tech support for your business website
What you choose to wear in front of clients
Presenting your brand in social media

Episode 40: Jamie Larson on Community Over Competition in Photography

October 30, 2015

When Jamie Larson first became interested in photography, she casually asked a wedding photographer for advice. The photographer brushed her off, and that set the tone for her future attitude toward the photography community—she wanted to be helpful and build community over competition.

A few topics from today’s show:

How to start doing to in person sales (and how to get clients excited about in person sales).
How to meet for in person sales when you don’t have a studio.
How to present the images to clients during in person sales.
How to prepare clients for in person sales.
Getting past “making excuses” so you can make leaps in your business.
Where Jamie’s clients come from.
Moving to a new city as a photographer.

Check out Jamie’s family photos below, and be sure to find her on thesnapsociety.com, Jamie Larson Photography, Instagram, Facebook and Periscope (snapwithjamie).

Free Product Photoshop Templates

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