Create Your Business Plan
Lesson 2 from: Building Your Photography Business for under $3,000Kathy Holcombe
Create Your Business Plan
Lesson 2 from: Building Your Photography Business for under $3,000Kathy Holcombe
Lessons
Class Introduction
06:45 2Create Your Business Plan
04:53 3Where to Invest Your Money?
27:44 4Where to Spend Your Time?
05:44 5How to be Profitable
08:58 6Write Your Personal Business Plan
16:16 7Business Plan Q & A
12:52 8Products: Overview
02:33What is Your Photography Style?
08:33 10What Products do You Want to Offer?
26:19 11Rules for Products
06:34 12Whats Involved in the Shoots for Your Products?
12:04 13How Will You Produce Your Products?
08:47 14Determine Your Pricing Strategy
06:05 15What to Charge for Your Products
18:19 16How to Use Markup Factors
07:37 17The Per Hour Sale
06:14 18Find Your Target Sale
08:25 19Pricing Strategy Q & A
22:24 20Develop a Sales Strategy
12:57 21In-person Sales Strategy
20:25 22Online Sales Strategy
23:11 23Mobile Sales Kits
18:09 24Identify Your Target Client
33:39 25Define Your Niche Market
16:10 26Develop Your Marketing Plan
14:27 27How to Increase Your Following
06:45 28Develop a Marketing Strategy
11:48 29Maximize Your Website
05:17 30What is The Purpose of Your Website?
09:33 31Website Essentials
14:13 32Website Tools to Create a Great Sale
11:58 33Online Selling Tools
11:30 34Online Shopping Cart
04:59 35Facebook Marketing Strategies & Materials
15:28 36Using Ads on Facebook
11:21 37Engagement on Facebook
08:22 38Instagram Marketing Strategies
15:27 39Define Your Brand
14:53 40Build a Solid Brand
14:46 41Maintain Your Brand through Publicity
10:39Lesson Info
Create Your Business Plan
Let's talk about the plan. I really think about this part as a job interview. This is where you find out what you're going to invest and what you get in return. You would never take a job without knowing a few important answers to questions that you may have like how much should you expect to work, what are your hours gonna be and what are you gonna be paid for that in return, right? You would never take a job without knowing those two things. So, we need to look at this business in the same light and say okay, realistically, how much am I gonna be working, how much am I gonna be making in return for that, and is that a good investment? When we think about that, we need to talk specifically about where you invest your dollars. Where are those dollars gonna go to give you the most return because you could spend $100,000 on your business and never make a penny back if you're not careful. This same thing is true with your time. Your time slips away so easily. I think that's the most elusi...
ve thing as a business owner. We went into this business thinking, okay, we're gonna sacrifice three years where we are going to work ourselves to death, and then we're gonna have a successful business. Then we're gonna make a lot of money, and we're going to be on the top of our game. So, what happens after three years? We worked so hard, we sacrificed time with our kid, we sacrificed time outside doing the things that we love. You know what happened on the fourth year? We were in the habit of doing that exact same thing, so we just kept charging, and then the fifth year, we were like is this business really worth having? We are working all the time, and we thought, ya know, this isn't why we started our own photography business. We did this so we would have freedom, so that we could control our own destiny and look where we are. We're working until 2:00 o'clock in the morning. What's the point? This magical thing happened. We said we're not gonna do that anymore, and we quit doing that and ya know what? We still made the same amount of money. (laughs) It was amazing. You have to put parameters on everything. Time and money both slip away if you're not paying attention. That's what this part is about. Then, what do you expect as payment? Let's get down to the real numbers because this is what we all came for. How on Earth do you start a business for $3000, that's crazy, right? Okay, so, here, this is the painful part. You guys brace for it. You get $1300 for equipment. If you have nothing, you don't have a camera, you don't have a computer, those are the things you buy first, and you have to buy them used because this is all you get. (sigh) It's a bummer, isn't it? (laughing) But this is true, it doesn't matter what cameras, what lighting, what equipment you have, you can make an amazing image that you can sell with an iPhone. We do it with a Go Pro camera all the time. It's a $400 camera, we make money off of that. It's not about the camera, it's about your skills as a photographer. This is the budget that you get. It's okay to shed a little tear right now, hang in there, you're gonna like it in the end, I promise. Marketing tools, you get $200 to spend on marketing tools. That's not gonna go very far. Whenever you have your business phone number, I guarantee in the first month, somebody's gonna call and say for only $500, I can send you an amazing amount of clients. Has that ever happened to anybody? I get those calls every day. Oh, lemme help boost your SEO. Oh, why don't you place an ad in this high school whatever? All of these things happen all the time, and the answer to those questions is no, right? Clean ... You have $200, and you're gonna have to stretch it really far. I'm gonna show you exactly where to spend it. What sales tools do you need? This is the most important thing starting out behind a camera. It's how to sell your product to your clients, and so this $500 is worth every penny. It's a lot of your total budget, but I'll show you exactly how to do that. Then we have $1000 for other expenses, miscellaneous things that are also really important.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Bonus Materials
Ratings and Reviews
Amanda Beck
Kathy was a wonderful instructor. She was engaging and someone who was precise and incredibly helpful. We have a full time photography business and are always looking for new ways of running our business. Her information was insightful and forced us to have conversations about our business that we have haven't had in several years. She is fantastic and someone who has the information needed to help you start or expand your business. Thank you for a wonderful class!!
Chrissie
Thank you Kathy for yet again another very thought provoking class. You are such an inspiration, teaching us the right questions to ask ourselves so we too can be brilliant photographers / entrepreneurs. I was a fulltime RVer for seven years, traversing 44 states and seeing some of the most beautiful places on our planet. It gave me a great opportunity to meet some extraordinary people and to hone my photography skills. Now I have put down roots in Stapleton - Denver, CO and am soon to launch my own Family Lifestyle Photography business. Your course has definitely given me the courage to just charge ahead and go for it!
Tristanne Endrina
I am VERY impressed with this class! The structure of the class is well done. Each segment was thorough and backed up some knowledge from the previous segments. Kathy breaks everything down into understandable knowledge and also makes it very enjoyable to watch. I HIGHLY recommend this class if you're unsure about what to do to start your photography business. $3000 may sound like a lot of money, but you'll going to find yourself in a determined state to raise that money if you're REALLY passionate and serious about starting your photography business. Thank you, Kathy & Creativelive, for this class. I'm excited to get the ball rolling and build my photography business.