Lessons
Day 1
1Class Introduction
03:45 2The 9 Areas of Mastery
30:28 3Focusing and Applying the 9 Areas of Mastery
43:47 4Meet the Mentors: Lori Patrick
21:32 5Meet the Mentors: Nikki Closser
13:16 6Meet the Mentors: Heike Delmore
17:28 7Meet the Mentors: Joanna Ziemlewski
06:52Meet the Mentors: Emily London Miller
10:26 9Meet the Mentors: Tammy Zurak Allen
09:51 10Meet the Mentors: Bethany Tubman Johs
06:51 11Meet the Mentors: Shauna Lofy
07:21 12Meet the Mentors: Tatiana Lumiere
06:55 13Pricing Evolution
12:49 14Pricing Challenge and Valuing Yourself
41:24 15Pricing Case Study: Nikki Closser
16:35 16You are in Business, Act Like It
37:57 17Taking Ownership
17:37Day 2
18A Thank You For Sue
06:58 19The Reveal Wall
43:36 20Sales and the Reveal Wall
34:44 21Selling Yourself
43:44 22Selling Yourself: Networking
10:54 23Selling Yourself: Referrals
09:49 24Mentor Testimonials
36:59 25Words of Advice from the Mentors on Starting Your Business
12:50 26Sales and Selling Yourself
30:35 27What Products to Sell
13:42 28The Cost of Printing at Home
05:58 29Digital Sales
16:26 30Contracts and Payments
15:33 31Confidence and Ownership
07:48 32Shameless Self Promotion
37:10 33Being a Male Glamour Photographer
04:42 34What's in it For Me?
06:26 35Where do You Start?
18:30Lesson Info
Meet the Mentors: Bethany Tubman Johs
My next mentor is Bethany. Glamour, boudoir, business, head-shots. Bethany also had built an IT business with her husband that was successful that she was working in, just like Emily. Also has children, work-life balance zero. Minus five, work-life balance. And teaches martial arts, kick butt. And so does Tammy, by the way. So, I like that all these martial artists that are in business. You know, the truth is is at the end of the day what I loved also about you, Bethany, was you were in the same situation. You had already built it, but there was a lot more self-discovery in the photography, right? Oh, yes. Because I feel like when you've already built a business, the core of getting paid and building a business and invoicing is already in you. Like you've already gone through those levels, but becoming a photographer means you're becoming Tammy Allen. You're becoming Emily London Miller. You're becoming Bethany Johs Tubman. So, you're actually becoming and putting your own name out...
there. And all of a sudden you're being judged. "And am I good enough? "And am I good enough for this industry?" And that sort of pops up as well. So, what was your biggest hurdle? Do you have a studio outside of home? What do you you charge? And what are you struggling with now? Okay, I started with a studio in my home, and I wouldn't even technically call it a studio. It was just my living room. I had about a 7x7 space that I had available to shoot in. And that was it. Now, on the corporate side, like Tammy, in the creative side, the value was completely different. On the corporate side of my business, that was my knowledge. I had had years of knowledge. That's what I was selling. Very comfortable in doing that. Already had made a name for myself in the industry. Actually, my husband would go out, and he would be Mr. Bethany because that's who I... There I was already known. On the photography side, that's my creative side. That was my feely side and I think the more vulnerable side, so I didn't value that. And, so pricing was very much a struggle for me because I was selling my art or my creativity versus my knowledge of what I knew. And so tell me, what do you struggle with now? What I struggle with now is... On the chart, I would say it would be pricing and product. Pricing meaning I've just increased my prices, so I'm back at where I was when I started on valuing my work. The product side, not so much product as in what I sell as prints and packages. But on the production side, I'm going to have to outsource my retouching. That's what's really holding me back and keeping me from my family. So, I have the shooting time. I have the editing time. I have my other business, which I am still running. Plus I have two children at home and a husband that are wanting my attention. And I just, I'm stretched too thin. Okay, all right. So, I don't believe in work-life balance. The best thing you can do is outsource. I believe that once you start getting a steady income, you then need to take a hit on the income to pay someone else, whether a makeup artist or a retoucher. Remember, the smartest thing I ever did in business was I taught my makeup artist to be a retoucher. Then I got a second makeup artist, and I taught her to be a retoucher, too. I had two makeup artists that were also retouchers. When one of them was doing makeup, the other one was retouching. When they were both doing makeup, they would be doing makeup, and then they would finish and both go to retouching. That is an extraordinary business model, when you have two makeup artists that can retouch. Now if anybody works with me, they have to be double skilled. There is always a way. There is always a young student out there trying to find their way that you can teach. The hardest part about letting go of retouching or design is control. The control of letting it go to somebody else. Because it is one of the single hardest things to do. But I'm telling you right now... And then, letting go of the money 'cause you just start making an income. And then you gotta shave off another $150 a day or a $150 dollars a week to pay somebody else. And you're like, "That money was mine." But if I don't do that, I won't make my goals. And my goals are... So, you've gotta spend money to make money. Exactly, yeah because right now I can physically only handle maybe a session a week. That's going to cap me at my income level unless I outsource my retouching. I want to get to eight sessions a... or two sessions a week or eight sessions a month or 10 sessions a month so that my income keeps increasing. Yeah, so that's great balancing... I feel like that's probably one of the hardest things. If you go back to the beginning, talk to me about pricing, how hard that was to evolve your pricing. What was your real startup scary bit? The scary bit. When I first started in 2012, I was charging $250, and I'll meet you at the park, and you'll get everything on the CD. And then I discovered you on CreativeLive. And I started studying CreativeLive, and I increased my sales average to $250 to $600. And I was pretty happy with that $600. I about passed out bringing that check to the bank. It wasn't until your Reveal Wall, so I'm really excited for you to be talking about that later. It wasn't until The Reveal Wall that my very first sale was my top package at $2000. Now, there's a caveat there because I got really excited and nervous and I immediately discounted 20% off of that. 'Cause that's great, isn't it? You want to pay me $2000 for my work? Let me give you 200 back. But I learned from that experience. I don't get all excited like that anymore. I kind of keep it under wraps. And so my sales average after 28 days on The Reveal Wall was at about $1300. And I've just now recently raised my prices. So, $1200 is now my first... my smallest package. Your entry point. That's great, so you're all on that same boat. That's awesome. And this is Bethany's studio. Isn't that neat to see them all? Yeah, I get so excited.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials
Ratings and Reviews
Sandra Sal
How glad I am that I have purchased this course! Sue is just wonderful woman, photographer, business person and life coach. This course is so informative, inspiring, educating and just AMAZING!! Simply a must have! Don't even think "should I get it" just buy it and you will be blown away! I loved every second of it and will keep re watching it many times more! Thank you to Sue, wonderful mentours and Creative Live!!
Laura Captain Photography
As a person that is new to portrait photography and to starting a portrait business, this class has been extremely valuable to me and well worth my time. It is also very helpful to hear from the mentors. I have a lot of respect for Sue, her work and her wisdom. She is genuine, has a passion for her work and has a wealth of information to share. I believe this class will actually allow a person to achieve their goals and build a business. I now feel more knowledgeable and more confident about pursuing a photography business. Thanks so much Sue and thanks to CreativeLive for providing wonderful online education.
Janice S.
i just finished watching this workshop. though i'd seen sue's name on the list of creative live workshops, this is the first one i've done. to me, she is effectively partnering life coaching with photography education. which is awesome. between being an ER nurse for almost 20 years, as well as arriving at my late 40s not unscathed, i can relate to much of what sue has said and would like to think that i'm in a better position to tackle the business of business ownership than i would have been 20 or 30 years ago. the other thing i noticed was hints of rhonda byrne. this may or may not actually be the case, but it seems like it. the power of positive thinking essentially. i loved the whole thing. though i'm not really close to implementing the business practices taught here, i wanted to watch the whole thing before moving on to her glamour photography workshop. i wanted to understand what i would be moving toward as i go through my technical education. i believe i will be adding 28 days to my class list too. thank you sue!