Skip to main content

Grass Roots Marketing

Lesson 38 from: How to Start a Photography Business

Pye Jirsa

Grass Roots Marketing

Lesson 38 from: How to Start a Photography Business

Pye Jirsa

trending photo & video

buy this class

$00

$00
Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2200+ more >

Lesson Info

38. Grass Roots Marketing

How do you create a marketing plan when you have no marketing budget? Build a plan to market your business on a budget, including network marketing and social media. Then, adapt your marketing plan as your business grows.
Summary (Generated from Transcript)

The topic of this lesson is grass roots marketing for starting a photography business. Q&A:

  1. What is the importance of building a team around you in a photography business?

    Building a team of supportive people is crucial for the success of your business and for getting through tough times.

  2. How can networking with other photographers and clients help in growing a photography business?

    Networking with other photographers and clients can provide support, guidance, and potential referrals for your business.

  3. How can time be a valuable resource for a photography business?

    In the early years of a photography business, time can be used to make up for a lack of capital. Later on, time can be bought back by hiring employees to handle certain tasks.

  4. What is the four-prong grass roots marketing plan?

    The four-prong grass roots marketing plan includes spending time on learning SEO and content marketing, networking with industry professionals and clients, posting on social media, and listing in directories.

  5. What is the importance of SEO in a photography business?

    SEO, or search engine optimization, is important for building marketing assets and increasing visibility online. It will be a major focus of the class.

Next Lesson: The Empty Party

Lessons

Class Trailer
1

Class Introduction

13:12
2

Common Myths & Unknown Truths

11:42
3

The Road Ahead

13:03
4

Find Your Passion

06:06
5

The Lin & Jirsa Journey

13:54
6

Part-time, Full-time, Employed, Partners?

03:51
7

Stop Wasting Time & Money

06:07
8

Your 12 Week Roadmap

04:33
9

Great Plans Still Fail

06:01
10

Strategy Vs. Planning

04:16
11

Mind Mapping

07:25
12

Select a Focus

14:16
13

Competitor Research

09:34
14

S.W.O.T. Analysis

13:54
15

Strategy & Long Term Goals

03:50
16

Values, Vision & Mission

27:49
17

Effectively Managing Your Time

15:05
18

Artistic Development

07:30
19

Create Your Plan

13:12
20

What's Your Product

10:51
21

Luxury vs Consumer Products & Experiences

11:44
22

Quick Break for Econ 101

16:31
23

Your Target Market & Brand Message

21:25
24

What's in a Name

09:20
25

Your Client 'Why'

05:43
26

Crafting the Why Experience

24:17
27

Document the Client Experience

08:29
28

Business Administration Basics

27:03
29

Book Keeping Management

06:51
30

Create the Logo & Branding

07:04
31

Portfolio Design

15:11
32

Design Your Services & Packages

18:51
33

Pricing Fears & Myths

08:46
34

Three Pricing Methods

25:39
35

Package Pricing Psychology & Design

06:15
36

Psychology of Numbers

07:29
37

Pricing Q&A

23:51
38

Grass Roots Marketing

09:36
39

The Empty Party

07:03
40

Friends & Family Test Shoots

16:28
41

Join Groups

04:32
42

Second Shooting Etiquette

07:44
43

The Listing & Classified Hustle

14:10
44

Make Instagram Simple

13:55
45

Your Automated Pinterest Plan

08:01
46

Facebook Because You Must

07:37
47

Giveaway & Styled Shoots

12:17
48

Content Marketing & SEO

08:12
49

The Monster: SEO

07:26
50

Selecting Your Keywords

05:45
51

Testing Your Keywords

07:53
52

Grouping Main & Niche Goals

12:39
53

Your Content Road Map

11:47
54

Content Marketing Q&A

10:45
55

Inspiration to Keep Working

07:45
56

How to Craft Your Content

15:03
57

Internal Linking Basics

05:30
58

Back Link Building Basics

04:55
59

Link Value Factos

14:38
60

Measuring Link Value

04:24
61

Link Building Strategy & Plan

06:10
62

Link Building Plan: Vendors & Guest Writing

06:45
63

Link Building Plan: Features, Directories, Comments

03:11
64

Link Building: Shortcuts & One Simple Tool

14:44
65

What is Sales? Show Me!

12:58
66

Your First Massive Failure

05:17
67

The Sales Process

07:31
68

Your Second Massive Failure

05:23
69

Understand Buyer Psychology

10:00
70

Step 0: Building Rapport & Trust

15:14
71

Step 1: Identify Need or Want

15:39
72

Cognitive Dissonance

12:01
73

Steps 2 & 3: Value Proposition & The Solution

14:21
74

Step 4 : Close, Make the Ask

04:32
75

Step 5: Follow Up & Resolve Concerns

06:13
76

Family Photography Hot Seat

12:06
77

Business Example Hot Seat

15:52
78

Boudoir Photography Hot Seat

16:09
79

The Best Sales Person

07:45
80

Your Mindset, Vibrations & Frequency

06:56
81

Always Positive, Always Affirming

11:55
82

The Second Money & Dual Process

07:39
83

Chumming the Price Waters

03:57
84

Creating Want or Scarcity

09:54
85

Timeless Advice on Being Likable

11:53
86

Selling Over The Phone

10:59
87

Forbidden Words in Sales

11:40

Lesson Info

Grass Roots Marketing

This segment is all about network marketing. It's all about the team that you're going to be building around you. Now Kenna has been amazing and lovely and introducing us and telling everybody what Justin, Chris, and I have created and I want to set the tone right here and say I super appreciate all of that while saying that this was where we are here today entirely 100% a team effort. Not only from my business partners but also from the entire team at Lin and Jirsa. I know that most of you probably are not looking to create a 30 or 40 person team but I do want to get this one point across that you essentially are going to create that team whether or not they're in your company you're going to have a team of people around you that are going to support you that's the only way your business is going to get off the ground. It's the only way you're going to have a reason to get up in the mornings on the days that it's just really brutal. It might not have anything to do with business and I...

have days like that, I have a year like that where my team at Lin and Jirsa was literally the entire reason why I was going and getting up out of bed each morning. This is an important thing to understand for someone that's going to have a partnership, but it's more important to understand for those of you that are going to lone wolf this process. If you're going out as a sole proprietor you're going to run your own business, you need this. This is your network, these are the people around you that's going to be composed of your photographer friends, it's going to be composed of your client friends, it's going to be composed of all the people that you currently have as friends and family and everybody that is going to lift you up through the process, does that make sense? And in those down moments go to them. Go to your photographer friends and those groups, that is the best time to go to those groups is to say I'm having a rough time right now, tell me something what do I need to do, help me. Call up your buddy. I'm going to tell you what benefits you're going to get from that. So we're jumping into now where our roadmap focus is on network marketing and the creation of content, so we are not only network, we're joining in the groups, we're networking, we're in person, online, all that kind of stuff, we're going to (mumbles) our family, for artistic development. This is that piece, it's also going to be, so this is all networking, it's also going to be starting the network and then creating that bit of first content which we're going to get heavy into in weeks nine through 12. We're just going to start the topic now. Grassroots marketing. In your early years, you're going to be bootstrapping it your capital is going to be at a minimum. We're not going to have a ton of money, I'm hoping that you guys have your war chest, 30, 40, $50,000 that you can rely on for the next 12 months 18 months to get your business going, but either way you need to watch every dollar that you're spending. In the meanwhile, time is going to be your most abundant resource at least I'm hoping, 'cause if you don't have cash you better have time, one of those things you need to have. Time is where we're going to make up all of what we don't have on the capital side right now. Then in the later years this could be six months down the road it could be 12 months down the road, I want you to think about buying back your time and some of your life from the business. Because this is a mentality that you're going to run into that's difficult to accept. You're business owners and you're now doing $150, in revenue but student management is becoming a really difficult thing. I'm sure a lot of you are towards this position right now. You guys that are online, you're in that 80 to $150, income range and to get somebody into the studio full time part time you're looking at 25 to $50,000 a year and you're like man that's a lot of money. That's going to be tough for me to spend just to get somebody to help me manage this process. So let me give you something that'll help you in getting through that mindset. One, they don't cost $25,000 a year. They cost $2500 a month. Does that make sense? We think of it in yearly amounts because that's what their salary is but in reality it's a monthly amount which means that if immediately they are not giving you a return making your life better buying back your time within one month you can let them go and be back to whatever it is that you're doing. Does that help in thinking about that risk of hiring somebody on? It's a $2500 risk it's not a $25000 risk. So think in that sense. Also think in the sense of buying back your time because right now while your time might be abundant, down the road it won't be and you're going to want to spend time with your family, more importantly, not more importantly than your family, but inside of the business more important than doing the post-production everything there, you need to be getting more business, that's where your time needs to be is in acquiring clients and doing things that you need on that side. So buy back some of that time. Memorize this, this is your four-prong grass roots marketing plan and guess what, this is the division of time that I want you guys to have because every one of you is going to use what to track your time? Toggle, you're all going to toggle your time. And we're going to use what to manage our work intervals? (mumbles) just focus or any that you choose. In terms of that toggling time in your efforts in marketing, this is where that time should go. If you're going to spend ten hours in marketing four hours should be in learning SEO and content marketing and writing, four hours should be in the networking side, wedding industry, friends, family, photographers, online groups, styled shoots, collaborators, photographers is a smaller one in that group. One hour of your time on social media, posting everything. One hour of your time in listing and directories posting. The unfortunate truth right now is if you were to toggle your time you probably are somewhere around nine hours in all of this, and about one divided between the three of the other ones. I know it's true because it was true for me, it was like everybody wants to know the magic bullet on social media to get more clients, here's the magic bullet get off of social media. That's not the route, Instagram is decent, Pinterest is amazing, unfortunately you guys are all on Facebook. It's just not the place to be. We'll talk about how to spend your time, how to make this time effective as opposed to draining 'cause it is necessary it's just how many courses are there that talk about Instagram success and Instagram your way to this and Facebook market your way to success and Facebook based on SEO Mods which we'll talk about, this is a major online leads acquisition based company, states that Facebook is no longer a place to acquire new customers. It's a place to connect with people in your industry. It's a place to connect with your friends. Even Mark Zuckerberg himself said he wants Facebook to be not about businesses, you've seen him destroy the algorithms and how it's affected businesses in reach and effect that means your time needs to be diverted. That's your first year, beyond your first year once you're up and running I want you to increase the social media involvement just a little bit. We're going to go from one hour to two hours a week that kind of adjustment. We're going to spend still most of our time in SEO and content, the other side of our time in networking. And 5% of our time in listing and directories. Listing and directories is simple because you post it once a day even if you did it daily, you put up a post in five ten minutes and you're done you don't bother with it again. Directors do the same thing, once you finish your listing in your directory, you don't touch it again. Is this making a bit of sense? Yes. What is CEO I forgot. SEO CEO and content. SEO is search engine optimization. It's a broad topic that we're going to talk about, it's building marketing assets not buying marketing time if that makes sense. It's more so building and we're going to discuss a huge part of this class is going to be on SEO.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

How to Launch a Photography Business Workbook
Experience Pricing Example

Ratings and Reviews

Armstrong Su
 

This class and materials are to the point and eye-opening on the business side of photography. Pye Jirsa is an amazing and fun teacher as well! Most photographers need more business classes offered to bring us who love to create art back to reality for a more successful business that makes a living on it's own. This course will definately get you started in the right direction and so cheap too! Great investment! armstrong outdoor tv case outdoortvcase Pye Jirsa is one of the best instructors that I have the pleasure to learn from. He and his team have given me so much more than they'll ever realize. Knowledge, wisdom, training, friendship, mentoring, inspiration, joy... I cannot thank Pye enough for changing my life for the better. I owe them more than they'll ever realize. Thank you, Pye Jirsa!!!

Angela Sanchez
 

This class has been an eye opener for me; a point of change in my vision as photographer. Pye is and AMAZING, INSPIRING, GENEROUS instructor, with an, authentic desire to help people and to share with them the best of his knowledge. I will not have enough words to say thanks to Pye Jirsa, as a teacher and as a human being, and thanks to Creative Live who allows us to benefit from the experience of such a knowledgeable, educated, well-versed photographer and instructor. 1000% recommended!

Yenith LianTy
 

Been following this guy forever. Pye Jirsa may be well known in the wedding & portrait photography world and if there is something that this guy knows it is how to create a business, a sustainable one. The workbook he provided is comprehensive, and I honestly wish I had this when I first started out as a photographer! I love that he talks about his failures, keeping it real and honest for anyone starting out. He is definitely one of the best instructors around, super humble, down to earth and with a sense of humor to boot. The course is worth it! THE WORKBOOK is AMAZING! SUPER DETAILED!

Student Work

RELATED ARTICLES

RELATED ARTICLES