Inspiration to Keep Working
Lesson 55 from: How to Start a Photography BusinessPye Jirsa
Inspiration to Keep Working
Lesson 55 from: How to Start a Photography BusinessPye Jirsa
Lesson Info
55. Inspiration to Keep Working
Summary (Generated from Transcript)
The topic of this lesson is the inspiration and rewards of starting a photography business. The instructor emphasizes the personal growth, purpose, and fulfillment that can come from being a photographer, as well as the importance of building a supportive team.
Q&A:
What is the instructor's advice for those who haven't set their focus, vision, and mission statement for their photography business?
The instructor advises them to go back and watch the previous lessons on setting these foundational aspects because the information in this lesson won't make sense otherwise.
What does the instructor say about the amount of work involved in a photography business?
The instructor acknowledges that starting a photography business requires a lot of dedication and hard work, and it may be more than what some people initially expected.
How does the instructor describe the personal benefits of being a photographer?
The instructor explains that photography has helped him grow spiritually, personally, and has given him a sense of purpose. It has also changed how he views and interacts with people.
What are some examples of the impact a photographer can have on families?
The instructor shares stories of capturing precious moments for families, such as documenting a wedding where a grandparent with cancer is present or capturing the last moments with loved ones. He emphasizes the significance and responsibility of preserving these memories.
What does the instructor say about the importance of building a team?
The instructor highlights the importance of having a supportive team, whether it's external friends and peers or internal team members. He shares personal experiences of how his team rallied around him during tough times and emphasizes the power of teamwork.
What are some challenges the instructor faced in his photography business?
The instructor mentions going through personal challenges and health issues, such as tearing his Achilles tendon and having emergency gall bladder surgery. He also mentions his house flooding. Despite these challenges, he emphasizes how his team and friends supported him during those times.
What does the instructor say about the blessings and rewards of pursuing a photography business?
The instructor believes that the photography industry has blessings and rewards in store for those who put in the time and effort. He encourages students to embrace the work ahead and trust that they will receive more than they put in.
Lessons
Class Introduction
13:12 2Common Myths & Unknown Truths
11:42 3The Road Ahead
13:03 4Find Your Passion
06:06 5The Lin & Jirsa Journey
13:54 6Part-time, Full-time, Employed, Partners?
03:51 7Stop Wasting Time & Money
06:07 8Your 12 Week Roadmap
04:33Great Plans Still Fail
06:01 10Strategy Vs. Planning
04:16 11Mind Mapping
07:25 12Select a Focus
14:16 13Competitor Research
09:34 14S.W.O.T. Analysis
13:54 15Strategy & Long Term Goals
03:50 16Values, Vision & Mission
27:49 17Effectively Managing Your Time
15:05 18Artistic Development
07:30 19Create Your Plan
13:12 20What's Your Product
10:51 21Luxury vs Consumer Products & Experiences
11:44 22Quick Break for Econ 101
16:31 23Your Target Market & Brand Message
21:25 24What's in a Name
09:20 25Your Client 'Why'
05:43 26Crafting the Why Experience
24:17 27Document the Client Experience
08:29 28Business Administration Basics
27:03 29Book Keeping Management
06:51 30Create the Logo & Branding
07:04 31Portfolio Design
15:11 32Design Your Services & Packages
18:51 33Pricing Fears & Myths
08:46 34Three Pricing Methods
25:39 35Package Pricing Psychology & Design
06:15 36Psychology of Numbers
07:29 37Pricing Q&A
23:51 38Grass Roots Marketing
09:36 39The Empty Party
07:03 40Friends & Family Test Shoots
16:28 41Join Groups
04:32 42Second Shooting Etiquette
07:44 43The Listing & Classified Hustle
14:10 44Make Instagram Simple
13:55 45Your Automated Pinterest Plan
08:01 46Facebook Because You Must
07:37 47Giveaway & Styled Shoots
12:17 48Content Marketing & SEO
08:12 49The Monster: SEO
07:26 50Selecting Your Keywords
05:45 51Testing Your Keywords
07:53 52Grouping Main & Niche Goals
12:39 53Your Content Road Map
11:47 54Content Marketing Q&A
10:45 55Inspiration to Keep Working
07:45 56How to Craft Your Content
15:03 57Internal Linking Basics
05:30 58Back Link Building Basics
04:55 59Link Value Factos
14:38 60Measuring Link Value
04:24 61Link Building Strategy & Plan
06:10 62Link Building Plan: Vendors & Guest Writing
06:45 63Link Building Plan: Features, Directories, Comments
03:11 64Link Building: Shortcuts & One Simple Tool
14:44 65What is Sales? Show Me!
12:58 66Your First Massive Failure
05:17 67The Sales Process
07:31 68Your Second Massive Failure
05:23 69Understand Buyer Psychology
10:00 70Step 0: Building Rapport & Trust
15:14 71Step 1: Identify Need or Want
15:39 72Cognitive Dissonance
12:01 73Steps 2 & 3: Value Proposition & The Solution
14:21 74Step 4 : Close, Make the Ask
04:32 75Step 5: Follow Up & Resolve Concerns
06:13 76Family Photography Hot Seat
12:06 77Business Example Hot Seat
15:52 78Boudoir Photography Hot Seat
16:09 79The Best Sales Person
07:45 80Your Mindset, Vibrations & Frequency
06:56 81Always Positive, Always Affirming
11:55 82The Second Money & Dual Process
07:39 83Chumming the Price Waters
03:57 84Creating Want or Scarcity
09:54 85Timeless Advice on Being Likable
11:53 86Selling Over The Phone
10:59 87Forbidden Words in Sales
11:40Lesson Info
Inspiration to Keep Working
We're going to be finishing up on SEO. And I know SEO and content creation and that was a monster. I'm going to simplify this down and keep this in mind. So we are in the roadmap. We're looking at weeks, usually it's going to be around 8 through 12 at this point. You're site's up and now you're creating the content and you're populating that content, you've got a keyword strategy. All those things have been previously defined which means, if you're watching this and you haven't set your focus, you haven't set your vision, your mission statement, all the things to help you understand who you're marketing to, your personas, everything, set a key word strategy, all of that stuff up until now, you go back. You go back and watch it 'cause none of this will make sense otherwise. The beauty about this segment right now is that there's a lot of information for you guys to refer back to. I'm gonna give you some simple ideas on how to think about this section because it's going to get complex. W...
e're going to break it down, but there's a lot of stuff here. So we're going to give you a simple way to think about everything. At this point, I think a lot of you might be going, "What the hell did I get myself into? What is this business?" I know I'm asking you guys to do a lot with your own businesses, and it's probably more than you thought was involved in a photography business. You're going to be giving and you're going to be giving, and you're going to be giving. It's gonna require a lot out of you. And I want to give you guys an idea of what it will give back to you because we haven't really talked about that and because at this point, you might be a little bit, kind of, struck by how much there is in front of you, to do. So, from a personal standpoint, I want to speak just from my own growth. Photography has done things for me that have helped me spiritually, they've helped me personally. It's helped me in how I view people and how I see people, it's helped me to be a better person. It's given me a purpose and a reason to get up, and a lot of that has to do with the team that we build around us. The friends, everything that we have created has been because of this one industry. And yes, creating the artwork is amazing. What's more amazing is the families that you're going to affect by doing it. All the people that are going to be changed, and you will have your own stories. There are so many stories like this, and I'm going to do my best not to get emotional right now 'cause I don't like getting emotional, but the stories of going to a wedding and documenting a family, and then telling you, that this is my grandparents'-- we recently had one where my grandfather has cancer and he's out here at this wedding, we need to document this. And knowing that the images that you're capturing are going to be helping them to preserve something that is not going to be there much longer and then hearing about it after the fact, and the experiences are too close to my heart to even share, to say names, to do any of that. These are experiences that people will come to you and they will say, "You captured the last moments of this," "the last time I saw my mother, my grandmother, my grandfather's smile." They're difficult things to process, and that's why I don't show images, that's why I don't talk about client names, because I hold those things as sacred to me, if that makes sense. That's the responsibility, that's what this industry will give back to you for all the hard work that you're going to put into it. On top of that, whether you choose to go and lone wolf this or you choose to go and create your own team, you're going to have a team. It's either going to be your external team of network friends and peers, or it's going to be the ones inside your company, or it's going to be both. But those people are going to become the reason why you do what you do. Everybody back at our studio, it's incredible the family that we have created at Lin & Jirsa. And I've said it before, Kena has given us so much praise with what Justin, Chris, and I have created but honest to God, this is not the three of us. This is a team of incredible people who are there for a purpose, that is far greater than any individual. I'm telling you this from a person that-- I used to be the guy that wanted to do everything by myself. Justin and I thought about this a lot at the beginning of our company, where Justin would tell me, as my brother, "You need to learn how to work in a team. You need to understand what it is to be in a team." I never played team based sports growing up. I was the nerd. Justin played team-based sports, he knew that. He knew the power in what you could accomplish as a team, and I've learned that through the process of seeing first hand, how a team can lift you up. Last year was a tough year for me. It was a growing year. And amongst all the personal things that I was going through, I tore my achilles. I tore my achilles in April, and guess what happened, my team rallied around me. And when our internal team needed help, they called out to our external team of peers. "We need help to do this shoot." "We need help to do this. Pye's down, we need help." Everybody stepped in to help in this process and then a month later, I almost died. I had an emergency gall bladder surgery. My gall bladder almost burst and went into sepsis and all that kind of stuff. All in the span like, a two month period. My house flooded. $100,000 plus of damage, insurance won't cover it. Like all these different things can happen you and you should expect them to happen to you, because the punches don't really stop, right? We've all lived our life long enough to know that you keep thinking it's going to get easier, no, you get more and more on your plate. But the people that you surround yourself with, the fact that in those moments and in those dark times, you get an email from a client who shares with you something that you did for them, and then you see your teammate stepping in for you, you see your friends helping. This is what I want you guys to create for yourself. This is what it's given back to us, and I can't wait to go back home to my family away from my family at our company. They are so much of the reason of why I'm here right now, and I want to give them as much of the credit as I possibly can because they deserve it, so do my partners Chris and Justin. Chris is, by the way, tuning in, I think, for the SEO section so Chris is going to be here in case you guys have any deep harried questions on SEO. He can chime in on that chat room. But these two have been a backbone in everything that we've done. So this is what you have to look forward to. There is going to be a lot of work in front of you. I'm asking you to do a lot but this industry is going to give you back so much that you hadn't even-- you have no idea the blessings that are in store for you by going down this road. And I don't like using that word. Arlene said it best last night, that word is overused, but it's the truth that this industry and what you're about to embark on will give you back so much more than you're going to put in. Just put it in. Put the time in and go and do it.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
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!