Lessons

Lesson Info

The Experience, Customer Service, and Product

Let's, get back to this little diagram here. We've talked about bringing new new clients. We've talked about branding we've talked about booking. Now we're gonna discuss the experience and the product line, okay? And all about that wonderful two words customer service, which is part of your product, customer service and the actual product itself go hand in hand when I say the product itself. I mean, like the album or the campus or whatever. Okay, do you really need to do that? Pre consultation? Hell, yes. It's the secret ingredient guys, it plants that seed of the sale. It gets the client to do something they would not normally have done. It educates the client on what is possible with their imagery and help seal the experience and create the courtship in the marriage. It helps connect them to you. It establishes a beautiful relationship between you and your customer and it sets the ground rules for you. It draws your line in the sand goes okay, here's how this is gonna work? This is w...

hat we're gonna do for you. This is what we need you to do for us. And we're gonna have a marriage made in heaven it's the pre nuptial agreement, okay, that contract that you make them sign is a pre nuptial agreement, okay? It also solidifies there's not going to be any unhappy customers because they know the rules up front. They know how you run your business. They know what to expect from you, and they know what they should expect. They know what they should deliver to you in order to help you do your job or effectively. Okay, it guides the direction of the sale. It gets those creative killers out of the way. Things like outfits and color choices and creating beautiful image because your client on the hot address, you've gotta help him and it plants the seed of the sale. You gotta plant that little pretty seed water and watch it grow because that the sale sessions when you're gone, put a blossom off of it. Okay, if you don't plant the seed, you're screwed the sales appointment. If you have a bad sale, I can hundred percent of the time one hundred percent of time. If I have a bad sale, I could trace back to where I messed up. I can pinpoint it without you. Okay? My fault. Well, lesson learned. Okay, backtrack. If you have a bad sale, really analyze yourself. Don't blame it on her client it's usually your fault you didn't plant the seed, you didn't provide them pricing now granite on our facebook group there is a wonderful wonderful girl named I think it was don who have this problem john potter she's been incredibly paramount and sometimes and she had a flu client who just did the session and gave session fee and decided they didn't want to see the images because I can't afford it I've got these great images and they won't come back because they know they're going to be pretty they want to buy them all and they said they can't afford it and I'm like did you give him pricing and do a pre consul before him she's like yeah they knew every thing I'd give it all to the wife I don't know if she told the husband or not okay maybe that's our problem I don't know I haven't talked about it in death but that could be our problem mama thought she could kind of snake one under daddy who knows I've had that happen to me a lot dad comes in for the sale session moms like oh yeah dad looks at the prices and goes oh sticker shock and you're like oh great do you have a chance to see the pricing and he'll look at the wife and go no happens to all of us and who knows if that's his problem yet we're still working through it I haven't had time to go in there and check it out but it could just be a flu client it could just be woo credit ready, you know you so, no, there are weird people out there it's sometimes, so I told her I said, you know what? Tell I'm going to leave the files in forty eight hours and if they've changed their mind and they need to do so within that time period and obama stan, then chalk it up to the clan she's back, you're going to tow the file? Yep, I've done it. I've done it. I warned him multiple times still in order, I said the files were deleted by five o'clock on monday. They call me tuesday morning, they were gone, were they really? But I told them they were gone. I think they're gone now. It was a long time ago. I don't know where they are now. They're archive somewhere he says show anyway, but yeah, and I said the sail is not worth sticking in my policies sales not worth that and when someone walks on me like that and takes advantage and is just downright rude, even though I warned them a nice I'm nice. I'm not like a mean brad about it by any means, but I say a kind of we have to do this, I can't, you know, I didn't know you were in a contract me, I warned you they were so mad at me I said I'm sorry it's just unfortunately that's the way it is we can't just keep things indefinitely and that's what our contract in policy say that you signed and they go there more pissed off themselves in there aren't you and I think that's where you you have to understand that and I know that sounds like I do that well there's a point in your business we're having any client is not worth the cost it has to your business you make more money and have more success by weeding out the clients that you know are your client so many businesses struggle with this especially when they're first starting out like my accountant who might just tired he says yeah we do a free interview with every single potential client because I want to make sure we're on the same page I'm not the cheapest I'm not the most expensive I'm not the type of accountant who is gonna bend the tax rules but some people want me to do that if they want me to do that we'll go there he's not going to take any client just to get some money a tax time to get paid he wants high quality clients because that elevates his brand okay you always protect the brand and sometimes that means weeding out people who are not your target client because they will not live up to your brand that makes sense the brand is the child it's the baby it's your baby you protect that at all cost and if something doesn't jive with your brand get rid of it even if that means getting rid of a crappy client when sometimes you don't know their crappy until they actually book and you go through a session won't ever working with men no I have one of those interesting story all color nancy her name's not nancy but what color nancy nancy uh I came to be the first time this woman is a little cuckoo but very nice which is strange she's high maintenance but very strange her whole house is white everything except the wood floors is white and there's not a speck of dirt anywhere you walk in and you're like oh my god I can't move or I'll get something dirty you know that's the kind of house she had a baby could look with she came to me and she was such a control freak show to control every aspect of the session she got mad at me there was one little problem on the image and she freaked out thinking that at the maternity session thinking that that was going to be the way it was the newborn session I really hope this is not the way our new board session is going to go I mean she had that kind of voice she ran over and curlers miss yourselves I mean I'm like I am never we went through the session and all was well, she was happy control freak people just have insecurity and I just want trust you once they know they can trust you there ok? But initially they don't trust anyone, so you have to kind of give them a reassurance s o we got and I realized that after working with nancy and when we got to the session of fine, we're both born and I sat on our chairs and think you're never ever gonna have to deal with her again two years later by january I'm way have another one it's generated in your mate crap why you calling so early? I'm not bunch I don't wanna work with you on that boat may have taken you know that's what I want to say to her but I'm like I can't may eight she knows I'm not booked I'm not book that far out, you know and so I took it but let me tell you it was so much easier the second time and granted her son with a little bit crazy you know the kid who's now too was a little crazy I mean he's good luck with the white house I was so true in that prediction, but anyway the new child and her house is a lot messier now and she just she's calmed down a lot having a baby kind of calmed her down mater mater less uptight and she was great to work with and the reason she wanted to come to me because she always already trusted me and the control freak thing went away when she trusted me as a business but guess what was my point in saying I'm kind of lost track what was my point? You'll have weird clients she was extremely wealthy she bought a ton she totally was my brand and client and that's why I took her the second time but boy were we poised for disaster and we'll make sure nothing went wrong with nancy I mean you all have those clients I'm sure but weed out the people who are not going to be your client and that's why I listened so carefully on the phone and I'm pre qualifying them if they call me all the classic one is like oh yeah last year we went to walmart but they close down their portrait studio so we're looking for a family session we just want a few images and the digital you know, just the digital you know as might not be my client I gotta check I got were out a little bit more and see if she's she's cool okay and the phone you know, we talked about booking the client and for me that phone call in booking is pretty much also the pre consul patient, I'm prepping them for the sale and planting the seed of what we do and what we offer then when they come in for the session, we're showing them products all over the studio they walk in and everything is merchandised, which is a whole nother topic that I can't even get into on this in this class, but we are going to cover a boot camp, the whole of your birthdays, your product wowing them when they walk in elevating that brand, they come in and they go, oh my gosh, this is going to be really awesome and costs more than we thought, but that's okay, this is so cool like they get excited, it's kind like a kid going into a candy store or a woman going into a fine art antiques store and going, ah, so pretty don't care how much it costs to buy it. You know, we get allured by that as women, we get very emotionally attached to shopping for some reason. So when you can make that experience happened in your own studio and if you don't have a studio there's a solution, okay, we'll we'll move, okay, look at all these companies out there that cater to women and have catalogs, there is no pottery barn in my town I can't go into a pottery barn and buy something, but I think I'll buy pottery barn products. Yes, because they sent me a gorgeous catalog every quarter that sits on my living room table in whenever I'm bored, I look pretty and what my house looks like that I mean, that's, what we do is women, and then we go, oh, that's really cool, I want that frigging go online and order in the at your house in three days. Okay, it's perfectly possible to build a gorgeous company catalogue, spend some time and effort on it, and as an on location photographer, you can go through that catalog with your customers and say, ok, let's, sit down to a little session consultation before we do your session and talk about what we're planning for what we shooting for? What product are we shooting for? That gets a soft commitment to your client that they're going to doing something nice with their images? Do they have to commit fully to that specific product? No, but once they realize you're doing all the work for that and they don't buy the sale session it's kind of rude, you have, I have it go the other direction where they don't buy the product? They said that, yes, of course, but I'm growing my seed into a pretty little plant and fertilizing it okay exactly and watering it john got a hit on the head so really the pre consultation what I mean is it makes the client happy because they feel like their needs are being met they feel like they're part of the process they feel like they get to make key decisions they have lots of time to consider and think about what they want to do. They can go home and set a budget they can have a family discussion about it. There are a lot calmer during the process and by the time they come back to the failed appointment what is it at that point and ordering appointment it is no longer a sales appointment. They've set a budget they know what they're doing they're happy and at the sales appointment sometimes yeah can you up some a little bit get a buy more but they already know they're gonna be spending some money there's been some talk about it there's no surprises and that's what you want I want happy clients do not want them going home going we were just doing what you want in on that you want to go out a lot of money but this would be really cool, okay there's a shift there in the thinking the other thing about free consultations is it? I think you can tell from here what we've been talking about that it's a service, right? You're elevating the service to your consumer and it really doesn't make you a customer service rock star when it comes down to making the client happy, making them adore you, making them feel like they are part of the process and like, they're getting everything they want everything's out on the table, there's no surprises, and at the end of it all and that's affection, I was well taken care of of a jewel images, porter design that's what I want them to leave with that I was well taken care of, not that I got good imagery that's just a fringe benefit that is the icing on the cake, and every time they look at the art piece that I created for them all, they're going to think about how fun it was, how beautiful it was, and they're gonna come back and they're gonna refer and that's, what the client cycle is all about is getting those prequalified clients the ones you've weeded out to the ones who are well qualified, referring you other well, cloth clients. Customer service is all about a good experience with you taking care of their needs before they even know they need it when clients come to the studio, and maybe we haven't told him about how pretty this or whatever they walk in there like this fridge is stocked with all kinds of kids drinks, milk, yogurt, water, coffee, gourmet coffees ok, I do bulletproof coffee, doesn't it? Bulletproof coffee is I could make a bulletproof coffee for my clients it's like a fat delicious lotte. Fantastic! I live on them. They're so good, but we'll make that for a client. We have anything and everything to provide the only thing we can't do it actually cook on a stove for them like eggs and bacon kind of thing which I'm actually gonna remodel my studio and I'm seriously considering doing that just so if they really need something, we can do it for us and for them ok, I love this quote. We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone katie terms and I think that's so signifies what the customer's experience is about customer service we take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone that moment should be a good one, right? I think you're all are right thinking about what this means. This is my son and my husband this is about our vacation. We have a little beach house in lincoln city with a hot time in the back of my husband's drinking a beer and my son picked up their dumped the beer out in the hot tub and then proceeded to fill up the bottle of beer and pour it all over my husband's head and I was I had just bought a contact six forty five meeting format film camera so I was playing around I shot this with the uh portrait four hundred film and I just love this moment and of course I got the images back from richard's photo lab as scans and I thought I'd like I just brought me back to that moment and I love that image is not that good of an image I mean it's just me practicing with my film I shot film and probably twenty years so it was fun to go back to it but every time they look at your images every time I look at that image I think of how corky and ordinary he was to dump out my husband's here in the middle of the time and it gives me such joy my cash so four year old boy right now I am taken back to that moment and how much door my husband and son okay and I think this drives home the point that even though you're creating the image for your client you're not creating it you know they're not creating themselves I think that lends itself even more important to this whole concept of they remember the experience when they look at the images because they didn't shoot it someone looking into their lives shot it and created something so different and unique for them that they could have never created themselves, which elevates it even further then when they look at the imagery not over there, not only are they appreciating its artistic qualities, but it's taking them back to that moment in memory and the customer service that you provided to create that image is this all resonating you guys feeling it out? A lot of photographers asked me, can I just be nice to everybody? Yeah, we'll question oh, john, go ahead, julie julia uh you're basically taking possibly taking them to a moment that they didn't even see with their own eyes and that's the beauty and what we do is photographers and capturing that because again to them and said experience and yesterday's by my husband and there's, my son or there's people that I love, but they don't see him through the eyes that we have as photographers in being able to freeze that moment and then give that back to them, their product that isthe well as prices, and when you associate the experience with that, it elevates it even more doesn't it really doesn't mean it makes it so much more rival so so many photographers shoot themselves in the foot by not providing a good experience, and if you do shoot two sword yourself above every other photographer out there it's not that hard to provide lovely service to people it just takes over john's right? It just takes some thinking some pre planning and putting someone else's needs ahead of yours and not only when you do that have you created this glorious client circle right? They're gonna talk your praises and be loyal evangelists here brand that's really the recipe it's really a recipe for building a business you market bring in new clients initially let them appreciate the brand book them produce a client experience and a product that's all based around customer service and the thing starts to feed itself as long as you just keep rolling on that customer service and providing a high quality product and pushing the marketing snowball down the hill until it rolls by itself pretty soon the referral thing gets way bigger than that little marketing thing you're doing on the outside and then all of a sudden the thing's feeding itself you never have to touch it you barely I barely market of all now tarver's well, I'm all my bottom all referral based you're you're you're you're really kind of get a little sour because you're like you just start off like that, you know, I sure they didn't start off like that I'll get you a second kind of sorry yeah they they didn't start off like that but now they say well ninety percent of my clients come from referrals you're just like ever uh and you're not there yet, so you just kind of roll your eyes and go that's just I suck basically, georgie is on your shoulder and goes, you suck, you suck, you suck cock and but don't let that faze you because they didn't start like that. Every photographer starts off having to do external marketing and pulling clients from the outside and it's a lot of pounding the pavement and it's hard to dio it's not easy to dio but where they fall and where their business fails really fails is because they pulling these clients, but they don't revel in the glory of the client circle. They slash that with a knife like shooting their own foot, and so they constantly have to market to these external claims and they get exhausted and they can't do it, and they always have cheap, nasty clients because that's the only ones they can get because it's just just they haven't built up their brand. They haven't revered the circle. Do you see where I'm going and then their cotton I get tired, I get burn out while I'm a client and they get worried about the competition oh my god, the cradles, people down the street or doing it for a hundred bucks I mean, they start to freak out I don't blame them it is freak out it's because you're not getting referrals you feel like you're marketing our brains out only getting two clients per thousand efforts that you're doing right don't look at your market was look at your circle there's flaws in your in your client's cycle where are those flaws? Is your brand solid? Is it unique? How are you booking? Are you connecting to your clients your potential clients are you building a report with them like john said are you building a relationship of them? Are you selling the service? Are you providing everything for them? What about your product line? Does it speak to your brand? Are you producing products that really owned your art on how is your customer service? Are you thinking of their needs before your own while at the same time standing in the sandbox of your business with your policies and standing up for what's right and not getting walked on there's a difference between brought providing customer service and being walked on you don't want your clients to walk all over you you're not a yes man you're yes on my terms man okay this is how I run my business you can choose to be part of that or not if you are part of it I'm going to make this experience incredible for you there's a difference you see the difference? Yeah questions well julia I think you kind of you you answered it because I was going to ask where is it then that people falter them failed on those store what? You know it sounds not that it sounds easy but it's like okay, if there is this plan then why aren't we all successful doing it? But you just kind of hit to that I guess I guess the one that's been kind of that have been waiting for is hannah even says I feel like my conscious is pricking me every time I give these big prices to new parents or I always find myself making exceptions and lowering my prices just this once because they have so much going on and new pile of expenses and I don't want to add to that that it's I know it's important for them but I feel guilty charging a lot of money so ultimately does it come down to peoples valuing themselves in their work or I mean you answered your own question it's a confidence issue um I mean I can't afford me you know I cannot afford my average sale I would never pay grand I could get myself but you know it's a whole different perspective um you should not be able to afford yourself try to think of an example this is an extreme example but you heard in the news lately this guy the owner of this pharmaceutical company who just like tripled or quantum field the price of this drug and like there's this whole backlash and he just sat there with a smug face and go yep room prices I didn't see the whole interview but he basically snapped everybody and racist I mean that guy's overconfident you know he's like a little cocky about it do you think the pharmaceutical companies care whether or not you can afford their drug there's other people out there who are willing to pay for it yeah and I know I'm I'm talking straight so please I'm trying to make you see things because I'm going the other direction so extreme obviously that's not reality for us but a capitalistic consumer society is all about pricing is demanded supply if you're producing an incredible product that is in demand you can charge more for it and the people who want it will pay for it if you go just this once she don't tell anybody I'm gonna give you a deal nothing could have been there done that have you also buy? We've all done it trust me we've all done it um and you feel so nasty afterwards when you do it you're like why I just do that and you got the job but it really doesn't it makes your self worth go down even further and this is definitely a self worth confidence issue if you do not stand up your baby for your brand and your business I hate to say it but you're a terrible mother your father yeah, exactly I didn't mean t but um I it's a silly analogy but I think you know where I'm going your your business is your baby you need to nurture it and love it and respect it and stand up for it there are times as real parents when we have to parent our children and we feel horribly guilty about it I can't believe I just spank my kid you know o man or I can't believe I just grounded him for something so minor you know but what are you doing? You're standing up for his growth and his potential for the giant pumpkin you want that pumpkin to grow so you need to do what's best for it right? You have to parent your business that means treating it and respecting it and drawing the boundaries around it and people who interact with your child need to respect it too. Would you ever let anyone take advantage of your son or daughter? Would you ever sacrifice your child's growth and moral values for someone else's benefit no and you think you sound greedy but related to parenting are you greedy when you protect your child? Think of it as protecting your livelihood which is just as important as raising your child okay think of your business as your baby as your livelihood as what supports your family, is what's going to make you grow in your career and your life and client, you really want to work with you? It won't matter whether or not you give them ten percent off. My father is an incredible businessman, he's run three or four medical device companies as ceo when I need business advice, I kind of I kind of go to him sometimes, and I've been struggling myself with growth and balancing the education side of my business and the client side, and he said to me, he goes to it, you can raise your prices ten percent, nobody even notice, make my entry point will get higher, and the people who are first tempted aren't gonna want to come in and he's like, who cares? I, uh I guess maybe I shouldn't care about that, so I'm raising my price is fifteen percent without you telling me when I tell my clients vamps done, he gave me the confidence to do that, but what he made me realize was that ten or fifteen percent in the scheme of things, especially in a growing economy, I haven't changed my prices in like five years, you need to go up and I'm like, yeah, it's scary, though. I mean it's still nerve racking because now all of a sudden my average is going to go up by ten or fifteen percent which is going great but my entry point's going to go off and and all these new moms I'm like, oh god, they get affording, you know, scary but ten or fifteen percent the scheme of things it's nothing in a growing economy so when it comes down to is protecting your livelihood, protecting your baby and parenting your business and what's best for it not whether or not it makes you feel uncomfortable sometimes parenting means making hard decisions that really challenge your self worth and challenge whether or not you're a good person and whether or not you're doing the right thing for your child in business it's exact same way good analogy resonate makes sense so customer service is really like trying to get a date ok make it all about them court them remember when you first try to get dates guys scary I would have been horrible man because I would have been so shy it's not even funny I would have never asked but really it's like corn that's all being about the minute you make it about them people love to talk about themselves, right? I mean it's kind of given shy people not so much they take time to warm up but if you start asking genuine, authentic questions that are full of integrity they're going to start talking tio okay and if you have a warm personality and try to be as warm as possible and it can get awkward but you have to practice making good conversation you really d'oh I always tell people to ask who what where when why questions don't ask don't ask yes or no you know how are you where you from? I'm from what do you two know what's that like why did you choose that career? What's been your neatest experience in that make a list of questions? Belinda nightmare bullet is pretty shy and we were talking about this just last night because there's a bunch of parties tonight you know, I hear a crate of live and she's like I just wanted to say I love people I really love really into them, but I get so uncomfortable in the conversation because it gets awkward and I feel and I don't want to go look, I can totally relate there's people like that that I don't even like to talk to. But I said to her I said, well, let's make a list of three key questions that you can memorize in your head and ask people that are unique and different and we'll kind of spark a conversation so we're going to do that tonight before we go out if you get one come talk to you putting on the spot sorry, sorry belinda, but that's a really good actionable plan to help you get better conversation google good conversation topics you find anything on google these days and turn it into a who what where when why question write it down and then you go talk to somebody and then you get stuck you can always talk about tokyo make excuse to get out and then reader question thing and then come back to him later and ask more questions, make the conversation continue so make it all about them really while getting what you need at the busy this owner you'll be creating a we serve you environment, okay, the look and feel of your space contributes to that whether you're on location or in studio if you're on location, make sure your car's clean she was not a bunch of crumbs and junk in the backs trunk where they're seeing all your gear come out of, you know that's an impression on the brand dress well, the look and feel of you when I go on creative life, I dress my brand, I always represent my brand whenever I'm with a student or whether I'm with a client, I want people to look at me and see my brand dress it own it, live it, breathe it, eat it, sleep it communication and language that relational connection but it also has to do with your product line. I don't want you to carry the kitchen think you go to these trade shows oh, my gosh! It's like candy land well, that's pretty weight that we carry that you start getting all excited about the products don't do it don't be tempted by the devil, okay? I'm teething obsolete but what you want this is my studio here is when you walk in the door we took this picture before creative life came with a welcome sign that says welcome creative life crew because they were last week there at my studio taping for the boot camp. Okay, so welcome sign that's. Very warm and fuzzy pictures of belinda's. Two girls up on the walls with our new word walls collection where we print phrases it says love you more love you most which is a sentiment phrase that both belinda and I having our family so like when I say I love you, my husband because I love you more and I said, I love you most it's just a thing we have. So whenever I tell you my son, my son, I love him because I love you more mommy and I say, I love you most honey, so it's a little thing it's personal no one else does it it's unique families come in and see that on the front right in the front with two siblings saying love you more I love you most and it sucks man okay there's an album sitting there this is one of our own stick wax prince actually shot that in the newborn studio class we didn't create five and then I put in caustic wax over it which is a new product for doing your your products must be brand complain I'm on organic textural you saw my words the beginning right? Do I carry metal prince? He'll know it's not my brand shiny glitzy saturated matt matt matt matt matt everything's matt my studio matte finish watercolor paper anything it does not shine ok, it shines forget about it, it's not gonna come in my studio you want sellable products? Obviously. So if it's not selling in your studio while it's don't sell at all digital iphone app yes, in demand low cost you hypersea valued client so when you're looking for new products, think to yourself low cost, high dollar, low cost, high dollar is it low cost to me? Can I charge a lot for it? If it's high cost to you and you can't sell it for much? Nixon it's out of there especially if it doesn't go with your brand so when you do product development research and development for your company you need to be vigilant about what you pick how many products do I have my studio guess ten john's right okay I have four wall finishes and six albums and digital mask okay don't do I mean I love the fact that you guys just said five because that tells me you're thinking like a brand strategist you less is more and I should probably pare down in fact I think we're going to bear our albums down to three big little small middle you know I'm saying you could produce to take a lot of time if it takes too much time cost you money forget about it okay how hard is it to order some labs ordering systems are just like I have to do what you figure it out just order it like ten minutes forget it I'm not gonna waste my time doing that quick turnaround I produced I try to produce and um orders for clients within seven days we tell them it takes three or four weeks but we turned around within seven to ten days and call them intelligent in and it's a nice little pleasant surprise over promise under promise over deliver okay so I have a little sheet for you that you can like screenshot or take it'll help you really develop your product line okay, so you want any any products you have in your studio you're thinking of having you want to put it down here on the left side you're going to put down in the next column what it costs you to produce what the what the what the hard cost is at the lab okay, what you can charge for it proceed value not a simple markup not like times for I'm talking what you can really charge for it it's like an eight by ten cost you three bucks in charge at least sixty bucks for it which is way more than four times. Okay, so think about what you can charge for it and how much profit you're going to need product based on that so just subtracted to then put your put in here doesn't have a high perceived value and I just put hi lo hi lo hi lo question mark or whatever is it suited to the brand does it speak your brand when you look at the product? Do you think of your brand when you see it one of the pros of carrying it and what are the cons if it's tough to order it takes too long to get company delivery is extended all those things air cons pros clients love it I can turn it around quickly it's unique that'll help you gauge what you should carry and keep it tight edit down. Don't carry a lot. I don't even carry gift prints. I stopped carrying those three years ago. My clients confront those piddly stuff. We give them digital files, don't give, we sell them digital files and we upload them to zen folio. A knife created a gorgeous sight on sam folio that's, our clients of film in ordering site and we up charge little bit. Not a lot like an eight by ten is seven dollars, I think, um whereas I get charged three from zen polio, I think I'm not sure an accurate numbers there, but basically is a little markup for my time and it's my christmas money at the end of the earth, we send them their gallery online. They can order prints and products from there depending on whether they get the large files of the small files. And my account starts banging it's great. And I just that's my christmas money every year, and I only have five or six thousand dollars spent on christmas, which is really nice. Okay, so it's kind of big money. We call it our studio when it just being in your email account go, how is somebody just gonna print so I was trying to get the money well, it's not much, but it is fun, so use the sheet for yourself because it really will help you weed out what you want to carry, and most importantly, it'll make that true to your brand. Think about combining what the lab does into another, more creative design when you go to these trade shows don't just think, oh, can this pretty let's do thirty by forty eight, twenty, twenty four whatever. Uh, boring. Okay, I want you to think about how you can combine into something different this's on my studio wall in the pre consultation area. Okay, where we sit down right before the session to talk about products, we have created a wall siri's gallery of the mix of frames campuses matted unm added with a shelf with a little ampersand sign from hobby lobby just to make it pretty and look designed for a space that's a product be creative. Think out of the box when it comes to developing a product that's effective for your client because they know eight by tens eleven by fourteen sixteen twenty they know that it's your job to make it better and more unique that's going to elevate your brand once again. Okay, so the result of this, if you do it and get creative about your products is like I said, setting your brand apart give yourself a unique selling point, okay? It accomplishes what your clients cannot d'oh they can't do that you do it for him provide that service okay and it gives your studio and artistic edge over others your product line ultimately it contributes to the overall experience the client has it's your business if you're doing creative things and unique things we do watercolor tauron prints with metallic edge painting we doing caustic waxing and course all these things are expensive they're not cheap I do water soluble oil's over the top of coral paintings that stuff's high end do I sell a lot no but it sure makes us look good okay to the client and that's the whole point let's go back to the client cycle we talked about referrals excuse me we talked about bran appreciation talked about booking we talked about the experience we talked about the customer service that makes it all keep going what's that going to do for you it's going to make that referral cycle grow and grow and grow and grow the referrals will happen automatically it really will and those are the pre qualified clients that are making the pumpkin bigger weed out the crappy clients you want the pre qualified ones referring you that's the fertilizer that goes on your lovely delicious pumpkin and we'll make your pumpkin grow into a big fat prize winning giant which means your business is going to grow your profits will increase and then when you put all this into systems they can run themselves like we're gonna learn in boot camp, you can walk away from your business and watch it grow up and go to college graduate get married have kids, we're just fricking awesome and you just reap the benefits of it okay, keep that circle going if something goes wrong, you messed up don't take a knife to your circle if there's problems examine where those problems may happen and fix it nine times out of ten it's something you're not doing okay, so go ahead and do it brand first, then marking and promotion to bring in those external clients at first, then get your booking system down your phone scripts, your conversation, your relation, your pre consultation develop a product line that speaks to your brand and you're pre consultations and develop a customer service system that stellar you can go through step by step and make sure each client getting the same experience every single time and that it's stellar every time and meet their needs every time. Once you do that, you're goingto have just this perfect storm of loveliness that's going to help bring in qualified referral clients from your good clients. You see how it's going to grow you still need to market, but not nearly as hard, not nearly as hard and when you have systems in place for dealing with your business finance systems um session systems proofing and work flow systems if you have everything set up, step by step, you could literally hire someone to take over your business all you have to shoot sweet gat that t shirt will be nice when it I'm not quite there yet, but and you're always going to baby sit it here and there, of course, but when that be nice to know, it can run itself to know that you can go on vacation for four weeks. He wouldn't take sessions during that time, but your business one fell apart while you're on a knife in it. And of course you're going to have employees to help you do that. But if you follow a good system and you're marking to the right people and you're weeding out the crappy clients, you're going to get to the point where it will self fulfilling. You want to hire people to help you, right? I know it makes logical sense and it looks easier, much easier said than done. It is a lot of work, but I hope what this did is it gives you step by step by step, what you need to do to do it and whenever there's a problem, you don't need to blame it on an external thing that you can't fix. You can look inside your circle look inside our systems and go what's going wrong okay we gotta fix this what's happening find the problem pinpointed and you can fix it it's not some evil thing that's bestowed upon you by the devil that's going to ruin your business he shot you are that evil thing you're self sabotaging your the one who's going to mess up your business if you don't fix it follow I know that's harsh but I hope that it gives you confidence in knowing that you can fix it you just have to see it so when I give you the step by step process is that all of a sudden you look at a different chunks and go okay now I see it the start of the balls right so again let's continue the conversation go to facebook group it's facebook dot com flash groups slash julia keller we will keep up the discussion there and if you need to find me here is how to do it and do we have time for questions or we kind of kind of the and I talk too much sorry chatted a little bit too much to never be sorry about talking too much you give us the tough love that to me really need not too tough not at all what you're saying I think I give I think I give a toughness on I know you also thank you. Everybody can do this. So thank you again so much. Julia kelleher it's. Always a pleasure to have you here, and we will see you again very, very soon.