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Define Your Why

Hi everyone and thanks for having me I'm really excited that we're all here and especially those of you on the internet as well thank you for being here if you doing role in the course we have that download is really important that you download I'm very passionate about teaching and I really don't think that people learn things unless they actually see it hear it and do it so the free guide that comes within rolling in the course is a twenty five page guy that I spent three days doing and it has lots of questions in there and it's got homework so I'm gonna ask you to complete those questions and it's going to really dig deep into who you are is a photographer it's going to help you with your pricing and your products it's going to help you in all realms of sales? So my goal is that those of you online and those of you here, I know you guys will have a copy of it so tonight I'm going to give you a little homework to there it'll be exciting, but hey, it'll make it so that you really get ...

something out of this course because you know, I started professional photography in two thousand six I remember going to these things and then you go home, you take all these copious notes and then go home and nothing happens you don't use it so my goal is to really at least during these three days and you're spending this time with me that you use what I'm giving you and at least get started because that'll get you motivated to move further. Okay, so what? We're going to learn in this course over the next three days and why it's so important to you? Why should you care about this? Well, hopefully I'll answer that we're going to create a selling system that predicts your revenue. Okay? So you'll be able to forecast how much money is going to come through the door. Imagine how powerful that is. Imagine how that would feel like when that we often see her going. Yeah, that'd be really, really nice. S o we're gonna create a selling system that predicts your revenue. We're going to talk about what the five p's are, okay? I'm sure you saw on the promo they're not vegetables, but they sound like specials and they actually festivals and vegetables are good for you, so we're going to talk a lot about what the five p's are and it's really six have a little bit of an epiphany last week on wednesday night, and I called cathy my producer, and I'm like I'm adding something and poor thing she's been working her her tail off, trying to help me with this course over the last three or four weeks. And so when I changed things up, I hope I didn't mess things up, but so this is a brand new content for me that I'm going to be teaching, and I'm kind of just discovering this, too. And that's, the wonderful thing about teaching is that I'm learning along the way right with you guys. So we're going to talk about that six p and what that means is, well, how to implement these into your business, how to switch from online sales to in person and that's challenging a lot of people who sell photography do sell it online, and they think it saves more time when it really doesn't. So we're going to talk a lot about that as well. And who really is your target consumer? You know, people think, oh, it's the mom. Well, what kind of mom is your consumer is your client? There are two different types of moms that we're going to talk about those as well, how to talk a client through the entire photography experience, and we're going to be shooting here today, I actually get to do a session with a newborn family. Newborns are my specialty. So we're going to do a live session and then tomorrow we're actually gonna sell I'm going to do a live sale session and walk you through how I do it you can kind of a little fly on the wall and see how it worked obviously it's a little bit of a contrived environment with all the cameras in here and so the couple feel a little bit you know, not quite normal is that when the salesman but at least it'll give you guys a taste of what it's like to be in a sales room and I think sometimes that's the most valuable experience you can get we'll talk about how to influence the buying mind without a hard sell and I don't believe in that whole used car salesmen tactic it's really intimidating to me and I hate it when I walk on to a used car lot and some guy comes walking up to me anyone got a car? No, I don't want to do that, so I'm all about the soft sell on letting the client decide how they're going to move forward. We're going to see an actual portrait shoot like I just said and an in person sales session we're going to talk how to deal with peter clients, I think you all know what peter means I don't think I need to say it pain in the we'll go from there challenging personalities if you if you do in person sales right now and if you have a client whom you sell to online, you know which ones I'm talking about, the ones that you don't really want to come back because they're so hard to work with, we're going to talk about easy ways to get them to love you on dh keep keep working with you in a positive way how to sell in person with no studio I started out my garage, you know, how do you do that? What if you don't even have meetings base? But if you have to like, be on location only, how do you sell in person and it's? Not just about going to their home, you don't necessarily always have to do that, so we'll provide some solutions to that and finally how to attract court date and ultimately, mary, your client you really want them to love you and want to marry you. You want that loyalty and for them to come back so that's going to be ultimately what the goal is in a very by of course taking all of their body weight. I have the sarcastic sense of humor occasionally have to deal with me why you should care about this, okay? Why should I? Why should you care about this class? Well, number one you will have a predictable income can you imagine knowing that every month you get to take home a salary three thousand dollars a month we're not being nice places in there going yeah stephanie's going that's right I'm getting it right correct name's gotta get those names still a little nervous got to get those you know jitters out before we could go in here so you will have a predictable income your anxiety will go down because of that okay, so your anxiety will go down you'll love going to work every day you'll feel confident that every time someone comes into your sales room they're going to spend the same amount of money or more each time be nice with it very nice you'll feel like you're running a solid business you'll feel riel you'll feel legit which would be nice too I know a lot of people have confidence issues with that oh I just come to outside it's a part time being I want you to feel like yes I'm just like nike nordstrom's I have a real business, you know that feels good it's a confidence building we're goingto also why you should care about this is that you'll be able to make a plan okay you'll be able to plant the future you build a plan revenue you'll be able to forecast budgets, marketing budgets, employee budgets you'll know what you have instead of just worrying about paying the next month rent which is huge I mean I have you all can agree you actually enjoy your clients and they will you you won't be stressed about it you won't worry that they're not going to spend what they what you need them to spend okay problems will become few and far between you won't have crisis issues any more clients won't be unhappy anymore they will all leave your studio happy course there's that little you know isabel kerr there's a little random person on one side who might have a problem and she would always happens I mean, you know that one client where every problem happens with that one client and it just like you no matter what it takes train wreck why problems keep happening with this one client they're still out there but for the most part those issues will go down once you have a selling system in place you will feel like your work makes a difference to someone I mean that's really what we're all about right? We want to make a difference to our clients and the people who come to us and we want to feel like they're happy and that we did something for them and you will have the freedom for a higher level of creativity in your work once you have a system for selling in place, you'll have the freedom to do new things with your art I'm just I mean literally it's been three years of really having the system and it's finally in the last year and a half of my creativity has just started to explode and I'm doing things I've never done before and that is so freeing and the reason that that is because I'm not worried about the money coming in anymore. I'm more worried about how to make my client happy how to get new clients in the door and then how to improve my work, which would not be liberating really freeing that's the goal your confidence ultimately will soar okay and that's important confidence is good. Sometimes you have to fake it till you make it, but I want it to be real for you guys. Real rubio okay, a little bit about me will be real quick. Random fax I'm on a mission to bake all thirty six martha stewart chocolate cakes I haven't baked one in like a year and a half, but I have six in my bell and her delicious chocoholic I also use to be an ice dancer olympics going on right now I never made it that far, of course, but me and my partner did the quick step on ice and dancing everywhere we practice being thrown in the air in my skinny days you guys are all the ladies out there can be so poor jordan looks like I'm really heavy doesn't so just a quick I used to be in television news for those susan was referring to me doing this a lot I spent eleven years in television news as a meteorologist I was the weather bunny so I forecast the weather here in the northwest so that was kind of fun so just a little facts about me of course I have a studio in bend, oregon where is you guys all know I specialize in baby so enough about me let's talk about you why do you do what you do why do you do it really sit down and think about it why do you photograph deep inside your heart? Why do it you all started in some way you all were triggered for this passion why do you do it it's important to really dig down deep and discover why on that worksheet that you can download off the freebie if you will enroll in the course has questions that they're going to dig deep into why you do what you do okay and it's so important tohave purpose this is we talk about the five piece of selling the really six purpose is the most important because purpose encompasses all the other piece ok this was my epiphany last week and I want to talk to you a little bit about my story my wife and I really didn't discover it I knew I had it but it really took me sitting down and defining it to really be able to sing it out loud just a personal story I got married to my husband on the premise that we wouldn't have children about six months into it, I changed my mind, I was thirty seven years old and I have no time clock is ticking too if I want to do this, I got to do it and I asked him and he was so excited he said yes, three weeks later we're pregnant okay meant to be I had a very challenging pregnancy I had something cause maybe t m I hasn't called placenta previa, then I also developed preeclampsia about thirty five weeks into my pregnancy, and I'm lucky that it it started so late because it has started early my baby would have been really big trouble started about thirty five weeks and it's thirty seven weeks, my blood pressure went up to one ninety over one ten and I was starting to feel a little floaty things in your eyes, you know, like they say you that's like stroke level, you could have a stroke prick. Gramps is a very serious pregnancy related illness and I didn't believe them ever buying a type a personality, I'll just keep doing my thing are still shooting can still shooting sessions doctor said to me, get in bed now I don't listen to him that weekend I was up on mount bachelor having dinner with my husband is middle july sunset gorgeous beautiful and then the next day I started seeing a little white flashes and I went okay this is not good I called my doctor he immediately hospitalized me emergency overnight to get my blood pressure now okay two days later they were inducing me I was thirty seven and a half weeks pregnant which you know it's full term so my baby was healthy which is good to make a long story short they induce me at twelve noon by four o'clock I was begging for another girl I was at eight I went from zero to eight centimetres in four hours started pushing at eight o'clock at night and I pushed and I pushed and I pushed for three and a half hours that baby was not coming out finally c section kidding me again after all that okay my son was in the nick you for four days cause his blood sugar drops and he started having billy reuben problems which is all kind of baby talk here but he was in the nick you and I had to get up out of bed and walk down there and those of you had c sections and know that that's really challenging you have kids have kids so we won has won and how many of you guys have to get one kid it's amazing experience isn't it when you become parents it's like one day your life is this way and the next day your life is this way and all of a sudden that defining moment you have a new reason to live really that's what it is it's like black and white one day you're like this for the next year like this and the whole rest of your life we'll never be the same if that ever it's just you have a new reason to be around this earth okay? After my son was born I went into a deep deep depression I had plastic postpartum depression a lot of it was because of my pregnancy and how how it all came about my sister is a photographer in southern california jenny mason garvey she does the exact same thing I do not affect she's a lot better than me and I pretty much copy everything she does on dh you know she's older sister you gotta so write everything anyway jenny came up to ben and took pictures for me. She took pictures of my baby boy with me and if she hadn't done that I would never have the feeling of love that I had captured on film and what I really want to be clear about my why is that concept of the day before and the day after before his birth you are who you are the next day there is an overwhelming transformation for every woman, no matter what adoption having baby doesn't matter in one small life. Your entire reason for living is different. This is me and my boy. When he was five days old, he symbolized the most significant change in my life that will ever take that my life lover cake in this photograph is the beginning of something that means everything to me. And I mean everything to me. It's, you know a photograph, it's. Kind of like what I do today. I can't believe he was that small weighs two and a half now just shocks me. But my reason for why is because my images make up with the mind should not always a cop, especially with, you know, pregnant. We all have it magically forget what pregnancy and birth or like, that must be a divine intervention, because why do people keep having babies if it's this complicated to dio? But, you know, we just magically kind of forget what it's like to give birth. My image is relished that feeling of that momentous beginning and that's my why? And I really want you to exploring it can be different with weddings, with commercial work, with landscape work, with families, with seniors, why can change? It could be different for each, and it will be different for each and every one of you out there. So the worksheet that I'm gonna give you tonight, I want you to sell those questions and it's going to dig deep it's going to be a little bit of a project. You're goingto kind of dig into your soul a little bit and find out lie but it's important to do, and it can be a little emotionally stirring for you. But those realizations will make your work better, and it will make your selling that are, believe it or not. And the reason I say that because a man I respect simonson x said people don't buy what you sell, they buy why you do it, people don't buy what you sell, they buy why you do it. We're gonna talk a lot about that here in the next couple days, so defining your why is extremely important and that's. Why our tagline for our studios let the beginning never end.