Lessons

Lesson Info

Introduction and Day 1 Recap

Hello everyone how are you guys thank you so much for joining episode two of restart a photography business makeover I'm excited for what's in store today before we get into the show I just have to say that I'm blown away by the progress that you are making I've been in the restart facebook group and there are some people handling their business and I'm so proud of you I'm constantly reading how photographers are booking more weddings and becoming more confident in their work I am so proud and I absolutely love rating and saying this I can't wait to see what the next month brings up until this point we've had thirty days I can't even it boggles my mind what we can do in another thirty days before we start I am going to do a brief recap of episode one part of the makeover process is to understand how to build a brand but first we need to define what a brand is so what is brand a brand is a set of expectations memories, stories and relationships that taken together account for a consumer...

's decision to choose one service over another and that was defined by seth golden now if we take all of these ideas and put them together we call this the experience the culmination of everything there are multiple experiences as we run our business is last month we covered three of these experiences the first of this experience is a communication experience. This is the initial point of contact with the prospective client most of the time they are reaching out the you're blawg or facebook or your website, I covered how to effectively communicate in order to personalize your response and yield better results. The second experience was a client experience. This is where a prospective clients wants to set up a meeting and these meetings happen in your home studio, at starbucks, on skype or on the phone, we spoke about how you can improve your meetings by being yourself and using conversation. Map. So what is a conversation? A conversation app is a guide to help navigate meetings with confidence it's the third of our experiences was the shooting experience here we discussed shooting for your brand and discovering how to define your brained words. Now this leads us to where we are today. In the past month, I have seen many of you take these ideas thes three experiences and run you guys were doing wild and crazy things you're connecting with each other online and it's done wonders for your confidence levels. Good for you! If you would like to connect with us on twitter, phil free and be sure to use the hashtag restart life and if you'd like to connect with the restart facebook group, you confined in the address there on the screen. Speaking of the restart group, I have to highlight a few success stories that I've seen along the way up until this point now, amanda rights today I got a new wedding inquiry request I sent her my first new contact contact email, she responded within thirty minutes and told me about their engagement, her wedding vision, and actually told me about her day and the story of their love so awesome. Now whitney has the same same experience, similar sentiments, and she writes so the client so the client I had the sample email for just booked us for their vineyard wedding, the email and conversation that during our meeting together yesterday was a complete success, and she wrote us within twenty four hours to confirm so stoked now, for those of you who are new to restart and you're wondering what they're talking about in regards to this email correspondence and kind of what they're referring tio we went over this during episode one, I shared my email templates to showcase how I personalized each email response, and I also showcased how a streamlined the process because as photographers, we do not want to spend hours and hours behind our computer with our emails. If you would like more information as to find out what my email templates were, you can go to jasmine star store dot com forward slash templates now, what we just covered now just highlighted a few successes from the communication experience. Now we'll highlight a few successes from the correspondents experience here, nicky writes, using a few tips, a jasmine star spoke up and told us to do homework on help me seal the deal in my initial wedding consul to this evening. Now, jennifer follows up with similar sentiment, and she writes, yea, that couple that responded to my email I had, I just had my concert with him, and they booked me for their november wedding. This is my first wedding that is not a friend or unpaid. The conversation map is a must. I think I would have been so lost without it. Now, these are both humongous success stories, but I'm going to showcase jamie now. Jamie took things up to another level, and she actually drew out her conversation map so that girl basically wanted to make the let rest of us look bad, but she did it in such a great way. I'm actually jealous. Now, I spoke about creating a conversation nap in your mind, so when you go into a meeting, you know how to make your client's comfortable, you know how to cater here services for what they're asking for. You're looking for ways to build trust and the questions you asked throughout that process. Now what jamie did was she actually drew out what that process was goingto look like for her, she starts in the upper left hand corner, she drew a little door and said, hello, and then she points arrow, saying, ask for details, and she list the questions that she's going to ask in order to get those details, and she decorates it with grass and flowers and a lot of adorable things walks us through the fuck walk us through the meeting, and then x marks the spot, because that is where jamie is going to book the wedding, that is, her conversation map, beautiful and brilliant now, those air few success stories in regards to the client experience now lastly, we're going to focus on a few success stories when it comes to the shooting experience. This is where we wanted photographers to find their words and then shoot for the brand. So tamra writes, so excited. I just posted a sneak peek from a session I did yesterday and someone just so happened to have commented with one of my three branding word's good for you tomorrow that's exactly what we were talking about exactly what he wanted that's when you know you have smashed engagement session out of the park now let's, take this let's, take this a little bit further. Erica, I'm so impressed with what she has done today. Six other re starters and I got together and did a practice shoot for our branding words. It was a great experience. My words are vibrant, timeless and connected. Now, not only is this picture adorable and in cute, and I'm seeing the beginnings of her words formulate the fact that she and six other photographers in her area got together for a shoot. The seven of them went out with a single couple, and each of them shot the couples separately but found their own brain ing words in the process that is so beautiful and that's what this community is all about, and lastly, tom echoes my sentiments exactly, he says so excited just got my first wedding booking thank you re starters this community has helped me so much now to prepare, prepare and prepare some more reading and seeing so much progress in thirty days is absolutely amazing last month in episode one of restart we hosted an engagement session for a real life couple keaton and matty I challenge photographers to shoot for the reigning words and I believe that we were off to a pretty good start it was a styled engagement session by seattle's own gen eliot blake and her goal was to create a cozy date night in maddie we're absolutely delightful to photograph their adorable and internet watched as two people showcased there love the best news with this shoot was featured on one of the biggest wedding blog's green wedding shoes dot com gen campbell of green wedding shoes highlighted the shoot and it was a great way to create organic marketing and a way to showcase our photography services in episode three of re start next month we're going to be talking about how to create our own organic marketing and how to create in spread word of mouth endorsements but the best news is that we're going to talk about how we can do this with little or absolutely no money at all but enough talking about the past today we are going to focus on the present and we are going to focus on are wildly bright futures I'm excited and honored to present restarts first photographer nicky coster what are your three words? Chic, romantic and fun and editorial? I'm still okay, so then then I wanna shoot for romantic perfect and I'm just gonna put your hands where I want them. Yep. And this hand is gonna go back behind hair and I'm going to switch hands. I'm gonna put this arm around maddie's waste so keeping your yep this one's going to come up here, have them do the same thing rue start backwards. That's what? She wants you to end, bring your body down, and then you walk him through that process again because it'll just make it relaxes we have here, here, here, here, foreheads and it was just stuck isn't standing like this for like, yeah, you know e put down your foot up, give them action, okay? And you're gonna look keeping that matty's lips when you see her lips and looking okay, why don't you look so on on and then go in like you're almost about to kiss but not quite yeah that's really good awesome. Welcome back. Thank you. What do you think? Watching a video I feel much better. I love watching it it's funny every watch but I feel much calmer today good way good. I'm so happy. I'm excited because in the past month you received two pieces of really great news. So tell me what? That good news? If I did, I booked two more weddings. So excited and what's even more exciting is that I think that both couples really are my target clients. Good. Yeah. Oh, my god. That's. Good. Here. Okay. And you have also done other shoot it's what I have I did to couple's portrait shoots and I did a few different glamour shoots, but this time the shooting was different. I had a direct ction to go in. It was almost like because of my branding words. You know, the old school like batman movies when they're fighting and it's like power. Yeah, well, this time, when I was shooting, it was like every time I'd set up the shot, it would be like romantic or chic or whatever I was shooting work, total visual person. So it was I was visualizing my branding words helped in my shoots and you know how I'm gonna shoot? I'm now going to envision oh, good, good. No, we're talked with writing words remind the audience what your branding words are. Okay, so I know your magic number was three hi magic number's for so long and hard about this on dh so I ended up we'll have sort of two styles that I really loved okay like a light area vintage style and a modern glam and I wanted to represent both so I ended up with romantic and chic creative and very very thank you know your words but I know you're kate oven area and creative was on the chopping block but I thought I don't want to shoot cookie cutter weddings I want rise who take time to have creative details and if I want those creative brides I need to attract them with creative images they just couldn't let that one go so I have my four awesome forward any what we're going to do is we're going to showcase one a photo from a recent shoot I'm going to see how that parlayed into your brain in words I think that this photo is really beautiful I love you not only get the eyrie you get the area fact with like the toilet in the foreground kind of blurred out I I love it so when you look at his photo we hearing your good news I want to hear more good news I mean thirty days a lot of stuff has happened but um my email communication feels so much better about when I press send now I feel confident good really it's just a thank you would just help so much and I think that I booked one of the weddings because of my new email format, so it is just so how good and I was like, what the computer looks, I hope they might book me or something and like now I'm like, yeah, I got this e I want to do that, I wouldn't be like boom teo, teo, what you do and then we'll get better that's okay, but I did notice that since the last since the last restart, you have made a couple changes to your website tell me about the stride from fixing the contact has never said I ended up deleting the family and babies gallery from my website because I don't want to shoot that anymore, so I don't want to display it and then I also went through and my wedding in portrait's galleries and got rid of some of the images that I just don't think represent my brand good, so for you that is absolutely left here. We're going to talk more about your website today, we'll talk more about those changes that you made and we're going to get into why I love the changes made you beat me to the punch was so happy for where you're going it's all something, so I looking forward to talking, chatting more with you before before we get there, I want to welcome out our second restart photographer ryan greenlee before we start what? Your words creative fun really matty look up at each other like part of the movie and it's like yeah I wanted to talk to them okay I feel like there's just little god's silence and from there and it could be really disconcerting just to kind of sit there like push your heads together come back so just talk even if you were meeting me like this light looks great you guys I love what's going on and you're working but try to do two things at once talk talking so you kind of do the same thing that you guys were doing with the four hundred forty that was awesome love that yes you guys look great together big smile on each other good great lovely night in with hot chocolate okay, how do you feel watching that video? I feel like I learned a lot actually from doing that like now then shoots I try to talk and I'm constantly d'oh way like hunting you you're like way back man I love it I love it. You have just struck me as being so busy in the past thirty days you are just flying around like buzzing like a bee so tell me what has happened in thirty days well, the saturday right after we started had engagement session just awesome because I was like it was like fresh in my mind I had a wedding january nineteenth and then wedding this past saturday. Oh, wow. Yeah. And then I booked a wedding. Why shot engagement session and she sorry. Hello? No, this is great. I'm loving because you're shooting sewn english in january. This is amazing, it's awesome. I'm very thankful. And so actually bride from that song owen creative live I booked her wedding and I shot her engagement session on, like within the scan of the thirties basically, you're you're getting business but being on restart well, give me a commission cut for that show one of your photos from that engagement session. I think this is a lovely photo. Remind us what your branding words are so that we can continue to walk you the process that's mandy hey, she's. Probably watching my creative boards were creative, fun and really perfect. Good. You I know that you told me that you're striving to shoot for this as you shooting for your brands and you wantto stay consistent, right? I do. I do want to say consistent. Sometimes I have a little like sometimes I feel like pictures are more fun or riel and then some pictures there's more creative, absolutely others so mean not all three words will fit into this and they're absolutely and they're not going means it's difficult like nicky has forwards and your three words is going to be difficult to get all those words to come in together but it's just a barometer for everybody to use concern definitely I also use your templates okay, I kind of just them just like that word okay, until I help me with one of my piece of the personality part so I kind of throw my own stuff in there good for you, it's been really it's been really positive you know being happy for you. Okay, so you have booked a total of two weddings since in the last thirty days you booked two more weddings race wow contract that is so much I mean, I'm just so happy now you're also from our conversations I want to see him facebook you're out like networking. Yeah, I have a good little group of photographers in sacramento, but I definitely want to expand that I second shot a wedding with one of my good friends kim she's watching too I can't wait to get shot on dh then I also met with a few other photographers give it up for sacramento you like fishing in sentencing we're speaking of great photographers there in sacramento I want to bring out a wonderful and great photographer from gig harbor washington please help me welcome our third restart photographer melissa kilner can you come here and tell me what your words are chic custom connected so I want you to be more like you know, give them in action so they're already seated the way that you would like want them just kind of say many looked down he did look to the side and then have them look at each other and you're shooting to capture that movement and then I just want you to snuggle into because you know where you want him ultimately then coach them to get them there because again what I'm seeing is another pose another pose another post its fine now what where they are right now is beautiful now coach them to get them into that exact pose where you just ended them my name and you put your chin down just you oh my goodness because ridiculous okay, perfect other armand with your right arm maddie I want you to help him with both hands perfect snuggling tio guys welcome back. I'm going to bring you guys gonna bring the judge today so when I say welcome back and she responds with hey, I'm excited because you shot a styled session styled wedding shoot this past weekend and you sent me sneak peek and I asked you I couldn't help it I couldn't help it I was like, I need to show this incredible so I'm really excited to show what's coming but before we get there let's get down to business. How are you doing in the past thirty days? How have you don't create no, I spent like kind of insanity but it's good though that was trying to like get on my feet and try and figure out howto handle all these things I'm happy to be here today like a rough start this morning I want to tell you I didn't know pack a hairbrush you know thiss was with an eyelash comb let me tell you it looks like it was a morning okay, we'll get back. I want melissa to do a video tutorial. How did you a top bun with an eyelash in the restart face totally like wear that on my next year? I promise. It's good it's really good. Now you have been shooting a lot. I know that you've done a couple shoots and then you also did the styling special session in thirty days, which is amazing. But before we move on, remind me of what your branding words are chic connected and I changed the last one the classic instead of custom I just wanted my pictures to be more timeless perfect so we have chic connected in classic now I also noticed from your facebook pages and seeing you out and about that you are connecting with a lot of industry peers I want you to tell me, like, the two big things that are going on in thirty days, what you've done totally so I've connected with one of my favorite wedding venues, and so they asked me to represent at their open house as one of two photographers, which I'm so stoked about because that's like the most, just blew in one other photography, yeah, wow, yeah, thank on then I just connect up the ton of other photographers, like in the seattle area, like this circle of girls, like cough play, give his heart a circle to she's in the circle, part of the circle, you are really like, I love this, the girls and so generally find tio I'm really happy that caution thirty days, I'm just like again, I know that it could be using the word blown away, but I can't do this here yourself debates here, what's happened in thirty days, like, so exhausted way, we're gonna catch up on sleep in a bit. Yeah, what I want to do is I really am going to, I can't wait anymore, so we're just going to show your sneak peek from your session so you planned and executed this absolutely amazing shoot that I'm blown away with, and you know, ryan thinks that's amazing, so for people who who want to do a shoot and people who are building the brand. So melissa, one of the reasons why I'm extraordinarily happy that melissa waited a tiny bit where she had gone through the first restart course and so she had the ability to home in her brand words and then shoot for her brand words she just wasn't shooting pretty photos she was really strategic with the shoot she spent a lot of time and money and effort and elbow grease so what's one piece of advice that you would have for somebody who wants to do a statue that it felt like well for me I mean well number one email like as many people as you possibly mean, I mailed something people the trying that people involved with it so that means you're took a while yeah, which is great and I also I mean two things I just felt like if you can't if you're not shooting what you love and if you're not shooting things that you're excited about like make it happen you know, like you make this shit happen so ryan you're into six and I was I have a question for you wait okay, wait out of all the emails that you sent out, how many responded like people were sent me awhile honestly, I mean, I probably sent out I try to keep it really local to get harbor, which is small, I tried I'm not going to see alex didn't want to be having to travel back and forth so I probably emailed like five or six local dress shops as money like small talk shop you know, with only one response of like yes, we can and trying to find a sailboat like that was ridiculous but e mailed everybody I could think that like in gig harbor so you know you're so it's possible yeah, totally yeah, you know you're making this happen and you know, a little bit like a month like you had ideas and then you really came to life after the first episode, so is it safe to assume that you're happy with the result? Yes, I can't wait this is what makes me extra sighted excited because I can't wait you want to get these photos featured somewhere that's the goal I want hope to get organic marketing, which is awesome and then I can't wait to see them on your future website. We're going to get into what sites today that is actually what we're going to talk about today in the next thirty days we are going to completely make over your websites it's prize thank god so now you don't have to change your perspective right now seriously, can you make sure that we get a producer to note that experience that reaction because in fifteen days from now when you guys like jasmine I hate you going to remind you of this christmas morning moment ok the next thirty days are going to be so much work the goal is for you to make it happen so people can see at home and people who are doing it along with us can actually make other websites completely over from start to finish we're gonna talk about how it's gonna happen today I'm excited we're going wear going to showcase your new websites in episode three every start so there is a definite time frame for you to do this but this is not just for you guys this is for people who are watching on line at home with us I want teo showcase really amazing websites from people in the facebook restart group or if you're following along in the hashtag so what I want you to do today y'all and then people at home I want you guys to get screen captures of your web sites so we can see it before and we can see and after that is how we will know that you went along the process with us and I'm excited I'm really, really excited I know it's gonna be so fun to see what other people do too yes can we have questions booth yes we'll do that unless I'm going away by these people wearable, right? Horrible it's really it's so fun to see what's already happened in just one month and that's really cool. So before you go into the viewer experience, susan and I are here looking at everybody success stories that are coming in now live oh, wait interruption in turn me like that dude is story after story after story. So once again, nicki, you guys set up the space book group and maybe we can again tell people how they can go on doing it. You think you could just certain they're serving right? Search for the restart group on facebook if you're in the chat rooms, they'll drop the lincoln again, but nikki posted its pin to the top to share your success stories, and so people have been sharing them all along but were sending people to do that again now and jasmine, there are what are we at now with eighty four, six, eighty four stories that have been shirts and she posted today this morning, that's raising think they're over there now over we started episode one of restart with just over two thousand twenty five hundred user or members and now there are over six thousand, so there's close to sixty, one hundred people in there, and the energy and the culture in that group has been pretty darn amazing, so everywhere rates off it's been treating people have broke off and done their own city or state restart group to do meet ups to do shoot something's thing is that you guys have your network a small network of female photographers and like I mentioned earlier erika who's also based in seattle reached out and met with six other photographers so within the city there are now subject to the group and so hopefully we'll be like the sharks and the jets I mean it's just it's amazing and actual success stories that have rolled in and nikki thank you for taking the lead in encouraging people to share their stories because it's not just about you or me it's about the industry as a whole all right so message came in from erica bishop who said what haven't I been doing seriously you should see the to do list on all the things I've already crossed off blogging of dating my website to reflect branding words changing marketing materials to meet my branding words envision just to name a few wow congratulations kelly ventre says I booked more weddings and more importantly for me my sales per session for portrait's has increased by two hundred percent three start and so so much looking forward to today so congratulations on that one another message from stephanie mcdowell who said I picked my words and did a style shoot I finally feel like my photographic voice is clear and I'm excited so thank you jasmine and restart. All right, cool alicia betts says I've made more progress in these self esteem department but that's about it I've only shot one wedding so we don't have much interest right now in from my perspective couples but I'm crossing my fingers that changes soon so I can pull we'll put all this stuff that I'm learning toe work and I wanted to read that one out because the self esteems part is where it all starts absolutely getting you kenny you are spot on because what happens is you project what you actually accept so the minute that alicia is becoming more and more okay with herself she's going to start attracting people who who believe in her ability to succeed as well think that's pretty amazing thank you interrupt us all you want? Okay seo I wanted to read this one because it's not only self esteem but this is another big thing for me personally. This is from daniel stone, who said I've been overwhelmed with how much I need to work on but have started I have a wedding show two weeks ago and having a communication I've helped a lot as it made me more confident as well as stay on track when meeting potential new clients and I just want to say the starting it's restarting but it's also just get just starting somewhere absolutely huge it's a huge step