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Chris Jeyes - Recap

Lesson 19 from: The Photographer's Guide to Resiliency

Alex Strohl

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Lesson Info

19. Chris Jeyes - Recap

Lesson Info

Chris Jeyes - Recap

Well, that was a lot. Nice guy. Chris is super open. I really appreciate his openness to share all these things. Take time out of his busy day to help all of us be more helpful is such a generous thing to do so. Thanks for that, Chris. Now on the recap side, I have a few things to go over. I've gathered that budgets are not axed. Some of them are moot, sort of delayed and postponed, which is good news for us. And some of them have been unfortunately reevaluated which is a nice term to say they've been obliterated with a rocket launcher. After that, we talked a lot about reaching out, how to reach out, best practices to reach out to him and to other clients. Chris gets a ton of emails every day. So among the most important parts. So number one on reaching out well, it's to reach out in a smart way and getting to your passions. What have you been building? What have you been spent? What have you spent your last few years of your life building? So don't be shy about what's personal to you...

. Hey, I've been spending the next few, the last few years building stories around the outdoors or building recall photos about cars. And I'm really interested in the way light hits body panels. Whatever it is that you're working on, don't be shy, Describe that as on a one or two line thing at the beginning of your email to grab the client's attention. They wanna know that you're real, that you are interested in that craft. Also be open to following up. As Chris said, nine times out of ten, when people, when he doesn't get back to people, it's just because timing isn't right. He doesn't have time. So it's not because he's mad at us. He's just, he's just busy. So you can come with the best pitch and still get a no just because of timing. So keep sending these ideas and I know that's gonna be painful because you spend so much time, but these ideas are so good a few months down the road. So just keep pitching them, transform them ever so slightly, and present them again. And you'll get there. It's just one of these things. If you have the passion to work with that brand, go for it and do it. If obviously they don't value you or you don't wanna work with them, that's a totally different conversation. But if you really wanna do that brand, keep trying until you do so. Show care and attention to the clients, show that you've done your research. And this is a common theme in the workshop is that brands keep telling us, clients keep telling us, show me that you know the product, you've researched the brand. Is this a good fit? Tell me that you know that. Cuz otherwise I think you're just tire kicking and you're just one in a thousand. So if you do that, if you do that legwork of why we should be working together, why this is a good fit, then they'll see you spend that time, that you're intelligent. And that you understand them. You're showing a lot of empathy and that's always good. As a company they're adapting to what's going on with COVID. So their messaging has shifted and they're being a bit more, they don't want to be tone deaf, right? Advertising really expensive cars when a lot of people have been laid off and lost their jobs and may lose their houses. We don't know yet. So they've scaled down what they're talking about. So just keep that in mind, that a lot of brands are reevaluating the way they talk and the way they talk about things and what they say. So overall, this is a good time, according to Chris, to use it. Use this time to reflect on our passions and what brands are we really passionate about and what brands are we not? So again, common themes: Brands want to work with people who are passionate about, not their product exactly, but the world around their product. They want to know it's a good fit. Do your research on how you can be more relevant to them and show that with smart decks, tidy emails that are not copy and pasted, be custom about it. And I agree with that. Chris is advocating custom approaches. So for every email that he gets, that is generic and pasted, he just thinks that that's a waste of time. And I agree with that. Don't be that guy copy pasting hundred of the same emails. Go custom, go focused. You want to work with this brand? Dig in. You don't want to, that's fine. Move to one you want to. And lastly, which is always valid beyond COVID is to focus on authenticity. Going back to the passions. What's this authentic part of you that wants to work with that brand? Why do you feel like you have to? Why does it resonate with your inner story? And I talk about this a bunch on my other workshops but it's so much more important, even nowadays, that brands are evaluating even more who they're working with 'cause they have more limited funds or the funds are tied in. So focus on being authentic and what parts of you resonate with the brand. And if you think enough about that, just even half an hour a day for a few days, as you go on walks, that will shine through in your presentation and you'd be more likely to get the business. So that was it for Chris (indistinct). Awesome talk. Awesome guy. Now let's see what you come up with.

Ratings and Reviews

Anabella Borges
 

Perfect Timing They say things come at the right time and this workshop definitely did. Being a photographer is the greatest gift I could thank for, showing though my eye how I see existence is a blessing; but being successful from it is very tough! It has been a ride for me, and this workshop clarified so many things. The tools that are being shared are worth it all. Listening to these interviews made me feel not alone, hearing them speak about reinventing ourselves and trusting our creativity was inspirational. Specially the similarity of all about not giving up and staying authentic. Thank you Alex, you created a master piece of knowledge. Anabella.

Tanya
 

What a wonderful resource! I really wanted to give Alex a HUGE thank you! This has been such a great resource as an aspiring Photographer. I feel way more confident and knowledgable about reaching out to clients. I still have some of my own homework to do but I feel like I am well equipped to tackle these challenges and to keep moving forward. Such a generous and honest resource. Can't thank you enough! And thanks to all who interviewed and shared their experiences.

Niklaus Morin
 

Timely Generosity Many thanks to Alex and friends who made this workshop happen! Very helpful, timely insights and reminders that building respectful relationships, trust, and community are values upon which to build personal, professional and cultural fulfillment and success. The conversational details within the interviews are fantastic. And the common threads throughout make me hopeful. Thanks again to all!

Student Work

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