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Welcome back to the hair of the dog podcast.

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I'm your host,

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Nicole Begley.

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And today we're talking with Erin Bonilla of Bonilla pet studio,

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and she has grown her business from a solopreneur to a

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business of over 30 employees in two locations,

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with three camera rooms,

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three sales rooms,

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and shooting an average of 200 sessions a month.

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We're going to be diving into how she did it,

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what that journey was like.

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And some of the biggest secrets to her success stay tuned.

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Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.

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If you're a pet photographer,

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ready to make more money and start living a life by

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your design,

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you've come to the right place.

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And now your host,

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pet photographer,

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travel addict,

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chocolate martini connoisseur,

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Nicole Begley.

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Hey everybody,

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Nicole here from hair of the dog.

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And welcome back to the hair of the dog podcast.

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I have a very special guest with us today.

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Super excited for this conversation.

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Welcome Erin Bonilla please to the podcast.

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Erin, welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.

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Hi Nicole.

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Thank you for inviting me.

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Oh my gosh.

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Of course,

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of course.

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I'm so excited to chat with you because it's no secret.

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I love business and I love the business of photography and

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just really all business.

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And you have taken Bonilla.

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What is it?

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Bonilla pet studio to just new Heights with multiple locations.

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And I just can't wait to talk to you about that

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today. So congratulations.

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Thank you so much and,

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I'm really excited about it.

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Yay. Done.

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And excited to talk to you about it too.

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Awesome. Awesome.

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So take us way back.

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Like when did you start photographing and how long have you

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been a photographer?

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Oh my gosh.

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Way, way back till I was 10 years old,

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probably my mom and dad were both photographers.

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And so they,

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they taught me a lot of basics of photography at a

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really young age,

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but fast forward to 2014 is when I got my first

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DSLR camera and started photographing people pretty soon after that.

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And I started photographing Guinea,

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pigs, rabbits,

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frauds, dogs,

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cats, all kinds of things in my basement with a friend

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around that same time too.

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I didn't start a business until 2016.

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Okay. Okay.

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When you started that business,

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were you doing pets then or are you doing people and

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some pets on the side,

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I was photographing anything that I could get hired to photograph.

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So events,

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very small weddings and engagements and not too many pets.

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I think I got one pet photography job from Thumbtack during

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that time.

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And that was really cool,

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but I really didn't think that that was a market that

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I would be able to specialize in at that time.

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And I was working with a mentor and she encouraged me

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to specialize in it.

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And I would think that,

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and I would say to her that,

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you know,

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when you get married or you have a senior in high

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school, you know,

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people know about that kind of photography,

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but who at home with four cats and a dog is

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on Google,

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you know,

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looking for them to be photographs because I know there's no

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awareness for that.

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So I really struggled with jumping in to,

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to commit to specialize in that for quite a while.

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Yeah, no,

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I think that's one of the biggest things I always say

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too with pet photography is there's very little urgency only if

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the pet is older or possibly a puppy.

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But other than that,

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like that whole main part of the pets life there's,

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there's not really this urgency.

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It's so easy for people to just go ahead and put

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their plans to get pet photography on the back burner.

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And you know,

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where you graduated high school,

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oh, you have a newborn baby,

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even family photography.

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It's like,

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oh, we want to get pictures before they lose their teeth.

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Oh. And now that they lost their teeth,

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like you have these still milestones that kind of encourage people

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to get out and book.

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So yeah,

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that definitely makes it a little bit more challenging in the

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pet John HRA,

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but it is a hundred percent worth it.

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And I think we are starting to get some more awareness

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in the market,

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but there's still a long way to go because so many

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people, at least when I talked to them and say,

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I'm a pet photographer,

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they're like really just,

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just pets.

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But a few more people are starting to,

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to understand it.

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Now I totally agree with you.

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And then also just,

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it's kind of a wide open market because you know,

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there are so many newborn photographers and 30 years ago,

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it was a sort of the same thing with newborn photography.

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It wasn't really a thing that people did,

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but now there are so many of them and I feel

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that that's where we are with pet photography right now.

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Yeah, no,

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that's a great point in the pet industry.

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I'm going to totally make up the numbers,

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but they're large the,

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the amount of spending that people spend on their pets and

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the pet industry.

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So there's definitely a lot of room to grow here.

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It was over $7 billion.

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Wow. In 2020,

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I believe.

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Yeah. 21,

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they haven't released the numbers yet,

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but over 7 billion is 68% of all us households own

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a pet and 86% of those pet owners own a cat

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or a dog.

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I love it.

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I love it.

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That's fantastic.

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So you started your business in 2016,

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mostly kind of people,

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a dog here or there.

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When did you kind of start to make the jump to

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pet photography?

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And were you always,

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were you doing like on location or were you doing studio

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back then?

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Kind of what did that transition look like?

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So what happened was that I remember how I said that

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I was making portraits of animals in my basement with my

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friend, right.

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So we would make these artistic pictures and I wanted to

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take those photographs to art shows.

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So because I was creating art.

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So I was thinking,

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where am I going to sell this art?

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Because I'm an entrepreneur at heart,

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right. So I knew about art shows.

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And so I applied for my first art show and I

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took the animal pictures there.

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I was working with a mentor for my photography business.

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And she,

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she recommended that I bring in enter to win a box

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to the art show so that when people see the pictures

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of animals,

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I can say,

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I can photograph your animal here,

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give me your information.

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And so I started collecting the information of pet owners at

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that time that was in the end of 2016.

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And so that's when I really started picking up and doing

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more pet portraits and it was all in studios.

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So I started in my living room.

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And then after the art show,

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I went to a pet expo and I gathered 150 leads

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from that pet expo.

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And I had,

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I had measured how many portraits I got from the leads

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that I collected at the art show.

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So I knew that my closing ratio,

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this is a really important number to know,

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right. My,

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my closing ratio for those leads from the art show was

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12%. So I figured that if I got 150 from the

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pet expo that I went to,

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then that was going to be,

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you know,

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whatever, 12% of 150 is 20 or something like that.

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And at that time I was doing,

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you know,

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consultation shoot and sale is three separate appointments.

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And I knew that 60,

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you know,

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60 different appointments can not be coming to my house.

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So I was forced to,

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to, to grow into getting in a commercial studio space.

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So I lucked out and found one that was nine minutes

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away from my house and little 850 square foot office for

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$600 a month.

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Yeah. And so I moved into that.

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That was in March of 2017 Allow.

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Yeah, That's fantastic.

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And then how long did it take his right now?

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Go ahead and give us a lowdown of where you are

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now. So you have two locations and you're outside of DC.

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So we're in Southeast Virginia and we have one studio inside

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of a mall.

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And nor in downtown Norfolk,

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Virginia, that studio is 3,200

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square feet and it has one camera room and one sales

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room. Yep.

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And then I have another studio that we just opened that

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is in Williamsburg,

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Virginia. It's about an hour away from the Norfolk location and

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that the studio where I am now,

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it has two camera rooms and two client theaters.

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That's fantastic.

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So with three camera rooms,

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it can't just be you doing all the photography.

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I actually don't do any of the photography right now.

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Really. I also don't do any of the sales.

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I, I actually don't do any of the part of my

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business that comes contact with customers.

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Yeah. So there are 30,

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we call them pet enthusiasts on the team.

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And we have,

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we have four people who do the photography and I have

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four people who do sales.

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So some of them cross over,

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none of those people is a photographer and a sales person.

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We have,

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we have two people who head up the order fulfillment department.

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I have four people on phones,

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one person who's customer service and a marketing person.

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And so me and my husband,

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So it's your customer service person,

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is that person kind of like the point of contact for

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each client.

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Like once they become a client.

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So they have kind of,

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one person follows them through the process,

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Sort of.

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So my processes are very automated.

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My clients just like most people these days prefer automation,

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email, text messages to make it really convenient for them.

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And she does very little,

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she doesn't even a confirmation calls.

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She takes inbound calls.

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You know,

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people call him say they're lost and any of our phone

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people can help with that sort of thing.

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So, and then the other,

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you know,

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calls we get are checking on their artwork orders.

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So then they,

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you know,

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would forward the calls to them.

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But there really isn't a whole lot of customer service issues

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because our processes are very streamlined and we really make a

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strong effort to answer questions before they come up.

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So, and since also the processes are simplified for efficiency.

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So we don't get a lot of issues.

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We don't get a lot of questions.

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We don't get fires that have to be put out.

274
00:10:47,130 --> 00:10:48,150
Yeah, no,

275
00:10:48,150 --> 00:10:49,320
this is huge.

276
00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:50,910
And if you guys are listening at home and you're like,

277
00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,030
I don't need processes because it's just me false,

278
00:10:54,150 --> 00:10:56,910
false. Every business needs a lot of processes,

279
00:10:56,910 --> 00:11:00,690
but writing the business now that's the size of yours really

280
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:05,190
can't function in any sort of sanity without processes.

281
00:11:05,460 --> 00:11:08,100
But even if you're a one man show those processes can

282
00:11:08,100 --> 00:11:08,670
help you,

283
00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:09,420
you know,

284
00:11:09,420 --> 00:11:13,560
have those repeatable experiences for everybody save you so much time

285
00:11:13,740 --> 00:11:16,260
and actually give you more freedom in your business because you

286
00:11:16,290 --> 00:11:20,040
don't have to spend the mental bandwidth to figure out what

287
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:22,620
the next step is because it's all taken care of.

288
00:11:23,430 --> 00:11:24,420
So talk to me,

289
00:11:24,420 --> 00:11:28,800
Aaron, a little bit about how you went from,

290
00:11:28,830 --> 00:11:29,460
you know,

291
00:11:30,090 --> 00:11:35,040
the one photographer business in that small space to,

292
00:11:35,070 --> 00:11:35,460
you know,

293
00:11:35,490 --> 00:11:37,290
now we have the two studios,

294
00:11:38,220 --> 00:11:39,660
what was your first hire?

295
00:11:39,660 --> 00:11:41,310
Like, because as myself,

296
00:11:41,310 --> 00:11:42,270
as someone who has,

297
00:11:42,270 --> 00:11:42,480
you know,

298
00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:47,550
four people on my team that first hire was really pivotal

299
00:11:47,550 --> 00:11:50,880
and there was a lot of all sorts of craziness going

300
00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:52,800
on in my head prior to that first person.

301
00:11:53,140 --> 00:11:54,370
And, but then once you,

302
00:11:54,730 --> 00:11:57,490
at least for me brought on that first person and realized,

303
00:11:57,520 --> 00:11:57,970
oh my gosh,

304
00:11:57,970 --> 00:12:00,550
how much helpful they are and how they can take so

305
00:12:00,550 --> 00:12:01,270
much off your plate.

306
00:12:01,270 --> 00:12:04,300
And then I can actually focus on other things that are

307
00:12:04,300 --> 00:12:06,250
more impactful for the business and my students.

308
00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:10,990
Then it becomes almost addictive to continue to get more help

309
00:12:11,170 --> 00:12:11,980
in your business.

310
00:12:12,430 --> 00:12:14,680
So what was it like for you for that first hire?

311
00:12:15,850 --> 00:12:21,160
Well, I'm the first hire was a prior client and she

312
00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:22,840
also used to help me with babysitting.

313
00:12:22,870 --> 00:12:25,420
And I think I had all of these leads to go

314
00:12:25,420 --> 00:12:27,940
through or appointments to schedule,

315
00:12:27,940 --> 00:12:30,550
or I don't even remember exactly what it was that I

316
00:12:30,550 --> 00:12:33,040
asked her for help with at the beginning.

317
00:12:34,030 --> 00:12:36,070
And also when I would go to the trade shows and

318
00:12:36,070 --> 00:12:38,920
events, I would get help to do that too.

319
00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:40,420
That's a lot of work.

320
00:12:40,420 --> 00:12:41,200
So, you know,

321
00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,470
I would ask the lady who used to bring the animals

322
00:12:44,470 --> 00:12:45,310
to my basement,

323
00:12:45,340 --> 00:12:46,480
her name is Heather.

324
00:12:46,750 --> 00:12:47,650
I would ask her to,

325
00:12:47,650 --> 00:12:48,250
to help.

326
00:12:48,250 --> 00:12:49,570
And that was tons of fun.

327
00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:50,440
So, you know,

328
00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:52,870
my first hires was really unofficial.

329
00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,960
It res I need some help if I pay you this

330
00:12:55,960 --> 00:12:57,160
much, will you help me?

331
00:12:57,730 --> 00:12:59,020
And, and they're like,

332
00:12:59,020 --> 00:12:59,590
yeah, sure.

333
00:12:59,590 --> 00:12:59,770
You know,

334
00:12:59,770 --> 00:13:00,400
I could show up.

335
00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:01,030
So it,

336
00:13:01,090 --> 00:13:01,960
it really just,

337
00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,710
you don't have to know everything before you start getting help

338
00:13:05,710 --> 00:13:06,670
from other people.

339
00:13:07,180 --> 00:13:10,510
Yeah. I don't recommend necessarily starting that way,

340
00:13:10,510 --> 00:13:11,590
but you know,

341
00:13:11,590 --> 00:13:15,850
as an entrepreneur and somebody who just has a vision and

342
00:13:15,850 --> 00:13:18,370
pushes forward and does whatever it takes to get it done,

343
00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:22,090
I'm not necessarily like a huge guy to have everything laid

344
00:13:22,090 --> 00:13:24,550
out perfectly before I will take those steps.

345
00:13:25,420 --> 00:13:26,380
So, you know,

346
00:13:26,380 --> 00:13:29,860
I hired her by the hour to help and she actually

347
00:13:29,860 --> 00:13:32,470
started making calls to the leads.

348
00:13:32,530 --> 00:13:34,270
And that was one of the first things that I had

349
00:13:34,270 --> 00:13:37,540
people helping me with because that is a very time consuming

350
00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:43,600
task. And then when I moved into the small little studio

351
00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:44,980
space, my first one,

352
00:13:45,670 --> 00:13:46,990
I hired more people.

353
00:13:46,990 --> 00:13:49,960
So I hired another phone caller.

354
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,770
I hired one person who was just administrative assistant.

355
00:13:53,770 --> 00:13:55,780
So we're returning emails,

356
00:13:56,230 --> 00:13:57,400
returning calls,

357
00:13:57,400 --> 00:13:59,290
filing office paperwork,

358
00:13:59,320 --> 00:13:59,590
you know,

359
00:13:59,590 --> 00:14:01,450
dealing with licenses and,

360
00:14:01,870 --> 00:14:02,140
you know,

361
00:14:02,140 --> 00:14:04,870
whatever around the office help,

362
00:14:04,870 --> 00:14:05,140
you know,

363
00:14:05,170 --> 00:14:05,920
dropping things off,

364
00:14:05,950 --> 00:14:06,730
picking things up.

365
00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,930
And I really learned the hard way about leadership in a

366
00:14:10,930 --> 00:14:12,640
lot of different areas.

367
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:17,770
And that's how we expanded to the administrative office because I

368
00:14:17,770 --> 00:14:18,670
would hire more people,

369
00:14:18,670 --> 00:14:22,510
but we ran out of space in that tiny little 850

370
00:14:22,510 --> 00:14:23,860
square foot office.

371
00:14:23,860 --> 00:14:27,640
So I leased a space that was a block away and

372
00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:29,290
turned that into an admin office.

373
00:14:29,290 --> 00:14:32,080
And then I would hire people for just my post-production.

374
00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:35,770
So all they would do is export the images that the

375
00:14:35,770 --> 00:14:36,610
people purchased,

376
00:14:36,610 --> 00:14:37,300
edit them,

377
00:14:37,300 --> 00:14:37,960
order them,

378
00:14:37,960 --> 00:14:39,430
receive the artwork,

379
00:14:39,460 --> 00:14:41,230
unpack schedule pickups,

380
00:14:41,530 --> 00:14:43,600
all of the order fulfillment process.

381
00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:44,710
And so it just kind of,

382
00:14:44,710 --> 00:14:49,450
sort of building on until in 2018,

383
00:14:49,450 --> 00:14:50,500
the end of 2018,

384
00:14:50,500 --> 00:14:52,190
I found out that I was going to have a baby

385
00:14:52,370 --> 00:14:54,680
and I was the only photographer.

386
00:14:54,830 --> 00:14:56,540
I had trained someone to do sales,

387
00:14:56,540 --> 00:14:58,220
but I was the only photographer.

388
00:14:58,550 --> 00:14:59,690
So I had,

389
00:14:59,690 --> 00:15:00,380
at that time,

390
00:15:00,380 --> 00:15:02,330
it only cost about $20,000

391
00:15:02,330 --> 00:15:04,100
a month to run the business.

392
00:15:04,130 --> 00:15:07,100
Yeah. And Significant though,

393
00:15:07,100 --> 00:15:07,940
when you're looking at,

394
00:15:07,970 --> 00:15:10,370
oh, I'm going to have a baby and want to maybe

395
00:15:10,370 --> 00:15:11,840
stay at home for a couple of weeks.

396
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:14,000
Exactly. Yeah.

397
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,010
So I was thinking I could either,

398
00:15:16,220 --> 00:15:16,460
you know,

399
00:15:16,460 --> 00:15:18,500
burn through $20,000

400
00:15:18,500 --> 00:15:21,080
for two months or 40 grand or whatever.

401
00:15:21,080 --> 00:15:21,320
I mean,

402
00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:22,130
you could probably,

403
00:15:22,130 --> 00:15:22,340
you know,

404
00:15:22,340 --> 00:15:23,660
scale some of that down,

405
00:15:23,660 --> 00:15:26,810
but just close it down and pay the bills and not

406
00:15:26,810 --> 00:15:28,010
have any money coming in.

407
00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:33,110
Or I could teach somebody to do the photography in a

408
00:15:33,110 --> 00:15:36,260
studio and keep it open because that was the end of

409
00:15:36,470 --> 00:15:39,860
2018. I still had a few months before I was expecting

410
00:15:39,860 --> 00:15:40,310
the baby.

411
00:15:40,310 --> 00:15:40,730
So I,

412
00:15:40,850 --> 00:15:45,830
I found a young lady named Megan and I might make

413
00:15:45,830 --> 00:15:47,750
me a little emotional because she just left.

414
00:15:47,750 --> 00:15:50,990
She just left us to move away with her fiance.

415
00:15:50,990 --> 00:15:53,270
So, but she joined the business.

416
00:15:53,270 --> 00:15:54,620
Then the end of 2018,

417
00:15:54,620 --> 00:15:56,270
I taught her how to make the portraits.

418
00:15:56,630 --> 00:16:00,110
And that's when I realized that if I could make the

419
00:16:00,110 --> 00:16:03,560
business run without me then was scalable.

420
00:16:04,220 --> 00:16:05,780
Right. And if it was scalable,

421
00:16:05,780 --> 00:16:12,050
I could go on shark tank And I started really researching,

422
00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:19,070
scaling up and entrepreneurship and getting angel investment and what's required

423
00:16:19,070 --> 00:16:19,610
for that.

424
00:16:19,610 --> 00:16:23,660
So I started learning a lot more about the business fundamentals

425
00:16:23,660 --> 00:16:24,350
at that point.

426
00:16:24,920 --> 00:16:26,650
Yeah, yeah.

427
00:16:27,050 --> 00:16:29,210
That, that had to be hard.

428
00:16:29,210 --> 00:16:29,510
I mean,

429
00:16:29,510 --> 00:16:31,640
it definitely helped that you are put in a position where

430
00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:32,180
it's like,

431
00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:32,690
all right,

432
00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:33,590
here's my choice.

433
00:16:33,590 --> 00:16:33,860
You know,

434
00:16:33,860 --> 00:16:35,840
it costs 20 grand to keep the doors open.

435
00:16:36,260 --> 00:16:40,490
So that's a lot of motivation to figure out another solution,

436
00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:44,930
but I imagine for most people and probably even for you

437
00:16:44,930 --> 00:16:47,690
too, but that decision made a little bit easier by that,

438
00:16:47,930 --> 00:16:50,930
by that looming deadline is to give up the control.

439
00:16:50,930 --> 00:16:51,170
I mean,

440
00:16:51,170 --> 00:16:52,040
because let's face it,

441
00:16:52,070 --> 00:16:55,970
most of us as artists are control enthusiasts and then,

442
00:16:55,970 --> 00:16:56,210
you know,

443
00:16:56,210 --> 00:16:58,130
your name's on the business and you're like,

444
00:16:58,160 --> 00:16:58,610
oh my gosh,

445
00:16:58,640 --> 00:16:59,930
it's not even my work.

446
00:17:01,490 --> 00:17:01,790
You know,

447
00:17:01,790 --> 00:17:03,320
that it's somebody else shooting.

448
00:17:04,070 --> 00:17:04,790
Was that,

449
00:17:04,850 --> 00:17:06,110
was that hard?

450
00:17:06,140 --> 00:17:07,040
Or was it,

451
00:17:07,130 --> 00:17:07,520
you know,

452
00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:10,550
were you able to just really kind of compartmentalize and be

453
00:17:10,550 --> 00:17:11,150
like, all right,

454
00:17:11,150 --> 00:17:12,530
like this is a process.

455
00:17:12,530 --> 00:17:13,070
And just really,

456
00:17:13,070 --> 00:17:16,550
really broke down the creation of the,

457
00:17:16,940 --> 00:17:20,150
of the images is like a process kind of what was

458
00:17:20,150 --> 00:17:20,810
that like for you?

459
00:17:22,040 --> 00:17:22,910
Well, for one thing,

460
00:17:22,910 --> 00:17:26,180
I'm definitely more of an entrepreneur than I am an artist.

461
00:17:26,540 --> 00:17:32,660
Okay. So I am fueled and very passionate by any entrepreneurial

462
00:17:32,660 --> 00:17:34,370
type endeavor in my business,

463
00:17:34,370 --> 00:17:35,090
the planning,

464
00:17:35,090 --> 00:17:35,930
the visioning,

465
00:17:36,290 --> 00:17:36,530
you know,

466
00:17:36,530 --> 00:17:39,860
the optimism and the leadership.

467
00:17:39,890 --> 00:17:41,570
So that is really my passion.

468
00:17:41,570 --> 00:17:42,830
I love photography.

469
00:17:42,830 --> 00:17:44,720
I am gifted in photography,

470
00:17:45,020 --> 00:17:46,640
but let me tell you something,

471
00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:51,240
Nicole, the first day that you are with your family and

472
00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:52,590
you're at the park,

473
00:17:52,620 --> 00:17:57,120
you're at lane out by the beach and there are 10

474
00:17:57,150 --> 00:18:00,360
portraits going on in your studio and you're still making money.

475
00:18:00,630 --> 00:18:03,600
And you are at home relaxing.

476
00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:10,500
That feeling for me is much more fulfilling than constantly being

477
00:18:10,500 --> 00:18:14,070
tied to the business as the only one who can perform

478
00:18:14,070 --> 00:18:14,760
that task.

479
00:18:15,030 --> 00:18:16,770
Right. And to me,

480
00:18:16,770 --> 00:18:19,350
that is so much more fulfilling.

481
00:18:19,470 --> 00:18:21,300
It is so much more satisfying.

482
00:18:21,660 --> 00:18:23,220
And also it's just freeing,

483
00:18:23,550 --> 00:18:23,790
you know,

484
00:18:23,790 --> 00:18:27,240
because I think that's actually one of the pitfalls in the

485
00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:32,340
photography industry is so much emphasis on the photographer as being

486
00:18:32,550 --> 00:18:33,180
the brand.

487
00:18:33,210 --> 00:18:33,350
The, that,

488
00:18:33,750 --> 00:18:34,030
you know,

489
00:18:34,030 --> 00:18:37,950
we'll put our name and photography at the end and time

490
00:18:37,950 --> 00:18:40,620
is the only resource that we can not get more of

491
00:18:41,010 --> 00:18:45,810
ran until we let go of control and learn to delegate

492
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:47,190
tasks to other people.

493
00:18:47,190 --> 00:18:51,480
We will always be limited in our growth and our potential

494
00:18:51,690 --> 00:18:53,280
because we can't get more time.

495
00:18:53,910 --> 00:18:54,860
Right. Right.

496
00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:57,450
And as long as somebody can do the job,

497
00:18:57,480 --> 00:18:58,860
at least 80%,

498
00:18:58,890 --> 00:19:00,060
this is the general rule,

499
00:19:00,390 --> 00:19:02,640
at least 80% as well as you can,

500
00:19:03,060 --> 00:19:05,700
then you should delegate it to somebody else.

501
00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:06,720
And really,

502
00:19:06,720 --> 00:19:10,320
you also have to remember what is the benefit to the

503
00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:15,600
client. If we can provide the same quality of portrait to

504
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:16,290
the client,

505
00:19:16,530 --> 00:19:18,630
it doesn't matter who is creating the portrait,

506
00:19:18,660 --> 00:19:19,650
the photographer.

507
00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:19,890
I mean,

508
00:19:19,890 --> 00:19:20,340
the photographer,

509
00:19:20,370 --> 00:19:24,330
the client doesn't care if it is Aaron behind the camera,

510
00:19:24,330 --> 00:19:25,920
or if it is alley behind the camera,

511
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,410
what they care about is the benefit to them.

512
00:19:28,860 --> 00:19:31,920
Right? It's the service that we offer to them.

513
00:19:31,950 --> 00:19:33,630
They care about themselves.

514
00:19:34,020 --> 00:19:38,040
And if they are getting portraits that they love that they

515
00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:39,570
want to display in their home,

516
00:19:39,780 --> 00:19:42,120
they're getting the outcome that they're looking for.

517
00:19:42,690 --> 00:19:43,890
They don't care who took it.

518
00:19:44,340 --> 00:19:45,480
Yep. Yeah,

519
00:19:45,510 --> 00:19:46,740
no, it's our own ego.

520
00:19:46,740 --> 00:19:48,210
It's our own artist.

521
00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:52,350
Artist's heart that I think just becomes yeah.

522
00:19:52,380 --> 00:19:54,270
Challenging because this is,

523
00:19:54,270 --> 00:19:54,560
I mean,

524
00:19:54,570 --> 00:19:57,390
it's so many people get into photography because they love the

525
00:19:57,390 --> 00:19:58,920
photography more than the business,

526
00:19:59,700 --> 00:20:02,190
but you don't have to love the business more.

527
00:20:02,190 --> 00:20:04,890
But I think you need to give the business as much

528
00:20:04,890 --> 00:20:06,990
attention, likely,

529
00:20:06,990 --> 00:20:09,990
probably even a little bit more than the artist side,

530
00:20:10,020 --> 00:20:13,350
if you actually want to run a really successful business because

531
00:20:14,220 --> 00:20:14,760
you know,

532
00:20:14,910 --> 00:20:16,080
it's still as business.

533
00:20:16,890 --> 00:20:19,320
Yeah. Because also it is a service,

534
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,170
it's a service that we're offering to our clients.

535
00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:24,930
And if you want to create art,

536
00:20:25,260 --> 00:20:27,630
then there is a place to sell art.

537
00:20:27,630 --> 00:20:30,180
And that's at art shows and in galleries and you become

538
00:20:30,180 --> 00:20:31,230
a well-known artist.

539
00:20:31,530 --> 00:20:34,650
If you want to provide the service of portraits to the

540
00:20:34,650 --> 00:20:39,780
public, then that's not necessarily the same thing you have to

541
00:20:39,780 --> 00:20:45,270
think about What Is the outcome that our clients are looking

542
00:20:45,270 --> 00:20:48,400
for. And I think there's just too much emphasis that's placed

543
00:20:48,400 --> 00:20:53,380
on the photographer as being this irreplaceable artist in the business

544
00:20:54,070 --> 00:20:57,280
and not enough emphasis on what is it that the clients

545
00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:58,270
really care about?

546
00:20:58,270 --> 00:21:00,310
What is it they are here for.

547
00:21:01,150 --> 00:21:02,140
Yep. Yeah.

548
00:21:02,380 --> 00:21:02,830
Oh my gosh.

549
00:21:02,860 --> 00:21:03,430
For sure.

550
00:21:03,580 --> 00:21:05,320
I actually want to jump back a little bit.

551
00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:08,140
Cause you mentioned before about your closing ratio,

552
00:21:08,710 --> 00:21:14,320
which I love because I love tracking numbers and I think

553
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:16,990
the numbers can tell us so much about our business.

554
00:21:17,260 --> 00:21:20,890
And I think so few people actually do that too.

555
00:21:20,890 --> 00:21:21,220
You know,

556
00:21:21,220 --> 00:21:22,240
they, you ask them like,

557
00:21:22,270 --> 00:21:24,730
what number of inquiries do you actually book?

558
00:21:24,730 --> 00:21:25,090
And they're like,

559
00:21:25,180 --> 00:21:26,380
I don't know,

560
00:21:26,410 --> 00:21:27,430
like, I don't know,

561
00:21:27,430 --> 00:21:30,370
maybe 15% twine.

562
00:21:30,370 --> 00:21:30,680
I don't,

563
00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:31,240
I don't do that.

564
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:32,770
It's like making it up based on what they think,

565
00:21:32,770 --> 00:21:34,180
but they're not actually tracking like,

566
00:21:34,210 --> 00:21:34,570
all right,

567
00:21:34,930 --> 00:21:38,410
I got 10 inquiries this month and I booked five.

568
00:21:38,620 --> 00:21:39,670
Okay, great.

569
00:21:39,910 --> 00:21:41,440
So would you say,

570
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,710
I thinking that these metrics are definitely a huge key to

571
00:21:44,710 --> 00:21:45,520
your success?

572
00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:46,660
Do you agree?

573
00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:47,350
And if so,

574
00:21:47,350 --> 00:21:49,510
what are the most important metrics that you track?

575
00:21:49,630 --> 00:21:50,290
Okay. Yes.

576
00:21:50,590 --> 00:21:52,570
I'm tracking metrics every single day,

577
00:21:52,750 --> 00:21:53,380
every week,

578
00:21:53,410 --> 00:21:54,070
every month.

579
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,400
So there are two different kinds of metrics.

580
00:21:57,430 --> 00:21:57,610
I mean,

581
00:21:57,610 --> 00:21:59,200
there's probably a lot more different kinds,

582
00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:00,340
but for me,

583
00:22:01,030 --> 00:22:01,990
there are two there's,

584
00:22:01,990 --> 00:22:05,440
two there's KPIs and then there's critical drivers.

585
00:22:05,770 --> 00:22:09,820
So KPIs are your key performance indicators.

586
00:22:10,210 --> 00:22:11,920
Right? And so for my business,

587
00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:17,680
our key performance indicators are how many sessions per month closing

588
00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:20,080
ratio, average sale,

589
00:22:21,010 --> 00:22:22,420
average turnaround time,

590
00:22:23,020 --> 00:22:24,550
customer satisfaction.

591
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,920
How many mistakes in ordering safety incidents like bites,

592
00:22:30,100 --> 00:22:30,820
stuff like that,

593
00:22:31,390 --> 00:22:33,730
which that KPI goal always has to be zero.

594
00:22:33,760 --> 00:22:35,050
That was a fun conversation.

595
00:22:35,470 --> 00:22:36,940
Like, and our safety goal be,

596
00:22:36,970 --> 00:22:39,010
oh, it has to be zero incidents.

597
00:22:39,010 --> 00:22:39,910
Right. Okay.

598
00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:41,170
My goal of only,

599
00:22:41,230 --> 00:22:43,180
oh, we didn't get our one incident this month.

600
00:22:43,270 --> 00:22:45,550
You guys that'd be a little bit more rough with the

601
00:22:45,550 --> 00:22:46,540
dog and I'm just getting across.

602
00:22:48,250 --> 00:22:50,800
So, and then the difference is that,

603
00:22:50,860 --> 00:22:51,070
you know,

604
00:22:51,070 --> 00:22:52,330
that's kind of looking back,

605
00:22:52,480 --> 00:22:57,100
that's looking back at what we've done in the last weeks

606
00:22:57,160 --> 00:22:59,230
in the last month in order to get these kinds of

607
00:22:59,230 --> 00:23:01,000
results, like portraits per month,

608
00:23:01,030 --> 00:23:02,950
right? How many portraits do we have this month?

609
00:23:02,980 --> 00:23:04,720
How many portraits we have next month?

610
00:23:05,170 --> 00:23:07,180
So sort of looking back at the efforts that we've made

611
00:23:07,180 --> 00:23:07,990
up to this point,

612
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,650
the difference that's the difference between KPIs and critical drivers.

613
00:23:12,190 --> 00:23:17,500
The critical driver is what creates or produces the results of

614
00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:18,310
the KPIs.

615
00:23:18,730 --> 00:23:20,560
So critical driver would be,

616
00:23:20,980 --> 00:23:23,920
did I say how many leads so leads coming in?

617
00:23:24,250 --> 00:23:27,400
Number of leads coming in is both kind of both a

618
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,020
KPI and a critical driver.

619
00:23:29,020 --> 00:23:30,370
Because when we're looking back,

620
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:30,730
it would say,

621
00:23:30,730 --> 00:23:31,960
how many leads did we get?

622
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:32,920
How many did we book?

623
00:23:32,950 --> 00:23:34,930
That's our closing ratio,

624
00:23:35,950 --> 00:23:37,390
but we have a critical driver.

625
00:23:37,390 --> 00:23:40,240
How many leads do we want to be getting every day?

626
00:23:41,350 --> 00:23:44,260
And then how many outbound calls do we make every day?

627
00:23:44,770 --> 00:23:49,130
And that's my number one is actually that how many outbound

628
00:23:49,130 --> 00:23:51,470
calls, that's our number one critical driver,

629
00:23:51,470 --> 00:23:54,410
because if we don't get the leads,

630
00:23:54,410 --> 00:23:55,340
we don't make the calls.

631
00:23:55,340 --> 00:23:56,660
We don't book the portraits.

632
00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:58,250
We can't get an average sale.

633
00:23:58,250 --> 00:23:59,570
We can't get a turnaround time.

634
00:23:59,570 --> 00:24:00,920
We don't have those opportunities.

635
00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:01,520
So that's,

636
00:24:01,820 --> 00:24:02,030
you know,

637
00:24:02,030 --> 00:24:02,990
that's number one.

638
00:24:03,350 --> 00:24:06,830
And I've just developed those over the last five years of

639
00:24:06,830 --> 00:24:08,420
noticing what is important,

640
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,840
what we needed back and a book,

641
00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,000
a really good book it's called the road less stupid.

642
00:24:15,370 --> 00:24:16,730
I haven't Heard of that one.

643
00:24:16,940 --> 00:24:19,820
Yeah. He talks a lot about KPIs and critical drivers.

644
00:24:20,150 --> 00:24:23,510
A lot of really good information in there about Fantastic.

645
00:24:23,990 --> 00:24:26,090
The KPI's are also out of traction.

646
00:24:26,090 --> 00:24:27,170
Have you read traction?

647
00:24:27,350 --> 00:24:28,250
No, I haven't.

648
00:24:28,370 --> 00:24:29,360
Oh, it's really good.

649
00:24:29,360 --> 00:24:30,050
Gino Wickman.

650
00:24:30,170 --> 00:24:31,220
It's yeah.

651
00:24:31,250 --> 00:24:34,040
A lot about setting up your business on,

652
00:24:34,100 --> 00:24:34,430
you know,

653
00:24:34,430 --> 00:24:37,460
on having the vision and the mission and then having these

654
00:24:37,460 --> 00:24:41,330
KPIs and basically having someone on your team that's responsible for

655
00:24:41,330 --> 00:24:42,290
like each KPI,

656
00:24:42,290 --> 00:24:43,310
like they own it.

657
00:24:45,050 --> 00:24:45,770
So yeah,

658
00:24:45,770 --> 00:24:46,070
it's really,

659
00:24:46,070 --> 00:24:46,520
really good.

660
00:24:46,520 --> 00:24:47,630
There's also,

661
00:24:48,500 --> 00:24:49,190
what's the other one,

662
00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:55,280
rocket fuel is about the relationship between like the visionary in

663
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:56,570
your business and the integrator,

664
00:24:57,560 --> 00:24:58,700
which, you know,

665
00:24:58,700 --> 00:25:01,790
the visionary would be you as the CEO of someone who

666
00:25:01,790 --> 00:25:03,770
has the vision and is moving the ship forward.

667
00:25:03,770 --> 00:25:05,300
And then the integrator would probably be like,

668
00:25:05,420 --> 00:25:08,180
if you have a manager at the different locations or a

669
00:25:08,180 --> 00:25:11,450
manager, kind of like director of operations overseeing the business,

670
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:12,770
But that's definitely,

671
00:25:12,770 --> 00:25:15,410
I gotta read that one rocket fuel because that's definitely me

672
00:25:15,410 --> 00:25:16,130
and my husband,

673
00:25:16,130 --> 00:25:20,570
I'm the entrepreneur visionary and he's the COO engineer,

674
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:20,990
you know,

675
00:25:20,990 --> 00:25:22,130
retired from the military.

676
00:25:22,130 --> 00:25:24,830
So that's a perfect example,

677
00:25:24,830 --> 00:25:26,540
but I wanted to go back really quick,

678
00:25:26,540 --> 00:25:27,920
Nicole, and about,

679
00:25:27,980 --> 00:25:28,310
you know,

680
00:25:28,730 --> 00:25:33,230
the solo preneurs and they maybe don't know the numbers as

681
00:25:33,230 --> 00:25:33,770
well. And they're like,

682
00:25:33,770 --> 00:25:34,850
well, why do I need to,

683
00:25:34,850 --> 00:25:36,920
or am I'm photographing five or six a month?

684
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:37,970
You know,

685
00:25:37,970 --> 00:25:40,430
why take the time to measure these things?

686
00:25:41,690 --> 00:25:43,130
But if you're measuring,

687
00:25:43,490 --> 00:25:46,490
let's just say the leads or how many contacts you come

688
00:25:46,490 --> 00:25:47,210
at you,

689
00:25:47,210 --> 00:25:49,820
how many people you come in contact with and how many

690
00:25:49,820 --> 00:25:54,200
actually turn into clients then for one thing,

691
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:58,610
you're able to see where you can improve and what's working,

692
00:25:58,640 --> 00:25:59,960
what's not working.

693
00:26:00,260 --> 00:26:01,850
And then you're able to predict.

694
00:26:02,180 --> 00:26:06,050
So since I know that our closing ratio is about 13

695
00:26:06,050 --> 00:26:07,130
to 15%,

696
00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:08,210
it varies,

697
00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:13,460
then I know how many sessions I want to have.

698
00:26:13,610 --> 00:26:16,250
Then I can just kind of work backwards from that to

699
00:26:16,250 --> 00:26:16,700
say, well,

700
00:26:16,700 --> 00:26:19,850
if I want to have 200 sessions and my closing ratio

701
00:26:19,850 --> 00:26:22,340
is 15% that I need to get in contact with this

702
00:26:22,340 --> 00:26:23,180
many people.

703
00:26:23,900 --> 00:26:27,230
And so if I need to get in con like for,

704
00:26:27,230 --> 00:26:30,200
if they want to have 12 sessions a month and they

705
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,900
have a closing ratio of 10%,

706
00:26:33,170 --> 00:26:35,420
they need to talk to 120 people.

707
00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:37,730
How many people is that per week,

708
00:26:38,030 --> 00:26:39,830
right? How many people per day?

709
00:26:39,890 --> 00:26:42,260
And then you think of where am I going to find

710
00:26:42,260 --> 00:26:45,300
them and how am I going to improve that process?

711
00:26:45,630 --> 00:26:48,600
So it really helps you to see where you can improve

712
00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:51,090
in your business and gives you the ability to plan and

713
00:26:51,090 --> 00:26:53,040
predict what's going to happen in the future.

714
00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,730
Yeah, no one else I love about this is that,

715
00:26:57,450 --> 00:26:57,930
you know,

716
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,270
a lot of times people make goals that are outcome based

717
00:27:00,270 --> 00:27:03,120
goals that you don't really have control over the end.

718
00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:04,080
Like, you know,

719
00:27:04,290 --> 00:27:08,130
my goal is to have five clients spend $5,000,

720
00:27:08,370 --> 00:27:11,340
okay. Like you don't actually have the control of how much

721
00:27:11,340 --> 00:27:11,970
they're going to spend.

722
00:27:11,970 --> 00:27:13,590
Yeah. You can set up all these different things.

723
00:27:13,740 --> 00:27:16,860
But what you do have control of are those key drivers

724
00:27:17,070 --> 00:27:19,980
of the actions that you are going to take that will

725
00:27:19,980 --> 00:27:22,530
get the people in the door that will then spend the

726
00:27:22,530 --> 00:27:24,180
money. So you can hit that,

727
00:27:24,210 --> 00:27:24,870
that goal.

728
00:27:25,110 --> 00:27:28,710
So I love to encourage people to set up goals.

729
00:27:28,920 --> 00:27:31,440
Like if you took your breakdown of these numbers of knowing

730
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:32,940
that you want 200 sessions,

731
00:27:32,940 --> 00:27:35,520
so you need to get in touch with like 1200 leads

732
00:27:35,850 --> 00:27:37,050
and break it down.

733
00:27:37,050 --> 00:27:38,100
So we have to call,

734
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:38,520
I don't know,

735
00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:38,970
I'm doing,

736
00:27:39,030 --> 00:27:41,310
making up math 30 people a day.

737
00:27:42,090 --> 00:27:42,900
Then, you know,

738
00:27:42,900 --> 00:27:43,230
it's like,

739
00:27:43,260 --> 00:27:43,470
all right.

740
00:27:43,470 --> 00:27:46,620
My goal is to contact 30 people a day,

741
00:27:46,830 --> 00:27:47,940
or my goal is to get,

742
00:27:47,970 --> 00:27:48,480
you know,

743
00:27:48,810 --> 00:27:49,860
20 leads a week,

744
00:27:49,860 --> 00:27:52,110
whatever it is based on your business,

745
00:27:52,410 --> 00:27:57,030
then you have this actual number that is a goal of,

746
00:27:57,150 --> 00:27:57,960
of your action.

747
00:27:57,960 --> 00:27:58,590
It's binary.

748
00:27:58,590 --> 00:27:59,190
You either did it,

749
00:27:59,190 --> 00:27:59,790
or you didn't,

750
00:28:00,060 --> 00:28:02,580
and it's not waiting for anybody else for the result.

751
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:05,010
And then that's going to lead to the hitting.

752
00:28:05,010 --> 00:28:06,570
I think more of those monetary goals.

753
00:28:06,810 --> 00:28:07,410
And it's not,

754
00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:09,930
it's not the funnest thing to do either,

755
00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:13,020
but it is very rewarding when you start to see the

756
00:28:13,020 --> 00:28:16,950
results and you actually see it pay off and then it'll

757
00:28:16,950 --> 00:28:18,780
be so much easier to do it in the future.

758
00:28:18,780 --> 00:28:20,340
And grant Cardone says,

759
00:28:20,580 --> 00:28:24,690
take incredible action until you have new problems.

760
00:28:25,470 --> 00:28:28,080
And That shows you that the numbers,

761
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:30,930
the metrics they tell you where the action needs to be

762
00:28:30,930 --> 00:28:32,310
first. Yeah.

763
00:28:32,430 --> 00:28:33,960
Yeah. Oh my gosh.

764
00:28:34,140 --> 00:28:37,170
This is just so I love it so much.

765
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,800
And I love the fact that you've taken this business that

766
00:28:40,950 --> 00:28:41,580
quite frankly,

767
00:28:41,580 --> 00:28:45,000
so many people struggle to fill up a calendar and you

768
00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:49,530
have taken it to a point of two very busy studios

769
00:28:49,530 --> 00:28:53,070
with three camera rooms and multiple photographers.

770
00:28:53,130 --> 00:28:56,040
And even to the fact that like you aren't shooting you,

771
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,580
aren't doing the operations that you're managing the overall vision of

772
00:28:59,580 --> 00:29:00,150
the business.

773
00:29:00,420 --> 00:29:02,040
Gosh, just congratulations.

774
00:29:03,360 --> 00:29:04,290
It's incredible.

775
00:29:04,470 --> 00:29:05,460
I love it so much.

776
00:29:05,700 --> 00:29:08,280
What would you have to say for,

777
00:29:08,310 --> 00:29:08,610
you know,

778
00:29:08,610 --> 00:29:09,930
photographers that,

779
00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:12,630
cause I think this is where people struggle a lot too

780
00:29:12,630 --> 00:29:13,830
is, you know,

781
00:29:13,830 --> 00:29:16,050
we all have our own stuff in our head,

782
00:29:16,060 --> 00:29:19,080
so I'm sure you've got worked through all sorts of limiting

783
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:21,270
beliefs and things that have come up as you went from

784
00:29:21,270 --> 00:29:21,690
like, you know,

785
00:29:21,690 --> 00:29:22,480
having a,

786
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:26,340
a small studio of your own to hiring new people,

787
00:29:26,340 --> 00:29:27,600
adding new locations,

788
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:28,470
building this out,

789
00:29:28,470 --> 00:29:29,490
creating the team,

790
00:29:29,610 --> 00:29:30,900
creating the processes.

791
00:29:31,290 --> 00:29:31,590
You know,

792
00:29:31,590 --> 00:29:33,900
we, we always come up against these limiting beliefs and then

793
00:29:33,900 --> 00:29:35,250
we get over it and then there's like,

794
00:29:35,280 --> 00:29:35,700
oh my gosh,

795
00:29:35,700 --> 00:29:36,270
a new thing.

796
00:29:36,630 --> 00:29:39,150
So, so many photographers I see are,

797
00:29:39,390 --> 00:29:39,930
you know,

798
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,700
building their business and they've created a website and they are

799
00:29:42,700 --> 00:29:47,470
on social media and they're kind of waiting for leads and

800
00:29:47,470 --> 00:29:49,930
clients to come to them or maybe they go out and

801
00:29:49,930 --> 00:29:51,010
they get a couple leads,

802
00:29:51,010 --> 00:29:55,270
but there's not really a process to,

803
00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:56,020
you know,

804
00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,140
move those leads along in the process to actually get them

805
00:29:59,140 --> 00:30:00,520
to convert to full clients.

806
00:30:01,250 --> 00:30:02,440
And a lot of the times,

807
00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:06,070
the reason is because they have so much doubt in their

808
00:30:06,070 --> 00:30:09,370
head or imposter syndrome or just feeling like,

809
00:30:09,700 --> 00:30:10,090
you know,

810
00:30:10,090 --> 00:30:10,780
who am I,

811
00:30:10,780 --> 00:30:12,880
or I'm going to bother them by asking.

812
00:30:13,300 --> 00:30:14,380
And so they just don't.

813
00:30:14,890 --> 00:30:18,010
Do you have any words of advice to help people get

814
00:30:18,010 --> 00:30:21,130
more comfortable with taking those types of actions?

815
00:30:21,340 --> 00:30:24,700
Wow. There's a lot of different questions in there.

816
00:30:27,780 --> 00:30:28,480
It's okay.

817
00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:29,830
So you know,

818
00:30:29,830 --> 00:30:31,290
that fear of rejection,

819
00:30:31,330 --> 00:30:31,960
I think in that,

820
00:30:32,020 --> 00:30:36,670
that resistance that people feel to reaching out,

821
00:30:36,910 --> 00:30:37,120
you know,

822
00:30:37,150 --> 00:30:39,880
it, it really is a resistance and I think it comes

823
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:41,290
from a fear of rejection,

824
00:30:41,900 --> 00:30:43,210
a fear of failure,

825
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:44,770
but that,

826
00:30:44,770 --> 00:30:45,460
like you said,

827
00:30:45,460 --> 00:30:47,920
of the limiting beliefs.

828
00:30:49,090 --> 00:30:50,020
So for one thing,

829
00:30:50,020 --> 00:30:51,940
there's another good book it's called the big leap.

830
00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,600
And so it talks about,

831
00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:55,780
you know,

832
00:30:55,780 --> 00:30:58,480
our, our capacity to feel positive emotions and how,

833
00:30:58,480 --> 00:30:59,590
when we get to our,

834
00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:01,270
the edge of our comfort zone,

835
00:31:01,270 --> 00:31:05,050
we'll do things to self-sabotage because we're not used to feeling,

836
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:05,800
you know,

837
00:31:05,830 --> 00:31:06,790
better than that.

838
00:31:07,510 --> 00:31:09,670
So that is a really good one for as far as

839
00:31:09,670 --> 00:31:10,630
limiting beliefs,

840
00:31:11,620 --> 00:31:15,640
but our there's two specific incidences that I can remember when

841
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,360
it, I really saw my limiting beliefs in the first one

842
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:22,720
was when I had hired somebody to make the calls,

843
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:23,920
to make the bookings.

844
00:31:24,940 --> 00:31:28,200
And I had set a goal for 30 for the,

845
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,620
the month and she surpassed it and she's like,

846
00:31:32,620 --> 00:31:33,130
I'm recent,

847
00:31:33,130 --> 00:31:34,450
I'm setting the goal to 50.

848
00:31:34,630 --> 00:31:36,220
And I started getting kind of freaked out like that.

849
00:31:36,220 --> 00:31:38,440
Okay. That's literally the maximum capacity.

850
00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:40,180
Like I cannot shoot more than 50,

851
00:31:40,540 --> 00:31:44,290
but what I did is an actually it was even before

852
00:31:44,290 --> 00:31:46,060
that it had to do with weight loss.

853
00:31:46,510 --> 00:31:50,770
I used to have this belief because it's so ingrained in

854
00:31:50,770 --> 00:31:53,350
us that healthy weight loss is no more than three to

855
00:31:53,350 --> 00:31:54,400
four pounds a week.

856
00:31:55,030 --> 00:31:57,880
Right. And so once when I would start to make progress,

857
00:31:57,880 --> 00:32:01,570
I would sabotage myself because I was running bumping into that

858
00:32:01,570 --> 00:32:02,470
limiting belief.

859
00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,400
And so once I took that limit off and just thought,

860
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:08,590
there's no limit to how much weight I can lose.

861
00:32:08,590 --> 00:32:10,630
And I made my portion smaller.

862
00:32:10,630 --> 00:32:12,940
That's when the weight really started to drop.

863
00:32:13,300 --> 00:32:16,030
And that's the first time that I encountered a limiting belief

864
00:32:16,030 --> 00:32:18,940
that I took the limit off and I saw progress.

865
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,730
And then the second time was with the phone calls.

866
00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:22,660
And I just say,

867
00:32:22,670 --> 00:32:23,080
you know what,

868
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,380
there's no limit to how many portraits we can book in

869
00:32:25,380 --> 00:32:25,750
the month.

870
00:32:25,750 --> 00:32:27,520
And we just booked as many as possible.

871
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,280
And that was another kind of light bulb moment that I

872
00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:32,860
had put the cap there and she was going to bust

873
00:32:32,860 --> 00:32:33,310
through it.

874
00:32:34,060 --> 00:32:37,990
And then the third one was when we were trying to

875
00:32:37,990 --> 00:32:39,100
get to 50,000

876
00:32:39,110 --> 00:32:39,710
for the month.

877
00:32:40,190 --> 00:32:42,410
And I had hired the salesperson.

878
00:32:43,070 --> 00:32:44,120
It's a long,

879
00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:45,080
ridiculous story.

880
00:32:45,080 --> 00:32:46,940
I think he worked one day and I feel like he

881
00:32:46,940 --> 00:32:49,910
came in my life to tell me one thing.

882
00:32:50,210 --> 00:32:50,930
And he said,

883
00:32:50,990 --> 00:32:52,190
well, if we can get to 50,

884
00:32:52,190 --> 00:32:53,630
we can get to 100,000.

885
00:32:53,990 --> 00:32:54,710
And I was just like,

886
00:32:54,710 --> 00:32:55,430
you're insane.

887
00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:56,600
You're totally crazy.

888
00:32:56,870 --> 00:32:57,800
That's never going to happen.

889
00:32:57,800 --> 00:32:58,310
But it was.

890
00:32:58,400 --> 00:32:59,420
And then I recognized,

891
00:32:59,450 --> 00:33:01,550
oh, that's a limiting belief that I hide.

892
00:33:01,970 --> 00:33:04,490
And so I feel like that's impossible.

893
00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:05,420
And now that's,

894
00:33:05,450 --> 00:33:08,480
we're doing more than that every single month now.

895
00:33:08,900 --> 00:33:09,650
So it's,

896
00:33:09,650 --> 00:33:11,840
it's only impossible until you do it.

897
00:33:13,080 --> 00:33:16,280
And I think that one of the biggest things to help

898
00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:19,490
people overcome with that overcome that is to at least recognize

899
00:33:19,490 --> 00:33:23,630
it. You can't overcome that limiting belief until you see it.

900
00:33:24,230 --> 00:33:27,140
So just be on the lookout and say,

901
00:33:27,170 --> 00:33:29,060
oh, that's a belief.

902
00:33:29,060 --> 00:33:29,840
I have it.

903
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:31,010
And then challenge it.

904
00:33:31,580 --> 00:33:31,820
You know,

905
00:33:31,820 --> 00:33:34,490
what evidence do you have to say that that's true.

906
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:38,870
Right. Have you ever seen anybody else or have you ever

907
00:33:38,870 --> 00:33:40,460
experienced it yourself?

908
00:33:40,460 --> 00:33:42,020
That that might not be true?

909
00:33:42,350 --> 00:33:43,550
And that's another way too,

910
00:33:43,550 --> 00:33:45,320
because these positive affirmations,

911
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:45,560
you know,

912
00:33:45,560 --> 00:33:48,590
and things we say you have to really believe it.

913
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,380
And if you don't really believe that that's possible for a

914
00:33:51,380 --> 00:33:52,460
positive affirmation,

915
00:33:52,460 --> 00:33:53,480
it's really hard to,

916
00:33:53,540 --> 00:33:55,070
to make it stick in your heart.

917
00:33:55,220 --> 00:33:59,060
Right. So I find also that just saying,

918
00:33:59,870 --> 00:34:01,310
it may be possible.

919
00:34:01,460 --> 00:34:04,100
It could be possible that I could do that.

920
00:34:05,180 --> 00:34:07,790
And just give yourself a little bit of permission to start

921
00:34:07,790 --> 00:34:09,230
believing it a little bit.

922
00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,580
Yeah. And then the whole fear of rejection,

923
00:34:13,580 --> 00:34:15,080
the fear of bothering people,

924
00:34:15,470 --> 00:34:18,140
people really need to shift the way that they think about

925
00:34:18,140 --> 00:34:21,650
that. So I have a great way to overcome it.

926
00:34:22,580 --> 00:34:23,600
Imagine this,

927
00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:27,290
you are stressed out busy person,

928
00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,320
and I know it's not that difficult to imagine.

929
00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,170
Right? You're running all over the place here and there picking

930
00:34:33,170 --> 00:34:33,530
up kids,

931
00:34:33,530 --> 00:34:34,550
grocery shopping,

932
00:34:34,730 --> 00:34:34,970
you know,

933
00:34:34,970 --> 00:34:36,770
working, talking,

934
00:34:38,270 --> 00:34:38,690
and you're like,

935
00:34:38,690 --> 00:34:41,060
gosh, I just really want a massage.

936
00:34:41,240 --> 00:34:43,520
I need a massage so bad.

937
00:34:43,550 --> 00:34:44,870
My shoulders are so tense.

938
00:34:44,900 --> 00:34:45,470
They hurt.

939
00:34:45,830 --> 00:34:47,750
And you think about that when you're laying in bed.

940
00:34:47,750 --> 00:34:48,200
And you're like,

941
00:34:48,380 --> 00:34:51,050
I hope I remember to call that place and schedule it.

942
00:34:51,140 --> 00:34:52,070
Right, right.

943
00:34:52,190 --> 00:34:53,990
Then the next day you get up as the same thing,

944
00:34:53,990 --> 00:34:54,410
you're busy,

945
00:34:54,410 --> 00:34:55,730
busy visitor going back and forth,

946
00:34:55,730 --> 00:34:56,210
going to work.

947
00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:57,590
And you don't ever remember.

948
00:34:57,590 --> 00:34:58,700
You never remember to call him.

949
00:34:58,700 --> 00:34:59,510
You want to do it.

950
00:34:59,510 --> 00:35:00,260
So in the back of your mind,

951
00:35:00,260 --> 00:35:01,580
but you're just not doing it for yourself.

952
00:35:01,580 --> 00:35:06,620
Right. And then the massage therapist calls you call a thank

953
00:35:06,620 --> 00:35:07,730
God you called.

954
00:35:08,180 --> 00:35:09,770
I've been wanting to schedule this.

955
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:11,420
And I've just been too busy.

956
00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:12,500
And yes,

957
00:35:12,500 --> 00:35:13,820
I want to get on the calendar.

958
00:35:13,850 --> 00:35:15,320
When does the next one that you have?

959
00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:18,110
Right. So was that massage therapist bothering,

960
00:35:18,110 --> 00:35:19,460
you know,

961
00:35:20,780 --> 00:35:24,830
what they did is they provided a service by calling you,

962
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:26,930
it was a service to you.

963
00:35:27,650 --> 00:35:30,470
And that is what we do when we reach out to

964
00:35:30,470 --> 00:35:33,560
people to ask them if they want to come in for

965
00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:34,340
a pet portrait.

966
00:35:34,700 --> 00:35:37,500
Yep. If you really believe that what you do is a

967
00:35:37,500 --> 00:35:38,640
benefit to people,

968
00:35:38,700 --> 00:35:41,400
then it shouldn't be too much of a leap to believe

969
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:43,800
that asking people to come in is also a benefit to

970
00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:45,000
them. Right?

971
00:35:45,750 --> 00:35:47,430
Yeah. That's huge.

972
00:35:47,490 --> 00:35:48,300
That's a great,

973
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,900
a great way to flip that because we just get so

974
00:35:51,900 --> 00:35:53,310
stuck in our own,

975
00:35:53,490 --> 00:35:56,040
our own head with our own money beliefs and our own,

976
00:35:56,040 --> 00:35:57,120
like, you know,

977
00:35:57,150 --> 00:35:57,840
feeling like,

978
00:35:57,900 --> 00:36:01,860
oh, I'm a terrible used car salesman and you know,

979
00:36:01,860 --> 00:36:02,220
or I,

980
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:05,790
and I don't think any of us out here,

981
00:36:06,090 --> 00:36:07,560
no one listening to my podcast.

982
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:08,190
For sure.

983
00:36:08,490 --> 00:36:08,880
They're like,

984
00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:11,580
we're not out here trying to like scam people and be

985
00:36:11,580 --> 00:36:12,030
like, yeah,

986
00:36:12,030 --> 00:36:14,220
I'm just going to like scam people from their money.

987
00:36:14,340 --> 00:36:16,500
Take as much money as I can for pet photography.

988
00:36:16,500 --> 00:36:17,520
Because quite frankly,

989
00:36:17,820 --> 00:36:18,630
if that was our goal,

990
00:36:18,630 --> 00:36:20,670
we probably wouldn't be in the photography industry.

991
00:36:21,870 --> 00:36:24,660
Yeah. That's what I is so important to know your why.

992
00:36:25,110 --> 00:36:25,920
Right. You know,

993
00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:30,390
we're doing 200 sessions a month at an $800 average,

994
00:36:30,660 --> 00:36:31,080
right? Yeah.

995
00:36:31,410 --> 00:36:33,270
So, but is that my why?

996
00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:34,860
That's not my why,

997
00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:37,980
and that's not why in all of the challenges that I've

998
00:36:37,980 --> 00:36:38,640
been through,

999
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:40,380
that is not why I kept going.

1000
00:36:40,380 --> 00:36:41,880
And it wasn't to make money.

1001
00:36:42,150 --> 00:36:43,380
And as long as,

1002
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:44,070
you know,

1003
00:36:44,100 --> 00:36:47,190
people, if they focus on the money part of it,

1004
00:36:47,190 --> 00:36:49,560
then they're always going to be running into blocks like that.

1005
00:36:49,740 --> 00:36:51,360
So, and there's another good book.

1006
00:36:51,540 --> 00:36:52,710
I'm sure you've heard of it.

1007
00:36:52,830 --> 00:36:54,660
You are a badass at making money.

1008
00:36:55,260 --> 00:36:55,830
I love it.

1009
00:36:55,830 --> 00:36:57,030
I love all of her books,

1010
00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:01,260
Jen Sincero It helped me a lot when it came to

1011
00:37:01,260 --> 00:37:02,760
the way that I think about money.

1012
00:37:02,790 --> 00:37:03,630
And no,

1013
00:37:03,630 --> 00:37:04,230
it was like I said,

1014
00:37:04,230 --> 00:37:06,840
if, if we really believe that what we're doing and what

1015
00:37:06,840 --> 00:37:09,750
we're offering to people is a benefit and a value and

1016
00:37:09,750 --> 00:37:12,510
a service to them that helps them in their lives.

1017
00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:15,840
Then we wouldn't think of it that way.

1018
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:19,920
And then also it's actually better for the clients that our

1019
00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,910
products are expensive because the more that they invest in it,

1020
00:37:23,910 --> 00:37:25,290
the more they value it,

1021
00:37:25,500 --> 00:37:28,950
they feel that they've treated themselves to something really nice.

1022
00:37:29,250 --> 00:37:32,220
And they know it's an exchange of energy,

1023
00:37:32,430 --> 00:37:34,770
right. We offer this amazing service,

1024
00:37:34,770 --> 00:37:37,890
this amazing quality product and is going to last them,

1025
00:37:37,890 --> 00:37:38,820
the rest of their lives.

1026
00:37:38,850 --> 00:37:40,230
It should be expensive.

1027
00:37:40,710 --> 00:37:41,490
And there's nothing,

1028
00:37:41,610 --> 00:37:44,310
there's nothing wrong with asking people to spend money with you.

1029
00:37:44,310 --> 00:37:45,960
People want to spend money.

1030
00:37:46,620 --> 00:37:48,270
Yeah. Not everyone is cheap.

1031
00:37:48,450 --> 00:37:49,730
Like lottery,

1032
00:37:49,730 --> 00:37:51,030
people are frugal and cheap,

1033
00:37:51,030 --> 00:37:53,820
but a lot of people really enjoy spending money.

1034
00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:54,810
So Yeah.

1035
00:37:54,840 --> 00:37:56,130
On things that they value,

1036
00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:56,550
you know,

1037
00:37:56,550 --> 00:37:57,690
and, and there's going to be,

1038
00:37:57,690 --> 00:37:58,740
I always like to say,

1039
00:37:58,740 --> 00:37:59,190
you know,

1040
00:37:59,490 --> 00:38:01,350
the, the example of like,

1041
00:38:01,350 --> 00:38:02,610
I will never,

1042
00:38:03,150 --> 00:38:03,540
I mean,

1043
00:38:03,570 --> 00:38:05,070
okay. She probably shouldn't say never,

1044
00:38:05,070 --> 00:38:08,430
but I can't ever picture myself ever in a million years

1045
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:09,870
buying a designer handbag.

1046
00:38:09,900 --> 00:38:10,890
It's just not my jam.

1047
00:38:11,100 --> 00:38:11,580
You know,

1048
00:38:11,670 --> 00:38:13,590
obviously there are plenty of people out there that do,

1049
00:38:13,860 --> 00:38:15,120
but it's just not for me.

1050
00:38:15,120 --> 00:38:19,170
However, I will drop a lot of money to fly business

1051
00:38:19,170 --> 00:38:22,440
class so I can sleep or to have a nice hotel

1052
00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,320
or go out to a nice dinner because those are experiences

1053
00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:26,250
that I value.

1054
00:38:26,580 --> 00:38:30,630
So I think we tend to get,

1055
00:38:30,630 --> 00:38:34,440
we, we sometimes think that everyone has the same value system

1056
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:35,950
that we do in,

1057
00:38:35,950 --> 00:38:40,120
or the same frugality or the same view of money and

1058
00:38:40,420 --> 00:38:40,840
the same,

1059
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:44,860
actually, what sort of looking through our kind of like thermostat

1060
00:38:44,860 --> 00:38:47,230
of what is expensive and what is not,

1061
00:38:47,470 --> 00:38:48,070
you know,

1062
00:38:48,100 --> 00:38:48,700
we think,

1063
00:38:48,730 --> 00:38:49,210
oh my gosh,

1064
00:38:49,240 --> 00:38:51,220
$2,000 for a pet session,

1065
00:38:51,460 --> 00:38:52,330
that's insane.

1066
00:38:52,510 --> 00:38:53,890
But there's plenty of other people that,

1067
00:38:53,920 --> 00:38:55,090
oh, $2,000

1068
00:38:55,090 --> 00:38:56,020
is whatever.

1069
00:38:56,050 --> 00:38:56,610
Like it's,

1070
00:38:56,610 --> 00:38:57,880
it's just great.

1071
00:38:57,910 --> 00:38:58,270
Yeah, no,

1072
00:38:58,270 --> 00:38:58,810
that's great.

1073
00:38:58,810 --> 00:38:59,350
Let me do it.

1074
00:38:59,350 --> 00:39:00,910
And they don't even think twice about it.

1075
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:02,650
And you know,

1076
00:39:02,650 --> 00:39:06,970
even the people that maybe aren't of that demographic where $2,000,

1077
00:39:06,970 --> 00:39:08,230
isn't a big deal,

1078
00:39:08,710 --> 00:39:09,880
but they still value it.

1079
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:11,620
I had so many clients that,

1080
00:39:11,650 --> 00:39:11,920
you know,

1081
00:39:11,920 --> 00:39:13,510
some of the waited a couple years,

1082
00:39:13,510 --> 00:39:15,550
like they were in grad school and then they came back

1083
00:39:15,550 --> 00:39:16,510
to me in two years and like,

1084
00:39:16,540 --> 00:39:17,020
oh my gosh,

1085
00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:18,640
I've been waiting to finally like,

1086
00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:22,480
get my job and get my like financial act together.

1087
00:39:22,510 --> 00:39:23,350
So I could do this.

1088
00:39:23,350 --> 00:39:26,950
And they were some of my best clients because they valued

1089
00:39:27,490 --> 00:39:29,200
the experience so much.

1090
00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:30,910
Absolutely. Yeah.

1091
00:39:31,420 --> 00:39:33,130
One of the things I like to encourage people to do

1092
00:39:33,130 --> 00:39:39,040
actually is to think about when they were purchasing something that

1093
00:39:39,100 --> 00:39:40,480
was a bit of a splurge,

1094
00:39:40,750 --> 00:39:42,880
but they were super excited about it.

1095
00:39:43,300 --> 00:39:47,350
And that's what our clients often feel like,

1096
00:39:47,590 --> 00:39:51,340
like when you're purchasing that splurge item that you're like,

1097
00:39:51,370 --> 00:39:52,120
oh my gosh.

1098
00:39:52,390 --> 00:39:52,930
Even if you're like,

1099
00:39:52,930 --> 00:39:53,950
I can't believe I'm doing this,

1100
00:39:53,950 --> 00:39:54,490
but ah,

1101
00:39:54,730 --> 00:39:55,210
so great.

1102
00:39:55,210 --> 00:39:55,720
And then you,

1103
00:39:55,720 --> 00:39:57,040
you value it so much.

1104
00:39:57,910 --> 00:40:01,060
You're not projecting any negative thoughts to,

1105
00:40:01,060 --> 00:40:02,950
whoever's helping you get that item.

1106
00:40:02,950 --> 00:40:06,250
You're likely like loving the experience and are so thankful that

1107
00:40:06,250 --> 00:40:08,500
this person is helping serve you in that way.

1108
00:40:09,550 --> 00:40:11,440
So yeah.

1109
00:40:11,470 --> 00:40:13,600
I, I encourage all of you guys out there listening to

1110
00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:15,280
think of a time that,

1111
00:40:15,450 --> 00:40:17,680
that you went through that experience and that's what our clients

1112
00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:18,160
are feeling.

1113
00:40:18,430 --> 00:40:19,300
Yeah. And I,

1114
00:40:19,390 --> 00:40:20,920
I hear a lot of guilt,

1115
00:40:21,040 --> 00:40:24,190
right. And I've also heard a lot of people,

1116
00:40:24,430 --> 00:40:28,480
a lot of pet photographers talk about how it's almost feels

1117
00:40:28,480 --> 00:40:32,680
kind of dirty to them to charge high prices,

1118
00:40:33,460 --> 00:40:36,490
to try to make money doing this.

1119
00:40:36,910 --> 00:40:38,980
And that really is a mindset about money.

1120
00:40:38,980 --> 00:40:39,550
That book,

1121
00:40:39,550 --> 00:40:41,530
you have to read the book that you are a bad

1122
00:40:41,530 --> 00:40:43,420
ass and making money because you know,

1123
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:47,020
of all the people in the world who should be the

1124
00:40:47,020 --> 00:40:49,450
people who have a lot of money,

1125
00:40:49,480 --> 00:40:50,680
lots and lots of money,

1126
00:40:50,950 --> 00:40:53,110
right? The people who have kind hearts,

1127
00:40:53,290 --> 00:40:55,720
the people who care about animals,

1128
00:40:55,720 --> 00:40:57,610
the people who want to do the right thing.

1129
00:40:57,970 --> 00:41:01,120
That's why one of my affirmations is I'm the perfect kind

1130
00:41:01,120 --> 00:41:02,200
of person to be very,

1131
00:41:02,200 --> 00:41:03,010
very rich.

1132
00:41:04,060 --> 00:41:05,320
And the more,

1133
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:07,150
the more money that I have,

1134
00:41:07,150 --> 00:41:09,130
the more I good I can do.

1135
00:41:09,490 --> 00:41:12,430
Right? But the more money that I charge for my service,

1136
00:41:12,850 --> 00:41:14,830
the better the chances are we're still going to be in

1137
00:41:14,830 --> 00:41:17,260
business that we can grow.

1138
00:41:17,530 --> 00:41:19,960
The more portraits we shoot,

1139
00:41:20,020 --> 00:41:22,150
the more employees I can employ,

1140
00:41:22,570 --> 00:41:24,940
and I can provide them with health benefits.

1141
00:41:24,940 --> 00:41:28,390
I can give them a living wage where contributing tax dollars

1142
00:41:28,390 --> 00:41:29,350
to the community.

1143
00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:31,240
We're giving back to charity.

1144
00:41:31,690 --> 00:41:33,890
We're able to grow and expand,

1145
00:41:33,890 --> 00:41:36,620
to serve even more pet pet parents,

1146
00:41:36,620 --> 00:41:39,260
to provide them with lasting portraits for their walls,

1147
00:41:39,260 --> 00:41:40,820
for the rest of their lives.

1148
00:41:40,820 --> 00:41:44,000
And that's because we charge the right amount of money for

1149
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:44,900
our services.

1150
00:41:45,590 --> 00:41:47,270
And so I think that,

1151
00:41:47,270 --> 00:41:47,510
you know,

1152
00:41:47,510 --> 00:41:52,220
reframing how people feel about making money and asking for money

1153
00:41:52,550 --> 00:41:53,990
is very important.

1154
00:41:53,990 --> 00:41:58,010
Because as long as people view money as being dirty or

1155
00:41:58,010 --> 00:41:58,820
asking for money,

1156
00:41:58,820 --> 00:42:02,060
makes them feel guilty or charging a lot of money,

1157
00:42:02,060 --> 00:42:03,230
they think it's wrong.

1158
00:42:03,650 --> 00:42:07,070
They maybe they should start a nonprofit or work for a

1159
00:42:07,070 --> 00:42:09,200
charity and not be in business.

1160
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:10,640
And, you know,

1161
00:42:10,640 --> 00:42:13,430
business is not all about just making profit.

1162
00:42:13,430 --> 00:42:15,890
It's about making an impact on people's lives.

1163
00:42:16,220 --> 00:42:18,080
And if you're not successful,

1164
00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:19,040
if you're not profitable,

1165
00:42:19,040 --> 00:42:20,000
if you're not growing,

1166
00:42:20,270 --> 00:42:20,690
it is,

1167
00:42:20,720 --> 00:42:23,180
you're not going to be limited on the impact that you

1168
00:42:23,180 --> 00:42:25,130
can make on your employees,

1169
00:42:25,250 --> 00:42:26,990
on your clients and in your community.

1170
00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:28,400
Yeah. Yeah.

1171
00:42:28,400 --> 00:42:29,810
And if anyone's out there thinking like,

1172
00:42:29,810 --> 00:42:31,730
I don't know how much impact can I make is just

1173
00:42:31,730 --> 00:42:32,840
a pet photographer.

1174
00:42:34,010 --> 00:42:35,570
If you're in this business long enough,

1175
00:42:35,570 --> 00:42:39,110
you will get plenty of messages from past clients telling you

1176
00:42:39,110 --> 00:42:41,180
how much their photos mean to them.

1177
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:42,770
Now that that pet is gone.

1178
00:42:43,100 --> 00:42:44,690
So it is,

1179
00:42:44,990 --> 00:42:45,320
I mean,

1180
00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:46,760
such a personal impact,

1181
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:47,060
all right.

1182
00:42:47,060 --> 00:42:47,270
You know,

1183
00:42:47,270 --> 00:42:50,990
we might not be changing the world or like stopping famine

1184
00:42:50,990 --> 00:42:51,620
and wars,

1185
00:42:51,620 --> 00:42:55,280
but we're making a huge impact to our clients and their

1186
00:42:55,280 --> 00:42:59,480
relationship with that dog and just their memories for a lifetime

1187
00:42:59,810 --> 00:43:01,580
and that's worth something.

1188
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:02,990
Yeah. It is.

1189
00:43:03,140 --> 00:43:04,100
I really feeling like,

1190
00:43:04,580 --> 00:43:05,930
I don't know how you've been talking to you,

1191
00:43:05,930 --> 00:43:09,080
Nicole, but I really believe in what we do.

1192
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:12,740
We provide an amazing product for our clients.

1193
00:43:12,740 --> 00:43:15,290
Like something that is going to make them feel happy for

1194
00:43:15,290 --> 00:43:16,700
the rest of their lives.

1195
00:43:17,510 --> 00:43:18,860
This is not car insurance.

1196
00:43:18,860 --> 00:43:20,480
Like this is something special.

1197
00:43:22,220 --> 00:43:26,000
Yup. Along that line of thought too,

1198
00:43:26,000 --> 00:43:28,520
with the guilty of money and things like that,

1199
00:43:28,820 --> 00:43:30,800
a lot of people are worried about the sales.

1200
00:43:31,300 --> 00:43:35,330
I'm assuming with your three sales rooms that you guys are

1201
00:43:35,330 --> 00:43:38,000
doing in person sales for your,

1202
00:43:38,720 --> 00:43:39,290
your business.

1203
00:43:40,460 --> 00:43:41,090
Oh yeah.

1204
00:43:41,600 --> 00:43:43,370
Do you do it right after or do you have people

1205
00:43:43,370 --> 00:43:44,900
come back later on?

1206
00:43:45,230 --> 00:43:46,610
We do it right after.

1207
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:47,450
Oh, nice.

1208
00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:48,080
That's awesome.

1209
00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:50,220
I remember the benefit to the customer.

1210
00:43:50,250 --> 00:43:53,490
Right. And people are busy and they do not want to

1211
00:43:53,490 --> 00:43:55,050
be making multiple trips.

1212
00:43:55,260 --> 00:43:59,610
Yep.<inaudible> and also efficiency for us too.

1213
00:43:59,670 --> 00:44:01,680
Yeah. It's going to say that makes it much more efficient

1214
00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:03,030
on your end for your workflow.

1215
00:44:03,030 --> 00:44:03,870
It's just boom.

1216
00:44:03,930 --> 00:44:04,980
That the client is,

1217
00:44:05,070 --> 00:44:05,420
you got,

1218
00:44:05,430 --> 00:44:06,000
you got the order,

1219
00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:06,810
you put it through,

1220
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:08,010
it's moving along.

1221
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:09,090
I love it.

1222
00:44:09,090 --> 00:44:12,150
But one quick also mindset for sales.

1223
00:44:12,180 --> 00:44:13,290
The funny ones out there like,

1224
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:13,980
oh my gosh,

1225
00:44:14,370 --> 00:44:16,170
I know I should do in person sales.

1226
00:44:17,070 --> 00:44:17,760
And truly,

1227
00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:21,210
I believe like to the depths of my soul,

1228
00:44:21,240 --> 00:44:25,260
that it is such a better service for our clients when

1229
00:44:25,260 --> 00:44:29,040
we are able to actually help them through that process.

1230
00:44:29,370 --> 00:44:30,840
And like I said,

1231
00:44:30,840 --> 00:44:32,340
our are not to be like,

1232
00:44:32,430 --> 00:44:34,200
oh, I'm going to sell you this giant piece of wall

1233
00:44:34,200 --> 00:44:36,090
art. Even though you have no walls in your house,

1234
00:44:36,150 --> 00:44:37,050
like no,

1235
00:44:37,290 --> 00:44:40,980
no. We're sitting there to listen to how they can most

1236
00:44:40,980 --> 00:44:44,070
enjoy this artwork and giving them the options.

1237
00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:46,710
And truly when you come at your sales from a place

1238
00:44:46,710 --> 00:44:47,430
of service,

1239
00:44:48,030 --> 00:44:50,700
it's my favorite part of the whole entire experience.

1240
00:44:50,700 --> 00:44:53,700
Because we get to take these images that we created together

1241
00:44:54,090 --> 00:44:57,720
and come up with a plan that they're going to love

1242
00:44:57,720 --> 00:44:59,370
and enjoy for all that time.

1243
00:44:59,370 --> 00:45:00,930
So could out there everybody.

1244
00:45:03,270 --> 00:45:04,500
Yeah, I totally agree.

1245
00:45:04,500 --> 00:45:04,710
I mean,

1246
00:45:04,710 --> 00:45:08,370
sales is a service and I always think of it.

1247
00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:10,830
Like I don't do the sales anymore,

1248
00:45:10,860 --> 00:45:12,750
but when I did,

1249
00:45:13,500 --> 00:45:14,190
I always think of it.

1250
00:45:14,190 --> 00:45:15,870
Like I'm about to make a new best friend.

1251
00:45:16,380 --> 00:45:16,530
You know,

1252
00:45:16,530 --> 00:45:17,190
you get in there,

1253
00:45:17,200 --> 00:45:19,260
you start building rapport with people,

1254
00:45:19,470 --> 00:45:20,520
you get to know them.

1255
00:45:20,880 --> 00:45:24,210
You really are interested in what is the best interest for

1256
00:45:24,210 --> 00:45:28,560
them. My goal is never a specific number in the sales

1257
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:33,150
room. My goal in the sales room is always to get,

1258
00:45:33,180 --> 00:45:36,510
to help them get what it is that is going to

1259
00:45:36,510 --> 00:45:41,220
serve them the best and to help them understand how maybe

1260
00:45:41,220 --> 00:45:46,110
just a little bit more than what they're thinking would be

1261
00:45:46,290 --> 00:45:47,190
great for them.

1262
00:45:47,430 --> 00:45:49,920
And that adds a really good choice to do that.

1263
00:45:50,460 --> 00:45:55,230
Right. So that's really my intention when I go in and

1264
00:45:55,470 --> 00:45:56,310
by the end of it,

1265
00:45:56,370 --> 00:45:58,080
I feel like I'm part of their family.

1266
00:45:58,290 --> 00:45:59,040
I'm helping them.

1267
00:45:59,040 --> 00:45:59,250
I'm like,

1268
00:45:59,250 --> 00:45:59,670
no, can,

1269
00:45:59,670 --> 00:46:00,990
do you really want that one?

1270
00:46:00,990 --> 00:46:01,770
I don't know.

1271
00:46:02,010 --> 00:46:02,270
You know,

1272
00:46:02,670 --> 00:46:04,890
I think the other one is better and you know,

1273
00:46:04,890 --> 00:46:07,500
you get to know them and what's important to them.

1274
00:46:07,500 --> 00:46:08,490
And you know,

1275
00:46:08,490 --> 00:46:10,530
if you are an empathic person,

1276
00:46:10,590 --> 00:46:12,060
then you should love sales.

1277
00:46:12,540 --> 00:46:12,750
You know,

1278
00:46:12,750 --> 00:46:16,620
you're working together with somebody to help them to get something

1279
00:46:16,620 --> 00:46:17,520
that they want.

1280
00:46:18,150 --> 00:46:19,230
So, yeah.

1281
00:46:19,320 --> 00:46:22,680
And there's another good book it's kind of cheesy and it's

1282
00:46:22,680 --> 00:46:23,640
kind of ridiculous,

1283
00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:27,480
but it sell or be sold by grant Cardone and then,

1284
00:46:28,320 --> 00:46:28,770
and well,

1285
00:46:28,770 --> 00:46:29,130
in there,

1286
00:46:29,130 --> 00:46:31,350
he talks about how everyone's selling all the time.

1287
00:46:31,530 --> 00:46:33,480
So your salespeople would get,

1288
00:46:33,480 --> 00:46:37,650
this is kind of this leftover sort of impression from that

1289
00:46:37,650 --> 00:46:38,820
used car sales person,

1290
00:46:38,820 --> 00:46:39,870
where they're lying,

1291
00:46:39,870 --> 00:46:40,590
they're stealing,

1292
00:46:40,590 --> 00:46:41,340
they're cheating.

1293
00:46:41,820 --> 00:46:45,390
And that is not really fair because we're all selling in

1294
00:46:45,390 --> 00:46:47,250
different ways every single day.

1295
00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:50,730
And there's a lot of really good techniques in there too.

1296
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:55,560
But Zig Ziglar has an amazing book on the basics of

1297
00:46:55,560 --> 00:46:57,000
selling and it's called,

1298
00:46:57,150 --> 00:46:59,490
I think it is secrets of closing the sale.

1299
00:46:59,550 --> 00:47:02,070
Yeah. I think that is it Zig Ziglar secrets of closing

1300
00:47:02,070 --> 00:47:05,370
the sale and in there it's just really solid,

1301
00:47:05,370 --> 00:47:06,590
basic selling techniques.

1302
00:47:06,610 --> 00:47:08,670
Highly recommend that book.

1303
00:47:09,210 --> 00:47:09,750
Yeah, it is.

1304
00:47:09,750 --> 00:47:11,940
I just looked it up secrets to closing the sale for

1305
00:47:11,940 --> 00:47:13,260
anyone who must,

1306
00:47:13,800 --> 00:47:14,110
oh yeah.

1307
00:47:14,110 --> 00:47:15,090
I, gosh,

1308
00:47:15,150 --> 00:47:16,440
I read that a long time ago.

1309
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:17,550
It looks really familiar.

1310
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:19,530
It's like the red arrow on the cover.

1311
00:47:20,040 --> 00:47:21,660
Yep. That's a really good one.

1312
00:47:21,990 --> 00:47:22,800
Yep. But also,

1313
00:47:22,800 --> 00:47:23,010
I mean,

1314
00:47:23,010 --> 00:47:27,120
it goes back to the way that people are viewing money

1315
00:47:27,120 --> 00:47:30,580
and asking for money and until they change that,

1316
00:47:30,760 --> 00:47:32,530
if they have a negative view of it,

1317
00:47:32,560 --> 00:47:35,260
then of course they're not to want to reach out to

1318
00:47:35,260 --> 00:47:36,250
potential clients.

1319
00:47:36,250 --> 00:47:36,730
Of course,

1320
00:47:36,730 --> 00:47:37,930
they're not going to want to sell.

1321
00:47:38,320 --> 00:47:40,120
And I recommend that they try,

1322
00:47:41,050 --> 00:47:41,980
let me try to say this.

1323
00:47:41,980 --> 00:47:44,380
Like, I don't want to offend anybody,

1324
00:47:45,310 --> 00:47:47,050
but This is said with love.

1325
00:47:47,560 --> 00:47:53,020
We said that they might be happier if they found a

1326
00:47:53,020 --> 00:47:54,730
job as a photographer,

1327
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:56,650
working for a business,

1328
00:47:56,740 --> 00:47:59,920
rather than trying to make a business themselves.

1329
00:47:59,980 --> 00:48:03,160
If really what they love doing is the photography.

1330
00:48:03,610 --> 00:48:05,500
Yeah. Because it's a business,

1331
00:48:05,530 --> 00:48:08,890
you have to do sales and marketing and really in our

1332
00:48:08,890 --> 00:48:11,500
business, it is a business of sales and marketing.

1333
00:48:11,620 --> 00:48:13,030
That is our business,

1334
00:48:13,450 --> 00:48:14,770
Every business really.

1335
00:48:14,770 --> 00:48:15,910
But especially,

1336
00:48:15,940 --> 00:48:16,240
I mean,

1337
00:48:16,240 --> 00:48:17,080
especially ours,

1338
00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:17,680
for sure.

1339
00:48:18,100 --> 00:48:19,300
Yeah. I,

1340
00:48:19,300 --> 00:48:19,570
you know,

1341
00:48:19,610 --> 00:48:21,430
I say this all the time,

1342
00:48:21,430 --> 00:48:22,000
too, that,

1343
00:48:22,060 --> 00:48:22,540
you know,

1344
00:48:22,570 --> 00:48:25,240
if you are someone that you got into this and you

1345
00:48:25,240 --> 00:48:27,280
love the craft of photography and you start to get into

1346
00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:27,760
this and you're like,

1347
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:32,560
man, this business is not what I had thought of.

1348
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:33,760
Like it's way too much.

1349
00:48:33,760 --> 00:48:35,770
I really disliked the business.

1350
00:48:36,340 --> 00:48:41,500
There's nothing wrong with being a hobbyist and enjoying the art,

1351
00:48:41,860 --> 00:48:42,370
you know?

1352
00:48:42,370 --> 00:48:43,840
But if you,

1353
00:48:43,960 --> 00:48:45,130
if, when I say that,

1354
00:48:45,130 --> 00:48:45,700
you're like,

1355
00:48:45,820 --> 00:48:48,430
oh, but I don't want to just enjoy the art.

1356
00:48:48,430 --> 00:48:49,210
Like I want to,

1357
00:48:49,660 --> 00:48:50,800
I want to run a business.

1358
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:53,920
Okay. Then you probably just have all these limiting beliefs and

1359
00:48:53,920 --> 00:48:55,930
all this like mindset stuff.

1360
00:48:55,930 --> 00:48:58,540
Do you need to work through to be able to push

1361
00:48:58,570 --> 00:48:59,080
through that?

1362
00:48:59,110 --> 00:48:59,830
Because if you,

1363
00:49:00,070 --> 00:49:02,530
I believe firmly that if you have a desire to do

1364
00:49:02,530 --> 00:49:04,930
something, you have the ability to do it.

1365
00:49:05,050 --> 00:49:06,880
The path might not be straight.

1366
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:08,620
The path might not be easy,

1367
00:49:08,950 --> 00:49:11,230
but you have the ability to do that if you really

1368
00:49:11,230 --> 00:49:16,010
want to and doing this mindset work and,

1369
00:49:16,010 --> 00:49:20,080
and just working through these things that we have and taking

1370
00:49:20,080 --> 00:49:20,710
the action,

1371
00:49:20,740 --> 00:49:24,880
even if you're scared to do it is really the secret

1372
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:25,810
to success.

1373
00:49:26,230 --> 00:49:29,770
And also as you practice it,

1374
00:49:30,190 --> 00:49:31,570
it becomes less scary.

1375
00:49:31,570 --> 00:49:31,840
You know,

1376
00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:33,280
like the first sales session we have,

1377
00:49:33,280 --> 00:49:34,990
we're so nervous for that first session.

1378
00:49:35,290 --> 00:49:36,880
And then you do it over and over it.

1379
00:49:36,880 --> 00:49:37,300
Yeah. You know,

1380
00:49:37,300 --> 00:49:39,580
I still get a little nervous before a session or even

1381
00:49:39,580 --> 00:49:41,620
like before a sales session or if there's one that's like,

1382
00:49:41,620 --> 00:49:41,950
you know,

1383
00:49:42,010 --> 00:49:43,060
an especially big number.

1384
00:49:43,060 --> 00:49:43,330
I'm like,

1385
00:49:43,360 --> 00:49:43,720
oh my God,

1386
00:49:43,720 --> 00:49:44,590
I have to say this out loud.

1387
00:49:44,620 --> 00:49:46,450
Oh. And I still,

1388
00:49:46,630 --> 00:49:48,370
I still kind of get in my own head sometimes,

1389
00:49:49,090 --> 00:49:51,760
but it gets easier as you practice it.

1390
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:56,230
Yep. And I think that focusing on the why yep.

1391
00:49:56,230 --> 00:49:58,360
Have to figure out what your,

1392
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:02,230
why is it took me a long time to put my

1393
00:50:02,230 --> 00:50:04,090
finger on exactly what my,

1394
00:50:04,090 --> 00:50:06,310
why is because all I was like,

1395
00:50:06,310 --> 00:50:08,830
I don't really know why I have this drive.

1396
00:50:09,190 --> 00:50:10,330
I want to make this business.

1397
00:50:10,330 --> 00:50:11,350
I want to grow this business.

1398
00:50:11,350 --> 00:50:12,400
I want to keep showing up.

1399
00:50:12,400 --> 00:50:13,450
I'm obsessed about it.

1400
00:50:13,450 --> 00:50:14,110
But if they were say,

1401
00:50:14,110 --> 00:50:15,040
why, why are you doing?

1402
00:50:15,050 --> 00:50:15,340
I'm like,

1403
00:50:15,430 --> 00:50:16,090
I don't know.

1404
00:50:16,090 --> 00:50:17,440
It just it's part of me.

1405
00:50:17,740 --> 00:50:20,440
But I finally figured out what it was.

1406
00:50:20,980 --> 00:50:23,560
And it's the first time,

1407
00:50:24,250 --> 00:50:27,160
one of the first times that I created a beautiful,

1408
00:50:27,230 --> 00:50:30,080
impactful, incredible portrait for someone,

1409
00:50:30,470 --> 00:50:32,270
they saw it projected on the wall,

1410
00:50:32,570 --> 00:50:35,120
they bought a print and it was a 30 by 40

1411
00:50:35,120 --> 00:50:35,870
prints. It was,

1412
00:50:36,230 --> 00:50:37,640
it was $800.

1413
00:50:37,670 --> 00:50:42,800
And she was happy and cried with tears of joy to

1414
00:50:42,800 --> 00:50:45,560
order that and give me her credit card for $800.

1415
00:50:46,490 --> 00:50:49,940
That was the most fulfilling feeling for me,

1416
00:50:50,330 --> 00:50:52,460
very satisfying and very fulfilling.

1417
00:50:52,460 --> 00:50:56,390
So to offer service to people that they really treasure and

1418
00:50:56,390 --> 00:51:00,350
value and that they're willing to pay that high price for

1419
00:51:00,350 --> 00:51:04,220
it. It really gave me a sense of meaning.

1420
00:51:05,840 --> 00:51:08,000
And that's why I kept showing up.

1421
00:51:08,030 --> 00:51:10,760
That's why I love this business so much because what we

1422
00:51:10,760 --> 00:51:13,100
provide to people mean so much to them.

1423
00:51:13,910 --> 00:51:15,890
And that's what kept me showing up.

1424
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:21,830
And then when I have employees and I started seeing their

1425
00:51:21,830 --> 00:51:25,640
lives improve because they were making a better way to working

1426
00:51:25,640 --> 00:51:26,090
for me,

1427
00:51:26,510 --> 00:51:27,320
the two of them,

1428
00:51:27,710 --> 00:51:31,070
they traded in their old beat up cars and got nicer,

1429
00:51:31,070 --> 00:51:32,420
newer, safer cars.

1430
00:51:33,020 --> 00:51:35,090
That was the first time I saw that happen.

1431
00:51:35,090 --> 00:51:37,100
And then just yesterday,

1432
00:51:37,100 --> 00:51:38,360
one of our employees,

1433
00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:40,700
she went and got some dental work done that she'd been

1434
00:51:40,700 --> 00:51:43,640
waiting to do for two years because she didn't have a

1435
00:51:43,640 --> 00:51:45,140
benefits. She didn't have insurance.

1436
00:51:45,410 --> 00:51:47,870
We offer health and dental benefits now.

1437
00:51:48,560 --> 00:51:50,660
So she was able to go and get it done.

1438
00:51:50,660 --> 00:51:51,920
And she was so grateful.

1439
00:51:52,190 --> 00:51:54,440
And not just that she's grateful,

1440
00:51:54,440 --> 00:51:56,480
but knowing that she's not in pain anymore,

1441
00:51:56,480 --> 00:52:00,980
knowing that our teeth are healthier and it's because of something

1442
00:52:00,980 --> 00:52:01,640
that I've done.

1443
00:52:01,640 --> 00:52:04,130
And it's a result of all of my hard work.

1444
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:05,600
That's the second reason.

1445
00:52:05,630 --> 00:52:06,080
That's my,

1446
00:52:06,080 --> 00:52:09,680
why it has nothing to do with how much money I

1447
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:10,760
make. It never has.

1448
00:52:10,970 --> 00:52:13,220
I actually have pretty low motivation for money.

1449
00:52:13,220 --> 00:52:15,230
I just want to buy as much Starbucks as I want

1450
00:52:15,230 --> 00:52:17,390
and close as many times as I want and I will

1451
00:52:17,390 --> 00:52:17,960
be happy.

1452
00:52:19,460 --> 00:52:20,510
And so,

1453
00:52:20,570 --> 00:52:20,900
you know,

1454
00:52:21,290 --> 00:52:25,070
as long as you don't have really nailed down exactly what

1455
00:52:25,070 --> 00:52:26,570
your, why is for doing it.

1456
00:52:26,660 --> 00:52:29,360
And also you have a guilty,

1457
00:52:29,390 --> 00:52:31,160
dirty feeling when it comes to money,

1458
00:52:31,610 --> 00:52:32,360
then of course,

1459
00:52:32,360 --> 00:52:34,970
it's going to be very difficult to reach out to those

1460
00:52:34,970 --> 00:52:37,550
leads. It's going to be very difficult to learn how to

1461
00:52:37,550 --> 00:52:42,230
do the sales because it comes from those core beliefs.

1462
00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:45,920
That is where we make all of our decisions based off

1463
00:52:45,920 --> 00:52:47,120
of. Yeah.

1464
00:52:47,600 --> 00:52:48,260
Oh my gosh.

1465
00:52:48,710 --> 00:52:50,750
This has been such a good conversation.

1466
00:52:50,750 --> 00:52:55,340
And it totally went in a direction I was not expecting,

1467
00:52:56,210 --> 00:52:56,660
but it's,

1468
00:52:56,660 --> 00:52:56,990
I mean,

1469
00:52:56,990 --> 00:52:58,940
this is truly the most important,

1470
00:52:59,180 --> 00:53:03,020
the most important piece of running a business,

1471
00:53:03,440 --> 00:53:04,220
in my opinion,

1472
00:53:04,790 --> 00:53:06,230
it's the underlying,

1473
00:53:07,160 --> 00:53:12,710
the underlying denominator that is amongst all successful businesses that I

1474
00:53:12,710 --> 00:53:15,440
see. And the biggest thing that is lacking for people that

1475
00:53:15,440 --> 00:53:16,220
are struggling.

1476
00:53:16,580 --> 00:53:17,900
And, you know,

1477
00:53:18,530 --> 00:53:20,450
I just want to encourage all of you guys out there.

1478
00:53:20,450 --> 00:53:22,760
If you're maybe one of those ones that feels like it

1479
00:53:22,760 --> 00:53:26,460
is struggling a bit like you have the ability to do

1480
00:53:26,460 --> 00:53:27,210
it, but it's,

1481
00:53:27,240 --> 00:53:29,040
let's, let's just practice.

1482
00:53:29,070 --> 00:53:29,940
Let's, you know,

1483
00:53:29,940 --> 00:53:32,360
read some of the books we mentioned about and,

1484
00:53:32,360 --> 00:53:34,770
and just keep getting out there and practicing and taking that

1485
00:53:34,770 --> 00:53:36,930
action. Aaron,

1486
00:53:36,930 --> 00:53:39,840
what kind of advice would you have?

1487
00:53:39,870 --> 00:53:43,530
I'm thinking the two big takeaways for improving our business is

1488
00:53:43,530 --> 00:53:48,420
definitely creating some systems and looking at metrics and not being

1489
00:53:48,420 --> 00:53:50,760
afraid of looking at those metrics and those numbers,

1490
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:52,290
because they're going to tell you so much.

1491
00:53:52,620 --> 00:53:53,160
Do you agree,

1492
00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:54,570
or is there anything else you want to add?

1493
00:53:55,050 --> 00:53:56,760
I think we talked so much about,

1494
00:53:56,790 --> 00:53:56,970
you know,

1495
00:53:56,970 --> 00:53:58,440
your why and mindset.

1496
00:53:58,620 --> 00:53:59,580
Yep. It all,

1497
00:53:59,580 --> 00:54:00,600
it all stems from that.

1498
00:54:00,600 --> 00:54:04,560
But also I think we needed to define what we mean

1499
00:54:04,560 --> 00:54:06,300
when we say creating your systems.

1500
00:54:08,130 --> 00:54:09,150
Okay. What does that mean?

1501
00:54:09,210 --> 00:54:10,320
Right. Yep.

1502
00:54:10,350 --> 00:54:11,040
Just think of it.

1503
00:54:11,040 --> 00:54:15,750
Like I always associated to subway for some reason when,

1504
00:54:16,410 --> 00:54:19,740
when they go to plant another of the bazillion subways,

1505
00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:22,320
It's always the same,

1506
00:54:22,440 --> 00:54:23,250
same color,

1507
00:54:23,290 --> 00:54:24,750
same way to make the sandwiches.

1508
00:54:24,750 --> 00:54:26,550
Same way to do every single thing,

1509
00:54:26,670 --> 00:54:29,160
because it is all written down.

1510
00:54:30,060 --> 00:54:32,520
And when you write it down,

1511
00:54:32,520 --> 00:54:36,810
it becomes a system because then you can evaluate,

1512
00:54:36,810 --> 00:54:38,430
you can analyze it.

1513
00:54:38,430 --> 00:54:40,020
You can see how it can be better.

1514
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:42,060
It is consistent.

1515
00:54:42,090 --> 00:54:43,050
It's replicable,

1516
00:54:43,050 --> 00:54:43,980
it's teachable.

1517
00:54:44,610 --> 00:54:47,580
So whatever you're doing in your business,

1518
00:54:47,610 --> 00:54:51,000
just write it down and then you can form it into

1519
00:54:51,000 --> 00:54:51,660
a system.

1520
00:54:52,080 --> 00:54:57,360
And then also I think the consistency is really important part

1521
00:54:57,360 --> 00:54:57,810
of that.

1522
00:54:58,260 --> 00:55:02,970
And because that also improves your customer experience when it's consistent.

1523
00:55:02,970 --> 00:55:04,500
And then also if there's problems,

1524
00:55:04,500 --> 00:55:08,010
you can kind of pinpoint where they are.

1525
00:55:08,580 --> 00:55:10,710
If you're doing it differently every single time,

1526
00:55:10,920 --> 00:55:11,750
then you know,

1527
00:55:11,870 --> 00:55:13,410
who knows where the problems are coming from.

1528
00:55:13,890 --> 00:55:15,690
Right? And then the metrics,

1529
00:55:17,070 --> 00:55:20,070
just, if you have automation,

1530
00:55:20,070 --> 00:55:21,060
if you have a CRM,

1531
00:55:21,060 --> 00:55:25,650
you should be able to enter in people's information.

1532
00:55:25,680 --> 00:55:28,560
Every single time that you meet a new person,

1533
00:55:28,590 --> 00:55:29,580
get a new phone call,

1534
00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:30,630
get a new email,

1535
00:55:30,900 --> 00:55:33,450
whatever that incoming lead is,

1536
00:55:33,690 --> 00:55:34,500
put them in there.

1537
00:55:34,500 --> 00:55:36,720
And then you should be able to generate a report that

1538
00:55:36,720 --> 00:55:40,050
tells you how many new contacts you created in a certain

1539
00:55:40,050 --> 00:55:40,890
period of time.

1540
00:55:41,280 --> 00:55:44,490
And so all you have to really do is just enter

1541
00:55:44,490 --> 00:55:46,380
in people's information when you get it.

1542
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:50,040
And then that's your first metric that you can measure.

1543
00:55:50,850 --> 00:55:52,830
And I think that's a really good first step.

1544
00:55:53,810 --> 00:55:54,750
And then measuring,

1545
00:55:54,750 --> 00:55:58,770
how many of those people you close or how many of

1546
00:55:58,770 --> 00:56:02,040
those people schedule a portrait is another way to say that.

1547
00:56:02,040 --> 00:56:02,640
And then,

1548
00:56:02,730 --> 00:56:03,000
you know,

1549
00:56:03,000 --> 00:56:06,270
and then write down your system for the moment that you

1550
00:56:06,270 --> 00:56:07,710
talk to a new person,

1551
00:56:07,860 --> 00:56:10,080
to the moment that they actually schedule.

1552
00:56:10,500 --> 00:56:14,610
And then once you measure that closing ratio and you've written

1553
00:56:14,610 --> 00:56:15,480
down the system,

1554
00:56:15,780 --> 00:56:18,810
now you can really start to improve that area.

1555
00:56:19,570 --> 00:56:21,400
Yeah. One thing too,

1556
00:56:21,400 --> 00:56:23,020
that I think a lot of people drop the ball as

1557
00:56:23,080 --> 00:56:26,440
follow-up that someone reached out to them and then maybe they,

1558
00:56:26,440 --> 00:56:26,620
you know,

1559
00:56:26,620 --> 00:56:29,650
they get back to them and maybe they follow up once,

1560
00:56:30,460 --> 00:56:31,900
but then they just kind of like,

1561
00:56:31,930 --> 00:56:32,710
let the,

1562
00:56:33,160 --> 00:56:34,360
let this person just kind of like,

1563
00:56:34,390 --> 00:56:37,360
oh, just assume they're not interested because they haven't gotten back.

1564
00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:39,280
Do you guys have a process?

1565
00:56:39,280 --> 00:56:39,820
Do you?

1566
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:43,180
I like to follow up until I hear that.

1567
00:56:43,180 --> 00:56:46,120
No. And I always kind of follow up after a while.

1568
00:56:46,120 --> 00:56:47,590
Like if it's been like three times,

1569
00:56:47,950 --> 00:56:49,660
I will even follow up with a,

1570
00:56:49,690 --> 00:56:50,020
you know,

1571
00:56:50,020 --> 00:56:51,010
a little bit in there of,

1572
00:56:51,040 --> 00:56:52,960
Hey, just wanted to check in with you and like kind

1573
00:56:52,960 --> 00:56:53,650
of give them an out,

1574
00:56:53,650 --> 00:56:54,880
like if this isn't the right fit,

1575
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:55,510
just let me know.

1576
00:56:55,510 --> 00:56:55,900
And I,

1577
00:56:55,960 --> 00:56:56,320
you know,

1578
00:56:57,700 --> 00:56:59,050
basically I won't follow up with you again,

1579
00:56:59,470 --> 00:57:04,180
but I I've gotten so many of my clients on that

1580
00:57:04,210 --> 00:57:07,120
second or third follow-up because they're busy.

1581
00:57:07,120 --> 00:57:08,140
Like you said before,

1582
00:57:08,140 --> 00:57:10,150
it's like that massage therapist calling me,

1583
00:57:10,640 --> 00:57:13,210
I'm waiting for my phone to ring massage therapist,

1584
00:57:15,370 --> 00:57:15,850
but you know,

1585
00:57:15,850 --> 00:57:17,650
they, they're just busy and then they find like,

1586
00:57:17,650 --> 00:57:19,210
yes, I've been meaning to call you.

1587
00:57:19,240 --> 00:57:20,710
Thank you for calling me back.

1588
00:57:21,280 --> 00:57:22,420
So Yes.

1589
00:57:22,450 --> 00:57:24,700
And I actually have a class.

1590
00:57:24,700 --> 00:57:25,450
It's a webinar.

1591
00:57:25,480 --> 00:57:26,710
It's up your follow-up.

1592
00:57:27,340 --> 00:57:29,710
And it is specifically about this,

1593
00:57:30,010 --> 00:57:33,790
about automating your follow-up system in order to close more.

1594
00:57:33,790 --> 00:57:37,780
Because if you are trying to get 10 or 12 portraits

1595
00:57:37,780 --> 00:57:38,290
a month,

1596
00:57:38,740 --> 00:57:41,050
and you're only you're closing 10%,

1597
00:57:41,500 --> 00:57:43,780
right? That means you have to be coming in contact with

1598
00:57:43,780 --> 00:57:45,280
a hundred different people.

1599
00:57:45,850 --> 00:57:49,090
And if all of that followup is in your head or

1600
00:57:49,090 --> 00:57:50,530
post it notes on your desk,

1601
00:57:50,890 --> 00:57:53,110
it's just not going to be done as well as it

1602
00:57:53,110 --> 00:57:53,920
could be.

1603
00:57:54,220 --> 00:57:58,990
If you relied on automation more to do it and automation

1604
00:57:59,140 --> 00:58:00,040
in your CRM,

1605
00:58:00,040 --> 00:58:01,120
it takes time.

1606
00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:02,020
It's hard,

1607
00:58:02,320 --> 00:58:03,250
it's complicated.

1608
00:58:03,250 --> 00:58:04,270
You have to learn it.

1609
00:58:04,750 --> 00:58:07,000
But it's what we actually,

1610
00:58:07,030 --> 00:58:10,150
what I think of is an activity that gives you time

1611
00:58:10,150 --> 00:58:13,900
back because you invest that time in order to set it

1612
00:58:13,900 --> 00:58:15,850
up, but then it's going to save you time and it's

1613
00:58:15,850 --> 00:58:18,460
going to make you more money because you'll close more of

1614
00:58:18,460 --> 00:58:19,240
those leads.

1615
00:58:19,570 --> 00:58:25,210
And then there's also companies that outsource that work.

1616
00:58:25,510 --> 00:58:26,740
You can go to Upwork.

1617
00:58:26,770 --> 00:58:27,250
You can,

1618
00:58:28,990 --> 00:58:30,040
you know what those other ones are.

1619
00:58:30,310 --> 00:58:31,970
Yeah, yeah.

1620
00:58:32,170 --> 00:58:33,190
Fiverr, I'm glad you said it.

1621
00:58:33,190 --> 00:58:36,220
Cause I usually pronounce it wrong fervor.

1622
00:58:36,220 --> 00:58:37,210
I don't know why I pulled that,

1623
00:58:38,620 --> 00:58:39,790
but you can outsource that.

1624
00:58:39,790 --> 00:58:42,430
Have somebody set it up for you and then,

1625
00:58:42,430 --> 00:58:42,640
you know,

1626
00:58:42,640 --> 00:58:43,540
it's one and done.

1627
00:58:43,720 --> 00:58:45,580
And then all you have to do is kind of tweak

1628
00:58:45,580 --> 00:58:48,280
it. You can change things here or there sometimes,

1629
00:58:49,210 --> 00:58:52,090
but automating your follow-up process,

1630
00:58:52,450 --> 00:58:54,280
I think is one of the key things that people can

1631
00:58:54,280 --> 00:58:55,990
do to increase their closing ratio.

1632
00:58:56,470 --> 00:58:58,390
Yeah. I love it.

1633
00:58:58,480 --> 00:58:58,870
I love it.

1634
00:58:58,900 --> 00:58:59,110
All right.

1635
00:58:59,110 --> 00:59:00,460
You guys have some homework out there,

1636
00:59:01,660 --> 00:59:04,180
Erin. Thank you so much for this conversation.

1637
00:59:04,720 --> 00:59:07,990
I really enjoyed chatting business and going down all these rabbit

1638
00:59:07,990 --> 00:59:10,210
holes with you and I know our people did as well.

1639
00:59:10,240 --> 00:59:13,330
Can you let them know where they can find you out

1640
00:59:13,330 --> 00:59:14,350
there on the interwebs?

1641
00:59:15,070 --> 00:59:17,020
Yes, they can go to my website.

1642
00:59:17,020 --> 00:59:19,120
It's Bonia pet studio.com.

1643
00:59:19,120 --> 00:59:21,680
And it's B O N I L L a two.

1644
00:59:21,680 --> 00:59:27,920
L's like case the DIA<inaudible> and the tab in the menu

1645
00:59:27,920 --> 00:59:28,280
there for,

1646
00:59:28,280 --> 00:59:29,480
for photographers.

1647
00:59:29,540 --> 00:59:33,740
And they'll also see my up your follow-up courses in that

1648
00:59:33,740 --> 00:59:34,400
tab as well.

1649
00:59:34,910 --> 00:59:35,870
Nice. Awesome.

1650
00:59:35,930 --> 00:59:38,930
Do you guys go check it out and let Erin know

1651
00:59:38,930 --> 00:59:43,460
if you enjoyed this wonderful conversation with her and thanks again

1652
00:59:43,460 --> 00:59:45,470
for being with us and I'll see you next week.

1653
00:59:45,860 --> 00:59:46,370
Bye everybody.

1654
00:59:46,970 --> 00:59:47,990
Thanks. Of course.

1655
00:59:47,990 --> 00:59:48,890
Thanks Aaron for being here.

1656
00:59:49,310 --> 00:59:51,410
Thanks for listening to the hair of the dog podcast.

1657
00:59:51,440 --> 00:59:53,840
This was episode number 1 47.

1658
00:59:53,840 --> 00:59:55,640
If you want to check out the show notes for access

1659
00:59:55,640 --> 00:59:57,710
to any of the resources that we mentioned,

1660
00:59:57,710 --> 01:00:02,600
simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/

1661
01:00:04,010 --> 01:00:04,970
1 4 7.

1662
01:00:04,970 --> 01:00:08,390
Thanks for listening to this episode of hair of the dog

1663
01:00:08,390 --> 01:00:09,380
podcast. If you enjoyed this show,

1664
01:00:09,470 --> 01:00:11,180
please take a minute to leave a review.

1665
01:00:11,390 --> 01:00:12,290
And while you're there,

1666
01:00:12,440 --> 01:00:13,790
don't forget to subscribe.

1667
01:00:13,850 --> 01:00:16,040
So you don't miss our upcoming episodes.

1668
01:00:16,580 --> 01:00:17,300
One last thing,

1669
01:00:17,690 --> 01:00:20,360
if you are ready to dive into more resources,

1670
01:00:20,660 --> 01:00:26,030
head over to our [email protected].

1671
01:00:26,360 --> 01:00:29,570
Thanks for being a part of this pet photography community.