Gary Vaynerchuk and I gave a co-keynote in NYC at Photo Plus Expo. My background is as a creator turned entrepreneur, and Gary’s a born entrepreneur and then realized that creativity was how he was going to take his business to the next level. Unsurprisingly, we both ended up in roughly the same space.
Instead of delivering a keynote that showed my own pictures or videos or stories like I’ve done at Photo Plus in the past, we decided to co-host a Q&A and answer 3 audience members’ biggest current struggles. I’ve been getting a ton of great feedback on the Q&A style keynotes I’ve been doing, so I’m pumped to share another one with you.
In today’s episode,
- Jason has a growing portrait business in Chicago, but seems to have plateaued on the money that he’s able to make using his current strategies. We let him leave the stage only after offering a new blueprint for how to set his prices to make the kind of money he dreams of.
- Niki has been hustling like crazy shooting volume to grow her brand, but now she’s getting antsy not making money even though she’s so busy. She seemed to know all the answers before asking, but needed to hear from us. Patience and the power of intention will take you as far as you want to go if you’re willing to stay in the game long enough.
- Richard has been grinding at his podcast for 11 years, trying to make enough money to support his craft. We find that with all the experience that he has, he’s certainly got options, but hasn’t gotten creative enough about his strategy.
Enjoy!
I want every person on the edge of saying no, but say yes because you’re worth it.
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Listen to the Podcast
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
- Why you need to master your craft first, but realize there’s more to just craft if you want to be successful. [4:30]
- Why you need to look outside of your industry for inspiration. [5:45]
- Why following the market will get you farther than chasing arbitrary awards. [8:39]
- What happens when you become part of the 1% who actually uses the free information that’s out there, instead of just consuming it. [11:04]
- Why you need to be in the yes business. Download all the new apps, learn the market, try it all. Don’t be fancy with your time. [12:08]
- We bring up Jason McCoy from Chicago, who’s got plenty of business coming in the door, but is tired of trading his time for money. [15:00]
- A blueprint for setting your prices. [17:25]
- How to weed out clients who aren’t right for you. [19:30]
- Why you shouldn’t charge all your clients the same rate. [20:05]
- What attention arbitrage is and how to use it to your advantage. [22:00]
- Why you’ve got to get yourself out of the middle of your industry. Be different. [25:16]
- How to take your passion and turn it into your dream job by focusing in on a super specific niche. [27:19]
- We bring up Niki who is a yoga portrait photographer from New Jersey and try to figure out how to turn her free clients to paid ones. [30:40]
- The power of being intentional. [36:48]
- You’ve got to be patient. [39:32]
- We welcome Richard to the stage, who’s been podcasting for 11 years but hasn’t made a dime. [43:06]
- If you’re struggling to make money with your passion, think about hiring a business partner who focuses on the business while you focus on the art. [44:27]
- If you’re stuck, check your state, your story, and your strategy. [49:26]
- What Gary thinks when he sees blue jays. [51:00]
- If you expect to make over $100k per year from your side hustle, Gary considers you “greedy as fuck”. [52:50]
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