#635: Freedom Through Associates - Jill Smith

Join Bokeh Podcast host Nathan Holritz for the last episode of the show, as he shares the most important lessons from the podcast over the last 7 years! Many thanks to all of our listeners for being part of the Bokeh Podcast community, and to all the guests for giving their time and wisdom over so many episodes! 🤗 Show Notes Highlighting the intentions and accomplishments of the Bokeh Podcast over the last 7+ years (0:40) Why this is the last episode of the Bokeh Podcast (7:25) Reviewing the most important principles from The Bokeh Podcast over the last 7+ years (9:25) Choice and Belief (11:28) Finding Ourselves (18:58) Big Picture View (24:27) Proactive vs Reactive (34:20) From Shawn Lee: Look for opportunities to serve and add value (47:51) Will Bokeh Podcast content live on? (53:29) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by Photographer's Edit - https://www.photographersedit.com Nathan's website - https://www.nathanholritz.com Nathan's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nathanholritz Learn about Cheezoo - https://www.cheezoo.com/photography-industry ReAwaken the Giant Within, Tony Robbins - https://core.tonyrobbins.com/atgw-ebook Bokeh Episode 464 with Shawn Lee - https://www.photographersedit.com/bokeh-podcast/episodes/developing-a-brand-that-makes-a-difference

Interested in using your photography skills in the beautiful outdoors? Join photographer Roo Smith - who has photographed for brands like Patagonia, North Face, and Outside Magazine - to learn how to break into the adventure photography genre, and build a successful business! Show Notes: Introduction of Roo (0:49) The important principles that enables Roo to manage your time effectively in order to maximize freedom and flexibility as an entrepreneur (2:04) The 2 elements of the adventure photography genre that make it Roo's favorite (14:19) 3 common misconceptions about adventure photography, or building an adventure photo business (27:25) The 5 most important principles that will enable a photographer to build a successful adventure photography brand (36:57) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by Photographer's Edit - https://www.photographersedit.com Roo's website - https://www.roosmith.com Roo's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/roosmith6

Most of us know we should be using video content to promote our photography business, but how do you go about creating a compelling video that will grab the attention of potential clients and draw them in? Join us for a conversation with videographer Alexandros Tzorouchof to learn how! Show Notes Introduction of Alex (1:01) Important principles that enable Alex to manage his time effectively in order to maximize freedom and flexibility as an entrepreneur (3:01) Alex's favorite gear for filming reels? (10:23) 4 key ideas to keep in mind if you're going to film your promotional reels with your phone (instead of dslr or mirrorless cameras) (16:45) 7 important principles that enable a photographer to create a compelling reel for the purpose of promoting their photography business (37:18) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by Photographer's Edit - https://www.photographersedit.com Alex's website - https://www.chromaodyssey.com Alex's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/chroma_odyssey_films

Any established photographer knows what it's like to get bogged down during the busy season, barely keeping up with the work that needs to be done. Free time? Time to travel? Time to hang out with friends and family? Is that even a thing during those busy months?! Photographer McKenzie Bigliazzi is here to share with us how she runs her business AND has time to do more than just work. Make sure to listen in to find out how you can get your life back as a photography business owner - and not just during busy season! Show Notes Introducing McKenzie (0:59) How long did it take McKenzie to realize that life wasn't all about running her business? That having freedom and flexibility as a business owner needed to be more of a priority? (6:50) Does organization and structure to create freedom come naturally for McKenzie? (10:36) What does an average day or week look like for McKenzie? (16:45) How did McKenzie develop a business model that would enable more freedom and flexibility as a photography business owner? (21:40) How McKenzie chose Dubsado as her CRM (33:14) Three ways that McKenzie uses Dubsado to streamline her business workflows for the sake of more freedom in her daily life (34:38) The importance of simplicity in choosing tools to server our customers (44:10) Three ways that McKenzie uses Cloudspot to streamline her business workflows for the sake of more freedom in her daily life (46:38) How does McKenzie make herself accessible to clients - without getting overwhelmed with the communication process? (50:27) What has enabled McKenzie to give up her editing to Photographer's Edit so that her work week isn't taken up with editing? (53:09) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com McKenzie's website - https://mckenziebigliazzi.com McKenzie's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mckenzie_bigliazzi Dubsado's website - https://www.dubsado.com Cloudspot's website - https://www.cloudspot.io Photographer's Edit's website - https://www.photographersedit.com McKenzie's Discount Codes - Dubsado: 20% off their first month or year using code: mckenziebigliazzi Cloudspot: 20% Off https://cloudspot.io/?af2=_VbFWkDxBdPu Photographer's Edit, 50% off your first order: oes.photographersedit.com/mckenziebigliazzi or code: mckenziebigliazzi at checkout

Putting ourselves out there as introverts in an effort to build a personal photography brand can feel a bit overwhelming! How can we step beyond that discomfort and build the business that we want? Join us for a conversation with photographer Caitlin Wilcox to learn how! Show Notes Introduction of Caitlin (1:00) What important principle enables Caitlin to manage your time effectively in order to maximize freedom and flexibility as an entrepreneur (2:57) Caitlin's definition of "introversion" (9:38) What Caitlin feels is behind her introversion (10:59) What Caitlin has felt was most challenging about marketing her business as an introvert (20:47) Four specific ways that introverted photographers can step beyond the label and still put themselves out there on social media, on their website, during in-person meetings, or when photographing sessions or events for the sake of their brand (23:42) Three specific ways that photographers can promote their business that feels more comfortable in light of being an introvert (37:09) The education Caitlin offers to photographers (53:23) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com Caitlin’s website – https://www.caitlinwilcoxphotography.com Caitlin’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/caitlinwilcoxphotography FREEBIE – Five Personal Content Ideas for When Your Social Battery is Low - https://caitlinwilcoxphotography.com/personal-content-freebie FREEBIE – Five Questions to Ask on Your Next Inquiry Call - http://caitlinwilcoxphotography.com/bookmore

It's easy for someone to create a motivational post on social media telling you to "go chase your dreams", but how do you actually do that on a tangible, practical level? Join us for a conversation with photographer Amelia Soegijono to learn how! Show Notes Introduction of our guest, Amelia (0:47) What important principle enables Amelia to manage your time effectively in order to maximize freedom and flexibility as an entrepreneur? (2:37) How does Amelia define a dream? (16:14) The backstory behind Amelia's dream (24:56) How Amelia learned to dream practically (33:30) What can photographers do to take the first step to chasing their dream? (36:45) Now that photographers have taken that first step toward their dream, what steps do they need to take to follow through and actually make the dream a reality? (44:20) Information about Amelia's photography workshop (62:15) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com Amelia's website - https://www.ameliasoegijono.com Amelia's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ameliasoegijono Amelia's photography workshop - https://www.ameliasoegijono.com/workshops

If you could implement a new strategy in your business that would help you increase revenue AND bring more freedom to your life as a business owner, you'd go for it, right?! Building an associate photographer team can bring both of these benefits, but there are some innate challenges to the process. Photographer Jill Smith is on The Bokeh Podcast to help us overcome those challenges so we can build our business and have more independence from that same business! Make sure to listen in! Show Notes Introduction of our guest, Jill Smith (1:15) Jill's tip for creating a photography business that encourages freedom and flexibility (2:35) Three ways an associate photographer team can translate to business growth (12:56) How to establish baseline, standard operating procedures for your business before you build a team (19:04) Three ways an associate team can mean more freedom and flexibility in our lives as photography biz owners (27:37) Three ways that photographers can minimize overwhelm in the process of building and running an associate team (30:49) Three ways that photographers can more effectively communicate - and thus delegate - in order to have a positive experience with an associate photographer team (53:51) Additional education that Jill offers for those that want to build an associate photographer team for their family photography businesses (63:45) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by photographersedit.com Jill's website - jillcsmithphotography.com Jill's Instagram - instagram.com/jillcsmithphotography Jill's associate photography team course (for family photographers) - jillcsmithphotography.com/roadmap FREEBIE! An intro to associate photography team building - jillcsmithphotography.com/scale

It's a busy marketplace with LOTS of photographers. You may be friends with those photographers, but you still have to stand out amongst those photographers to capture the attention of your potential clients! In this episode, host Nathan Holritz helps super-talented senior portrait photographer Clark Sanders explore how to best position his brand and business in his local marketplace in order to more effectively grab the attention of potential clients that come across his website and social media! Show Notes Introducing Clark Sanders (1:51) Definition of Brand Position (3:38) The significance of Brand Position (6:26) The reasons Clark got into photography (8:10) The reason for asking Clark questions about his business when considering Brand Position (12:15) The markets Clark is currently working in (13:30) Why Brand Position matters when most of your business already comes from word of mouth (15:34) What genre or type of photography Clark specializes in (17:50) What is unique about Clark's senior photography in his marketplace (22:45)What are Clark's clients' pain points? (27:03) What kind of help does Clark need with his Brand Position? (33:38)The value of sharing prices on our websites (37:04) 4 ways to establish a distinct Brand Position (40:03) The importance of a Big Picture View in establishing a Brand Position (45:17) The importance of market research for establishing a Brand Position (46:32) Observations of what other photographers' brand positions are in the marketplace Clark is serving (49:44) Initial suggestions of Brand Position statements for Clarks' business after observing his competition (62:29) The importance of sharing the Brand Position statement prominently on your website (68:14) The significance of matching the client experience and images to the Brand Position statement (70:27) SEO tips as a Brand Position statement is implemented on a website (73:00) Links clarksandersphotography.com instagram.com/clarksanders

Here on The Bokeh Podcast, we've emphasized the importance of niching down when building a photography business for the sake of growing more easily. But is that always the best way to go? Listen in to this conversation with photographer Simon Yau for a different perspective on generalizing versus specializing! Show Notes Introduction of our new guest, Simon Yau (1:00) The importance of focusing on adding value to your client, versus talking about yourself so much on your website (3:02) Simon's recommendation for maintaining freedom and flexibility as a photography business owner (7:23) The most important lesson Simon has learned so far as a photography business owner (12:19) What led Simon to start his sports photography business (17:21) Potential misconceptions of sports photography by others in the photography industry (20:13) The three most important elements of good sports photography (22:07) How to begin thinking about pricing for sports photography (25:50) Why Simon added an additional brand and genre of photography to his work as a photographer (30:47) The challenges of juggling multiple photography brands (36:23) The benefits of running multiple photography brands in different genres (38:15) Simon's suggestions for how to best juggle multiple photography brands (39:34) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com Simon's Websites - https://www.syausportography.co.uk/ https://www.bysimonyau.co.uk/ Simon's Instagrams - https://www.instagram.com/syau.sportography https://www.instagram.com/bysimonyau

While many SEO specialists may focus on the importance of keywords and backlinks, photographer and SEO consultant Cody McCracken thinks there's a lot of value in two other principles for improving SEO! Listen in to this episode to learn more! Show Notes Plans for the Bokeh Podcast in the near future (0:22) Introduction of our guest, Cody McCracken (1:47) Cody's tip for creating a photography business that encourages freedom and flexibility (3:14) Cody's tips for improving keyword density and backlinks for the sake of improving SEO (12:23) Cody explains how user experience is tied to SEO (17:59) Cody's three recommendations for improving user experience on your photography website (19:51) Cody's definition of "topical content" (28:57) How to come up with topical content relevant to your target audience (33:07) Cody's three recommendations for adding and improving topical content on your photography website or blog (35:05) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com Cody's Website - https://www.onefocusphotos.com Cody's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/onefocusphotos (make sure to DM him to set up an SEO consult!) Episode 455, Brand Position Consultation with Cody McCracken - https://www.photographersedit.com/bokeh-podcast/episodes/brand-position-cody-mccracken/ Ubersuggest - https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/ AnswerThePublic - https://answerthepublic.com/