Finding Creative Success

This episode is about stretching yourself too thin and the next step in my life and what that means for Finding Creative Success.

John DeMato is a lifestyle portrait photographer and image content creator who works with high-level entrepreneurs and thought leaders of various industries to produce high-quality, highly-captionable images that present informational, entertaining and inspiring aspects of their brand to their followers. More than just a photographer, John sets his clients up for success beyond the portrait session by coaching them on how to best leverage their image content for their websites, social channels, blogs, publications, advertisements and various other needs. A former television producer, John has over 17 years of production experience, and has been featured as a portrait photographer expert on several NBC Universal daytime talk and reality shows.

Heather is a self taught and self motivated fine art portrait and wedding photographer. She started a clothing line called Photog Life two years ago which lead her into mentoring photographers that were just starting out or just stuck. She had a rough road getting to where she is today and she found that there was so much competition and not many photographers that were willing to mentor or help and she realized how much she loves it!

Joel Olivo is the founder of Joco Media, a boutique production company in NYC, that focuses on web content for brands and entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur, speaker and author Pia Silva is a partner and brand strategist at Worstofall Design where they build “Badass Brands without the BS” for 1-3 person service businesses in 1-3 day intensives. She is also a Forbes contributor and author of Badass Your Brand: The Impatient Entrepreneur’s Guide to Turning Expertise into Profit.

All brands need a story to drive what makes them unique. Aside from selling on just yourself and selling on your USP, you need to have a story that helps you connect with your ideal client so that when they read your copy or see your Facebook post, they connect directly with you!

It's a new year and it's the perfect time to get your business on track! Start your year off in the best way possible by taking these 3 action steps to produce more income this year!

Get that work life balance in check. If there was ever a time to take a break then it is on Christmas!

Roxy is a Wedding Photographer with a career of 20 years now! Lover of strong coffee, her kids, her rescue dogs, and all things photography. She is featured on OffbeatBride with the headline (Why it's impossible for this Charleston wedding photographer to take a bad photo)

It is SO important to define your niche so you know what to focus in on and so you can define what your Unique Selling Point will be. Without a Niche there are too many directions that you focus will be pulled and it will be more difficult to find a unique way to represent yourself.

Sam is a photographer who shoots only weddings. He has been published in multiple publications, teaches and speaks often at his own and other workshops Sam has been Featured in: Southern Weddings Magazine Style Me Pretty Weddings Unveiled The Washington Post The Bride's Cafe Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Green Wedding Shoes The Knot Wedding Chicks Completely Unveiled OnceWed Borrowed and Blue

Jenna is a wedding and portrait photographer based in Hawaii. She considers herself an international photographer having started her business in 2009 when she lived in South Korea. She brought her business to America and now shoots upwards of 40 weddings per year throughout the islands of Hawaii. Jenna was named one of 2014's best wedding photographers by Denim and Grace, has a Fearless award, and has been featured on countless publications such as Style Me Pretty, Junebug Weddings and more. In 2017 Jenna hosted, organized and spoke at The HI On Life Photography Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Ted & Rachel Linczak, M. Photog.Cr., are the owners and photographers of Linczak Photography and Nuvo Images. After starting their business in 2006, they quickly became one of the most sought after photography studios in Northeast Ohio, and in 2012 expanded their market reach with the Nuvo Images brand in Charleston, SC. Ted’s style is glamorous and combines high fashion photography with photojournalism to display relationships and connections between his subjects. His instincts lead him off the beaten path as he continuously challenges himself to not only stay current in the field of wedding photography but also create new trends and set new precedents. His goal in education is to teach photographers the fundamentals of beautiful posing, lighting, and capturing the decisive moment. Ted won the overall Grand Imaging Award from PPA in 2016 for his album 1863, which also was awarded the Gold Medallion Award by the American Society of Photographers. Ted received the 1st Place Grand Imaging Award in the Event Album category for one of his wedding albums at the 2017GIAs,and has placed in the top 3 for the category in both 2015 and 2014 (3rd and 2nd respectively), and in the top ten for 2015. Ted was named Photographer of the Year for 2017 in Ohio, and also carried the same title in both Ohio and South Carolina in 2015. The PPSC has awarded Ted the top wedding album award in both 2015 and 2016. Ted has won the 1st place award in the Wedding Album category in the SEPPA Print Competition in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016, and one the 1st place award in the Non-Event Album Category for 2017. In February of 2016, Ted was awarded the Canon Par Excellence Award at the SEPPA Print Competition. Ted has placed in the top 3 in the non-event album category at the WPPI Print Competition for both 2014 and 2015 (3rd and 2nd respectively).

In this episode I want to talk about a problem that many people have but will most will deny having. I know because I denied having it for the longest time and this fear of success is worse than most problems because it spawns other issues like procrastination and stress that could have been avoided.

Ever been on hold with a company and the recording says “Thank you for waiting, your call is very important to us.” and think to yourself “well if my call is so important, why is it taking so long to answer?” That’s an example of bad customer service. How do you deal with a customer who wants a refund? ($20 deposit story) Refund… Book “Shut up and Sell More Weddings and Events” by Alan Berg (referred by Max Sadik) have you ever shot a wedding and during the reception or right before you leave the couple tells you what an amazing job you have done and they haven’t even seen a picture that you have taken? They aren’t impressed with your pictures, they are impressed with you. A great experience will have people praising you even if your work isn’t as good as some of today’s top photographers. They will love your business for the experience. A bad experience with amazing pictures will lead to a bad bottom line. Treat all of your customers like they are the light at the end of the tunnel and you want them to be ecstatic with your work AND service! Bridezillas aren’t born, they are created. Conversation with Nathan Hill. Most of the time it’s the vendors fault that the bridezilla is that way.

This topic is so important I am acting on it with this episode! Know your audience!!

Don't waste your time perfecting things that push back your overall success. Launch, then learn as you go!

I have had my fair share of time wasting tasks that I have deemed “necessary” because I didn’t know better. Many of these time wasters are what I call “black holes of opportunity” because the possibilities are endless but they are also tasks that I shouldn’t be concerned about mastering. Focusing on the correct things and executing them better each time compounds into success. Whenever you try to make things to complicated they often end up being a weaker product and don’t accurately represent the effort that you put into them. Don’t let the execution of a task ruin the amount of effort you put into it!

Melissa Jill is an internationally recognized Phoenix-based wedding photographer who has been shooting weddings for 14 years. She photographs 10-15 high-end weddings a year and also has 6 associate photographers who shoot weddings under her brand at lower price points. Over the years, she has developed an extensive database of free information for photographers on her blog. She also mentors photographers one-on-one. She started an album design company called Align Album Design years ago that helps photographers world-wide streamline their album workflow. She is passionate about business, has worked hard to maximize the efficiency and profitability of her studio, and loves helping other photographers do the same.

Janet E Johnson started her online career selling products on eBay in 1998. Her company website is www.JanetEJohnson.com. She runs an agency and has online courses in the areas of strategy and content, Facebook marketing and advertising, Pinterest marketing and video marketing. In her career, she has worked with both large brands and smaller businesses. Her success in social media and background in education helped her launch her 2-year old podcast, Business Growth Time, which was recently featured as one of the Top 25 Social Media Podcasts by Report Garden. Janet is the creator of the online social media training course, Social Strategies 101, hosts the Business Growth Time podcast, and has been featured on Social Media Today, CNN, Entrepreneur, Smartbrief, Inbound.org, and National Institute of Social Media.