Photography Breakthrough System

Matthew Jordan Smith
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Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the place where burnt out photographers come back to life. Where fear gets replaced with confidence and where your gift finally starts working for you, not against you.

  1. 6D AGO

    Episode 40 - Your Biggest Challenge Today

    Three-Day Client Conversion Challenge Overview Speaker 2: This is the week that changes everything. Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Speaker 2: This is the week that changes everything.... Speaker: A week where you can grow beyond your wildest dreams. Change from struggling to thriving. Speaker: But to do that, you're going to have to make a choice. Speaker: And this is your challenge to join me this week Speaker: for the beginning Speaker: of the three-part client conversion challenge. Speaker: So why challenge? Speaker: You already know it's a challenge trying to make a living as a photographer every single day. You know the challenges. Speaker: So what's blocking you from getting bookings? It's not your talent, and you know that. Speaker: You've done everything you're supposed to do, posting consistently, Speaker: running discounts, mini sessions, attracting the wrong clients. Speaker: Maybe you've even had potential clients reach out, get excited, and then disappear. You've also watched other photographers who are less talented than you. Stay booked while you wonder what in the world is missing. Speaker: And the worst part, you're starting to wonder if this was meant for you. Speaker: So let me tell you about this challenge, this three-day client conversion challenge. It is live this week, starting on Tuesday. Speaker: This challenge is gonna show you exactly why your photography business isn't attracting consistent clients, . And give you a clear path to change that. Speaker: This isn't some challenge full of vague tips. Speaker 3: This is a three-day journey. On day one, we dive in to figuring out why so many talented photographers are struggling. Speaker: And why working harder isn't leading to more work. More clients. Speaker: Why referrals feel random? Speaker: And that hidden gap that most photographers overlook in their business. This could be one of the biggest problems you're having. And day two, we're going to go deeper. Why do clients hesitate? You know what that is. They're excited when they Speaker: first see your work, they inquire about your work, and then you hear nothing. Speaker: They hesitate and they disappear. They ghost you. I know many photographers are struggling about raising their rates. Speaker: I'll give you a tip. It has nothing to do with courage. Speaker: We'll go into that invisible gap that makes clients feel unsure about booking you. Speaker: And we'll go deep into why chasing clients doesn't work. You already know what this is like because you're doing that. What are your results? Join me in the challenge and let's figure this all out. In day three, we go much deeper. Speaker: You see there's a mindset that a lot of photographers have and it's keeping them stuck in a feast or famine cycle. You wanna learn how to position yourself so clients choose you Speaker: without price shopping. And we'll dive into specific language shifts that make everything change for you. Speaker: This is a three-day challenge. Speaker 4: But the biggest challenge is for you to take action right now for yourself. Speaker: In the show notes, you'll find the link where you can register, put you in your calendar, and show up. It's three days, Tuesday, Thursday, and then the following Tuesday. Speaker: There is no need to make excuses. Speaker: When it comes to your life, to your growth, Speaker: no excuse will do. Speaker: If you put this off, you're saying to yourself you're fine staying where you are. Speaker: But for those of you who want to really grow, Speaker: change your life in photography. This is your challenge right now. Speaker: Go to the link. You'll find it in the show notes, or you'll find it on my Instagram bio, under Matthew Jordan Smith. Go to the link, sign up, then show up. Speaker: As soon as you sign up, you'll have the opportunity to download your workbook. Speaker 5: Don't fill out your workbook yet. We'll do that together in day one, day two, and day three. There's also a Facebook page dedicated just for this challenge. So make sure you also join the Facebook group. The link to both the workbook and the Facebook group is in your email after you sign up. So make sure you do those two things before you join in the workshop. Speaker 5: There you can share your thoughts, share your work, ask questions and so much more. Speaker: These three days should change everything for you. Speaker: A lot of us are stuck working by ourselves. Speaker: Facing the challenge of trying to figure everything out alone. That doesn't have to be you. If you're ready, come and join me. Speaker: That's it. Speaker: Today is simple. Speaker: A simple challenge. Speaker: Challenging you to grow or stay where you are. Speaker: This is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and I look forward to seeing you this week in day one and day two of the challenge. Yes, it's a three-day challenge, but it happens Tuesday, Thursday, and then next week on the following Tuesday. Come and join me. I look forward to seeing you all very, very soon. Speaker: Let's grow together. Speaker: Until Tuesday, I look forward to seeing you in the three-part client conversion challenge. Speaker: Bye for now. SIGN UP HERE

    8 min

  2. APR 26

    Episode 39 - Why Your Photography Prices Feel Too High (And How to Finally Fix Your Pricing Confidence)

    Why Your Photography Prices Feel Too High (And How to Finally Fix Your Pricing Confidence) Speaker: Treating your pricing like a math problem is. Well, it's a lot like trying to measure the value of an unforgettable Michelin star meal. Right. By simply adding up the cost of the raw ingredients.Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. Like sitting in the back room of the kitchen with a calculator.Speaker: Exactly, yeah. You sit down, you have this incredibly transformative, culinary experience, right?Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: And then you try to justify the final bill by saying. The chicken was maybe $4. The carrots were 50 cents. And I mean, there was maybe a dime's worth of salt.Speaker 2: Right. Which completely misses the magic of the whole thing.Speaker: It totally misses the magic. 'cause you aren't paying for raw carrots. You're paying for the atmosphere, the chef's, you know, 20 years of absolute mastery and, and just the way you feel when you walk out of that restaurant.Speaker 2: Yeah. That lingering feeling.Speaker: But yet when it comes to pricing our own creative work, we are constantly just sitting in the back room. Basically counting the carrots.Speaker 2: That is such a perfect way to frame it, because that reduction to, uh, like a sterile mathematical equation, it strips away the entire context of the service,Speaker: right?Speaker 2: We tell ourselves that, okay, X hours of labor plus y dollars of equipment depreciation equals our rate, and it's just a fundamentally flawed way. To calculate valueSpeaker: because it ignores the human elementSpeaker 2: exactly. It completely ignores the psychological weight of what is actually being delivered to the client.Speaker: Which brings us to the core of today's deep dive. We are looking at a really insightful audio essay by the renowned photographer, Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker 2: Such a brilliant guy,Speaker: incredible work, and the mission today is to explore the deep psychology of pricing creative work. Specifically how to move from that rigid market-based math equation to a model that is firmly rooted in emotional value and client impact,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: But honestly, to you listening right now, I want you to consider your own physical reaction to pricing.Speaker 2: Oh, that's a good point.Speaker: Think about whether you've ever hesitated or maybe felt your chest tighten up or noticed your voice. Go just a little bit soft right before you tell someone.Speaker 2: You're right. Everyone does itSpeaker: right? Whether you are a photographer, a freelance designer, maybe a consultant, or, or just navigating a salary negotiation. Yeah. That visceral hesitation is exactly what we are dismantling today.Speaker 2: Yeah. And that hesitation is just incredibly common. And Smith points out something pretty confronting right out of the gate about why it actually happened.Speaker: Okay, cool. Is it,Speaker 2: he argues that it is not an economy problem. It's not a market saturation problem either.Speaker: Right.Speaker 2: It is entirely a self-trust problem. I mean, independent creatives often put together a quote, send it off, and immediately brace for rejection.Speaker: Oh, the ghosting situation.Speaker 2: Yes. They live in constant anticipation of that deafening silence after the rate is sent.Speaker: It is visceral, isn't it? You send the email, you stare at your inbox, and your brain immediately starts writing this narrative that like you've deeply offended them with your audacity.Speaker 2: Oh, totally. You're like, who do I think I am?Speaker: Exactly. And to avoid that awful feeling, creatives often start looking sideways.Speaker 2: Looking sideways. Yeah.Speaker: Right. They look at what their competitors are charging just to find a number that feels quote unquote safe.Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.Speaker: But wait, I have to push back a little bit on this.Speaker 2: Okay. Let's hear.Speaker: It isn't looking sideways, just, I mean, isn't that just basic market research?Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: How do you draw the line between being aware of the market and being totally controlled by the fear of it?Speaker 2: That's a really fair question, but think about your own analogy. Okay. Building your business by looking sideways is essentially like trying to wear someone else's prescription glasses.Speaker: Oh wow. Yeah.Speaker 2: You know, you are trying to look through a lens that is calibrated for their vision, their insecurities, their specific business model.Speaker 2: It's not gonna give you a clear vision of your own worth.Speaker: It just gives you a massive headache.Speaker 2: Exactly. It distorts the whole landscape.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: And the psychological ripple effect of that distorted vision is profound. When you choose a quote unquote safe competitor-based price, your intention is rooted almost entirely in the fear of not being chosen.Speaker 2: Yeah. You are preemptively shrinking yourself to fit into a space where no one can object to you,Speaker: because if you're cheap, they can't say no.Speaker 2: Right. But Smith highlights this fascinating cognitive reality. If you don't stand firmly in your pricing, the client won't stand firmly in booking you.Speaker: Wait, really? Explain that?Speaker 2: Yeah. It comes down to how the human brain assesses risk when a client senses hesitation. And that can be implicit through a price that feels defensively low; their risk-aversion heuristics just kick right in.Speaker: So they start wondering what the catch isSpeaker 2: exactly.Speaker: Like if the price is a defensive posture, it signals a complete lack of belief in the product.Speaker 2: Yes. And that lack of confidence transfers directly to the buyer. I mean, high-value clients are rarely out there looking for the absolute cheapest option.Speaker: Right. They are bargain hunting.Speaker 2: No, they are looking for the surest option. They want the psychological comfort of knowing that the professional they just hired is absolutely certain of their own capability.Speaker: That makes so much sense.Speaker 2: So by softening your tone and lowering your prices out of fear, you inadvertently train your clients to view you as a risk rather than a solution.Speaker: Man, that's heavy.Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: So the only way to step out of that fear-based race to the bottom is to recognize that, well, maybe we are totally misunderstanding the product itself.Speaker 2: They definitely are.Speaker: Right. Like if we are stuck comparing the cost of our pixels and paper to someone else's pixels and paper, we've just lost the plotSpeaker 2: completely.Speaker: And Smith introduces this massive paradigm shift here. He states really plainly. You are not selling photos,Speaker 2: which is wild for a photographer to say,Speaker: right? But if the product isn't photos, what is it?Speaker 2: Well, Smith argues that you are actually selling confidence, identity, and legacy.Speaker: Legacy.Speaker 2: Yeah. The client isn't lying awake at night thinking, you know what? I desperately need some high-resolution JPEGs on a hard drive.Speaker: No one has ever thought that in the history of the world,Speaker 2: right. The desire is emotional. They're thinking, I wanna finally feel comfortable in my own skin, or I wanna remember the specific fleeting version of my family.Speaker: It's like, okay. You know that old marketing adage,Speaker 2: the drill one?Speaker: Yeah. People don't buy a quarter inch drill, they buy a quarter inch hole.Speaker 2: Right, right.Speaker: But in this case, I feel like it goes even deeper than that. They aren't just buying the hole in the wall. They are buying the intense feeling of pride when they look at their family, perfectly framed, beautifully lit, hanging right there in their living room.Speaker 2: Yes,Speaker: they are buying a physical manifestation of their own legacy,Speaker 2: and that is exactly why the shift matters so much by moving the focus from technical specifications like, you know, shutter speed, lens choice, lighting setups,Speaker: the nerdy stuff,Speaker 2: right, the technical stuff. Moving from that to the emotional impact changes the entire cognitive framework of the pricing conversation. We are talking about price anchoring here.Speaker: Okay, unpack that for us.Speaker 2: So when a client anchors your service to a commodity, like a standard eight by 10 print, they naturally just seek the lowest price.Speaker: Sure. Paper.Speaker 2: Paper, right? But when you anchor your service to a psychological transformation, the value becomes subjective, and frankly, it becomes infinite.Speaker: Because you can't put a price tag on thatSpeaker 2: Exactly. You cannot put a standard market rate on making someone feel beautiful for the first time in a decade.Speaker: Wow. That is powerful. But you know, it's easy to assume that selling confidence is only necessary for everyday clientsSpeaker 2: like amateurs.Speaker: Yeah. People who aren't used to being photographed. We tend to think that seasoned professionals are somehow immune to that vulnerability. But Smith shares an anecdote that just completely shatters that assumption.Speaker 2: Oh, the Samuel L. Jackson story?Speaker: Yes. It proves that this emotional vulnerability goes all the way to the top.Speaker 2: It is the perfect piece of evidence for this. I mean, Jackson is a Hollywood legend,Speaker: the coolest guy on the planet,Speaker 2: right. His entire life, career and public persona are built on being in front of a camera.Speaker 2: He projects absolute confidence. Yeah. Yet Smith reveals that the very first words out of Jackson's mouth when he stepped onto the set were, and I quote, I hate taking pictures.Speaker: Wait, really? Samuel L. Jackson.Speaker 2: Samuel L. Jackson.Speaker: That is wild. A massive unflappable movie star admitting he hates the process of being photographed.Speaker 2: Yeah,Speaker: it really highlights how universal that vulnerability is.Speaker 2: It's everywhere

    15 min

  3. APR 19

    Episode 38 - Student Interview: Whispers of the Ancients

    Photographing Israels hidden diversity through warSpeaker: To make a fine art photography book you usually need, you know, a pristine studio, perfectly controlled lighting, and well, a massive budget,Speaker 2: right? Yeah. Like a whole controlled environment.Speaker: Exactly. But to create the book we're looking at today, the photographer actually needed a geopolitical evacuation plan.Speaker 2: Wait, seriously. An evacuation places.Speaker: Seriously, we are talking about five years of dodging. Burning tires. Navigating literal war zones. Oh yeah. Surviving a global pandemic on top of that.Speaker 2: Wow. I mean, that sounds less like a fine art project and more like, I don't know, a high stakes anthropological survival mission.Speaker: It really does. And honestly, looking through this incredible stack of sources you sent us for this deep dive, I. That is exactly what it was. She was photographing everyday people who didn't even realize they belonged in a museum.Speaker 2: Right. And since you brought us this fascinating material today, our mission is to really unpack this extraordinary interview transcript between the renowned photographer Matthew Jordan Smith, and his student Kaela Ellis.Speaker: Yeah, so welcome to the Deep Dive everyone. We are digging into Kala's Monumental Project, which is a, um, a 360 page photo book titled Whispers of the Ancients, A Visual Expression of Time and Culture.Speaker 2: It's just a massive undertaking.Speaker: It's huge, and right off the bat, I wanna make something very clear to you, the listener.Speaker: This is not just a collection of pretty pictures designed to sit quietly on a coffee table.Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely not.Speaker: No. This is an intense, gritty journey across. 22 different locations in Israel and it completely shatters the, you know, the geographical and cultural stereotypes most people hold about that region.Speaker: The sheer grit required to pull this off is just staggering.Speaker 2: Staggering is definitely the right word for it, but you know what really anchors this entire discussion isn't just how physically difficult it was to print a book.Speaker: Right. There's a deeper purpose here.Speaker 2: Exactly. It's about the underlying function of the art itself and why visual history is so critical.Speaker 2: C is actively preserving these cultural whispers,Speaker: whispers of the ancients, like the title says.Speaker 2: Yeah, because these are transient, incredibly fragile histories that can and honestly often do vanish entirely if someone doesn't take the time to. Physically document them and pin them to a map.Speaker: I wanna trace the momentum of this because the origin story of this massive historical document is just wild.Speaker 2: It really is. It's not your typical art world story.Speaker: Not at all. It doesn't start with a giant grant or a museum commission or anything like that. It literally starts as a homework assignment,Speaker 2: which. Crazy to think about,Speaker: right? Like how does a routine photography class snowball into a 360 page international artifact?Speaker 2: Well, it's the ultimate overachiever trajectory really. So going back to 2019, Cella was enrolled in a photography lighting course with Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker: Okay.Speaker 2: And the assignment was incredibly straightforward to shoot a portrait that reflects who you are. So she decides to photograph a friend of hers who originally hails from Benin, and she styles her as an African queen.Speaker: The execution of this single shoot is where you really start to see the genius.Speaker 2: Oh, for sure.Speaker: Because when you look at the final image, which by the way actually became the cover of the entire book, and it's printed on page three 30, you'd assume she had like a full Hollywood costume department,Speaker 2: right? It looks so opulent.Speaker: But she didn't even sew the garments. They took raw fabric, literally just wrapped it and pinned it directly onto her friend right there in the moment.Speaker 2: No sewing it all just pins.Speaker: Just pins. They added a gold turban. They captured something so deeply striking that it just demanded a bigger canvas.Speaker 2: Yeah, and the technical choices she made in that specific moment are what allowed the whole project to scale up later, a friend actually encouraged her to think bigger than a standard eight by 10 print, suggesting she create these massive wall sized pieces of art,Speaker: which is a huge leap.Speaker 2: It is. But luckily Kala shot this image on a Nikon D eight 50,Speaker: which for those who don't know, has a massive 45 megapixel sensor. But, um. For anyone who isn't a total camera nerd, why does that specific piece of hardware matter so much to this story?Speaker 2: Well, it matters because of the actual mechanics of printing.Speaker 2: If you take a standard photograph from like a typical camera or your phone and try to blow it up to the size of a museum wall, the image literally falls apart.Speaker: Right. It gets a blocky,Speaker 2: exactly.Speaker: Mm.Speaker 2: The pixel stretch, the edges blur, and it just turns into a digital mosaic. Yeah. With a massive high resolution sensor like the D 50, the camera is capturing this almost microscopic level of detail.Speaker: It's gonna holds up when it's huge.Speaker 2: Precisely correct. When you blow that image up to wall size, it doesn't blur at all. Uh, you can literally see the physical weave of the raw unowned fabric she pinned to her subject. You can see the texture of the skin. It retains all of its majesty.Speaker: So because she had that solid technical foundation, she goes to a fine art print house in Tel Aviv to blow up five of her images.Speaker: And this, I love this part. This leads to an encounter that reads like a scripted movie scene.Speaker 2: It really sounds completely made up.Speaker: It does. So she's at the print house picking up these massive framed museum grade prints. One of them is leaning against the counter. An older woman walks in, sees the print.Speaker: And is absolutely floored by, itSpeaker 2: just stops in her tracks.Speaker: Yeah. She turns to the man standing next to Cella and asks, are you photographers? And the guy just points to Cella and says, no, I'm just the driver. She's the photographer.Speaker 2: That is the pivotal moment right there, because that older woman who walked in was Roy Biari, who is a highly renowned artist.Speaker 2: Author and curator,Speaker: what are the odds?Speaker 2: I know, right? So they swap business cards. Kala looks her up later, realizes the sheer magnitude of who she just met in the art world and emails her and Roni invites her for coffee. In Tel AvivSpeaker: though, Kala actually clarifies in the interview that she only drinks tea.Speaker 2: Yes, she's very specific about that. But she goes anyway. She brings her portfolio. They sit down and they have that meeting.Speaker: And the result of that team meeting is Roni securing Kala, an outdoor exhibition in a public park, featuring 38 of her massive images,Speaker 2: 38. It's huge for a first exhibit.Speaker: It is, and it was supposed to run for three months, but the public response was so overwhelming they actually extended it to five months.Speaker 2: Wow.Speaker: But I have to stop you there because I want to challenge the framing of this whole sequence.Speaker 2: Okay. Let's hear.Speaker: It is so, so easy to look at that print house encounter and say. Wow, what a lucky break. Getting discovered at the print shop feels like the photography equivalent of, you know, getting discovered at a Hollywood di, theSpeaker 2: classic Cinderella story.Speaker: Exactly. But based on the sources you provided us, was it really just a lucky break or did Cist preparation manufacture that exact outcome?Speaker 2: I would actually argue that luck had almost nothing to do with it.Speaker: Really? None at all.Speaker 2: Well, this is just a perfect example of weaponized preparation. The curator, Roni Biari didn't just see a single good photo leaning against a counter.Speaker 2: Think about the whole sequence of events.Speaker: Okay. Layout.Speaker 2: Cilla walked into that shop having shot on a high res D eight 50, so the image could survive scaling. She had already invested the money in museum grade paper, which is not cheap. When she sat down for tea, she had a fully realized professional portfolio ready to open.Speaker 2: Roni didn't discover a lucky amateur. She discovered an artist whose infrastructure was already primed and ready to be scaled to a gallery level.Speaker: That distinction is so important, so the infrastructure is there. She gets the gallery exhibit and it's a huge success. And then her mentor, Matthew. Ask is the most terrifying question an artist can hear.Speaker 2: Oh, I know it's coming.Speaker: What'sSpeaker 2: next? Yeah,Speaker: what's next? He pushes her to turn this momentum into a book, but deciding to scale up a localized gallery show into a 360 page book spanning 22 different geographical locations. Well, that turns this artistic dream into a total logistical gauntlet.Speaker 2: Honestly, calling it a logistical nightmare almost does it a disservice.Speaker 2: We are talking about five years of brutal grinding, stop and go momentum.Speaker: It wasn't just a smooth process,Speaker 2: not even close. First you have the outbreak of COVID to 19, just to get the administrative side of the project off the ground. She had to pitch the city art director while standing in a public hallwaySpeaker: in a hallway,Speaker 2: yet both of them wearing masks because nobody was allowed to meet in a closed office.Speaker 2: Everything was restricted.Speaker: Once the pandemic protocols finally started to ease up the geopolitical realities of the region set in, we are talking about literal war zones here.Speaker 2: Yeah. The physical danger was very real,Speaker: right? Based on the historical facts detailed in the interv

    22 min

  4. APR 12

    Episode 37 - The $800 Decision You’re Avoiding (And What It’s Costing You)

    The $800 Decision You’re Avoiding (And What It’s Costing You) Speaker: Have you ever felt that, um, that incredibly specific, just crushing frustration of knowing you are genuinely talented at what you do.Speaker 2: Oh, it's the worst,Speaker: right? But your calendar and your bank account just completely failed to reflect it. I mean, having immense talent, but absolutely zero bookings is honestly like, uh, like engineering, a million dollar sports car, but you forget to install a steering wheel.Speaker 2: That is a great way to put it.Speaker: The neighbors might be, you know, highly impressed by the paint job while it just sits there in your driveway. But. You aren't actually going anywhere.Speaker 2: Yeah. It is a profoundly isolating place to be. And uh, today we are exploring this really fascinating set of notes from photographer Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker: Yes. Titled, uh, the $800 Decision you're Avoiding and What it's Costing You.Speaker 2: Right. And our mission for this deep dive, it isn't just to talk about the photography industry.Speaker: No, not at all. It's for anyone listening. We wanna uncover the psychological roadblocks that are keeping any creative entrepreneur from turning their passion into a stable, profitable business.Speaker 2: Exactly. And you know, to reveal the exact mathematical and strategic shift that you need to fix it.Speaker: But to understand the solution, we really first have to look at the daily reality for a lot of creatives, because, I mean, the source material outlines this. Very specific, incredibly painful morning routine.Speaker 2: It really sets up why this strategic shift is just so desperately needed.Speaker: Yeah, so picture this, you wake up, reach to your phone and check your dms. Zero new inquiries,Speaker 2: this complete silence.Speaker: Total silence. Then you open Instagram and literally the very first thing on your feed is a competitor posting, you know, fully booked this month with that little prayer hands emoji.Speaker 2: The prayer hands emoji and rationally. I mean, you wanna celebrate their success, right? Rationally, but emotionally, it triggers this immediate internal spiral. It breeds what the notes actually call quiet fears.Speaker: Yeah. Those thoughts of, um. What if this never works outSpeaker 2: or that creeping suspicion of like, maybe I'm just not as good as I think I am,Speaker: and it leads to this moment of sheer desperation where you just think, maybe I should just shoot weddings.Speaker: The notes have this great, painfully accurate joke about this. People don't pivot because they suddenly discover some deep burning passion for weddings, right? Mm-hmm. They do it because they just want the revenue.Speaker 2: The quote is literally, I don't even like cake that much, but I like paid invoices.Speaker: Okay.Speaker: Let's unpack this. Is this comparison trap and you know, this imposter syndrome. Is that unique to creatives?Speaker 2: Well, no, not really,Speaker: because to me, eating the wedding cake represents any like soul sucking compromise we make out of pure financial panic rather than actual strategic growth.Speaker 2: Yeah.Speaker: Is this just a fundamental hurdle for anyone trying to monetize a passion?Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. Anytime someone tries to turn a core part of their identity, whether that's, you know, their art, their consulting, their coaching into a service, this dynamic appears.Speaker: It's so personal.Speaker 2: Exactly. The paralysis really comes down to this false equivalence the brain makes. The brain naturally equates a lack of immediate business with a lack of inherent talent.Speaker: So essentially no money means no talent.Speaker 2: That is the trap. Your booking rate is simply a reflection of your conversion systems, right? It's not a referendum on your worth as a human being or an artist,Speaker: but when you're trapped to that emotional quicksand, you just can't see the difference.Speaker 2: No, you can't. You'll rewrite an email quote 10 times, literally lowering your own price before you even hit send,Speaker: because you're just terrified. They'll say no.Speaker 2: Exactly. You seriously consider compromising your whole vision just to survive.Speaker: But the lifeline out of this quicksand, according to the notes, is remarkably simple. I mean, it is not about burning your portfolio to the ground.Speaker 2: No.Speaker: And it's not some massive life overhaul.Speaker 2: The entire premise from Matthew Jordan Smith rests on changing one single variable in your business. It is the $800 decision,Speaker: right?Speaker 2: You don't need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to figure out how to book one extra client per month at $800,Speaker: not 10, not 20,Speaker 2: just one.Speaker: Let me walk through the cumulative math on this. Yep. Because honestly, this is where the scale becomes staggering to me. One extra booking a month is $800.Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.Speaker: Over a year, that becomes $9,600,Speaker 2: almost $10,000 from finding just one more person every 30 days.Speaker: Yeah. And over three years, that $800 a month turns into $28,800. Wow. And over five years, it becomes $48,000. $48,000 from one additional booking every month. We aren't talking about going viral or you know, becoming a global sensation.Speaker 2: No, not at all.Speaker: But wait, I mean, $800 a month sounds completely achievable on paper, but let me push back here for a second. Sure. If I'm a freelancer who's already exhausting my network and my Instagram reach is virtually zero, an extra $800, might as well be a million dollars. Where is this magical client actually coming from? Are we just assuming some sudden influx of traffic?Speaker 2: No, we aren't assuming new traffic at all. The underlying mechanism here is about capturing the audience that is already looking at your work, but they're just quietly walking away.Speaker: Okay, interesting.Speaker 2: And the reason people ignore this really manageable micro step, and instead they obsess over these massive, exhausting goals like going viral, it comes down to the psychology of compoundingSpeaker: because human beings are notoriously terrible at visualizing long-term accumulation.Speaker 2: What's fascinating here is that our brains are actually evolutionarily wired to react to immediate, massive rewards.Speaker: Like a giant feast or a sudden windfall.Speaker 2: Exactly. We don't have a biological mechanism to get really excited about incremental growth. If you tell an overwhelmed creative, they need to generate $48,000 to save their business, they freeze.Speaker: The anxiety just completely takes over,Speaker 2: but breaking that daunting $48,000 goal down into a highly achievable $800 a month micro step. That bypasses the brain's panic response.Speaker: It makes it safe,Speaker 2: right? It shifts you into a state of actionable focus. We all understand compounding interest in a bank account, right? But we totally fail to apply that same mathematical law to client acquisitionSpeaker: that makes so much sense. But if you just, you know, nod along to this, write one client a month on a little sticky note, and then change absolutely nothing about your daily operations. The notes outline some pretty brutal losses.Speaker 2: Yeah, the literal mathematical loss is obvious that $48,000 over five years, it just vanishes,Speaker: p**f, gone.Speaker 2: But the notes argue. The real tragedy is the intangible loss. The opportunities you couldn't afford to take, the clients you never impacted and the confidence you just never built,Speaker: which leads to five more years of exactly what we described in that painful morning routine, guessing, hoping, scrolling, and just wondering what if this could have worked?Speaker 2: Exactly.Speaker: And the main revelation of the text is how to prevent this. To capture that one extra client. You do not need a hundred new marketing strategies.Speaker 2: Definitely not.Speaker: You don't need to figure out the algorithm for a viral TikTok post. Mm-hmm. And you definitely do not need to buy more expensive gear.Speaker 2: No, you really don't.Speaker: Wait. Here's where it gets really interesting, because it's like a struggling tennis player who keeps, um, double faulting on their serve.Speaker 2: Okay. I like that.Speaker: Instead of just practicing their swing. They keep going to the pro shop to buy more and more expensive rackets. They think a, you know, a carbon fiber frame is gonna magically fix their technique.Speaker 2: Yes.Speaker: But the notes point out you really only need one core skill, and that is the ability to convert interest into bookings. That's the swing.Speaker 2: That is the swing,Speaker: but why is conversion the absolute most avoided skill when it is quite literally the only one that actually pays the bills? Why do we keep buying the rackets instead of practicing the swing?Speaker 2: Well, because tweaking your art or redesigning your logo or buying new lenses, those are inherently safe activities.Speaker: Oh, wow. Yeah.Speaker 2: Carbon fiber racket feels like progress, but it is really just sophisticated procrastination. You are in control and there's no one there to tell you no.Speaker: That's so true.Speaker 2: Conversion requires vulnerability. The moment you focus on selling, you introduce the real risk of rejection. You have to actually ask for the business.Speaker: And a no feels like a rejection of you as a person, right? Not just the service you provide.Speaker 2: Exactly. But shifting your focus to conversion is the ultimate act of taking control. It's deciding your success won't be dictated by the mere hope that someone stumbles across your page and decides to navigate the entire hiring process entirely on their own.Speaker: So how does someone actually master conversion without feeling like a, you know, a sleazy salesperson,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: Because nobody wants to be that person pushing a hard sell

    16 min

  5. APR 5

    Episode 36 - Join the 3-Day Photography Challenge

    JOIN the 3-Day Photography Challenge Speaker: Imagine for a second. That, uh, you're walking down this really busy city street,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: And you pass this just incredible bakery.Speaker 2: Okay. I'm picturing it.Speaker: And sitting right there in the front window is without a doubt, the most magnificent mouthwatering cake you have ever seen in your life. I mean, an absolute masterpiece.Speaker 2: No way.Speaker: Yeah. And there's an actual crowd of people standing outside on the sidewalk. They're taking pictures with their phones. They're cheering, they're clapping for the baker inside.Speaker 2: Still like a pretty successful bakery.Speaker: Well, here's the thing. You step a little closer to the glass and you notice something completely bizarre.Speaker: The front door to the bakery has this giant heavy steel padlock on it. It's totally locked.Speaker 2: Wait, really?Speaker: Really? The lights in the dining area are off and uh, the cash register on the counter is literally gathering dust.Speaker 2: Wow. That is, um. That's a striking and frankly tragic image. You know, you have this abundance of external validation.Speaker 2: All this applause, but absolutely zero commerce is actually taking place.Speaker: Exactly.Speaker 2: The admiration is just physically walled off from the business itself.Speaker: The cash register is gathering dust while the bagel gets a standing ovation, and the crazy part is you are the baker. And that locked door, that's your booking process.Speaker 2: That is hard.Speaker: It does.Speaker 2: I thinkSpeaker: today we are taking a pro bar to that padlock. Welcome to this deep dive. We have a mission today that I am incredibly excited about.Speaker 2: Me too. We're getting into some really good stuff.Speaker: Yeah. Because we're unpacking this highly specific, really hard hitting document by Matthew Jordan Smith.Speaker: It's titled, uh. Why you're not getting booked and how to fix it in three daysSpeaker 2: and it is so needed.Speaker: Oh, totally. We're exploring that incredibly frustrating gap between having immense creative talent and you know, actually getting paying clients. If you've ever felt like you have all the passion in the world, but your business consistency is just missing, this deep dive is for you.Speaker 2: I think it's really vital to set the context right outta the gate here while the source material comes from the photography world. It operates on a much, much deeper level.Speaker: Yeah. It's not just about taking pictures.Speaker 2: Not at all. It's essentially a masterclass in the psychology of client conversion. It strips away the art and looks at the behavioral science of why people actually pull out their wallets to buy a service versus just.Speaker 2: You know, casually appreciating art from a distance.Speaker: Okay, let's unpack this because the core struggle Matthew outlines here is just so brutally relatable. It starts with this phenomenon that I like to call the social media mirage.Speaker 2: The social media mirage. I like that.Speaker: Right? Because we all know the cycle.Speaker: You spend hours, maybe days updating your portfolio, you curate everything. You post your absolute best work online, and the comments just start rolling inSpeaker 2: fire emojis everywhere.Speaker: Exactly. A wall of fire emojis. People are saying, stunning, you're a genius. And in your head you're thinking, okay, the floodgates are finally opening,Speaker 2: right?Speaker 2: Because the dopamine hit in that moment is potent. I mean, from an evolutionary standpoint, your brain is getting signals of social acceptance. You feel successful.Speaker: Yeah. Your nervous system registers those emojis as a tangible victory, but then, uh, reality sets inSpeaker 2: it always does.Speaker: Despite the hundred fire emojis.Speaker: You check your inbox and you have zero bookings. Crickets. Matthew jokes in the text that not even your cousin wants to book a session with you.Speaker 2: That's rough, but it's so true.Speaker: So what do you do? You assume it's like a technical error. You think, oh, the algorithm hit it, or maybe my caption wasn't engaging enough.Speaker: So you post again, new caption, same breathtaking work,Speaker 2: and you get the exact same result. A bunch of digital applause and $0 in the bank.Speaker: Yes, the source material highlights this almost agonizing image of sitting there. Constantly refreshing a totally quiet inbox. Almost like the inbox somehow owes you money.Speaker 2: A painful behavioral loop for sure.Speaker: The text literally says, you get so desperate, you start considering booking yourself just to feel something. Just to see a notification.Speaker 2: Oh man, that is. That's dark,Speaker: right? But I have to push back on this a little bit. On behalf of everyone listening who is frustrated by this, shouldn't great work just speak for itself?Speaker 2: You'd think so, wouldn't you?Speaker: Going back to my bakery analogy. If you bake the objectively best cake in the world and put it in the window, why are people just clapping? Why aren't they breaking down the door to buy a slice? If the work is good, why do likes not translate to dollars?Speaker 2: What's fascinating here is the distinction between admiration and purchasing intent.Speaker 2: We constantly conflate the two. Especially today.Speaker: Right, because they feel the same on social media.Speaker 2: Exactly.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: But psychologically they operate on completely different circuits.Speaker: Yeah.Speaker 2: When someone leaves a fire emoji, they're reacting to the art. They're just saying, this is pleasing to look at.Speaker: It doesn't mean they wanna buy it.Speaker 2: No, because liking a photo requires. Absolutely zero commitment. There's no vulnerability, no exchange of resources, and no real trust involved.Speaker: It's totally passive consumption like they're treating your business page like a museum.Speaker 2: Bingo. They're consuming your content as entertainment. The false positive of that engagement tricked your brain into thinking marketing just happenedSpeaker: when really you just hosted a free art exhibition.Speaker 2: Right. The viewer hasn't crossed that mental bridge from this person is talented to, I have a specific problem and I need to hire this person to solve it.Speaker: So if the problem isn't the quality of the work, like if the cake itself is fundamentally delicious, what is actually broken? Well.Speaker 2: This leads logically to a really hard truth about the client's mindset, and it requires a complete paradigm shift.Speaker: Matthew delivers this hard truth with zero sugarcoating. He basically says, the problem is not your photography. It's not your lighting, it's not your camera or your editing.Speaker 2: It's just that you aren't. Converting interest into actual clients,Speaker: which is a bitter pill to swallow. Creatives love to hide behind their craft.Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely. If business is slow, the default defense mechanism is, I need a better camera, or I need to learn new software.Speaker: It feels so much safer to critique the art, which you can control than to critique the business process, which involves facing rejectionSpeaker 2: precisely.Speaker: Which brings us to what Matthew calls the 50 millimeter lens fallacy.Speaker: When a client looks at your work, they are not sitting there analyzing the technical specs.Speaker 2: No. They have no idea what those specs even mean.Speaker: Right? They aren't saying, oh, I really hope they use a 50 millimeter lens with an F. 1.4 aperture for that creamy Boca. They don't care about the jargon,Speaker 2: nor should they.Speaker 2: When you focus your messaging on your gear, you build a wall of cognitive friction. You speak a language they don't understand, which just makes them feel intimidated.Speaker: Here's where it gets really interesting though. The source compares this to buying a luxury car.Speaker 2: That's a great comparison.Speaker: Yeah, and think about the psychology of why it works.Speaker: When someone walks into a high-end dealership to buy a sports car, they aren't grilling the sales person about the exact torque of the engine bolts.Speaker 2: Right. They assume the engineering is good because of the price tag.Speaker: Exactly. They are buying the feeling of driving that car down the highway on a sunny day.Speaker: They're buying status, thrill, confidence.Speaker 2: The client is buying a results and a feeling.Speaker: Yes. Instead of asking about the 50 millimeter lens, Matthew points out the clients are asking themselves highly internal emotional questionsSpeaker 2: like, will I look good?Speaker: Right. Will I feel confident? Will I be comfortable?Speaker: And most importantly, can I trust this person with my money and my image?Speaker 2: And if your process doesn't communicate that emotional comfort right from the start, the client hesitates and hesitation is the death of conversion. They close the tab and disappear.Speaker: So we know they're buying a feeling, but where exactly is the bridge collapsing?Speaker: The source outlines three specific roadblocks.Speaker 2: Let's trace the client's journey through those roadblocks. The first major failure point is selling a commodity instead of a transformation.Speaker: Think about it. They find your site. The first thing they look for is in a priceless. They're looking for a mirror.Speaker: They wanna see themselves in your work,Speaker 2: right?Speaker: But if your site just says 10 photos for $500, you've instantly reduced yourself to a commodity. You're just selling a deliverableSpeaker 2: because a photo is just a digital file. The transformation is the journey from feeling awkward to feeling empowered and beautiful.Speaker 2: If you just sell the file, you compete on price,Speaker: which is a race to the bottom. If you sell the transformation, you compete on value. But let's say they want that transform

    13 min

  6. MAR 29

    Episode 35 - Stop Saying You Capture Memories

    Stop Saying You Capture Memories Adam: I wanna start today by, uh, painting of a picture, and I'm warning you now for a huge chunk of our listeners, especially the creative professionals of photographers. Sarah: Hmm. Adam: This is gonna feel, well, let's just call it visceral. Sarah: Visceral is definitely the right word. We're going right for the nerve ending today. Adam: Okay? So a picture of this, you've just finished editing a gallery. You've been at the computer for hours, maybe even days. You've got your coffee, you're scrolling through and you look at the screen with this, just this swelling sense of pride. Because objectively the work is undeniable. Sarah: Mm-hmm. Adam: The lighting is cinematic. Adam: The composition's perfect. The emotion is raw. You look at it and you think, okay. This is it. This is the level where the calendar should be full. Sarah: It's that moment of creative peak. You feel like you've finally cracked the code on the art itself. You've mastered the craft. Adam: Exactly. You feel invincible. Sarah: Mm-hmm. Adam: But then you tab over to your inbox uhoh and it's quiet. Or you know, maybe there are a few inquiries, but they're lukewarm. You get the classic, Hey, how much you charge, you reply. Heart pounding a little and then ghosted Sarah: Danish. Yeah, Adam: and that is the most frustrating disconnect in the entire industry. Adam: It's the silence that follows all that effort. Sarah: And it triggers the spiral, doesn't it? You sit there and start thinking, is the market saturated? Is it the economy? Do I need to buy that new mirrorless body to compete? Adam: Oh, totally. Maybe if I had better bo of a book, Sarah: we immediately look for external excuses or we blame the gear. Sarah: It's a classic defense mechanism. You know, if we can blame the economy, we don't have to look at our own business strategy, Adam: but today we are diving into a stack of resources that suggests the problem isn't your camera, it isn't the economy, and here is the kicker. It isn't even your photography. Sarah: The problem is your language. Adam: It's your language. Sarah: It's a fascinating premise and honestly, a bit of a relief once you get it. We're unpacking insights from Matthew Jordan Smith today. He's a heavy hitter, world renowned celebrity photographer, Nikon ambassador and host of the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Adam: And his core argument is that we're basically talking ourselves out of a sale. Sarah: We are accidental experts at it because of the words on our website, in our emails, in our captions, Smith calls this whole process a verbal audit, and I have to warn everyone up front. He warns us too. This is probably gonna sting a little. Adam: Oh, I definitely felt that sting reading through this. It's uncomfortable because he's basically saying, your work is great, but your mouth is losing you money. Sarah: That's a blunt way to put it. Yeah. But yeah, the central idea here is that uncertainty kills bookings. A potential client lands on your page and feels even, uh, like a microsecond of confusion about what they're getting or why it matters. They don't click book. Adam: They click back. Sarah: Yeah. Adam: And they're gone. Sarah: They're gone. Adam: So let's diagnose this. What are we actually doing wrong? Because I look at a lot of photography websites and they all seem. I don't know. Nice. They seem friendly. Sarah: That's exactly the problem. They're nice, they're safe. Smith identifies a whole category of phrases that he says are basically business poison, precisely because they are so common. Sarah: He calls it fluff. Adam: Give us the greatest hits. What are the main offenders? Sarah: Okay, you've got capturing memories. I love working with families. Let's create magic. Timeless images. Adam: Wait, hold on a second. Capturing memories. That's literally the job description. Why is that? Poison. Sarah: It is what they do, but it's a commodity phrase. Sarah: Oh. I mean, if you and a photographer down the street and a college student with an iPhone are all capturing memories, how does the client distinguish between you Adam: Price? That's the only variable left. Sarah: Bingo. You force them to price shop. When the language is identical, the only thing that's different is the dollar sign. Sarah: Smith argues that capturing memories is just vague. It could mean in a blurry selfie, it could mean a vanity fair, spread it. It doesn't convey any real value, Adam: so it's filler. It's what you write when you don't know what else to say. It's like a chef saying, I cook food. Sarah: Yes. That's a great analogy. Adam: Well, I hope so. Sarah: Yeah. Adam: But are you making a grilled cheese or are you making a five course tasting menu? Sarah: Exactly. If a chef says, I cook food, you expect to pay five bucks. If they say, I curate a culinary experience, you expect to pay 200. Language sets the expectation, Adam: and right now most photographers are signaling that they're just service providers, Sarah: like a plumber fixing a leak. Sarah: You do a task, you get paid. But high-end clients, the ones everyone wants to book, they aren't looking for a service provider. They're looking for a guide. Adam: That distinction feels really important. Service provider versus guide, how does that actually play out in the text on a website? Sarah: It comes down to logistics, speak versus transformation Speak. Sarah: Most photographers are fluent in logistics speak. You get a 45 minute session, 20 edited JPEGs, and an online gallery. Adam: I see that everywhere. It's the standard package description. It feels necessary though. Sarah: It is necessary eventually, but it's not what sells the session. It treats photos like groceries. You get 20 apples, but Smith poses this question and it really stops you. Sarah: What are people actually buying? Because they're not buying JPEGs. They don't care about file formats. Adam: They're buying what the photos represent. The feeling. Sarah: He goes deeper. He says they're buying relief from regret. Adam: Oof. Relief from regret. That hits heavy. That sounds. Almost existential. Sarah: It is profound, right? Sarah: But think about the psychology of a parent booking a family session. They aren't thinking, oh, I have some empty wall space. No, they are looking at their toddler, realizing that in six months. That little face will be different. They feel time passing. Adam: They're terrified of forgetting who their child is right now. Sarah: So they're buying an insurance policy against their own memory, failing precisely. They're buying proof that this time mattered. Now, if that is the emotional storm inside your client. That fear of loss, and you meet them with, you get 20 JPEGs. Adam: It's a massive disconnect. You're speaking a different language. Sarah: You're talking specs, they're feeling existential dread. You're bringing a spreadsheet to a therapy session, Adam: right? You're answering an emotional need with a logical product list, and that just creates hesitation. The client thinks this person doesn't get it. Sarah: They don't understand how important this is. Adam: Okay? So we know the problem. We're boring people with logistics and fluff. But Smith doesn't just critique. He offers a fix. He calls it the delete and replace exercise. Sarah: This is the practical part. If you're listening and you can pull up your website right now, do it. Just, you know, visualize your homepage. Sarah: This is where it gets real. Adam: The assignment is to hunt down those vague phrases, capturing memories, has to die, timeless images gone. What do we replace it with? Sarah: We replace it with the truth of the transformation. Smith says to shift the focus from the process, taking photos to the stakes. What happens if you don't? Adam: Gimme a concrete example instead of capturing memories, Sarah: okay, try this. Preserving the season of life you'll never get back. Adam: Wow. Okay. That lands differently. Sarah: Why? What do you feel when you hear that Adam: urgency? Season you'll never get back implies that if I don't do this now, I've lost something forever. Adam: Capturing memories. Sounds optional. I could do that next year. But preserving a season sounds necessary right now. Sarah: Exactly. You've moved from Nice to have to must have. He has another one for family photographers that I loved. Instead of book your fall family session, which just sounds like another chore on my to-do list. Adam: Right. It feels like an obligation. Like get oil changed. Sarah: Totally. Instead, he suggests because childhood doesn't wait, or even better, one day this will be the photo your children hold onto. Adam: Oh, that's the one. One day. This will be the photo your children hold onto. That shifts the whole perspective. It's not about me looking good for a Christmas card anymore. Adam: It's about creating an heirloom for my kids. Sarah: It casts the client as the hero of their own story. And it moves the conversation from, is this worth $400 to, is my family's legacy worth preserving? Adam: And for most people, the answer to that second question is an automatic yes. You can't put a price tag on that. Sarah: You're anchoring the price to something invaluable, not to a piece of photo paper. And speaking of price, this is where photographers get the most defensive. Adam: Well, I've seen this a million times. Investment starts at. Yeah, where packages begin at, usually in a smaller font, like tucked away at the bottom of the page. Sarah: It's so timid. We're signaling, I know this is expensive. Please don't be mad at me. Adam: Smith says, stop being defensive. You need to frame the price as the vehicle for the result. So instead of, my pricing starts at $500, what's the better way? How do you say that with your chest out? Sarah: He offers this script. My clients invest between 400 and $900 to make sure this season of life is never forgotten. Adam: My clients invest. That's clever. It's social proof.

    16 min

  7. MAR 22

    Episode 34 - Why Clients Hesitate Even After They Love Your Work

    Why Clients Hesitate Even After They Love Your Work Hi, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Matthew Jordan Smith, and this is the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Let me begin by describing a moment and see if this feels familiar to you. Someone comments on your work. They send you a direct message. They say things like, I love your photos. Your work looks beautiful. This really connects with me. You feel hopeful. And then nothing. No booking, no follow up. No yes. And you are left thinking, if they love my work, why aren't they hiring me? That question is one of the most frustrating experiences a photographer can have. You know what I mean? So today we're going to answer it clearly, calmly, and without blaming you or your work. Here's the truth that most photographers never hear. People don't book photographers when they simply admire them. They book you when they trust themselves inside the experience. You see, admiration and action are not the same thing. And the gap, that huge gap between them, is where most bookings fall apart. When they say, I love your work, it isn't the green light we think it is. So let's slow this down. When someone says they love your work, what that really means is your images caught their attention, your style resonates with them, your taste is clear. And that is important. But it's only the first step. Because the next question they're asking is much quieter and much more personal. What would it feel like to be photographed by this person? If they can't answer that question clearly, they hesitate even when they love what they see. You see, most photographers are showing results. Very few show the process. You show finished images, beautiful faces, strong aesthetics. But clients are imagining their own awkwardness, their discomfort, their fear of looking bad, their uncertainty about what to do in front of your camera. If your messaging doesn't bridge that gap, that admiration stalls and goes quiet. Not because you did anything wrong, but because no one showed them the way. This is not about posting more. It's not about better captions. It's not about more reels or reach or consistency posting. This is about emotional orientation. People don't move forward when they feel disoriented, even if they're impressed with your beautiful work. They move forward when someone helps them understand what happens next, how they'll be guided, what role they play, and how they'll be taken care of. Listen to this language. I create authentic portraits. I capture real moments. My sessions are relaxed and fun. Now, none of that is wrong. But none of that tells a nervous client what to expect, the one who's on the edge. So they fill in the blanks themselves. And when people are already self-conscious, the story they fill in is rarely generous. Now, here's the shift that changes everything. Stop trying to be impressive. Start taking them through the process. Instead of asking, does this show how good I am? Ask, does this help someone imagine themselves feeling great? That's the difference between admiration and trust. Trust is built when language answers questions. Questions like, will I be told what to do? Will I feel rushed? Will I feel judged? Will I regret this? Trust sounds like, most of my clients feel awkward at first, and that's expected. I guide you the entire time. Or my process is structured so you never have to guess what to do. Or maybe something like this. You don't need to be confident when you arrive. That comes later. That language creates movement, and movement turns into bookings. And here's the part that really matters. Because a lot of photographers are also saying things quietly to themselves. It's the quiet voice that's filled with fear. What if I'm over promising? What if I sound arrogant? So a lot of photographers stay vague. But vagueness doesn't feel humble to clients. It feels uncertain. And you already know any type of uncertainty creates hesitation. And if there's any hesitation, it turns into a ghost situation. So what's the real reason why clients ghost you? Most clients don't disappear because they lost interest, like you might think. They disappear because they couldn't decide. And indecision usually means one thing. I like this, but I don't feel confident yet. Now, your job is not to convince them. Your job is to steady them. So here's a question you can ask yourself when reviewing your site, your Instagram, your captions, how you respond to people. If someone has never been photographed before, would my messaging help them feel less alone? If the answer is no, change your language. Change your messaging. You don't need more content. You need more containment. And when you close that gap, inquiries turn into bookings. Price resistance goes away. Clients show up more often. And sessions feel easier, not because your work has changed, but because the experience becomes clearer. Today, let me leave you with this. People already admire your work. That's not the problem. They just need help crossing the bridge from admiration to taking action. And that bridge isn't built with more talent. It's built with clarity, guidance, and confidence to say, I know how to take care of you. When you offer that, people stop hesitating and they move forward. I hope this episode helps something click for you. If it did, leave a five star review. It helps this podcast reach photographers who are stuck blaming themselves instead of adjusting their language. Feel free to share this episode with one photographer who keeps hearing, I love your work, but isn't seeing it turn into bookings yet. I'll see you next time on the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. Until then, lead gently. Bye for now.

    9 min

  8. MAR 15

    Episode 33 - The Inquiry Moment - Where Authority Is Won or Lost

    The Inquiry Moment: Where Authority Is Won or Lost Today, let's talk about what happens when somebody inquires about hiring you. You get a message or a DM or maybe even a call, someone is interested in hiring you. We call that the moment of inquiry. And today's episode is all about why the way you respond matters more than your images, more than your portfolio, more than you think. I want you to think about the last time someone inquired about your work, about hiring you. Was it an email, a direct message, in person, however it happened? Did it make your heart beat a little faster? Now, be honest with yourself. When you replied, were you trying to convince them or were you guiding them? Because in that moment, before pricing, before packages, before availability, your authority was either established or quietly handed away. And most photographers don't even realize what's happening. This is a powerful moment. The moment someone inquires about your work is not administrative. It's emotional. It's the moment where a client is deciding, can I trust this person to take care of me? They're not thinking, are they nice, are they enthusiastic, are they flexible? But will I feel safe, guided, and understood by this photographer? Are they the one for me? And the language you use in this first response answers that question immediately. And sadly, most photographers are not thinking this way. Most photographers respond with something like this: I'd love to work with you. Let me know if you have any questions. Yes, that sounds kind. It does sound polite. It sounds accommodating. But it also sounds unsure. And here's why that matters when your goal is to get the booking. When a client is already nervous about being photographed, uncertainty in any way feels like risk. Permission is a trap. That type of response does something subtle. It asks the client, is this okay? Do you approve? Do you want me? And that puts the client in charge of a process they don't actually want to manage. People don't want to lead their photographer. They want to be led. Now, compare that to this response. Based on what you shared, here's how I'd approach your session and why it works well for people who feel the way you described. What's the difference? One response waits. The other holds. One asks for permission. The other offers leadership. And leadership is calming to your client. You see, there's a journey. Your client or potential client begins the journey, but then they're handing it off to you. And that's when it's time for you to take control and guide them on your journey. Clients reach out because they're uncertain. They don't know what to wear, how to pose, if they'll like themselves in your pictures, if they're making the right choice by choosing you as their photographer. When you step into leadership, you relieve that burden. You are saying, you don't have to figure this out. I've got you. That's not sales. That's care. So why does this feel so hard for so many photographers? Here's the deeper layer. Many photographers soften their language because they don't fully understand or trust themselves yet. They're afraid of sounding arrogant. They're afraid of being rejected. They're afraid of being too much, so they stay agreeable. But agreeableness is not confidence. And clients can feel the difference. I don't want to confuse things because authority is not attitude. Let's be clear about that. Authority is not dominance. It's not being cold in any way. It's not feeling indifferent. Authority gives clarity and does so with kindness. There's a big difference. It's saying, I understand your concerns and I know how to guide you through it. Now we know the problem. Now let's fix it. Here's a structure you can use every single time. Step one, reflect what they said. Let them feel heard. You mentioned feeling uncomfortable in front of the camera. Step two, offer your approach. This is where your authority lives. In sessions like this, I focus on guiding you step by step, so you never feel unsure. Do you see how that feels? It changes things. Step three, recommend the next step. Direction matters. The best next step for us is to dive into a quick consult so I can tailor the session just for you. That's what clients want to hear. Notice you're not asking what they want to do. You are showing them what works. They begin the journey, and you take the reins from there. So what happens when you take the lead, when you shift to guidance? Clients respond faster. Price resistance drops away. Sessions run smoother. Respect for you and your work increases, not because you changed your pricing, but because you changed your posture. And this moment shapes everything that follows. How you show up in the inquiry moment sets the tone for the session, the relationship, the sale, the referral, consistent clients from that point on. If you begin from authority, everything else flows smoothly. This kind of quiet leadership is exactly why clients return to you over and over again. This is the moment when you stand in your authority. Authority doesn't shout. It doesn't need to. It holds. Let me leave you with this today. You don't need to convince people to trust you. You need to give them something solid to trust. The moment when they inquire about hiring you isn't about being chosen. It's about choosing to lead. And when you do that, the right clients don't hesitate. They exhale. They feel held. And they say yes. If you are enjoying these podcast episodes, let me know. If you feel stuck and I haven't touched on your topic, drop me a line. It helps me to prepare future episodes. I want to hear from you. Thank you for your time. Thank you for listening. I look forward to seeing you next week on the Photography Breakthrough Podcast. And yes, I'm Matthew Jordan Smith. You can find me on Instagram simply under that, Matthew Jordan Smith. Until then, lead with certainty, speak with care, and trust yourself enough to guide the process. Bye for now.

    10 min
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About

Welcome to the Photography Breakthrough Podcast, the place where burnt out photographers come back to life. Where fear gets replaced with confidence and where your gift finally starts working for you, not against you.

Information

  • Creator
    Matthew Jordan Smith
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    46
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    Matthew Jordan Smith Copyright © 2025 All Right Reserved
  • Show Website
    Photography Breakthrough System