PhotoBizX The Ultimate Wedding and Portrait Photography Business Podcast

Andrew Hellmich: Photographer & the Interviewer Who Asks What Other Photography Business Podcasters Don’t
  • 4.9 (183)
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  • Weekly

PhotoBizX is the number one photography business podcast for portrait and wedding photographers who want to attract more clients, charge what they’re worth, and build a thriving business. Hosted by Australian Master Photographer Andrew Hellmich, this weekly interview show features the world’s most successful and inspiring photographers and industry experts — the real stars of every episode. Andrew’s relaxed, curious interview style draws out incredible depth and honesty; listeners often say he asks exactly what they’re thinking and are shocked by how much his guests reveal. Each episode delivers real strategies, stories, and systems you can implement immediately — leaving you motivated and ready to grow your photography business.

  1. 10h ago

    693: Kate Ellis – Taking Home $210,000 as a Solo Photographer Without Working Mondays

    Kate Ellis of Kate & Co in Adelaide takes home around $210,000 a year photographing newborns and families—and keeps Mondays free. After turning over $517,000 in 2024, she deliberately cut her workload, accepting a $90,000 drop in revenue to get more of her life back. In this interview, Kate shares how selling digital files first, alongside same-day sales and often same-day delivery, supports an average sale close to $2,000. We also explore the hospital partnership bringing in 38% of her clients, upfront pricing without pre-shoot phone calls, and why she’s happy to keep her business at its current size. If you’re wondering how to earn well without adding staff, chasing bigger sales or filling every available day, Kate offers plenty to think about. The post 693: Kate Ellis – Taking Home $210,000 as a Solo Photographer Without Working Mondays appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

  2. Oct 26

    692: Jennifer Tsay – How Free Photo Shoots Became a Profitable $10 Million Photography Brand

    Jennifer Tsay is the CEO and co-founder of Shoott, a photography business built around free 30-minute sessions where clients pay only for the photographs they want. Since launching in 2018, Shoott has completed more than 300,000 sessions across 60 US cities, delivered 24 million photographs and built a network of more than 900 photographers. The average client spends around US$190, while photographers typically earn between US$140 and $160 per photography hour before tips. In this interview, Jennifer explains how the model works, why the business took five years to become profitable and how Shoott balances affordable photography with fair photographer pay. She also shares how a US$75 credit card pre-authorisation helped solve a 50% no-show rate, what happened when the cost of acquiring a client jumped from $20 to $200, and why the company turned down venture capital. For photographers, this is a fascinating look at free-session marketing, pricing, lead generation, hiring photographers and building systems that can operate across dozens of cities. The post 692: Jennifer Tsay – How Free Photo Shoots Became a Profitable $10 Million Photography Brand appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

  3. Oct 19

    691: Kate Buechner – Why Her $1 Million Photo Studio Was Less Profitable Than Going Solo

    Kate Buechner of Uber Photography returns to the podcast almost ten years after our first interview—and her business looks completely different. Kate went on to achieve her goal of building a million-dollar portrait studio with five full-time staff. Today, she runs the photography business largely on her own, works fewer hours, takes home more money and recently generated $45,000 in a single month. In this interview, Kate shares why bigger wasn’t necessarily better, how she maintains an average of around 20 sessions per month and why her family portrait clients spend approximately $2,500. We also unpack the seven marketing sources she continues to run simultaneously, including a 10-year partnership with an orthodontist that generates around 30–35 bookings each year. Kate also explains why she shows clients her full pricing before they book, why photographers don’t need to be incredibly creative to produce work families will buy, and how she’s using AI, automation and same-day sales appointments to operate more efficiently. This episode will have you questioning whether growth should mean more staff and higher turnover—or more profit, fewer hours and more time doing the work you enjoy. The post 691: Kate Buechner – Why Her $1 Million Photo Studio Was Less Profitable Than Going Solo appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

  4. Oct 12

    690: Tara Shuler – When Mum Wants $5,000 in Photography Wall Art and Dad Wants to Leave

    Tara Shuler is a sales trainer, author and founder of Convo Control who believes photographers spend too much time explaining their packages and too little time asking questions. In this interview, we explore why sending a price list can stall a promising enquiry, what’s behind “we need to think about it”, and the awkward situation where Mum wants $5,000 in wall art while Dad has no idea what the photos cost. Tara’s approach centres on understanding why clients want the photos in the first place. We cover qualifying free-session leads, following up without another “just checking in” message, and uncovering objections before the sales appointment. Some of her suggestions pushed me outside my comfort zone—and will have you questioning whether your conversations help clients see the value or simply leave them comparing prices. The post 690: Tara Shuler – When Mum Wants $5,000 in Photography Wall Art and Dad Wants to Leave appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

  5. Oct 6

    689: Pipi Diamond – Can You Sell Your Photography Business—or Will You Have to Close It?

    Pipi Diamond of Soulful Photography in the San Francisco Bay Area has spent 12 years building her pet and family photography business. Now she wants to sell it—and she’s candid about why. With three photographers trained, annual gross revenue listed at US$139,000 and an asking price reduced from US$75,000 to US$50,000 after losing her studio lease, Pipi shares what preparing a photography business for sale actually looks like. We cover what prospective buyers want, the staff and systems she’s put in place, a charity auction strategy that brought in around a third of her sessions, and why delegating the photography hasn’t removed the stress of ownership. Whether selling is on your radar or years away, this conversation raises a question worth considering now: what would someone actually be buying if you stepped away? The post 689: Pipi Diamond – Can You Sell Your Photography Business—or Will You Have to Close It? appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

  6. Sep 28

    688: Andrew Ferdinands – How To Get 80% of Your Photography Work Through Referrals

    Andrew “Ferdi” Ferdinands has photographed more than 3,000 events over 17 years and built an event photography business bringing in around $200,000 a year. At its busiest, his team covered roughly 400 events in a year, including 44 in one month. What caught my attention is that Ferdi says 80% of his work comes from referrals and word of mouth, even though he rarely asks for them. He believes the way a photographer makes people feel on the day has a lot to do with whether they book again or recommend you. It’s why he looks for people skills first when bringing photographers onto his team. We get into how he manages a pool of more than 30 photographers, what happens after a shoot, his straightforward pricing, and how he’s using AI to cut down the admin. If you photograph events, weddings or families, there’s plenty here to consider about the experience you give clients before they’ve even seen their photos. The post 688: Andrew Ferdinands – How To Get 80% of Your Photography Work Through Referrals appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

  7. Sep 21

    687: Ina Jalil – The Pre-Shoot Consultation That Raised Her Average Sale from $600 to $2,800

    Ina Jalil is the photographer behind Ina J Photography, a multiple six-figure pet photography business in Canberra, Australia. Since her first appearance on the podcast in 2022, she has photographed more than 1,000 dogs, grown annual revenue to around $305,000 and increased her average sale from roughly $600 to $2,800. In this interview, Ina shares how she transformed a disappointing book project—with 48 sessions and just over $20,000 in sales—into a second project that generated more than $72,000 from 26 sessions, with 25 of those clients purchasing. She also breaks down a Facebook campaign that turned a $689 ad spend into more than $33,000 in sales and explains why pre-shoot consultations, transparent pricing and better client qualification have become non-negotiable. We also explore how Ina uses AI as a virtual studio manager to review her consultation and sales calls, identify missed questions, build an objection bank, draft client emails and help improve her marketing. It’s an honest look at testing ideas, learning from campaigns that fail and building repeatable systems that allow a photographer to shoot fewer sessions while generating higher sales. The post 687: Ina Jalil – The Pre-Shoot Consultation That Raised Her Average Sale from $600 to $2,800 appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

  8. Sep 14

    686: Megan Jones – How 25-Minute Santa Sessions Became a $300K+ Photography Business

    Megan Jones of Megan Michael Photography has built one of the most impressive photography businesses I’ve come across. Her studio has grown from $610,000 in revenue in 2023 to being on track for $3.5 million in 2026, with a team of 13 employees, three full-time photographers and the capacity to photograph up to 14 sessions a day. In this interview, Megan shares how she moved from $200 sessions to a luxury-volume photography model, why she replaced herself as the photographer, how her team generates and handles hundreds of leads each week, and why boudoir now accounts for around 80% of the business. We also go deep into her Santa photography, where she photographs around 175 clients a year, averages roughly $2,000 per session and sells personalised Christmas storybooks for $4,200. Megan also explains how she thinks about pricing, emotional sales, limited-edition campaigns, client experience and creating a studio that feels highly personal to the client while operating like a machine behind the scenes. If you’re interested in scaling a photography business, selling higher-value products or simply seeing what’s possible beyond the traditional owner-operator model, there’s plenty to think about in this one. The post 686: Megan Jones – How 25-Minute Santa Sessions Became a $300K+ Photography Business appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.

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About

PhotoBizX is the number one photography business podcast for portrait and wedding photographers who want to attract more clients, charge what they’re worth, and build a thriving business. Hosted by Australian Master Photographer Andrew Hellmich, this weekly interview show features the world’s most successful and inspiring photographers and industry experts — the real stars of every episode. Andrew’s relaxed, curious interview style draws out incredible depth and honesty; listeners often say he asks exactly what they’re thinking and are shocked by how much his guests reveal. Each episode delivers real strategies, stories, and systems you can implement immediately — leaving you motivated and ready to grow your photography business.

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