PhotoBizX The Ultimate Wedding and Portrait Photography Business Podcast Andrew Hellmich: Photographer, Interviewer, Podcaster and Owner of Impact Images

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Ayla Quellhorst of www.aylaquellhorst.com is a retired U.S. Air Force Photojournalist. She comes from a blue-collar family that lived paycheck to paycheck but made her way through university to graduate with a degree in business administration.

Her main studio shoots only boudoir photography and generates a revenue of $700,000 annually.

Her husband opened his own boudoir studio this year, and they are projecting $100,000 in sales this first year.

She and her husband work full-time in the business and employ a makeup artist and a product advisor—I wasn't entirely sure what that is, but we find out in the interview

Ayla told me that she sees herself as a businessperson first and a photographer second.

She has presented at Shutterfest in 2022, written multiple published posts on helping other photographers succeed and is passionate about seeing other photographers get profitable and make a terrific living through photography.

In this interview, Ayla shares how her passion led to a simple recipe for a very profitable boudoir photography business.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:



What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

I want people to love where they are right now, knowing that they can still make adjustments, they can still change things that they want to. – Ayla Quellhorst

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.



What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Ayla shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

It's not my place to tell you that your body's not beautiful. I'm going to show you what I'm seeing and what I think is beautiful, and then you can tell me ‘yes’ or ‘no’. We have five base poses we use for all of our clients, and then I might tweak from there. But every client is shot the same way because we want them to see that they're beautiful how they are. And I'm not going to put that judgment on them in our studio. And I think our clients really appreciate that. – Ayla Quellhorst

If you have any questions I missed or a specific question you’d like to ask Ayla, or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.







iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area

Katie Phillips of www.katiephillipsphotography.com.au was first interviewed only last year for episode 514. At that time, she shared what I thought was a killer marketing idea for family portrait photographers and how successful it had been for her – in the last two years.

She booked a year of sessions the first time she did this and earned $75,000. The following year, it was bigger and better again.

Then, we were chatting last month, and I learned she's booked months in advance again and is having some incredible sales, too.

This is done through her Mummahood Project, which is based on a local photography exhibition featuring real families from her community.

This is an absolute no-brainer idea as it has everything a working photographer could want: bookings from local families, the freedom to shoot in your style, terrific sales, acclaim in your community, and a real photography exhibition.

Why every photographer isn't doing this is beyond me.

In this interview, Katie shares how to use photography exhibitions as a lead generator and sales machine for photographers.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

I think it's really important to have that connection because I'm a mum, I'm talking to mums, we form a bond over those moments that we're on the phone. And I usually leave about 15 minutes for the phone call. But I'm going to have to revise that because the last two phone calls that I took was 45 minutes long, which is not great for efficiency, but you just start getting talking about kids. And, you know, I think I had my two year old roaring around in the background and profusely apologizing. And my client was laughing her head off, because she had her two year old roaring around in the background. So it was kind of like a really lovely moment where we could just be real with each other. And I think that really builds rapport and trust. – Katie Phillips

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

I find it really difficult to keep track of text messages and messengers. And I just found it a lot easier if I talk to somebody. I can get the information straight away. We can have a conversation, then it's done. I'm not having to go backwards and forwards on Messenger. – Katie Phillips

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Katie shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that!

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area

Chris Gillett of  www.liketherazor.com was first featured on the podcast for episode 158 in 2016, when he'd just gone full-time with his headshot photography business.

Before going full-time, he was a successful Lawyer, and at the time of recording, he sounded happy to have left that career behind.

At the time, he had three packages, starting at $300.

Check out his website today, and you will see the following…



* 3000+ happy clients

* 10 years experience

* 0% b******t

* 100% client satisfaction



Not to mention the high-end, beautifully lit and varied headshots.

Interestingly, his pricing is lower today… and, you get more time allocated for your headshot photography sessions.

I asked this talented photographer and long-term business operator back onto the podcast… to hear an honest update on how things have played out over the last 10 years in business. The ups and downs, the wins and losses and most of all, the lessons he's learned to help you stick at it and grow your business successfully and, ideally, by avoiding a few mistakes along the way.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:



What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

I think anybody who's in this business full-time will know this already, but like, you've got to be open to the negative criticism, because that's where you learn the stuff. – Chris Gillett

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

Wealthy people are used to hiring and relying on experts, and they want you to be in charge. – Chris Gillett

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.



What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Chris shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

I can be picky and and so I found that the more specific I am about who I am, what I do, who I do it for, why I do it, it's kind of unintuitive, because you think, well, if I cast a bigger net, I'll get more stuff. And it's kind of the opposite. I guess the net has a lot of holes in it, because you want to like a spear and go, ‘nope, that one.' ‘I don't want that one.' ‘I don't want that one.' It gets me better clients.

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area

Ashley Kaplan of www.ashleykaplanphotography.com is a San Francisco, Californian-based family photographer, mentor, and educator.

She told me about her passion for intentionally incorporating location into portrait photography to add more meaning, memory, and belonging to her work, which she said leads to a higher-end offering for clients.

She's been in business for almost 8 years, is booked out nearly year-round, and is becoming known for her environmental portraits.

I always become a little wary when I hear the terms educator and mentor being used when it comes to interview guests so I asked a few more questions to get a better idea if she'd make a great guest for you.

I learned that 90% of her income comes from photography clients and 10% from education.

Her revenue from photography is over $200k, her work is gorgeous, and her portrait photography pricing starts at over $1500.

In this interview, Ashley shares a blueprint for explosive photography business growth and how she went from 20k to $200k in quick time.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:



What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

I decided to become a stay-at-home mom and run a photography business just as a side hustle to earn money. – Ashley Kaplan

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.



What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Ashley shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

I'm a big believer that you like invest in people that support you to run the things that are not in your zone of genius and you stay in your lane in your zone of genius and it helps me actually make more money by paying people to do things that I don't love and don't do well. – Ashley Kaplan

If you have any questions I missed or a specific question you’d like to ask Ashley, or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.







PhotoBizX Premium Membership Special — LAST CHANCE TODAY!

It's rare to see a special price for the Premium Membership, but there's one available for you until Sunday, June 30th 2024.

Why the special?

Because it's holiday time (I'm off to France) and there's no better reason to celebrat...

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area

Kari Bjorn of www.karibjorn.com is an Icelandic wedding and elopement photographer based in Connecticut in the USA, where he also photographs weddings.

We chatted recently, and he told me he'd love to share what he's learned in the past 2.5 years while optimising his website and SEO for my own business.

As a bit of a backstory, three years ago, he moved with his family from New York to Arkansas—about 2000km away—which meant he lost all of his corporate contacts and wedding referrals.

And he just moved again!

He had to start from scratch as most weddings had been booked via referrals.

He invested heavily in SEO in 2021 and nearly doubled his income between 2022 and 2023. He also started booking destination elopements in Iceland.

His website looks great, and everything he's written has been written for the couples he's looking to attract. His photography is colourful and vibrant.

In this interview, Kari shares how he doubled his wedding photography income with SEO backlinks and how you can do the same for your website.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:



What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

Outranking local photographers for destination weddings is pretty difficult. But it doesn't mean that it's not worth it. Because weddings and elopements is such a high ticket item, that it's not the same as searching for something like best Mexican restaurant for lunch, or some people are just going to click on the first point two or three results. – Kari Bjorn

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.



What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Kari shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

It helps when your domain has reasonable authority already with Google. So if you have a lot of backlinks pointing to your domain, it helps make the switch. – Kari Bjorn

If you have any questions I missed or a specific question you’d like to ask Kari, or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.







PhotoBizX Premium Membership Special!

It's rare to see a special price for the Premium Membership, but there's one available for you until Sunday, June 30th 2024.

Why the special?

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area

Kim Jongen of www.motherpuppers.nl is today's special guest. She popped up on my radar after leaving a Google review for the PhotoBizX podcast. As usual, I jumped over to check out the reviewer's website and was blown away!

Her dog photographs popped off the screen and were so much fun.

Photographed in the studio, the dogs have fantastic expressions on their faces and are framed against beautifully bright and coloured backgrounds. She has over 30 different coloured backgrounds to choose from!

I learned that her business, Motherpuppers, has only been operating for two years and is doing very well. She is booked out with three-month lead times and photographs 4-5 sessions per week!

She believes business has been busy from the start because her style or concept had not been seen in the Netherlands.

Most of her bookings came via Instagram after she created an account for her dog and asked for referrals from dog owners interested in photographs like the ones she created.

She also told me that as happy as she is to come on the podcast, it's on the proviso that we're ok with not perfect English.

It was a resounding yes from me, and I know you'll feel the same after seeing her work and hearing what she has to share.

In this interview, learn and be inspired by the power of unique branding and original marketing ideas.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:



What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

Make captions…You need to keep it simple, and automatically you want to think very deep about things but you don't have to. Just keep it simple and act like a child who read the captions and that's, I think, the trick to get views on reels. – Kim Jongen

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.



What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Kim shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

Eventually, I want people to see my work not only from the Netherlands but from other countries too. – Kim Jongen

If you have any questions I missed or a specific question you’d like to ask Kim, or if you want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.







iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs