PhotoBizX The Ultimate Wedding and Portrait Photography Business Podcast

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

The ultimate portrait and wedding photography business podcast where Andrew Hellmich, interviews successful wedding and portrait photographers and industry experts to reveal their business secrets for your success. PhotoBizX is the photography podcast where you hear answers to the questions you'd love to ask successful wedding and portrait photographer yourself but may never get the chance - or you'd be too afraid to ask. If you dream about having a successful photography business or you’re already on your way - you can fast track your progress as you listen to Andrew expose the tactics and strategies of full time photographers in this photography podcast. Learn the very things the professional photographers wish they knew ‘back then’ - all the inside tips, tricks, marketing, business, advertising and social media photography techniques that work. Learn how to attract a constant flow of clients that want to pay for your photography... every day. Discover how to make a living with photography. Learn the exact way to market your style of photography, advertise and promote your wedding or portrait photography business. How to manage pricing, photography packages, sales techniques, to up-sell or not, what to do when the phone rings and what the experts do when it doesn’t. Learn what professional photographers do from the initial consultation right through to the album or prints sales session to pick up and beyond.

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    591: Aurelie Graillot – Balancing Creativity, Business, and Life: Lessons from a master commercial photographer

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area  Aurelie Graillot of www.aureliegraillot.com appeared on my radar after interviewing Steve Tepp from Rights Click, where we talked about all things copyright in episode 583. After the email introduction, I looked at her website and was blown away! This French-born, American-raised photographer describes herself as a still-life photographer, but I don't feel that description goes far enough. I would say commercial, advertising, beauty and cosmetics photographer who is an absolute master of photography, light, colour, composition and style. If you suffer from imposter syndrome as a photographer… do not visit Aurelie's website… her work is truly incredible. Aurelie’s insights are a goldmine for commercial, advertising, and branding photographers looking to build a sustainable, authentic career. Whether you're just starting out or already established, this interview offers real-world advice on everything from brand-building to adapting to a tech-driven world while balancing creativity, business, and life lessons from this super-talented commercial photographer. 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. Low-balling your own rate is not necessarily a good business strategy… You’re devaluing yourself if you bring down your rate just to try to get a job. – Aurelie Graillot 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. You have to ask yourself, in the commercial world, what is the message that my client is trying to send out to the world, and I need to make sure that’s set or shown. – Aurelie Graillot 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 Aurelie 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. Regarding AI and photography, it's our ideas that we're putting together, and if you can make it work in a really elegant way, then it works. If it looks cheap, that's what cheapens it. – Aurelie Graillot If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Aurelie or want to say thank you for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

    40 min

  2. NOV 4

    590: Rick Bettinger – How to balance art, business, and innovation in photography

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area  Rick Bettinger of www.gittings.com is part of a photography business that has been operating for over 90 years in the US. They have studio locations in Dallas, Houston and New York. Plus, they have a separate side to the business, a global photography agency with photographers worldwide working under their banner. They offer most genres of photography – both for personal and corporate clients. Check out their About page, and you'll get a sense of the operation's size. They have over 20 staff photos and bios of a well-dressed and presented professional-looking team. In an article published in the 1980s, the founder of his incredible business, Paul Linwood Gittings, was quoted as saying, “I did sacrifice art for business; I made up my mind to use photography as a business tool.” There is no denying that his legacy lives on with what looks like an incredible business! Regarding our guest for today, he is the President and owner of Gittings Portrait Studios in Dallas and Fort Worth. He has a Master of Photography degree and has photographed past US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, among many, many other notable families in Texas. In this interview, Rick shares how he has balanced art, business, and innovation in a long-standing, well-respected, and highly profitable 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. Photography is what I love, but I also love the art of business… I don’t think I would just be happy just being a photographer, but I also would not be happy just being the owner and not having that creative outlet. – Rick Bettinger 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. We are professionals and… you should dress like a professional and look like a professional. We want to look better than our clients, or as good as our clients… we are trying to represent a profession where we want people to take us seriously. – Rick Bettinger 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 Rick 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 have given up some of the art of photography to be able to make a living at photography. – Rick Bettinger

    48 min

  3. OCT 28

    589: Photography Studio Special 2 – Buying and leasing advice for photographers looking at studio ownership

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Welcome to part two of a two-part series, where we dive into everything you need to know about buying or leasing a photography studio. Whether you're considering owning a space or working from one, this episode will guide you through the essential considerations before making that big decision of signing a lease and paying rent or taking out a loan to purchase your studio space. I'm thrilled to have three incredible guests joining us today, all from different genres of photography. We have Boston boudoir photographer Lindsay Hite of Show Your Spark in the USA. Lindsay started her photography business in 2009, transitioned from weddings to boudoir in 2016, and opened her newly renovated studio in 2019. Lindsay was featured in Episode 392 of the podcast. Melbourne dance photographer Leah Hoffman of Hoffa Studios will also join us. Not only is Leah's work incredible, but you need to check out what she shared about marketing from Episode 480 of the podcast. This is one switched-on photography studio operator when it comes to generating highly qualified leads. And finally, also from the USA, and for the first time on the podcast, we have New Orleans Headshots, personal brand, and commercial photographer Noel Marcantel, who has a street front studio that looks like an incredible place to work — complete with a full-sized cyc wall. Whether you're a seasoned photographer or just starting to consider your own studio space, this episode is packed with valuable insights from some of the best in the business. Let’s dive in with this photography-studio-special, focussed on buying and leasing advice for photographers. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Lindsay Hite I have two shooting spaces…a daylight studio and… the black box studio. I also have what I call my premiere room, which is the converted garage space.. and then I have some temporary little exhibition walls for the dressing room and then my workspace. – Lindsay Hite We don't have parking here, which is a downside, and they rarely ticket. But when they do ticket, I always tell my clients and my staff, bring the ticket to me and I will pay it. So I like to say that's my parking fee. If I were leasing a garage space, or, you know, had to pay parking space rental in the city, it would be far more expensive than a random ticket here and there. – Lindsay Hite You have to think of your cost of doing business differently because you have more overhead, especially if you're going to take on staff in addition to your studio space and the build out, so there's less wiggle room, so to speak for that, I have to make a certain minimum per day to stay profitable, and so that helps me enforce my pricing. – Lindsay Hite I'm a big fan of trying things out, seeing how it works, tweaking from there, so that you can grow as you need to. – Lindsay Hite Show Your Spark Website Show Your Spark on Instagram a href="https://www.instagram.

    39 min

  4. OCT 21

    588: Leigh Woolford – From Burnout to Booming: Building a Profitable Kindy Photography Business

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area  Leigh Woolford runs an Australian childcare centre photography business, also known as a kindy, kindergarten, preschool or high-volume photography business, which is based in Melbourne, Australia. We were exchanging emails about potential interview guests for the podcast when I learned that he will be presenting at a conference next year on the evolution of his own business—from burnout to building a profitable company. That led to some back and forth before I asked him for today's interview. In that email exchange, I mentioned that while visiting his website, it wasn't very clear which areas he was servicing with his kindy photography business. I loved his reply! He said, “The service area is blank intentionally; we are going to be Australia-wide someday!” In this interview, Leigh shares the ups and downs of creating and running a profitable high-volume photography business, which included almost giving up and, years later, almost going broke. 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'm trying to make myself less important in the business and not be the business, and ideally have other people run it for me. – Leigh Woolford 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. It’s incredibly difficult to take that leap. But if you’ve put the work in, and you know the bookings will come, you can make money in the business. – Leigh Woolford 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 Leigh 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. We changed the name of that pack to the ‘I want it all’ pack, and sales jumped by 15%. – Leigh Woolford If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Leigh or want to say thank you for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! Secondly,

  5. OCT 14

    587: Ryan Erickson – Fetch Photo Truck – A Mobile Pet Photography Business Wagging its Way to Success

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Ryan Erickson of www.fetchphototruck.com is a mobile, come-to-you dog photographer in Denver, Colorado, USA. His mobile pet photography studio was custom-built on a towable trailer where he shoots and does same-day in-person-sales sessions for his dog owner clients. I'm always looking for terrific guests to feature on the podcast, and I love receiving a recommendation like this one from Pet Photographer and business coach Alex Cearns. In her email, she says: Hey Andrew I have a podcast guest to recommend; he runs Fetch Photo Truck in Denver, Colorado. He was previously a wedding photographer who wanted to move into pet photography and work for himself. His truck is a custom trailer that looks incredible inside (and out!). He hit six figures working solo and is a heck of a nice guy! Alex. I went and did some searching and can confirm… his photography is fantastic. The trailer looks terrific, and his clients love him! In this interview, Ryan shares the ins and out, good and bad of  Fetch Photo Truck, the mobile pet 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. When you're working for somebody else, you're working for somebody else's dream, right? So there's only so much growth that you can realistically kind of expect. – Ryan Erickson 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. Outsource whatever you can. I outsource my editing. I realized early on that I had a vision of what I wanted my photos to be, but, it took me too long to do a not so great a job. So I realized early on, I need to hire somebody else that knows what they're doing and can do this efficiently, and pay them to do it. And that was one of the better decisions that I made early on. – Ryan Erickson 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 Ryan 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 wanted people to know exactly what they're getting into because I'm asking them to make a lot of decisions on the spot. I never want people to feel pressured and overwhelmed. The goal is for them to feel fully educated and prepared going into...

    54 min

  6. OCT 8

    586: Photography Studio Special – Studio buying and leasing advice for photographers

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Welcome to part one of a two-part series, where we dive into everything you need to know about buying or leasing a photography studio. Whether you're considering owning a space or working from one, this episode will guide you through the essential considerations before making that big decision of signing a lease and paying rent or taking out a loan to purchase your studio space. I'm thrilled to have three incredible guests joining us today, all from different genres of photography. We have Alex Cearns from Houndstooth Studio in Western Australia. Alex is a highly accomplished pet photographer, published author, and successful studio operator with extensive experience in multiple studio spaces. You may remember her from episodes 290 and 524 of the PBX podcast. We also welcome Elle Payne, a newborn photography business owner and mother of two. Elle is one of the biggest sponges when it comes to taking in business concepts and ideas and, more importantly, her skill in quickly implementing, testing, and refining those ideas to see what works. Elle was featured in episode 429 of the PhotoBizX podcast. Finally, the incredibly talented Michael Anthony is joining us from the USA. Michael is an experienced wedding and portrait photographer who is building a new studio from scratch after leasing and working from his first studio. He was previously featured in episode 446 of the podcast. Whether you're a seasoned photographer or just starting to consider your own studio space, this episode is packed with valuable insights from some of the best in the business. Let’s get started with this photography studio special on buying and leasing advice for photographers. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: Alex Cearns You can really just make it fit what you need. Look at your business practices. If you are doing online purchase appointments on Zoom or you know different mechanism, you don't need a room for that…So I think just make sure that it meets your needs really clearly. And I think if I could do it differently, I would just really look at streamlining business practices before I went got a whole house that was costing me $4,000 a month that I didn't really use. – Alex Cearns If you're going to invest money in your business, your business has to be making you that money to invest in the first place. – Alex Cearns I think it's important to specify that a studio to me is just this empty room. If I just need a shooting space like what Elle said, you can have a backdrop stand with a backdrop on it, some paper roll and a light on the stand and you know, maybe one or two other lights, that's all you need at the bare minimum. – Alex Cearns A business only runs as fast as you put your foot on that accelerator. – Alex Cearns Houndstooth Studio

    39 min

  7. SEP 30

    585: Michael Cassidy – Navigating AI Restrictions and Building a Luxury Boudoir Photography Business

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Michael Cassidy from www.mikecassidyphotography.com is a US-based boudoir photographer who’s been in business for almost 15 years. His main focus these days is creating high-end boudoir gifts for brides, whether it’s for weddings, anniversaries, or even a Christmas surprise. His work is stunning, and I couldn’t wait to dive into his business and uncover how it all works. But what caught my attention—and why I had to get him on the podcast—was when Michael asked if I knew about the growing challenges facing women's photographers in the age of AI. From Adobe’s restrictions on editing boudoir-style images, to Instagram’s AI censoring women photographers, and Google’s image bots cracking down on boudoir photography websites—it’s all creating massive hurdles. In this interview, we chat about Michael’s journey, his stunning work with brides, and how he’s navigating these AI challenges while building a thriving luxury 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. There are more people now who are more interested in the business of photography than maybe the art of photography. To separate yourself, you have to be pretty goddamn special in the photos that you can create. – Michael Cassidy 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 Michael 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. Success is a trailing factor, not a leading one. If you have great systems and technical ability, the money comes. – Michael Cassidy If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Michael or want to say thank you for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographe...

    58 min

  8. SEP 23

    584: Craig Peterman – Build a $300K Wedding Photography Business Without Aggressive Marketing

    Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Craig Peterman of www.petermanphotovideo.com is a wedding photographer and videographer based in Phoenix, Arizona with over a decade of experience. Over the past two years he has successfully generated over $200,000 annually in revenue and is on track for $300k this year. His work has been featured on The Knot and Style Me Pretty, and is a mixture of natural light with vibrant dessert colours with some black and white edits. Here's why I'm most interested in learning more from Craig… I see a nice looking, easy to navigate website, great photography, social media accounts that are ticking along – he has close to 60k followers on Instagram – but nothing jumping out as an obvious reason for success. There is no aggressive marketing, special offers, or specific online ads, and his website doesn't rank highly in search for major keywords. How is he achieving the success he is? In this interview, learn how to build a $300K wedding photography business without aggressive marketing strategies or pushy sales techniques. 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. My unique selling proposition, is selling high quality luxury service at a fair price. You know, something that can attract the masses. So, I'm not I'm not pricing couples out immediately. – Craig Peterman 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 Craig 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. Put yourself in many places as you can. Invest wisely in your ads and see where that leads you. – Craig Peterman If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Craig, or a way to thank you for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. It's This week… Don't Miss this business and life-changing training! The “40 Over 40” Campaign Masterclass helps portrait photographers attract high-value clients by focusing on women over 40, a powerful and often underserved demographic. Led by Laurie Brown, who has successfully run these campaigns multiple times, the course provides step-by-step guidance on creating a lux...

    42 min
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4.9
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About

The ultimate portrait and wedding photography business podcast where Andrew Hellmich, interviews successful wedding and portrait photographers and industry experts to reveal their business secrets for your success. PhotoBizX is the photography podcast where you hear answers to the questions you'd love to ask successful wedding and portrait photographer yourself but may never get the chance - or you'd be too afraid to ask. If you dream about having a successful photography business or you’re already on your way - you can fast track your progress as you listen to Andrew expose the tactics and strategies of full time photographers in this photography podcast. Learn the very things the professional photographers wish they knew ‘back then’ - all the inside tips, tricks, marketing, business, advertising and social media photography techniques that work. Learn how to attract a constant flow of clients that want to pay for your photography... every day. Discover how to make a living with photography. Learn the exact way to market your style of photography, advertise and promote your wedding or portrait photography business. How to manage pricing, photography packages, sales techniques, to up-sell or not, what to do when the phone rings and what the experts do when it doesn’t. Learn what professional photographers do from the initial consultation right through to the album or prints sales session to pick up and beyond.

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