Raising littles while also trying to grow a photography business can oftentimes feel like an impossible task.

You know, there are so many things you could be doing in your business and even feel like you should be doing, but you’re just so overwhelmed with all the things that you’re just reacting to tasks left and right instead of having a focused plan for what to work on first.

You might go into first responder mode, putting out the most immediate fires first, and never feel like you’re in control and know what to focus on.

Today’s episode is going to be a little different. Instead of sharing my perspective with you, I’m going to be featuring 5 guests with you and sharing their Best Advice for Mom Photographers to Grow Their Business.

These guests also have something in common. They are all speakers at the upcoming Focused Mom Photographer Summit I’m hosting!

This virtual event will be from April 17th-21st 2023 and will help you purposefully organize your photography business so you can find balance, feel productive, and increase profitability without the full-time workload.

Be sure to stay tuned until the end of this episode, where I’ll be sharing more details on how you can grab your FREE ticket, but for now, let’s dive in and learn from these amazing experts.

Let’s dive in and learn from these amazing guests!

Brooke Jefferson

Hey, my name is Brooke Jefferson. I’m a family photographer and a business coach and the host of the Book More Clients Photography Podcast. I’m so excited to give you some practical advice for growing your photography business.

Now I’ve been in your shoes, where I’ve been in this stage of business where I really wanted to gain momentum so badly, but I couldn’t figure out why I was stuck.

Well, there’s two things that I see that are very common among business owners. And honestly, this could be at any stage of business, but really, towards the beginning, as you’re trying to gain this momentum and trying to hit your booking goals and continue to grow your revenue.

And it is this: you are overthinking and over consuming.

Now, the problem with these two things is that as you’re doing this, you start to feel like the pinball and a pinball machine. It’s going everywhere. Your mind is crazy. And you just don’t know what to do. You just you find yourself stuck in paralysis analysis.

So overthinking is when you are caught up in your own head, you are constantly literally overthinking everything from: Am I good enough? to Why is this not working for me? What’s the best marketing strategy? Why does her business look like it’s so much better than mine?

Right, and when you’re stuck in your head, you are going to suffer from paralysis analysis, and it will keep you stuck until you can learn to get out of your own head.

Secondly, if you’re over consuming, that means that you are listening to a ton of different advice gurus, business coaches, etc. And that can come in the form of reading emails on your email list, listening to podcast, binging YouTube, going to 100 different summits, all the things.

And what I want you to be careful about is when you’re taking advice from everyone, it’s really hard to figure out what’s best for you.

So my advice, if you find yourself here, is I want you to clear the bench.

And I really want you to find one or two people that the voices right that you want to follow that have a similar business, lifestyle and values, meaning that they have proven to get the result for themselves and for others, and living a life that you would love to live to.

Guys, I cannot wait to dive even more into this topic, as I give you the CEO Confidence Blueprint at the summit coming up.

So I can’t wait to see you there. And I hope that you found this piece of advice helpful.

Danielle Blewitt

Hi, I’m Danielle Blewitt. And I’m a Pittsburgh family photographer, marketing expert, and business coach.

One of the best pieces of advice that I could give a new photographer trying to grow their business is to go all in if you really want to give yourself the best chance for success.

So a mistake that so many photographers make is just dipping their toes in the business and never fully investing in themselves. So what happens is, so many of us fall into our photography business by chance. So we begin taking photos for others, realize we love it, and we do a little more here and there. And before we know it, a business is forming.

The unfortunate thing that happens when you don’t intentionally build your business is this natural progression becomes like our quote-unquote, plan. Because so much of the business is formed on its own, you can really miss some of like the critical foundational steps in building your business correctly.

When this happens, there are gaps in your business. And that can really slow you down and keep you from realizing your full potential.

Maybe you aren’t booking as many session sessions as you could be. Maybe you’re not as profitable as you should be. When all of this happens, that’s when many photographers start doubting themselves. So they start thinking that maybe they’re not good enough, maybe they don’t have what it takes. And unfortunately, that’s what you see, so many photographers want to just give up.

So what happens when you don’t fully invest yourself into setting up your business, you never truly know whether or not you could have succeeded. And in my opinion, that is just not fair for you to think this way.

So whether your photography business is just a side gig, or if you want to take it full-time, my advice is the same here. Take the time to set up your business completely.

Most of the things or setting up a photography business require more time than they do money. So I asked you what do you have to lose?

I’m so excited to present at the upcoming Focus Mom Photographer Summit on the topic of blogging. I’m going to be presenting on the second day which is all about streamlining your process.

Blogging is one of those things that many photographers avoid because it’s something that they don’t really see value in. In reality, those same photographers are the ones that are asking for ideas on how to market their business and how to grow their business.

Blogging is one of those extra things that can really add value to your overall marketing strategy. So usually, it’s one of the last things on the to-do list because many photographers don’t have enough time to write, they don’t know what to write, or maybe they just don’t see the value in it.

I’m going to be sharing my best tips for overcoming some of these barriers. And I’ll be sharing my simple four-step system to help you streamline your blogging process.

I’m really excited to present on this topic, and I look forward to meeting so many new photographers. I’ll see you there!

Sara Gillis

Hi there. My name is Sarah Gillis, and I’m a copywriter, word magic maker, boy mama, wife, and dog mom.

I founded What Sara Said in the wake of the pandemic in 2020. And in my corner of the internet, personality-packed website copy is always in. When it comes to growing your photography business online my tip is simple but powerful:

If business ownership and buyer’s choice isn’t personal, each sweet little storefront in America would only leave room for one owner per industry to set up shop.

That would mean that each town would only have one photographer. But friends we don’t live in that world.

Instead, business owners like you experience success because your clients find glimpses of themselves in you and in your business. And they choose to work with you.

So when people are trying to decide who to hire, to capture photography, to freeze time, or to create a legacy for generations to come, I encourage you to show up as you are and as only you can, both in your business and in life.

I am so thrilled to participate on day four of the Focused Mom Photographer Summit.

I’ll be bringing you a short actionable talk about how to know if your brand messaging what we in the industry called copy is effective.

I’m sharing my three-step system to help you look closely at the words on your website, on your social feed, on your blog, and in your emails to make sure they’re set to perform well for your business.

Plus, at the end of my talk, I’m sharing an invite with you to listen in on a must-have copy video series that I’m running.

You don’t want to miss it, friend. I hope to connect with you during the q&a. My DMS are always open on Instagram @hellosaragillis. And you can also find me online at whatsarahsaid.com

Thanks for being here.

Kendra Swalls

Hey there, my name is Kendra Swalls. I am a former teacher turned photographer and marketing coach, podcast host, mom of two, and all the things like many of you listening to this are.

And because of that, I don’t have extra time in my day. Extra time is a luxury that doesn’t exist in my world most of the time.

And so I have really, really focused on making sure that I’m utilizing the time that I have available in my business to the most of its ability.

And so that is where my number one piece of advice comes in. And that is to do less.

A long time ago, I read a book called The One Thing and it’s all about productivity and how to focus all your energy on one thing, and let that one thing snowball into bigger things.

And I think when it comes to growing a business, especially with social media, we feel like we need to be doing all the things and it can get overwhelming and it becomes just too much.

And so if you are trying to market your business on all of these different platforms, you’re putting your stuff on Pinterest and Instagram and Facebook, and you’re in Facebook groups or maybe you’re trying to get on to TikTok, or you’ve heard someone say, well, LinkedIn is where you should be. So you’re testing out LinkedIn or Twitter, and you just feel overwhelmed.

My advice to you is to do an audit of your business and what brings you the most joy but also what is working in your business.

If someone said you need to be on Pinterest, but Pinterest is not bringing you in new leads or new clients, then stop worrying about Pinterest.

If someone has said you need to be doing TikTok videos because that’s where it’s at, but you hate doing TikTok videos and they’re not bringing you new leads, then let that thing go.

Focusing on the one thing or the two things, but focusing on the few things that are actually going to make a difference in your business. Not only will it help you breathe a little bit easier, and you’ll be able to let go of these other things. But it will give you a focus and a purpose so that you can then filter when new things come in.

So when you hop onto Facebook, and you see this one business coach saying you should try this X, Y, or Z system, you can go is that X, Y or Z system really going to help me grow my business? Through this one avenue that I’m, I’m focusing on? And if the answer’s no, it’s an easy, ‘I don’t need that right now.’

For me, in my business, the thing that has been the number one thing to grow my business and to market, my business has been email marketing. And email marketing, for me has always been a really solid foundation of my business.

And everything else I do, gets put through that filter of ‘is this going to help me grow my email list, build connections with my email subscribers, and grow my bottom line, make more sales?’

And so if getting on Instagram and creating Instagram reels is not helping me grow my email list, that’s not where I focus my time and attention. If going into Facebook groups, and sharing valuable resources and growing, my email list is working, then that’s where I’m going to focus my attention.

But ultimately, it all comes back to that one thing that I’m doing in my business that’s working really well. And putting all of my time, energy, and effort into that, and letting everything else go. And just feeling the weight fall off of my shoulders.

Kelsey Strothers

Hey, I’m Kelsey, a wedding and branding photographer, and educator.

I’m passionate about helping photographers to find freedom from editing and transition from wasting hours spent being glued to their computers, to spending more time with their family and friends.

My best piece of advice when growing your business is to have systems in place so that you can maximize the time you’re spending in your business.

Ever hear the phrase ‘time is money’? Your time is valuable. And so by having systems in place will not only help you to quickly gain traction and momentum in your business, but you’ll be able to get further in less time.

Honestly, I think it’s important to have multiple systems in your business so that for every task you’re doing, you don’t need to start at square one every single time.

Systems, when done correctly, can be extremely beneficial and are powerful pieces to growing your business.

So I challenge you to evaluate the places in your business that you would benefit from creating a system to help streamline your work and maximize the time you’re investing into growing your business.

So here’s an example of one of the major systems that I have in place that I couldn’t live without. And that is my shooting and editing system. That saves me hours of time per session and wedding that I would lose otherwise, because I’d be glued to my computer editing my nights away.

When I was first starting out in my business, I literally didn’t have any systems in place for shooting and editing. And because of that, it resulted in a four-week turnaround time because I didn’t know where to start, or how to get started editing such a large gallery of images.

So I quickly learned that that was not a great long-term solution. And so I created a shooting and editing system about seven to eight years ago that I use to this day. And I have never looked back because of the time freedom it has given me and not only in my business, but in my day-to-day life.

And because of the system, I can turn around my session galleries in 48 hours or less, and a full 1000 Plus image wedding gallery in a week. And I’m able to take my extra hours of time that I’ve gained and I get to invest that back into growing my own business.

So if you’re curious what my specific looks like when it comes to shooting and finding freedom from editing without hiring an editor, I’ll be diving into this a little deeper in my presentation to teach you part of my exact strategy so that you can take it for yourself and apply it to your own business.

I’m excited to see you there.

ACTION STEPS

Oh, my gosh, mama, are you fired up after hearing those amazing tips? I know I am, and I ameven more excited that those clips are just a small preview of the incredible information they willeach be sharing during their presentations.

In addition to these five speakers, you will also hearfrom 15 other speakers, including myself, covering a variety of topics:

• How to Run Your Photography Business Like a CEO
• Finance Best Practices
• Crafting A Powerful Clientflow
• Pricing your Sessions for Profitability
• The Secret to Booking More Premium Clients

The Focused Mom Photographer Summit was designed with you in mind. I know your time is limited and valuable so each presentation is short, to the point, and only 15 to 20 minutes long. The presentation topics have been systematically selected with daily themes to help keep you focused and zone in on the areas you need help with the most.

Day one, we’ll focus on owning your role as the CEO.

Day two is all about streamlining your processes.

Day 3 will help you skyrocket your marketing.

And day four is all about increasing your profitability. 

This will be an event you won’t want to miss. Trust me. The FOMO is real. Head on over to grab your free ticket, you’ll be so glad you did.

Head on over to momphotographersummit.com to grab your FREE TICKET. You’ll be so glad you did.

We are here rooting for you and we cannot wait to come alongside you on your journey at the Focused Mom Photographer Summit. See you there!

Resources:

Find me on Instagram: @thepurposegathering