Lesson Info
66. Your First Massive Failure
Summary (Generated from Transcript)
The topic of the lesson is about starting a photography business and the importance of qualifying leads and targeting the right market.
Q&A:
Why is it important to qualify leads in a photography business?
It is important to qualify leads because you can't sell to people who are not your target market.
Can you turn a $500 client into a $5000 client?
No, it is not possible to turn a $500 client into a $5000 client.
How can differentiation in your work benefit your photography business?
Differentiating your work from competitors is important because if clients can't see a difference in quality, they will choose the cheaper option.
What are some questions you can ask to qualify a lead?
You can ask about the venue, size of the wedding, vision for the shoot, clothing, and car to visually qualify a lead.
Why is it important to establish the value of your services?
Establishing the value of your services is important because you are selling a luxury product and not a commodity.
What should you do if someone is not your client persona?
If someone is not your client persona, it is best to stop investing energy in them and focus on targeting your actual clients.
Is sales a numbers game?
Yes, sales is a numbers game, but you can increase your odds by qualifying leads and targeting the right market.
Lessons
Class Introduction
13:12 2Common Myths & Unknown Truths
11:42 3The Road Ahead
13:03 4Find Your Passion
06:06 5The Lin & Jirsa Journey
13:54 6Part-time, Full-time, Employed, Partners?
03:51 7Stop Wasting Time & Money
06:07 8Your 12 Week Roadmap
04:33Great Plans Still Fail
06:01 10Strategy Vs. Planning
04:16 11Mind Mapping
07:25 12Select a Focus
14:16 13Competitor Research
09:34 14S.W.O.T. Analysis
13:54 15Strategy & Long Term Goals
03:50 16Values, Vision & Mission
27:49 17Effectively Managing Your Time
15:05 18Artistic Development
07:30 19Create Your Plan
13:12 20What's Your Product
10:51 21Luxury vs Consumer Products & Experiences
11:44 22Quick Break for Econ 101
16:31 23Your Target Market & Brand Message
21:25 24What's in a Name
09:20 25Your Client 'Why'
05:43 26Crafting the Why Experience
24:17 27Document the Client Experience
08:29 28Business Administration Basics
27:03 29Book Keeping Management
06:51 30Create the Logo & Branding
07:04 31Portfolio Design
15:11 32Design Your Services & Packages
18:51 33Pricing Fears & Myths
08:46 34Three Pricing Methods
25:39 35Package Pricing Psychology & Design
06:15 36Psychology of Numbers
07:29 37Pricing Q&A
23:51 38Grass Roots Marketing
09:36 39The Empty Party
07:03 40Friends & Family Test Shoots
16:28 41Join Groups
04:32 42Second Shooting Etiquette
07:44 43The Listing & Classified Hustle
14:10 44Make Instagram Simple
13:55 45Your Automated Pinterest Plan
08:01 46Facebook Because You Must
07:37 47Giveaway & Styled Shoots
12:17 48Content Marketing & SEO
08:12 49The Monster: SEO
07:26 50Selecting Your Keywords
05:45 51Testing Your Keywords
07:53 52Grouping Main & Niche Goals
12:39 53Your Content Road Map
11:47 54Content Marketing Q&A
10:45 55Inspiration to Keep Working
07:45 56How to Craft Your Content
15:03 57Internal Linking Basics
05:30 58Back Link Building Basics
04:55 59Link Value Factos
14:38 60Measuring Link Value
04:24 61Link Building Strategy & Plan
06:10 62Link Building Plan: Vendors & Guest Writing
06:45 63Link Building Plan: Features, Directories, Comments
03:11 64Link Building: Shortcuts & One Simple Tool
14:44 65What is Sales? Show Me!
12:58 66Your First Massive Failure
05:17 67The Sales Process
07:31 68Your Second Massive Failure
05:23 69Understand Buyer Psychology
10:00 70Step 0: Building Rapport & Trust
15:14 71Step 1: Identify Need or Want
15:39 72Cognitive Dissonance
12:01 73Steps 2 & 3: Value Proposition & The Solution
14:21 74Step 4 : Close, Make the Ask
04:32 75Step 5: Follow Up & Resolve Concerns
06:13 76Family Photography Hot Seat
12:06 77Business Example Hot Seat
15:52 78Boudoir Photography Hot Seat
16:09 79The Best Sales Person
07:45 80Your Mindset, Vibrations & Frequency
06:56 81Always Positive, Always Affirming
11:55 82The Second Money & Dual Process
07:39 83Chumming the Price Waters
03:57 84Creating Want or Scarcity
09:54 85Timeless Advice on Being Likable
11:53 86Selling Over The Phone
10:59 87Forbidden Words in Sales
11:40Lesson Info
Your First Massive Failure
Your first massive failure. That was like literally one of my first massive failures was this photograph right here. But I'm using this photograph because this is one of our first failures is to qualify your leads. You can't sell to people that are not your target market. You can't take the $500 client and turn them into the $5000 client. You can't take somebody that wants to spend $ for a newborn session and have all their images and sell them a $2500 piece of wall art. That's number one is just understand where to put your time and where to put your energy. And this goes back to also, you can't worry about... I use this image for a specific purpose. Because so many of us are concerned about the photographer down the street that's charging just a little bit less. It's because both of your images look like this. Okay? If the quality of work between you and a competitor, if you can't tell the difference, how's the client going to? So if you're not producing good work to begin with, then...
you're gonna be in that range where you can be undercut. Easily. Because a client can't even differentiate between the two. And I don't mean that you need to be doing crazy, expert work. What I mean is that at least differentiate yourself in terms of like, Honda, let's go Toyota, I like Toyota, Toyota to Lexus. None of us here understand a darn thing about cars. Well, maybe some of you do. I race cars but I don't really know what goes on inside them, I'm like, they're just fun. None of us get it yet all of us have the perception that there's at least one that's significantly better than the other or at least partially better than the other. That's the level that I want your work to be at. Where at least a consumer can come in and say, their work is good, it's better than the rest. Like they have at least that basic level of differentiation. Now when it comes to comparing Lexus to Mercedes to BMW, that's your job as the salesperson. Does that make sense? First step is to not be competing in a class where everybody else can compete right there with you. And that goes back to like price and quality and these we've talked about. I want you guys to avoid budget questions when it comes to qualifying somebody. There are plenty of other things you can ask to qualify a lead. Because Haldis, if you ask me, now I ran that conversation, but if you ask me what do you want to pay for this service, what do you think I would say? I want it free. Yeah, I want it free. (chuckling) Fist bump bro. I'll hit you back next time. I want it free. Like I mean, that's what happens when you ask a budget right? What did you expect to pay? I don't know, $100? I'm gonna give you a number that is what I wanna pay. It doesn't mean anything. So qualify with things like other questions. Venue, what is your venue? What's the size of your wedding? What is your vision for your shoot? Clothing and car, these are things that you can qualify visually, right? I have an asterisk next to them because you need to be able to see them. But if somebody shows up carrying their Louis Vuitton bag and they set it down on the table for their maternity shoot and they start going, I really expected to pay $250, there's some education that needs to happen. Right, it's not that they can't afford it, it's that they came in with the expectation of something. But you can use that clothing, you can use the Mercedes Benz that they showed up in to qualify them as yes you can afford my services, now I need to establish the value for you. This is important because qualifying does not mean directly asking. In corporate sales, sometimes it does. In corporate sales sometimes you call somebody on the phone and you're talking about budget considerations for paper. That's a commodity, right? Commodity based businesses where it's like a software, a specific piece of thing that you need, it goes down to budget. Because by and large, they're all the same. But we're not in that industry. We're not selling a commodity, we're selling a luxury product. This is why we defined all that so long ago in earlier segments, right. Because we have to understand what type of product we're actually selling. Don't use your energy on people that are not your clients. That's the first step. Just stop. And think back to that persona, who was your client persona? Okay, that's where we want to spend our time. This is where I said, remember I said, it's okay to send your price list out if they're not your prospective clients. Or if they're gonna burn your time. Send it out. Go to the next one. A big part of this is a numbers game. Sales is a numbers game. But I can help you to really increase your odds.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Armstrong Su
This class and materials are to the point and eye-opening on the business side of photography. Pye Jirsa is an amazing and fun teacher as well! Most photographers need more business classes offered to bring us who love to create art back to reality for a more successful business that makes a living on it's own. This course will definately get you started in the right direction and so cheap too! Great investment! armstrong outdoor tv case outdoortvcase Pye Jirsa is one of the best instructors that I have the pleasure to learn from. He and his team have given me so much more than they'll ever realize. Knowledge, wisdom, training, friendship, mentoring, inspiration, joy... I cannot thank Pye enough for changing my life for the better. I owe them more than they'll ever realize. Thank you, Pye Jirsa!!!
Angela Sanchez
This class has been an eye opener for me; a point of change in my vision as photographer. Pye is and AMAZING, INSPIRING, GENEROUS instructor, with an, authentic desire to help people and to share with them the best of his knowledge. I will not have enough words to say thanks to Pye Jirsa, as a teacher and as a human being, and thanks to Creative Live who allows us to benefit from the experience of such a knowledgeable, educated, well-versed photographer and instructor. 1000% recommended!
Yenith LianTy
Been following this guy forever. Pye Jirsa may be well known in the wedding & portrait photography world and if there is something that this guy knows it is how to create a business, a sustainable one. The workbook he provided is comprehensive, and I honestly wish I had this when I first started out as a photographer! I love that he talks about his failures, keeping it real and honest for anyone starting out. He is definitely one of the best instructors around, super humble, down to earth and with a sense of humor to boot. The course is worth it! THE WORKBOOK is AMAZING! SUPER DETAILED!