We may be dreaming that we’re on a Carribean Island with all of the cold we’ve had lately, but despite the chilling temps, it is still our favorite season of all! Why? It’s “slow season” in the photography biz. It’s catch-your-breath and balance-your-life season. It’s also the season to examine and improve your business! We love reflecting on the year past and planning the year ahead. We also love being able to share what we do with all of you. We have so much to share this week and we’re excited to do it in the return of our popular FAQ Fridays!
First, if you missed it, I posted something a bit personal in this blog post on teaching! Jump inside my head and learn why I love sharing with other photographers.
Second, we sent out a workshop review form to all of our past workshop attendees and the response has completely honored and inspired us! Keep an eye out for our new Workshop Website to launch in February. This review came in this morning and made our day… so we had to share!
“I cannot say enough good things about the Heidi Hope workshop! It was the first full workshop I have taken and I have since held every workshop up to it in comparison – and none of them have topped – or even come close to – my experience at Heidi’s. What caused the HH workshop to stand so high above the others was a combination of the breadth of material covered (posing, shooting, creative but also marketing, business and pricing), the organizational and planning that went into it to create the best experience for the participants, the friendliness of the team, and the information communicated to the participants both leading up to the workshop and all throughout the workshop. Everyone was an open book, very welcoming, incredibly knowledgeable and more than happy to share whatever they could with us. It was hands down the best workshop I’ve ever taken which I have continued to tell attendees at every other workshop I’ve been to. The others have been very good, with some of the other top photographers in the industry, but your workshop was truly amazing. It has been 4 months since I attended the workshop and I still think about it, and the things I learned in it, on a daily basis. I left more inspired than I thought I could every possibly be. Seriously changed my life. Thank you!!” ~ October 2013 Workshop Attendee
Learn about our workshops here.
Third, we were so honored to write an article on how we make expectant moms feel beautiful at the HHP studio for the awesome Mozi Magazine. Some of Mariah’s and my favorite portraits are featured alongside the work of some crazy amazing photographers! We’ve read the digital version from cover to cover multiple times and we can’t wait for our print copy to arrive in the mail! Today, we’re giving away a FREE digital copy of the Maternity and Newborn Issue of Mozi to one lucky Blog Visitor!
Now, it is on to your questions! These were the most popular questions on our Facebook Wall. Check in next week for your chance to ask us your question!
Question: How did you come up with your pricing? Can you share it with us? ~ Catherine Cella
Heidi’s Answer: This is truly a FAQ! Pricing is the backbone of your business. It is so important to your success and there is no industry standard out there. It took years to refine our pricing and make it fit our business needs. Of course our business has grown into a bigger space and employs more people now, so that influences our pricing as well. We talk about how to calculate your own pricing in our Workshops for Photographers, but we only scratch the surface. Pricing yourself right takes a lot of consideration. You HAVE TO check out my friend Joy Vertz! She understands pricing like no other… I am constantly quoting her to my students. She won’t say “you should charge xxx for an 8×10”, she will teach you how to calculate your own pricing based on building the business of your dreams. A business that is unique to you. She has an amazing free Pricing For Profit Guide to get your started and I’m even more excited about her new Pricing Videos!
Question: What are your top tips for not losing quality when going through the editing/exporting/saving process other than shooting in camera RAW. Thanks! ~Rebekah Cox
Mariah’s Answer: Hey Rebekah! Well first, shoot in camera RAW. 😉 But seriously, that’s all we shoot in, and it makes a huge difference. Here’s the rest:
- Turn ON the high ISO noise reduction setting on your camera to get cleaner images while you shoot.
- Edit as much as possible in camera RAW (ACR) before you hit photoshop. Everything you do in Photoshop degrades your image, so make sure you at least do your sharpening, noise reduc, saturation, color correction, cropping, vignetting, and highlights/shadows in ACR.
- From your ACR panel, make sure the images export at the highest quality possible. On the bottom of the panel, click on the link that shows the size/color space of your image, and make sure you’re exporting at 300ppi, and the highest resolution after cropping.
- From that panel, you can also choose to open your images in Photoshop in 16-bit color, which preserves a wider range of color than the standard 8-bit. 16-bit will allow you to apply more creative Photoshop effects to your photo without worrying about banding or too much degradation. Make sure to save your JPGs out of Photoshop as 8-bit photos before using for the web, delivery to clients, or printing.
- Your other option is to use Lightroom for editing, which doesn’t degrade the photo. Lightroom works on the RAW image just like ACR does.
Our last questions comes from an email. I want to share it with you today (with her permission) because I think so many people will relate to Lynette’s feelings. She is nervous about pursuing her photography full time. It’s a big leap! There is no one right answer for everyone and you really have to examine your own business and numbers first (which I know Lynette has done). A good teacher teaches you her answers. A great teacher teaches you how to find the answers within yourself. I don’t pretend to have all of the answers, but I can share my experience with you!
Question: “When I left you I was super excited about the future and believed I could do it. But the last few days have been less than that. I have found myself scared. I don’t get a ton of inquiries and that is the most scary thing. What am I doing wrong or not doing? I am not getting people to inquire or reaching those clients that I need to. This is where I still struggle. I did some of the things we talked about at the workshop (getting my business listed on sites and such, trying to blog more, be more engaging). I’m hosting a grand opening/client appreciation party feb 15 but what if no one shows up? How do I market that better? I recently sent out my valentine mini sessions to all of my clients and newsletter peeps 500+ and I got only one booking. This is when I got really discouraged. Thoughts!? Suggestions? I know you’re busy so I appreciate you taking the time to help me make the leap to full time. Thanks Heidi! <3 your heart! Lynette” Follow up Question from January 2014 Workshop Attendee
Heidi’s Answer: Hi Lynette! Good to hear from you! When you are an entrepreneur, being scared is completely normal. I used to wake up in the middle of the night with panic attacks…. I’m not kidding! It is natural that you are fearing such a huge change in career. This will probably be one of the biggest steps in your life. You have thought this out. You have planned your business. You have beautiful work. So the question is, are you ready to take on the fear and jump in, or would you rather keep it safe on the side? Neither answer is wrong. Being a business owner is not the easy choice, I’ll tell you that. But it is very rewarding if you are ready to put in the work.
There isn’t a magic answer to bring business in. You are doing all of the right things. If no one shows up to your Valentines Day party, then dust yourself off and think of a new idea. To market it better, I would pick up the phone and call people. Call your friends, your family, your best clients. Get them to commit to coming. Offer an incentive for coming. Maybe a raffle for a free session? Maybe free headshots for other local business owners. Once you have people at the party, use social media to show off how fun it is… more people will be coming to the next party, I promise! Mini Sessions are not my favorite form of marketing. Everyone offers mini sessions. They are a dime a dozen. Think of the things that you do best that no one else around you does and use that to market yourself.
Happy Friday Everyone!