PPI@: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to the Poser's podcast, the place where we skip the fluff. Say the quiet parts out loud and dig into what really matters. This is where photography, psychology, and business collide. I'm Jodi, your host, and I'm bringing you my raw takes, hard wins, and a whole lot of unfiltered honesty about what it takes to build a photography business that actually connects and makes money.
So ladies, grab your headphones and get your tits up and your ears open because we are going to build something really incredible together.
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back my beautiful posers. We are in episode number five and I am so incredibly stoked to talk to you about what I have slotted for us today. And we are going to discuss whether or not your business is giving people the ick. Alright, so my husband and I, we have five [00:01:00] teenagers. so we are very much so like front and center audience to the new terminology that is coming out with this generation of kids. And I'm telling you, the things they come up with are absolutely hysterical and funny and honestly right on point. My husband actually is so annoyed by this word ick that anytime I use it he's always like sort of giving me the side eye.
But I love the word ick because it has kind of taken on its own definition of itself. Oh my god, I feel like there's such a huge generation gap right now. Like I'm literally the millennial who is like Discussing and trying to define what these like new age new kid words are and it makes me feel Really old but an ick is basically when you see something in someone or something that just turns you off so incredibly hard that there's no [00:02:00] coming back from it, right?
Like once you see it, you can't unsee it. And then you don't want to have anything to do with the person. So I want to talk about if your business and more. Specifically, if you are messaging that is especially out there on your website and in your emails and in your proposals, on your social media, everywhere that you're having this touch point with your clients, is your messaging giving your clients the ick?
Is it turning them off? Is it making them want to turn away and go in a different direction? All right. So I was on a one on one call yesterday with another photographer, and we were talking about getting her into the posing method, which we did, and she's going to crush it. And I'm so excited for her in that regard.
Because I am a chronic oversharer and I am an open book, uh, we dove into some other aspects of her business and she was asking me some questions. And of course, I'm going to sit and spend that time and I'm going to answer them. , we were discussing the fact that she wanted to be booking at a higher rate.
And I was reviewing her portfolio and letting [00:03:00] her know what I was thinking about some stuff and there were some key points of, you know, what she needed to change that was going to get her there and the posing method honestly had a lot to do with that. So I asked her this question and it seemed to be like a very, I thought it was going to be a very quick, very easy, just nonchalant kind of question.
And I asked her what her booking process was like. And she explained to me that, you know, somebody would inquire within her business and then she would shoot over a text saying like, okay, what's your date? Let me check my availability. And if those things matched up, then she would say, let's hop on a zoom or let's schedule a meeting or something like that in order to go over questions.
And I said, okay. So, I drilled a little deeper on this. I said, when you're getting into these meetings, are you controlling who's in the room before you'll discuss these details and price saying is the key decision maker in the room is the person who's paying your bill in the room. Do you have an understanding of the aversion bias and are you using that sort of psychology of [00:04:00] selling tactics?
Are you using those to your advantage? And have you created custom proposals? Are you asking for clarity questions that get your clients to clear no's? And I think these questions kind of overwhelmed her a little bit. Because her answer back to me wasn't just a no, she almost sort of like giggled a little bit and said, no, because most people don't show up like you do, Jodi.
And I sort of like sat with that for a second. it really felt like what she was saying to me is that I can just show up into a meeting and embody this or move this sort of way just because I'm me, just because it's who I am, just because that's my personality. Right. And not that these set of questions were something that I have studied and learned and implemented into my business.
Right. it wasn't like this self aware no of like, crap, I need to be doing more in my business. [00:05:00] I need to understand these things so that I can show up in a place where I can control the narrative and I can you know, control this booking meeting and I can do what I need to do in order to get the contract signed.
It was a no that sort of hinged upon the idea that I was the different one. I was the one who was set apart and that she should almost get this passed. And that everyone else should be given this pass because Norm group, right? So this really got my wheels spinning a little bit that I think I needed to dial down and drill a little bit deeper here on the podcast today about how important this is to adopt into our businesses.
So what you first. have to do is you have to know that your business is a separate entity from you as an individual, right? Your business should operate on the guidelines that it has its own needs, it has its own vibe, it [00:06:00] has its own boundaries, and it has its own demands. And that these all have to be met in order to keep your business cooking for you, right?
Your business needs to make money. Your business has to be confident. Your business demands the price. Your business will not take on these like walking red flags of clients, right? Things get muddled. In your business, when you as the business owner, you as the business individual, you as the human cloud the lines with your own limiting beliefs, right?
The demands of your business are very clear. They're very black and white. You have to do such and such in order for your business to survive, right? But us as individuals, We show up and like muddy the waters. We book a red flag client because our headspace is in this place of scarcity and we're freaking out and we just need to make the money and we just need to book things.
Or you as an individual are allowing your clients to sort of show up to a shoot looking like a hot [00:07:00] mess because you didn't put in those clear expectations. Within the business of what your business would expect, right? Or maybe you compromised on price because. You didn't do the work inside of your business to really understand the dance of negotiations, right?
So you see what I'm saying is that you as the individual are mucking up the relationship between your business. The easiest way for me to think about this in order to make sure that I'm always making the right decisions that I want to be making. I really like to think about my business that I'm dating my clients, right?
So if my business had a dating profile, What would it say? Would it give off really like confident, knows their worth? I'm a how like high value partner kind of energy or is my business sending out red flags of neediness or cleanliness [00:08:00] or desperation? Like is my business out here sending like 2 a. m.
texts, right? Is my business getting left on red? Is my business getting ghosted left and right? Because My business isn't giving off main character energy, right? Is my business being a pick me girl? Okay, so I have a couple examples that I want to read to you right now about the difference of being the pick me girl versus really like walking in your own Confidence, right?
So here's an email that could be sent out that says, Hey, I noticed that you've viewed my pricing page, but you didn't book. Is everything okay? Do you, Want to hop on a call so that we can discuss things further, XO Jodi, right? Or, versus something more like, Hi so and so, I loved meeting with you yesterday.
Your vision's incredible and we're going to knock this out of the park together. Your custom booking link was sent and I'm stoked that you already had a chance to look at it. The [00:09:00] link is only active for 48 hours because my calendar books out so quickly. Once you book the date, we're going to begin to plan further.
What day and time works for you next week to start discussing styling? We're going to kill this. Me and you together. What a dream team. XO. Jodi. Right? That first email reeks of kind of like apologetic, passive, did I do something wrong? Do I need to answer more questions? Why aren't you booking me? It's very much so giving like I'm the problem.
It's me energy, even though I am not a swifty. Even though I'm not a swifty. I will still point out that that's a really good line. I'm the problem. It's me. Okay, that's exactly what that email says. Well, the second email. does the exact opposite it's very, very precise and very clear. And it is literally doing five really important things.
Number one, we're appealing to the [00:10:00] client's sense of importance, right? In that first line, I said, your vision is incredible and we're going to knock this out of the park together. This taps in to so much psychology that Me as the photographer, me as the creative, me as the person who they're wanting to book, I am giving them the stamp of approval.
I am saying your vision is incredible. Therefore, they are feeling like, Oh my God, she's, she loves, she does so great at making things look so amazing. And if she thinks I'm good, then man, like this is a really good team. Right? Number two, I'm creating scarcity while also creating a deadline for the action to be taken.
Right? I'm letting the client know that I'm in demand and if they don't snag me, someone else will. Right? That's whenever I said your custom booking link was sent. I know you've had a chance to look at it. The link is active for 48 hours because my calendar books up quickly.
Right? Scarcity. All right, number three, it [00:11:00] shows the boundaries of your business by saying that no further planning will happen until a qualifier has been met. And that is a damn good boundary for your business. If we all had boundaries that were this clear, then we'd seriously all be like walking green flags in our own personal lives.
Okay, so again, I did that by saying, once you book the date, we can begin planning further. What day and time works for you next week to start discussing styling, right? There's that qualifier there. When you do this. Then we can start to do this. Okay, then it asks a question that requires the client to respond with an answer that sets the deal further in motion.
Now, I don't actually know what this psychology is, but us humans, I should look into this further so that I do know so I can define it for you. But this idea of ending a Email with a [00:12:00] question is one of the most powerful things that you can do in order to keep yourself from getting ghosted because us as humans.
We have this desire that if a person asks a question of us, we have to answer it for them. Otherwise, we are seen as being rude, right? And especially females, we will do anything to not feel rude. So ending or like closing out your emails. With a question that leads into the next step is very very important in controlling these things, right?
alright, and then in number five it does all of this with a sense of excitement kindness and Subtly letting the client know that they've chosen the right person for the job, right? So I said at the very end like we're gonna kill this meeting you together. What a dream team that we are So this is a very demanding email, right?
It is softly demanding. It is kindly demanding. It is letting you know exactly [00:13:00] what will happen and when it will happen in order for us to go forward. But it's not bossy. It's not rude. It's not like down their throats in any kind of way. It's still sandwiched. A compliment sandwich, right?
Like it's such a good point. You probably heard all about this. If you've ever done any sort of like Marriage counseling or therapy or anything like that. What I've done is inside of this email I've put one slice of kindness on the top of the email and one slice of kindness at the bottom of the email, too.
To where everything in the middle of the sandwich, it's all a demand. Everything that's in the middle is saying, You have to meet this deadline. You have to do this quickly. Otherwise, this date is going to get snagged up. We are not going to move forward until we have the date locked in until we have the contract locked in.
This has already been sent to you. I know you've already looked at it, right? But it's sandwiched in between. your vision is incredible and we're going to knock this out of the park [00:14:00] together and then we're going to kill this me and you together. What a dream team, right? So I'm not saying that you have to show up and be like aggressive and demanding and stand on principle that this is what you demand and this is what you are worth and all of these things.
No, like it can be done in a really, really, really effortless way. too. All right. So this isn't something that's just plaguing our industry in like our inboxes and our emails because I see this happening a lot in the online space too. Showing up online like a clingy insecure boyfriend is going to give your clients the ick and even worse.
It's training the clients that you already have how to treat you. And you know exactly what posts I'm talking about, but maybe you've never looked at it through this lens before. The posts that we see within our industry that, you know, list out everything that [00:15:00] it takes to run a photography business. And why we have to charge what we have to charge.
You've seen this before, right? Like, it's like, oh, here's my website cost. Here's my equipment cost. Here's my insurance. Here's my this. Here's my that. Here's my this. Here's my that. Here's how much all of this costs. And now why are you complaining that I charge so much, right? That kind of a post. Or the posts that complain about how badly a client treated a photographer.
I just saw this post the other day and it kind of floored me. It was a graphic that was on a photographer's feed that said, can people stop asking for a photographer that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? We don't want your limbs, bro. We just need to eat. Now I get it. Then it's a little quippy. It's a little witty.
It's a little bit funny. Right. And it was a like fun little black and white graphic. But this kind of messaging attached to your business is sending the exact opposite message that you think it is. You think that you're saying, Hey, I'm worth being paid. I'm just over here trying to make a living. [00:16:00] But what your clients actually hear is I'm only requiring the bare minimum.
I just need to eat. That's all you have to pay me, right? Luxury brands don't do this. High value businesses don't do this. So why are we doing this? I saw another one two days ago that had this this man's voice that was like overlaid onto a video. I wish I could just show you the video. That would be a lot easier than trying to describe it over a podcast.
But, it was this man's voice saying I don't know what I'm talking about and I never have. Right? That was just the, the voiceover that was happening. And then there was a video of a photographer trying to put the lens onto a camera. And the text on the video says, When someone asks you technical photography questions, but you're a self taught photographer.
Right? So imagine that. It's, it's this man's voice saying, I don't know what I'm talking about and I never have. And then the photographer is [00:17:00] saying like if somebody is asking me a question about really technical photography questions, I don't know what I'm talking about and I never have because I'm a self taught photographer, right?
So I clicked on this and the very first comment on the post completely roasted her by saying, I'm a self taught photographer, but you can ask me any technical question you want because I taught myself well. And I was like, whoo, that guy left no crumbs. All right. So I understand that this photographer is probably just putting together a really silly reel to put out.
Right. And honestly the engagement on it was incredible and the traffic on it from other photographers in the comments, I think there was like 190 comments or something on it. There was over 200, 000 views on it. But what we have to remember is that our clients are watching this photographer also [00:18:00] actually had this post pinned to the top of her Instagram feed, which I get it because the engagement is so high, it's 200 and something thousand views and all of those comments.
It's driving engagement into her. Instagram, but what message does this send our clients? I mean, to be honest, if I was her client, I'd be looking at that first photographer in the comments who isn't afraid to brag on their skills a little bit and who knows that they've like really honed their craft.
I'm booking that one. Right? I want that photographer who knows their business inside and out, knows their craft inside and out. And I would never in a million years want this to be that number one square on my Instagram that is representing my business. All right? Another example of this is a post on a photographer's page that I saw that says, again, it's Just a graphic and it said sorry for the delayed response I was busy running every single aspect of my business while [00:19:00] trying to also have a life.
All right, this sends two Very clear messages. Number one. You're not successful enough financially to hire people inside of your business, which I am not shaming that in any kind of way. I have been in the position where I didn't have a team of people in which I wasn't financially successful enough to hire people.
The only difference is, is that I would never speak about it in that kind of way because this works against your client's brains. Because they don't a photographer who isn't killing it, they want to book the best of the best, right? Okay. So that's very clear message. Number one, that it's sending.
And number two, it's saying, sorry, client, you're not more important than my social life. Right? Now both of these statements can be 100 percent true. Like I said, we've all been in a place where we haven't had a team of people working for us yet. And we all want to have work life balance too. But there's a way to word this that attracts clients [00:20:00] rather than repelling them.
Alright, if you were dating someone who had any of these behaviors, red flags would be waving, they'd be waving so hard that your hair would be sticking to your lip gloss, literally waving so hard that they would Be whipping you across the face left and right, you'd be getting paper cuts across the cheeks with all of these red flags that we're waving.
Okay, so think of every potential client as someone your business is trying to date. You're putting out signals, whether you realize it or not. If you post about how nobody respects photographers, it's the equivalent to a person saying like all men are trash. And then wondering why she keeps attracting trash, right?
If you post about that, you need to book work and you'll compromise on the price. That's like you, that's literally like you sending a late night message that says like, Hey, you up. That's a booty call. [00:21:00] Like I will compromise my worth. I will compromise anything in order to get this one need met.
Like that is legitimately a booty call for your business. Okay, people don't want to invest in businesses that sound like they're struggling to survive. They want to invest in businesses that already have momentum because that's what feels valuable for them. And the truth is, is that you attract. project.
So if you're projecting, I just need to make enough money to pay my bills and feed my kids. Then guess what kind of clients you're going to get the ones who just want to show up and just pay you the bare minimum. All right. So I was on this coaching call. and I was explaining my pricing structure, right?
I had just wrapped up a portrait session that it only took me about an hour and the total sale was Well within the five figure range, right? So I was talking about how this is the direction That I'm [00:22:00] taking my business and that I really want to be like leaning into my worth leaning into my value working smarter Not harder really honing in on creating incredible experiences That my, my clients really want to invest in, right?
And one of my coaching clients stopped me and they said, but don't you feel bad charging that? And I was like, girl, what do you mean? And she clarified and she was like, well, I mean, it was only an hour and that's so much money. Don't you feel guilty making them pay that? And aren't you worried that they can't afford it?
That moment kind of knocked me off my chair because I realized right then. that she wasn't charging more in her business because she was more concerned about offending someone else's bank account than filling up her own. And I told her that I've never once thought that it was any of my business to tell people how to spend their money.
My client's bank account has nothing to [00:23:00] do with me. They get to choose what they value. So if they're valuing me, why would I ever feel guilty about that? The only thing That is my business, is showing up, doing what I do best, and delivering an experience worth every penny of what they're paying me. So here's the shift that has to happen.
I had to tell this coaching client of mine that my clients weren't just paying for that one hour. They were paying for 17 plus years of experience, right? They were paying for my ability to handle this huge family. There was seven grandkids. Six grown children and two grandparents and there was a beach and there was wind and there was bright sun and I had to be the person who knew how to handle all of those elements in order to create magic for them.
The fact that I didn't just take photos, I gave them an experience that resulted in hundreds of images that they will cherish and down [00:24:00] and love forever. That is what they were paying for. It's not my job to decide if someone can afford me. That's up to them. My job is to show up, do my work, and charge accordingly.
But most importantly, I know these things. And I convey these things in my messaging and how my business presents and markets itself. I'm never stomping my feet on the internet or like begging clients to book in an email. So, now the real question. How do we stop sounding desperate and start sounding like a high value brand?
even if you don't realize that you're sounding desperate, that's what I was pointing out in those posts that were on social media. I am 100 certain that these photographers aren't realizing what this messaging is actually sounding like on the other side. So here's my trick. I want you to run every piece of your messaging through the man filter.
Would a [00:25:00] successful man in business? Post this because let's be real women in business. We have been conditioned to be soft and apologetic and overly accommodating and being assertive gets us pegged as bitches. Right? And we're literally trained to worry about being too much or too big in a space.
Meanwhile, like the men are out here posting like, My prices are my prices. Take it or leave it. Right? But on that same topic, Like, I don't think that going full bro mode is the right answer either. I don't want you out there using phrases like, Oh, we're crushing it. or feeling like you have to call yourself like a CEO boss, babe, or that you're in your boss era.
Like it's not about that either. It's about a quiet power that you move inside of, right? A really confident knowing a way that you hold yourself and your business. It's when you stand on principle and you do it with confidence without needing to step on yourself [00:26:00] or without needing to step on anyone else.
But you do have to start running your messaging through a different lens. You have to start filtering it, like, Would a luxury brand post this? Would an attorney give a list of why her hourly rate is so expensive? Would a successful man complain publicly about not getting paid enough?
Okay, something else that Really blew me away the other day, and I found it to be really helpful, was a chat GPT prompt that I put into chat GPT. I was working on making sure that I had engaging hooks for some reels that I was creating, so I found First needed chat GBT to understand what I had created in my business and what the remarkable points would be that I could then hone in on, right?
So I asked chat GBT, I said, ask me 10 questions that will help highlight the most remarkable aspects [00:27:00] of my business and what makes me stand out from other photographers in my industry. And then it generated those 10 questions. I answered them very thoroughly and very deeply. And so then ChatGPT has spit out a list of like 10 incredible things that I had done in my business.
And honestly, I'm chuckling because I read all of those and I was like, Damn, I think I'm falling in love with a robot. The, output. that chat GPT gave completely, for one, filled my confidence it filled my self esteem. I was like, wow, I really have done all of that. Right. But it also made me see things from an outsider's point of view of like, okay, look, I've already done all of these things.
This is where I need to keep my messaging aligned with, right? So then after this step, you could then just run each one of your captions through this lens and make sure that your messaging is [00:28:00] aligning with the business that you created and that you're speaking with authority, but also making sure that you're infusing it with your.
Brand voice, right? before you're posting anything, before you're sending an email, before you're sending a DM, before you're writing the copy that's on your website, before you're doing any of these things that puts out the messaging of your business, ask yourself, does this make me sound like I know my worth?
Am I projecting confidence or like booking desperation? Would I want to book a photographer who posted this? Okay, so if you take nothing else from today's episode, please remember this. Respect your business and others will too. Stop complaining about not being valued and just start showing value.
Alright, the people who will respect your work, they are waiting to find you. And they're just wondering where you're at. They're waiting for you to show up too. Alright, your job isn't to convince people to see [00:29:00] your worth. Your job is simply to embody it. Alright, so if this episode made you rethink how you're showing up online, please screenshot it, share it on Instagram tag me in it, , I'm at j.
a n n e, photography. I just, I want to build a photography industry full of confident, high value business owners, not, needy girlfriends who are kind of out there begging for scraps. Bye for now, friends.
PPO: Okay, so that is a wrap on this episode of the Poser's Podcast. If you loved it, please subscribe, rate, and review, because honestly, algorithms are needier than all of our ex boyfriends combined. And ladies, I need all the help I can get. If you've got thoughts, questions, love letters, even hate mail, please send them my way.
I actually read every single one of them. So until next time, stay bold, stay messy, and don't let the bullshit win. Tits up, ears open, and go build something incredible. Bye for now, [00:30:00] friends.
