Intro: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the Posers 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 Jody, 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.
Okay. Hello, hello, hello, my beautiful posers and welcome back to another episode of The Posers Podcast. I am officially feeling whole again. Okay. it's the new year and traitors is back on my screen, and we're already a few episodes into that. I am already proving that I am incredible at, [00:01:00] sniffing out a traitor that was amongst us.
I did my first shoot of the new year this week, and. That was with an incredible client who I clicked with so easily. So I'm just feeling like, okay, like we've talked long enough about the goal setting and the resolutions and all of that sort of stuff. And we dove back in last week full force with the pricing model that we were kind of dismantling.
So with all of that combined, I just feel like I'm like, yes. Here we are. Let's freaking go. and A lot of that obviously has to do with. The photo shoot that I did, because the minute that photo shoots start crackalackin here in the studio again, then I get myself back in the mojo of, you know, shooting and creating and, and all of that.
So this photo shoot that I did. Inside of the studio this week was absolutely incredible. Like I [00:02:00] said, we clicked so well and this client actually stayed in the studio with me for about an hour after her shoot, and we were really talking a lot about business and she's an attorney, but she also loves to create other businesses on the side.
And so we were really talking about. The idea of creating a group of women in our city who wanna meet up and have this kind of like meeting of the minds and you know, a group of like, of like-mindedness who want to grow and who want to scale. And that invigorates me in a completely different way than even just running the studio.
What I've also done is I've set up for some of my very best friends who are all very high level, high achieving women, and they all run some sort of their own business. Even those who do work corporate, they are in sales or they're in charge of a book of [00:03:00] business, so they very much. So operate in the way of an entrepreneur.
We've decided that we're gonna meet up every couple of months and we're going to watch and listen and read and like do all of the lists of TED Talks and podcasts, and YouTube episodes and documentaries and books and all of the, all of the things that we want to always be consuming for our businesses, but just kind of like.
Stack up and we can't find the time to do them. We're actually gonna get together as a group and go through all of that content together and then kind of like hash it out and dissect it and work through it kind of almost the same way that like a book club does. So it's a, it's a business club for badass women, which I am.
Obsessed with. So those are a couple ways that like I am sort of kicking off the idea of this year of expansion [00:04:00] for me. But I really wanna talk on this episode about the conversation that I was having with my client in the studio after her shoot, uh, because it was really incredible for me to have, but it was also really valuable for you to hear so.
Like I said, my client is an attorney here in my city and she came in and she did a 40 over 40 shoot with me, and she absolutely loved our session. She couldn't believe how incredible it was, and because of that, she immediately on the spot. Booked a motherhood session for her and her two teenage boys for later this month, and then also a round of head shots for not only just her, but also her three other business partners in a business that she's starting with her sister, who's a doctor.
So now during this conversation when we were talking about getting a group of really killer like-minded women together in a [00:05:00] group, she mentioned that she had been in a group like this before and that group was actually started by another photographer. In my city. So that's how this conversation sort of like jumped off because of course you know that I'm ridiculously nosy.
And I had to ask who it was. And she like told me because she was explaining what kind of a group they had and that it had sort of like fizzled out. But she loved the idea of it. So she told me who this photographer was and or is, and I. Know of the photographer, but I've actually never met her in person before.
She's a very reputable photographer here in my city who has a really great high level client base, and we actually have a lot of overlap in our clientele that some people will come to me for a shoot, then they'll go back over and go to her, come back to me. Like we have a few clients that we kind of share that way.
But she charges [00:06:00] about $500 for a session and gives away the digital images, and I make around four or $5,000 per session. There is absolutely no difference in the level of our clientele. There is no difference in our market. There is no difference in the level of talent or the quality of work that we both produce.
The only difference is our business model. Now this client that this photographer and I share that I was chatting with after our session, she had done several photo shoots with this other photographer. So me being me and seeing a huge window of market research here, I asked her. What made her decide to book the 40 over 40 shoot with me, and she told me that it was hands down the word of mouth referral that she has heard from so many people about my business here in my city and.
That [00:07:00] now, after coming into my studio and experiencing it, she was like, yeah, now I completely get it. And she was like, I'll never go anywhere else, ever again. So again, it's still being really curious. I asked her why, what was so different from her shoot with the other photographer versus me, and I thought that I knew the answer.
I thought that she was gonna say. That, you know, we just clicked personally or that the shoots like felt so comfortable because of my posing method or that. Uh, she obviously just thought it was like so fun to be around me or that I was so charming that she would never imagine herself, like, cheating on me with anybody else.
But no, she didn't actually say that, and what she said instead is something that I feel like I really needed to share here because you need to hear this. [00:08:00] She said that she doesn't want to go anywhere else, ever again because she's never had someone take care of her like I did. And right then, like my ears sort of like perked up a little bit and I asked her for permission to share this on the podcast and she said, yes, of course.
And I really wish that I would've pulled out my phone and started recording the conversation just so that you know. That I'm not bullshitting you or that I'm planting this story just to like, you know, be able to segue it, but sadly I didn't pull out my phone and start recording. So you're just gonna have to lean in and you're just gonna have to trust me that what I paraphrased back to you is said with me being like fully in my integrity and that it is completely truth that I am saying today.
I asked her what she meant by just quote unquote, like taking care of her, and she started to list off the client [00:09:00] experience sort of things that are top tier luxury touchpoints that I always incorporate. This isn't the part that's so crazy important because I'm sure you incorporate these touch. Also, but she started talking about, you know, whenever she walked in, she felt immediately welcomed.
There was snacks out, there was champagne waiting for her. There was a really high level of care for her. And there's a collection of essentials for the shoot that we need. There's, there was a huge welcome for my team. 'cause my new assistant happened to be in the studio that day too. She's walking in, there's already hair and makeup set up for her.
Um. And then she brought in the pieces of wardrobe that she was thinking about using, but I dove straight into that wardrobe that she had bought and decided exactly what we were using, exactly what we weren't using. And she didn't have to think about any of it at all. All she had to do was sit down in a chair and start gl.
And she mentioned how trust was immediately earned because she could tell that the level of [00:10:00] expertise I had was something that was going to leave her in a position where she didn't have to worry. Or second guess about anything. Like she said, that I understood every angle and worked her through them so easily.
That sometimes like those sort of nagging thoughts that women have while they're in the middle of the photo shoot never even popped into her brain. She never even thought like, oh, does this. Angle, make my arm look fat or does this give me a double chin or does this, you know, make me look unflattering in some kind of way.
All of that just disappeared for her. So she mentioned that the attention of detail and the hype squad that I create and the music blasting, she laid all of that out. But then she said, and I wanna like just sort of pause here because this is the important part. Then she said, and I know that even as great as the shoot was today, the most important thing is that you're not going to give me a gallery of 200 photos that overwhelms me and that you'll [00:11:00] help me pick my favorites and that you'll know what to do with them.
And immediately, like bells are ringing in my head and I'm like, damn, that's it. That's it right there. I felt like it is something that. I'm always preaching and teaching, but to hear it right out of a client's mouth like that without me even training her or without her ever going through my sales process or anything first, and it kind of blew my mind because she had learned from my marketing how my business is run and she booked me knowing that I was expensive and that she not only expected, but she wanted.
That full service treatment. That means that everything that I have been teaching here on the podcast and what I teach inside of the Mastermind about the luxury pricing model and the buying psychology behind that model is exactly spot on. This also means [00:12:00] that as long as you have your pricing model set up the right way, your clients can go through your sales process and truly.
Value the fact that you're selling to them because you're taking care of their needs. And that maybe, just maybe all of that stuff in your head about feeling like, you know, you're a greasy used card salesman. If you do IPS is just that, it's just in your head because let me dive into this even further and tell you what more she said.
She then jumped into this story about how she has these four photos of her boys whenever they were little. Uh, she has two boys, but she had these two photos of each one of her boys, and they aren't anything. She showed them to me. They aren't anything like. Crazy miraculous that needs to be recreated.
they're just some really simple black and white personality photos that she has of her boys and she [00:13:00] showed them to this other photographer, the one that I mentioned earlier, who has the same exact variables in regards to market and clientele. She is here in my city. We have the same level of expertise.
Everything my client or our client. Showed them to this photographer and asked her if she could make a new set of photos for her boys that were cohesive since they're now teenagers, so that she could hang them side by side in her home. But instead, the other photographer just sent her a huge gallery of images and told her to pick out the ones that she wanted, and then kind of left it all like.
Dropped in her lap as if it was this like pile of dirty laundry that needed to be handled. And our client got so overwhelmed trying to figure it out that she actually gave up and she never ended up ordering anything. And that was just last year. So now [00:14:00] this client is on the books to do a motherhood session with me at the end of this month.
So not only did the other photographer now lose this. High level client. Then she also left her having something that she needs, having something that is left on the table. So you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna do the session at the end of this month, and I'll create the matching version of the photos that she wanted to begin with, and I'll design the frames that she wanted and I'll walk her through my sales process and I'll collect the $10,000 sale that the other photographer left on the table for me.
So this is where I wanna start today now. If you remember last week we talked about the fact that there are two pricing models that keep coming up in conversations over and over and over again. Whenever I talk to other photographers, either in my dms or on [00:15:00] discovery calls for the Mastermind or anywhere that I'm having conversations.
With you. These two models keep on coming up, and they are two models that completely devalue your work and aggressively cap your revenue even if your calendar is full. And even if your work is strong, using these methods will make it almost impossible to hit your earnings goals and. If that's the damage that's being done, when you have demand, when your calendar is full, imagine how destructive this becomes if you're a photographer who is struggling with getting bookings, who is struggling with keeping your calendar full.
Because especially in that scenario, you actually need your pricing system to work for you, not against you. The first model that we discussed last week in fact, if you didn't hear last week's episode, jump back like by one after you finish [00:16:00] with me here today, because it's super important for you to know whether or not you're making one of these two huge mistakes with your pricing.
Okay, but so the one we talked about last week is what I named the sliding scale discount model. This is the system where full galleries of images start at a set price and then become cheaper or even free as clients purchase physical products, turning your digital images or your intellectual property into like a Kmart style giveaway.
Rather than them being your true core asset or your like icon product that your digital images deserve to be. That model is often framed as incentivizing products in order to get bigger sales. But what ends up happening is you [00:17:00] actually get a lower sale on the digitals. Or a lower sale on the product.
Instead of stacking high value products on top of your already high value images, this method actually penalizes you and punishes your revenue. So last week we dismantled that model completely, and I'm gonna be honest, it ruffled some feathers, but that's okay with me because you deserve this kind of education to be broken down, to show its cracks.
So today we're talking about the second model, and I wanna be clear before we ever even begin here, because this model that we're gonna talk about today is even more dangerous. At least with the other structure, you're running a true IPS system and capitalizing on the emotional component of the sale.
That is so powerful. But this model that we're gonna discuss today disguises itself as a simpler, like client [00:18:00] friendly, kind of this like modern model. But really it is like ip s's ugly stepsister that comes to family dinners just to start shit. Okay. Okay. This model is what I'm gonna call the like collection pre-purchase model that people wanna claim is kind of IPS adjacent or IPS ish, but it's nowhere close to actually running a true full service model.
In this pricing model, clients choose a collection before the shoot. So like 10 images, 20 images, 30 images in order to book the session, and the collections are usually a bit higher than a typical session feed. But then after the gallery delivery, so after you've done the shoot, you've edited the photos, you've stuck all the photos into a gallery, then you simply deliver that gallery straight to [00:19:00] the client, and the client has the option to upgrade to the full gallery for another fee.
But it's usually like a nominal fee. It's usually like 300 bucks or something like that. And then if they just, you know, happen to fancy themselves. Some more products then they would use the online gallery like pass or a pixie set or a smug mug or something like that in order to order an album or order some frames, or order some ornaments or Christmas holiday cards, whatever.
I am sure that you can already hear the disappointment in my voice that this method would ever be taught as an option for. Any photographer, but before I rip this one apart, I'm gonna define IPS, the way that the industry defines IPS, meaning what it actually is and the methodology behind why it works when it works.
Because if you're trying to build a boutique boutique, [00:20:00] boutique, boutique, bouquet, bouquet, who fucking knows? I think it's boutique, A boutique portrait business. Then you absolutely have to do two things. Number one, you have to understand what the key components of an model actually include, and what kind of buying psychology they actually work on.
And number two, have to stop convincing yourself that you can keep using this model simply because it. Easier simply because you wanna claim that you don't wanna have that extra step of the IPS system, or simply because it requires you to learn and understand sales. And I'm gonna say this boldly, and I'm gonna say this bluntly, you will never be able to build a multi-six figure business with this model.
Never, ever. And in fact. To make it to six figures, you'd have to be running at such a huge level of volume that you would [00:21:00] inevitably burn yourself out. So let's start with IPS, because a lot of people say that they do IPS when they're actually just doing this gallery delivery with like a few extra steps.
IPS stands for in-person sales. It's a structured sales process where you set an appointment with the client after the session, whether it's at their home, over Zoom, at a coffee shop, at your studio, at your house, wherever. But it's in person to view the images that you created and for them to be guided by you through a sales process in order to choose how they would like to enjoy the images that you created, whether that's with digital images.
Albums, frames, or any other product that you wanna offer, I don't care if you wanna offer to crochet their images into a blanket. Okay? Whatever those products are you are doing. This meeting in [00:22:00] person together, can it be like over the internet? Can it be Zoom? Yes, it absolutely can. And I do that often and I have actually never seen that my sales are any less over a zoom than they are if we're doing it in person in my studio or I also do them in person, in the client's home.
And I have always seen. Average numbers hit across all three of those. I've seen huge numbers hit across all three of those. So the key point here is being that this meeting is held in person and that the clients are not given access to the images beforehand in any capacity, you are the keeper of the photos and they must go through you to view the photos.
The full definition of IPS actually starts prior to the shoot. By meeting with them before you even pick up the camera, IPS is a process that could begin with a pre-session consultation [00:23:00] that focuses on what the client wants how they wanna enjoy the photographs, how they wanna put them into their home, and then photographing with those in products in mind, meaning.
That IPS is not a sales appointment. IPS is a full service experience that you could start before the session and then deliver the images emotionally at the reveal, and then the client purchases the products that you planned for. some photographers, myself included, drop that pre-session meeting.
I have done it both ways before. I will sometimes do the pre-session meeting. I will especially do the pre-session meeting strategically whenever I know that a large sale is likely on the table for me, like. In regards to that example that I mentioned earlier, I know that client is already wanting framing.
I know that I would love to take those older images [00:24:00] that she already has of her boys, and I would want to have the digitals of those images so that I can really make sure that the editing is cohesive. So then whenever I sell her these frames, I can sell them to her as one whole entire set that is framed.
In the same frame to be like hung in the same exact way down the same exact hallway or whatever, because the images that she has created in her home right now, they're just some really small, like maybe an eight by 10, maybe an 11 by 14. I couldn't really tell from the photo. But they're just canvases that she, that they're not framed canvases, they're just canvases that she has leaning on a shelf.
So I know that that's a meeting that I'm probably gonna make sure that I do at her home so that I can design a wall right there in front of me so That meeting happening in their house. I will do that very strategically. So if I knew about this beforehand, then I would've had that pre-session [00:25:00] meeting, but this time I didn't.
So I will counteract that. I will go to her home for her proofing meeting. All right now. Let's bring in the psychology of this because this is where you truly get to understand the breakdown of what you're actually doing whenever you use this model. IPS works the way that it does because it actually aligns with how humans make decisions.
Humans do not buy logically. We buy emotionally first, and then we will use logic to justify what we already want. Whenever you reverse that order, everything starts to fall apart because it is not aligned with how we are actually used to making decisions. When a client pre purchases a collection of 10 images and is then sent home to choose those 10 images on their own.
Their brain goes into what's called constraint based decision making. [00:26:00] They will view the images and likely love them because I have no question that you are a fantastic photographer. But then they're gonna step away and they're gonna give logic a chance to set in. And then whenever they come back to the images, or after they talk to their partner about the images, or they check back in with their partner about what their budget is, then they are no longer responding to emotion.
Or the meaning that could happen inside of an IPS LED meeting. Okay? They are responding to limits and they're faced with dozens of images and a hard line that's drawn in the sand. Those 10 images, they have a hard cap, right? And the brain is gonna experience cognitive overload. They're gonna experience analysis paralysis, and they're going to experience loss aversion all at once.
I'm gonna define loss aversion for you in just a little bit, but every choice [00:27:00] feels like a mistake because choosing one image means losing another. So some will simply pay for the upgrade and walk away. Capping you at a very small boost of revenue. 'cause usually everybody that I've talked to, they're allowing for the full gallery to be purchased for literally a nominal fee, 300 bucks or so.
Those who don't simply pay for the upgrade. They will shut down completely because they're doing this alone, because they're doing it without guidance, because they don't have the context set anymore because of there's no like emotional setting. And the most common nervous system response to that overwhelm is avoidance.
When tasks feel heavy or stressful or high stakes, the brain looks for relief by postponing the decision altogether. So your gorgeous [00:28:00] gallery of all of those beautiful images will just sit there, opened, abandoned, or revisited over and over without resolution. Not because they don't love the images, but because the decision.
Feels too costly and at some point then they'll choose the 10 that they were allowed to purchase, and then maybe they'll post a few of 'em on the internet. Now, contrast that with what happens when someone buys from an emotional place. Whenever clients see their images for the first time in a guided environment, emotion leads the process, which is the way that we are meant to operate.
This is the way that the brain is actually hardwired. Attachment centers of the brain are activated. First and the dopamine and oxytocin are released and the brain is in a state of [00:29:00] connection rather than in defense mode of needing to make sure that they only stick within this level of 10, or they're gonna be forced to spend more money in this model.
Decisions feel intuitive instead of stressful, and they are choosing what they want to keep. Rather than not what they're willing to lose. And that's the flip. This is why IPS works whenever it is done correctly. It allows people to feel first and then decide when you ask clients to decide in. Isolation or under restriction, and without leadership, you are not simplifying the process like you think you are.
You are setting them up to disengage completely or you're at least setting them up to not feel as if they have been serviced in the proper way by your business. Now let's talk about the first thing [00:30:00] that luxury brands protect at all costs and what this pricing model completely disregards, and that's clarity.
Luxury buyers do not want complexity. They do not want homework steps. They do not want a to-do list. They do not want DIY, that they don't understand. Complexity creates uncertainty. Uncertainty makes people hesitate and hesitation kills the sale always. And you need to understand what that means for your business.
If your pricing requires a client to have tasks after they meet with you, or understand tiers or sliding scales or conditional discounts like we talked about last week, you are creating cognitive dissonance and you are losing sales. Even if they can afford you, just like the client I talked about before, she could have afforded for [00:31:00] that other photographer to create these frames for her.
But even if they can afford you, they might not wanna think that hard. They might not wanna do that homework, they might not wanna have that to do list, or for the most part, they're too busy to have that to-do list, and you've made it too overwhelming. This is why IPS educators often warn against showing too many images or too many options.
Too much choice or choice without guidance can confuse buyers and devalue what they are seeing. Now, let's talk about scarcity, because scarcity is where most photographers get this model wrong. Photographers either avoid scarcity because they think that it feels manipulative, or they slap on like kind of fake scarcity and it feels cheap.
Or they feel like they're lying to the clients saying like, oh, you're only gonna have access to this for 48 [00:32:00] hours. But then actually, if the client comes back two weeks later, you say like, oh yeah, sure. Hold on, let me open that gallery back up for you. That's what I mean. Okay. Scarcity. Demands controlled access.
Scarcity works because of loss aversion. I told you that I would define that before. Here it is loss aversion is that humans are more motivated to avoid losing something than they are to gain something of equal value. Okay, so scarcity works because of that loss aversion. Now let's apply that. Okay. The reveal session is naturally scarce because the first time seeing their photos is the first time.
The first time is the first time period. You cannot recreate that first emotional hit ever. So when you run what you consider this. IPS adjacent IPS [00:33:00] ish model. You're removing the scarcity of the reveal. You are turning a peak emotional decision moment into a revolving door of views where the emotional impact is diminished each and every time that they come back to the gallery to make decisions, you are asking clients to decide in advance.
Without emotional context to choose how many photos they might love, and that is a direct contradiction of how humans buy. And then completely disregarding the emotional cornerstone of the IPS model to convert higher product sales. Okay, so now that we're back at talking about this model number two, the IPS.
Ish, pre-purchase collection model. I want to be so clear about why this capture income, number one, it forces an intellectual purchase decision [00:34:00] before emotional activation. Okay? So you're having them make the decision about how many photos they want in their collection before you have ever emotionally activated them to the photos.
And number two. It trains clients to believe that the full gallery is a small upgrade. Therefore, the extra images are not really that valuable. And number three, it destroys urgency because there is no consequence, no contained buying moment, no deadline. That feels natural. Luxury brands do the exact opposite.
They create controlled access, they have limited windows, limited distribution, and product drops to make the buying moment feel meaningful and time bound. So whenever I tell clients that this is the only time that they will see the full set of images, I'm not [00:35:00] saying that because I'm gonna. Pressure people.
I'm not fear mongering by lying to them and telling them that the images are gonna be deleted or that they'll never ever have access again. I'm saying that all decision makers need to be in the room because decisions are going to be made at that time. I'm saying it because it is how luxury buying environments work.
The buying moment is contained. The access is controlled, the experience is guided. This model. That we're talking about, it undervalues the digitals because it frames the full gallery as some nominal upgrade. Instead of positioning your images as the premium asset that they should be, which means that even if your work is stunning, then your model is telling clients these images are not that valuable.
Your model is the one saying that your [00:36:00] business is the one that is training your clients to know that these images are not that valuable. It's not your clients saying it, it's your messaging. It's your business saying that to them unintentionally or even accidentally. You're training your clients to think that they can get more from you for just a few hundred bucks.
If you're listening and you can feel yourself squirming a little bit because you're running one of these models, I want you to know something. You are not bad at business. You are not bad at sales. You've just simply adopted a structure that you were told was a good system to use, and that's where the education industry has failed you.
If you want to stop capping your income, you need a system. If you. Need like a pricing model that matches that level of work that you're creating. That's what we build [00:37:00] inside of the Mastermind. We create pricing models for your business that actually closes five figure deals. And I'm gonna be really direct here.
If you wanna build that boutique studio that sells like a designer brand. You cannot price like your clearance rack. You have to protect your ip. You cannot trade it away as a reward or diminish it and say, oh, if you wanna upgrade to the full gallery, it's just a few more hundred bucks. If you want clients to spend money, you have to train them how to value your work.
And if you want your average sale to rise, then your structure has to support that. It can be risen. The Mastermind is where we fix the structure and the language and the psychology and the process so that you're not just hoping that clients are gonna choose more. You are leading them to the purchase that serves them best, while also [00:38:00] running a profitable business that feels aligned with your values and your bank account.
Because luxury brands do not hope for bigger sales, they engineer them. And if you're ready for this, then hopefully there's still a spot for you. But at the time of me recording this, there's only two spots left. So you're in the position of either being able to snag one of these last spots that are available, or you're gonna have to get on the wait list for the next round.
But either way, the place that you need to go is the show notes to grab whichever one of those links is available for you now. That was a long one. I need a drink of water. I am spent. I will see you right here next week. Same time, same place. Bye for now, friends. I.
Outro: Okay, so that is a wrap on this episode of the Posers Podcast. If you loved it, please [00:39:00] 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, stapled, stay messy and don't let the bullshit win. Tits up. Ears open and go build something. Incredible. Bye for now, friends.
