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.
Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Posters podcast. I have been making a lot of really long, really in depth, really incredible episodes lately, but sometimes I think to myself like. You know what, Jody? Not everything has to be a full-blown sermon. Or a full soapbox moment.
Not everybody needs a full [00:01:00] TED talk every single week, so there are many things that happen on a daily basis inside of my studio that could be recorded in some really quick, really easy to digest episodes where I can share. A tip or share a win or like today, even share something that I completely fucked up so that you can learn to not make the mistake that I made or make in my business.
So that's what I'm gonna do here today because this is just kind of an easy grab that you can use immediately inside of your business. So let me back up a tiny bit so that I can give you some context. I was invited to teach a presentation in front of a very large group of women this last week, a large group of incredible successful attorneys, judges, the kind of women who I [00:02:00] want to have in my back pocket for the day that I land myself in a jail cell.
It's happened once before and I'm sure it's bound to happen again.
But no, that is not a story that I'm gonna tell publicly on this podcast. Nonetheless, winning if I get a speeding ticket. I love to have really deep pockets filled with powerful women, but. All jokes aside, not to mention that these women are actually very much so my ideal client also. In fact, during my presentation, which was all about posing for photos at networking events, I had slides in my slide deck that showed dozens of other women attorneys in my city.
Who I've already photographed and three of them were right there in the room with us. And did I [00:03:00] then use that opportunity to tell them that I'm a slut for the attorney community? Yes, I did. And in that same sort of fun and quippy laughter and banter, did I also have the entire room rolling and laughing and having the best time all night?
Also, yes, I absolutely killed it, which I'm really proud of because speaking is something that is still very new to me, and the fact that I can own a room like that is absolutely thrilling. So. It was one of those nights where I felt like I was really supposed to be there. The presentation was fire. They were all laughing, like not just like chuckle here, chuckle there, like real laughing, like not polite, laughing, not like, oh, okay, she's cute laughing.
They were cracking up, and that really matters more than you might think because laughter isn't just. The sign of a good presenter, it's the most powerful way to [00:04:00] disarm a tense or awkward environment. Laughter signals safety, it signals bonding. It's everybody's nervous system in the room going like, okay, I can trust this person, I can relax around her.
So the room was very warm, the room was open. The room honestly was mine, and at the end. Because I am not going to let a room full of women who are my exact ideal clients. So through my fingers, I made sure to pitch to them how we could continue working together. And I pitched that really well. Uh, 3% close rate in a room like that is considered a really good closing percentage, and I closed that room at.
16.7%. I booked five shoots on the spot at the end of my presentation, so that's something that I'm also really happy about. I pitched to them my [00:05:00] 40 over 40 series, which I'm wrapping up, and I also tease my motherhood series that I haven't even announced , publicly yet. Because you know me, I am not gonna have a room full of brilliant, powerful women feeling inspired and connected, and then just.
Let them walk out the door and forget about me. I know that some women would have maybe stopped the presentation without the pitch, without the close, because as women we tend to worry about. Being or sounding too salesy or that we want to make sure that we come across as being really humble, or we think that if they really wanted to book a shoot with us, then they'll reach out because they.
Loved us so much, but all of those things are wrong. For one, I wasn't salesy. I offered them an opportunity that they were already wanting. They had the desire [00:06:00] themselves already. Otherwise I wouldn't have closed them. That desire has to exist inside of themselves. All I did was point them in the direction of how they can have that desire met, how they can have that problem solved, and that I would be the solution.
Okay. That's not salesy, that's running a business. So number two, about sort of trying to make sure that we come off as being humble. I kind of begged the question like, why does running a business not make me humble? Why does booking a shoot make me not humble? Why do I need to stay small when I have a group of women who want something that I'm really fucking good at?
Right. That quietness or that feeling of wanting to stay small, that's not humility, that's not humbleness, that's self-sabotage. Okay. And for three, the idea that if they loved me, then they would come looking for me [00:07:00] even if I had them. Rolling in laughter. Even if I had them ping themselves a little bit from my jokes, that doesn't mean that they'll think about me the next day.
That doesn't mean that I'll come to mind to book a shoot the next time that they need one. Humans generally need about eight points of contact before they will buy from a business or an individual. So the chances that they'd remember me the next day, or even a week later, or even a few months later without me making more touchpoints, the likeliness of them forgetting about me is really, really high.
So I ignored all of this mumbo jumbo that could have been swirling around in my head, and I decided to go for the pitch, and I closed them right then and there. So far, this is not the lesson that you can take away for your, I mean, it is, but it's not the lesson that I was planning on you taking away , for your business.
This is just maybe a little bit of a pat myself on the back moment. Okay. But here's where I [00:08:00] actually did mess up. A couple of days later, I made sure to ask the woman who asked me to host the event to send me the list of emails from the attendees. Which is the exact move that I should have made because I wanted those women inside of my ecosystem.
I want them on my email list. I want them in my world. I want them seeing what I do. I want those touchpoint to happen so that I can get them on my calendar because. Most people, like I said, do not book from one touchpoint. They need to see you again and again. They need that repeated exposure. They need the relationship to keep building.
And email is an incredible place to do that because it's so personal. It's the closest thing that you get to being able to knock on someone's door. So capturing the emails from an event like this is paramount. Yes, I also did follow each one of them on social media, but. Instagram is kinda like a chaotic bar on a [00:09:00] Friday night, whereas email is like a quiet table that we can sit and actually talk.
So getting their emails was the most important and the smartest thing that I can do. What I did next was not the smartest thing that I can do. I didn't at least, I mean, at least thank God I didn't at least do this, but I didn't send out a bulk email, but. I did make a template that I could copy and paste for each email, and then I changed the name and I added a personal intro onto each email about how great it was to meet them at the event.
But the templated part of the email was a few paragraphs that included details. It included a coupon code, it included an exclusive deal because they were at the posing sore. It included early access to my spring calendar. I explained the offers, I explained the process, and on paper that looks like marketing, but [00:10:00] psychologically it landed like overwhelm.
It looked like a thesis. It looked like a to-do list. And these women, their lives, they are already full. Their brains are already full. Their inboxes are already full. So when they opened an email that looked like this long, detailed thesis of a pitch, even if it was a good pitch, it's never gonna land.
And that's the part where I kind of wanted to scream at myself because. I did this, and then afterwards I was like, Jody, what the fuck are you thinking? Because I know this. I literally teach this in regards to the email cadence and structure that goes out to a new inquiry. Yet somehow, all of it escaped my brain because it was in a different format.
I had a large group that I was emailing and I had to email each one of them. I somehow lost the plot. I somehow lost the understanding of [00:11:00] how to use psychology and persuasion to keep the conversation going with these women. I mean, I didn't lose it for long. Immediately after I was done with the list, I put my head down into my hands.
I was like, what did I just do? Because I know that after a warm in-person connection like that. Your follow up email has one job. It's one job is simply to reopen the room. It's to recreate the feeling of, oh, hey, we were just talking. Oh, hey, we're already friends. It's to make it feel like it's just me and her, not me on a list.
And I didn't do that. I sent the kind of email that makes people think like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll come back to this later. And in these scenarios later will never happen. Now, did I book from the emails? Yes. I booked one. I booked one shoot from all of those [00:12:00] emails that I sent, and again, I booked from the event itself, but.
Did I convert as many as I could have if I had led this correctly? No, absolutely not because I didn't control the frame. And if you've been listening to me for any amount of time, you know that I'm borderline obsessive about controlling the frame. I have been obsessed with studying sales for the last two years, and it is so invigorating to understand that side of business more.
so what should I have done? This is the part that I want to like imprint. On you, the follow up email that should have gone out should have been no more than three lines. It should say like, Hey, I loved meeting you at the sore the other night. I keep thinking about what you said about, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Remind me how long you've been an attorney. Again, done. Or my question at the end could have been like, remind me how many kids you have again, I swear I can't get your story about [00:13:00] blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Out of my head. Done. That's it, because now she's activated to reply because I asked her that personal question and once she replies.
Then we've got conversation happening, and then we have micro transactions happening. She's giving her time to me, and then I have more control in leading the sale. I can ask questions. I can ask what season she's in. I can figure out whether she's got 40 over 40 energy or motherhood energy. Maybe she is just needing some new headshot.
I can guide her into the right offer without trauma dumping my whole business into her lap. Okay? Or I can do all of that without making her feel like she's being sold to. And that's the lesson. Okay? Now, the reason why I'm making a whole episode out of my own little rookie mistake moment this last week, is [00:14:00] because.
Two photographers asked me questions this week that are very similar to what I just did, and their questions were around two other kinds of events, and they were wanting to create these events and, and wanting to know how they can make sure that they have the right structure in place to make sure that they are capitalizing on those events that they're creating.
One was an in-person event in her studio. For moms in her community and another is an Instagram giveaway, so more of a virtual event that she's orchestrating. So the first scenario, this photographer told me that she used to do these mini classes years ago in her studio, and that they were amazing and the community response was great and that she felt connected and she felt alive.
And that she loves to throw these parties and these events, and she said that her studio wasn't just a place where people would come and take photos and then leave. It really became this little like [00:15:00] hub of a place for women, which is absolutely incredible. So she wants to do this Mother's Day event and invite her past.
Motherhood clients and then have them bring a plus one another mom friend because she wants to grow brand awareness through people who already trust her. So she wants to bake treats and put them into like little cute bags and have like a DIY flour bouquet bar and have. A makeup artist come in and teach some simple makeup classes and that she's gonna build this really cute like branded photo wall for her logo so that moms can take pictures and that it can be more of like a social media moment also.
And in explaining all this, she asked me something really interesting. She asked me whether or not this is a waste of time because she sort of felt like, am I just like kind of playing business instead of actually doing business? Or [00:16:00] will this actually move my business forward? And I wanna explain why that question is so smart because in our industry we love ideas that feel fun.
But fun doesn't automatically equal profitable, and you can absolutely get yourself into this mess of throwing a gorgeous event and then walk away with nothing but. Some cute pictures and a big mess to clean up if you don't structure it properly. So my answer to her was, yes, absolutely do this. This is incredible.
It's unique, it's aligned, and it's a place of conviction gold for her and her content. But. Here's the deeper part. An event like this only works if you build a path that you want the women to follow. Once they enter this path needs to go from a woman walking in the door as an attendee to being warmed by [00:17:00] the environment so that she turns into a lead and then she turns into a client.
And eventually also becomes a referral source all within the time that she walks in and out of your door. And that path needs structure because human brains do not move forward on vibes alone. Just like the women at my event wouldn't have booked if I didn't have, I mean, as I wanna say, if I didn't have the balls to pitch, but.
I don't, I don't wanna use man terms like what's the woman's equivalent to having balls anyways? You get what I mean? But clients don't book just because they like you or just because they like your work. They have to be guided on a journey to it being the right decision for them. So I gave her the structure that she needed first.
There has to be an email capture at the door. This is not optional [00:18:00] because if you don't capture contact info, then you have no way to continue the relationship after the party. This also has to happen as they enter, because if you allow for it to happen when they are leaving, they will skip it because they are ready to get home.
If you don't have this email captured, then the relationship dies the moment that the party dies down and you have no way to kind of. Keep the juices flowing. Okay? So that's when a cute little girly party can end up just being a blow to your marketing budget instead of a really great business idea. So you set an iPad by the door with a Google form, even if you have to do it pen and paper, so be it.
Then it's their name, their email, and here's a little hint, ask one question that subtly primes their buying behavior. Something like, what would you want to be photographed for next? And [00:19:00] give them a little checkbox of like motherhood, family, if you do a 40 over 40 boudoir or a little box even to say, not sure yet.
Okay? This question is gold because it forces her to imagine herself inside of your offers. Then the second thing, you have a QR code on your phone ready to pull out and close the deal because here's what usually happens at events. , You go around talking, you go around networking, right? You work the room like you should, but someone says like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been meaning to do photos.
And then the photographer smiles and says like, oh my God, yes, that would be amazing. Here's my Instagram. And then crickets. Nothing happens. And that's not because the client was lying or just, I don't know, blowing smoke. It's because you didn't make the next step really easy. So. I told her, have the booking link set up ready on your phone with a QR code.
Have it on a slide that's projected on the [00:20:00] tv. Have it on poster board hanging up somewhere. Put it around the room, have a way for them to get activated and then book right there on the spot. And whenever someone expresses interest, then you can say like, oh, do you wanna grab one of the spring spots right now?
Because I'm about to launch them, and they're gonna get swooped up pretty quick. It only takes two minutes. Here's the QR code, and then it's done. And that feels like you're creating a service. You're meeting her desire. You're giving her exactly what she's asking you to give her.
That's not sales pressure. That service. Okay. , Another way that I told this photographer to activate people. Would be to have a coupon code already generated before the event so that as she does like a welcome speech or a toast or whatever, she can say that the first 10 bookings get $150 off that night just for being VIP at this event, and that the code expires at the end of the party so they only have [00:21:00] that amount of time to capitalize on it then.
Because she captured the emails coming in the door. She has the ability to do follow up with each one of the women there, and this is where my own mistake ties in because she does not send a long thank you for coming email with details and a code and the booking process and all of those things. She sends a short email that starts a conversation because the goal after a warm in-person event is to recreate that warmth in their inbox.
And warmth in the email comes from personal language and one simple question. Then those emails get added into her email list so that that audience continues to get warmed through her weekly newsletters. Okay, so let me summarize. The top four things that make this Mother's Day event or any sort of event that you guys are going to ever plan to do actually move the needle forward in your business is number one, you have to capture emails [00:22:00] at the door.
This changes that client walking in from being an attendee. Into a new possible lead. Okay? And it has to happen at the door. You cannot let this happen at the end of the evening. Okay? Number two, a QR code on the phone so that anytime you are walking around the room, you're able to close someone on the spot and then a coupon code for added Leverage.
These things. Turn that woman, that client, that potential client, from being a lead into an actual booking. Okay, then we're sending personally short email follow ups, and then the experience that she has inside of your business during her photo shoot then turns her from a booking, turns her from a client into a referral source for you.
All right. Scenario number two. This one was a photographer who wanted to run an Instagram giveaway series with local women owned businesses. So she had this like stacked [00:23:00] list of other businesses that she wanted to collaborate with. There was a color analysis, uh, business. There was a car seat cleaning business.
There was a bunch of gift cards involved there. A business with like organization services, party planning, sensory bins, balloons, doulas, postpartum food. Literally it was her goal for all of these businesses to collaborate and cross promote and share their client list or their Instagram audience following with each other since they all share a very similar ideal client, because this photographer specializes in maternity and newborn.
Okay. And she asked what did she need to do to make sure that she was going to throw this Instagram event giveaway and make it successful? And I wanna say this very clearly, that giveaways can absolutely work, but a giveaway without lead capture is just increasing vanity [00:24:00] metrics with more follows. So yes, people will follow.
And then they'll see your content and could they possibly book something through your dms? Sure. But email is far more powerful and is a more controlled and intimate space than chaotic social media. So my first question to her was, how are you collecting emails? Because if you run a giveaway entirely on Instagram and you only get follows, then you didn't build an actual asset list.
You built a blip of momentum and that momentum disappears really quickly, and sometimes that momentum is not worth all of the work that goes into, especially this big of a giveaway, the thing that doesn't disappear. Is the emails. Okay? So the problem comes in because Instagram isn't built like this, it's a platform [00:25:00] that forces followers and engagement, but it's not necessarily set up so that you can get direct email access to your follower account.
My God, I wish it did though. Could you imagine? Could you imagine if we got to have the email address of every single person that followed us? That would be a literal gold mine. Okay. But, so here's how you can collect emails. You can make a requirement for entering the giveaway to be contingent on the fact that.
, The person entering the giveaway has to do these four things. They have to comment on the giveaway post with like a set number of friends that they have to tag. Like maybe you say like they have to tag three friends. Okay. They have to follow each account that is involved in the giveaway and they have to DM their email address directly to the business that they are entering through.
And there needs to be really clear language stating that if they do not do that entire list of requirements, [00:26:00] that they will not win the giveaway, even if they are chosen. But this system in and of itself brings up a sticky point, this huge list of other women-owned businesses. Has to be managed. There has to be clear guidelines regarding this email capture and how the list of emails is going to be shared amongst everyone.
There should also be communication surrounding how often each business is required to post and how much effort is required. Because this could very quickly become a really big place of resentment, just like a bad group project on Project Runway, runway. Whenever one person isn't pulling their weight, it becomes this big, huge like cat fight on Project Runway, right?
The same thing could happen here. So for the format of the email share that has to get discussed, it could be [00:27:00] managed through like a shared Google Doc that is organized with a table for each business, and then the emails that they capture are pasted there so at the end of the giveaway, there's a main thread where everyone can create a CSV file to load into their email list.
And then there's a deeper layer that actually makes this valuable is that really understanding that the giveaway isn't the end goal to this, , the giveaway is the list building event, but the list itself is actually the asset. So after the giveaway, you then have to go into the same exact process that we were talking about before, and you have to nurture this list into becoming bookings.
Okay, so let me summarize this one too. The top three things that make a giveaway actually convert is, number [00:28:00] one, treat email capture as the point of the entire giveaway not follows. Okay, number two. Build the entry method to force the email so that you're not just, crossing your fingers and hoping that people will just like and follow and buy.
And then number three, once you have those emails, you're gonna nurture during and after, so that the giveaway actually turns into relationships, not just a spike in momentum and attention. Okay. So I hope that there are a few, like really quick and easy grabs that you can pull out of this episode and implement into your businesses very directly and very quickly and very easily because that was the point of today.
That's kind of all that I've got for you. So until next time, friends, bye for now.
Outro: Okay, so that is a wrap on this episode of the Posers Podcast. If you loved it, please [00:29:00] 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.
