EP 40: Best Biz Books to Listen to on Audible While Traveling

00:00:00 [Alison]
The whole premise of the book being, like, how do you grow the biggest, most giant pumpkins to win awards and money?
00:00:06 [Alison]
Hey, I’m Allison, military spouse and family photographer.

00:00:09 [Melissa]
Hey, I’m Melissa, also a military spouse, lifestyle newborn photographer, and SEO expert for photographers.
00:00:14 [Melissa]
Between the two of us, we have a combined twenty seven years in photography and have lived through nine business relocations.

00:00:20 [Alison]
We’ve coached you through all these challenges, and now we want to share our experience with you.
00:00:23 [Alison]
On this podcast, we’ll give you actionable steps to help you keep it moving.
00:00:30 [Alison]
Alright, guys.
00:00:31 [Alison]
Welcome back.
00:00:32 [Alison]
This episode is gonna be dropping right before all your holiday travels.

00:00:35 [Alison]
And so we wanted to give you guys something to do productively on that trip.
00:00:39 [Alison]
So whether you’re a fan of audiobooks or physical books, we wanted to share some of our favorite business ideas and business centered books with you.
00:00:47 [Alison]
But before we get there, we got tool time.
00:00:50 [Alison]
We’re gonna segment coming back.
00:00:51 [Alison]
So we want to ray of show it.

00:00:53 [Alison]
So, Melissa, what do you you were the first to use it before I was.
00:00:56 [Alison]
Like, I was I was really slow.
00:00:58 [Alison]
I was on a WordPress site.
00:01:00 [Alison]
I was using VNow.

00:01:01 [Melissa]
I nicely told Allison half a dozen times, you need a better website.

00:01:07 [Alison]
And then when I hired my marketing girl, she got in there to do all this stuff we agreed for, and she was like, I can’t touch it.
00:01:13 [Alison]
I can’t Yeah.
00:01:14 [Alison]
I can’t do any of this.

00:01:15 [Melissa]
Well, it’s a good thing you left anyway because flow themes went out.
00:01:17 [Melissa]
Like

00:01:17 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:01:18 [Alison]
They died very shortly after.
00:01:20 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:01:20 [Alison]
And I was like, I I escaped that rat race.
00:01:23 [Alison]
My girl, Kristen, was like, you need a show at site.

00:01:27 [Alison]
I can’t do anything.
00:01:28 [Alison]
When she told me, she was like, don’t hate me.
00:01:30 [Alison]
And I was like, no.
00:01:31 [Alison]
You’re not the first person to tell me that.

00:01:35 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:01:35 [Melissa]
As long

00:01:35 [Alison]
as I’ve been saying that.
00:01:36 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:01:36 [Melissa]
I’ve had my ShowIt site.
00:01:38 [Melissa]
It’ll be about two years in January.
00:01:41 [Melissa]
And now my photography site is on Profoto.
00:01:43 [Melissa]
Right.
00:01:43 [Melissa]
That’s just because I’ve had it on Profoto.

00:01:45 [Melissa]
That.
00:01:45 [Melissa]
It’s, like, fifteen years now that I’m like, I don’t wanna I don’t I don’t wanna move it.
00:01:49 [Melissa]
I don’t wanna deal with all of that.
00:01:50 [Melissa]
So Understood.
00:01:52 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:01:52 [Melissa]
Understood.
00:01:53 [Melissa]
But Showit so I got for the SEO side of the business because most of our clients had Showit.
00:01:58 [Melissa]
And so I figured the easiest way You need to learn it.
00:02:01 [Melissa]
To learn it is to have a site on it.
00:02:03 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:02:04 [Melissa]
And so, yeah, I really love Showit.
00:02:06 [Melissa]
I know there’s been some talk recently.
00:02:07 [Melissa]
There was I’ve gotten, like, some messages of, like, is Showit good for SEO and stuff?
00:02:12 [Melissa]
And I don’t have problems with it.
00:02:13 [Melissa]
I have plenty of clients who have Showit sites right now.

00:02:15 [Alison]
Tell you about that.
00:02:17 [Alison]
Because I hired my said girl, so we had to completely go back to the drawing board.
00:02:21 [Alison]
Instead of doing all this stuff that she had planned out, she actually just completely redid my website through just a wreck.
00:02:27 [Alison]
And I was like, I had heard about it for long enough that I just decided to heck with it.
00:02:31 [Alison]
Go for it.

00:02:32 [Alison]
In in six months okay.
00:02:34 [Alison]
Now granted, I didn’t have a copywriter at this point.
00:02:37 [Alison]
She did the design.
00:02:38 [Alison]
She used my photos and all the same things.
00:02:40 [Alison]
I had not moved.

00:02:41 [Alison]
I had been in Virginia Beach for two and a half years at this point.
00:02:44 [Alison]
All my all of my SEO was mostly the same, except file names probably changed, some meta descriptions changed, places where all that all those things and intricacies were different because I was moving from flow themes and WordPress based over to Showit.
00:02:59 [Alison]
So things did change, but not drastically.
00:03:02 [Alison]
And my SEO search results tripled in six months.
00:03:06 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:03:07 [Alison]
I wasn’t blogging because I knew I was move I knew I was moving to Hawaii.
00:03:10 [Alison]
This was, like, November, December ’23.
00:03:13 [Alison]
We moved no.
00:03:14 [Alison]
Of ’22.
00:03:15 [Alison]
And then we moved ’23.

00:03:16 [Alison]
I knew I wasn’t doing anything drastic.
00:03:18 [Alison]
I was just switching my website.
00:03:20 [Alison]
And she had so like, the charts and the hrefs and the all the her little tools and trackers were just, like, skyrocketing on the back end.
00:03:29 [Alison]
And I even asked her.
00:03:30 [Alison]
I was like, what did you do?

00:03:32 [Alison]
And she was like, it’s it’s just a good website.
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And Yeah.
00:03:36 [Alison]
I mean, she could tell me.
00:03:37 [Alison]
Like, she did a bunch of different things, but it she just said, it’s just a website.
00:03:41 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:03:41 [Alison]
And so I regret waiting as long as I did.
00:03:44 [Alison]
I mean, the

00:03:44 [Melissa]
biggest thing I like about Showit is it’s easy for the average person to get in and make updates because some of these other websites and stuff, you, you know, you need to hire a web designer.
00:03:54 [Melissa]
Like, if you wanna go, like, SEO purist, then you wanna have a custom design site with, like coding required.
00:04:00 [Melissa]
All of this kind of thing where you would have to reach out to your web designer anytime you wanna make changes, and that’s not what you want.
00:04:04 [Melissa]
You want something that you can easily go in and make updates and change things out.
00:04:07 [Melissa]
And so that’s why I really like Showit.

00:04:09 [Melissa]
In fact, I’ve got somebody else who’s talking about switching from flow themes where you Showit.
00:04:12 [Melissa]
I was like, girl, let me show you.
00:04:14 [Melissa]
It is like Canva or Photoshop for websites.
00:04:16 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:04:16 [Melissa]
And that’s a really good so easy.

00:04:19 [Alison]
And that’s a really good point because I was on flow themes for its flexibility.
00:04:22 [Alison]
It had these blocks where I could just import these blocks and change what I wanted and But I felt like every other time I went in to make an update or a change or a tweak or or a design enhancement, I couldn’t do what I wanted to do.
00:04:36 [Alison]
I just felt like they were in my way, and they really were.
00:04:38 [Alison]
The blocks were in the way.
00:04:39 [Alison]
The whole block system is just it’s still it’s not enough.

00:04:43 [Alison]
You just move over to show it.
00:04:44 [Alison]
It’s fantastic.
00:04:45 [Alison]
I absolutely love it.
00:04:46 [Alison]
So

00:04:47 [Melissa]
I like having my site on it.
00:04:48 [Melissa]
It makes it easy to change.
00:04:49 [Melissa]
And then, like, there’s a lot of designs out there for it and a lot of designers.
00:04:53 [Melissa]
And in fact, like, I found a designer that I got a template from her because and here’s the thing.
00:04:58 [Melissa]
I’m a big proponent about getting a template to start with on any of these types of things, and then learn how to make the changes.

00:05:06 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:05:06 [Melissa]
Learn how to use it by making changes at that point.
00:05:09 [Melissa]
If you’re trying to go in and start from scratch, it is not worth it.
00:05:12 [Melissa]
It’s you want to go find a template.
00:05:14 [Melissa]
There’s so many so many canvases and all this stuff that you wanna have set up that I highly recommend.

00:05:18 [Melissa]
Do not just go in and say, well, I’ll start with the free version and do something.
00:05:21 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:05:22 [Melissa]
Like, find yourself a $150

00:05:24 [Alison]
and go get a template.
00:05:26 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:05:27 [Alison]
And you’re not limited to

00:05:28 [Melissa]
that show it

00:05:28 [Alison]
design library.

00:05:29 [Melissa]
Go to Etsy Yeah.

00:05:30 [Alison]
And go find something for $50.
00:05:32 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:05:32 [Alison]
A single page.
00:05:33 [Alison]
Like, it’s It is.

00:05:35 [Melissa]
No.
00:05:35 [Melissa]
It’s hilarious.
00:05:36 [Melissa]
So my site, I I have a girl that I got a template from her, and then I wanted, like, a sales page template or something.
00:05:42 [Melissa]
So I went out to Etsy, and I was just looking for other sales page templates.
00:05:45 [Melissa]
And this one came up, and I was like, oh, the style of that.

00:05:47 [Melissa]
And when I pulled it up, it was my designer.
00:05:49 [Melissa]
And it was just a different one she had, and it was so I think it happened twice that I was looking for something else.
00:05:53 [Melissa]
So at that point, I just started emailing her.
00:05:55 [Melissa]
I was like, I need a design for, like, a podcast page.
00:05:57 [Melissa]
I need a design for a shop page.

00:05:59 [Melissa]
I need a design for a quiz page.
00:06:00 [Melissa]
And I

00:06:01 [Alison]
was like, oh, this client research, customer research just landed in my lap.
00:06:06 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:06:06 [Melissa]
She started creating I was like, I don’t care if you sell it to other people, but, like, create it for me because I need it, and I don’t wanna have to create it.
00:06:12 [Melissa]
So there’s just so many opportunities for stuff like that.
00:06:15 [Melissa]
As much as I love Profoto for my photo site, they’re they’re I think the designers have dried up over there.
00:06:21 [Melissa]
Like, no one’s designing new new stuff for it.
00:06:24 [Melissa]
It kinda sucks.

00:06:25 [Melissa]
I’m terrified of the day that I have to, like, move over because I just don’t want to.

00:06:31 [Alison]
But

00:06:31 [Melissa]
luckily, I like my my design.
00:06:33 [Melissa]
Like, it was a template that I completely hacked, and luckily, I still like it.
00:06:37 [Melissa]
So I’m just it’s fine.
00:06:38 [Melissa]
I don’t need to mess with it.
00:06:39 [Melissa]
It’s just gonna stay how it is.

00:06:41 [Alison]
So if you are looking for a website, hopefully, we’ve just pushed you over the edge.
00:06:45 [Alison]
We will have a link in the show notes for Showit because we can’t rave about it enough when your website is really, really important.
00:06:51 [Alison]
I can’t tell you how many times since working with a copywriter specifically, this is about six months after I got the website, I worked with a copywriter.
00:06:59 [Alison]
And I get way rave reviews about my website unsolicited from clients all the time.
00:07:04 [Alison]
All the time.

00:07:05 [Alison]
Like, oh, I just loved your energy.
00:07:06 [Alison]
Oh, I saw your website and I just so your website’s super important, so don’t be cheap like I was for years and years.
00:07:11 [Alison]
Pay the money.
00:07:13 [Alison]
Just do it.
00:07:14 [Alison]
Okay.

00:07:14 [Alison]
So back to these books.
00:07:15 [Alison]
Okay.
00:07:16 [Alison]
So these business books are a really great last minute gift idea for yourself or to give he can give to you or to or to give to your friends, your other friends in business, whether they’re photographers or creatives or whatnot.
00:07:28 [Alison]
Melissa, how do you consume your business books?

00:07:31 [Melissa]
I am an audible girl.
00:07:33 [Melissa]
Like, we listen to business books in the car.
00:07:35 [Melissa]
In fact, my daughter thinks that our car can’t be music because she never has heard the radio.

00:07:39 [Alison]
That’s ridiculous.
00:07:40 [Alison]
She

00:07:40 [Melissa]
rode with someone else and was like, mommy, do you know her car can play frozen songs?
00:07:44 [Melissa]
And I was like

00:07:45 [Alison]
Are you listening some on on repeat?
00:07:47 [Alison]
Like, do you finish it and then listen to it again?
00:07:49 [Alison]
You mean, like, the business books?

00:07:50 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:07:50 [Melissa]
No.
00:07:51 [Melissa]
It’s just that I roll into another one.
00:07:52 [Melissa]
I’m the list of business books that I have

00:07:54 [Alison]
in my auto It’s yeah.
00:07:56 [Alison]
It’s pretty long.

00:07:56 [Melissa]
It’s a lot.
00:07:57 [Melissa]
It’s a lot.
00:07:57 [Melissa]
And it’s funny too because I listen to them, like, when we’re driving to the boat because it’s like a two hour drive to the boat.
00:08:02 [Melissa]
So I’ll put on a business book.
00:08:03 [Melissa]
And my oldest, I swear he’s gonna be his own entrepreneur because he actually is listening.

00:08:07 [Melissa]
He will ask me questions about stuff that’s on there.
00:08:09 [Melissa]
I mean, he’s playing his Minecraft, but he’s also got one ear open.
00:08:12 [Melissa]
And I’m just waiting for the day that he starts, like, come to me and be like, I wanna start my own business, mom.
00:08:16 [Melissa]
I can do it.
00:08:17 [Melissa]
I listen to your books.

00:08:18 [Melissa]
I’m good.
00:08:18 [Melissa]
And I’m like, yes.
00:08:19 [Melissa]
Let’s do this, dude.
00:08:20 [Melissa]
These kids are gonna have

00:08:21 [Alison]
a leg up.
00:08:22 [Alison]
I am pushing my kids to Fun.
00:08:24 [Alison]
Sell lemonade, pet sit, pet walk, do all these things.
00:08:26 [Alison]
I’m like, oh, you wanna go off island?
00:08:28 [Alison]
You better earn some money.

00:08:29 [Melissa]
Like Yeah.

00:08:30 [Alison]
Go.
00:08:30 [Alison]
And, like, they’re getting they’re getting a heads up because I’m pushing them to market and make themselves memorable Mhmm.
00:08:36 [Alison]
From, like you know?
00:08:37 [Alison]
Anyway, at least Yeah.
00:08:39 [Alison]
Gonna have a leg up.

00:08:40 [Alison]
Hey, girl.
00:08:41 [Alison]
Yes.
00:08:41 [Alison]
You.
00:08:41 [Alison]
The one stuck in that business quicksand, it’s Allison here.
00:08:44 [Alison]
If you’ve been staring at your pricing overwhelmed by SEO, social media, email list, or just feeling like you’re spinning your wheels trying to make things profitable, I’ve got you.

00:08:54 [Alison]
I’ve been there.
00:08:55 [Alison]
Right now, I’m offering a $100 off one on one coaching just for my podcast listeners.
00:09:00 [Alison]
Book now and you can schedule your coaching session during any time of December 24 or through February 25.
00:09:06 [Alison]
This is your chance to get personalized direction, and I mean personalized eyeball deep in your business on the things that matter most.
00:09:13 [Alison]
Whether it’s upping your pricing, strategizing a move, or just finding more clients ready to give you all their money and make it rain dollar bills.

00:09:21 [Alison]
Let’s stop feeling stuck.
00:09:22 [Alison]
Get out of your own head.
00:09:24 [Alison]
Start building a business that serves you and your family.
00:09:27 [Alison]
Click the link in the show notes, reach out and tell me you want that $100 off, and let’s keep it moving.

00:09:32 [Melissa]
How about you?
00:09:33 [Melissa]
Are you a book on tape girl or a book in hand girl?

00:09:35 [Alison]
So I’m typically a book.
00:09:37 [Alison]
I love that we just said on tape.

00:09:39 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:09:39 [Melissa]
And that didn’t phase us.
00:09:40 [Melissa]
That’s how old we are.

00:09:43 [Alison]
I love that.
00:09:44 [Alison]
That’s like and it’s even in writing in the outline.
00:09:46 [Alison]
It’s just now like, oh.
00:09:47 [Alison]
So I am I love an audiobook.
00:09:49 [Alison]
I will say I love an audiobook.

00:09:51 [Alison]
But when I really like a book, I have actually done this a couple times.
00:09:54 [Alison]
I will buy it on audio just to listen to it, and then I’ll be like, I can’t remember this.
00:09:58 [Alison]
This isn’t working for me and so I’ll return it.
00:10:01 [Alison]
Fun trick, you can return books on Audible and get your credit back.
00:10:05 [Alison]
So that’s fun.

00:10:06 [Alison]
And I will buy the physical copy because I do mark it up.
00:10:10 [Alison]
I want to dog ear it.
00:10:11 [Alison]
I want to underline it.
00:10:12 [Alison]
But because that’s why I learn.
00:10:13 [Alison]
I learn by physical touch and and note taking.

00:10:17 [Alison]
Just the act of writing it out, for me is really helpful.
00:10:19 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:10:19 [Melissa]
And so it’s easy to, like, flip back to that chapter Mhmm.
00:10:22 [Melissa]
That you heard and you just wanna go over one more time without scrubbing through and find the right spot.
00:10:26 [Melissa]
Because I’m the same guy.

00:10:27 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:10:28 [Alison]
Exactly.
00:10:28 [Alison]
And then there’s a couple books on our list here where I, a year, two, three years later, am still going back to it and saying, how do I do this?

00:10:36 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:10:36 [Melissa]
There are some that I have on Kindle version.

00:10:38 [Alison]
Mhmm.
00:10:39 [Alison]
But

00:10:39 [Melissa]
then I have a lot that are, you know, in type of thing.
00:10:41 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:10:41 [Melissa]
And here’s the other thing, y’all.
00:10:42 [Melissa]
When it when it comes to me, if you are someone that I know through social circles online, whatever, and you write a book, I will buy it.
00:10:49 [Melissa]
I will buy it to support you.

00:10:50 [Melissa]
I will not read it, but I will buy it.
00:10:53 [Melissa]
I don’t mean that in a bad way that I won’t read it.
00:10:55 [Melissa]
Yourself.
00:10:56 [Melissa]
Write a book.
00:10:57 [Melissa]
I don’t mean that in a bad way, but I have books on my shelf.

00:11:00 [Melissa]
I was looking at it.
00:11:01 [Melissa]
I have a couple photographers who have now become authors, and their books are on my bookshelf, and I have not read the book.
00:11:06 [Melissa]
But I’m supporting them.
00:11:08 [Melissa]
Like, someday, I will take it and read it and but I like supporting.

00:11:11 [Alison]
It’s funny because I think and I I have purchased and listened to and read two self published authors that are coaches.
00:11:19 [Alison]
Mhmm.
00:11:19 [Alison]
One is a photographer.
00:11:21 [Alison]
One is coming from the wedding industry, but not a photographer per se.
00:11:24 [Alison]
And I think their whole marketing strategy is self publish a book, give it away for free.

00:11:30 [Alison]
You’re telling you’re basically coaching people into for free on why they need your services.
00:11:35 [Alison]
Oh, yeah.
00:11:35 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:11:35 [Alison]
You’re giving you know what I mean?
00:11:36 [Alison]
Like, and it’s this whole, like, you know?

00:11:40 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:11:40 [Melissa]
I could

00:11:40 [Alison]
see myself doing that.
00:11:41 [Alison]
I noticed yeah.

00:11:42 [Melissa]
I saw that once where someone was and they wrote a book.
00:11:44 [Melissa]
And so I was like, fine.
00:11:46 [Melissa]
I’ll spend the $3 and read it.
00:11:47 [Melissa]
And then I was like, this is entirely a sales pitch.
00:11:49 [Melissa]
Like, I learned nothing in this.

00:11:51 [Alison]
Interesting.
00:11:51 [Alison]
Okay.
00:11:51 [Alison]
So the one I listened to recently was actually really good.
00:11:54 [Alison]
And it was really good to go back and rethink about, like, having empathy and how to serve clients well, especially, like, more high end clients and serving them well.
00:12:01 [Alison]
But it was just like but it leaves this whole hole of, like, how do but how do I go from a to b?

00:12:07 [Alison]
Yes.
00:12:07 [Alison]
That sounds great.
00:12:07 [Alison]
Yes.
00:12:08 [Alison]
You just gave me the whole plan.
00:12:09 [Alison]
But, like, making it happen for yourself, like, you need a guide, and that gets back to, like, what’s so important.

00:12:16 [Alison]
Like, it’s not it’s not the steps.
00:12:18 [Alison]
It’s not that we lack the knowledge of what to do for accountability.
00:12:22 [Alison]
See accountability.
00:12:23 [Alison]
How does it apply to me?
00:12:24 [Alison]
My unique search Yeah.

00:12:26 [Alison]
It’s hand holding.
00:12:27 [Alison]
Right?
00:12:27 [Alison]
So, yes, so that’s what these books are for.
00:12:29 [Alison]
Yes.
00:12:30 [Alison]
So, Melissa, what are your books that you have recommend for us?

00:12:35 [Melissa]
Oh my goodness.
00:12:35 [Melissa]
So my first book that I always recommend to people is Profit First.
00:12:39 [Melissa]
Like, Profit First made such a huge difference in my life on what to do with my money.
00:12:45 [Melissa]
Okay.
00:12:45 [Melissa]
So I’m earning this money happens.

00:12:47 [Melissa]
And I can’t tell you how many times that I see people who are like, I can’t give a refund to a client because I don’t have the money.
00:12:52 [Melissa]
And I’m like, you can’t spend that money if you haven’t earned it or you end up in this situation.
00:12:58 [Melissa]
There are times that Alice and I have had clients that we were like, I don’t wanna work with this person.
00:13:03 [Melissa]
And it’s like, you know what?
00:13:04 [Melissa]
I’m just gonna refund and bless bless and release because I can do that, and it’s gonna be so much more headache for me to try to keep working with them.

00:13:11 [Melissa]
I mean, we all get clients like that.
00:13:13 [Melissa]
It’s not very often.
00:13:14 [Melissa]
And it it’s annoying and it pisses you off, but I would much rather know I had that money in the get rid of that headache and not have to worry about it anymore.

00:13:21 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:13:21 [Alison]
I remember one time I was talking to a photographer back in Okinawa.
00:13:24 [Alison]
It was a rising tide meeting, and she was like, oh, and I paid myself.
00:13:27 [Alison]
And I was like, what do you mean you paid yourself?
00:13:29 [Alison]
Isn’t everything you get go to you?

00:13:33 [Alison]
That, like, just in my mind, I was like, what did you mean?
00:13:36 [Alison]
Right.
00:13:36 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:13:37 [Alison]
And she was like, no.
00:13:38 [Alison]
No.

00:13:38 [Alison]
No.
00:13:38 [Alison]
Like, there’s the business, and then I pay myself.
00:13:40 [Alison]
And I was like my mind just blew up.
00:13:42 [Alison]
Like, oh, no.
00:13:43 [Alison]
Maybe I should do something like that.

00:13:46 [Alison]
And if you ever feel like that, that’s the book for you.

00:13:49 [Melissa]
And here’s the thing.
00:13:49 [Melissa]
You I mean, honestly, as soon as you, like, say I’m gonna send my first invoice to someone that I’m billing them, go get the book.
00:13:56 [Melissa]
It’s not that expensive.
00:13:57 [Melissa]
It’s like a cheap book.
00:13:58 [Melissa]
In fact, you know, it’s less than $15, I think.

00:14:00 [Melissa]
But go get that book.
00:14:01 [Melissa]
It’s a short read too.
00:14:02 [Melissa]
Like, that’s the great part.
00:14:03 [Melissa]
It’s not a heavy duty read.
00:14:05 [Melissa]
But go read it, and it will tell you, like, this is how much you need to set aside for paying yourself.

00:14:10 [Melissa]
This is how much for taxes.
00:14:11 [Melissa]
This is how much for expenses.
00:14:13 [Melissa]
And the thing I

00:14:13 [Alison]
don’t know big accounts you need.

00:14:14 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:14:15 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:14:15 [Melissa]
And you know what?
00:14:15 [Melissa]
I’m not we’re not gonna get all into this because I already told Allison I wanna do a whole episode about profit first.

00:14:19 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:14:19 [Melissa]
So So we’re not gonna do too much.
00:14:21 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:14:21 [Melissa]
Next book.
00:14:22 [Melissa]
Profit first is a big one.
00:14:23 [Melissa]
Anything that Donald Miller and his crowd have written.

00:14:26 [Melissa]
I took forever to read StoryBrand.

00:14:29 [Alison]
You did.

00:14:30 [Melissa]
I did.
00:14:30 [Melissa]
You did.
00:14:31 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:14:31 [Melissa]
It was a lot and then, honestly, it’s so funny.
00:14:33 [Melissa]
I read StoryBrand, and then I think I got in the marketing book or something.

00:14:38 [Melissa]
And then he was coming out with Coach Builder, like, a year ago.
00:14:41 [Melissa]
And when he was coming out with Coach Builder, I actually I wasn’t interested in, like, doing his coaching program, like, you know, on that route, but I did go and find a coach through him.
00:14:51 [Melissa]
So my coach is actually a StoryBrand certified coach, my business coach is.
00:14:54 [Melissa]
So she’s not photography at all.
00:14:56 [Melissa]
She is business and marketing and things like that.

00:14:59 [Melissa]
So that’s how onboard I am now with Donald Miller and his crew.
00:15:02 [Melissa]
And then, like, Mike McCann is another one that I love all of his stuff.
00:15:05 [Melissa]
How many well, he’s the one that he does prom at first, but then he also has some other ones.

00:15:09 [Alison]
I haven’t read them.

00:15:10 [Melissa]
He has, like, different Pumpkin Plan is one of his.

00:15:14 [Alison]
Yes.
00:15:14 [Alison]
Okay.
00:15:15 [Alison]
I love pumpkin plan.
00:15:17 [Alison]
Sounds like such a stupid title, y’all.
00:15:18 [Alison]
It really does.

00:15:19 [Alison]
Like, why?
00:15:20 [Alison]
It’s pumpkin is it pumpkin the pumpkin plan or pumpkin plan your business or something?
00:15:24 [Alison]
But there was another photographer in her podcast, and she mentioned how she had pumpkin planned her business.
00:15:29 [Alison]
And I was like, oh, I guess maybe I should do that too.
00:15:31 [Alison]
Because I’d heard about the book for so long.

00:15:33 [Alison]
And it really is quite simple and brilliant at the same time.
00:15:37 [Alison]
So the whole the whole premise of the book being, like, how do you grow the biggest, most giant pumpkins to win awards and money.
00:15:44 [Alison]
Right?
00:15:45 [Alison]
And and he takes this whole concept and it’s a whole analogy of, well, you start with a really good seed, and then you do this, and then you do that, and then you trim the vine.
00:15:53 [Alison]
And, like, well, I don’t know what they do, but he walks through the

00:15:56 [Melissa]
stuff that you don’t want growing and stuff.
00:15:58 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:15:58 [Melissa]
The stuff that’s sucking the nutrients away from the big the big pumpkin.

00:16:01 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:16:01 [Alison]
And so it helps you really narrow in on your genius on where you serve, what you what makes you the most money.

00:16:08 [Melissa]
Hey there, photographers.
00:16:09 [Melissa]
Struggling with what to blog about?
00:16:11 [Melissa]
Tired of staring at that blanky cursor, waiting for inspiration to strike?
00:16:15 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:16:15 [Melissa]
We’ve all been there.

00:16:16 [Melissa]
That is why I created the blogging club.
00:16:18 [Melissa]
Imagine this.
00:16:19 [Melissa]
Every month, you know exactly what to blog.
00:16:22 [Melissa]
No more guessing games or frantic Googling.
00:16:24 [Melissa]
Each month, I’ll walk you through SEO friendly blog post outlines with examples, teach you the latest SEO and marketing tips in a master class, and support you live in a monthly q and a to answer all your blogging questions.

00:16:37 [Melissa]
Plus, we’ve got a community on after every post.
00:16:39 [Melissa]
Let’s take the guesswork out of blogging and start driving those dream clients to your site.
00:16:43 [Melissa]
Head to the bloggingclub.com and use code t b c trial to get 50% off your first month and join us today.

00:16:52 [Alison]
So that you can have a big business that serves you.
00:16:55 [Alison]
So it it’s definitely, like, titled definitely kinda disguised as purpose and point, but that’s my most recent read, and that’s my first my first suggestion right now.

00:17:05 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:17:05 [Melissa]
I hadn’t read that one until you mentioned it.
00:17:07 [Melissa]
And then because I have a million Audible credits, I jumped in and went ahead and got it.
00:17:11 [Melissa]
So I was like, alright.
00:17:12 [Melissa]
And I listened to

00:17:12 [Alison]
that one, and I really like that one too.
00:17:14 [Alison]
That’s one I did fully on audio on Audible.
00:17:17 [Alison]
And, I kinda do wish because now I’m like, I don’t even know what to go back to, but I do wish I had something to flip through and see what I can do.

00:17:25 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:17:25 [Melissa]
I will say, like, all the StoryBrand stuff, I have all that in hardback.
00:17:28 [Melissa]
Mhmm.
00:17:28 [Melissa]
And so yeah.
00:17:30 [Melissa]
I mean, all of these are great, like you said, just to pull out your highlighter and just remind you on things.

00:17:34 [Melissa]
Another little one that I swear, I think my husband read it first.
00:17:37 [Melissa]
I can’t remember why.
00:17:38 [Melissa]
But it’s Who Moved My Cheese?
00:17:39 [Melissa]
And I read that

00:17:40 [Alison]
in for my master’s degree.

00:17:42 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:17:43 [Melissa]
I don’t

00:17:43 [Alison]
I don’t even remember what class.
00:17:44 [Alison]
My class my whole program was public administration.
00:17:47 [Alison]
Wasn’t business related at all, but I had to read it for one of my classes.

00:17:51 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:17:51 [Melissa]
And, I mean, the whole premise between Who Moved My Cheese is, like, adapting.
00:17:55 [Melissa]
And Yeah.
00:17:56 [Melissa]
If you don’t adapt or if you do adapt.
00:17:58 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:17:58 [Alison]
And so

00:17:59 [Melissa]
it was funny.
00:17:59 [Melissa]
My husband read it, and then he was like, I want you to read it.
00:18:01 [Melissa]
And then he was like, I want you to tell me who you think you are, and I’m gonna tell you who I think you are.
00:18:05 [Melissa]
And I was like, I don’t know if I like this challenge.
00:18:07 [Melissa]
Like, this is

00:18:07 [Alison]
I wanna know how that conversation went down.

00:18:09 [Melissa]
I was like, this seems like it’s a little scary.
00:18:11 [Melissa]
And I think it came down that he was a hundred percent one of the ones who adapts and changes and, like, and, like, survives and, like, keeps growing.
00:18:18 [Melissa]
I know because I was like I was like, do you I think it’s Hem and Haw and Sniff and Scratch.
00:18:22 [Melissa]
And I was like, do you think I’m Hem or Haw?
00:18:25 [Melissa]
Like, he was like, no.

00:18:27 [Melissa]
He was like, you are a 100% sniffer scratch.
00:18:29 [Melissa]
Like, he’s like, no worries about that.
00:18:32 [Melissa]
I was like, okay.
00:18:33 [Melissa]
That’s funny.

00:18:33 [Alison]
That’s funny.
00:18:34 [Alison]
God.
00:18:35 [Alison]
I think that’s just too long.

00:18:36 [Melissa]
I think about that even now.
00:18:37 [Melissa]
Like, you know, you guys we’ve talked about how, like, this year’s been a tough year.
00:18:41 [Melissa]
Last year was a tough year.

00:18:42 [Alison]
Mhmm.

00:18:43 [Melissa]
And we’re like, please, God, and can 2025 be better?
00:18:46 [Melissa]
But and my point has always been, I’m seeing people go out of business, but it’s like you’ve got to figure out a way to adapt and change.
00:18:53 [Melissa]
And so that’s mentality and it’s just like I go back to it and I think about it.
00:18:57 [Melissa]
And I’m like, how can I adapt and change so I don’t die?
00:19:00 [Melissa]
Like, what can I do?

00:19:01 [Melissa]
So Yeah.
00:19:02 [Melissa]
That one’s a really good one for that.
00:19:04 [Melissa]
And then this is where we get our explicit warning for the the show.
00:19:07 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:19:07 [Alison]
Oh, yeah.
00:19:08 [Alison]
Tiny ears for ear or earmuffs for tiny ears.

00:19:10 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:19:10 [Melissa]
So another book that, I had been recommended was is Get Rich Lucky Bitch.
00:19:15 [Melissa]
That one, it’s really a money mindset type of book on Mhmm.
00:19:19 [Melissa]
You know, it’s more of what I call, like, a woo woo book.
00:19:23 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:19:23 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:19:24 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:19:24 [Melissa]
And so that one really helps with your mindset of being like, I can I can earn more?
00:19:29 [Melissa]
I can do more.
00:19:29 [Melissa]
And I think it’s worked because I recently was still I think I was telling you and Jessica.

00:19:33 [Melissa]
I was like, dude, how do like, come on.
00:19:35 [Melissa]
There’s people around us who are making half 1,000,000, $500,000,000.
00:19:38 [Melissa]
There’s I looked up something about a YouTube star the other day, and I was like, why can’t we?
00:19:41 [Melissa]
We can totally do this.
00:19:42 [Melissa]
Y’all, like, let’s do this.

00:19:43 [Alison]
Yep.
00:19:44 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:19:44 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:19:44 [Alison]
I the same conversation I had with the photographer here on it, she was asking some questions because she’s restructuring starting January 1, and I was like, I’m not gonna tell you this to brag.
00:19:54 [Alison]
I’m telling you this.

00:19:55 [Alison]
And I was sharing some of my finances and some of my big sales, and I was like, I do I’m not saying this to I’m saying this to cast a vision of what you keep doing because she’s doing what I was doing five years ago.

00:20:06 [Melissa]
Mhmm.
00:20:06 [Melissa]
Like, you

00:20:07 [Alison]
know, like, rising tide ray raises all boats.
00:20:09 [Alison]
Is that what it is?

00:20:10 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:20:10 [Melissa]
Rising tide lifts all ships.
00:20:11 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:20:11 [Melissa]
I joke around about, like, I will find photographers who are really good, but they’re not charging enough, and I will hire them for family photos.
00:20:18 [Melissa]
Then when we are done with family photos them.

00:20:19 [Melissa]
I will then coach them to raise their prices.
00:20:22 [Melissa]
Like so Oh my gosh.
00:20:25 [Melissa]
That’s my that’s my thing that I do.
00:20:26 [Melissa]
So those are ones that I’ve read.
00:20:28 [Melissa]
And then in progress progress.

00:20:29 [Melissa]
I’ve got The E Myth Revisited.
00:20:32 [Melissa]
I haven’t finished Get Different.
00:20:33 [Melissa]
Day Trading Attention, that’s a new one by Gary Vanderchuk.
00:20:38 [Melissa]
Anyway, Atomic Habits, that’s one that I we I haven’t read any of his books.
00:20:41 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:20:42 [Melissa]
A $100,000,000 offers, that’s Hermosy Hermosy Hermosy.
00:20:46 [Melissa]
And Jab Jab Right Hook, that’s another Gary Vee.
00:20:48 [Melissa]
So, like, those are some that are in my Audible library right now.
00:20:51 [Melissa]
And those are more, like, just general business ones.
00:20:54 [Melissa]
But I know the the $100,000,000 offers with her from Hermosy and stuff.

00:20:58 [Melissa]
Like, his whole thing is, like, creating an offer people can’t resist.
00:21:01 [Melissa]
They can’t say no to.
00:21:02 [Melissa]
So it’s like also with these books and stuff, y’all, like, you’re picking out one theme or idea.
00:21:07 [Melissa]
Like, with the pumpkin plan of, like, I looked at it as, okay.
00:21:11 [Melissa]
What is sucking the joy out of my life and work on, like, what which type of clients?

00:21:15 [Melissa]
Like, which service right.
00:21:17 [Melissa]
Not the clients.
00:21:17 [Melissa]
Which service do we offer that just is not doing it for me that I dread, that I just I don’t wanna do anymore?
00:21:23 [Melissa]
And then just saying, okay.
00:21:24 [Melissa]
This isn’t working for our business anymore.

00:21:25 [Melissa]
You know, even though it was a profitable offer and stuff, I was like, I just I’m I don’t like doing it.
00:21:30 [Melissa]
It’s

00:21:30 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:21:31 [Alison]
It’s And that’s valid.

00:21:31 [Melissa]
Other thing.
00:21:32 [Melissa]
So, you know, that’s an idea there.
00:21:34 [Melissa]
You know, I’m still thinking about that irresistible offer that Hermosy talks about of, like, okay, what could be my irresistible offer?
00:21:41 [Melissa]
And I’m not there yet.
00:21:41 [Melissa]
But, like, just take these little things and figure out, like, okay, what is this one piece that’s gonna work for me?

00:21:47 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:21:48 [Alison]
That’s awesome.
00:21:48 [Alison]
By the way, y’all, don’t be if you’re driving, especially, we are gonna have a list of these linked in this show note.
00:21:54 [Alison]
Don’t be, like, feeling like you gotta write these down.
00:21:55 [Alison]
She just said that at the top.

00:21:57 [Alison]
Okay.
00:21:57 [Alison]
So some of my favorites, you’re gonna notice some overlap here.
00:22:00 [Alison]
StoryBrand.
00:22:01 [Alison]
Story and if you haven’t read of or StoryBrand, Dunham Miller, if you’ve listened to his podcast, the podcast, I actually don’t really enjoy.
00:22:09 [Alison]
There’s so much banter.

00:22:10 [Alison]
There’s so much, like, get to the good stuff.
00:22:12 [Alison]
Like so don’t let the podcast to be indicative of the book itself or audio or physical copy by this book.
00:22:18 [Alison]
Okay?
00:22:19 [Alison]
StoryBrand gets down to the business of marketing really.
00:22:23 [Alison]
It’s that your brand needs to be a story.

00:22:25 [Alison]
You are not you are not the hero.
00:22:26 [Alison]
Your client’s a hero Mhmm.
00:22:27 [Alison]
And how to clarify your message.
00:22:29 [Alison]
I think it’s a really good book.
00:22:30 [Alison]
You really should start there especially if you’ve never worked with a copywriter.

00:22:33 [Alison]
If you have worked with a copywriter, it it’ll duplicate but it might give you a good reason, you know, it might give you some good information moving forward if you as you like tweak your messaging and stuff like that.

00:22:42 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:22:42 [Melissa]
Because my my SEO site, we use StoryBrand for the framework on that.
00:22:46 [Melissa]
And, like and my business coach, you know, she was like, you need this section, this section, and this section.
00:22:50 [Melissa]
And then, like, I had to fight for a couple others.
00:22:52 [Melissa]
She’s like, you can have those at the bottom of the page.

00:22:53 [Melissa]
And I was like, because I want them in there.

00:22:55 [Alison]
100%.
00:22:56 [Alison]
Both of my websites are store grand.
00:22:58 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:22:58 [Alison]
For sure.
00:22:59 [Alison]
And then, yeah, another explicit tiny earmuffs here.

00:23:01 [Alison]
You’re a badass at making money.
00:23:03 [Alison]
This is probably this sounds very similar to Melissa’s Get Rich, which is actually on my to to read list.
00:23:09 [Alison]
But you’re a badass at making money.
00:23:11 [Alison]
Same thing.
00:23:11 [Alison]
It’s kinda woo woo.

00:23:12 [Alison]
It’s it’s all about money mindset.

00:23:14 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:23:14 [Alison]
But she really kinda gets back to the bottom of of, like, your past is not indicative of your future.
00:23:21 [Alison]
Like, you may have grown up in x, y, and z, but, like, just do it.
00:23:25 [Alison]
Just think better, think good thoughts, like, act like it’s happening, it’s coming to you, and, you know, it’ll it’ll happen.
00:23:32 [Alison]
Which I’m a little bit more, like, religious on that aspect, but same idea, you know, whether you feel like it’s the universe, God, same concept.
00:23:39 [Alison]
I definitely think everybody should read that.

00:23:41 [Alison]
And that might be worth reading every couple years just to, like, renew.
00:23:44 [Alison]
Another Donald Miller book, my number third is Marketing Made Simple.
00:23:47 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:23:47 [Melissa]
I love that.
00:23:48 [Melissa]
Talk about

00:23:48 [Alison]
a book that I refer to and have marked up.
00:23:51 [Alison]
It’s that one.
00:23:52 [Alison]
Dog ears.
00:23:53 [Alison]
I mean, he goes through step by step what you need on that website, that wireframe, how to make a lead magnet, how to, how to write emails, how many how many emails need to be nurtured before you do, sales, how many you need to like, how examples of a nurture email, examples of sales emails.
00:24:09 [Alison]
Like, it’s really good tangible how to stuff.

00:24:13 [Alison]
So Marketing Made Simple.
00:24:14 [Alison]
And, again, Marketing Made Simple has its own podcast too.
00:24:17 [Alison]
Mhmm.
00:24:17 [Alison]
Don’t love it.
00:24:18 [Alison]
Sometimes sometimes the show is good.

00:24:21 [Alison]
They just kind of itch every podcasting pet peeve I have.
00:24:25 [Alison]
It was like, too much laughing, too much banter, get straight to the point, please.
00:24:28 [Alison]
Somebody might say that about ours.
00:24:30 [Alison]
Say well, we have an editor for that.
00:24:32 [Alison]
Right?

00:24:32 [Alison]
I don’t know.
00:24:33 [Alison]
Thank you.
00:24:33 [Alison]
Thank you, Caroline.

00:24:35 [Melissa]
I love marketing made simple.
00:24:36 [Melissa]
That’s definitely one that I have the hardback.
00:24:38 [Melissa]
And I think just the other day, I had actually, it’s in my computer bag right now, a highlighter, because I was trying to go through some of the email inspections of it to make sure I’ve got, like, the right amount of nurture stuff.
00:24:47 [Melissa]
And, yeah,

00:24:48 [Alison]
it’s a really good one.
00:24:50 [Alison]
Jab, jab, right hook seems like a good follow-up for that.
00:24:52 [Alison]
I’m gonna put that on my list too.
00:24:54 [Alison]
And then rounding out oh, I guess number four on my top five list, the pumpkin plan.
00:24:58 [Alison]
We talked about that already.

00:24:59 [Alison]
That really helped me narrow in on not just what niche I like, which is families, but like which niche is most profitable that you like.
00:25:07 [Alison]
And that’s kinda how I landed really thinking critically about that is how I landed on extended families.
00:25:12 [Alison]
Mhmm.
00:25:12 [Alison]
I live families.
00:25:13 [Alison]
I love the big crowd.

00:25:15 [Alison]
I love small children.
00:25:16 [Alison]
I love shooting them, but they’re also my most profitable because they are getting so much value out of the session, not just, you know, nuclear families of three, four, and five.
00:25:26 [Alison]
I do a lot of work, specifically for extended families for that reason Because Yeah.

00:25:30 [Melissa]
I would rather do extended families, you know, than just a random I mean, I love my membership clients, and I like seeing clients year after year.
00:25:36 [Melissa]
But Yeah.
00:25:37 [Melissa]
If I had a choice between extended family and then, like, a small family that I’ve never met, I like the energy of an extended family.

00:25:42 [Alison]
Uh-huh.
00:25:42 [Alison]
Oh, I love that energy.
00:25:44 [Alison]
Golly.
00:25:44 [Alison]
I have, like, totally feed off that.
00:25:46 [Alison]
And then, yeah, my last and my top five is Profit First.

00:25:49 [Melissa]
We already talked about it, but it’s We’ll do a a real deep dive in-depth episode about that because it’s huge.

00:25:55 [Alison]
It is.
00:25:55 [Alison]
It’s really good.
00:25:55 [Alison]
And it might even be good when you’re moving states when your tax structure may or may not change.
00:26:00 [Alison]
You may need to, like, reread that and adjust accordingly.

00:26:03 [Melissa]
We’ve had a lot of polos about

00:26:05 [Alison]
that recently for me.

00:26:06 [Melissa]
As your and as your business grows, like, I’ve had to go back and look and say, okay.
00:26:10 [Melissa]
Am I still doing the right percentages and stuff?
00:26:12 [Melissa]
And then I’m like, oh, yeah.
00:26:13 [Melissa]
I don’t make anywhere close to what he says before you had to crack it.

00:26:16 [Alison]
I’m like, that’s worth looking at too.
00:26:18 [Alison]
That’ll be a really good episode.
00:26:20 [Alison]
So yeah.
00:26:20 [Alison]
So guys, so so we hope this was really helpful to you.
00:26:23 [Alison]
We hope you get something read.

00:26:25 [Alison]
If you do, let us know what you’re for first.

00:26:27 [Melissa]
Let us know recommendations of anything that you’ve read.
00:26:30 [Melissa]
Because Great.
00:26:31 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:26:31 [Melissa]
But, obviously, you can tell by our list.
00:26:32 [Melissa]
We really love a good book.

00:26:34 [Melissa]
Good business.

00:26:35 [Alison]
And so do Melissa’s kids.
00:26:37 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:26:37 [Alison]
I know.
00:26:38 [Alison]
Oh my gosh.
00:26:39 [Alison]
That’s so funny.

00:26:39 [Alison]
Okay.
00:26:40 [Alison]
That’s hilarious.
00:26:40 [Alison]
So yeah.
00:26:41 [Alison]
So thanks for listening, guys.
00:26:42 [Alison]
Let us know.

00:26:42 [Alison]
As always, leave leave that review.
00:26:44 [Alison]
Share us on socials, and let us know what you wanna hear from us.
00:26:47 [Alison]
So until next time.
00:26:48 [Alison]
Bye bye.

00:26:52 [Melissa]
Thank you so much for listening.
00:26:54 [Melissa]
If you’re enjoying the show, would you do two things for us?
00:26:57 [Melissa]
First, leave a review.
00:26:58 [Melissa]
Just stars would be awesome.
00:26:59 [Melissa]
And two, forward this episode to a biz bestie, no spouse, or anyone facing moving their business.

00:27:04 [Melissa]
We’d love it if you shared this episode with even just one person.
00:27:07 [Melissa]
If you have questions, you can reach out to Allison on Instagram at alison belle photog, or you can find me, Melissa, in my Facebook group, Picture Perfect Rankings.
00:27:17 [Melissa]
Check the show notes for links, and we’re so excited to have you guys here.