EP 48: Mini Mentoring With Angie Moore in Summerville, SC

00:00:00 [Alison]
I would even go into some of that content, like problem solving, get in front of your client before they realize that they want you, and blogging things like the boutiques in Somerville and Goose Creek Yes.

00:00:09 [Melissa]
In Charleston.

00:00:10 [Alison]
And think about that client.
00:00:11 [Alison]
People are going specifically to those boutiques to get silhouettes done.
00:00:14 [Alison]
Hey, I’m Allison, military spouse and family photographer.

00:00:17 [Melissa]
Hey, I’m Melissa, also a military spouse, lifestyle newborn photographer, SEO expert for photographers.
00:00:22 [Melissa]
Between the two of us, we have a combined twenty seven years in photography and have lived through nine business relocations.

00:00:27 [Alison]
We’ve coached each other through all these challenges, and now we want to share our experience with you.
00:00:32 [Alison]
On this podcast, we’ll give you actionable steps to help you keep it moving.

00:00:39 [Melissa]
Hey, guys.
00:00:39 [Melissa]
Welcome back.
00:00:40 [Melissa]
This week, we are doing a mini mentoring episode.
00:00:43 [Melissa]
So these yeah.
00:00:44 [Melissa]
These mini mentoring episodes are where we help a small business owner.

00:00:48 [Melissa]
Sometimes they’re photographers.
00:00:49 [Melissa]
Sometimes Allison had a stylist recently.
00:00:51 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:00:51 [Melissa]
I want for it.
00:00:52 [Melissa]
But being for somebody who’s a small local business who’s facing a move or has already moved, and they just need a little bit help getting their business restarted faster.

00:00:59 [Melissa]
So this week, we have Angie Moore from Bella Marie Styles.
00:01:03 [Melissa]
Hey.
00:01:03 [Melissa]
Welcome to the show, Angie.

00:01:05 [Angie]
Hi, ladies.

00:01:06 [Alison]
Angie and I have already connected and freaked out a little bit because she is literally in the same neighborhood as my mom.
00:01:12 [Alison]
So she’s all I was there last week, and I was there last week.
00:01:14 [Alison]
So, Angie, tell us about your tell us about yourself.
00:01:17 [Alison]
What do you do?
00:01:18 [Alison]
Have you moved already?

00:01:19 [Alison]
Where’d you move to, from?
00:01:20 [Alison]
All those good things.

00:01:21 [Angie]
Okay.
00:01:21 [Angie]
So I have moved from New and I was part of the New York City.
00:01:25 [Angie]
We did live in Staten Island, but I started my business portrait photography in 2014.
00:01:32 [Angie]
And it just started snowballing, and it got bigger and bigger.
00:01:35 [Angie]
So I ended up leaving my profession in healthcare.

00:01:38 [Angie]
I went to school for seven years, and I had my master’s in nutrition.
00:01:43 [Angie]
So, I did a lot of healthcare, but I loved photography.
00:01:45 [Angie]
I loved being artistic.
00:01:47 [Angie]
Once I started doing photography full time, I just dived into education.
00:01:52 [Angie]
I did Kath V, Jay, Louise, and Amy McDaniel.

00:01:56 [Angie]
Those are my favorites.
00:01:58 [Angie]
The newborns and sitters, it just went.
00:02:01 [Angie]
It was all new, just like learning Photoshop and but the artistic part comes naturally for me.
00:02:07 [Angie]
Once my business started doing well, I would just increase my prices every year, increase my prices.
00:02:12 [Angie]
Nice.

00:02:12 [Angie]
I couldn’t keep up with the the demand.
00:02:14 [Angie]
And then it became known, like, my name was known.
00:02:18 [Angie]
So people wanted to book me.
00:02:20 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:02:20 [Angie]
I didn’t always know this, but when you’re chatting with a client during a three hour newborn, it was like, oh, my friends told me I have you before before I was announced by I even would get bookings before they announced to their family.

00:02:32 [Angie]
They were like, I knew I had to book with you early.
00:02:34 [Angie]
So it was just a blessing.
00:02:36 [Angie]
However, looking back, I worked a lot.
00:02:39 [Angie]
I worked way too much.
00:02:41 [Angie]
But I loved it.

00:02:42 [Angie]
I love to create sets.
00:02:44 [Angie]
I didn’t do lifestyle.
00:02:45 [Angie]
I was more the posed, which is why I took a lot of the education.
00:02:49 [Angie]
In fact, I think my last education in newborn was with Amy McDaniel.
00:02:54 [Angie]
I I had to nail the froggy.

00:02:56 [Melissa]
Oh, yeah.

00:02:56 [Angie]
And it was a two to one mentorship, so that was good.
00:03:00 [Angie]
And then I delved into stylized photo shoots with the big gowns.
00:03:05 [Angie]
It wasn’t really my thing, but it was what New York they just loved the dresses.
00:03:10 [Angie]
So my daughters were brand reps for Little Dreamers Couture and La Petite Wardrobe, which I really loved her vibe because she would take that vintage look.
00:03:21 [Angie]
And the vintage is really where my heart has always been.

00:03:23 [Angie]
So I’d struggled with the brand, the newborn sitter first birthday Mhmm.
00:03:29 [Angie]
And then you had the stylized look.

00:03:30 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:03:31 [Alison]
Okay.
00:03:31 [Alison]
So I know my mom doesn’t live in New York.
00:03:33 [Alison]
So where are you now, and when did you hear

00:03:35 [Angie]
the one from today?
00:03:36 [Angie]
I am in Charleston.
00:03:37 [Angie]
Okay.
00:03:37 [Angie]
So I’m North Of Charleston.
00:03:38 [Angie]
South Carolina.

00:03:39 [Alison]
Yep.

00:03:39 [Angie]
Yep.
00:03:39 [Angie]
South Carolina.
00:03:40 [Angie]
Little town called Goose Creek, which is actually this hidden gem.
00:03:44 [Angie]
We initially were gonna move to Somerville.
00:03:46 [Angie]
And my husband worked with FDNY firefighter and everyone had told him to go south.

00:03:53 [Angie]
And we were looking at Somerville.
00:03:54 [Angie]
We came to visit, we looked at houses, we actually made three offers.
00:03:58 [Angie]
They ended up falling through because the market was hot, people were making cash offers.
00:04:02 [Angie]
My kids were really disappointed in the one house.
00:04:04 [Angie]
I have three children because I had the pool.

00:04:06 [Angie]
It had everything.
00:04:08 [Angie]
However, it ended up being a blessing.
00:04:09 [Angie]
I ended up getting diagnosed with cancer in April 2022.
00:04:15 [Angie]
So, that delayed our move for a year, but I was happy I was in New York because I was able to get everything taken care of.

00:04:21 [Alison]
So you moved in what year?

00:04:23 [Angie]
We moved 2023.
00:04:25 [Angie]
May 2023.
00:04:27 [Angie]
And I was able to get my kids enrolled in school for two weeks.

00:04:31 [Alison]
You’re coming up on two years in Charles Yes.

00:04:34 [Angie]
It’ll be two years.

00:04:35 [Alison]
So what have you done since this big change, and what’s the current status of of your work?

00:04:40 [Angie]
The current status is after first year, just I ended up working on my business.
00:04:45 [Angie]
I had to learn licensing here, what I joined a Facebook group for professional photographers.
00:04:52 [Angie]
There was a photographer in the group who’s very helpful about the laws are different in different places.

00:04:58 [Alison]
Yes.
00:04:58 [Alison]
100%.
00:04:59 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:04:59 [Angie]
You know, I’m not an outdoor beach shooter.
00:05:02 [Angie]
I don’t go downtown and shoot, although for my daughter I will.
00:05:05 [Angie]
But I’m more of a portrait photographer.
00:05:07 [Angie]
Also, after the breast cancer, I decided I’m not gonna do newborns anymore.
00:05:11 [Angie]
It was just too hard on my body.

00:05:13 [Angie]
That was very hard to let go of.
00:05:14 [Angie]
It’s rare to sell my first piece because I had a lot.
00:05:17 [Angie]
So all this curated, like, prop and outfit and beautiful high end.

00:05:22 [Melissa]
So wait.
00:05:22 [Melissa]
Real quick.
00:05:23 [Melissa]
In New York, what was the percentage wise of your photography, which was the most profitable?
00:05:28 [Melissa]
Was it was newborns the main business and the most profitable of it all?
00:05:31 [Melissa]
Okay.

00:05:32 [Melissa]
So, basically, now you’re in Charleston, and that section that was your most profitable and stuff like that, you’re not doing.
00:05:38 [Melissa]
Okay.

00:05:38 [Angie]
Absolutely.
00:05:39 [Angie]
Yes.
00:05:39 [Angie]
And so I I pretty much geared up to do Christmas.
00:05:43 [Angie]
I’m like, Christmas is where I’m gonna go full force.
00:05:45 [Angie]
Okay.

00:05:46 [Angie]
I had someone someone to help me with SEO on my Wix site, which I no longer have, and Mhmm.
00:05:51 [Angie]
And blogging.
00:05:52 [Angie]
So she helped me a lot with the blogging.
00:05:54 [Angie]
So that’s where I I hired some models.
00:05:57 [Angie]
Actually, it was in my neighborhood.

00:05:59 [Angie]
And I took some beaut, I have beautiful background sets and the the pictures were fabulous.
00:06:04 [Angie]
I made postcards.
00:06:05 [Angie]
I distributed them.
00:06:07 [Angie]
I talked to people.
00:06:08 [Angie]
I got nothing.

00:06:10 [Angie]
Okay.

00:06:10 [Alison]
No pay.

00:06:12 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:06:12 [Angie]
So, for 2,023, it was really, like, nothing.
00:06:15 [Angie]
No paid.
00:06:16 [Angie]
How

00:06:16 [Alison]
many inquiries are

00:06:18 [Angie]
Currently, like, maybe two to three a month

00:06:20 [Alison]
to what would you like?
00:06:21 [Alison]
And how many are and I guess, of that, how many are booking?

00:06:24 [Angie]
Out of that, I would say one out of four will book.

00:06:26 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:06:27 [Melissa]
That’s pretty normal, actually, I would say.

00:06:28 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:06:29 [Alison]
25% for

00:06:30 [Melissa]
booking rate.

00:06:31 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:06:32 [Angie]
Yes.
00:06:32 [Angie]
In January I would say January 2024, a lot changed.
00:06:37 [Angie]
I hired someone to help me with my pricing.
00:06:39 [Angie]
I said, you know what?

00:06:40 [Angie]
I’m gonna do no more all inclusive.
00:06:42 [Angie]
I’m gonna go into this Okay.
00:06:44 [Angie]
Sell product.
00:06:44 [Angie]
Because I’ve always wanted to do it, so I did that.
00:06:46 [Angie]
I also hired someone to help me with my website.

00:06:49 [Angie]
I moved over, as Melissa had recommended, you a better SEO website, which was Showit.

00:06:55 [Alison]
So you mentioned IPS.
00:06:56 [Alison]
So what is your current model?
00:06:58 [Alison]
Like, how are how is your business structured?

00:07:00 [Angie]
So now it’s more of a hybrid.
00:07:02 [Angie]
I also purchased a simple sales system.
00:07:05 [Angie]
So I’ve just I I just did that during the Black Friday sale.

00:07:08 [Alison]
Okay.
00:07:09 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:07:09 [Alison]
Okay.
00:07:09 [Alison]
Have you implemented that, or what are you currently doing?
00:07:11 [Alison]
How are you getting people to pay you right now?

00:07:13 [Angie]
They have to buy artwork.

00:07:15 [Alison]
Are you charging a session fee?

00:07:16 [Angie]
Session fee.
00:07:16 [Angie]
Yes, ma’am.
00:07:17 [Angie]
Okay.
00:07:17 [Angie]
So I started with 200 at the beginning of 2024, and now I’m at 300.

00:07:23 [Melissa]
Okay.

00:07:23 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:07:24 [Alison]
And then what’s your average sale for our work or your minimum sale?
00:07:27 [Alison]
Is there a minimum purchase requirement?

00:07:30 [Angie]
It was around 600.
00:07:31 [Angie]
I have to tell you though how I switched because I ended up once last year when I was switching the website and switching everything, a light bulb went off and I said, you know what?
00:07:40 [Angie]
I love heirloom portraiture.

00:07:42 [Melissa]
Mhmm.

00:07:42 [Angie]
And that’s where I dived in.
00:07:44 [Angie]
I did education with Christy Lloyd.
00:07:46 [Angie]
She had an interview with the motherhood podcast.
00:07:49 [Angie]
I also listened to Anna Claire with sports.
00:07:52 [Angie]
I dived into her education.

00:07:54 [Angie]
I ended up becoming a born and raised certified photographer.
00:07:58 [Angie]
And after a lot of conversations with her, I decided I am gonna go full blown heirloom photography.
00:08:04 [Angie]
And how I was telling you that I dive into education, I just really believe in it, I want to specialize in it, that’s where everything changed.
00:08:11 [Angie]
So now my layout for pricing is obviously, it’s different.
00:08:14 [Angie]
But, yes, $300 is my booking fee.

00:08:17 [Angie]
I would say it’s a la carte.

00:08:18 [Alison]
Right.
00:08:18 [Alison]
Okay.
00:08:19 [Alison]
Is there a required minimum purchase or what is the least the minimum purchase on that a la carte guide, an average sale?

00:08:24 [Angie]
I don’t have that many clients.
00:08:26 [Angie]
I mean, I’m really Okay.
00:08:27 [Angie]
My last one was great.
00:08:28 [Angie]
It was, like, 1,800, so I was over the moon.
00:08:31 [Angie]
I would say my average would say about 900.

00:08:34 [Melissa]
Okay.

00:08:34 [Alison]
Okay.
00:08:34 [Alison]
So what is your average sale?

00:08:37 [Angie]
I would say clients invest after the session fee.
00:08:40 [Angie]
They’re investing 800 to 900

00:08:42 [Alison]
Okay.

00:08:43 [Angie]
With those clients that have cold booked me.

00:08:48 [Melissa]
Hey there, photographers.
00:08:49 [Melissa]
Struggling with what to blog about?
00:08:51 [Melissa]
Tired of staring at that blinky cursor, waiting for inspiration to strike?
00:08:55 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:08:55 [Melissa]
We’ve all been there.

00:08:56 [Melissa]
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00:08:58 [Melissa]
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00:08:59 [Melissa]
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00:09:02 [Melissa]
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00:09:04 [Melissa]
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00:09:16 [Melissa]
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00:09:19 [Melissa]
Let’s take the guesswork out of blogging and start driving those dream clients to your site.
00:09:24 [Melissa]
Head to the bloggingclub.com and use code t b c trial to get 50% off your first month and join us today.

00:09:33 [Alison]
Okay.
00:09:34 [Alison]
That’s pretty good.
00:09:35 [Alison]
Where would you like to be?
00:09:36 [Alison]
What’s your goal?
00:09:36 [Alison]
Do you have a goal?

00:09:37 [Angie]
To be at 18 to 2,000.

00:09:40 [Alison]
Okay.
00:09:40 [Alison]
But

00:09:40 [Angie]
I would be happy with 1,200.
00:09:42 [Angie]
1,200, I would like to be my minimum.

00:09:44 [Alison]
Okay.
00:09:44 [Alison]
So you mentioned you do have some cold inquiries and bookings.
00:09:47 [Alison]
Where are they coming from?
00:09:48 [Alison]
Do you know?

00:09:49 [Angie]
Yes.
00:09:49 [Angie]
I do track that.
00:09:50 [Angie]
They are coming from Instagram and Google.
00:09:53 [Angie]
So I’m very happy with Google.

00:09:54 [Melissa]
For Instagram, what did you do that you’re now getting the inquiries on Instagram?

00:09:58 [Angie]
I post less than I used to because I have less content, but I just keep it regular.
00:10:02 [Angie]
I keep going.
00:10:02 [Angie]
I and I try to engage.

00:10:04 [Melissa]
Are you using hashtags or anything like that?

00:10:06 [Angie]
I do.
00:10:06 [Angie]
Is that still a thing?
00:10:07 [Angie]
I don’t even know if that’s even

00:10:09 [Alison]
it’s a thing.

00:10:10 [Melissa]
Okay.
00:10:10 [Melissa]
I’m not the Instagram queen Allison is.

00:10:12 [Angie]
I do searches I do searches with with hashtags.

00:10:15 [Melissa]
And, honestly, there’s a whole generation.
00:10:17 [Melissa]
My sister, she’s about six years younger than me.
00:10:18 [Melissa]
She literally uses TikTok as, like, a search engine for things.

00:10:21 [Alison]
And I’m

00:10:21 [Melissa]
like, I’m sorry.
00:10:22 [Melissa]
You do what?
00:10:23 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:10:23 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:10:24 [Melissa]
I would make sure your location and what you’re doing is in those posts because people are searching for it on there.

00:10:28 [Melissa]
Yes.

00:10:29 [Angie]
Yeah.

00:10:29 [Alison]
What about your Google rankings?

00:10:31 [Angie]
That I’m not familiar.
00:10:32 [Angie]
I’m not sure.

00:10:32 [Melissa]
So in New York, you were doing newborn and you were doing, like, stylized.
00:10:36 [Melissa]
And then you came down to Charleston and you tried the stylized, but you’re cutting the newborn, which is finalized.
00:10:41 [Melissa]
I’m assuming just wasn’t taking off down there.

00:10:43 [Angie]
Mm-mm.

00:10:44 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:10:44 [Angie]
Not at all.
00:10:45 [Angie]
I yeah.

00:10:46 [Melissa]
Okay.
00:10:46 [Melissa]
And so now you’re pivoting to heirloom portraiture for Yes.
00:10:50 [Melissa]
Okay.
00:10:50 [Melissa]
And I do think that it’s funny.
00:10:52 [Melissa]
We talk about in the South, there’s certain types of portraits that people in other areas don’t know about.

00:10:56 [Melissa]
Like bridal portraits are one that, like, everybody in the South does bridal portraits.
00:10:59 [Melissa]
That’s the thing.
00:11:00 [Melissa]
Nobody does

00:11:01 [Alison]
that anywhere else?
00:11:02 [Alison]
No.
00:11:02 [Alison]
They don’t do it anywhere else.
00:11:03 [Alison]
And, like,

00:11:04 [Melissa]
I’m like, dude, down south, man.
00:11:05 [Melissa]
I’ve had brides where it’s no.
00:11:06 [Melissa]
We need the canvas to go over mom’s fireplace to replace the senior portrait.
00:11:10 [Melissa]
And heirlooms are definitely it’s a very southern I do think heirlooms, though, it’s that that new style, that grand millennial, which I’m in a group on Facebook for it.
00:11:20 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:11:20 [Melissa]
I was gonna say, Angie,

00:11:21 [Alison]
I think I’ve seen you

00:11:22 [Melissa]
in there too.
00:11:23 [Melissa]
And so those moms are all over the place.
00:11:25 [Melissa]
And a lot of them at this point in time too will travel for these types of of sessions.
00:11:30 [Melissa]
Like, we’ve got a friend who’s in Northern Virginia, and she’s had people she’s had people travel to her because they can’t find anybody near them.
00:11:36 [Melissa]
I did a website audit for you a while back where it was like you had Wix, and I was like, no girls.

00:11:41 [Melissa]
No.
00:11:42 [Melissa]
So now you have Showit, which is great.
00:11:43 [Melissa]
Starting from scratch, really, is the thing.
00:11:45 [Melissa]
Because you’ve changed you’ve pivoted what you’re doing.
00:11:47 [Melissa]
You’ve pivoted your keywords.

00:11:48 [Melissa]
You’ve pivoted your location.
00:11:50 [Melissa]
I took a quick peek at your website.
00:11:51 [Melissa]
That’s how I knew you had switched over.
00:11:52 [Melissa]
So I was like, yay.
00:11:53 [Melissa]
So I think really tackling those heirloom portrait photography keywords, they’re gonna be more general for that.

00:11:59 [Melissa]
You still wanna have your location in there, which you’ve got it all over the place.
00:12:02 [Melissa]
But tackling heirloom portrait photography, heirloom photos, heirloom portraits, like, all of that kind of stuff, Because people are really getting a lot of near me searches on that one or just in general heirloom portraits, heirloom photos, that kind of thing.
00:12:14 [Melissa]
So I think you’re under that.
00:12:15 [Melissa]
It’s just gonna take some time to build up.
00:12:18 [Melissa]
So Yeah.

00:12:19 [Melissa]
Continuing to blog for that kind

00:12:20 [Alison]
of stuff, you could even do a blog post that’s heirloom portraits Goose Creek.
00:12:24 [Alison]
Heirloom portraits And I would even go into some of that content like problem solving, get in front of your client before they realize that they want you, and blogging things like the boutiques in Somerville and Goose Creek in Charleston and think about that client people are going specifically to those boutiques to get silhouettes done because I’m dead.
00:12:41 [Alison]
Yes.
00:12:42 [Alison]
So there’s like the pink crocodile.
00:12:43 [Alison]
I don’t even know if that’s even around in Somerville still, but but Clay round and does those things all the time.

00:12:48 [Angie]
The silhouette.

00:12:49 [Alison]
You need to be you need to be blogging Clay Rice.
00:12:51 [Alison]
You need to be blogging his schedule when it’s around.
00:12:53 [Alison]
You need to share his content.
00:12:54 [Alison]
You need to jump on the back of that.
00:12:56 [Alison]
You need to be big fans of those boutiques Yeah.

00:12:59 [Alison]
Because the people shopping there are your people.
00:13:01 [Alison]
To get away from the blog around it, like, in addition, you need to set up like, hey, could I do a model shoot with some of your clothes, your new line?
00:13:08 [Alison]
Could we could I come and help you?
00:13:10 [Alison]
Could I do you need decor?
00:13:11 [Alison]
Do you need some heirloom portraiture in your clothing in your and and give that to them as gifts.

00:13:16 [Alison]
You could do model calls with their clients.
00:13:17 [Alison]
You could do giveaway.
00:13:18 [Alison]
There’s so many things you could do.

00:13:20 [Melissa]
I think a model like, if you were needing to do any kind of model call stuff, I definitely would see like a store being a good one to get like some of their clients from.
00:13:27 [Melissa]
I can understand if the clothing that they sell isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, unless adults do some of them stock the heirloom outfit?

00:13:34 [Alison]
The heirloom We do.

00:13:35 [Angie]
We did a pop up last year.
00:13:37 [Angie]
I did.

00:13:37 [Melissa]
Oh, nice.

00:13:37 [Alison]
This this wouldn’t work anywhere else in the country because they’re not gonna sell the smock stuff.
00:13:41 [Alison]
Right.
00:13:41 [Alison]
They work in Charleston.

00:13:42 [Melissa]
I think I’ve been to one of the smock shop in down somewhere.

00:13:45 [Angie]
Guys, the lady in Hilton Head reached out to me.
00:13:48 [Angie]
Uh-huh.
00:13:48 [Angie]
And I’m doing an event with her.

00:13:50 [Alison]
Oh, nice.
00:13:50 [Alison]
Exactly.

00:13:51 [Angie]
What kind of event?
00:13:52 [Angie]
An heirloom pop up.
00:13:53 [Angie]
She has been in business for over fifteen years.
00:13:56 [Angie]
I was so flattered and I went into the store and personally met her.
00:14:00 [Angie]
And I brought all my pretty stuff and I left them with her and I met her husband and he does the marketing part of it.

00:14:05 [Angie]
So Okay.

00:14:06 [Melissa]
Yes.

00:14:06 [Angie]
Yes.
00:14:06 [Angie]
We have it done.

00:14:07 [Alison]
Formulating.
00:14:08 [Alison]
You need heirloom stuff, an album.
00:14:10 [Alison]
You need sample artwork that you can leave in multiple kit like kits in multiple you need to be doing this downtown.
00:14:16 [Alison]
You need to be doing at Mount Pleasant.
00:14:17 [Alison]
You need to be doing at Pawleys Island, in Somerville, Hilton Head, Kiowa, and you need to maybe even if you feel like traveling to Savannah or be for them too.

00:14:25 [Alison]
And you have this little kit and you say, hey, this is what I’m doing.
00:14:28 [Alison]
I’m I’ll come in and do a pop up.
00:14:30 [Alison]
You can I used to be this photographer, Janie and Jack, where if somebody spent a $100 at Janie and Jack, they got a free in store session?
00:14:38 [Alison]
I came in.
00:14:38 [Alison]
I set up my studio in the store.

00:14:40 [Alison]
They had to come back for the session, and then they had to come back to see the photos.
00:14:44 [Alison]
And then they bought what they loved, and I made money off of what they bought.
00:14:47 [Alison]
So you could do some sort of similar pop up where maybe they don’t have to buy anything, but they have to come into the store to get their photo done.

00:14:53 [Angie]
Yeah.

00:14:53 [Alison]
And then they have to come back to the store and you do gallery reveals with them in the store and then whatever they purchase right there at the gallery reveal is what you make but the store hitting you

00:15:04 [Melissa]
like pop ups to email marketing like getting them

00:15:07 [Angie]
on your

00:15:07 [Melissa]
email list you’re gonna

00:15:08 [Alison]
have a whole lot of lot of say and input on how the store is marketing it, what how they’re doing it and

00:15:14 [Angie]
understand what

00:15:14 [Alison]
you’re doing.

00:15:15 [Angie]
I made them.
00:15:16 [Angie]
I did.
00:15:17 [Angie]
I made them.
00:15:17 [Angie]
I brought a frame.

00:15:18 [Alison]
Oh, more than that.
00:15:19 [Alison]
Get in their email, how you need to write it up on their email, how often they’re sending it to their email list, how they’re doing it on Instagram, probably do a collab.
00:15:26 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:15:26 [Alison]
We do it for all that stuff.
00:15:27 [Alison]
And I would do it every time.

00:15:29 [Alison]
And then, yeah, like Melissa said, you need to get their emails so that you can email them when the images are ready and schedule their in store gallery reveal.

00:15:37 [Melissa]
Even just getting on that email list too of because when it comes to the blogging and things like that so baby stores Charleston is probably got a good search volume.
00:15:45 [Melissa]
I can just guess off the top of my head on that one.
00:15:48 [Melissa]
But tailoring it to your, like, grand millennial style client.
00:15:51 [Melissa]
So where yes.
00:15:52 [Melissa]
Baby stores in Charleston to shop for smocked outfits.

00:15:56 [Melissa]
Like, really tailoring it to that.
00:15:57 [Melissa]
And then when people are on your email list, like, emailing that out.
00:16:00 [Melissa]
I think another great one would be, how often should I do heirloom portraits?
00:16:03 [Melissa]
Because or how old is too old or how

00:16:07 [Angie]
I have those on my blog.

00:16:08 [Melissa]
Oh, perfect.

00:16:09 [Alison]
Is your What to Wear guide a blog or is it a downloadable it needs to be a lead magnet that you get people’s emails to dress for?

00:16:16 [Angie]
Oh, that’s a good Mhmm.

00:16:17 [Alison]
You need to

00:16:18 [Angie]
blog and then I will send it to clients as well before their session.

00:16:22 [Alison]
So I would like where to shop for this stuff, what to wear and where to buy it should be one big lead magnet bundle.
00:16:28 [Alison]
And it should be a you should be giving that away for email.
00:16:31 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:16:31 [Melissa]
Because the great thing with them

00:16:32 [Alison]
where your pop ups are gonna be.

00:16:34 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:16:34 [Melissa]
The great thing with heirlooms, like we were just saying, is that people are willing to travel for it.
00:16:38 [Melissa]
They aren’t necessarily willing to travel for a family session anymore.
00:16:40 [Melissa]
So even if you have this guide on what to wear for an heirloom session, you could have a mom who’s two or three hours away that is willing to travel because she can’t find anybody else in her area to do it.
00:16:51 [Melissa]
So it’s okay that it’s more generic.

00:16:53 [Melissa]
A lot of times I tell people you don’t want to go too generic because somebody in England isn’t going to hire you.
00:16:57 [Melissa]
But I think for what you’re looking for, people are going to be local to that southern this southern market that these are really big for.
00:17:05 [Melissa]
Charleston’s a got a lot

00:17:06 [Alison]
of, like, grandiose style to it.
00:17:09 [Alison]
Was your Showit website built?

00:17:11 [Angie]
Two months ago.
00:17:12 [Angie]
Oh, wow.

00:17:13 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:17:13 [Melissa]
Oh, wow.
00:17:14 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:17:14 [Melissa]
You were very, very so and did you keep your domain name the same?
00:17:17 [Melissa]
Yes.

00:17:18 [Melissa]
Okay.
00:17:18 [Melissa]
Perfect.
00:17:18 [Melissa]
Good.
00:17:19 [Melissa]
Good.
00:17:19 [Melissa]
Very good.

00:17:19 [Melissa]
Because when you’d mentioned that 2014 is when you is that when you had your first website was 2014?

00:17:25 [Angie]
The Wix was probably a little bit later, but my old name was Bella Marie Photography NYC.
00:17:31 [Angie]
And the NYC caused a big problems when I moved.

00:17:34 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:17:34 [Melissa]
So how long have you had Bella Marie has

00:17:36 [Angie]
stopped?
00:17:37 [Angie]
I think it is.
00:17:37 [Angie]
2023.

00:17:40 [Melissa]
Okay.
00:17:40 [Melissa]
So that’s newer.
00:17:41 [Melissa]
Mhmm.

00:17:41 [Alison]
If you could also do another blog about wall gallery design, like, what to do with your artwork, like, inspiration, client testimonials, like, like, videos and images of what clients have done with their stuff.

00:17:52 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:17:53 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:17:54 [Angie]
But my biggest challenge is the pricing.
00:17:57 [Angie]
I find that so we’re just looking for.
00:17:59 [Angie]
So that’s why I’m like, I’ve got a market to the people who don’t care.

00:18:02 [Angie]
Who just want what I have and those are the people who’ve come to me from, say, Sullivan Islands or Right.
00:18:08 [Angie]
They book me.
00:18:09 [Angie]
There’s no questions at that.

00:18:10 [Alison]
What is your pricing on your website?

00:18:12 [Angie]
Fee and then my pricing page full on all my artwork.
00:18:16 [Angie]
That’s a hidden page on my

00:18:18 [Alison]
Okay.
00:18:18 [Alison]
Where is that I’m looking for?
00:18:19 [Alison]
I’m under experience.
00:18:22 [Alison]
Uh-huh.
00:18:23 [Alison]
And then where on the page is your price is all that?

00:18:25 [Angie]
You scroll down, and it’s at a sitting fee.

00:18:28 [Alison]
Oh, the sitting.
00:18:29 [Alison]
Okay.
00:18:30 [Alison]
Just some design

00:18:31 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:18:32 [Alison]
Critique is these headings are this font is terribly difficult to read and it’s really small.

00:18:37 [Angie]
I know.

00:18:37 [Alison]
And so formatting, if you want to keep it, like, that needs to be a lot bigger because I’m on my computer and I can’t see it.

00:18:44 [Angie]
If the first page Mhmm.
00:18:46 [Angie]
I did recently just make it larger.

00:18:49 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:18:49 [Alison]
And so I see the sitting, but I don’t see anything about money in it.
00:18:52 [Alison]
And then, like, your text is pretty small.
00:18:54 [Alison]
It’s pretty hard to read all around.

00:18:56 [Angie]
Okay.

00:18:57 [Alison]
I would because I’m actively looking for it, and I still don’t see the price on here that you told me.

00:19:01 [Angie]
Oh, okay.

00:19:02 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:19:02 [Alison]
I don’t see it at all.
00:19:03 [Alison]
Maybe I’m not because I’m not reading it word for word right now.

00:19:06 [Angie]
Yeah.

00:19:06 [Alison]
But I don’t see it.
00:19:07 [Alison]
So you’re gonna lose people one for that because it’s hard to find information.
00:19:11 [Alison]
But two, I would put this is something I actually just did myself is because I only put my fee on my website for a year and a half, and it was $1.90 and $2.90.
00:19:19 [Alison]
And I was getting all kinds of inquiries.
00:19:21 [Alison]
I could not fill them all, and I was wasting a lot of time.

00:19:23 [Alison]
And so what I’ve done is I’ve added on a a mandatory print credit at the time of booking.
00:19:28 [Alison]
So it’s the session fee plus a $500 print credit.
00:19:31 [Alison]
So my session fee now looks like $6.90 and $7.90.
00:19:34 [Alison]
Those are the numbers, and it has weeded out all kinds of Yeah.
00:19:38 [Alison]
People that I’m I I just can’t serve.

00:19:39 [Alison]
There it’s just it’s not a good match.
00:19:41 [Alison]
Right?
00:19:41 [Alison]
They’re not interested in artwork or they’re not interested.

00:19:43 [Angie]
And so

00:19:44 [Alison]
it weeds out.
00:19:45 [Alison]
So I would actually suggest maybe doing a print credit or a $500 print credit at the time of booking with your session fee.
00:19:51 [Alison]
And then that way, your thing looks like $800 minimum investment, and people either want it or they don’t.
00:19:58 [Alison]
And pricing a really big indicator of value.
00:20:01 [Alison]
And so when you price high, people who want high value are going to lean in.

00:20:04 [Alison]
Right?

00:20:05 [Angie]
And

00:20:05 [Melissa]
the good thing is your website and your work looks high end.

00:20:08 [Alison]
It does.

00:20:09 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:20:09 [Melissa]
So it it is gonna match with a higher end.
00:20:11 [Melissa]
And so

00:20:12 [Alison]
when you and that’s a good point.
00:20:14 [Alison]
When you have that design that looks really high end with a really low cost of entry, it doesn’t Right.
00:20:19 [Alison]
It Really?

00:20:20 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:20:21 [Angie]
One thing I’m surprised that it is not cheap to live here.
00:20:23 [Angie]
I moved from New York and Charleston is pricey.
00:20:26 [Angie]
The taxes are low I’m not talking about my house.
00:20:28 [Angie]
Of course, I get more money, but people don’t spend like they did in New York.

00:20:33 [Alison]
There’s also an economy thing too going on this year.

00:20:36 [Angie]
We had a rough year last year.
00:20:37 [Angie]
It’s gotta be better.
00:20:38 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:20:39 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:20:39 [Angie]
Yeah.

00:20:39 [Melissa]
I think if you continue I think your SEO just needs some time to build.
00:20:43 [Melissa]
There’s some small things on it, header structure and stuff like that can be adjusted, but I think building on that, those shops that you’re doing pop ups with, if you can get a backlink from them, from their website to yours, whether they have a blog or they have a featured vendor or something along those lines, if you can get a backlink from them, that’ll build that credibility because your domain is newer, so it doesn’t have as much authority.
00:21:05 [Melissa]
So building that is gonna be a big thing.
00:21:07 [Melissa]
And then even if there’s any if there’s any I know there’s probably, like, Charleston mom’s blog or any of any bloggers in the area or

00:21:14 [Alison]
influencers.
00:21:15 [Alison]
Tell you,

00:21:15 [Angie]
I chose two influencers on Instagram.
00:21:18 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:21:18 [Angie]
I photographed their children.
00:21:20 [Angie]
They shared it.
00:21:21 [Angie]
I got a huge following.

00:21:23 [Melissa]
Uh-huh.

00:21:23 [Angie]
Bookings?
00:21:24 [Angie]
I don’t know.

00:21:24 [Melissa]
That’s the thing.
00:21:25 [Melissa]
I would not look at that for a booking, but those influencers, do they also have a website or are they only operating off of Instagram?

00:21:31 [Angie]
They’re pretty much Instagram.

00:21:32 [Melissa]
I would look for ones that have a website because then what you want is the link on the website to you because that’s gonna give you the juice.
00:21:39 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:21:40 [Melissa]
That’s a huge looking at it at doing it again, I would not do it for yeah.
00:21:44 [Melissa]
Because Instagram, that’s just not gonna pan out.
00:21:46 [Melissa]
As much as I we see it all the time in the different groups.

00:21:49 [Melissa]
Somebody’s like, oh, this influencer and it’s a look.
00:21:50 [Melissa]
They gotta pay.
00:21:52 [Melissa]
They gotta pay to click

00:21:52 [Alison]
everyone else.
00:21:53 [Alison]
Yeah.
00:21:53 [Alison]
Two things are gonna be huge for a new site like yours.
00:21:55 [Alison]
Clicks, which is why we blog and get in front of people and click and get those and then those backlinks.
00:22:01 [Alison]
That’s a huge sign and signal to Google that you already and you’re worth sharing.

00:22:06 [Angie]
Do you always share your blogs once you post it?

00:22:09 [Alison]
Always.
00:22:09 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:22:09 [Angie]
You do.
00:22:10 [Angie]
You share it on what?
00:22:11 [Angie]
Like Facebook?

00:22:11 [Alison]
Oh, girl.

00:22:12 [Melissa]
I got a checklist.

00:22:12 [Alison]
There’s Pinterest.
00:22:13 [Alison]
I make multiple Pinterest graphics and I pin it to Pinterest in multiple places.

00:22:17 [Melissa]
For you too.

00:22:18 [Alison]
Instagram, freebies, social, all the mom groups

00:22:21 [Melissa]
Mhmm.

00:22:22 [Alison]
Everything.
00:22:22 [Alison]
And you can do it repeatedly.
00:22:24 [Alison]
Like every month go every week share a different blog in a different group in in multiple different groups.
00:22:28 [Alison]
Like, just make it a reoccurring task in Google.
00:22:30 [Alison]
Share this one and share it in a way that’s, hey, I thought these were my favorite boutiques.

00:22:34 [Alison]
Did I miss any?
00:22:35 [Alison]
No.

00:22:35 [Melissa]
Yes.

00:22:36 [Alison]
Ask questions, create engagement.
00:22:38 [Alison]
Like, genuinely, you wanna know.

00:22:39 [Melissa]
That’s a great one to post in that Facebook group.

00:22:42 [Alison]
But say, hey.
00:22:42 [Alison]
Who did I miss?
00:22:43 [Alison]
Where?
00:22:43 [Alison]
Ask for help.
00:22:44 [Alison]
And you’re gonna get all kinds of comments and feedback.

00:22:46 [Alison]
And then also, like, things to do with your kids and x y and z.
00:22:49 [Alison]
Yeah.

00:22:49 [Angie]
I think you

00:22:50 [Melissa]
can great track.
00:22:51 [Melissa]
I think it’s just gonna take a little bit of time.
00:22:52 [Melissa]
You’ve had a huge pivot.
00:22:53 [Melissa]
You’ve completely changed your business from New York to down here.
00:22:57 [Melissa]
The style, the what you’re offering,

00:22:59 [Alison]
a new website heirloom.
00:23:00 [Alison]
Portrait.
00:23:00 [Alison]
Melissa’s right.
00:23:01 [Alison]
Your SEO is gonna take some time, and you’re already doing the things to get that rolling.
00:23:05 [Alison]
Yep.

00:23:05 [Alison]
But those heirloom portrait pop up are gold.
00:23:08 [Alison]
And if you partner with each boutique right, and you pay attention to those details, and you connect all those details and Domino’s all fall in place just well, that could be all your your entire business.

00:23:18 [Angie]
Yeah.

00:23:18 [Alison]
It could be your entire business to to work with established boutiques in all of the surrounding Yes.

00:23:24 [Angie]
Well, I love to shop and I love to I just go in and I introduce myself and I’m like, hey.
00:23:28 [Angie]
And yep.
00:23:29 [Angie]
Mhmm.

00:23:29 [Alison]
But it’s all in the details.
00:23:30 [Alison]
It’s all doubles in the details.
00:23:32 [Alison]
Right?
00:23:32 [Alison]
So Right.
00:23:33 [Alison]
Right.

00:23:33 [Alison]
Awesome.
00:23:33 [Alison]
Okay.
00:23:34 [Alison]
So we have just a few minutes left.
00:23:35 [Alison]
So just to recap, keywords, you’re already working on it.
00:23:38 [Alison]
Lots of things to blog with locally and to create that lead magnet so you can get those email addresses.

00:23:42 [Alison]
So when people land on you

00:23:44 [Melissa]
Sharing all

00:23:44 [Alison]
of that.

00:23:45 [Angie]
Them.
00:23:45 [Angie]
Yeah.

00:23:45 [Alison]
Or you can share those pop ups.
00:23:47 [Alison]
And then in air the heirloom pop ups, introduce yourself to the other businesses, have a little kit that you can leave behind so that customers are like, oh, I want this.
00:23:55 [Alison]
Set it up so that people are coming into the store repeatedly and really work very carefully and have a whole, like, package to offer to the owner and manager of the store that says, I’ve already written the emails for you.
00:24:07 [Alison]
I’ve already written this Instagram post for you.
00:24:09 [Alison]
I want you a reel, and we’ll collaborate and hand it to them on a silver platter, all the details.

00:24:14 [Alison]
And it really could.
00:24:15 [Alison]
And then what to wear guides, backlinks, all the things.
00:24:18 [Alison]
You can do it.

00:24:19 [Angie]
Mhmm.
00:24:20 [Angie]
I love that.

00:24:21 [Alison]
How do you feel about that?

00:24:22 [Angie]
Yeah.
00:24:22 [Angie]
No.
00:24:23 [Angie]
That’s great.
00:24:23 [Angie]
This is very helpful.

00:24:25 [Alison]
Awesome.

00:24:25 [Angie]
Definitely.
00:24:26 [Angie]
Because I’m already doing it.
00:24:28 [Angie]
Now this is just solidifying it.
00:24:29 [Angie]
Yes.
00:24:29 [Angie]
And I just signed up for Flowdesk too.

00:24:31 [Angie]
So lots of new stuff.

00:24:32 [Alison]
Oh, good.
00:24:33 [Alison]
Glad to hear it.
00:24:34 [Alison]
Alright.
00:24:34 [Alison]
We’ll check-in.
00:24:35 [Alison]
You’ll need to reach out to us in three to six months and let us know how it’s going.

00:24:37 [Angie]
I would love that.

00:24:38 [Melissa]
Yeah.

00:24:39 [Alison]
Awesome.
00:24:39 [Alison]
Alright, Angie.
00:24:40 [Alison]
Thank you so much for being on.
00:24:41 [Alison]
You’ll like

00:24:41 [Angie]
Thank you for having me.

00:24:43 [Melissa]
Yeah.
00:24:43 [Melissa]
Of course.
00:24:43 [Melissa]
Thanks.
00:24:47 [Melissa]
Thank you so much for listening.
00:24:49 [Melissa]
If you’re enjoying the show, would you do two things for us?

00:24:52 [Melissa]
First, leave a review.
00:24:53 [Melissa]
Just stars would be awesome.
00:24:54 [Melissa]
And two, forward this episode to a biz bestie, no spouse, or anyone facing moving their business.
00:25:00 [Melissa]
We’d love it if you shared this episode with even just one person.
00:25:03 [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.

00:25:12 [Melissa]
Check us for links, and we’re so excited to have you guys here.