EP 69: Mini Mentoring with Melanie near Tulsa, OK

00:00:00 Melissa
Your Tulsa family page, I would have a big button that looks just like your inquire about a session.
00:00:04 Melissa
I would have that in all your blog posts that say learn more about our Tulsa family photos.

00:00:08 Alison
Picture this, two military spouses, cameras in hand, businesses in boxes, moving across the country again.
00:00:15 Alison
I’m Allison, six figure family photographer based in Hawaii, married to the Marine Corps, businessmen prefers craving more clients, more income, and more freedom.
00:00:23 Alison
Oh, and professional PCS survivor.

00:00:25 Melissa
I’m Melissa, newborn photographer by day, SEO wizard by night, and fellow expert in the art of rebuilding your business from scratch.

00:00:33 Alison
We’ve been each other’s voice of reason through twenty seven combined years of photography entrepreneurship and nine business relocations that would make anyone’s head spin.
00:00:42 Alison
Countless Marco Polo videos later, we realized we’ve got some stories to tell and some wisdom to share.

00:00:47 Melissa
Now we’re taking those real raw conversations public because every photographer need gets it.
00:00:53 Melissa
Ready to keep it moving?
00:00:54 Melissa
Let’s go.
00:00:57 Melissa
Hey, guys.
00:00:57 Melissa
Welcome back.

00:00:58 Melissa
We are here with a mini mentoring.
00:01:00 Melissa
So we’re super excited.
00:01:02 Melissa
We have Melanie from Melanie Foster Photography.
00:01:04 Melissa
If you haven’t heard one of our mini mini mentoring before, it’s basically where Allison and I sit down and we chat with a small business owner who is facing a move or who has already moved, and they just need help getting their business restarted faster in that new location.
00:01:18 Melissa
So Allison and I like to go into these cold.

00:01:20 Melissa
I think you’re cold.

00:01:20 Alison
We need to

00:01:21 Melissa
go into that today.

00:01:22 Alison
Yeah.
00:01:23 Alison
Hey, Emma.
00:01:23 Alison
Thanks for being here.

00:01:25 Melissa
Yes.
00:01:25 Melissa
And welcome to the show.

00:01:26 [Speaker 3]
Thank you for having me.
00:01:27 [Speaker 3]
Very exciting.

00:01:29 Alison
Yeah.
00:01:29 Alison
Alright.
00:01:29 Alison
Give us the lowdown.
00:01:30 Alison
What what do you do?
00:01:31 Alison
What’s your genre?

00:01:32 Alison
Where are you?
00:01:33 Alison
Have you moved?
00:01:33 Alison
Are you coming to move?

00:01:35 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:01:35 [Speaker 3]
So my background, I built my business in Norman, Oklahoma, which is where the University of Oklahoma is.
00:01:41 [Speaker 3]
And started out when I was in college, but didn’t take it to, like, being an official business until I was probably close to post grad or right after post grad.
00:01:50 [Speaker 3]
So the peak of my business was 2017 to 2020.
00:01:53 [Speaker 3]
I was photographing some seniors every spring, really focusing on the college senior, was doing really well working for the university full time, so I had great connections and was super, super busy.

00:02:05 [Speaker 3]
Love that.
00:02:05 [Speaker 3]
It’s not

00:02:05 Alison
a thing when I was in college?

00:02:07 [Speaker 3]
No.
00:02:07 [Speaker 3]
No.
00:02:07 [Speaker 3]
It was not a thing even when I was in college, and then it just completely took off post grad.
00:02:12 [Speaker 3]
So, I was doing really well.
00:02:13 [Speaker 3]
I met my husband in 2019, and then we all know what happened in 2020.

00:02:17 [Speaker 3]
And he lives in Bartlesville.
00:02:19 [Speaker 3]
So I started preparing myself to move from Norman to Bartlesville and decided, okay, I gotta do something because there actually is a college in Bartlesville, but it’s very small.
00:02:29 [Speaker 3]
And I was like, I think I need to start pivoting more towards families here.
00:02:33 [Speaker 3]
So moved in 2020, pivoted towards families, switched my niche, got pregnant right after we got married and had two babies back to back.
00:02:41 [Speaker 3]
So from

00:02:42 Alison
I know that.

00:02:42 [Speaker 3]
2020.
00:02:43 [Speaker 3]
Yep.
00:02:43 [Speaker 3]
From 2020 to now, I mean, it’s been five years, but this year is the first year that I’ve really been able to sit down and focus on the visits and have the mental clarity and space and time.
00:02:55 [Speaker 3]
I’m not pregnant.
00:02:55 [Speaker 3]
I’m not nursing.

00:02:56 [Speaker 3]
So Yeah.
00:02:57 [Speaker 3]
I looked at my numbers from last year and was honestly just like, oh my gosh.
00:03:02 [Speaker 3]
I I think I heard you say I’m not sure who which one was it, but on a past episode, like, I got angry and I got motivated.
00:03:09 [Speaker 3]
I was looking at my numbers and saying, I’m spending so much time and heart and my passion doing this and not seeing a whole lot on the back end in terms of the fruit for that.
00:03:19 [Speaker 3]
So I shifted gears and moved into IPS and underwent a cool transition this year.

00:03:27 [Speaker 3]
So while I moved five years ago, this is the first year that I’ve really been able to rededicate to the business and focus.
00:03:36 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:03:36 [Speaker 3]
I was essentially doggy paddling for the last five years until a point.

00:03:41 Alison
Oh, wow.
00:03:41 Alison
Okay.
00:03:42 Alison
So many questions.
00:03:43 Alison
Okay.
00:03:43 Alison
First, where’s Bardlesville?

00:03:44 [Speaker 3]
Bardlesville is about forty five minutes north of Tulsa.
00:03:47 [Speaker 3]
I think Okay.
00:03:48 [Speaker 3]
Think the population I thought about looking it up.
00:03:50 [Speaker 3]
I think it’s, like, 40,000.
00:03:51 [Speaker 3]
So I’ve had great success with more of, like, the mini session type thing Okay.

00:03:57 [Speaker 3]
Here, but I’m definitely the most expensive photographer in town.
00:04:00 [Speaker 3]
And I’ve Okay.
00:04:02 [Speaker 3]
Tried to do work in Tulsa and maintain contact with a lot of my clients in Oklahoma City area as well.
00:04:07 [Speaker 3]
So I do some travel outside of

00:04:10 Alison
Yeah.
00:04:10 Alison
Okay.
00:04:10 Alison
How far are you from Norman?

00:04:12 Melissa
Of course.

00:04:12 Alison
So okay.
00:04:12 Alison
And I guess in times too far removed from doing seniors going back there.

00:04:16 [Speaker 3]
Well, and I and I have.
00:04:17 [Speaker 3]
I’ve maintained that the last five years, but I’ve cut back quite a bit.
00:04:21 [Speaker 3]
2020, 2021, I was still taking a handful of girls, and now I’m, like, two to three.

00:04:27 Alison
Okay.
00:04:27 Alison
My geography of Oklahoma is none.
00:04:29 Alison
That’s okay.
00:04:31 Alison
That’s why I ask.
00:04:32 Alison
Okay.

00:04:32 Alison
Cool.
00:04:33 Alison
How did you switch into IPS?
00:04:36 Alison
What were you coming from, and what have you done to to make that transition?
00:04:39 Alison
Because that’s awesome.
00:04:40 Alison
I’m so glad to hear that.

00:04:41 Alison
Yeah.

00:04:41 Melissa
It’s been a lot.

00:04:42 [Speaker 3]
Required a lot of prayer, trust, and, yes.
00:04:45 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:04:46 [Speaker 3]
Wondering if I’m running my business into the ground and, you know, just hoping that I’m running a long game here.
00:04:52 [Speaker 3]
But I had essentially two packages, and I introduced, like, my petite session package when I was not booking my regular full session for

00:05:01 Melissa
Smart stress there.

00:05:01 Alison
Adding an adding an option.

00:05:03 [Speaker 3]
Except I think that’s what hurt me in the long run because nobody bought the bigger package chocolates.

00:05:08 Alison
It’s gotta go away eventually.

00:05:09 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:05:09 [Speaker 3]
So I was charging $5.99 for a full hour, full gallery, and then I was charging 3 for 20 images, essentially twenty minutes, but I’d always gift more time.

00:05:19 Alison
Yeah.

00:05:20 [Speaker 3]
And no one ever really upgraded.
00:05:21 [Speaker 3]
So my new model is $2.50 session fee, and I have three collections that I’m really proud of and just really excited about.
00:05:29 [Speaker 3]
I’ve developed such a passion for these keepsakes and the heirloom products that I’m offering and really dug into choosing the best of the best and pricing it strategically.
00:05:39 [Speaker 3]
So I have these three collections that start at $8.50, and all three collections include all the digital files as well as keepsake products.
00:05:45 [Speaker 3]
And then there’s this all

00:05:46 Alison
And then what are the other two collections?

00:05:49 [Speaker 3]
$1,215.50.

00:05:51 Alison
Oh, I love that.
00:05:52 Alison
What’s your average sale?
00:05:55 Alison
Like, your average collection?

00:05:57 [Speaker 3]
To be determined.

00:05:58 Alison
K.

00:05:58 [Speaker 3]
Well, I have not gotten all the way through a client experience yet.

00:06:01 Alison
Oh, you just started doing this?

00:06:03 [Speaker 3]
Yes.
00:06:03 [Speaker 3]
Yes.

00:06:03 Alison
When okay.
00:06:04 Alison
When did you just start implementing this?

00:06:05 [Speaker 3]
The wheels started turning in April.
00:06:08 [Speaker 3]
I got details finalized in, like, July.
00:06:11 [Speaker 3]
And I have three, four sessions on the calendar for later this year and early next year.
00:06:18 [Speaker 3]
So goal I I’m not like, I don’t wanna be shooting a ton.
00:06:21 [Speaker 3]
So my goal is, like, two to three sessions a month.

00:06:23 Melissa
Okay.
00:06:24 Melissa
Yeah.

00:06:24 Alison
Okay.
00:06:25 Alison
Oh, I love this.
00:06:26 Alison
So have you had any hiccups with booking those clients because of the new system?
00:06:31 Alison
Are you are you finding they don’t understand, it’s not what they’re looking for?

00:06:35 [Speaker 3]
The only hiccup I feel like I’ve experienced thus far has been perhaps giving too much information and overwhelming somebody.
00:06:43 [Speaker 3]
Yep.
00:06:44 [Speaker 3]
That’s a thing.
00:06:45 [Speaker 3]
But I haven’t gotten I I’ve had so many I’ve been tracking all of my nose.
00:06:48 [Speaker 3]
I’ve had so many PME.

00:06:50 [Speaker 3]
But with I mean, I have a full Canva document with lots of great information.
00:06:54 [Speaker 3]
I know I have all the pieces of the puzzle.
00:06:56 [Speaker 3]
It’s just how much do I give in it?
00:06:58 [Speaker 3]
What increments do I get?

00:06:59 Melissa
How many how many times are you following up with the people that ghost you?

00:07:02 [Speaker 3]
Two to three.
00:07:03 [Speaker 3]
Okay.

00:07:03 Melissa
Good.
00:07:04 Melissa
Alright.
00:07:04 Melissa
Good.

00:07:04 [Speaker 3]
And they they Do

00:07:05 Alison
you have a system for that?

00:07:06 [Speaker 3]
Uh-huh.
00:07:06 [Speaker 3]
I do.
00:07:07 [Speaker 3]
Yes.
00:07:07 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:07:07 Melissa
Do you text them at all?

00:07:09 [Speaker 3]
I had a client reach out over the weekend, texted her, but I have not followed up yet on her.

00:07:14 Melissa
So Okay.
00:07:15 Melissa
So I would just recommend because especially with, like, things going to spam and stuff like that, when you send that first email, I always require their phone number Yeah.
00:07:22 Melissa
And then just send a quick text message.
00:07:24 Melissa
I don’t wanna get into a text conversation with someone.
00:07:26 Melissa
I’m kinda the opposite.

00:07:27 Melissa
Let’s just email.
00:07:28 Melissa
I don’t wanna talk to you on text.
00:07:29 Melissa
I I feel like I get trapped, you know, and you’re like, well, do we keep texting?
00:07:32 Melissa
So when I send a text, I just try to keep it very, hey.
00:07:35 Melissa
Just wanna let you know I sent you an email.

00:07:37 Melissa
Thanks for inquiring.
00:07:38 Melissa
Just check your inbox.
00:07:38 Melissa
I look forward to hearing from you.
00:07:39 Melissa
Or just something that kinda makes it so that they don’t feel like they have to, oh, well, let me start asking you questions now.
00:07:44 Melissa
It’s like, no.

00:07:44 Melissa
I just want you to know to go to your email.
00:07:46 Melissa
But I would say still happens.
00:07:48 Melissa
Yeah.
00:07:48 Melissa
But I would definitely say, especially in this day and age, to follow-up with a text, just the time to let them know that it’s there kind of thing.
00:07:55 Melissa
And then that way, at least you know.

00:07:56 Melissa
With the system that you have, can you track if they’ve clicked on your email or your links or anything?

00:08:02 [Speaker 3]
Yes.
00:08:02 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:08:02 [Speaker 3]
So I have individual links in Canva for each inquiry.
00:08:06 [Speaker 3]
So I’m able to go in and see Okay.

00:08:08 Melissa
In,

00:08:08 [Speaker 3]
like, my it’s like a public I can create a public link.
00:08:11 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:08:11 [Speaker 3]
Okay.
00:08:11 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:08:12 [Speaker 3]
Okay.

00:08:12 [Speaker 3]
So I’ve done that.
00:08:13 [Speaker 3]
And then I’ve also been recording Loom videos and sending those as well.
00:08:17 [Speaker 3]
But That’s awesome.
00:08:18 [Speaker 3]
I have not seen the fruit from

00:08:20 Melissa
Okay.
00:08:20 Melissa
From that, I feel like.
00:08:21 Melissa
So

00:08:22 Alison
So it sounds to me like you’re doing all things.
00:08:24 Alison
What are your questions for us?

00:08:27 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:08:27 [Speaker 3]
So lots.
00:08:28 [Speaker 3]
Okay.
00:08:29 [Speaker 3]
I have been blogging since 2017, but Okay.
00:08:32 [Speaker 3]
That was in the age when everything was like the same keyword over and over.

00:08:36 Melissa
Yeah.

00:08:37 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:08:38 [Speaker 3]
So but a lot of those blog posts are ranking.
00:08:41 [Speaker 3]
Mhmm.
00:08:41 [Speaker 3]
And so they’re driving a lot of traffic, which I know is great, but that work I mean, my work has evolved since then.

00:08:47 Melissa
I, you

00:08:47 [Speaker 3]
know, would have to go back into dozens of blogs and see, okay, what do I need to update here?
00:08:52 [Speaker 3]
Can I change the keyword in those blogs?
00:08:55 [Speaker 3]
Is that gonna hurt their ranking?
00:08:57 [Speaker 3]
I mean, what’s the advice in terms of the old stuff coming up?

00:09:00 Melissa
Yeah.
00:09:01 Melissa
So for the old stuff, what I would do is I would go into Google Search Console, go to the pages tab, and then I would what is that top page that’s getting the most clicks and the most impressions and ranks well?
00:09:11 Melissa
And so that one, I would keep the keyword as what it is, whatever your top ranking one gets the most clicks.
00:09:16 Melissa
But I would go in and maybe update the photos if the style doesn’t match.
00:09:19 Melissa
You can also check and see too.

00:09:20 Melissa
I’ve noticed a little bit, especially if it’s a smaller keyword, Google will sometimes rank more than one page.
00:09:26 Melissa
But, like, if you’re a big city and you like Tulsa.
00:09:28 Melissa
If you try to do every blog post for Tulsa and there’s a lot of Tulsa photographers, Google’s only gonna wanna rank one of those.
00:09:34 Melissa
But if you’re in a really small city and there’s not a lot of people blogging for them, we’ll end up ranking more of your stuff because there’s just not a lot of choices out there.
00:09:43 Melissa
So if you got four blog posts on it, you might get two in there.

00:09:43 Melissa
So I would really look to and see if I search that search term that it’s coming up for.
00:09:47 Melissa
Because once you click get to pages in Google Search Console, you can click on that page, and then you can go back to queries, and it’ll show you all the queries that you’re ranking for for that one.
00:09:56 Melissa
And so I would start figuring out what are my top queries for this blog post, and then figure out where am I ranking for those.
00:10:02 Melissa
And then what are the next queries for the next blog post?
00:10:04 Melissa
And then that’s gonna let you figure out, like, okay.

00:10:07 Melissa
I can change this one to this keyword.
00:10:09 Melissa
Because it went and just start, well, I’ll just change this one or that one.
00:10:11 Melissa
You may tank, like, a really great blog post, and you don’t wanna do that.
00:10:14 Melissa
So I would start changing those.
00:10:15 Melissa
The other thing I would do is in those blog posts, make sure you have buttons that are gonna send them over to your pages, your portfolio pages, and big buttons.

00:10:23 Melissa
I know with photographers, we’re, like, real picky about how things look, but think about it when you’re on mobile.
00:10:28 Melissa
Do you wanna pinch and zoom to get to the little click here, or do you just want a button that your thumb can hit?

00:10:33 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:10:33 Melissa
And I think we all want a button.
00:10:34 Melissa
I think also too let me see.
00:10:36 Melissa
I’ve got your website up.
00:10:37 Melissa
So you have a portfolio page.
00:10:40 Melissa
It looks like you have gallery pages and then you have your information, right?

00:10:44 Melissa
Yes.
00:10:45 Melissa
Okay.
00:10:45 Melissa
So what you let me see.
00:10:46 Melissa
Let me click on families here.
00:10:48 Melissa
Okay.

00:10:48 Melissa
So Tulsa Family Photography.
00:10:49 Melissa
I’m just taking a quick look.
00:10:51 Melissa
Yeah.
00:10:52 Melissa
So this is good because everybody they can scroll through this page and stuff.
00:10:54 Melissa
You got featured posts.

00:10:56 Melissa
Okay.
00:10:56 Melissa
Awesome.
00:10:56 Melissa
Yeah.
00:10:57 Melissa
So your Tulsa family page, I would have a big button that looks just like your inquire about a session.
00:11:01 Melissa
I would have that in all your blog posts that say learn more about our Tulsa family photos.

00:11:05 Melissa
And then another thing you can do is you could come up with some kind of freebie download for that’s specific to Tulsa and embedded on these particular pages.
00:11:14 Melissa
Somebody’s already landing on a Tulsa family photography page.
00:11:17 Melissa
I’m okay at that point with them getting a guide on, like, what to wear for family photos.
00:11:21 Melissa
Normally, I don’t like more generic guides like that, but I don’t like those on pages that anybody can find.
00:11:26 Melissa
That if somebody’s in England.

00:11:27 Melissa
But if somebody’s in England and they’re googling Tulsa family photography, I assume maybe they’re coming to this company.
00:11:32 Melissa
Yeah.
00:11:32 Melissa
Yeah.
00:11:32 Melissa
That kind of thing.
00:11:33 Melissa
So those are some other ways of if they’ve landed on your site, getting them onto your email list.

00:11:38 Melissa
Do you have an email list?

00:11:40 [Speaker 3]
I do.
00:11:40 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:11:40 [Speaker 3]
And I I’ve been working on building that as well.
00:11:43 [Speaker 3]
I have a Tulsa family fun guide.
00:11:46 [Speaker 3]
Oh, nice.

00:11:46 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:11:47 [Speaker 3]
Oh, fun.
00:11:48 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:11:48 [Speaker 3]
It was the, you know, what to wear for family photos for years.
00:11:52 [Speaker 3]
And, it was getting kinda stale.

00:11:54 [Speaker 3]
So Yes.
00:11:55 [Speaker 3]
I did the Tulsa family fun guide.
00:11:56 [Speaker 3]
It’s at the very bottom, I believe, in my footer.

00:11:59 Melissa
Okay.

00:11:59 Alison
On my website.

00:12:00 Melissa
So if it’s in your footer, I would put it in other places.

00:12:04 [Speaker 3]
I have struggled to get it in the blog, and I’m in an old version of WordPress, and I’m not sure how to update that.

00:12:10 Alison
Dash work update immediately.
00:12:12 Alison
Okay.
00:12:12 Alison
Well, wait.
00:12:12 Alison
No.
00:12:13 Alison
No.

00:12:13 Alison
Hold on.

00:12:15 Melissa
Okay.
00:12:16 Melissa
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00:12:21 Melissa
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00:12:26 Melissa
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00:12:37 Melissa
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00:12:42 Melissa
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00:12:46 Melissa
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00:12:50 Melissa
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00:12:54 Melissa
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00:12:56 Melissa
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00:13:06 Melissa
Just dashboard updated media, like, it’s like, you need to back stuff up first.
00:13:10 Melissa
Sorry.
00:13:10 Melissa
That I That’s

00:13:11 Alison
a big you’re you’re really hindering yourself.
00:13:14 Alison
Well, it may

00:13:14 Melissa
be is your WordPress out of date or are you still on the classic editor and not using editor?

00:13:19 [Speaker 3]
I think I’m on the classic editor not using block.

00:13:21 Melissa
Okay.
00:13:21 Melissa
So it may be that.
00:13:22 Melissa
It may not be that she’s, like, an outdated WordPress, but that can be I would just Google real quick because I don’t know if you sometimes people have a plugin to continue using that classic editor.
00:13:31 Melissa
And I’m at a point now, I did not like the block editor when it first came out.
00:13:34 Melissa
I bought it.

00:13:36 Melissa
But, eventually, I was like, this is the way of the future.
00:13:38 Melissa
Stop being a grumpy old lady, and I had to learn how to use it.

00:13:40 Alison
Well, here’s why.
00:13:42 Alison
You have patterns or re what they call reusable blocks.

00:13:44 Melissa
Yeah.
00:13:44 Melissa
And

00:13:44 Alison
so you can set up your lead magnet and I’ve done all this.
00:13:47 Alison
I have, like, 30 of these.

00:13:48 [Speaker 3]
Set up

00:13:48 Alison
your lead magnet, the head picture, the download, the form, select all of those blocks and it makes one reusable pattern.
00:13:55 Alison
And all you have to do every time you go in and update pattern, mine, insert, boom, done.
00:14:00 Alison
And they all get the same.
00:14:01 Alison
They all go to the same link and You

00:14:03 Melissa
can do the same with your buttons too.

00:14:04 Alison
Of it.
00:14:04 Alison
You go into your patterns, you manage it, you update the word and updates every blog post automatically.

00:14:10 Melissa
Oh, wow.
00:14:11 Melissa
At one time.

00:14:12 [Speaker 3]
Okay?

00:14:12 Melissa
Because, Allison knows when I I had just, like, a block that we would copy and paste at the bottom about the area I served and everything.
00:14:19 Melissa
And then after moving a bunch of times, I still have blog posts that I realized, oh, it’s using the manually entered block instead of the reusable.
00:14:25 Melissa
So some of my blog posts still say I’m in Florida.
00:14:27 Melissa
And I’m like, oh, wait, no, let’s fix that.
00:14:29 Melissa
I have the one that had the reusable, they all updated.

00:14:32 Alison
And for every freebie download I have, I have intros about who I am.
00:14:35 Alison
Who’s Allison?
00:14:36 Alison
What’s your fault?
00:14:37 Alison
My shoot philosophy, like a little about bio that links to more stuff.
00:14:40 Alison
I have them for every niche.

00:14:41 Alison
My philosophy upon newborns, my philosophy on branding, my philosophy on families, what to wear for all of those.
00:14:47 Alison
I have Beocoo.
00:14:48 Alison
Beocoo.
00:14:49 Alison
Like many such as how they work.

00:14:51 Melissa
You can even go into WordPress and you can convert your classic editor stuff to block.
00:14:56 Melissa
So there’s a way to do that.
00:14:57 Melissa
I think I have a sticky note.
00:14:58 Melissa
I owe somebody a video for that, so I need to go ahead and create that.

00:15:01 [Speaker 3]
Will you add me to that sticky note?
00:15:03 [Speaker 3]
Because I have troubleshooted this for several hours and have not been able to figure out.
00:15:07 [Speaker 3]
So there’s something in my WordPress that is preventing me from

00:15:10 Alison
Yeah.
00:15:10 Alison
And you

00:15:11 Melissa
know what?
00:15:11 Melissa
We’ll connect offline, but you can always set up an account for me and I can take a look at it.
00:15:14 Melissa
So the other thing is with that family friendly Tulsa favorites, another thing you can do is, are you part of any mom groups for Tulsa?

00:15:21 [Speaker 3]
We are heavily involved in our church.

00:15:23 Melissa
Okay.

00:15:24 [Speaker 3]
But since we’re forty five minutes from Tulsa, it’s really hard to get connected in Tulsa based areas.
00:15:31 [Speaker 3]
I feel like we have great connections in Bartlesville.

00:15:34 Melissa
Right.

00:15:34 [Speaker 3]
My my business was doing really well with our, like, personal connections and people we know in town.
00:15:39 [Speaker 3]
My husband’s from here, so that helps tremendously too.
00:15:42 [Speaker 3]
But in terms of actually getting into Tulsa, it’s a little bit tougher.
00:15:46 [Speaker 3]
And I’ve been in

00:15:47 Melissa
the training online mom groups, like Facebook mom groups?

00:15:50 [Speaker 3]
Yes.
00:15:52 [Speaker 3]
But so one of the things that can

00:15:53 Melissa
be helpful with those groups is, for starters, getting ideas from them on things to do at Tulsa.
00:15:58 Melissa
Yeah.
00:15:58 Melissa
And so one option you could do is post a thing of, hey, I’m looking for some family friendly activities.
00:16:03 Melissa
I’m writing a blog post about it or something.
00:16:05 Melissa
And I did this here in restaurants because I was like, I don’t know the kid friendly restaurants.

00:16:08 Melissa
Then once you have that together, you can then share that link and just be like, hey, guys.
00:16:13 Melissa
I’m I put together this guide if you wanna download it and share it that way, and then that can get people who are in Tulsa on your email list.
00:16:20 Melissa
And it usually doesn’t go against the group guide because you’re not advertising your business.
00:16:23 Melissa
You’re just kinda advertising a freebie that’ll let you kinda get in front of some of those people.
00:16:27 Melissa
Because I’m trying to think, like, you’ve got this freebie.

00:16:29 Melissa
It’s a great freebie.
00:16:30 Melissa
Like, how do you get it out in front of more people?
00:16:31 Melissa
So I would say too, your Instagram account, sharing some images from that, and then having that link to 10 post.
00:16:37 Melissa
Freebie.
00:16:37 Melissa
Your spot at that point where you’ve got something that’s speaking to your ideal clients, so just getting it out there and stuff.

00:16:44 Melissa
Was this a blog post originally?

00:16:46 [Speaker 3]
I have a blog post.
00:16:47 [Speaker 3]
I don’t know that I’ve shared it yet.
00:16:49 [Speaker 3]
I can’t remember if it’s gone

00:16:50 Melissa
back or not.
00:16:50 Melissa
Because I would definitely have this as a blog post too.

00:16:53 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:16:53 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:16:53 Alison
I would have all the information just like a few snippets.

00:16:57 Melissa
Well, I mean, you could still even have all the information in it because the chances you just wouldn’t put that as the download for that particular one.

00:17:03 [Speaker 3]
Right.

00:17:03 Melissa
But the chances of somebody knowing, oh, she also has a blog post.
00:17:06 Melissa
Let me go find that versus there’s a button here and I just put my email in it.

00:17:09 Alison
Yeah.
00:17:09 Alison
It’s not cutting the reason to download it if you put it all on there, but you could put half of it and be like, more and get more guides here.

00:17:15 Melissa
Yeah.
00:17:15 Melissa
So maybe the right

00:17:16 [Speaker 3]
Top three in the blog and then the rest in

00:17:18 Melissa
the Right.
00:17:18 Melissa
Yeah.
00:17:18 Melissa
So there’s ways to do that.
00:17:19 Melissa
I just think if you’ve got a good guide like that, like, what are those ways to get that out there and stuff?
00:17:24 Melissa
Your family page there okay.

00:17:25 Melissa
So we covered with blog posts some other ways to get people to stick around.
00:17:28 Melissa
Also, make sure on your blogs, you’re linking to other blog posts.
00:17:31 Melissa
Like, keep them on your website.

00:17:33 Alison
What other questions do you have for us?
00:17:35 Alison
Conversion.

00:17:36 [Speaker 3]
I feel like I’m ranking decently.
00:17:38 [Speaker 3]
That that would be another thing to dive into a little Are you ranking?
00:17:41 [Speaker 3]
For Tulsa family photographer and photography, top five ish.

00:17:45 Melissa
Right.

00:17:45 [Speaker 3]
But even though it fluctuates, I’m using the SEO edge to track that.
00:17:49 [Speaker 3]
So assuming that that’s accurate, that’s where I’m at.

00:17:51 Alison
I think your conversion, if you’re ranking, one of it’s just ranking a little higher and that’s work and time.
00:17:57 Alison
Right?
00:17:57 Alison
Yeah.
00:17:57 Alison
But also your follow-up system.
00:17:59 Alison
So if you texted somebody over the weekend and it’s Thursday, I would have said you should have had followed up with them twice already.

00:18:05 Alison
My personal system is that I have a three step follow-up system, but it’s automated through my CRM.
00:18:10 Alison
So are you using a CRM?

00:18:11 [Speaker 3]
No.
00:18:11 [Speaker 3]
But I’m I’m I don’t have to feel like I need to automate it yet.
00:18:14 [Speaker 3]
I’m, you know, in my inbox every day.
00:18:16 [Speaker 3]
So

00:18:16 Alison
Yeah.
00:18:17 Alison
I would reach out to your new inquiries immediately.
00:18:19 Alison
Try to beat yourself to as fast as possible within twenty four hours of every new inquiry.

00:18:23 Melissa
Yes.

00:18:23 Alison
And then follow be following up every two days.
00:18:26 Alison
You know, one day feels every day feels like I’m being hounded if I, if, if I was in that position, but if you’re giving them two days to maybe not check their email or whatever, what have you like, hey, hey, this is but you need to be adding value, right?
00:18:37 Alison
So, hey, did you get my text this weekend?
00:18:39 Alison
So excited.
00:18:40 Alison
Here’s the next steps.

00:18:41 Alison
Then second follow-up, if you still haven’t heard from them, add some, it’s your family fun things to do.
00:18:45 Alison
Here’s the download if you hadn’t seen it already.
00:18:47 Alison
Next step, jump on this call with me or reach out with which, whatever your next step is.
00:18:51 Alison
And then the third one would be like the final one.
00:18:53 Alison
I always get people who want to ghost me, don’t ghost me because of this one.

00:18:57 Alison
And it’s some little clever, like, hey, you know, you’re buried in Hawaii.
00:19:00 Alison
You’re buried in travel work.
00:19:01 Alison
I totally get it.
00:19:02 Alison
If you’ve gone in a different direction, no worries.
00:19:04 Alison
Let me know.

00:19:04 Alison
Otherwise, all the blessings.
00:19:06 Alison
Like, otherwise, hey, reach out and and book this phone call.
00:19:08 Alison
Otherwise, all the blessings.
00:19:09 Alison
Some people ghost me, but some people are like, oh yeah, we’re going a different direction or we decided not to do this or this is on a real budget, but this is the deal on a lot of them.
00:19:17 Alison
If I don’t hear from somebody, that’s three follow ups every other day.

00:19:21 Melissa
Boom.
00:19:21 Melissa
Okay.

00:19:21 Alison
I mean, some people will reach out so early that that might be too much.
00:19:25 Alison
That’s okay.
00:19:26 Alison
They’re at least I’m in their inbox.
00:19:27 Alison
And then also emailing out on your email list once a week, every other week, something like that.
00:19:31 Alison
So that you’re staying top of mind for those local people.

00:19:34 Alison
Because the difference being is almost a 100% destination on here.
00:19:37 Alison
People have a finite time, they’re coming, they’re gonna be here, they’ve got a deadline for getting all the stuff scheduled where you don’t have that same sort of timeframe except for, you know, maybe fall and Santa things.
00:19:47 Alison
Top of mind, if using that wait list, how often are you nurturing that wait list that you’ve got?

00:19:52 [Speaker 3]
Not enough.
00:19:52 [Speaker 3]
And that’s another thing I’m wanting to dive into a little bit more.
00:19:55 [Speaker 3]
I’m I’m leaning towards doing a monthly newsletter and just Absolutely.

00:19:59 Alison
Honestly, at least not

00:20:01 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:20:01 [Speaker 3]
Honestly, just writing a little bit more personally because my my experience is very relationally based, and I share a lot of our personal life and our beliefs and our faith in my Instagram feed.
00:20:12 [Speaker 3]
And so I feel like I’ve talked to a lot of like minded people, and that that is such a gift and such a blessing to me that I want to continue to do that and continue to Yes.

00:20:20 Alison
To just I love

00:20:21 [Speaker 3]
yeah.
00:20:22 [Speaker 3]
It’s a lot no.
00:20:23 [Speaker 3]
You’re good.

00:20:24 Alison
Sorry.
00:20:25 Alison
Go ahead.

00:20:26 [Speaker 3]
My email list, I want to to continue that path to be able to share, you know, from my heart and what we’re thinking about or experiencing in our family or things that the Lord’s laid on my heart.
00:20:35 [Speaker 3]
And so, but I don’t wanna do that too far ahead because it’s not like all 12 things hit me at once.
00:20:41 [Speaker 3]
It’s Right.
00:20:41 [Speaker 3]
So I’m trying to base those out a little bit and as things come to me, okay, this is my November 1, this is December.

00:20:47 Melissa
Yes.
00:20:47 Melissa
Well, and don’t forget too to use your email list for selling.
00:20:50 Melissa
And for more so for reminding people, like, hey.
00:20:53 Melissa
Fall family sessions are coming up.
00:20:54 Melissa
I’ve opened up x amount of dates.

00:20:56 Melissa
Like, make sure you grab it.
00:20:57 Melissa
And then as you get past clients and stuff and because everybody photos, you know, in the fall.
00:21:01 Melissa
As you get past clients, you’re reminding them, like, hey.
00:21:04 Melissa
You want photos this year.
00:21:06 Melissa
Another thing can be too is did you have any clients last year?

00:21:10 [Speaker 3]
Yes.
00:21:10 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:21:11 Melissa
Okay.
00:21:11 Melissa
Sending them each an email directly.
00:21:13 Melissa
Just saying, hey.
00:21:13 Melissa
My fall calendar is booking up.
00:21:15 Melissa
I have five spots available.

00:21:17 Melissa
Let me know if you wanna grab one of those.
00:21:19 Melissa
The reminder on that kind of stuff can be He’s not sure

00:21:21 Alison
what to do.

00:21:22 Melissa
People need to be reminded so many I’m realizing that now as a mom, I need to be reminded all the time of things.
00:21:27 Melissa
Yeah.
00:21:27 Melissa
Just ask my groomer how many times she has to remind me to bring my dog in.
00:21:29 Melissa
It’s ridiculous.

00:21:30 Alison
Yeah.
00:21:31 Alison
So I I love that you’re new.
00:21:33 Alison
I love that you what makes you unique is you.
00:21:35 Alison
Right?
00:21:35 Alison
There might be a million photographers who have a similar style in your area, but only you are you.

00:21:40 Alison
So you’re doing the right thing with your branding right there.

00:21:42 Melissa
Yeah.
00:21:43 Melissa
I was gonna say with your branding, I know you mentioned that your style isn’t as isn’t like everyone else’s.
00:21:47 Melissa
That’s an attribute, not a detriment.

00:21:49 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:21:50 Alison
Yes.

00:21:50 Melissa
I mean, because I just pulled up Tulsa Family Photography, and you are number three, and you’re right.
00:21:54 Melissa
I see everybody else is a little bit more dark and moody, and you’re much more lighter and brighter, but that will stick out.
00:21:59 Melissa
That will actually help you book with the right people.

00:22:01 Alison
Yeah.
00:22:02 Alison
It will.
00:22:02 Alison
But but don’t limit your you do need to be reaching out at least monthly, but you don’t need to limit yourself or keep your contain your your writings and your emails to one particular style.
00:22:12 Alison
You do need to nurture it and, and talk to them and be, be a friend and be personable in it and, and lean into that part of your branding.
00:22:19 Alison
But you also need to sell.

00:22:20 Alison
You need to tell them how and what to do, when to do it, how to do it.
00:22:23 Alison
Maybe an email out right now already.
00:22:24 Alison
If this is fall, it’s time to book.
00:22:26 Alison
They need to be reminded in a way that is, it is authentic to you.
00:22:30 Alison
And so I would say you need to be doing it every other week, scheduling out and reverse engineering your seasonal.

00:22:35 Alison
Okay.
00:22:36 Alison
So fall sessions are in October.
00:22:37 Alison
Maybe last month you should have sent something about getting on the calendar now, the

00:22:41 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.

00:22:41 Alison
Maybe now it’s like, okay, here’s my top three things on what to wear or my favorite locations in fall and why.

00:22:46 Melissa
But you need

00:22:46 Alison
to be adding value so that they’re interested to book.
00:22:49 Alison
And then also when you’re sending them more personal stuff, maybe maybe have a systematized subject line.
00:22:54 Alison
They see the difference.
00:22:55 Alison
Like, oh, there’s this this ramblings, like, Melanie’s ramblings or I it’s something like that.
00:22:59 Alison
So that’s a little different or or mix it up.

00:23:02 Alison
But don’t feel like I’ve started this this one pattern and it has to be like this because then you’re gonna confine yourself and you’re not doing yourself any favors at all.

00:23:10 Melissa
The other thing I wanted to mention is you talked about, like, keepsakes and products and stuff.
00:23:13 Melissa
And I see on your homepage under experience, you’ve got just a couple photos.
00:23:17 Melissa
I wanna see way more.
00:23:19 Melissa
I think in your header, one of those should be showing a picture of a family in a frame instead of just that picture.
00:23:25 Melissa
And then when I scroll down and you’ve got your gallery, I wanna see every third or fourth photo is some kind of example of a product with somebody’s picture in it.

00:23:32 Melissa
If you go out to my website, you’ll see a lot of that kind

00:23:34 Alison
of thing.

00:23:34 Melissa
And then showing that on your Instagram, sharing that in your email newsletter.
00:23:38 Melissa
If you’re gonna say, maybe it’s not a rambling email, maybe it’s something that is, hey, there’s this new product.
00:23:43 Melissa
Here’s why I love it, and here’s why your family photos will look great in it.
00:23:46 Melissa
Because then you’re building that excitement and you’re you’re more passively selling at that point, but you’re still getting their attention.
00:23:51 Melissa
Because, yeah, I mean, SEO wise, you’re doing great.

00:23:53 Melissa
You’re in the top three.

00:23:54 Alison
So My last suggestion is, does your client work come to you, or does it go straight to your clients?
00:23:58 Alison
Like, your your artwork?

00:23:59 [Speaker 3]
It comes straight to me.
00:24:00 [Speaker 3]
What are the little that I’ve done so far?
00:24:02 [Speaker 3]
It comes

00:24:02 Alison
straight to me.
00:24:03 Alison
Okay.
00:24:03 Alison
So you everything that comes to you and you need to be ordering some samples for yourself.
00:24:06 Alison
Yes.
00:24:07 Alison
You need to be doing unboxing videos.

00:24:09 Alison
That needs to be live, needs to be recorded, and you need to be rehashing that and putting it on blog posts.
00:24:13 Alison
You need to have blog posts featuring your artwork.
00:24:15 Alison
I mean, put it out there for sure.

00:24:17 [Speaker 3]
Yeah.
00:24:17 [Speaker 3]
It’s all over my Instagram right now.
00:24:19 [Speaker 3]
I I feel like I’m beating a dead horse a little bit, but No.

00:24:22 Melissa
That’s fine.
00:24:23 Melissa
Beat it.
00:24:24 Melissa
Yeah.
00:24:24 Melissa
And being There is.
00:24:25 Melissa
When you put on Instagram, put it in an email too because I know, like, for me, I’m not on Instagram very much, so I wouldn’t see any of that.

00:24:31 Melissa
But I am in my inbox every day.
00:24:32 Melissa
Yeah.
00:24:33 Melissa
So you’re gonna hit different clients at different points of of where they are in their journey and everything.
00:24:37 Melissa
Yep.

00:24:37 [Speaker 3]
And that’s that’s another shift I’m trying to make is not everything on Instagram right now.
00:24:42 [Speaker 3]
My engagement is horrible right now for some reason.
00:24:45 [Speaker 3]
And so I I started that broadcast channel and I was, this is how I’m gonna get more direct.
00:24:50 [Speaker 3]
And now there’s 30 people in it, but those 30 people are pretty faithful followers and are usually in my inbox.
00:24:55 [Speaker 3]
So hopefully that will help build some of that loyalty.

00:24:58 Alison
Just remember you don’t yeah.
00:25:00 Alison
Just remember you were in a in a prime time suite to utilizing and building Instagram, but you do not own it.
00:25:04 Alison
We don’t own Instagram.
00:25:05 Alison
We don’t own it.
00:25:06 Alison
You own your website.

00:25:07 Alison
You own your email list.
00:25:08 Alison
Yeah.
00:25:09 Alison
So Instagram, don’t get all up in your head.
00:25:11 Alison
Don’t get butthurt about it.
00:25:12 Alison
I ebb and flow and ship with that thing because I think it’s fun.

00:25:15 Alison
But that just made it available.
00:25:17 Alison
Yeah.
00:25:17 Alison
That’s where my money and my clients come from.
00:25:19 Alison
Right.
00:25:19 Alison
It’s just not anything you’re putting there put everywhere else.

00:25:22 Alison
So to recap, we want to update those blog posts accordingly to according to how, how much traffic they’re getting, making sure every, all the style fits, want to update and get a little bit more consistent with your follow ups.
00:25:33 Alison
It might be that you are ghosting your own client.
00:25:35 Alison
They’re not ghosting you.
00:25:36 Alison
When they’re reaching out, they’re ready to talk about it.
00:25:38 Alison
Right?

00:25:38 Alison
So don’t leave them hanging.
00:25:40 Alison
Follow-up with them, follow-up, get a system and get get it automated, get it going in some capacity.
00:25:45 Alison
If you’re not going to use a CRM, I would highly recommend the CRM.
00:25:48 Alison
I understand that you don’t have that many inquiries to justify it, but honestly I

00:25:52 [Speaker 3]
have a CRM.
00:25:52 [Speaker 3]
I just haven’t automated it.

00:25:54 Alison
Oh.
00:25:55 Alison
But do that.

00:25:56 Melissa
Now is the time to do it when you don’t have very many people because it just makes it really easier at some point.
00:26:00 Melissa
Just scheduling You’re never gonna have enough time

00:26:01 Alison
to do it.
00:26:02 Alison
Yeah.
00:26:02 Alison
You just never will.
00:26:03 Alison
I mean, you’re gonna grow.
00:26:04 Alison
And then when it comes to that newsletter, amping it up.

00:26:06 Alison
They have said, hey, I’m here.
00:26:08 Alison
They’ve raised their hands.
00:26:08 Alison
They want to be there.
00:26:10 Alison
Nurture it.
00:26:10 Alison
Talk to them.

00:26:11 Alison
Yeah.
00:26:11 Alison
Awesome.
00:26:12 Alison
Awesome.
00:26:12 Alison
Well, thank you so much, Melanie.
00:26:14 Alison
I can’t wait to hear how it goes.

00:26:15 Alison
I want to hear how your fall sessions go and what your average collection ends up being.

00:26:19 [Speaker 3]
So, yeah.

00:26:20 Alison
Well done.
00:26:21 Alison
Well done.
00:26:21 Alison
Well done.
00:26:21 Alison
Well done for like looking at your numbers, getting mad about it and doing something.

00:26:26 [Speaker 3]
Definitely the kick in the pants that I needed.
00:26:28 [Speaker 3]
So

00:26:29 Alison
Yay.
00:26:29 Alison
Awesome.
00:26:30 Alison
Well, thank you, Melanie.

00:26:31 [Speaker 3]
Thank you.

00:26:36 Melissa
Thank you so much for listening.
00:26:37 Melissa
If you’re enjoying the show, would you do two things for us?
00:26:40 Melissa
First, leave a review.
00:26:41 Melissa
Just stars would be awesome.
00:26:43 Melissa
And two, forward this episode to a biz bestie, mil spouse, or anyone facing moving their business.

00:26:48 Melissa
We’d love it if you shared this episode with even just one person.
00:26:52 Melissa
If you have questions, you can reach out to Allison on Instagram at Allison Bell Photog, or you can find me in my Facebook group, Picture Perfect Rankings.
00:27:00 Melissa
Check the show notes for links, and we’re so excited to have you guys here.