Get Inspired! 100th Episode Bonus

November 4, 2021 Artist Spotlight

Bonus Episode: Celebrating 100 Inspiring Episodes

To celebrate the 100th episode of the Portrait System Podcast, Nikki Closser and The Portrait System team are happy to offer you these inspiring highlights from past episodes. In this blog, you’ll get just a taste of the smorgasbord of inspiration offered up in the bonus podcast, so be sure to listen to the whole podcast to experience them all.

In case you’d like to go deeper, here are links to the full episodes featured in the bonus podcast:

You can find the entire Portrait System Podcast Archive, including Clubhouse Conversations, here.

Thank You for Sharing the Journey

“I recently took some time and read through all of the recent reviews that have been written about the Portrait System in general and about me as a host. . . I was just in awe at all of the kind words you said, and I got really emotional. . . This podcast has been something that I cherish doing, not only because it’s fun and because I love it, but knowing what a huge impact it makes on all of you just makes my heart explode. The fact that this little, old podcast has helped so many people grow their business is just the absolute best. So, thank you for listening to us and for supporting us.” — Nikki Closser

Nikki Closser at Work. For more from Nikki, see Episode 97: Get Savvy in Personal Branding.

Follow your inner voice when it comes to what you’re interested in, and what you want to do, and what you value in the field of photography. There is a place for everyone. There is a place for every single style. All of it is valuable. All of it is equally valuable. Whether you’re into documentary photography, or lifestyle, or the more fine art stuff, or the heavy composite work. All of it has a place, and I would just encourage people to just follow what they’re passionate about, and do some introspective work, and figure out what really pulls them.”  — Cassandra Jones

Image by Cassandra Jones, Noelle Mirabella Photography. For more from Cassandra, see Episode 63: Everyday Magic.

It’s OK to be fearful and not be sure about how something is going to turn out. But, use that. Use that to fuel your desire to actually do this. And do this type of work. Because when you do, everyone benefits. It’s a win all the way around. As a professional, you grow, and as a person. You grow others around. You can grow from a business standpoint and just even people you photograph, you know, their life is going to be enriched by the things you create. So, don’t let that fear stop you from doing that.” — Leon MacDonald

Images by Leon McDonald. For more from Leon, see Episode 7: Conquer Fear to Find Success

“Stop trying to get everything, all your ducks, in a row. Just do it. Just take a step forward and problem solve as you go along. Hey, you can always quit. Yeah. You know, this is an old cliché quote. If you don’t step up and take a hit at the ball, you’re never going to strike out or hit a home run. So, you have to take the steps to go forward. And really, in the final analysis, becoming anything in life is coming up with a plan and executing that plan. And, making adjustments to it as you move along the way.” — Kitti McMeel

Image by Kitti McMeel. For more from Kitti, see Episode 4: Using Age as Your Superpower.

“I would say to really just believe in yourself. Because when you have that self-value, and when you believe that you are worthy of achieving your dream, and you’re worthy of putting yourself out there and making connections, and that you’re bringing something valuable to the table, and that what you’re doing is really going to bless and serve someone else in completely unexpected and unfathomable ways, you just come in with so much more confidence. And it doesn’t have to be so hard, and so full of anxiety, and so in your head all the time.

And I’m someone who suffers from anxiety and being in my head a lot of the time. So, that’s kind of a message that I always have to give myself, too. When I’m starting something new it’s like, just be present for it. Just believe in yourself that you’re offering something amazing, and that you’re bringing something awesome to the table, and that will take you so much farther than than just getting wound up.” — Ashleigh Taylor

Image by Ashleigh Taylor. For more from Ashleigh, see Episode 6: Burned Out Wedding Photographer to 6 Figure Portrait Business.

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Nikki Closser 

Nikki Closser is a Michigan-based portrait photographer. She specializes in senior pictures, glamour style photos, mother & daughter portraits, headshots, and personal branding photographs.  She is a mentor for the 90 Day Challenge on Sue Bryce Education, and she is our illustrious host of the Portrait System Podcast.

Follow Nikki: Website – Instagram Facebook

 

Check out Nikki’s brand new course in The Portrait Masters Store: Personal Branding, The Contemporary Headshot System.


 

Transcript

Click Here to Read the Podcast Transcript

FULL TRANSCRIPT: Please note this transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors.

This is the Portrait System Podcast, a show that helps portrait photographers and people hoping to become one. Navigate the world of photography, business, money and so much more. We totally keep it real. We share stories about the incredible ups and the very difficult downs when running a photography business. I’m your host, Nikki Closser, and the point of this podcast is for you to learn actionable steps that you can take to grow your own business and also to feel inspired and empowered by the stories you hear.

Hey, everyone, just a couple of things before we get started with today’s bonus episode. First of all, I have to say thank you to all of you out there who listen to me and to my guests and to Ashleigh and Kevin each week.

00:00:38:05 – 00:01:11:21

I recently took some time and read through all of the recent reviews that have been written about the Portrait Aystem in general and about me as a host. And I mean, I was just in awe at all of the kind words you said, and I got really emotional. I mean, this podcast has been something that I cherish doing, not only because it’s fun and because I love it. But knowing what a huge impact it makes on all of you just makes my heart explode. The fact that this little old podcast has helped so many people grow their business is just the absolute best.

00:01:11:23 – 00:01:44:20

So thank you for listening to us and for supporting us. Next, I have to say thank you to the team that makes the portrait system happen. Vincent is our producer who gets the guest scheduled, makes sure they have the sound equipment. He does all the behind the scenes stuff to get the episodes uploaded and just a ton of things that no one sees. So thank you, Vincent. Kellen, he’s our tech director. He needs a bit of a perfectionist, and that’s why the sound quality always sounds so great. And I have to give a big thank you to, Will, who edits the audio for each episode, which means he has to edit out all of my mistakes.

00:01:45:00 – 00:02:23:07

And when I extra cuss, when I make these mistakes and it’s those out do so, a big thank you to him and to Matt, who does the same thing when we are doing an episode with video. OK, Abbey is our amazing writer who creates and writes all of the blogs with images for each episode. She does such an incredible job, and if you haven’t had a chance yet to read those blogs, I highly recommend taking a look at them. OK, next, Gerson, Gerson is the one who creates all of our portrait system visual social media stuff, and he runs the portrait system and the portrait masters Instagram pages and is not only such a stand-up guy, but he’s so good at social media.

00:02:23:24 – 00:02:55:25

Sarah is our marketing genius who helps get the word out about the Portrait System, and I can’t thank her enough to. Lastly, I have to thank Sue, Aaron, George and Craig for not only creating Sue Bryce Education, but for taking a chance on me as a host of the portrait system and for believing me. I love you all, OK? With all of that said, this is the bonus episode for our one hundredth episode, the one hundredth episode without earlier this week with Sue and I just in case you haven’t heard that yet. So for this bonus episode, we decided to put together clips from some of our most listened to episodes.

00:02:56:08 – 00:03:06:19

The amount of pure gold, as some of the guests have given during the last 100 episodes has been just amazing, and the team team did not have an easy job narrowing this down.

00:03:08:21 – 00:03:19:17

OK, first up, we have Saray Taylor Roman, and her episode is the first one we released called from full time teacher to making over two hundred thousand dollars doing what she loves. Let’s listen.

00:03:20:03 – 00:03:52:29

Definitely, if you are not part of the Sue Bryce Education platform, you need to be. I didn’t go to school for photography. I didn’t go to school for business and in Sue Bryce education. I’ve learned every single skill that I’ve needed to get where I am. And to me, that has been my education. There has been the platform where I have drawn support when I had no support from family members. That’s the place that I go to, when I have a doubt, when I don’t know what to do, when I have a client that I’ve never dealt with before.

00:03:53:08 – 00:04:04:06

That’s the place that I go to celebrate achievements, and everybody’s so welcoming and amazing. And to me, it’s worth in gold. The monthly subscription.

00:04:04:17 – 00:04:13:04

Same, it makes my heart so happy hearing you say that and it’s yeah, it is. It’s an amazing, incredible, life changing for me.

00:04:13:06 – 00:04:43:19

So it has been life changing for me. I went from being a high school Spanish teacher to a photographer who now makes as a monthly average what I made as a teacher in a year. And and the reason is because of Sue. She has provided us with a platform that teaches everything. I didn’t know how to do light. And then she brought Felix and I learned how to use studio lights, you know, so everything that I don’t know how to do in my business, marketing, whatever. She has an answer for that.

00:04:44:01 – 00:05:13:00

And one of the things that I will say that if you already are part of the platform, don’t reinvent the wheel. Just do it the way that she teaches us how to do it. I didn’t change it, you know? Yes, I did customize it to my personality and everything, but I didn’t change anything. What she’s teaching us are proven strategies that worked. All you have to do is do it start, start even with fear, even when it doesn’t look like it’s perfect, just just work with it and and then see where it will take you.

00:05:15:12 – 00:05:21:11

Thank you to Saray. And up next, we have some knowledge from one of my dear friends, Christina Houser Weichel

00:05:21:18 – 00:05:28:03

Sue Bryce Education has given me all the tools I need, but when you’re first getting started, I think that.

00:05:29:22 – 00:06:07:23

I would say a don’t get overwhelmed like start somewhere and then do the work, so don’t treat it like, Oh my goodness, I have to take two months out of my life and sit and watch every single video and then I can start my business. No, no, no, no. That’s not how it should work. You should figure out where you’re at and then don’t be passive about it. Like, watch a video on one specific thing. Say it’s posing and say it’s posing. It’s something specific. So because the video’s breakdown down into such small little chunks, so say you watch a video on posing curves, then just go and do that one thing and just focus on posing that one client.

00:06:08:01 – 00:06:39:04

Then you watch a lighting video go practice that I would just suggest that you don’t go in there and become just a viewer. Be a doer. Go. And I think, you know that’s how you did, how you’ve built your business. That’s how Bethany’s built my business. That’s how I built. If I would have looked at Sue’s story and thought, Oh yeah, well, you know, she’s been doing this for twenty three years and she’s so talented in her work as I could never. I would have just intimidated myself right out of the whole situation. But I was like, OK.

00:06:39:06 – 00:06:52:19

She did that one little thing. I’m going to go do that one little thing. Oh, now she taught me to do this. So just do the work and and, you know, break it down and wherever you are at, let it help you. Don’t let the courses run.

00:06:52:21 – 00:06:56:24

You be a doer, not just a viewer. I love that. Be a doer, not a viewer.

00:06:56:26 – 00:07:04:14

You don’t just sit and watch and then go on Facebook and complain about stuff like go shoot somebody with a camera and photograph somebody.

00:07:04:26 – 00:07:06:25

I love it. I love it. I love it. I love it.

00:07:08:19 – 00:07:16:05

OK, thanks again to Christina. And for our next clip, we have the amazing Miss Kitty McMeel who started her photography career at age 60.

00:07:17:06 – 00:07:51:12

Stop trying to get everything, all your ducks in a row, just do it. Just take a step forward and problem solve as you go along. Hey, you can always quit. Yeah. You know, this is an old cliche quote. If you don’t step up and take a hit at the ball, you’re never going to, you know, you’re never going to strike out or hit a home run. So you have to take the steps to go forward. And really, in the final analysis, becoming anything in life is coming up with a plan and executing that plan.

00:07:51:22 – 00:07:57:13

Making adjustments to it as you move along the way. Mm hmm. And it’s as simple as that.

00:07:59:11 – 00:08:10:15

Thanks, Kitty, we always love listening to you. All right. Up next, we have a great clip from Emma Barksdale, who went from a fifty dollar average to a two thousand dollars average. Let’s take a listen.

00:08:11:15 – 00:08:18:09

I think it ties within with my code. Just put one foot in front of the other and you’ll make it.

00:08:18:18 – 00:08:31:12

That’s great advice. I mean, sometimes it is just a matter of doing one thing each day. Just keep moving forward. It might not be huge steps or huge jumps, but if you don’t keep moving forward, you don’t get anywhere. Yeah.

00:08:33:08 – 00:08:42:16

Emma, we really appreciate all that you share. So thank you. And next up, we have Wendy de Kraemer from a small town in Belgium, and her work is absolutely stunning. Here she is.

00:08:42:26 – 00:08:56:01

Look for solutions. Keep moving like, Sue said. Keep moving. Be different. Be creative in your business thinking Give service. Stop making it about you. Listen to what your client wants. Connect.

00:08:58:04 – 00:09:28:11

build relationships with the clients continuously and constantly, actively get your work out there, get your message out there, get the stories out there, up your skill set value, value your craft, value yourself, value your time and know your numbers. Start from there and build your way up whilst you are growing going through the experience because oh boy, it’s it’s not. It’s a rollercoaster and it’s up and down, but it’s so worth it.

00:09:28:17 – 00:09:31:16

It sure is If you want want this work for it.

00:09:33:01 – 00:09:38:04

Thank you, Wendy, and next up is the incredible and kind. Leon MacDonald, here he is,

00:09:38:24 – 00:10:11:17

just drawing from my own experience and realizing how, you know, some of the changes that I needed to make. How how terrifying some of those were. Is take your take your fear and and harness that right. harness it and use it and transform it and make it into something that is actually useful because fear all it does is cripple. It cripples us. We talk about analysis paralysis. Sometimes we sit and think about things too much and then we don’t do anything. But I think that it’s OK to be afraid.

00:10:11:19 – 00:10:40:26

It’s OK to be fearful and not be sure about how something is going to turn out. But but use that, use that to fuel your desire to actually do this and do this type of work. Because when you do, everyone benefits. It’s a win all the way around. As a professional, you grow, and as a person. You grow others around. You can grow from a business standpoint and just even people you photograph, you know, their life is going to be enriched by the things you create. So don’t let that fear stop you from doing that.

00:10:42:16 – 00:10:50:22

Thank you, Leon, and our next clip is from Jay Mayhew, and she empowers everyday women and turned them into supermodels. Let’s hear what she has to say.

00:10:51:02 – 00:11:22:11

It’s going to be hard before it gets easy, but it’s going to be worth it. I would say, get educated. Tune into places like Sue Bryce education or any other tutorial that you’re interested in. Just start learning and start shooting before you think you’re ready. Just start shooting. Because so another one of my favorite quotes is little by little one travels far. And it’s attributed in many places to Tolkien, but he didn’t actually write it. So I’m not sure who wrote it, but it’s the truth. It’s just little by little. Like I said before, your progress as an artist is not an upward trajectory.

00:11:22:18 – 00:11:57:18

When I was in Texas, in Austin, where I really kind of started my photography career, I had what I thought was just my best shoot of all time. It was amazing. I had reached a new level. It was a breakthrough. I was a genius for like twenty four hours. It was great. The next day, literally the next day, I had the worst shoot of my career. It was a short career at that point, but the worst. And I just remember being so crushed and feeling like, how did that happen? Like, I thought I had gotten better. But that is creativity. That’s inspiration. That’s art. It’s not linear. And so just keep going even when you don’t feel like it, because the artists who are successful had plenty of days when they didn’t feel like it and they picked up the camera anyways.

00:11:58:28 – 00:12:26:27

Thanks again, Jay. And up next, we have Tammy Zarek, and she is just incredible at networking. Let’s listen. The biggest thing is get yourself out there while you can sit behind your computer, but you’re not going to meet people. So you’ve got to force yourself to get out there and talk about what you do and ask people what their stories are and connect with people. So, you know, the best thing and this was kind of crazy. My first year when I very first moved into my studio, I spent a

00:12:26:29 – 00:12:28:25

week going around

00:12:28:27 – 00:12:34:01

knocking on doors because I came from the outside sales world. I was completely fine with walking into businesses

00:12:34:03 – 00:12:34:29

and talking to people,

00:12:35:09 – 00:12:47:29

and all I did was create an event that said, You know, I’m having an open house kind of thing so we can all get to know each other and just wanted to invite you. So there was no pressure. It was just a reason for me to walk in the door and hand them something.

00:12:48:09 – 00:12:51:11

And, you know, got me used to talking to

00:12:51:13 – 00:13:05:28

people about what I do, and I made relationships with all the surrounding businesses that way. So they all knew who I was. So that was, you know, probably not everybody’s going to do that. But just get out, find out where the networking events are and just go and talk to people.

00:13:07:26 – 00:13:15:17

Thank you so much, Tammy. And our next clip is from Sue Bryce from the episode Money Mindset and an economic downturn.

00:13:16:02 – 00:13:27:01

If you can stand there and ask, Am I good enough, it’s like you asked the universe to provide you an opportunity to get paid. This is your opportunity. If you don’t step up to it now, you’re not going to get paid there you go.

00:13:27:26 – 00:13:30:06

Yeah, yeah, no one’s going to do it for you.

00:13:30:08 – 00:13:51:22

It’s show that’s what I told myself, and every single day I did it. And if I found myself in false humility, I called myself a narcissist and I said, Is this really what you want to sit here and spend your whole day worrying about not being good enough or working actively towards a business that actually going to flourish and grow?

00:13:53:24 – 00:14:15:00

Sue, as always, thank you, thank you, thank you, cannot thank you enough. Our next clip is from Ashleigh Taylor. She is our co-host of our Clubhouse bonus episodes with Kevin Conde, so make sure you listen to those of you haven’t yet. And Ashleigh’s episode was burned out wedding photographer to a six figure portrait business. Let’s listen.

00:14:15:14 – 00:14:53:04

I would say to really just believe in yourself because when you have that self-value and when you believe that you are worthy of achieving your dream and you’re worthy of putting yourself out there and making connections, and that you’re bringing something valuable to the table and that what you’re doing is really going to like, bless and serve someone else in completely unexpected and unfathomable ways. You just come in with so much more confidence, and it doesn’t have to be so hard and so full of anxiety and so in your head all the time.

00:14:53:06 – 00:15:15:01

And I’m someone who suffers from anxiety and being in my head a lot of the time. So that’s kind of a message that I always have to give myself too. When I’m starting something new is like, just be present for it. Just believe in yourself that you’re offering something amazing and that you’re bringing something awesome to the table and that will take you so much farther than than just getting wound up.

00:15:16:22 – 00:15:26:26

All right, thank you so much, Ashleigh, and next up, we have Tabatha Coffey. She’s an author. She’s a TV superstar. And here she is from her episode, overcoming fear and self-doubt in business.

00:15:27:03 – 00:16:00:01

You have to have clarity, even if it feels really big, right? Even if it feels like I’m asking you to stretch to kind of the end goal of what your business looks like, what your clients look like, what your work looks like, what your income looks like. But I want you to step into that because you need to take ownership of it, and it allows you to then move backwards and put all the steps into place. So it’s one of my favorite things to work on with my coaching clients.

00:16:00:19 – 00:16:11:28

I make them build the dream and get comfortable in it so that as it starts to happen, it doesn’t feel like a new pair of shoes. It feels like an old pair of slippers.

00:16:12:03 – 00:16:15:17

I love this, Tabitha. Build the dream first,

00:16:15:24 – 00:16:49:01

so build the dream. Build the dream first. Even if it feels big and crazy and exorbitant and out there, build it and really vividly build it. Imagine what the money will feel like and imagine what the work will look like, and imagine what the clients are going to say and imagine how they’re going to feel when they look at the work you’ve done and just imagine all of the big picture of it and then just keep moving through all of those steps. So as it happens, you’re already living, breathing and feeling what your dream is.

00:16:49:13 – 00:16:52:29

So it feels comfortable to you. You have less resistance.

00:16:54:23 – 00:17:03:15

Thank you very much, Tabitha. And up next, we have Cassandra Jones. She’s such an incredible job creator and artist. Let’s listen to what she has to say.

00:17:03:29 – 00:17:38:24

Follow your inner voice when it comes to what you’re interested in and what you want to do and what you value in the field of photography. There is a place for everyone. There is a place for every single style. All of it is valuable. All of it is equally valuable. Whether you’re into documentary photography or lifestyle or the more fine art stuff or the heavy composite work. All of it has a place, and I would just encourage people to just follow what they’re passionate about and do some introspective work and figure out what really pulls them.

00:17:38:26 – 00:18:25:02

Because this work can be really draining and it can be really hard even though we love it. I always tell my students, Put your mask on first, like the same thing they tell you when you’re in an airplane because it can really drain you, it can really deplete you and you can get burnt out. And I feel like if you’re not putting back into yourself and doing something that you find fulfilling, the rate of burnout is really high and you might not make it out the other side. So if you can create from a place of just your own internal source of inspiration and keep going back to that place, I mean, there’s lots of things we do for other people where they’re kind of inspiring the work, but I think it’s really important to balance that out with whatever it is that moves you.

00:18:25:04 – 00:18:33:08

And that is kind of, I don’t know. It’s kind of like the life juice that keeps me going. So that is what I would recommend to people just starting out.

00:18:35:01 – 00:18:41:27

Thank you, Cassandra. Hadonica Murphy is next. She’s one of my favorite people. She’s absolutely incredible. Here she is.

00:18:42:09 – 00:19:14:16

You’re going to be scared. You are going to tik some people off because they’re going to think, no matter what your prices are, that it’s too high. Even if you’re a twenty dollar photographer, someone is going to say, Why aren’t you charging five dollars? It doesn’t matter. You know you’re worth. Believe that you are worth it. Figure out what that minimum worth is for you and stick to it. Screw what everyone else is telling you and stick to that minimum that you are worth and continue to rise that, you know, continue to increase those prices.

00:19:14:27 – 00:19:33:09

So they match with what you are offering the world and you are offering a lot by photographing, you’re creating history, by photographing whoever it is you photograph because in 20 or 100 years, that photograph you created will be all that someone has, and you can’t really put a price on that.

00:19:34:27 – 00:19:47:15

Thank you, Hadonica.  Matthew Jordan Smith is up next. This guy, he is just so great. He is a celebrity photographer, fashion photographer. He turned his passion into success. Let’s listen.

00:19:48:00 – 00:20:18:00

I would say number one to find out what you really enjoy and just shoot that. Now we always see people say, shoot what you love. But really, what does that mean? No. Here I am living in Japan. And one thing I’ve learned is that in America, we say, I’m guilty of this. Oh, I love this. I love that. And it kind of softens the word love. When really you you like this.

00:20:18:02 – 00:21:01:23

Or you like that. The difference in like in love is huge. Like in Japan, there are different words there because there are different levels of love in the different words for those levels of love. Find out what you really love in photography, what you want to shoot and focus on that. I wish somebody told me that the beginning of my career because I was thinking like, almost shoot things that I think a client wants to see. And that’s a big mistake, because you can never you can never really figure out what somebody wants. It’s better for you to find out what you enjoy doing and based your entire career around that.

00:21:02:06 – 00:21:06:02

And then those dream clients, they come and they find you.

00:21:07:17 – 00:21:20:28

Thank you, Matthew. Really appreciate you. OK. Paula Brennan is up next. And I mean, this episode blew my mind when she talks about making ten thousand dollars in a day. Wow. OK. Here’s Paula.

00:21:21:05 – 00:21:51:11

Follow the system. Yeah. Mm hmm. Pick a mentor. You know, like Sue’s obviously the master pick a mentor and follow the system because it’s so good to have a blueprint for someone who’s done exactly what you want to do before. And then you can start to grow and navigate and change and make changes and adapt. But I definitely think having that sort of system in front of you because as creatives, we lose ourselves and we can focus too much on the things that don’t make us money.

00:21:51:16 – 00:21:58:24

So the first thing you want to do is start making money out of your craft so you can start investing it back into the business. That’s a huge thing.

00:21:59:06 – 00:22:03:17

Absolutely. Yeah, we focus on too many of the things that don’t make us money.

00:22:03:19 – 00:22:35:12

Perfecting an Instagram post is not going to make you money, and sitting there and fussing over your gear is not going to make you money. Start shooting, start learning your light, start getting out there, start connecting with people and start making offers to people. Even if you don’t feel like you can start charging big bucks. Make sure you get paid for every single shoot that you’re doing. I know in a sense, people say it’s portfolio building. You’re giving them a service there needs to be a give and take. There has to be a back in front. There has to be a two way street unless it’s for your mom and sister that you photograph photographing, you can do them for free.

00:22:36:00 – 00:22:52:10

Yeah, but I really have a problem with photographers giving themselves away for free in the early days because it’s very hard to then change the perception in the market because she’ll tell her friend and she’ll tell her friend that you did it for free and that becomes the expectation. So you have to start where you mean to finish.

00:22:53:22 – 00:23:05:17

All right. Thanks so much, Paula. And up next, we have a clip from Gerson Lopes. His episode was talking about how he was in that turned it around and how he makes twenty four hundred dollars a shoot. Let’s listen.

00:23:06:03 – 00:23:17:18

If you are online and you have this available tool to put your name into your face and your work there for free, why you’re not doing it right?

00:23:17:25 – 00:23:18:10

You know what I mean.

00:23:18:22 – 00:23:55:17

So Instagram and Instagram Stories, especially because stories only stay there for 24 hours. But if you post every day at least five stories a day, you’re going to keep showing up on people’s feed. Like on the top, of Instagram, things are on and people are going to start seeing your name, your face, your profile every day, every day. What that means is they’re going to be familiar and your name is going to be familiarized. And when the day that they need to make a decision, if they want a photographer, you are going to be the first one to come to their mind.

00:23:57:04 – 00:24:06:08

All right. Thank you, Gerson. Up next, we have Jerry Jones and he is an incredible wedding photographer. He’s world renowned. Let’s hear what he has to say.

00:24:06:27 – 00:24:38:01

I would get everyone who’s listening right now to ask themselves a question Are you a photographer in business or a business person in photography? Mm. Mm-Hmm. Very different things. And as a as a partner to that. And I’ve said that before, but it’ll make sense here. Are you working in your business or on your business? A business owner needs to work on the business. A business person should be a business person and you happen to be doing photography rather than you’re a photographer and you just happen to be doing business.

00:24:38:18 – 00:24:40:21

Yep. Very, very different ways of looking at it.

00:24:42:13 – 00:24:54:08

Thank you, Jerry. And let’s hear which clip was chosen from Peter Hurley’s episode one hundred and Eighty Loser How the athlete, model and photographer failed upward. Here’s Peter.

00:24:54:26 – 00:25:31:12

I think the photographer’s journey is pretty much the same for I mean, it’s very rare. I think that that somebody picks up the camera and goes, OK, I’m just going to shoot this right now, my whole career. And this is it, you know, and knows what that is. I mean, I just think that you pick up a camera because you like taking pictures and it’s cool and it’s like, Wow, this is fun. What if I point this at somebody to something and take the picture. And it’s cool. Like, I didn’t know, like, I’m a portrait photographer because I was a model period. Like, there’s no way, you know? I mean, I took a photography class in high school and I don’t have one picture of a person.

00:25:31:15 – 00:25:50:19

I have a bunch of pictures of like crap that I shot. You know, it’s like a fireplace and my dog and like, I got a double exposure on my dog, I have these pictures, you know? And then when I picked up a camera, it wasn’t about like I said before, when I when I had that little episode, which was kind of nice and feels good to get emotional sometimes, doesn’t it?

00:25:50:21 – 00:25:52:12

Yeah. Yeah, it does. I love it.

00:25:52:21 – 00:26:09:16

Yeah. So there was not going to be any failure, right? So I’ve got a camera. I bought it. I got to make money back with it. I got to figure it now how. Anything that I can put in front of this thing that I get paid for, I am going to do, and that’s what my mentality was.

00:26:11:15 – 00:26:36:17

Thank you, Peter, and to all of our guests. Every single one of you who have been on the Portrait System. So Kevin and Ashleigh to the whole team and especially to you, our listeners, again reading those reviews just, oh, it just solidified why I love doing this. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And I cannot wait for 100 more.

Thank you so much for listening to the Portrait System Podcast. Your five-star reviews really help us to continue what we do. So, if you like listening, would you mind giving us a review wherever you listen? I also encourage you to head over to SueBryceEducation.com, where you can find all of the education you need to be a successful photographer. There are over 1,000 on-demand educational videos on things like posing, lighting, styling, retouching, shooting, marketing, sales, business, and self-value

There’s also the 90 Day Startup Challenge, plus so many downloads showing hundreds of different poses. We have to-do checklists for your business, lighting PDFs, I mean truly everything to help make you a better photographer and to make you more money. Once again, that’s SueBryceEducation.com