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

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You’re listening to the Portrait System podcast,

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about five or so years ago, I had a scare with my mom. I thought that she might pass away from cancer and I wouldn’t have had any pictures of her. So that was really like it hit me and my feelers of like, I don’t want any family to experience this. I don’t want anyone to have not have pictures of their mom.

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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.

Today my guest on The Portrait System is Kelsey Comer, and she has a story that is very inspiring.

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Within six months of focusing on her portrait business, Kelsey booked almost 40 photo shoots and has a sales average of twelve hundred dollars. And this is all while having a two year old and a six month old little one at home. Kelsey success is due to her determination and also from a 40 over 40 campaign that she started. Kelsey got really creative with how she would be able to afford a studio, and she also shifted her mindset, finally realizing that her old three hundred dollar portrait pricing definitely was not going to sustain her business whatsoever.

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Kelsey is a great example that it doesn’t need to take forever to grow your business and get your prices up, and I’m so glad you get to hear her story today. OK, let’s get started with Kelsey Comer. Hi, Kelsey, how are you?

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Hey, I am doing great. How are you, Nikki?

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I’m great. I’m good. It was kind of a rough week last week, but we’re back on track, back on track this week and ready to rock. So, yeah, awesome.

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Did I see something about your husband’s hand? Yeah, he

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basically chopped his finger off in the garage door.

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Really all messed up. Wow.

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Yeah. But he’s a really great surgeon, and she managed to reattach like I was looking at it this morning and it was shockingly, it looks pretty good. So. So we’ll see if he’s going to be able to keep it or not. We’ll find out in the next couple of weeks how much movement he has.

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But wow. Well, I hope that all works out for all of you. Thank you.

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It’s interesting to think about because like, you know, he’s an electrician and he is not going to be able to work for who knows how long? And it’s, you know, doing this podcast, it always makes me super grateful and just have so much gratitude to have the career that I do now. And had I been a school social worker still. I would not have been able to support us as a family. And so we’re like, it’s so it’s it’s one of those things where it’s just so amazing to be able to to have a business that you can support yourself if needed, when things happen, you know, so.

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Absolutely. And that’s a that’s a pretty big thing to happen. So it’s good you have some flexibility.

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Yeah, yeah. We’ve been so fortunate and just like trying to find the positives and not that, I mean, it’s kind of funny to say, like, how do you find the positive when you cut your finger off? But you know, you can you can find out like, OK, let’s pause here and figure out what is the best route for our family and might end up being a better route than what you were going to take before, you know, so.

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Absolutely.

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Anyway, OK, so speaking of routes, let’s hear about yours because it sounds like within the last what year things have gone just amazingly well for you. Is that right?

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Yes, it has been a crazy, amazing year.

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Yeah. So OK, let’s back up a little bit, though. I know you’ve been a member of SBE for a while. I think you mentioned that before. So maybe, maybe just start back when you became a photographer and and kind of go from there.

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Yeah. So it really it stems back to whenever I was super little. It all started my grandpa and I would spend a lot of time together taking pictures with film. And one of my favorite parts was getting the pictures developed and seeing what we captured. And I just remember that being so thrilling like, Oh my goodness, I captured this and I was just a little kid and the pictures might have been garbage, but I loved it. I loved it so much. But as I grew that hobby kind of, I got set aside as I grew older and experienced new things that I was super involved in sports and that took up a lot of time.

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But really, photography entered my life again. When I was 16, my parents had actually gifted me a photo shoot for my birthday. And that whole year, so as an awkward, insecure sixteen year old, I was a mixture of nervous and excited, but I went in the day. It was just so much fun. I got my hair and makeup done, and just the day was so much fun. And in the end, I received these pictures that really contradicted the negative thoughts I had about myself.

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And it was really a pivotal moment in my life that changed how I. Viewed myself, it was very empowering and just a really awesome experience.

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That’s great to hear because you never know how it’s going to go, especially as a 16 year old. It’s like, Oh, you know?

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Exactly, exactly. That was a risky purchase for from my parents, but they did really well. That’s awesome. But soon after, I got my first camera and I mostly photographed friends, typically outdoors. But let me tell you, I made a makeshift home studio in my bedroom, literally where I slept and had all my things. This is when you were 16. Yeah, so soon after I was maybe 17 at that point. And if you’re thinking, wow, that sounds really janky, it’s because it absolutely was.

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It was so poorly put together and have these old studio lights and backdrops stand, and I would have my friends come over and I would do their hair and makeup, which I had no business doing at all. But I did it and I would take their picture. And man, it was just so fun. It just filled me full of life. I loved it. So fast forward to several years later, I met my husband and we moved to Arkansas, where I’m living now.

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And I figured it was about time for me to figure out what I want to do with my life. So I had mostly been a barista and I loved coffee, but I definitely didn’t want that to be my career path. So I decided to take a job at a bank as a teller, and I wanted to experience the banking world and I really, really liked it. It was a really good fit for me, for my skill set, and I decided, All right, this is it. I’m going to move up and I’m going to work in human resources and that’s my end goal.

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And I met my goal. I got my human resources job, and I was absolutely miserable. Like, I hated my job. I was super negative person that complained about my job all the time to my poor husband. So hard. Yes, I would wake up in the middle of the night like, panicked, like, did I do this? Oh, I need to make sure and respond to these emails tomorrow. And it just like, consumed my life. So obviously, this was not how I wanted to live my life.

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And at this point, I was still doing photography to some degree. I had two packages. One was two hundred dollars that included twenty five digital pictures. And then the other one was three hundred and fifty dollars, and it included 50 digital pictures.

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No, I don’t really

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No.

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So I was like, OK, I think I want to pursue photography. I thought that was a good time at that point. Thankfully, I knew I wasn’t ready to completely abandon ship and do that full time because I would have absolutely failed with those prices. I would have gotten burned out and it would’ve been very bad. But I thought, how can I do this? So I ended up taking a job at a little drive through coffee place like, you know, those little huts that are super tiny and you drive through.

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I don’t know if those are where you are. I know. Exactly, yeah. So I did that and I only worked four days a week and got my 40 hours in. And so I figured that fifth day I can really work on my photography. An added benefit that I wasn’t aware of at the time is that coffee shop was so dang slow, so it wasn’t uncommon to have an hour or two hours in between customers. So as long as everything was clean and tidy and I was done doing all of my duties, I really focused on my business.

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So my first step is I made it legit. I got legal and I was honest with myself, and I knew I needed some work in some areas. So I was on a woman’s photography group on Facebook, and I saw someone asking about posing and I was like, Hey, I definitely need some work in that area. And so I was reading the comments and someone mentioned Sue Bryce Education and I thought, OK, let’s check this out. Let’s see. Let’s see what this is about.

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And so I got on the website and I’m like, OK, this seems good. You know, I’ll I’ll purchase a month and just see how that goes. I can always cancel it the next month. And I went straight to the posing videos, and the knowledge I gained was mind blowing. Like, absolutely incredible. As you and all Sue Bryce members know, like, there are so many videos to go through and you just start going down this amazing rabbit hole of knowledge.

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And I learned things I didn’t even know I needed to learn, and it was amazing. So in between customers, I would watch videos I had. A little notepad, I took notes and I’d go home and type them up like I was the best Sue Bryce Education student, I think ever I just wanted to learn it all. So soon after the posing videos, I learned that I could create a home studio in the spare bedroom of our home, and I could light it 100 percent with natural light.

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And I was like, What in the world? I’ve never heard of this before. Yes, I’m sold. I want to do that. So that’s what we did. We transformed that room, and I was amazed with the quality of work I could get just with natural light. And I eventually got to the point where I got to the pricing videos and I heard Sue say in a one something about charging one hundred and fifty dollars per picture. And I kid you not. I almost closed down that video because I thought it was so ridiculous.

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I was like, That’s not going to happen here. No one would pay that. This isn’t happening. You know how we all go through that from transparency? Yeah, that was me, for sure. But instead of closing out of it, I listened and I learned and I concluded that I could not only charge those prices, but I had to charge those prices if I wanted to give my clients an incredible experience, beautiful products, and make a living like I had to.

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There was no other option. So I remember going home that evening after watching the video, and I needed to tell my husband the plan. And I expected him to react the same way I did. And I had a full list of like, I’m going to sell it to him, and this is what I need to say. And it didn’t take me saying much, and he was just like, Yep, you absolutely need to do that. And that was it. And quick side note, like he is the most supportive, amazing, incredible person to have alongside of me.

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Like, he cheers me on. He brings me out of funk. He helps me problem solve. And I’m just so dang thankful for him. And he did not have the same blocks I did, obviously, because I was all like, No, I can’t charge that. And he was like, Yeah, you have to so. So I finally know

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It’s funny how partners like. Obviously, it makes it so, so helpful mentally like for our own sanity to have a partner who who supports us. And there are lots of people who do it without a supportive partner, but it definitely helps. But it’s funny because even if our partner believes in us, it doesn’t necessarily always mean they believe in themselves. Like I remember when Dan was cheering me on and like, Oh, you can totally charge that and this and that. And when when he was starting his own business, I’m like, You know, you need to raise your prices, right? You know, like, it’s interesting. Like, maybe his blocks.

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I don’t know. Who knows? I don’t know if that’s the case with your husband, but it is funny how you can really support someone else when it comes to applying it to yourself. It can be tricky. So I don’t I just wanted to throw that in there.

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That is so funny. And you know, I I feel like eventually because I’ve just gotten so much fulfillment out of doing this, I want him to be able to have a career someday and do exactly what he wants to do and do his own thing. So I’ll keep that in mind. If he has some blocks, I’m going to be like, Hey, remember, you need this.

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So, OK, so at this point, you guys are living in Arkansas and you don’t have kids at this point, are you? You had your first child?

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Not yet. Not yet. So me like working in the coffee shop. No kids really focusing on my business. So I spent that time soaking up every bit of information. But soon I took a job at a camera store because I thought I could use some hands on experience with some equipment because I really don’t know a whole lot, but that that is when I took that job in, I almost immediately found out I was pregnant and I was doing the math and I’m like, Well, I am definitely not making enough money to justify spending anything on child care.

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So at that point, I was like, Well, I’m going to be a stay at home mom and try to fit in photography somehow. I don’t know how. I don’t know what that looks like, but that’s what I’m going to do now. But after I made that decision and I was going to finish out the nine months that the camera shop, I ended up getting an email from the pastor of our church and he said, Hey, I have an administrative assistant job available. And it comes with discounted child care at the preschool, which is in the same building, so you wouldn’t to have to be far from your child.

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Are you interested? I was like, Well, yeah, absolutely. So that kind of solved that problem for me. And I took the job. It was Monday through Friday, eight to two, so I knew I still had afternoons and evenings to work on my photography. Oh, that’s nice. Yeah. And this was before I had my child, so that was always important to me. Ever since I quit. My human resources job is like, that is my ultimate goal. And I knew I could have some time to do that. So I had a couple of months before my maternity leave and I started the church job and was still working on my photography.

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And actually, it was right before maternity leave. I made my first one thousand dollar sale. And I was like, Yes, I got this. I can do this. I can make a living for a family like this is totally doable. But then I had my son and started maternity leave. And you and all of the fellow parent listeners can attest to the fact that children rock your boat in ways you didn’t know your boat could be rocked.

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And

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I was drowning in new motherhood duties, and it was a lot. I actually had a bit of trouble adjusting to my new role. And so I really put all my focus into that. That had to be a priority. And photography was just kind of on the back burner a little more than I originally planned. So after maternity leave, I went back to work at the church and it didn’t help that I just loved that job. I really loved the pastors. I worked with great hours again, discounted childcare.

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I was good at it. I felt like I was doing something good for the world. And so I really didn’t have a huge fire lit under me to pursue photography that much. And so I continued to work there for another three years. The whole time I would do occasional shoots, and I hoped for at least one shoot a month. But in all honesty, I was lucky to get six and a year now when I did those six. My average sale was pretty good. I was I was pretty happy with it, but I wasn’t really marketing anyone that came to me.

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You just fell in my lap and I honestly don’t even know how they found me. But yeah, so then three years into working in the church job, I got pregnant with my second son. And at this time? My husband and I had bought a house and also covered what’s happening. So it was a lot going on at that time. Yeah. And yeah, so I started to work at home more because the preschool shut down for several months and it gave me a lot of time to think.

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I feel like covid did that for a lot of people. It kind of reset our lives and made us think about what was important. And it made us remember that life is short and precious. And to be completely honest with you, I was thinking like, what if my husband were to pass away? Like, there is no way, no way I am earning enough to support my family with just me. It’s just not doable. I would have to move somewhere cheaper.

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I don’t even know what I would do. So those thoughts kind of went around in my brain. So the original plan when we moved was to have the spare bedroom, be my studio kind of like how it was in our other house. But I was pregnant, so obviously that became a nursery and my plan was to shoot out of my living room. It was like, I can do this, you know, I know other Sue Bryce Education members do it, I’ve seen it. I can do this. But what I hadn’t anticipated was the amount of clutter and messiness and chaos that comes with having a toddler and a baby.

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And I started to have trouble transforming my living room from a nice, family friendly area into a luxurious studio. And it wasn’t really happening, and it really made me get to a point where I didn’t want to book shoots because it was so much dang work per set up and tear down in all the while. Oh yeah, nursing and tired. And it was just chaos. So in April, I came to the conclusion that I needed a studio space outside of my home.

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So a quick look online made it pretty apparent that I would be paying a thousand dollars plus utilities easily. And seeing as I didn’t have a whole lot of shoots booked, I felt like that was pretty irresponsible of me. So I didn’t think that was a good choice for our family at the time. And.

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I want to tell you what happened, and I want to say that this was very easy for me. And I’m fully aware that that’s not going to be the case for everyone, but I was like, OK, I need some sort of space outside of my home. So this is what I did. I went to a local photography group on Facebook, and I asked if anyone knew of a shared space available for rent. And I got two suggestions. The first was with another photographer, and she was very talented. She didn’t necessarily shoot the same things that I did, but she.

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Had her work everywhere, understandably, I mean, it’s her studio, but she had her work everywhere, and it just felt awkward bringing my clients into such an established place for another photographer, especially

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if it doesn’t match your style or your brand or your genre or whatever.

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Right? I feel like I would have to explain to clients like, Oh, by the way, I’m renting this other photographer’s studio. This is all her stuff. Like, What if they looked at a picture on a wall and said, I want something like this? I’d be like, Well, you can hire that photographer because I don’t do that. So it was just not a good fit. And the second suggestion was a bonus room in a hair salon. And so I contacted the owner and asked how much it would be. And she said it would be six hundred dollars a month. Well, that was still more than I could really pay at the time, but I thought I would go check it out anyway.

00:21:02:26 – 00:21:40:16

And I came prepared with an offer for her, so I suggested, Hey, you know, this is a good fit. For three hundred dollars a month, I would trade any two photography services that she would like. So those could be personal family pictures, personal branding shoots, photographs of products, anything photography related that she wanted. She could do that twice a month, and that would cut it in half for me, and I gave her this list of options. And I remember I asked God to either open the door or slam it shut, and I would continue to work at the church.

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And I feel like God just open that door wide open and was like, Come on in because she agreed to the terms. And since then, I’m now paying four hundred dollars a month for one photography service a month. But it’s so cute. It’s tiny. It’s cozy. I’d say it’s a maximum of one hundred and fifty square feet in size, maybe a little bit smaller, but it’s my own space. It’s my own little happy place.

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I can have my clients come to you and I have the bonus of me not having to set up and tear down and pick up baby and toddler things and have the constant battle of dog hair everywhere. And I just love the stylists that work there, too. They’re just so supportive of me and my business, and it’s just such a good, such a good fit.

00:22:31:13 – 00:22:58:19

Yeah. Well, and I love this, Kelsey, because a lot of people would have just heard the $600 and just been like, Oh, it’s too much. I’m never going to be able to find a space. Everything’s too expensive. It’s not going to work, but you, you found a way to make it work. Exactly. And I think some people might be afraid to to offer a little bit less. But all she could have said was no. And then you say, OK, if you ever change your mind, let me know. I mean, like, you just went for it, and I think that’s amazing.

00:22:59:08 – 00:23:30:06

Yeah. Then that’s just like, it’s really funny looking at me when I was younger and me now because I feel exactly what you said, the worst thing people can say is no. And so I’ve become more brave in asking for things, and I probably would have never done that. And I don’t know where it would be now if I didn’t do that. But I figured with that space, if I booked at least one photoshoot a month, I could pay for it. And again, I’m still working at the church at this time. Just got a studio.

00:23:30:15 – 00:24:02:14

I have a four month old baby and a three and a half year old. And I thought, OK, well, I need to get some clients because I technically only had one shoot looked at that time. And so it was creeping on the Sue Bryce Education Facebook group, and I kept seeing a lot of the 40 over 40 project mentioned in that personally really resonated with me because about five or so years ago, I had a scare with my mom and I thought I thought she might pass away from cancer.

00:24:02:16 – 00:24:38:04

And I wouldn’t have had any pictures of her. And so that was really like, it hit me and my feelers of like, I don’t want any family to experience this. I don’t want anyone to have not have pictures of their mom. So I pretty much immediately launched that when I got my studio. And what I was not prepared for was the massive amount of people interested. And so my inbox was absolutely flooding, and I had over 30 photoshoots booked at one time and I was so overwhelmed and grateful.

00:24:38:20 – 00:24:41:24

How did you get it out there about this campaign?

00:24:42:25 – 00:25:07:18

Well, one of the biggest things that have helped me is Facebook ads. But also we have a couple of mom groups just for Northwest Arkansas, and I posted on those as well, and I tend to get a lot of applications when I post. Actually, I’ll say some posts. It’s crickets and some posts they explode. It just depends on when they when they land. So both of those helped me out a lot.

00:25:08:19 – 00:25:38:26

OK, so as far as the Facebook, OK, the mom groups, I just want it real quick for anyone out there who’s thinking, Well, I’m not a mom and I don’t have access to mom groups. Sometimes you can, because I joined a networking group called Business Among Moms. When I was in Seattle before I had kids, I wasn’t even pregnant, but they let me join socially. So you never know. So don’t discount those if you’re not a parent. And then also talk a little bit about how you said with Facebook marketing, what what was your most success that you found with that?

00:25:39:16 – 00:25:45:25

I am no expert in Facebook marketing like their ads. Still kind of confuse me today.

00:25:46:04 – 00:26:04:06

It’s so confusing. Kelsey, I like watching my head against the wall when I even try to do one, and I’m just like, Forget this and I just stuff like, It’s so hard. Well, it changed. Changes so much. I used to be able to do it. No problem. And now I can’t even duplicate what I did before because everything has changed so much. And I’m like, I don’t even I just get frustrated.

00:26:04:15 – 00:26:37:02

It’s hard. Yes, the business suite, I think it’s called, is like extra confusing to me. So I don’t have much advice. I’m not an expert in that area, but I will say what I did is I targeted women over 40, and I think the radius was 25 miles within my studio. And I know you can get real detailed with demographics on like, I want this person that likes these things, and I just kept it very basic women over 40 twenty five miles.

00:26:37:26 – 00:26:55:11

I know you can choose different incomes, but honestly, I have found that some of my clients that may not have the most money spend the most money with me. So that that’s not important to me. Like just I could target to like the more wealthy families, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to spend more.

00:26:55:13 – 00:26:58:00

Oh, totally. That doesn’t make a difference at all. Yeah.

00:26:58:02 – 00:27:03:09

So I just kept a real basic. It’s not like the most helpful information, but it works for me.

00:27:03:25 – 00:27:29:14

Yeah, sometimes it does. Just keeping it simple and basic is is enough. So that’s good. I’m glad you. I’m glad you said that because you don’t really have to be an expert and expert in order to make it work. So, OK, that’s good. All right. So so you have these 30 shoots, but you have a six month old two year nursing. You also have a two and a half year old and you have this extra studio. So what was your kind of like schedule? Like, how were you managing it?

00:27:30:09 – 00:28:01:15

Oh my word. It was so much. I work 30 hours a week of the church. Luckily, I had talked to our pastor and I was like, Listen, I think this is the direction I want to go. Is it at all possible? You can be flexible with my schedule as long as I’m getting everything done and allow me to book some shoots throughout the week because I had to do it while my kids were in preschool, and that also happened to be the time that I was working at the church.

00:28:02:03 – 00:28:36:27

And he’s amazing and he’s like, Yes, we can totally do that. And I remember him saying, like, at some point you are going to have to take a leap of faith. And I was like, OK, cool. Yeah, I can totally do that. Let me make sure my average sales are going to be decent enough for me to do that. And it really did get to the point that I think my first yeah, the month of July. So I started shooting in June, in the month of July. My total amount brought in was over eight thousand and so I was pretty comfortable at that point.

00:28:37:03 – 00:29:11:26

I was like, OK, if I can do this while working at the church and taking care of these small humans, like I can do this full time. So my final excuse for not leaving the church was I remember sitting down at my kitchen table with my husband and I was like, You know, I’m really nervous that Covid’s going to come back and I’m not going to be able to. They’re going to close down the hair salon, and that means I can’t work. And he said, Are you using that as an excuse? And I totally was.

00:29:12:05 – 00:29:20:08

And so in August, I decided to put my one month’s notice at the church, and I’m now in my fourth month of being a full time photographer.

00:29:20:19 – 00:29:26:22

Wow, OK. So I have most of your clients at this point, been from this 40 over 40 campaign.

00:29:27:08 – 00:30:01:06

I’d say the majority. Yes, I do some boudoir and maternity as well. And those those were kind of sprinkled in. But I will say campaigns have have changed how I attract clients, for sure. So I actually I’m all booked for my 40 over 40 now, and I’ve started another campaign called the Worthy Woman Project. And that is for all ages of women over 18. And it’s just a project with the goal of helping diminish the negative self-talk and giving a platform to inspire others.

00:30:01:24 – 00:30:21:17

And also, what I love about this new project is I plan on donating five. And dollars to our local woman shelter. So with each package purchase, I will donate $100 towards that and that will equal $5000 by the end of the project because I’m accepting 50 women for this project.

00:30:21:28 – 00:30:44:15

Yeah, that’s amazing. I love that, and it’s taking something that’s important to your passion. You know, something that you feel passionate about and in helping a community. And I feel like sometimes that almost helps to to. I don’t know. It’s not that you need a reason or a charity to charge what you charge or whatever, but I think just mentally, sometimes it can help us a little bit too like.

00:30:44:17 – 00:31:06:26

Yeah, that’s awesome. Very cool. Right? It makes me excited that I can donate $5000 like I charge an appropriate price where I can do it. And that’s exciting because as a business, I love being able to get back to our community. And if I was charging my two hundred to three hundred fifty dollars used in the past, there’s no way I could have done that, let alone feed my family.

00:31:06:28 – 00:31:17:23

So exactly, exactly. Talk to us a little bit about your pricing and how this works and and just that your campaign overall, do they come in having to pay something and, you know, just take us through that.

00:31:18:11 – 00:31:51:13

Sure. So the 40 over 40 I did, each client got one picture with the session fee, which was two hundred and seventy five dollars and then one hundred dollars off any additional thing they wanted to purchase. And so my average sale the last six months has been one thousand two hundred dollars, which has been a little lower than I’ve originally wanted. But there’s a reason for that, and I have actually raised my prices to where it won’t be that low for long.

00:31:52:08 – 00:32:13:03

So my pricing for the 40 over 40 in all projects is the same. The only difference is there’s some there’s some extra perks like the 40 over 40. I gave $100 off packages and then they get the one complimentary picture. But no matter what the type of shoot, it’s all the same price.

00:32:13:19 – 00:32:16:24

OK, gotcha. And do you mind sharing what your average sale is at this point?

00:32:17:26 – 00:32:42:15

No, not all. My average sale right now is one thousand two hundred dollars, and that’s a little lower than I would typically like. But I actually just raise my prices for the first time since beginning of this journey. With Sue Bryce, I started off really low and I have now bumped that up to where my absolute lowest package is fourteen hundred dollars.

00:32:42:24 – 00:32:59:01

Yeah, I mean, especially if you think about where you were, you’re giving 50 photos away for three hundred and fifty dollars. Twelve hundred dollars. That’s a really, really solid sales average and you’ve only really been at it for what, not even a year at this point, really.

00:32:59:03 – 00:33:42:15

Six months, six months. Which, yeah, kind of mind blowing because I see that sales average, I’m like, Oh man, that’s lower than I want. But at the same time, I added up what I’ve made in the last six months or how much has been brought into my business, and it’s forty five thousand two hundred and fifty one dollars. Yeah, that’s incredible. One of my favorite things to do is to like, keep me on this. Like, Do you have to charge this, Kelsey? You have to is I divided that by my past two hundred dollar shoes and I would have had to book two hundred and twenty six shoots at my two hundred dollar price ends in six months to bring that in.

00:33:42:22 – 00:33:47:28

Like, if that’s not so clear on why that’s not sustainable, I don’t know what is.

00:33:48:06 – 00:33:52:18

Yeah, I mean, OK, so so what are the end up being like? Thirty something shoots.

00:33:53:03 – 00:33:54:13

Yeah, something around there.

00:33:54:19 – 00:34:36:00

Yeah, I mean, that’s like a huge difference. There’s no way you can. I’m so glad you broke it down like that because there’s no way you can be sustainable charging such a little amount. There’s no way. Yes, when you take out taxes and the cost of doing business and pricing, you know, for products and you know the cost of your website fees and your studio overhead and just everything there, it’s just it’s not sustainable to do it any other way. And that’s what Sue has been saying for so long. Like, listen, work on your craft, make sure you have a strong portfolio and that you can give your your client beautiful photos, then raise your prices because you have to or you’re not going to survive.

00:34:36:20 – 00:35:01:26

Yeah, I have a certain expectation on what I want to give my clients, and I simply can’t do it for cheaper than what my current prices are. It’s not possible and I am a luxury product, and I understand that some some women have to save for that more. And some women, you know, ask for a birthday or Christmas gifts, and that’s totally fine. But this is what I have to charge. Yeah.

00:35:02:09 – 00:35:06:05

I notice on your website that there’s a spot where people can book a consultation.

00:35:06:15 – 00:35:38:08

Tell us about that man. There has been a recent development. When I first started my 40 over 40 project, then I did not have that set up. So people would email me and I would email them back and be like, Hey, I have these days and times available. And, you know, some people didn’t respond back right after that. And so I had all these pending, like, I gave this date to this person at this time, and I needed to block that off my calendar just. In case they said yes, and it was pure chaos.

00:35:38:12 – 00:35:41:14

Oh yeah, that sounds like chaos, oh my gosh.

00:35:41:24 – 00:36:15:04

So I got a CRM and I now have it where clients can directly book through that button and I have. So I do my photoshoots Monday, Wednesday, Fridays from nine to 12, and then they can book a consultation. I have every Monday and Wednesday and Friday available from 12:30 to 2:30, and they can book any time in between there and then they get an automatic email and it’s automatically put on my calendar and it’s game changing.

00:36:15:19 – 00:36:17:00

Which CRM do you use?

00:36:17:18 – 00:36:19:07

I used dubsado. OK.

00:36:19:09 – 00:36:20:18

I’ve been hearing a lot about that lately.

00:36:20:21 – 00:36:25:14

Yeah, I think I did a trial for a couple of others, and that just seemed like the best fit for me.

00:36:25:29 – 00:36:32:22

Yeah. OK. So they book you in for the consultation and is this something you’re doing on the phone or are they coming to you in person? How does that work

00:36:33:06 – 00:36:53:00

automatically on my website? It’s set up for a Zoom consultation unless they contact me directly and say that they want it in person. It’s just really easy for both parties that way. That way, if they have like a lunch break that they want to fit their conversation into or whatever, it gives them a little more flexibility where they don’t have to drive to my studio.

00:36:53:13 – 00:37:08:29

Yeah, I love that. I love it. I would much rather do it on the phone or Zoom then know, take the time out to, yeah, OK. And then, you know, obviously they do the consultation they either book or they don’t. How often would you say people are booking in versus not booking after a consultation

00:37:09:19 – 00:37:20:13

if they book their consultation? And I’d say probably 80 percent of them book a shoot. Oh, that’s awesome. Yeah, I’m pretty happy with that.

00:37:20:27 – 00:37:51:28

Yeah, I mean, that’s huge. That’s great. I mean, it sounds like you must be doing a good job of explaining to people what they’re going to get from you and just making it really apparent what services you offer and that sort of things. I feel like you feel like when you when you do that ahead of time, whether it’s through your website or social media or just, you know, really making it very obvious and clear what you do once you get to the consultation, they they pretty much already know what you do and they likely already want to book you. It’s just getting that extra details together. So it seems anyway.

00:37:52:13 – 00:38:08:02

Exactly, exactly. There’s I mean, there’s some clients that are already sold before I tell them anything. And then there’s some, of course, there’s some clients that they really, really, really want to, but they need some time to save. And that’s totally fine, too.

00:38:08:11 – 00:38:20:25

Sure. Yeah. OK. And then what about, you do the photo shoot? And then what happens after the photo shoot? Do you do a digital photo viewing or like an in-person reveal with prints? How does that work?

00:38:21:14 – 00:38:54:03

Since the beginning, I have done that printed reveals, and I’m a huge fan of those. I love them with my new prices. I do have some more products in. Some of them are like, I have a metal collage wall art and I do the the nine up, but I kind of rebranded it. I call it the celebration collection. So that’s the the nine five by seven prints in its custom frame then matted and has museum quality glass, and that’s just a really beautiful piece that they can display on their wall.

00:38:54:16 – 00:39:10:06

So if a client is like, Hey, I for sure want a metal collection or a celebration collection, I don’t do a printed review just because I know they’re not going to want those products, but they have to for sure know that they want one of those. Otherwise, I’m doing a printed review.

00:39:10:26 – 00:39:48:08

OK, awesome. And then so obviously they’re coming back to your studio, so you have to schedule that time as well. Mm-Hmm. Yeah. Yep, yeah. I definitely want to encourage you to raise your prices a little bit because that’s quite a bit of time. If you’re thinking, you know, you have to do the consultation, you’re doing the photoshoot, you’re probably doing some emailing back and forth beforehand, giving directions and payment and all that good stuff. And then obviously the photoshoot time plus the editing and retouching time plus now they’re coming back to the studio again. So I do I do hope you’ll consider raising your prices, especially because you’ve been consistently booking at like, you know, what you’re thinking is 80 percent of the time.

00:39:48:10 – 00:39:50:18

It sounds like it’s time to raise them, right?

00:39:50:23 – 00:40:17:01

So I actually did just raise them my new packages at a minimum start at one thousand four hundred dollars at a minimum. And my previous packaging, the minimum was nine hundred and fifty, and I had a decent amount that did the 950. So I realized that wasn’t sustainable for what I was providing. So I’m more I’m happier with the fourteen hundred, but I would love for my average to be more around the $2000 range.

00:40:17:21 – 00:40:25:28

OK, so I’m asking this for people out there who are like, Oh my gosh, what are they saying to these new prices? Like, what are people saying? So so how’s it been going so far?

00:40:26:15 – 00:41:05:12

It has been great. As with all new transitions, I have this moment of like, are people going to do this? Is this going to work out? And I’ve really had no problems booking with my new pricing, and I love I love that I changed it because I feel like it’s a more even exchange for me, but also I feel like they’re getting more out of their experience. And even if that means they need to take a little more time and save more money if they’re not quite there, I would rather them wait a little bit and get the full shebang rather than just come and get a couple of pictures, right?

00:41:05:14 – 00:41:18:07

Yeah, it all comes back to providing that service, and it’s the type of service that they’re going to want to tell their friends and family about, you know, are their coworkers so that maybe they’ll want to do it too. So, yeah, that’s great. And you do hair over hair makeup and that’s included, right?

00:41:18:22 – 00:41:19:21

Yep. Absolutely.

00:41:19:29 – 00:41:41:10

Cool. Cool. Well, that’s awesome. This is this is really great. And and again, it’s like, I think sometimes people get the idea that they have to have been doing this for so long or. And I know you’ve been a photographer for a while, but it sounds like you really didn’t put your heart and soul into it until six months ago. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So things can definitely change rather quickly.

00:41:41:20 – 00:41:52:22

So. Oh man. Yes, I was. I was not prepared. I remember I’m like, I just need one shoot a month, and then I got all those bookings. I’m like, Oh, I guess I need to quit my job.

00:41:55:09 – 00:42:16:12

Yeah. Very cool. And, you know, obviously having two very young children, it’s nice to be able to make your own schedule and to decide when you’re going to work and not work. And and yeah, it’s very exciting. I’m very excited for you. And how big is your town? I was going to ask you that too in Arkansas, are you in a pretty large city or are you in a smaller town?

00:42:17:00 – 00:42:45:08

My studio is in a city of about twenty eight thousand people. OK, so rather small. It is, but we’re part of Northwest Arkansas, which within an hour and a half in each direction, there’s probably about five hundred and fifty thousand. And it’s quickly growing. So it’s kind of small, but northwest Arkansas is kind of a big unit of smaller cities that equal a lot of people.

00:42:45:26 – 00:43:16:07

All right. So you have you have a lot of people to tap into. Oh, yeah, for sure. And even I think an hour and a half out might scare some people, but I know I’ve done. I did that for a long time and I still, you know, now the bigger cities are pretty far out at least an hour or so. Well, not so much right now where I live now, but where I did for a while. It was it was a good hour to get to a larger city. So even in Seattle, it’s like everyone’s like, Oh, Seattle is such a big city. And yeah, it’s a huge city.

00:43:16:09 – 00:43:31:03

But just to get to my studio from someone who might live 15 miles could be taken hours. It’s like they just kind of have to have it in your head mentally that it’s OK if I have to tap into people who are an hour, hour and a half away because people will do the drive.

00:43:31:07 – 00:43:48:21

Oh yeah, and really being in this area because there’s so much within this hour and a half radius, people are kind of used to driving anyway. It’s not uncommon to drive 30 45 minutes to go to a restaurant that you like, so it’s not asking much of them around here.

00:43:49:04 – 00:44:03:11

That’s cool. Very cool. Awesome. Well, thank you for sharing everything. I do have a couple more questions for you that I always ask at the end of each episode. And number one is what is something you cannot live without when you’re doing a photo shoot?

00:44:03:26 – 00:44:30:05

Well, obviously my camera, but I want to specify the type of camera because it’s been life changing. I’m in love with my Fuji xt3. Before this, I didn’t have a mirrorless camera, but the mirrorless wife has been incredible. The auto eye focus has been a really big game changer. I look back about that. Oh my gosh, Nikki, do you do mirrorless?

00:44:30:12 – 00:44:39:04

Not yet. I saw in the canon mark four. I’m like, I’m just not techie. I don’t, I don’t know. I just don’t. I probably should at some point here.

00:44:39:29 – 00:44:48:14

It’s amazing. I literally don’t even have to think about my focus anymore. It’s just almost all of them are tack sharp. So it’s you should look that. It’s amazing.

00:44:49:02 – 00:44:53:21

I know it’s on my first of the year list of things to do, so thank you for the encouragement.

00:44:54:28 – 00:44:55:13

You bet.

00:44:56:08 – 00:44:59:17

Number two is how do you spend your time when you’re not working?

00:45:00:06 – 00:45:29:28

Well, my day-to-day life, obviously spending lots and lots of family time since I have a four year old and almost one year old, so I’m soaking up those cuddles and lovins while they’re still willing to give them. And if I have any extended time, my favorite thing to do is traveling the world and exploring nature. So Iceland is my favorite place ever, and I would like to go another five times before I die.

00:45:30:24 – 00:45:39:20

Yeah, yeah. Awesome. Very cool. OK. And then. Number three is what is your favorite inspirational quote?

00:45:40:12 – 00:46:13:17

Yeah, so I actually have two the first one is your work is going to fill a large part of your life. And the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. That’s Steve Jobs. Nice. Yeah. The other one is actually a song lyric by the Avett brothers in its decide what to be and go, be it. Yeah, I love that. And both of those quotes have really helped carry me through my photography journey.

00:46:13:19 – 00:46:18:00

They kind of pop in my head every now and then. I’m like, Yes, those, I need to hear that.

00:46:18:19 – 00:46:21:18

It makes such a difference, doesn’t it? Doing what you love? Hmm.

00:46:21:22 – 00:46:23:11

Such an absolutely. Very cool.

00:46:24:03 – 00:46:27:16

And then number four, what would you tell people who are just starting out?

00:46:28:02 – 00:46:56:26

I would say whether you want to do this as a hobby or turn it into a career? Definitely invest in education. I spent so many years trying to figure things out myself, just from random YouTube videos or just playing with my settings. But the moment I signed up for Sue Bryce education, the quality of my work just increased significantly. Again, like, I learned things I didn’t even know I needed to know.

00:46:57:11 – 00:47:28:23

Yeah, this is really great advice. Education, whoever that educator is for you, whoever speaks to you or whatever genre it is or whatever, you know, whatever it is, education is so, so crucial. And I’m not saying, go get a degree. I know you’re not saying that either. There are so many great online opportunities and so many incredible educators out there and many different topics. And it’s just it’s so helpful, so helpful. I agree with you for sure. All right. Awesome. Where can people find you online, Kelsey?

00:47:29:15 – 00:47:40:27

My website is Kelsey Comer photography dot com. And then both my Facebook and Instagram are at Kelsey Comer Photography.

00:47:41:17 – 00:47:52:21

Awesome. Well, thank you again. I really appreciate you sharing everything. And I mean, it’s you’re just at the beginning of your journey. You still have a long way to go and with all the success. So I’m very, very excited for you.

00:47:53:08 – 00:47:56:10

Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me. I enjoyed our chat.

00:47:56:20 – 00:47:59:08

Yeah. Awesome. Cool. I will see you online soon.

00:47:59:16 – 00:48:00:29

All right. Bye bye.

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. 

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