Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area.

Katie Kolenberg of www.heartstoryphotography.com.au is returning to answer photography book course questions that were submitted by members following the live training.

If you've started your own photography book project or are considering one, this episode is for you!

You can find a list of the submitted questions below and as always, Katie was super generous with her answers and gave so much more than she could have when answering these

Angela : Would love to know how Katie sets her target audience for Facebook ads.

Sue was inspired by Katie's book title, Teddy and Me and was looking for alternative ideas.

Some quick suggestions

Kids and their Toys
Toddlers and Toys
Teddys and Toddlers
Snuggles and Cuddles
Kids and their Comforters
My Blankie and Me

Jan : If I run a low-volume, higher priced business model, would it be better to create packages at a lower price point? I fear too many people would say no and I'd have three participants.

Angela : Andrew, several of us here, have followed another book project method but found we did not get our “ideal client” with the low barrier of entry ($100 participation fee).

Holly : Would a book project be a good idea to help get established in a new location?

Yulia : Who is actually buying these printed books? I just can’t wrap my head around why anyone would want to buy a book with not just their own child photos.

Diana : Is there a minimum number of shoots you suggest for the book?
What if it's 100, would you rather do as one big book, or Book 1 and Book 2?

Candra : Softcover or hard for your book?

What's the best time of year to start a book project – does it matter?

Kim : What if you can’t get enough participation for your book project?

Deb : What do Katie's sms messages contain?

Jon: what percentage of clients in the book spend money vs. just take the shoot and spend nothing

Graham : Hope we have time to talk about qualifying/choosing applicants

Jina : I really love to hear more details about went wrong with Teddy and Me. I'd like to learn what to avoid. ?

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

  • How to set up target audiences in Facebook Ads
  • Ideas for project titles
  • How to set your pricing to attract clients
  • The purpose of having book projects in your photography business
  • How to find ideal clients for your book projects
  • How to handle clients who can't afford to pay
  • Is it okay to charge high entry fees for book projects
  • Why book projects have so much potential for marketing your business
  • Are book projects effective for creating awareness when moving to a new city or should you establish your photography business first
  • Who buys the books from a book project
  • Is there are minimum page requirement for photography books
  • Is a softcover better than a hardcover for your book project
  • When is the best time to start a book project
  • What to do when you can't get enough people to participate in your project
  • What Katie would do differently if she was to start a new book project today
  • Possible reasons why a book project could tank and how to fix it
  • The importance of having a support network when the going gets tough
  • What to do if nothing goes according to plan with your project
  • What kind of messages does Katies send out on SMS/TEXT
  • Email reminders Katie sends out to clients
  • Clients will ghost you if they don't like you
  • Why it is important to send follow-up messages to leads
  • Katie's follow-up workflow
  • The percentage of clients with guaranteed sales vs no sale clients
  • What questions to ask in your book project's initial application form
  • How to politely say ‘No' to unsuitable clients
  • The importance of broadening ideas

Katie Kolenberg Photography Podcast

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this interview – the full length and more revealing version where you hear the absolute best tips and advice from every guest.

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus special member-only interviews.

Be brave and trust that your work will sell itself as it does when you're not doing a book project. – Katie Kolenberg

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. There are also FB live video tutorials, role-play interviews and special live interviews happening in the group. You will not find more friendly, more motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

In addition to everything above, you'll get access and instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable and build friendships with other pro photographers with similar motives to you – to build a more successful photography business.

The Six Figure Blueprint

Ready to build your dream portrait business?

Kim Marie, who is well known by PhotoBizX listeners was interviewed for episode 420 of the podcast and covered: How to build a photography business to sell… and also presented the incredible training on utilising Expos to generate unlimited leads bookings and sales is launching a new online course, The Six-Figure Blueprint.

This training is only for photographers who are already generating $30k+ from their photography and is the perfect way to take your photography business to a whole new level – by someone who has actually done it.

To learn more about the training and what Kim is offering, here's the link: https://photobizx.com/kimmarie

It is important to acknowledge that yes there's a possibility that things might not work out. Then it's up to you to push harder or to make some adjustments or to reach out for help. – Katie Kolenberg

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what Katie shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below, let me know what your takeaways were, and what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in today's episode.

Remember not to compare your start of journey to somebody else' middle of journey. – Katie Kolenberg

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Katie or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

Katie Kolenberg Photography Podcast

iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

Each week I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews and it's always a buzz to receive these… for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they really are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome!

Secondly, iTunes and Google are the biggest search engine when it comes to podcasts and it's your reviews and ratings that help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and ultimately a better show.

If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name.

One of the biggest reasons why book projects can be so effective is because they create a bit of a ‘wow' factor with your marketing to the potential audience. – Katie Kolenberg

Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast and email me your keywords or keyword phrase and where you'd like me to link to.

Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has made a difference to you and your photography business.​

Katie Kolenberg Photography Podcast

Thank you!

Thanks again for listening and thanks to Katie for sharing her thoughts, ideas and experiences on creating a profitable marketing campaign utilising photography book projects.

You need to make sure that what you do here is going to suit your business model and that might just alleviate that fear the first time you do it. – Katie Kolenberg

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions about this episode, please be sure to leave them below in the comment section of this post, and if you liked the episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post!

That’s it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!

Thanks and speak soon
Andrew