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

Amy and Tavis Guild of www.theguildgallery.com are today's guests, and one thing is clear when visiting their website or social media profiles for the Guild Gallery – they promote and sell beautiful wall art.

Everywhere you look, there are framed wall prints, canvases, albums, wall art hanging in homes, being created in-house, being hung in homes – wall art is everywhere.

They feature a big, bold byline – front and centre on their website which says:

A STATEMENT WALL ART PIECE IN YOUR HOME THAT PROMOTES FAMILY CONNECTION AND DISPLAYS YOUR VALUES FOR THE WORLD TO SEE.

Although portraits appear to be their primary focus today, it all started with weddings in 2008.

They later added family and senior portraiture. And more recently, business portraits.

Based in Yakima, Washington in the USA's north-west and working from a beautiful, old street-front gallery, their goal is to create museum-quality wall art for families and display the artwork in homes for them to enjoy every single day.

In this interview, Tavis and Amy share exactly how to make large portrait photography sales from auctions in your local area.

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

  • Who are Amy and Tavis' perfect clientele
  • Amy and Tavis' separate roles in their business
  • Amy and Tavis' business history
  • Why transition from weddings to portraiture
  • Is portrait photography a more lucrative business than wedding photography
  • Auctions and fundraisers to market your business
  • Amy and Tavis' photography business revenue
  • How to measure success
  • Are auctions a big part of how to generate bookings and sales
  • How to set up and display your work for a successful auction campaign
  • How to pick and choose the right auctions to support
  • When is the right time to upsell
  • When do clients get the idea of how much they will spend
  • The all-important pre-shoot lient meetings
  • The importance of branding
  • Amy and Tavis' family portrait photography style
  • Taking ownership of your actions when dealing with clients
  • Amy and Tavis' in-house canvas business
  • How to book portrait sessions from auctions
  • Setting up trigger campaign events for brand recognition
  • Why it's not always best to give out business cards to prospective clients
  • Why you need a giant calendar to see your yearly schedule
  • Can discounting work well in a photography business
  • How to offer discounts without reducing the value of your work
  • Complimentary sessions – good idea or bad
  • The importance of educating clients before the shoot
  • Who qualifies for complimentary sessions
  • Creating the ideal client for your business

Amy and Tavis Guild 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.

I don't believe in luck. I believe it's when opportunity meets preparation. – Tavis Guild

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 to 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.

Amy and Tavis Guild Photography Podcast

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what Amy and Tavis 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, what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in today's episode.

There's nothing random about creating family portraits. We really are creating a unique art piece for each family and the value increases very quickly when you're on that track. – Tavis Guild

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

Amy and Tavis Guild Photography Podcast

iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

Each week I check for any new iTunes 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 is 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.

Answer the why, not the what. Why is this happening, not what is happening. It's easier to see what's happening. The question is why is it happening in the first place. – Richard Waine

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 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.

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.

Here is the latest review…

★★★★★ An epic podcast for photographers wanting to grow their business.

Posted in iTunes by Margaret River wedding photographer, John Rice, from Western Australia on 24th June 2020.

I have been a premium member since PhotoBizX started out, and I am still learning with every episode.

PhotoBiz provides in-depth content that is specific to your photography niche and it's easy to understand and implement too. I have found it a great way to be introduced to awesome Photography Business Coaches like Bernie Griffiths who helped me to have a huge success in the family portrait market.

Andrew is so genuine and helpful, he once called me in response to an email I had sent to him, to help me when I was building networks and alliances in my local area. I think we chatted for forty-five minutes and he was happy to chat again to make sure I was on the right track. That's above and beyond stuff and I am so appreciative.

This is a no brainer and I highly recommend this podcast to take your photography business to the next level.

I'm not a Lightroom user but this might interest you if you are…

PBX member and past interview guest, Dave Stewart has just released a super helpful service for Lightroom users called Lr Watermark.

They can transform your logo into a customised brush preset so you can place a watermark in the Develop module, and you don't need to rely on the clunky export-based watermarking in Lightroom or switch over to Photoshop to place a logo, so it's excellent for quick social media posts etc.

It's just launched and Dave is looking for some early adopters and is offering 50% off (on top of the current sale price) until August 7th for PhotobizX premium members, which works out at $4.99 USD and sounds like a total steal to me!

Just use promo code PBX50 on checkout.

You can learn more and see how it works here: www.lrwatermark.com

New updates for SmartAlbums

I just received a message from Daniel Usenko of Smart Albums about some new updates to the software.

It's already a fantastic design tool and the new features look great.

More details here: https://www.pixellu.com/smartalbums/smartalbums2020/

If you don't have SmartAlbums and are interested – make sure you use the promo codes available in the Premium Resource area to save some $$$.

If you have any questions for Daniel – he's available in the Members Facebook group.

PhotoBizX Daily Vlog Challenge – Earlybird pricing is now available

Why utilise video in your photography business? The number one reason – to make a personal connection with our prospective client, faster than ever before.

You can do this with video on your website, email replies with video plus advertising and retargeting with video. 

There is no faster way to make a connection than you talking to your clients via video. 

If you generally book most of the clients you meet with face to face, imagine building that bond earlier in your process and before other local photographers. It'll mean more bookings for you. Fantastic right? As long as you can be yourself and make the same kind of connection you do in person. And you can! 

Want to learn how to get comfortable being yourself on camera?

This Challenge will get you there. 

The improvement and transformation in members videos has been extraordinary as we add something new to focus on throughout each module – from lighting, framing, eye contact, intro and outros – all with daily prompts.

Everyone involved is getting daily feedback, and it's easy to see the fun we're all having as we progress.

The next Challenge is starting soon! Click the link and add your details to get involved: http://dailyvlogchallenge.com

The way it works

  1. Watch the daily video (with topic/Challenge included) uploaded into a separate post each day – excluding weekends.
  2. Record your video reply and upload into the comments for that unit.
  3. Once your video is uploaded, leave comments or constructive feedback (if requested) on at least 2 videos from other participants. 
  4. Wait for feedback on your recording and implement suggestions into your next Challenge.

That's it, as simple as that. ???

Amy and Tavis Guild Photography Podcast

Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:

Tavis and Amy Website

Guild Canvas Co

Tavis and Amy Business Coaching Website

The Guild Gallery Family Portraits

Tavis and Amy Wedding Photography

The Guild Gallery on Instagram

The Guild Gallery on Facebook

Guild Canvas Club Facebook Group

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink

Daily Vlog Challenge registration

SmartAlbums new updates

Lightroom Watermark App by Dave Stewart

Amy and Tavis Guild Photography Podcast

Thank you!

Thanks again for listening and thanks to Amy and Tavis for coming on and sharing their thoughts and ideas on building a successful family portrait photography business by focussing on delivering a great service and following up with beautiful pieces of wall art to compliment their client's homes.

I am a firm believer of creating the ideal client versus always trying to attract the ideal client. – Tavis Guild

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