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

James Maher of jamesmaherphotography.com is a lifelong New Yorker and has built an eclectic photography business shooting commercial headshots and business portraits, hosting New York street photography workshops and tours, selling fine art photography online and writing books… the latest being; Creative Freelance Marketing, Traditional and Digital Marketing Strategies for Photography, Art, and Creative Businesses.

Use the promo code: PHOTOBIZX to save $20 on your purchase!

James has devoted himself to his photography business since 2005 and his fine-art photography has been sold and licensed to collectors and companies globally, including Tiffany & Co. and G-Star RAW. Along with his fine art and street photography, he works with various businesses as a portrait and studio photographer. He's also a certified New York tour and workshop guide and frequently leads photography workshops.

Here’s some of what we cover in this interview:

  • James' photography style and what he shoots for a living
  • James’ style preference if he's shooting personal work
  • The end goal of shooting photography projects
  • The benefits to your business of working on personal projects
  • Can a photography business solely survive with a niche in street/documentary/fine art photography?
  • Why James wrote his book – Creative Freelance Marketing
  • To survive a business means to study the marketing side of it
  • Writing can help figure out the holes in your business and strategies
  • What you'll learn from James’ book
  • How to prioritise which strategies to work on for your business
  • James’ short-term goals and what he does to achieve them on a daily basis
  • How to apply for a grant to start your project and how much money is involved
  • How James finds his headshot and portrait clients
  • Sending out emails to your personal contact list to kick off your business
  • What James does to generate work when business slows
  • Handing out flyers to gain exposure of your business
  • Working on SEO techniques in the slow months to sustain your business
  • Who ends up on James’ mailing list and what he does to keep it growing
  • Why James doesn’t mind crossing niches when sending newsletters
  • The contents of James’ email auto-responders series
  • The benefits of multiple income streams
  • How much time should you allot for your personal projects?
  • How a book can be a status symbol for your business and help you connect with your clients
  • Print sales pricing and order fulfilment process
  • Why James moved away from an integrated online ordering system for fine art prints
  • A normal sales inquiry James receives from his fine art photography clients
  • Why James prefers not to initiate a sales sessions on framing his prints
  • Why James prefers Paypal over other options when accepting payments from clients
  • What clients get when they order prints
  • What clients see in a Certificate of Authenticity when receiving their prints
  • How to handle complaints about damaged art work
  • Offering promotions to make a sale
  • How James finds time to write his books
  • James' approach when writing for blogs and guest posts

James Maher Photography Podcast_05

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 episode where you can hear more of the interview where we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed for.

I realised that the only way for me to survive [doing photography] was if I also studied the marketing side of it – James Maher

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

Plus, members only interviews.

Plus, access to a members only Secret Facebook Group where you can connect with other members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take what you hear in each episode and put it into action. See FB live video tutorials, role play interviews and special live interviews.

You will not find more friendly, more motivated and caring photographers online.

James Maher Photography Podcast

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what James 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 todays episode.

The most important thing to building a business is to find something within, that you can make a living off of it and keep yourself sustained – James Maher

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

James Maher 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 means 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 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 key words or keyword phrase and where you'd like me to link to.

This week, not an iTiunes shout out, but a congratulatory shout out to Linz wedding photographer, Lukas Leonte in Austria who recently made the leap to full time and posted this in the Members Facebook Group.

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to this group and especially to Andrew!

You guys have been amazing so far and contributed a lot to my personal and business growth the last few months (even though I was only observing in a passive way).

When I joined PBX Premium I told you that my goal was to go full time into wedding photography by the end of 2017.

Well, it's been over a week now and I have quit my office-job to pursue wedding photography as my full time job on 1st May!

I can't wait to see where this path will lead and I am so thankful for this group and everyone who shares their experience and knowledge!

Have a great week everyone!

James Maher Photography Podcast

Last Days to Get the Facebook Ad Promotion Course at Half Price 

Do you have enough bookings for your photography business?

If not, the Facebook Ad Promotion Course will be available later this week

In a nutshell, the course contains:

  • step by step tutorials on how to craft a Facebook ad that appears to your ideal target audience (with lots of examples)
  • videos showing you how to set up your ad inside Facebook's Ad Manager and how to use the best targeting for quick results
  • “role play” audio recordings showing you how to book the right clients for shoots (and pass on the ones that are only after a free shoot and print)
  • separate instructions for different photography genres

The course launches this week and will cost $47 USD for 5 days only from the release date (after that, it goes to $97).

The course will be available in its entirety once purchased – it’s not an email drip campaign. You get lifetime access.

In the meantime, I've put together a series of video tutorials covering important aspects from the course. Even if you don't purchase the course, you'll get many takeaways from these free videos alone:  http://fbadpromo.com

 

Here's what other photographers had to say about the course: 

“Just buy it, you will start making money as fast as you start phoning and shooting sessions. The cost for new clients is so low it's silly. I had figured it used to cost about 60+ dollars per new clients. Now it's about 5.” – Jerry Van

“I'm also happy to say I've already gotten 2 couples who filled out the questionnaire within 2 hours of posting the ad. Really cool to see how well it works, even with someone like me who has been full time for less than a year.” – Carl Heyerdahl

“I have followed Andrews instructions to the letter and in 24 hours I have 24 completed questionnaires, 2 wedding enquiries and the ad has been seen by 4000 people. This stuff is gold. All for £20, and I have 6 days left to run.” – Simon Hawkins 

“My mind has been blown! The reach was over twenty thousand, nearly a hundred people applying for the shoot, three wedding enquires, and nearly a hundred page likes! […] Honestly man, can't thank you guys enough for putting this together!” – Daz Mack

“What a fantastic course… Super easy to breeze through and its all killer, no filler.” – James Westray

James Maher Photography Podcast

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

James Maher Official Website

Creative Freelance Marketing: Traditional and Digital Marketing Strategies for Photography, Art, and Creative Businesses
Use the promo code: PHOTOBIZX to save $20 on your purchase!

The New York Photographer’s Travel Guide: The Best Places to Photograph from a Professional Photographer, Tour Guide, and Lifelong New Yorker

James Maher on Facebook

James Maher on Instagram

James on Twitter

Get in touch with Alan Moyle about goal setting, losing weight or Isagenix here: Photobat@photobat.net

James Maher Photography Podcast

Thank you!

Thanks again for listening and thanks to James for coming on and sharing so much about his business, ideas, strategies  and how he's built a successful photography business in such a competitive market.

When you’re first starting a business, your biggest asset is your personal connections and your personal connection’s connections – James Maher

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