Newborn, maternity and birth photographer, Minna Burgess of Baby and Maternity Fine Art Portraiture is from Brisbane, Australia and todays guest on the podcast. Minna recently changed direction and style with her photography business by moving away from posing and props to create, she says, a more meaningful experience for her clients.
Minna's view is the newborn photography industry has exploded, huge numbers of photographers have gotten to an incredible technical level very quickly due to amazing workshops that teach everything from lighting, posing and post-processing, but there's now a cry for more…
She was asking herself, how do I go beyond posing and props to create images that make my clients and viewers FEEL something? Minna has been working on exactly that and shares what she's doing, how you can too and includes booking strategies I've never heard before.
Here’s some of what we cover in this interview:
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 lots more content and we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed for and include:
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 Minna, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.
Plus, access to a members only Secret Facebook group where you'll 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. You will not find more friendly, more motivated and caring photographers online.
What is your big takeaway?
Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're up for the challenge and wiling to invest a little time and effort into yourself, your writing and your business. If so, let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below and feel free to share links to your blog posts – I'd love to check them out.
When I look at my work, I would call it polished. It’s very polished; and there’s nothing wrong with polished. But I don’t want polished anymore. I want raw and I want authentic – Minna Burgess
If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Minna about the challenge or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them below.
Premium Membership + SEO Bundle – 1 Week Left!
I can vouch for the SEO course on offer. I now rank page one for all the keywords I aimed for because of it – Nick Peel of Barley Monks family portrait photography
- Learn how to best use your limited time, prioritise your SEO tasks, have your site ranking well without being a blogging machine.
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- What you need to avoid doing to prevent being penalised and how to obtain epic links to boost your rankings.
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BONUS part 2 is the SEO Cookbook by Zach Prez (who I interviewed in episode 79 of the podcast) valued at USD$99.
The SEO Cookbook is a 60-page PDF that teaches photographers everything they need to know about search engines and how to rank well in search. The book is organised into simple recipes, each taking anywhere from 15 minutes to 4 hours.
The recipes allow you to focus on a specific part of your website a little bit at a time. For example, you can optimise your homepage one day, images another day, then a blog post, then learn how to get featured on another website.
With the SEO Cookbook, you can move forward at your own pace. It covers how Google works and how to exploit its ranking factors. It gives you step-by-step instructions for improving every page of your website so searchers can find you.
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Spencer's example blog posts for the challenge
The blog challenge put out by Spencer Lum in episode 172 has well and truly kicked off and a bunch of premium members have jumped at the challenge of posting once per day!
It's not too late to get started – in fact, there's no time limit but you have to start sometime – it may as well be this week.
What has been surprising is hearing from listeners taking the challenge, just how much more aware they are of what's happening in their day to day life and the ease in which they have been able to tie those observations back to their photography and more importantly, their prospective clients and their brand.
And here are a couple of examples from members:
Shaun Carr on – Street Photography in London
Les Hanna of hanna Arts Photography – Practice What You Preach
Raymond Hatfield's – High Risk, High Reward Approach to Photography
Saskatoon newborn photographer, Sheila Buhr – The dreaded topic of pricing
I love what San Antonio wedding photographer, Anthony Guana had to say inside the group:
I don't remember what day I'm on, but I wanted to share that my social media engagement has gone up ever since I started the challenge.
More likes and comments than what I had normally been getting, but that's an obvious given.
I also had an inquiry a few days ago from a couple that found me on Instagram. The bride said my work stuck out on a hashtag search because she thought my work was beautiful and because she consistently saw my work in that feed.
Just wanted to share that with the group! Hope everyone else is doing well. Keep it up! We're here for each other's support!
If you're putting yourself to the test, please link to your posts in the comments are below, I'd love to check them out and I know other listeners will too.
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 for another link to your site like William Gray has done below:
Great Podcast
In iTunes by William Gray of Gray Pictures in the USA on May 27, 2016
Andrew is one of the best photography interviewers out there.
He gets creative intent, work styles, customer interaction, sales, and most importantly, he sheds light on the life craft of photography. Perfect for people who both people wanting a full-time photo biz, and people who want a secondary $ flow. Things college doesn’t teach.
I work as a photographer and I teach photography, I recommend his PhotoBizX Premium Content show, and now I will do the same with his new show. I cannot express my thanks enough for all the hard work Andrew puts into his own photography biz because that’s what drives his questions.
He has a work ethic beyond most I know in media.
Thank You Andrew!!
The NEW Photography Xperiment Podcast is live and available
Following the success and support shown by listeners after the experimental format of the recent interviews, the new Photo Xperiment Podcast has been launched and is available on this site and in iTunes now.
Interviews are underway and I'll be looking for new guests, not restricted to wedding and portrait photographers. If you have someone you think would be a good fit, let me know in the comment area below or email me, andrew@photobizx.com.
The idea behind these interviews is to get into the headspace of the photographer and find what makes them tick, what drives them, their thought process, philosophy on shooting and how they achieve what they do with their photography. So yeah, a little technique type content too.
These interviews will not focus on the business of photography – that'll be preserved solely for the weekly and unchanging format of the PhotoBizX podcast.
To hear these interviews in your podcast app, you will need to subscribe to the podcast – these interviews will not be delivered automatically if you're subscribed to PhotoBizX. Open your favourite podcast app and search “Photography Xperiment Podcast” or enter the feed URL, https://photobizx.com/feed/xperiment/ into the search field of your podcast app.
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
First Moments by Minna Burgess
Minna Burgess Photography on Facebook
Episode 087: Sue Bryce – How to Make Real Money From Your Photography Business Right Now
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
Purple Cow, New Edition: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin
Thank you!
Thanks again for listening to the show and thanks to Minna for coming on and being totally open about what she's doing in her business to achieve the success she is.
I really realised I wanted to do more storytelling – Minna Burgess
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
Hi Minna
I really enjoyed listening to your story and how you have evolved your business. I was especially interested in some of the marketing techniques you have used, in order to grow your business and also get ‘bums on seats’.
I have a long way to go with my photography business and l have been thinking about gift cards, as well as some 3rd party marketing. I’m making a note to myself now, to pursue these things, in order to generate a greater awareness of my wedding and portrait business, within my local area.
Thanks Andrew, for another great podcast.
regards
Russell
Russell Hyde Photography
Russel that is great to hear, thank you so much for the feedback on the interview. Gift certificates have always worked beautifully for me 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the interview Russell – I agree, lots of takeaways from Minna!
Great talk! Thanks for introducing me to Moment Design. Seems really interesting!
Wilson, it has completely changed the way I shoot and introduced a much more meaningful way of interacting with my clients. I love it 🙂
Thanks Wilson – good to know you enjoyed the interview and info.
Russel that is great to hear, thank you so much for the feedback on the interview. Gift certificates have always worked beautifully for me 🙂
Hi Minna, how is Moment Design different to Jesh’s previously taught Beloved technique. I did his workshop on Beloved when he was here in Melbourne a few years ago. Is it the same and just been rebranded in a different way?
Hi Warren,
Jesh has recently changed the terminology. Beloved is now called Moment Design. The overall techniques are still exactly the same. I have worked with Jesh directly to develop Expression Invites specifically for use in newborn sessions and created a workshop around implementing a Moment Design (Beloved) approach to newborn sessions. Focus is more on the experience and the unique personality of each baby. No props, a very minimalistic way of posing and all about connection 🙂
Really impressed with this interview and inspired. Great reminder how authenticity trumps technique. I am checking out the moments by design packages right now for inspiration. And I particularly appreciated your honestly on how hard it was to give out those vouchers! You inspired me to kick past my own fears about self promotion.
Thank you Minna. I have really enjoyed your interview. I especially appreciated when you are explaining how you ask your model to actually give a promise to their child : it seems indeed to be such a beautiful way to improve the experience, to make it deeper and more authentic. I will try that and with couples photography as well.
All the best.
Thank you Andrew for introducing us to Minna.
Anais
Love that you enjoyed meeting Minna in this interview Anais. 🙂
Make sure you check out her Facebook group if you want to pursue what Minna teaches.
Andrew and Minna – Thank you both for the sharing and caring.
NO worries Clarke – good to know you enjoyed the interview. I know Minna will be rapt!