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John Mireless of www.johnmireles.com is responsible for the outdoor art installation you may have heard of called – Neighbours. In this interview, John shares the detail on why and how he was able to transition from a domestic and commercial photographer to photographic Artist. Hint… he was able to generate enough income from photography to have time off (years) to focus solely on creating art with his photography.
The Neighbours project began in 2015 as a series of portraits featuring the everyday people in John's community in San Diego. After photographing these locals he made 4′ x 6′ vinyl prints, in-house, which feature mostly tightly cropped headshots.
John framed these images himself and displayed them on the fence surrounding his home! They were prominent and available for everyone to see.
Since then, he has been travelling America, photographing ‘neighbours' around the country.
He has studios in San Diego and New York City and a history that includes wedding, portrait and commercial photography. At the moment, all commercial work is on hold as John pursues art. Made possible by the fact he generated the kind of income from weddings, portraits and commercial work to take time off to pursue what he's most passionate about.
My goal with this work is to unite Americans across their geographic, political, racial and economic differences,” said the artist. “By bringing people together through my art, I hope to create a sense of connection between viewer and subject and, hopefully, promote empathy across the many differences that divide Americans. – John Mireless
Here’s some more of what we cover in the 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 interview – the full length and more revealing version where you hear the absolute best tips and advice from every guest.
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What I think works about my project is that it does bring people together. It allows Americans to connect with each other. – John Mireles
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.
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Joining a Mastermind Group (encouraged by Andrew) has been incredibly valuable and fun, I look forward to connecting with my group members every week. Jina Zheng, Premium Member and Melbourne Children photographer.
And that's not all… you get a set of steak knives… I'm kidding!
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What is your big takeaway?
Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything away from what John 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.
Art is about communicating something. It's about teaching us something about our experience, our culture, it's about questioning, it's making some sort of statement. And that requires a lot of thought and a lot of intentionalities. – John Mireles
If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask John or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.
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.
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.
Black Friday Sales are Happening from This Week
The Black Friday weekend is coming up at the end of the month and there will be sales galore bombarding your inbox.
In an attempt to make life easier for you and me, I'm releasing the PhotoBizX special now.
Included in the specials are three separate offers for PhotoBizX listeners.
12-month Premium Membership – 40% off
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NOTE: Existing members on the $20 per month plan – if you make use of this offer and have already paid $20 this month, let me know and I'll refund this months payment. Existing members already on this plan from last year, no need for you to do anything, you will automatically stay on this deal.
As with any Premium Membership, you'll get access to the full back catalogue of interviews including those with guests like; Fer Juaristi, Jonas Peterson, Sue Bryce, Ryan Brenizer, Yervant, Jerry Ghionis, Nordica Photography, Gabe McClintock, Peter Hurley, Two Mann Studios, Jen Huang plus others.
In addition, you'll receive an invite to the most helpful and supportive Secret Facebook Group for members only with your membership.
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Plus, the Facebook ads Course is also 40% off here – Get access to the Facebook Ads Course for $117.
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It's well known that In Person Sales (IPS) generally outperform Online Sales and there always seems to be a big industry-wide push towards this form of photography sales. Many experts, gurus, rockstars and teachers push hard to get newbies especially into selling in person. Their intentions are good and I'm in the same boat and prefer IPS to online sales in my business.
However… IPS isn't for everyone!
For some photographers, online selling is a better fit either all of the time or at least for some sessions – like it is for me.
Are you a photographer who…
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- Works with clients who are holidaying away from their home and only visiting the area you service
- With a dislike of selling in person – maybe selling just isn't for you
- Just likes the idea of working online to sell
- Is starting out and selling your photography is new to you and possibly even scares you
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Does this sound familiar? If so… this course is definitely for you.
And you can save 20% now with this link: Online Sales Mastercla ss – Special Price
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
Save 40% on your 12 Month Premium membership
Save 40% on the Facebook Ads Course
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Thank you!
Thanks again for listening and big thanks to John for sharing his thoughts on art and building a successful photography business to fund the creation of art projects.
When art works, there is meaning behind the work. – John Mireles
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
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