Amanda Schulz of ACS Studios is based in Edmonton, Canada and started her portrait photography business to show women how amazing they truly are. Do what Amanda's been doing in her business and you'll learn how to find your way as a portrait photographer today – she is amazing!

I asked Amanda to do this interview because of the way she's doing business… always evolving, trying new things, experimenting with her marketing, sales, pricing, shooting style and advertising. From the outside looking in, the work seems to be paying off!

In addition to her portrait photography business, she is a full time teacher. Although she has enough photography work to go full time, her choice is to do both, photography and teaching. Why would she possibly want to do both? That is one of the first things I ask in the interview.

Her mission as stated on her website:

I want to show you how beautiful you are. I want to empower you to feel amazing in your own skin. I want to change the way you see yourself.

Then, on her about page she says:

When bananas and peanut butter and chocolate are combined in any format, what-so-ever, I need to be involved.

Now that is something I could not get away with on my about page!

Full disclosure…

Amanda is a long term listener and a Premium Member of PhotoBizX but that's not why I contacted her for this interview. The last thing I want is a one hour plug for the show.

You'll hear from what Amanda shares in this interview, she is one savvy business women with a skill for finding her brand and mission early in her photography career. From there, it's been success upon success.

This episode just may be the catalyst to have you pursuing your dreams of a profitable photography business and following in Amanda's footsteps as she shines the way forward.

Here’s some of what we cover:

  • How Amanda started her photography business while working full-time
  • Why Amanda has chosen to only shoots women portraits
  • Portrait price increases and the effect on business
  • How to manage a day job and a photography business
  • Utilising your circle of friends as models for portfolio building
  • How to develop your photography style
  • Being labeled as copy cat
  • Why it took so long for Amanda to setup her photography business
  • How to build a portfolio that will attract more portrait bookings
  • How to hone your photography skills when developing your style
  • How to overcome self esteem issues within your photography business
  • The marketing solutions after choosing a specific photography niche
  • How to attract the right clients for your business
  • Is it ok to share non-photography related content on your social media channels?
  • Why you shouldn't shoot perfect models to build your portfolio
  • How to encourage clients to answer surveys or feedback forms
  • How to build your photography brand
  • How to build and execute on your branding strategy
  • How to encourage clients to come to you and view their photos
  • Portrait pricing and how to come up with something that works for you
  • Why you should encourage clients to complete your survey forms
  • How to utilise survey responses as content for your blog posts
  • How Amanda handled the huge workload of so many clients
  • How to get clients to be more responsive by telling them what to do
  • Facebook Ad campaigns that delivered more portrait clients than ever expected

Amanda Schulz 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 episode where you can hear lots more content from where we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed hard for that include:

  • How Amanda attracts portrait bookings today
  • Why Amanda is hesitant to sell her photos online
  • Finding someone to help with the behind the scenes aspect of your business
  • Why set-up a photography business despite having a full-time job?
  • The best time to outsource a writer is now
  • How to find the perfect writers for your photography business
  • How to use community groups in Facebook to outsource your website content
  • How much should you pay for outsourced articles?
  • Which blog articles attract more readers?
  • Amanda's content marketing strategy
  • The best thing Amanda has done for her business
  • What Amanda would do to kick things off when she moves to a different country
  • How to build relationships with Facebook groups or communities fast
  • Amanda's current workflow
  • The importance of asking for client feedback to generate more sales
  • How to handle unhappy clients
  • When to discuss pricing with your clients
  • Finding what works for you in your photography business

PLUS! 30 Days of Gorgeous – The Guide

If you can see the potential Amanda’s 30 Days of Gorgeous could have for your business, you are going to love the PDF Guide she has put together which explains how to implement the strategy step by step.

This Guide is available at Amanda’s Easy store for $10 (and you should definitely buy this if you're a free listener) and she has generously made it available to Premium Members, FREE.

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 Ben Hartley, 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 Facebook group where we take learning and community to a whole new level.

Amanda Schulz Photography Podcast

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know what your biggest takeaway is – what is the one thing that you’d like to implement or learnt from what was shared? Let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.

It's important to me that the people I photograph and put on my website are not intimidating to my future clients – Amanda Schulz

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Amanda or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them 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 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 and your name.

Amanda Schulz Photography Podcast

Black Friday Special for 12 months Premium Membership

The Black Friday Deals are almost over and there has never been a better time to become a premium member.

There's never been a special for the premium membership but there is one now and time is running out for you to take advantage. You have until midnight Monday 30th November 2015.

There is a massive 40% off for that one weekend only and only for the 12 month subscription.

Normally priced at $200USD, the special price will be $120USD. Again, this will be the only special for the year and it's only for the one weekend.

I'll send links to the special sign up page to anyone on my email list which you can get on by simply downloading my free ebook – How To Book More Portraits Than You Ever Thought Possible.

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New Facebook Group for Premium Members

The new Facebook Group for Premium members has kicked off and is going amazingly well. The camaraderie, help, support, questions and answers have been overwhelmingly good.

I think the successor of the group has a lot to do with everyone's common interest to build a better photography business and the fact everyone is at a different level means the range of topics and help really has been exceptional.

Members will have noticed more and more interview guests have been joining and participating in the discussions which just adds another level of value completely.

Having the Group as part of the Premium Membership has just added a whole new level of value – I love that!

Amanda Schulz Photography Podcast

Black Friday Specials for Photographers

It's that time of year when there are specials everywhere – particularly on digital products and photographers are well catered for.

Pre-Black Friday starts today with the business deal of the year from Zach Prez of Photography Spark.

Get the proven SEO Cookbook for Photographers for 50% off, that's only $49 for the comprehensive guide to getting more business from Google.

I've personally read and recommend Zach's book which is full of training and ideas and importantly, is easy to understand and follow.

Get the discount here: photography spark.com

On the page, you'll also see links to the most comprehensive list of Black Friday discounts for photographers – including the 40% off for 12 Month PhotoBizX Memberships.

Amanda Schulz Photography Podcast

Do you struggle to write blog posts?

If so, you need to check out Jenika's writing course, Irresistible Words which will help you become SO MUCH better at getting stuff out of your head and onto the page.

Jenika has some very cool ways to write blog posts faster, overcome writers block and get away from those dreadful blog posts that start with… The so and so family are just the cutest ever, we had such an amazing time at their recent shoot, blah, blah, blah.

What I love about Jenika's course is you can use it for more than just blog posts – I've done the course and am now using what I've learnt for all my marketing copy, ads, social media posts  – any type of writing I do.

You can find the course here and this weekend, Irresistible Words, which is regularly $249 will be on sale for  $199 – save $50.

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

ACS Studios Website

ACS Studios on Facebook

ACS Studios on Pinterest

ACS Studios on Instagram

Amanda's Guide to the 30 Days of Gorgeous

Sue Bryce – How to Make Real Money From Your Photography Business Right Now

Creative Live

Julia Kelleher

Animoto

Bernie Griffiths – A Challenge for You to Book More Portrait Photography Sessions

SmugMug

Táve Studio Manager

Hamish Symington, Studio Management Software Solutions for Photography Business

WordPress

WordPress X Theme – as used and recommended by Amanda Schulz

Drobo Data Storage

NAS – an alternative option to DROBO

Equipment

Nikon AF FX NIKKOR 85mm f/1.8G Fixed Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 85mm f/1.4G Fixed Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED Zoom Lens with Auto Focus for Nikon DSLR Cameras

Amanda Schulz Photography Podcast

Thank you!

Thank you again for listening to the show and thanks to Amanda for sharing so much about her business, marketing and approach to success.

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