460: Ben Marcum – Adding portraits to a headshot photography business was the best decision

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Ben Marcum of www.benmarcum.com is a portrait photographer based in Louisville, Kentucky. His photography work, inspired by classical art portraiture, is gorgeous, but it's not the reason for my invitation to be interviewed.

His business has recently taken a big turn and grown as a result.

Initially, Ben focussed on headshots; he's since added classic portraits and boudoir photography to his repertoire and has carved a nice little niche in his location and couldn't be happier.

He says… I still shoot headshots, and it is a good chunk of my business. It was more a matter of adding portraits.

At first, I thought since the two styles were so vastly different, I needed to have separate websites for them. I ran that way for a little over a year.

In the middle of last year, I combined the two sites.

Ben's revenue is over USD$100k with a 60/40 split between portraits and headshots.

In this interview, Ben shares how he grew the portrait side of his business and has grown the revenue by refining his sales processes. 

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

• Ben's reasons for adding a new niche to his headshot photography business
• Who are the ideal target clients for headshot photography
• Can a headshot photography business be profitable in Ben's area
• What to do when starting a portrait photography business
• What are classical portraits
• Creating stuff that you want to look at
• Client perceptions when you merge separate niches into one photography site
• Setting up a website to function seamlessly in a mobile environment
• The need to offer gift certificates
• How Ben's gift card works
• Things that bring in clients
• Which album products sell
• Ben's sales process in detail
• Ways to get active on social media to bring in clients
• Generating bookings from Tiktok
• What to post on Tiktok and how often should you post
• The pressure that comes with the need to produce content
• When is the best time to reveal the starting price to potential clients
• Why Ben prefers meeting clients during pre consultations
• The clothes are not what make a portrait successful
• The clothing clients prefer wearing for Ben's portrait sessions
• Ben's average sale
• Using sample albums as a sales tool to open conversations during consultations
• Client experience during and after photo sessions
• Ben's retouching workflow
• Offering incentives for more referrals
• Sending thank you cards to clients
• Ben's process when asking for client reviews

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

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If I make what I want to look at, and I'm excited about it, and I'm presenting it beautifully, then people will come for that. – Ben Marcum

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.

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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 Ben 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, and what you plan to implement in your business as a result of what you heard in today's episode.

70% of my traffic is mobile. In a mobile environment, everybody's conditioned to scroll and swipe. So, the website needs to function seamlessly in scroll-swipe. Desktop is really secondary for me. – Ben Marcum

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Ben 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 or Google 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 and Google are 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 or https://photobizx.com/google 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.

I want to create portraits that are timeless and that people are going to love forever. – Ben Marcum

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.​

This week's reviews are for the Book Projects training last week…

OMG!!!! that was INCREDIBLE.

By Owen Sound family and pet photographer – Candra Schank of Candra Schank Pet Photography

Probably the best training I have done in a long time.  Please let Katie know.

I am so excited to do this as I have been wanting to do it for a long time but didn't know how to get started.  I now have a plan and road map.  Now, to begin…whoop whoop.

Thanks for putting this together for all of us.

I can’t wait to start a second book project now!

By Niagara and Toronto pet photographer– Karen Black of Indigo Pet Photography

Hi Andrew, just wanted to say that the Profitable Book Project training was excellent! Katie K’s amazing!

It was very well put together and easy to follow. I loved being the beneficiary of her past successes and mistakes. Some amazing nuggets and ideas that she shared, in addition to her process.

Thanks for putting this on, it was well worth the money. I can’t wait to start a second book project now!

This class knocked it out of the park for me

By Boise Idaho newborn photographer, Paige McLeod of Glean and Co. Photography.

Andrew, the training was so good.

The ENTIRE thing was amazing. It was marketing, sales, client communication Oh and also how to do a book project.

I felt like I had a basic outline of how to do projects of this nature and Katie filled in so many pitfalls for me with elegant solutions.

Your podcast always is helpful but this class knocked it out of the park for me. Thank you for bringing Katie to us!