024: Caitlin McColl – The Business of Pet Photography Success

024: Caitlin McColl – The Business of Pet Photography Success

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, I'm really excited to have my guest on the show today. It's Caitlin McColl from Ragamuffin Pet Photography. And the reason I'm so excited is because so many of you listeners have asked to have a pet photographer on the podcast since this thing kicked off. Now Caitlin's been shooting semi-professionally, she says, for six years, but she's only really kicked off Ragamuffin Pet Photography seriously in the last 12 months, but things seem to be going great. When you look at her website, she's got her branding down pat. Her prices are great. It looks from the outside like everything is going wonderfully, and we're going to find out how she's doing in that, maybe some of the hurdles that she's encountered along the way. Caitlin, welcome to the podcast.

Caitlin McColl: Thanks, Andrew. It's good to be here.

Andrew Hellmich: That's great. So you're in sunny Melbourne, is that right?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, very, actually, there is a little bit of sun shining at the moment, so I won't be too rough on it, but no, normally it's not that lovely down here.

Andrew Hellmich: So how was that intro? Is that pretty accurate? You've been shooting semi-professionally. What do you mean by that? And you said for six years, is that right?

Caitlin McColl: So the way that my background is when I was in high school, I'm only 23, so when I was in high school, and, you know, every teenage girl gets into photography, but I sort of went one step further and started working mostly in fashion photography. I was living in London at the time, which made it easier. I started working sort of with local designers and a couple of local magazines, and that was when I was 17ish, 16-17.

Andrew Hellmich: You were actually shooting for these labels?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow. That's pretty good. Pretty cool.

Caitlin McColl: I mean, there's only small stuff. And then I went over to New York on a scholarship for three months, and that really cemented, I guess, my drive to be a photographer. So in my final year, I dropped maths and sciences and all those things, and I was like, "I'm going to be a photographer." I thought I was gonna be a fashion photographer, but I quit that, and then moved to Australia and through to sort of support myself through uni, I shot mostly fashion stuff and weddings. So was not, it wasn't full time work, it was part time work, but that's all I've ever done.

Andrew Hellmich: So sorry. So you were doing all this while you're still studying at school?

Caitlin McColl: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, in the school. How did you get this scholarship? Was that for to a photography school or for work?

Caitlin McColl: It was to do with the School of Visual Arts in New York City. And it was a, it was only a three month course. I was, I forget, about 16 or 17, and it was in digital photography. So basically, went over and went basics of, well, not the basics, it was like an intense Photoshop I guess mostly is what we focused on. I know they had a like an auntie farty film course as well, but ours was all digital photography. That was great.

Andrew Hellmich: So all this is really learning how to shoot, but not, not so much about the business side of things.

Caitlin McColl: No. And it wasn't until my third year of uni that I roughly started Ragamuffin, and I basically spent my whole third year of uni writing a business plan. But before then, I hadn't really sat down and clearly thought out, sort of what I wanted to do, concisely in the business. I sort of was doing anything that someone would pay me for, I'd do. So, I did product stuff when I could do it. I did weddings and I could do it. I did fashion stuff mostly, but it was very much the whole jack of all trades thing. But then in third year, started Ragamuffin. So that was 2011.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so we're going to do a ride into the Ragamuffin side of things. But I know that every listener out there is thinking, how do you go from a New York fashion photography prospect to pet photography in Melbourne?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, pretty much the way it went was that it sort of got to, I was 20 years old, and I was already starting to feel a bit, not over it, I guess, but I was starting to realize that sort of industry isn't what I wanted to do long term. And I was sort of, I had to either change it or I had to commit myself to it. And I just I didn't want to be involved in fashion photography, so then I sort of had like a three month period when I was trying to work out what I did want to be involved in. And I had adopted my dog, Lyra, and I just started photographing her, and she was really teaching me a lot about love and loyalty and all that sort of stuff. And I pretty much just one night, went, "Oh my gosh, I should be a pet photographer." It was like a really sudden thing, but then once I thought it in my head, I went, "Oh my, I really should be", so that was very exciting. And then I don't do anything slowly. So I, like, set up the website overnight, like a really crappy little one, but I just set up something overnight and sort of broke out a quick plan, and then the next day I was into it.

Andrew Hellmich: The next day.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Wow

Caitlin McColl: When I get excited I do things quickly.

Andrew Hellmich: So, did you have this sort of epiphany when you were, like, still in New York doing the fashion thing where you already come back home?

Caitlin McColl: I was in Melbourne, by that stage, I studied at RMIT. I did my, in which is in Melbourne, CBD. I did my BA in commercial photography at RMIT.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, and now you said that very next day, or once you had this epiphany about doing the pet photography, you wrote a plan. So what did that consist of?

Caitlin McColl: So the original plan was just a, how am I going to build up my portfolio.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. And what did you put down?

Caitlin McColl: So other photographers going to tell me off for this, because what I should have done was had so the introductory portfolio building presses, that sort of thing. But I have to admit, I didn't. I put an ad up on Gumtree and said, "Free photoshoots", and that's how I build up my portfolio. So for the first month, I just did a bunch of free shoots with strangers. I didn't do it with anyone that I knew, because I didn't want them to know. I don't like doing free shoots for people I know. So then I had a portfolio built up, and once I had all those photos built up, I launched a Facebook page and then slowly started releasing them. Then, because I was still in my last year of university, I sort of had the freedom to dedicate more time than probably most people would to portfolio building. And I also spent that last year of uni, writing my business plan.

Andrew Hellmich: This initial plan, so you've written down here to build a portfolio, and you obviously worked out a strategy to do that through Gumtree. Did you have anything up, like, did you have figures and things at that stage, or that was just the one thing you needed to get done?

Caitlin McColl: No, that would say, "How am I going to spend the next month?", just to have something so that I could then start charging, because I figured I couldn't really start charging if I couldn't show anyone any work. So my dog, I hadn't shot pets before, so that's how I did that.

Andrew Hellmich: With your ads on Gumtree, I mean, I can imagine would have got a lot of the same pets, and because you're trying to build a portfolio, did you find that if you've got too many Schnauzers or too many German Shepherds, just said, you started knocking people back?

Caitlin McColl: I really only accepted the first 10, well, not the first, I only accepted 10 free sessions anyway, because I figured that was enough, so that to get under my belt. But the way I did it was I had a, just to get some sort of barrier of entry, so it wasn't just everyone can get free shoots. I did have a little questionnaire that they had to fill in about their pet, and I had them send in photos. So it wasn't necessarily just 'let me know when I'm going to give you a free session'. It was, "There are going to be 10 people who are accepted, so you can apply and you might get accepted." I did it that way.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so it wasn't it just an out and out promise for everyone, a free for all.

Caitlin McColl: No, no.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, great. So you build up, you said 10 shots, and that was a start then of your website after that month.

Caitlin McColl: Yep, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, great. Now, look at, when I, when I look at your website, now it looks fantastic, like I can see you've spent a lot of time or effort or money on branding. Everything looks really clean and classy. So how did, how did that all come about?

Caitlin McColl: That's a work in progress. The first website was shocking. I wish I had a screenshot of it, was so bad. Then once I moved to WordPress, I use ProPhoto Blogs as my theme, and then I just customized that myself, and the branding sort of been a work in progress as well. It was originally pretty clean and white, and now I sort of go for more of a natural, down to earth feel, and that's only because my I, I think my style of photography is pretty earthy, so I wanted my branding to mirror that, so they all work together. But yeah, the websites just, I just work on that.

Caitlin McColl: You do all that yourself?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, I do, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Including the branding? The little logo, and your, you know, and..

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, I did not make the logo. That was one of the first things I bought for my business, was once I decided on the business name, then I got my logo and I got a proper graphic designer. I felt very grown up, and had her do the logo. It's actually meant to be, because my dog, Lyra's got this big scruffy beard. So it's meant to be vaguely inspired by her.

Andrew Hellmich: Very nice. So now you said that when you with your first website, it was like you're almost embarrassed about it now, but obviously it didn't hold you back, did it? I mean, it's not a reason to not start a business, is it?

Caitlin McColl: No, definitely not. I do hear that. I do hear that a lot people say, "Oh, well, once my website's up and running, I'm going to start charging people", and that sort of thing. This was an out of the box, it was flash, and it was just, it was all a template, and I just had to write, write the stuff in there and upload my little portfolio. I was still getting work from it, so it didn't stop me getting work, and it certainly wouldn't be an excuse not to be putting myself out there.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so it's a month down the road, you've got the website up and running, and how you're getting bookings? Is it purely by the website? Or how are you getting traffic to the website? If it is because of the website, you're getting work.

Caitlin McColl: I owe a lot of my initial success to Facebook. So I mean, obviously all my Facebook posts were pointing towards the website, but the way that I really got off the ground was through Facebook and sort of sharing people's photos from sessions, and then they shared that to their friends, and that spread like that. But it's always been Facebook and word of mouth is my two most successful marketing surges.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so with the Facebook, so you do a session and then upload one or two, how many photos would you upload from a session?

Caitlin McColl: So I don't do sneak peeks, only because I want them to be as excited as possible at their ordering session. So I don't, I don't like the idea that they see a photo when I'm not sitting next to them with the pricing menu, basically. So I don't do any sneak peeks before their ordering session, but after their ordering session, any of my favorite images from their session, will eventually go on Facebook. But all my Facebook posts are scheduled, and I just they're just all random photos. At the beginning on Monday, I choose the photos that I'm gonna upload the week, and they're not particularly the session that I had last month. They're just ones that I feel like sharing, but then everyone gets a blog post too, so that's more of a way that they'll share all of their photos with their friends.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so let me just explore this Facebook strategy a little bit more, because this is really cool, because so many photographers, particularly wedding and portrait photographers, put sneak peeks up all the time, and sometimes up to 100 photos.

Caitlin McColl: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so, so you schedule. So what are you using to schedule your posts?

Caitlin McColl: So when you're on your Facebook page, you upload the photo. I'm not sure if everyone knows about it, but there's the little clock, and so you just click the little clock beneath your status or the file that you're uploading, and then you can choose what date and what time you want that to actually go live. So I post three photos a day. One at around 9am for the people who are checking Facebook before work. One around 5:36pm and one around 9:30-10pm and that's every day, a little bit less on the weekend, but yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: See? You are so good. That's awesome. So I mean, I've heard of other third party software that you get to schedule and manage all your social media, but you can actually do that within Facebook itself.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, you can. And I did, like I tried Hootsuite for a while. Hootsuite, I'm not big on Twitter. Twitter's just basically a feed that comes directly from my blog and Facebook to me. So I didn't have to worry about, or I don't worry about, organizing my posts on Twitter. So it's, because it's all Facebook for me, and I spend most of my social media time on Facebook. Then I just, I know it's easier for me just to do it all within that area.

Andrew Hellmich: And then so with your scheduled post, you obviously schedule some text as well as the image?

Caitlin McColl: Yes, yeah. So you can post the image and post a little update.

Andrew Hellmich: And you can still tag people in there, even though it's scheduled?

Caitlin McColl: You, I believe that you can't tag them until it posts.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so you don't, you don't worry about, is that one of your, is that one of the things you try and do to tag the client in?

Caitlin McColl: To be honest, that most of my clients are pretty big, by the time, like, because their photos aren't posting until after they've had the ordering session. So they know me pretty well by the time their photos are posting my page, and they're all pretty active followers, so they tend to tag themselves.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, right. That's great. That's awesome. And you, and you watermark all your images, or you don't worry?

Caitlin McColl: I do. It's not like a big, "Hey, look at me!" Watermark it's not my logo or anything. It's just a text "Copyright Ragamuffin Pet Photography." The only reason I do it is because I do encourage them to share it and know that gets lost down there somewhere. I'd like them to be, whoever's looking at to be able to find me again. I'm not as worried as I know some people are about the images actually being stolen. I know it's bad for me to admit that, it's more that I just want people to be able to find my business again.

Andrew Hellmich: Sure. Yeah, I totally understand that. I was going to ask with the Facebook post as well, do you, does every post direct people back to your website?

Caitlin McColl: It not every post. So the ones that are just images, they don't. Twice a week I post a blog, those ones do. And then I also, I use Animoto for my slideshows, and I'll probably post a slideshow once.

Andrew Hellmich: They're those same slideshows that you post directly to YouTube, to your YouTube channel?

Caitlin McColl: Yes

Andrew Hellmich: They're very cool. I just had a look at them. So they're getting more and more, they're getting more and more hits as well, I saw.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, yeah, that's a little extra bonus, because I actually use them only in my ordering sessions. And then I started thinking, "Oh, I should post those to YouTube as well, and that's a good way for people to share their photos, but I should be more diligent about uploading them to YouTube.

Andrew Hellmich: So you can do that directly from, within Animoto too, can't you?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, it's great. I love Animoto. They've got some pretty tacky options on there, but the benefit of it being so easy to do is worth it.

Andrew Hellmich: You're right across your social media, aren't you? So was this all part of your business plan that you developed in that third year, or is this sort of stuff you've developed as you've gone?

Caitlin McColl: I mean, I've definitely picked up tips and that sort of thing as I've gone along. It's all a learning, big learning curve for me, but there was a big social media strategy in my business plan as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Is that something that you learn at uni, or you've learned that?

Caitlin McColl: No, we didn't, I think we did have a little business class at uni, but it wasn't. It was more structured towards sort of commercial studio photographers, because that's what most of my classmates were doing. So it wasn't towards the sort of small business portrait photographer. So that wasn't really that applicable for me. I know I really enjoy reading a lot of education and blogs and that sort of thing, so that's where I pick up most of it.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so it's just basically self-taught through reading. So do you go to seminars and workshops and things?

Caitlin McColl: I don't because I'm a shy geek, so I'm much preferred just to learn in my own time. I'm pretty bad at it. One thing I wish I was better at is asking for advice and asking for help. So when I do go to seminars and workshops, I never, I never end up getting the most out of it, so I prefer just to read.

Caitlin McColl: So why, is because of your shyness, really?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow. Okay, so is that one of the reasons, and I don't want to put words into your mouth, is that one of the reasons you swayed away from the modeling fashion style of photography?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, probably it's, it was, I'm okay behind the camera. And I'm like, "Oh, I'm okay if I've got the camera in my hand." But I just get a bit nervous, I guess, doesn't it? It's something I've got to, I've got to get over it. I did my first trade show at the beginning of the year, and are scared. Can I swear? I was very, very, very scared for that, but that worked out well, so sort of just got to keep throwing myself in the deep end, I guess.

Andrew Hellmich: I don't know if you've, I don't know how many podcasts or if you listen to any. I know you heard Matt and Katie, but..

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: I can let you in on a little secret.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: We're all really scared going to talk to other people. It's a pretty common thing.

Caitlin McColl: That's good to know.

Andrew Hellmich: And we all seem to change personalities when we have a camera in our hand and we're behind it.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, yeah, it's funny. I guess that's why we're all photographers.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah. So true. So, and you mentioned Twitter there.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Your Twitter post, they go there directly from your Facebook post on them.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, I've just got it linked up. I tried so many times get my head around Twitter, but I find it really boring. So as much as I tried to sort of get in there, I just kept losing interest. So now I've just got my blog is connected to Facebook, and Facebook is connected to Twitter. So whenever I write a blog post, I can publish it to Facebook that goes live there, and anything, any services or photos or anything like that, that I post on Facebook then goes on to my Twitter feed, so at least there's something on there, but I don't really use it as much as I know a lot of other people do.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay. Well, I think I found you through Twitter originally.

Caitlin McColl: Oh, really?

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah.

Caitlin McColl: There you go.

Andrew Hellmich: Can't be all bad, but I think it's certainly better for business to business with Twitter, rather than business to client, for us here anyway, in Australia.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So can we talk numbers a little bit?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, absolutely.

Andrew Hellmich: Maybe you want to tell us how many shoots you're doing, and then maybe we can talk about pricing, and how you've worked out your pricing to suit you. So, yeah, what about numbers of actual shoots.

Caitlin McColl: So this year, it worked out, I'm doing roughly two per week. Prior to, sort of November 2012, everything was really slow for me. I think like midway through or early 2012, I thought I was going to quit. "Now, I'm never going to get business." But then I sort of figured, well, I'm either going to quit or I'm going to have to put my head down and really commit myself to marketing. So I did that instead. And then the ball started rolling November. And now, yeah, be two weeks, I mean, two shoots a week.

Andrew Hellmich: Unreal. That's great to hear. So, have you been, have you got another job that you're doing currently as well?

Caitlin McColl: I was shooting kindergarten photography.

Andrew Hellmich: Ah, going out with a company that does just kindies?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, and I do, they're really great, and I do pick up work from them still.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay. So if you're short one week, or you haven't got enough shoots or they need you, they'll give you a call?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, they're a lovely little family business. So yeah, they're great to know.

Caitlin McColl: You probably don't want to think about this, but what would you have done if you hadn't given this away?

Caitlin McColl: I had been approached by a few places to be their in-house pet photographer, so I might have done that.

Caitlin McColl: Cool. So, you would have stayed within photography.

Caitlin McColl: Oh, yeah, definitely. I'm addicted.

Andrew Hellmich: So, two shoots a week for you, is that enough to sustain you? You know, a mortgage and all that sort of stuff?

Caitlin McColl: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: So you happy to give us an average sale figure?

Caitlin McColl: So my session fees $250 and my average sale is between $1500-$3,000.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome. That's unreal. That's fantastic. So with your, how did you come to the prices that you've got? I mean, most portrait photographers are charging a lot less than that. I don't know a lot about pet photography, because I don't do any. Is $250 what most pet photographers charge?

Caitlin McColl: No. Well, it depends on the area, really. So, when I started, there weren't many people specializing in pet photography in Melbourne. There was a few studios doing it on the side, like they were family photographers, that sort of thing, but and then they tagged on the end. "Oh, and we'll do your pets as well". And then there was a handful of people who were socializing in pet photography, but they were, in a nice way, it looked like their work was done in the 90s. Not be too mean, like it was old. It was old work. So I sort of wanted, I figured there's sort of a gap there for a more high-end pet photographer with the more modern style. So the ones that were there were cheaper. But then I figured, you know, there's got to be people out there who do love their pets, and they don't want to just get the cheap nasty, not nasty, whoops, they don't want to just get something cheap. They want to invest in something that they can enjoy for the rest of their lives, and that really reflects what they love about their pet. So I modeled my business more on the pet photographers from the State, the high end ones from the States, because I could see that they were doing it successfully over there, I figured that there will be a market for it here, and sort of just hoped that people would be willing to pay what I think I'm worth, and they have been. So that's good.

Andrew Hellmich: That's unreal. So you just sort of, you set your prices based on what someone else was doing, knowing that you're worth that. And then stuck to your guns.

Caitlin McColl: I set the idea of being a high-end pet photographer based on what other people are doing, but I got my actual prices for my business plan, so I sat down and worked out how much I needed to earn in a year. And then basically, which I assume is whatever, everyone should be doing that.

Andrew Hellmich: I'll tell you another secret, everyone's not doing that.

Caitlin McColl: I'm an Excel geek as well. So I sat down with my Excel spreadsheet, and I worked out everything that I needed to support myself and my family, just personally. And then I worked out what I needed, my estimated budget that I needed for marketing and all the business expenses, that sort of thing. And then I worked out how many shoots I could feasibly do in a year. And I decided that two shoots per week would be it, beyond that I need to bring on someone to be doing the post-production, which I'm not nearly ready to do now anyway. So I worked it based off that, and then working backwards from that, came to the $250 figure, and then it gave me a goal. I need to get 1500 foot ordering sessions minimum. That's my goal. Sort of help to be able to work towards that as well.

Andrew Hellmich: With those figures in mind, then you developed your price list.

Caitlin McColl: Yes, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: I love it. So how? Why? Why only two shoots a week? Like, I don't understand that. So what? Why couldn't you be shooting one a day?

Caitlin McColl: I'd go crazy. I'd prefer to shoot less and charge more, to be honest.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay

Caitlin McColl: I am aware of not burning out, and I think that if I was working, if I was shooting every single day, I would do. I guess I could outsource the post production, but the post production is a big part of the end product for me, so I've got to allow the time to do that as well.

Andrew Hellmich: So how's your week divided up then, Caitlin? Say, if you, if you're doing two shoots a week, are you, I mean, I interviewed Dean Dampney a few episodes ago, and he works two and a half days a week, literally, and has the rest, off.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So are you doing that?

Caitlin McColl: No, I wish I was doing that.

Andrew Hellmich: So how does, how's your week structured?

Caitlin McColl: Usually the weekends I'm shooting because the session between two and four hours. So I don't normally schedule two in the day because I like to shoot around the golden hour. So I'll do an afternoon session normally both days of the weekend, unless someone can go for a weekday, that always makes it easier for me, but most people want to shoot on the weekend, and then I do my ordering sessions during the week, after their work. Most of the other time is spent in post-production, admin, that sort of thing. And then I dedicate a lot of time to sort of working out my marketing strategies, really. So I'm still early on, so I'm still experimenting a lot.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, cool. So you actually have a marketing plan in place that you're actually dedicating time. I mean, you said every Monday morning is when you schedule your Facebook posts.

Caitlin McColl: Yes. So Mondays is usually social media and blog writing days.

Andrew Hellmich: So you'll produce two blog posts and all your social media posts Monday.

Caitlin McColl: I try to.

Andrew Hellmich: That's awesome. Okay. So what, you just ignore emails and that, you just lock everything out? Then how do you manage to get through that?

Caitlin McColl: I try not to get, I'm terrible at answering the phone. That's one thing I've got to get better at. And I tried to get to my email sort of later in the day rather than earlier in the day, and just until I get whatever the task is for that day done, and then I'll get to emails afterwards.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so that's Monday. Tuesday?

Caitlin McColl: Tuesday and Wednesdays tend to be post, I try to do two sessions of post-production per week.

Andrew Hellmich: So that you would have done your sales the week before or the two weeks before, and then you're doing your color correcting.

Caitlin McColl: Oh, I actually do all my post production before my sales.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, okay.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, heard that's a bit backwards, but that's, that's the way I do it. So after their session, I narrow it down the photo, it's supposed to be 25 but it usually ends up being about 35.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so you actually promise the client only 25, so you pick those 25 and work on all those.

Caitlin McColl: Uh-huh. There's a lot of leash removal, so that's time consuming.

Andrew Hellmich: A leash?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Right. So why don't you have the leashes off when you're shooting?

Caitlin McColl: Oh, you couldn't..

Andrew Hellmich: See I don't, I don't shoot pets.

Caitlin McColl: No, I do. I mean, I do have a little bit of the session, which is off-leash, which, I mean, we'll go to an off-leash park. And so the way it works is the session starts at their home, so obviously that's all off-leash, and then we'll go somewhere like a park or the beach or the city, and a little part of its off-leash just to get the action shots. And if they're brilliant with their sit, stays, they can do a little bit more on leash, but more off-leash, sorry, but I just, would take me forever if I was relying on the dog to be able to sit and stay in a completely new environment and with all the distractions around and everything. So, if I want, if I want them in a particular spot, it's easier just to clip the leash on, that way they're safe too, and we can quickly get the photo, rather than spending forever. And then the dog gets impatient, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So I guess in the back of your head while you're shooting those, you know you're going to be photoshopping that leash out. So you do everything you can to set the shot up to make it easy to remove.

Caitlin McColl: Yes, I try to use a thin line leash.

Andrew Hellmich: I said, do you bring that yourself?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, cool.

Caitlin McColl: And then I sort of instruct the, if the owners hold it tight, upwards and backwards, so that it's out, it's in the out of focus area. It's pretty easy to Photoshop out.

Andrew Hellmich: I might try that with my kids' portraits.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, tempting.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, that's great. So, Tuesday, Wednesday, is your color work and getting things ready for sales.

Caitlin McColl: And then, so then I have the proofs all printed for basics, and then do the Animoto slideshow and everything. So I have that all prepared. I also do a proof album so they can flick through that, because that helps a lot with the sales.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow. So you have all you have all that ready before they actually come in and see the photos.

Caitlin McColl: Yes

Andrew Hellmich: Wow, and did you give them some idea of how much they're going to be spending before?

Caitlin McColl: I do. I'm a big believer in being completely transparent about pricing, so I think I've counted, and there's like eight times that they see that for that, I encourage them to look at the price list before we actually do their ordering session. I think it's eight. I want them to know exactly what my prices are and exactly what they're going to be possibly investing before they even walk through the door, so that's.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah. So, with that eight, that eight types of, or eight lots of contact, is that through emails and chatting and pre-session planning that sort of thing?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah. So, when they initially inquire, I send them an inquiry response email. I have a whole workflow worked out, and I've got all my canned responses so I don't forget everything. So I send them an inquiry response email that's got the price list, and then once they book, that's got the price list as well. And then I have them fill in a questionnaire which asks them what they're thinking of purchasing. So that sort of gets their mind to start thinking about, "Oh, yeah, what actual products do I want, besides the actual photos, but what do I want to do with them?" And then there's a few other time, I can't think of the top of my head. There's a few other times after their session, I send them the price list again, when I'm, when we actually do the session, I go around and take photos of their walls, because I use a Shoot and Sell, the app. Do you know the app?

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, I don't. Just write it down.

Caitlin McColl: It's like, or if you've heard of Preview too, I think they're both, they both do the same thing.

Andrew Hellmich: What's the second one called? Preview?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah. So, it's this little iPad app where you take a photo, so you can take it on the iPad that then it's about quality. So I take it when I'm in their home and just stick a piece of A4 paper up on the wall, so that you got it to scale, basically. And then, when they're with you can put together all different designs and that sort of thing for their wall up. So that's really good.

Andrew Hellmich: That's great. So you, because you're at every, you basically start of a house, like you said, so do you just go through and sort of pick up the lounge room wall, and?

Caitlin McColl: While I'm there, I sort of say, you know, where have you well, when, what, before our session, they fill in the questionnaire, and one of the questions in the questionnaire is, 'What rooms are you thinking about decorating with your Ragamuffin art?' So when I'm there, I already know what rooms they're thinking about. So then I sort of go, "Well, let's have a look at those rooms and see what will work", and that sort of thing. Get start getting them excited about it.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, I see you have this beautiful personal connection right from the start.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: It's like, it's great.

Caitlin McColl: I like knowing what they're thinking rather than, because I'd hate to miss out on a shot because I didn't know that they specifically wanted that sort of thing, or if I know that they're shooting, if they really want an album, then I'll sort of shoot more album types of photos, whereas if I know they particularly want wall art, I'll focus on that sort of portraiture. So works like that.

Andrew Hellmich: I love it. I love it. So easy to see why you're successful already, and while you're only going to get better and better.

Caitlin McColl: Thank you

Andrew Hellmich: It's just, you're so organized and so analytical and but still got that real personal approach.

Caitlin McColl: So, OCD is what my partner calls, organized is a nice way.

Andrew Hellmich: So with all these things that you're doing each day of the week, have you got any time off ?

Caitlin McColl: Again. He would have something to say about that. But I look, to be honest, say, four months ago, when it started getting really busy, I got a bit excited that I had all this work, and I just kept scheduling. I wasn't doing two weeks a week then. I was, I mean, two shoots a week, then, I was doing like, six shoots a week.

Andrew Hellmich: Wow, okay.

Caitlin McColl: Just because I had people inquiring and people willing to book, and I went, "Oh my gosh, people almost hire me." And because I've had such a dead year the year before, I didn't think about it clearly, and I just accepted all the work, and I didn't think about what the, not repercussions, but how I was going to fit in all the other work that goes behind it, behind the actual shoot. So it was a bit crazy for a while there, but I've started gaining back a little bit of the whole work life balance thing.

Andrew Hellmich: And that's good.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, but I reckon I had to get rock bottom with craziness to be able to wake myself up again.

Andrew Hellmich: Was it you that realized that, or was it your partner that said, "Right, enough, enough."

Caitlin McColl: I would like to say it was me, but no, I think I would still be going crazy if it wasn't for him. He sort of went, "Yeah." He said, "Enough." That's actually exactly what he said that time.

Andrew Hellmich: Were you gonna swear again?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, yeah. He said, "Enough’s enough", a little more colorfully. So after that, I sort of sat down and worked out exactly what timetable I need. And that's when I worked out that I really, really needed to be doing two shoots a week and no more, and that allows me time to work on my business, rather than just in the business all the time. But now I have, now I've got half a day off a week, so I worked back from I was getting like, two or three hours sleep, and then I had one night off a week, and now I've got half a day off a week, and I'm aiming towards having one day off a week, so I'm getting there. It's a learning process.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, it's exciting when things are new and things have been growing quickly.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, exciting. It's a little quite stupid as well, but it was really exciting.

Andrew Hellmich: That's fantastic. How about we go into these 10 quick questions. You ready for those?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, sure.

Andrew Hellmich: 10 quick questions, 10 quick answers, 3-2-1, go! Canon or Nikon?

Caitlin McColl: Canon

Andrew Hellmich: Favorite lens and why? A

Caitlin McColl: 100 mil macro, love the photo.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay. So with it, I've never shot with a macro lens, and I'm going to have lots of listeners laughing at me now, can you, can you just shoot normal, regular portraits with a macro lens?

Caitlin McColl: I mean, to be honest, I don't get to use it as much as I used to now that I'm shooting pets, because need to be able to react quicker. So now most of my shoots are on the 24 to 70. If I've got a quieter pet, then I'll switch to the macro.

Andrew Hellmich: So are you actually using it in the macro mode, or you just like the look of the prints or the images?

Caitlin McColl: I use it. I do use it to shoot like detail, like their nose and their little ears and that, and their paws. Paw photos are adorable. But no, I use it as a portrait lens.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, cool. Do you shoot JPEG or RAW?

Caitlin McColl: RAW

Andrew Hellmich: Have you faced any setbacks along the way? Anything you've tried that hasn't worked?

Caitlin McColl: Lots, single mistake..

Andrew Hellmich: Is there something that you've sort of, maybe an ad you've run, or a social, and you thought "This is going to kill it", and then it just flops.

Caitlin McColl: One terrible thing I did was I was contacted by the Little Pink Book, which is the gay and lesbian directory. And because a lot of my clients are, I figured, "Oh yeah, that's great. I'll put that in there." That was a waste of money. Never got anything from there.

Andrew Hellmich: How do you know that you didn't? Because you, did you have a special offer?

Caitlin McColl: I had a special offer. Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Right, okay.

Caitlin McColl: And I had a special link as well. Never got any traffic at all. That was, yeah, that was a waste.

Andrew Hellmich: That's a big tip there, though, isn't like you're actually measuring whether those ads were going to work or not.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah. Oh, I would never, I would never do an ad and just have it go to the website, because then you'd never be able to tell.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. So you would set up, like, a pretty link?

Caitlin McColl: A landing page usually.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay. For that particular offer?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, great. And then you would just set that up on your WordPress site as a separate page.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: And then monitor the traffic to that page.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Were you going to tell me about another one?

Caitlin McColl: Got many. Oh, basically, I would never do print, print ads.

Andrew Hellmich: So you've tried and just didn't work.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah. That was waste.

Andrew Hellmich: What's one thing you've done that we can look back and think, "Yeah, that's when I've taken a big step forward in the business."

Caitlin McColl: The ball definitely started rolling around November. But I think it was a few different things that sort of added together and had that start working. So it's hard to narrow it down to one particular asset.

Andrew Hellmich: Did you have a few like promotions going at once? Or you just..

Caitlin McColl: I was working with a SEO company, which I wouldn't do that again. It was good at the beginning, just to really boost my website and get it out there. And it was because it was Christmas time. They had a whole campaign with gift vouchers, and that worked reasonably well. So there was that going. And then I paired up with one of the more well-known rescue groups, animal rescue groups in Melbourne, and pairing up with them really increased my exposure, and that was at the same time too. And then I think it was also that, it had just been long enough that I'd been doing a few sessions that word of mouth was actually starting to spread. So then I was getting a lot of word of mouth at the same time as well. So all just added together, and it was came together at the right time, and then it's just been going strong since then.

Andrew Hellmich: The snowballs gathering momentum.

Caitlin McColl: Yes, which I did hear people say that, and I kept thinking, "Yeah, yeah, that's no", but it really did. It was slow, slow, slow, and then all of a sudden, the snowball was off.

Andrew Hellmich: That's awesome, if you had to start again tomorrow, let's say you move to a totally different city.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: And you had to start again, you know, with the same knowledge you have now, what would you do different in that first few months?

Caitlin McColl: Well, for starters, I would have got my pricing set earlier.

Andrew Hellmich: So you mean higher, or just set?

Caitlin McColl: Higher. I was very, very, very, very, very, very cheap when I first do shoot, like, $9.

Andrew Hellmich: So that would have been hard to get to the $1,000 mark or the $1,500 mark.

Caitlin McColl: I don't know what I was thinking with it. I mean, that's why it's all learning. Once I started reading about pricing and that sort of thing, I went, "Oh", because for some reason I thought that my profit would be coming from the session fee, and I should be charging my clients roughly cost of goods. I don't know, I was 20, and trying to work it all out so, but I did work that out. But then I think the biggest, the best thing that I've done is setting up systems, because that's just saved me so much time. So having a dedicated workflow, and having all my canned email responses and just having everything's a system for me. So if I do anything more than once, then I create a new system so that next time it's easier.

Andrew Hellmich: So with your systems, with your canned emails, you mentioned them a couple of times, you use a program like Text Expander, or you just have a list of emails somewhere?

Caitlin McColl: No, I actually, I love Google Docs.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay

Caitlin McColl: So, I can access it anywhere. I can copy paste my canned email when I'm on my like, anywhere. So I've got them all written up for any possible response that I might need. And I've just got places to insert the pet's name, the client's name. I've got, like, 'Write a comment about their pet here, it's safe.' I can't even believe how much time it saved me. I wish I did it way earlier. So I only did, I only set that up at the beginning of the year. That was great.

Andrew Hellmich: Nice one. Another great tip. What software do you use for your batching, editing, renaming and renumbering?

Caitlin McColl: Lightroom.

Andrew Hellmich: Do you, do you watch what other photographers are doing in the industry?

Caitlin McColl: In terms of editing, you mean?

Andrew Hellmich: Oh no, just for just as far as other pet photographers, do you sort of keep an eye on what's happening, happening through the industry, what they're charging, what they're shooting?

Caitlin McColl: I don't worry too much about what they're charging, just because what I'm doing works. I don't know. I don't think you can really look at other people, because I don't know what their lifestyle is like, but I do belong to this professional pet photography network called Beautiful Beasties, and everything's cute when you're in the pet photography. So it's Beautiful Beasties, and it's this international network, and it's all professional photographers, and that's just, it's a really great supportive forum online, but it sort of means that we're all, I know we feel, it feels less competitive, and we can all just sort of support each other and have a look at each other's work. But it's more like I'm looking at my friends work than looking at competitors work. And I do a weekly project, which is, there's a group of us doing it, and every, like those 52 week projects, that's what it is.

Andrew Hellmich: Ah okay, yeah, yeah.

Caitlin McColl: And every week, someone chooses a different theme. Mine, I'm doing just with Lara, my dog, just because I know it's something a bit different, and I've had a really positive response from that, from my fan base, like on Facebook and everything. So that's been good too. Just have it, oh no, it shares a bit more of me.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah, it makes a bit more personal, doesn't it?

Caitlin McColl: So, I was, when I first started, I just thought I was doing it for myself, but it's been really successful, so.

Andrew Hellmich: You have to, you have to shoot me a photo of like, is it Lyra?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Shoot me a photo unless she's already on your website. Tell me which one she is.

Caitlin McColl: Very much all over the website.

Andrew Hellmich: We'll put one on the on the show notes.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: So I can see you and Lyra. Two more quick questions for you. What do you, what do you wear when you're shooting the pets? Do you have a uniform or?

Caitlin McColl: Disgusting, dirty jeans, and upper, a t-shirt. Yeah, make the mistake. I used to wear my, like my normal, everyday jeans, and then they all got ripped and muddy, and I always end up filthy at the end of the session because I'm lying in the mud and going in the beach and all that sort of thing. So, yeah. I don't look glamorous at all. It's not a glamorous job.

Andrew Hellmich: What about footwear?

Caitlin McColl: Runners or gumboots.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, okay. So do you shoot in the rain too or not?

Caitlin McColl: I'll reschedule a session if it's definitely raining, but if we've done the whole session and it starts raining towards the end, then I'll shoot a few then just for a different look. But I will reschedule if it's raining.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay.

Caitlin McColl: Had a good run this winter, actually. But yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Quick touch wood.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: All right, what's, what's your most embarrassing photography moment or stuff up that you're happy to share? I can imagine you've probably got a few with working with pets.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, they're pretty good at models. Nah, pets are pretty good that, yeah. The worst thing I ever did was it wasn't pet related, but at a wedding, I stupidly, I had my reflector resting on the floor, and we're outside, we're by the beach, and I don't know what I was thinking, but I went to change my lens, and I just put it on top of the reflector, and next thing you know, the wind comes, gusts, lens in the water. My poor partner, like jumped off the side to grab it through the rocky little..

Andrew Hellmich: Tough lesson to learn.

Caitlin McColl: Yes, that was an extensive lesson to learn.

Andrew Hellmich: You ensure all your gear?

Caitlin McColl: Yes.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so did you get that?

Caitlin McColl: That wasn't insured. That was um yeah, that was earlier on. That wasn't insured.

Andrew Hellmich: Isn't that always the way?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, now it's all insured. Now nothing ever happened.

Andrew Hellmich: Yeah

Caitlin McColl: I did get a few slobbery lenses, but that all..

Andrew Hellmich: Shooting with a wide angle?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, yeah. They get right up. Thank goodness for filters.

Andrew Hellmich: I love it. Caitlin, where can people see your work and get in touch with you, and if they want to say thanks?

Caitlin McColl: Oh, so the websites, ragamuffinpetphotography.com.au, which is R-A-G-A-M-U, double F, I-N, on Facebook. It's facebook.com/ragamuffin.

Andrew Hellmich: That's okay. I think it's Ragamuffin Photography.

Caitlin McColl: Ragamuffin Photography. Yeah, that's the one. But, yeah, stop by and say hello. I love connecting with other photographers. So that'd be cool.

Andrew Hellmich: Unreal. That's awesome. I just want to say thanks again. You've been an absolute pleasure, and you've shared some amazing stuff. Caitlin, it's been a pleasure. Thanks so much.

Caitlin McColl: Thank you so much. It's great.
 
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