Branding is one of those things you know as a photographer, you need to do, if you're truly serious about success. It sounds easy right, come up with a look and feel that is unique. Find that something, that one thing that makes you stand out in a crowded market. That one thing that separated you from your competition that you become known for and sought after. In todays interview, branding expert and founder of Brand Camp,  Kristen Kalp, reveals how to brand your photography business the right way.

Here's a hint; you already have the answer to your brand and it lays with your perfect and preferred client, the one you've already photographed, worked with, sold to and loved every step of the way. That client, yes, that single client holds the secret sauce to the start of your brand.

Here's another tip. Branding is not about your logo. It may help to distinguish you but it's your words and pictures that hold the secret to your photography business branding success.

After interviewing Jenika from The Psychology for Photographers Blog and Nikki McArthur from Epic Danger photography and hearing that Kristen was massively responsible for their success, I've been hunting her down for this interview since.

Here’s some more of what we cover:

  • Kristen charges a consultation fee of $599USD per hour… yes, she's damn good at what she does
  • Why Kristen left her six figure photography business to become a writer
  • Transitioning from one income source to another
  • Quitting what she didn't love without being financially stable because she's had enough
  • The fine line between completely irresponsible to… it's time to make the leap
  • Tips and advice for leaving your full-time job to pursue your passion
  • Why you need to make sure your family and friends will support your decision to pursue your dream job
  • Creating boundaries to get things done
  • No boundaries leads to being miserable forever
  • Why 15 minutes of Facebook and other mobile apps is enough per day if you want success
  • Why having heroes can be a bad thing
  • Why people often lie about how they truly feel and what they want to be doing
  • How you can choose to work with your perfect client
  • The importance of tapping into the spirit of your clients to understand them better
  • The impact of using swear words in your business
  • What are the “in between” clients and why you should not take them seriously
  • How to be specific about the type of client you are looking for
  • Why you need to be consistent and be yourself at all times, swearing included

Kristen Kalp Podcast Interview

Do yourself a massive favour following this episode. Head to Kristen's website and get hold of her book “Go Your Own Way” which is available free from her home page. Following your download, don't read word, take that file to your local printer and have the book printed… trust me on this.

You're comfortable in your own skin and the two of you laugh a lot. You genuinely enjoy one another's company, and you're planning a fantastic destination wedding.
You're both into photography and you're excited about the whole process of getting married, as well as having a bit of wine on a Friday night. Reach out to talk with me about your wedding at (02) 4367 0111.

Following the steps in Kristen's book will be the simplest way to establish your true brand, highlight problems with your website, show where you're going wrong with your pricing and whether or not you should even be a photographer. Completing this book will be one of the best things you can do for yourself and your photography business.

Kristen Kalp Podcast 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 from where we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed hard for that include:

  • The goal of every photographer is for people to know and easily identify that it's your image
  • The importance of spreading out your voice through different medium to let people know who you truly are – videos, social media networks
  • “You can't cultivate your voice while you're busy listening to 3,000 voices”
  • Why following photographers in your area that are your competition in social media will destroy you
  • Why following trends will take you in a spiral that ends up nowhere
  • What your video content should have to separate yourself from everyone else
  • People don't do the things they love the most because they are afraid of being judged
  • Why you need to stop feeling embarrassed about the weird and crazy things that you love but instead share it to the rest of the world
  • Why you should stop over analysing
  • Why it's not safe to stay and think like everyone else
  • Why you should continue sharing your work even though it doesn't get many likes or responses
  • Kristen shares her life-changing experiences that brought her to where she is now
  • “If my brain is always going to say that I'm talentless, I might as well be talentless at the things that I really love doing”
  • How life gets interesting when you do the things that you're meant to do in this world
  • How to know if you you're truly on the right path or not
  • The importance of your ‘About Page' and what you need to include in yours
  • Why you should never have an About Page that's written as a third person
  • The importance of providing easy and quick access to all the basic information of your business on your website
  • Why you need to include an email option form on your website
  • Cotton Candy

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.

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

If you’d like an easy way to show Kristen your thanks, and support for the show at the same time, click the link to create a tweet and automatically show you’re listening: https://photobizx.com/tweet

Kristen Kalp Podcast Interview

The Resources Page

Remember the ever expanding resources page that has a listing of products, programs, hardware, books and directories mentioned in each episode of the show. If you’re looking for something that a guest has mentioned on a previous episode but just can’t remember who or what it was – you’ll find it listed in order on the resources page.

iTunes ratings, reviews and Shout-Outs

Each week before recording the podcast I check iTunes for any reviews and each week I’m excited to see what you’ve had to say about the podcast. This week I was rapt to see two awesome reviews. Thanks so much to:

Mother and Daughter photography team, Karen and Ell from Shot from the Heart in Melbourne Australia

Steve from Ketch 22 Photography in Gloucestershire in the UK

Sincerely, thanks so much for your ratings and reviews, I appreciate the time you’ve taken and it’s a big help for the show. It’s these iTunes reviews that make a big difference to the podcast being ranked well and found in the iTunes store. If you have the time and are happy to leave an honest rating and review, head over to iTunes.

iTunes Review

Do You Have a Question about Your Business or Marketing?

Yes, there's still time to have your questions answered.

I’m planning a Q&A episode over the Christmas and New Year period and would love your questions! Feel free to email me or use the voicemail option on this page. You can be as detailed and specific to your business or circumstances as you like. And, you can remain anonymous if you refer.

I encourage everyone to be a flavour, to be a really strong flavour. I'm a human cilantro. People tend to love me or hate me. There's really not an in between.

Alternatively, if you’d like to get in touch, ask a question about or make a suggestion for the show, you can email me andrew@photobizx.com, find me on Twitter https://twitter.com/andrewhellmich or on Facebook at https://photobizx.com/facebook – I’d love to hear from you!

Kristen Kalp Podcast Interview

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

Kristen Kalp's Website

Kristen Kalp on Facebook

Kristen on Instagram

Kristen on YouTube

Nikki McArthur of Epic Danger

Jenika McDavitt of Psychology for Photographers

Film Is Not Dead: A Digital Photographer's Guide to Shooting Film (Voices That Matter)

The Ground Glass Newsletter and Pricing Guide for Wedding Photographers

Kristen Kalp Podcast Interview

Thank you!

Thank you again for listening to the show and thanks to Kristen for being an awesome guest!

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