282: Caitlin McColl – How to run profitable book projects for portrait and pet photographers

282: Caitlin McColl – How to run profitable book projects for portrait and pet photographers

 

Andrew Hellmich: Today's guest was always going to be a photographer. By the age of 16, she had started winning awards and exhibiting her photography internationally. She studied fashion photography in London, then New York on a scholarship, and in 2008 she moved back to Melbourne to complete her degree in photography. She says photographing perfect, beautiful people was fun, but deep down, she was looking for more soul from her photography. So at 20 years old, she launched Ragamuffin Pet Photography, and when I interviewed her for episode 24 of this podcast, she told me she was close to giving up before breaking through. And business has been remarkable ever since. Today she has a successful pet photography business, and she's recently kicked off the Pet Photographers Club Podcast with fellow pet photographer and another friend of this podcast, Kirstie McConnell, I'm of course, talking about the wonderfully talented, always smiling Caitlin McColl, and I'm so happy to have her back on the show. Caitlin, welcome back.

Caitlin McColl: Oh, thank you so much. That's such a lovely intro.

Andrew Hellmich: I'm not going to go too far back in the history, because you shared all that when I first interviewed you. I think that was almost four years ago. So yeah, maybe you want to touch on what has changed in the last four years in regards to your business.

Caitlin McColl: Oh, geez. All right, so four years ago, I was living in Geelong, which is about an hour outside of Melbourne, which is the main capital city of the state, where I live in Australia, for those who don't know, and I was traveling up to Melbourne to do my shoots, and I had a small space in the city where I was doing my ordering appointments. It was a lot of travel. It was crazy, blah, blah, blah. So I ended up moving back into the city, and fast forward four years, I now have a showroom in my home where the clients come into. My main marketing strategy at the moment is a mixture of social media, doing an expo slash sale once a year, and publishing books. So the publishing books would probably be the big thing that's changed in the last four years, and that was huge for my business. And other than that, I added another dog and another few cats and a lizard to family and personal life has changed loads, but, yeah, that's about it.

Andrew Hellmich: What about this new joint venture with Kirstie? What's going with that?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, of course. And I launched a podcast. Well, you're the main inspiration for it, Andrew, but I've been wanting to start a podcast for pet photographers for years now, just because there isn't one out there. And it was sort of something that I kept having in the back of my head, back in my head. Kirstie McConnell, bits of Bernard Photography is an old original client of mine who turned into a friend, just because we really got along. And then so once she started shooting pets in Adelaide, every time we met up, we were just talked business. And it got to be like, this thing with us, with like, "Oh, we're going to try to talk personal and catch up and stuff." And then it would inevitably just get back to business, and we could easily spend three or four hours over lunch accidentally talking marketing strategies and everything. So then earlier this year, I reached out to her, and I was like, "Do you want to, like, maybe start a podcast, like, we're having all these in depth chats about marketing, and I think that other pet photographers would love to listen in. And we think the chats are interesting." So Kirstie is an absolute gun, and I just like, vaguely, put it out there, and then she's like, "Yes! let's do it." And then the ball started rolling ridiculously quickly, but it's been so exciting. And, you know, it's been really cool. We've locked down a bunch of interviews already. We're interviewing you tomorrow, so you can be sick of me by then. But yeah, it's really awesome. It's great listening to all these other pet photographers stories. And I think the industry's grown so much in the last five years that the time feels right to have something out there. So, yeah, it's really cool.

Andrew Hellmich: Sure. So is the focus of the podcast all business? And is it just you two, or are you doing interviews for every episode?

Caitlin McColl: We're doing fortnightly interviews, and then we have a Members section, so we've got a private members group on Facebook, and those members get access to, like a weekly or a fortnightly, sorry, video chat deep dive, Q and A, that sort of thing. So the podcast that's free for everyone is a fortnightly interview with other pet photographers, and then Kirstie and I go sort of deeper into specific marketing strategies and topics and that sort of thing every other fortnight.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome. Got it. So it's a real mixture then.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, it's been good.

Andrew Hellmich: And how you finding, like, the whole recording and all the technical side of things and..

Caitlin McColl: Well, that's all been my job to work out, which wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be. That was like, I was really nervous about it, just because it's the whole foreign world and stuff. But once I sort of wrap my head around it, it was fine. And I've been editing videos for a long time now, so it wasn't a huge leap to jump over to Audition from Premier Pro. So yeah, once we worked out the technical issues, it was good.

Andrew Hellmich: Unreal. It's so good, and it's awesome to hear you guys. I've heard the first full episode and part of the second one with another photographer that I know.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: And it sounds great. You guys are awesome. It sounds like having a lot of fun with it. Lot of fun with it.

Caitlin McColl: So, yeah, it's so much fun.

Andrew Hellmich: You mentioned video editing there, and I know that when I interviewed you a few years ago, you know, you mentioned that YouTube was a thing. And you know, when I go to your YouTube channel at Ragamuffin and Pet Photography, you're still continually updating that and adding shoots to that feed. You know, why do you do that? Why YouTube?

Caitlin McColl: So YouTube because it's linked to Google, basically. So every ordering appointment that I have starts with session film premiere, I guess is what I call it for my clients. So I have a massive projection screen in the showroom. They come in, they sit down on the couch, we have a little chat. Lights go down and they watch this three to five minute short film. So while I'm shooting, obviously I'm taking photos, but I'm also taking a little bit of video as I go and the film is edited. Have a combination of both.

Andrew Hellmich: Sorry. Caitlin, so this video that you're showing the client, this is from their shoot.

Caitlin McColl: Yes, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay

Caitlin McColl: So it's kind of part slideshow, part film. There's footage and there's the stills. The film is included in all my bigger packages, or they can buy it separately, but I upload all of them to YouTube because I then link the client to that later on, there's like a little extra gift that they can share with their friends and family, because they always inevitably love it and they cry, and that's awesome. And then for SEO, it's really great as well, because obviously YouTube is linked to Google, and I title all the videos appropriately for the location and that sort of thing. So it sort of works on multiple levels of me.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so what if the client is having one of the smaller packages, or they haven't ordered the large package. Do they still do this YouTube video?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, well, I already have the video on my computer anyway. So the benefit for the clients who buy the packages, they get the actual file, the video that they could put on their computer and that sort of thing. But all my clients, I generally link the YouTube clip to.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay. And then how do you utilize this SEO wise? Does it just sit on YouTube with links back to all your different..

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Right

Caitlin McColl: Yeah. I have all the different locations that I shoot at. I have sort of five set locations these days. So that's another thing that's changed in the last four years. I don't go everywhere. I have five locations that I travel to, typically, and those five locations are listed in the category. So it also makes it really easy if a client is saying, "Sorry, I'm sort of interested in shooting in Port Melbourne Park." For example, I have a location guide on my website of Port Melbourne Park, but I can also send them this link for all the different slideshows from Port Melbourne Park, if they really want to go real deep into seeing the sort of results we can get from that location. So it works there as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay. And are these videos, I know they're hosted on YouTube, do you then also have them as a blog post on your own website, or you don't need to?

Caitlin McColl: No, I don't, yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay. And I can see then on your videos, I mean, they can be from, you know, one and a half minutes, up to four or five minutes, so they're not long, but I can see that you've got keywords in here, like professional pet photographer in Melbourne, Australia, Melbourne's best animal photographer Caitlin McColl, which, so you go on and say things that people might be searching for.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, yep, absolutely.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome. And does it work?

Caitlin McColl: Yes, it does, number one on Google, and I've been number one for quite a while now. So that's one, I would say. That's one of the things helping me out there.

Andrew Hellmich: I love it. I love it. And one of the other things that I noticed that you have changed is when I interviewed you, last time you were using WordPress, you had a Pro Photo Theme, and now you're with Squarespace. Why the move?

Caitlin McColl: I kept getting hacked.

Andrew Hellmich: Those other pet photographers out there, see?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah. So I was privately hosted, and I kept having website issues, and I really liked Pro Photo, and I liked WordPress and everything, and I loved the flexibility of it, because I'm a bit of a control freak and also a bit nerdy. So I liked being able to code little things and that sort of stuff, but it ended up taking up so much of my time, and I was becoming time poor, so something had to give. So in the end, I think it was about a year and a half, maybe two years ago now, I just gave up and I moved over to Squarespace. Kirstie actually recommended that I did it, and I have not looked back. I am so relieved I made that move. It is so much easier to manage my website now.

Andrew Hellmich: In what way?

Caitlin McColl: It's just really simple. It's not a drag and drop feature by any means, but it's no coding and no sort of trying to work out little bits and pieces and the interface in the back. And it's really, really user friendly. So.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. So with a Squarespace. I understand from speaking to other photographers that they love it because it's so simple compared to WordPress. But one of the biggest fears is that they're going to lose where they're ranking SEO wise, and it's more difficult to rank a Squarespace website. That's what a lot of people think.

Caitlin McColl: That was what I was terrified about.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, because I know that you're big on SEO and you want to maintain your spot in Google?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Did you notice any difference?

Caitlin McColl: No, I didn't. There was no difference at all. There was no lag. I didn't drop down at all. It's fairly easy to just import everything, and certainly Google didn't punish me for switching to Squarespace. I think one of the biggest keys to success for my ranking also comes down well, a combination of the fact that I have a lot of reviews, but also that my website is constantly updating, and Google loves fresh content. So I feel like it doesn't matter if it's Squarespace or not, just as long as you're constantly putting new content on your website, Google's gonna love it. So, yeah, I was finished for that. Thank goodness.

Andrew Hellmich: So when you said all you had to do was import everything. So was it as easy as that? Really?

Caitlin McColl: No. But in terms of, like, blog content and that sort of thing, I didn't necessarily have to lose everything there.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so do you export your WordPress website as a zip file and import that into Squarespace?

Caitlin McColl: I think so. It was a while ago now, but I don't remember it being complicated.

Andrew Hellmich: So you did it all yourself?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, I did all myself.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, awesome. Okay, you just mentioned two things that you mentioned 'reviews'. Are you asking for reviews?

Caitlin McColl: Yes. I ask every client for review.

Andrew Hellmich: Where do you ask them to review you?

Caitlin McColl: I ask them to review me on Facebook and Google, and then I also send them through at the same time a feedback form that's a private one, because I want their genuine, honest feedback, not just their "Oh, she was so lovely." I actually want to know, like, what did you think about my pricing and all that sort of thing. Obviously, I don't want that public, so I have this email that goes out to them automatically. I believe it's after their package gets delivered, it's sort of the final step now. So that works really well. Almost all of my clients leave a review.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome. So in that email, then, do you have links to your Google profile and your Facebook page?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: So do you tell them to copy and paste the same review?

Caitlin McColl: No, I don't.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay.

Caitlin McColl: It seems to be they usually pick one or the other.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, okay, all right. And that's obviously making a big difference in SEO wise, and also for..

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome. Love it. Love it. And then you also mentioned updating your website. So is this with blog content, or you're just going in and tinkering all the time?

Caitlin McColl: I do tinker a lot but also blog content just a combination of both.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so, but you're adding a blog post after every single shoot?

Caitlin McColl: I try to, yeah, it's in my sort of workflow to at least add a photo and a short little description up for every single shoot.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome, lovely. And on your homepage, it's pretty obvious that, when you've got a regular menu, I guess, that every photographer or website will have at the top. But it's pretty obvious you either want me to click one or two buttons, which are big and red and you know, bolded up at the bottom. Then one is inquire online. Another one is gift vouchers. Which way do most people go?

Caitlin McColl: Most people inquire online, unless they want a gift voucher.

Andrew Hellmich: So people are coming looking for a gift voucher?

Caitlin McColl: Yes, I sell a lot of gift vouchers.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, all right, so let me take that around then, so if I click on gift vouchers, I have two options. One is for a full session for $250 and the other ones for a pocket session. Is that like a mini session for 125?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so which one of these is the most popular?

Caitlin McColl: So if they've already contacted me, I tend to recommend my gift voucher clients are people buying the gift vouchers, to go for a pocket session. If they had the budget for a full session, I'll normally recommend "How about you go for a pocket session and add on, say, $125 print credit. That way the person that you're giving it to can choose to switch over to a full session if they prefer, or they can definitely have a print or whatever included in there."

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so they take the pocket session 125 add a 125 print credit, they can actually giving away a shoot and a print.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, I think it's a nicer gift. So if someone has something around 250 $300 budget, I would recommend go pocket session and throw in print credit, just so that their person has something that they can walk away with.

Andrew Hellmich: Nice ,again so what if someone comes to you with the gift voucher. So they're the one that's been gifted the voucher.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah?

Andrew Hellmich: And they say, "Hey, can, I want to book a session? Someone's bought me this full session gift voucher. There's no print included with that. Can I have a print? So then do you downgrade them to a mini session?

Caitlin McColl: They can if they want. Yeah, absolutely.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay. Because I hear some photographers are like, absolutely by the rules, they're going to say, "No, no, you've got to do what it says."

Caitlin McColl: I don't even have expiry dates of my gift vouchers.

Andrew Hellmich: Well, is that by law now that you have to do that?

Caitlin McColl: That you have to have an expiry date?

Andrew Hellmich: No. That you're not allowed to have an expiry date.

Caitlin McColl: There is something about that, isn't there? But I don't know. I've just never had expiry dates, because I'm the sort of person that gets given the massage voucher, and then I'll remember the day after it expires, and I'll be all frustrated so I don't have them.

Andrew Hellmich: Nice. And if I scroll down your page and I can see there's, you go into detail about there's no expiry date, and there's other different things they can order as well. Obviously, can you even order a last minute gift voucher without names, so they can just print something off?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: I love it. Awesome. So when you say you sell a lot of these, is it one a week?

Caitlin McColl: Probably one a fortnight.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, nice, nice. And do they end up being good clients, the people that come in via a gift voucher?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, I don't have much of a difference between people who have booked a session themselves or people that want a gift voucher. I think it's just because it's all to do with that education with the client at the beginning, so.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay. I'd love to talk about your book projects, because it came up when I was interviewing Kirstie, and she says, she sidestep. "That's Caitlin's little baby. I'm not gonna go into that."

Caitlin McColl: I listened to that.

Andrew Hellmich: I've done some book projects before. The first time I heard about this idea was from a photographer in Tasmania by the name of Terra Say, is that where you got the idea from?

Caitlin McColl: No, it's not. I did, when would that have been? Before our first interview even, so, years and years ago, I had a pet rescue group called Pet Saving that I was volunteering for, and they approached me saying that they wanted to create a book that they could use as a fundraiser. So could I volunteer my time to take photos and blah, blah. And then I sort of sat down and thought about it, and I was like, "I think we could actually raise money in the actual taking of the photos. I believe that people would want to be in the book. We don't have to try to source models. I think that we could sell these sessions and use that as a fundraiser. In addition to the book.", which they loved that idea. At the time, they had other volunteer photographers on board, so we had about five, I think it was pet photographers who all collaborated, and we'd sold these sessions. And half of the session fee went as a fundraiser. Each photographer kept the other half as a sort of cover, a little bit of time and cost. And then I, personally, I don't know what the other photographers did, but I then had sales sessions with every person who signed up and made a little bit of extra money that way. So I had that concept, I guess, already in my head, and it worked really well, because everyone's really excited to be in a book, and it's a really good way to raise funds. So a couple of years after that, I had the idea to do a book about locations around Melbourne, because at the time, I had just started shooting more sort of urban work, and there wasn't a lot of people doing that, or anyone that I knew about at the time. So sort of in Melbourne, there's a lot of graffiti. So I was doing that, taking advantage of Melbourne landscapes or architecture, that sort of thing. So I really wanted to do a book about pets in these awesome locations. And then I remembered the Pet Saving book and that sort of concept that we did, so I just did that by myself. So I sold sessions, just talked about it on social media and that sort of thing. Half of each session fee went to a charity, and then had a bunch of clients come on board and sold them prints. And yeah, it worked really well,

Andrew Hellmich: Unreal. Or I want to go deep into this in just a second, rescue foundations. Is that what they are, rescued centers?

Caitlin McColl: Rescue groups.

Andrew Hellmich: Rescue group. So how do you get clients from that? Because is a rescue group a pound? Is that the same thing? So what's a rescue group?

Caitlin McColl: So a rescue group, they're usually a bit smaller, though Pet Haven is huge, but it's just a group that they may have a shelter. Typically, they have a foster network, so they'll have dogs come in from pounds that they save them from the pound, so they're not in danger of being euthanized, and then they work to re-home those dogs. It's volunteer based, and I have a select few that I work a lot with, so they're normally the ones that I donate my donations to.

Andrew Hellmich: So your time and photography skills.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, well, my time and that sort of thing, but donate all the money too, as well.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so you would photograph a dog, or a series of dogs, a bunch of dogs, from this rescue group, and then they would use those photos then to market that dog to find a new home?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, so adoption profiles.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay.

Caitlin McColl: Where my sort of volunteer stuff usually comes in, but I now have a little bit more time poor than I was when I started. So the groups typically know they won't bring sort of puppies to me, because puppies are easily re-homed. But if there's any dogs that they're struggling to get homes for that sort of thing, then I'll photograph them professionally. And then that really helps out.

Andrew Hellmich: Got it. Got it. So then when you went to them with your book idea, like, who was paying for those shoots? Because these dogs didn't have owners at that stage.

Caitlin McColl: Oh, no, sorry, I didn't explain that, right? It's people who have adopted from the group, so the rehomed dogs.

Andrew Hellmich: Right. Okay. Okay, got it. So then they would put you in touch with the owners that have taken one of those dogs, and then you go, and they'd pay for a session, and you donate some of that money back to the group, and you'd keep part for your expenses and then do a sales session with that.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, absolutely.

Andrew Hellmich: Got it. Okay, now you've refined this, because now you have Tails of Melbourne, Tails of Tasmania. I think you've just started or in the middle of a new one, Tails of Adoption.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: Sounds like you've cracked the code.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, a little bit. It's a great marketing strategy. It's a feel good marketing strategy on multiple levels. So I feel great about it being a way that I can easily give back to rescue groups and animals in need, which obviously is a issue really close to my heart, but also it's really feel good because it's a way to sort of almost a personal project. It's not entirely but because you've got people coming on board, and they're aware that you have this book that is the end goal, then you can sort of exercise a little bit more creativity, or rather than it just purely being in my head, 'This is a client session', so that's fun. I love writing. So the writing aspect of it's really fun, and then at the end of the day, in terms of career wise, it does add a lot of credibility to myself and Ragamuffin that I've published multiple books. And, yeah, it's great.

Andrew Hellmich: Awesome, awesome. Okay, so you’re on third book now, maybe even your fourth, if you count the initial one you did with the groups. So how does it work? So you have a, not, you come up with a concept first?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah. So Tails of Adoption. I came up with because we've adopted this new puppy. And I actually came up with it because I created a portrait of the new puppy with my older dog, Lyra, and the cat. And the portrait went sort of semi viral, and one of the newspapers picked it up. They contacted me wanting to run it, one of the local news like Herald Sun, and they asked if I had something that I wanted to promote. And I was thinking, "Hiya, I better take advantage of this ."

Andrew Hellmich: Absolutely.

Caitlin McColl: So within a day, put up Tails of Adoption, because I had been sort of thinking for a while. It feels like it's about time for me to do my next book, I was wrapping up Tails of Tasmania, which was a smaller project, because I had to travel over to Tasmania. It's another state, so I was excited to do something a little bit different, not location based. And Tails of Adoption just felt right. I've done so much work with rescue groups and animals in need, and it felt exciting to do a book that was more about the stories behind the animals rather than the locations that they were at. So, yeah, that's where it went from there.

Andrew Hellmich: So are you finding this one easier than the location based books?

Caitlin McColl: Yes, so much easier.

Andrew Hellmich: Why?

Caitlin McColl: They didn't have to track.

Andrew Hellmich: Oh, okay, all right, the actual shooting and the concept is the same.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, completely the same. It's just that I can do it all at locations a little bit closer to where I live, rather than specifically needing to search out all different spots for variety. In the book, it's more focused on each dog, so it doesn't really matter where at we can just be at any possible beach or that sort of thing. So yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So business wise and photographically, this is less challenging in regards to like variety.

Caitlin McColl: Yes

Andrew Hellmich: So it makes sense. So for the listener that wants to try something like this and doesn't have the Herald Sun running a story on them. See, come up with a concept. What's the next step to actually start getting people to apply for these shoots?

Caitlin McColl: It would depend on your social media base. I guess I have a large one. So I'm sort of blessed there that anytime I advertise something on my Facebook and Instagram and stuff, people are excited, and because I've been around for quite a few years now, I have sort of a fan, but you can't see my quotation marks, because I feel silly saying I have fans, but I have fan base who get excited and sort of sign up to different projects that I have anyway.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so just one second, so just for the listeners, just so they're not like, thinking this is going to be a hopeless thing for them.

Caitlin McColl: No, it's definitely not.

Andrew Hellmich: So on Facebook, there's seven and a half thousand people that like your page, so it's not like in the hundreds of thousands. And Instagram, you know, two and a half thousand followers.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So it's not crazy, crazy big.

Caitlin McColl: No, I would just say if you're starting out. So the reason why I said that is, if you're starting out, you'd want to be partnering with someone, if you're a pet photographer, example, say, a rescue where you could sort of leverage their social media. So if you've got a very small social media or you don't have much of a client base to begin with, you'd want to be partnering with someone else so that you could leverage that.

Andrew Hellmich: Got it, got it. And while you're talking about this, so this would work, not only for pet photographers, would it? This would work for kids, babies, families.

Caitlin McColl: Anyway, absolutely. Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: What's the next step?

Caitlin McColl: So I would pop up a web page, obviously, on your website, and just a little bit of a spiel about what the book is, why you're interested in doing it, what you're looking for, and you could do it that you had people register first. It depends on how fussy you want to be with who's in the book. I personally am happy to accept anyone. So the way that mine works is people register to be involved. It's a $90 registration fee, 50% of which goes back to charity. And as soon as they register, they're paying that registration fee, they're definitely in, it's not an application process. If they pay the registration fee, they're in the book. They get a double page spread, they get a shoot with me, and it's guaranteed.

Andrew Hellmich: Isn't it risky to do that? Because there's a good chance you're going to get a lot of no sales from those shoots?

Caitlin McColl: I haven't had any no sales.

Andrew Hellmich: Really? And you just, wow! Okay, well, let's get into that, because that's amazing. Okay, so people apply, they get in. Now, you said you align yourself with the charity. I'm guessing you're using their logos and things like that on your landing page. Do you have to let them know and get permission from them?

Caitlin McColl: Yes, absolutely. You'd want to be chatting to a charity beforehand, and ideally, they could share that for you as well. So yeah, then you get a little bit of cross marketing.

Andrew Hellmich: And is the aligning yourself with a charity? Like, what's the advantage, or the reasoning behind aligning yourself with a charity when really you're giving away half the session fee, like, how does that benefit you and your sales as a photographer?

Caitlin McColl: In reality, half the session fee is $45 it's not huge, but the benefit of it is, it becomes, then, sort of a feel good thing for the client. They know that they're getting involved in a fundraising project, rather. The other benefit, obviously, is that the charity can then also promote it, if you end up having any sort of publicity after the book is published, then again, spinning it as a fundraising project. Sounds good. That sounds like really cold hearted.

Andrew Hellmich: I know you may, no, no, that's fine.

Caitlin McColl: I mean, at the end of the day for me, also, I want, personally, to be able to donate something from the business somewhere. So this is an easy way as well for me to be like, "Oh, this is like, this is where I do that."

Andrew Hellmich: Yes.

Caitlin McColl: So yeah, it works.

Andrew Hellmich: I totally get it. So when we've done this too, and we align ourselves with a Breast Cancer Foundation.

Caitlin McColl: I've seen that.

Andrew Hellmich: So I'm not trying to catch you out. I just want to make sure that the listener is clear of why you're doing what you're doing. So you have a $90 session fee, people register that secures in the shoot and a double page spread in the book. What happens next? Do they schedule the shoot? Do you schedule the shoot? Who chooses location, timing, like stuff.

Caitlin McColl: So I am huge on using something like Acuity or Schedule Once, or some sort of automated scheduling session. One of my pet peeves is having to go back and forth, back and forth with a client about dates. So I have a calendar which links to my Google Calendar, so I'm never discussing dates with clients. They just have a calendar with all my available dates for the project. It was until September that they could choose from time and date that suits them. So after they registered their animal, they got an automatic email welcoming them to the project and forwarding them onto a link to the more in depth booking form, which had questions like, tell me the story about your pet, if they know the story about the dog before it was rescued, and how their lives have changed since they adopted? All sorts of questions like that. In terms of location, there's also a drop down of the sort of five or six locations that I shoot at. So they just picked the one that they wanted. Obviously, if it was a cat, I have one ferret that I'm doing like, I have a few other animals who aren't dogs, so those I'll be doing at their home, but most of them are dogs, so they're just picking from the drop down locations.

 
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Andrew Hellmich: Caitlin, you've been awesome. I'm guessing you're going to cover a lot of this sort of stuff, and maybe I'm going to more detail in your podcast or in your membership.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: You are? Is this a course on its own? What we've just talked about?

Caitlin McColl: I'm in the middle of putting together a course.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay

Caitlin McColl: Tails of Success

Andrew Hellmich: Ah, nice. Nice.

Caitlin McColl: Yes. So the website is up, so I'll give you the link for that. If anyone's interested, they can always sign up, and then they'll get notified as soon as that's ready. So I'm in the middle of writing an e-book about it and putting the course together, just because I've had so many people contacting me and asking for advice on how to do it. So yeah, I'm really keen to share more about it and have it sort of easily set out and easy to follow. So yeah.

Andrew Hellmich: So what's the URL? Is it? Tails of Success?

Caitlin McColl: Tailsofsuccess.biz.

Andrew Hellmich: Dot biz. Okay, awesome. So if the listener goes there, they can sign up, get on your email list, find out when the course is actually released.

Caitlin McColl: Yeah

Andrew Hellmich: And I'm guessing if they subscribe to your podcast, they're going to hear all about this stuff as well.

Caitlin McColl: Absolutely.

Andrew Hellmich: Okay, so where's the best place to go to find out more about you, the podcast, everything else is going on.

Caitlin McColl: I have so many websites.

Andrew Hellmich: I'm going to add links to everything in the show notes. But where's the best? Is it iTunes or do you want to go to your website?

Caitlin McColl: Yeah, if they're on Facebook or Instagram, the easiest way to find out about all the different things I do is just to follow me on either of those or to sign up to the email list. But the podcast is the Pet Photographers Club, so they can always subscribe to that in iTunes or head on over to our website there, and yeah, share everything as it comes out.

Andrew Hellmich: And their website is ragamuffinpetphotography.com.au. Like I said, I'll add links to anything and everything that you've mentioned, and all the social media profiles in the show notes for the episode.

Caitlin McColl: Awesome. Thank you.

Andrew Hellmich: Caitlin, you have been amazing. This hour has just flown by. Look, thanks again so much. And I'm wishing you guys every success. I know it's going to be amazing what you guys put out there, and I'm looking forward to following along as well. So again, thanks for sharing everything you did today with us.

Caitlin McColl: Thank you so much. It's been so awesome chatting to you again.