Steve Saporito, also known as, ‘The Portrait Doctor,' should possibly be known as ‘The Portrait Teacher' following this interview. Had this interview not have taken place over Skype, I would have feared the nasty rap of the ruler over my bare knuckles. If that's what it takes for portrait photography success, I'll consider returning to school… for a while.

If ever you were looking for someone to be accountable to, pushed even, in your business it'd be difficult to go past Steve and that became apparent in this interview where he covers a range of topics on how to generate great sales from every portrait session you do. Starting with your website and contact details to the first phone call, getting what the client wants from the shoot and structuring a profitable sales session.

Steve goes into detail about setting up the shoot for a great sale through better communication, how to lay out your price list to make it easy for your clients to buy and why you should never, ever, have discs on display in your studio. In fact, Steve believes there is no need for your client to ever see your price list.

Listen and be prepared to feel as guilty as I did about all the things you should be doing to have a great portrait photography business instead of an ordinary one. As Steve points out, why work harder when you can work smarter.

Here's some of what we cover:

  • Using the right language in your business from the start
  • Why you should NEVER refer to your photos as images if you want to make bigger sales
  • Why you need to realise a 20×30 print is not big
  • Coming up with visual solutions for your clients is the aim of a sales session, not finding a favourite photo
  • In a portrait sales session, why you should never let your clients narrow down the photos if you want to encourage high sales
  • Why you need to have purpose when shooting and products in mind – spray and pray just doesn't cut it for great portrait sales
  • The importance of a simplified price list and how you can easily achieve it
  • Why you need to understand your value is in your skills, the photos we take and create, not the prints – we need to be charging for skills
  • Reward your good (high spending) clients by value adding rather than discounting
  • How would your studio stand up to a mystery shopper situation – would you really listen to what your client wants?
  • Where do we find the clients that do want to spend a lot on photography?
  • How to build strategic alliances with other businesses that share a similar target client and why it's important to do so
  • Is it really worthwhile networking with the local chamber of commerce or similar associations, Steve says a resounding yes!
  • Common website problems that you can easily fix right now
Having someone to be accountable to will make a big difference in your photography business. If you really want a successful business, it's impossible to ignore the points Steve makes in this interview. It begs the question then… how many photographers really do want a successful business and how many want to simply plod along doing what they're doing?

Steve Saporito Podcast Interview

Steve's webinar for ProSelect users

Steve has made available for all listeners, his training webinar: 8 Proselect Preferences that can Automatically Increase Your Sales.

You heard in this interview and many others now, just how important a tool ProSelect software is for maximising portrait sales. If you've ever used the software, you may be aware that there are many variables and preferences you can customise to suit your business. Most studios use the program with the default settings and don't scratch the surface of its capabilities as a sales tool.

Follow Steve's instructions to use the program more effectively. You can find the webinar here: Selling with ProSelect and the cost is $75.00.

If you've never heard of a webinar, it's a video training session or presentation, where if you are a live participant, can ask questions and get answers in real time. Often these webinars are recorded and can be offered as training videos after the event, which is what Steve has done in this case.

The beauty is, live viewers will most likely ask the exact questions you'd like to know the answers to during the recording.

Premium Members

You get access to the same great webinar above but for the cost of $29.00 – you save $54.00! For details on how to get access, jump over to the Premium Members area.

8 Proselect Preferences that can Automatically Increase Your Sales

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview with Steve, I'd love to know what your biggest takeaway is – what is the one thing that you'd like to implement or remember from what he had to share? Let me and know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.

If you have any questions for Steve that I missed or a specific question you'd like to ask, feel free to add them below and he'll happily answer them for you. There are absolutely no silly questions and chances are, if you're wanting to know the answer to something, other listeners will too. Get the conversation started by using the comments area below.

iTunes ratings, reviews and Shout-Outs

Each week I go through the ‘”ritual” of checking for any iTunes review for the Photo Biz Xposed podcast and I'd by lying if I didn't say it's a real thrill to see a new post. It feels like a pat on the back, a sign of support, of community; and a little wink from you, clarifying that I'm on the right track with this thing.

This week I was blown away!

Thanks you so much Adam of Cavanagh Photography and Kristin Struve Photography – for leaving iTunes reviews this week, it means a lot and is a big help in getting the podcast discovered. Plus, it makes me happy 🙂

Steve Saporito Podcast Interview

It is the 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. Don't feel your comments have to be long, involved or gushy, an honest opinion is all I ask.

Don't be shy about leaving your business name in the review either – that way I can add a link in the show-notes and show my appreciation with a proper thanks and a Google loving back-link to your website.

This week on social media and email, I've had the pleasure of chatting to a bunch of cool people and want to give shout outs to:

Milton Gan

Chris Kemp

Dean Byford

Chris Turner

Kylie Foley

and the Ready Steady Pro Podcast and all the crew there: Mary, Rob, Lyn, James, Helen, Sarah, Phil, Lel, Lee, Neil and Michael.

You can hear my interview on the Ready Steady Pro Podcast by clicking here: Andrew Hellmich Interview

If you'd like to get in touch, ask a question 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!

Steve Saporito Podcast Interview

Do you trust me?

As you heard, I declined a generous offer of sponsorship from Squarespace this week. It was a tough decision but one I feel good about for now. My vision for this podcast has been from the very start to provide content so good that it's worth paying for.

I feel like I'm on the right track but I need your help if you want to keep advertising out of the show and continue to see improvements and hear cheesy sound clips.

If you are a regular listener who waits excitedly to hear see the PhotoBizX podcast show up in iTunes or your podcast app each week, I encourage you to give the premium membership a try. I know you'll get value from the content there and you'll be supporting the show in a massive way.

If you try and it's not for you, no problem. Just give it a try.

You can sign up and check it out here: Premium Membership

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

Steve Saporito's Website

Steve on Facebook

Steve on Twitter

ProSelect Portrait Sales Software

8 ProSelect Preferences That Will Automatically Increase Your Sales – Steve's Webinar

Post Card App from Australia Post

Send Out Cards – an easy way to send cards to your clients

 

That's it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business. I'd love for you to leave a comment below about your biggest takeaway from this episode or any questions you might have for Steve.

Speak soon

Andrew