I love this quote from his staff member Danielle who writes: “It seems there are a few special people who come into our lives to inspire and delight us. For me, Dean Mansbridge is one of those people. He is a constant reminder that it's possible to not only strive for, but achieve, a career built around helping others and pursuing your passion.”
Dean says he has a passion for children and creating fun, vibrant, and meaningful images of families that stand the test of time. I don't doubt any of this but feel it's only a small part of his “success equation” – I'm pretty sure he's a smart business operator with great systems and that's exactly what we'll be extracting in this episode of the podcast.
Here's some more of what we cover:
The podcast has been a little light-on for portrait photographers recently but if you're not walking away from this interview with a stack of ideas and takeaways, you need to listen to this one again! One thing we kind of brushed over was just how good a photographer Dean is. Moving that aside, he is running a fantastic portrait photography business amongst a small population in an area that has cold weather for a good part of the year… and there area ton of other local photographers all competing for the same work.
Follow some of Dean's examples and you will have a foothold to your own photography business, there are no excuses. Start your database, do the work and make your clients as happy as Dean is making his.
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 implementable content from where we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed hard for that include:
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 Dean, 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 Dean your thanks, and support for the show at the same time, click the link to create a tweet and automatically let him know you're listening: https://photobizx.com/tweet
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.
Transcription Service
If you're producing video for your potential clients on your blog or website, don't underestimate the SEO effect if you have those videos transcribed. Remember, Google relies on the written word to index your content, not audio and video.
Chances are, your videos are full of targeted keywords and they need to be transcribed for maximum search-ability.
An easy solution for your transcribing is available right here on PhotoBiz Xposed at photobizx.com/transcribe
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.
Get in Touch or Leave a Voicemail Message
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!
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
http://www.zanzo.com.au/mothersday/
http://www.zanzo.com.au/images/
http://www.zanzo.com.au/blog/2014/4/15/deans-done-it-again
Facebook Link to the 4-photo portrait of a child: https://www.facebook.com/zanzo.studio/photos/a.413575744375.188509.72516684375/10152353111309376/?type=1
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/zanzo.studio
Instagram: http://instagram.com/zanzoportraits
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/Dean%20Zanzo
Other Links
Tero Sade – http://www.tero.com.au/
Dan Cripps – http://www.dancripps.com/
Light Blue Software for Studio Management – http://www.lightbluesoftware.com/
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens
That's it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!
If you've been enjoying the podcast, I'd love for you to tell another photographer about it – it could be in a Facebook Group you're a part of, a photography forum, with a photographer friend or on twitter.
If you do have a twitter account, simply click here: https://photobizx.com/tweet or use the share buttons below.
Thanks and speak soon
Andrew
Dean has got to be the coolest guy ever, bumping Andrew to the #2 slot ; )
I very much enjoyed just being a fly on the wall and listening to these two great guys just chat it out.
I was hoping that Dean was going to finish out by singing the ending jingle for us.
Oh and Andrew, I loved the new voice-overs on the intro and outtro.
My biggest takeaway was basically Dean’s personality. It’s hard for me to imagine somebody not booking a session with him after sitting down and meeting with him.
Joey
YES!!!
I’m gonna add “coolest guy ever” to my email signature.
Thanks Joey 🙂
Cheers
Dean
Tasmania Family Photographer of the Year 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014
Coolest Guy Ever
Sheeesh, didn’t take you long to knock me off my perch Joey! 🙂
A lot of the time throughout this interview, it really did feel like it was just a chat for me… nice to hear that’s the way it cam across to you too.
Maybe we can hold Dean to singing the jingle the next time he’s on – give him a chance to learn the new ones.
Great takeaway Joey but and although I agree, I reckon after chatting to Dean, his success following a shoot has a lot to do with his systems.
I love hearing what Dean had to say in this podcast, my notes page is totally full.
That final comment is great, with what you love in life, learn about it then photograph that.
Geez Andrew – I so want to become a premium member, but just don’t have any money to do so, one day I’ll get there.
Great to read your comments Hannalise. Regarding the premium membership… You don’t know what you’re missing! 🙂
Start implementing some of the things Dean talked about and you’ll have more income to play with before you know it. That’s the hard part though and what makes the difference between success or not… implementing.
Hey Hannalise. Glad you enjoyed our chat.
Filled the note page huh? That’s awesome – I was worried there wasn’t going to be enough good meaty info in there so that’s nice to hear. There is a pretty valuable nugget or two in the premium content also (hundreds in all the other interviews) … I encourage you to put $10 a month into this as an education source. IMO, it is a ridiculously cheap resource!
I flew to melbourne and back for a seminar in one day last year. I think I filled half a note page, left with probably only 1 really good bit of info that I hadn’t heard before and came away happy. That probably cost about $500 but it was worth it BECAUSE I put that info into practice.
Keep learning but START DOING!
Great interview, Andrew! Dean even turned it around on you for a little bit there:)
I’d love to see a behind the scene shot of Dean’s studio set up. Does he have that posted anywhere or if not would he be willing to share? I am intrigued by his huge “kid friendly” space!
Thanks for the hard work! Keep it up#
Aron, I’ll strap a go pro to my head and give you the tour when I get back from holidays in a few weeks. I’ve been meaning to do that for a while 😉 I have been doing some cosmetic upgrades over the last few weeks which will tidy the place up a bit. I’ll post back here once its online 🙂
The space isn’t really HUGE – just a lot bigger than what people expect. All up (including gallery, shooting space, ordering room and the back office) it is about 60 square meters.
Ok – so now this is one I cannot miss
You’ll have to leave some feedback when you gets chance Steve – I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this interview.
Thanks Aron and YES, Dean did turn it around on me… more than once I thought. That’s what made it fun. 🙂
Hopefully Dean will have a link or can post a photo of his studio for us when he sees your comment.
Awesome interview Andrew. Thought I was listening to Steve Saporito for a second there lol. It just goes to show how well these systems work. Please keep up the great work of inspiring me.
Andrew
Haha, I thought the same thing a couple of times Andrew.
You’re right though, it seems the successful photographers are the ones that have their systems down pat.
I loved the interview, he is so easy going! I am going to check out his website and hope to learn more about him. I would have loved to hear like how he handles say a newborn that isn’t ‘feeling it’ that day, or toddler that isn’t into taking photos, he has a background in childcare so Im sure he has some AWESOME ideas and tricks he uses!
I’d also love for Dean to tell us a bit about how he got to where he is today, because we all know winning awards and such doesn’t happen over night, so how he really started out in photography and built his business up to what it is. Im going to listen again as I always do because I edit while I listen, and have 2 rowdy kids, so I might have missed it, but if not Id LOVE to hear all about it!
Thank you Dean for coming on and I love the new Jingle, not to be negative but the old one was starting to get annoying haha I think its great to have a new one and you better get ready for your big 100 episode with a SWEET jingle and huge guest Andrew! Its getting close!
Be Blessed and Be Inspired everyone!
yeah, awesome interview! wait…what was the question??
anyhoo, it’s realy encouraging how you’re pulling some great $ and only working weekdays. i love that you’ve got a connection with children, as it really shows in your work. Great 3rd party tips too.
thanks mate
Love it Paul 🙂
What is the software? Lightblue? Do you know what it runs to buy it? I need to seriously do something like that, I think its so important to send out cards to clients and remind them not only you are still around but that you care about them. Do you know of any other programs Andrew that maybe aren’t super expensive, as I am about to go part time but would LOVE to get all my (cough ‘paper files’ lol) from over the last few years into a digital system. 🙂
Hi Tara – LightBlue is studio management software and you’ll be happy to know that the creators of the software are booked in to be interviewed for an upcoming episode of the podcast 🙂
If you can, hang out for that interview or check out their website where you can trial the software at:
Okay these questions are for Dean after I listened to the interview with my full attention and took notes. I would love to know some about the following things. Some of the questions I had answered upon looking at his website but here is what I have (be great if you would do a followup interview maybe and talk about all this in detail!)
*You mentioned briefly that you ‘weren’t always selling so much’ and that we all start out. So I’d like to know what were your beginning goals and a bit about your beginning and your ‘mistakes’ you made.
*What exactly is the ‘experience” that you keep referring to? Is it the big, kid friendly studio, that you are good with kids, or what exactly is it? Do you do something or many things that set your studio apart from your competition like having snacks for the kids for instance? And how is your studio set up to show the parent that it is kid friendly, do you have toys, different stuff out for them to do? Id love also to see images of your studio
*What is your ideal client. Your target client? Is it Moms since they normally are the ones that handle the photo side of things in business? And if it is can you describe in detail your ideal client?
*Do you have many returning clients or do they come once like for newborn images and spend a lot then go somewhere else for cheaper photos next time? How do you ensure they will come back basically?
-referral program? do you have one for the clients? If so what does it consist of incentive wise for the clients?
-Where do you find your NEW clients? word of mouth from their friends (aka referral program)
-Who are the VIP clients you mentioned?
*You said you work with a boutique baby shop. So Im assuming thats where your ideal client would shop. So do you get much business from that?
-what happens if someone spends the $250 THERE and gets the certificate, makes the appointment with you but then says they cannot afford your prices at the in person consultation?
-do you always have people come to the inperson even if they are out of town or do you have a welcome packet set up that you can mail out to them?
-do you have a welcome packet that you GIVE clients at the in person appointment with marketing stuff and price lists that kind of just re-enforces everything you go over at that appointment?
*Do you have much competition around you in your area?
-do you have a lot of shoot and burn new photographers charging very little to do what you do?
-does that affect your business?
*Do you sell your digital files?
-If so do you place them in collections or give them if a print is bought? How do you sell them?
*Do you post ‘sneak peeks’ on facebook for the clients to see and share on the social network?
*Do you blog about each session?
*What item does your studio ‘love to sell’, like what item is it that you really try to sell and want to sell the most of?
*what item or product do clients BUY the most? Is it the one you want them to and if so how do you have that set up to do so? (have that product the only one all over the walls? talk about it alot?)
*Do you just do a regular slideshow with music for the clients or do you add video and make it a fushion slideshow?
-Do you sell the slideshow and if so how much and is it offered in some collections as well?
*What products are making up your collections and what are your collection prices?
*I noticed you have a baby program and a special pricelist for those in it. Does that go over well with clients? Do you have a lot of people in that program?
*Do you promote your Facebook posts?
-where do you spend the most of your money in advertising (social media, online, or print or referrals)?
-where did you spend the most in the beginning when you were just starting out?
*How does the symbiolic marketing with the baby shop work? Like what does the baby shop get out of the marketing deal? and do you have other businesses that you network with in this way?
*Last one 🙂 You use the word ‘appointment’ for ordering. Do you think ‘session premier’ the word I use is bad? Ive never had a client not excited to come to theirs.
-what things to you have to entertain the children at the appointments so the parents can really concentrate on ordering?
-do you do anything special at these appointments besides the slideshows (example: bring in desserts or something like that?)
-do you offer special pricing the DAY OF ordering appointment and then if they dont order that day then the pricing goes up say 20% (thats what I do) or how do you deal with clients that want to ‘think about it” is there a time limit to order or what do you do?
Thank you if you DO answer these lol Id love to learn more about this process you have as I am a women and children photographer and I loved the interview, just want to learn more about the actual RUNNING of the business and the behind the scenes into your sessions start to finish from finding your clients to handing them the product (and what that product is 🙂
Be blessed and Be Inspired!
Tara
Wow, hey Tara.
Thanks for all your questions.
Do you think you could post your top three questions? Im on holidays at the moment so have a bit of down time…. Not quite enough to get through all that though! 😉
I’ll try to get back to you next time I’m online.
🙂
The big take away for me is the idea to work with 3rd party vendors. I want to target engagement couples, so I will seriously consider approaching jewelry vendors and offer a deal to people who buy engagement rings.
Great idea Tim and one that should definitely work. Don’t limit yourself to jewellers either, think of any service that newly engaged couples might use. Places like classy restaurants, nice hotels, helicopter or balloon flights etc. It’d be easy to have a special offer for these services to use or hand out where newly engaged couples receive a valuable bonus from you.
The jewellery vendor is a definite though. Love to hear how it goes.
Thank you for such a great interview and for sharing so many precious information. Biggest takeaway : being in touch with other buisnesses to give voucher to reward their best clients.
One question (what was the question?! 😉 ?
Anyways I would love to see more of your underwater photos : they are amazing.
Good job on the mother’s day draw : such a great idea 🙂
Thank you thank you thank you!
What a fun and informative podcast. Dean, your images are great and your humor is even better. It’s easy to see why you’re successful in what you do. One things is for sure, you’re a lot braver than me for taking your camera underwater. Keep up your excellent work.
Seriously, thank you for bringing us interviews like this one. Andrew, you rock !
Loved reading your comments Noel… thank you and my pleasure!
Another great interview. The Zanzo website is great – some beautiful photos but also excellent info on the experience and a nice friendly tone too.
Will have to check out Lightblue….need a system!
Thanks Darryn – you’ll be happy to know I’ve just recorded an interview with one of the founders of Light Blue for an upcoming episode.
Dean / Andrew,
Great interview, i’ve only gotten around to listening to it now. I love the idea of underwater photography, i’m not sure how well it would work in Ireland though, even in Tasmania i’m sure you have a better climate for that. I might try to find some brave souls though. I do like the 3rd party marketing idea too.
Cheers guys, more to think about.
Hey Paul – underwater photography in Ireland! You’ll need some committed, brave or crazy clients… or a heated pool 🙂
I’m not sure Tasmania would be much better than Ireland for these shoots, it gets way too cold for me to be swimming down there.
The 3rd party marketing is standing out as one of the best marketing methods for portrait photographers and one you should definitely be exploring if it’s not popular where you are.
Thanks for adding your comments!