095: Todd Hunter McGaw – Wedding Photography Business the Way it Should Be

• Shooting 36 weddings on average per year makes up 85% of Todd's income
• How to use a selection of 3-4 second shooters in your business and how to mange them for best results
• How to select and choose second shooters to compliment your photography
• How much should a second shooter expect to get paid
• Is increasing your wedding photography pricing to shoot less weddings really the best way to work
• Just because it's difficult to start a photography business today doesn't mean it's impossible
• The importance of experimenting with your photography pricing
• Using surveys to determine the best pricing for your business
• What you can do with your packages that won't limit the amount of money clients can spend with you
• What Todd says to clients who decide against taking a wedding albums
• The importance of being super open and honest to your clients
• What Todd thinks believes it takes to become a successful photographer
• The importance of ‘participating' when starting out in your photography business
• How and where to find your ideal clients
• The importance of using social media to showcase your work
• As the main photographer, you need to keep up with your social media engagements
• What other channels you can use to showcase your photography work
• How do you tell if as a new photographer, your images are good enough
• How to determine what your photography style is
• Why you should never compare yourself to other photographers
• Learn how Todd plans the look he wants to achieve for each wedding

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:

• How to build trust and reputation with strangers
• How Todd communicates with his clients
• The importance of managing expectations with your photography clients
• The importance of having a website to house your brand
• The language you use on your blog is as important as the photos you capture
• How Todd challenges himself at every wedding
• The best thing Todd has done for his business
• The importance of listening to your clients
• Why you don't need to and shouldn't wait for your clients, instead, go out and find them

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 Kirk 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 Todd 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

Giant Christmas Giveaway

Who loves free gifts? I do!

Well here is a giveaway of awesome goodies you’re going to LOVE. To celebrate the end of 2014 we’ve put together a stocking load of goodies any photographer will LOVE to help run your business worth a WHOPPING $1877 !!!

Prizes include memberships, software, ebooks and downloads. Whether you’re a boudoir photographer, a beauty photographer, a wedding photographer, portrait photographer, or you need a website revamp; need business and marketing help, or Lightroom editing tips, this is for YOU!

Make sure to follow all the rules to be eligible to win this WINNER TAKES ALL prize worth $1877.

Head to https://photobizx.com/giveaway to enter and win!

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 happy to see three five star 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.

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.

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!

Mastin Labs – New Presets Discount Code

In the last episode with Kirk Mastin, he kindly offered ALL listeners, 25% off his film presets until Jan 1st 2015 with the promo code: PHOTOBIZ25.  Head to mastinlabs.com to check out the colour presets for both Kodak and Fuji.

This week. Kirk has made available a whopping 40% off and early access to the next preset pack – Ilford Black and White.

In addition, anyone that signs up will get a unique referral URL, and if you get 5 others to sign up with that link you'll get 80% off instead! Kirk is looking to really reward the early adopters on this one.

Head to https://photobizx.com/ilford to register.

Are you a NEW listener?

Ive been trialing a new marketing idea for the podcast with hand written letters to wedding and portrait photographers in Seattle, Phoenix, Sacramento, Tacoma, Salt Lake and Denver areas. I'd love if you are the recipients of one of my letters to let me know you're now listening to the show.

Simply shoot me an email at andrew@photobizx.com to say hi, I'd love to hear from you.

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

Todd Hunter McGaw Website

Todd Hunter McGaw Blog

Todd Hunter McGaw on Facebook

Todd Hunter McGaw on Instagram

Jonas Peterson on PhotobizX

Equipment

Nikon 35mm f/1.4G AF-S FX SWM Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Nikon 50mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

Thank you!

Thank you again for listening to the show and thanks Todd 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