You're listening to Take It Personally, a podcast for photographers about the personal side of business and the art of standing out. Here I'll help you build a business and a brand that is uniquely you. If you want to attract dream clients and stop looking at the competition to decide your next move. to show up as a confident branding authority to help you serve your clients and consider your goals and priorities too. If you want to make your mark in a new, underserved niche of photography, then this is the place for you. I'm your host Maddie Pachon, South Dakota brand photographer and educator. I'm a straight shooting, Instagram obsessed, and Instagramer. Diehard Swifty who has built a multi six figure business on the back of brand photography all while raising a family. And I know you can do the same. Let's get ready to take it personally.

This episode is part of my quiz series, where I tell you all about the four archetypes of brand photographers. You can go to Maddie Dot com slash quiz. And take the, are you ready to be a brand photographer quiz? And then I will tell you what your brand photographer archetype is.

The first type of brand photographer is also the most rare. Most of the time when I hear from people who are wanting to get into brand photography, they already have a successful wedding or portrait business. They've been shooting for a while. They're familiar with their camera, but once in a while, I get people who are just starting to pursue being a photographer. Maybe they've picked up a camera a handful of times. Maybe they haven't even purchased their first camera yet, but they just know. That they want to pursue photography as a business. This is what I call, not very creatively, the brand new photographer, right. They are brand new to photography as a business. And I love these photographers because they know what they want. And let me tell you that was the opposite. Of me, I, while I am very thankful for the path that has led me here, I think it would have been probably a lot easier and a lot straighter of the line. If I would've just known right away that I was interested in personal brand photography or even like what that was. I had no idea what that was. So I love the brand new brand photographer because they know what they want and now they just need a clear path to get there. So characteristics of the brand new brand photographer, they are likely still working on getting it right in camera. I can really relate to this. I remember sitting in my college photography class. Thinking that there was no way I was ever going to be able to control my ISO and shutter speed and aperture and white balance. Like all at the same time. I just thought there's no way that I'm ever going to be able to do this, but practice makes perfect. And the more that you get your camera in your hands and play with it, the better that you're going to get. My biggest piece of advice. If you are the brand new brand photographer, don't be afraid to do some portfolio building shoots for free as you build your skills. I know that photographers love to get really sassy and Facebook groups about photographers who are shooting for free. And I don't want you to shoot for free forever by any means. But there is a time and a place for it. And when you are brand new, when you're starting out, when you're honing your skills, that is exactly. What you should be doing. So don't be afraid to do some of those portfolio building shoots for free, and then you can slowly raise your price as your skills get better and as you get more confident. It's also really common as the brand new brand photographer for your clients to be mostly friends and family. When your business is a little bit more hobby than it is a business. As of right now. Um, and even as it grows and you start charging people, Your friends and family can be really fantastic clients. This is how so many photographers start out. And it's a really good place to be in because you have this like built in network. So you can use the networks that you already have. To spread the news that you're interested in photography and watch those networks grow. And as your skills grow and you increase your prices. Also, I want you to know that it's normal for some of these people to fall away, to make room for new clients. It is normal to get to a point where your friends and family might not pay your prices. And I think that this is a point that so many photographers get to and they kind of freak out. Like they think if their friends and family aren't going to pay the price, then the price is too high. That's actually not the case at all. It just means that your business is entering a new stage, a new era, but for right now, enjoy the support and celebrate the wins that you get by booking with your friends and family. They're also going to be really great clients to learn on. You can ask them for genuine feedback. You can use their photos to build your portfolio. It's a really great place to start. Now I actually do not recommend that the brand new photographer come in to rebrand it, at least not quite yet. However I do recommend that the brand new photographer look at my new program that is launching on black Friday. Which is called rewind and rewind is going to tell you exactly how to shoot your first brand session. For the brand new photographer, you really want to be working on your skills first, and then we can work more on the business on marketing, on your personal brand to get to a point where you can charge those higher prices and become a six figure photographer. But for right now, I want you to work on your skills. I want you to get really comfortable with a camera before you move on to step 2, 3, 4, all of the other steps. If you are a brand new photographer and you are listening to this, I would love to hear from you. You really are at such an exciting point in your career. And you're going to be learning so much and I cannot wait to support you along the way.

Thank you so much for listening to Take It Personally. If you haven't already, would you head over to iTunes and leave us a review? This is the best way to let other photographers know about the show and help keep us creating content you crave. And if you want more tips and tools to build your personal photography brand, head over to my website, MaddiePichon. com. Here, you can access my downloadable ultimate personal brand session shot list to get your clients singing your praises and browse my blog for more trade secrets to help you hone your craft and grow your business. Love to learn while you listen, visit MaddiePachon. com and click on podcast for all things. Take it personally. From show notes to recent episodes and incredible guest profiles. Remember friend, the most important part of any brand is the people behind it. Branding and business is personal, so let's take it personally.