Original subtitles

Okay, so lots of golden nuggets of wisdom

in there this week from two experts who've

been an instrumental part of getting our brands

and our work out there into the world

and really important stuff that's often overlooked in

our industry and it shows.

Yeah, which means that there's a huge opportunity

for us to stand out, right, if we

put some effort into our branding.

And those branding exercises have helped Lani and

I immensely, not only with figuring out our

target audience, but with how to structure and

what to put on our website, Instagram, Facebook,

which we're going to get into in another

chapter.

So I definitely encourage you to take advantage

of that branding guide that James provided.

Go and do that.

It's a really valuable exercise.

Now SEO and advertising is something that's pretty

new to us at Two Man.

It's something we never had to think about

before, but we're having to think about it

now.

Do you want to chat a little bit

about contests here?

Because contests is another way that you can

put your work out into the world for

people to see.

Yeah, and actually that's a common topic that

pretty much comes up at every workshop.

There's always questions around what's your take on

contests?

Is that something that we should be doing?

Is it a good thing?

Is it a bad thing?

You know, it's a whole topic.

And we have different takes on it.

Yeah.

We have different takes on it.

Why don't you talk about your experience?

I mean, like anything, it can be good,

but it can also be bad.

It kind of fits here because essentially this

is, we're talking about, you know, obviously the

course is about trying to make the best

work we can.

And then this, now we're moving into like,

how do we show it?

How do we get it in front of

the right eyes?

As many of the bright eyes as we

can.

And so I would say contests is just

one potential avenue through which to do that,

right?

Another option for helping get our work out

there.

I mean, the thing is though, that's got

to be your sole purpose with contests, is

to get your work out there for people

to see.

If you're doing it for any validation or

you're doing it, because contests can be really

dangerous.

It can be dangerous because when you get,

and it's same with Facebook likes and Instagram

likes and all that sort of stuff, it's

sort of, they become almost addictive.

And it's almost like after a contest, if

you win something, you get this spike of

energy and excitement.

But afterwards, it's like a sugar high.

You dive down deeper.

And then in order to get yourself out

of that valley again, you have to keep

on one-upping yourself.

And it's this really damaging cyclical cycle to

your psyche.

For me, personally.

Right.

It totally depends on who you are, right?

Where are your goals?

What are your intentions?

Because it can be a really powerful marketing

tool, right?

Essentially that's been, contest submissions for us has

sort of been our marketing budget, right?

It has.

And thankfully, I have a Lanny to enter

contests for me.

Because I personally did not, like my worst

year of a photographer was the year that

I got Fearless Photographer of the Year.

It just put me in a deep dive

of questioning everything I'm doing and the value.

And I just don't like what it does

to me when I win, but also when

I lose.

I don't like what it does to my

brain.

And it kind of screws up my creative

process.

And it screws up me, my values, and

what I find really important in photography.

So I have completely separated myself from contests.

That being said, Fearless has done well for

us, especially for marketing.

Yeah, contest results have been huge.

So I've got Lanny, and he enters for

me.

But he doesn't even show me what he's

entering.

Because even just looking at what's being entered,

it messes up my brain.

So it's something you could outsource as well,

if you find.

But yeah, it's important to keep in mind.

I mean, for some people, it's great.

For some people, it's a great motivator, right?

It's like validation, or you're just putting your

work out there.

But when you attach it to your self

-worth, if you attach it to your value,

if you hold too many grains of salt

in the results, then that's when it can

become a negative.

And just keep in mind that if it

motivates you to try to make your best

work, that's great.

But if you find that you're shooting for

awards, if you're shooting for contests, if you've

got that as your motivation in the field

behind the camera, if you're thinking about results

and awards, it's not going to be healthy.

It's not going to burn you out, and

it's probably not going to lead to your

best work.

I will say though, contests in general, especially

a few out there, have really elevated the

industry.

They've elevated the genre of wedding photography quite

drastically.

So like anything, there's good and bad things.

It's okay to question it.

It's okay not to like it.

And there's lots of different avenues you can

take, and there's no right and wrong with

any of them.

Right.

And we've judged a lot of contests.

Yes.

I'm going to get into that in another

week.

We've judged tons of contests, and I'm going

to sort of just go through what I

feel is what makes a photo award-winning,

and what makes a photo less award-winning.

If you want to play that contest game,

Erica's got some really cool, really good tips

that could probably help you out there.

Yeah.

Well, it's not just for contests, actually.

It's just for better photos.

Well, no, it's just about better photos.

Yeah.

So now, let's look at the client experience

from that point, from when they discover our

work, through until they actually inquire with us,

right up until the wedding itself.

So the entire workflow, broken down step-by

-step, everything that happens before the wedding.

Yeah.

And included in that, we're going to take

you through a mock client Skype with some

potential clients.

Now, just because we're talking about the business

and the industry, doesn't mean that you don't

get to keep working on your photography.

So we've got a photography assignment for you

this week, and what we're going to try

and get you guys to do, or what

you're going to try and get yourself to

do, is get the action and the reaction

both within the same frame.

So something to pay attention to, something to

strive for this week.

You can do it at your weddings, right,

or you can do it at home, just

in life, just out on the streets, trying

to incorporate both sides of the story.

Action and reaction.

In the same frame.

Okay, and have fun with that.

We'll see you next week.