Mindset & Money Mastery for Photographers with Karinda K.
Mindset & Money Mastery for Photographers with Karinda K.
Top 5 Countdown: Why Model Calls Are Not the Answer
Join us as we count down some of our top episodes- as we get ready to start a new season.
Could the words "model call" be harming your photography business more than helping it? Discover why these two seemingly harmless words may be projecting desperation and devaluing your brand. This episode of "Mindset and Money Mastery for Photographers" unravels the hidden pitfalls of model calls and offers practical strategies to maintain your brand's exclusivity and value. By comparing the concept to handing out free sushi on a street corner, we shed light on why this approach might cause potential clients to question the quality of your work.
Learn to build a strong, sustainable photography business from the ground up with clear financial goals, effective pricing strategies, and an exceptional client experience. We dive into smart alternatives to traditional model calls, such as passion projects, and the necessity of transparent communication about costs. Plus, you'll get an inside look at organizing large-scale creative initiatives and transforming clients into enthusiastic endorsers. Finally, we introduce "Your Magic Year," a comprehensive program designed to guide photographers toward achieving their business aspirations through structured quests and a supportive community. Tune in to transform your approach and position yourself as a sought-after expert in the photography world.
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Welcome to Mindset and Money Mastery for Photographers the podcast. We help overwhelmed photographers make more money while simplifying their business by mastering their you guessed it mindset and money. Tune in each week for practical and actionable tips to take your photography business up a notch. Let's dive right in. I see it time and time again people posting all over photography Facebook groups saying I can't even give away a free session, nobody wants to work with me. I'm posting model call after model call and it's crickets or the people I'm getting are terrible to deal with.
Speaker 1:And let me let you in on a little secret the words model call are running your photography business and, honestly, model calls are running the photography industry. I said it. They are running the industry because model calls are not good for business, because model calls are not good for business and they create this mentality that there are photographers everywhere that are desperate just to get somebody in front of their camera. So why on earth should anybody be coming to a photographer and paying them a lot of money if photographers are just giving their stuff away for free? These two little words tell a very strong story. A model call says I'm desperate, I can't get clients through the door, I don't know what I'm doing and I don't value my own time or talent, and it makes our models feel like they're doing us a favor, like they should be getting something for free, like you aren't a real business owner and you sure as heck don't deserve to be paid if you're giving away all these free sessions. And let's take this a step further. A model call that gives away the farm and includes all of the digital files says to everyone that your images aren't worth anything, that they're worthless. Everyone that your images aren't worth anything, that they're worthless. After all, why would somebody come to you and pay you for a session and pay for their portraits when they've been watching you for months or even years doing model call? And doing these model calls and giving away everything for free Model calls make your clients feel like they are doing you a favor by coming and being your model and, in the long run, are extremely detrimental to your brand image. Model calls create this terrible mentality from your clients even when they share their portraits on social media. I kid you not.
Speaker 1:I see this time and time again. I see my friends responding to these model calls and then I see them sharing the photos. Most recently, I saw a mom post on social media and say something just like this. She said my daughter did a model call for a new photographer and she did this photographer a favor. The photos are so good because my daughter is a great model. I think she has a future as a model here. Let me know if anyone else needs a model for something. She's available. Now this post could have sounded so much different if this model call would have been spun in a different way, if this model call would have been done in a way that builds value to this photographer's brand and that builds up the industry as a whole. Now, a model call spun correctly that avoids those two little words can sound like this when people are sharing their images on social media.
Speaker 1:My daughter was selected for a special portrait session with Corinda. Didn't Corinda do a phenomenal job making her look gorgeous? The experience was amazing. She made it so easy. Most importantly, she gave my daughter an entirely new level of confidence. Just look at her. She looks like something right out of a magazine. Karinda is truly magic. If you get a chance, I highly recommend working with her.
Speaker 1:Do you see the difference in the two types of people? The difference here between these two people is the way that they were approached and the way that they were handled through a model call type experience. Let's think about it this way how can you spin this in a way that makes you sound in desire? How do you spin it in a way that makes it sound like you're doing them a favor, like you're providing them with a gift, like you're providing them with something amazing? Let's step back for a second and look at an example outside of the photography industry, because I think that this is the best way to show you the difference between a model call done right and a model call done wrong.
Speaker 1:Let's pretend like we are talking about sushi. If somebody stands on the corner of the road and says who wants free sushi, would you hesitate before you picked up that piece of free sushi? Would you think why is the sushi free? Is it not any good? Why are they so desperate to give it away? Is it expired? If nobody's buying it, it must be terrible. Maybe you think is there a catch? This must not be legitimate sushi. This is what happens to photographers when they are giving away free portrait sessions. This is what happens to photographers when they are doing model call-outs they sound desperate, they sound like there's something wrong with it, they sound like nobody wants it. People assume there must be a catch or it must not be legitimate. Instead, if someone said, this phenomenal, world renowned chef is setting up a tasting for his brand new fusion sushi restaurant, he will only be accepting 10 people at this tasting and each and every one of them will be hand selected by the chef himself. This tasting is typically a $300 value, but for this special event, if you are selected, you will get a complimentary seat. Apply here. You'd probably think, holy crap, this sounds amazing. I love sushi. How cool would it be selected? I hope he picks me.
Speaker 1:You see, it's all about the way you frame your messaging. You don't want to sound desperate. You don't want to sound like you can't even give away a free session, because if you do sound like you can't give away a free session, nobody's going to want it. It's important that you frame yourself as an expert, that you frame yourself as valuable and limited and you assert to your potential clients that your time and your talent is valuable. Now let's look at these two people who are there selling sushi or giving away sushi. In scenario one, the person takes an entire plate of sushi to the corner and he gives it away, although a lot of people tell him no and a lot of people look at him like he's crazy and a lot of people are like, oh, this has to be bad. He feels like a total failure at the end of the day, like his efforts were a bust. He didn't get any clients to come into his restaurant, like his efforts were a bust. He didn't get any clients to come into his restaurant and people who took that free thing were so ungrateful Some of them even complained. And it was free. Now let's look at scenario two, the guy who framed his messaging in the correct way. In scenario two.
Speaker 1:The experience was amazing. The chef put together a five-star experience. At the end of the event, social media was buzzing. People were raving about how cool the event was. The chef offered those attendees the opportunity to buy some more sushi once they finished their complimentary sushi, to even take some sushi home, to gift the same experience to a friend, to buy extra drinks, to get dessert, to do all of these things extra on top of what he included with his amazing experience. And guess what? He made a lot of money. He made money because people wanted to spend more, they wanted to get more, they wanted to invest. He set this up as a business person. He set this up in a way that he could still be profitable and make money, even though he did it in a way that was meant to bring people into his restaurant. He made money. He was happy. More people came, more people were excited to work with him, whereas guy number one, who was handing out that free sushi on the corner, went home defeated, wondering how he's ever going to keep his restaurant alive. Both people served the exact same sushi. Actually, truth be told, the guy on the corner handing out the sushi that his sushi was even better than the guy that created the experience, but nobody knowed or cared because he presented himself in the wrong way. One of these people knew their value and their worth.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to ask you in your portrait business, which guy are you? Are you the guy standing on the corner trying to give away free sushi? Are you going to Facebook groups and saying nobody wants it, nobody wants my free portraits? I can't even get a model call to work and the model calls that I do have are terrible and I hate the people and they're miserable to deal with, or are you the guy that's framing it in the right way and providing an amazing experience and giving himself opportunity to make more money? At the end of the day, are you ready to stop being the guy that's standing on the corner giving away free sushi? Are you tired of it?
Speaker 1:Then it's time to change. It's time to decide that your time, your talent, your energy, your portraits are valuable and you will no longer give them away. You will no longer be desperate. You will make the decision, from this day forward, to stop using the word model call, to stop using the word model call, to stop sounding desperate, to make sure that you are bolstering yourself and your business up, to make sure that you're providing an experience, to make sure that you are being a good business person and leaving room on the table to make more money.
Speaker 1:Now you're probably sitting there going, but how? Where do I even begin? Corinda, nobody wants what I'm serving, nobody wants my sushi, and what I'm going to say to you is that, first of all, as hard as it is to say and to tell all of you, you have to get your business basics in line. You have to build your foundation, because without a strong foundation, your business will crumble. Without a strong foundation, you cannot give away the sushi. You cannot provide an experience if you don't even know what an experience is. You need to take a step back and you need to build your foundation. Now, what does a foundation look like in a photography business?
Speaker 1:A foundation in your photography business starts with one thing first it really starts with your mindset, because ultimately, your mindset could be the number one thing that's keeping you on the corner handing out the free sushi. Your mindset and your inability to believe in yourself and your value and your worth might be the biggest thing holding you back. You have to believe that what you are serving is good enough for people to want to buy it. You have to believe that you are worthy, that your work is worthy, that you are talented, that you should be paid well, that you are talented, that you should be paid well. You have to believe those things first. So if you have a hint of doubt in the back of your mind about your worth, your personal worth, or your portrait's worth or your business's worth or any of those things, and you feel like nobody's going to buy it, then you need to stop and take a look at your mindset. Once your mindset is all bad up and you start to believe that these things are really possible for you, then it's time to dive in to your business.
Speaker 1:Then it's time to look at your pricing, to have goals, to know exactly how much money you need to be making to live the life you want to live, to do the things you want to do. How much money do you need to make per client? Do you know, right here and now, how much money you need to be making per client? Can you say, corinda, I need 30 clients per year and they need to pay me an average of $4,000 each. That will meet my income goals. If not, that's your next step. After you do that, you need to ask yourself how can I get my clients to that number? And you need to come up with a game plan. Are you going to charge a large session fee upfront that includes all the digital files? Are you going to do a hybrid method of selling art and including some digital files? Are you going to go pure in-person sales and sell wall art and albums and all of the things? Decide what you're going to do, figure out how to set your pricing up next. And once you have your pricing set up, then you need to work on your client experience. Now remember I haven't said a word about marketing.
Speaker 1:All of these things have to come before your marketing is done. You need to set your client experience up next. You need to set your client experience up next. You need to know how to provide the five-star experience, just like the guy with the restaurant who invited the people in and provided them with his amazing experience and left his clients raving about it. They had social media buzzing about what he did and what he provided to them. That's what needs to happen next. Then you need to know how to deliver. You need to know how to follow through. You need to know how to get those images in your client's hands. However that might look for you in your business, whether it is wall art or albums or digital files or whatever it may be you need to know what the end game looks like.
Speaker 1:Once you know those things, then you can do your model call without ever using the word model call. You can do it in a smart way. You can sit there and look at your business and say how do I get people in my door, how do I take people through this process? How do I gift them a little bit and allow them to spend more money? And then you put together a plan and then you invite the people in and you work with them and you gift to spend more money. And then you put together a plan and then you invite the people in and you work with them and you gift to them graciously and you tell them this amazing opportunity that they have to work with you. And you believe it when you tell them this, because you've taken care of your mindset first. And then, after you blow their socks off and you provide this phenomenal experience and these beautiful portraits, they're going to want to throw money at you. They're going to want to get more, they're going to want more of your portraits. They're going to want to tell their friends, they're going to brag about it on social media and they're going to become your biggest cheerleaders in your business. Then, after you master that and you can do that with those people, then your clients will start coming in your business. Then, after you master that and you can do that with those people, then your clients will start coming in your door. But ultimately, in the beginning you do have to drag people through your door, and you can do this with a modified or smart version of a model call just for the love of everything, please don't use the word model call call, just for the love of everything. Please don't use the word model call. So let me explain to you what this can look like in your business and kind of my rules for this.
Speaker 1:What you might not know is that I've been in business for 10 years. When I started my business, I did weddings and babies, and back when I did weddings and babies, I did some really terrible model calls and in the experience I had and in the process, I dealt with some of the most vicious, ferocious people in the world who turned into nightmares. I still have nightmares about one of these people. Guys, I'm serious. I had some terrible experiences and what I learned is that when you give people free things, they treat you like crap and they take advantage of you and they become giant bullies because they want everything for free. So when you give things away for free, you have to do it in a smart way. You have to be clear and concise about what they're getting and not getting, and you also have to do it in a way that builds value in yourself and your business.
Speaker 1:When I started my equine photography brand five years into my business, I knew that I had to build my portfolio. I knew that I had to drag people through my door. I knew that I had to do something to get people to come to me and what I call passion projects that was born. I call these passion projects. I don't call these model calls. They're passion projects. They're things that I do to fill my calendar or to build a new genre or to speak to my wife, or sometimes I just do them because I want to do them and because it's important to me for a reason.
Speaker 1:When I started my business, I did what I call a passion project or not my whole business, but my equine photography brand. I did a passion project called 365 Days Horses and I set out to photograph 365 horses in a year, but I did it in a smart way and I made money from it. I built value. I built an experience. I built something cool that people wanted to be a part of and they were vying to be a part of it. I didn't give them anything. They got their session. They didn't get any images. They didn't get a print credit. They didn't get anything. If they wanted their portraits, they had to buy them and they were told that up front very clearly. And I'll tell you what when you deal with 365 people in a year and photographing that many clients in a year, you get really good at being very clear with people about things so that you don't have people that are angry at you or disappointed. I did an imagery reveal with all of these people and the people that wanted to buy portraits did. Did everyone buy? No, but that's okay. I didn't need everyone to buy. I did it in a smart way and I built my brand in a way that made me money and it built my name and I got out there and I built my portfolio that's true as heck without doing a model call. Everybody was so excited about it. It was a big deal.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to give you a bit of a warning here. I do not recommend going out and doing 365 of anything. It was insane. I had people working for me and doing stuff for me. It was a very big process and it was a lot of work and I actually did it over two years time period. I didn't do it over a year. I planned it about a year in advance before I started it and did it behind the scenes before I officially put it out there to the world. It was a lot, but it was good and it essentially was a giant model call. I just never said those words and I did it in a smart way. This is the same thing that people are doing when they do 40 over 40 projects. I didn't even know 40 over 40 was a thing until after I did 365 days of horses. Now I know, but it's the same thing that people are doing.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of ways you can do things like this. It doesn't have to be on a huge scale. It could just be one single session, it could be two or three sessions or it could be five sessions. It could be whatever you want it to be. But the key here is, when you do things like this, you need to do it in a smart way.
Speaker 1:So here are some rules and some things to keep in mind to make sure that you are doing model calls or portfolio building in a smart way. First of all, my rule is that I will give away my time photographing something, but I won't give away the images I don't believe in giving away the images. My second rule is if you decide to give away any images, limit it at one or two images max. Don't give away more than that, because if you give away more than that, you're taking away your client's opportunity to potentially invest more and spend more money with you. My third rule is, if you're giving away a couple of images, don't ever say I'm giving you one or two images. Instead, what you say is I'm giving you a credit to use and make the credit the value of one or two images.
Speaker 1:So let's say that you sell an eight by10 for $195. Then give a credit for $200 and say I'm going to give you a credit for $200. You can use it towards a small print. You can use it towards Walmart and Apple whatever you want to use it towards, because you don't want to put your clients in a box. Give them an opportunity to dream. Give them an opportunity to think big. Give them an opportunity to get something bigger. Don't put them in a box of thinking I'm just going to get my one picture and I'm leaving Bye. Give them the opportunity to spend more.
Speaker 1:My next rule is to provide an amazing experience, and when you provide somebody with an amazing experience. A big piece of that is being clear and upfront about how things work, what they do and what they do not get and what they can expect to spend if they do decide that they want more portraits. So anytime that I was doing a session like this, I am always going to tell the person hey, here's what you get. It'll get you one photo If I was giving a credit for one photo, or you can use it towards something bigger or an album or wall art or something like that. But I'm also going to be honest. Most of my clients spend like $5,000 or $6,000 with me and they're getting an album and multiple pieces of art. I have clients that spend $1,000 and just get a few small prints. I still have clients that spend $20,000 or $30,000 with me and buy huge, bigger-than-life pieces of art. So I just have to let you know and be clear and upfront about that, because if you do want more portraits, it is going to cost you money and you're going to have to pay for them.
Speaker 1:I am being incredibly generous by gifting you a session. You should be excited about that. That's a big value. That's a big value. That's a big freaking deal that I'm gifting you that session, looking to create more magic in your business. Make sure you join us over in your magic year. Your magic year is our new year long program designed to help give you direction and guidance as you move throughout the next year in your business. Together, we're going to work through quests each and every month. We're going to have a magical training every month to give you guidance and direction, but, most importantly, you're going to be surrounded in a community of people that are also working towards the same goals as yourself. So you don't have to feel alone. Check out the link in the show notes and I have to feel it deep down inside and I have to know that when I'm telling my potential clients that and then, and only then, if you do those things, you can start to make money while building your portfolio. You can start to build your portfolio in a smart way. You can start to build your portfolio in a smart way. You can start to build value in your business. You can start to uplift the industry.
Speaker 1:The best piece of advice I received when I was starting my business was from a photographer who'd been in this industry for 20 something years, and she looked at me and she said Karinda, whatever you do, don't give away your digital files. They're your gold, she said. And remember that every decision you make in your business affects all of us. It affects the people that have been in this industry for years. It affects the people who've been in this industry for generations. We've worked really hard to get this industry where it's at and it's up to you to uphold what we've worked so hard for. And I was like, oh man, I just wanted to start a business to make some money, I guess, and take some pictures because it sounded fun. I didn't realize it was this big of a deal, but I was incredibly lucky early on to have numerous photographers who've been in this industry for a long time Give me great pieces of advice and to say, like value yourself, value the industry, remember that it's important for the longevity of your business and all of our businesses to do this in the right way.
Speaker 1:And I vowed to myself in that moment to do things in a smart way that upholds this industry. It's a big part of why I'm here today. This is a big part of why I help other photographers, because I want to make sure that we can do this for a long time, and it's up to each and every one of you to do the same thing when you meet a new photographer to be warm and be welcoming and to share the knowledge that you've learned and to say like, hey, look, this is hard, it's hard to make it here, but let me help you, let me give you the resources. Let me share with you, like the fact that you can't charge $250 for a session and make a living doing this. It's impossible. Let me share with you that you can sell wall art and you can have albums and your clients can have these products hanging on their wall for generations and you can make money doing this. It's up to you to do that. It's up to you to prevent the next photographer that pops up in your town from being the guy staying on the corner passing out free sushi. And you know, the thing is is that I hear this time and time again. I hear people saying there's a million other photographers in my town. There's a million cheap photographers, there's this, there's that. This is why nobody wants to pay me money. You know what? There will always be a person carrying around a Louis Vuitton purse that paid 50 times more than the purse they could have gotten at the department store or Walmart. There will always be the person that's willing to pay for something that they value.
Speaker 1:The other day, guys, I went to the mall and I was looking at this cute pair of ankle boots. I turned it over and I thought, man, no, I don't need those. Looked at the price tag no, those are too expensive. The same girl here goes to the horse show the next day and I look at a pair of $500 tennis shoes and I'm like, hmm, those are really nice. I like those. Maybe I should buy myself a pair of those. Y'all seriously, if you don't know, $500 tennis shoes, it's a thing. Just Google golden goose. Um, it's a real thing.
Speaker 1:So the thing is is that I was not that person that was willing to buy a pair of ankle boots and spend a couple hundred dollars on a pair of ankle boots because I wouldn't wear them that much, but a pair of tennis shoes that are beautiful and gorgeous and just like staring in my soul that I could wear. All the time I thought twice about buying those tennis shoes and then I thought to myself this is exactly what happens to our clients. Our clients will spend the money. Clients are happy to spend the money on things that they value on the experience, on the name, on the beauty of something. Just because they want to Doesn't mean it makes sense it would. Does it make sense for anybody to buy a $500 pair of tennis shoes? No, and actually there's some that are a lot more expensive than that. But people buy $500 pairs of tennis shoes all the time because they want to right, because they see the value, because they see the brands, because they see the experience that it is to wear those $500 tennis shoes. I don't know, I haven't even tried them on. Honestly, they might not feel any different, but they look like they'd feel different. They're really nice when you look at them, okay, and like. It's just as simple as that.
Speaker 1:So, whenever you are in the phases of your business where you're building, where you're growing, where you're trying to build your portfolio, just remember this. Remember that it is imperative that you provide something that is amazing, that you provide something that people are excited about, that you build value into what you're providing, that you make it an experience, that you make it a cool thing, that you tell everybody I'm really freaking valuable and it's a big deal that I'm gifting this to you and you should be excited for that. And then it's important that you don't give away the farm. It's important that you maybe give a little taste of the farm, but don't give away the whole thing. Give people the opportunity to spend more money and to invest more with you, and they will. They will almost every time.
Speaker 1:But don't forget to be clear. Don't forget to be upfront. Don't forget to make sure that people are prepared for that opportunity and that possibility so when it hits them and they do want more, they don't regret it. I'll be honest, guys. I've had clients that haven't paid a penny for their session, spend $10,000, $20,000 with me and they do it happily and excitedly and they're like heck, yeah, let's do it. So there's a big possibility that you can make money even when you're building your portfolio and building your business to make sure you're doing things in a smart way.
Speaker 1:I hope that you find this valuable and I hope that anytime you think about giving something away in your business or you think about doing a model call, you ask yourself am I being the guy handing out free sushi on the corner, or am I the guy who provided the amazing experience and had the world buzzing about it at the end of the day, and who walked home with money in his pockets. Which guy am I being? Which one do I want to be? And if you find yourself being guy number one on the corner, just remember you're going to walk home with pockets full of stinky sushi at the end of the day. I hope that you're able to start using this in your business. I hope that you're able to start making money even when you're building your brand, and I know that each and every one of you are capable of doing this and that this is possible for you if you build a strong foundation, but without your foundation, all it takes is one tiny little earthquake, one client that isn't happy, one bad experience and your world will come crumbling down.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to support the podcast, please make sure you share it on social media or leave a rating and review. As always, you can check out the links and resources in the show notes over at masteryourmindmoneycom. To catch all the latest from me, you can follow me on Instagram at masteryourmindmoney, and don't forget to join our free Facebook group Photography Business Tune-Up with Corinda Kay. Thanks again and I'll see you next time.