We all want our photography businesses humming with happy clients, right? (let's nod in agreement) Often, though, we don't know how to get from where we are to where we want to be in our businesses. That's fine. It's a learning process and it takes time. Imagine, though, if in addition to your own effort (hey, elbow grease is always required in photography) you had someone guide you through five ways that will fast track your photography business to success? Won't that be fun? Won't that be a little bit easier? Won't that save you time? Won't that help you make more money and quickly? For me, it's a yes to all those questions.

I routinely look to my peers to see what they are doing, not so much so that I copy them, but to learn and adapt some of their steps to my own method of working and delivering photography to my clients. I just came to know about this wonderful series of workshops that my friend Jeffrey Shaw is hosting for photographers.

Jeffrey is a photographer with a 30-year track record of success, an author, a speaker, a teacher and a mentor to many in his mastermind courses.

Several months ago, I met Jeffrey and was blown away by his approach to business. I also knew instantly that he is a gifted teacher. His philosophy and methodology were in synch to how I wanted to pursue my photography business in Connecticut.

So, when Jeffrey has a course or even presenting a webinar, I tend to sit up and plug in to listen to what he has to say. The workshop series Jeffrey has just launched cover the following topics:

Remote Sales – February 12th, from 1 pm to 3 pm EST
Auction System – February 19th, from 1pm to 3 pm EST
Touch Points – February 26th, from 1 pm to 3 pm EST
Perfect Clients – March 12th, from 1 pm to 3 pm EST
Features vs. Benefits – March 19th, from 1 pm to 3 pm EST

The workshops are individually $75 each or you can buy and check them all out for $300.

I spoke with Jeffrey a few days ago and here is our chat about the workshops he is offering:

So, you are probably wondering whether you should jump in and register. I get that. I am exactly where you are. Lots of options out there, but for quality education one would have to travel, book a hotel, spend a few days away from the family and then come back home to deal with that imploding email inbox. I've been there and done that and I won't do that again. I prefer being able to learn on my time, from the comfort of my own home where I can quickly put into practice the kinds of things Jeffrey is set to teach me/us. More importantly, what makes Jeffrey's workshops so enticing to me is that I know they are filled to the brim with incredible value. Just knowing Jeffrey and how he has over-delivered in the past makes me very confident in recommending this series of workshops to you.

Here is your chance to have Jeffrey fast track your photography business to success in 2014. Do you want in?

The first one is set for today, at 1 pm. Join me.

Mr. Farnsworth was a terrific music teacher. Affable, yet stern. He would tell me each time I would return to take drum lessons, “Seshu, failing to practice is practicing to fail.”

It’s taken me nearly 30 years to absorb that. Sometimes, it would be obvious that getting my stuff done in time was beneficial and sometimes procrastination would get the better of me and I paid dearly. Still, creating a plan or a workflow and being organized simply has not come naturally to me.

Is that how you feel at least a few times a year? Do you feel that being organized would create at least a semblance of efficiency? Have you struggled to keep track of your client contact information or sales tax deadlines? Are you sometimes delivering your client orders later than when you promised them?

My friend Eric O’Connor, a wedding photographer in Chicago, tried to get me to think in about workflow. Several times. I remain in awe at how his allows him to photograph 30 weddings a year and be a father and a husband.

“Creating a system,” he told me once, was the ticket to being stress-free and happy.

I have a short stack of scratch paper filled with workflow ideas and what I would do the minute a potential client rang me. I had steps that I would follow after the portrait session was booked. But what would come after the shoot and in what order? Sadly, I had too many ideas and no action. This is mostly because having and maintaining a system requires clarity of thought and the “D” word … discipline.

Thankfully, Design Aglow is the photographer’s friend. I lean on the team there to provide me with ideas and templates. Just in time for the start of the new year, they launched a photographers’ studio planner called The Big Picture.

Like all their templates, The Big Picture, does not disappoint when it comes to how it is presented. Minimalistic design meets elegance. The introductory section says, “it’s a repository for your hopes and dreams.” So true.

The Big Picture guides you through a short writing exercise where you enunciate your goals. Then you are gently coaxed into breaking down your goals into actionable tasks. Huge win for me.

There are templates for daily, weekly and monthly activities surrounding your studio. The exercise is in writing it all down and being able to refer back to it constantly. I think this is brilliant because it instills that sense of discipline and accountability to oneself that I mentioned above.

Keeping track of clients, venues and vendors (mostly for wedding photographers) is now easy as 1-2-3. There is a questionnaire and a time table that helps you through your online and off-line (local) marketing.

Want to track your website and blog statistics? Yes, there is a rather intricate table for that too. The Big Picture also includes income and expense reports that you fill out and also a mileage tracker (which I have usually forgot to log in the past).

The Big Picture ends with a long list of recommended business books one should read to stay informed and inspired. There were quite a few in this list that I hadn’t even heard of before. So, Design Aglow, thanks for that too!

I don’t think this team has missed any detail when it comes to putting this studio planner together. I know as I launch my new website and business this month, The Big Picture is going to help me stay focused and remain efficient through the year. It’ll be a binder that I take with me to client meetings and I’ll refer to it when I am trying to assess my business. It promises to provide me a macroscopic view of my business and will tell me about its health from month-to-month. I no longer have to fret about keeping tabs on my workflow or if my quarterly sales tax payments are late.

Now, there are a couple of things I would have liked to have seen in The Big Picture download: 1) InDesign files to further customize the templates and 2) perhaps down the road, an electronic version that we can refer to while we are in the field, say an iPad application that could display all of these bits of information?

[UPDATE: Both InDesign & Photoshop files are included! I had failed to open all of the folders that came as part of the zip'd download file! Sorry about the error!]

That said, The Big Picture is a remarkable achievement because it so neatly brings so many elements of one’s business in an easily accessible folder or binder. I know there are several other options in the market but as a die-hard Design Aglow fan, I have to urge you to take a look at this product first.

On January 15th (that’s tomorrow), the introductory pricing of $69 ends. Make this the first business expense you enter into The Big Picture for 2014!

In other words, buy it now.

Quick: When you pitch your photography services to a potential client (be it in person or via your website), what are the first 3-5 things that run through their mind?

Write them down (no really, grab a post-it!):

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

If you don't know what they are, make it your business to find out.

Because what runs through their mind at first is often what keeps them from hiring you.

For example, the sequence might go something like this:

1. That sounds great!
2. Oh, if only…..my husband would never agree to do this.
3. I need to save money for a vacation/new roof/pet wallaby instead.
4. Plus, my hair needs to grow out before I even think about pictures.

Often times, we think the star of this little mental drama is money, and sometimes it is.

But money-related concerns often come with a whole supporting cast of other issues. (In the example above, the money concern snowballs with spousal and appearance worries. And even the money concern isn’t really about money – it’s about priorities.)

Past experiences. Weight. Hair. Time concerns. Feeling busy. Feeling overwhelmed. Procrastination. All these are heavy-hitters in swatting clients away.

So when it seems like clients aren't nibbling, here is something bold to try:

Quote those exact concerns, in your clients' own words, and address them directly.

You can try this on your blog, in an FAQ section, or even on a booking page.

For example:

Now, you might be thinking: “But Jenika, I already talk about the importance of getting pictures taken. I already say why newborn photography is great. Why do I need to quote my clients like this?”

The answer is – well, you don’t need to.

But have you ever read an article online somewhere, where someone said something you've secretly been thinking – and it made you gasp a little?

There is power in finding your private thoughts splashed across the screen, coming from someone else.

For one thing, you freeze in your tracks a little when someone calls you out on something you’re thinking, at the exact moment you’re thinking it.

For another, it connects you with the author of those words. They know what I’m going through, too? Like, someone else has experienced this exact thing? Wow!

It makes you feel understood. Startled. Intrigued.

When you're writing about your own work, your reader knows you're trying to “sell” them. And while you're busy listing all the reasons why they should hire you, they're busy listing all the reasons why hiring you is impossible.

So list those reasons yourself, and don't give the ideas a chance to take root in your client's mind.

In professional sales writing, this process is called “overcoming objections.” (I prefer calling it “making the client feel like you can read their mind.” It sounds more jazzy.) We all have objections, and only buy once they're overcome. But when the objections seem to loom larger than the benefits, that's when you lose people.

So stop them in their tracks. At the very moment they're thinking those things, call them out on it. Address those thoughts directly, and diffuse them. Dispel myths. Provide more information. Use the very same words they're thinking, and offer an alternative way to think about it.

Why not find a way to give it a try in your business?

Did you enjoy reading this tip? If so, you'd probably love Irresistible Words – an entire course dedicated to helping you sell more of your work. By the time you're done, you'll have an entire toolbox to help you connect with your audience and persuade them into buying.

Irresistible Words rings in at $249 only $199 from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

Oh, and did I mention that along the way, you'll learn how to write a blog post in 20 minutes? Check it out here!

Weddings are chaos.

No one listens to you. No one does what you want. Everyone will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, they won't stand the right way, they won't look the right way, they'll care too much or too little, and anytime you're about to get the perfect shot with the perfect mood, someone will step right into your frame and ruin it.

But if you believe in the power of a gaze, a glance, a curve of the neck, or a slope of a back – if you believe in warm bodies and beating hearts and living, breathing people, then know that this chaos is not only beyond our control, but it's really the best thing around, because it's the direct and inseparable result of people who are fully present.

And if you want images that live and breathe with people so full of life, they burst through the frame, here's the real secret: It's really about trust.

Not just your client's trust in you, though. Your trust in them. In yourself. In letting go and letting things happen and finding the something in the nothing and the perfection in the flaws. You have to accept what's in front of your eyes, because that's where you'll find the magic. The chaos is the surprise. The unexpected is the revelation. Presence is not the perfect look we've seen a thousand times before. It's the single expression we'll never see again.

Photographically, presence is as much a creation as it is found. In the simplest terms, it's matching. When the expression of the subject pairs effectively with the elements in the frame, our minds will fill in the gaps and flood the picture with meaning. It's not just about a good expression or a bad expression. It's about the right expression for the right circumstance. It's the effect of the entire picture. Sure, a lot photos capture the powerful and the evocative. But even more are about taking the ordinary and showing it in just the right way to make it resonate. Life, even at it's plainest, really is beautiful.

So if presence is more than some certain expression and any look can potentially be the look, then presence is life off script. Both for your subjects and for you, which takes us back to trust.

People say you need your clients to trust you. And you do need them to get along and go along. But that's only half of it. They may trust you enough to do the right thing. But do you trust them enough to go ahead and do it? You have to build the space to stumble. Even to fall. Because as much as we are building trust for our clients, we need to instill it in ourselves. We have to know we can take the chances living off script necessitates.

All too often, we undermine our own endeavors. From the moment we open our doors, launch our site, and start cashing the checks, we fall prey to a cycle of need. We sell from the mind and not from the heart. We show what we think will sell, and we say what we think people want to hear. Every time we do this, we build up the walls of doubt, severing our vision from the product we create, until the risk to take the road less traveled becomes too large a leap to make.

Trust is necessary from the very start. You have to open yourself up and invite people into your world. You have to let them see their own potential and your own dreams. You have to be willing to accept the rejection, because as important as it is to fulfill the needs of others and get the sale, it is no less vital that we do it the best way we know how.

Here are nine ways to create images that are full of life:

1. Show What You Want To Shoot

Nothing makes a shot more lifeless than shooting moments you don't care about in a way that doesn't matter to you. If there's something you want to do, you're not going to get people to hire you to do it if you don't show it. And while you're at it, share a little bit about who you are and what you believe. Sure, go ahead and explain yourself in a way your client appreciates, but make sure it's something you can get behind.

2. Let People Know What You Need

No one wants to spend their days trying to figure out what you're after. In fact, they won't. They'll just get lost in the shuffle. It's up to you to make it work. If you don't want everyone mugging for the camera, tell your couples how you work. If you want people to ignore you, let them know. When you let clients understand what you need to get what they want, they'll be happy to spread the word.

3. If They're OK, You're OK

Never make people self-aware. Never make them self-conscious. Make it clear you like your clients for who they are, being the way they are. There's no such thing as wrong. Great images, after all, reflect the true character of the subject, and that doesn't happen if we try to squeeze them into a mold.

4. Create A Good Schedule

There is no way possible to get involved too early in the logistics. Bad logistics kill wedding days. If portraits need 3 hours, start talking about it early. If you want someone in the dress by a certain time or to wait to get into the dress until a certain time, let it be known. The better the day stays on track, the less time people will spend thinking about how to catch up and the more they'll be in the moment.

5. Troubleshoot Now

Write out every problem you run into and every reason you don't get what you want. Now write out a way to solve each one. Go try them. Some problems can't be fixed, but many can. You won't lose anything for trying, but you might gain everything. Great people make things work. If you don't take shot lists, saying it sounds a whole lot better before someone hands you one. If you want a groom to act naturally with the bride, keep the heckling groomsmen away. If you want to keep people from hugging your couple all through your photo shoot, keep them away from the crowd, and if you have to snake through a crowd, let your couple know to get through quickly. Keep working on the best solutions, keep thinking of the best phrases to use, and keep building your playbook.

6. Relaxed Is Good For Posing

There's a reason fashion photographers say “beautiful” all of the time. Have you ever stood in front of a camera? Time feels like molasses, your hands feel like unnecessary appendages, you keep wondering how you look, and moving naturally becomes the most self-conscious act in the world. But there's an easy way out. Talk. Stay as connected with your couples as you want them to be with you or each other. Need to buy some time, while you adjust your camera? Ask them some questions. Need them to look at you? Share a thought. Need them calm? Have them think about something. And let them know they're doing a good job. That's doubly true when they really are.

7. Find Out Who They Are And What They Need

They say better forgiveness than permission, but that doesn't mean you don't want to see what your couples need. Letting people know they're cared for and learning how they see the world lets you think about an approach you're comfortable with before you're put on the spot. Learning about your client doesn't make them your creative director. It means you can trust them, because you know you're on the same page, and they can trust you, because they know you care. Remember, people gravitate towards what they already believe. If someone has doubts, they'll see everything that goes wrong. That can spiral out of control fast. If they feel secure, they'll see everything that's right, and that will keep them relaxed and happy.

8. Look Broadly

The body is fantastically expressive. It takes the smallest of things to clue people in as to what's going on. It can be a dangling arm, crossed legs, a tilted head, or a hand on a face. A small gesture can say it all, so don't just look at faces. Watch for the way people move. Watch for any clue that lets you know how someone feels.

9. Watch For The Light And Mood

Light is full of mood. Think moody. Think heavy. Think dreamy. Think weightless. Each one is associated with a certain look. Very often, you only need a hint of expression if you have a lot of feel. A viewer doesn't see a picture like a judge at the Olympics. It's not a breakdown of each individual element to see how they stack up. It's the total effect that counts, and the right atmosphere can carry the day. With that said, it's also very possible to drown real emotion in a sea of visuals. Always be aware as to how powerful and engaging the expressions are. Sometimes, simple and tight can say it all. Other times, you need more.