Joy Vertz is a photographer and teacher based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Having run a couple of successful portrait studios in that city and as a frequent speaker at trade conferences like WPPI, Joy has insights on creating profitable businesses. She is actively involved in teaching photographers through her business and pricing courses. She is a steady and welcome presence online where she has a reputation for generously sharing what she knows.

She will be sharing her expertise in running a successful portrait photography business at CTPPA's monthly meeting on April 25th (yes, today!).

Register here to attend it on April 25th. She will be revealing “10 Ways Photographers Can Make More Money in 2016.”

A few weeks back we got to chat about pricing, business, challenges portrait studios are facing, how we can do better in 2016 and ultimately how she defines a “successful portrait studio.” It is quick but fascinating chat with one of the most erudite women I know in this business. So, don't skip it. Watch the interview now!

While you are at it, learn more about Joy's business course – Photography Business Recharge and download “The Ultimate Photography Objects Cheat Sheet” for free. Lastly, you can sign up for her 4-part video series on pricing here.

Will I see you at tonight's CTPPA presentation? Wouldn't you like to make more money in 2016? I can't wait to hear what Joy has to say and impart to all of us. And, if it is ok with Joy, after tonight's event, I will update this post with her 10 tips.

So, bookmark this post, share it with your photographer friends now.

Ben Hartley leads a wedding photography business at Style and Story Creative and is a business coach and podcaster on his site Six Figure Photography.

Safe to say, Ben knows a thing or two about branding; what works, and, what does not work. To Ben, branding supersedes pricing and even location. You see, Ben and his companies are located in Columbus, Ohio. It's a wonderful city, no doubt, but it isn't what one would consider a mecca for the latest fashion trends or even photography. Yet, Ben and his colleagues at Style and Story Creative have established a very legible mark in the landscape as the top wedding photography company in the area.

While all of that can and should be attributed to hard work, it was also a very strategic branding move on Ben's part to set himself and his company apart from the competition. That in a nutshell what branding is all about.

Branding Mistakes

While it's easy to concern yourself with marketing collateral – logos, business cards, promotional flyers, etc. – branding comes down to how your customers perceive you. In some respect, it is what they say you are that defines your brand, not how you define it for yourself.

Ben and I had a lively discussion on the topic and of course addressed the five common branding mistakes photographers make. Give this interview a listen now:

This is just speculation, but I think within the next ten years the photography industry for the middle to low end photographer is going to collapse. – Ben Hartley

Unpacking Your Branding Mistakes

1) You have a crappy headshot – why is it important to have a fantastic headshot or business portraits, and why it should be the best portrait on your site?

2) Your copy or your words on the website don't reflect who you are and way you use them in your emails or contracts is hurting you

3) You are your own graphic designer – be a photographer first and foremost and leave the graphic designing to a professional please

4) You don't know how to handle client conflict – diffusing issues with clients gracefully and tactfully – is it a win-win at the end?

5) You don't niche down – you are a generalist, a Jack-of-all-trades!

The Free Webinar

If you enjoyed the interview above and want to know more about each of the branding mistakes you could be making, click on the graphic or links below to sign up for the ShootDotEdit hosted FREE webinar that Ben Hartley will be leading on branding mistakes photographers make all the time.

Ben will be leading a free webinar on Wednesday April 6th with ShootDotEdit. The title of the webinar is 5 Branding Mistakes You Know You're Making.

Check out the work Ben and his colleagues at Style and Story Creative have produced for their clients:

Register now for the FREE ShootDotEdit webinar that Ben Hartley will be presenting on April 6, 2016.

It's a busy time of the year for Scott Wyden Kivowitz who is always ready to talk about a new WordPress service for photographers.

What is Imagely?

As the Blogging Wrangler and Community Liaison for Imagely, Scott will tell you they have some very ambitious plans to offer WordPress hosting, themes and plugins – all under one roof.

Why WordPress? Well, did you know that nearly 25% of the websites in the world run on the WordPress platform? That's a staggering number of websites and a great many photographers lean on a self-hosted WordPress themed website or blog for their business.

But not everyone has the time or the technical skills to work on the platform. Tiffinbox, for instance, was custom designed by someone who knows her way through the theme and its back end. Now, not everyone can have a custom designed site or needs to have it specifically designed for them. That can come later when the dollars start flowing in from sales, right?

Until then, though, you are going to need a WordPress service for photographers. And that's where Imagely comes in.

The Interview

WordPress Service For Photographers

If you act quickly, you can get in on a special offer Imagely provided photographers who signed up for WPPI.

Learn more about Imagely through their top-rated podcast too.

Can you see yourself having more time to make images, serve your clients better or chill out with your family rather than tinker with your WordPress website?

So, what will you do? Will you jump in and sign up for this WordPress service for photographers now?

The Backend Of Imagely

The Big Problem

Can we agree that the murkier your ideas and goals are about who are serving, the quicker you are going to fail?

Sorry to be such a wet blanket about your business, but it is true. If you don't know who are serving to the best of your abilities, you will be soon spinning your wheels, stuck in a rut.

That's exactly where I found myself a couple of years ago, but I refused to give up and walk away from my photography business. Serving people that “got me” was and is an important part of why I continue to make photographs. Isn't that how you want to feel about your photography business?

I understand that you may get the “why” behind getting clear about your clients, but the “how” may be the challenge. Thankfully, there are credible coaches amidst us who have proven over and over that their well-timed expertise can help provide the framework and a strategy for success.

Finding A Solution

Just ask Heather Conley, who is also a photographer in Connecticut like me. After several years of working with a wide variety of clients, she is now hyper focused helping architectural firms in New England and beyond. I asked her how she managed that transition from serving EVERYBODY to serving a very select group of people. She mentioned working with a coach I had heard of before – Beate Chelette.

Get Clear About Clients

If you live in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York or even New Jersey, you'll want to know that Beate Chelette will be presenting at the University of Hartford on March 23rd. Her morning presentation is called – “The Successful Creative Entrepreneur with Beate Chelette“.

This is an incredible opportunity to work with a dedicated coach, to learn her system to get clear about who to serve and other goodies that she says she will reveal when we see her in person.

Register now for this mini-course where you will walk away with some actionable goals that will ultimately help you and your photography business.

Coaching Creative Entrepreneurs

Beate Chelette, coaches creative entrepreneurs, including photographers like you and me. Known to have made her mark as a photographer who eventually sold her entire stock agency to Corbis, she now helps people get very clear about who our clients are or should be.

I spoke with Beate Chelette today about her approach to gaining clarity and setting up a prosperous photography business:

P.S. I repeatedly say that Beate's presentation at the University of Hartford will be on October 23, but it IS … on March 23rd! I apologize for the gaffe.