This year was the FOURTH year of my three-day event for boutique photographers, Go Boutique Live!!
I heard from many students who have attended all four years that it was the best one yet!
So, I decided to round up my 5 biggest takeaways.
If you need a refresher – this is it!
If you didn’t get to attend – you missed out BIG TIME… but hopefully this will help catch you up.
1. You Can Take Your Power Back
The theme this year was a superhero theme.
And I was very intentional about this theme because there is a deeper meaning behind it for me.
Superheroes are people who have superpowers.
Some can fly, some can be invisible, and some have super strength.
I wanted everybody to know, and I want you to know, that you can take your own power back!
You don’t need anyone else to save you or rescue you.
You have and are everything you need to go build the life of your dreams.
Along with this theme, everyone got a big goodie box.
I know when you go to most national conferences, you walk in and they give you a little plastic bag with a bunch of junk in it that you’ll never use.
But I am intentional about what people get in their box because our event is so different.
It’s choreographed from start to finish for people to have a breakthrough!!
I want every attendee to have a realization or a moment that they can use to change their life.
I could see every person who was on camera, so we intertwined the superhero theme throughout the event, which was really fun.
All of the graphics, swag, language, and everything was consistent!
2. Create and Use Your Bat Signal
I shared my favorite marketing activity and how it changed my life… we call it a bat signal!!
Sometimes I’ve called it a dog whistle because it is that sound that we put out there that attracts really amazing clients.
It’s a printed promotional piece that is designed and printed in an incredible and interactive way.
It establishes you as a photographer who is worth more, who does things differently, and who is better than what other photographers are doing.
I showed a bunch of examples because I’ve been doing this for 25 years!
I also shared seven ways to use the bat signal to reach upscale clients because it’s so important.
My favorite way is to use it instead of a business card.
I walked everybody through how to actually use them and it was such a big hit.
The bat signal is just one of the many pieces that we can use to compete and thrive.
3. Do the Money Math
I know sometimes as creatives we don’t want to talk about money.
But when you are boutique, you serve your clients at a high level and you have to be able to make a profit.
Every Go Boutique Live attendee had a $50K emoji stick, which represented $50,000 because that is my goal for everyone.
If you are wanting to build a business that serves your clients, you are able to make at least $50,000.
So what does that mean for you?
Do the money math.
One client per week ordering $1,000 worth of photos is a $50,000 revenue jump for you.
If you do 25 clients who order at least $2,000, that’s still $50,000.
You can do that if you’re working full-time, if you have a part-time job, if you’re a stay-at-home parent, or if you’re homeschooling.
If you don’t make that $50,000 a year for the next 10 years, it’s costing you half a million dollars.
That’s the money that pays off the mortgage, puts the kids through college, redecorates the house, puts the family on planes to take vacations, or gets an extra hotel room so that you’re not all shoved into one room.
That half a million dollars in the next 10 years can change everything in your life.
We have the potential to make so much money and put our family first, which is my favorite part.
4. Blue Ocean Strategy
I introduced everyone to a book called Blue Ocean Strategy during the event.
The strategy is to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant.
Instead of trying to compete in the bloody ocean with all of the cheap photographers attracting freeple cheaple people, go to the blue ocean where all the competition is irrelevant.
So let me give you some examples of what that looks like…
The red ocean strategy for photographers is selling or giving away high-res digital files that are printable.
When you do that, you’re competing with others doing the exact same thing.
But blue ocean photographers (who are boutique photographers) create heirloom artwork and do things differently.
We serve our clients better and give our clients a one-of-a-kind experience.
I gave seven detailed ways for photographers to create their own blue ocean and get clients swimming toward them.
I also gave examples of how to do charitable marketing and get featured in the press.
If you’re ever in the mindset of, “I already know that,” beware.
If you’re not making all the money that you want, there’s something you don’t know.
5. Follow a Proven Website Blueprint
One of the places I see so many students struggle with is their website.
So during our time together, I showed crucial mistakes that photographers are making there, and then I went through a five-step website blueprint specifically for boutique portrait photographers.
Don’t play the guessing game when it comes to your website, make sure you’re following a proven plan that WORKS.
Often what’s hard about being in business is that we have to be writers, marketers, salespeople, accountants, and bookkeepers.
Plus, we have to manage our time and be the HR department when we start hiring!!
We have to have all of these different skills, and that’s why I love hosting Go Boutique Live and being able to pour into my students.
We created this three-day event for a nervous system breakthrough so that you can get clarity on your life, what you want to do, and how to go and do it.
If you’ve been feeling frustrated or stuck or overwhelmed, just know that there are people before you who have battled this battle.
And also, you don’t need someone else to come in and save you.
I promise you have the power to put your own cape on!!
Download the Episode Transcript Here
