Bokeh - The Photography Podcast

Nathan Holritz

Welcome to The Bokeh Podcast, where we help photographers build sustainable businesses!


Host Nathan Holritz and his guests will help you build your brand, focus your marketing efforts, refine your workflows, and dial in your photographic technique - all with efficiency in mind.


In the end, we not only want you to succeed as a photography business owner, but to still have a life through it all.


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Episodes

#638: How to Have a Life During Busy Season - McKenzie Bigliazzi
27-11-2023
#638: How to Have a Life During Busy Season - McKenzie Bigliazzi
Any established photographer knows what it's like to get bogged down during the busy season, barely keeping up with the work that needs to be done. Free time? Time to travel? Time to hang out with friends and family? Is that even a thing during those busy months?! Photographer McKenzie Bigliazzi is here to share with us how she runs her business AND has time to do more than just work. Make sure to listen in to find out how you can get your life back as a photography business owner - and not just during busy season! Show Notes Introducing McKenzie (0:59) How long did it take McKenzie to realize that life wasn't all about running her business? That having freedom and flexibility as a business owner needed to be more of a priority? (6:50) Does organization and structure to create freedom come naturally for McKenzie? (10:36) What does an average day or week look like for McKenzie? (16:45) How did McKenzie develop a business model that would enable more freedom and flexibility as a photography business owner? (21:40) How McKenzie chose Dubsado as her CRM (33:14) Three ways that McKenzie uses Dubsado to streamline her business workflows for the sake of more freedom in her daily life (34:38) The importance of simplicity in choosing tools to server our customers (44:10) Three ways that McKenzie uses Cloudspot to streamline her business workflows for the sake of more freedom in her daily life (46:38) How does McKenzie make herself accessible to clients - without getting overwhelmed with the communication process? (50:27) What has enabled McKenzie to give up her editing to Photographer's Edit so that her work week isn't taken up with editing? (53:09) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com McKenzie's website - https://mckenziebigliazzi.com McKenzie's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mckenzie_bigliazzi Dubsado's website - https://www.dubsado.com Cloudspot's website - https://www.cloudspot.io Photographer's Edit's website - https://www.photographersedit.com McKenzie's Discount Codes - Dubsado: 20% off their first month or year using code: mckenziebigliazzi Cloudspot: 20% Off https://cloudspot.io/?af2=_VbFWkDxBdPu Photographer's Edit, 50% off your first order: oes.photographersedit.com/mckenziebigliazzi or code: mckenziebigliazzi at checkout
#637: Marketing as an Introvert - Caitlin Wilcox
20-11-2023
#637: Marketing as an Introvert - Caitlin Wilcox
Putting ourselves out there as introverts in an effort to build a personal photography brand can feel a bit overwhelming! How can we step beyond that discomfort and build the business that we want? Join us for a conversation with photographer Caitlin Wilcox to learn how! Show Notes Introduction of Caitlin (1:00) What important principle enables Caitlin to manage your time effectively in order to maximize freedom and flexibility as an entrepreneur (2:57) Caitlin's definition of "introversion" (9:38) What Caitlin feels is behind her introversion (10:59) What Caitlin has felt was most challenging about marketing her business as an introvert (20:47) Four specific ways that introverted photographers can step beyond the label and still put themselves out there on social media, on their website, during in-person meetings, or when photographing sessions or events for the sake of their brand (23:42) Three specific ways that photographers can promote their business that feels more comfortable in light of being an introvert (37:09) The education Caitlin offers to photographers (53:23) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com Caitlin’s website – https://www.caitlinwilcoxphotography.com Caitlin’s Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/caitlinwilcoxphotography FREEBIE – Five Personal Content Ideas for When Your Social Battery is Low - https://caitlinwilcoxphotography.com/personal-content-freebie FREEBIE – Five Questions to Ask on Your Next Inquiry Call - http://caitlinwilcoxphotography.com/bookmore
#635: Freedom Through Associates - Jill Smith
06-11-2023
#635: Freedom Through Associates - Jill Smith
If you could implement a new strategy in your business that would help you increase revenue AND bring more freedom to your life as a business owner, you'd go for it, right?! Building an associate photographer team can bring both of these benefits, but there are some innate challenges to the process. Photographer Jill Smith is on The Bokeh Podcast to help us overcome those challenges so we can build our business and have more independence from that same business! Make sure to listen in! Show Notes Introduction of our guest, Jill Smith (1:15) Jill's tip for creating a photography business that encourages freedom and flexibility (2:35) Three ways an associate photographer team can translate to business growth (12:56) How to establish baseline, standard operating procedures for your business before you build a team (19:04) Three ways an associate team can mean more freedom and flexibility in our lives as photography biz owners (27:37) Three ways that photographers can minimize overwhelm in the process of building and running an associate team (30:49) Three ways that photographers can more effectively communicate - and thus delegate - in order to have a positive experience with an associate photographer team (53:51) Additional education that Jill offers for those that want to build an associate photographer team for their family photography businesses (63:45) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by photographersedit.com Jill's website - jillcsmithphotography.com Jill's Instagram - instagram.com/jillcsmithphotography Jill's associate photography team course (for family photographers) - jillcsmithphotography.com/roadmap FREEBIE! An intro to associate photography team building - jillcsmithphotography.com/scale
#634: Brand Position Consultation - Clark Sanders
29-10-2023
#634: Brand Position Consultation - Clark Sanders
It's a busy marketplace with LOTS of photographers. You may be friends with those photographers, but you still have to stand out amongst those photographers to capture the attention of your potential clients! In this episode, host Nathan Holritz helps super-talented senior portrait photographer Clark Sanders explore how to best position his brand and business in his local marketplace in order to more effectively grab the attention of potential clients that come across his website and social media! Show Notes Introducing Clark Sanders (1:51) Definition of Brand Position (3:38) The significance of Brand Position (6:26) The reasons Clark got into photography (8:10) The reason for asking Clark questions about his business when considering Brand Position (12:15) The markets Clark is currently working in (13:30) Why Brand Position matters when most of your business already comes from word of mouth (15:34) What genre or type of photography Clark specializes in (17:50) What is unique about Clark's senior photography in his marketplace (22:45)What are Clark's clients' pain points? (27:03) What kind of help does Clark need with his Brand Position? (33:38)The value of sharing prices on our websites (37:04) 4 ways to establish a distinct Brand Position (40:03) The importance of a Big Picture View in establishing a Brand Position (45:17) The importance of market research for establishing a Brand Position (46:32) Observations of what other photographers' brand positions are in the marketplace Clark is serving (49:44) Initial suggestions of Brand Position statements for Clarks' business after observing his competition (62:29) The importance of sharing the Brand Position statement prominently on your website (68:14) The significance of matching the client experience and images to the Brand Position statement (70:27) SEO tips as a Brand Position statement is implemented on a website (73:00) Links clarksandersphotography.com instagram.com/clarksanders
#633: To Niche or Not to Niche - Simon Yau
23-10-2023
#633: To Niche or Not to Niche - Simon Yau
Here on The Bokeh Podcast, we've emphasized the importance of niching down when building a photography business for the sake of growing more easily. But is that always the best way to go? Listen in to this conversation with photographer Simon Yau for a different perspective on generalizing versus specializing! Show Notes Introduction of our new guest, Simon Yau (1:00) The importance of focusing on adding value to your client, versus talking about yourself so much on your website (3:02) Simon's recommendation for maintaining freedom and flexibility as a photography business owner (7:23) The most important lesson Simon has learned so far as a photography business owner (12:19) What led Simon to start his sports photography business (17:21) Potential misconceptions of sports photography by others in the photography industry (20:13) The three most important elements of good sports photography (22:07) How to begin thinking about pricing for sports photography (25:50) Why Simon added an additional brand and genre of photography to his work as a photographer (30:47) The challenges of juggling multiple photography brands (36:23) The benefits of running multiple photography brands in different genres (38:15) Simon's suggestions for how to best juggle multiple photography brands (39:34) Links The Bokeh Podcast is produced by https://www.photographersedit.com Simon's Websites - https://www.syausportography.co.uk/ https://www.bysimonyau.co.uk/ Simon's Instagrams - https://www.instagram.com/syau.sportography https://www.instagram.com/bysimonyau
#623: Important Life Lessons to Enable Business Growth - Madi and Micah May
16-05-2023
#623: Important Life Lessons to Enable Business Growth - Madi and Micah May
Show Notes:What drives a great customer experience? (2:45) What does capturing a client's "higher self" mean tangibly to Madi and Micah? (5:40) What big principle enables Madi and Micah to find the balance between running a business and having time for their personal lives? (9:00) What are Madi and Micah's favorite business or self-help books? (19:10) What is Micah and Madi's favorite piece of gear? (29:00) The focus of this episode is a discussion on how Madi and Micah invest in their personal growth, and how that growth translates to growth in their business as well. The conversation is driven by posts that Madi shared on Facebook over the last few months. Those posts are listed below, but make sure to listen to the full episode to hear a deeper dive into the backstory behind the posts (34:05). April 20"The past few years I knew where I was headed but instead of looking the part, pretending I was already there, I’ve been quietly doing the inner work to become the person I knew I could be from the inside out first." April 13"Not sure there is a human alive who holds more love, vision, and strength all wrapped up in one person. He’s so freaking stubborn he won’t do anything not aligned with deep purpose, trust me I’ve tried. He empowers himself, our family, anyone he meets to live their best life - like the amount of conversations he’s had with people where they end up in tears, realizing they had their own answers all along He is sexy, athletic, smart, can learn and become anything he wants to, and he has the biggest shoulders imaginable to hold space for me and the kids." March 16"I used to be a break pad in all my relationships. A LOT of you women know what I mean. I’d change and morph myself to make sure everyone was happy and then share whatever was safe after I knew what they wanted. I did that in our marriage too. A few years ago Micah and I noticed our polarity/chemistry wasn’t where we wanted. We had everything else… We were best friends, business partners, parents, amazing communicators, etc I even shared what I thought was all of me… Hint: it wasn’t. In the last couple years I’ve started doing something I didn’t know I was capable of and it’s changed our chemistry so much I want to jump him all day long. I bring him ALL OF ME: my storm, my anger, my love, my excitement, my LIFE, all of it. And I do it with an OPEN heart, trusting that he can handle and hold me. Guess what? He can. And watching just how much he can might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. I don’t know who needs to hear this but the people you value most in your life deserve to be given the chance to show you just how much they can handle all of you (with an open heart) March 27"It’s Monday and that means you get to create the week, life, business, family, mindset etc that you want to live in." May 4"If you don't love it, change it." Links: Madi and Micah's firs Bokeh Podcast episode: #277https://instagram.com/7seconds_mediahttps://7secondsmedia.us
#622: How to Build Your Business Using Facebook Groups - Olivia Smith
09-05-2023
#622: How to Build Your Business Using Facebook Groups - Olivia Smith
Nothing builds business like community, and one way to leverage community to grow your business is Facebook groups! Listen in as photographer Olivia Smith shares how she’s built a Facebook group that has enabled her to build a multiple six-figure photography business! The Bokeh Podcast is brought to you by Photographer’s Edit: Custom Editing for the Professional Photographer. You can subscribe to the Bokeh podcast on the Apple podcast app, follow on Spotify, add to your playlist on Stitcher, or listen on Overcast. Show Notes: What has been a key strategy for providing clients with a great customer experience? (1:35) Olivia's introduction (3:50) How does Olivia manage time so that she has a life outside of her business? (4:45) What is the most impactful self-help or business book that Olivia has read? (11:50) What was the "aha" moment that made Olivia decide to try Facebook groups as a way to build her business? (17:15) 3 ideas for photographers when creating a FB group with potential clients (23:15) Research other FB groups that potential clients would be a part of, and engage with those groups to gain membersHave current members invite friendsCreate intentional giveaways for the group Questions to include in your FB group new member sign up (31:00) Obtain their email address (an offer to send a free guide)Ask if you can contact them about boudoir photography How does Olivia use FB Messenger for booking clients? (36:00) How does Olivia determine what to post in her FB group that provides enough value to encourage members to be active? (42:40) Share value-added contentAsk compelling questions to the groupUse Canva auto-fill to import text for posts Links: https://photographersedit.com https://bellemarieboudoir.com/free https://instagram.com/bellemarieboudoir https://www.youtube.com/@RachelPedersensocial https://elite360.io