Hey guys, welcome back to the Senior Studio Success Podcast. My name is Jena and I am your host here. If you are new here, come on in. Make yourself at home. I love it when I have new listeners here. I even love it more when you come over on Instagram and let me know that you were listening. You can always DM me there. So definitely do that. Hop on in. I love to know who is out there listening to me. It helps so much to know that I'm not just sitting here talking into a microphone and looking at a computer screen all by myself! Haha!

So today we are gonna talk about the top three things that I have invested in in my business. Now, business is not cheap, right? It takes a little bit to run a business. We all know that.

There are some things that you have got to invest in, in order to run a successful business. And of course this comes with time. In the beginning, everything that you have is getting poured into your business. We've all been there and it takes a while to build up. But today I'm gonna talk to you about three of the biggest and the best things I have invested in that have made the biggest impact on my business and on my bottom line.

Why Every Photographer Needs A Business Coach

So the first thing would definitely be business coaching. And I have learned from coaches inside the industry, mostly outside the industry. I always like to get a different perspective and learn business from others outside of our industry. It just helps to set you apart, learn a different side of things, open your eyes to different possibilities.

So I invest in a lot of education outside of the industry. I'm currently in a life coaching program and getting certified to become a life coach. So I'm super excited about that and bringing some of that to my students, especially inside Studio Secrets. But, you know, when I have invested in coaching those are big dollars and I understand how hard it is to hit that buy button. And so when my students invest in me, I get it. It is no small feat to trust in someone and hope to goodness that you're gonna get your money back.

The way that I always looked at coaching is that I would get out of coaching what I put into it. And so I was always very careful about my decisions, obviously, but I also didn't stress over them too much. If I found somebody that I connected with, if they knew something that I needed to know, I handed over my credit card and I fully trusted that I would get out of that coaching what I needed.

And there are some programs that I only made it through module one or two. I don't feel bad about that at all because I got my $2000, $3000, $4,000 back just within those few modules and it made that much of an impact on my business. And I know that I always have those to go back to, to learn even more. So take some guilt off the fact that maybe you've invested in some programs and you didn't finish them. They're sitting on the virtual shelf collecting dust. Don't beat yourself up about that. You have plenty of time to get back in there and learn what you need to learn and implement what you need to implement.

So first thing, I don't think that you'll ever stop learning. I don't ever want to stop learning. I always wanna be improving and growing. So don't be afraid to invest. That money will come back to you, the money that you invest in coaching. So that is the first thing that I definitely went big on in my business was learning from some of the best coaches ever. I will be forever grateful for them.

Why A Client Management System Is Vital For Senior Photographers

Second thing would be my client management system. Oh my gosh, now I've had a few over the years and none of them are perfect. You guys, you will never find a perfect client management system. It doesn't matter how much somebody loves theirs and how much I love mine. It's not. It doesn't exist. Perfect doesn't exist. But just like coaching, you get out of it what you put into it.

So if you're going to invest in a client management system, you need to spend the time to actually learn it and set it up. And yeah, that takes some time to do, but you get so much time back and you have such a better client experience just from doing that. So don't be scared of client management. Now, I personally use HoneyBook. If you wanna try it out, do a trial. There's a discount in there with that link if you wanna use it. This is something that I have all of my clients in, all of my inquiries in, workflow, emails, questionnaires. It's automated. It is beautiful. It saves me so much time. I got too many things going on. I will forget things, things will fall through the cracks and it is not pretty for clients or for me when that happens.

So setting up a client management system, one, it made me look more professional, but it saved me so much. Just mental drama and staying up at night or waking up in the middle of a dead sleep, worried if I had forgotten something. It just helps me stay at peace knowing that my clients are taken care of. So definitely invest in client management software.

Why Every Photographer Needs To Outsource

The third thing I would say is my team. I absolutely love my team. They take care of me. They take care of my clients. I have an editor, an office assistant, and a post-production assistant. My office assistant helps me with emails and phone calls and confirmations and keeping my calendar in line and inbox zero. Oh my gosh, I never have to worry about emails. She just tells me what's important for me to handle, and I just handle those things and she takes care of the rest and so many other things, obviously, that she does. But that right there has been amazing.

And then my post-production assistant helps with getting orders out the door, making sure images are edited properly, designing albums, all that sort of thing. So that again, saves me so much time and sanity.

Let's talk about the mindset that you need in order to invest in these big pieces in your business. There's a difference between an expense and an investment. An expense is money gone, right? You're never gonna get it back, and investment will pay you back over and over and over again. And all three of these things that I just talked about - coaching, client management, my team - every one of those people that I pay a paycheck to, oh my gosh, I get so much of my life back and make so much more because I can focus on the things that I need to focus on.

All the big things. I as a business owner, and you as a business owner only need to be doing things that produce income. Hire everything else out. And again, yeah, this takes time. This does not happen overnight. Ease into it if you need to, but here's the best advice that I could possibly give you. Stop worrying about what you are losing when you hand over your credit card, either for coaching client management, or you know, writing a check to anybody on your team.

Stop worrying about the money that is going out. Start focusing instead on what you can gain from those investments.

Oh my gosh, there is so much possibility. What can you get back from putting that money out into the world? Money flows, money out, money in, money out, money in. You know what holds us back from success in our businesses is fear holding on tightly to that money. And I'm not saying be careless. Do not go and be careless with your money. But if you hold onto it so tight that you have to do everything yourself, there's no way to move forward with that mindset.

Expenses vs Investments In Your Photography Business

So get your head around an expense versus an investment. You know, big deal that it costs $300 a year for your client management software. Do you know how much time you can save and how much money you can make by spending $300 for a year? Come on y'all. $3,000 for a coaching program. Big deal. Do you know how many clients, y'all, that is one client, one client back in a sale? At least my Studio Secrets clients, $3,000 for a coaching program is nothing. It is a drop in the bucket for what you will learn and what you will get back from that education. And I'm not just talking about myself, I'm talking about any of us out there in the education space.

Investing In Photography Business Coaching

What you're buying when you invest in a coach is time. It has taken them years and years and years to learn all the things that they are going to teach you in a coaching program. It is a fast forward button for you. You are taking all of their mistakes and all the lessons that they've learned, or they are, and it's getting condensed down to a year long program, a six month program, whatever it is. And then you get to watch and listen and implement over and over and over again. $3,000 is nothing. Big freaking deal, okay? You can get that back in one to two sales if you're doing your business right. You know, a thousand dollars a month for an assistant? Yeah, that's a pricey one. I won't deny that. But again, look over the year, $12,000 a year for me at least, that is three to four clients. I'm about three clients. That is a year of me not having to stress over emails, phone calls, and keeping track of everything in my business. So start thinking about these things as an investment.

Scarcity vs Abundance Mindset In Your Business

Stop worrying about what is going out the door and worry and focus on what is coming in the door. That is the difference between a scarcity mindset and an abundance mindset. Stop playing small in your business. Big results come from big shifts in your mindset and big moves with your feet. When I finally began to realize this and act on it, that's when things started happening for me. I learned, I got better. I trusted, I invested. I started acting like the businesswoman I knew I could be instead of from my current reality. You cannot act from where you currently are. You've got to act from where you want to be.

Where do you want to be? What results do you want in your business? What kind of life do you want? You've gotta start acting like that person right now.

Alright, that's all I got for you today. I just wanted to come in here, drop some truth bombs, because guys, sometimes we just need to hear it, right? You can do this. Hear me, hear me when I say it. Don't just listen, hear me. You can do this this year. 2023 is going to be an amazing year, but you've got to trust and move. That is what this year is all about for me. Big, bold moves. I hope it is for you too. If you need help with your business, reach out to me. You can always email me at heythere@seniorstudiosuccess.com. You can reach out to me on Instagram too. You guys know where to find me. If you're on my email list, just reply back. I'd love to help you with your business.

You can do this. I'm so excited to see where this year takes you. I'm so excited to see what you start investing in and more than anything, what those investments pay you back. Alright, y'all have a great week. I'll see you soon.