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Episode 149 - How to double your sales - Mark Common
88 Plays4 months ago
Mark Comon is President of PAUL’S PHOTO and founder of Creative Photo Academy. Mark is an award-winning photographer, world renown educator and industry leading retail professional.
Connect with Carissa Woo
https://www.instagram.com/carissawoo https://heckyesmedia.co/
Connect with Mark https://paulsphoto.com/
www.17hats.com use code heck yes / https://aftershoot.com/friends?ref=carissawoo / https://kickstartaccountinginc.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Unique Insights
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays, heck yes listeners. I have Mark Common from Paul's Photo in the house. If you're from the South Bay, you know Paul's Photo. He started working in the store as a young boy and has kept his passion, his zest, and energy all of this time. He greets all of his customers by name and gives you the best camera equipment advice.
00:00:23
Speaker
And he gives one tip today that I've literally never ever heard that will double your income. It's a tip that is unique and doesn't take much time and effort. So stay tuned to the end because he really kicks your butt on how to get your business up and running and money in your bank today. And I'm going to be announcing soon that I'm going to be hosting a workshop at Paul's Photo and I'm super excited.
00:00:51
Speaker
And if you are a wedding pro and need another kick in the butt, go to my Instagram, at KerisabuDME, the word demo. I'll send you a 20 minute video on how to get 10 to 20 leads per month in your inbox. Enjoy this episode.
Carissa's Mission and Podcast Overview
00:01:11
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:01:39
Speaker
time-packed because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
Mark's Industry Impact and Customer Stories
00:02:02
Speaker
Hi, everyone. Hi. Heck yes, family. Hi, YouTube family. First YouTube Live. I'm Carissa Wu. I'm going to try to have my podcasting voice on today, but I'm here with a very special guest, Mark Common. He is ah the owner of Paul's photo.
00:02:18
Speaker
in the South Bay Torrance. I bought my first camera, my D3S Nikon at your store. I took my first photography class there. This is 15 years ago. And every photographer in the South Bay knows you and knows Paul's photo. Yes, they do.
00:02:37
Speaker
How are you doing? I'm great it's good to be here and you know what makes me really happy is to see you successful and our customers and students successful. but That's really fun for me and that's really fun for the crew here and so I just commend you Carissa on what you've done what you've built you know starting from you know nothing at the bottom and building yourself all the way up I love it.
00:03:03
Speaker
Thank you so much. Yeah, you helped out a lot of people. I remember going to your store and be like, how do you make the people look tiny? And they're like, oh, stand back.
00:03:14
Speaker
well Everybody's got to start at the beginning. I mean,
Lens Favorites and Photography Evolution
00:03:17
Speaker
there's no shame in that. Yes, you guys taught me how to make my first like blurry background and bokeh. And you told me to get the 85 1.4, which is life changing. And my bread and butter baby lens. So so is that the look you like the 85 14?
00:03:34
Speaker
Um, I actually don't even have one anymore, but I got a 105 1.4 at your place. yeah Um, that's even better. Yes. Yes. I, um, I love the Boca. Um, I love the blurry, but you and I'm using these days as a one 35, one eight. and Okay. like that Yeah. i think ah like good about that So I was never an 85 portrait person. I mean, we did that because that's what we had.
00:04:03
Speaker
I was always 105 or 135 or 180. And now Canon, Nikon, Sony all have a 135, 1.8. And that's been my go-to portrait lens. I love it because the background is so narrow. You don't have to worry. You don't have to clean up so much. oh you know And if you're shooting in a studio, it can be a problem because you're far back. But outside, like what you do, it's awesome.
00:04:31
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. My friend, Dipin Desai, he got it at your place and he worries about it. um But yeah, the YouTube thing kind of threw me off. I just clicked a button and now we're live, but I'll just do my regular structure. But ah mark yeah mark jimmy give me ah tell the audience, the heck yes, audience today who you are um and a little bit about you.
00:04:56
Speaker
So I'm Mark Coman from Paul's Photo. um I've been working here in the camera store since I was 14 in 1974. This Christmas will be my 50th Christmas in the camera store. My dad was Paul. He started the business in 1961. You know, we worked together for all those years until he retired in 2011.
00:05:18
Speaker
um We've been taking care of beginners, hobbyists, and professionals, you know, for over 60 years here at Paul's Photo. um We really love to help people get where you're going. And you asked me before, you know, I have a couple of secrets for you guys to help your people make more money because you guys are professionals and that's important. um We started teaching classes in 1988 before camera stores taught photo classes.
00:05:48
Speaker
Wow. And we've been one of the leaders in the industry in that realm, you know, with photo classes, photo walks, adventures. You know, two weeks ago, I was in Italy with my group in Tuscany. Yeah, we had 20 students. And, you know, I know a lot of your people are professional photographers, but Don't sell yourself short on the need to get out and reinvest in yourself and have some fun with photography so that it's not just work, work, work, and get yourself re-energized, re-creative, and you know make some different pictures. So that's one of the messages I have for your folks today.
00:06:29
Speaker
Yeah, it just takes me back to that first class at Paul's photo, like going around um the area where there's like a bank and then you guys, um there was like a waterfall. So I was doing like a slow shutter. and Just being creative. And you know, when you first start, you're just like all over the place and getting creative shots and doing new things. So I want to get back to that place. that I'm glad you mentioned that.
00:06:53
Speaker
Cool. Okay. Let's take it back to young Mark. What were you like as a kid and growing up and being raised by your dad? And we could talk a little bit about your dad too. So I was, I mean, I was a nerd, right? As you know, most of us photography people are, you know, quiet, afraid to talk. So that's why I was behind the camera, right? So I've had a camera photographing since I was 10 years old.
00:07:21
Speaker
You know, early on my photography was about hiking and mountain climbing with the Boy Scouts. I would photograph everything I did. And then on weekends I would go out with my dad, you know, he was in the camera store and he would want to test out this gear, right? This new camera come in. come in So we, on Sunday, you know, we would he and I would get in the car and drive someplace and go to photograph with it. And it was a lot of fun. And sometimes one of his buddies would come along. um Yeah, and that's where I really learned to photograph. And then you know we had a darkroom growing up. And working in the darkroom with my dad you know taught me how to develop film and all that. But what he really taught me was how to print and what a good photograph is.
00:08:14
Speaker
And so many people today rely on YouTube and online and online is not going to teach you what a good photograph looks like. You have to see the print and you've got to evaluate your prints and you have to, you know, if you're not printing yourself, you have to work with your lab or your printer.
00:08:31
Speaker
to get your prints to look beautiful.
Photography Style and Workshop Adventures
00:08:35
Speaker
They have to be perfect. And, you know, that's one of the legacies my dad gave me was the ability to make a print. And I still make a great print digital. You know, I use my MacBook Pro and a Canon Pro 1000 printer and make rocking prints. You know, I just talked to yeah a couple of Saturdays ago, I talked to the there's an Adobe users group here in this in so in Southern California. I talked to them.
00:09:02
Speaker
about doing Photoshop in three minutes. I never spend more than three minutes on a picture. So just being quick and getting it done. And they said, well, don't you do this? Don't you do that? Nope, nope, nope. And come look at my prints. You don't have to do all that. I mean, you're just prints have to be bitching, right? Yeah. It's such a lost art. It is. And it's just like when you talk to a great chef, right?
00:09:25
Speaker
A great chef, I mean, oh my gosh, we were in Italy, right? And you know my wife and all the other women would ask you know the cook wherever we were eating and the food was great. So what's in this? Olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.
00:09:39
Speaker
I mean, that's the answer. And it still tastes great. You don't need a bajillion ingredients to make it taste great. so Yeah, back to the basics. How did your dad um how did your dad start in the photography and camera equipment business? He bought. So he went to Korea in the army in 1951, I believe. And he bought a camera from Torrance Camera.
00:10:06
Speaker
liked taking pictures when he was in the army. So when he got back, he got a job there at Torrance camera and worked his way up and eventually became manager. And when the owner of the store decided to sell, he bought the store. So.
00:10:20
Speaker
Wow. That's amazing. Good guy. Yeah. I've got to work with him a couple of times. Yeah. yeah he's a Great guy. Okay. So tell me like growing up nerd cameras, uh, going with your dad a lot. Did that also like, um, go all the way to high school and college? And then did you just really set your mind on just like helping with the store or did you branch out to other things as well? So when I was in hot, so I was,
00:10:50
Speaker
yearbook photographer in seventh grade and yearbook editor in eighth grade. What school? At St. Lawrence in Redondo Beach. Nice. I was on the yearbook staff at Fisher Montgomery High School sophomore, junior and senior year. I was photo editor as junior and yearbook editor as a senior. So I was always involved and always photographing. You know, I started working in the camera store when I was a sophomore in high school.
00:11:17
Speaker
And you know then went to El Camino College after I graduated from high school, took a photo there, and had another. My second great influence in life was John Salango. He was the photo teacher that you didn't want.
00:11:34
Speaker
Really? Well, he taught the upper division, photo the upper photo classes at El Camino. And if you wanted a photo degree, which I didn't get, I didn't want a photo degree. I got a business degree from El Camino, but I took all the photo classes. I could have got a photo degree if I would have wanted, but I just didn't do it. and But he was the hard teacher. You know how there's ah there's always that hard teacher that everyone's afraid of? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:11:59
Speaker
I loved it. So it's so funny because Mike who works here in the camera store now, we both had John. He's a year or two younger than me. So we weren't in the same classes together, but he took him at, you know, a year or two apart from me and he was tough son of a bitch, man. He was just hard, but you know what that, you know, we always have that teacher, the really hard teacher. What do they teach you? Everything.
00:12:23
Speaker
you know So as hard as my dad was on printing, John was hard on printing, hard on being a creative photographer and getting the getting the work done. And he he brought, and one of the things he taught me is every time I go out and photograph, it's a job. I don't even care if it's my daughter's birthday party,
00:12:47
Speaker
I treat it as an assignment from an editor. I treat it, yeah and so does that bring you a certain level of, you know, does it demand? Absolutely. You know, you have to do the best you can. There's no slacking off. There's no, you know, yeah this is just my kid's birthday party. Oh, that's an important job, man. You got to get it done.
00:13:11
Speaker
And he that's one of the things he taught me. you know And then at El Camino, I decided that this is what I wanted to do for my for my life. So I went to Long Beach State, got my finished up my business degree, you know was working full time in the camera store ever since high school, all through college, full time in the camera store and going to college. And then you know it's been my life, like I said, its since 1974.
00:13:39
Speaker
Wow. Okay, i have like I have a question. So um yeah, you know so much about cameras and photography and printing. What kind of photos do you like taking? Or did you like taking like, what how would you describe like your style of photography?
00:13:56
Speaker
So I'm a very journalistic style photographer. um I like to photograph anything. I don't have a specific subject. You know, I'll do sports. I'll do portraits. I'll do macro. i'll you know The only thing I haven't really done is food.
00:14:14
Speaker
you know, but I'll do travel, I'll do journalism, I'll do landscape, I'll do figures, I'll do, it doesn't matter, you know, I love to photograph and I photograph every day, almost every day. Wow, that's amazing. Okay, two more questions before a hot topic. But ah tell me a little bit more in detail about this trip and photo adventure in Tuscany that you're talking about. Well, that so that that was a trip we did You know, two two weeks ago, my next big trip coming up is to Japan in November.
00:14:48
Speaker
Wow. So we take, so and we started with the classes, just the basic, the photo bootcamp
Programs and Trips for Photographers
00:14:55
Speaker
class that you took, Chrissa, right? And then after we started doing the photo bootcamp, we you know did intermediate and advanced photography. And then we started doing the photo adventures in 1991, where we we would go to Yosemite and Death Valley and Grand Canyon and places like that. And that's just grown.
00:15:14
Speaker
Right? And so we went to Germany for the first time and in been to Germany three times. In 2005, we did our first trip to Africa. um Next year, 2025 will be the 20th anniversary of going to Africa. I've led 23 safaris to Africa. wow um This was our second trip.
00:15:38
Speaker
to Italy, we've done Japan three times, we've done Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, oh my gosh, I can't even, Cuba five times. Part of this short interruption, but guess what? I have a new program. It's for all wedding professionals. It's called The Triple Threat. We redo your brand messaging, the homepage of your website. Part two is we do all your marketing. we create a beautiful brochure so you could start getting on Prefer venue vendor list and we do all your sales so we actually make you a sales presentation leading your client to the heck yes so you get paid. I have a free 20 minute demo training. It's only 20 minutes. Go to my Instagram at Carissa Woo.
00:16:31
Speaker
and DM me the word DEMO. I will send it right over. It's how to get 10 to 15 quality leads in your inbox per month. Enjoy, guys. Krista Wu is a LA-based wedding photographer who's actually turning business coach. She helped me grow and change, and I'm so proud to call you coach.
00:16:54
Speaker
tell us how you're feeling. Like, I want to just know a little bit more about your thoughts. Yeah, it's beautiful. And you're, you're awesome. It's beautiful. I'm speechless. I just like the fact that it feels like myself. like I can I feel myself when I see this. Oh, man. Well, you got me pumped and excited for this. Carissa, thank you.
00:17:14
Speaker
You know, so it's amazing. So what we do is I make arrangements with locals and in Japan, Yoshi's my guy, right? I met Yoshi on on our last trip to Japan. He was our tour guide, then did an awesome job and he's going to take care of this trip for us. ah wow And, you know, I just talked to him yesterday making final arrangements. You know, one of the cool things we're going to do is we're having a geisha dinner on our last night.
00:17:44
Speaker
oh my god and so the last two times we've been we've done the geisha dinner yoshi's arranged it it's amazing and it is so old school japanese we're in kyoto in the gion district and you're upstairs in this house so the geisha my adam's house upstairs she has a dining room and you have this a hundred percent authentic Japanese dinner with the ladies that serve you. yeah pain And of course, we get to make pictures. One of my favorite pictures from the trip last time was the geisha singing to us.
00:18:32
Speaker
So you have the two Maiko, which are young, not full geishas, and their keeper, an older woman who's a past geisha, right, singing to us, playing the traditional instruments. It was awesome. And then I have an awesome portrait of one of the young ladies. And that picture is actually, you know, um hanging at the Orange County Fair right now.
00:18:54
Speaker
It's one of my entries that was accepted there, and it's just amazing. That is so amazing. You're doing such a beautiful life for yourself. My husband is Japanese, so my kids are half Japanese, um and we went to Japan for our honeymoon, so I just could imagine like photographing these different districts, Akihabara and Yokohama, and the yeah temples is also different. Well, but so we're not really, in November, we're we're not going to focus on the temple so much, because it's November, it's fall color season. We're going for the fall color. So we're going to go to the park with the bridge and the river and the trees behind it. And, you know, it's going to be absolutely beautiful. Plus, I mean.
00:19:35
Speaker
The food in Japan is awesome. The people are amazing. They're so friendly. You know, photography is, you know, very well accepted in Japan. You have no problem photographing people on the street. You know, it's just so cool. ah fast in Yeah. Yeah. To be able to do that, you know, and then, and then in, in January, um, we're taking a trip to Yellowstone in the winter, wow that the animals in March, I'm taking a group to Canada to photograph the Northern lights.
00:20:05
Speaker
in october next if so in april and So in April next year, I'm taking a group to Namibia to photograph the desert and the animals in Namibia. And then October back to Kenya to photograph the animals. And we're doing an amazing trip. It's called a conservation safari. So we're staying at sustainable lodges that do eco-tourism. We're visiting four different animal rescue centers to see how they treat the animals, get behind the scenes access to what they do. And then in November, we're going back to Canada to photograph the polar bears. Insane in the membrane. Yeah. I can't, I'm like, I'm a little, I'm a little. You're welcome to join us.
00:20:52
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I'm like, oh my god, like, do I have money my big account to go into the Japan trip? So I mean, okay I have to go. I have to go. It's awesome. Okay, okay. um Did your parents get to travel to know my dad was the wrong did not have the personality. You have to have the right personality. You have to put yourself out there. You know you have to be willing to have people yeah knock on your door at two in the morning when their toilet doesn't flush. but That wasn't my dad. you know So my mom and dad traveled a lot. They love traveling. And that's part of where I love my got my passion for traveling. But as far as leading people, no, that's all that started with me.
00:21:35
Speaker
so
Paul's Photo Legacy and Modern Challenges
00:21:36
Speaker
Cool, cool, this is a cool. One more question before Hot Topic. ah You kind of already mentioned a lot, but what does Paul's photo look like today? So we've tried to keep the small-town family camera store vibe while being open to everything. And um you know our competition is the internet, right? it's It's the Amazons, it's New York, it's the big box stores.
00:22:15
Speaker
But you know you've experienced, Chris, that you know they're not going to help you. They're not going to help you take your photography to the next level. They're not going to help you when you have a problem. They're not going to help you choose your next set of gear.
00:22:31
Speaker
to get your photography, to level up your photography, to get you to the next plateau. And that's one of the things that we've done. And you know we were very lucky over COVID. Our customers are very loyal. They really supported us.
00:22:47
Speaker
And they told their friends about us. And one of the things that's happened over the last three or four years is our customer base has grown. And as so many areas of the country don't have a local camera store anymore.
00:23:02
Speaker
You know, so if you're in, i mean you know, you're in what? You're in Hermosa Beach, right? I'm in Torrance. Torrance, in Torrance, right? So you can come here, but just think about it. If you lived on, you know, in Downey, yeah there's no camera store, right? You've got to come to Paul's photo, that's the and that's 20 miles away.
00:23:22
Speaker
And think about if you live, you know, farther away. And, you know, if you live in Nebraska or Oklahoma or wherever, right? Yeah. You don't have a camera store local. So those people are calling us now and it's great. Yeah. I i mean, I went in the last last week, I went in and then um I said, my camera's not focusing. And then he just kind of wiggled it. He's like, Oh, it's fine. yeah There you go.
00:23:47
Speaker
we We get it, we get you up and going, right? yes Yeah. 25 to 30% of our customers don't live in South Bay anymore. So they call us from wherever they are. And one of the advantages that we have is we're small. So we can still ship to you out of California with no sales tax. So you just pay the shipping and no sales tax. That's awesome.
00:24:11
Speaker
30 to 40 percent of our students are not from California, not local, because two-thirds of our classes are online. And I know a lot of people want live classes, and we have live classes, but it's also a lot easier to just go home and sit on the computer like this than it is to come all the way down here, right? ye So yeah we're finding a lot of people are joining us from around the country and around the world. We're happy to have those people. They're welcome to be part of the family. We have great friendships that have been made in online classes. We have great friendships that are renewed you know on our trip to Italy. We had three couples that don't live here.
00:25:01
Speaker
But they had made friends in the online classes with people and they met in person for the first time where they had been online friends in classes for two or three years. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. So, I mean, it's just, you know, we're very lucky. We're very blessed. I thank God every day for what we have here and what we're able to do to help you and
Video Services for Photographers
00:25:24
Speaker
your people, you know, succeed.
00:25:27
Speaker
Yes, you guys are the OGs. What is your hot topic, Mark? I don't know the hot topic, but I think you said it a little bit. You said help people. I got two things. Okay, okay. Let's just go for it.
00:25:43
Speaker
How many of you have upgraded to mirrorless? And if you haven't, you need to. Because it's a huge advantage The cameras are better. The low-light performance is better. The lenses are sharper The dynamic range is better the colors better, but I know for you Chris So one of the important things is the cameras 20% or 30% smaller and lighter weight. Yeah, right. Mm-hmm it just it's such a huge advantage now i'm a nikon shooter i know you're a canon shooter no i'm nikon oh you're nikon okay but it doesn't matter you know canon nikon sony fuji it doesn't matter we take care of everybody and you know i'm shooting now my go-to camera is nikon z8
00:26:32
Speaker
And I am making prints like I've never made before. Wow. I have the Z7. Yeah. So when you get a chance to upgrade to Z8, oh, my gosh, the focus tracking, the eye tracking, the the facial recognition, all of those features. And, you know, if you guys come in and want to see my pictures, I'll be glad to show you, you know, I make 11 by 14, 16 by 20 prints all the time.
00:26:56
Speaker
And you know just back from Italy, I shot a lot of stuff at 6400, 12,000, 25,000 ISO. And the images are amazing. How much is a Z8? I want to buy it today. Z8s are 3,700. Yeah, yeah. That's what I was thinking. Yeah. so And it's an awesome camera.
00:27:18
Speaker
um So that's number one. And if you need help with that, let me know. If you guys have questions, send me an email to markatpulsephoto.com. I'll send you a copy of my video, Why Mirrorless Why Now?
00:27:34
Speaker
And for all of you who write to me, markatpulsephoto.com, if you mention that you're a friend of Carissa's or a listener of the the podcast, I'll send you our three tip sheets on, we have just a PDF tip sheet that we made, just a basic, you know not basic, but stuff you need to remember on every single picture, right? One on landscape, one on general, one on portrait photography. And people find those very helpful and useful.
00:28:00
Speaker
Thank you, that's so cool. Yeah, so you ready for the second tip? Hell yeah, let's do it. So, Carissa, how would you like to double your money on every portrait session you do? Absolutely. It's super duper simple. And, but it requires that you upgrade to mirrorless to make this happen easily.
00:28:26
Speaker
because what you're going to do is you're going to start doing videos. Do you do videos now? I do. Okay. So what do you do video? How do you do videos for your clients? Um, I have a videographer. That's not what I mean. Okay. Okay. Oh, I think I know what you're looking to. ki it I don't do it. So um you don't do it. I'm all ears. And it's, and it's, you're leaving money on the table.
00:28:51
Speaker
you You have a golden opportunity. And you know um I have to give props to this to Suzette Allen. She's a friend of mine. And she turned me on to this five or six years ago. I've been telling my professional photography customers this for years. You've got to start adding videos to your headshot and family portrait business. okay And you start out by not charging for it.
00:29:21
Speaker
So you have a family portrait. You have the mom and dad and three kids, right? You do the family portrait. Then you take the mom and dad out and you do the portrait of just the three kids, right? And you're shooting with your Z7, right? So when you're done with the family portrait, you say, mom hey mom, can I do one more thing? Sure, okay, go ahead. So you've got the camera already on a tripod.
00:29:49
Speaker
you're gonna add a microphone. So like my Rode microphone here that I'm using to do the podcast with, that goes right on my camera. It's called a shotgun mic. So it's right on the top. And you tell the kids, hey kids, I want you guys to wave and say, Merry Christmas, grandma, grandpa, or whatever you call them, right? ah huh Yeah. So everybody ready? Three, two, one. You hit the red button on your camera. Camera starts.
00:30:19
Speaker
Merry Christmas, Grandma, Grandpa! Now, what mom doesn't want that? No mom doesn't want that. And you know what the best part of it is? With the app from your phone, you download the picture, the video from your camera to your phone, huh and then you just, you you airdrop it to the mom.
00:30:47
Speaker
So she has this little video on her phone, which she can do what, then? She can send to her mom and dad. Yeah. Right? So would they spend money for that? Would they spend $75 to do that? You bet. Merry Christmas, Uncle Bob. Right? Merry Christmas, Dad. Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad. Right?
00:31:10
Speaker
And so you do these little videos videos and you're getting 50 or 75 bucks a piece for them. It's amazing. And how much time is it taking you, right? An extra five minutes at the end of the shoot. And if you just suck them off the camera to your phone and airdrop them to the parents, right? How much time does that take?
00:31:32
Speaker
Minutes. Yeah. Yeah. Minutes right there at the scene. It's done. And you're going to get, you're going to have people that are dying. You're going to have, if one of your moms in the school group shows that video to the other moms in her group, how many portrait settings are you going to, how many portrait sessions are you going to get from that? charisssa Oh, wow. At least. right Yeah. Yeah. Or how about at the wedding? Right.
00:32:01
Speaker
the bride and groom while you're taking that portrait. Thanks for coming to the wedding everybody. I hope you enjoy the the dance, right? And that goes out in their thank you email, right? It goes on their website, right? And how long did that take you, right? So what do what do you need? You need a camera that does ah amazing video and that to me is a mirrorless camera. You need a microphone, a shotgun mic?
00:32:28
Speaker
And you can't use a strobe. You can't use a speed light to light it. You have to have a constant light. And but realistically, we're using constant lights all the time now. Anyway, I mean, I've got an LED light right here lighting me. You know, it's like cost 200 bucks. You know, the battery that powers it so it's wireless costs more than the light does. Right. So you need a light, a microphone, and then you just need to do it.
00:32:56
Speaker
This is so cool. Um, can I ask a couple of questions? Yeah. Okay. So this is a tip I never heard ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. And I talked to a lot of people. Um, so I'm so happy to know this because it's so easy, but, um, I guess the question is for me after you start doing it for free and then have some, like you shoot it for free. Okay. And if they want it, they got to pay for it.
00:33:23
Speaker
I see.
Client Billing and Engagement Strategies
00:33:24
Speaker
shoot it for i mean it's It's just like the portraits when you go into the amusement park, right? They take your portrait, hu but if you want it, you have to pay, right?
00:33:36
Speaker
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00:34:02
Speaker
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00:34:31
Speaker
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00:34:55
Speaker
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00:35:12
Speaker
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00:35:30
Speaker
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00:35:58
Speaker
And yeah, they are going to get your finances in order so you can continue to scale and succeed. Back to the show. You shoot it, but if they want it, they have to pay. So you don't airdrop it only to the ones at the beginning, right? Only when they pay.
00:36:16
Speaker
Oh, okay. But do they pay on the spot or like before? I mean, you can put it on their bill with the, I mean, I'm going to trust them to pay me, and right? But do you want that? It's 50 bucks, right? Do you want it? It's 75 bucks. Or do you want the deluxe package instead of the tan standard portrait package for 5.99? Do you want the deluxe portrait package for 9.99 that comes with four videos? Oh, shoot. Okay. This is like next level.
00:36:47
Speaker
Now, let me give you a couple hints, okay? So gang, on your camera, you're going to shoot to 2160 and 30p, right? 2160, 30. And then you're just going to go to to P for program mode or auto mode to shoot the video. Because video has a lot more different rules than photo does to get it right. So just put it to auto and go.
00:37:14
Speaker
And then when you upload it to the phone or edited an iMovie, it sorts everything out for you. It works great. Now, if you want to get deep into video, we can talk about getting it deep into video, but that wasn't my... You have a videographer to videotape weddings for you. You have a videographer to to to so to videotape the bar mitzvah for you. That's not what we're talking about. yeah We're talking about these little 15 or 20 second snippets that art you can as an add-on. Because one of the things that pros are always looking for is a way to serve the customer better, make it so people talk to you about your talk about your photo session, right? And spend more money with you, right? Yes, uh-huh. So there you go.
00:38:00
Speaker
Yeah, because people these days, they wanna, you know, they don't wanna spend so much up at front because maybe it's like a little bit of a shock, tickers ticket shock, but they will like once they're in their best outfits and they got get their makeup done and they're with their family and they see how beautiful the pictures are, it's just kinda like why not get the video for extra and then end up spending, you know, double.
00:38:27
Speaker
And you can make the the video. I just gave that example, right? How about, you know, for the engagement session, why don't you do a kiss video, right? That they can then do as a TikTok, right? If they want that.
00:38:45
Speaker
I mean, there's the possibilities are limitless and it's really up to the people right as to what do you want to do? How fun do you how much fun do you want to have? right mean it is is your the bri Is your bride the one who's going to jump into the pool with the wedding dress or not? right And if she is, how about a video of that?
00:39:08
Speaker
just a little, and a YouTube video or a TikTok video of her jumping into the into the pool with the dress on, right? Wow. Do you um do preface this in like the introductory call or the sales call that you do have some special add-ons and then do you send like examples? I would, I would have it on the website.
00:39:29
Speaker
but i But to me, what what I would do if I was you, I would set up some shoots with some of your girlfriends and their kids and do get half a dozen different examples, get those on the website so people can see them, yeah and then start offering the package.
00:39:48
Speaker
You know, you don't want to experiment. You don't want to do a freebie with a paying customer. I would do the freebie with your family and friends. Got it. Right. And, but I would start, I would add that. I mean, i if, if I was in your shoes, you know, the next day you have a day off, I would shoot a couple of these videos, even with your kids. Yeah. Yeah.
00:40:13
Speaker
and then get their get your daughter's girlfriend you know and her brother to do a video for you. And working on the kids, I think is, parents will spend anything for their children, yeah right? And then to say thank you to your, I mean, for us to have our kids and say thank you to the grandparents,
00:40:37
Speaker
I think that's something, we don't do it enough, number one. yeahh And number two, this is something that everyone's gonna learn. I mean, just think about it. If you sent that video to your mom, and I don't know if your mom is able to do it on her phone or not, but if she is, but she will she go to wherever she goes and show every single one of her friends that video?
00:41:04
Speaker
Yes. Yes. And then that starts the ball rolling. That's how you get the, that's how you get the traction, the traction, right? You know, and like I've always told my, my, my customers who were starting in, you know, portrait and event photography,
00:41:27
Speaker
You've got to market your first marketing has got to be to your girlfriends, right? It's to the kids in school. It's the kids on the soccer team, right? That's your market. It's the kids in the church group, the the parents in the church group. That's your first first level of marketing. If you get all those people, I mean, you're going to have more business than you can handle.
00:41:48
Speaker
Wow. Okay. I want to dig a little deeper into what you just said, ah um, because that was a question I always ask to my interviewees. Like yeah if you're struggling right now, what would you do to get leads today? Um, so you're saying to tap into your existing, like the family, like but what is something you would do? Maybe like action step today to do that. So I would just start showing the pictures or pick We all know that there's one influential family in every group, right? in your let's Pick your son's soccer team, right? There's 15 or 20 families there. There's one that you could volunteer to make a Christmas picture for them, right?
00:42:37
Speaker
And if you would invest a couple hours and do a Christmas portrait for them for free, right? What's that going to do? How many people are they going to tell? Now you have to trust them enough to say that they didn't get it for free. Right. So it has to be somebody that you have some relationship with, but just think what that would do for you. Right. Yeah. If you can get, if you can get.
00:43:01
Speaker
All the kids in your child's class, right? There's 30 kids in fourth grade, right? huh If you can get every single one of them who's going to do a Christmas card this year to hire are you to do a Christmas photo, that's what, what, eight or 10 families, right? Yeah.
00:43:20
Speaker
That's eight or 10 Christmas cards, right? And then they have friends in other grades, right? And just because they're in the fourth grade, they have a kid in the seventh grade in the second grade, right? You're going to get those families too.
00:43:33
Speaker
Yeah, this is something I haven't been doing. It's like my kids are in so much things, and I'm so shy. I never even promote myself, but I don't do any of their family pictures. So I'm going to put on my calendar to start promoting um myself like a little early before even other people start posting on holiday pictures. Now, Christmas cards is now. OK. Right. I would get all that stuff locked in before the kids go back to school. OK. Because I mean, the mom's going to like it. They have a tan.
00:44:02
Speaker
They just got back. yeah and right They want to do their family portrait now. Oh, my God. I'm
Personal Interests and Diverse Photography
00:44:08
Speaker
going to make some money today. Yeah, I have a session so I could just send them a link. And then I love like wilderness park. I love St. Francis Church and just lock it in. Yep. a All right. This is a really cool conversation. OK, um well, it's 38 minutes. We're going to go a little bit like five more minutes, but I want to get to know you a little bit more. So I have no Okay, so you love to travel you're in the pause photo all the time. um What do you do like when you get home and decompress because I know like, I don't know you stay creative and you're you're with people like all day like what is your life like outside of camera equipment and photography? It's all photo all the time.
00:44:58
Speaker
So my wife and I travel, we play pickleball. Me too. Yeah. So I mean, if you guys want to play, we'd love to play. Where do you play at? We're kind of struggling right now. but You know, we used to play at Sir La Brea and then we cut the hour hours. And so we're struggling to find a public place to play. We have a regular Sunday game. There's like 20 of us who 10 or 12 every Sunday play. We have a lot of fun doing that. But so when I get home tonight, right after dinner, I'll edit photos.
00:45:35
Speaker
I still have you know my Italy trip to edit. I'm getting ready for my Japan trip in November. I'll go look at you know my past four trips to Japan and look at those photos and just try to start prepping myself for what's coming up.
00:45:53
Speaker
You know, and maybe I'll do a video for my YouTube channel for the one of my inspirational videos. Maybe I'll write an article for the Paul's photo newsletter. Maybe I'll prepare for an upcoming photo class. You are passionate times a thousand. But that's it's what I love. You know, I love taking pictures. I love sharing that way.
00:46:17
Speaker
But to me, it's equally fun to give your people props, you know, cause I tell, I tell my professional customers like you, if you win, we win too. Cause if you're successful, you're going to buy a new camera. You're going to buy a new lens. Can I tell you one of my, my latest greatest success? Of course. So.
00:46:44
Speaker
Every year for the past 15 years, we have encouraged our students to enter the Orange County Fair photo competition, which is one of the largest and most prestigious photo competitions in the country. So this year we had a whole bunch of our students enter and they, about one in 10 photos gets accepted to the Orange County Fair.
00:47:12
Speaker
Our students had a 30% acceptance rate. Our students are about a little bit less than half of the accepted photos at the Orange County Fair.
00:47:26
Speaker
And I'm getting the word back, because a fair just opened last week. We won 64 ribbons. Oh my goodness. That's a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. So it's you know it's a testament to the dedication of our photographers and the quality of the community. um and And one thing I'll say to you, Carissa, you may not have the passion, you may wanna do other things with your time off, hu but in my experience as a photographer, you need to do some self photography. You need to do some professional photography away from portraits and weddings. And whether that's practicing on portraits and weddings or doing travel or sports or landscape or whatever you have interest in,
00:48:23
Speaker
that will help your business a ton because you'll get energized. You'll learn more and you know, you keep going to the WPPI crowd and hearing the same thing again and again, right? Wow. And we just talked and you heard two things you hadn't heard before, right? How cool is that, right? That is so cool. And you got to expand your circle, right? And youre you and your people need to include, you know, Paul's photo and the Creative Photo Academy in your inspiration circle.
Technology's Influence on Business Reinvention
00:49:00
Speaker
I mean, you don't have to, or if you have someplace else, I assume your people are all over the country, right? Your listeners?
00:49:07
Speaker
Um, I don't know, but I think us, if you guys don't have a local camera store that offers this kind of service and inspiration, I mean, I volunteered to do that for you. You know, and I say that we are the local camera store, no matter where you are.
00:49:25
Speaker
because we treat our customers, every customer we treat the same, whether it's you walking through the door or you, Chris, are calling me and you live in Chicago and you don't have a place that you can talk to. So, yeah. Oh man, this conversation really brought in my horizons. Good. And so that our energy's connected again. Yeah, it's awesome.
00:49:49
Speaker
Yeah, I just, I don't know. I guess one last question, kind of sum it all up. um I guess you've done so much, you built this whole community South Bay and you know, you're thriving and the world. yeah um I guess where do you see you and your business and yourself and your family like the next like three to five years?
00:50:14
Speaker
just continuing to do the same. i mean there's So one of the things that I've learned in the camera business Is every few years we have to throw everything out and start over again um Because and in the photography world too I mean, so I don't know if you if you and your listeners have found that The marketing that was genius three years ago doesn't work anymore You need to find a different avenue to market. You need to find a different idea and we're the same way, you know and the advantage that we have
00:50:51
Speaker
is a lot of our renewal is is forced upon us by the change in technology. I mean, we had to completely reinvent everything with the change from SLR to mirrorless. We had to completely reinvent everything with the change from film to digital, right? So we're forced with the technology to reinvent. And so I'm not afraid of that. It's just one more thing to learn. You know, I'm learning video, I'm learning video editing, you know, not something I really wanted to learn, but I'm learning it and it's great and it's cool and it allows me to offer new and exciting things. So, if you if you were to come back here in three years, would Paul's photo look the same?
00:51:38
Speaker
Yes, i you know, probably. Would we have new products to sell you? Absolutely. Would we be teaching new and different classes in the Academy? Absolutely. Would we have the same attitude and values? hu Yes, but it's all going to be done. The difference is how we're going to do it, right?
00:52:00
Speaker
you know We're probably going to have a different computer system, and we're going to have a different this and a different that. And that doesn't matter. right it's just It's just stuff. right And the other thing I'll i'll say to your to your to your viewers and listeners is, as photographers, we fall in love with our cameras and our gear. You can't. It's just a tool.
00:52:24
Speaker
you know I own in my personal life the least number of cameras I have ever owned since high school. Because with the technology and I have a Nikon Z9 that I use for sports and wildlife, I have a Nikon Z8 that I use for my standard photography. I have a Nikon Z8 that I've converted to infrareds for some of my fine art and and infrared work. That's it.
00:52:56
Speaker
I don't have any other cameras anymore. And it's just the technology changes. Don't fall in love with your camera. I you know I made, you know, I made quite a name for my inner, my, my self on the internet with the launch of the Nikon D eight 50. And that was what? 2014, 2015, right? i about one Yeah. And.
00:53:18
Speaker
It killed me because I only ah owned that camera for a year and a half. And then I sold it yeah and the Z7 came. yeah And yeah, that was the best SLR camera I ever had. And I still look at the pictures from that camera. It's awesome.
00:53:33
Speaker
But the Z7 is even more awesomer. And now we're on Z2, and then there's Z8. And then there's Z9, and there's Z63. And you know for Canon people, you know they all converted to the R5, but now we have R5 Mark II coming next month. R3 and R1. I mean, gang, it's just
AI and Camera Technology Advice
00:53:55
Speaker
a tool. yeah And it's a tool that gets you to where you want to go.
00:54:01
Speaker
Photographers, I am so thrilled to announce my new sponsors Aftershoot, an AI editing company. They do AI editing, unlimited cropping and straightening. I am seriously blown away by the precision and five hours a week I get back in my life. My life is so much better and I literally don't have any more anxiety. It's so crazy.
00:54:26
Speaker
I remember being at barbecues with my laptop because I had to get out of shoot and and that was so stressful, so not fun. And the best part about after shoot compared to their competition is that it's a monthly minimal cost, not cost per image because I am a true overshooter. I could shoot like, I don't know, 3000 photos in an engagement shoot, which is not good. But anyways, using my code in the show notes to get a 30 day trial and 20% off You're going to get in the software and just go crazy with it. And AfterShoot edits 2.0 just released and they have a lot of new features that you are going to love. AfterShoot, I can't thank you enough for giving me back my time to focus on this podcast. Oh yeah, back to the podcast. Where do you want to go? What pictures and videos are you missing?
00:55:15
Speaker
What can the technology do to make it easier for you? And don't be afraid to don't be afraid to learn the technology. Because I'll tell you a story about one of our top professionals. He bought he was an early adopter on the Canon R5. And I remember he was talking to Johnny in the store as he was leaving, and he said,
00:55:42
Speaker
You know Mark, this thing had better work right now. He came back the next day and he said, oh my God, I got the pictures I've always wanted to because before i mean he always missed, he wanted the pictures of the bride and the groom walking down the aisle on their way out, right?
00:56:09
Speaker
And with this with his SLR technology, he would only get one or two pictures out of that walk, right? yeah and And he was you know shooting halfway down the aisle, 85-1-4, crappy light in the church because now they're not on the altar where the light is. They're walking down the aisle, right?
00:56:29
Speaker
And he said, you know, Mark, the Canon R5, it got every picture in focus everything like because of the face finding technology. And if you haven't used a camera, one of the modern Sony or Canon or Nikon cameras with the face technology and the eye tracking technology, it is game changing. And to be able to give your clients more choices in pictures, right?
00:56:57
Speaker
You know, the other thing I was never a fan of high frame rate, you know, cause people would come in and and I always thought it was just a nerdy geeky thing to say how many frames per second, but I found in my sports photography and in my wildlife photography, especially I was always in between the shot.
00:57:22
Speaker
I would have the picture of the lion and he's looking here and then he's looking there. ah right But I really wanted that one where he's looking straight at the camera. right And that's because I was shooting at five frames per second. So on my Z9 at 20 frames per second, I have four times more pictures and I get that switch as he pans across with his eye so that I can pick the one where he's looking right at the camera. yeah but yeah What's the problem with that?
00:57:53
Speaker
four times more pictures to edit, right? And would I shoot a wedding at 20 frames per second? No. Would I shoot a portrait session with maybe the little kids? If you're shooting little kids, right, and they're screwing around, 20 frames per second might be really cool, right?
00:58:10
Speaker
because then you're going to get those in-between looks. But embrace the technology. If you need help with that, come on down. I'll be glad to help you. My crew here will be glad to help you. We'll take your old gear and trade. Yeah,
Closing Remarks and Call to Action
00:58:23
Speaker
no, we can't give you as much as you can sell it for on eBay. But you walk in, you push your stuff on the counter,
00:58:31
Speaker
We're going to give you money towards it, towards your new gear, and you're done. You don't have to worry about selling it on eBay, paying commissions, and what happens if the guy returns it yeah know and claims you send him a brick in the box. yeah You don't have to deal with it. That's our worry.
00:58:48
Speaker
so ah Thank you, Mark. Common thank you. are You are a staple in this community. Thank you. ah You are full of life. You remember everyone's names. You are a sharpshooter. So we appreciate you and thank you for coming on this podcast. All right, Carissa. Thanks, everybody.
00:59:10
Speaker
Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros!