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204- ChatGPT for Photographers with Brooke Jefferson
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EPISODE SHOW NOTES: ChatGPT for Photographers with Brooke Jefferson
In today’s episode of Get a Heck Yes, Carissa sits down with the incredible Brooke Jefferson — wife, mom of two, Oklahoma family photographer, photography business coach, and host of the Book More Photography Clients podcast.
Brooke is sharing her ultimate guide to using ChatGPT for photographers, and the strategies in this episode will help you market smarter, streamline your business, and get back more time in your life.
What We Cover in This Episode:
1. Content Creation Made Easy
How photographers can use ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas, write captions, plan posts, and keep content consistent without spending hours online.
2. SEO for Photographers
Brooke breaks down how ChatGPT can help with:
- Keyword research
- Blog outlines
- SEO-rich website copy
- Alt-text for images
- Location-based SEO for attracting dream clients
3. Improving Client Communication
How to use ChatGPT to:
- Create questionnaires
- Build workflows
- Write emails
- Speed up your entire booking process
4. Admin + Business Support
Using ChatGPT as your virtual assistant for:
- Refining your pricing and packages
- Doing competitor analysis
- Templates that save you HOURS
5. Realistic Goal-Planning
Brooke shares how to use ChatGPT to map out achievable goals, build action plans, and stay on track as a business owner and photographer.
Why You’ll Love This Episode
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by marketing, content, communication, or admin — Brooke’s systems and ChatGPT strategies will make your photography business feel lighter, easier, and more aligned.
This episode is packed with practical steps you can implement TODAY.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Brooke Jefferson
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get Heck Yes. Today I'm so excited because we have Brooke Jefferson, wife, mom of two, Oklahoma family photographer, photography business coach, and host of the Book More Photography Clients podcast.
00:00:14
Speaker
In this episode, Brooke is breaking down her guide to chat GPT for photographers, how to use it for content creation, SEO, client communications, admin support, pricing, and even realistic goal planning.
00:00:26
Speaker
If you ever wondered how to use ChatGPT to market your photography business, smarter, not harder, this episode is for you. Let's dive in.
00:00:40
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.
00:00:50
Speaker
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,
00:01:09
Speaker
Time hacks 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.
00:01:21
Speaker
i hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesdays so that you say heck yes to listening to this podcast. See you
Brooke's Personal Interests and Background
00:01:27
Speaker
guys soon.
00:01:31
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with your girl, Carissa Wu. I'm so excited for this interview. Today we have Brooke Jefferson. She is a wife, mom of two, Oklahoma family photographer and photography business coach.
00:01:45
Speaker
She is the host of the Book More Photography Clients podcast, one of my favorite photography client podcasts. She teaches photographers how to build a profitable and fully booked business.
00:01:57
Speaker
She enjoys reading thriller novels, playing car games with her family and friends, and binging the latest Netflix shows. Welcome, Brooke. Thank you so much, Carissa. I'm excited to be here. Yay. What are you binging right now on Netflix?
00:02:14
Speaker
I actually just finished Ransom Canyon. And then last night I started ah Love on the Spectrum. Oh, yeah. I watch it all the time with my family.
00:02:26
Speaker
That's awesome. Yeah, I started from the top. My sister was like, you have to watch the show. I said, well, what season did you start with? And she said three because everybody said it was the best. I'm like, okay, but I'm a weirdo. I have to start from season one episode. Yeah. yeah Yeah.
00:02:41
Speaker
Some of them from one, they continue all the way to season three. Oh, that is awesome. Okay. I'm glad I started with one. Yeah. So you see like they don't find love and then or they find love and they're still in love or they're looking for love still.
00:02:56
Speaker
It's so cute. I love it. it's such yeah okay It's so cute. Okay.
Journey into Photography
00:03:01
Speaker
So take it back to growing up. What were you like as a kid? Anything about your family dynamic? Anything you want to share with us today?
00:03:10
Speaker
Sure. I'll save you the novel version, but um i was, think I've been creative my whole life really since I was young and started to pick up crayons. I was into theater. That was a big thing. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. I live in a teeny tiny town now, but ah my mom put me in just about everything from cheerleading, gymnastics,
00:03:33
Speaker
Um, let's see, what else did I do? I did some golf camps. I did a lot of of the sports stuff. And then I really found my knack in acting and, uh, did that throughout school until I ended up transferring to a high school in Oklahoma.
00:03:47
Speaker
and I thought, and this is so funny. And again, it's not like an ego thing. It's just like my sister and i grew up thinking that we were going to be more in front of a camera rather than behind the camera, which She now is just an awesome client for me. So it's fun that she actually is still in front of the camera.
00:04:05
Speaker
um But i really did not imagine myself being a photographer. And i picked up a camera whenever I had my daughter. She was about four or five months old. um And I borrowed the camera from my mother-in-law at the time. And I just ran with it. And here we are 11 years later. but yeah, as a kid, social butterfly.
00:04:25
Speaker
uh i they used to nickname me britney spears because i was always putting on a show and just you know what i mean she was very big back then and so i would they just called that me so anyway oh i know i used to like always play like she's so lucky she's a star and like yeah re reenact the whole music video yes classic how old is your daughter you have two kids right I do. I have two kids. um They are actually, we're so close to their birthday, so I'll just tell you what age they're turning. I will have 12-year-old and a 9-year-old. That is crazy.
00:04:59
Speaker
Two daughters? One daughter, one son. So daughter's the oldest and then the son. Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful. You look so young. You look like a baby. Well, I was 19 when I had my baby, so.
00:05:11
Speaker
Oh, you were a baby. and was a baby with a baby, so Oh, that that's so cool to grow up with them, like almost like a sister figure, but like yeah do everything together. Yeah, so too.
00:05:24
Speaker
Yes. And now kids are so active. So I can only imagine how difficult it is waiting and having kids when you're much older, which everybody makes it work. But I'm glad that I was young and had all the energy when I needed it.
00:05:36
Speaker
so Yes, exactly. We definitely slowed down, but we got to have to take care of ourselves. Tell me about like either high school or college days. What were you into then? Yeah.
00:05:46
Speaker
um High school. So I would have been into a lot more. My parents, you you asked about family dynamics. So when I was growing up, it was my mom, my dad, me and my sister. And I honestly thought that it was going to be that way forever. And then when I was, think 10, my parents ended up getting divorced.
00:06:07
Speaker
And so they quickly, um you know, remarried and and grew that side of our family. So I'm actually the oldest of seven. And that is so crazy to think. Yeah. So we have a big blended family, um which I love. And I wouldn't, I would not change that today. But in high school, with that being said, it was hard because my mom was technically, you know, trying to figure it out with the multiple kids and working full time. And I actually worked a lot when I was in high school. So
00:06:38
Speaker
We would get out of classes at two and I would immediately go work, which I think is where my work ethic comes from is because I started at such a young age. Had that not been the case, I was still interested in hanging out with friends. And always felt like I was more of the mom in the group.
00:06:56
Speaker
I think that's just a first born oldest child thing. That's my personality. That's who I am. um Was very much into leadership. And I would have cheered had I not transferred states.
00:07:09
Speaker
when you transfer states, this so random, but when you transfer states, you have to sit out for a period period of time. And I think that because that time passed, I just didn't even want to try out or, you know, really trying to put myself in that situation. think I would have been a lot more active.
00:07:23
Speaker
Um, i graduated high school six months early. i was ready to get out and that was what I did. Wow. Yeah. Oh, wow. I didn't even know you could do that. Yes, you can. Uh, you can, if you are able to either finish those credits sooner or what happened was Texas schools taught, they flip-flopped their semesters.
00:07:44
Speaker
So instead of me repeating what I'd already learned, they were like, okay, I guess you're done. So, and I was concurrently enrolled in college. i was taking college classes while I was in high school. So anyway, there's lots of legalities to that, but I was able to do it and get out of there.
00:08:00
Speaker
No, I'm just thinking of like from 10 to 17 for your seven years, like your life was kind of a whirlwind with like the divorce and getting all these new
Emotional Impact of Photography
00:08:07
Speaker
siblings and probably different homes staying at and then activities and working.
00:08:12
Speaker
was a lot. Yes, it was a whirlwind, which shaped me to who I am today. And of course, you know, there's certain things I probably wouldn't say there's nothing I would change. I do think that there's certain aspects.
00:08:23
Speaker
to a lot of that, that I would change. The biggest part for me though, that I'll point out, and I think it's why I just grew up so quickly was out of those seven siblings, I've actually lost two of my brothers, um just to very tragic situations. One of them, I was a freshman in high school and he was six and he actually passed away from a rare form of cancer, which plays into why photography is so important to me today.
00:08:48
Speaker
And then a few years later, i ended up ah losing another brother when he was 18. So it has been a lot of trauma, but we've healed, you know, yay for therapy.
00:09:01
Speaker
Yeah. I'm so sorry. Let's talk about that. Like, um yeah I'm sure you're you're kind of like seeing the memories and the moments and the the time you shared together. so let's dig a little bit deeper. Sure.
00:09:12
Speaker
Yeah. Just tell me like, yeah, like um what does photography mean to you? And then you could kind of like um segue into how you started your photography career. Sure.
00:09:23
Speaker
So photography plays a really big role in my life just because, you know, when you are shaped from whether it's trauma or losing someone that you love, you literally all you have left are your memories and photographs.
00:09:37
Speaker
And i do think that photographs outlast our memory every single time. Eventually, as we get older, we start to lose some of those things that we loved about that person, like a laugh.
00:09:47
Speaker
We used to hear it all the time. now it's kind of faded and we can't really remember it. And so for me, one of the things I've seen play out even in my photography career is that, you know, sadly, some of those photos that I have taken have been the cover photo of an obituary or at funerals on display. And It's very honoring to know that that family saw something in that photo that represented their family member enough to use it for such an important moment like that. Of course, you have the weddings, like people displaying their engagement photos that you've taken. And I think as photographers, we lose sight of how important our jobs are.
00:10:29
Speaker
We get so caught up in the mundane and the cutthroat industry sometimes that we just need to take a step back and remember that no matter what our niche is, what our focus is, it goes way deeper than just taking pictures for people. And I just want to remind photographers to really embrace what they do because we play such an important role.
00:10:49
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. I was, i got hit up like a lot on Facebook on like 2021 and they said they use one of my photographs for the funeral. And I'm like, Oh my God.
00:11:00
Speaker
So now like when I go to weddings and I'm like taking pictures of older people or anyone, I'm like, this could be their photo. I know. And it feels morbid to talk about that. But really, like we all know we're going to have a birthday and we're going to die someday. Like I know that's heavy, but that is the work that we do. And so, yeah, I just I love to remind photographers that we have such a deeper purpose. you could never put a price on what we do because people would pay probably millions of dollars to have a photo, a moment captured in time that they could continue to look back on.
00:11:38
Speaker
So, yeah.
Podcast Evolution and Photography Business
00:11:40
Speaker
Yeah. I'm trying to think of your life and I'm like, okay, well, everything happened so fast. So you were 19 and then you had your first daughter. Walk me through that where you just, you started photographing her, you brought the camera and then how did you like kind of launch your career?
00:11:55
Speaker
Yeah. So after I took photos for her, I think it was like, i remember taking pictures of her around Valentine's day that year. It would, it would have been 2014. And then I, I kind of asked like a couple of friends and family members if they wanted me to take their photos. There was just something that, uh, it was just like a fire in my gut. I can't really explain it, but I remember that feeling like it was yesterday and I'm like, Oh my goodness, I could do this forever. I love people.
00:12:23
Speaker
And I love the creative side and it just was the perfect um blend of the two things. So after I did a few pictures and I started posting it, you know, on Facebook, because that's really where I grew my business back in 2014.
00:12:38
Speaker
ah Within six months, I had an entire clientele and I always tell photographers, there is no shame in where we start. We all have very humble beginnings I was charging like 50 bucks, maybe 75 a session. It was nothing. Okay. But it was for me, I was like, that's so cool. Like that's a pack of diapers that could go towards gas. Cause man, $50 went a long way back then than it does today. So ah um that's really how it started. I mean, I always say that I borrowed a camera and a business fell into my lap because it went that fast.
00:13:11
Speaker
So that's how it started. So did you just put post on like your personal and business page or did you go on like all those groups and just start networking? So I don't even think Facebook groups existed. If they did, i actually don't think it did. I want to go, we should have done this, but I don't think it existed. I know I wasn't using groups the first year I was in business.
00:13:32
Speaker
I just used my photography business page and my personal profile. And I still use those two things today. Wow, that's so cool. It's so easy.
00:13:44
Speaker
Take a shoot, post away. Cool. Well, have two more questions before Hot Topic. um First question is like, what is your secret sauce, your woo factor, your Brooke Jefferson ah secret sauce? What what makes you stand out?
00:14:04
Speaker
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00:14:20
Speaker
They're also the sponsors of this podcast and for good reasons. With 17 Hats, I know exactly when I'm getting paid. i can project my income for the month and the next year and the next year and I never have to awkwardly helm people for money again.
00:14:35
Speaker
I break up payments for clients and it's such an easy heck yes for them because it's simple and stress-free. Plus, the features, so good. You can now add photos to your proposals and contracts.
00:14:47
Speaker
Hello, elevated client experience. And there's a marketplace where you can literally grab business in a box workflows from seasoned wedding pros who's been in the game forever, including mine.
00:14:59
Speaker
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00:15:10
Speaker
Yes, 50% off. Go check it out. Set yourself up for a success. And big shout out to 17 Hats. I couldn't run this podcast or my life without you.
00:15:22
Speaker
All right, quick plug for myself, but this is really for you. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know I'm all about helping wedding pros make passive income. That means making money while you sleep.
00:15:35
Speaker
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00:15:50
Speaker
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00:16:02
Speaker
It's plug and play. You can have your digital product up and running by tomorrow. So don't sleep on this. Stop giving away your advice for free. Turn your expertise into something that pays you daily.
00:16:14
Speaker
This is a 24 hour AI challenge and it's all about automation. This link is in the show notes and it is only $27. hop on it.
00:16:27
Speaker
back to the
00:16:30
Speaker
Wow, what a loaded question. Um, for me, if I had to narrow it down, i think it's just that connection that I make with my clients.
00:16:42
Speaker
My mom has always said this, I literally cannot meet a stranger. It's so true. I mean, I could be standing in the line of the grocery store. And I'm just that person that everyone wants to like spill their their life to tell secrets, like, you know what I mean? And so And I love that about myself.
00:16:59
Speaker
Yeah. And so I think it's, I don't know if it's like a best friend vibe, but it's definitely like an honest, open communication that I'm putting out there somehow. And honestly, I i don't, I'm professional, but I always treat people the same. Like it doesn't matter who they are.
00:17:19
Speaker
ah we just kind of become family. And that's why I think I have so many loyal returning clients is It's almost something I can't explain. And I've tried to really narrow it down. Is it like a personality thing? Is it because that's just like my God given skill?
00:17:35
Speaker
Like, I'm not really sure. But I do think in some way, if that makes sense, that's probably what helps people. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, i actually followed you for a while before you i think you reached out. So I've been following your podcast and I did get this energy from the other side. And I just felt like a passion, conviction and just powerhouse. So I guess the question before the hot topic is tell us about like when you started the podcast, what's it about?
00:18:04
Speaker
And when you started education side? Yes. Okay. So my other huge passion in life. And I'm so glad that it is very transparent for people, especially the podcast listeners is teaching that has been a gift of mine forever. I actually you you asked me to in the childhood, and I can't believe I didn't say this, but I grew up lining my stuffed animals up and teaching them so in playing school.
00:18:29
Speaker
That's literally what I did. So I have been taking on that teacher role for a really long time. how the podcast got started. It's been such an evolution. It truly is my favorite thing. And I i mean, I hope it doesn't ever end, to be honest with you.
00:18:44
Speaker
But I got into that because I had left my teaching job. So I was a full time teacher. i left that job in 2018. And I went completely all into being a photographer, which I really technically was already running a full time business for about three years prior to me actually leaving.
00:19:05
Speaker
So I started in 2014, had a full client roster 2015, full-time business 2016, 2017, 2018. But in 2018, I like doubled down and I wanted to start a podcast that following year in 2019, literally just to be, like I said, that best friend teacher tell photographers, Hey, here's what I'm doing.
00:19:28
Speaker
Here's what's working. Here's the mistakes you might be making. And, you know, and it really just became, i just want to help somebody that's like two steps behind me, help get them further in their business. And it's really just become all of this.
00:19:40
Speaker
ah Fun fact, I love saying this. The original name of the podcast was actually Frame Your Way. i thought that was such a cute... ah play on words and a creative title. And then obviously I learned a lot more about SEO and like, Hey, we need to name this. So it's more obvious. And that's how it became the book, more photography clients podcast.
00:20:01
Speaker
That's how I found you. So good job on the change. I love that. And I'm so glad that you are a listener of the podcast. Like it means so much as a podcaster, as you know,
00:20:11
Speaker
it feels like a one sided conversation sometimes because we can't see who's listening. So the only way that we know is when they send us a message, or we get to do fun interviews like this.
00:20:23
Speaker
And then you literally tell me that you listen to the podcast. So I really appreciate that. Yeah, it's really easy to listen to because some of the photography podcasts that I won't name that it's like goes too deep into things. And I just like,
00:20:36
Speaker
That's more of a course for me. i just like to like get understandings of like principles and get inspired. So I think that's what your podcast does for me. um yeah
Using ChatGPT for Photography (Q&A)
00:20:46
Speaker
Let's get into it. So our hot topic was going to be something else, but I was on your podcast today and it was episode about ChachiBT. So I emailed you quickly and asked if we could talk about that because I i love what you said. So um you have five tips today.
00:21:00
Speaker
What is your hot topic and why is it so near and dear to your heart? Yes, I was so excited when you said, hey, wait a second. Can we shift the conversation? i i love this topic. And I knew that when I put this podcast out there, I mean, it's not even a month old yet, and it's already gained a ton of traction. But it is like your 20-minute guide to chat GPT for photographers specifically.
00:21:24
Speaker
um Chat GPT was something that I was very nervous to get into, mainly because I didn't have a lot of information about it. And i I'd like to think that I like new things, but I really don't. I'm a routine person. i don't really want change.
00:21:41
Speaker
And so it was something at first that I was just a little bit hesitant to get into and to try out. And i have to tell you guys, if you have not jumped on the chat GPT train, you have to because it truly is your best free marketing assistant in your business. And so I put together five ways that you guys can use it specifically for your photography business.
00:22:04
Speaker
Um, and I'm going to break that down for you here just a minute. Do you have any questions yeah you know before we get into it? Good question. Um, I mean, i love Chachi PT. I actually had to, you know, buy the one, um pay the $30 just because I use it so much. I couldn't have the lag time.
00:22:23
Speaker
um I use it for even illustrations now. um So it's become a big part of my life. I even talked to it as a therapist, as my therapist. I love it. Yeah. So um I do audio messages to it. Like if I'm struggling with a day or like I feel some sort of way with my parents or or something, then um it tells me what to do. yeah.
00:22:46
Speaker
It is like a best friend. So sad I have friends, I promise. yeah I have human friends. I'm not a weirdo. Good clarification there.
00:22:57
Speaker
yeah Yes. Take it away with tip number one. Okay, perfect. All right. I did make one note before I get started that I just want to tell all of you because it's really, really important. ChatGPT can be trained and ah And that is your biggest leverage. Like if you want to get good ah feedback, good content, all the things that we're going to about here in just a minute, I need you to understand that you can't take it at face value. Okay. It is, it is AI.
00:23:23
Speaker
It is a robot. It is never going to be 100% factual. However, it's also not going to sound like you the first time you use a prompt. And that is why, yes if you pay for it, it will, it will keep a memory.
00:23:37
Speaker
And it will remember everything you've ever told it. And so it's going to be more accurate if you do it that way. And I'm just going to be real. We're recording this podcast, April of 2025. And I have not yet paid a dime to chat GPT. I am going to just like Carissa told you, she had an upgrade.
00:23:52
Speaker
And um I'm going to do the same thing because I use it so much now that it's the files that I want to upload. And we're going to talk about that too. So um All that to be said, i want you guys, when you put in a prompt to continue to refine it, continue to ask chat GPT.
00:24:10
Speaker
ah Okay, wait, that doesn't sound like me. Can you make it sound more fill in the blank or hey, wait, I'm not a wedding photographer. I actually photograph families with small children. You know what i'm saying? So you have to refine it and continue and tell it what you want it to say.
00:24:25
Speaker
So that's my warning to you to make sure that it's good for you. All right. And i'll say fine i'll say one thing before yeah i'll I'll say one thing before you start. um It changed my life because I'm very creative. I have a lot of thoughts and big ideas. I'm very ambitious. But...
00:24:43
Speaker
With that said, like it's hard for me to organize things. um And I'm not a good writer. And I feel like like even my speech I gave for WIPA two days ago, like I had the good ideas and the vision, the confidence, but it's just like someone to put it together for me. And I wrote wrote my book before ChatGPT came out. i started my coaching business before chajiutti came out. And I spent so much money on copywriting. Oh my God.
00:25:14
Speaker
Like just ridiculous amounts of money. So I'm all, I almost wish that I wrote the book. Like after it came out, I would have saved myself like tens of tens of thousands of dollars. Yeah. Okay, go on.
00:25:27
Speaker
That's a great point. Truly, it is an amazing copywriter. And again, i have only gotten my model of chat GPT to be that good because I've continued to refine it. So I just, again, keep that in the back of your mind.
00:25:41
Speaker
um I think what I'm going do, k Chris, if that's good with you, I'm going to take one. I'm going to go through each of the five ways, but I'm going to do one at a time and just see if you have feedback or extra comments you want to make. Okay.
00:25:51
Speaker
Love it. it. Love it. The first one is probably the most obvious to you and exactly why you tune into this episode. It is because I want you to use it for content creation, okay? This is everything from your social media posts to your emails, your newsletters, your blogs, all the things.
00:26:10
Speaker
And again, remember, we're not taking it at face value. You cannot ask ChatGPT to write you a blog, copy it and publish it. Please don't do that. But what you can do is you can say things like,
00:26:22
Speaker
um I want to publish a weekly blog for my photography business. You know, here's a little bit about what I do, my niche photography.
00:26:33
Speaker
um Can you give me a list of 10 ideas that I could write these blog posts? go through it, finally pick you out a couple. And then you can say, okay, I really loved ideas one, seven, nine, and 10 or something like that.
00:26:47
Speaker
And then from there you can say, can you help me outline each of the ones I chose? And it'll say, yes, of course. And then you look at it and then you can say, okay, can you draft me the blog for these specific topics that we talked about? And then it will fill in your outline Then from there, that's when you also need to go through it, refine it, make it sound like you build it out in your blog, and you're done. And you know what? That probably, instead of you staring at your computer for three hours, I don't know what to say.
00:27:18
Speaker
i don't know where to start. It literally saves you probably two and a half of those hours, and you're going to spend 30 minutes refining your blog. You can also ask ChatGPT, which we're go tonna talk about this too This is like part two. um You can also ask ChatGPT to help you.
00:27:32
Speaker
make it SEO friendly. And it will literally tell you how to do that, which I think is so cool. You just want to double check its work. Same thing with captions. So you can also do content calendars. And this is what I do every month on repeat.
00:27:46
Speaker
I go in to chat GPT. I outline my stuff. Let me let me back up. I outline my own like content pillars. And then from there, if there's like anything specific, like I know what podcast episodes I'm going to have, then I'll pop in there and I will say, um i need you to build me a content calendar for the month of May.
00:28:05
Speaker
You know, here is my episodes that I'm going to be talking about. And then here's my content pillars. I like to post four times a week. I like to post on Instagram and Facebook book and I want a mix of reels, carousels, static images. do you guys see how much detail I'm giving? You have to give it that much detail.
00:28:23
Speaker
um And then from there, you know, you just start asking, okay, great. I love the content calendar topics. Can you help me kind of build out those captions? And then what's really cool. And it so this is so fresh on my brain because did this this morning, ah but I'll go through it. I'm like, wow, these are really good ideas, but then it will spark my brain and el And I'll start getting extra content ideas or it will say one thing and I will say, oh, I don't like that angle, but that sparked something else. Let me come at it from this angle.
00:28:53
Speaker
It's really, really cool how ChatGPT can be your marketing assistant. Yeah, it's kind of like you just have a deeper, deeper, deeper conversation with it.
00:29:04
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you have to go like seven layers deep. But then you'll finally get what you're asking. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Seven layers. d No, I mean, i'm just from what you just said in the last three minutes was so meaty. But it's like if you just take maybe be like an hour of your time, you could have a year's worth content. And that hour doesn't even have to be an hour. It could be like 10 minutes. So this is crazy stuff.
00:29:28
Speaker
Yeah. um Before you go on. Why are not people and not like adopting this yet? Like, what I mean, I see all over like reels and like, um you know, coaches, but maybe the wedding world, they, I don't know. They just kind of like haven't jumped on it yet or they don't get it yeah I think there's two reasons at play. one they're probably like me. They're just hesitant. It's something new. Like, ugh.
00:29:57
Speaker
Do I even have time to learn this thing? And I totally get it, right? We're so busy. Our plates are full. Let's add another thing in there. But I'm telling you that if you're gonna add anything and take the time to learn it, please make a ChatGPT because it will give you your life back. It really will. It's very cool how it works. um And the other thing is, I think because we've seen such bad examples of ChatGPT floating around social media and the internet, it makes people very hesitant.
00:30:25
Speaker
So I can spot a chat GPT caption done the wrong way, or I would say they only went one layer deep. I can spot it like that. It's not a good look and it can definitely hurt you more than help you.
00:30:38
Speaker
And that's why I say, make it sound like you take half the emojis out. I don't know what chat GPT deal is with emojis, but we don't have to put that many in our content. Now, if you were already doing that prior to using chat GPT,
00:30:52
Speaker
then you stay on brand. But for most of us, we do not use 12 emojis on every sentence that we said in our captions. So just don't.
Advanced Uses of ChatGPT
00:31:02
Speaker
That's so funny. um ChatGPT has saved me so much time. Like I used to spend, like first you had to make the reel and then it's like another 10 minutes to like write the copy and it's bad with like typos. I'm just like trying to get it out. Like it'd be so frustrating because I'm like,
00:31:22
Speaker
dropping off my kids and then I have to like stop and then write the caption. So I just, I'm like literally obsessed. One thing when I, um, I was a wedding coach for like three years and then I transitioned to like just teaching affiliate marketing and So I would ask Chachi BT, like, okay, so I've been a coach for um Wedding Pros for three years. This is what people know me for.
00:31:45
Speaker
i want to make like an easy transition to telling people that I'm going into digital affiliate marketing. What is the content I need for the month to do that? um And of course, I would kind of refine, refine, refine. Okay, I like that angle. I like that angle. but And then it was so much easier. i was like, oh, great idea. it doesn't sound so weird, you know?
00:32:04
Speaker
so yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's great. Truly. It's it's the best marketing ever. um Okay. The second way we kind of already touched on this. This will be super quick. So I'll just i'll just do two and three. Two is SEO. You can absolutely utilize ChatGPT for this.
00:32:20
Speaker
The only thing that I will say is I'd love for you to fact check what they give you. Don't just, again, don't take it at face value. Take it over to like Uber Suggest or Google Keywords or something like that.
00:32:31
Speaker
um And just, you know, type in each one of those and actually look and see, you know, is this a good search volume? Do you meet the search volume? ah If you don't know anything about SEO, I definitely can't teach you on this podcast episode, but that's something to keep in mind.
00:32:46
Speaker
But you can use it for for research with SEO. You can use it for keywords. You can use it for alt text descriptions. Just any place on your website that utilizes SEO, um definitely ask ChatGPT. And even you could even say, where am I not using SEO on my website? Or like, what are the top five places I should be using keywords? And it will tell you. It is very, very factual.
00:33:11
Speaker
It's pretty cool, actually. Yeah. So that's SEO. Smart. Smartier than us. Smartier than us because it's all of us combined. ah Yes. Okay. So do SEO number three.
00:33:25
Speaker
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00:33:38
Speaker
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00:33:48
Speaker
Get your weekends back and comment at me at Carissa Wu, the word info, and I'll send you a free sneak peek guide on how to make passive income. And if you're ready to start making money from home while being there for the moments that matter, i can't wait to connect.
00:34:06
Speaker
Yes, number three is your client communication. We all need this. We need this so bad. These are your questionnaires. your workflows, your emails, anything that has to do with your client process.
00:34:19
Speaker
Fun fact, you can actually build your entire client journey, your client experience from inquiry to gallery delivery and follow-ups. After that, you can met you like do it all in chat GPT and then ask chatt ask chat GPT how you can do it better.
00:34:36
Speaker
Or how can I, if my brand is XYZ, Can you upgrade or up level my client experience? It is so fun what it comes up with. And you'll be like, I would have never thought that or client gifts, ask it, Hey, I'm a wedding photographer. And I, you know, i have brides and, you know, maybe it's,
00:34:55
Speaker
I do black tie weddings and I have 20 clients a year. Can you give me, you know, kind of a unique gift idea for the couples or something like that? And it'll it. It's so fun. client communication, client experience. shout out to 17hats because they sponsor this podcast. So you could take those client communication emails and stick it in 17hats and make it automated.
00:35:19
Speaker
Use code, heck yes. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Cool. Okay, keep going. Okay, down to our last two. Wave four is going to be using it more as like an admin assistant. So really utilizing it for your business and operations.
00:35:37
Speaker
So these are things like refining your pricing, refining your packages, competitor analysis. So this one's a fun one. And I don't, we have to be very careful that we use this for the right intentions. Okay.
00:35:51
Speaker
You can actually tell chat GPT, Hey, I want to run a competitive a competitor analysis with other photographers in my area that, you know, serve similar clients to myself.
00:36:03
Speaker
And it will literally run you through the entire process. It'll tell you what it needs. It will, and you plug it all in, you give it the information it needs, and it will run an analysis and it will show you kind of who's, who's doing the better things versus maybe what you're doing, or it'll show you kind of how you're performing against other people as well.
00:36:21
Speaker
And remember, it only knows what you know, you know what I mean? Like, it's not going to tell you, oh, so-and-so, books 25 paid weddings a year, it's not going to tell you that. It's just going to tell you based on the information that you kind of feed it and what it can gain from their website as well.
00:36:38
Speaker
Dude, okay. That's crazy. that was That was my drop, you guys. So if you're listening, wake up, rewind. That is next level. Like who has ever done that here? I doubt anyone.
00:36:51
Speaker
um explain what could like a competitive analyst do for one's business? Yeah. So It'll show you the point of it is to show you strengths, weaknesses, and some missing links.
00:37:04
Speaker
So for example, I tell my clients to do this. I've been coaching my clients to do this manually by themselves, and it could take a whole day to do without chat GPT. Uh-huh. ah But you're going get some important information on your competitor, what you can find really. um And it's going to kind of show you maybe where you're falling short or maybe where you're, you know, like why clients are choosing another person over you or you over other wedding photographers as well.
00:37:34
Speaker
And it'll give you ideas to really showcase your brand. That's crazy. yeah so People will pay big money for that, like back in the day to like hire someone to do that for them. So that is awesome. Okay, last tip.
00:37:49
Speaker
Okay. All right. Last tip. ah This is for more of that marketing planning or even promotional planning. This is one of those things I see photographers just kind of drop the ball on as a whole. It's not your fault. It's just that most of you you picked up the camera and you put on your photographer hat and not your business marketer hat, that's okay. um So chat GPT can come in and kind of help you with this.
00:38:13
Speaker
My favorite thing to do is goal planning and annual setting with chat GPT. So you kind of feed it, hey, here's all my metrics from the year before, or you could do this quarterly.
00:38:25
Speaker
Here's all my metrics from the previous quarter. um You know, what are some good target goals I can set that are realistic? And then also, you know, if I wanted to make, let's say 20% more than I did last year, can you break that down for me?
00:38:39
Speaker
Or I want it to book 50 weddings or I want to book 90 portrait sessions for the year. Can you like help me break down a marketing strategy on how to do that? It will do that. And it is amazing. So some other things you can use it for are if you guys ever do mini sessions, I know you either love them or you hate them. I get it. But you can ask it Hey, can you give me an entire launch plan?
00:39:04
Speaker
for my upcoming fall minis, break it down week by week. What do I need to be preparing each week? What kind of marketing do I need for each week? It's insane. Timelines, collaboration ideas, you name it, chat GPT, we'll do it.
00:39:20
Speaker
Yeah, on the on your podcast, I got a tip for my life, but you said to put in um can you give me a recipe recipes and meal prep ah grocery list for the two weeks? And I put, I have a husband and then two daughters and their ages. And then it gave me like, okay, tacos here. This is your list. And I'm like, oh my God, this is something i never could do. I want cry.
00:39:45
Speaker
Game changer. And this saves so much money. Yes. Yes. yes Right. And this is just five ways in business. Like we could do a whole nother segment of here's how to use Chad GPT to change your life.
00:39:56
Speaker
It is truly incredible, like what it can do. And I know the biggest thing is like, okay, Brooke, you told us five ways. These are incredible, but I'm like, ah how do I get started? So I actually put together a free resource for your podcast listeners just to take it to the next level.
00:40:12
Speaker
These are all the prompts you need from every example that I just said out loud. And you guys can grab that. It's brookjefferson.com slash chat GPT. You'll get all the prompts, plug them in and get after it.
00:40:26
Speaker
Oh my God. Okay. That is really awesome. Thank you for that. We have 10 more minutes. So do you want to share anything more about chat GPT or do you want me to just start asking you other questions?
00:40:39
Speaker
Um, let's see there's anything I can think of. You know, we did talk about personal ways and, you know, we can highlight a couple of those if you want to. um Like I said, you can use it for a lot of things. and my, okay, here's, here's how you can decide. What do I need chat GPT for the most? Yes, absolutely. Use the business ways.
00:40:58
Speaker
But here's the other way. if you are someone that is really just overwhelmed in your life, like full plate, my hand is raised high. Okay. It's like, can I, what else could I possibly put on this plate? Right.
00:41:10
Speaker
Then you can utilize chat GPT to help you figure out like, where is it in your life? You need the most assistance, right? I'll give you an example. I was neglecting workouts for a really long time. I know if I'll just start day one,
00:41:23
Speaker
I can do a lot of days in a row before I fall off the train again. And so i can utilize chat GPT and I can say, Hey, listen, I need to ease my way back into these workouts. Here are my goals.
00:41:34
Speaker
Help put together a plan for me. Boom, go. And so that's one way that you can use it. You can use chat GPT to ah help you with time management. Hey, here is my schedule. Here's where I'm dropping the ball.
00:41:48
Speaker
So if I was to do this in real time, I'm dropping the ball on meal planning every single week. I'm great when I utilize ChatGPT for that. But then if I don't schedule it in my calendar for like every Sunday, order groceries, and then every Monday meal prep for the week, I won't do it. So those are just examples of how wherever the most overwhelm is,
00:42:09
Speaker
tell chat GPT that and see how it can help you or make something. fast Wow. Yeah. I talk to it all the time. And I just, even the car, cause it has like the audio version. I just say, I even had it right. My auntie's speech, my funeral speech. And I just said, just started talking. and I said, Hey, when I grew up, she took me to Chuck E. Cheese in high school, blah, blah, blah. We got close to trauma bonding with my grandma, like stories. Can you come up with, um like, uh,
00:42:33
Speaker
I think five minutes speech for me. And I was like, that's amazing. but awesome It's so life changing. And I feel like my life is so much different. Like after chat GPT, because just getting back those like two extra hours a day is like, like I feel so different and it just does so much for me.
00:42:52
Speaker
It's so crazy.
Overcoming Challenges in Photography
00:42:53
Speaker
Yes. I know. like, what is the world going to think about all the generations that never had chat GPT? It's like, wow, best gift ever. And, you know, I know there's some downsides to AI as well. Obviously, there's a lot of lawsuits out there with AI. But I think when you're utilizing this type of ai and you're using it the way that we've given examples and certain prompts, there's really no harm or foul in that way.
00:43:19
Speaker
Um, and you know, the only thing that I would love to look into would be looking at certain copyrights, making sure it's not pulling in anything that's like copyrighted as far as a name goes. but so far it's done really well. Cause I do, I do check that on like trademarks and stuff just to make sure nobody else has it. So, but for the most part, think it's 90% positive.
00:43:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, my um therapist friend, she worked um in corporate for like forever, but she started her own practice. And then she asked me, she goes, oh, can you like come up with packages for me? And then I said, oh, did you use Chachi Bt? She goes, oh yeah, like I don't i already tried that, blah, blah, blah. But then I put in the prompt, um you know, I was very detailed and I spit her out something and she's like, oh my God, like why is yours so much better than mine? And I was like, she's like, what was your pop? And i was like, I put very specific, um,
00:44:10
Speaker
ages, that they're fun, they're hip, this is where they live, you know, make this really compelling, make the packages really, really fun. And and um her packages were so, I don't know, so vibrant. And I'm like, I didn't even do that for my photography packages.
00:44:27
Speaker
Yeah. yeah It just, I was like, oh my God, like, yeah, I could do that for my myself. um So it just so interesting. and Like it really gets your, your wheel spinning. um I guess that's enough chat about ChachiBT. We have five minutes. So I wanted to ask about the hot topic that we were going to um talk about. So just one question.
00:44:47
Speaker
um It's supposed to be like three mistakes holding you back from booking more clients. So what would be like one suggestion? Yeah. I mean, I'll just tell you top level, all three, what we would have talked about was is because they're very, i mean, you're going to identify with one of these.
00:45:01
Speaker
One of them is you just have a visibility problem. Like you don't have enough eyeballs in your business. So if you're struggling to get bookings and you feel like you are stretched thin, you're doing all the marketing.
00:45:13
Speaker
It really comes down to there's not enough eyeballs in your business. Just because you tell me that you have 750 Instagram followers doesn't mean you have 750 potential clients because then I'm going to go click on it and I'm going to scroll through it. And it's going to be like, oh, you know, 5% of it is spam accounts.
00:45:31
Speaker
And then 20% are your other competitors. And it, you know what I'm saying? Like you don't have enough eyeballs. So that's the first thing. And this is the most common reason that photographers are not booking.
00:45:42
Speaker
It is simply, you don't have enough visibility. That's the first one. I love that. And then how about a mindset shift today that you could tell all the wedding pros listening? Yeah. Biggest mindset shift. Let's see. Um, one, you don't have to be like anybody else. I think that's the biggest one I have because my goodness, how many times are we overtaken with comparison or imposter syndrome, right? Like It takes and it still affects me to this day, you guys. This just happened a couple days ago.
00:46:13
Speaker
I don't know how I saw it, but I did another photographer's, local photographer's post popped up on my feed. And I immediately was like, oh my gosh, these photos are so gorgeous. Is my work good enough? Like it just is this weird spiral. And so ah you have to know, like you bring a lot to the table.
00:46:31
Speaker
We're not trying to compete against one another to be the best. We are just, we're all here running a business, serving like-minded people, and we can only do so many. And if you'll just remember my favorite quote, I've said this since I started, there is enough to go around, but you have to believe it.
00:46:49
Speaker
I love that. I love
Future Ambitions and Conclusion
00:46:52
Speaker
that. Okay. Yeah. So rapid fire questions. Now, these are kind of shorter answers, but you're so ambitious. So what are like your big goals?
00:47:01
Speaker
Oh my goodness. That's a hard one. and one One of my goals has not happened yet. Definitely trying to do it. I want to host an in-person business retreat.
00:47:12
Speaker
not like a photography retreat where people go and you do nothing but shootouts and editing the whole time. I want to have like a three day retreat where we are, you know, looking back at what we've done so far, making those goals, making the marketing plan, shooting the marketing content, the reels, the branding photos, all the things, and really giving back to ourselves as a business owner. So fingers crossed that that one happens soon.
00:47:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I'll give you a shout out like once you start posting. So let me know. What is your biggest um mom hack for like entrepreneur like yourself? Oh, my.
00:47:50
Speaker
ah Can we circle back to chat GPT? Yeah. oh yeah I mean, honestly, like I feel like that's that's it. My biggest mom hack is utilizing GPT when I need it. And again, guys, this goes back to everything chores list.
00:48:06
Speaker
summer activities you can do with your kids. Um, just like game nights, um, different things like that. And of course the grocery list that has saved me chat GPT and the groceries. That's my mom. hack Wow. That's so crazy. Okay.
00:48:20
Speaker
And then a last question before we tell everyone where to find you, but like, what do you do for fun? and Like, tell us about yourself. Yeah. So I, it kind of goes back to my intro, but I do love to read when I have time.
00:48:33
Speaker
I'm finding myself with that full plate, but I do love reading either true crime or thriller novels. Truly, that is so fun to do. um When we're not doing that, the pool is our favorite place to be, but obviously you can't be poolside 12 months out of the year in Oklahoma.
00:48:50
Speaker
So yeah we're very much looking forward to summer right around the corner. um, being present for my kids, like whatever they're doing, the baseball games, the track meets, whatever, taking them to get a snow cone or whatever. Like it's just my favorite thing to do because it just makes them so happy. So yeah, it's a little stuff that counts.
00:49:10
Speaker
yeah Yeah. And where can everyone find you and work with you? Yeah, two places. um Instagram is going to be the best one to send me a DM. Tell me, what did you learn? What was your favorite chat GPT way that you're going to implement in your business?
00:49:25
Speaker
My Instagram handle is at Brooke Jenae photo. And then you're already listening to a podcast. So come on over to my podcast, which is the book more photography clients podcast.
00:49:38
Speaker
Yes, and I'm going to be on your podcast, so send me that link as well too. Yes, yes. But thank you, Brooke. You are amazing. I learned so much.
00:49:51
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.
00:50:06
Speaker
See you next time, wedding pros.