Business Straight Up Podcast - Business Help for Creative Entrepreneurs & Photographers

Habits to grow your business are absolutely necessary for every successful business, however, this is not an easy task, especially with the turmoil and chaos that we're all seeing right now. In this episode, we're going to talk about thriving instead of just surviving, what does that actually look like? We are are going to talk about consistency and habits and integrity and commitment. All of these things that are crazy important for the success of your business. Today's guest is Erika Diaz Castro, who is an amazing business owner and podcaster. Erika loves helping female leaders bridge the gap between their personal and professional growth, so that they can break through those personal limitations that we all hear in our brains to create a life that they love. Before you press that play button,  I just want to share a note,  you ARE worth the life that you want. You deserve everything you desire, and you can HAVE it!

Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/067 Are you ready for a sneak peek? A secret look, the inside scoop? In today's episode, we are going to chat about creative business & photography website tips that you can implement to really embrace putting your website to WORK. Websites that convert will turn into one of the most valuable pieces of your business! The reality is that you can be the best photographer, artist, teacher or WHATEVER YOU DO in the world and still make nothing if you can't market yourself and your business. A huge part of that marketing strategy is your website. Websites that convert are very much possible and in this episode, we will be discussing effective photography website tips that you need to do ASAP to get the website of your dreams! So come join me in this episode as we discuss the valuable steps you can take to market your business through your website.

Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/066 I am SUPER excited to have an amazing guest today! Allie Bjerk is a visibility strategist, coach and consultant that has helped hundreds of business owners create visibility strategies and marketing plans to grow their business to be super profitable. I am personally one of her students, and while I haven't had the time to completely finish her Tiny Offers course, I can attest to the knowledge and drive that is behind this powerhouse coach, and I'm excited to have her as a guest today! In today's episode, we talk about the fears that you may be facing when it comes to really showing up in your business and marketing and your messaging and achieving consistency. Expanding your audience can be a challenge for ANY small business owner, and Allie is a rockstar when it comes to marketing and growing. We are going to talk about growth. Expanding your audience and offerings to meet your clients where they're at. Goals - how to set them to be successful, and what it really means to invest in yourself.

Website Errors for Photographers & Small Businesses: What to Fix Part 2 {Ep 065} Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/065 A website is our business' home online, and is usually the customer's first point of contact before doing business with the company. This is your handshake to the world, and it makes me cringe every time I hear someone tell me that they don't love their website! In order for it to be in tip-top shape, we need to avoid the most common website errors that I see when I review small business websites. And y'all, I have seen a LOT of websites. I may or may not be a little old when it comes to the online world, just sayin'. If you did NOT hear the first episode that is part one of the top website mistakes, click here to listen to part 1 in this series. The first episode had 5 mistakes, this one will have the next 5 but really - the list that I made is over 25 items long. I see a lot of mistakes pretty consistently when I'm doing website critiques, and when I'm looking for people to work with, so this is part 2 of the grand list of what I see most. So, please press on the play button to get to the help that your website needs! Onto part 2!

Stories & Website Copy for Photographers & Creatives with Sarah Braud {Ep 064} Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/064 Creating a website copy for photographers may not be an easy feat but today's guest, the Sarah Braud is a story WIZARD. Well, what does that exactly mean? We will delve into that in this episode. If you're ready to ramp up your marketing strategy then please, join us because today, we talked about what goes into your marketing, what to say in your marketing, how to know what to include in your marketing. How do you even find out what people want to hear and what resonates with them? How do you get people to actually listen in and when you only have a very limited space? How do you know what to fit when it comes to one liners. headliners are headlines, taglines, all the things? Thank you for pressing play, and including me in your day just a little bit. I'm sure you'll enjoy the episode!

Part 2 - Lessons Learned from the Chaos of 2020 {Ep 063} Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/063 Here we go, welcoming March 2021, with part two of the lessons that I learned from the chaos that was 2020. So if you haven't heard part one, I want to invite you to listen to part one here. What a chaotic year that was, right? It was really hard to look back at 2020 and see the good, even though of course we know, there's good in everyday stuff. Overall, I didn't meet some of my goals and it just didn't feel like a year full of wins. But when I really started thinking about some of the things that we went through in 2020, and the challenges that we faced, and how we figured it out anyway, I actually ended up with a page filled with of all the wins from 2020. Even if they were small, it's important to celebrate those wins, and sometimes I have to remind myself of that as well. In celebrating those wins, I believe it's also important to share the thoughts and realizations that made me stronger while facing the chaos that we were all going through. I hope these will inspire you too!

Full shownotes: https://businessstraightup.com/062 Facebook ads for photographers and social media marketing, in general, can be intimidating and overwhelming. With all the updates and working pieces involved to get this going, it is hard to keep up. But today’s guest, Rita Barry is a digital marketing powerhouse and a brilliant businesswoman who has shared a lot of strategies when it comes to measuring the metrics in your business that are most important. In this episode, we are going to talk about how you can harness the power of social advertising. We're also going to chat about metrics like what the heck are we measuring? What the heck are we looking for when it comes to growth? What does that even look like? Are we looking at traffic? Are we looking at clicks? Are we looking at views? What do we need to measure when it comes to really know if all of this effort that we're putting into things is actually working? Like is it worth it? How do we know? All of these and more will be discussed in this episode. So let’s go on over and dive into social ads and metrics and all the things you need to know about social media marketing.

Full shownotes: https://businessstraightup.com/061 Lessons Learned from 2020 - Part 1 {Ep 061} I was joking in my Facebook group that I feel like 2020 should be a verb now, right? When you had a plan for the beginning of 2020, and it didn't work out the way that you wanted it to. We're gonna say it was 2020'd. Seems about right! All kidding aside, let's all give ourselves a pat on the back for winning despite the challenges that were brought upon us. And so, in this episode, I wanted to share with you the things that I learned, the things that I reflected on, and the things that I have been journaling on throughout last year. Lessons that have helped me overcome the giant hurdle that was 2020. I hope you'll find it useful and inspiring enough to push you towards taking small steps towards your goal.

Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/060 Sales - although an integral part of a business can be intimidating for most as it is often considered a complex and difficult process. But it doesn't have to be and today's guest, Debora Jones has shared a lot of insightful sales tips for business owners like yourself. No matter what business you run, sales are absolutely necessary, and I know that for me, photography sales is something that I teach and share with my students often! In this episode we are going to discuss effective ways to overcome your fear so you can finally apply this valuable skill to your business. Debora is a strategic executive & business owner with expertise in driving revenue, building resonating services, market engagement, customer management and operations. And if you heard that and just kind of checked out - don't press STOP! Revenue, services, engagement and operations are something that EVERY business needs, not just in the corporate world, they just look different when it comes to smaller businesses, so listen in!

Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/059 As a creative, showing our work is a huge part of what we do online, because that's our art, right? That's what we do. That's what we sell. But so many of us just kind of slap up a social media account, have really no idea how to use it strategically. This is why I am excited for you to meet today's guest. She is a social media Rockstar and educator, as well as a strategist when it comes to Instagram for photographers and creatives. Karen Rich went from being a media advertising executive, an ad agency principal, to running her own business helping people harness the power of social media. So many people think that I hate social media because I talk about email marketing so much, but really nothing could be further from the truth. I just want people to understand that we can't necessarily rely on just one marketing strategy. Instagram for photographers and creatives is just one part of an overall marketing strategy. There are so many pieces that go into successful marketing in this giant umbrella that we know of when it comes to marketing our businesses, and social media is an amazing opportunity. So join us as we discuss the various strategies you can use to set up a strategy when it comes to social media marketing!

Full shownotes at: https://www.businessstraightup.com/058 Welcome back, business owners to another episode of Business Straight Up, the podcast for creative business owners who want to actually make a living doing what they love. In this episode, I'm going to show you my linear calendar, and how I plan my year as a creative business owner who actually runs TWO businesses! While this is a sample business plan, it's also a plan for LIFE, because when you have kids and run 2 businesses, there is a lot to organize! I cannot take credit for this, the overall concept came from one of my mentors Todd Herman who is famous for the 90 day year. Some of you may remember that I work with 90-day increments and that is still true. I will discuss my strategic planning process and how I set aside a day each quarter to develop my business plan outline and really go through the details of the next 90 days to make sure it's in alignment with the current calendar. And if it's not, change it up! So many of us - myself included - are afraid to make a decision because we feel like it's final, but the reality is that when you run your own business, you make the rules! If 2020 taught us ANYTHING it's that we can always change things up, right? Ready to get some one-on-one help to grow your business BEYOND listening to podcasts for photographers or creative business owners? We can work past this sample business plan, or work on whatever you need help with. I'm here to help! We work together, in person or via Zoom, in an intimate setting to really sit down and look at your business. Click here for different options and more information!

Full Shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/057 Welcome back amazing business owners, to another episode of Business Straight Up, the podcast for creative business owners and photographers who want to actually make a living doing what they love. Today's episode hits home for me - because finances are definitely not a strength. But I'm learning, and work with some amazing people to help me walk through what I need to do. Today's guest is one of them! Tiffany Bastian is the owner of Bastian Accounting, working exclusively with photographers to help them gain control of their finances through accurate bookkeeping & taxes. She is also a mom, wife, dog mom and total Margarita Snob, and just a spectacular resource for business finances. We are going to talk about doing the hard things, even when we don't want to, having your OWN financial security just in case, and things to think about when it comes to running a successful business and the finances behind the scenes.

Full shownotes: http://www.businessstraightup.com/056 Welcome back business owners and entrepreneurs to another episode of Business Straight Up! Have I got a treat for you - today is the first time that I've EVER had a guest twice, and she is such an amazing resource of information, I couldn't wait to have her on again! Stacey Harris is the CEO of an agency called Uncommonly More. Their focus is on podcasters looking to use their show as a piece of their overall business marketing strategy. Stacey is brilliant in marketing, and every time I listen to her podcast I find myself going YESSSS over and over again. Then there are some guests that I feel like I can chat with for hours, and Stacey is one of them. In this candid conversation we talk about the craziness that was 2020, what that looked like for businesses, and what 2021 will bring us in the marketing and business world. What to focus on, what to think about, and things to consider. Join us in welcoming the new year with the awesome Stacey Harris!

Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/055 Welcome back awesome business owners to another episode of Business Straight Up, the podcast for photographers and creative business owners who want to actually earn a living doing what they love! Today's episode is an update and a VERY fun announcement. New things coming in the new year, congratulations on getting through 2020, and some things to look out for! Instagram, YouTube, Book Club, Accountability and more - we are going to welcome the new year with a bang and talk about changes that we can ALL make in the new year to fully embrace this fresh start. Some links mentioned in the show: Mentoring is now available: http://www.businessstraightup.com/mentoring BSU Community: http://www.businessstraightup.com/community YouTube Channel and Episodes: http://www.businessstraightup.com/youtube

Full shownotes: https://www.businessstraightup.com/054 Welcome back to another episode of Business Straight Up - the podcast for photographers and creative business owners who want to actually make a living doing what they love! Today I'm switching things up a little, and going unscripted! So here it is - I'm just going to say it: you need to start implementing this TOP marketing strategy in 2021 and beyond. In this episode we are going to dive into 5 reasons WHY! Email marketing is one of my top marketing strategies that I have used to bring my boudoir business to multiple six figures, and if you are not using this in your business, you are missing out on a HUGE opportunity. Listen in to find out WHY it's important, and how to start! Register for the upcoming masterclass on email marketing: http://www.inboxtobooked.com