Take It Personally – Details, episodes & analysis

Welcome to today's episode, where I am going to rant about why I don't believe in imposter syndrome anymore.

There are a few reasons, which we'll get into, but specifically I believe that people are often using the phrase "imposter syndrome" incorrectly. What's typically behind that feeling is actually a lack of confidence because you are doing something new.

And that can be a good thing! Because you can work on building that confidence. Tune in to hear the rest of this discussion. 

Episode highlights:

01:18 Defining Imposter Syndrome

01:39 Imposter Syndrome in Minority Groups

02:30 Mislabeling Lack of Confidence as Imposter Syndrome

04:09 Building Confidence Through Practice

06:28 Personal Experiences and Overcoming Challenges

07:46 Practical Advice for Photographers

09:33 Embracing Lack of Confidence

CONNECT WITH MADDIE:

Instagram

Website

LINKS:

The Ultimate Personal Brand Session Shot List: 10 must-have images

Full show notes

I've been hearing from so many photographers lately that they feel bookings are slow right now. Their inquiries are down, and they're not booking as much as usual.

And while these seasons can be very challenging, I know from experience that sitting in your feelings is only helpful for so long. If you are needing to provide for your family, it's okay for it to feel discouraging, but you also can't just keep waiting around. Instead, you need to take action and do something about not booking as much business. That is what this episode is about.

I'm exploring reasons behind fewer bookings, mindset shifts to make, and key money-making strategies to implement to help with this season.

00:53 Personal Experience with Business Downturns

02:22 Mindset Shift: Don't Overthink Slow Bookings

03:45 Analyzing Past Data to Understand Trends

09:37 Immediate Actions to Boost Bookings

09:51 Money-Making Activities to Implement Now

14:35 Brand Building During Slow Seasons

17:55 Enhancing Client Experience

I know that it can feel really frustrating to be in a slow season. But what I want to remind you of is that it is truly just that - a season!

CONNECT WITH MADDIE:

Instagram

Website

LINKS:

The Ultimate Personal Brand Session Shot List: 10 must-have images

Full show notes

In this episode, learn about Rebrand, my 16-week group coaching program for photographers who want to transition into personal brand photography. The program aims to help participants charge four figures per session while enhancing their confidence in brand photography. The episode discusses the structure of Rebrand, including weekly coaching calls, a comprehensive curriculum with swipe files and templates, and a Slack community for continuous support. Key features include portfolio reviews, a booking tracker for measuring success, and the upcoming Rewind video training series. Enrollment begins on June 14 with the new cohort starting on July 17. Learn more about Rebrand here!

Highlights from this episode:

00:00 Introduction to Rebrand Enrollment

00:29 Why Rebrand Was Created

01:42 The Importance of Personal Branding

04:00 Rebrand Program Structure

05:10 Resources and Tools in Rebrand

10:21 The Rewind Feature

11:47 Group Calls and Community Support

15:24 One-on-One Support and Portfolio Reviews

19:08 Accountability and Success Tracking

23:09 Enrollment Details

CONNECT WITH MADDIE:

Instagram

Website

LINKS:

Rebrand Waitlist: Enrollment opens June 14

The Ultimate Personal Brand Session Shot List: 10 must-have images

Full show notes

It’s no secret that I love Instagram. I’m a big fan of the platform. I love connecting with people there, I love creating the content, I love seeing what other people are doing and scrolling for way too long. It’s a great platform and when used properly, it can be a huge asset in your business.

But it’s also no secret that Instagram can be really draining. I think especially over the past couple of the years that constant connection, while helpful, can also be a bit of a detriment. Because Instagram is this wheel that keeps on spinning, we can start to feel like we can’t take a step off of the wheel. It’s exhausting, right?!

So, having other things in place in your business that are able to keep moving, even when you want to take a break, is really important - to keep generating sales, to get your content out to more people, to add people to your email list, etc.

And that is essentially how I met today’s guest, Addie Gray. Addie is a Pinterest expert and analytic strategist. I actually met her on Instagram about a year ago, and she has been working in my business for about 9 months managing my Pinterest!

Addie is a queen in the realm of Pinterest, and I have her to thank for my Pinterest page doing well. Today’s episode is a deep dive into that and why Pinterest could be a great thing for your business. Here’s some of the things we talked about in today’s episode: 

• All about Addie and how she first got started with Pinterest
• Optimizing your Pinterest account
• Using secret Pinterest boards
• Why Pinterest is a good platform for business owners to consider
• How Pinterest differs from Instagram and can be working in the background for you
• Creating and scheduling Pinterest content
• SEO and optimizing your pins with keywords to show up in the search results
• What type of content to put on Pinterest (simpler than you think!)
• What making money on Pinterest looks like
• Repurposing content
• Figuring out your Pinterest strategy

Some of the best conversations happen after the show in my private Facebook group, Take It Personally Podcast. Click here to join in!

This summer, I had an Instagram Reel go viral! And it was a really interesting thing to witness, and I wanted to reflect on it today.

Video does not come super natural to me (I mean, hello, I have a podcast. That should tell you all that you need to know about how I feel about video). So, the fact that I do Reels at all, let alone have had some go viral, is shocking because it’s just not my jam. But I will add, that after practicing for a while, they have become easier to do! 

The Reel that went viral was me lip syncing to the popular “I don’t know what you heard about me” audio clip. When I heard that clip, I knew I wanted to do something like I did for this Reel as I have had instances at preschool or the post office or wherever where people say that they follow me on social media. When that happens, it’s kind of embarrassing...because what I do on social media is kind of embarrassing (but I still do it anyways ;)). 

And honestly, it’s pretty funny that this is the Reel that went viral. I had put a good amount of production into my other Reels, but this is one that I did very quickly. I was getting ready to leave the house, didn’t have makeup on or my hair done, I had coffee in my hand as I was about to get in my car, and I’m pretty sure my neighbors were watching. And guess what? It took me 30 seconds. And this Reel that I spent 30 seconds on went viral!

This is what we are talking about today - my thoughts on this, why I think it went viral, things that I did to help me gain about 2k followers from it, and what I plan to do going forward for Reels:

• Why Reels do well on Instagram
• Creating relatable content
• Questioning the “mom relatability” of this Reel
• Creating content under the umbrella of your personal brand/niche-related content
• How this Reel helped me in the ‘Know-like-trust funnel’
• Having a “bingeable” account
• Auditing your account
• Responding to comments on posts/Reels
• My plan going forward
• What to do if Reels aren’t your jam

Some of the best conversations happen after the show in my private Facebook group, Take It Personally Podcast. Click here to join in!

Since I started my podcast, I’ve gotten some questions from other people about how to start a podcast. This is an interesting question to answer because it’s actually very simple! If you are creating content in any area of your business, you could somehow turn that into a podcast or shift your business to have your podcast be your main form of content.

Of course, there are challenging parts, too. I have found consistency to be really challenging when it comes to recording episodes. The tech part of it all also initially overwhelmed me–but again, it actually was more simple than I thought it would be.

I wanted to do an episode addressing these questions, but I thought it might be a little boring simply having me tell you what microphone I use, what programs I use, etc., so I decided to have my friend Jaice on the podcast!

Jaice is a photographer in Sioux Falls, SD, and she has been a member of my mastermind program, The Confident Creative, so I’ve gotten to know her on a coaching basis and also as a friend. She has a background in education and is now moving into the education space in her business to help educate other photographers (or those who want to become one). She recently started a podcast (The Mistakes I’ve Made So You Don’t Have To) this year that has taken off, and I have loved watching her grow with it.

Here are some of the things I talk about with Jaice:

• What made Jaice want to start a podcast
• How easy starting a podcast actually can be
• Equipment she uses
• Where to record your podcast
• Editing (and outsourcing)
• How Jaice started niching down and her transition to more education
• The goals she has for her podcast
• Monetizing podcasts and making sure it aligns with your brand
• Publishing your first episode and on what hosting platform
• What’s involved with show notes
• Launching and why we suggest doing it with more than one episode
• Ideal posting schedule goals
• Creating content in a way that you are aligned with and that your audience connects with

A few highlights from this episode:

[28:14]  With show notes, you have the option of making them into a blog post and linking it back to your podcast. You can get more eyes on it from different avenues.

[33:17]  There’s no rule that says if you have a podcast, you have to release weekly. No, two weeks, a month, it doesn’t matter. Whatever you want, whatever you can do, whatever makes you happy.

[35:35]  ...Maybe it’s time to take a step back and ask what is the goal of this podcast? Who am I trying to reach? What do I want to talk about?

[35:55]  There’s a million ways to create content that people will want to consume somehow, but if you’re not aligned with that, your people are going to be able to tell...The medium doesn’t really matter so much; it’s so much more about the messages.

[38:01]  I can’t stress enough just make sure you know who you’re talking to. Find your audience! That takes some soul searching.

This was so much fun catching up with Jaice and discussing all things PODCASTING. We even ended the episode with a fun little get-to-know-you speed round. If you’ve been considering starting a podcast but feel a little unsure, I hope this episode provided you with some great insight as well as confidence to start now!

Some of the best conversations happen after the show in my private Facebook group, Take It Personally Podcast. Click here to join in!

I’ve been working with a company since 2018. When we started working together, I had just left my full time job, and this company was on the smaller side. Both of our businesses were newer. Fast forward to 2020, their business absolutely exploded, and we went from doing shoots every couple of months to at least once a month.

Now, really, this is a photographer’s dream. Consistent income, an ongoing relationship with a really fantastic client; on paper it was totally perfect. But in the same amount of time, my business had changed a lot too, which led me to walk away from this partnership.

I’m diving into all the details in this episode, and here are some of the things I talk about:

• How getting back to the foundations of my business made me realize the work I was doing for this long-time client didn’t reflect where I wanted my business to go
• How my website redesign made me evaluate my dream clients and business passions
• How I thought adding in more team members to assist with these shoots would help me be able to keep this client (but it didn’t work)
• How the problem wasn’t the client or the dream job; it just wasn’t my dream anymore
• Pricing reflections, and when raising prices isn’t the answer
• How to handle dealing with wondering what would people think with this decision
• How the conversation with the client went
• Reactions from people regarding the “break up”
• Walking away from the consistent income and the transition forward

Some of the best conversations happen after the show in my private Facebook group, Take It Personally Podcast. Click here to join in!

Trish Taylor is a stylist + brand embodiment coach devoted to helping entrepreneurs show up authentically and attract their soulmate clients online and feel worthy of being seen as an authority in their space without fear of judgment. She has a background in personal styling celebrities like Ariana Grande, but after building an incredible career she realized it wasn't what she wanted. Trish started over, and her business as we know it today was born.

Here are some of the things I talk about with Trish:

• How Trish first got into styling and what she did when she reached the “top” of her celebrity styling career
• How she has combined her passions of styling and psychology into her current career as a brand stylist and confidence coach
• Why it’s helpful to align your mind, body, and brand before doing a brand photoshoot
• How Trish works with clients specifically (ps. It’s not about what level of business they are at or how successful they are)
• Learning to recognize your limiting beliefs and how Trish works through her own
• What a batch wardrobe is
• How to freely shine in a brand photoshoot

I have always enjoyed blogging which I think makes me a little bit unusual because whenever I talk to my creative friends about blogging I am typically met with groans. It isn’t something that people necessarily like doing. I think some of that is because we are told that as creatives who have a website, we should be blogging. But it takes a while to see results from that blogging! And I think that’s because a lot of us are not doing it correctly.

I noticed the biggest change in my business, website traffic, the type of client I was attracting when I doubled down on evergreen content, as opposed to posts that were more timely. Evergreen content can help set you up to look like the expert that you are! And Google tends to favor it as well. It keeps people coming back to your website because the content is always relevant.

This is why I recorded an episode all about evergreen content – because it can majorly help you in your business and even save you some time! Here’s a look at what I talk about:

• What evergreen content is
• Looking through past posts to find evergreen content topics
• Ways to share evergreen content with your audience
• How to spin content to do something completely new with it
• Evergreen content ideas

Some of the best conversations happen after the show in my private Facebook group, Take It Personally Podcast. Click here to join in!

Amanda Runia is an ex-accountant out of Brookings, SD, where she lives with her husband and three young kiddos. She has a love for fast talking, making new friends and helping others not feel lost. She owns a consulting business, In-House Ally, where she uses her accounting background and unique strengths to help business owners make better decisions and ultimately comes alongside them as an ally.

I love when people like Amanda can take something seemingly overwhelming like finances and break it down to be understandable and digestible for your business. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Links:

Amanda on IG: @inhouseally

Amanda's website: https://www.in-houseally.com

Click here to join the Facebook group!