Genevieve Trudel
Far, far away, deep in the land of struggles, passions and success, can be found those gems of photographers who have amazing stories.
Stories that tell of starting their photography studios in their basements, their kitchens or bedrooms…where their desires and energy and willingness to act now, figure it out later take over every waking moment, every thought, every act.
I love those stories.
By the way, they all “figure it out”. Because they keep digging and moving.
Herein lies the pure golden nuggets and lessons learned and shared with their fellow brethren.
I have one myself. Maybe that’s why I relate to so many who have similar stories.
Maybe that’s why I love bringing to the photography industry interviews and stories from these photography folks, whose bank accounts continue to swell with the fruits of their labors.
It could be. These interviews I’ve been bringing to all my photographer friends over at NoBs Photo Success Inc™ for over ten years now.
Yup. Ten years. And I’m still digging it.
And still sifting through the noise and the mayhem to find similar stories. It’s like panning for gold, and worth every second.
A few days ago I interviewed Genevieve Trudel, who’s a lovely mademoiselle from Quebec, and who has an amazing story.
I say amazing. Well, it’s really quite simple. And instructive. We could, and should all learn.
She tells the tale of booking weddings, selling them for, oh, around 1,400.00 peanuts….and including everything.
Then she decided to consult with a wise old wizard, a photo coach, and after some simple math and basic accounting sees the reality as plain as the nose on her face….
She’s only making about .10cts an hour.
The wise wizard tells her to ramp it up, grow a pair and charge more.
So she does. She strips down her wedding packages, triples, almost quadruples her fees, and then starts shaking with fear.
We all been there.
Same fears and doubts that haunt us all whenever we venture out into the unknown. All our insecurities and deep inner neuroses live and start breathing fire into our waking moments, our daily thoughts.
And for many, it kills the dream. Drowns the passions. And destroys ambition.
Because we let it. And we don’t have to let it.
These stories bring inspiration. It’s why I love them so.
Stories that most of us at some level can relate to. And it helps keep us going. Gives us courage and strength.
Right?
And not only that, we learn specific techniques.
Like what Genevieve did when she ramped her stripped down packages (she now only includes an amazingly designed Album Epoca wedding album) and ramped up her prices to over $4,000.00 beans.
As she said, sell the value, not the photography.
Some would ask questions that need not be asked. Questions like:
“What do you do when you’ve been charging only $1,400.00 per wedding
and everyone expects that?”
Wrong question.
The better question would be:
“How do I maintain composure, courage and confidence when I pitch my next wedding shopper?”
You do what Genevieve did. You practice.
And, you fake it.
Yes, you fake confidence. It isn’t that hard to do. Listen more, talk less.
You can practice this in front of a mirror. It really helps.
When Genevieve had her next shopper, the truth was about to be revealed.
How was she going to do? Was she going to “be on”, as she explains, while faking an on/off switch on the side of her ribs.
Turns out, she was “on”.
Scared, yes. But “on”.
She faked it, went through the motions like a pro.
And sold her first package at $4,000.00
Yea! What a feeling.
Does she sell them all? No, she revealed to us.
But she books more, way more, at the now higher, more profitable range than not.
Life is good.
And even though this is about profits and math, it’s also about much more than that.
In her story is the adventure and the journey.
Underscored by Genevieve’s willingness to keep up the good fight, fighting for something she believes in. Her photography business.
Yours in photography,
Robert Provencher
Your comments welcome below