Fumbling Into Expertise
If you’ve ever wondered how I got here, how I became a copywriter for photographers, this is the podcast episode for you. Spoiler: it’s not sexy at all. I fumbled my way into expertise.
It started with a mom who took a million photos growing up, 2 years as the high school yearbook photographer, a degree in Photojournalism, almost a decade of volunteering and then working for nonprofits, and then going out on my own to become a full-time family photographer. I thought that would be the last step on the journey, but that slowly but steadily (and then REALLY quickly) led me into being a copywriter for photographers.
I made some great decisions, sure. I followed the path that combined my interest, skills, and experience. But I also guessed at a lot of things. I made some mistakes. I invested in stupid things. I stutter-stepped in and out of certain ideas, offerings, and niches. I fumbled and failed.
I don’t believe any path is linear. Mine certainly wasn’t and won’t be in the future. If you’re at the beginning of your business journey, know that you don’t get to succeed without some fumbles. (I would love to tell you more of mine if you ever want to hear them!)
You Are More Interesting Than The Food You Eat
Conversational 180 with that headline, amiright? But this is a passion project of mine that I also talked about in this episode. My favorite thing to change on a photographer’s website is that list of “Things I Can’t Live Without”. It becomes a catch-all for all of their favorite foods, TV shows, and pets. There is no story, no build-up, no mystery or allure. It’s just “Here’s a list of things about me that hopefully resonate with you.” It’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall and praying something sticks with your ideal client.
Look, I literally know zero people who DON’T like tacos and margs. Can we stop acting like it’s a pivotal aspect of our personalities? You are more interesting than that. You have more to offer your clients than that. You know what’s interesting? Someone who takes a shot of pickle juice every morning to wake up instead of drinking coffee. That is something you could put on your site. But please, I beg you, leave your grocery list off your website.
All The Details
To listen to this episode on your computer, go here.
You can also find it on the Apple Podcast App, on Spotify, Google Podcasts, and on YouTube.
What else you’ll learn:
– How I became a photographer before I became a copywriter
– The most common question photographers ask in Facebook Groups
– A mic drop moment about how my main priority is not to make my clients more money
– What I found wrong with Raymond’s website when he asked me to “rip it apart”
Raymond! What a good sport you were :). Thank you so much for your genuine interest in my story, my thoughts, and my opinions about your own site. This was delightful and I would come back any time!
If you’ve listened to the episode and want some extra help DIY-ing your site, I’ve got a guide for that.
If you want to set up a better workflow for your business and write better emails, I’ve got templates for that.