Blog | Sue Bryce Portrait | Australian Portrait Photographer of the Year 2011 & 2012

May 18, 2013#

Wednesday May 22nd creativeLIVE Business/Marketing/Promotion/The truth

To many people are crying out that it’s not working – my business isn’t making money! Have you considered the problem might be YOU? Have you considered the problem might be your WORK?

What IS the level you have to reach for sustainability & what are the standards of a professional?

I’m writing Wednesday’s creativeLIVE this weekend have been working with the brilliant Craig Swanson (creator of creativeLIVE) to make a comprehensive business/marketing/self tick list for all levels from sustainability to mastery.

I’m going to share a new discovery for me on educating and helping with your shoot mapping and composition (a great little practice tip for you) and we will show you a great way to rate and critique your work publically e.g by the public not by other photographers.

I’ve pulled together some marketing templates and guides for you and a way to break down even more ideas that you can ACTION and more slideshow ideas and video’s. Maybe we should have called this exposed its going to be so interesting to see people realize exactly what level they are at.

See you Wednesday 9am PST

Hair & Makeup by Sue Bryce Photography by Susan Roderick

May 15, 2013#

A Marketing & Promotion Slap/Kick/Pep talk with the confronting truth are you GOOD ENOUGH?

If you are already in a studio and running a business, this is still the part of business that is sooooo easy to avoid. Putting yourself and your work out there. I’ve put up a Marketing Survey so you can tell me what your challenges are. Im going to make marketing material for you with your images not mine. Lets create a tick list / must do marketing list and apply it every week to our businesses. No more excuses no more avoiding this.

Here’s the Survey: http://cr8.lv/sue_marketing

I just went to a seminar with John Demartini he said “Business is an equal amount of pleasure and pain (but we judge it by our pain) You will become as successful as the amount of pain you are prepared to endure” I was fascinated by this. My business over the last 10 years has been both an unbelievable challenge and great joy, in fact you could say a perfect balance of both funny thing is I WAS leaning more towards HUGE CHALLENGE but the truth is I do measure it by challenge not achievement. If you expect anything in life to be easy, to be only joy and to be all support and no challenge then you are living in a fantasy world.

I am challenged every day by my career. I believe there are significant personal factors in building a business, making money and becoming successful these I will address. I know for a fact that your business is run in direct proportion to your personal self/state and belief system, I’ve seen it time and time again (myself included). I know that the hardest thing to do is believe you and your product is worth making money. I know how hard it is to word letters and vouchers, come up with cool ideas and hold to a social media recipe, but all of these skills I can give you.

I can teach you how to launch a Glamour brand into your photography business, I can also teach you to shoot just like me thats what 28 days was all about. I learned from scratch, but what I cannot give you is the drive and determination I felt every day to master my craft. That will require patience, tears and laughter (50/50 in fact) practise more practise, more practise and some more practise. I am educating on multiple levels from the newbie to the seasoned pro that wants to put a bit of contemporary glam in their brand. I keep hearing what if I’m not good enough SO LETS ADDRESS THAT what if you’re NOT good enough? Lets look at what a professional standard is and what the public are willing to accept as good work. You’ve heard the saying you can’t buff a turd. Lets put that to the test. I’m going to be a bit of a hard arse.

So whatever your challenge talk to me (fill in the survey) and lets work towards being better Photographers, strong business people/service providers and most of all making money doing what we love, even when some days we don’t love it at all.

See you May 22nd for free to watch creativeLIVE enroll: http://www.creativelive.com/courses/marketing-and-promotion-sue-bryce

This woman is beautiful for many reasons. Because she is, because she’s a beautiful person because she has an amazing husband that booked her session. But mostly because I know her story and it blew me away. That is my purpose, my WHY knowing sharing seeing capturing stories and beauty. Find out your purpose and your WHY trust me your career will be a lot fuller and your promotion a lot easier because connection to what you do is above all paramount.

Are you prepared to put your website up for a public critique? Not by photographers. By the public. They are the ones that are booking you right? Do you want to hear what they say? Are you brave enough to do that.

Email me of you are: info@suebryce.com

creativeLIVE May 22nd Marketing & Promotion “Are you good enough?” lets find out

May 4, 2013#

Make Do Suzy/Value Yourself

Up till the end of 28 days I have been staying in a great apartment downtown in Seattle while I have been working there. It’s so wonderful to have a home base. So during 28 days my gorgeous friend Aimee Graham came over and to do hair and makeup and she stayed with me. She went to make a cup of tea and she asked “Where’s your kettle” I don’t have one I replied I just boil water in a pot. “What? You can’t afford a kettle” we stopped looked at eachother and then we just fell on the floor laughing. You see I am Make do Suzy.

What do you just ‘Make Do’ with. When you don’t need too. Now I’m okay with being a Make do kinda girl. You see I’m resourceful. BUT as Aimee and I started talking about it we discussed the feeling around those make do decisions and sometimes we just weren’t putting ourselves first. This week in New York I went to B&H and I purchased a second 5D mark iii body. I really needed one and I was making do I wondered why I hadn’t done this before, this is my career after all.

My goal is to be mindful of saving and planning for what I need being resourceful and balancing that make do with you can have. My point is its always okay to be resourceful but just be mindful always check the energy/feeling when you pay people, paying with gratitude makes a huge difference if you give from a place of no expectation and thanks it changes everything, then you attract it back 10 fold. Always check the energy/feeling around doing or buying something for yourself I didn’t realise it but I have lots of guilt about doing for my self and I’m addressing that.

I posted this quote a few months back its from J De Martini the original quote says your Relationship funny isn’t it how you change a word but the meaning is still there everything you have is what you attract.

“Your work reflects your self image.
Unless you’re sure of your value.
You will find it challenging selling it to others”

I learned this in the first year of business back when I finally learned how to make money. STOP COMPARING and START SERVING It’s far easier to lift your service to others than to try to lift your superficial value of your work (eg How does it compare to others) your clients aren’t interested in how good YOU are, just how good the service is that they’re getting. Trust me you not only get paid you start feeling really good about yourself.

The only time in my business now that I dip down in income or bookings is when my service slips. So I’m off to tie up some little loose ends.

PS After telling this story to Jen Nelson from creativeLIVE who had also been at my apartment shooting 28days and making tea in a pot. She went back to the studio and at the wrap of 28days creativeLIVE bought me a beautiful shiney silver kettle. I love it. Have a great day.

April 30, 2013#

How is your marketing/advertising/email presentations?

How you going with your email/marketing/advertising PDFs? Mapuana Reed offered her self designed PDF up for review and critique. Watch it here. She will make the changes and come back with her finished result. 28 Days It’s time to do the work

Make it Visual
Try for full bleed design it looks more professional
Simplicity is the key
Before and Afters are great
Behind the Scenes shows stories
What are you selling?
What are you communicating?
Who are you speaking too?
If you were the client – Are your seeing what YOU are getting?
Entice me . . Make me want you.
Show me the value
Sell me the experience

PDF review for Mapuana Review 2 from InBedWithSue.com on Vimeo.

April 29, 2013#

A dancing portrait in New York

My client today is Daphne Fernberger a Julliard Student of Dance. I tried a few fun things with this shoot. I shot thru fine black mesh at f/2.8 focus wasn’t my main concern for movement shots but I always refocus on the eye every shot. In order to shoot wide open in a bright studio the mesh brought me down several stops so I pumped up my ISO between 3200 – 12400 then the grain came in which I love. I bracketed the ISO intermittently through the shoot some more grainy than others this is the closest result to old school film I can get I love it.

This is my friends studio in NYC there is lovely natural light south facing and I didn’t need reflectors. I shot this from 12 noon till 3pm I didn’t want to stop. I shot a pink rehearsal outfit through white mesh and did video too which I will edit in the next three weeks.

April 26, 2013#

I am a Portrait Photographer – a personal post today

I am not a celebrity (Rockstar or otherwise) I am a Portrait Photographer.

I have chosen to turn down all talks and workshops for the next year as I am a Portrait Photographer and I love my job and I love my business. Of course creativeLIVE has become my dearest friends and family and for as long as they want me on their platform I will say yes to them. I will continue to provide the worldwide community of Glamour and Contemporary Portrait Photographers with my teaching and knowledge but I do not need to be on a stage to do that. Just from my computer and from my studio doing the work. I am creating an umbrella to help knit, nurture and grow this community as best I can because I really believe in this journey and this service.

I have built an incredibly successful and fulfilling business on seeing and capturing beauty – connection and a desire to give this as a service. I am grateful and blessed beyond measure. The more I provide this service and apply this gratitude the more successful I seem to become (another obvious and insightful lesson) You see I used to be a fear mongering critical egotistical competitive person and Photographer. I haven’t stopped being these things, I am now just more aware of when I am in this place and I turn it back to gratitude and get on with it.

After I delivered that talk on fear (further down on my Blog if you haven’t seen it already) I started to question how much am I talking the talk and walking the walk. I want to wake up every day and only work from a place of joy. If I were not enjoying it why would I do it? You see I talk the talk and walk the walk in my business. Everything I teach you about my business is tried and true. But there are aspects of my personal self that have taken a back seat to my business. These are now going to get 100% of my attention. Putting myself first is the biggest one of them all. I am for all intent and purpose an over supporter I give people advice even when they don’t ask for it. I have done this in the past to be liked and feel important and valued. I do not need to do this anymore. I need to take my own advice.

I needed to become successful, I wanted to be the best businessperson I could be HELL or high water. I needed to do this to prove that I was a valuable human being, that I was GOOD ENOUGH. I needed to earn money to prove that I was good enough but the irony is the more I stopped needing to be validated and the more I give with my heart and with enjoyment the more that comes back to me. It’s nice to build an audience and be acknowledged but I am uncomfortable with applause. Every beautiful email I receive about your business/life improving I read with tears in my eyes and this audience also comes with expectation and sometimes harsh (anonymous) criticism too. But that’s all part of embracing all the parts of YOU even the unowned parts that are hard to look at. The truth is every single person that I photograph that see’s themselves is the greatest gift I can give, every time I give business advice and share with you my experience, you get an opportunity to try it and grow too.

So join me in the next year building your self, building your folio and your brand, building your connection to service and business and watch how they are all tied up together. Your value of your self and product will increase when you believe it and the more you put into that the greater the return. It is not an easy path but then if you wanted easy you wouldn’t be trying to be more. You would just do the same and get the same. If you need a reminder or a kick in the A@$ come back here. Know doubt your need to be reminded will be my need too.

Thank you to Andy Bryce and Viv my Big brother and Sister in law for watching my Fear talk when you told me you cried I couldn’t stop.

Thank you Hailey Bartholomew for showing me I’m in ‘The Arena’ I am brave and I am proud to be there.

Thank you Brene Brown for reminding me of this great quote and your beautiful Ted Talk on vulnerability

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
~Theodore Roosevelt

April 25, 2013#

Mothers Day is Coming in 3 weeks START NOW

What do we get Mum for Mothers Day. Oh how she would love a Family Portrait. All the people she loves in one photo. This is one of the biggest marketing events of the year and you are not paying for it. It exists almost worldwide and (I know at sometimes different times of the year) but it it is coming up mid May so lets talk about how to embrace this event and use it to your advantage. I have heard many people bag this event as a Hallmark holiday and it is. But instead of bagging – jump on board.

Mum to our children, my wife I love you/Mum’s pamper day/Mum and her girlfriends Girls Day Out/Yummy Mummy/It’s ALL about Mum/Happy Mothers Day/3 Generations/Celebrate Mum/Mum it’s time for the family portrait you always wanted/Newborn Newmum/Maternity – Mummy in the Making/Boudoir ‘Hot Mumma’/Glamour – Ladies leave those kids at home and come Pamper yourself. . . It’s endless!

Remember do NOT blast out a special on FB and expect bookings do NOT send out one email and expect booking emails have a 0.03 % open rate do NOT ask a business to give away your vouchers and expect they will with no incentive on their part. DO Pull old Mum shots that you love post them talk about them, tell stories. See how creative you can get telling beautiful stories about Mums and why they are special to us. Why being a Mum is special. Design a beautiful gift voucher, become a Gift w Purchase, design a gorgeous visual PDF send it out with the eVoucher. Send one to everyone on your current database. Not rush this make it perfect, enticing and the perfect solution to the question “What should we get Mum for others Day?” Tell Stories, show pictures, sell the experience and the result not the sitting fee. You after all making portraits that will span past our own lifetimes into the next generations.

You are someone that I love . . . I want to capture you for all time.

April 25, 2013#

The Workbook is out. 28 Days w Sue Bryce

The Workbook is out. Enjoy working through it & using it as a reference. I just wanted to create a quick guide so you can replenish, refresh and practise whenever you like.

A reminder to create marketing for all four shopping demographics and where you saw what to pull back that video that you need for tomorrow. Do the work, actively participate in your business success do not let blocks/imagined fear/small thinking or apathy creep in and tell you they are the truth. They are not the truth just an old programmed voice, tell it to be quiet and go reconnect and get really excited.