In this episode, I got did a shoutout on Instagram to see if anyone wanted to take over my Podcast show and ask me any questions. I think it was a good way for someone to connect with me and ask all the things that want to know. It would have been an amazing opportunity for me when I first started out; asking an established photographer any question I had!

Daphne Sky is a wedding photographer based in Queensland, Australia. She has done some mentoring sessions with me so I know her a little and I have been helping her out with taking her business to the next level. It has been a really fun project to work on and I know she will be killing it next year with all the work she is putting into her business.

She asks loads of interesting questions and be warned, this episode has a few swear words!

Daphne asks me, where did the name Free The Bird come from? How did I start workshops and what is my take on spirituality and religion. It is really interesting listening and I hope you guys enjoy it!

This episode is brought to you by Vision Art Wedding Albums.
Use the code: MAKEYOURBREAK for 30% off your first order.

 

You can find Daphne Sky on her Instagram and website

In this episode, I talk about hiring your perfect team and how to go about it. I have been hiring people to work for me since I was 20 years old, when I ran my first business, a cafe called, Buddha Belly. Diving into hiring and creating a team without any experience was a huge learning curve for me and something I continue to learn about every single day.

I’ve hired and sometimes had to fire people but what I really want to tell you about is how I have grown as a leader, which didn’t come naturally. No matter where you start in life, you still need to hone your leadership skills to be able to steer the workforce.

If you have the ability to listen to the people that work for you, you are off to a great start because most people just want to be heard. We’re all human beings, and when I talk about my employees or hiring someone, I am talking about a real life human that experiences the same things I do that has dreams and goals, and all those wonderful things that I have too. They are real life humans and step number one is, treating them like so.

The other thing about working with humans, is that we are emotional. As a leader, you need a certain degree of EQ, emotional intelligence. In fact, I would argue that, it’s the most important attribute you could have as a leader.

I have a full time editor at Free The Bird Weddings and he basically runs the daily tasks of the business, including editing. It is amazing having him here with us and taking a chance on him was definitely one of the best decisions I have ever made. He started back in 2016 and he really was fresh. Still at university and didn’t really know what he was doing. I made sure to put in as many hours as I could to train him up and today is produces incredible work. It’s not all thanks to me sitting over his shoulder though. But it is thanks to the experience I have had, being a leader. I give him the space and time he needs to learn and I listen to him. I push him enough so he is always growing and I make sure he learns it all on his own.

So before you decide to hire anyone, take a step back, and think, do I have what it takes to be leader?

 

ALBUM ACADEMY is LIVE!!! Hit this link to see what it’s all about.

In this episode of ‘Make Your Break’, Jarrad Seng shares with us how his career got started and some of his career highlights. Then myself & Jarrad dive into a quick mastermind to talk about ways you can either identify an opportunity or create an opportunity from a situation. I think it is inspiring to hear from people like Jarrad, just how he has created his career into what it is today.

 

My highlight from this conversation is when Jarrad is telling us about a story from a few months ago, drinking with Ed Sheeren for his birthday at Pizza Hut and buying a house on a whim over the internet in the early hours of the morning. It sounds like such a typical rockstar story!
Here are the 5 different stories Jarred and I cover in regards to creating or identifying an opportunity:

 

• “Fake it till you make it”. A story from Jarred about how Adobe contacted him to be a Lightroom expert and how he navigated around the opportunity
•  “Opening a door”. I talk about how I sold my car to invest in my business and used the money to create a portfolio of work
• “Get yourself in the room”. Jarred tells us about how he got on to the TV show, Survivor.
• “Turning a disaster into an opportunity” Jarred smashed his friend’s camera and got a job working with Canon as a result.
• “Doing what you love, no matter the cost”. We both talk about shooting for free and not letting rules stop us from achieving what we want.

 

 

My online course ‘Album Academy’ is about to drop. So if you would love to start designing and selling albums, this course is going to be a game-changer. To get started, you can download the free tip guide and join the waiting list.

If you would like to internet creep Jarrad, check out his Instagram here. I also suggest googling his name and watching some of the funny things he has been up to over the last few years.

 

 

 

In this episode, we dive into something I think is very important to any business: Up-selling and add-ons. A good add-on will bring extra revenue into your business, which is important because you need to make your business as profitable as possible so you can continue to grow and provide the service your clients love. I talk about eight tips to help you start up-selling and creating add-ons and no matter what industry you are in or what you decide your add-on will be, this episode will really help you.

I have also put together a workbook for this episode so if you would like to download the workbook and follow along…

DOWNLOAD WORKBOOK

Now, before we get started, I want to mention I have just put together my first ever online course called the Album Academy. It is a complete 4 step course from designing wedding albums, how to sell albums and how to make your workflow super fast. This course is available from the 4th of November for 2 weeks only.  If you are a wedding photographer and want to make extra money in your business, speed up your workflow and better serve your clients, this course is a game-changer.

To find out more about the course THE ALBUM ACADEMY

So let’s not waste any time and dive straight in.

What is the difference between upselling and add-ons, also known as cross-selling?

Upselling is encouraging the purchase of anything that would make the primary product more expensive. For instance, A wedding package that now includes a wedding album. Or buying a camera and having the option to have a memory card, battery and camera strap.

Cross-selling is the suggestion of any other product to be purchased in conjunction with the primary product —

Buying a microphone? Maybe you need a microphone stand.
Buying a plant, Maybe you need a new pot. Or some fertiliser.

I call Add-ons, cross-selling because It is an add-on that is relevant to the client’s purchase.

Ok, we all know what they are, let’s talk about the why.
The most obvious reason is to make extra revenue for each sale. We want to do that for two different reasons. One, because we need to make as much revenue as possible so we can create a better service and just keep our doors open for longer. Did you know it is much cheaper to sell to an existing client then it is to get a new client? You have already paid for the ads, you have already put the leg work into marketing and you have already converted your client into a fan.

It is expensive and time consuming to gain an extra client. The second is because we want to better serve our clients.

That’s right, most people don’t associate upselling with serving clients but today I am going to see if I can change your mindset on selling.

Here is the thing. Your clients love you and what you do. They probably wouldn’t have hired you otherwise. So that is a pretty safe bet. They respect you as a professional and they value your professional opinion. So with an upsell of a larger package, if you are anything like me, I wouldn’t upsell a large package to anything that I don’t think would benefit from it.

For instance, if I get a wedding client asking about my photography packages and which one they should book. I ask them about the wedding and what they need. If they are having a small wedding with 40 guests and its all in the one location, I won’t be trying to upsell them a big package because they don’t need it. I will advise them on my smallest coverage and tell them exactly what they need and how we can make it work.

If I have a client with 100’s of guests and a very complex wedding, I will be advising my biggest package plus the extras that I believe will help them make their wedding day easier and what will be more cost-effective. If they want a wedding album, I let them know that it is much cheaper if they just choose my biggest package with that included and its better value for money.

Your clients trust you because you have earned it. So my biggest piece of advice is don’t take advantage of someone’s trust and sell them something that is not exactly what they need.

Your clients are looking for the products they want and if you don’t have those products because you believe you don’t like upselling, you are actually not serving your clients in the best way possible.

I get enquiries every week from other photographer’s clients asking if I can create them an album with their wedding images because their photographer doesn’t offer that service. I even book a lot of clients just because we have the extra add-ons they were looking for and others didn’t offer it.

People love shopping. And People love choice. So if you are not giving them that experience, you are doing more harm than good.

1/ Personalize

I believe the more your personalise an add-on for your client, the more likely they are going to feel looked after and more likely to purchase. For example, If you are trying to upsell a videographer to muir clients and they have expressed they don’t want video, it’s a safe bet to say you won’t get a sale. But if they really love photos and they are there most important, upsell an album and talk about why you believe this is the perfect product just for them.

2 /Choice

Your clients trust you as a professional and they believe and even want to buy, products that you believe in and curate just for them. People love shopping and they love the power of choice. If you don’t give your clients choices, it can feel like you are pushing a package or product onto them with no options and it can feel like a one-size-fits-all’ type of thing and most people don’t like that.

On the other hand, people don’t like too many choices. And with too many choices can cause the same reaction as not enough choices. Your client will get confused and it simply becomes easier to just not book you…

Just like when you walk to a drink fridge and there are 50 choices of drinks and it gets way too hard to make a decision.

3/ Get your language right.

Some of the best upselling examples get this right by making visitors imagine how they could make use of the upgrade, or by triggering the fear of missing out (FOMO). This is psychologically proven to help make more sales. Good copy to communicate what your packagers and offers will do for them is key.

4 / be honest.

You don’t have to be a salesman to sell add-ons and often that is exactly what your clients are afraid of.

Be honest with your opinion and make sure you have your client’s best interest at heart and not your agenda to make extra sales. If you are going for an upsell, talk them through why you believe it is the right choice. Being genuine and transparent is always going to trump sleazy sales tactics.

5 / Reward loyalty.

I know discounts are never a good thing because you will become a discount wedding photographer or a discount designer. But I believe once someone has booked your services, there is no reason why you can’t treat your clients with insider specials and discounts or even something else, like a thank-you card or a gift. Or even a voucher for a future purchase or a discount on a product that you know they will love.

6 / Visiualize.

People have a hard time visualising something that is not right in front of them. So it is important to have examples of what you have on offer and if they can touch it, hold it and feel it, the product will sell itself.

For example, I sell wedding albums to my clients and I love the albums I sell. I believe they are the best money can buy and I believe they are an amazing investment for my clients. But it is hard for me to just sit there in a client meeting and tell them that. It is much easier to put a sample album into their lap and let the product sell itself. And if I am telling them all the facts and features of the albums, at least they can hold them in their hands and see why I am so passionate about what I am selling.

7 / Make it easy!

With any kind of add-on or upsell, it needs to be an easy process. From the choice, all the way to the payment and delivery.

There are many programs out there that help you sell add-ons upon checkout or upon booking your services which means they don’t need to get out their credit card twice and it becomes one easy transaction.
Also offering things like free delivery, free gift-wrapping or any other way to make it easy and desirable for your clients, the better.

I would also make it easy with pricing. People hate hidden fees and extra credit card fees and extra tax fees and all the other things to stop people from buying. The easier and more painless you make it for someone, the more sales you will get. So next time you re complaining about the credit card fees you have to pay, just remember that you may have made a lot more revenue this year just because you made it easy for your clients and you accepted credit card payments or even payment plans.

8/ Educate

Most of the time people don’t even know what they want until you show them what they want. Educating people on your products makes it much easier for people to buy your products because they know what they are, how to use them, why they need them and just simply, so they know your products exist.

You can educate your clients through your mailing list, blog, social media platforms, in person at meetings and many other ways.

So I want you to have a think about what you offer and how you can educate your tribe on what you offer.

Ok, I am going to have to wrap up this episode. But I could literally talk about this stuff for days. I am passionate about it because I love the fact that I can make more money for my business which means I can employ people, give my clients a better service and live the life that I want. So it really is an amazing tool to be able to offer the products your clients actually want.

Again, my new course ‘The Album Academy’ is almost here and I can’t wait to start teaching wedding photographers how to sell albums effortlessly and bring in more money for their business. The course will be available from the 4th Nov for two weeks only. So it’s only a small window, but seriously guys, this course has so much value and I am excited to be bringing this to you.

So last recap before we end the show,

Tip1 – Personalise

2 – choice

3 – get your lounge right

4 – be honest

5 – reward loyalty

6 – visualise

7 – make it easy

8 – educate.

Don’t forget to download the free workbook for the show.

See you next time.

In today’s episode, I am talking with Nara Commerford, the founder of Evolution Botanicals in Byron Bay, Australia. Evolution Botanicals are a collection of premium tonic herbs and adaptogens. Nara has been running this company only for a few months now and we dive in to see why he decided to go out and create a product from scratch and how he is going about getting out to the world.

I have known Nara for a long time now and I know he is good at life and education hacking. So that is exactly what we talk about today.

 

Here are the three tips Nara gives us at the end of the episode on creating a physical product to bring to the market.

 

1. When thinking about creating a product, think about if the actual product is scalable. A lot of work goes into developing a product to bring to market and the more scalable your product is, the profitable it will be.
2. Put your product through a good beta test. Get some real feedback and listen to what the customers actually want. Nara explains how he got hundreds of people to help him choose his branding, labeling and the brand as a whole. Listening is a huge attribute to any entrepreneur.
3. Thinking about the actual cost of your product and being honest with yourself. Working out how much it actually costs when you factor in networking,  equipment, distribution and all those little things that you may overlook when you first start.

 

I am personally bringing a few physical products to my online store in the next 12 months, so it was so nice to have a chat with someone that is doing it and get some inside knowledge and insight. It is literally the best way to learn.

 

 

To find out more, find Evolution Botanicals here:

Instagram // Website

Today’s episode is with an Australian singer-songwriter, Kyle Lionhart. Kyle has been making waves lately with his new album hitting the shelves and it has been non-stop busy for him. So I am very luck I could catch him for 40 minutes and get a good interview for you.

Kyle Lionhart is actually my brother-in-law and I have known Kyle for most of my life. So it has been incredible watching him grow up and not only dream big, but believing in himself to make those dreams his life. Not many people do that, especially after becoming a young parent.

So today we talk about riding the highs and lows and I know Kyle gets both in spades. So many incredible things happen for him every day with his career but it is not always good news. Sometimes he is fighting to the odds to keep the dream alive.

The biggest take away from this episode ‘persistence’. Reaching your goals and dreams, it really comes down to how persistent you are. How many times are you prepared to get back up and try again. If you just keep trying you will eventually get there. Sometimes you will need to change how you are doing things and change the formula, but persistence will out trump anything else.

The other take away that I loved is loving your clients and fans. Serve them and give them the best experience, no matter what industry you are in. It will pay off in spades.

If you want to hear more, get over to the ‘Riding The Lows & Highs’ Podcast episode with Kyle Lionhart.

Find Kyle here:

Website // Instagram // Spotify

 

 

 

 

In this episode, I chat about how we need to change our mindset on the concept of ‘busy’. Being seen as busy is over-celebrated and far too glorified in our culture. What does busy even mean?

Being busy can simply mean that you’ve sat in your office chair all day and kept yourself engaged in low-value tasks just in order to “keep busy”. Being impactful, however, is using what little time you have to make the biggest impact…and, therefore, the biggest splash.

There are so many ways to make a bigger impact on a day-to-day basis. One of my first pieces of advice is to arrange your tasks and give them a number marking the highest value task to the lowest. Then work out if you can delegate, delete or do something else with the lowest value tasks so you can free up more time to spend on high-value tasks that bring in more income, grow our business and  – yep, you guessed it – make the biggest impact.

In this episode, I mention a couple of programs that I use – here are the links:

ACUITY – Client booking and calendar system

ASANA – Everyday management system

STUDIO NINJA – Client management system (CRM)
Promo code: MAKEYOURBREAK (50% off  your first subscription payment)

“We need to change ourselves from being bust to being impactful and effective”

 

 

 

Subscribe on APPLE PODCAST or SPOTIFY

 

This episode marks my first ever podcast interview. Dan O’Day joins us to have a chat about his relationship with money and how taking control of his finances and setting personal goals has been a real game-changer.

I remember having a good discussion with Dan a few years ago in which he told me about how he was going to buy his first home. This is a goal that many of us share but can sometimes feel unachievable. What I loved about the conversation was hearing how Dan was taking action and making steps towards that goal. We chatted about the importance of having a professional financial advisor in your corner to help you along the way.

I’ve put together a few tips on how to find the right financial advisor for you. The world of financial advice can be hard to navigate and I understand that many people don’t even know where to start. So let’s change that right now!

 

Tip One

Ask around to see if you can find a good referral. As with any service, it’s always easier to talk to someone you trust by getting get a first-hand recommendation. If no one in your immediate friend circle springs to mind, think of anyone you know who may use a financial advisor and reach out to them for some direction.

 

Tip Two

Now you’ve shortlisted a couple of advisors, go and meet them to see if the two of you will get along. Hiring a financial advisor usually means that you’ll be working with them for years to come, so it’s important to have someone you can trust and with whom you can communicate effectively.

 

Tip Three

Find out how they expect to be compensated. Sometimes you’ll have to pay for one upfront, while others will receive commissions from products that they’ll try and get you to purchase. I always go with someone that I pay directly and who I feel has my best interests at heart. Sometimes you can set them up in your super fund so that you’re not out of pocket straight away.

 

Tip Four

Be honest with both your advisor and with yourself. Tell them your goals (even if they seem impossible) and be candid about how much you really earn and spend. They’ll be able to help you on the way to achieve these aims and it will be incredibly beneficial to have an exact number of what you need to make as a target to aim for.

 

I hope that these tips will help you find the right financial advisor; now check out the podcast episode and hear more about how Dan O’Day has approached his journey towards financial success.

 

 

I’ve always pushed myself to do the things that make me most uncomfortable and, truth be told, this is one of the main reasons why I’m starting a podcast. Yes, it’s a business podcast, so listeners will glean a lot of advice, tips and tricks from each episode, but the underlining (selfish!) reason why I’m doing this is to push myself and encourage me to grow.

I’d been asked to do several podcast interviews and I noticed that I kept saying no. It wasn’t because I didn’t have time to do them – it was just because I was scared of recording a conversation and making a mistake in front of an audience.

That does sound scary, right?

Make Your Break is a creative business podcast show that’s aimed towards helping my community push their businesses to new heights. I’m packing it with stories, inspiration and tangible tips designed to help anyone at any stage of their creative business take action to improve their situation.

I’ve been recording it in my bedroom, which isn’t the quietest place even at the best of times. We live behind a busy café and are surrounded by shops and public transport. But you do what you have to do and I actually think the sound quality is working out really well!

I’ve also received some help from a company that specialises in podcasting and who do all the post-production. We have so many projects and businesses on the go at the same time and it would be crazy for us to try and do everything ourselves.

To be completely honest, recording the first episode was much harder than I thought it would be. I overthought it, ruminating on it for days on end. I changed the subject a few times and did too many script rewrites. By the end, I had to apply one of my personal rules to the process: Done is always better than perfect. And I know that the show will only get better, so I can’t get too caught up in perfecting the first episode. I fumble my words in some parts but I actually like this real, authentic feel. Plus, it gives me a great chance to improve! I want to get more confident when speaking in front of a microphone and this is the perfect opportunity for me to do just that.

So, if you love listening to podcasts before work for that extra bit of motivation as much as I do, I invite you to take a listen to the trailer and subscribe on your favourite channel – let’s start spending our mornings together!

Oh, and if you have any suggestions for the shows then I would love your input, so please leave a comment below.

 

 

 

Subscribe – Apple Podcast // Spotify

In this episode, I have a conversation about the (sometimes uncomfortable) subject of money.

Ah, money… It’s so interesting that it sparks such different views and personal relationships within all of us.

I know for a fact that, as creatives, many of us feel guilty about making money; this sounds odd but it’s true. We actually often stop ourselves from making money without even knowing it.

It all comes down to our individual mindset and relationship with money, which can be formed from so many different experiences in our lives. Some people may associate money with evil, perhaps because their parents used to fight a lot over finances when they were younger.

Maybe your parents worked hard to earn a lot of money and therefore weren’t around when you were growing up?

Or maybe you have a different view. Maybe your parents made a large amount of money and you saw them help all the people around them; you got inspired by how they could help your family and community and provide everything that you needed and wanted. Or maybe they were around all the time exactly because they weren’t hung up on making loads of money.

Maybe it has nothing to do with your parents at all and you’ve become inspired by other people around you. Maybe it’s not even people but movies that serve as your inspiration? Only you know where your mindset and relationship with money comes from.

But the chances are that no one ever taught you about money. Not your parents, your teachers or your peers – this is usually because they also don’t know about money.

Ah, money! We all make and use it in such different ways. Some of us swap different things for it, some people are able to make a lot of it and others struggle to make any at all. Some people save it and store it and others use it.

One thing that I believe is that money isn’t talked about enough. And that is why today we’re taking a deep dive straight into this hard subject. I think that the more we open up and have conversations around money, the easier it will be for people to understand its whole concept, function and utility.

Here are a few reasons why I think people don’t talk about money:

We can feel insecure. Maybe we don’t make as much money as our friends or co-workers, or we suspect that we don’t and would rather not know.

Or maybe we make more than others and don’t want people to feel bad…or jealous, or envious.

Another reason is because we tend to shy away from things we don’t know much about.

Also, we don’t get taught about money in our schooling system, besides the fact that you need to get good grades so you can get a good job and start working and essentially exchanging your time for money.

It may lead to an argument, especially if it’s a topic you don’t talk about much with your partner.

We also don’t like to talk about it because sometimes we know we’re in a bad situation and would rather bury our heads in the sand rather than dealing with it directly.

Another reason why we don’t talk about money is that we often associate our personalities and character with the amount that we earn: what class we’re in, what friend group we’re in, etc. If we admit to people that we don’t actually have control over our finances, we may feel as if we could lose our identity.

You see, we usually associate ourselves with earning more money than we do. That’s why we borrow money that we don’t have to buy a car we can’t afford, all to build an image that we’d like to portray to the world. If we admit to our friends that we’re actually not doing as well as we may seem, we may lose the identity that we’ve created for ourselves.

“Some people are able to make a lot of it and others struggle to make any. Some people save it and store it and others use it.”

 

 

In the show, I chat about my free eBook Cashflowing Like A Boss. I want you to download it to discover ways in which you can save money in your business. Even if it’s just a few dollars, it all counts. As the saying goes, “A small leak will sink a great ship.”

Every year I go through the steps outlined in this eBook and find ways that my businesses can save a few dollars in order to relieve some of the financial pressure. This year alone, after a just day’s worth of work, I was able to save over $5000.

As always, if you have any questions about this episode, feel free to leave a comment below and I will respond.