My Library About Us Blog

Misty's Personal Page

May 2 2023

 
Update:
 
  1. Mark working with her 35 hours per week
  2. Creating email templates in Google Drive folder
  3. Using follow up system for clients and photographers
  4. Getting more reviews
  5. Moving scheduling from Misty to Mark
Growth work:
  1. Send shock n awe box to person at FritoLay Wed May 9th
  2. Check into platform for media storage for large companies
  3. What happens to her company when she dies? Suggest speaking with Aaron Miller
    1. trust
    2. "Key man" insurance
    3. HIPPA release for herself, husband and children, as well as power of attorney
It has been a joy working with you. :)
Good luck with the new coaching group!
 

Misty's Personal Page

April 4 2023

Update:
  1. Jan and Feb 2022 and 2023 Numbers comparison to date looked at first like they suck. However there was 17% increase in revenue.
  2. Frito-Lay: Misty asked to be their only only photography vendor
  3. Being at the Frito-Lay event last Tuesday brought in two more opportunities for Misty
  4. Mark may be taking a full-time job. She is looking for more administrative help.
Growth work:
  1. Follow up with Frito-Lay to ask more about the problems they are having. See if you can solve more of their video and photography problems.
  2. place ad for part-time administrative staff. 
  3. Focus on sales calls to office parks and large companies. Sign on one per month
  4. add logos of common companies / office parks that use your services that other companies would recognize
  5. ask Joan where she would look if she were looking for a photographer for Frito-Lay. If she lists a specific resource then see how you can get your name in that resource list/ marketing.

 

 

Misty's Personal Page

March 7 2023

Update:
  1. Lost the Legacy West account - investors did not want to pay for it
  2. met with videography to have pricing and offering on website
  3. Left other CPA for Curtis 
  4. Renaissance has given her an outside job
  5. Law of Reciprocity - gifts for top clients and vendors for Valentines day ($50K last year)
  6. every Wed she does sales calls
  7. SOP's have been worth the coaching - saves me time and money
 
Growth work:
  1. Complete growth work from last session about delegating
  2. have photographers make SOP
  3. Keep up the great work on sales calls and reaching out to office parks
  4. get numbers from the past year (% up or down compared to the previous year?)
  5. Is there anything you need or want from us as coaches, or expected from us that you have not received?
  6. Schedule time for Curtis to talk with us about W-2 versus 1099
  7. check out Rythmia.com 
 
 

Misty's Personal Page

February 9 2023

  1. updates:
    1. Marketing is organized and scheduled
    2. attended classes - Imaging USA conference by Professional Photographers of America
    3. implemented the LinkedIn information
    4. Class in May is commercial photography (product and architecture)
    5. Fun - whiskey and endearing conversations, Skull Rainbow Room in Printers Alley
    6. Bridal show - 50 contacts, John Michael booked 2 weddings, followed up with everyone
    7. company meeting - slow start, will be every other week (in person and zoom)
    8. Not sure she wants to get new FB account - never got any clients from it anyway
    9. Brown Sisters book does not really interest her - she has a jeweler in W Plano who could introduce her to the right people
    10. Spoke to Renaissance about doing family portraits 
    11. Universal Studio (children 10 and under) - meet and greet for businesses
    Growth work:
    1. In your marketing tell them what to do, not how
    2. January sales?
    3. remind people that you have photographers in other cities
    4. meet with Renaissance again
    5. follow up with Universal Studios - sports teams, Orlando, Frisco
    6. Switch bookkeepers
    7. marketing to memory care units and realtors
    8. research information about MDMA and Ayahuasca and  https://www.rythmia.com/
     
 

Misty's Personal Page

January 3 2023

Thank you Misty for sharing with us.
We appreciate you very much!
Please reach out with any questions.
 
update:
  1. meeting with property manager went great
  2. has the book of lists to reach out to more owners of office parks
  3. has made more calls to property managers
  4. Bridal show in Denton is in w weeks, she has people working it, as she will not be there
  5. the bootcamp will follow 8 days after the bridal show
  6. has one wedding photographer so far
  7. breakeven point $12,620/ month including paying Misty - monthly goal is $20K
  8. reached out to 13 clients via phone and email to reactivate - has 3 or 4 meetings set up
  9. kicked off of FB and Instagram
Growth work:
  1. snappy title "Prevent Your Wedding Nightmares Bootcamp"
  2. post bridal show and post bootcamp scripts 
  3. company meetings that are fun
  4. create new social media accounts - this will help you track wedding business
  5. look into the "The Brown Sisters" - yearly family portrait
  6. look into attending "Crazy in Love" at Wizard Academy Feb 14 & 15
  7. goal for 2023 be alcohol free - https://www.rythmia.com/
 

Misty's Personal Page

December 6 2022

Update:
  1. moving accounting from current CPA to Curtis
  2. paying admin a bonus to help make up the 7% additional in taxes
  3. Legacy West - hourly rate + Santa rate. Sometimes there is a deficit that they pay.
  4. Shock-n-awe box - stuffing, chocolate, coasters with superhero and her logo, 4x6 frames with message, QR Code for the "Hassle Free Headshots" and popcorn
  5. booth at the Denton Bridal show, on the stage, Two photo booths and marquis letters (3feet tall white w/ lights) and other giveaway are the bath towels, 16x20 Italian curated bridal portrait (Cost)
  6. pain points to avoid when planning your wedding with florist, cake decorator, Misty, photo booth
  7. SOP's are super helpful
  8. more product shoots that are creative - perfume
  9. D-Magazine event - 5 new best restaurants
Growth work:
  1. Give a raise to her editor? give a bonus and note as to why he got a bonus
  2. Figure out your "breakeven point" in your business
  3. Building managers - speak to 2 before the next BBI
  4. Snappy title for the bridal bootcamp - eg. How to have your dream wedding . . . and the 10 BIGGEST mistakes Brides make that cause unhappy tears on their wedding day.
  5. Company meetings - bonus for those who attend
  6. Meet the influencers at the D-Magazine event
Next BBI is Dec 20th and next private call is Jan 3, both at 1pm
 

Misty's Personal Page

November 1 2022

update:
  1. has not made sales calls yet
  2. SOP's are almost done
  3. Doing a major first shoot with a new company
  4. ordered new camera equipment $8000
  5. Dallas Bridal show is not accepting more photo booth entries, so going to Denton for a double booth $1200
  6. back from Hilton Head vacation
  7. no pushback from anyone regarding her increased fees
Growth work:
  1. Ask Carol and your assistant make shock-and-awe box for property managers of large buildings
  2. Ten cold calls to property managers to set up appointments - speak from the emotions
  3. pay off the credit card with a personal loan and repay that loan to yourself with the same interest you would have paid the credit card.
  4. be at the end of the row at the show, so people look straight at you when they are walking down the row
  5. reactivating old clients - email newsletter, as she thinks of people she sends an email and call 
  6. Call to schedule PPP event
  7. Going to Las Vegas for a photoshoot
 

Misty's Personal Page

October 4 2022

update:

  1. struggle with getting gigs in big buildings - has not done the shock-and-awe box
  2. focused on helping John Michael get photobooth gigs at weddings
  3. has 5 photographers now, including a wedding photographer
  4. using the "Jar method" of money management is really incentivizing

Growth Work:

  1. bridal shows - be at the end of the row, so everyone heads your direction
  2. make shock-and-awe box for property managers of large buildings
  3. cold calls to property managers to set up appointments - speak from the emotions. 
 

Sept 6 2022

Summary:

  1. focus on the marketing that will bring in business from the large buildings
  2. Reactivate old clients
  3. make a "shock and awe" box 
 
Aug 2 2022

Update:

  1. SOP's for admin are not complete - doing interviews for a new admin
  2. conversation with CPA - found out that the videographer does not need to charge her sales tax.
  3. new day rate is $2294/ 8 hours, at 3x/wk for 44 weeks = $302,808 to gross revenue per photographer. Misty pays them 30% of the day rate/ day = $89,706/year. This provides $213,048/year gross profit per photographer. To have a 5 million dollar /year business she only needs 16 photographers. A Million per year is 3.3 photographers.

Growth Work:

  1. Monthly "PPP" strategically at large centers where she can not only create a following of people who want to attend the events, her company becomes the photographers for the whole center
  2. write down her ideal photographer: attitude, education, time availability etc. 
  3. Call Becky Deragon (photographer) 214-244-1870 to see if she is a fit for your company
 

Misty's Personal Page

July 5 2022

Update:

  1. has created SOP's for 20 different jobs for photographers
  2. conversation with CPA 
  3. succession strategy is her exit strategy of choice

Growth Work:

  1. call photography association to find out if the videographer charges her sales tax to do a job where she is already charging sales tax
  2. be on the lookout for a different CPA (get Curtis' cell number)
  3. finish SOP's
  4. Figure out how much one photographer brings into to her each year. Gross revenue, gross profit and net profit.
 

June 7 2022

 
Update:
  1. paid off one cc and the other will be paid off in 3-4 months
  2. the jars method of money management will be set up in one week (Veritex Community Bank)
  3. feels ready to raise prices
  4. changed fee structure on a job to $60/ headshot rather than a dollar amount per hour (GREAT!)
Growth work:
  1. ask CPA why they say paying herself is expensive
  2. look at SSA.gov to find out where she is at with social security credits and what amount she will be paid in retirement
  3. create Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) for all positions of the company. 
        - Speech to text is great. 
        - Have new employee type up her notes on how to do her job.
        - include checklists
        - include: slow day activities, marketing systems
        - keep in mind ways to "inspect what you expect" from each position, so you can create key performance indicators (their score board)
 
    4. raise prices 25-30%
    5. pay photographers a flat rate instead of a percentage of the job
 

May 11 2022

  1. did a review of P&L
  2. reimburse for phone expense
  3. move items to COG's
  4. pay off credit card and put on auto pay
  5. talk to CPA about how Misty gets paid when she is the photographer (just like her contract labor jobs get paid)
  6. Make sure that EVERYTHING you pay for that is related to your business is paid through the business. That is, "Above the Line"
  7. Speak with Vida about the Admin/ bookkeeping position
  8. have money coming in via clients paying with AMEX go to a separate account
  9. we will look at raising prices once the above items are completed