As we stood at the front of the room, staring into rows of chairs filled with photographers, we couldn’t seem to quiet the litany of questions going through our minds. Are these tips actually going to help anyone? What should I do with my hands? Why do I feel like I want to throw up? Why did we agree to do this again? 

When we had reviewed the slides for our talk called “5 Ways to Market Your Photography Business” the night before, we were feeling pretty confident about what we had to say. After all, we’ve been husband and wife wedding photographers in Phoenix for more than six years. We were no strangers to the concepts we ‘d be sharing. This stuff is the meat and potatoes of our business. We’ve advised other photographers on marketing techniques thousands of times before during dinners, coffee dates and between conference sessions, but never quite like this. We weren’t just having a conversation this time, we were TEACHING. The moment all those eyes were on us, waiting with anticipation to hear what we had to say, it suddenly felt like one of those dreams. You know, the one. Where you have to get up in front of the class to give a presentation and you realize you’re not wearing any pants? Yeah. It definitely felt like a “no pants” moment. There was nothing left to do, but take a deep breath and start talking . . .

As we came to the close of our talk, and people began to clap, we both let out a huge sigh of relief. We did it! And neither one of us threw up or passed out. YAY! And as far as we could tell, nobody fell asleep or walked out either so that felt pretty darn good. We were more than satisfied.

And then . . . something kind of amazing happened. People started coming up to us and asking questions. They were sharing with us about their own business – how they were struggling and how they wanted to grow. They were thanking us – and not just for sharing tips on how we market our business. (We had also shared some pretty embarrassing moments from our own early days – believe us, it wasn’t always pretty.) These photographers were thanking us for being vulnerable and for sharing of ourselves. They were just glad they weren’t the only ones who had “been there.” And they were happy to have some new tools to take back to the “trenches” of running their own small business. It was a pretty amazing feeling.

In the days that followed, we’ve received emails and facebook messages that made our hearts fill to the brim with joy and even brought tears to our eyes! The joy of knowing that we were able to inspire others is beyond compare. Here’s one in particular that touched our hearts:

“I wanted to tell you both how incredibly beneficial your talk was last week at Studio East. I just launched my business in January and listening to you two I wasn’t simply interested – I was inspired. You both obviously have a deep love for what you do, for your clients and for each other and it was truly a joy to listen to your stories and learn from your experience. My goal is to not just be a “good” photographer, but to be the absolute best photographer and business owner that I possibly can be. To create brand evangelists – brilliant!! – and to feel that I am making a difference in this world by capturing something special for people and giving it to them in a way that they can hold onto forever. I have a page full of notes from that night and I am adding to it as I brainstorm how I can make it applicable in my current stage of development. Thank you again, blessed to have met you both.”

As we look back on our talk, we’re so grateful. Grateful for the chance to have shared some wisdom with our fellow photographers and to have helped others take one more step towards what they love.

Thank you SO much for all of the photographers who came out! We’re so glad that you took time out of your lives to learn from us and to share of yourselves. A HUGE thanks to the amazing Alisa for asking us to share, for helping to organize the event and for being an amazing source of encouragement to us. And to Elizabeth for hosting us in her GORGEOUS new space Studio East and taking some awesome behind the scenes shots that we now get to share!

By the way, if you’re a photographer looking for studio space to do client meetings or shoot, check out the Studio East website. Elizabeth has loads of awesome options and the space itself is AH-MA-ZING!

My favorite shot :-) And of course, we were talking about one of our favorite topics – our awesome “friendors!”

One last group to thank – our awesome sponsors! All of these wonderful partners work wonders for our business and blessed us with some fun giveaways and discounts for our attendees to enjoy:

BlackRapid | KISS Wedding Books | ShootQ | Two Bright Lights | You Can Book Me