PERSONALIZED COACHING SESSIONS – Choose your own adventure style

Last week I briefly outlined the details for the new Education Division. You can read more about this details here.

You have probably seen lots of photographers offering these sessions recently. So which do you choose? My best advice would be to consider it a similar choice as if you are choosing a photographer or any other service you are considering hiring. Choose the one who speaks to YOU and YOUR vision the most. Every one has a different style of learning and teaching. Everyone has different personalities and experience behind them. Do you want to learn about photography? About business? About graphics? To be inspired? If you are truly trying to improve a skill then carefully choose where you invest your money and who you will be learning that skill from.  

You want to be investing in someone that will teach you the formula for success – not the answer to the equation. The answer to the equation may only be a quick fix, but one that will likely leave you investing in another coaching program next year to find out why your business is not where you thought it would be.

This is not a big pitch in trying to tell you that I am the best, please hire me, I can do everything for you….choose me…. because I can’t.

If you are looking for amazing graphics ideas, jaw dropping marketing campaigns that will triple your business overnight, motivational speaking that will make you feel like you can walk on water, please do not hire me because I will surely leave you disappointed. I too, hire these amazing people when I can because I too, need to help in those areas. I will gladly recommend great people that I trust will do a fantastic job for you.

What should you hire me for? The handful of areas that I do have a formula for and experience in.

1. Financial Management and Organization – For both business & personal finances.  I have proven success in this area by managing multi-million dollar companies to the sole proprietor one person business owner who is the sole bread winner at home. I can help you by giving you the tools and training necessary for you to run your business for long term success.

                              If you are going to spend your time and energy on it as a “business”, make sure it’s profitable. Period.

It’s not about the money or achieving some sort of big financial success. And you are looking to get rich, quick, then I am not the right coach for you. Building a business on a strong foundation takes time. I don’t know about you, but if it’s not making money, I’d rather be baking cupcakes with my kids and spending time with my family. If it’s not profitable then it’s just a hobby that is taking over your life while you call it “work”.  If it’s a hobby – then it’s a hobby – and let’s set it up in a way that you can enjoy it, that it’s not taking over your life, and that you aren’t investing your personal funds and family budget. Are you spending so much time on your business but your bank account doesn’t reflect that? Are you collecting enough money but don’t know why there is nothing left over? Is your profit margin set up for a sustainable business? Coaching sessions in this area will focus on your priorities for your business’s financial & organizational goals and determine the steps we need to take to get you there.

2. Business Management – General Business (non-creatives) Having personally managed more than half dozen companies both large and small, I have created business management systems that work. If you are a start up company, I can teach you how to create sucessful custom systems BEFORE having to realize your original systems didn’t. If you are an existing business, I can help analyze your situation and help you navigate custom solutions so that you can regain control of your business. My consulting firm works with clients from restauranteurs to general contractors to musicians. From start ups to human resources to payroll management, we have seen it all and can assist you in taking your business to the next level.

3. Business Management – Photography or Creative Business I have one of these. I totally get it. The words “Business management” may not even be on your radar. But you need it to be. Without the proper business management systems in place, you might find yourself hating your camera, your paintbrush, your cupcakes, your accessories, fill in the blank. Running a creative business, as a creative, is difficult to navigate. It’s difficult to turn a profit in a creative business. Taxes, Profit & Loss statements, licesences, insurances – these are all making your eye twitch just reading them aren’t they? How much do you charge for your services? What should your packages be set up to be? How do you know when you are spending too much in one area? I can help you with a plan to tackle these things and get you right back to dreaming about design, landscapes, frosting, and paint colors.

4. Portrait Photography – Fundamentals  Are you a budding photographer who wants to improve your skills technically? Are you interested in learning how to work with and pose newborns for photographs? Do you find yourself frustrated with editing programs or time spent editing your images? Would you like to improve your retouching skills to remove people, blemishes, backgrounds, etc? Are you looking for a way to find your photography style? Would you like to learn more about working with people? Looking for a way to sell to clients without being “sales-y”? Looking for the best vendors to print your images? Tools to help you track your new clients orders? How to network with other local photographers? Want to learn how to shoot with film? Maybe even develop your own pictures in a darkroom?

I’m sure you can fill in the blank with a ton of additional questions that have to do with portrait photography and I can help. My foundation in photography started in portraiture back when I aspired to be the next Anne Geddes and used to put babies in clay pots with flowers in their hair!(Sorry Noah, who is now 16 years old for allowing me to experiment with you – good luck on your driving permit! Oh to have a copy of that picture now. lol) My love of babies and photography inspired me to experiement artistically since high school and after a failed attempt of life in a cubicle, I being pursuing portrait photography on the side many moons ago. It’s crazy this little thing called photography – ever changing in technology and in style – but the fundamentals are still the same. Coaching sessions in this area will touch on these questions and more tailored to where you are at in your skill level and interest.

5. Wedding Photography – Delivering a remarkable wedding photography experience for your client  Wedding photography is an entirely different market, client, and mindset. To run a successful wedding photography business takes time, dedication, persistence, massive organization, patience and people skills. (Not to mention the business financial side of things, like packages, pricing, etc) I initially learned the business of wedding photography working for a talented photography studio during the ancient days of film photography for weddings before it was the trendy and fun thing to do. Learning everything about the business from the client inquiry to final album delivery – they were amazing lessons that I didn’t even know I would be referencing all of these years later – because they work. Since then I have taken those same lessons of building client foundations and translated them to my own wedding photography business. I have had every kind of experience – from dealing with digital card failure on a wedding day, to having a cancellation the week before the wedding. From lighting the reception halls, to organizing a successful timeline, from working with wedding vendors for future referrals and how to help your clients have an amazing wedding photography experience. Coaching sessions in this area will touch on this in depth and more, about the ins and outs of delivering a remarkable wedding photography experience for your client.

6. I want it all – Maybe you are starting from scratch or maybe you should be. Maybe you are knee deep in a rebrand or complete remodel for your business and in the thick of confusion and want to touch on all areas. This coaching session will cover where you are at in each of these areas above for your business overall and get you off the machine of suffocation and onto a plan. Baby steps. We’ll do it together.

What does it include? How much is it? Where is it? and all that jazz…. 

Each of these above tracks are available as a On-on-One personalized Coaching session.

How do I sign up?

First – Choose a track #1-6

Each Coaching Session will include 3 hours of one-on-one time tailored specifically to your needs for that track. This will get down to the nitty gritty. If it’s business finances, maybe you need a budget, if it’s photography we can talk about exposure triangles and how to get it right without photoshop. Tailored to where YOU need it most to maximize our time together.

Each session will come with a prep-kit for you to complete before your session. Let’s not waste a minute together figuring out the “what” part of your session. With the prep kit we can skip directly to the “how” during our time together so we can dive in and get straight to work.

Sessions are scheduled either at my residential studio at the Jersey Shore, or online via Skype or Google chat.

Bonus mini headshot session + lunch for all in person coaching sessions! 

Cost of each session is $450 and is payable in full or in two equal payments, due before the session.

Dates are extremely limited and will be posted in the newsletter first for subscribers. If you have not yet subscribed to the newsletter, you may do so here: Newsletter SIGN UP

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Note: (If you find the posted dates don’t work for you, or if you work better in smaller increments of time, spaced over weeks or months, inquire within so we can determine a plan just for you or get you first dibbs on the waiting list for other dates.)

PS. Here’s a little sneak peek into what’s in store for ALL Portrait clients later this year!!!!

The next available coaching date is: Friday February 21st. Please inquire within. 
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To book your session, please contact Angelsea Urban  angelsea@creativeeyephotography.com

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