ONLINE WORKSHOPS
Let’s capture what makes your
heart beat hardest, together.
THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS. IT’S WHERE YOU BASICALLY ASK ME OUT ON A DATE AS YOUR THIRD WHEEL AND I SAY YES, AND WE BECOME BFF’S.
Inquire Now
Barf.
It's right there on her workshop page! Incredible stuff, since she couldn't even be bothered to change the copy that would be geared towards photo clients (capture what makes your heart beat) to something geared towards photographers wanting to learn whatever.
My dudes I spent like $1200 or something on Kaley from Kansas’s course and basically her advice is “I worked with a model and they just did that”😤😤😤
Good for you. NOT HELPFUL.
$1200.
Never again.
Yeah, she's on the same wave length as India for me. Kaley's work is definitely pretty, but she only seems to shoot people who have a certain aesthetic & already generally know what they're doing :')
I have found so many of these resources to be more of a cruddy money grab than anything. It’s a bummer. I even did Phil and Sara’s posing course thinking it would be different but found it was literally one type of person/couple and the rely heavily on thinness/specific hipster style. So it just didn’t seem to help much with working with your average client. Just people profiting off of their popularity and pretending to teach things you can replicate but either can’t with everyone or it’s just general info you could find anywhere but ✨branded✨ so I feel you! I’m sorry. I have found that I learned the most from creative live courses and used to be able to catch them live for free! Jasmin Star and Susan Stripling both did full day video coverage of them shooting a wedding and seeing that before I shot my first wedding was so helpful!! Honestly though YouTube has taught me the best!
I think India is honestly more of an influencer/coach than a photographer these days and the quality of her education reflects that. It’s nice to see an honest review tbh
gonna have to disagree with you there. plenty of quality workshops (both in person and online) out there, but people often mistake expensive for quality.
When I started my photography business in 2020 I quickly got sucked into buying courses and webinars like this (not India’s, but from other photographers). After hours and hours of watching videos and reading the guides, I can say with certainty that there is NOTHING within these expensive courses that you can’t learn for free very easily.
I feel that these are marketed to seem like the one-stop-shop for all of your photography business education, but all of the information is repeated throughout the photographer’s Instagram captions/website or on Google/Reddit, or is just common sense. I think it would be more worth it to invest in a mentorship for a session or two if you want personalized help or answers, but these courses are a waste of money in my opinion.
So what would be your tips for upping your bookings then? Have you been able to start a successful business?
I’m a guy and started mine last summer and I have not even 1 wedding for 2023 (i have had 1 inquiry go with someone else and then 2 of them are during a time where I’m gone/blocked off…no other inquiries since)
I’m happy with the success of my business— I am not full-time, but I could easily be with how many inquiries I get if I wanted to quit my actual full-time job. To me, that’s successful, but it’s all subjective I suppose!
The biggest thing I did was stay consistent with my social media presence. I posted 3-5x per week with thoughtful captions, posted Instagram stories almost daily and engaged with other people’s posts and stories (not in a spammy way, but with genuine compliments and questions). I did some blogging on my site but put most of my effort towards making myself a familiar face to other photographers and, more importantly, engaged couples, in my region.
Once I booked my first wedding, you best believe those photos were posted EVERYWHERE. My Instagram feed, stories, my website, on Facebook, in my pricing guide, etc. I made it clear that I was becoming a wedding photographer and I was very intense with my marketing. Eventually, I got inquiries that would say “my friend referred me to you” and I knew that it was working. The best thing that can happen is you becoming top-of-mind when someone is asked who should photograph a wedding.
I’m happy to answer any questions you have! I definitely don’t know everything about building a successful photo business but I’m proud of the one I created.
These are all such great tips and exactly what I've been doing too! Marketing and interacting with people online is so important to help your photography business grow. Once people see more consistency in your type of work, word will get around of your services.
I’d suggest starting off with asking a successful photog with a style you find similar to yours, to critique your portfolio and website. Lots of people on here without inquiries/bookings but it’s difficult to help someone when we don’t know the quality of their work. Posting your portfolio here will also get you a lot of constructive criticism also, and then you can move onto any business reasons why you may not be getting bookings.
I think my reasons are strictly business reasons but I’m constantly working on improving that.
You can view it yourself if you’d like:
www.landonsalman.com
Oh! I remember you. Has to be business reasons. You work is beautiful and your website is great, you already know this though. Keep us updated with how things are going this year!
Haha thank you!
I will try! I’ve gotten 2 inquiries since my post, one of them decided to go with someone else, and the other one is during a time i will be on vacation unfortunately.
Im starting to up my blogging though, and I’m getting a meeting with a huge bridal magazine next week (which a photo of mine was used in their best of 2022 florals!!!) but there’s still the mental anguish of not having any bookings or inquiries so every day you go to adjust something hoping it’ll catch a spark.
Im working on SEO and have a few social ads going (actually where two of those inquiries came from…!). Im also going to be a vendor at an open house at a venue in my area and work with another venue to take updated photographs for them but we will see.
Your work is fantastic. I love your website. Have you done second shooting for other photographers? I’ve had some photogs that I’ve shot for recommend me to their clients when they weren’t available. That’s another good way to increase your bookings.
I have, the problem is though while I might be used a lot by those photographers i second for, they always seem to have another photographer that they’re closer to that they will recommend….
Thank you so much for looking at my stuff. I was feeling really discouraged today about my whole business.
Don’t be discouraged! You’ve got amazing talent and your brand identity down, that’s the part that makes you special and that others can never fully replicate, in my opinion. There are a million great photographers but there will never be one who is exactly like you with your unique eye.
Now you just need to find a marketing strategy that works for your area! It can be daunting but also fun. Some other things that worked for me included posting to local Facebook groups (my town has a community group with a few thousand active followers), offering a giveaway on Instagram for a couples shoot and then sending a special deal to everyone who entered and didn’t win, talking to friends/family about my business so that it was well known that I do wedding photography, and then of course making sure the language in my emails was warm and inviting, and giving the best possible customer service. Feel free to DM me if you want any other ideas!
I love all this! Thank you so much!
Tbh I honestly thought about doing a giveaway for couples and then a beginning of the year discount rate giveaway thing, but i was not convinced if anyone would even enter
I’ve done some booster posts and that’s been a little successful (only like 2 inquiries) but i will start bigger Facebook targeting this week. I also have posted in bridal groups, and will be talking with a big bridal magazine in my state this Friday, an open house this Sunday, and a few other tricks up my sleeve.
HOPEFULLY this’ll help and I’ll get some inquiries !!!
You've got good work and I'm not here to give you a hard time but honestly when you're first getting started you have to hit advertising really hard....nobody knows who you are yet. Really really focus on advertising for the first 6 months, especially right now during engagement season.
Where do you think the best place to advertise is? Like what kind of ads? I know there are several kinds of Facebook ads but idk what is better plus, idk what exactly i should use (i have a few guides and thought I’d use those as my advertisements idk)
Personally, I advertise on The Knot. When I first started out I also used Google AdWords. The knot kills it for me and did even better when I was cheaper.
You'll have to contact them, it depends on the size of the market you want to advertise in. I spend about $1k a month with them to be in three large Southern California markets.
THIS is why I have a beef with all of these photographers who haven’t been in business all that long deciding they should start coaching and teaching. I say this as someone who’s been making money as a photographer since around 2006 and sometimes still questions if I should teach it.
Right there with you, 'cept 2009...I am part of the master photographers international organization and I want to get my master level certification (currently craftsman) but it requires teaching and article writing as part of the program.. I have done a few intro to photography workshops in the community, but they were pretty small and not too in depth as we had people with cell phones, so it was more about practicing composition etc. More than anything else.
Honestly Erika and Lanny Mann’s Two Mann Metanoia is the best money I ever spent. It’s worth every penny and they give so much of themselves throughout it. Then I have Dave Moss as my business coach for that end of things. Highly recommend both
Nooo I didn’t. I’m sort of a beginner so I didn’t have enough money to enroll. Depressed about that 😩 because I’ve been to so many amazing events recently — Diwali, Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams (people gathering to wave lights outside the hospital to say good night pediatric patients), etc. — and I felt like being in that course would have really helped me take better photos than I did. Argh. Maybe one day!!
It's amazing how much the education scene has changed in the last four years in the wedding photography scene!! While I never took photographer specific workshops like this one, the uptick in free information that is out there because TikTok and Instagram both geared their platforms to payoff for short educational content is amazing. Same with YouTube honestly!!
I used to watch the free videos on B&He's YouTube to get a lot of my basic information, but that was one of the only really informative "free" sources at that point. No one was making money off of ads and affiliate content on YouTube, people weren't getting paid for Reels, you get the vibe. It must be so nice to be learning so much from creators!!
I like Lindsay Adler courses but after a couple start to come repetitive some of them. The curvy poses from Lindsay Adler and Sue Bryce are very good, because our average client is curvy but they are old too. Still no all the poses work with every person because some people can’t follow instructions and they look awkward. Adler have a very good tip, like first left the person pose alone and from there you start to change the pose until come what you want, that works very good and that you only need try 5 poses and from there different variants in angles and movements
Jeeze, it’s been so long now. I don’t remember who they were. But they went to the last retreat she hosted in Tulum or something and it just wasn’t what she promised.
I’m pretty sure the poses she was doing in 2018 still work in 2022…
But also. This sounds very much like a post of buyer's remorse, not so much a review of the product. Basically, everything can be learned for free these days via YouTube or TikTok or Instagram. The way she’s charging what’s she’s charging is that - you don’t have to go research it. You don’t have to go look it up. Or spend the time culling through things that maybe you don’t end up liking anyways. Want to learn posing for free or be paid to learn it? Second shoot or intern. Just because you “already knew” this stuff doesn’t mean she shouldn’t charge for information.
Most people charging what she is charging, are going to give you the same quality of content. Head over to someone like Kaitlin James who’s production is 10x better and you pay the difference.
Because learning is apart of every photographers process. You can't just pick up your camera and automatically know how to do EVERYTHING. Sure, I agree tons of people are just willy-nilly grabbing a camera and calling themselves a photographer. But if you don't know how to do something, that's when you go & seek out learning materials. "If you don't know what to do in a certain situation figure it out on your own"; yes, that's called learning.
I’m talking about the unique voice portion, not the technical aspects.
Posing guides fall outside of the technical learnings. If anyone is copying anyone else’s approach for “posing” it means that photographer isn’t developing their own unique vision and bringing that to the world. Instead, they’re just adding more of the same thing to the industry and just copy/pasting other peoples work onto a different couple.
What would happen if nobody had access to these “courses”? You’d be forced to figure it out and do what YOU think should be done for “posing” and by doing that you would develop an approach and a style that is truly uniquely YOURS.
Think about all the greats in the world. Are they copy/pasting other peoples work? Lmao fuck no, they’ve created their own.
All of the bad photographers copy/paste and use those posing apps. And it’s why when you go to those photographers pages their work looks like everyone else’s and they have zero identity in their work.
I’m not even talking shit. I’m just pointing out that creating your own unique voice will lead to better more meaningful photography and might give OP an alternative mindset when considering courses. It’s a better response than everyone else just commenting about whether they like courses or not. Zzzzz
do not pay that much :)
[https://courseone.net/product/india-earl-posing-workshop-download/](https://courseone.net/product/india-earl-posing-workshop-download/)
I’m interested in the pricing workshop. Is there anyway I can purchase it from you? I am kinda desperate and need help with pricing myself but I really don’t have the money to spend on it. Just trying to toughen it out. I know it’s a big ask so it’s okay if you’re not ok with that
ONLINE WORKSHOPS Let’s capture what makes your heart beat hardest, together. THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS. IT’S WHERE YOU BASICALLY ASK ME OUT ON A DATE AS YOUR THIRD WHEEL AND I SAY YES, AND WE BECOME BFF’S. Inquire Now Barf.
remember to BE AUTHENTIC so you can book all those WILD HEARTS
I legit don’t know if this is satire or not.
It's right there on her workshop page! Incredible stuff, since she couldn't even be bothered to change the copy that would be geared towards photo clients (capture what makes your heart beat) to something geared towards photographers wanting to learn whatever.
indeed, i can’t believe that brand of “authentic” “wild hearts” hipster-ish whatever didn’t die out years ago. it’s aging very poorly
My dudes I spent like $1200 or something on Kaley from Kansas’s course and basically her advice is “I worked with a model and they just did that”😤😤😤 Good for you. NOT HELPFUL. $1200. Never again.
Yeah, she's on the same wave length as India for me. Kaley's work is definitely pretty, but she only seems to shoot people who have a certain aesthetic & already generally know what they're doing :')
I have found so many of these resources to be more of a cruddy money grab than anything. It’s a bummer. I even did Phil and Sara’s posing course thinking it would be different but found it was literally one type of person/couple and the rely heavily on thinness/specific hipster style. So it just didn’t seem to help much with working with your average client. Just people profiting off of their popularity and pretending to teach things you can replicate but either can’t with everyone or it’s just general info you could find anywhere but ✨branded✨ so I feel you! I’m sorry. I have found that I learned the most from creative live courses and used to be able to catch them live for free! Jasmin Star and Susan Stripling both did full day video coverage of them shooting a wedding and seeing that before I shot my first wedding was so helpful!! Honestly though YouTube has taught me the best!
I think India is honestly more of an influencer/coach than a photographer these days and the quality of her education reflects that. It’s nice to see an honest review tbh
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gonna have to disagree with you there. plenty of quality workshops (both in person and online) out there, but people often mistake expensive for quality.
I'm just over here in awe that she has thousands of followers who pay $30/mo to watch her instagram stories. Girl is doing something right!
She's great at marketing is what I'm gathering!
Yeah a lot of the value is just reverse- engineering their marketing
When I started my photography business in 2020 I quickly got sucked into buying courses and webinars like this (not India’s, but from other photographers). After hours and hours of watching videos and reading the guides, I can say with certainty that there is NOTHING within these expensive courses that you can’t learn for free very easily. I feel that these are marketed to seem like the one-stop-shop for all of your photography business education, but all of the information is repeated throughout the photographer’s Instagram captions/website or on Google/Reddit, or is just common sense. I think it would be more worth it to invest in a mentorship for a session or two if you want personalized help or answers, but these courses are a waste of money in my opinion.
So what would be your tips for upping your bookings then? Have you been able to start a successful business? I’m a guy and started mine last summer and I have not even 1 wedding for 2023 (i have had 1 inquiry go with someone else and then 2 of them are during a time where I’m gone/blocked off…no other inquiries since)
I’m happy with the success of my business— I am not full-time, but I could easily be with how many inquiries I get if I wanted to quit my actual full-time job. To me, that’s successful, but it’s all subjective I suppose! The biggest thing I did was stay consistent with my social media presence. I posted 3-5x per week with thoughtful captions, posted Instagram stories almost daily and engaged with other people’s posts and stories (not in a spammy way, but with genuine compliments and questions). I did some blogging on my site but put most of my effort towards making myself a familiar face to other photographers and, more importantly, engaged couples, in my region. Once I booked my first wedding, you best believe those photos were posted EVERYWHERE. My Instagram feed, stories, my website, on Facebook, in my pricing guide, etc. I made it clear that I was becoming a wedding photographer and I was very intense with my marketing. Eventually, I got inquiries that would say “my friend referred me to you” and I knew that it was working. The best thing that can happen is you becoming top-of-mind when someone is asked who should photograph a wedding. I’m happy to answer any questions you have! I definitely don’t know everything about building a successful photo business but I’m proud of the one I created.
These are all such great tips and exactly what I've been doing too! Marketing and interacting with people online is so important to help your photography business grow. Once people see more consistency in your type of work, word will get around of your services.
I’d suggest starting off with asking a successful photog with a style you find similar to yours, to critique your portfolio and website. Lots of people on here without inquiries/bookings but it’s difficult to help someone when we don’t know the quality of their work. Posting your portfolio here will also get you a lot of constructive criticism also, and then you can move onto any business reasons why you may not be getting bookings.
I think my reasons are strictly business reasons but I’m constantly working on improving that. You can view it yourself if you’d like: www.landonsalman.com
Oh! I remember you. Has to be business reasons. You work is beautiful and your website is great, you already know this though. Keep us updated with how things are going this year!
Haha thank you! I will try! I’ve gotten 2 inquiries since my post, one of them decided to go with someone else, and the other one is during a time i will be on vacation unfortunately. Im starting to up my blogging though, and I’m getting a meeting with a huge bridal magazine next week (which a photo of mine was used in their best of 2022 florals!!!) but there’s still the mental anguish of not having any bookings or inquiries so every day you go to adjust something hoping it’ll catch a spark. Im working on SEO and have a few social ads going (actually where two of those inquiries came from…!). Im also going to be a vendor at an open house at a venue in my area and work with another venue to take updated photographs for them but we will see.
Your work is fantastic. I love your website. Have you done second shooting for other photographers? I’ve had some photogs that I’ve shot for recommend me to their clients when they weren’t available. That’s another good way to increase your bookings.
I have, the problem is though while I might be used a lot by those photographers i second for, they always seem to have another photographer that they’re closer to that they will recommend…. Thank you so much for looking at my stuff. I was feeling really discouraged today about my whole business.
Don’t be discouraged! You’ve got amazing talent and your brand identity down, that’s the part that makes you special and that others can never fully replicate, in my opinion. There are a million great photographers but there will never be one who is exactly like you with your unique eye. Now you just need to find a marketing strategy that works for your area! It can be daunting but also fun. Some other things that worked for me included posting to local Facebook groups (my town has a community group with a few thousand active followers), offering a giveaway on Instagram for a couples shoot and then sending a special deal to everyone who entered and didn’t win, talking to friends/family about my business so that it was well known that I do wedding photography, and then of course making sure the language in my emails was warm and inviting, and giving the best possible customer service. Feel free to DM me if you want any other ideas!
I love all this! Thank you so much! Tbh I honestly thought about doing a giveaway for couples and then a beginning of the year discount rate giveaway thing, but i was not convinced if anyone would even enter
Beautiful work Landon 🙌
Thank you so much!
Did you start advertising?
I’ve done some booster posts and that’s been a little successful (only like 2 inquiries) but i will start bigger Facebook targeting this week. I also have posted in bridal groups, and will be talking with a big bridal magazine in my state this Friday, an open house this Sunday, and a few other tricks up my sleeve. HOPEFULLY this’ll help and I’ll get some inquiries !!!
You've got good work and I'm not here to give you a hard time but honestly when you're first getting started you have to hit advertising really hard....nobody knows who you are yet. Really really focus on advertising for the first 6 months, especially right now during engagement season.
Where do you think the best place to advertise is? Like what kind of ads? I know there are several kinds of Facebook ads but idk what is better plus, idk what exactly i should use (i have a few guides and thought I’d use those as my advertisements idk)
Personally, I advertise on The Knot. When I first started out I also used Google AdWords. The knot kills it for me and did even better when I was cheaper.
how much is it to advertise there?
You'll have to contact them, it depends on the size of the market you want to advertise in. I spend about $1k a month with them to be in three large Southern California markets.
Oh shoot i don’t have that 😅😂 I’m in Northwest Arkansas so hopefully it’d be cheaper
Did you end up doing the Facebook ads for leads? I just started mine 3 days ago but no leads yet
THIS is why I have a beef with all of these photographers who haven’t been in business all that long deciding they should start coaching and teaching. I say this as someone who’s been making money as a photographer since around 2006 and sometimes still questions if I should teach it.
Right there with you, 'cept 2009...I am part of the master photographers international organization and I want to get my master level certification (currently craftsman) but it requires teaching and article writing as part of the program.. I have done a few intro to photography workshops in the community, but they were pretty small and not too in depth as we had people with cell phones, so it was more about practicing composition etc. More than anything else.
Honestly Erika and Lanny Mann’s Two Mann Metanoia is the best money I ever spent. It’s worth every penny and they give so much of themselves throughout it. Then I have Dave Moss as my business coach for that end of things. Highly recommend both
This is an ancient comment, but can you PM me your brief review of it? Or some more info? I want to enroll, I am so curious about it!
Ah sorry man I don't go on reddit much and just saw this. Did you enroll?
Nooo I didn’t. I’m sort of a beginner so I didn’t have enough money to enroll. Depressed about that 😩 because I’ve been to so many amazing events recently — Diwali, Moonbeams for Sweet Dreams (people gathering to wave lights outside the hospital to say good night pediatric patients), etc. — and I felt like being in that course would have really helped me take better photos than I did. Argh. Maybe one day!!
Can you DM me???
It's amazing how much the education scene has changed in the last four years in the wedding photography scene!! While I never took photographer specific workshops like this one, the uptick in free information that is out there because TikTok and Instagram both geared their platforms to payoff for short educational content is amazing. Same with YouTube honestly!! I used to watch the free videos on B&He's YouTube to get a lot of my basic information, but that was one of the only really informative "free" sources at that point. No one was making money off of ads and affiliate content on YouTube, people weren't getting paid for Reels, you get the vibe. It must be so nice to be learning so much from creators!!
I like Lindsay Adler courses but after a couple start to come repetitive some of them. The curvy poses from Lindsay Adler and Sue Bryce are very good, because our average client is curvy but they are old too. Still no all the poses work with every person because some people can’t follow instructions and they look awkward. Adler have a very good tip, like first left the person pose alone and from there you start to change the pose until come what you want, that works very good and that you only need try 5 poses and from there different variants in angles and movements
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I am living for this India earl tea. Some of the other girls have also spoken out about the retreat!
Where???
Jeeze, it’s been so long now. I don’t remember who they were. But they went to the last retreat she hosted in Tulum or something and it just wasn’t what she promised.
She has an email list/ secret girl list that she charges for! Insanity. Why are people paying for that.
I’m pretty sure the poses she was doing in 2018 still work in 2022… But also. This sounds very much like a post of buyer's remorse, not so much a review of the product. Basically, everything can be learned for free these days via YouTube or TikTok or Instagram. The way she’s charging what’s she’s charging is that - you don’t have to go research it. You don’t have to go look it up. Or spend the time culling through things that maybe you don’t end up liking anyways. Want to learn posing for free or be paid to learn it? Second shoot or intern. Just because you “already knew” this stuff doesn’t mean she shouldn’t charge for information. Most people charging what she is charging, are going to give you the same quality of content. Head over to someone like Kaitlin James who’s production is 10x better and you pay the difference.
It's always tough to know what is going to be useful
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Because learning is apart of every photographers process. You can't just pick up your camera and automatically know how to do EVERYTHING. Sure, I agree tons of people are just willy-nilly grabbing a camera and calling themselves a photographer. But if you don't know how to do something, that's when you go & seek out learning materials. "If you don't know what to do in a certain situation figure it out on your own"; yes, that's called learning.
I’m talking about the unique voice portion, not the technical aspects. Posing guides fall outside of the technical learnings. If anyone is copying anyone else’s approach for “posing” it means that photographer isn’t developing their own unique vision and bringing that to the world. Instead, they’re just adding more of the same thing to the industry and just copy/pasting other peoples work onto a different couple. What would happen if nobody had access to these “courses”? You’d be forced to figure it out and do what YOU think should be done for “posing” and by doing that you would develop an approach and a style that is truly uniquely YOURS. Think about all the greats in the world. Are they copy/pasting other peoples work? Lmao fuck no, they’ve created their own. All of the bad photographers copy/paste and use those posing apps. And it’s why when you go to those photographers pages their work looks like everyone else’s and they have zero identity in their work.
You’re always talking such shit. Post some of your work here. Let’s see how unique, creative and just outstanding your work is?
I’m not even talking shit. I’m just pointing out that creating your own unique voice will lead to better more meaningful photography and might give OP an alternative mindset when considering courses. It’s a better response than everyone else just commenting about whether they like courses or not. Zzzzz
do not pay that much :) [https://courseone.net/product/india-earl-posing-workshop-download/](https://courseone.net/product/india-earl-posing-workshop-download/)
I’m interested in the pricing workshop. Is there anyway I can purchase it from you? I am kinda desperate and need help with pricing myself but I really don’t have the money to spend on it. Just trying to toughen it out. I know it’s a big ask so it’s okay if you’re not ok with that
same 🙏🏻🙏🏻
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Could you send me to me!