PODCAST TRANSCRIPT - EPISODE 221

A CLIENT'S PERSPECTIVE

Please note: This transcript was created with the assistance of AI technology. While we strive for accuracy, the text may contain errors and should be verified against the original source for critical uses.

Annemie Tonken  00:01

Hey guys, I have a special treat for you today. My friend and longtime client, Sam Craft is joining me today to talk about her experience as a client when it comes to the concept of a membership. So I, it occurred to me, I was getting a lot of questions about when do you know, maybe I should start a membership, but I'm not really sure I always recommend the end of the like August into September time as a great time to launch a membership. And since that is coming up, if you're listening to this one, it drops. I was trying to think about like, you know, if somebody is on the fence about a membership, maybe having a client who has been in my membership for a while come on the show and talk about her experience, maybe that would be helpful. So I am very excited to share this with you. I want to make one quick caveat or warning you may already have noticed I am not in my normal studio, I am out of town this week, I thought I was going to be back in time to record but it turns out that my trip got extended. And so I don't have my normal. I don't even have my travel mic setup. I'm just working with my air pods here. So apologies. The audio quality is not up to its normal par. The thing is, I think that this topic and Sam's valuable time are worth us suffering a little bit on the audio side. Because yeah, unlike a lot of my guests in the photography world who stand to get some sort of like SEO juice or you know, maybe somebody is gonna go listen to their podcast or sign up for a class they teach or something like that. Sam's doing this out of the goodness of her heart, I asked her I was like this is a big, it's a big favor to take your time she works full time has two kids. And so anyway, I am really excited to share this conversation, I think you're gonna find it really valuable. And if this inspires you to look more closely into starting a membership in your business, remember that I do teach a course called revenue on repeat for exactly that reason. And again, if you are listening to this, when it drops, we are going to be doing a special live sort of launch coaching process called revenue on repeat complete. That is happening in August. If you sign up before, then you will have a front row seat.

Intro:

Welcome to this can't be that hard. My name is Annemie Tonken. And I help photographers run profitable, sustainable businesses that they love. Each week on the podcast, I cover simple, actionable strategies and systems that photographers at every level of experience can use to earn more money in a more sustainable way. Running a photography business doesn't have to be that hard. You can do it. And I can show you how. Hey, Samantha, welcome to this can't be that hard. This is a really big exciting event for me, because in 200 Plus episodes, you are the first one of my photography clients that I have invited onto the podcast. So thank you so much for being here. How are you today?

Samantha Krafte  03:15

Oh, of course. Thank you honor me, I'm doing well. And I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. How are you?

Annemie Tonken  03:21

I am good. I said in the intro, I'm out of town. And I did not bring my big like travel mic with me. So the audio quality on my end may be a little bit less than normal. But you sound great. So you'll, you'll make us look good. And I think that this episode is going to be worth the thrown together set up because I am really excited to chat with you. I have been talking a little bit more recently about memberships because we're coming up on the time of year where I recommend that people who are doing memberships are starting memberships in their businesses. It's a good like August, before the busy season is really a good time. So I feel like a lot of my, you know, students or people who listen to the podcast, come to me and say, Yeah, I think a membership is a really brilliant idea. I just want to make sure it's the right move for my clients. And that's why I figured I would bring a client on who has been in my membership. I think since the beginning. Right? You joined back in 2017. So soon as your 2019 Yeah. So um, so yeah, I feel like this is just it's a good opportunity for to, you know, hear from the other side. But let's start let's kind of back up a little bit and how I would love you to introduce yourself and I'd love to talk a little bit about I mean, we've been working together for a long time

Samantha Krafte  04:50

for over a decade. Actually. I know it's just kind of It's wild. Yeah. Well, I'm I'm Sam Craft. So I am started working with anime back in, like engaged in 2012 which is what prompted me reaching out to anime actually another good friend of mine was also engaged and was earlier in the process of looking at photographers. And she was like, if you haven't started yet, you need to call this this person. She calls herself mega pixie need to call her. I was like, Okay, well, thank you. Because researching vendors when you're engaged is a full time job. full time job for sure. Yeah, so reached out. We met at the time your studio was on Foster, you had some really adorable and delicious scones sitting out for my then fiance, Cory and I and we hit it off. We got married in 2013, which you photographed an engagement session, which was really helpful. I am one of those people that doesn't love being on the other side of a camera. So it's good practice. And then you've photographed our wedding in November of 2013. So that 10 year anniversary is coming up.

Annemie Tonken  06:05

Oh, my goodness, I know. And I for whatever reason, I always remember your anniversary like the date. And every time I think about your wedding, I just think about that rainbow that like magically appeared right after the ceremony when we were doing portraits. Like oh, we'll just have this sort of depth on a on a silver platter. It was truly, it was perfect. It was perfect for you guys. See, we're have such a fun wedding. And such a you guys. It was like the beginning of a relationship that I'm so grateful for

Samantha Krafte  06:36

us to. And I love that photo with the rainbow. It's up in our bedroom. It's I love it.

Annemie Tonken  06:43

I love that. Yeah. And then a few years went by and you guys started a family. And as I recall, I feel so I did not do newborn photos and Max, right, that was me did like 10 month photos or something?

Samantha Krafte  06:57

We did. And that really ties into why? One of the reasons why the yearbook club is so great, because, you know, try trying to have a child and then getting pregnant and going through pregnancy and then planning for their arrival. There's a million things to do. And newborn photos are a really important piece of a very large puzzle. And there was just a lot of overwhelming things going on at the time. And so I just never, I never remembered to schedule those. And you bring a newborn home and like, again, you're I tell everybody that the first two weeks is like one long day, right? And like you want to get the photos done sometime in that very long, exhausting and magical day. We ended up having a friend that was early in her photography career come over and took some pictures. It was super chaotic. She hadn't done baby photos before. And yeah, I remember coming out of that really bummed. And I was like, I really needed to call on me. And I reached out to you shortly after. And I was like I missed the boat on the newborn session. It's probably going to be a while before I'm really like camera ready. And you recommended you're like 10 months is my favorite time. There's my favorite. Cute. And yeah, so I was like, let's do it. Let's let's pick the date. And so that's when you got to meet Max for the first time.

Annemie Tonken  08:22

I love it. And yeah, it was a gorgeous day. And you we went and played at the park and yeah, that was super fun. And I have we you have grown your family since then we have now you have two boys. But in between, I guess it was in between Max and Frank. Right. I that was when I launched the yearbook club. The membership option one was born, he was winter of 29 or 2020. It was March

Samantha Krafte  08:50

2020. Oh, march 20. Right. We that the world? Of course.

Annemie Tonken  08:55

They're like, Oh, my goodness. Yeah, that was a memorable time. Right. And so I had started my membership, August of 2019. Little did I know how much that was going to save me and my business when the pandemic hit, especially at that point as a single parent, single income and, and a lot of my photography friends just had no income for a fair amount of time. While you know, people were deciding whether they were comfortable having sessions and all that sort of thing. So that was helpful for me. But I also that, during that period, I feel like you may have been the first I went and did like a newborn Mini. So one of the benefits that I offer members is the option to add on like a mini session at any time. That's just a one off and it's just like we can do it at your house. It's not like a standard mini session. And I only offer that to my members but you because we couldn't do like a standard newborn in home session. I just came over and we did a mini session in your yard right?

Samantha Krafte  09:59

Yeah. And we had our ear like long lens on and you were like on the other side of the cul de sac. And yeah, we had been we had already done in between that time we did several sessions. I remember we did like, yeah, Thursday session with Max. Yeah, yeah, we had started the membership. And honestly, if that was not in place, there's probably no way that I would have proactively scheduled a newborn photo shoot in March or early April of 2020 2020. Because we had known you for so long. And this was already something that we were paying for. I would have missed my second opportunity to get newborn photos in place. And, yeah, we did that session outside. And then, when he was a little bit older, we did a second session where you were actually able to come in to him and yeah, we did some more photos.

Annemie Tonken  10:52

Yeah, that was I mean, it was a weird time, obviously, for all the different reasons. But you were not the only one, I had another client who was due right around that time. And so it was a little bit later. And I did the same thing with her where initially, I think she had planned to have her family session, like her full session for the membership. Be the newborn session, and then she was like, let's just do the mini session, and we push the other session later. So, you know, it's kind of nice, because there's that flexibility built in, and we're not having to go back and forth. And because it was already planned for we made it happen at a time when maybe we wouldn't have otherwise. So yeah, I do you feel like that was I'm glad. I'm glad that we were able to do that with brain in specially since we missed it with that with Max. But oftentimes it goes the other way where you get it with the first kid and then you're like, second kid, I've got too much going on.

Samantha Krafte  11:44

Which isn't the case, honestly, if Yeah, the membership wasn't in place, kind of autopilot for me.

Annemie Tonken  11:51

Yeah. So talk to me about when I launched the membership. This was I mean, obviously, none of the pandemic stuff was planned for but um, what do you remember about that process about what I how I did it, or what I said or anything like that? If you if you remember that made you feel like Yep, let's sign you know, Sign me up.

Samantha Krafte  12:11

Yeah, well, life is busy, right. And so while after the max newborn experience, I kind of learned my lesson and tried to prioritize reaching out to you on a regular basis to schedule sessions. Usually it was reactive, like, you would send an email like, hey, Mother's Day, special, and I'd be like, Oh, we shouldn't do that. I want pictures with Max, you know, and, and I needed something to like, prompt me to remember, hey, family pictures are important to you, you want to get those on the calendar. And I also am horrible at than making prints of those photos. I'll make them for grandparents. But you know, really taking the time to put together a beautiful photo album is something that again, well intentioned, never got around for it. And so I remember reading your email, when you were explaining the yearbook club, it was laying all that out, like foolproof for me in my life, it just felt like you were like, here, let me hand you all do all the work, you just need to pick out outfits for your family and, and show up. And that's exactly what I needed to just kind of take that off my plate of all of the things as a, you know, working parent, you have to schedule doctor appointments and vet appointments and camp in school and all those things. It was like, Hey, I'm going to check that box for you. And not only will I do sessions with you and your family studio portraits of your children, you have these discounted mini sessions for life events as needed, if you'd like I can also put together a yearbook for you with all those pictures, and I can help design it if you want and have it delivered to your home like yeah, I was pretty sold by that.

Annemie Tonken  14:05

Yeah, so for those of you who may be listening who don't know, the way that I set up my memberships, there are three sort of tier options. You can just sign up for a session every year. It includes the session and some print credit. You can sign up for a session plus an add on studio session for kids so they're kind of like an alternative to school pictures. Or you can sign up for one that includes both of those things and a an album every year. So Sam is part of that third tier and we have made now on to three

Samantha Krafte  14:43

albums. two albums. Yeah, coming up on the third one downstairs. Yeah.

Annemie Tonken  14:48

I love that albums are my favorite way for families to I mean, I love printed photos on the walls like I think they're great, but we all have limited wall space to some degree and I mean, in my own life, I have a lot of non photography, art on the walls and an eye, it's just the way that I have some photos that I really like other kinds of art as well. And if I were to print as many photos as I took or photos from every stage of my family's life and put them all in my small house, I would I would run out. So that's my, I just feel like albums are such a great way to like, sit down and enjoy your photos. So that was that was why I chose to make that kind of the, the aspiration like it is my aspiration as much as anybody else's to have like a shelf full of books that kind of span the years.

Samantha Krafte  15:38

We love them. And we do the only photography on our walls are all photos that you've taken. Now that I'm thinking about it, we have some non photography, art on the walls as well. But in our family room, we have a series of photos that from like that first engagement session you did and then just like a little photo from each session leading up to the last one. But whenever we have company, they their comment on those photos. And it always prompts me to be like, do you want to see the yearbooks like we have way more of those. And so friends will they just love to like flip through those,

Annemie Tonken  16:12

you know, on the couch while we're hanging out. And so they're quite the conversation piece. Well, and I always when I'm talking to other photographers, and teaching them like physical products are one of your best marketing tools because of exactly what you're saying right now, like, somebody comes over to your house? Sure. If you post something on Facebook, or on Instagram, does anybody even use Facebook anymore, if you post something on Instagram, and your friend is like, Oh, your photos are beautiful, who took them like that can be a good marketing. But if you've got somebody in your house, and you're close enough with them to have them in your house, and they see a photo on the wall or see an album on the table, and you end up in a conversation about it, that's like priests, I mean, that is the best kind of referral that you can get. So I, I feel like physical, a lot of photographers are like, I just want to send digital files and not deal with selling products. Because it is I mean, there's a bit of a learning curve, and you know, whatever. But the payoff is great, not only because I think it really brings true value to you, the person who's enjoying those photos, but because most of our clients are busy, and they have good intentions, but it's hard to get those things put together. And then And then yeah, it can lead to more business down the road. So I didn't even anticipate talking about that. But thank you for that little. Yeah, hello.

Samantha Krafte  17:30

Yeah, I think it definitely like it closes the loop. I think a lot of people are like, I want to do sessions, but like, am I actually going to print anything and so to say, we'll do the sessions, and I will help make sure that you end up with printed product to enjoy this like, oh, okay, this is could not be easier. Yeah, I do really cherish those albums.

Annemie Tonken  17:52

I love that. Yeah. And the nice thing is, whenever I'm like, Oh, they're spending a lot with me, and I hope they enjoy these, whatever. I think I fast forward 10 or 20 or 30 years, and I'm just like, yeah, those books. If you were to like lose them in a fire, how much money would you pay, you know, 20 years from there to get them back? It's a lot. And so I know that those things, you know, unlike all the other crap that we buy at Target or whatever, it's like that stuff just gains value over time. It's, I'm a believer. What was the old like Hair Club for Men? As were the guys like, I'm not just the president. I'm also a client or something. Yeah, so yeah. But it's cool.

Samantha Krafte  18:35

Because they've they all match to they're not all the same color. But like, I hope you keep the same products. But we'll find writing the match. But they'll just look so nice on the wall as they grow. And it's all the same. Yeah. style book

Annemie Tonken  18:48

well, and also all the same, same. I mean, obviously, my style or my skill or whatever has evolved over time. But there is that through line, where there's consistency in like the look of your photos. So I think that's, that's fun. I love it when I get to I mean, yours is one of a handful of cases where I have worked with somebody since engagement photos, and then all the way through. And it's it is a huge honor. I mean, you said before, like my photos are the only ones on your walls. Like I feel like, and I know that everyone listening can relate to this, like you become like a funny part of somebody's family story in a way. It is it is one of the more gratifying parts of the work that I do. I love that. So and that's why I also love about having this membership, the people who are in that are kind of we're committed to each other in that way. And it's like I feel as though I get to go the extra mile or like show up in a way that when I have somebody who just you know, they're like, Oh, we're coming to town because my parents live there and we want to do a session and I know I'm never going to see them again. It's, you know, it's a different kind of a relationship. So,

Samantha Krafte  20:03

yeah. And that any parent will tell you that doing a photo session with your children can be challenging for dozens of reasons. If they know the photographer really well, because they've been on the other side of their camera since they were a newborn. That is huge. I mean, yeah, Max and Frankie know who you are. And so when you show up to come play, and like, magically capture the most amazing, amazing moments amid the chaos, right, like they, it doesn't take an hour for them to stop hiding behind me, right? Like, they're, like, I know the drill, right? Like they, they love your studio. So no, it's really cool. Well, I'm

Annemie Tonken  20:43

looking forward to seeing them here in a few weeks for the summers photos. But well, in closing, is there any, anything that you would recommend to photographers out there in terms of the way that I mean, I think you've already given us a lot of good information, but just like, how to position it or something maybe not to do or say, I don't know, do you have any thoughts on somebody who's considering implementing a membership?

Samantha Krafte  21:14

I would say, however you present it, I already mentioned several times, right? Like, I see it as so helpful, because I don't have to think about it. And it's easy, but instead of like directly telling people, that's why they should sign up for it. Just present it in a way that like leads them to that conclusion on their own. Just all the things you're going to do for them, and then hope that their takeaway is like, wow, that would make that would make this whole family photo capturing part of my life that stacks on top of everything else I deal with? How it just check that box for me. Yeah, and it'd be amazing. Yeah,

Annemie Tonken  21:55

I think that anytime that we are trying to sell anything, obviously, we want to put ourselves in the, in the person's shoes who may be buying and say like, what are the benefits, and I, you know, it goes back to what I was saying before about really believing in what I do. I think that as much as most of us struggle to sell with a capital S, when you believe in what you do, when you know, like this is going to be something that's valuable to somebody kind of beyond the money that they spend on it, it becomes a lot easier. So that's great advice to kind of focus on the benefits to them.

Samantha Krafte  22:30

I also, another thought I just had is like while you might not want to, in your initial email, get into the logistics, I do think explaining how it will work logistically is helpful so that people can really start to envision themselves implementing it like you make scheduling so easy. You send reminders, hey, this is this timeframes coming up. Hey, it's time now, there's a calendar where we can pull up and like, compare with our family calendars and figure out the right time. And I think all those little details on how you're going to make it easy, not just saying it's going to be easy, but walking through some examples of how it will happen logistically will just really help someone considering it or see it falling into place with with the rest of their life. And so those scheduling, details, reminders, all of that I think are worth mentioning it at some point to again, help help paint the full picture

Annemie Tonken  23:24

of it. Yep. And I would add, because this is true in my life. I also like the fact that no matter what your price point is, it gives somebody something to budget around. That is because it's divided up into monthly payments. You're not dealing with like okay, we should schedule a photo session this year. And then how do you fit that in? Amidst other big purchases? This is sort of one of those. It's like groceries, it just sort of like yep, this is one of the things that we pay for each month, and it's a more bite sized amount. So

Samantha Krafte  24:00

it definitely helps and then you don't feel that guilt of like, this is a big expense. And this might not be the right time. Like it's Yeah, removing that barrier, or at least lessening it is yeah, it's huge.

Annemie Tonken  24:15

Oh my goodness, Sam, this is really amazing. I just want to say how much I appreciate you taking the time to come on here and share your thoughts. And I told you before we hit record, like don't feel like you have to you know, fluff it up or anything. But I it means so much to me. I'm like, I've got like those prickles behind my eyes where I'm just like, I love hearing that because it is it's why I do what I do as a photographer and and so anyway, I know that everything that you've shared here is going to be really helpful for a lot of other photographers out there. So thank you. Hopefully it'll be really helpful for a lot of their clients in the in the long term. So

Samantha Krafte  24:57

if you get any questions from anyone pass them along. I'm happy to expand on anything I said today. And thanks again for having

Annemie Tonken  25:05

me. Oh, gosh, my pleasure. Say hi to Cory and the kids and I will see you soon.

Samantha Krafte  25:10

All right. All right.

Annemie Tonken  25:12

Outro:
Well, that's it for this week's episode of This can't be that hard. I'll be back Same time, same place next week. In the meantime, you can find more information about this episode, along with all the relevant links, notes and downloads at this can't be that hard.com/learn. If you like the podcast, be sure to hit the subscribe button. Even better, share the love by leaving a review on iTunes. And as always, thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have a fantastic week.