← Book More Photography Clients Podcast | Photography Business, Photography Leads, Marketing
Book More Photography Clients Podcast | Photography Business, Photography Leads, Marketing
Chat GPT for Photographers: Make Your Marketing 10x Easier
00:45:52
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- [00:01]
A
Hey friends, a quick note before we dive in. I'm currently recovering from surgery, so this month I'm sharing some incredible guest interviews where I was the one in the hot seat. These conversations are powerful, they are packed with value and I know you're going to love them. Enjoy the episode and I can't wait to be back with you soon. Welcome to the Book More Clients Photography Podcast. You can stop spending hours on Google and YouTube because you just found your number one resource for growing a profitable and sustainable photography business. Hi, I'm Brooke Jefferson. I'm a believer, wife, mama to two and Oklahoma family photographer. I left the classroom in 2018 to pursue my photography career full time. Now I'm here to help you do the same. In this podcast, we're covering the most asked about topics including pricing, marketing, client experience, and all things systems and workflows. You won't find any fluff or BS here. Just tried and true. Strategy, Strategy. Are you ready? Grab your kids some snacks and charge those camera batteries. It's time to jump in.
- [01:12]
B
Hey everyone, welcome back to get a guest today. I'm so excited because we have Brooke Jefferson, wife, mom of two, Oklahoma family photographer, photography business coach, and host of the book More Photography Clients podcast. In this episode, Brooke is breaking down her guide to ChatGPT for photographers. How to use it for content creation, SEO, client communication and admin support, pricing, and even realistic goal planning. If you ever wondered how to use ChatGPT to market your photography business smarter, not harder, this episode is for you. Let's dive in. Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck yes with your girl, Karissa Wu. I'm so excited for this interview. Today we have Brooke Jefferson. She is a wife, mom of two, Oklahoma family photographer and photography business coach. She is the host of the book More Photography Clients podcast. One of my favorite favorite photography client podcast, she teaches photographers how to build a profitable and fully booked business. She enjoys reading thriller novels, playing card games with her family and friends, and binging the latest Netflix shows. Welcome Brooke.
- [02:24]
A
Thank you so much, Carissa. I'm excited to be here.
- [02:27]
B
Yay. What are you binging right now on Netflix?
- [02:30]
A
I actually just finished Ransom Canyon and then last night I started Love on the Spectrum.
- [02:38]
B
Oh yeah, I watch it all the time with my family.
- [02:41]
A
That's awesome. Yeah, I started from the top. My sister was like, you have to watch the show. I said, well, what season did you start with? And she said, three, because everybody said it was the best. I'm like, okay, but I'm a weirdo. I have to start from season one episode.
- [02:54]
B
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some of them from one. They continue all the way to on season three.
- [03:00]
A
Oh, that is awesome. Okay, I'm glad I started with one.
- [03:04]
B
Yeah. So you see like they don't find love and then. Or they find love and they're still in love or they're looking for love still. So, so cute.
- [03:13]
A
I love it. It's such a cute. Okay.
- [03:15]
B
It's so cute. Okay, so take it back to growing up. What were you like as a kid? Anything about your family dynamic? Anything you want to share with us today?
- [03:26]
A
Sure, I'll save you the novel version. But I was, I think I've been creative my whole life really since I was young and started to pick up cray. I was into theater. That was a big thing. I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. I live in a teeny tiny town now. But my mom put me in just about everything from cheerleading, gymnastics. Let's see, what else did I do? I did some golf camps, I did a lot of the sports stuff. And then I really found my knack in acting and did that throughout school until I ended up transferring to a high school in Oklahoma. And I thought, and this is so funny. And again, it's not like an ego thing. It's just like my sister and I grew up thinking that we were going to be more in front of a camera rather than behind the camera, which she now is just an awesome client for me. So it's fun that she actually is still in front of the camera. But I really did not imagine myself being a photographer. And I picked up a camera whenever I had my daughter. She was about four or five months old. And I borrowed the camera from my mother in law at the time and I just ran with it and here we are 11 years later. But yeah, as a kid, social butterfly, I, they used to nickname me Britney Spears because I was always putting on a show and just, you know what I mean, she was very big back then and so they just called me. So anyway.
- [04:49]
B
Oh, I know. I used to like always play like she's so lucky. She's a star and like reenact a whole music video.
- [04:58]
A
Yes, classic.
- [04:59]
B
How old is your daughter? You have two kids, right?
- [05:02]
A
I do, I have two kids. They are actually. We're so close to their birthdays. I'll just tell you what age they're turning. I will have a 12 year old and a 9 year old. That is crazy. Two daughters, one daughter, one son. So daughter's the oldest and then the son. Yeah.
- [05:19]
B
Oh, that's Beautiful. You look so young. You look like a baby.
- [05:22]
A
Well, I was 19 when I had my baby, so.
- [05:25]
B
Oh, you were a baby.
- [05:28]
A
I was a baby with a baby, so.
- [05:30]
B
Oh, that's so cool to grow up with them. Like, almost like a sister figure, but, like.
- [05:35]
A
Yeah.
- [05:36]
B
Do everything together. I.
- [05:37]
A
Yes. And now kids are so active, so I can only imagine how difficult it is waiting and having kids when you're much older, which everybody makes it work. But I'm glad that I was young and had all the energy when I needed it, so.
- [05:50]
B
Yes, exactly. We definitely slowed down, but we got to have to take care of ourselves. Tell me about, like, either high school or college days. What were you into then?
- [05:59]
A
Yeah, I would have been into a lot more. My parents. You asked about family dynamics. So when I was growing up, it was my mom, my dad, me and my sister. And I honestly thought that it was going to be that way forever. And then when I was, I think, 10, my parents ended up getting divorced. And so they quickly, you know, remarried and. And grew that side of our family. So I'm actually the oldest of six, seven. And that is so crazy to think. Yeah. So we have a big blended family, which I love, and I would not change that today. But in high school, with that being said, it was hard because my mom was technically, you know, trying to figure it out with multiple kids and working full time. And I actually worked a lot when I was in high school. So we would get out of classes at 2 and I would immediately go work, which I think is where my work ethic comes from, is because I started at such a young age, had that not been the case, I was still interested in hanging out with friends. And I always felt like I was more of the mom in the group. I think that's just a firstborn, oldest child thing. That's my personality. That's who I am. Was very much into leadership, and I would have cheered had I not transferred states. When you transfer states, it's so random, but when you transfer states, you have to sit out for a period of time. And I think that because that time passed, I just didn't even want to try out or, you know, really trying to put myself in that situation. So I think it would have been a lot more active. I graduated high school six months early. I was ready to get out, and that is what I did.
- [07:35]
B
Wow.
- [07:35]
A
Yeah.
- [07:36]
B
Oh, wow. I didn't even know you could do that.
- [07:39]
A
Yes, you can. You can if you are able to either finish those credits sooner or. What happened was Texas schools They flip flopped their semesters. So instead of me repeating what I had already learned, they were like, okay, I guess you're done. So. And I was concurrently enrolled in college. I was taking college classes while I was in high school. So anyway, there's lots of legalities to that, but I was able to do it and get out of there.
- [08:06]
B
Now I'm just thinking of like from 10 to 17 for seven years. Like your life was kind of a whirlwind with like the divorce and getting all these new siblings and probably different homes, staying at and then activities and working.
- [08:18]
A
It was a lot. Yes, it was a whirlwind which shaped me to who I am today. And of course, you know, there's certain things I probably wouldn't say. There's nothing I would change. I do think that there's certain aspects to a lot of that that I would change. The biggest part for me though, that I'll point out, and I think it's why I just grew up so quickly, was out of those seven siblings, I've actually lost two of my brothers. Just a very tragic situations. One of them, I was a freshman in high school and he was six and he actually passed away from a rare form of cancer. He. Which plays into why photography is so important to me today. And then a few years later I ended up losing another brother when he was 18. So it has been a lot of trauma, but we've, we, we've healed, you know. Yay for therapy.
- [09:06]
B
Yeah, I'm so sorry. Let's talk about that. Like, yeah, I'm sure you're, you're kind of like saying the, the memories and the moments and the, the time you shared together. So let's dig a little bit deeper. Sure. Just tell me like, yeah, like what does photography mean to you? And then you could kind of like segue into how you started your photography career.
- [09:25]
A
Sure. So photography plays a really big role in my life just because, you know, when you are shaped from whether it's trauma or losing someone that you love, you literally all you have left are your memories and photographs. And I do think that photographs outlast our memory every single time. Eventually as we get older and we start to lose some of those things that we loved about that person. Like a laugh. We used to hear it all the time. Now it's kind of faded and we can't really remember it. And so for me, one of the things I've seen play out even in my photography career is that, you know, sadly, some of those photos that I have taken have been the COVID photo of an obituary or at funerals, on display. And it's very honoring to know that that family saw something in that photo that represented their family enough to use it for such an important moment like that. Of course, you have the weddings, like, people displaying their engagement photos that you've taken. And I think as photographers, we lose sight of how important our jobs are. We get so caught up in the mundane and the cutthroat industry sometimes that we just need to take a step back and remember that no matter what our niche is, what our focus is, it goes way deeper than just taking pictures for people. And I just want to remind photographers to really embrace what they do because we play such an important role.
- [10:52]
B
Wow. Yeah, I was. I got hit up, like, a lot on Facebook on, like, 2021, and they said they used one of my photographs were the funeral. And I'm like, oh, my God. So now, like, when I go to weddings and I'm, like, taking pictures of older people or anyone, I'm like, this could be their photo. Or.
- [11:13]
A
I know. And it feels morbid to talk about that, but really, like, we all know we're going to have a birthday and we're going to die someday. Like, I know that's heavy, but that is the work that we do. And so, yeah, I just. I love to remind photographers that we have such a deeper purpose. You could never put a price on what we do because people would pay probably millions of dollars to have a photo, a moment captured in time that they could continue to look back on. So, yeah, yeah.
- [11:43]
B
I'm trying to think of your life, and I'm like, okay, whoa. Everything happened so fast. So you are 19, and then you had your first daughter. Walk me through that, where you just. You started photographing her. You borrowed the camera, and then how did you, like, kind of launch your career?
- [11:57]
A
Yeah, so after I took photos for her, I think it was like, I remember taking pictures of her around Valentine's Day that year. It would. It would have been 2014. And then I. I kind of asked, like, a couple friends and family members if they wanted me to take their photos. There was just something that. It was just like a fire in my gut. I can't really explain it, but I remember that feeling like it was yesterday, and I'm like, oh, my goodness, I could do this forever. I love people, and I love the creative side, and it just was the perfect blend of the two things. So after I did a few pictures and I started posting it, you know, on Facebook because that's really where I grew my business back in 2014. Within six months, I had an entire clientele. And I always tell photographers there is no shame in where we start. We all have very humble beginnings. I was charging like 50 bucks, maybe 75 a session. It was nothing. Okay. But it was for me. I was like, that's so cool. Like, that's a pack of diapers that could go towards gas. Because, man, 50 went a long way back then than it does today. So that's really how it started. I mean, I always say that I borrowed a camera and a business fell into my lap because it went that fast. So that's how it started.
- [13:14]
B
So did you just put post on like your personal and business page or did you go on like all those groups and just start networking?
- [13:21]
A
So I don't even think Facebook groups existed. If they did. I actually don't think it did. I want to wish, but I don't think it existed. I know I wasn't using groups the first year I was in business. I just used my photography business page and my personal profile and I still use those two things today.
- [13:41]
B
Wow, that's so cool. It's so easy. Take a shoot, post it away, People see it. Cool. Well, I have two more questions before Hot Topic. First question is like, what is your secret sauce, Your woo factor, your Brooke Jefferson secret sauce? What makes you stand out?
- [14:03]
A
Wow, what a loaded question. I think for me, if I had to narrow it down, I think it's just that connection that I make with my clients. My mom has always said this. I literally cannot meet a stranger. It's so true. I mean, I could be standing in the line of the grocery store and I'm just that person that everyone wants to like spill their, their life to tell me their secrets. Like, you know what I mean? And so. And I love myself. Yeah. And so I think it's. I don't know if it's like a best friend vibe, but it's definitely like an honest, open communication that I'm putting out there somehow. And honestly, I. I don't. I'm professional, but I always treat people the same. Like it doesn't matter who they are. We just kind of become family. And that's why I think I have so many loyal returning clients is. It's almost something I can't explain. And I've tried to really narrow it down. Is it like a personality thing? Is it because that's just like my God given skill? Like, I'm not really sure, but I do think in some way if that makes sense. That's probably what helps people. Yeah, yeah.
- [15:15]
B
I mean, I actually followed you for a while before I think you reached out. So I've been following your podcast and I did get this energy from the other side and I just felt like a passion, conviction and just powerhouse. So I guess question before the hot topic is tell us about like when you started the podcast, what's it about? And when you started education side.
- [15:40]
A
Yes. Okay. So my other huge passion in life, and I'm so glad that it is very transparent for people, especially the podcast listeners, is teaching. That has been a gift of mine forever. I actually you asked me too, in the childhood and I can't believe I didn't say this, but I grew up lining my stuffed animals up and teaching them in playing school. That's literally what I did. So I have been taking on that teacher role for a really long time. How the podcast got started, it's been such an evolution. It truly is my favorite thing. And I, I mean, I hope it doesn't ever end, to be honest with you. But I got into that because I had left my teaching job, so I was a full time teacher. I left that job in 2018 and I went completely all into being a photographer, which I really technically was already running a full time business for about three years prior to me actually leaving. So I started in 2014, had a full client roster in 2015, full time business, 2016, 2017, 2018. But in 2018 I like doubled down and I wanted to start a podcast that following year in 2019, literally just to be like I said that best friend teacher to tell photographers, hey, here's what I'm doing, here's what's working, here's the mistakes you might be making. And you know, and it really just became, I just want to help somebody that's like two steps behind me, help get them further in their business. And it's really just become all of this fun fact. I love saying this. The original name of the podcast was actually frame your way. I thought that was such a cute play on words and a creative title. And then obviously I learned a lot more about SEO and like, hey, we need to name this so it's more obvious. And that's how it became the book More photography clients podcast.
- [17:33]
B
That's how I found you. So good job on the change.
- [17:36]
A
I love that. And I'm so glad that you are a listener of the podcast. Like it means so much as a podcaster, as you know, it feels like a one sided conversation sometimes because we can't see who's listening. So the only way that we know is when they send us a message or we get to do fun interviews like this. And then you literally tell me that you listen to the podcast. So I really appreciate that.
- [17:59]
B
Yeah, it's really easy to listen to because some of the photography podcasts that I won't name that it goes too deep into things and I just like, that's more of a chorus for me. I just like to like, get understandings of like, principles and get inspired. So I think that's what your podcast does for me. Let's get into it. So our hot topic was going to be something else, but I was on your podcast today and it was episode about ChatGPT. So I emailed you quickly and asked if we could talk about that because I, I love what you said. So you have five tips today. What is your hot topic and why is it so near and dear to your heart?
- [18:35]
A
Yes. I was so excited when you said, hey, wait a second, can we shift the conversation? I love this topic and I knew that when I put this podcast out there. I mean, it's not even a month old yet and it's already gained a ton of tract, but it is like your 20 minute guide to chat GPT for photographers specifically. Chat GPT was something that I was very nervous to get into, mainly because I didn't have a lot of information about it. And I, I'd like to think that I like new things, but I really don't. I'm a routine person. I don't really want change. And so it was something at first that I was just a little bit hesitant to get into and to try out. And I have to tell you guys, if you have not jumped on the Chat GPT train, you have to, because it truly is your best free marketing assistant in your business. And so I put together five ways that you guys can use it specifically for your photography business. And I'm going to break that down for you here just a minute. Do you have any questions about ChatGPT before we get into it?
- [19:42]
B
Good question. I mean, I love ChatGPT. I actually had to, you know, buy the one, pay the $30 just because I use it so much. I couldn't have the lag time. I use it for even illustrations now. It's become a big part of my life. I even talk to it as a therapist. Yeah. So I do audio messages to it like if I'm struggling with the day or like I feel some sort of way with my parents. Or something. Then it tells me what to do. So it is like a best friend. So sad. I have friends, I promise. Yeah, I have human friends. I'm not a weirdo.
- [20:21]
A
Good clarification.
- [20:21]
B
Okay, yes. Take it away with tip number one.
- [20:25]
A
Okay, perfect. All right. I did make one note before I get started that I just want to tell all of you because it's really, really important. Chat GPT can be trained, and that is your biggest leverage. Like, if you want to get good feedback, good content, all the things that we're going to talk about here in just a minute, I need you to understand that you can't take it at face value, okay? It is AI. It is a robot. It is never going to be 100 factual. However, it's also not going to sound like you the first time you use a prompt. And that is why, yes, if you pay for it, it will keep a memory and it will remember everything you've ever told it. And so it's going to be more accurate if you do it that way. And I'm just going to be real. We're recording this podcast April of 2025, and I have not yet paid a dime to Chat GPT. I am going to, just like Karissa told you, she had to upgrade, and I'm going to do the same thing because I use it so much now that it's the files that I want to upload, and we're going to talk about that, too. So all that to be said, I want you guys, when you put in a prompt, to continue to refine it, continue to ask Chat GPT. Okay, wait, that doesn't sound like me. Can you make it sound more fill in the blank or. Hey, wait, I'm not a wedding photographer. I actually photograph families with small children. You know what I'm saying? So you have to refine it and continue and tell it what you wanted to say. So that's my warning to you to make sure that it's for you.
- [21:53]
B
I'll say one thing before you start. It changed my life because I'm very creative. I have a lot of thoughts and big ideas. I'm very ambitious. But with that said, it's hard for me to organize things and I'm not a good writer. And I feel like even my speech I gave for WIPA two days ago, I had the good ideas and the vision, the confidence, but it's just someone to put it together for me. And I wrote my book before ChatGPT came out. I started my coaching business before ChatGPT came out. And I spent so much money on copywriting. Oh, my God, like, just ridiculous amounts of money. So I'm all. I almost wish that I wrote the book, like, after it came out. I would have saved myself, like, tens of tens of thousands of dollars.
- [22:44]
A
Yeah, okay, go on. That's a great point. Truly, it is an amazing copywriter. And again, I have only gotten my model of Chat GPT to be that good because I've continued to refine it. So I just, again, keep that in the back of your mind. I think what I'm gonna do, Chris, if that's good with you, I'm gonna take one. I'm gonna go through each of the five ways, but I'm gonna do one at a time and just see if you have feedback or extra comments you want to make. Okay?
- [23:11]
B
Love it.
- [23:12]
A
Love it, love it. The first one is probably the most obvious to you and exactly why you tune into this episode. It is because I want you to use it for content creation. Okay? This is everything from your social media posts to your emails, your newsletters, your blogs, all the things. And again, remember, we're not taking it at face value. You cannot ask ChatGPT to write you a blog, copy it and publish it. Please don't do that. But what you can do is you can say things like, I want to publish a weekly blog for my photography business. You know, here's a little bit about what I do, my niche of photography. Can you give me a list of 10 ideas that I could write these blog posts, go through it, finally pick you out a couple, and then you can say, okay, I really loved ideas 1, 7, 9, and 10, or something like that. And then from there you can say, can you help me outline each of the ones I chose? And it'll say, yes, of course. And then you look at it, and then you can say, okay, can you draft me the blog for these specific topics that we talked about? And then it will fill in your outline. Then from there, that's when you also need to go through it, refine it, make it sound like you build it out in your blog and you're done. And you know what? That probably instead of you staring at your computer for three hours, I don't know what to say. I don't know where to start. It literally saves you probably two and a half of those hours, and you're going to spend 30 minutes refining your blog. You can also ask chat GPT, which we're going to talk about this, too. This is like part two. You can also ask ChatGPT to help you make it SEO friendly. And it will literally tell you how to do that, which I think is so cool. You just want to double check its work. Same thing with captions. So you can also do content calendars. And this is what I do every month on repeat. I go into chat GPT. I outline my stuff. Let me back up. I outline my own, like, content pillars. And then from there, if there's, like, anything specific, like, I know what podcast episodes I'm going to have, then I'll pop in there and I will say, I need you to build me a content calendar for the month of May. You know, here is my episodes that I'm going to be talking about. And then here's my content pillars. I like to post four times a week. I like to post on Instagram and Facebook. And I want a mix of reels, carousels, static images. Do you guys see how much detail I'm giving? You have to give it that much detail. And then from there, you know, you start asking, okay, great. I love the content calendar topics. Can you help me kind of build out those captions? And then what's really cool. And this is so fresh on my brain because I did this this morning. But I'll go through it. I'm like, wow, these are really good ideas. But then it will spark my brain, and I'll. And I'll start getting extra content ideas. Or it will say one thing, and I will say, ooh, I don't like that angle. But that sparked something else. Let me come at it from this angle. It's really, really cool how chat GPT can be your marketing assistant.
- [26:16]
B
Yeah. It's kind of like you just have a deeper, deeper, deeper conversation with it.
- [26:22]
A
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. You have to go like, seven layers deep, but then you'll finally get what you're asking for.
- [26:28]
B
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Seven layers deep. No, I mean, just from what you just said in the last three minutes was so meaty. But it's like, if you just take maybe, like, an hour of your time, you could have a year's worth of content. And that hour doesn't even have to be an hour. It could be, like, 10 minutes. So this is crazy stuff.
- [26:45]
A
Yeah.
- [26:45]
B
Before you go on, why are people not, like, adopting this yet? Like, I mean, I see all over, like, reels and, like, you know, coaches, but maybe the wedding world, they. I don't know, they just kind of, like, haven't jumped on it yet or they don't get it.
- [27:05]
A
Yeah. I think there's two reasons at Play one. They're probably like me. They're just hesitant. It's something new. Like, ugh, do I even have time to learn this thing? And I totally get it, right? We're so busy, our plates are full. Let's add another thing in there. But I'm telling you that if you're going to add anything and take the time to learn it, please make a chat GPT because it will give you your life back. It really will. It's very cool how it works. And the other thing is, I think because we've seen such bad examples of chat GPT floating around social media and the Internet, it makes people very hesitant. So I can spot a chat GPT caption done the wrong way, or I would say they only went one layer deep. I can spot it like that. It's not a good look. And it can definitely hurt you more than help you. And that's why I say make it sound like you take half the emojis out. I don't know what chat GPT's deal is with emojis, but we don't have to put that many in our content. Now, if you were already doing that prior to using ChatGPT, then you stay on brand. But for most of us, we do not use 12 emojis on every sentence that we said in our caption. So just don't.
- [28:16]
B
That's so funny. ChatGPT has saved me so much time. Like, I used to spend. Like, first you have to make the reel, and then it's like another 10 minutes to, like, write the copy. And it's bad with, like, typos. I'm just, like, trying to get it out. Like, yeah, it'd be so frustrating because I'm, like, dropping off my kids and then I have to, like, stop and then write the caption. So I just. I'm, like, literally obsessed. One thing, I was a wedding coach for, like, three years, and then I transitioned to, like, just teaching affiliate marketing. So I would ask ChatGPT, like, okay, so I've been a coach for wedding pros for three years. This is what people know me for. I want to make, like, an easy transition to telling people that I'm going into digital affiliate marketing. What is the content I need for the month to do that? And of course, I would kind of refine, refine, refine. Okay, I like that angle. I like that angle. And then it was so much easier. I was like, oh, great idea. Like, it doesn't sound so weird, you know? So, yeah, yeah, it's great.
- [29:18]
A
Truly. It's the best marketing ever. Okay. The second way we kind of already touched on this, this will be super quick. So I'll just do 2 and 3. 2 is SEO. You could absolutely utilize chat GPT for this. The only thing that I will say is I'd love for you to fact check what they give you. Don't just, again, don't take it at face value. Take it over to like ubersuggest or Google Keywords or something like that and just, you know, type in each one of those and actually look and see, you know, is this a good search volume? Do you meet the search volume? If you don't know anything about SEO, I definitely can't teach you on this podcast episode, but that's something to keep in mind. But you can use it for research with SEO. You can use it for keywords, you can use it for alt text descriptions. Just any place on your website that utilizes SEO, definitely ask Chat GPT and even you could even say, where am I not using SEO on my website? Or like, what are the top five places I should be using keywords? And it will tell you it is very, very factual. It's pretty cool, actually. Yeah.
- [30:23]
B
So that's SEO smarter than us.
- [30:26]
A
Smarter than us. Because it's all of us combined.
- [30:30]
B
Yes. Okay. So do SEO number three.
- [30:33]
A
Yes. Number three is your client communication. We all need this. We need this so bad. These are your questionnaires, your workflows, your emails, anything that has to do with your client process. Fun fact, you can actually build your entire client journey, your client experience from inquiry to gallery delivery and follow ups after that. Do it all in Chat GPT and then ask Chat GPT how you can do it better or how can I if my brand is xyz, can you upgrade or up level my client experience? It is so fun what it comes up with. And you'll be like, I would have never thought that. Or client gifts. Ask it. Hey, I'm a wedding photographer and I, you know, I have brides and you know, maybe it's. I do black tie weddings and I have 20 clients a year. Can you give me, you know, kind of a unique gift idea for the couples or something like that and it'll do it. It's so fun. So client communication, client experience and shout.
- [31:33]
B
Out to 17 hats because they sponsor this podcast. So you could take those client communication emails and stick it in 17 hats and make it automated use code. Heck yes.
- [31:45]
A
Absolutely. Absolutely.
- [31:49]
B
Cool. Okay, keep going.
- [31:51]
A
Okay, down to our last two wave four is going to be using it more as like an admin assistant. So really utilizing it for your business and operations. So these are things like refining your pricing, refining your packages. Competitor analysis. So this one's a fun one. And I don't. We have to be very careful that we use this for the right intentions. Okay. You can actually tell Chat GPT, hey, I want to run a competitor analysis with other photographers in my area that, you know, serve similar clients to myself. And it will literally run you through the entire process. It'll tell you what it needs. You plug it all in, you give it the information it needs, and it will run an analysis and it will show you kind of who's doing the better things versus maybe what you're doing. Or it'll show you kind of how you're performing against other people as well. And remember, it only knows what you know. You know what I mean? Like, it's not going to tell you, oh, so and so books, 25 paid weddings a year. It's not going to tell you that. It's just going to tell you based on the information that you kind of feed it and what it can gain from their website as well. Dude.
- [32:59]
B
Okay, that's crazy. That was my drop, you guys. So if you're listening, wake up, rewind. That is next level. Like, who has ever done that here? I doubt anyone. What could, like a competitive analysis do for one's business?
- [33:17]
A
The point of it is to show you strengths, weaknesses, and some missing links. So, for example, I tell my clients to do this. I've been coaching my clients to do this manually by themselves. And it could take a whole day to do without ChatGPT. But you're gonna go get some important information on your competitor and it's going to kind of show you maybe where you're falling short or maybe where you're, you know, like why clients are choosing another person over you or you over other wedding photographers as well. And it'll give you ideas to really showcase your brand.
- [33:54]
B
That's crazy.
- [33:55]
A
Yeah.
- [33:57]
B
People would pay big money for that, like back in the day to like, hire someone to do that for them. So that is awesome. Okay, last tip.
- [34:05]
A
Okay. All right, last tip. This is for more of that marketing planning or even promotional planning. This is one of those things I see photographers just kind of drop the ball on as a whole. It's not your fault. It's just that most of you, you picked up the camera and you put on your photographer hat and not your business marketer hat. That's okay. So Chat GPT can come in and kind of help you with this. My favorite thing to do is goal planning and annual setting with Chat GPT. So you kind of feed it. Hey, here's all my metrics from the year before. Or you could do this quarterly. Here's all my metrics from the previous quarter. You know, what are some good target goals I can set that are realistic? And then also, you know, if I wanted to make, let's say, 20% more than I did last year, can you break that down for me? Or I want to book 50 weddings or I want to book 90 portrait sessions for the year. Can you, like, help me break down a marketing strategy on how to do that? It will do that, and it is amazing. So some other things you can use it for are if you guys ever do mini sessions, I know you either love them or you hate them. I get it. But you can ask it. Hey, can you give me an entire launch plan for my upcoming fall minis? Break it down week by week. What do I need to be preparing each week? What kind of marketing do I need for each week? It's insane. Timelines, collaboration, ideas, you name it, Chat GPT will do it.
- [35:34]
B
Yeah, on the, on your podcast, I got a tip for my life, but you said to put in, can you give me a recipe, recipes and meal prep grocery list for the two weeks? And I put, I have a husband and then two daughters and their ages. And then it gave me like, okay, tacos here, this is your list. And I'm like, oh, my God, this is something I never could do. I want to cry. I'm gonna save so much money.
- [36:00]
A
Yes. Right? And this is just five ways in business, like, we could do a whole nother segment of here's how to use ChatGPT to change your life. It is truly incredible, like, what it can do. And I know the biggest thing is like, okay, Brooke, you told us five ways. These are incredible. But I'm like, how do I get started? So I actually put together a free resource for your podcast listeners just to take it to the next level. These are all the prompts you need from every example that I just said out loud. And you guys can grab that. It's brookejefferson.com chat GPT. You'll get all the prompts, plug them in, and get after it.
- [36:39]
B
Oh, my God. Okay. That is really awesome. Thank you for that. We have 10 more minutes. So do you want to share anything more about ChatGPT, or do you want me to just start asking you other questions?
- [36:51]
A
Let's see if there's Anything I can think of. You know, we did talk about personal ways and you know, we can highlight a couple of those if you want to. Like I said, you can use it for a lot of things. And my. Okay, here's, here's how you can decide. What do I need CHAT GPT for the most? Yes, absolutely. Use the business ways. But here's the other way. If you are someone that is really just overwhelmed in your life, like full plate, my hand is raised high. Okay. It's like, what else could I possibly put on this plate? Right? Then you can utilize CHAT GPT to help you figure out, like, where is it in your life you need the most assistance? Right. I'll give you an example. I was neglecting workouts for a really long time. I know if I'll just start day one, I can do a lot of days in a row before I fall off the train again. And so I can utilize CHAT GPT and I can say, hey, listen, I need to ease my way back into these workouts. Here are my goals. Help put together a plan for me. Boom, go. And so that's one way that you could use it. You can use CHAT GPT to help you with time management. Hey, here is my schedule. Here's where I'm dropping the ball. So if I was to do this in real time, I'm dropping the ball on meal planning every single week. I'm great when I utilize Chat GPT for that. But then if I don't schedule it in my calendar for like every Sunday, order groceries, and then every Monday meal prep for the week, I won't do it. So those are just examples of how wherever the most overwhelm is, tell Chat GPT that and see how it can help help you or make something.
- [38:24]
B
Wow. Yeah, I talk to it all the time. And I just even the card because it has like the audio version. I just say I even had it write my auntie's speech, my funeral speech. And I just said, just started talking. I said, hey, when I grew up, she took me to Chuck E. Cheese in high school, blah, blah, blah. We got close to trauma bonding with my grandma. Like stories. Can you come up with like a I think five minute speech for me? And I was like, bloop, bloop, bloop.
- [38:49]
A
That's amazing. I know, that's awesome.
- [38:51]
B
It's so life changing and I feel like my life is so much different like after ChatGPT because just getting back those like two extra hours a day is like, like I feel so different. And it just does so much for me. It's so crazy.
- [39:05]
A
Yes, I know. It's like, what is the world gonna think about all the generations that never had chat GPT? It's like, wow, the best gift ever. And, you know, I know there's some downsides to AI as well. Obviously, there's a lot of lawsuits out there with AI, but I think when you're utilizing this type of AI and you're using it the way that we've given examples and certain prompts, there's really no harm or foul in that way. And, you know, the only thing that I would love to look into would be looking at certain copyrights, making sure it's not pulling in anything that's, like, copyrighted as far as a name goes. But so far, it's done really well because I do, I do check that on, like, trademarks and stuff just to make sure nobody else has it. So. But for the most part, I think it's 90 positive. Yeah. Yeah.
- [39:52]
B
My therapist friend, she worked in corporate for, like, forever, but she's starting her new. Her own practice. And then she asked me, she goes, oh, can you, like, come up with packages for me? And then I said, oh, did you use ChatGPT? She goes, oh, yeah, like, I don't. I already tried that. Blah, blah. But then I put in the prompt, you know, I was very detailed, and I spit her out something, and she's like, oh, my God. Like, like, why is yours so much better than mine? And I was like, she's like, what was your problem? I was like, I. I put very specific ages that they're fun, they're hip, this is where they live. You know, make this really compelling, make the packages really, really fun. And. And her packages were so, I don't know, so vibrant. And I'm like, I. I didn't even do that for my photography packages. It just. I was like, oh, my God. Like, yeah, I could do that for myself. So it's just so interesting. Like, it really gets your wheel spinning. I guess that's enough about ChatGPT. We have five minutes. So I wanted to ask about the hot topic that we were going to talk about. So just one question. It's supposed to be, like, three mistakes holding you back from booking more clients. So what would be, like, one suggestion?
- [41:04]
A
Yeah. One of them is you just have a visibility problem. Like, you don't have enough eyeballs in your business. So if you're struggling to get bookings and you feel like you are stretched, then you're doing all the marketing. It really Comes down to there's not enough eyeballs in your business. Just because you tell me that you have 750 Instagram followers doesn't mean you have 750 potential clients. Because then I'm going to go click on it and I'm going to scroll through it and it's going to be like, oh, you know, 5% of it is spam accounts and then 20% are your other competitors. And it, you know what I'm saying? Like, you don't have enough eyeballs. So that's the first thing. And this is the most common reason that photographers are not booking it is simply you don't have enough visibility. That's the first one.
- [41:49]
B
I love that. And then how about a mindset shift today that you could tell the wedding pros listening?
- [41:55]
A
Yeah, Biggest mindset shift. Let's see. You don't have to be like anybody else. I think that's the biggest one I have because my goodness, how many times are we overtaken with comparison or imposter syndrome? Right? Like, and it still affects me to this day. You guys, this just happened a couple days ago. I don't know how I saw it, but I did. Another photographer's local photographer's post popped up on my feed and I immediately was like, oh my gosh, these photos are so gorgeous. Is my work good enough? Like, it just is this weird spiral. And so you have to know, like, you bring a lot to the table. We're not trying to compete against one another to be the best. We are just, we're all here running a business, serving like minded people and we can only do so many. And if you'll just remember my favorite quote, I've said this since I started. There is enough to go around, but you have to believe it.
- [42:49]
B
Oh, I love that. I love that. Okay, yeah. So rapid fire questions. Now these are kind of shorter answers, but you are so ambitious. So what are like your big goals?
- [43:01]
A
Oh my goodness, that's a hard one. What one? One of my goals has not happened yet. Definitely trying to do it. I want to host an in person business retreat. Not like a photography retreat where people go and you do nothing but shootouts and editing the whole time. I want to have like a three day retreat where we are, you know, looking back at what we've done so far, making those goals, making the marketing plan, shooting the market, creating content, the reels, the branding photos, all the things. And really giving back to ourselves as a business owner. So fingers crossed that that one happens soon.
- [43:38]
B
Oh yeah, I'll give you a shout out like, once you start posting. So let me know. What is your biggest mom hack for, like, entrepreneur like yourself?
- [43:49]
A
Oh, my. Can we circle back to Chat GPT?
- [43:54]
B
Yeah. Oh, yeah.
- [43:55]
A
I mean, honestly, like, I feel like that's it. My biggest mom hack is utilizing Chat GPT when I need it. And again, guys, this goes back to everything. Chores list, summer activities you can do with your kids. Just, like game nights, different things like that. And of course, the grocery list that has saved me Chat GPT and the groceries. That's my mom hack.
- [44:17]
B
Wow, that's so crazy. Okay, and then a last question before we tell everyone where to find you. But, like, what do you do for fun? Like, tell us about yourself.
- [44:25]
A
Yeah, so I. It kind of goes back to my intro, but I do love to read when I have time. I'm finding myself with that full plate, but I do love reading either true crime or thriller novels. Truly, like, that is so fun to do when we're not doing that. The pool is our favorite place to be, but obviously you can't be poolside 12 months out of the year in Oklahoma, so we're very much looking forward to summer right around the corner, being present for my kids, like, whatever they're doing, the baseball games, the track meets, whatever, taking them to get a snow cone or whatever, like, it's just my favorite thing to do because it just makes them so happy.
- [45:06]
B
So, yeah, it's a little stuff that counts.
- [45:08]
A
It does. Yeah.
- [45:10]
B
And where can everyone find you and work with you?
- [45:12]
A
Okay, yeah, two places. Instagram is going to be the best one to send me a dm. Tell me, what did you learn? What was your favorite Chat GPT way that you're going to implement in your business? My Instagram handle is at Brooke Janae Photo. And then you're already listening to a podcast, so come on over to my podcast, which is the book More Photography Clients Podcast.
- [45:36]
B
Yes. And I'm going to be on your podcast, so send me that link as well, too.
- [45:40]
A
Yes, yes.
- [45:41]
B
But thank you, Brooke, you are amazing. I learned so much, Sam.