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You are listening to the Grow youw Local Business podcast, where local marketing expert and life coach Leslie Presnol shares the strategies and the mindset to help you reach more people in your city and bring in a steady stream of clients. All right, let's dive in.

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Hello. Welcome to episode 91 today. Today I want to talk about getting content whenever you are working with your clients or whenever you are finished working with your clients or whenever you want to share the finished result. So this can be getting any photo or video that you would take to share your work or your process or the transformation or result that you got your client on social media so your potential clients and audience can see the work that you do. And I wanted to record this episode today because I just hear a lot whenever I'm talking to my clients about content creation and getting photos and video for social media. I just hear a lot that, you know, people tell me they never think about it or they forget to get photo and video and they're just busy working with the client and, you know, doing their job that they forget. So they never get any pictures or videos. Video. And so they don't have anything to really share on social media. And so many of my clients, and I know you two are getting your clients amazing results and have these amazing finished products and transformation. And then it's like, wait, I don't have any pictures or video to show for it. So I, I just hear some version of that a lot. Either I, I don't do it, I don't get any photo or video, or I don't think about it, or I just don't remember to. And listen, what I'm about to tell you is not groundbreaking at all, but it's really the only way to solve for this problem. You have to just start to think about it. It's kind of like if you want to start any new habit like drinking water or like going to the gym or anything, we can all say like, yeah, just don't really think about it. But we end up being resourceful to find ways to think about it because that. That we're trying to get is important. So we end up putting going to the gym in our calendar so that we see it. Or if we're trying to drink more water, we set alarms to go off throughout the day to remind us. Or we get those giant jugs of water with the trackers on the side. Like, we just become the person who starts to think about it. Or we create ways to remind ourselves to think about it because we want the result. So first off, I know you want the result that comes comes from sharing more of your finished results on social media because you know that that will likely result in more people seeing what you can do for them and how you can help them. And you help more people in your city get the results they want when you share about it. So that's like two very compelling reasons right there. But also I would just look for any literal, like any evidence you have in your life where there was something that you used to not do that you do now regularly. And it's just who you are because you got started like you just started thinking about it and now it's just who you are and what you do. And it's very normal when we say things to ourselves or to other people, like, yeah, just don't ever think about it. That blocks you from doing it. Like you are automatically setting yourself up for failure because you're telling yourself, well, that's just, I'm just that way. I'm the type of person who doesn't think about it. But what if you decided to be that person? I'm always helping my clients develop very specific systems that they need in their business. And content creation is obviously a really big one. And you likely already have very specific steps that you go through when you're working with a client. You just have to add in getting pictures or video or behind the scenes content into that process. So one of my clients in the localpreneur academy is a hairstylist. And part of her process with every single client is as soon as they finish in her chair, she has this little corner set up in her salon and, and they all go stand in front of her ring light in her salon and they get their photo taken right after they finish. Like it's just part of her process. Just like washing their hair is part of her process. Like she just worked in getting photos into her entire client process. So how can you fit getting photos into when you're already working with your clients? I was recently talking to a client who is an interior designer and she was saying how she works on all these amazing projects and she doesn't ever get any finished photos. So we talked about how when she's making her project checklist and finalizing everything and doing a final walkthrough and you know, all the things that interior designers do that she pencils in extra time for photos, like she just has to start making that part of her plan. And at first she had kind of thought that it would kind of be a Waste of time. And she would be taking her clients time by, like, slowing everything down and taking pictures. But we talked about it and she really thought about her clients, and we found some really good thoughts that served her. Like, of course her clients want the photos to be taken and to be featured. Like, they're so excited and proud of their space too. And look, if you have clients that don't want that, you can always give them the option to say no. Like, you can always ask, can I take your picture? Or can I take pictures of the work we just did and give them the choice, like, yes or no. Like, my esthetician always takes photos as soon as I come in. And again, it's just part of their process. We go in the room and get photos before we do anything. And during my pregnancy, my skin freaked out. Like, you guys might not have noticed, but y' all didn't see me for a minute on video. Like, there was a month early on in my pregnancy. I did not leave my house for a solid month because my skin broke out so badly. It was terrible. And it is. It's finally calming down now, like six months postpartum. But once I started going back to the esthetician, my skin was improving and they were showing me my before and after photos, and you could see the change. And it did look really good. And they asked me if they could share on social media and I was like, absolutely not. Like, no way are you putting that out there. Like, I just wasn't comfortable with it. So if you have clients like that, they will tell you. And I'm not going to be like that forever. Like, I might get something else done at the esthetician later and feel better about being on their social media and not care as much. I was just really self conf. Self conscious and really sensitive about my skin during pregnancy and post partum. But I'm also just one person, and their social media is full of people willing to share their photos. So if someone tells you no, you're also going to have so many other clients that are excited to share and to be featured. Uh, I coached someone recently on this, and they were saying how they struggled to get testimonials because what they did was like, super private and sensitive for their clients. And she was a pelvic floor physical therapist, and she was telling me that her clients didn't want to be featured. And I was like, have they. I asked her, have they actually said this to you or is this just your belief that you're kind of projecting onto them? So you're not even asking them. And then she said that it was totally her, she wasn't asking them at all. And she had the belief that it was super sensitive and private and that they wouldn't want to share. So she wasn't asking. But when she did start asking, people were like, yes, like, let me share my success story. I am super proud of my growth. So just be on to yourself. If you are thinking that your clients don't want photos or even with testimonials, whatever, just be on to yourself. And are you asking or are you also okay with them even if they tell you no? Like, can you handle that rejection? And do you have other options? Like could you not show their faces or could you not use their name? Or do you have any sort of backup plan options that may work for them to make them more comfortable? So here's another example. So I was also recently talking with a client inside the localpreneur Academy and she does these really cool events for kids and she puts together these quests, kind of like escape rooms, but she hosts them like in their backyards and in parks and stuff. It's really, really cool. She's like super creative and comes up with all of it herself and does all these props and it's like super interactive. And she was telling me that she doesn't know how to get content because one, all of her setups are basically the same and that you can't just go taking pictures of other people's kids, you know. So that was the story that she was telling me. So I told her, I was like, okay, so we could stay stuck on that and you just not have any content. But if we were going to be a little bit more curious and maybe open to the possibility of getting content, like, what could we do? And it was like, okay, first off, there is the option of asking permission for parents and there's the option of taking photos of kids but not having their faces in it or getting really close ups, maybe just like their hands or close ups of all the props and the setups so the kids are not even in it. Or there was the option of her getting some of her friends or her own kids for one big photo shoot. And she collects a lot of video and photo all at once. So that's another option for you. If you struggle to get photos with clients in the moment. Can you set up your own mock photo shoot just so you can get content? Like invite your friends and family over and use them as clients. You get video, get photos, get reels, Clips like, as much as you can. I used to work with a florist, and she had, like, this really creative, edgy style. And a lot of the brides that she worked with for weddings just wanted very specific things, you know, traditional wedding things. And so my client felt like a lot of the work that she was doing for the brides wasn't even her most creative best work. And she just continued to grow in a lot of ways. And she was getting so much better at her craft. And the typical wedding just wasn't really letting her showcase that. So she would set up these photo shoots throughout the year where she would just get really creative and make everything how she wanted to make it and just go all out and really show off her style and make exactly what she wanted. It was just really cool. But it was just a time for her to be in inspired and show her best work. But she would plan for these shoots in advance. She'd get a photographer, she'd get models. I think she would even partner with other people. So if you want to, if you want to shoot your own stuff for content, like, of course you don't have to be this elaborate, but do make a plan for it. Like what's going to really showcase your best work and the transformation and the results that you get your clients, and what's going to really show what the experience of working with you is like. Okay, so that is what I have for you today. If getting content of your work and of your clients and what you offer is a struggle, you have to start planning for it. And right now you're probably leaving it up to chance. And if you remember it or if you have time, and that's going to continue to hold you back. So you have to become the person who, who solves for this. Okay. And of course, if you want more support, you can come join us inside the LocalPreneur Academy. We can really help you plan your content, what to say, how to say it, so you can have a solid plan that you feel really confident in. So click the link in the show notes and come join us and I will talk to you next week. Hey. If you enjoyed today's episode, I want to invite you to check out my program, the LocalPreneur Academy. This is the only program for small business owners who want to become the local go to in their industry with a steady stream of clients. You can find more information@lesleypressnell.com and I'll see you inside.