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Have you been wondering how you can up level your marketing? Maybe you want to scale your business by attracting what you want to be photographing? Or maybe you’ve wanted to scale in a different way with digital products? I am so excited to share the mic with a very special guest for All Angles first interview episode. Nicola Dixon is the expert on styled shoots and digital products. She is passionate about teaching all things digital products and inspiring female photographers to go after a better life. Whether that be through leveling up their portfolio, changing their mindset, or passive income, she is here to help you take your photography business to the next level.
We chat all about attending or planning styled shoots intentionally, how styled shoots have the ability to completely change the course of your business and what you’re photographing, tips for casting a vision, and more of her expertise on digital products and launching them in your business. So tune into episode 5 of All Angles Photography Podcast to soak up all of Nicola’s knowledge on how to take your photography business to the next level!
Nicola’s Photography Journey
Nicola is a launch strategist and wedding photographer based in Mallorca, Spain! She’s been in the photography business for about 6 years and was doing styled shoots before they were even a thing. In the very beginning of her photography career, she went to a conference where the main message was “only show what you want to shoot”. She left the conference feeling confused and like “how am I supposed to do that when I don’t have any weddings to shoot?” It was back when styled shoots weren’t really a thing, so she created her own styled shoot! Everything just fell into place after that. She did about 50-60 styled shoots with Wild Ones. Because of that, she was able to find her style pretty quickly and scale her wedding photography business faster than most.
She launched her first digital product in 2019 and fell in love with the process of creating and launching digital products. When she created her first digital product she “really wanted to create one, but was just piecing it all together” herself. So she went ahead and created a course herself for creating and launching digital products for on photographers. Her business has taken a few twists and turns especially due to the pandemic, but she’s “sort of 50/50” with shooting weddings and the coaching side of things. So all of that to say, she’s an amazing trailblazer in the industry!
How Did Digital Products Scale your Business?
With Covid, Nicola realized that “having multiple streams of income and passive income was probably the best way to scale and grow your business.” She’s always loved podcasts and business books and the common thread of them all was passive income. Nicola used to live in England, but the lack of sunshine really didn’t do it for her. “I had list of life want and I realized that I was waiting to live the life I really wanted… What financially made it viable for me (to move to Mallorca) was my digital products. So I’m no longer trading time for money… They allow me to scale my business without working more.”
“We are all chasing these sort of 6 figure businesses, and I think we are all realizing what does being rich and wealthy look like?… Being wealthy to me is also having time! I want a business that works for me instead of me constantly working for the business. Digital products have changed my life because they’ve earned me money which gets me security, freedom, and safety.” There definitely comes a point in your photography career where you just don’t have more time to give and the only way to scale is with digital products. I haven’t jumped on the digital products stream yet, but I fully back everything Nicola teaches and have learned so much from her.
When is the Perfect Time to Create Digital Products?
Digital products have really changed Nicola’s life and business. So we wanted to chat more about how to know when it’s time to create one in your business. “As photographers, we are trading time for money. There are only so many weekends per year. Maybe you only want to shoot a certain number of weekends or spend more time with your family. That’s how you make up that income with a digital product. If you’re fully booked, then it’s time! You’re at your ceiling of how much money you can make… Another is hitting a pricing ceiling…which was a really big one for me.”
One reason that she said doesn’t normally get mentioned is, “if you feel like you have something to teach, if you’re a passionate educator, if you love working with people and love changing people’s lives”. “You might just feel super passionate about something and help another photographer on their journey.”
You can check out Nicola’s freebie on 7 clues that it might be time to launch a digital product here if your interest is peaked!
What if I Don’t Have a Huge Following?
No matter who you are, you may feel as if you don’t have a whole lot to contribute to the education world. We all have our own experiences and personalities. Someone may feel that they relate more to you than another photographer so never feel like you aren’t needed in this space. Even Nicola says “you don’t need to have 10,000 followers, you just need to maybe get 20 weddings per year… If your audience is engaged and interested in what you have to say, then it doesn’t matter how many followers you have.”
She continues, “Email list is where you make the sales now a days rather than Instagram, so don’t get too hash up about that either”. According to Nicola, your strategy behind your launch is more important than your following. Just like the couples you shoot, they are choosing you for you. So never feel like “who am I to do this?”. She agrees though that “It’s really kind of quite terrifying, but if you don’t do it someone next to you is going to do it.”
How Do Styled Shoots Attract Dream Clients?
Styled shoots have really helped me with my move from Tennessee to Colorado. I was trying to book shoots in Colorado, but had no shoots to show couples in Colorado since I still lived in TN. So styled shoots really helped me be able to expand my portfolio in the mountains and start getting Colorado bookings. According to Nicola, it helped her as well with her move from England to Mallorca.
“If you want to shoot destination, then you have to shoot destination.” She said, “I myself had to go back to the beginning a bit. I did have to come out (to Mallorca) last summer and create some content. I had to be really intentional with that content.” “Value based content. Always thinking of your ideal client and how you can serve that person”. “What is my ideal client walking around wanting to know and how can I serve them.” Using styled shoots really helps you create intentional content. Being intentional with the content you put out is key to attracting your dream clients.
More From This Episode
How do you cast a vision for a styled shoot? Is the photography digital product market too saturated? Where is the line of copying versus finding your expertise in this space? How have styled shoots taken her business to the next level? How did she start shooting at her bucket list locations? What’s the greatest piece of advice Nicola has received? (It’s a good one!) Press play for a deep dive into how styled shoots have the ability to completely change the course of your business, tips for casting a vision, and more with Nicola.
Now that you are feeling inspired to get out there and launch a digital product. Nicola has been kind enough to offer 15% off her course bundle Creating and Launching a Digital Product. You can find it at www.nicoladixon.co . The code for 15% off is CLAIRE. Take a look around her website for more courses, education around styled shoots, and her own podcast Learn to Launch. And lastly, if you’re looking to be inspired by all things European, island content, give Nicola a follow at @nicoladixonphotographyco.
For even more education hitting on all angles of running your dream photography business, head over to the blog!
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