[00:00:00] Hey everyone. This episode's gonna be a little bit different here. This is actually a live stream that I did with Daniel Livingstone. Daniel is a Chicago based photographer Here. He interviews me and asks me questions about both my photography business and my education company, creative Biz Launch. Stay tuned for this episode.
Some examples do require a visual aid, so you can follow along on pet productions.com or creative biz launch.com to help you with that. Excited to share it with you this episode. Welcome to the Creative Biz Launch Podcast, where we talk about how to grow your creative business and scale to six figures.
Whether a photographer, filmmaker, or designer, you'll find something of value here. Hello. Hello, hello. Welcome everyone to the live stream. My name is Daniel Livingstone and today we are here with Chris Pieta who is joining us to talk to us a little bit about creative business entrepreneur. Thanks . And uh, we're gonna get into a little bit of chant, G B T later, so make sure you stay tuned for that.
Welcome, welcome, welcome, [00:01:00] Chris. How are you doing today? Hey Dan, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here. Excited to talk Creative Business Chat, g p t. Awesome. So, a little introduction for Chris. Chris has been doing product photography. Four years, he is now teaching about the business side of photography and other creative professions.
And his goal is to give creatives the resources and tools that they need to reach their goals and live their ideal lifestyles. Does that all sound about right? Yeah. Perfect. Awesome. So, um, just to start off and give us a little bit of context. Uh, I wanted to jump right into your website and show us some of the work that you do creatively.
Mm-hmm. . Yeah, that sounds great. So, uh, we're here on your Pieta Productions page. I can let you scroll through and just run us through what your website is all about. All right. We're sharing my screen here. Mm-hmm. . All right, sweet. Uh, so this is my production company's website, Keta Productions star of this company, uh, almost four years ago now.
And right away you see the headline. We help food and [00:02:00] beverage CPG brands increase sales with product photos and gifts. So that's kind of what we do. We do pro photography for, uh, food and beverage brands. So you can see. There's a lot to unpack in just this one statement here. Um, well, and we clearly have a niche inside of product photography, but also deeper into the food and beverage space.
Um, next this statement also shows exactly what result we deliver to clients. We don't just say we take pretty photos for clients or that we take amazing photography. We actually tell the, whoever goes to the website what, what result they can expect when they work with us. And this allows us to. , um, pretty much work with more clients because we clearly portray our, our return on investment right from the start here.
So clients know exactly what they're getting when they work with us. Um, . So Chris, what led you to deciding to pick the niche of product photography and then even further a niche within a niche of specifically food and beverage? [00:03:00] Yeah, so, um, when I first started photography back in 2017, Um, I actually started doing like cityscapes and landscapes because that was what was around me.
I would go out to Chicago, um, with my camera, didn't really know what I was doing, but I would try and experiment, um, go out to sunrise meetups, just walk around the city and try and capture everything that was around me. And through that I got really good photography. I started getting people saying, Good at this stuff.
I like her work on Instagram, so I want to try and monetize that kind of photography, the landscapes and the cityscapes. So like most photographers, I started selling prints on my website and quickly learned that wasn't gonna really cut it unless I want to become like the top 0.01%. Like landscape photographer.
Yeah, I know. Fine art has a really rough, uh, like market of competition. Yeah, yeah. It was, uh, yeah, a lot of competition there. And I had, I honestly wasn't good enough to be. Galleries or anything like that. So started exploring other [00:04:00] areas. Um, at first I did a bunch of like portraits, head shots, worked with some models doing lifestyle photography, um, but didn't really know how to scale that.
And also, um, covid was happening, so no one was really pursuing that kind of stuff. So that kind of led me down a rabbit hole of figuring out how other photographers made money. Um, and at the time, this was in 2019, um, I didn't really, no one was really sharing the tips and tricks, um, on how to. Make money with photography, which is kind of what, um, I'm doing now.
Um, but that's another story. Um, so I started researching what other people are doing, and then I stumbled across prod photography, which seemed like it made a lot of sense because my photos would help other brands make money, right? So if I can help someone else make money, then theory they should pay me for that kind of stuff.
So that was the idea. Um, but I didn't have any clients to my name, so I had to one, learn product photography, learn all about lighting setups, all this. Off. Um, and from there I started pitching myself to brands. At first, it [00:05:00] was like local coffee shops in the Chicago area, restaurants, and, um, over time graduated to bigger and bigger brands.
But getting, my first client was actually, I just walked into a coffee shop. Um, Saw what they were doing, offered my services and ended up getting them as a client. And this first client, I think I was charging something like $10 a photo, which is super, super cheap for pride photography. But that's a good deal.
Yeah, I was stoked to have them as a client because it meant someone was willing to pay me money for my, my skillset, which felt incredible. So from that, it just kind of blew up into what it is today. Um, just doing more and more outreach. Um, it really was a numbers game a lot of the time. So that's kind of how I, I got into product photography, the food and beverage space.
It kind of came naturally to me, um, because I was, my background is in chemistry and I worked for like a food and beverage company doing regulatory work. So I kind of knew some stuff about the industry. Um, so I just kind of picked as a niche, just kind [00:06:00] of randomly, no, no, uh, real thought behind that. But it, it worked for me so far.
Um, is it the best niche? I don't know. Um, was it the best one for me at the time? Was. That's great. Um, so walk us down your website. Let's see what kind of, uh, things that you show or what your first impression to a creative client would be. Yeah, yeah, for sure. So, um, with photography websites, I'm of the belief that you shouldn't really hide your portfolio away.
It should be like front fronton center for websites. Especially true for beginner, intermediate photographers. My website's a little different nowadays because I'm mostly doing, um, I'm teaching other creatives how to get clients. I'm not actively looking for a new client, so my website's a little bit different.
Um, but at the very start here, you have this little 92nd video that I recorded. Uh, I'm not gonna play here. If you wanna watch it, feel free to go on my website. But it's really just a quick like sales pitch about who I am, what, uh, my company does, how we've helped other clients, and kind of like the [00:07:00] offerings that we have.
And through this, Show a few examples and really give people a rundown of what I do, um, which is a nice touch because most, um, photographers don't do this kind of thing. So it helps me stand out. And then the first thing that you see here is an example of some work that we've done. So some product photos here again, the portfolio right there, they don't really have to scroll to see it.
Plus a quick little stop motion to give them an idea of what stop motion gifts. I really like the stop motion shot. Like when I pull up the site for the first time, that little moving strawberry like array really caught my eye and I could not stop staring at it. So like motion moving elements on a website are so helpful for just catching and holding attention.
If you don't do gifts, you should start doing gifts. If you do videos for a web friendly format, consider converting some video clips into gifts as well. , some sort of element in your screen that catches attention. Mm-hmm. . Yeah, exactly. Gives are a great way to stand out. Um, and from here you can go ahead, click into the portfolio to really [00:08:00] see more of the, the product photography that we do, um, but.
Not gonna get into this right now. The landing page, again, is really important to, um, the potential clients because you can spend a lot of time perfecting a landing page. Um, and it, it is important to have a really great one, but at the same time, um, you want the landing page to just be a good, good way to showcase your portfolio, which mine isn't right now because, um, well, I mentioned earlier, but if we scroll down here, um, you'll, you'll see some new things that.
Photographers don't have. So right away I call out how my company is different from other companies, and we have three things here. We offer a custom mood board with people. We do like project tracking, so clients know exactly where they are in the shoot process and then, um, they get a gallery for final approval.
So they get to choose. If it's a 10 photo project, they get 20 photos to choose from. So right away we convey some value of why we're different, [00:09:00] which is huge. Um, next my company also. Is a hundred percent money back guarantee, which I think is something very important that you should be offering, especially if you're just starting out, because it'll set you apart from the masses.
And you might be thinking that, oh, if I do a project and the client wants their money back right away, that's gonna suck for me when you're starting out. Um, even if they do ask for their money, which they probably won't, you're gonna get one. You're gonna get some more work for your portfolio and you're gonna be able to say that you worked with this client.
Um, Money back guarantee kind of forces you to provide like the best work possible. So, The goal with client work is to help your clients with whatever they're paying you for. So if there's a money back guarantee on the line, then you're gonna work your ass off for this client and you're gonna one, have a better result for the client, which means they're gonna talk about you more to their friends, which in turn is gonna get you more clients.
Um, other than that, when there's, when you're a [00:10:00] beginner photographer, there's risk involved with working with you and this just eliminates the risk of working with you. So you're gonna get more clients early on. So, Chris, I, I've. Money back guarantee proposal on not only your website, but in your, um, educational content promoting this, this process.
Have you ever worked with a client that actually took you up on this and requested all their money back? Yeah, we had one, one client actually come back and ask for that, um, for their money back. And it kind of sucked because I felt like we did everything in our power to provide the best assets possible.
And then we obviously asked them like, what could we have done differently? Of this, everything was good. It's just not what we expected. When I asked them what kind of photos they expected, they just told me I don't have any screenshots I can share. I just know in my head what I like and I can't really provide examples.
So it's kind of a frustrating situation, but it happens. Um, and it's uh, just cost of doing business. Great. Yeah. [00:11:00] And one last thing with this money back guarantee. Um, even though we did get a client to ask us for their money back, um, Didn't offer the money back guarantee, we would work with less clients.
So this allows you to work with more and more clients, which in the long run is going to be more profitable for the, for your company, even if the occasional client does ask for their money back. Have you had, um, other clients, uh, like refer to this money back guarantee? Like saying like, oh, we noticed this and we like, appreciate.
Bring this up. Uh, yeah. I've act, I've had people say, yeah, those exact words, that's, um, that they haven't seen anyone else do this and help them make the choice to work with me. So it actually can be like kind of a make or break deal. The, the money back guarantee method? Yeah, for sure. Like if, um, I'm, if a potential client is comparing my website to someone else's website and our portfolio looks identical and everything else is identical.
This guarantee is gonna be the breaking point [00:12:00] between choosing that wall photographer you're gonna go with. Uh, and for reference to everyone joining us for the live stream, all of Chris's links are provided and attached to the stream. If you wanna follow along on his website with that, that's linked in the sidebar.
Uh, there are additional links that we'll get into later in the stream that you can also follow along with, so definitely check those out. Sweet. All right. So moving down here. Um, this is something I add. Uh, it's just me comparing myself to other typical, uh, people inside of mine niche. So kind of showing ways we stand out versus other photographers.
I mean, this is a classic thing a lot of websites do. Um, don't really feel like I need to get into this too much here. Uh, this next section I really like. Um, I think everyone should have something like this kind of walking through your process of how you work with clients. So here you can see. The five stages of working with my company.
So it starts off with a discovery call. Um, if you click through here, you can see why we do this. So on the discovery call, we try [00:13:00] and figure out what the client's needs are, if we're the best fit for them, if they're, um, the best fit for us. If it makes, if it makes sense financially for both parties. And from here we either say, Hey, this seems like a good fit, and then we'll send you a proposal.
Um, after the client signs on to work with us, there's a small onboarding period, so we send them a. Form to fill out with exactly what they need from the project. So whether that's, um, they need photos, videos, if they need specific aspect ratios for like a hero image versus social media content, we'll figure that out during this onboarding form.
And then we'll have a prep call with them. So it'll be a quick 30 minute zoom call where we walk through their onboarding form answers. We'll create a mood board to showcase what we're envisioning for the shoot, and then just answer any questions that the client has. Make sure that. Committed to working with us.
So we're gonna provide a lot of value early on before even doing any photography. We're showing them that we're already on their team. We're trying to do the best work possible, [00:14:00] and we're doing that through this onboarding, um, and prep call. Um, and if we do the onboarding prep call right, that also means that we're.
Most likely not going to have to do a money back. Give them the money back because if we did everything right, we're on the same page and our guarantee, um, they're not gonna take us up on that. Right? Um, so next, the way my company does it, we do photo proofs. So let's say a client wants tw uh, 20 final photos from us, right?
It's like a big marketing launch and they want 20 final photos. What we'll do, we'll shoot a lot more than 20, we'll do 30, maybe 40, and send those photos to them to choose from so they can pick their favorites from the set. Um, they're in control here. They get to choose whatever they want. If they want our input on these, sure, we'll help them out with, uh, picking the best photos from the shoot.
But again, this is helping the customer experience, making sure that they're happy with the results. Um, and just something that we've been doing since, uh, I started the company. And last [00:15:00] step of the process is they get the found deliverable. So, With the photos and them over and everyone's happy. Awesome.
Well, that was a phenomenal run through. Um, I've actually considered doing this whole, um, cuz this is, this is, uh, client education essentially, and it's, it's making your audience more aware of what you do and how you do it to make sure that you're the right fit for them. I've considered doing like, uh, intro video, essentially just explaining a little bit how I work, uh, incorporating a lot of BTS stuff in there.
I've still yet to make it. Definitely in the back of my mind once I kill all the other tasks on my to-do list. . Yeah, we all have those, uh, long, long to-do lists and it seems like in the chat we have a Creative Biz launch student in here. Uh, John Luongo, uh, we are doing very well and thank you for joining the chat and thank you for saying hello.
Hey, how's it going? He said Chris's fulfillment works well, worked with a client who has more confidence with the shoot after using this. Us. So there you go. There's a good testimonial for you right here in the chat. Yeah, [00:16:00] that's great to hear. Yeah, the stuff works like I'm living proof, my students are living proof, so try and teach as many people as I can about this stuff because this is how you provide like a great customer experience, and that's a great transition into our next.
Concept, which is Creative Biz Launch. So tell us a little bit about what Creative Biz Launch is, what it's doing, what's going on right now? Uh, sure. Am I still, uh, sharing my screen here? Yeah. All right. So let me start by talking about why I started this company, uh, creative Biz Launch. Um, in early 2021, I started YouTube channel.
Um, here, I'll just pull that up here. Um, to teach other creatives pretty much how to start their own businesses. Um, at the start, I wasn't me just teaching photography principles, so like exposure triangles, stuff like that, but over time it started to, I started teaching small concepts from the PI production side.
Like, Hey, this is how you run a discovery [00:17:00] call. This is how you send a proposal. So I start doing videos like that and those start to really resonate with people, um, just on YouTube. Instagram. So I started getting comments like, Hey, I was able to land a client because of what you said in your video. Or like, Hey, I was able to charge a client a thousand dollars more than I would normally have.
And then I got a comment one day that was like, Hey, I was able to quit my job because of what you've taught on YouTube. So hearing things like that really gave me a lot of fulfillment and maybe realize I can help a lot people by teaching this stuff because no one really taught like the creative business stuff on YouTube or really on Instagram when I was starting out.
So I just want to become the resource I never have. I never had. Um, so I did the YouTube, I've been doing for a little over two years now. Um, all free content and then, at the end of last year, I came out with my program called Creative Biz Launch, which, um, was a, it's a paid program that walks people through step by step how to start their creative business.
It's like essentially [00:18:00] everything in my brain that I've learned over the past four years put into a, a program. Um, and that's been kind of my mission the past, like four months, just building this out to become the best program on the internet. Um, so I don't wanna make this like a sales pitch for this program.
If you go to creative fis launch.com, I do have like a free workshop that essentially walked you through the steps that you should take to get your first paying client. Um, so we've had over, uh, 1600 students enrolled in this, uh, free workshop, which is a really great resource. It's about half an hour long.
Um, and it'll give you the training you need to get those first clients. So we talk about finding your niche, um, how to do cold outreach, how to actually land clients, great resources to just get started out. We also have some. Free content on create biz launch.com as well. Um, but the free content is only, is pretty limited.
So I had to create this paid program to really work with people in a, um, in a program setting as well as coaching calls [00:19:00] to kind of provide them with the best strategies I have and, um, a complete system to really start their own businesses. Awesome. If anyone's interested in checking out this, um, promotion on this website, that is also linked in the.
Stream in the assets tab. Go check this out. If you wanna check out that free work. If you are still unsure about this, I would highly suggest checking out Chris's YouTube channel and Instagram page as YouTube is also linked in the assets for as much free content as you want to get an idea of what he teaches and how he teaches.
But I can also attest that this program is legitimate. I myself am not a student, but I do have some peers in the Chicago community that are enrolled in this, and they've only said good things so far. Awesome. Happy to hear that. Yeah, and like Dan mentioned, we have lots of free content. Uh, whatever social channel you're on, we've got free content.
There's a free newsletter, free podcast, YouTube, Instagram, all that. Just look up my name and I'll be there. So [00:20:00] Chris, I have to ask you, AI is the big thing right now. What do you know about AI and how does that apply to what we do as s Yeah, so everyone's talking about ai, especially with, uh, chat, G P T, kind of like taking over, like we've heard it's been like the fastest growing app of.
Um, there's like that stat where it took Instagram like two years to get a hundred million users, I think, and it took chat, G P t I think it was three months, something like that, which is like a crazy fast growing, growing, uh, platform. And there's good reason for that. Um, a lot of people are scared of ai.
A lot of people are unsure how to use it. Um, whether it's ethical or not, there's a lot of questions that come up. What we know for sure is that's not going away. It's. Here and we might as well embrace it. So, um, I actually came out with like a free chat g p t like cheat sheet a couple months ago and it's already like, gotten over a thousand downloads.
It's, so, it's clearly people want [00:21:00] to learn about this thing. Um, why would someone need a cheat sheet for chat? Chat, G P T? Can you get a little more into like, what it is and, and how someone would use it? Yeah, let's pull up here. Um, is my screen still up? Yep. Sweet. Um, chat, g p t. It's this, it's like a chat bot that you can ask questions to anything you want.
Um, it's pretty limited by the questions that you ask it though, so you can ask it like, how do I take a pretty product photo? Um, which is what most people would start with. Or you can get more specific and ask like, Hey, I have a client that's trying to promote their product at this trade show. Um, Cranberry sauce or whatever.
How do I take a creative photo that will get people talking about this? So the more specific you are with the prompt, the better, um, answer you get from Chachi PT will be, uh, the chichi also walks through like common examples of photographers, like what we would use it for. [00:22:00] So, um, let's talk, I actually used it today for a client situation.
I had a client that, or a lead actually, Want to work with me, um, a while ago, come back and ask if I was still offering the same services I was back then. Um, and they told me that they were looking for cheap photos, which is usually a red flag, right? You don't wanna work with clients that start the conversation with, with, uh, cheap photos.
So I pretty much asked Chad pt, I gave it the context of the situation. I was like, Hey, um, let's walk through this right now. So let's say, um, one of my clients emailed. Me asking how cheap I can do a photo project. Four. Um, this seems like a red flag. I normally charge a hundred bucks a photo. How can I convey my value to this client?
So common [00:23:00] situation that a lava experience. Um, so here at Chat, petite just prompts us like how we can respond to this. And so it tells us it's understandable to feel concerned when a potential client asks for a cheaper rate. However, before jump into conclusions, it's important to clarify what they're looking for and why they're requesting a lower price.
So it tells us in your response to the client, you can start by thanking them for their interest, um, and letting them know you typically charge a hundred bucks a photo. You can then ask. Them for more specifics about their project and what their budget is. This can help you better understand their expectations and determine whether there's any room for negotiation.
Um, if after discussing their needs and budget, you feel that your original rate is fair and reasonable, you can explain to the client to value of your photography. Your value includes things like expertise, experience, equipment, and time. You and effort. You print your photos, you can also highlight any unique qualities or styles, um, that set you apart.
So here it tells us like how we can actually pitch ourselves to this. Um, but the good thing about chat bt is you can go further than that. You can actually tell them, [00:24:00] okay, great. Write me an email response. So now it'll write you the actual email that you can send your client in the situation. Um, so this is ex exact script that you can actually copy and paste, which I wouldn't recommend, but it gives you something to go off of here so you can read through this, see how you can make it better, um, simplify it and make it specific to your own, uh, situation.
So it. Like someone that you can, like, bounce ideas off of and really help you with this client situation that you're experiencing. So this is just one use case of like the thousands that you can help out, uh, photographers, designers, really any creative. This is incredible. Um, so I have a couple questions before we dive even further into this.
One. Is this program free to use? Uh, yes. So it's, it's free to use, um, but there is a paid version, uh, that's $20. Which is honestly a no-brainer because of how powerful this program is. The paid version just gives you the [00:25:00] latest version of chat, G p T, which is slightly better and smarter. Okay. Uh, do you need to have an account on this site to use it or can you just use it on any browser?
From any device? Uh, you do need an account, but it works on any browser, on any device. I think I just have my Google account hooked up to it and yeah, free to use. It's uh, just easy to get started and just start asking it questions. . Another thing that was interesting that I noticed in your example was, uh, I think with most people who are unfamiliar with AI tools and how developed they actually are, people are so conditioned to talk to machines like machines and kind of type in a minimal keyword search basis.
Uh, like how you'd google things by using the least amount of like important highlight keywords. But with chat G B T, you're kind of talking to it like it's a person almost like you're having a conversation with it. You're expressing feelings, you're. Same thoughts you're using correct grammar. Mm-hmm.
Yeah. You bring up a great point there. That's, I think, [00:26:00] part of the reason why this software is so powerful, because it's almost like talking to another human. You, you can just ask it like questions as you would ask someone else in the exact same, uh, language and the grammar and everything. And, uh, people feel more comfortable asking questions and conveying ideas in that way.
So, um, let's say. This email prompt. Uh, after discussing the chat gpt my current situation that I wanted to solve. Um, you mentioned that you would not suggest just copying and pacing this out, so you would read through this, and how would you go about kind of combining the way that this program talks versus how you personally interact with your clients?
Yeah, so that's a big thing, right? Uh, this program, like from my years of like knowing how to deal with clients and like dealing with all these situations, I know like what's. what should be said for the most part. Um, this is just like a tool to help me kind of think of more ideas. So let's, let me read through this real quick and see what I would change here.
Um, one like this [00:27:00] email is, I think, too long here. Um, and clients prefer to read shorter emails here. Um, but thanks for reaching out about your photo project. Glad you're interested. Um, this first paragraph here seems fine. Nothing really to help, uh, that would change with this one. Second one's asking to better understand their projects.
So more details on what the purpose is. Um, here asking for the budget, I don't think I would recommend. Um, when clients tend to not want to talk budgets, I would just say what you charge and leave it at that. And then if they, that they're gonna come back with a number they have in mind. So I don't think there's a reason to really ask for a budget.
Um, you can also cut out one of these sentences if you don't really need this kind of stuff. Um, Lastly, talking about your value here. So I actually think, Che, you got this value wrong here. Your value proposition isn't your experience or your expertise or your equipment. Clients don't care [00:28:00] that you have a $5,000 camera.
They just want the final result here. Um, you're talking about what goes into the final result, which clients don't really care about. They don't care if they're working with a photographer that has two years experience or 10 years experience if the result and result is gonna be the same here. So that's not really adding to why you're charging a hundred dollars more.
Like sure in your head it might be, but in the client's mind, they just care about the final image. Um, so I would actually, instead of talking about the value being your experience and your expertise, I would talk in the client's needs. So like, Hey, if this. Photos can help, uh, sell more of your cold brew coffee or whatever.
Or this can provide a better launch for your upcoming, um, product or it could help with your Black Friday sale. So talking in terms of how these photos will help them make more money, help them grow their brand, will be a better way to convey your value rather than focusing about yourself. You wanna talk about, um, the client, not like how good you are, right?
Yeah. So that's pretty much what I would [00:29:00] change with this, um, with this email. Again, it's really important to know like the fundamentals of this kind of stuff, which is why I share all my content online. Um, but once you do understand how to, uh, work with clients, chat Patee becomes a very, uh, powerful resource.
So, uh, I saw you pull up your cheat sheet a little bit. Are there any specific tips that you could give us from your cheat sheet that would, um, be great for like a beginner who's never used the program before? Just ways to start using it. Uh, ideas on how this could be used that would be beneficial. I feel like whenever someone starts something Yeah.
That has literally a world of opportunities. The hardest part is deciding where to start. Here. I'll send the, um, first off the cheat sheet's free. Um, so I could send a link per people download that. Perfect. Can they also find this on Creative Biz Launches website? I don't think I have it linked on the main website.
Um, it's something I just usually plug in, like videos and stuff. [00:30:00] Um, but I sent it in, uh, our Zoom chat so you can paste into perfect the livestream. Um, but chat PT is as powerful as like what you ask it. So I think this right here is really important. So we're talking about how we're prompting the software, so we need, instead of asking it, how do I take better photos?
You need to be more specific. So here I have this formula that I created. Yes, you ask, you have like a main piece of the prompt, then you have a niche component, then you have context, and then you add more details. So an example here, um, so write me a cold email for a chocolate company. I'm a photographer selling product photo packages and make it funny.
So here, We have the main prompt, which is write me a cold email. We have the niche, so chocolate company. Um, you give it context, so you're a photographer, um, selling producto packages. And then we add more details. So make it funny. And this is compared to a bad prompt, which would just be write me a cold email.
So the more [00:31:00] specific we can be, the better, uh, results we're going to get out of the software here.
That's fascinating. Almost the exact same conversation we just had about like not using keyword searches like we're used to. We kind of have to approach this in a very different way than we're used to with our search engines. Mm-hmm. . Yeah, it is a little bit of a learning curve there for sure. Like different way to, to think about this stuff.
Um, but it is fascinating and the best way to learn about it is to honestly play around with it. But there are, I can think of like dozens of use cases. Almost every creative can start using it for like today. What are your top three uses of chat g p t? Aside from just writing emails or helping with emails?
Yeah, so if we're talking in terms of being like a product photographer or something like that. Sure. Um, a great thing could be like asking it for ideas for an upcoming photo shoot, so you can ask it for ways. Style, a coffee scene or style, um, whatever product you're photographing. So you can give it context of, Hey, I'm [00:32:00] working with this brand.
I do action product photography. I want, can we run that in the program right now? Yeah. Uh, let's, let's do it. Oh, my other question is, is chat g p t based on a person's account where it tailors results based on how much you use it or your previous, um, interactions you've had with it? Or is it pretty one-to-one?
If I gave it the same prompt that you gave it, we would get the exact same result. Um, so to answer the first part of your question, it's not based, it doesn't learn, um, about you or like it's not based on your account. Um, so every time you ask a question in a new chat window, it's gonna give you a different response.
Um, but throughout the chat conversation. So if we just keep talking through it in one chat window, it's gonna slowly learn. Um, What you're trying to ask it, so it's gonna get better and better in the same chat. Um, it won't give you the same answers to, it won't give everyone the same [00:33:00] answer every time because it's coming up with these answers on the spot as you ask it.
It's like thinking about, Hey, what, what are they asking me? It's trying to think of an idea for this thing. Um, so it's gonna be different every single time. Um, but it's not catered to, uh, one person or another. It's the same, um, same software that everyone gets. So you get a fresh start every time, regardless of who's using it.
But it does adapt within its own. In conversation. That's right. Yeah. Um, so let's talk about this prompt here. So I'm a prop photographer. I'm doing a shoot for a cold brew coffee brand. I need some, I need some action photos. And then let's say I like the rustic look. Give me five ideas. Um, so here's gonna spit out five ideas for, um, potential product photography shoot that you can do with a client.
So, um, right here, It's telling you pouring. So take a shot of someone pouring the cold brew coffee into a glass pitcher for a rustic look, use a wood in your melt [00:34:00] container as a back. And pour the coffee into a mason jar or a glass with a vintage style label. Um, so that's right away we got some ideas for, for the shoot.
Um, people could like read these themselves. But yeah, we get five great ideas here kind of showing, uh, the product in hand and you're, you have something to start the, uh, like the brainstorming process with, right? You don't have to run with these ideas yourself. You can pivot with these and make them. Own, um, mess around with them as you want, but this gives you something to start thinking about for, uh, for the shoot.
This is great. I mean, I'm reading through these really quickly and I see things like styling suggestions, which you didn't necessarily ask for specifically. You did kind of give it the outline of a rustic look, which is an aesthetic, but it's getting into things outside of photography. It's getting into prop design, it's getting into art direction.
Mm-hmm. , um, all these things that a lot of photographers don't usually consider. Up shoots because we're so focused on [00:35:00] just the photography. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So it's like, uh, your own creative director, uh, art assistant on hand pretty much. Um, which is like, so far these examples have been great, but Chati does get things wrong occasionally too.
So again, that's why it's so important to like, have a fundamental knowledge of what you're asking it to do. I've had times where it's told me to, um, this would look cool with like a harsh lighting setup, and that tells me to make sure that I'm. Like a big diffuser for it, which obviously doesn't make sense if they're telling you to do harsh light.
Mm-hmm. . Um, so you gotta be careful sometimes too with like what the software spits out. Um, what's another, uh, use case that you commonly find yourself coming to chat g p t for? Um, for me specifically, so like, since I have like a YouTube channel, I run all these social media accounts, um, helping. Ideas for, uh, short form content is something that I like to use it for.
So, um, for [00:36:00] like my YouTube scripts, like I write them out in like a separate, uh, word doc or whatever. Um, and I do that all myself because Chet's kind of bad at that kind of thing. But if I'm trying to like, repurpose an idea from that long script into like some short form content chat is really helpful in that sense.
Where I feed it kind of like my original idea for this thing and I'm like, Hey, I'm not sure how I can convey this same idea in like a 32nd, um, Instagram reel. So it's actually gonna help me, uh, provide me like the best points out of the video that I can then repurpose into some short form content. So, That's a great use case for content creators.
Um, if you want to rep repurpose content to like tweets or into, um, other social media content, it can be great for that. If we, we use chat PT for that Instagram reel. Okay, great. Now we can help, now we can use chat PD to actually make a caption for that reel as well, so we can paste him like the script and ask it for a caption for this Instagram reel and it'll give us some [00:37:00] ideas to.
To caption that reel width and it saves us from, um, really having to think of that ourselves. But then we can run with those captions and make them our own and kind of draw inspiration from those. So, um, the, the basis of the situation describing involves you kind of plugging in a script that you've already written.
How long of a script, uh, do you usually write for these kinds of problems and how? Uh, entry can this system take on? Uh, yeah. Great question there. So, um, that kind of goes back to what I was saying earlier where you have to be like the, the subject matter expert with what you're asking. So I, I'm feeding it this script that I, that I wrote, that I know is correct, and then it's kind of taking what I wrote and putting its own spin on that in terms of how much I feed it.
Um, that's limited with the software that you're using. So the paid version is called, um, G PT four. Allows you to have a lot longer, um, prompts. So I could actually feed it like [00:38:00] a few paragraphs and it's going to be able to spit out something for that versus if you're using the three version, um, I think it's limited to, uh, a paragraph or two.
So that's one of the limitations in the software. But the more context that you give it, the more, the better. The answers that you get will be amazing. . Are there any other, uh, AI or non-AI tools that you use in your business frequently that, uh, our viewers could benefit from checking out? Ooh, there are a lot of, uh, tools that I use.
Um, I think chatt PT is the most accessible and most useful one that people can start using right away. Um, the other tools I, I use are kind of specific to, uh, product photography and kind of running a business in terms of one tool. I think most people. Should be using, or people who are trying to get clients would be some sort of crm or like a customer relationship management software.
So that kind of software pretty much organizes all of your [00:39:00] current clients, your leads, who you should be reaching out to, what stage of the process they're at. So if you remember when we were on my website, I have these like stages that people can be in. Mm-hmm. . Before this, there's also a prospecting stage where I'm trying to find companies to reach out to.
There's a, uh, cold email stage where I email these companies. So having a crm, I'm a sort like a customer. Relationship management software is a great way to stay organized. And the more organized you are, the more likely it is you'll actually do the things that you need to do to reach out to clients. In terms of actual crm, I like, uh, close.
It's uh, if you just go close.com, it's a great, uh, one to try out. Um, I think it starts at 30 bucks a month, but it's definitely worth it. Um, really good tool to use if you're trying to actively get new, uh, new clients. I actually have not heard of clothes and I personally still don't actually have a crm.
[00:40:00] Uh, admittedly, but I know on the market I'm still shopping , uh, 17 hats is an option. Um, yeah, there's Studio and Engines. Another option for photographers specifically. Um, mm-hmm. , there's, uh, there's so many CRMs out there, but, uh, I think the main benefit of a CRM is to keep your work life organized within itself.
So, mm-hmm. , an issue that I face not having a CRM is just manually keeping track of all my clients and where we are in those stages. That's a big one for me, is like where we're at in the stages. Some clients, Forget to invoice immediately after the job, but a CRM could do that for you automatically. Um, mm-hmm.
sometimes I don't know where we are in the negotiation stage and I have to, uh, see if a client has responded to my initial proposal and sometimes they won't reach out for a week or even longer, and then I have to go chase them down for the, um, the update. So CRM would definitely help with something.
Especially the ones that you [00:41:00] can automate. Yeah, for sure. There's so many like little automations you can do, you can have like reminders that pop up, Hey, if you haven't followed up with this client or lead in in four days and they haven't responded to your email, it might be time to follow up. Um, and yeah, all the automations that you mentioned, like in my business, like as soon as someone signs a proposal that you get like a welcome email with onboarding forum and like directions for like the next step.
Um, and it all just happens automatically. And that's, um, that's kind of stuff that we teach inside. I've created biz. Of like the automations and how to remove yourself from the business to free up more time to kind of do the work that you love to do.
So, uh, outside of chat g p t, we covered chat, gt, we covered CRMs. Uh, what are some other tools or, or even, let's just say practices that creatives are not either aware of or just not doing enough of? So one piece of software, um, I think. This isn't really specific to the creative [00:42:00] industry. I think it's something that will help a lot of people out there.
I think people just struggle with focus and focusing on what they have to be doing and the important work inside of their business so you can get a tool like, uh, freedom.to I believe, and this is, uh, it just blocks websites. So you install it and then you can have it tap, so it blocks YouTube, Instagram, news websites, Amazon, whatever.
So it literally forces you to like work on what's important. I think focus is super underrated when it comes to your success in business, especially as creatives, as like solopreneurs. Our success is directly tied to how productive we are and if we can really. Distractions, get rid of things that don't matter.
Um, we're gonna do a lot for our business cuz yeah, CRM is great and uh, chat chip tea is great, but if you're on your phone scrolling, you're not gonna be using them, which means you're not gonna get any results from it. So fixing like the [00:43:00] foundational problems, like your own focus and your ability to stay on task, I think is something that a lot of people should address.
And, um, a software like this, it may seem like overkill to like actually. Websites. But if that's what, like what it takes, like, it's a really great way to just stay on task and get more results inside of your own business. So I have a question for you. Um mm-hmm. , I love the concept of this website. It's kind of similar to the focus mode that you get on Apple devices where it kind of blocks notifications from other things to keep you kind of invest in what you're doing for a creative professional, like a photographer, photographer who has to market and really depends on platforms like Instagram and.
How do you kind of not get lost in the feed while trying to like upload your stuff or while trying to maintain like respo, like, oh, I have to respond to comments, I have to respond to dms. I find myself always like, oh, I have to post a reel, and then I end up watching like five reels before I'm like, oh no, I'm posting, I'm not [00:44:00] watching.
Yeah, yeah. So. I guess if I do, I fall into that trap too a lot. Like I have to do something and then I'm just stuck scrolling. So for me, best practices, like I don't have my phone in my studio when I'm working. Like if it's in here, then I go on it. So that kind of distracts me. Um, there, I like to use websites, uh, to actually schedule my content.
So like I use Buffer and I don't actually post on the Instagram app. I just post through, through this. Uh, Through this app and it's on my desktop, it doesn't have access to the feed. I just can post on it. I can look at comments and respond to comments through that. So I actually don't have to go on Instagram to interact with people, to message people to post.
And that's something that you could use if, if someone out here struggles with, uh, just scrolling endlessly through the feed, using an outside app like that would be a great way to combat that. Even I think Instagram offers, [00:45:00] uh, the Facebook business manager, I. The same thing and it's completely free. Um, it's a way to interact to post your stuff on Instagram without having to, um, be exposed to the never ending, uh, scroll cycle.
Um, for a program like Buffer, is that a paid service? Is that a free service? Uh, so I think it's free for your first few accounts. I think you connect like two free accounts, so like you connect your Instagram and your Twitter. And then I think the third one actually costs money. Um, ? Yeah, I think it's once you get like two or more channels, you have to pay for it.
But it's still here. It says six bucks a month for one channel, which if six bucks is what it takes to prevent you from going on Instagram, that seems like a no-brainer. And can you post like reels and video content from there as well? Yeah, you can post reels, you can post video content. You can't like edit reels on there.
So if you put text on your reels, um, you would have to do it. App [00:46:00] or like attaching audios and stuff. Yeah, that has to be done through the app. But if that's like, if it, if scrolling is really a problem for you, it might be worth it to not add audio nor to make you more productive as a, as a creative, well, Chris, It seems like we're approaching the end of the stream here, but I wanted to give you an opportunity.
Is there anything else you wanted to cover? Um, I would want to emphasize the importance of chat, g p t and like what it's actually, it's going to change like our industry pretty heavily and the way people work and I think it's really important to get on top of this technology really early on to understand it because it's going to, one, put a lot of people out of work.
But two, if you know how to use this technology, you'll be able to be way more productive and do really cool things with it. So, Investing time into just learning about this, playing around with it, seeing how it can help you. It's a really powerful thing that you can be doing right now. Cuz it seems like [00:47:00] we're on like the, like brink of the AI revolution.
And other than like, like there's been hype around like NFTs last year, but that's kind of died down. I think AI is gonna be here to, to stay and the more you can educate yourself about this technology, the. You're gonna be in the coming years, and this is something that our audience can start using right now, right after the stream for free.
Mm-hmm. , phenomenal stuff. So, Chris, I have an interesting request. If you go on your website, in your, um, creative website into your photo portfolio, can you pick, um, an a singular image, preferably horizontal, but I can work with other stuff to be the thumbnail of this, uh, stream. Because my closing ceremony is that I always create.
Stream thumbnail at the end of the stream. Ooh, horizontal. Um, if you don't have any, I can work with it. I can punch in for 16 by nine. Um, or we could pick three images and then tile them out. Yeah. Let's do a handful of these. [00:48:00] Um, do you want me to download these and send 'em to you or just I can copy off the site.
Okay. I really like this first one, just this water action shot. I think it's, uh, like these photos take so many takes. Right, because it's all timing based and the flash photography has to be perfect. And, um, yeah, so this first one right here, okay, is nano bit water one. I, I love the shot. Um, it's classic.
Let's see.
And feel free to talk about, you know, some of these images as you go along. Give us a little insight into how these things are made. I know there's a couple photographers watching right now that are really curious. How you approach the creative aspect of photography. Mm-hmm. . Yeah, for sure. Um, let's go with this one right here.
This loco one. Um, oh yeah. For this one, I want to get like a macro shot of the coffee being poured into, uh, into a glass. So the goal here was to create just a really refreshing image, like, uh, kind of like thirst inducing image. So you see we have water droplets on the can, uh, showing it's. [00:49:00] We have action of the actual liquid itself.
Here. We have it being poured on ice so you can see the final product as well. So this is a great photo for brands because it captures what the brand is. It shows what the product is and how you can enjoy it. Shows, um, there's a human element to it. So there's a, there's a hand pouring it, and then there's a bright colored background, which kind of.
Helps with, uh, standing out in like a crowded marketplace. I got that one in there. I think we have room for one more in the thumbnail. Okay. Let's see. Um, These are all action shots. Cause those are some of my, uh, my favorite ones to take here. Um, full disclaimer, these are all taken before, uh, chat. G p T was around
These are, these are, this is pre chat G P T portfolio. Yeah. Um, let's see, let's go with, uh, this splash shot right here. Another coffee one. Why not the, um, oh, got it. Down here. This is one of, uh, I took this one pretty early on in like my product photography [00:50:00] days. Um, but yeah, another like action shot here.
Um, a lot of my photos were like action shots because I found the action photography was pretty technical and I'm. Pretty technical person rather than like super creative. I'd rather be technical. So this, the action photography stuff kind of called me. So I, I was really into that stuff, which helped me niche down even further into like the food and beverage space cuz I'm now a product photographer, but not just a product photographer.
I work with food and beverage brands, but that's just that I'm also an action product photographer, so I'm like niche down like three levels here, which kind of.
