Waiting until you’re 100% ready is a setup. Chances are you’ll never be completely ready to do anything. Just DO the thing, my friend. Try out something new and do the thing. You don’t have to be ready—but you do have to be willing.
Today we’re talking about branding and visibility…specifically your brand photos.
I’m chatting with Terri Burke, a branding photographer who has a mission to bring her message to more business owners. Terri is pivoting in her business and hosting a summit, Release Your Spark, at the same time. Sound familiar?
Listen in to learn more about how to think strategically about your photography and why your pictures matter.
Tune in now!
Mentioned in This Episode
About Terri Burke
Terri Burke is an accomplished brand photographer whose friendly service goes well beyond the click. Terri founded her first photography business, Catch a Spark Photography, more than a decade ago and now focuses on creating contemporary family heirlooms for moms whether their kids had two legs or four.
Join Terri’s Facebook Group or visit her website to take a look at some of her previous work.
Transcription
Abby Herman
Hey there, and welcome to Episode 113 of the Content Experiment Podcast, a podcast that supports the idea that content and marketing are ever moving targets in any business. And it’s okay if you don’t feel like you’re doing it. All right all of the time, you have permission to experiment with little tweaks and changes in your content, to find what works for you, what increases value for your audience, and what grows your business, and most importantly, what feels good for you. I’m Abby Herman, content strategist and coach for online business owners who are ready to make a bigger impact online. I firmly believe that success isn’t about what big marketing brands and so called gurus think is the right thing. It’s about you and your business, your lifestyle, and, frankly, your values and belief systems, you get to do business in a way that works for you. Now, if you’re new to the podcast, I am so happy to have you stop by, I think that you’re gonna find this podcast to be full of no nonsense support to help inspire you to get your message out there.
And to give you the actionable steps that you need to make it happen. If you like what you hear, please hit the subscribe or follow button so you don’t miss another episode. And if you’ve been listening for a while, I appreciate you sticking around, I’m guessing that you are liking what you’re hearing if you’re back again. So I would really appreciate it if you would pay it forward and leave a five star rating and review for this podcast. It takes a lot of time and financial resources to get those podcasts out there to you. And I would so appreciate it. If you would just take five minutes, maybe less, and go to your podcast app right now, to leave this podcast a review, you can probably get it done while you are listening to the rest of this intro ratings and reviews really help Apple Spotify, Stitcher and all the other podcast apps to know that they that you like what you’re hearing, and it helps them to promote the podcast to other people just like you so others can benefit from the information that I’m putting out there. Now, today’s episode is brought to you by content mastery lab, a membership community that supports business owners by helping you identify the right content to create for your audience, everything from market research to ideation to creation, iteration and publication. It offers support feedback, community accountability, and so much more. Because you can’t just sit down and decide that you’re going to create content for your business, you need to have a plan.
And you need to have space to tweak and adjust that plan when needed. Sometimes it takes some time to get there, you have to try out a few things, experiment with different types of content, you need to do something that maybe you’ve never done before, make a little tweak and change and see how your audience reacts to something that’s scary for you. And when you do those things, you are experimenting, you’re not creating an entire overhaul of your content strategy. So if something doesn’t go as planned, you can always tweak it back or move on to the next iteration. That’s what we do inside of content mastery lab, my membership community, stop floundering with trying to figure it all out yourself, and start creating the content that you want with the confidence that you’re on the right path. Join us a monthly or quarterly or commit to a whole year for extra one to one time with me and quarterly planning parties, where we work through your content together in an intimate group, head to the content experiment comm slash lab for more information. And if you sign up using the coupon code podcast, you’ll get your first month for $1. I hope to see you there. Now today we’re talking about branding and visibility, specifically your brand photos and how to create a bigger spark online.
I’m chatting with Terri Burke, a branding photographer who has a mission to bring her message to more business owners. So she’s pivoted in her business and is hosting a summit Release Your Spark at the same time as just making the pivot. That sounds like something that I might have done a couple months ago. It’s a lot and I’m so glad that she’s doing it. So Terri and I are talking all about how to get more comfortable in front of the camera, how to select a brand photographer, why you don’t have to feel truly ready for a branding session to pull it off. And of course we’re also sharing about her summit and how little actions can make it Big difference at speaking my language there. Before we get into the interview, let me tell you a little bit about Terri Burke. In addition to being the host of the Release your Spark Summit, Terri Berg is a spark catching photographer for the mompreneur with the business of her dreams who recognizes that her personality is her brand? With thoughtful planning and a lifestyle approach that relies primarily on natural light, Terry has developed a signature photography experience that minimizes the discomfort of performing for the camera, and results in more insightful images. That experience is grounded in friendly service that goes well beyond the click. Since getting the picture is just a starting point for effective personality brand photography. Terry’s images have been published in a calendar from National Geographic traveler, and in a book from the editors of popular photography magazine, she founded her first photography business catches spark photography more than a decade ago and focused on creating contemporary family heirlooms for moms, whether their kids had two legs, or four. Here is our conversation.
Hi, Terri, thank you so much for joining me today.
Terri Burke
Hello, I’m so excited to be here.
Abby Herman
So I am really excited to chat, you have a summit coming up. And as someone who just wrapped up a summit, I’m really excited to be a speaker and to see it from the other side again. So thank you for the invitation. And we’re here to talk a little bit about the summit that we’re going to talk about the purpose and the meaning behind it, which I think is a really great message that I really want listeners to hear. But before we dive into all of that, can you share with listeners, in your own words, what you do and who you do it for?
Terri Burke
Sure. Let’s see the quick down and dirty answer is that I’m a photographer. And I took a circuitous path to get to where I am and with my photography right now. But to give you the quick background, I actually spent 18 years working in advertising, and was the media director and did all the things working with clients helping them figure out how to spend their their money wisely to reach their audiences that they needed to get their messages message out to on all kinds of, you know, blue chip brands that you would recognize from packaged goods like Kellogg’s and Pillsbury to Aldi and Land’s End and Toys R Us for some examples. But I ended up on as I moved to my career on the lead team, working with the branding, folks that helped in this chief chief marketing officers at these companies. And when I left that world, for family purposes, I ended up starting a photography business. And over the course of doing that, in the past decade, it’s pivoted a few times. And I have now found myself really looking to marry my my experience. And I moved in this direction without even realizing how much I was, at fact marrying my branding and marketing experience with my photography work. So my audience at this point is working with female entrepreneurs primarily, really, moms have been sort of the sweet spot, because I’m a mom myself and find that there’s a lot of unique challenges that we do we all grapple with trying to juggle all the things. So in a nutshell, I am a personality brand photographer now. So that’s the the longer answer and the longer winded way to get to the answer of what I do. And I work primarily with mompreneurs, with established more established businesses that are you ready to figure out how to get more visible? And how to show up in their business?
Abby Herman
Awesome. I love that. Yes, I think that I think it’s a challenge. I know, for me, it’s challenging to get in front of the camera and to have someone take photos of me it’s it can be fun, but and the photographer, the branding photographer that I use, here, luckily, to me, she makes it a lot of fun, but it’s still uncomfortable. So I’m excited to talk about that and how to make it a little feel a little bit more comfortable. Can you and I know that photography in general is a very time intensive profession, because not only are you taking the time to meet with clients in person, but you’re also spending time doing editing on the back end. Can you share a little bit about how you structure your work and how the way that you work with your clients helps you to live the lifestyle that you want.
Terri Burke
Absolutely. And I have found that what I love making the photos and I love even more than that seeing people respond to their images when they’re when once they’ve been made. And that’s what I’ve found over time is what what is really remarkable about that and what makes that so special is that so many women I interact with whether I from my early days when I was working with moms who asked me to photograph their kids Or their pets. And I was always encouraging them to at least be in a few of the pictures because it’ll make it more fun experience for their kids and more interested in some fun pictures with their with their pets if they choose to be in there with their, their furry kids. And I had so many women who resisted and just were, you know, just didn’t want to do it. And usually, not everyone, but a lot of them would end up saying, you know what, I’ll do it for them, but I’m never gonna buy those pictures. And I was astounded by how often they ended up loving those pictures.
Not that they necessarily bought a lot of them, but just even seeing them and realizing, I would often ask, you know, with with moms and their kids, what does your kids say about the experience of being photographed? And they would tell me how often I almost almost every single time I heard how much the kids said they love doing it with their mom. And that alone changed the nature of the session and the experience behind the photos. It also changed what they felt when they looked at those pictures, after the fact whether it’s immediately when they first come in, or whether it’s years and years down the road. Because of course, I started that business, you know, 10 years ago, I’ve got people I’ve stayed in touch with and I now hear from them how much those pictures are like treasures for them. So I fast forward into working with female entrepreneurs. And to get into the key part of your question was the lifestyle, I found that I don’t love the computer time. I don’t love all the processing and the editing. So I outsource a lot of that. And I have found folks have found a better team that supports men that so that I can be doing the things that are more forward facing interaction with my clients, helping them get the photos, helping them use the photos and enjoy the photos, whatever the case may be. So I think that is.
Abby Herman
I love the idea of outsourcing. I do the same in my business, the things that I don’t love to do, I want 100% hire out and the things that I don’t even want to learn how to do, which is editing, you know, interview podcasts like this, I edit my own individual my solo episodes, because that’s really easy. But to learn how to edit these and to get the audio balanced, right? No, thank you. I will let somebody do that. Thanks, Daniel, for your awesome work. All right, well, let’s talk about photography, and branded images. because like you said, it’s really hard for women to be in front of the camera, we resist it. I love the idea of encouraging moms to be in the photos with their kids. For me, I know for me the photos, you know, I don’t take as many photos of my daughter because she’s 18 now and COVID, we’ve gone nowhere done nothing for the last year. And so I don’t take as many photos of her. When I do take photos, I’d like to take photos of the two of us together because to me Those were much more meaningful. It’s you know, we’re doing something fun together, it makes it you know, like something that I can remember I’m looking up above my computer screen right now. And I have a couple pictures of the two of us together. But talking about, you know, like, the comfort level of being in front of the camera. It feels awkward, it feels uncomfortable. We don’t want to have the spotlight on us. But it’s really important from a branding perspective, from a business perspective, because it helps to showcase our personalities, can you share some of the ways that maybe you can give us some examples of clients that you’ve worked with and how you’ve made them feel more comfortable in front of the camera, so that they can really let their personality shine?
Terri Burke
I’m gonna I’m gonna twist that a little bit and ask you a little bit about you mentioned that you had your brand. You’ve had brand photo experiences that were fun, right? That was the word I heard you. I heard you you say earlier? Yeah. What? I want to start by just asking you, why? What What about that brand, that photo session made you even think of using the word fun because that is not a word that a lot of people go to immediately when they think about having a photo session.
Abby Herman
And you’re Yeah, you’re turning the tables on me. So some of them. So let’s use the last session as an example. So well and just my that’s my photographer in general. Her name is Sarah Hoag, Sara took photography. She is just silly and Goofy. She’s a friend. You know, I’ve we’ve become friends over the years. She’s silly and Goofy. She does things to make me laugh, which, you know, when you’re laughing It’s a little it feels a little more natural. The last, like the last, like large branding session I did, we went to a model home. Because you know, I work from my house, I don’t want my home in the house because the lighting is not good and all that but we went to a model home. I invited some friends to come as well so that we could kind of pretend like we were working together and all of that. And and yeah, it was just and she knew the people who were there. He she knew my friends as well. We were all in a networking group together. And so yeah, she just was being goofy and silly, but she made everybody feel really at ease, having people that I know and that I’m friends with Also be in the photos made that really a lot more comfortable for me. My she was my new assistant at the time, but she was there, we were able to take some photos together. And Sarah was cracking jokes the whole time. And so that’s just kind of what it made. That’s what made it fun. They were real life conversations that we were having while she was taking the photos. So they looked, I feel like they looked more natural. Most of them a few of them, you could tell I was feeling uncomfortable and stuff. But overall, I felt like she did a really good job of just putting everybody at ease. And and I wasn’t the spotlight. I mean, Yes, I was. But the spotlight was not on me because she was taking pictures of other people too. So that made me feel a little more comfortable.
Terri Burke
Yeah, and obviously that makeup and may depend on the nature of your business, what those pictures are, when it makes sense to have other people in there. And when you really have to just be you and techniques that the cameras, the spotlights going to be directly on you the whole time. But yeah, one of the things that you said that is what I really look at as sort of like the the hallmark of how I approach things, and I, I’ve done this, I think sort of naturally, it’s sort of the way I’ve evolved, and how I approach my photography, whenever I’ve got someone I’m working with what for whatever the purpose wherever the desired outcome is going to be, whether it’s a picture for the wall, or whether it’s branding photos. And that is, first and foremost, it is about creating some sort of a connection and a relationship before the camera comes out. And I should be in all honesty, my best friend was a client first now, as was a client first. And I have a number of clients that have, you know, we hit it off. And we’ve stayed in touch. And Ben had a part of my friend network at this point in time, that to me as the service provider is like the most amazing ideal situation.
And from what I’ve heard from them, it’s also the same, they have the same sort of response that that having that ability to just be comfortable with each other on a personal level changes the dynamic in some really valuable ways. Can you you know, go look, go look on a, you know, social media or website and you can find someone that might be a good connection that you might have some rapport with, if they’re doing a good job trying to putting their personality into their brand, which I would say, if they’re not, and you’re looking for a brand photographer, or personnel, especially someone who’s focusing on being your personality, yet, there’s probably a sign that they’re not the right photographer for you. Because if they can’t even do it for themselves and put themselves out there and help whether it’s through their words or their images, you know, if they can’t show up in a way that you get a sense of who they are, and that you might be able to be friends, you may never become friends. But if you have at least films going knowing that you could see that person as a friend. That’s that’s a part of the important part is setting up the relationship from the beginning.
The other thing that I have found, I always encourage people if they know that they’re going to be tend to be uncomfortable on camera is have somebody else there, whether or not they’re going to be in the photos or not. But if you’ve got somebody else to be helping you to relax, giving you feedback to to crack you up or give you kind of joke or you know, even silly things like maybe notice your hairs out of place. Because you know what, I noticed that I noticed a lot of things, but I can’t notice all the things that you might notice when you get the pictures back. So having another set of eyes is really valuable from that perspective, it certainly is helpful if you actually do interact with clients and want to have somebody else in the photos that you then have somebody that you already have a connection with, hopefully, that can play that role and be in the photos with you. So those are sort of like a couple of things that I think are important. The final one is that is there are so many different types of approaches to photography and to sessions. And I think you we often see an experience what maybe is what you had as a wedding photographer, where you had someone who came in and sort of more or less directed the show and kind of told you go you go stand there you pose this way. They gave you all the stuff to do list. That’s how most wedding photographers work. There’s, it’s not all by any stretch of imagination, but there’s a sense of the best kind of and then you also see, I guess, the the television representations of a photo shoot where you’ve got the photo studio with the fancy lights and the photographer, sort of, again, running the show directing everything.
My approach is very, very different in that I don’t try to run the show. Not that I can’t and not that I’m not going to make sure that I that the show rolls the way it needs to roll to get them get what I know we need to get out of it because we’ve done the planning work that I’m part of that process. Before we even get to cam even comes out. But even more I try to look for how can we set set a stage that is not about you having to get up there and perform and be a certain way or be however you’re thinking maybe need to be for the camera. It’s much much more about setting a stage where you get to be yourself and do the things you would be doing naturally. with us. We’re having another person they’re also often held But how can we let you just do you, and I’ll figure out how to turn that into a photograph. And so some of that isn’t how we set the stage and where we set the stage and the planning work that we’ve done to create that moment. But it’s a lot, then about my telling you, oh, you know, tilt your head a little bit that way and put, you know, get into some awkward, contorted position. Because if it’s awkward, and you’re feeling like you’re contorted, it could end up in creating a great looking picture. I mean, there are, there are a lot of posing things that photographers do, that can lead to beautiful pictures. But if you’re not comfortable, and I’m asking you to do anything that ends up feeling that much more uncomfortable to you, then it’s going to absolutely show in the pictures. And it’s going to be there’s going to be so many signals that you’re uncomfortable that are not what you want to have come out of those pictures. So those are sort of the my highlights of how I approach things a little bit differently. And the end goal is, of course, the photos, but it’s really about the experience that gets us there. And if we don’t get the experience in a way that removes some of the levels of uncomfortability that we can remove, then that’s the goal is to create that.
Abby Herman
Yeah, and those are some really great tips on how to make that more comfortable. So and I feel like, not only can listeners take away, like, I mean, like you could have that conversation with your photographer ahead of time, too, right? So if the photographer is not on board with necessarily or that’s not really their style, you know, you can have that conversation that, hey, can we try to take some photos doing this, like me just talking to my friend or me just you know, whatever? And can you see what you can do with that? I feel like that would be I mean, would that be overstepping for the business owner is the client to have that conversation with their photographer?
Terri Burke
That’s where if you pick the right photographer for you, it shouldn’t be, right. I mean, that’s what I look for is I’m hoping that I’ve got someone who’s, who’s got some idea of what they’re looking for. Not that I can’t guide them again, I’m gonna step in there and make them get help them get what they want out of it. But I don’t have all the answers. These are your pictures, these are your brand. And I’ll ask the questions to try to we’ll try to lead you there. But many photographers won’t many photographers are going to think that it’s it’s on them to come up with a vision. Yeah, you know, they’re going to create the styled set, or they’re going to have the you know, they’re gonna, they feel like that. That’s the pressure. That’s the birthday bear as being the photography photographer and the expert in the room. And they will. And that’s where the dynamic of the relationship is, it’s so important to figure that out and set that up up front, find the right person for you.
Abby Herman
Yeah. And it’d be a team effort versus
Terri Burke
collaborative process to get the results that you need, when it’s really is truly about you, being you, authentically. Yeah.
Abby Herman
Yep. I love that. So let’s talk a little bit about speaking of being you, you have made a little pivot in your business or your you’re kind of doing things a little bit differently, moving from exclusively doing photography to now working with entrepreneurs on disability in general. Can you talk about where that pivot came from? And I know you’re still doing photography, you’re still doing branding? This is just something you’re doing? In addition to?
Terri Burke
Yeah, well, and to clarify, yes, I am in big pivot mode. And there’s a real simple answer. So like, where all came from COVID there was any face to face business, even though as a photographer, I’m going to be six feet away from someone because my camera needs that room to focus. Right? Right. That was where the thought came from. And it was about almost exactly a year ago. So in March, late March, last year, as everything was shutting down that I first had this like idea pop into my head of like, there was something more I could offer to people from all the years I spent networking with other especially with female entrepreneurs. And it was kind of too big and too scary at that point in time. And the world was changing so fast that I kind of just like put it away for a little while put it back in the box. And by the end of the year, it kept popping out and it’s time to take a look at what I had and what I needed to do about it. So what I am doing is still evolving as these things do when you’re trying to figure out and and ultimately figure out what the what the market is what what is something that would be I can offer that would be valued and appreciated by somebody on the other side. Because I don’t the service I’m looking to offer I don’t is not a service, I think is widely available or something there’s certainly I haven’t found any models to help guide me in the specific offer that I’m crafting but in a nutshell, it’s about we are we bring strategy into so many of the things we do in our business.
And yet photography is one place that is important as it is, you know, right there alongside of the Coffee and the words the words that you use, and the design that you put out there and that you package everything up around your images is right there as one of those foundational pieces. And there’s not as much strategy strategic thought you’re really are left so often to the photographer either getting you or not getting you. There’s, it’s it is a significant investment. It’s an emotional toll for a lot of people to even get over the hurdles to show up and decide to actually put the money into that. There’s all kinds of reasons why I think women don’t like the feeling of having the camera pointed at them that it’s the whole, you know, that they don’t like being on stage at the center of attention. They don’t feel good about their appearance, we’re judged by our parents for you know, throughout our entire life, there’s so much emotional baggage around it.
Abby Herman
Can I just throw in there too. For those of us who are online business owners, we actually have to put pants on and get dressed. That’s a lot. Lot. Yeah. Sorry to interrupt, I just had to throw that in there.
Terri Burke
That’s all great. But so I guess in the in the grand scheme of things, I see there’s so many obstacles that can potentially hang somebody up between the expense, the emotional challenges to get over some of the reasons why women end up kind of kicking that can down the road for a long time. And maybe they maybe they actually will get photos have their have their hand their phone to their husband or their kids, and they get something that works. And to be honest, that’s better than that’s certainly better than not showing up at all. But what I’m looking to do right now is to help encourage people to feel a threat to realize that they don’t have to be ready. But they do have to be willing to take that step and what is it What’s it going to take to help them be willing to do that. And I so what I’m looking to offer is photography strategy that helps people get over whatever it is that is keeping them from really showing up in the in their business in the way that shares with the world what they have to offer. So stuff gets them out of the shadows and into the spotlight. That’s the phrase that sort of has resonated, kept coming back up and coming back up for me. And there’s lots of ideas I have in terms of how I can bring both my branding experience and specifically all of there’s a lot more to photography than the moment that picture is made. And there’s an awful lot of photographers out there that don’t provide all the other help. It’s been a part of my model, in terms of I provide a very high touch, high level of service that included for my family clients, I would hang their photos on their wall for them. And I brought the hammer.
Yeah, it was because I felt like that’s the service that that level of service that was important to me. I knew from my own self, how often you’d get the photos and you’d be so excited about it. And then they’d sit in the corner waiting for you to go get the hammer the nail and doesn’t do anybody. So yeah, yeah, so I’m looking at, I could actually unbundle the making of the photos and bring all of the help in organizing the photo library, assessing what you’ve got figuring out how to use those images, figuring out what images you need, and when is it really time to go get some more images made so that you’re making the right investment. And quite honestly, for someone who struggles to find the right person, I can do a lot to help them from a distance even figure out who should they go talk to who’s in a market that is a good fit for them, if that’s something that they’re struggling with, to make sure that that investment actually pays off. Because the last thing I want to happen and I have heard countless stories online from people who found a photographer had a photo session, hated their images, can’t use them don’t like them for all kinds of reasons, the photographer didn’t get what they needed. There’s a lot of photographers out there that are happy to make photos for you. But they really don’t understand what an entrepreneur is. They really are much more focused on maybe providing glamour shots, where they’re, it’s really just more objectifying you as a beautiful object, a beautiful thing. And that’s not how I think any of us want to show up in our business. So yeah, there’s a lot of potential pitfalls other than when having me take that picture that I can help make it all go so much better.
Abby Herman
Yeah, yeah. I love what you said about you said, you don’t have to be ready. But you do have to be willing. And I am such an advocate for like, just do the thing. It does not have to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be you know, 100% polished. It’s especially like when it comes to photos. You you’ve as a human being are not perfect, your photos are not going to be perfect. And that’s okay. They’re going to look great, and they’re going to be you and they’re going to show your personality. And I love the idea about of having somebody to help, you know, like, figure out okay, so we’re getting ready for the shots. We get that we get the photos done, they come back now you’ve got 5060 100 images, how are you going to use those? How are you going to best leverage those images in Your business because I totally agree that I think that that is a roadblock for a lot of people and you and you’ve spent a lot of money on these photos, let’s figure out how to use them. I think that that’s Yeah, and I such a resource that people need.
Terri Burke
Yeah, I do have a whole approach that I’m being more intentional about thinking that I’m looking to share it beyond just my own individual use and how I’ve been teaching my clients where it’s a little different, I can sort of show them with the pictures I’ve taken on how to craft this, but like, how to think about the pictures that you got, because it is not uncommon for the photographer to take the pictures, edit them, and then send them on their on their way to you. And you could easily have, you should hopefully have, you know, 5060 100 images that you’ve suddenly have sitting there, maybe even more, depending if they give you all the outtakes. But then you know that that you maybe wouldn’t want to use? How do you make sense of that. And that’s intimidating to a lot of people. So a lot of people have those have a whole batch of images that have never been used. Some of them can’t even find them. wait a little while, you know, a little bit down the line, and they’ve just not got a system to manage it. So there’s all there’s so many things around photography that we’re just, I feel like I’ve been people are expected to know. And I do No, but it’s only when people ask me questions that I’m like, Oh, that’s so basic. I’ve taken for granted that Yeah. Why would you Why would you know that? Yeah. So that’s, that’s part of the the demystifying some of those things that I think I could do and go will go a long way towards helping.
Abby Herman
Yeah, absolutely. So let’s, let’s shift gears and talk about like a little bit bigger picture here, the summit. So you’re hosting a summit called Release Your Spark. And for those of you listening, when this is released, Registration is open. The summit is April 19, through May 2 2021. And the list of speakers is amazing. I’m very proud to be part of that list. I’m very honored to be on the lineup. It’s for business owners who have established businesses, but they want to take that next step in their growth. So they want to gain that next level of visibility. Can you talk a little bit about what attendees will take away from the summit? What are they? What are some of the key takeaways and feel free to name drop some of the speakers if you’d like as well?
Terri Burke
Well, sure, boy, my head is spinning a little bit, because I’ve just been part of all these amazing conversation. And I’ve been so lucky that the folks that I’ve been talking with are some of them are folks that I’ve admired for a long time. And so it was great to be able to have that one on one conversation with them to pick their brains and get their insight. What I think is really the most important key thing is that we all have to chart our own paths, we have to figure out we have to be the CEO in our business, we are the ones that have to figure it out. Maybe you’re got a great coach or someone that can help you bounce the ideas off of and give you some guidance or, you know, help you down the path or guide you down the path. If you’re lucky, you’ve got someone that can help you do those things. But the reality is, it’s on our shoulders. So there’s, I have found that there’s an abundance of resources that are geared towards helping someone at the starting out point. So you know, here’s how to get started, just, you know, just start doing it and like, and I realized that there’s a little bit of a gap, I think it’s starting to get more filled with oil. So I’m starting to find it a little bit more. I don’t know what the right answer there is, but of things to think about once you’ve got sort of that you’ve got a proven thing, you know that you’ve got a business that works. Now what how do you keep growing.
And the reality is you can get to a certain point, and the things you did to get to that point, aren’t going to get you to where you want to go. And so what do you do at that point? What How do you figure out how to keep feeling that growth, not for growth’s sake, because it’s not about like, Oh, I gotta keep going, right? But it’s like, you’ve especially if you are coming from a very purpose driven, heart centered kind of business where you know, you have something for the world, you know, it can make makes a difference for the people you’re touching. How do you get that out there to to those people in a way that works for you, and is in alignment with what you’re about, but but also opens you up to be able to do more without it destroying their set peripheral pitfalls of growing too fast to or not growing effectively. So the folks that I’ve assembled for the for the summit, and I’m trying to think of how it’s hard to name drop, just like who’s gonna wring out because I think it’s one of those things that we’ve all lived in our little parts and corners of the of the internet world around here. And so there’s, it’s all like which one Have you stumbled upon and I’ve been exploring for a long time. So some of these people I’ve known for years and years, and like Laurie Nordstrom and I, I’ve known her she’s a photographer who does a lot has a lot of teaching and photography space, but has moved on and has done all kinds of amazing things. And as well she continues to practice our photography. We reconnected earlier this year in clubhouse of all places and and she joined me and had some really fun fun things to say. about sort of how she’s uses systems to sort of keep her business simple.
So there’s a mixture of things we talked about from your lifestyle and how your business aligns with your life. And how do you how do you make it work for you to tactical ideas, to strategic ideas to just sort of like, how do you experiment with content strategies? Right? How do you? How do you try different things, how to, and it’s not it’s like, my goal is that it’s a provides fuel for thought, to help you wade through helping an individual who’s, you know, trying to figure this out, have different perspectives and different ideas of ways to get through it. And don’t expect anyone to take all of the the suggested next actions, which is, which is one of my Why think is really critical coming out of this is that at the end of every one of the interviews, or the conversations, I always asked her like, if you were to recommend sort of one next action, what would you suggest that the listener audience does? And it’s interesting to go back and look at the the individual kernels like what’s what are they What does each person see as the next step that’s seems logical from where they’re coming from. And by that point, we’ve already gone through so like, what their perspective is, what their background is, what their, what their, what they have to bring what they have to share with the world. So I hope it sets people up to be able to make informed decisions. Whether it’s, you know, Christina jolly, talking about how Facebook groups have played an important role and how she has built her business, or Louise Brogan talking about the role LinkedIn has played or Trina little talking about how she uses YouTube, they have in many ways crafted their, their business and their expertise around like a single platform.
Abby Herman
Yes.
Terri Burke
Which is fabulous, because you know, if you’re gonna jump in, and you’re gonna use that platform, you need somebody that can sort of say, here’s the lay of the land, here’s what you need to know, here’s how to do it effectively. And then there’s folks that are like, Dr. Kelly Martin shoe, who talks a little bit about high ticket offers and how how they can change what you’re thinking about what you’re doing, what you put out in the world, and how that how that is, has a value all of its own. In terms of your mindset. There’s a number of folks I’ve talked to that where they’re really focused on sort of the mindset or getting out there and talking about virtual speaking. So wide range of things that range from very tactical, like but but it doesn’t, it’s not about just let’s jump into the tactics, it’s it, there’s always that element of like, why is matter? And what matters will be relevant.
Abby Herman
Yeah. And I love that you enter the conversations with, you know, like, Okay, what should somebody do first? Or what should someone do next? Because I think that that is where people get stuck with, okay, I learned all these things great. And then we compartmentalize that, we put it away, we shut The doors on the cabinet, or whatever. And then we start doing the other, you know, we start, you know, back into business and doing, you know, our to do list, and we’re not taking action. So I love the idea of, Okay, give me one thing to do, that I can take away from this conversation and take action on. So I love that. So I’m going to turn it back on you. So what is aside from you know, going to register for the summit? What is something that people can turn around and take action on? Right now regarding their visibility, their ability to show up, you know, in front of the camera, their photography, their branding? What’s one action step that people can take right now for that?
Terri Burke
Well, that’s a tricky question. And it’s a great question. Quite honestly, I think the most important thing is, is technology, if that’s you, avoiding it. And if you’re in a place where like you’ve had, whatever valued trusted advisors you have in your world, whether it was you know, someone who was helping you with the technical piece you’re outsourcing to or whether it was a coach, or whether it was, you know, someone you’ve hired to help you like us maybe a social media manager or content manager or something like that, that has said to you, I need pictures, cuz it happens. There’s all kinds of reasons why yet people that you have brought in to help you will say, I need pictures. How do you take a look at how do you feel? And that comes up? What What is your response? You know, first question is, do you know where your pictures are? Can you if you had an opportunity for us to speak at a summit show up and you’re asked for, you need to submit a headshot, how quickly and easily Can you go get that headshot. So a very, from a very practical perspective, I’ve got this I’m gonna turn this into two actions. One is a very practical action. And that is if you don’t have your pictures organized and and that you would use in your brand and in one place and like one folder, somewhere that you could at least know to go look there and get into find them as you can scroll through and try to look through things.
Do that, get them in one location, and make a point of anytime you have a picture that you could use or might want might use, make sure it gets in that location. You can figure out how to organize it in there and there’s lots of best practices and things and ways to tools that can help you to see what you’ve got that makes it easier, but get them in one place. So that’s sort of like the very practical one action. I tell people as it relates to like their images and getting getting comfortable. You can’t put anything out if you don’t know what you have, the more intangible piece of things is that to keep keep an eye on what do you feel, when it’s a point at which you know, you need to put your picture out there and be willing to if you find you’ve got some resistance there be willing to take a look at what is the source of that resistance? Is it because you don’t have a picture? Yeah, feel good about Is it because you don’t think you’re worthy of being the face of anything or being you’re put out there or, you know, there’s a whole there’s a laundry list of other things that might be holding you back. But if if you don’t lean into what is the source of my discomfort here, you’re never going to get to that point where you’re willing to move forward and to do the things you need to do to show up and don’t become ready, because it is uncomfortable. But there are ways to lean into it and find the comfort, the ways to make it comfortable or as comfortable as possible within that discomfort is so good.
Abby Herman
I love it. I love it. So the summit, again, is April 9 through 19th through May 2 2021. And if you’re interested, if anyone’s listening is interested in going you can go to my link, which is the content experiment comm slash Spark Summit. The title of the summit is release your spark? Can you let listeners know where they can find out more about you? And where to find you online?
Terri Burke
Absolutely. The easiest place to find me is going to be my website, which is Terry burke.com. And as I’m in middle of pivoting all this, what you will find there are my two existing photography service based businesses. But you can learn a little bit about why how I do what I do, I’ve got one brand that has been were catered to families. And I have another brand that caters to the entrepreneur. And regardless from the website, you can reach out and get in touch with me. I’d love to have conversations with people just even 15 minutes to talk about what help they need. And if I can put them in the right direction. I’m happy to do that.
Abby Herman
Awesome. Well, thank you so much for joining me. And I’m really excited for the summit. I’m excited to hear from all of you the amazing speakers that you have lined up. So thank you so much for being here.
Terri Burke
And I did realize I don’t think I actually said what my website is
Abby Herman
TerriBurke.com, but if you could spell it, that would be great.
Terri Burke
That is important. It’s T E R R I B U R K E.
Abby Herman
So awesome. I will have a link to that and everything else in the show notes too. So listeners can can go to their podcast app and grab it there.
Terri Burke
And I will add the other place. I do have a Facebook group that is just getting underway. But that’s that’s the first step I’m taking towards bringing out this more service oriented, virtual virtual aspect of my business. And that’s that sparkling entrepreneur.com you can do a link that takes you right into that Facebook group to take a look at it. So that would be the next best or not another great way to reach me.
Abby Herman
Perfect. Thank you so much. I love what TerrI said, you don’t have to be ready, but you do have to be willing, just do the thing my friend, try out something new and do the thing. If you wait until you’re totally ready, you’re never going to do it. But if you are ready to start with experimenting with content and marketing in your own business without having to do all the guesswork yourself.
Remember that you can join us inside Content Mastery Lab at theContentExperiment.com/lab and use the coupon code podcast to get your first month for $1 Pricing starts at just $97 A month after that, or we have quarterly and yearly options as well. If you found value in what you learned here today, be sure to share it on social media. Take a screenshot of the episode on your phone and share it over on Instagram stories. Be sure to tag me at the content experiment so that I know that you found value in what you heard. The more you share, the more we can get the podcast into the hands of more business owners just like you who need to hear the message that they are not alone. Until next time. Take care!
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
