Welcome to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast, the essential audio hub for portrait photographers eager to launch and elevate their businesses to achieve their ideal version of success. Hosted by Nicole Begley, a former zoological animal trainer turned accomplished family and then pet/equine photographer, this podcast is your go-to resource for transforming your photographic passion into a thriving business. Since making the leap into photography in 2010 and quickly scaling her business t ...
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241 - Welcome to our final episode of The Offline Photographer! Throughout this series, we've explored the art of in-person marketing, empowering photographers to step away from screens and cultivate genuine, face-to-face connections in their local communities. By focusing on offline engagement, we've helped photographers find innovative ways to bu…
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From IG to Email Lists with Dayna Schaaf
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240 - In today's episode, we're diving into the realm of marketing automation and its incredible benefits for photographers. Whether you're juggling multiple roles in your business or looking for effective ways to streamline your marketing efforts, this episode is packed with insights and practical advice. Joining us is special guest Dayna Schaaf, …
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10 Thoughts that Hold Photographers Back Part 3
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239 - Welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast! As emerging photographers, many of you might be grappling with the question: "Am I ready to start charging for my services?" It's a hurdle that every new photographer faces at some point. You might feel like your skills aren't polished enough or your portfolio isn't vast enough to justify…
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10 Thoughts that Hold Photographers Back Part 2
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238 - Welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast! In this episode, we're continuing our exploration of the common excuses photographers make that stall their progress. Heather Lahtinen joins us once again as we call BS on these all-too-familiar myths. Whether it’s the size of your audience, your personal skills in sales, or misconception…
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10 Thoughts that Hold Photographers Back Part 1
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237 - Welcome back to the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast, where we dive deep into the world of running a successful photography business! Today, Nicole Begley and our mostly-co-host, Heather Lahtinen, tackle the tricky terrain of photography pricing and those stubborn beliefs that just might be holding your business back. Ever whispered to yours…
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236 - This episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast, hosted by Heather Lahtinen, delves into the "Offline Photographer Challenge" introduced in episode 219. The challenge is part of the Elevate program, designed to help photographers enhance their in-person marketing strategies by engaging with their local community. Heather invites Laura W…
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235 - Heather Lahtinen has been a regular guest on the Freedom Focus Photography podcast, bringing her insights and experiences to our vibrant community of photographers. But today's episode unveils a side of Heather we've never seen before - a side that she used to keep hidden. In a candid and transformative conversation, Heather steps into the ho…
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Art, Lifestyle, or Love: What Drives Your Business?
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Welcome to another episode of the Creative Freedom Rebellion - a podcast series within the Freedom Focus Photography podcast, hosted by Nicole Begley and J. Nichole Smith, AKA Nic. Through the past 10+ years of mentoring pet photographers, we’ve noticed that the “why” of many pet photographers falls into one of three buckets. The love of art, the g…
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Your Mind Circus with Karen Bartos
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233 - Today’s episode of the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast is an episode that will resonate with photographers across all specialties. In this enlightening conversation, I sit down with Karen Bartos, a boudoir photographer whose journey from landscape and high school senior photography to the intimate world of boudoir is a narrative of transfor…
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Embracing Rejection with Korina Joseph
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232 - Welcome back to another exciting episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast! This time, our host, Nicole Begley, sits down with the incredibly talented Korina Joseph, a pet photographer who has truly made waves in the industry. Korina's had her photography business for a few years, but since that virus which shall not be named her busin…
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Fetching Multi-6 Figures with Ryan Erickson
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231 - Ryan Erickson takes us through his transformative journey from wedding photography to launching his mobile dog portrait studio, Fetch Photo Truck. The pandemic prompted him to reassess his career path and follow his true passion for dog photography – a move that has certainly paid off! Ryan dives into the ups and downs of managing a mobile bu…
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230 - We're diving deep into the heart of in-person marketing with our special series, "The Offline Photographer." Hosted by Heather Lahtinen, today's episode is all about the art of the pivot. Chatting with Laura Wombwell from Laura Wombwell Photography in Ontario, Canada, we're unpacking the big question: When is it right to shift gears in your b…
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229 - Buckle up for an action-packed adventure with Nicole Begley and Heather Lahtinen, where we dive into the superhero transformation of everyday photographers into unstoppable business heroes, all thanks to theProgress Lab! This episode is like opening a comic book where the characters leap off the page, each with their own tale of bravery and t…
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The Four Levels of Commercial Photography
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228 - In this innovative episode of the Freedom Focus Photography podcast, Nicole Begley introduces a compelling new series titled "The Creative Freedom Rebellion," featuring regular guest J.Nichole Smith. This series is dedicated to emphasizing the importance of defining personal freedom and success on one's own terms. In today’s episode Nicole an…
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We're Now the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast
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227 - In this pivotal episode, Nicole Begley announces a significant change: the podcast is now the Freedom Focus Photography Podcast! This rebranding comes with exciting new directions and offerings, particularly the Freedom Focus Formula course, designed to radically transform the businesses of photographers through pricing, sales, and messaging …
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226 - In this insightful episode of the Hair of the Dog podcast, Heather Lahtinen is taking over the mic for our 2nd episode of ‘The Offline Photographer’. This series is all about getting you out from behind your computer and actually INTO your market so that you can meet an connect with marketing partners and/or potential clients. This is the tri…
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225 - In this episode, Nicole Begley shares her insights on what she would do if she were starting her photography business from scratch in 2024. We start with the importance of finding your niche, specifically identifying what you love about that niche and your products. Then, the second (often overlooked) step is dialing in your messaging and cre…
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224 - Today’s conversation is focusing on marketing our photography businesses, because if there’s one area that frustrates most photographers, it’s the challenges they face in finding new clients. In this episode, I’m joined by my friends Heather Lahtinen, Dorie Howell, and Tavia Redburn to have a candid conversation to help photographers unlock t…
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223 - In this episode of the Hair of the Dog podcast, Nicole and Heather discuss the power of thoughts and how they can shape our lives and businesses. They share their most influential thoughts from 2023 and the thoughts they plan to carry into 2024. By changing our thoughts, we can change our outcomes. Nicole and Heather introduce a model that sh…
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222 - As the year wraps up, it's the perfect time to get your photography business prepped and polished for the new year! Join me, Nicole Begley, as I dive into the essential year-end action items to help you put a bow on 2023 and prepare for success in 2024! What to listen for: Get practical tips on handling finances, from tracking expenses to pre…
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The Secret Hack to Confidence with Heather Lahtinen
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221 - Get ready to dive deep into a world where confidence reigns supreme! Join Nicole Begley and Heather Lahtinen as they uncover the secret sauce to building unshakeable confidence in your photography biz. This isn’t just any chat – it’s a journey through the ups and downs of self-trust, topped off with a surprising twist about... chocolate muffi…
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Finding Success with Social Anxiety with Michelle Crandall
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220 - Rejection is part of being a business owner. No … no, wait … rejection is part of being human! Even marketing guru Seth Godin has heard the word "no" but he's at least come to understand that the rejection is more about the rejectee than it is about him. Rejectee … I just made that up. That doesn't mean the word "no" isn't difficult to hear. …
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The Offline Photographer with Heather Lahtinen Part 1
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219 - You spoke up and we listened. You all loved The Coaching Journals with Heather Lahtinen, Christi Baker and Monica Adalsteinsson that we're bringing them back. Ish. Christi and Monica are off soaring like eagles after six months of intensive coaching with Heather and the Elevate program. Today, we're introducing a spinoff series, called The Of…
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Split Pea Soup and Photo Feedback with Heather Lahtinen
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218 - I completely get it if you see the word "soup" and here "NO SOUP FOR YOU" in your head. It means you might be old enough to remember Seinfeld on NBC every Thursday night. Or maybe you've seen that episode on Prime video. Heather and I are talking about soup on this week's episode of the Hair of the Dog podcast. No, not chicken soup for the so…
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Rock your Financial Goals with Heather Lahtinen
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217 - I’m going to take a stab in the dark at something. I’m guessing you’re pretty stoked when you hit a big revenue goal in your pet photography business. Who wouldn’t be, right? Cha’ching! BUT ... What are you making that number mean? ESPECIALLY if you miss a revenue target — or if you were to have your revenue dip?!? 😱 If you’re human, you migh…
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216 - Let me be quite clear: There are no cats at a Fast CAT event. Not a single feline to be found, I swear! Nope, Fast CAT — fast coercing ability test — is all about dogs. Dogs of every size, dogs of every color, dogs of every breed and dogs of every origin. In fact, FastCAT, which is essentially the 100-metre dash for dogs, might be the most in…
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The Secrets of SEO with Inkpot Creative
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215 - So many of us are heading into the "offseason" right now, which means it's time to spiff up our websites and plan for 2024. OK, OK … take a little break after you fulfill all your client orders but then it's time to get down to brass tacks. One of the things you might want to put on your to-do list is working on your SEO. Search. Engine. Opti…
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Navigating Thought Spirals with Heather Lahtinen
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214 - I screwed up. You guys, I'm human and I'm not (too) embarrassed to admit that I made a mistake. And I'm baring it all in this week's episode of The Hair of the Dog podcast. Here's the gist: I made some pretty serious assumptions about a client I booked last Christmas. I sold him a gift certificate as a gift for his girlfriend. I assumed -- be…
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The Secret to Building Value for your Photography
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213 - Do you know what some of my favorite moments are? When my clients cry. I realize that makes me sound cold-hearted — but they’re crying because they’re so happy! Inevitably, they point at photos that roll across my slideshow, happy tears well up in their eyes and they gasp, "OHMIGOSH, THAT IS SO BENNY." That is always the moment I know when I'…
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How Fear is Holding You Back with Heather Lahtinen
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212 - To fear is human. Heather Lahtinen fears snakes (and I am never going to stop reminding her). For me, it's tech. I fear learning new tech and it has kept me from moving forward with this new thingie I bought, the Atomos Ninja. It's an external screen that lets me see what I'm shooting as I'm shooting. It sounds awesome, doesn't it? But there …
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The Coaching Journals - Part 6 of 6
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211 - I can't believe we are at the end of this journey. Has it been six months of The Coaching Journals already? Good grief, where has the year gone? For the last six months, Heather Lahtinen, our head guru at Elevate and Flourish Academy, has been sharing her coaching sessions with two Elevate students on the Hair of the Dog podcast. This week's …
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This week's episde was recorded specifically to tell you...don't listen to this week's podcast! Today is the first day of our live Hair of the Dog Summit V online, so we're currently over there, soaking up all the trainings from our fantastic summit speakers. Won't you come join us? What To Listen For: The Art of Storytelling to Sell Your Photograp…
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Making the Best of Things with Heather Lahtinen
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210 - I’m Nicole and I'm an ENTJ on the Myers-Briggs and that means I struggle with the stuff that doesn't excite me – and despise things that aren’t efficient. Like life stuff. Hanging out at a soccer tournament all day long when my son is playing in one game. One game! Aren't there other things I could be doing? What could I be knocking off my Ha…
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Photography Memberships with Annemie Tonken
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209 - Annemie Tonken had to take a break once and get back to business. Guys, we're talking about a "major surgery and three months on crutches" kind of break. That's when she came up with her idea to get her family photography clients into a membership service. Newly divorced, she needed to stabilize her income and make her business more resilient…
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208 - What is stopping you from reaching your goals? What are your thoughts behind "I can't"? You know, those thoughts that can paralyze you into inaction -- not only in your pet photography business but also in your life. Both Monica Adalsteinsson of Pup + Me Photo and Christi Baker of Christi Baker Photography get challenged by their thoughts, an…
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Soul Aligned Marketing with Lucy Baum
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207 - The idea of work-life balance is a myth. We don't ever really balance the many facets of our lives: our businesses, our families, our health, our free time, etc. We give enough attention to each one just to keep going every day. That, my friend, is not balance. That is just surviving. Instead of looking for balance, my friend Lucy Baum says, …
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Authentic Social Media with Deb Laflamme
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206 - Commitment is a four-letter word to some people I know. And when we talk about social media and the commitment it takes to keep your feeds updated and interesting, they unleash a string of four-letter words. It can get stressful when you feel like you're dancing like a puppet to the algorithms pulling our strings. But we are here to break it …
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205 - Let's talk inquiries this week. How are you getting them? Where are they coming from? How many become paying clients? It is so incredibly important that you are clear on the answers to these questions because this data will help you streamline your process and focus your energies on what works for your pet photography business. Heather Lahtin…
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What's Holding Photographers Back from Email Marketing with Heather Lahtinen
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204 - Have you ever sent an email and felt immediately deflated when a couple of people hit that ol' unsubscribe button? Have you ever had a little panic attack and thought, "I'm bothering these people and I suck at this." Let's take a deep breath right now and remember that when people say "no" to you, it's about them and their story, not about yo…
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Personal Finance for Photographers with Colleen Patel
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203 - Budgets and financial planning are fascinating subjects, aren't they? I mean, who doesn't want to get lost in a world of numbers and spreadsheets and interest rates and taxes? Now that you're on the edge of your seat … Haha! Oh my friend, I get it. Talking about financial health seems so dry and it's easy to tune out but bear with me for a fe…
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Should Photographers Request Tips with Heather Lahtinen
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202 - To ask for tips or not to ask for tips? That is not the question. Of course it isn't. It's never that obvious with Heather Lahtinen. Do you leave a spot on your invoices for clients to tip you? I don't. And I'm going to tell you why in this week's episode of the Hair of the Dog podcast but – and this is a big but – it's never as simple as wha…
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201 - Are you taking action every day? There's so much happening in The Coaching Journals with our friend Heather Lahtinen this month. We're on Month 3 of our chance to listen in on Heather's coaching sessions with Monica Adalsteinsson of Pup + Me Photo in Phoenix and Christi Baker of Christi Baker Photography in Atlanta. Monica is super excited (a…
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200 - If you've been reading these emails or listening to the Hair of the Dog podcast for a while, you know there are two things that I look for every day: Wins Gratitude My friend, today, I am celebrating episode No. 200 of the Hair of the Dog podcast and I am incredibly grateful that you are along for the ride. Can I get a WOOHOO? Now hang on … i…
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Finding your Style with Emily Abrahams
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199 - Have you ever looked at another photographer's locations and thought, "Ugh, I wish I lived there!" Like Charlotte's ooey-gooey sunset light on the beaches of Brisbane, Australia? Or Alicja Zmysłowska's majestic mountainscapes? Don't they make you wanna turn around and kick your spot right in the shin? What if you took a different look at wher…
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198 - Have you ever cruised through the Hair of the Dog community on your Circle app and thought, "How are all these *&^%!es getting $10K sales and I'm not"? First things first, it is great to have a goal to hit a $10,000 sale but let's settle one thing right now: It's also OK to not have them consistently. Or even to have had one at all! I get it.…
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The Gap and Gain with Heather Lahtinen
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197 - Heather Lahtinen is not fearless. I know, right? It's hard to believe. However, earlier this month, while we converged in Charlotte, North Carolina, with five pet photographers wanting to up their game at Progress Lab, I learned one of Heather's greatest fears. Snakes. Heather, Jessica Wasik and another photographer were driving to our next l…
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196 - It's time to check in with Heather and The Coaching Journals. Two lucky members of the Hair of the Dog Elevate program – Christi Baker of Christi Baker Photography in Atlanta and Monica Adalsteinsson of Pup + Me Photography in Phoenix – won six months of one-on-one coaching with Heather. But there was a catch! They had to agree to share their…
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Are DSLRs Dead with Robby from YM Camera
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195 - DSLRs are dead. Long live the DSLR! Are DSLRs dead? If you ask Robby Yankush, of YM Camera in Youngstown, Ohio, you're going to hear the straight talk. They might not be dead yet but we can hear the death knell ringing in the distance. This week's episode of the Hair of the Dog podcast features a replay of Gear Talk with Robby, a member's onl…
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Partnerships and Podcasts with Urban Dog Studio
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194 - Have you heard the old saying, "It's a marathon, not a sprint"? Laurie Elmer and Knicki Lucrezi of Urban Dog Studio in St. Petersburgh, Florida, started 20-some years ago by building the first partnership that mattered. The one they have with each other. Then they published a book together and now they're capitalizing on the relationships the…
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Serving the LBGTQ+ Community with Lisa Peterson
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193 - Pride Month is coming up. For the entire month of June, the LGBTQ+ community celebrates the freedom to be themselves. You might be tempted to post an image on Instagram of a dog with a rainbow bandana and proclaim yourself to be LGTBQ+ friendly. #ally #pridemonth #equality #loveislove Please don't do that, says Lisa Peterson of Pawsh Photogra…
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