Episode 32
Molly Keyser – A Photographer Podcast Interview
Matt’s pumped to interview Molly of Boudie Shorts with Kia on this episode of, From Nothing to Profit. To make a long story short: Molly started with photographing weddings, had a client request a boudoir session, she fell in love and switched to boudoir photography full time, and now teaches boudoir; referring her client inquiries to her certified students. Don’t miss how Molly uses Facebook Live! Molly is fired up about attitudes in the (boudoir) industry and practicing what you preach. It’s about empowering women. Listen in to hear how Molly would recommend you spend (or save) that $1k. Routine is something that really contributes to Molly’s success and she “plans tomorrow, today” – you want to hear how to do this! Don’t miss the important conversation about burnout and depression on this podcast episode. And as Molly says, if you want to become the best you can be, quickly, get a mentor to learn from someone who has already done it so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Internet Resources:
www.boudieshorts.com/blog
Subscribe to Molly’s email list while on the blog
App: Talkspace (therapist on your phone)
[00:01] Hey, this is Molly Kaiser and you’re listening to from nothing to profit.
[00:05] Welcome to from nothing to profit a photographer’s podcast with Matt and Kaia where each week they talk to photographers about what is working in their business now so you can swipe those ideas and grow your business faster.
[00:22] Hey everybody. So welcome to the podcast. I’m really excited today because we have my friend Molly Kaiser and you guys may know her from her Boudreaux work as well as booty shorts, but Molly and I have been friends for years and she’s been on some of my summer nights and I’ve done some work with her and stuff so it’s really excited to actually have this conversation with her. But if you guys don’t know Molly, so Molly, like I said, lives it and the Boudreaux hour, I can’t even say that word correctly. I’m going to fumble it all day long, but that’s okay. Through the associates does all that, you know, by using like appropriate marketing and sales and pricing. And she really focuses on customer experience where she took her business from 81 cents to six figures a year, which is, which is amazing, but like I said, now I know her really well through the fact that she helps other photographers build their business and years just like such an open book to our industry in terms of, you know, your business strategy is you’re shooting your lighting and your pose in your clients’ experience, all that stuff. So, um, thanks so much for being on this. And um, yeah, just tell our audience, you know, a little bit more whatever I missed and go from there.
[01:27] Thank you so much for having me on this is, it’s always a blast to talk with you. Uh, so yeah, basically I always loved photography. I’m sure a lot of you listening, you can totally relate to that. You know, the whole young with the camera story. Right. But I remember in high school I would always get like notes to get out of my boring classes. I would call them like science and math because I want it to go play in the dark room. And so I always kind of knew that I wanted to pursue photography full time. I just didn’t always maybe believe that I could make money with a career in photography. So I interned with some photographers. I ended up going to college to study art and photography. And what I’ve kind of learned in college was it was a lot more about, you know, showing an art galleries and things like that.
[02:15] There really wasn’t a structured, uh, major, if you will, in the UWU system, at least that, you know, taught me how to be a professional portrait photographer. So I actually told myself, I kind of gave myself an ultimatum, like, if you can book x amount of portraits and weddings, like you can drop out of college to pursue photography. Um, and that’s exactly what I did back in the day. Uh, Craig’s list worked pretty well for me, but not a super good strategy today, Fyi. So, um, yeah, basically I shot weddings and very low priced portraits for a really long time. And until I really came across this, I was doing this engagement session and she was a bride to be and we were doing her engagement photos and she took me aside and she was like, Molly, would you be willing to do duar photos of me to give as a gift to my room and I had no idea to be honest with you guys.
[03:10] Like what would work was I, it wasn’t even on my radar at all but I was just like, yeah, when you own a business I think it’s really important to say yes to a lot of things, especially in the beginning. And I’m really glad that I did because what I learned from that session was not only that I love doing good work photography, not only that it’s profitable, but that I can really truly make a really big impact on women’s lives. Like this client in particular, she, she thought she was ugly. She did not like, I didn’t know what she saw in the mirror. She had like no confidence and just from that one photo shoot, like it sounds crazy, but just from the one photo shoot before and after she was a completely different person. Like she was sort of skipping out of the hotel room with confidence and in that moment I was like, this is what I need to do. So over those next couple of years I transitioned out of weddings and interviewed war photography full time, which I did for many years and as of January of this year that are recording the podcast, my fulltime now is on helping my students and actually send any of my inquiries to Mike who are certified students. But um, yeah, I’ve been and I still do photo shoots, just not clients. So I’ve been a photographer for about 14 years now and that’s kind of where I’m at today.
[04:27] That’s really cool. I love hearing your story about the dark room in high school because I was very outgoing, so involved in lots of things. Yeah. And the dark room was my favorite place, just to be able to go there and be so quiet and away from everything and be creative with nobody around. So I definitely identify with that. That’s, that’s neat. So you’ve been doing it for 14 years, full time. And does that include your college years or when you built the business afterwards?
[04:55] I think that includes about one or two of my college years. Um, pretty much all the years that I was shooting professionally and getting paid.
[05:04] Okay.
[05:04] And so you and you built this business in Wisconsin and then you just recently moved to Austin,
[05:10] correct? That is correct. Yep. I built it in a super small, actually you’d like several small towns in Wisconsin with, you know, people are like super conservative there, so people always thought and told me like who are, will never work full time. Um, but it did an adult. Yeah.
[05:26] Yeah. Which is awesome. And I love the watching your, you know, you and I are personal friends on Facebook and watching your journey of you transitioning to Texas. Like, I think you posted the other day, like you were so excited like that spring was already in like in Austin and where all your friends and in Wisconsin are still buried in snow. And like you’re like wandering around like blooming trees and stuff like that. I think it’s hilarious. Like how much you’ve embraced the warm climate of. Awesome.
[05:52] Yeah. So it’s just crazy how much my mood has changed. Moving somewhere with sunshine, like every day I look at my husband and I’m like, I just, I just love it here. So I don’t know, this is off topic, but if you’re ever thinking about moving somewhere, you should definitely do it.
[06:07] Yeah, Phoenix was amazing. I came back and I was like, we did so much every single day and it was cloudy and rainy when we got back to Kansas. So I definitely understand that. So the next question we have is what is working now? And it sounds like you have transitioned out of full time photography work into teaching, which I think makes you even better for our podcast because you kind of can see an overview of the business. Uh, but what would you say like, or what are you teaching your students is specifically working now? Because you said, you know, Craig’s list, obviously advertising on that isn’t something that works. So what would you, what, what, what do you suggest? Yeah, and
[06:47] really quickly too, just for those of you listening, if you’re thinking like, how would she know what works if she’s not taking clients? Which is a totally valid question. So I have several people on my team that are photographers and I test everything with their businesses. So it’s actually really cool. Instead of just testing with my business, I can actually test with several photographers, businesses that live all over the world. So it’s really cool that way. I’m only teaching strategies that are working everywhere. So what we’re seeing right now that works the best, and it’s going to sound really simple, so hopefully you guys liked that. Simple is awesome, right? Uh, building your know, like, and trust factor through Facebook lives. And I know people have been talking about Facebook lives for years, but they still work. And that’s a huge thing is, um, you know, and you don’t always have to be looking for like, what’s new, what’s new, what’s new, you know, you have to find something that works and then stick with that. And for us, that is consistently, so again, keyword consistently doing Facebook lives, uh, to build that know, like, and trust with your clients because especially with boudoir photography, they’re booking more for the trust with you and how comfortable they feel with you. Then your portfolio, which might sting a little bit, but it’s the honest truth.
[08:04] So dive a little bit deeper real quick. So kind of explain like what a Facebook live looks like, you know, for, for your students and stuff like that. You know, I mean obviously it makes sense that they’re, you know, you’re doing it so that you build, you know, that trust, but like kind of, you know, just give a little bit of a glimpse of like what it actually looks like.
[08:23] Yeah, sure. So first thing is you want to come up with a really eye catching title because people are just scrolling through Facebook. They’re just scrolling through social media and you have literally like less than a second to actually catch the retention, let along get them to push play and like watch that Facebook live. So one just one example of a title would be something that I think would really catch people’s attention would be, you know, uh, why do I photograph women in their underwear for a living? I’m pretty sure people would scroll through. And like, definitely you want to know why you do this for a living, right? And then what you would do in that live is you would simply share what you’re going to share, like a breakdown of the Facebook live. So you would say, okay guys, like today I’m going to tell my story about why I photograph women in their underwear.
[09:11] Oh, we’re going to get into the story. And then at the end, you know, if you, if you want to do some kind of fun call to action, you can say like, oh, I’ll be choosing a winner if you want to do a good way. But a basic Facebook live would just be, um, sharing with them. All right, I’m going to tell my story and then I’m going to give you guys a chance to comment below for something really fun. So in the Facebook live itself, you just start out with sharing, you know, this is where I was, this is where I am today. This is why I photograph women in their underwear. And you really want to address any of their concerns throughout the Facebook live. It doesn’t need to be like bullet points scripted. You can read it into your story. But for example, you know, women’s biggest fears with good voir are are they going to look like the people on your website?
[09:56] You know, are they gonna know what to wear? You know, are they going to be too nervous? Are they actually going to go through with it? And stuff like that. So you can kind of weave that into your Facebook live so that way you’re catching their interest, they’re getting to know you, you’re answering those false beliefs that they have. And then in the end you can invite them to do some kind of call to action, like common below to get more information. About a shoot or common below to be entered to win x, Y, Z or something like that. But you definitely want them to be commenting and liking you cause that will boost the post up and get more people to see your life.
[10:25] Okay. Awesome. That is awesome. So let me ask a couple questions. Is this on your personal profile or on your business? So you definitely want to do,
[10:33] do it on all the different avenues. So the, the two biggest ones would be your personal page and your private booed war. A Facebook group if you have one. That’s like a big proponent of our food, our certified program business pages. Okay. I really think this, this page is more for running Facebook ads, but um, you’re going to get seen more in the group and your personal page.
[10:57] Okay. And then do you do like, this sounds to me like you’re sitting there talking in front of the, you know, the phone or whatever. Very like casual, like not a behind the scenes, not putting samples of your work in it, but it’s just like you and the, and the person you’re kind of view and the audience.
[11:17] Yeah, you can do either one. So for this title that I just named the yeah, no. Why do I photograph reference their underwear that I feel like could be really cool just like sitting in your studio or like on your couch. Just super casual. But you could also do one that’s like, you know what, what would you actually do with good work photos? Cause that’s a big one that people ask. Like what am I actually gonna do with these photos? And then in that you could do like a studio tour, you could show off your albums, you could show off the different products you have. Um, so I think a mix of both would be really good. Yeah.
[11:47] But not professional. Like, like live like interactive. Oh yeah, definitely. Like you need like a special camera. Yeah. Just your cell phone. Yeah. That’s so scary. This is like Kyle’s biggest fear. We’ve talked about this. I just cannot handle her face on a computer screen or a camera. Like she just hears it. Don’t get me wrong, I like my face, but I just get nervous. Like what am I going to, I mean, what will I say? Who knows what I would say on a Facebook live, you know, like I can edit things. I just loved the edit process of retouching and editing and finishing things off and so I’m like, oh my goodness.
[12:26] Hello is, I mean, think about it this way, like what’s your favorite social media platform? Consuming wise. Instagram. Okay. And like what do you love about Instagram? Like do you like the feed better or the insta stories better?
[12:39] I liked the feed and then I specifically choose who I look at on the insta stories. Like I don’t look at every single instance story. Like some people go through just everything. Wow. I haven’t met anyone with that answer, so you kind of threw me off there. That’s okay. Just go look at people who’ve junk. I’m like, I don’t want, this needs to be looked good to me.
[12:59] I feel like most people like the stories because they’re real. Yeah. And so like for example, if you’re on a Facebook live and you mess up or like supposedly first of all there’s no way
[13:08] I mess up, but let’s say you do something that you think would be a mess up. People love that.
[13:15] Like they want to feel like they’re actually in a room with your sitting at a table with you. But just to know like, just so you know, this is super normal. My students, they joined my program, we have them do a Facebook live right away and they all completely freak out. So, um, what I tell them to do this for their first Facebook live, simply just
[13:33] take your phone, go lie. And you know, I just have them share in the group like why they’re here. Something simple. So you could go live in a group too. So it doesn’t like not everyone sees it. That’s kind of Nice because it’s like these are the people that you can trust,
[13:49] right? Like I would recommend starting, they’re starting small, like a group of your close friends. But yeah, I do think it’s really important to get comfortable with going live because it’s only going to become more right.
[13:59] Popular. That’s really interesting. So you, so you do that with the people, like you’re going live, you’re creating people that want to know what you’re doing, essentially. You’re creating a following then.
[14:11] Yeah, because like I said, people, you know, they like following wives. But then the important thing is consistency. So even though we’re talking about Facebook live, we can use Instagram as an example. Yeah. If you’re following somebody and you’re watching their stories every single day, and then all of a sudden they just like,
[14:27] don’t make stories for a week. You literally like forget about that person. And it’s the same thing with Facebook class. Like I recommend going live every single day and people will start to really look for those lives and be excited for those lives and they really feel like you’re their close friend. Yeah, I believe it. That’s fun. Wow. What a discipline. So like, I’m assuming you do that yourself for your, like you’re selling to photographers business,
[14:58] Facebook lives. Yeah. I actually just did one right before we started recording.
[15:03] Yeah. And you do it daily?
[15:06] I would say maybe not every single day, but I recommend for my students every single day. Yeah.
[15:11] Okay. So how do you do it? Do you like, say I’m going to do it every day at 10 do you have a list of things you’re going to talk about? Do you put on makeup first?
[15:20] Yeah, so I, I, we actually have a list of different topics that we give to our students and we tell them to plan out their month. We planned it out monthly, so we have them come up with a topic for every single day. And then if they’re uncomfortable with going live, cause like until you’re really used to it, we say just come up with like five bullet points and have them in front of you. That way if you sort of forget what you’re talking about, you can reference that.
[15:43] Uh, what was your second question? Do you put on makeup? Oh
[15:47] yeah. So everyone, I feel like photographers specifically feel like they have to wear makeup to go live. Um, no, I, I don’t think it matters at all. I, I in fact never wear makeup, but, um, uh, for lives, I think people...
