July 22, 2024 • 34 mins
In this episode of Subscription Box Basics, Julie welcomes professional photographer Becca Bond, who shares valuable tips and insights on how to capture stunning images using simple tools and techniques. Becca discusses her journey into subscription box photography and introduces her new course, Snap for Success, which aims to help entrepreneurs elevate their product visuals (and sell more boxes!) Listeners will learn about color cohesion, essential supplies, and why you can rely on your smartphone for high-quality photos.
Links mentioned:
- Subscription Box Photography
- Snap for Success course - Use code JULIE25 for 25% off your enrollment!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 3 (00:00):
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't
know where to start, girl, youare in the right place.
I'm Julie ball and I'm ReneeGonzalez, your host here at
subscription box basics, apodcast for new and aspiring
subscription box entrepreneurswanting to avoid overwhelm.
So grab a coffee, some pen andpaper, and let's have some fun.
Julie (00:22):
Hey, everybody.
And welcome back to subscriptionbox basics.
I'm Julie Ball, your head coach.
And today we're talking about areally, really fun subject,
photography.
And I have one of my besties onwith me today, Becca Bond from
subscription box photography.
Hey, Becca.
Becca (00:40):
Hey, Julie.
Thank you so much for having meon.
This is a long time in themaking and I am So excited to
finally be able to connect withyou and your audience in this
way.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
So we're going to tell ourstory, a little bit of our story
first.
Why don't you just give everyonea quick introduction?
So because a lot of them aregoing to be meeting you for the
first time.
Becca (01:03):
Yeah, cool.
Okay.
Well so I am a lifelongphotographer.
I've been, you know, Working inthe photography field, my entire
adult life and Julie actuallygets credit for getting me
started in the subscription boxindustry.
And that happened when shelaunched Sparkle Hustle Grow.
(01:24):
I had been her photographerthrough her engagement session,
her marriage.
Yeah, we go way, we go deep.
So yeah, I had been working withher for a long time and It was
just a natural fit.
She asked me to photograph hersubscription box and it just
sort of grew from there.
She pushed me to kind of createthis brand subscription box
(01:47):
photography.
And it's been a fun journey.
I am a single mom.
I have a daughter now 16.
It's so crazy.
And yeah, it's been fun.
This, version of photography hasallowed me flexibility and time
to hang out with Willow, mydaughter, and help brands
create.
A visual identity that looksprofessional and polished and
(02:13):
the idea for the course thatwe'll be talking about today was
actually born.
I want to say, I don't know.
What do you think, Julie?
How many years ago did I firstat least at least 3?
Yeah, I think even before thatit was in my head.
Where, you know, I'mphotographing subscription boxes
for brands, but not everybody isin a place to hire out a
(02:35):
photographer yet, especially ifyou're just starting out.
And photography is extremelyimportant in growing your
business.
Obviously, if you're everythingyou're doing is online and
that's the only interaction thatyour market has with your
products, photography shows whoyou are.
So I wanted to create somethingthat would help, especially the
(02:57):
beginners or the new brands.
have a way to present themselvesonline as professional and
valuable and make everythinglook good and sparkly so that
one day they could eventually,you know, hopefully hire a
photographer.
And if that's the case we wouldlove to be considered at
subscription box photography.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Love it.
Okay.
And so in today's episode, we'regoing to share some photography
tips that you can implement.
Right now to make a massivedifference in DIY photography.
Then at the end, we're going toshare about the new course that
Becca has put together for thosewho want to go a little deeper.
And of course we have a specialcode for you so you can save on
(03:41):
that course enrollment, but.
Let's stay focused for first,before we talk about that, let's
talk about some photography tipsand I'll share you guys.
She is professionally trained.
Like she went to school forthis.
She found herself in New Yorkcity afterwards doing like meet
your shoots.
Like she has done portraitphotography for a lot of
families as well, includingours.
(04:03):
And she kind of mentioned that,but I want to tell you.
The real story behind it.
So Kenny and I my husband, wemoved to Rock Hill in 2008.
We bought a house three doorsdown from Becca.
Little did we know how close wewould get, but it started out on
such a good foot because Beccaand her husband at the time and
her baby at the time, Willow wasso little.
(04:24):
I think you were carrying her.
Yeah.
She
Becca (04:26):
was like six or nine months old when you all moved
in.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You showed up at my front door with fresh.
Baked goods and a big smile onyour face, like, welcome to the
neighborhood.
And I was like, Oh, that felt sogood.
I didn't know we still did that.
Becca (04:43):
Well, I heard the grapevine that you all were a
bunch of really cool people thatI would get along with.
So before I delivered thecookies, I'd been hearing you
need to meet Julie.
And Kenny, they, you would lovethem.
You guys would get along sowell.
So I'm like, okay, I need tomake a good impression on her.
Didn't Willow
Speaker 2 (05:01):
have like a Steelers onesie on or something?
Oh yeah.
She
Becca (05:04):
was full on Steelers and you're a Steelers fan.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Did you know I was a Steelers fan?
Becca (05:10):
I don't know, actually, at the time of finding you.
Taylor Spanner was
Speaker 2 (05:13):
just a crazy
Becca (05:14):
coincidence.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
It was perfect.
I loved it so much.
Because I was like, oh, she's mypeople.
So, over the years, you know,Becca and I got to know each
other as friends.
And, you know, we've hired herto Take photos of all the
important milestones of ourlives.
So engagement, she also wentback to Pennsylvania with us for
our wedding and she was like afreaking ninja.
(05:35):
I didn't even see her throughoutthe wedding, but she had all
these amazing photographs todocument that.
That was such a beautifulwedding too.
Thank you.
And then of course let's seematernity shots, baby McKenna
shots.
And then as she grew, like, Youjust have taken, have
beautifully like documented theearly time on our life.
(05:56):
And I just, I'm so grateful forit.
So when I, of course, when Istarted my new business, I had
the need, I like, I tried totake some photos on my own and
they were okay, but I know howimportant photography is for
product based businesses.
So of course, like, I'm justreally lucky to have a amazing
photographer as a good friend.
(06:18):
And so I called up Becca and Isaid, Hey.
Would you, if I brought theseboxes of things over that I've
curated, will you take somephotos of them?
And she of course said yes.
And as we were talking more andmore, it just, it was such an
easy transition for you.
As I started doing the coaching,I said, I have all these people
(06:38):
that are starting thesebusinesses and they need what
you do.
And so that description boxphotography was essentially
born.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Becca (06:45):
And so it's kind of cool because the course.
In the course, I am teaching theexact same method that I started
photographing with and when,when you came to me with your,
your first box for me to shoot,I knew how to do it.
I was really familiar with howto photograph a box
(07:05):
professionally in the studio,which is what I was doing in New
York City.
City, but at the time I wasdoing portraits.
So I didn't have all theequipment, all the gear and
stuff that I was used to workingwith, but I knew how it should
have looked.
And I understood how to workwith lighting and everything.
So I figured out a setup that Icould do in my own living room.
And, you know, the first timeI'm like, I don't want to really
(07:27):
invest any money.
I don't know if this is going tobe something that.
Takes hold or anything likethat.
So I created this set in myliving room and it ended up
being phenomenal.
And I shot the first yeardifferent subscription boxes in
my own living room in this, thisway, and the photos were great.
And that's the same.
(07:47):
exact setup that I'm teaching inthe course.
So it's going to, it, it works.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Let's dive into those three photography tips because
about some of that setup, wewant you guys as listeners, we
want you to find value in this,something that you can use right
away.
Yeah.
And, and look at your before andafter pictures after you've
implemented these tips.
So let's start with.
The first tip, Becca, the flooris yours.
Becca (08:16):
Okay, so the first tip, and this might sound
controversial, but people ask mea lot, what kind of camera
should I get?
And my response is always useyour phone's camera.
Nice.
And there's a whole slew ofreasons for this, and I'll go
(08:36):
over just a couple of thereasons.
The first is that with what youwould probably invest in a
camera, the difference betweenthe picture quality of like an
entry level camera or even anintermediate level camera and
your camera phone is not, it'snegligible.
It's not really that different.
(08:57):
You're not going to get.
A lot more.
I'm not going to bore you withall the photographer jargon, but
basically it's, it's not gonnamake that much of a difference.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah.
When I think about when you saidthat, I think about like a
consumer's eye, like, are theygoing to be able to see the
difference between photo A orphoto B?
Based off of this little bit ofdifference in your camera phone,
like a good camera phone versusan expensive actual camera.
Yeah,
Becca (09:25):
exactly.
And I even have a part in thecourse, and I don't know if you
saw that, where I have anexample
Speaker 2 (09:32):
and I could not see the difference.
Becca (09:33):
I took a photo with my professional camera, which is a
very, very expensive camera andlens setup, and then I took the
same photo with my camera phone.
And if you're seeing it on ascreen, it's not really.
There's not a difference.
The other reason I recommendusing your.
Your phone is because you'refamiliar with it.
So it's not only an investmentof money to purchase a camera
(09:57):
side, you know, camera body andlens, but it's also a huge, or,
I mean, it depends on who youare, but there is a, you know, a
learning curve there if you'regoing to be using.
A camera.
So you already know how to useyour phone.
I mean, there was a lot of tipsthat I go over in the course on
how to set your camera phone.
Your phone's camera up fortaking the best photos that it
(10:20):
can take.
And there are, there are a lotof little nuances there to get
into, but basically it's goingto do the job and do it really
well.
I'm going to go over one morereason why.
And this is the always, I thinkthe most important is because
you have the opportunity to editright there on site.
So what you're seeing.
On the screen on your phone, youcan compare that to what you're
(10:42):
seeing in person right in frontof you live and you can make
color adjustments, some littlelighting tweaks instead of
downloading all the images ontoa laptop later.
It's just really easy toimmediately process them and
know that it looks good.
So that's the first step.
And I think that's a reallyimportant one.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I would agree.
And I think that it takes thishuge obstacle out of the way.
I don't know about you, Becca,but in our family, when
something seems difficult oroverwhelming, we drag our feet a
little bit and then we end updoing the thing that we needed
to do.
You know, kind of like how itfeels like when you're doing
taxes.
It's like we don't understand itall.
(11:19):
And so we drag our feet.
Yeah.
Okay.
Becca (11:21):
Put it off and put it off and put it off.
Exactly.
I want to do this.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Now, this is something that you don't want to
put off because you need.
Product photography, especiallyif think if you're a monthly
box, you're going to have freshcontent every single month.
And that is perfect material foryour website, social media,
email marketing, and it can berepurposed in so many different
ways.
But if you are dragging yourfeet because you're like, well,
(11:47):
I don't have a good camera or Idon't have the budget for a good
camera.
Well, Becca just popped thatballoon because all you need is
your camera phone.
Chances
Becca (11:56):
are you have that
Speaker 2 (11:57):
already and you use it every day.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So that first tip is great andit's going to take that pressure
off of our listener's shoulders.
Becca (12:06):
Exactly, Jolie.
So we'll go into the second tipthat I have now.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I love this tip that you're about to share because
it's supplies oriented andthey're things that I would have
never thought of, but it's goingto create stability.
It's going to create bettersurfaces.
Okay.
You take it away.
Becca (12:24):
Okay.
So tip number two is when you'reworking with a subscription box.
There are some supplies that Irecommend to always have on
hands, and there are things youmay not have thought of, but
it's something that I use inalmost every single shoot that
we do at Subscription BoxPhotography.
And that is having painter'stape, you know, the blue
painter's tape that comes offeasily, and also some either
(12:48):
sticky tack, which is that wallputty to stick posters to the
wall.
You could also use Play Doh forthis.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Did you hear that, guys?
You can actually use Play Doh inyour, in your fursuit.
So get in tap into
Becca (12:58):
your kid's Play Doh supply.
But yeah, so these two, thesetwo little items are something
that I always, always, alwayshave.
Right on hand every photo shootthat I do and the painters tape
helps keep things in place,especially when you're doing
sort of an unboxing shot whereall the items are spilling out
of the box.
(13:18):
Especially, especially helpfulif you have a lot of flat
products are printed products orYou know, anything that you need
to fan out, you can just slapsome painters tape on the back
and side tip.
If the card stock that you'reusing is glossy, you can just
usually stick the painter's taperight on there.
(13:39):
But what I normally do is just.
Give the painter's tape kind oflike a little bit of a wear on
my arm first, just stick it onmy arm.
So it's even less sticky and itwon't mess up any kind of raw
paper that you have when youpeel it off later, but that's a
really easy way to keep thingsin place.
And then the putty or the PlayDoh sticky tack, if you are.
(14:03):
If you're shooting a flat laydown and you have any kind of
items that you want to make sureare in a certain place, like if
it's a bottle and you want tosee that the label is facing
towards the camera or if youhave, you know, a collection of
colored pencils and you want tomake sure that they're staying
where they're supposed to, thisis an excellent place for a
(14:24):
little teeny tiny dot of PlayDoh or sticky tack so that
everything lays nicely.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
That's so smart.
Well, I remember trying to, todo some photos on my own before
and the, the pens, they wouldjust keep rolling.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Driving me crazy and I'm apretty resourceful person, but
this did not dawn on me to dosticky tack or playdough.
So I think that's brilliant.
(14:51):
The other thing was too, Iremember trying to, this is
before I had asked you for yourhelp.
Yes,
Becca (14:56):
right.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Where I was trying to do, you know, I think you call
it like the exploding box shot.
I do, yeah.
Yeah, where you have the box andthen you have all these items.
Just exploding out of it.
Kind of, yeah, exploding out.
Well, it's really hard to getthings to stay at an angle
because you have to put them atan angle if you want everything
to fit.
And so one thing that I did was.
(15:17):
I used crinkle cut and I wouldjust file so much crinkle cut
inside the box to lifteverything.
But then I, once they werelifted, they'd fall right out of
the box.
So the painter's tape wouldprobably hold some things in
place.
The sticky tape definitely wouldhave.
So I love This tip and I thinkwe should do a little tiny video
(15:40):
for it just to just todemonstrate and we can put it on
our social media.
Becca (15:44):
I love that idea.
Let's do it.
Okay, cool.
Very fun.
So the third tip that I'm goingto give today is when you're
planning your box, think aboutcreating a cohesion in the color
palettes.
And this is so important.
Whenever we get a box atSubscription Box Photography to
(16:04):
photograph where there's been alot of thought into the color
palette of the items, it's soeasy to work with.
It just makes everything lookpolished.
It makes it look professional.
It makes it look like it's beenwell thought out.
And I'll give an example.
Imagine, like, imagine a groupof, of items.
that are in a neutral colorfamily, you know, like, like
(16:27):
browns or like maybe even sortof these, that soft pink color
that's, you know, kind of mutedor just earthier tones, like an
army green.
And then you drop in an a brightorange pen or something like
that.
It just doesn't feel like itworks together.
The boxes that I've succeed,typically they do this.
They think about the items thatGo together that work together
(16:51):
and they plan that box that way.
And, and that's something Ithink that, sparkle hustle grow
really did well.
Like there was always a cohesionin the color.
It was always, and it's not, itdoesn't have to be the exact
same color.
It can just be all, like I said,like all bright colors are all
muted colors or, or sometimesthere is a color theme that's
woven throughout all of theproducts that are in the box,
(17:12):
but that makes the world ofdifference.
And that's something, that goesinto the planning phase of the
box versus just the photo shoot.
But if I can pull that off, man,you got it.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Well, thank you for noticing because it was very
intentional when I was doingSparkle Hustle Grow.
Becca (17:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I was very intentional about finding my
hero product, which was usuallythe book.
And then I wanted things to fitfrom a color perspective, but
also from the whole themeperspective.
So I I've talked about that foryears about how things need to
fit.
So you're not going to put forexample, a summer beach read,
and then like, Like a winterdish towel, like those things
(17:53):
don't fit.
Yeah.
You take that same concept tothe color palette and I remember
you telling me years ago howmuch easier it will be to market
your box and how much easier itis to photograph the box when it
does feel like it fits togetherin that color palette.
Becca (18:12):
It absolutely does.
It looks more elevated.
It looks more high ends.
And again, it just looks like alot more thought went into it,
which really it did.
I mean, it's, I'm sure it's noteasy on your end, right?
The function of the productshave to work together.
Like you said, a summer read,you know, when you want to.
Stick with a breezy summerfeeling to all the items that we
work in that season, but thenalso visually to make them work.
(18:34):
And I'm just the visual person.
So I'm just looking at thingsvisually, but that's a challenge
for you all.
Or the box owners to reallythink about the use as well as.
the visual aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, I agree.
That's such a great tip.
And I hope that you guys can usethat as you're thinking about
future boxes, making sure thatthose color palettes fit
together well.
And you'll know when you, whenyou see the colors, you can tell
If they're going to fittogether, they're not just a
hodgepodge.
So let's do a quick recap of thethree tips.
(19:07):
You said one, you don't needexpensive equipment.
You can use what you have, whichis your camera, your cell phone.
Number two, use supplies likepainter's tape, sticky tack, or
Play Doh.
during your photo shoot.
So things stay where they needto be.
And they're facing the rightdirection, not falling.
And then number three, be veryintentional about making sure
(19:32):
your product curation iscohesive with their color
scheme.
So those are Becca's three tips.
Hopefully you can use those toimprove your photos, improve the
product selection, and sell moreboxes using your awesome product
photography.
That's the goal here.
Yeah, exactly.
(19:52):
So you launched a course.
This is a course about productphotography.
Let's talk about that.
What is it called?
And tell us some of the topicsthat you cover.
Becca (20:03):
Oh my gosh.
So the course is called snap forsuccess.
And as I mentioned earlier, thiscourse is a very long time in
the making.
I rewrote it several times and.
I am so proud of it.
I think that it's going to helpso many people elevate their
business.
And ultimately the goal of thecourse is just to sell your
(20:24):
products to make more money.
Using photography, which is avery powerful tool.
So yeah, the course does tellyou how to create the perfect
lighting setup in your livingroom using minimal, minimal
equipment.
If you don't have it already, itcan pretty much all be purchased
for around 10, 15, 20 buckstotal.
(20:44):
Nice.
And it looks like a studio.
It looks, it looks really good.
So that's, a big topic of thecourse, but also I get into a
lot of different things like thepsychology of photography, how
you can use the tools to youradvantage when you're selling,
how to kind of get inside of themind of your target audience,
(21:05):
what they're looking for, what'sgoing to attract them.
I always imagine it likefishing.
What kind of allure are yougoing to use to attract the
right, right.
People.
So a lot of, a lot of fun topicslike that.
We go over color, we go over howto arrange items.
I mean, that's a big challenge Ithink with, especially with
subscription boxes, whatseparates it from just typical
(21:28):
product photography is thatyou're working with a selection
of items and sometimes the itemsare.
Various sizes, for example, youmight have a t shirt with a pair
of earrings and some other, howdo you make all of that fit
together so that all the itemslook, look equally important.
I mean, there's always the heroitem, but you know, how they all
(21:49):
work together in a composition.
So we do touch on compositionand break that down.
I try to do it in a really funand interactive way.
Provide lots of examples thatmaybe challenge you to look at
the photos and see what youlike, see what works and what
doesn't work and how you canapply that to your own photos.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I love the the course I've been going through myself
and like a couple of the thingsthat I really love about it is
that you've broken things downinto these bite sized manageable
chunks as you're kind ofexplaining the psychology behind
it and you're giving examplesand it did not feel overwhelming
at all.
Like it didn't feel good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It didn't feel like you weretalking at me with jargon and
(22:30):
stuff.
You've really broken it down toa relatable kind of level for a
small business owner like myselfand our listeners here.
And okay, there's this one thingin the course that I know my
specific listeners are going toabsolutely love and you don't
have to give away all thedetails, but tell them about
your workflow.
You have this like subscriptionworkflow and really it's going
(22:54):
to guide your entire photo shootso that it's efficient with your
time.
You're not wasting any time andYou're not backtracking and
going back and being like, Oh, Iforgot to get this shot.
So tell them a little bit aboutthat
Becca (23:06):
is so, so good.
I feel like this is kind of thegold in there.
This is actually something thatI didn't come up with in the
beginning of.
launching the subscription boxphotography business.
It was something that Istruggled with and my brain as a
lot of artists are kind of allover the place, ADD, and I would
do a photo shoot and then feellike, Oh my gosh, I forgot to do
(23:28):
this group shot or the explodingbox shot.
That's the most important thing.
Why did, how did I forget that?
So I actually worked with atherapist on this because I was
so, yeah, so like overwhelmedwhen I would go to do a photo
shoot, where do I start?
What do I do?
We came up with a formula.
That it flows through all of theshots that you will need, or you
(23:49):
could possibly use for your,your box.
And it takes it through thewhole, you know, everything from
individual products to the groupshots from the flat lay shooting
down on the items to the eyelevel shots.
And I provide that to everysingle photographer at
(24:12):
Subscription Box Photography.
Everyone has to memorize it.
It's really important.
That's the, that's a perfectword.
Yeah.
It's the framework for everyphoto shoot that we do.
So I put that in there, I put itin the workbook and I also kind
of talked about it in thecourse.
And I feel like that is going tohelp so many people just to stay
organized and not feeloverwhelmed when they're working
(24:32):
through the photo shoot, becauseit can feel overwhelming.
You have all these ideas ofphotos that you want to do.
And sometimes it's hard to.
Remember everything and figureout what the best order is
because, you know, the lightingsituation and things like that
kind of change a little bit asyou're moving through it, but
it's organized in a way thatmakes perfect sense that should
make it so easy for anybody tofollow.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah, and they can just print it out and hang it up
where they're doing their photoshoot.
If they, if you have some sortof planner or journal or
anything like that, that you'replanning out your work, like
print that out and stick it inthere.
Cause we're going to do thatevery single time to keep you
focused, organized, efficient,and come out with really, really
great photos.
So I think it's pure magic.
(25:14):
And I, I would be remiss if wewouldn't talk about that because
you were talking about that.
Yeah.
That's a key part of the course.
I'm loving it.
And I know that our listenerswill love it as well.
So where can they find thecourse?
Like where online are your, canthey sign up?
Becca (25:30):
Sure.
Yeah.
So go to snap for success.
It's snap for success.
com www and you can find itthere.
And I wanted to give a discountto all of Julie's listeners.
Yeah, I know this is going tohelp them so much.
I believe this is going totransform their business.
(25:51):
I mean, especially somebody thathas never had professional
photos done before that is in aplace where they can hire out a
photographer, and they're justkind of winging it.
This is going to show them whatit should look like, you know,
give them confidence.
And the goal is to have youproud of your photos, excited to
share them instead of like, Oh,I just had to grab a couple of
(26:12):
shots of the solid online.
Like, I want you to be reallyexcited to share it online and
show how much value is in it andhow much thought you put into
it, because again, it's like thepsychology of photography.
It's everything.
It's it's how you're perceivedby people that don't know you.
And it's also your first directline of contact.
(26:34):
To the audience that you want toreach.
If they like your photos,they're going to dig a little
bit deeper and find out moreabout your brand, about your
products and see how that fitsinto their life.
But if your photos are like, youknow, are not.
spectacular if you just got, youknow, your neighbor to do them
or whatever, whatever.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I mean, it's the truth though.
Like, it's a make it or break ittype thing with your website,
for example, it is very clearwhen you get to a website and it
doesn't look polished, it looksunprofessional.
It does not give you that goodwarm feeling that like, I want
to buy from them.
And the fact is when you run asubscription box business, you
(27:13):
have to have box shots.
You have to have product shotson your website.
So like, this is one of thosethings that is, it has to be
done well, and you can do itwell with some of the right
training.
And I want to say, listen, ifyou are a boot camper already,
if you're a subscription boxboot camper, one of your
bonuses, Becca and I hadrecorded a mini course at one
(27:35):
point, and that was one of thebonuses.
It's a DIY photo studio.
This new course, Snap forSuccess, is far more detailed,
it gives far more content, itgives more supplies, it gives
the framework we talked about,you know, the workflow, it is
much more in depth.
So if you're thinking, I alreadyhave the best basics thing
(27:57):
through that bonus, think ofthis as that next level up to
upgrade your own set of skills.
So I just want to put that outthere, but you do have a 25
percent off coupon, right?
Okay.
So that code is Julie 25.
And so you just put that in whenyou enroll and you'll get 25
percent off.
Yeah,
Becca (28:17):
that's right.
Yeah.
And the course is priced, aboutthe price of a single photo
shoot with subscription boxphotography.
So, for the cost of hiring usfor one photo shoot, I mean, you
basically have unlimited photoshoots whenever you need to make
content.
And I also want to say this, Ihave had a lot of brands that we
(28:40):
work with at subscription boxphotography, doing their monthly
content that have a lot of oneoff products.
And they're like, well, everytime I try to do it myself, it
looks so bad.
How can I make.
The photos that I've been doingmyself match what you all are
doing.
And this is the perfectcompliment for that as well.
You know, if you, even if youare working with a professional
(29:00):
and you know that there aretimes where you just have a one
off photo that you need reallyquickly, this is, this'll give
you the tool to have that done.
That's a great point yourself.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah.
That's such a great point.
Cause two, I remember when I wasrunning my box business every
once in a while, Renee and Iwould, and I would be like,
let's run a secret sale or let'srun a flash sale or something
like that.
And like with Renee and I, wewere like, okay, let's launch
this tomorrow.
We like to move fast.
And so we, I would be able topull together some products for
(29:32):
the flash sale or whatever, andtake a great photograph to use
in that marketing.
Sometimes I didn't have the timeto be able to send something to
you and, you know, have the teamdo it and then send it back.
Sometimes I needed it the nextday So this definitely, I'm,
I'm.
I mean, it's as a small businessowner, we wear so many hats too.
And so to take the time to getthe skills you need, man, it's
(29:57):
so empowering.
It can grow your business.
It's just good all around.
Now we do have to say too.
If you don't want to DIY, youknow, Becca does run
subscription box photography.
She is still accepting newclients.
So there's that option as well,but we believe that they not
only make a good compliment,having the skill, some of the
(30:17):
skills yourself.
And hiring out, it gives youoptions, you know, so we'll make
sure that we put all the linksin the show notes, not only for
snap for success with the couponcode, Julie 25, but also if you
are thinking that you're goingto outsource this, then
subscription box photography.
com.
You can find all the detailsabout how she runs that.
(30:38):
And it's one of the things Iloved about working with you
back always, it was just such anice rhythm.
Like I sent you a box once, oncea month.
And then, you know, a couple ofweeks later, I got.
All these pictures that I coulduse in different places.
And it just felt like part of mymonthly rhythm.
Becca (30:55):
Exactly.
Yeah, oh my gosh, Julie, you'reamazing.
I'm so, so excited to be onhere.
Aww, I'm glad to have youthought of the course.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yeah.
And finally,
Becca (31:06):
like,
Speaker 2 (31:06):
it's been a long time coming and I'm really proud of
you for finishing it and forputting it out there.
Cause that can be vulnerable,but I know it's going to help so
many people and guys, if you'relistening and you have
photography questions, you cansend them to me in the DMS and
I'll get with Becca on them andwe can share more information
via emails, social media.
(31:29):
Yeah.
We're both open books.
Becca (31:31):
We are exactly.
And also I have a Instagramaccount for snap for success,
and it's just snap for success.
So feel free to reach out onthere as well and send me a DM
and check in, show me whatyou're doing with the tips that
we've given.
I'd love to see what people aredoing.
Tag, tag snap for success.
(31:52):
That would be so cool to seewhat you're coming up with.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And if you guys take the courseand take some photos, you can
tag subscription box basics onInstagram too.
And we'll be happy to resharethose.
Yeah, we, we want to share allthose amazing photos that you're
taking.
So this has been so fun, Becca.
I appreciate Jolie.
Oh, I'm so proud of you.
And I know you're so talentedand now you're sharing the tips
(32:15):
and the tricks and theframeworks that you've held
close to you that can help otherpeople and now they can, they
can do it for themselves.
So I think it's going to beamazing.
And they're going to have somuch success with it.
Do you have any closing thoughtson or encouragement when it
comes to the
Becca (32:32):
leap?
Yes.
Yes.
I just want to see everyonesucceed.
I mean, you, I, I really thinkthat.
Doing something like launching asubscription box is akin to
having a baby in a lot of ways,or any time you're creating
something like this, I mean, youput your heart and soul into it,
you pour everything into it, andyou almost obsess about it, and
(32:53):
a huge part of that is having itrepresented in a way that shows
like, this is my baby, and it'sbeautiful, and I'm dressing it
well, and taking really goodcare of it.
So that analogy is kind ofweird, but it works.
So having good photography is,is, is doing that.
And yeah, Julie is such acheerleader.
She's she's always been mycheerleader and I have that same
(33:17):
drive to see everyone elsesucceed.
I love being a part of a team ofbusinesses, whether it's.
through, sharing knowledgethrough this course, or whether
it's through making photos andbeing a part of your team in
that way, it just feels reallygood.
And I'm rooting for all of youto succeed.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I feel so happy to have you on the podcast and I'm
so grateful for you to, to likehave such this long term.
Friendship and businesspartnerships.
And, oh, okay.
I have to stop the little love.
We could gush for hours.
You obviously you, the listenerscan probably hear it in our
voice, how much we support eachother and hopefully they feel it
(33:57):
as well when they take thecourse and feel our support.
So, okay, we will wrap this upBecca.
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
Thank you for the awesome tips.
on DIY photography Thankseveryone for listening today and
we'll see you in the nextepisode.
Bye.
Becca (34:14):
Bye everyone.
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't
know where to start, girl, youare in the right place.
I'm Julie ball and I'm ReneeGonzalez, your host here at
subscription box basics, apodcast for new and aspiring
subscription box entrepreneurswanting to avoid overwhelm.
So grab a coffee, some pen andpaper, and let's have some fun.
Julie (00:22):
Hey, everybody.
And welcome back to subscriptionbox basics.
I'm Julie Ball, your head coach.
And today we're talking about areally, really fun subject,
photography.
And I have one of my besties onwith me today, Becca Bond from
subscription box photography.
Hey, Becca.
Becca (00:40):
Hey, Julie.
Thank you so much for having meon.
This is a long time in themaking and I am So excited to
finally be able to connect withyou and your audience in this
way.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
So we're going to tell ourstory, a little bit of our story
first.
Why don't you just give everyonea quick introduction?
So because a lot of them aregoing to be meeting you for the
first time.
Becca (01:03):
Yeah, cool.
Okay.
Well so I am a lifelongphotographer.
I've been, you know, Working inthe photography field, my entire
adult life and Julie actuallygets credit for getting me
started in the subscription boxindustry.
And that happened when shelaunched Sparkle Hustle Grow.
(01:24):
I had been her photographerthrough her engagement session,
her marriage.
Yeah, we go way, we go deep.
So yeah, I had been working withher for a long time and It was
just a natural fit.
She asked me to photograph hersubscription box and it just
sort of grew from there.
She pushed me to kind of createthis brand subscription box
(01:47):
photography.
And it's been a fun journey.
I am a single mom.
I have a daughter now 16.
It's so crazy.
And yeah, it's been fun.
This, version of photography hasallowed me flexibility and time
to hang out with Willow, mydaughter, and help brands
create.
A visual identity that looksprofessional and polished and
(02:13):
the idea for the course thatwe'll be talking about today was
actually born.
I want to say, I don't know.
What do you think, Julie?
How many years ago did I firstat least at least 3?
Yeah, I think even before thatit was in my head.
Where, you know, I'mphotographing subscription boxes
for brands, but not everybody isin a place to hire out a
(02:35):
photographer yet, especially ifyou're just starting out.
And photography is extremelyimportant in growing your
business.
Obviously, if you're everythingyou're doing is online and
that's the only interaction thatyour market has with your
products, photography shows whoyou are.
So I wanted to create somethingthat would help, especially the
(02:57):
beginners or the new brands.
have a way to present themselvesonline as professional and
valuable and make everythinglook good and sparkly so that
one day they could eventually,you know, hopefully hire a
photographer.
And if that's the case we wouldlove to be considered at
subscription box photography.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Love it.
Okay.
And so in today's episode, we'regoing to share some photography
tips that you can implement.
Right now to make a massivedifference in DIY photography.
Then at the end, we're going toshare about the new course that
Becca has put together for thosewho want to go a little deeper.
And of course we have a specialcode for you so you can save on
(03:41):
that course enrollment, but.
Let's stay focused for first,before we talk about that, let's
talk about some photography tipsand I'll share you guys.
She is professionally trained.
Like she went to school forthis.
She found herself in New Yorkcity afterwards doing like meet
your shoots.
Like she has done portraitphotography for a lot of
families as well, includingours.
(04:03):
And she kind of mentioned that,but I want to tell you.
The real story behind it.
So Kenny and I my husband, wemoved to Rock Hill in 2008.
We bought a house three doorsdown from Becca.
Little did we know how close wewould get, but it started out on
such a good foot because Beccaand her husband at the time and
her baby at the time, Willow wasso little.
(04:24):
I think you were carrying her.
Yeah.
She
Becca (04:26):
was like six or nine months old when you all moved
in.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
You showed up at my front door with fresh.
Baked goods and a big smile onyour face, like, welcome to the
neighborhood.
And I was like, Oh, that felt sogood.
I didn't know we still did that.
Becca (04:43):
Well, I heard the grapevine that you all were a
bunch of really cool people thatI would get along with.
So before I delivered thecookies, I'd been hearing you
need to meet Julie.
And Kenny, they, you would lovethem.
You guys would get along sowell.
So I'm like, okay, I need tomake a good impression on her.
Didn't Willow
Speaker 2 (05:01):
have like a Steelers onesie on or something?
Oh yeah.
She
Becca (05:04):
was full on Steelers and you're a Steelers fan.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Did you know I was a Steelers fan?
Becca (05:10):
I don't know, actually, at the time of finding you.
Taylor Spanner was
Speaker 2 (05:13):
just a crazy
Becca (05:14):
coincidence.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
It was perfect.
I loved it so much.
Because I was like, oh, she's mypeople.
So, over the years, you know,Becca and I got to know each
other as friends.
And, you know, we've hired herto Take photos of all the
important milestones of ourlives.
So engagement, she also wentback to Pennsylvania with us for
our wedding and she was like afreaking ninja.
(05:35):
I didn't even see her throughoutthe wedding, but she had all
these amazing photographs todocument that.
That was such a beautifulwedding too.
Thank you.
And then of course let's seematernity shots, baby McKenna
shots.
And then as she grew, like, Youjust have taken, have
beautifully like documented theearly time on our life.
(05:56):
And I just, I'm so grateful forit.
So when I, of course, when Istarted my new business, I had
the need, I like, I tried totake some photos on my own and
they were okay, but I know howimportant photography is for
product based businesses.
So of course, like, I'm justreally lucky to have a amazing
photographer as a good friend.
(06:18):
And so I called up Becca and Isaid, Hey.
Would you, if I brought theseboxes of things over that I've
curated, will you take somephotos of them?
And she of course said yes.
And as we were talking more andmore, it just, it was such an
easy transition for you.
As I started doing the coaching,I said, I have all these people
(06:38):
that are starting thesebusinesses and they need what
you do.
And so that description boxphotography was essentially
born.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Becca (06:45):
And so it's kind of cool because the course.
In the course, I am teaching theexact same method that I started
photographing with and when,when you came to me with your,
your first box for me to shoot,I knew how to do it.
I was really familiar with howto photograph a box
(07:05):
professionally in the studio,which is what I was doing in New
York City.
City, but at the time I wasdoing portraits.
So I didn't have all theequipment, all the gear and
stuff that I was used to workingwith, but I knew how it should
have looked.
And I understood how to workwith lighting and everything.
So I figured out a setup that Icould do in my own living room.
And, you know, the first timeI'm like, I don't want to really
(07:27):
invest any money.
I don't know if this is going tobe something that.
Takes hold or anything likethat.
So I created this set in myliving room and it ended up
being phenomenal.
And I shot the first yeardifferent subscription boxes in
my own living room in this, thisway, and the photos were great.
And that's the same.
(07:47):
exact setup that I'm teaching inthe course.
So it's going to, it, it works.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Let's dive into those three photography tips because
about some of that setup, wewant you guys as listeners, we
want you to find value in this,something that you can use right
away.
Yeah.
And, and look at your before andafter pictures after you've
implemented these tips.
So let's start with.
The first tip, Becca, the flooris yours.
Becca (08:16):
Okay, so the first tip, and this might sound
controversial, but people ask mea lot, what kind of camera
should I get?
And my response is always useyour phone's camera.
Nice.
And there's a whole slew ofreasons for this, and I'll go
(08:36):
over just a couple of thereasons.
The first is that with what youwould probably invest in a
camera, the difference betweenthe picture quality of like an
entry level camera or even anintermediate level camera and
your camera phone is not, it'snegligible.
It's not really that different.
(08:57):
You're not going to get.
A lot more.
I'm not going to bore you withall the photographer jargon, but
basically it's, it's not gonnamake that much of a difference.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah.
When I think about when you saidthat, I think about like a
consumer's eye, like, are theygoing to be able to see the
difference between photo A orphoto B?
Based off of this little bit ofdifference in your camera phone,
like a good camera phone versusan expensive actual camera.
Yeah,
Becca (09:25):
exactly.
And I even have a part in thecourse, and I don't know if you
saw that, where I have anexample
Speaker 2 (09:32):
and I could not see the difference.
Becca (09:33):
I took a photo with my professional camera, which is a
very, very expensive camera andlens setup, and then I took the
same photo with my camera phone.
And if you're seeing it on ascreen, it's not really.
There's not a difference.
The other reason I recommendusing your.
Your phone is because you'refamiliar with it.
So it's not only an investmentof money to purchase a camera
(09:57):
side, you know, camera body andlens, but it's also a huge, or,
I mean, it depends on who youare, but there is a, you know, a
learning curve there if you'regoing to be using.
A camera.
So you already know how to useyour phone.
I mean, there was a lot of tipsthat I go over in the course on
how to set your camera phone.
Your phone's camera up fortaking the best photos that it
(10:20):
can take.
And there are, there are a lotof little nuances there to get
into, but basically it's goingto do the job and do it really
well.
I'm going to go over one morereason why.
And this is the always, I thinkthe most important is because
you have the opportunity to editright there on site.
So what you're seeing.
On the screen on your phone, youcan compare that to what you're
(10:42):
seeing in person right in frontof you live and you can make
color adjustments, some littlelighting tweaks instead of
downloading all the images ontoa laptop later.
It's just really easy toimmediately process them and
know that it looks good.
So that's the first step.
And I think that's a reallyimportant one.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
I would agree.
And I think that it takes thishuge obstacle out of the way.
I don't know about you, Becca,but in our family, when
something seems difficult oroverwhelming, we drag our feet a
little bit and then we end updoing the thing that we needed
to do.
You know, kind of like how itfeels like when you're doing
taxes.
It's like we don't understand itall.
(11:19):
And so we drag our feet.
Yeah.
Okay.
Becca (11:21):
Put it off and put it off and put it off.
Exactly.
I want to do this.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
Now, this is something that you don't want to
put off because you need.
Product photography, especiallyif think if you're a monthly
box, you're going to have freshcontent every single month.
And that is perfect material foryour website, social media,
email marketing, and it can berepurposed in so many different
ways.
But if you are dragging yourfeet because you're like, well,
(11:47):
I don't have a good camera or Idon't have the budget for a good
camera.
Well, Becca just popped thatballoon because all you need is
your camera phone.
Chances
Becca (11:56):
are you have that
Speaker 2 (11:57):
already and you use it every day.
Exactly.
Exactly.
So that first tip is great andit's going to take that pressure
off of our listener's shoulders.
Becca (12:06):
Exactly, Jolie.
So we'll go into the second tipthat I have now.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
I love this tip that you're about to share because
it's supplies oriented andthey're things that I would have
never thought of, but it's goingto create stability.
It's going to create bettersurfaces.
Okay.
You take it away.
Becca (12:24):
Okay.
So tip number two is when you'reworking with a subscription box.
There are some supplies that Irecommend to always have on
hands, and there are things youmay not have thought of, but
it's something that I use inalmost every single shoot that
we do at Subscription BoxPhotography.
And that is having painter'stape, you know, the blue
painter's tape that comes offeasily, and also some either
(12:48):
sticky tack, which is that wallputty to stick posters to the
wall.
You could also use Play Doh forthis.
Speaker 2 (12:55):
Did you hear that, guys?
You can actually use Play Doh inyour, in your fursuit.
So get in tap into
Becca (12:58):
your kid's Play Doh supply.
But yeah, so these two, thesetwo little items are something
that I always, always, alwayshave.
Right on hand every photo shootthat I do and the painters tape
helps keep things in place,especially when you're doing
sort of an unboxing shot whereall the items are spilling out
of the box.
(13:18):
Especially, especially helpfulif you have a lot of flat
products are printed products orYou know, anything that you need
to fan out, you can just slapsome painters tape on the back
and side tip.
If the card stock that you'reusing is glossy, you can just
usually stick the painter's taperight on there.
(13:39):
But what I normally do is just.
Give the painter's tape kind oflike a little bit of a wear on
my arm first, just stick it onmy arm.
So it's even less sticky and itwon't mess up any kind of raw
paper that you have when youpeel it off later, but that's a
really easy way to keep thingsin place.
And then the putty or the PlayDoh sticky tack, if you are.
(14:03):
If you're shooting a flat laydown and you have any kind of
items that you want to make sureare in a certain place, like if
it's a bottle and you want tosee that the label is facing
towards the camera or if youhave, you know, a collection of
colored pencils and you want tomake sure that they're staying
where they're supposed to, thisis an excellent place for a
(14:24):
little teeny tiny dot of PlayDoh or sticky tack so that
everything lays nicely.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
That's so smart.
Well, I remember trying to, todo some photos on my own before
and the, the pens, they wouldjust keep rolling.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Driving me crazy and I'm apretty resourceful person, but
this did not dawn on me to dosticky tack or playdough.
So I think that's brilliant.
(14:51):
The other thing was too, Iremember trying to, this is
before I had asked you for yourhelp.
Yes,
Becca (14:56):
right.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Where I was trying to do, you know, I think you call
it like the exploding box shot.
I do, yeah.
Yeah, where you have the box andthen you have all these items.
Just exploding out of it.
Kind of, yeah, exploding out.
Well, it's really hard to getthings to stay at an angle
because you have to put them atan angle if you want everything
to fit.
And so one thing that I did was.
(15:17):
I used crinkle cut and I wouldjust file so much crinkle cut
inside the box to lifteverything.
But then I, once they werelifted, they'd fall right out of
the box.
So the painter's tape wouldprobably hold some things in
place.
The sticky tape definitely wouldhave.
So I love This tip and I thinkwe should do a little tiny video
(15:40):
for it just to just todemonstrate and we can put it on
our social media.
Becca (15:44):
I love that idea.
Let's do it.
Okay, cool.
Very fun.
So the third tip that I'm goingto give today is when you're
planning your box, think aboutcreating a cohesion in the color
palettes.
And this is so important.
Whenever we get a box atSubscription Box Photography to
(16:04):
photograph where there's been alot of thought into the color
palette of the items, it's soeasy to work with.
It just makes everything lookpolished.
It makes it look professional.
It makes it look like it's beenwell thought out.
And I'll give an example.
Imagine, like, imagine a groupof, of items.
that are in a neutral colorfamily, you know, like, like
(16:27):
browns or like maybe even sortof these, that soft pink color
that's, you know, kind of mutedor just earthier tones, like an
army green.
And then you drop in an a brightorange pen or something like
that.
It just doesn't feel like itworks together.
The boxes that I've succeed,typically they do this.
They think about the items thatGo together that work together
(16:51):
and they plan that box that way.
And, and that's something Ithink that, sparkle hustle grow
really did well.
Like there was always a cohesionin the color.
It was always, and it's not, itdoesn't have to be the exact
same color.
It can just be all, like I said,like all bright colors are all
muted colors or, or sometimesthere is a color theme that's
woven throughout all of theproducts that are in the box,
(17:12):
but that makes the world ofdifference.
And that's something, that goesinto the planning phase of the
box versus just the photo shoot.
But if I can pull that off, man,you got it.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Well, thank you for noticing because it was very
intentional when I was doingSparkle Hustle Grow.
Becca (17:30):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
I was very intentional about finding my
hero product, which was usuallythe book.
And then I wanted things to fitfrom a color perspective, but
also from the whole themeperspective.
So I I've talked about that foryears about how things need to
fit.
So you're not going to put forexample, a summer beach read,
and then like, Like a winterdish towel, like those things
(17:53):
don't fit.
Yeah.
You take that same concept tothe color palette and I remember
you telling me years ago howmuch easier it will be to market
your box and how much easier itis to photograph the box when it
does feel like it fits togetherin that color palette.
Becca (18:12):
It absolutely does.
It looks more elevated.
It looks more high ends.
And again, it just looks like alot more thought went into it,
which really it did.
I mean, it's, I'm sure it's noteasy on your end, right?
The function of the productshave to work together.
Like you said, a summer read,you know, when you want to.
Stick with a breezy summerfeeling to all the items that we
work in that season, but thenalso visually to make them work.
(18:34):
And I'm just the visual person.
So I'm just looking at thingsvisually, but that's a challenge
for you all.
Or the box owners to reallythink about the use as well as.
the visual aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Yeah, I agree.
That's such a great tip.
And I hope that you guys can usethat as you're thinking about
future boxes, making sure thatthose color palettes fit
together well.
And you'll know when you, whenyou see the colors, you can tell
If they're going to fittogether, they're not just a
hodgepodge.
So let's do a quick recap of thethree tips.
(19:07):
You said one, you don't needexpensive equipment.
You can use what you have, whichis your camera, your cell phone.
Number two, use supplies likepainter's tape, sticky tack, or
Play Doh.
during your photo shoot.
So things stay where they needto be.
And they're facing the rightdirection, not falling.
And then number three, be veryintentional about making sure
(19:32):
your product curation iscohesive with their color
scheme.
So those are Becca's three tips.
Hopefully you can use those toimprove your photos, improve the
product selection, and sell moreboxes using your awesome product
photography.
That's the goal here.
Yeah, exactly.
(19:52):
So you launched a course.
This is a course about productphotography.
Let's talk about that.
What is it called?
And tell us some of the topicsthat you cover.
Becca (20:03):
Oh my gosh.
So the course is called snap forsuccess.
And as I mentioned earlier, thiscourse is a very long time in
the making.
I rewrote it several times and.
I am so proud of it.
I think that it's going to helpso many people elevate their
business.
And ultimately the goal of thecourse is just to sell your
(20:24):
products to make more money.
Using photography, which is avery powerful tool.
So yeah, the course does tellyou how to create the perfect
lighting setup in your livingroom using minimal, minimal
equipment.
If you don't have it already, itcan pretty much all be purchased
for around 10, 15, 20 buckstotal.
(20:44):
Nice.
And it looks like a studio.
It looks, it looks really good.
So that's, a big topic of thecourse, but also I get into a
lot of different things like thepsychology of photography, how
you can use the tools to youradvantage when you're selling,
how to kind of get inside of themind of your target audience,
(21:05):
what they're looking for, what'sgoing to attract them.
I always imagine it likefishing.
What kind of allure are yougoing to use to attract the
right, right.
People.
So a lot of, a lot of fun topicslike that.
We go over color, we go over howto arrange items.
I mean, that's a big challenge Ithink with, especially with
subscription boxes, whatseparates it from just typical
(21:28):
product photography is thatyou're working with a selection
of items and sometimes the itemsare.
Various sizes, for example, youmight have a t shirt with a pair
of earrings and some other, howdo you make all of that fit
together so that all the itemslook, look equally important.
I mean, there's always the heroitem, but you know, how they all
(21:49):
work together in a composition.
So we do touch on compositionand break that down.
I try to do it in a really funand interactive way.
Provide lots of examples thatmaybe challenge you to look at
the photos and see what youlike, see what works and what
doesn't work and how you canapply that to your own photos.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
I love the the course I've been going through myself
and like a couple of the thingsthat I really love about it is
that you've broken things downinto these bite sized manageable
chunks as you're kind ofexplaining the psychology behind
it and you're giving examplesand it did not feel overwhelming
at all.
Like it didn't feel good.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It didn't feel like you weretalking at me with jargon and
(22:30):
stuff.
You've really broken it down toa relatable kind of level for a
small business owner like myselfand our listeners here.
And okay, there's this one thingin the course that I know my
specific listeners are going toabsolutely love and you don't
have to give away all thedetails, but tell them about
your workflow.
You have this like subscriptionworkflow and really it's going
(22:54):
to guide your entire photo shootso that it's efficient with your
time.
You're not wasting any time andYou're not backtracking and
going back and being like, Oh, Iforgot to get this shot.
So tell them a little bit aboutthat
Becca (23:06):
is so, so good.
I feel like this is kind of thegold in there.
This is actually something thatI didn't come up with in the
beginning of.
launching the subscription boxphotography business.
It was something that Istruggled with and my brain as a
lot of artists are kind of allover the place, ADD, and I would
do a photo shoot and then feellike, Oh my gosh, I forgot to do
(23:28):
this group shot or the explodingbox shot.
That's the most important thing.
Why did, how did I forget that?
So I actually worked with atherapist on this because I was
so, yeah, so like overwhelmedwhen I would go to do a photo
shoot, where do I start?
What do I do?
We came up with a formula.
That it flows through all of theshots that you will need, or you
(23:49):
could possibly use for your,your box.
And it takes it through thewhole, you know, everything from
individual products to the groupshots from the flat lay shooting
down on the items to the eyelevel shots.
And I provide that to everysingle photographer at
(24:12):
Subscription Box Photography.
Everyone has to memorize it.
It's really important.
That's the, that's a perfectword.
Yeah.
It's the framework for everyphoto shoot that we do.
So I put that in there, I put itin the workbook and I also kind
of talked about it in thecourse.
And I feel like that is going tohelp so many people just to stay
organized and not feeloverwhelmed when they're working
(24:32):
through the photo shoot, becauseit can feel overwhelming.
You have all these ideas ofphotos that you want to do.
And sometimes it's hard to.
Remember everything and figureout what the best order is
because, you know, the lightingsituation and things like that
kind of change a little bit asyou're moving through it, but
it's organized in a way thatmakes perfect sense that should
make it so easy for anybody tofollow.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah, and they can just print it out and hang it up
where they're doing their photoshoot.
If they, if you have some sortof planner or journal or
anything like that, that you'replanning out your work, like
print that out and stick it inthere.
Cause we're going to do thatevery single time to keep you
focused, organized, efficient,and come out with really, really
great photos.
So I think it's pure magic.
(25:14):
And I, I would be remiss if wewouldn't talk about that because
you were talking about that.
Yeah.
That's a key part of the course.
I'm loving it.
And I know that our listenerswill love it as well.
So where can they find thecourse?
Like where online are your, canthey sign up?
Becca (25:30):
Sure.
Yeah.
So go to snap for success.
It's snap for success.
com www and you can find itthere.
And I wanted to give a discountto all of Julie's listeners.
Yeah, I know this is going tohelp them so much.
I believe this is going totransform their business.
(25:51):
I mean, especially somebody thathas never had professional
photos done before that is in aplace where they can hire out a
photographer, and they're justkind of winging it.
This is going to show them whatit should look like, you know,
give them confidence.
And the goal is to have youproud of your photos, excited to
share them instead of like, Oh,I just had to grab a couple of
(26:12):
shots of the solid online.
Like, I want you to be reallyexcited to share it online and
show how much value is in it andhow much thought you put into
it, because again, it's like thepsychology of photography.
It's everything.
It's it's how you're perceivedby people that don't know you.
And it's also your first directline of contact.
(26:34):
To the audience that you want toreach.
If they like your photos,they're going to dig a little
bit deeper and find out moreabout your brand, about your
products and see how that fitsinto their life.
But if your photos are like, youknow, are not.
spectacular if you just got, youknow, your neighbor to do them
or whatever, whatever.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
I mean, it's the truth though.
Like, it's a make it or break ittype thing with your website,
for example, it is very clearwhen you get to a website and it
doesn't look polished, it looksunprofessional.
It does not give you that goodwarm feeling that like, I want
to buy from them.
And the fact is when you run asubscription box business, you
(27:13):
have to have box shots.
You have to have product shotson your website.
So like, this is one of thosethings that is, it has to be
done well, and you can do itwell with some of the right
training.
And I want to say, listen, ifyou are a boot camper already,
if you're a subscription boxboot camper, one of your
bonuses, Becca and I hadrecorded a mini course at one
(27:35):
point, and that was one of thebonuses.
It's a DIY photo studio.
This new course, Snap forSuccess, is far more detailed,
it gives far more content, itgives more supplies, it gives
the framework we talked about,you know, the workflow, it is
much more in depth.
So if you're thinking, I alreadyhave the best basics thing
(27:57):
through that bonus, think ofthis as that next level up to
upgrade your own set of skills.
So I just want to put that outthere, but you do have a 25
percent off coupon, right?
Okay.
So that code is Julie 25.
And so you just put that in whenyou enroll and you'll get 25
percent off.
Yeah,
Becca (28:17):
that's right.
Yeah.
And the course is priced, aboutthe price of a single photo
shoot with subscription boxphotography.
So, for the cost of hiring usfor one photo shoot, I mean, you
basically have unlimited photoshoots whenever you need to make
content.
And I also want to say this, Ihave had a lot of brands that we
(28:40):
work with at subscription boxphotography, doing their monthly
content that have a lot of oneoff products.
And they're like, well, everytime I try to do it myself, it
looks so bad.
How can I make.
The photos that I've been doingmyself match what you all are
doing.
And this is the perfectcompliment for that as well.
You know, if you, even if youare working with a professional
(29:00):
and you know that there aretimes where you just have a one
off photo that you need reallyquickly, this is, this'll give
you the tool to have that done.
That's a great point yourself.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah.
That's such a great point.
Cause two, I remember when I wasrunning my box business every
once in a while, Renee and Iwould, and I would be like,
let's run a secret sale or let'srun a flash sale or something
like that.
And like with Renee and I, wewere like, okay, let's launch
this tomorrow.
We like to move fast.
And so we, I would be able topull together some products for
(29:32):
the flash sale or whatever, andtake a great photograph to use
in that marketing.
Sometimes I didn't have the timeto be able to send something to
you and, you know, have the teamdo it and then send it back.
Sometimes I needed it the nextday So this definitely, I'm,
I'm.
I mean, it's as a small businessowner, we wear so many hats too.
And so to take the time to getthe skills you need, man, it's
(29:57):
so empowering.
It can grow your business.
It's just good all around.
Now we do have to say too.
If you don't want to DIY, youknow, Becca does run
subscription box photography.
She is still accepting newclients.
So there's that option as well,but we believe that they not
only make a good compliment,having the skill, some of the
(30:17):
skills yourself.
And hiring out, it gives youoptions, you know, so we'll make
sure that we put all the linksin the show notes, not only for
snap for success with the couponcode, Julie 25, but also if you
are thinking that you're goingto outsource this, then
subscription box photography.
com.
You can find all the detailsabout how she runs that.
(30:38):
And it's one of the things Iloved about working with you
back always, it was just such anice rhythm.
Like I sent you a box once, oncea month.
And then, you know, a couple ofweeks later, I got.
All these pictures that I coulduse in different places.
And it just felt like part of mymonthly rhythm.
Becca (30:55):
Exactly.
Yeah, oh my gosh, Julie, you'reamazing.
I'm so, so excited to be onhere.
Aww, I'm glad to have youthought of the course.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
Yeah.
And finally,
Becca (31:06):
like,
Speaker 2 (31:06):
it's been a long time coming and I'm really proud of
you for finishing it and forputting it out there.
Cause that can be vulnerable,but I know it's going to help so
many people and guys, if you'relistening and you have
photography questions, you cansend them to me in the DMS and
I'll get with Becca on them andwe can share more information
via emails, social media.
(31:29):
Yeah.
We're both open books.
Becca (31:31):
We are exactly.
And also I have a Instagramaccount for snap for success,
and it's just snap for success.
So feel free to reach out onthere as well and send me a DM
and check in, show me whatyou're doing with the tips that
we've given.
I'd love to see what people aredoing.
Tag, tag snap for success.
(31:52):
That would be so cool to seewhat you're coming up with.
Speaker 2 (31:55):
Absolutely.
Yeah.
And if you guys take the courseand take some photos, you can
tag subscription box basics onInstagram too.
And we'll be happy to resharethose.
Yeah, we, we want to share allthose amazing photos that you're
taking.
So this has been so fun, Becca.
I appreciate Jolie.
Oh, I'm so proud of you.
And I know you're so talentedand now you're sharing the tips
(32:15):
and the tricks and theframeworks that you've held
close to you that can help otherpeople and now they can, they
can do it for themselves.
So I think it's going to beamazing.
And they're going to have somuch success with it.
Do you have any closing thoughtson or encouragement when it
comes to the
Becca (32:32):
leap?
Yes.
Yes.
I just want to see everyonesucceed.
I mean, you, I, I really thinkthat.
Doing something like launching asubscription box is akin to
having a baby in a lot of ways,or any time you're creating
something like this, I mean, youput your heart and soul into it,
you pour everything into it, andyou almost obsess about it, and
(32:53):
a huge part of that is having itrepresented in a way that shows
like, this is my baby, and it'sbeautiful, and I'm dressing it
well, and taking really goodcare of it.
So that analogy is kind ofweird, but it works.
So having good photography is,is, is doing that.
And yeah, Julie is such acheerleader.
She's she's always been mycheerleader and I have that same
(33:17):
drive to see everyone elsesucceed.
I love being a part of a team ofbusinesses, whether it's.
through, sharing knowledgethrough this course, or whether
it's through making photos andbeing a part of your team in
that way, it just feels reallygood.
And I'm rooting for all of youto succeed.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
I feel so happy to have you on the podcast and I'm
so grateful for you to, to likehave such this long term.
Friendship and businesspartnerships.
And, oh, okay.
I have to stop the little love.
We could gush for hours.
You obviously you, the listenerscan probably hear it in our
voice, how much we support eachother and hopefully they feel it
(33:57):
as well when they take thecourse and feel our support.
So, okay, we will wrap this upBecca.
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
Thank you for the awesome tips.
on DIY photography Thankseveryone for listening today and
we'll see you in the nextepisode.
Bye.
Becca (34:14):
Bye everyone.
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