Why I re-enrolled in Jai Long’s Business Map course
I started my wedding photography business in February 2020.
Prior to that I was shooting fashion editorial and lifestyle, had a four-month-old baby and hadn’t shot any weddings.
Being new to the wedding photography business I wanted to soak up all the information I could not only on being a successful wedding photographer creatively but also how to successfully run a business.
Wedding photographer and educator, Jai Long’s, name began popping up for me in early 2020 when Australia was entering our first step of lockdowns and I, along with the rest of the world, was searching for inspiration and motivation. He launched his first enrollment of the Business Map course for Wedding Photographers shortly after and I jumped on the opportunity to learn.
The course was around $2,000, the most I had ever spent on online education but I had a feeling it would be worth every penny. I was right.
Image by Petite Visuals
When my first year in the course came to an end I had to decide whether I would re-enroll for another year…
I knew the answer immediately. I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to leave Jai mentorship and business knowledge. I didn’t want to leave the uplifting, motivating, and supportive community. And I didn’t want to leave the course knowing there was so much business advice more I could take away from the lessons as time went by.
So I re-enrolled.
Here are My top 5 reasons for re-enrolling in Jai Long’s Business Map course for another year
Motivation & INSPIRATION
When I’m lacking internal motivation, I look for outside sources for fuel; something to focus on and invigorate the mind.
How the Business Map course has helped:
The course is that motivator for me. Whenever I’m feeling flat or need a pep-up I watch a module, join a group mentoring call or listen to one of Jai’s Make Your Break podcast episodes (this is free and well worth a listen!). I love business and seeing mine grow from a little seed to strength to strength using my newfound business knowledge from the course.
Community
Community is so important, especially in these trying times.
How the Business Map course has helped:
Being able to connect with others in the industry, share wins and losses, seek business advice and motivate each other has been key to the growth of my business. Members (or sailors as we call each other) ask questions about pricing, unusual situations they might be in or feedback on their websites, etc. Everyone in there is so open, encouraging, motivating, and giving with their advice and time. There’s no competition or comparison, no negativity or bullying. The group calls are my favourite. Jai gives so much of his time fortnightly to answer our questions - sometimes the calls go for 3 or 4 hours and the information and discussions we have are always so valuable. It’s a beautiful and valuable community to be a part of and, I think, one of the many drawcards of joining the course.
Growth
I am still new to wedding photography and the self-employed space, however, no matter how successful or experienced one becomes, I don’t believe one should become complacent about growth and learning. There is always something to learn no matter where you are in your business and that works both creatively and how to run a business in my opinion.
How the Business Map course has helped:
There are so many modules in the Business Map course that there is always something else to learn or improve on. Jai recommends beginning with the 90-Day Plan/Goals, working on your pricing and offerings. Many people believe they need to start with marketing but you need to work on the behind-the-scenes of your business before you have something to market to the world. Having solid systems and processes in place with make running your business easier and allows you to work on what you are best at - taking photographs!
Success
Success is different for everyone. My definition of success is to be able to create the lifestyle I want. That involves spending time with my family, living in a comfortable home that I love, and being able to dictate how I spend my time. Being successful means doing something I love every day, being creative, inspired, viewing work not as work but something enjoyable that I would choose to do even if I wasn’t being paid!
How the Business Map course has helped:
The course helped me define what success meant for me, set my unrealistic goals, and create an action plan. Of course, income does come into play to be able to reach the lifestyle I seek. In 2020 my unrealistic goal was to reach a six-figure turnover within my first financial year. Sound crazy and unrealistic right? I am incredibly proud to say though that I was $8.4k away from reaching that goal (!!) and I have Jai Long and the Business Map to thank for that!
MINDSET
My business would be nowhere without the right mindset.
How the Business Map course has helped:
Mindset is a main theme in the Six-Figure Business Map. The positive you will succeed message resonates throughout everything Jai teaches, and it’s infectious! I know and believe I have all the tools now to succeed in my business. Yes, I feel that confident, and I believe that you will too.
So you might be reading this and thinking is this course from for me? If you’re looking for a business course to help you build strong systems, processes, workflows, customer experience, marketing and more then I definitely recommend diving into this course. If you are looking to grow creatively in your art form, this course won’t be right for you and I would instead invest your money in mentoring sessions or online with your favourite photographers. If you have the capacity to invest in both creative and business learning then this combination would really set you up for success!
It’s incredible how much growth I’ve had since this time last year, even during a pandemic. Below is an update from me inside the Business Map Facebook Group dating back to 29 June 2020.
“Ok, so I’m normally one to step back and listen but I thought I’d follow as others had done the others and write about my progress so far. I loved reading everyone’s progress in the course so far. I found it inspiring & motivating seeing how you’ve undertaken the course and it’s released a whole bunch of new ideas of what I can do with mine, it’s awesome.
So here it goes:
Lessons completed so far: I watched 33 out of the 59 lessons with the intention of going back through again thoroughly & implementing things (Aug 2021 update: there are now 110 lessons in the course. Jai and team add more all the time.)
Branding/Website: I’ve decided to invest in my branding and website which I’m super pumped about! Being in the beginning stages of my wedding photography business I know what I want to look like = high-end elegant and editorial documentary photography and what clients I wish to attract but I need someone with the skills to take my branding there. I’m happy about this decision as the return on investment will be worth it I believe:) As I’ve outsourced this (should be done around mid-October) I’m concentrating on other areas of my business instead of spending too much time on my website.
Money module: For my pricing I’ve basically just plucked a few numbers out of thin air not really knowing how much it costs to run my business. I need to force myself to sit down for several hours and figure that out (a bit difficult with a 9-month-old at my feet! But truthfully I’m just procrastinating as I find it daunting...). I have started moving 5-10% profit into another account which feels good.
Price guides: I bought Studio Leelou’s price guide template, updated that, and booked my first full-scale wedding (I’ve shot a registry wedding before). The couple bought my largest package too (!!) which included a 2nd shooter and an album. I didn’t know any 2nd shooters so found one from a friend’s recommendation and have never sold/designed/ordered an album before but have bought Jai’s Album Academy so plan on working on a few studio samples to get the hang of it. I just watched the elopement lesson so next thing is to create an elopement price guide to speak about on my socials - the timing is perfect for it!
Styled Shoots: I have begun researching different vendors I would like to associate with and have reached out to a few but I still need to take a moment to brainstorm what I want to shoot exactly. I have so many ideas I just need to narrow one down. Also trying to decide whether I do a few mini shoots e.g. a table styling shoot and a separate bridal editorial shoot rather than one large one. I think I’m leaning towards separate mini ones to make it easier on myself and vendor availability.”
I have recently joined the new Business Map affiliate team! Below is my affiliate link* to share with you if you are interested in signing up.
Interested in hearing more? Email me if you’d like to know anything else about it.
Lei xx
*While I receive an incentive for anyone who enrolls in Jai’s course through my link, I would never promote anything that I do not wholeheartedly believe in.
