Nick Gregan has been doing photography for thirty years andis a headshot photographer. Nick thinks working in a niche works well and helps build your business. For twenty years, Nick specialised in actors starting in their careers, so he worked in a niche within a niche. He says that with the camera technology, lots of people are entering the headshot market without necessarily having the relevant skills.
Nick says headshots are something everyone can do, in terms of it’s a picture of the head and shoulders. But the subtle differences between taking headshots for different people with different roles make a big difference. Marcus asks howyou differentiate those images. Nick says initially he needs to get to know the client and needs to know how the client wants to be seen. Nick says the thing he also does is give people options, so he might take some images people don’texpect but might like.
Nick says acting headshots are really important; they can make the difference between getting auditions and good roles and not being noticed. He says he has helped many actors come to him when they are not getting auditions. He takes their headshot, and then they start to get auditions and roles.
Nick explains that the first image people see of you makes a big difference to the way people see you. They will form an impression of you based on that message.So your LinkedIn profile image will make a big difference in how people see you and what they think about you. Nick says the LinkedIn profile photography market is growing as people are becoming more aware of this.
Sam asks about his business model in terms of pricing and volume. Nick says he used to do ten or twelve people a week. However, he decided to put his prices up. So he photographs fewer people, but charges more for it. His ideal session isabout 2 hours with an actor or an hour for a corporate headshot. Nick uses a technique called rapid rapport to quickly build a rapport with the client. The conversation starts as a conversation between him and the client, but it moves on to what is effectively a conversation between the client and the person viewing the photograph. Sometimes he does photographs for celebrities, and he has to work on these very quickly and build rapport within a minute or two. He also usesscenarios with clients to help them get into the right move and pose.

Sam asks Nick how to convey his value. He says his imagesdo, his website does, and his blogs do. Nick works hard on SEO, keeping his website at the top of Google Search. He doesn’t have an online booking system, so people talk to him before booking. He uses this opportunity to show he is an expert. He pitched himself as an artisan and an expert who gives a luxuryservice. He sends these messages out on LinkedIn, Google My Business and on his website. On his website, he has a lot of location-specific pages that generate work for him. For example, “Headshot photographer Wimbledon”.
Nick is working on a book for photographers. Marcus asks if Nick can give us some tips for creating the perfect headshot.
1. Look at the light. Don’t just set it up as standard, look at it for subtle adjustments.

2. Get to know your client. Essentially, you need to let yourclient know that you are an expert and are confident.

3. Capture the person's personality. Make sure they are showing emotion.

You can reach out to Nick on ⁠⁠LinkedIn here⁠⁠

Or⁠ ⁠⁠find his website here⁠.⁠⁠

To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And to join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.⁠⁠⁠

Why blog?

1. It's amazing for SEO
2. It gives you things to talk about on social
3. It gives you content for your newsletter
4. It’s good for authority marketing
5. It increases engagement on your website
   

Sam explains that if you only write your blog and don’t promote it, no one will ever find it. He says your blog needs to be about a theme. It needs to be about a topic and help to show that you are an expert in your field. For example, Samsuggests that a wedding photographer could review wedding venues. A blog without a theme or purpose is not much use. Also, consider what is valuable to your target audience and how the topic can demonstrate your expertise.
Once you have a theme, we are then down to writing individual blogs. Marcus asks if your blog should be on your website or elsewhere. Sam says one of the points of a blog is helping with SEO. This does not happen if you use a blogging platform instead of your website.
Blogs are words. Photographs only are not acceptable and don’t work on their own. A blog must be at least 500 words. 1000 words average. Once it gets much over 1500 words, it’s time to think about splitting into two smaller blogs. A mix of sizes is good, some longer, some shorter. For SEO, Google needs to understand who you are and what you do, and only words can do that. For social media, there is no point promoting your blog on social if it is only images, as they would expect to see the images on social anyway. Do use images in the blogs. But there should be plenty of text to go with the images. Do not fill space with photographs.

Organise the writing in your blog. Make it easier for people to skim read. Use sub-headings, bullet-pointed lists, etc, to help people skim read it. This structure helps people and Google to understand your blog. Give value in your blog. The blog has to be useful to them, or it won’t be engaging.External and internal links are essential. Both to other websites (external links) and within your website to other pages and blogs (internal links).

1. Marcus asks if Sam blogs and how he blogs. Sam says that inthe past, he has had copywriters blogging for him. This ensures that you get regular blogs created. But he also blogs himself, both written and video blogs. Sam says one key is ensuring you put time aside to create content. In terms of ideas, Sam often uses topics that have come up in conversations in the last fewweeks.
   Marcus asks about AI. Sam says it's good for some stuff. It is bad at writing blogs. Do not simply ask AI to write you a blog; it will be very generic and easy to spot. But it is useful. It is great for ideas. If you cannot think of anything to write, it can give you ideas. You can also ask for a blog structure. Don’t 100% stick to the structure, as it will be quite bland. Then write the blog yourself. But once you have written it yourself, put it backthrough AI and ask for improvements.
   How do you get people to your blog? First of all, no one will come if you don’t tell them about it. What can you do?
   

1. Send out social media posts sending people to the blog
2. Make an email newsletter and send people to the blog.

Those are really good ways of getting people to your blog. As part of SEO, Google assess how popular your website is and how long people stay on the website. So by sending engaged people to the blog, you are helping with your website's SEO. Ensure that you have your website connected to Google Analytics so you can see who is visiting your blogs and where they are coming from.

You can reach out to Sam on ⁠LinkedIn here⁠

Or⁠ ⁠find his website here⁠.⁠

To get the Shoot to the Top Podcast in your inbox every week, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

And to join the ⁠⁠⁠⁠Shoot to the Top Facebook group head here.⁠⁠