Whether you are just starting out with your portrait business or trying to evolve your ongoing brand for longterm success, listening to Sue Bryce’s Portrait System Podcast, hosted by photographer and The Portrait System mentor Nikki Closser, can help. And this week they are celebrating a true milestone—1 million downloads! The show helps portrait photographers and people hoping to become one reach their dream and navigate the world of photography, business, money, and so much more—and photographers are listening.

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Host Closser defines the show as being a platform where, “we share stories about the incredible ups and the very difficult downs when running a photography business and the point of this podcast is for you to learn actionable steps that you can take to grow your own business and also to feel inspired and empowered by the stories you hear.” Each week, Closser interviews photographers who manage successful portrait photography businesses from around the globe using the business model Bryce teaches.

The podcast is part of Bryce’s The Portrait System online education platform and community for contemporary portrait photographers, connecting them globally through live broadcasts, videos, in-person workshops, and The Portrait Masters annual conference. During the special podcast that aired on January 21, special guest Bryce asked Closser to talk about what has been the biggest growth for her personally while building this phenomenal podcast and getting to 1 million downloads. “Honestly, it goes back to staying in my lane and doing what I know I am good at, and what my strengths are—talking to people, connecting with people, empowering people—and when I see other people succeed and grow, it’s the most wonderful thing,” said Closser.

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Bryce also shared some of her own wisdom on the business of photography and how she grew her portrait brand over time. “Because I built my business from nothing and had to learn each step about money and being successful, the one thing I found along the way was that as I became more successful, I had to hang out with people who were driven to the same kind of success and drive. Otherwise I seemed to make other people who were still stuck, I seemed to upset the apple cart with my ambition and my drive and my hard work and I remember feeling a bit lonely. I wondered, who can I talk to about this? People were saying “are you rich now and I wasn’t… who do you talk to if people are not in alignment in growing their money?” (We’ve found that one of the great things about the podcast is that it features photographers with different experiences—all aligned with the same goals—that almost any photographer can relate to).

Getting started seems to be one of the universal hurdles to overcome when starting a photography brand, or any business for that matter. Closser and Bryce spent time during the podcast discussing the five biggest obstacles that exist in the startup phase of a photography business:

• Locking down your folio and your product.
• Mastering your shooting location and understanding you hold the space.
• Realizing your self-value and how your limiting beliefs may be inhibiting your progress.
• Getting into a money mindset and learning how to attract more than what you’re used to.
• Thinking of selling as a value metric and that how you value yourself shows up straight away.
  
  There are also challenges and obstacles to overcome in the Growth Phase:
  
• Profitability — Is your business as profitable as it can be? Profit is what is left for you.
• Systems — These are what makes your business strong.
• Balance — So you don’t burn out, you must not say yes to things you don’t want to do and you need to charge what you are worth.
• Growth — What do you need to grow? Personnel, experience, sales average?

Want to find out what’s next and hear how to overcome these challenges? You can listen to the special Portrait System Podcast episode that celebrates one million downloads, episode #114, in its entirety here. In celebration of The Portrait System Podcast and to thank listeners for their support, TPS is offering an exclusive discount on all membership levels, valid the week of Feb. 21 only. Head over to The Portrait System to sign up and discover all the tools you need to be a successful portrait photographer, including 1,000 on-demand educational videos on posing, lighting, styling, retouching, shooting, marketing, sales, business, self-value and more.