My guest today is Amy Eaton of AmyTakesPictures.com
Amy is a photographer-turned-educator who teaches makers + Etsy sellers how to DIY their own gorgeous product photos.
I was connected to Amy by my team member and right hand woman Laura who also works with Amy, and she kept telling me “You gotta get her on the podcast, she’s awesome!”
And you guys, I’m SO glad I did because Amy had a TON of fantastic advice for you guys to help you grow, and she’s the perfect example of someone who took a service traditionally done one on one that required her time and physical presence – and turned it into a scalable business that doesn’t require her to be there to run.
Not only that – my conversation with Amy was another transformational one for me where I had the realization that I’ve been playing it small in my business and that it’s time to make some big changes… More on that later.
Amy and I talk about:
- How she took her skills and created an online course to teach photography to non-techie product makers.
- Amy’s journey from side hustle to self employed, why she then went back to corporate and what ultimately made her go all in and take her photography business full-time.
- The one thing that’s more important to the success of your business than anything else.
- What Amy did after her business failed.
- Exactly how Amy built her audience and her email list.
- The power in knowing your numbers.
- Why you should ask yourself what you really want out of your business.
- Why to avoid focusing on what you offer, and what to focus on instead.
- How playing small might be holding you back, and how to start playing it big.
- Amy’s advice for you if you’re struggling to get traction in your side hustle.
- The one belief Amy had to change about herself to get where she is today.
And just one more thing before we dive in – we unfortunately had a really spotty connection for our interview – but our conversation was SO GOOD I didn’t want to stop and reschedule because sometimes, you lose the magic of that first connection, you know what I mean?
There is so much actionable and inspiring stuff in this interview that I hope you’ll give me a pass on the audio – I did my best to clean it up for you guys… but shocker, I’m not a professional sound engineer!!
My favorite quotes from Amy:
- “What strategy do you bring that’s unique to you that's going to transform the people you serve?”
- “You can create the best thing in the world but if nobody knows about it, it doesn’t matter.”
- “Helping people is important to my life, it feeds my soul.”
- “Persevere until you have nothing left and then keep going more.”
So I mentioned in our intro that my conversation with Amy was another transformational one for me.
I had the realization that I’ve been playing it small in my business and that it’s time to make some big changes…
And I realized that it’s finally time for me to press pause on taking one on one web design clients and focus exclusively on my signature programs, the Website Marketing Lab and the Web Designer Academy.
I’ve been scared to do it, because the one on one jobs are my security blanket. They’re my steady paycheck.
But my goal from day one has always been to make 100% of my revenue from scalable sources – my courses.
And talking to Amy solidified what I’ve known for a long time… I’m not spending my time on my goal. I’m spending 80% of my time on client work, which brings in 50% of my revenue. I spend 20% of my time on marketing my own business, which brings in 50% of my revenue. Imagine what I can do if I shift how I’m spending my time to my own business?
So I did it. I made the decision to stop accepting one on one clients for at least the next 6 months and focus on growing my audience and marketing my courses.
It honestly feels like I made the decision to quit my day job again. I’m having all kinds of deja vu over here…
But I’ve been playing small for a long time, and thanks to conversations on this show with people like Amy, I’m ready to start playing big. So stay tuned!
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- www.amytakespictures.com
- The Startup Podcast: Pirate Needs Pirate
- Snap, Sell, Succeed Course
- 5 Days To Better Product Photos
Bio:
Amy is a photographer and educator with over 10 years of experience in this wild world of chasing light and creating images. As a product photographer, she's worked with handmade and product-based sellers for several years, and now empowers makers to take their own beautiful product images through her signature program Snap, Sell, Succeed.
After side hustling (and struggling) for several years, Amy was able to finally break free from her day job and launch her online product photography courses for makers. Within two years, Amy has achieved her status as a six-figure entrepreneur and reached two major goals – knowing she'll never have to return to her day job again, and being able to replace her husband's income as well, which allowed him to leave his full-time job as well. They now work from home together, growing their business and raising their two young children.
Amy's work has been featured on podcasts an publications, such as Handmade Seller Magazine, Maker Academy, Heart Soul & Hustle, Being Boss, and Happily Ever Crafter.
