Season 1 · Episode 42

Start Before You Are Ready The Creative Entrepreneur's Guide to Growth

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0:00Welcome, welcome, welcome to alienize Vodos industry talk.
0:08I just want to reminisce on when I first picked up a camera
0:16was maybe four or five and go all the way to now.
0:25After putting the camera down and about 20, 2016, 2017
0:32and picking the camera up again for the first time
0:39and really diving into it like the end of 2018
0:47jumping back in almost 10 years, it's 2026.
0:53I think almost 10 years I picked up a camera again
0:59but just reminiscing on a time where I had to really
1:04learn it and learn it in the professional manner
1:08the technicalities and settings and all the terminology.
1:15Just learning how things work.
1:21Not just the camera but one set when you're doing a film
1:26or taking photos and how lighting works
1:31the different lighting you need, the modifiers
1:34the fusions, the interaction with customers.
1:44So me not knowing like much of this coming from
1:49an artist's background and being an artist all my life
1:54I did not really know the business side
1:57or how to take professional and high quality photos.
2:03Like everybody have a phone, we take pictures or videos
2:09but actually monetizing what you do with a camera
2:19doing professional, high quality work is a difference.
2:26I remember my first two years before I charged anyone
2:30anything I helped other photographers with their work
2:38being a second shooter, helping them on set
2:42just being a PA that's a production assistant
2:45doing the same thing with video production
2:48and podcast and commercials, even movie I had
2:56the luxury to be on set for Superman
3:02when it was filmed in Cleveland
3:06and that was my first movie set ever
3:09people were surprised like I've worked all these years
3:12my butt off and I barely could get on the set
3:15and you just walk in and you get Superman?
3:19Well, it's about connections and relationships
3:25and just being dedicated and willing to grow
3:28and learn and put yourself out there.
3:30And that's what I did like the first two years
3:33jumping in I did not charge anything,
3:37I helped other people and outside of that
3:42I brought my camera wherever I went.
3:47I'm an artist, I'm known to perform
3:50multiple shows sometimes in a single day
3:54but multiple shows a week.
3:57So I just did that same thing with my camera
4:00instead of like an open mic.
4:02I grabbed my camera and went to one event
4:06shot all the photos.
4:15You know, my first time doing it was very,
4:18very different, I'm like, is this how people
4:25making a living but still my next almost 150 events
4:36for free later that's when I'm like,
4:41okay, let me put some numbers behind it
4:44and I booked my first client, my brother Erock actually
4:49it was his birthday and he needed some more artists
4:54profile photos and I charged him $50.
5:01If it was someone else, most likely it would have been
5:05that higher number starting off,
5:10but yeah I charged $50, that was the family discount.
5:15But I was like, well, let me stick to it
5:19maybe charge people 55, like I wasn't running
5:25as a business so it wasn't until years later
5:30I developed Alienize Photos and Alienize Photos Media
5:36and Alienize Photos industry talk years later.
5:41So everything compounded off starting for free
5:44just doing the work, jumping in,
5:47being around other people that's doing high quality
5:51work and being at the level that you strive to be
5:56and want to be, you have to be around these people,
6:00ask, can you carry your bags, take them out to coffee,
6:04go out to lunch, pick the brand for a few minutes,
6:08can I ask you three questions over a coffee?
6:12Little dude, see what it comes about,
6:14can I help you on one of your sets?
6:17Can I help you behind the scenes?
6:18Can I take photos of you?
6:19Can I shadow you in a production call?
6:23Like, just be open and that's the benefits
6:28of having a mentor and having a coach
6:32and I can assist you with that.
6:35Anybody in media, especially on the visual medium side,
6:43I can help you, anyone in business
6:48and want to just get their business organized
6:53and have a better strategy and direction,
6:58I can help with that.
7:01You want marketing or promotion to bring a content plan
7:07to your business and around your business,
7:10I can help with that.
7:12If you have a great event in mind
7:15that's very impactful for the community
7:18or you're putting on a conference or a boot camp
7:22or a networking event, I can help with that.
7:28Let me help you with that
7:31and if you're familiar with Creative Frequency,
7:33you know we're big on work with us.
7:38We're showing you us doing work in real time.
7:44Like me and Brianna just really, really, really
7:50taking it to a whole nother level.
7:53Hosting every single day and even behind the scenes
7:57of some of the things we're doing and working on.
8:02We are really doing the work
8:03and we're documenting in real time
8:06and showing this sometimes not in real time
8:10but it's documented and we put it out over time
8:14and have it at our body of work.
8:17So some of the things we may have filmed a week ago
8:21or just now put it out
8:23because we keep that body of content.
8:26We try to document our life and our projects
8:30and our successes and just content that we put together
8:36and tailor to our audience
8:39which is creative entrepreneurs, artists, business owners,
8:45you know the collection of our brands,
8:49not just brand, our brands.
8:52So we have alienized photos, media,
8:54we have overflow studios,
8:56lady beat music, alienized playing music.
8:59We have Creative Frequency
9:01and then we're tied to other organizations and entities
9:07and just community.
9:09So we think about all of that
9:13and the audience that we serve
9:15and the people that we love talking to
9:17and helping and love seeing when.
9:21Like we love seeing people when,
9:23we love being around other people
9:25that love seeing other people when
9:28and it's like that selflessness on both sides
9:32and all sides.
9:33We all come together, we all grow
9:37and I just got all of that just by starting off for free,
9:42just doing the work, practicing.
9:45It's like wanting to be on the basketball team,
9:48you know tryouts is in the month.
9:50I'm picking up a basketball,
9:52if I don't have a basketball,
9:53I'm borrowing a basketball.
9:54If I cannot borrow a basketball,
9:56I'm buying a basketball.
9:58If I cannot buy a basketball because I have the money,
10:01I am gonna find some way to get the money
10:03to buy a basketball.
10:06So I can get to the gym,
10:07so I can bounce it around the basement,
10:10go outside, dribble it up and down the street,
10:11go to the park, go to the court,
10:14play pickup games, practice, practice, practice,
10:17practice, practice, practice.
10:18And that's the same thing I did with my camera.
10:23Learning my camera and the insides and out,
10:25knowing how it'll work,
10:26knowing how long the battery works,
10:28knowing how long things take.
10:32Like recycling time on a flash,
10:34like when a flash, flash off,
10:37usually takes two to three seconds to recycle
10:39before you could flash into the flash.
10:42I had to learn that with photography,
10:44doing weddings where things move at a fast pace
10:47in a fast motion,
10:48and these events, especially high energy,
10:51like concerts and music, fast pace.
10:56That flash needs to go off at a certain time,
10:58and I had to realize that,
11:00well, the flash I have, it takes four seconds for me
11:05to reload and cycle back
11:07until I could flash another shot.
11:09I miss my moment, or I could take the picture,
11:13but the flash won't go off,
11:14so it will be real dark
11:15and nobody will be able to see it.
11:18There will be low quality because there's no light.
11:22So I had to invest in the right tools
11:25and lighting for me,
11:27what works with me and my system and my workflow.
11:31And that's one thing you get by just practicing,
11:33doing it, doing it for free.
11:35I still take my camera mostly,
11:39not everywhere, but mostly everywhere I go.
11:42I used to take it all the time.
11:43Now, I keep it at home a lot of times,
11:46and I don't want to get in that habit
11:49where people think they can just get something for free
11:54anytime, or, oh, you're doing it anyway.
11:58And I never wanted to get to that point.
12:00I saw it getting to that point at one time, too.
12:04Just respecting my boundaries in my business.
12:09I definitely had to start charging
12:12and then also cutting back
12:14and keeping my camera at home.
12:16Maybe I'm going back to how I started with the iPhone
12:19and just capturing pictures and mainly video on that.
12:24So I'm like, well, no camera.
12:29I use the phone.
12:31So I'm still doing it or still make,
12:34take a couple, I call it snapshots
12:37because the camera is a picture for the phone.
12:41It's a snapshot.
12:42Can you get good quality photos from a phone?
12:45Yes, it really know what you're doing
12:47and you practice, practice, practice,
12:50just like you had an actual camera.
12:55But take that to wherever you do,
12:59whatever industry you're in,
13:00whatever business you're in or running
13:02or thinking about running and starting up.
13:06Practice, practice, practice.
13:09Get inside a community.
13:11Be around other like-minded people
13:13or people that's on a higher level than you
13:17by one or two, sometimes three,
13:21depending on where you want to go.
13:24And the fast pace or how quick you want to develop
13:29and really grow or even when you wanna scale your business.
13:36Get around people that's just a couple steps
13:41past you, above you, it's important.
13:51So practice, be in the right communities,
13:56having the right coaches, mentors.
13:59And I'll say lastly, do it for free,
14:06especially that first one, even the second one,
14:10maybe even the third one.
14:13So if you bake cakes, give three cakes away.
14:17The first three cakes away.
14:19Oh, it's your birthday, let me bake you a cake.
14:21This is my treat.
14:23Just make sure you shout me out.
14:26You take pictures of it, post them on social media.
14:29That's all I ask.
14:33Three times, the fourth one charge.
14:37How much your supplies cost, the ingredients,
14:40how long it takes to bake it,
14:42if it's been delivered, the packaging.
14:44Keep all that consideration, then labor costs,
14:48marketing, all that on your fourth.
14:54And I'll tell you by your 25th cake,
14:56you're gonna, our 25th purchase,
15:02you will realize what you need to do to adjust your pricing.
15:08If you need to increase, are my prices too high?
15:12Our cost of products and ingredients is increasing.
15:17So sometimes you need to increase based on that.
15:21Are you quite a business?
15:23Because you're no longer running a profitable business.
15:28You're running a donation, a charity at that point.
15:31Doing it as a hobby.
15:34So you don't wanna fall in that trap either.
15:37So do it for free, be in the right community.
15:42And that's either having a good coach or a good mentor,
15:46or just being in different communities
15:49to where you all help each other,
15:52keep each other accountable,
15:53or you learn the same things.
15:56And then lastly, practice.
16:00Practice, practice, practice, get out there.
16:03And just do it, test new things.
16:07That's the only way you're gonna grow.
16:11And if you're new, if you're just starting your business,
16:17if you're a creative entrepreneur,
16:19you don't even know how to make your first dollar,
16:23this is for you.
16:26And this is Alien Eyes Photos Industry.
16:30Talk with your host, photographer Jackson,
16:35Steve Jackson of Alien Eyes Photos Media.
16:40And this is another episode
16:43for all my creative entrepreneurs,
16:46especially my photographers,
16:48but whatever business you in,
16:50whatever business you run,
16:52whatever industry you partake in,
16:57whatever industry you're growing,
16:58because I know you're growing that industry.
17:02This is for you.
17:06Or if you're a mentor or a coach,
17:10give them this episode.
17:13They need it.
17:17But if you wanna find more information
17:19or even about the podcast and the choir,
17:23scroll all the way down to the website
17:25of Alien Eyes Photos.
17:28That's alieneyes.com.
17:38Visiting alieneyesphotos.com,
17:41scroll to the bottom,
17:43type in your information,
17:45tell me what it's about,
17:47whether it's an event or to inquire on the podcast,
17:51and put a date on it.
17:52If the date is available,
17:54I will give you that date.
17:58Or we could find another date together
18:01that works for the both of us.
18:05And then you could follow me
18:08on a creative frequency.
18:12That's me and Brianna Casanova
18:14with Oliver Float Studios.
18:19And then individually with my business
18:22and brand, Alien Eyes Photos,
18:25that's Alien Eyes Photos on all media.
18:31And you can check the podcast out,
18:34share it with a friend,
18:35share it with a business partner or colleague,
18:37share it with your community.
18:40Send them this episode of Alien Eyes Photos
18:43industry talk.
18:45But there's hundreds of more episodes
18:49between the Pull Up Experience podcast,
18:53Alien Eyes Photos industry talk.
18:55If you want that business and entrepreneurship,
19:00and then even going internal
19:04with your faith and relationship issues.
19:09Well, I don't want to call them issues,
19:11but topics and encouragement and insight and guidance.
19:19Check out Beauty Toe with Ms. Brittany Knight.
19:26Shout out to the whole team
19:28the Pull Up Experience,
19:29because we are all a part of the Pull Up Experience.
19:32From Brandon Gates to Nikia Hudson,
19:36Sam Walks, Michelle Gates, Brianna Casanova,
19:42Steven D. Jackson or photographer Jackson,
19:45many know me as.
19:48We are really doing it.
19:52We're building brands and building brands
19:54and building brands.
19:56Not just internally, but also other people brands.
20:02We need all come together
20:05and really showcase our potential.
20:17Stay along the journey with Alien Eyes Photos
20:20industry talk and trust me,
20:23you'll be the first to know.
20:25All right, y'all.
20:26Peace.