Season 1 · Episode 49

How to Build A Creative Media Business from Scratch with Special Guest Sevenn Jackson

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0:00Welcome back to Alienize Photos Industry Talk.
0:06And I'm your host, Steve Jackson,
0:08photographer Jackson of Alienize Photos Media,
0:11also host of Alienize Photos Industry Talk.
0:15But I have my daughter with me.
0:17Introduce yourself, young lady.
0:19Hi, my name is Seven Jackson
0:22and I like to help my dad with photography
0:25and I also like modeling.
0:28Modeling, okay.
0:30And where did you have some questions for me?
0:33I see this big paper, this long list.
0:36You wanted to ask me some questions about business?
0:39Yeah.
0:40Let's do it.
0:41Okay, what is your favorite thing about your business?
0:49My favorite thing about my business
0:51is serving people,
0:53knowing that I'm doing a great job
0:54and helping their business grow.
0:56When their business grow,
0:57when my business grow,
1:00we would reciprocate and help each other.
1:03So when they're smiling and having a good time
1:06and their business is growing,
1:07they're making more money
1:09and they're doing what they have to do,
1:11I feel like my heart is fulfilled
1:12by doing what I need to do.
1:15Okay, how did you make your business?
1:19Well, first you have to register your business
1:22with the state.
1:22So we're in the state of Ohio.
1:24So I go to the second area of state,
1:26you have to register your business.
1:28And then there's other background things you have to do,
1:32like open a business bank account,
1:34make sure you have your agreements together.
1:38So whether you're setting up as a LLC
1:40or S Corp, C Corp as a corporation
1:43or a partnership,
1:45like if I go on a partnership with you,
1:47that'd be a partnership.
1:48But if you're doing it by yourself,
1:50most people do a LLC,
1:52which is what I started with
1:54on both of my first businesses,
1:56my publishing and then my media business.
1:59So first you have to register,
2:01open up your bank account
2:03and then first you have to know what you're doing,
2:06come up with a plan,
2:07plan, plan, plan.
2:09Yes, okay.
2:12How much podcast episodes do you have?
2:17How many podcast episodes I have?
2:19I have right now, 81 episodes.
2:22No, I released one last night.
2:25So 82 episodes currently.
2:29And it is in August, 2026.
2:32I currently have 82 episodes.
2:34About 20 of them are interviews,
2:37the rest are solo episodes of myself.
2:41Okay, and how much episodes do you want to make?
2:44I want to make a million episodes.
2:46That is a lot.
2:47Nobody's done it before,
2:48but I want to make a million episodes
2:50and that's throughout my whole lifetime.
2:54Okay.
2:55That's my ambitious goal.
2:59What do you do with your business?
3:05So I help creative entrepreneurs
3:07and business owners gain visibility
3:10through visual and audio medium
3:12and that's with photography, video and podcast.
3:17So I help them get discovered
3:18by photography, video and podcast.
3:22Okay.
3:24And who works with you in your business?
3:28So right now it's just me and my business
3:30and then I have people that help me like yourself.
3:34I may have Bree, I may have Tramaine,
3:37brother Tramaine.
3:39So other than that, I collaborate with people.
3:43So right now it's just me and my business.
3:46Right now they call it a solopreneur,
3:48but also collaborate a lot with many different people.
3:51I collaborate with Futureland,
3:54I collaborate with Overflow Studio,
3:56I collaborate with the Pull Up Experience,
3:58I collaborate with Launch Arts Media.
4:00I collaborate with so many different people
4:02that even though it is just me,
4:05I'm able to bring people in where it's needed
4:08or where I need assistance directly
4:12or if they need assistance directly.
4:15We keep on exchanging and building our network
4:18through collaboration.
4:20Collaboration is a superpower.
4:23Okay.
4:25That is, that's very, very, very good.
4:29And how long have you had your business for?
4:32So I'm in my third year of business.
4:35I've been in business for three years
4:36with Alienize Photos Media.
4:39I've had a publishing company,
4:41but it's kind of been on a back burner
4:42and that's been for five years.
4:45Five years with S.D.J. Books
4:47and then three years with Alienize Photos Media.
4:52Okay.
4:53What is your business called?
4:58What's my business called?
5:00My business is called Alienize Photos Media
5:04and Productions.
5:05And it's not just photos, it's a media company.
5:09It's a production house.
5:11So we focus on everything visual,
5:15whether that's photography, making move boards,
5:19setting up a production, doing a production,
5:23and video, it's a production, not just photos.
5:27So Alienize Photos Media and Production.
5:31Where's your business at?
5:33So my business is no physical location,
5:37even though it's birthed in Cleveland, Ohio,
5:40but there's no physical location yet, but stay tuned.
5:45Okay.
5:51And what is the most difficult...
5:56What is the most difficult decision
6:00you've made in your business?
6:04The most difficult decision I've made in my business
6:08was to buy two cameras when I only had one
6:15and I was just purchasing another camera
6:18one day before an event.
6:21And I'm glad I did because that camera ended up breaking
6:27and I decided to buy two more cameras
6:32just to replace that one camera.
6:36It was kind of the best decision I've made
6:40because I felt down and out,
6:42like, oh, camera broke, oh, that's money,
6:44oh, I could just hang it up,
6:46like, oh, let me just hang up the business.
6:48But I kept it going and I continued to do
6:51what I had to do and by investing in two cameras,
6:55I'm able to use multiple cameras on different events
6:58or lend out a camera if needed
7:00when I bring somebody on like yourself in seven.
7:05And you get the most work done,
7:07you get more bang for your buck,
7:09you have more equipment working for you.
7:16What's one problem your business has today?
7:21One problem my business have today
7:24is consistent high ticket clients.
7:29And I don't really have a traditional high ticket offer
7:32which is a great offer,
7:35maybe it's for working with each other for a year
7:38or maybe six months or something
7:41that really grabs transformation
7:44or change in their business for the better
7:47because you always want your business to grow.
7:51So those are things that we focus on.
7:56Tell me about your last episode.
8:00My last episode was with Mr.
8:05Well, it wasn't with,
8:06but it was about Damon Darling who's a comedian.
8:10He recently got banned at Walmart.
8:14So I wanted to do an episode about that,
8:17reflecting my thoughts
8:18and extracting the business lesson around that,
8:22which is your personal brand is everything.
8:26When you're doing things in public,
8:28it reflects your brand.
8:30It may grab attention,
8:31but also is it damaging with your business deal.
8:35So that's one thing to look at.
8:38Okay.
8:41Who's your favorite person to work with?
8:45My favorite person to work with is 7 Jackson.
8:50When she listens.
8:52When she listens.
8:55Yeah, she's an amazing person outside of that.
8:58I have Ms. Brianna Casanova.
9:02I also have Jermaine.
9:04I also have Jamar.
9:06I love the entire pull-up experience,
9:08but those are some people I love working with.
9:14Has anyone ever quit or got mad at you?
9:18Well, I haven't hired anybody directly,
9:21but even the contractors
9:23and people that I collaborate and bring in,
9:26nobody has ever quit with me.
9:27We always had a conversation beforehand.
9:30This is something that we both wanna do.
9:32And if we both say yes,
9:34we're gonna stick to that and keep our word.
9:36So there's no quitting, no giving up,
9:39no getting mad, no getting frustrated.
9:41Let's do business.
9:43So I've never had it happen.
9:47And great that I never had it happen.
9:49I never gave up on nobody.
9:51I don't want nobody to give up on me or get mad.
9:57So you attract what you give off.
10:00You give off what you attract.
10:01So it's one big cycle.
10:04You are what you put in the universe.
10:07Okay.
10:08And that is all my questions for you.
10:10Questions.
10:11All right.
10:12And what would you like to be when you grow up, young lady?
10:16Either a teacher or a police officer.
10:18Teacher or police officer, okay.
10:21And-
10:21And I have my own business.
10:22And if you had a show,
10:24what would be the title of your show?
10:31Seven Minutes with Seven.
10:32Seven Minutes with Seven.
10:34Let's see, say that again.
10:35Let's say it.
10:36What's the title of your show?
10:38Seven Minutes with Seven.
10:40Let's say it together.
10:41Three, two, one.
10:43Seven Minutes with Seven.
10:45I like that.
10:46Seven Minutes with Seven
10:47on the Alien Eyes Photos Industry Talk Show.
10:50Rebirth your podcast.
10:53Seven Minutes with Seven.
10:54I love it.
10:55Let's do it.
10:56All right, y'all.
10:57This is photographer Jackson Steve Jackson
10:59of Alien Eyes Photos Media
11:01bringing you another, another special episode
11:05of Alien Eyes Photos Industry Talk.
11:08And if you want to follow me,
11:10you can find me over at Alien Eyes Photos.
11:15Again, that's Alien Eyes Photos on all media.
11:19You may catch my daughter on some of them
11:21and some of the content, even this video.
11:24Ha ha ha.
11:25But if you want to book me,
11:28find more information about me and my business,
11:31check out alieneyesphotos.com.
11:35Again, this is Steve Jackson, AKA Alien,
11:38also known as Photographer Jackson.
11:41And I'm signing out.
11:43Say bye.
11:44Peace.
11:46Peace, peace.
11:47Peace and love, everybody.