031: Anna Pumer – Top Tips On Being A Kick Ass Photographer & Taking Your Business To The Next Level

June 10, 2021

“Look after yourself, take time for yourself, be mindful, be cautious, be nice to others, be human, show your real side – and don’t forget real life! “

ANNA PUMER

Hey everyone! It’s Sally here, from Studio Ninja. Today’s episode is all about Anna Pumer of Kick Ass Photographers.

Check out some of the biggest points from Anna’s interview below:

What are your top tips for starting a business in this whirlwind industry?

I would say actually one thing I have found among newer photographers is that they don’t treat it like a business, they treat it like a passion. “Oh, it’s my passion, I’m a creative. I’ll do this for free, I’ll do that for cheap, I’ll offer a discount before anyone even asks for it. I’ll do whatever, I’ll give them the world.” That don’t say no to anything, they don’t know what they want.

You’ve got to think about what makes you happy, and will doing this cheap job for a non-ideal client that you’re not going to enjoy, where will that get you? Don’t say yes to it if it’s not going to be your sort of thing. So you’ve got to treat it like a business. I think that’s the thing about creators, we don’t treat it like a business. And I think that’s where I come in because I was not a creative. I’m a creative person, but I wasn’t always destined to be a photographer or an artist or anything like that. I thought of it like a business, I charged 1400 from the off.

Yeah, that’s the thing, that fear leads you to then being desperate and that’s not attractive anyway, to any clients is it? Desperation is not attractive, so even from the start, if I’m saying, 1400. Here are all the photos I’ve taken, not many, this is me, and people booked me for it. I got booked up in my first year because I was confident in what I was doing and I wasn’t just giving everything away.

So I’ve got the sign behind me, it says, “Say yes, more.” I don’t know if you can see that. I live by the whole, say yes more, thing and saying yes, means saying yes to yourself, not saying yes to everything. So the thing that they can do is say no to things that aren’t working by saying yes to themselves. Know who you want to work for. Have this ideal client in your mind, give them a name, a face, everything, and if you get an inquiry through that really isn’t that kind of person that doesn’t make you go, “Oh yes, this is great.” Then they’re not going to be feeling about that about you either, you’re not going to enjoy it. It’s not going to progress your career. So just say, no.

I think that’s the easiest way to sort of do that, for a creative is to say no to anything that’s not right. And if you’re getting inquiries from the wrong kind of people, look at what’s wrong. Maybe it’s your website, maybe it’s too general, maybe it’s too boring, maybe it’s too corporate. Look at what you put out of yourself, maybe you’re not putting any of yourself out there at all. So look at all aspects of your business and think, “Okay, where am I going wrong? What can I actually do to attract the right kind of people?” So I’m saying yes to more things I’m more excited about, about these jobs that come in.

How can photographers focus on making their work stand out from other people?

I think for me, I’ve never copied anyone. I’ve never looked at someone’s work and been like, “Right, that’s what I’m going to do.” It’s just been driven by what I’m inspired by, which is people’s personalities and stuff. And it’s also my personality that comes into it too. So at a wedding, I get nice and close, I chat to people and that brings out those sorts of photos. And so they’re very me. There’s people like Sam Hurd, who’s incredibly creative and he tries stuff and everyone tries to copy Sam Hurd, and then it’s like, “Okay, I can see you have copied Sam Hurd.” So maybe try things of your own, play around, play with light, give yourself challenges. Go out every day and just try different things and see what works. See what you’re excited about. Get inspired by things that aren’t wedding photographers or even photographers.

My boyfriend this morning was saying about how he used to look at weird abstract art and he used to make his photos into, with abstract on Photoshop by scanning things in and stuff. It’s like, what excites you? You’re a creative. So we talked about the business side of it, think like a business, but at the same time, what makes you a creative person? For me, it’s people. So I’m not very creative with Sam Hurd style stuff, I can’t do putting things in front and being all wacky with it and double exposures, I can’t do that.

I’m reactive. I’m like, “Oh, a moment. Oh, snap, snap, snap, get in close.” I’m not like, “Oh, I’m going to look at the scene and think about what I can do.” So you’ve just got to think about what is you, what excites you, why you do this? What you’re driven by, and bring that because like I said, all these couples are going to go to these people’s websites and be like, “Okay, it’s my wedding photos, what’s difference?” So yeah, there’s always going to be someone who likes what you do.

Anna, if you can add one final piece of advice, maybe something that’s made a massive difference to your business or your personal life, what would that one piece of advice?

It’s a sort of mixture of things. Just be yourself, be authentic, be nice, be human, give yourself time off, look after yourself. I’ve learned all these things over my career and I take time off every day, sometimes a whole day, sometimes more than a day. Even if I’ve got stuff on, I know that I’m not going to do my best at something if I’m wanting to be out in the sunshine. We’re self-employed for a reason. Don’t lock yourself up.

So I think yeah, my biggest piece of ice is just look after yourself, take time for yourself, be mindful, be cautious, be sort of nice to yourself, nice to others, be human, show your real side online as well. And don’t forget real life.

Thank you!

Thanks again to you all for joining us and a huge thanks to Anna for joining us on the show!

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That’s it for me this week, I hope you all enjoyed this episode.

See you soon,

Sally