Sarah Petty: As a struggling single mother in a small upstate New York town, Madeleine Fenton turned things around for her family after following the boutique photography business model that we teach photographers at the Photography Business Institute. Since becoming boutique, Madeleine quickly landed, 4 Julies, $1k or more client orders, with an average of $2,834.
Share with everybody a little bit of your backstory.
Madeleine: I am from a really small town in upstate New York. I went to college, got a bachelor's degree in environmental science and never used it. I had my daughter in 2021, got a divorce in 2022 and ended up moving back to New York. That’s when I started taking my photography seriously. I have been doing photography since high school, but it was always a hobby. After I had my daughter, I really needed something more to provide for us.
Sarah Petty: So had you been doing some digital files and just trying to make a little bit of money here and there?
Madeleine: I was doing all kinds of sessions and offering digital files for everything. I had this magic price made up in my head where I just offered everything for $555 and was trying to get by with that. I didn't have help with my daughter and I was only able to work a couple times a month. So that $555 wasn't going very far.
Sarah Petty: What were you looking for out of your career?
Madeleine: I know that I want a big life and want to be able to provide for my daughter anything that she wants to be involved in. I want the ability to live comfortably, have the freedom to manage my time and be able to spend time with her.
Sarah Petty: You have this little girl that you love more than anything. Did you consider another career?
Madeleine: For me, I knew that I had to find some way to make it work for me and for my daughter. I wasn't willing to sacrifice my time with her. So I knew that something really had to change for us.
Sarah Petty: When you're a mom, you want to put your family first and be able to make money. You've got to make more money per hour so that you can have your time back with her. What changed for you?
Madeleine: At the beginning of the year, I knew if something didn’t change, I was going to get to the end of the year and feel the exact same way. I would be stressed, tired and still feel like I'm not doing enough as a mom.
Sarah Petty: How did you find us? How did you find my system?
Madeleine: I participated in some kind of free challenge, and after that, jumped in and just found a way to make it happen. I knew that I needed something to change in my business.
Sarah Petty: When you started learning this new way of doing things, what opened up for you?
Madeleine: I was really scared, because I didn't see people doing the boutique way in my area. My biggest fear was finding those right-fit clients being in such a small town. As a single mom, making a big investment in your business is really scary, but I had this belief in myself that if I have the guidance and framework to go by, I would be able to make it work.
Sarah Petty: So you made that investment on your own to do Boutique Breakthrough?
Madeleine: Yes. I used my tax money that I had gotten back, and I invested that part of it. I had enough to get me through 2 months of payments.
Sarah Petty: So you had to make the money for that final payment. You invested in Boutique Breakthrough and it is pretty rapid. How did you feel when you got into it?
Madeleine: I was excited, because it finally felt like there was guidance. It was definitely scary jumping in, because I was trying to manage being a single mom and working. It was tough, but like I said, having that system and community to always fall back on was really helpful.
Sarah Petty: So you got in, and you're doing the lessons, and we get into pricing really quickly because pricing is where I find most photographers are guessing. Were you nervous about the prices that I suggested?
Madeleine: At first, yeah. It's a big shift to see those prices, but it was so important to have guidance.
Sarah Petty: You went out and you learned how to talk to clients. Was that hard for you?
Madeleine: I was very nervous because I had never gotten on the phone with my clients before. But after a couple of calls, you build your confidence, and using your 7Bs guideline made all the difference.
Sarah Petty: Do you find that you have better relationships with your clients since you're talking to them?
Madeleine: Yes, from beginning to end. In the beginning, you're building that relationship, learning about them, and you're meeting with them in person, which makes a difference. When you get to be in the same room with someone and they feel your energy and excitement through the process it makes a difference. When you give them their artwork, I feel like there's a sense of accomplishment, whereas when I was sending out digital files, sometimes you send a gallery and then you don't hear back from a client, and it's so disheartening.
Sarah Petty: Were you surprised at all by anything?
Madeleine: As a single mom, I was nervous about spending more time in person with people, but I feel like it kind of equals out because you're so much more intentional with the clients. You're not always trying to find more clients or trying to get more people. You're just really intentional with those clients and putting time and work in with them.
Sarah Petty: You're educating and helping them. Let's talk about your ordering appointment. Which one was the first and where that person came from?
Madeleine: I started the program in the middle of working with 4 different clients, because I had done their boudoir sessions using my old system. Afterwards, I asked if they would be willing to go through my new system with me and they all were for it. I actually had all of their ordering appointments in one day. The total came out to $13,980.
Sarah Petty: Amazing. They weren't even necessarily right-fit clients that came in. But you educated them which is key.
Madeleine: I was totally honest with them through the whole process and told them that it was new for me and they were welcome to go through it. Once we got to the ordering appointments, it was a no-brainer. They were really wowed by all of the artwork that I was able to create. I did all of their appointments at a coffee shop, and after I finished all of them I added up the numbers in my notebook and I was mind blown and so grateful.
Sarah Petty: How do you feel moving forward?
Madeleine: I'm really excited to get great at the entire system and go through every single step with all of my clients. Stoked about the possibility, and I feel like it's opened up so many different doors for my life.
Sarah Petty: I'm so proud of you for making that investment, because that's a hard decision to make. Thank you so much for sharing your story.
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