PhotoBizX The Ultimate Wedding and Portrait Photography Business Podcast
685: Ben McCoy – The $17 Lead, $105 Booking and $2,400 Portrait Photography Sale
Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area Ben McCoy of www.withthebenjamin.com.au started his photography career by ringing wedding photographers he found in newspaper ads and asking if he could tag along and carry their bags. He was knocked back again and again before one photographer finally gave him a chance. That eventually led to photographing 40 or 50 weddings a year and learning the business from the ground up. Fast-forward to today and Ben has built something very different. He started Good Life Portraits from the back of his car in 2016 and has grown it into a busy Perth portrait studio with seven full-time staff, including photographers and an in-house booking team. The studio is now tracking towards $2 million in annual revenue, has photographed more than 5,000 sessions and is shooting somewhere around 80 portrait sessions a month. And the numbers behind the marketing are just as interesting. Ben aims for roughly $17 per lead, around $105 to acquire a client and an average sale of about $2,400. He’s also built much of the business around systems — from lead generation and booking through to client nurture, sales and production — and over the past year has added AI and Go High Level to handle more of that process automatically. What I found particularly interesting is that despite the scale of the business, Ben still believes the human conversation is one of the most important parts of converting a lead into a client. In this interview, Ben McCoy shares how he built a high-volume portrait studio without remaining the bottleneck, why he believes the people handling bookings can be more important than the photographers, how he uses Meta ads, AI and automated nurture to move leads towards a phone call, and what has changed as he’s gone from doing almost everything himself to running a team and a business approaching $2 million in revenue. Here's some more of what we covered in the interview: How Ben grew Good Life Portraits from working out of his car to a seven-person studio tracking towards $2 million in annual revenue What it actually takes to run a portrait business shooting around 80 sessions a month Why Ben believes photographers cap both their income and growth when they remain the person doing everything How hiring a photographer to replace himself helped Ben finally spend more time working on the business instead of constantly shooting and retouching Why Ben wants staff who can wear multiple hats — and why he isn’t worried about training people who could one day become competitors How years of staff burnout, hiring mistakes and working seven days a week changed the way Ben now builds and manages his team Why Ben says the people making the booking calls can be even more important than the photographers doing the shoots How Ben moved from market stalls, coupon boxes and local partnerships to running dozens of Meta campaigns and generating around 90% of his leads online The marketing numbers Ben watches closely — roughly $17 per lead, around $105 to acquire a client and an average sale of about $2,400 Why chasing the cheapest possible leads backfired, and how Ben learned that a $5 lead can be far less valuable than a more expensive, better-qualified one How Ben uses AI, Claude and Go High Level to answer enquiries, nurture leads, handle FAQs and book phone calls before a staff member steps in Why the goal of Ben’s automated nurture isn’t to make the sale — it’s to get the right prospect onto the phone Why Good Life Portraits doesn’t position digital files as the main product, and instead uses the nurture process to prepare clients for physical artwork and heirloom products Why Ben is willing to share his systems with photographers located just 10 kilometres from his own studio — and why he sees strong competitors as good for the industry What’s on Offer for Premium Members If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet. Plus, special member-only interviews. The goal is to get them on the phone. – Ben McCoy You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find friendlier, more motivated, caring, and sharing photographers online. Seriously, that's not all. AI has been a game changer because it’s available for when the client is ready, not for when we’re ready. – Ben McCoy In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, hold you accountable, and help you build friendships with other pro photographers who share your goals—to build a more successful photography business. What is your big takeaway? Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Ben shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on today's episode. Cheap leads aren’t always good leads. I was getting $5 or $6 leads, but they were low quality and not many people were booking. – Ben McCoy If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Ben, or a way to thank her for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below. $17 a lead is about $105 to land the client, and our average sale is around $2,400. – Ben McCoy iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons. First, it confirms I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome! Second, iTunes and Google are the biggest podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show. My job as a business owner is to make employees so happy that they don’t want to leave. – Ben McCoy If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google . You can leave some honest feedback and a rating, which will help me and the show. I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you share your name and website URL. Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast . Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them. I was the bottleneck for years. I knew I had to figure out a way so the business could actually run without me — and not just run, but grow. – Ben McCoy Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business. Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode: Ben McCoy Website Ben McCoy on Instagram Ben McCoy on Facebook Good Life Portraits Website Good Life Portraits on Instagram Good Life Portraits on Facebook When I focused solely on numbers, every person that came in the door became a number. I realised I was focusing on what I could get out of them instead of what I could create for them. – Ben...
