Chris Garbacz - Shoot Like a Ninja: 4 Steps to Work Less, Earn More and Superpower Your Photography Business

This is a must-read book for photographers of all levels and genres. A practical, relevant and timely chronicle for photographers who want to succeed in business. Chris and Yuan know their stuff. Photographers: Buy this book, devour it, and follow the advice. Your business will thank you for it!

ALEX CEARNS OAM,

Founder of Houndstooth Studio and winner of over 350 awards for business, philanthropy and animal photography

Shoot Like a Ninja is a fantastic blueprint for any modern wedding or portrait photographer to employ and level their business up. The steps are super clear and clever I love the offline as well as online strategies that you can implement with minimal effort and maximum reward. Chriss real-world experience as a busy working photographer is a bonus and makes me think that if he can have a successful career AND be the boss at Studio Ninja, then these methods must be utterly killer!

LISA DEVLIN

Award-winning photographer and founder of Photography Farm

WOW! Photographer, no matter where youre based or what you shoot, you need to read this book if you want to see improvements in your business. Whether youre new to making money from photography or have been shooting for twenty years or more theres no way youre walking away from the info in this book and not feeling motivated to be better. If things are going great for you, dont use that as an excuse to skip this book. Youll be challenged to look at your business and what youre doing from different perspectives, which can only help if youre looking to be better. A ton of gold nuggets in this one. Get it, read it, implement... then read it again!

ANDREW HELLMICH

AIPP Master Photographer and host of PhotoBizX podcast

Shoot Like a Ninja: 4 steps to work less, earn more and superpower your photography business

Copyright 2021 by Chris Garbacz and Yuan Wang. All rights reserved.

Published by Grammar Factory Publishing, an imprint of MacMillan Company Limited.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief passages quoted in a book review or article. All enquiries should be made to the author.

Grammar Factory Publishing
MacMillan Company Limited
25 Telegram Mews, 39th Floor, Suite 3906
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5V 3Z1

www.grammarfactory.com

Shoot Like a Ninja: 4 Steps to Work Less, Earn More and Superpower Your Photography Business / Chris Garbacz and Yuan Wang.

Paperback ISBN 978-1-98973-742-2

eBook ISBN 978-1-98973-743-9

Audiobook ISBN 978-1-98973-744-6

1. PHO003000 PHOTOGRAPHY / Business Aspects. 2. BUS043000 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Marketing / General. 3. BUS090040 BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / E-Commerce / Small Business.

Production Credits

Cover design by Designerbility
Interior layout design by Dania Zafar

Book production and editorial services by Grammar Factory Publishing

Grammar Factorys Carbon Neutral Publishing Commitment

From January 1st, 2020 onwards, Grammar Factory Publishing is proud to be neutralising the carbon footprint of all printed copies of its authors books printed by or ordered directly through Grammar Factory or its affiliated companies through the purchase of Gold Standard-Certified International Offsets.

Disclaimer

The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances, and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.

Contents

STEP 1:
Craft your niche

STEP 2:
Campaign and attract

STEP 3:
Convert and close

STEP 4:
Streamline, automate and outsource

It was a beautiful, sunny day, the perfect day for a wedding. Chris, a wedding photographer from Melbourne, Australia, and co-author of this book, had just driven an hour and a half to the grooms house and arrived five minutes early, like he usually does. He was eager, excited and raring to go.

He got out of his car, went to the back and opened the boot to grab his gear. Blinking a few times, he shook his head to make sure that he wasnt hallucinating. He paused and took a deep breath. The boot was empty!

In disbelief, he slammed the boot closed, shut his eyes, shook his head, took another deep breath, and slowly opened the boot again. It was indeed empty! Shiiiiiiiiit!

Chris was literally about to start shooting a wedding and he had accidentally left his camera bag at home. One thought dominated his mind. Im a professional photographer who is being paid thousands of dollars to photograph the most important day in this couples life. How can I have forgotten my bag?

He couldnt just go home and come back he would end up being too late for the ceremony. That was not an option. So, he sent a 911 mayday text to his wife, who was at home at the time with two crying children. Babe, you wont believe it. Ive left my camera bag at home! I need the biggest favour in history. Can you grab my camera bag and chuck it in the car? Grab the kids and chuck them in the car, too, and drop my bag at the brides house its an hour and a half away, he begged.

Knowing that he would be reunited with his camera bag at the brides house, he still had the problem of not having any of his gear at the grooms house.

He took another deep breath, walked up to the front door and knocked.

The groom answered. Hey, Chris, how are ya?! Perfect timing, mate, lets rock n roll, everyones ready for you!

He decided to tell the groom the truth.

Jimmy... mate... its good to see ya. Im really, really sorry, but Ive got bad news. Im such an idiot. I dont know how to say this, but I left my camera bag at home! Not to worry, Ive sorted everything out and its on its way to Alisons house now. The good news is, Im here now, Im ready to rock n roll, and Im going to photograph you guys with my phone!

Long story short, after the initial shock, the groom actually thought it was funny. Keeping his cool, he invited Chris into his house. He wasnt going to let this little hiccup ruin his day.

Apart from the ridiculous embarrassment that Chris felt and the laughs he received from the groomsmen and the family for shooting with his phone, the morning turned out to be a huge success. He lived on to tell the tale.

Thats a day that Chris will never forget. As a result, he now has a workflow task that reads: GRAB YOUR FING CAMERA BAG! and an internal rule that he cannot turn his car on or leave his house until that task is ticked off his to-do list.

As youll discover, workflows are important to this book. An effective workflow of tasks, done in order, is key to making every shoot great and every client a super happy and returning one. But thats only a part of making your photography business thrive.

In Shoot Like a Ninja, youll learn from Chriss fourteen years of experience, as well as from over thirty world-class photographers interviewed specifically for this book with everything condensed into four simple steps.