Recently our own Pye Jirsa  was a guest on Andrew Hellmich‘s podcast “Photobiz Xposed” to discuss everything from TikTok Vs Instagram to running a photography business with over 30 staff members. Andrew found Pye by asking members of his own Facebook group and past interview guest, Tanya Goodall Smith suggested he talk to Pye about his new course and all the fun he’s been having on Tik Tok would make him the perfect guest.

Trusting Tanya’s judgement, I (Andrew) invited Pye for an interview. Since setting up this recording, I did some investigating to learn more, and WOW… my head is spinning!

I checked out Pye’s photography website to see THE most incredible studio space! Trust me when I say you will be blown away when you see it.

A team of over 30 staff! Fantastic photography.

Plus, I learned Pye is not only a founder and partner of Lin and Jirsa Photography, a boutique Southern California photography studio with an incredible team that shoots over 300 weddings each year, with nearly 1,000 yearly client commissions.

In this interview, Pye shares his views and ideas on creativity, business, TikTok, and education while surviving and prospering during a crazy year of COVID.

[Related Reading: On the Other Side of Fear – A Creative Live Podcast With Pye Jirsa]

[Related Reading: Our Favorite Podcasts for Photography, Business and Life]

Here’s Some of What’s Covered in this Podcast:

  • How the pandemic has affected Pye’s different businesses
  • Pye’s multiple revenue streams
  • Why SLR Lounge was created
  • Pye’s reasons for putting up free photography education online
  • What works best for Pye’s studio
  • Having the right attitude towards learning
  • The downside of hiring people and training them to be perfect second shooters
  • A brief look at how Pye runs his business
  • Pye’s business model and could it work for you
  • Why Pye doesn’t use the traditional IPS model in his business
  • How Pye attracts photography clients
  • How Pye’s referral system works
  • How to effectively network and build vendor relationships
  • Interesting photographs are vital when creating education and content
  • Can anyone learn to be creative?
  • How does a photographer become creative?
  • Why Pye feels he is not creative enough
  • What it means to feel creative
  • Is it okay to copy another photographer’s style and bring it into your business?
  • Shooting to sell vs taking risks
  • Doing test shoots to stretch your creative boundaries
  • The difference between running full studio vs shooting for yourself
  • Is it worthwhile for photographers to invest time and effort into TikTok
  • Pye’s TikTok strategy
  • Dabble on TikTok or stay with Instagram
  • The importance of understanding who your target market is before building social media content

Be sure to give this 1-hour conversation a listen and let us know what you think in the comments below.