This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Hey, what's up? It's Chris Guillebeau here. I wanted to bring you something a little bit different today. This is actually a Throwback Thursday episode or a version or a variation of that that's not coming out on Thursday. You're like, "What is happening, Chris?" There's so little that I can depend upon in the world these days.
I need to know what to expect with the episodes. But listen, we're still gonna do the Throwback Thursday coming up on Thursday. It's a good episode too. But in working on this one that was gonna be scheduled in the future, I was like, "Oh, we need to move this up because this person is doing something really interesting and creative that I have never actually heard before." And in this age of the so-called coronavirus land, we're trying to figure out how can we adapt? How can we modify what we're doing?
Is there something else that we can do? Maybe what we were doing before is not effective in terms of a sales process at the moment or even a customer serving process. But that's why when I heard this story, I was like, "Oh, this is pretty cool." So in this feature, which is not on Thursday, but it is still a Throwback, we're gonna hear from Erin Riddle, who was featured on episode, I don't know, 147, I think, way back in the day. Vintage pinup photography turns designer into high earner. So she had this whole business and still does doing vintage photography in a studio in Texas.
But what has she been able to do now? Well, she is doing something I've never heard of before called FaceTime Photo Sessions. I was like, "How does that even work?" Using FaceTime, like the Apple iPhone technology, how can you actually do good quality photography with that? But she has found a way. So let's hear more about it from her and I'll come back at the end, as always, to wrap us up.
[Music]
My name's Erin Riddle. I live in Temple, Texas. My side hustle turned full-time gig is called Lone Star Pinup. And I was last featured on episode 147. I first got into pinup photography as a hobby 'cause I really love the styles of the 1920s through the 1960s.
Everything from flappers to movie star glamour shots to mod miniskirts. And I wanted to try and recreate some of the classic 1940s and '50s pinup illustrations through photography. I originally went to school for graphic design and I did that professionally in freelance for several years. I gained proficiency in photo retouching and image manipulation. And I did work for other photographers in studios as well as personal projects before I decided to invest in my own camera and equipment and dive into the world of photography.
So my studio hasn't changed a whole lot in the few years since our last episode. I'm still booking clients regularly even though the photography business is cyclical. So there's always gonna be slower periods. Our advertising strategy is pretty consistent. We mainly focus on targeted ads on Google and Facebook and Instagram to women in the general area, possibly if they have a live event coming up like an anniversary or a birthday.
We'll run specials that attract new clients and add contacts to our email database. And we do have a new and improved website since last time. So that's much easier to navigate and for us to update and a lot of our clients have really responded positively to that. One of our biggest challenges is having the time to keep up with social media as it's evolving. It's hard when you have 57 things to do as the business owner and that kind of thing can get pushed to the wayside.
Since I've been unable to see clients in the studio for the past several weeks due to the coronavirus shutdowns, I have actually had a lot more time to post online and we've been promoting our solution to that problem of the social distancing, which are digital sessions. So we are now offering photo shoots over FaceTime, which has been a fun way to keep in touch with our clients and make a little money and keep everyone safe. So I had never actually heard of this before. A client messaged me and said, "Hey, have you heard of this?" And I was, I hadn't. So I, and I don't use FaceTime a whole lot in my general life.
So I did a call with my assistant and figured it out kind of 'cause I also looked online, couldn't find a lot of information on this. I mean, I saw that maybe some people were doing it but there was no real information beyond that on the technical aspects of it. So we kind of did a trial run with her. And so there's, in the bottom right-hand corner of your FaceTime call, there's this little white button and that allows you to take a live photo. Like if you have an iPhone, you're familiar with live photos already.
It's basically a short little video clip. So we're able to, I'm actually taking the photos during their session and editing those. And the fun part about it is that we didn't have before is it actually allows us to incorporate that video with the photos. 'Cause if they come in for a photo shoot, we're not shooting video of it, but like this way we can kind of put it together in like a cool little slideshow with the photos and the videos. So it's been fun and different and people are fascinated by it 'cause they don't understand how that works and like why, you know, why would that be good or why would that be what I want?
And then when they do it, they're like, that was really cool. Like I'm stuck at home and that was fun. And I haven't put on makeup in like a month, but you know, that was a thing to get motivated today. So it's been really, really fun. If someone wanted to follow in my footsteps, I would say to find a niche and to excel in that.
So there are a lot of photographers, but there are not a lot of pinup photographers and there are even fewer of those who are exceptional. So if pinup photography happens to be your thing, then do your research because all the little details count and add it to a finished product that really stands out. [Music]
Well, I thought this was just an incredibly interesting adaptation strategy. First of all, I appreciate Erin's advice in terms of, you know, if somebody wants to follow in her footsteps, they need to specialize because there are so many photographers, but there are not a lot of pinup photographers. So that is good advice.
It's good classic advice. What I think is modern and so interesting is this transition to doing FaceTime photo sessions, which as I said, I had never heard of before, but there is clearly a demand for it. And in some ways it's easier for both Erin the photographer and for the client, perhaps. So there's all kinds of ways that you can adapt. There's all kinds of ways that you can modify.
Or if you can't adapt and modify the existing service that you provide, maybe there is some related service or something that uses a similar skillset that you can do during a time in which it's not business as usual and you can't just do your normal thing. So thank you, Erin, for inspiring me. I was like, well, that's pretty cool. I had no idea. So thanks, Erin, for sharing your story, inspiring me, and hopefully our listeners as well.
Listeners, 2020 is our year of the pandemic. Wait, that's not right. Oh, it's the year of interaction. That's better. It's our year of interaction.
If you have a question, if you'd like to update us about your side hustle, how are you doing out there? Or if you'd like a pinup FaceTime photo session, well, for that, actually, you need to go to Erin. Her website is lonestarpinup.com. But for everything else, come to sidehustleschool.com/questions. We're gonna feature them throughout the year along with updates from other listeners as they launch their projects, navigate this new economy, figure things out, find a way to come out of it better than we were before.
At least that's my goal for myself, and it's my goal for you as well. Thank you so much for listening. My name is Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
from The Onward Project.
