We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Darragh Goeckel a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Darragh, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
To start, my parents have always been open about finances and money. I feel as if that is often frowned upon, especially when communicating finances with kids. However, I think that is one of the best things my parents could have done for me as I was able to understand how finances work, when it is good to save versus invest, how to budget along with what a good work ethic looks like.
Not only were they open about finances, but they also instilled great money habits in me. I have always done chores around the house. When I was about 10, my parents began paying me to do my chores and simultaneously stopped paying for things for me. Outside of the basics such as food, shelter, water, the occasional eating out, and new shoes when needed, I was in charge of my purchasing decisions. Looking back, they were technically still paying for things for me, however, without it, I may not have understood the value of money and how it works. This taught me frugality at a young age and while I do enjoy treating myself to something every now and then, being frugal has allowed me to have the funds to start up both of my businesses. Instead of buying whatever I wanted whenever I wanted, I only bought the things I really wanted and needed.
With my newfound income, my parents decided it would be helpful for me to have a budget in place so I understood where my money was going along with prioritizing different areas. They helped me to create a basic model with percentages of my income going into different areas. Some categories I had included, miscellaneous (which I used on the things I wanted), car, phone, travel, and house. Of course, at 10 years old I did not have a phone, car, or house, but I was saving for the future. Having a budget taught me constraint and decision making skills.
Having an understanding of money at a young age instilled a work ethic that I still have today. Just the small taste of an income and the freedom that comes with making purchasing decisions made me want to make more. So, when I was 14 I decided to get my first job. My first job was a 10 minute walk away from where I lived, so at sunrise every weekend morning during my summers in high school, I would walk to my job and work a 6 to 9 hour long shifts on most Saturdays and Sundays. With this along side babysitting, I was able to live pretty comfortably for a high school student involved in a handful of extracurriculars.
Having these jobs allowed me to finance the big purchases I have made thus far.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
If you do not know me- hi, I’m Darragh Goeckel! I am a full time student and senior, wedding, and elopement photographer based in mid/west Michigan. I am a senior majoring in marketing and entrepreneurship at Grand Valley State University and am in my third year of being a photographer.
I started my photography business after taking senior photos of my boyfriend of almost 5 years in 2018. I had owned a camera since 2013, but my passion for taking photos of people was really sparked after my “session” with my boyfriend. After that I started taking photos of my friends more often for fun and decided to kind of pursue it going into my senior year of high school (2019). It was fun and I was charging between $30-$50 per session (SO low!), but I wasn’t taking it very seriously. Once the pandemic began, I started seeing more and more people starting photography businesses on social media. This really pushed me to start taking it more seriously and start marketing myself.
It was so nerve-racking to put myself out there, but I told myself if other people are doing this why can’t I? I have always been a detailed person and somewhat of a perfectionist, so I needed to make sure I was offering exactly what I would want from a photographer. I studied how other photographers went about their marketing, social medias, editing, package structure, websites, and so on. I recognized the things I did and did not like in each business so I could better form my own. One thing I did not know at the time was what I wanted my niche to be so I just started taking pictures of whoever would trust me to capture their memories. I took photos of pets, families, couples, seniors, and friends. From there, I learned how to use adobe editing software and watched videos to better understand my gear and how to structure my pricing.
I taught myself a lot and learned a lot from others. Being open to experiences, making mistakes, learning from mistakes, and creating time to grow and learn was so important for me. I learned that booking everyday does not mean fully booked, it means overbooked if you don’t have the time to actually edit them. I learned that clients want direction and structure, which can be given through time to plan and resources such as guides. I learned that family photos are not my favorite thing to take photos of, but my creativity and eye for photography is best used with seniors/portraits and couples. I learned so much.
I still have more to learn, but what I do know is that I offer a unique, stress-free, and authentic experience for my clients and I love getting to know each and every person and capture them as their true-selves. On the business side of things, I offer my clients a welcome guide, location guide, monthly guide, and lighting guide along with a phone call to plan and personalize each session. My welcome guide includes a variety of things such as my three tier pricing structure, session preparation, what my process looks like, a break down of my editing, and more. My location guide includes a list of locations in areas throughout Michigan allowing my clients to pick a quality location out that matches the vibe they are looking for best. My monthly guide goes over what each month of the year looks like in terms of comfort, flowers, seasonal changes, and more. My lighting guide explains what times of day offer what looks. I plan on creating a vendor guide for my couples along with outfit guides for all of my clients this down season. I feel as if these guides help decrease stress and anxiety that can come with a luxury experience such as this, which is why I offer them to each client!
Outside of my guides, I also send out proofs (for seniors) and sneak peeks following the session before the final gallery which allows my clients to see a little snippet of the session before the final gallery and pick out the photos they truly want if they are a senior. These are just a few of the things that go in to my business and make it unique!
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
With being a photographer comes the responsibility of a lot of client and business management. I feel like often times, people assume that photographers simply take the pictures, edit them, and send them out and that is the extent of the job. However, as a photographer, you also have to narrow down photos, organize sessions (location, date, time, outfit advice, package, etc.), send contracts and invoices, calendar management, customer service, organizing and tracking finances, marketing, and so much more. With all that needs to be done, certain resources have been lifesavers in creating a more efficient and stress-free business.
A big resource that took me a little while to find, but that I use EVERYDAY in my photography business is Adobe software (Lightroom, Photoshop, etc.). When I first started my journey, I had no clue what photographers edited on. When I found Adobe, I loved how integrated their products were, the fact that there was an Adobe Cloud, and how easy it was to learn how to edit on. I highly recommend Adobe for all things editng.
A common resource on the business side that a lot of photographers know of is Honeybook. At first, Honeybook was a little overwhelming to learn, but as I implemented it into my work flow I began to love it. I still don’t use all of the resources it provides, but it has been such a timesaver for the resources I do use within the system. I use Honeybook to track my workflow through their pipeline. My pipeline includes Inquiry, Follow Up, Meeting, Contract Sent, Contract Signed, Retainer Paid, Planning, Editing, Send Gallery, Completed. Something I would like to add to this pipeline is a Feedback section, which I will more than likely be implementing during this next year. Overall, this pipeline helps me stay organized and adds an extra checklist that I use outside of my checklist in my notes app on my phone. I also use Honeybook to write up, send, and track my contracts and invoices. I love this feature because it is easy on both my end and the client’s end.
Another resource that is common among photographers which I began using about a year into my professional photography journey is Pixieset. This is a platform which allows photographers to create a print shop, gallery delivery center, website, and more all in one platform. There are other platforms similar, such as Pic-Time. I found Pixieset’s website templates easy to follow and design while also creating a clean look. The gallery delivery center along with the print shop are all linked together which makes it very easy for clients to navigate, submit inquiries, browse and download galleries, and order prints along with more. Overall, a great resource!
Moving forward, just this year I began using a calendar system for client booking. I still have a few things I would like to adjust so that it is better integrated with the rest of my workflow, but a calendar system has been such a time saver. I use Squarespace Scheduling which can be automatically connected to my iPhone’s calendar or Google Calendar. I have the ability to only allow people to schedule on the dates I make available for the times that work for me and once the date is booked, no one else can take the spot. One thing I would like to adjust with this in the next year is connecting deposits to date scheduling. However, when people book their date, they also fill out a questionnaire which helps me when we get to the planning stage of our time together as I already have an idea of what they are looking for. This questionnaire is also put in my calendar which is a huge plus. Scheduling use to take up a large amount of my time, so I love Squarespace Scheduling.
For marketing and client interaction, I use Canva to create special announcements for my social medias along with client guides. I have the Pro version which gives me a lot of creative range when creating my documents. Overall, it is a great graphic resource.
Finally, Google Docs and Sheets. I use google docs to organize my sessions and as a central note taking spot for meetings. The documents are easy to share with clients and impossible to lose, unlike paper. I also use it to create wedding timelines and photo shot lists. I use google sheets (similar to excel), to track my finances and all things for tax purposes. This includes session totals and what types of sessions I have booked throughout the year, discounts given, mileage per session, other income streams within the business, write-offs, and business costs. I love this platform because it allows me to sum totals and create charts which allow me to have a better look at my different statistics for the year. This is also very helpful for tax season as I can send this sheet to my accountant and everything is nicely organized for them to be able to do their end. I use Matthew Accounting PLLC in Dewitt, MI if anyone is looking for an accountant who works well with small businesses (they do great work and it is especially nice with me having a part-time W2, photography business, real estate investing, and school).
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Social media is such an amazing resource that we did not have 20 years ago. Without social media, I do not know if I would have been able to scale my business the way I have. I started my Instagram account in 2018 and it was honestly a little nerve racking when I did, but it was one of the best things I have done. There are many factors which help make Instagram (which I have found to be the best tool for growth) profitable and a true resource.
Consistency is key. Posting consistently is one of the biggest. I’m not going to lie, this is one I am not always the best at, but posting consistently ensures that Instagram will continue to push your content to your audience and new audiences. As a social app, they want you to be social on it, so using the app consistently will help you reach more people. Posting consistently is not the only consistency you want to focus on with your social media, however. Posting consistent content is also important. In photography, this may mean having a consistent editing style that creates an aesthetic feed that is visually appealing to first time visitors. You also want to have a central focus on your page. It would not make sense to have a photography page where you occasionally post cooking videos and pictures. When I say this, I am primarily referring to your central feed. Which leads me to the my next point.
Show who you are on your social media! This is something I could also work on, but people want to know who they are following. Whether this means you occasionally show your hobbies and give life updates on your stories or talk on your stories every now and then, this allows your followers to get to know the face behind the business better, which overall helps with follower retainment and growth.
Factors I believed have also helped play a factor in growth would be hashtags and location tags. The growth may not be huge, but these resources allow you to reach more people as they search for either accounts like yours or just looking at locations you have been to. Utilizing and maxing out all of your resources will really help you with your growth.
Reels is a huge resource which should be maximized. I primarily make reels in my down season as I do not have the time to make them during busy season for my senior page, however, whenever I do make them I see major growth. Instagram has become more of a video based app, which means they push reels more than they push a photo based post. It is important to use trending sounds and match the transitions up to the music to make a more appealing experience for people watching the videos. If you use a trending sound early on in its growth, you will likely reach a large group of people.
If you decide to stick with photo based posts, however, one tip I have is paying attention to the structure of your posts. If you use all 10 slides, you will have people stay on your post longer which will help with Instagram pushing it out to a larger audience. If you do not use all 10 slides, it is important to have an engaging caption to keep people on your post longer. Whether it is a reel or photo based post, it is also important to promote engagement. The more people you have save, share, like, and comment on your post, the larger audience you will reach.
Giveaways are another great way to reach a large audience. It is not sustainable to do giveaways all the time, but this shows that you appreciate your followers and helps generate a greater reach. For example, I have in my giveaway guidelines that people must share my post to their story and tag me, along with save and like the post and tag friends (the more friends they tag, the greater the entry). This helps me to reach new people along with having a greater follower retainment if I do giveaways at least once a year to show my appreciation. Showing appreciation is so important, because you would not have your foundation for your business without your supporters!!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://darraghgoeckelphotography.mypixieset.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darraghgphotos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarraghGoeckelPhotography/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/darraghgphotos.seniors/?hl=en
Image Credits
The headshot was taken by Taylor Ross from Gracefully Made Photography and edited by me.