A six-month course in business foundations for photographers, so that your company runs like a well-oiled machine.
Tell me more!
Abby Grace invites you to the
Tired of feeling like the business side of your photography is always *just* shy of absolute chaos?
From the outside, it looks like you’re crushing it in your artistic field:
Accolades? You got ‘em.
Short-form videos gone viral? Yeah, you’ve had your share.
You even got asked to be on a panel at that conference you’ve been eyeing. You go, Glen Coco.
…But on the inside, your ops + systems are a mess:
- Deliverables and deadlines are falling through the cracks, and you’re tired of the sick, swooping feeling in your stomach when another client emails to ask for a status update on their overdue project.
- You’re logging more hours than ever before, but you’re not seeing the 💰 in your bank account increase as a result- you’re spinning your wheels in a mud pit of checklists that never seem to lead anywhere.
- Inquiries arrive with unpredictable irregularity, and the stress of not knowing where your next booking will come from literally keeps you up at night.
Things LOOK like they’re going smoothly, but… well, looks can be deceiving.
An organized, well-oiled photography business is within reach.
You have big dreams for where you want your company to go… but you’re stretched to the max just trying to keep your marketing, inbox, and workflow above water.
You literally can’t juggle any more projects without things starting to break, and until you get your house in order… you know you’ve hit a ceiling.
But when the heck are you supposed to have time to sit down and re-engineer your workflow, CRM software, or finance tracking?
You’re up to your neck with emails and due dates, and yeah, it’d be NICE for the back-end of your business to run more smoothly, but right now?
You can’t come up for air long enough to calm the chaos.
So you keep on keepin’ on with a pieced-together workflow that’s barely limping along, promising yourself that THIS off-season is the one where you’ll get your house in order, once and for all.
The starving artist trope doesn’t have to live on in you. Structure, rhythm, and margin are ALL possible inside of your creative business.
… but it’s through order and routine that you’ll find breathing room to do your best artistic work.
All the TikTok courses, LR presets, and [another band-aid] in the world aren’t going to fix your real problem:
You haven’t mastered the business foundations required to run a profitable company.
Too many artists operate like they’re allergic to organization, as though systems and structure will cage their creativity…
You didn’t start your business because you love BUSINESS- you set up shop because you love your craft. The business side has felt more like a… necessary evil, a tax you have to pay for the privilege of doing what you love for a living.
And yet, we gotta get the admin & systems side nailed down if you want to KEEP doing what you love.
Necessary evil, maybe, but still necessary.
Because when the basic foundations are clocking along smoothly, you’re able to redirect your efforts where you know they’ll make the biggest difference- your creative process and products.
But… can anyone really blame you for it?
- Go on vacation without needing to bring your laptop along to catch up on work?
- Take on a personal project or challenge, just to stretch yourself creatively?
- Finally finish + make money off of the products & services you’ve kept on the back burner (but been too busy to complete)?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have the margin to…
And that’s only IF we’re being intentional about eliminating distractions and pushing ourselves to our cognitive limits.
Experts suggest our “deep work” capacity is
limited to about four hours per day.
Do you REALLY want to spend any chunk of that precious time waffling over HOW to proceed?
(And then inevitably scrolling TikTok bc you’re putting off updating your expense tracker?)
Or would you rather hit the accelerator and get sh*t done? ← 🙋🏻♀️
If only you had a roadmap, and someone to show you *exactly* what systems & repeatable practices to have in place on the operations/admin side, so that you could get back to FUN parts of your small business you actually love.
If only there was an employee handbook for creative solopreneurs…
The Artisan CEO School is for the photographer who’s tired of the stress + confusion of figuring out how to run a business. It’s a month-by-month, easy-to-digest program that will teach you how to tighten up + automate the admin & systems side of your artistic endeavors.
Why? So that you can run a business that enables a life you love, one that works FOR you and your lifestyle, instead of feeling like your business is slowly eating you alive.
Introducing:
A six-month business foundations course for photographers, so that your company runs like a well-oiled machine
Templates for recurring business tasks to help you track your numbers quickly & easily- profit & loss statements, quarterly goal setting, workflow templates, and more.
Monthly lessons on admin & systems that EVERY professional photographer needs to know (but nobody taught you). Think: financial tracking, client communication standards, marketing & lead generation, crisis management, and more.
The AG Business Essentials: standard email templates, workflow tracking checklists, our Black Book of resources, and more.
You'll walk away with:
I'm in! Show me how to sign up!
Here’s what you’ll find inside the core curriculum…
Finding your "enough" number
Yearly, quarterly planning
Weekly meetings
First things first: let’s figure out where we’re heading. So often we get the message to “grow, grow, GROW,” but… to what end? When will it be enough? We’ll get a solid, numerical answer to that question, and map out an overall plan for your business to reach that goal… and then REST.
Month 1 -
(Available June 2024)
Business Planning
Because no, you can’t just fly by the seat of your pants and expect to end up somewhere incredible- we need to operate with a destination in mind (even if that destination ends up changing!).
Lessons Include:
Month 2 -
Contrary to what I told myself early on, “I’m not a numbers person” isn’t a legitimate explanation for ignoring the financial side of your business. We’ll dig into the nitty gritty of tracking dollars with ease with simple spreadsheets & automations, so you can stop being afraid of looking at your bank account.
Expense tracking
Profit & loss statements
Prepping for tax time- think 1099s, W-2s, etc
(Available July 2024)
Finance
Being a creative doesn’t make you allergic to numbers- you don’t have to be afraid of the left-brained side of your business, as long as you know WHICH numbers to track!
Lessons Include:
Your clients may hire you for custom photographs, but trust me- they WANT the predictability of going through the same workflow as everyone else! Time to remove the uncertainty from your pipeline.
Workflow
When & how to outsource
Communication like a boss (not a starving artist)
A proven process allows you to lather-rinse-repeat your overall framework with each client who walks through the door, saving you time and freeing up margin & mental bandwidth for the creative side of your business. Tired of feeling like you’re juggling too many balls, like you’ve got too many open loops? This is where we fix that problem.
Month 3 -
(Available August 2024)
Project Management
Lessons Include:
Month 4 -
The White Whale of small business ownership: it’s an ever-moving target, especially in today’s age of constantly-changing algorithms, and social media “experts” only ever seem to teach tactics that go out of style by… the end of this sentence.
It’s time to get a grip on the STRATEGY behind marketing, so that you can adapt your message and method AS the market changes.
Generating new leads
Selling to the audience you already have
Rinse & repeat marketing rhythms
(Available September 2024)
Marketing
Lessons Include:
I’m not the photographer who’ll tell you to jump on the latest TikTok trends or post a new Reel every day- let’s build something longer-term than that, yeah?
Contracts
Business entity breakdown
Crisis communication
Because no, you shouldn’t just wait until you actually *need* a lawyer before getting your ducks in a row (unless you enjoy inordinate amounts of anxiety & liability). Your best line of defense? A solid contract, and making sure you’re set up as a legitimate business. And you’d be shocked by how much peace of mind comes with proactively protecting your business, instead of simply reacting when things go off the rails.
Month 5 -
(Available October 2024)
Legal
Lessons Include:
“Avoidance” isn’t a sound defense strategy- get these ducks in a row, and you’ll sleep more soundly when someone decides to raise a ruckus.
Month 6 -
If you’re doing it right, “selling” shouldn’t feel like a dirty, four-letter word… and yet SO many artists feel their skin crawl at the idea of asking for the sale. We’re going to tackle this head-on so that you can get paid without needing a shower after every sales call.
Sales calls
Sale periods & launches
TBD- I want to see where your questions are, and tailor our final lesson from there!
(Available November 2024)
Sales
Lessons Include:
TLDR: When you can learn to pull the social & psychological triggers needed to get your products into the hands of people who actively want to buy from you, you’ll feel a whole lot better about the S word.
Access to the final course, once it’s released
Any bonus material included in the first launch
One year of quarterly planning calls
Private Facebook group for ACEOS students to answering lingering questions
Can't stop won't stop—here's some extras our beta students get!
Abby Grace by the Numbers...
Number of years in business:
Husband joined the biz in:
14
2015
Avg hours worked per week:
Students served:
25-30
1000 and counting
Vacation days per year:
Avg. quitting time:
30+
2 PM
This material won’t triple your followers in a week. It probably won’t double your income in a month.
But it WILL hand you the processes & tools to tailor how you run your business so that it operates in harmony with the life you envisioned living when you first struck out to work for yourself.
Because honestly- who dreams of lying awake, stressing over unpaid taxes and unanswered emails?
But that’s your reality right now, isn’t it? Your systems aren’t chugging along like clockwork. Because nobody taught you how to run a company.
Look, I won’t mince words:
this isn’t the sexy side of photography.
You can learn the entire business of photography for less than you charge for a photo session.
(And if this is more that you charge for a shoot? Well, we’re gonna work on that, too, my friend).
________________
I’d be willing to bet you’re spending a LOT more time per project than you think.
“Yeah, but it’s just my time, Abby.⏰”
Can you tell me exactly how much an hour of your time is worth? Because when you waste an hour re-doing work that could have been automated, you’re chipping away at your own profits.
Worse? Keeping track of open loops in your business is costing you MARGIN.
→ And margin is what gives way to rest, to creativity, to joy outside of the daily toil of work (even if it’s a toil we adore).
Dr. Richard Swenson defines margin as “the space between your limit and your load.” (source)
So if you’re constantly operating RIGHT at the edges of your own limits…
…it’s costing you a LOT more than “just your time.”
- Six modules (released once/month) broken down into short, practical lessons on the foundations of business | $2000 value
- Plug-and-play templates you can drop into your workflow right now | $247 value
- SOPs to take the guesswork out of those “ugh I hate this” tasks you’ve been avoiding | $500 value
- Live Q&A calls to answer all your questions about each month’s topic | $850 value
- AGP Black Book of Resources so you don’t have to stress over researching software, tools, and supplies | $97 value
- Weekly Voxer office hours with Matt, Abby's "Guy In The Chair" | $2400 value
- NEW BONUS: The Cash Injection Workshop | $297 Value
Claim your seat in the beta round! 🎟️
$6,391 value
Your investment for
Normal Price $1497
- Six modules (released once/month) broken down into short, practical lessons on the foundations of business
| $2000 value - Plug-and-play templates you can drop into your workflow right now
| $247 value - SOPs to take the guesswork out of those “ugh I hate this” tasks you’ve been avoiding
| $500 value - Live Q&A calls to answer all your questions about each month’s topic
| $850 value - AGP Black Book of Resources so you don’t have to stress over researching software, tools, and supplies
| $97 value - Weekly Voxer office hours with Matt, Abby's "Guy In The Chair" | $2400 value
- NEW BONUS: The Cash Injection Workshop
| $297 Value
One-time Payment of $500
or 6 5 payments of $100
(beta round only)
We’re taking a limited number of students for this round so we can get super targeted feedback on the course!
Doors close on WEDNESDAY, May 22nd.
Please note that pricing for this first round is significantly discounted- we’ll be building this content in real time, and once the course is re-released finished curriculum (6-12 months from now), we expect to price the course for between $1500-2000.
My clients have been featured everywhere from Forbes to CBNC to national-level print magazines, and I LOVE that my work is a crossroad between artistic creativity + strategy!
I’m also a mom of two (almost three!), wife to my amazing husband + business partner Matt, and all around lover-of-margin-and-bandwidth.
Case-in-point: after more than a decade in weddings with consistent five-figure contracts, I walked away in favor of a new niche (branding) that allowed me to better tailor the business to the lifestyle I’d envisioned when I first struck out on my own.
I was done with blindly accepting the starving artist trope.
I was also through with the “small business owner = always working/always thinking about work” stereotype.
Matt and I desire to run a company that runs like clockwork + enables a life we LOVE.
And that meant getting control of the business side, instead of letting it control us.
We’re in this for the long haul, and you can be too.
If we haven’t met, I’m Abby Grace- photographer, educator, and nearly-15-year veteran of the photography industry
[I just came to say] hello!
Katelyn James
Natalie Franke
Julie Paisley
Trusted By
ASHLYN CARTER
KT MERRY
MARY marantz
(It’s why I spend extra time scripting out every podcast episode- to avoid long-winded tangents and wasting listeners’ precious minutes with bloated run times)
So when I tell you we’ll be getting down to hard-hitting nitty gritty? I mean it.
But I get it- dropping dough on another course can feel risky, especially when it’s a new offer like this one.
So we’ve got a tight 15-day return policy. That’s enough time to work through the material in the first module- if, after that, the course wasn’t what you were expecting, we’ll buy it back from you.
But I’m confident you won’t need it. Because this course is going to be 🔥
I believe that “fluff” is only good in marshmallow form- ask any of my students, and they tell you I cut straight to the chase.
How to know if you’re a perfect match for The Artisan CEO School:
You’ve been in business for a handful of years now (LLC paperwork? You got it! Solid website? Check!), and while you’re crushing it as a photographer… you’d be embarrassed for anyone to look under the hood. Your workflow is messier than a kindergartener’s crayon box at the end of a school year, and you’re praying no one notices.
You dream of serving higher-end clientele, but you’ve hit a ceiling with your current workload. You have no bandwidth left to get creative with your marketing in order to attract those target clients. And worse, even if you did manage to book them? If you’re being honest, you don’t *actually* have the infrastructure in place to blow them away.
You’re embarrassed to ask for help with business fundamentals because you “should” have this down pat by this point (trust me- you are NOT the only one). You worry questions will just clue people in to just how flawed the back-end of your company actually is.
The word “audit” has you looking for the nearest trash can to empty your stomach into. It’s painful enough to prep for your once-yearly meeting with your CPA- you live in fear of someone discovering that you actually *haven’t* been tracking all the numbers you need to, and if the suits ever get wind of your mess, you know you’re in for a world of pain and struggle
A: If you make your way through the first module within 15 days and decide this isn’t for you, we’ll buy the course back from you. But I don’t want you to waste your money or your time in the first place, so if you’re not sure this program’s a good fit? Send us an email- I’ll give you my honest opinion (ask me about all the times I’ve told folks “nah, you don’t need this”).
Q: Do you offer refunds?
A: Yes! Which is why we’re prepping the more enduring lessons NOW, and why Matt will be leading the content for July- we’ve mapped out the lessons in such a way that they build on each other, and will follow a schedule that allows for maternity leave without leaving you scrambling for answers.
Q: But Abby, aren’t you like… having a baby soon?
A: K, I’m gonna shoot straight- how much time do you spend on your phone every day? Can you guarantee me that ALL of that time is spent productively? AKA… you’re not bored-scrolling on IG when you’re avoiding a task you don’t want to do? I promise you, you’ve got time. Especially because we’re keeping these lessons tight and short, cutting the fluff and making the most of your valuable hours in the office.
Q: I don’t think I have time for this??
No sweat! Send an email to [email protected] and someone from our team will get you sorted ASAP.
Q. I have more questions, how can I get in touch?
A: The beta round is only open for one week- doors close on 5/22. After that? We’re shutting down access for any new students until after we’ve taken our betas through the entire curriculum. The soonest you can expect this to be available again is 6-12 months from now, and just a heads up- the final price of the finished, post-beta course will be between $1500-2000.
Q: Can I enroll later?
A: Isn’t it funny how so many small business clients missed the memo re: the economy being on the up-and-up? I gotchu- we have a sixth-month payment plan option available, so you can get going for just $100
Q: Yikes, I just don’t think I can spend that right now! Isn’t there a smaller payment plan??
A: It’s short for, we’ve got this amazing curriculum outlined, but we want to make sure it’s answering the questions you ACTUALLY have. So rather than dumping six modules into a course dashboard and sending you on your way to binge (or worse, to forget to ever log in), we’ll be walking through the material WITH you, writing & recording lessons as we go, in direct response to on-the-ground feedback from our students.
Q: What *exactly* is a “beta round?”
Smart cookies ask questions-
some FAQs for the Double Stuf-lovers
→ A note to the dopamine chasers… you don’t need another TikTok course, or another bundle of LightRoom presets.
What you actually need is a proven playbook of repeatable processes to implement into your business.
Tough love toast: we’ve got to STOP slapping band-aids on bullet holes.
Even if you manage to go viral on social with that new Reels class you’re taking, if the underlying infrastructure of your business is weak? You’ll struggle to fulfill your promises, and the onslaught of new clientele could end up being a nail in the coffin.
You don’t have to settle for chaos and disorder- a business that runs like a well-oiled machine IS in reach. And it doesn’t take an MBA to make that happen.
- Six modules (released once/month) broken down into short, practical lessons on the foundations of business | $2000 value
- Plug-and-play templates you can drop into your workflow right now | $247 value
- SOPs to take the guesswork out of those “ugh I hate this” tasks you’ve been avoiding | $500 value
- Live Q&A calls to answer all your questions about each month’s topic | $850 value
- AGP Black Book of Resources so you don’t have to stress over researching software, tools, and supplies | $97 value
- Weekly Voxer office hours with Matt, Abby's "Guy In The Chair" | $2400 value
- NEW BONUS: The Cash Injection Workshop | $297 Value
Claim your seat in the beta round! 🎟️
$6,391 value
Your investment for
Normal Price $1497
- Six modules (released once/month) broken down into short, practical lessons on the foundations of business
| $2000 value - Plug-and-play templates you can drop into your workflow right now
| $247 value - SOPs to take the guesswork out of those “ugh I hate this” tasks you’ve been avoiding
| $500 value - Live Q&A calls to answer all your questions about each month’s topic
| $850 value - AGP Black Book of Resources so you don’t have to stress over researching software, tools, and supplies
| $97 value - Weekly Voxer office hours with Matt, Abby's "Guy In The Chair" | $2400 value
- NEW BONUS: The Cash Injection Workshop
| $297 Value