If there’s one topic TMA members ask about more than any other, it’s marketing. And it makes sense: you can have gorgeous work, smart pricing, and a solid business model, but none of it matters if the right clients can’t find you. That’s why for this episode, rather than one guest, this episode brings together six voices who each answer a different piece of the marketing puzzle: strategy, visibility, email, deliverability, and the story that ties it all together. Here’s what they had to say.
Start With a Framework
The episode opens with Annemie Tonken and her marketing windmill, a framework that’s become one of the most referenced ideas in the TMA community. Annemie breaks marketing into four blades: social media, email marketing, content marketing (think blog posts, podcasts, or YouTube), and what she calls buzzworthy marketing, the specials, launches, and events that give you something new to talk about. Her point is simple but easy to forget: most photographers don’t have a marketing problem so much as a variety and consistency problem. Posting to Instagram alone isn’t a strategy, and neither is a newsletter that goes out twice a year. A strategy holds up over time because it spreads across more than one channel and shows up on a schedule.
From there, the episode moves into two very practical playbooks. Ali Payne, TMA’s community manager, shares the five strategies she used to build visibility from scratch after moving her photography business to a new city, starting with getting connected in real life through volunteering and local groups, long before she leaned on any paid tactic. Laura Esmond follows with her Be Seen list, ten actionable ways to put yourself in front of the right people, including a before-and-after reel format designed to end with a clear call to action rather than just a pretty picture.
Why Email Still Works
Two guests take on email specifically, and together they make a compelling case for why it deserves more attention in your photography marketing strategy than it usually gets. Shannon Vondy reframes email away from being a sales tool and toward being a relationship tool, recommending a weekly cadence and reminding listeners that subscribers who opted in are, in her words, literally raising their hand and saying they want to hear from you. Dawn Richardson from Flodesk follows with the more technical side: why emails land in spam, what inbox providers are actually trying to protect against, and why sending to a smaller, genuinely engaged list beats blasting a big one. A tiny list of people who open every email you send signals something different to Google than a large list that mostly ignores you, and that difference determines whether your future emails land in the inbox at all.
The One Thing AI Can’t Replicate
The episode closes with Jen Olmstead, who ties the whole conversation together with a bigger idea: in a world where anyone can order anything and have it delivered in thirty minutes, specificity is your greatest asset. Clients don’t just need a photographer anymore, they can find a hundred of them on Instagram before lunch. What they need is you, specifically, the version of your work and your story that no one else can copy. Jen’s point lands especially well next to the other five conversations, because strategy and tactics only take you so far. A windmill framework, a Be Seen list, and a clean email list all work better when the thing you’re marketing is unmistakably yours.
That’s really the thread running through this whole episode. Every framework and tactic shared here came out of a real photographer’s real experience building a business, and that’s exactly the kind of learning TMA is built around. Inside the membership, marketing isn’t a once-a-year topic. Members get dedicated months on email, SEO, and visibility, live coaching calls to work through their specific business, and a community of other photographers wrestling with the same questions.
Listen and Learn More
This episode is worth a listen if you’ve ever felt like your marketing is one big guessing game. Hearing six different photographers describe how they actually built visibility, one real decision at a time, makes the whole topic feel a lot less overwhelming. Each of today’s guests has shaped the way TMA members think about marketing as mentors, educators, and guests inside the community.
Ready to build a business that reflects your own creative voice? The Motherhood Anthology membership gives you access to expert mentors, live coaching, monthly marketing suites, and a private community of photographers who are invested in your success. Learn more and join at themotherhoodanthology.com.
The Motherhood Anthology is a community and educational resource for photographers who want a profitable and sustainable business they love. With 15+ expert mentors and 7+ years of proven content, TMA helps portrait photographers build confident, thriving businesses through monthly education, mentorship, and a supportive community of 700+ members.
