142: Adding a Revenue Stream with Aubrey Westlund

Sabrina: Welcome to the Shoot It Straight podcast. I’m your host, Sabrina Gehart. Here I will share an honest take on what it’s like to be a female creative entrepreneur while balancing business, motherhood, and life. Myself, along with my guests, will get vulnerable through honest conversations and relatable stories because we’re willing to go there if you are trying to find balance in this exciting place you’re in, yet willing to talk about the hard stuff too.

The Shoot It Straight podcast is here to share practical and tangible takeaways to help you shoot it straight.

Welcome back to the Shoot It Straight podcast. Uh, my friends. Today I’m joined by a brand new guest and we are diving into something that we’ve actually never talked about on the podcast. So I’m super duper pumped for today’s chat and this conversation. But before we dive in. Aubrey, will you please introduce yourself to the listeners?

Aubrey: Hello. Thanks for having me here. My name is Aubrey Westland and I am a stock photographer and stock photo educator. So. I either spend my time taking stock photos or helping other photographers do it themselves. So that’s what I do these days. But my background, I was a wedding photographer for nearly 10 years, so I’ve been a photographer for a while now focusing solely on stock photography.

Sabrina: Awesome. That’s so cool. And I can’t wait to get into more of your story today. So. Today we’re talking about adding a revenue stream to your photography business and which is exactly what you did with stock photography. And so Aubrey, I would love to tell like a little bit of the backstory, like where were you as a photographer that prompted the interest in this, wanting to jump into it?

Like how did it all happen?

Aubrey: Sure. Yeah. I love to share this story. So like I said before, I was a wedding photographer for nearly 10 years. I began back in 2013, I believe. And after even my first wedding, I knew I wanted to build a career in it. So I actually moved from Idaho to San Diego so that I could, you know, go all in and be in a place where I could shoot weddings year round.

But even being in a warm, sunny destination wedding place, there were slow months. There were always months where. Either the bookings were slow or the weddings were slow and I really didn’t have a lot to do other than, you know, update my website, all those classic things that photographers do during slow season.

But it really, I really wanted more to do. I didn’t wanna just stop taking photos. I wanted to work and so. Actually kind of stock photography honestly kind of fell into my lap. So back in, I believe it was 2015, I got an email from a new stock photo agency called Offset, and they were looking for photographers to contribute work to their new collection, an offset.

They’re actually, they’re the premium version of Shutterstock, so. Many people have heard of Shutterstock. It’s a huge stock photo agency, and so this wasn’t like completely new for them, but they were looking for professional photographers because this being their premium collection, they wanted professional photographers to contribute work because anyone can contribute work to stock photography.

And so that’s where like premium agencies come in to kind of fill the gap for customers who want. A more curated collection of stock photos. So I initially got that email and kind of thought it was a scam. I just ignored it for a while. But then, like I said, slow season came around and so I decided to give it a try.

Did my research, realized okay, this is like legitimate and started uploading photos and. I guess I would say the rest I would like to say the rest is history, but there was definitely some trial and error in the beginning and learning, you know, all the different guidelines for stock photography. But it was okay, so just trying to give you the timeline.

Think November, 2016 was when I finally had my first sale, and it was a photo of me holding my dog and I earned. You know, it was like somewhere really close to $150 for that one sale, and that’s when like the light bulb really went off and I was like, oh wow. Like if I could do this more, like this is actually really good income that could be, you know, coming in to help support my business, it could be passive income.

And so after I made that first sale, that was when I like really went. All in on stock photography,

Sabrina: like do you think you would’ve gotten into it had they not emailed you? Like was it already kind of floating in your mind or was it No, I

Aubrey: had never thought about it before. Okay. I, and maybe like you or many of your listeners might assume that it’s like something for commercial photographers or amateurs or, you know, I think like a lot of people have ideas of.

Who a stock photographer is, and they don’t consider combining it with their business to make it like a new stream of income in your business. Right. As a photographer.

Sabrina: That’s so cool. So I love the idea of stock photography, and I have for a really long time, and I’ve been in business for 14 years at this point.

But when I stop and think about it, the whole thing feels very overwhelming to me. There’s just so much, you know, like there’s so many images and so many places to submit images and the whole process. Is it actually as hard to break into as it seems?

Aubrey: I wouldn’t say it’s hard, but it is definitely, it’s trickier to navigate than most like avenues of photography, and I think.

Honestly, the biggest reason for that is that no one is really like out there helping photographers. Like when you think about it, there are tons of wedding photography coaches or you know, there’s tons of courses on family photography or whatever it is. But when it comes to stock photography, there’s not really a lot out there other than the agencies like what they’re giving you.

And there’s a lot lacking in that. Which is kind of crazy to me because the agencies like they, they actually have the resources to create resources and put them out there. But to me it seems like agencies are often most focused on their customers and like drawing in customers rather than educating their photographers.

So I think that’s where like a lot of what I learned came through trial and error. So that’s why like after years of telling my friends like, you need to try this. Like my photography friends, like, this is amazing. Like, you need to try this. But there was really no nowhere to send them. So that’s kind of why I got into teaching it.

But just like back to your question, I think a lot of people are intimidated to get started because they’re, they’re worried about doing something wrong or they’re worried that their photos aren’t good enough. But I will say something I like about this industry is that it’s like incredibly forgiving and also like you don’t need a curated portfolio.

You don’t need social media to like advertise yourself. Customers, like the most basic way can explain it is that they’re gonna find your photos through keywords, through search. And rarely are they even going to be like looking at the different photographers pages. They’re just looking in search for the, the exact photo that fits their needs, right?

So that’s why it’s almost better not to have a curated portfolio. Like the more photos you can upload, the better. The more categories you can upload, the better. Like you can test out different categories, figure out you know, what customers are drawn to in your portfolio. So in that way I think it’s also like easy to get into because you don’t have to like put up this perfect, like, I don’t know what the word would be, like, persona or um, storefront or website.

Like you can just try things, right? And even if like with, when it comes to like the rules and the guidelines, even if you do something wrong, like the worst thing that’s gonna happen is your agency’s just gonna reject that image. And you’re gonna learn from it, and you’re not gonna make that mistake next time.

So I hate to see people feeling too intimidated to start because they’re like afraid of doing something wrong. Like I would say that’s good. Like learn from the process and don’t worry too much about making those mistakes.

Sabrina: Yeah. Okay. This is all so fascinating. It’s so fascinating. Um, I love to hear all of this.

I, I know that you coach and you have programs and offers and resources for people wanting to get into this, and I’ll have you share all that, um, towards the end. But you’ve worked with and supportive photographers through this for a while now and this process and sharing everything you’ve learned. And so I’m curious if there’s common mistakes.

That you see people make, um, as they’re trying to break into this and grow their stock photography business?

Aubrey: The biggest mistake is that I see is people just giving up too soon because they think they’re going to see the, the sales right away. Or they assume if their photos aren’t selling right away, that like something’s wrong with them or something’s wrong with their photos, or they’re not good enough for stock.

That’s just not true. The truth is like it just takes time to build your portfolios and start getting views. It takes time for your images to gain momentum, takes time for you to, like I said, get the numbers in your portfolio. And so, I mean, just like I experienced myself, making that for sale definitely gave me a huge boost of momentum.

So there’s like a lot of upfront work, right? Without like immediate reward. And I think. You know, that’s, that’s where it’s like you just kind of have to trust the process. And now for myself, every day I see sales from photos that I uploaded eight years ago, but it took time for them to get there. And if I had given up before I kept going, then I wouldn’t have built this like snowball effect of.

Now the photos from eight years ago are selling and seven years ago and six and so on. So like the photos I upload now, I don’t even like check to see if they’re selling because I just assume like it’s gonna take maybe a good six months to start seeing those sales. Right. So that’s definitely the biggest mistake.

Sabrina: I love that that feels true to just business in general. You know, like people dive in and they’re like, oh, this is gonna be easy. I wanna do this. I’m gonna be successful right away. And we both know that, like that’s totally not true. You might get some jobs right away, but are they your ideal clients at your price point?

Are they your best work? I mean, it’s all a learning curve, right? Like. It’s rare in life. I feel like that anything is great and pays off right away, you know? So persistence. Yeah, persistence is important in general, so I love that. That is your first mistake that you see giving up too soon. So. Would you say that like, okay, if I’m gonna take a stab at this, I need to tell myself, okay, I’m gonna commit to this for a year or 18 months before I make any decisions about throwing in the towel.

Like, or would you say I need to commit to it for longer?

Aubrey: I would say a year is a pretty good amount of time, and usually people do start getting small wins within like maybe six months. And that helps and you’ll see. Your sales begin to grow after that point. And I also like to tell people like, try to shoot for a thousand images in your portfolio too, because that’s like a pretty good number for a portfolio that starts to make regular sales.

Another thing is like looking at your agency maybe. Maybe you’re not working with the right agency for you, and so that’s when. That’s usually a good time to reevaluate and look at the other agencies out there and maybe add a new agency. And when you do that, you can still like allow the sales, those photos to stay on your first agency site.

I actually work with probably seven agencies at this point, and I kind of know now like which type of photos do best on which agency. So. That’s definitely more complicated and comes later in the process. But again, like that’s another thing that you can start to look at around nine to 12 months. Okay,

Sabrina: so mistake number one that you see is giving up too soon.

What’s the next one?

Aubrey: Okay, so the next one would be people not writing thoughtful keywords. So keywording is a big part of this process, and it’s also most people’s least favorite part of the process. Thankfully, we’re starting to get better tools to help us with keywording, but a lot of people, when they get started, started, they’re just excited to get their photos up and they rush through the Keywording process and they write the minimum amount just to get their image posted.

But those keywords, I think I mentioned this before, that is how customers are going to find your image, and that’s how they’re going to get matched with your image. And so. If you’re not maxing out your keywords, if you’re not writing specific keywords for your photos, it’s less likely that they’re going to get found and purchased.

Sabrina: I can see, I can totally see people skimping on that and being like, the photo’s the most important thing. I need to put all my energy into that. And then skimping, because that’s what we do with our copy on our website and with our SEO and all that. Exactly. And that’s just not the case. Like people need words to find you.

Okay. So I think that’s fascinating. Do you have any more common mistakes that you see?

Aubrey: Another one I think would be. Photographers not uploading the candid photos. The natural photos from their everyday life. They assume buyers only want like the sleek professional photos and like while there is demand for that, what brands really want right now are the photos that their customers can relate to.

So the one, the more natural photos. The photos that feel like real life. Again, that’s like a common misconception is people think their photos aren’t good enough for stock photography when often, you know, like the photos on their camera roll on their phone are great for stock photography, and so they overlook those thinking that they just need like the most polished photos up in their portfolio.

And like the story, like the photo of my dog. Yeah. Remember the, the first photo I sold it was the photo of me holding my dog. So, and it was like taken with a professional camera, but like, those are the moments that I think a lot of people tend to overlook.

Sabrina: That is like, honestly, my mind is blown. I had no idea that you could like submit phone photos or use that kind of footage.

I mean, it makes sense. But wow, that is wild. Okay. I love these common mistakes because I feel like these are the kind that will get people past their fears to like get going and make it realize how accessible it is to like do the hard work to break into this. One part of stock photography that I am so inspired by is the creativity of images and.

I totally understand from following you and following others that everyday moments, that kind of documentary, the lifestyle stuff that’s happening that can be popular, but, but when I do think the other end of the spectrum with like these polished, curated photos, they’re so creative. I would love to know like.

Personally, where do you find your inspiration for those kinds of shots?

Aubrey: Right. Well, before I get into that, I’ll just touch on, like you mentioned, when you look at them, you’re seeing a lot of creative photos and often photographers will just start with like their B roll or like photos from a shoot that they can submit work they’ve already done so.

That’s another thing, you know, don’t overlook work you’ve already done and the, all the photos you already have on your hard drive because like that there’s a gold mine right there, right. But, um, for me these days, since I’m not like actively shooting weddings and I’m really not. Try out there trying to get clients.

For me, it kind of comes from meeting people and finding people that I can photograph, um, who are willing to sign model releases for me for stock. So I look for people doing interesting things. I look for people with small businesses. Just in this past year, I took photos at my daughter’s preschool. So I just like spent a whole day with these kids in preschool and took photos of everything they did.

Um, I’ve taken photos at a dentist office that a friend of mine set me up with and they needed photos for their website, so that was perfect. I’ve taken photos of floral arrangements for a florist friend, so that’s fun because like there’s. You know, whatever your passions are, you can follow them. I also take a lot of photos just of my hobbies, hiking, like any traveling, going on little excursions with my daughter.

I have a 6-year-old, so anything I can do with her. Sometimes I’ll like set up a little project with my daughter and my niece and nephew, so like. We did gingerbread houses and I took stock photos of that. So it’s really just like, I mean you can, you can just like record your everyday life, but then also like it’s a lot of just like networking and finding fun people to take photos of.

And it’s great because like I would also love to do that as a business, but this is kind of like an easier way to like. Find my ideal clients is just like, approach them with the offer of free photos and then monetize it through stock photography rather than charging them as a client.

Sabrina: Okay. I love that.

That’s so fascinating. And I was gonna ask you if you were charging these people, I’m curious because you’re currently not, which I totally understand, um, because you’re monetizing it on the backend, so to speak. Let’s say you were a branding photographer or somebody that did photograph professionally for small businesses, would you approach them with like the opportunity to, if you sign this release that I can also use for stock photography?

Like you get a discount or something? Or like how would you approach that?

Aubrey: Yeah, so when I had, when I was running my photography business and working with clients, I set up a stock photo program within my business and so. I would offer like a discount on shoots or sometimes I would offer like a free mini session when I did mini sessions.

Later in the year I’ve done print credit. So like there’s all these things that you can offer your clients in order to like ask to make it easier to ask for assigned model release for stock. I also will, so would sometimes just ask people, you know, kind of like. The clients who I felt a bit closer to and more comfortable with, they, I would just ask them and often they would say yes, or I would ask them and offer like print credit for their, in their gallery, things like that.

So there are a lot of ways that you can go about it. You can even offer just like a $20 gift card. Sure.

Sabrina: Yeah. I love that. I, I’m curious logistically, my mind o often goes to like the logistics of things. Would there ever, would it ever be appropriate to ask somebody for a signed stock model release after you photographed them?

Like let’s say you’re going through the images and you’re like, this family would be perfect, or This session went amazing, or does it have to be legally before you do it,

Aubrey: you can have them sign after? Yeah, that’s totally fine. Um, and I’ve done that many times too, like you said. I, I realized after looking through the photos, you know that a few photos would be great for stock and.

You can even show them the photos that you’d like to submit. You know, sometimes having, having something to show them feels easier. This is, this can be one of the scariest things for photographers to start doing, but you would be surprised how willing many people are to sign model releases are to be stock photo models.

A lot of people feel like. They feel special that you would ask them or like think that they, you know, they hear their word model and they’re like flattered by it. So,

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I can’t wait to hear what your photographer marketing personality is. Now, back to this episode. I wanna ask you a really interesting question. So we know, ’cause we’ve been in the industry for a long time, that every single year that goes by photography becomes more saturated, right? More and more people are taking it up, starting businesses.

We know that not everybody succeeds and lasts more than two years, but there’s a lot of people every year that are getting into photography. 10 years ago, 12 years ago, it was relatively easy to break into that space. You know, we didn’t have the competition we have now, and I don’t know about how it, how it went when you started your wedding photography business, but for me it was very easy for me to start as a family photographer.

And it’s, I don’t think it’s as easy now for photographers. There’s, there’s more noise they have to compete with. So I’m curious, is it similar in the stock photography space? Like is there still a lot of growth potential? Or does the saturation make it harder like with a photography business?

Aubrey: I think that there’s a lot of potential now in niche agencies in the niches because back in the day it was like your options were Shutterstock and Getty.

And obviously those collections are huge and they are very oversaturated. But like I still sell photos. On Bull Shutterstock and Getty. So like you can break into them, but I think like where the really fun opportunities are, are within the smaller niche agencies that cater to specific audiences or a specific style or, you know, there’s one for like agriculture stock.

So if you’re a farmer with a camera, like that’s a pretty fun opportunity for you, right? So. I think that’s where like the exciting opportunities are now that we didn’t have before. And also their rates are usually higher than what you would be paid by a microstock agency like Shutterstock. So there are opportunities and there are also agencies that are great for artists and harder to get into.

But I think like. Like for example, one of them is doxy. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of stock in like. When that agency came out, it was really exciting because it was like for the artist and not just for the customer. And now it’s really hard to get into stock C Um, you kind of have to have something in your portfolio that they’re lacking.

It doesn’t mean that like you’re not good enough to get into stock C so, but that was kind of like the first one that I noticed, and now we’re like, even in the past couple of years, we’re seeing. I feel like we’re seeing a boom of like different subscriptions and different niche stock agencies. So, um, I would say there’s a lot of potential there.

It’s just like you have to find it. That makes sense. That makes sense.

Sabrina: Okay. I’m super curious if you would be willing to share a little bit about like when you started off like. Were, what were you making or how much were you selling? Or whatever you’re comfortable with, like in the beginning and then like how was it blossomed over time?

Like what? Just tell me more of that story.

Aubrey: Yeah. Not everyone’s experience is going to be the same, but I have seen, okay, so for myself, I started, I can’t remember the exact dates because my original platform of. On Offset, they switched and now they’re on Shutterstock. And I like lost that original data, but I did at one point record a reel of like the first six months.

And so I know that from my first sale, which I made, which was like $150 every month from after that, my sales grew. So they continued to grow. And I know like in that first six months since I like started the sale, or since I made the first sale, I made about $3,000, or sorry, I, it was nine months. So like in the first nine months of sales I made around $3,000.

But the exciting part of that was that I continued to grow my portfolio and then every month after my earnings grew. So, and then I continued to like build on that and add new agencies and so I was able to grow it to, in 2020 when I lost all my weddings, like my stock photography income was like actually able to keep us afloat.

I’ve seen people like claim they make $20,000 a month with stock photography, and I’ll be the first one to tell you that. I don’t think that is true unless you had like a team of stock photographers working for you. But within like your first couple years, you could definitely build to where you’re making like one to 2000 a month of passive income.

So yeah, I like to kind of give people that realistic picture, especially like in the beginning. I said before, you’re gonna have to put a put in that upfront work. But then like the payoff comes later down the road where, like I said, there’s like a snowball effect and for me. Those photos that I uploaded eight years ago are still making me sales.

Sabrina: Yeah, that’s Which is crazy. Which is super cool. I wonder, do, is there like a bestselling image of all time that like, won’t stop selling and it’s just, it’s like the golden image, you know? Is there one?

Aubrey: Um, there is. So there is a shoot that always comes to mind that’s been really popular. Um, I had this like wellness collective reach out to me for photos and they couldn’t afford my rates at the time, but I knew in the back of my mind like, this would be great for stock photography.

So I told them that. I was like, I would be willing to do this for free if you would all sign model releases and I could use them for stock photography. So they said yes. We went ahead and did it. There’s some images, like one of the women, she did yoga and like meditation, and so there’s an image of her like holding, like a singing bowl and there’s an image of her just like with her hands, like this, like very simple, simple white background.

But those are the photos, like especially the ones where like you can’t see her whole face. I’ve searched them on Google and there are so many small businesses using those images. Wow, that’s so cool. And yeah, those are the ones that every year I, I get, um, some of the highest sales from those images. But then there’s also some in images randomly.

Like there’s this image of a cacti that has made me, yeah, that’s. Also, probably from like seven or eight years ago that I’ve sold over and over again, I found out that if you type in boho cactus on Shutterstock, it’s like it comes up on the first page. Um, so like that’s a real, another really simple thing that you wouldn’t expect to be a top seller, but it’s just like the lighting’s great and it resonated with buyers, so it’s sold over and over again.

Sabrina: That’s crazy. I love that. Aubrey on this podcast. I love to leave listeners with like a tangible action step because oftentimes we talk about like, you know, they’re learning something new or they’re getting motivated to do something. But you know, you’ve listened to a podcast and it’s like you’re super motivated, but also you’re kind of overwhelmed because it’s a lot and you don’t know where to start.

So if someone is really intrigued by this process and of the idea of the potential of adding stock photography into their business, what is one step that they can take today or this week to just get going?

Aubrey: Great question. I love this question. So we’ve talked a lot about agencies today, and I feel that people get hung up on their agency.

I think the first thing you need to do is just go and sign up for a microstock agency like Adobe Stock is a great one. You can also, I, I actually have a freebie that’s a little black book of stock photo agencies. Um, you can go download that and find, just like look through, find agencies that are just like an easy sign up.

Go sign up for one and then just upload like 10 photos, because like I said, you’re going to learn so much just through the process of adding new photos. So don’t like try to add, you know, don’t like try to jump in and add 200 photos at once, but like 10 photos at a time and see what happens. See what you learn from it.

And then after you kind of like get the hard part out of the way. That’s a good time to go in and research more agencies and find the one that you think would be the best fit for you. But whatever you learn, even from microstock agencies like Adobe Stock can apply to the premium agencies where you’re gonna get higher commissions from your sales.

So I think like that’s also something like it just gets in the way. And if you. I’ve seen people do this and like even if they’re just uploading co a couple photos, they get a little bit of motivation from it. They get a little push, and even if their first micro stock sale only earns them 10 cents, like that’s the most exciting 10 cents that they’ve ever earned.

So I would say like, just start there and. Allow yourself to kind of learn about the process before, you know, bringing in like the perfection or like trying to find like the perfect fit right away. Just kind of like get your feet wet first, then, then you can decide if you like, wanna move forward and make this a bigger part of your business.

Sabrina: Okay.

Aubrey: I

Sabrina: love that. That is a really great tip. I love to end every podcast with some just fun questions so the listeners can get to know you a little bit. So, Aubrey, what is a hobby or something fun that you’re doing just per like purely for joy this year?

Aubrey: So I actually got into pottery this year and I love it.

I am currently working on, I’m making my own dinnerware set, so it’s coming along very slow, but that, that’s been a new hobby that I just like. I love spending my time doing.

Sabrina: I love that. Are you going to a studio or are you doing it at home?

Aubrey: Yeah, I go to a studio. I don’t have a wheel or anything at home, but there are some things you can do by hand.

So sometimes like in the evening, if I have extra time, I like might grab a ball of clay and like start messing around with it. But I do have a studio nearby where I take classes and it’s very social too, which is another great thing about like. Getting outta the house and going to a studio and meeting people.

Sabrina: I love that. I love that so much. Okay. I’m curious, what is something that you’re always up to talk about?

Aubrey: Um, again, probably pottery or gardening. Okay. Gardening. Um, when it’s like the season, you know, I kind of have like, like gardening’s, like my summer hobby, pottery is getting me through the winter, so. I bounced back and forth a little bit, but yeah, I think like it’s important for creative people to have hobbies.

Like if you have a creative profession like photography, I think it’s really important to have creative hobbies too, that it’s kind of like a trickle down effect, right? Like if you are. Giving yourself time to play and be creative in one area, then I think that is going to kind of like blend into your photography and you’re gonna be more creative in that area as well.

Sabrina: Yeah, I love that. Okay. I’m curious is, is there anything that you have up your sleeve for 2025?

Aubrey: Yes. So it’s called Stock of Besties and. This started as just a private Instagram account last summer, and now I’m kind of expanding it into a community. So it started just as like a private Instagram account where I was like sharing my behind the scenes and sharing like more educational tips so that people who wanted to learn.

We’ve all like bought courses where we bought it and never even started it. So my thought was like, I could start something where you’re like learning little pieces, like getting little bite sized pieces every day versus like sitting down and taking a full course. Um, so now I’m like expanding that into, we have an online community where like everyone can talk to each other.

I recre, I record, um, private podcasts for them. I have a monthly trend report that I write, and we’re gonna start doing calls and guest expert sessions. And that’s just been so much fun for me because now it’s like I get to do stock photography with other people and share what I’m learning in real time, rather than just like selling a prerecorded course.

It’s like. More immersive and yeah, that’s kind of like what I’ve been focus focusing on right now in building.

Sabrina: I love that. That sounds like such a cool opportunity. Um, I will have all of the stuff you’ve mentioned, um, in the LinkedIn, the show notes. Okay. Last question. I’m curious, what is a business tool or a hack that you’re loving right now?

Aubrey: Well, I might be kind of late to the game, but Notion is definitely my new favorite business tool. Yeah, I’ve just like, I’ve been using it for everything. I don’t know have, have you used Notion before?

Sabrina: Yeah, Uhhuh.

Aubrey: Yeah. I’ve just been like using it for everything. Even like my meal planning.

Sabrina: Yeah, yeah. You can literally dump everything in there.

It’s really cool. Yeah. I

Aubrey: love that it’s like, it’s not just one format, but you can like set up a page and like add lists or check boxes or a spreadsheet or you know, there’s just like. More freedom with it. So yeah, I’ve actually like made, turned some of my digital products into notion templates and started selling them that way just because it’s, it just like works so well for my brain.

Sabrina: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love that Notion is a great tool. I, I use Notion with my content strategist, she puts out a lot of our stuff in Notion, and so she and I like work together in the platform. And then I also use Asana with my VA and my podcast manager. So we put some other stuff over there and we use it very similarly to the way, you know, notion is used.

But I love all of those project management tools, uh, places where you could just dump all of your ideas and organize things. Yes. And all of that. I think they’re so helpful. For sure.

Aubrey: That And the Notes app?

Sabrina: Yes. Oh my gosh. The notes app. I, I should look at how many notes I have. I’m sure. It’s just absolutely ridiculous.

It’s scary for me. Yeah. Yeah. Like how many old target lists do I have saved that, you know, I just need to go through and delete a hundred groceries list. Um. Oh my gosh, yes. Okay. Aubrey, this has been such a great chat. Will you tell the listeners how they can connect with you? And I know you mentioned stock photo besties and your freebie, but is there anything else that you would like to share with the audience as far as ways they can work with you or learn from you?

Aubrey: Yeah, well, I’m very active on Instagram and that’s just Aubrey Westland. We have stock photo besties. I also opened my course, my. My like mega stock photo course, stock photography academy twice a year. So that’s going to happen in April and end of September. The thing about that course is that once you sign up, you basically get all the updates and anything else that I put out, any workshops or um, like stock photo besties is now included.

So I’ve really, I. Like continued working with my students. Some students have been with me since 2021. So like I said, because this is such a long process, especially in the beginning, like I realized my students kind of needed to stick with me. And so, um, that’s kind of like what is special about that course.

So if anyone really wants to like, go all in and get serious. About stock photography that is opening next month. I don’t know when this is gonna go live, but that’s opening in April and then. Definitely go and download the little Black book of stock photo agencies. ’cause I’ve spent years researching and testing out different agencies and I think that’s a great place for anyone that wants to dip their toes in and get started.

That’s a really good place to start.

Sabrina: Awesome. I will have all of that linked in the show notes. Aubrey, thank you so much for your time today. This was such a great chat. I’m definitely intrigued and I know the listeners will be too. I hope you get some dms after this podcast airs, uh, of people telling you they’re interested in, you know, hearing more from you and all of that.

But that is it for today, my friends. So we will see you next time. Thanks so much for listening to the shoot at Straight podcast. You can find all the full show notes. And details from today’s episode@sabrinagehart.com slash podcast. Come find me and connect over on the gram at Sabrina Gehart Photography.

If you’re loving the podcast, I’d be honored if you hit that subscribe button and leave me a review. Until next time, my friends. Shoot it straight.