Standing Out In A Competitive Market

Hey, it's Mark Podolski, the Land Geek, with your favorite niche real estate website, www.thelandgeek.com. and today's guest is. Got an interesting story. Left law school and picked up a camera. But before we get into her entrepreneurship and her entrepreneurial journey, I would be remiss if I didn't properly introduce my co host. You know him, you love him. Six Sigma Scott Todd from Scott todd.net landmodo.com and most importantly, if you're not automating your craigslist postings, posting domination.com/forward/thelandgeek. Today's podcast is sponsored by posting domination.com/land geek. You can always make more money, but you can't get more time. Scott, are you excited for today's guest?

Oh, wow, I am. I just hope that you didn't scare everybody away with your anchorman voice.

I think, if anything, we've probably just doubled our audience with that anchorman voice. It could be.

I don't know. I don't know.

But you know what, Mark?

I see a pattern here. We're talking to a lot of former attorneys.

Yeah. You know, it's funny, you know, I don't know what it is about former attorneys going in and making an impact on entrepreneurship, but it's becoming a pattern. Jonathan Twombly, Columbia Law.

You know, but now, now we have a really prestigious guest. We thought our last one was prestigious. This one. He's gonna help us, though.

Yeah, exactly. Let's talk to Jasmine star from jasmine starr.com marketing, branding, and building a powerful mindset for creative entrepreneurs. She has built the business of her dreams, and a decade later, she educates entrepreneurs on how to do the same. Jasmine Starr.

How are you, gentlemen? I'm doing great. Thank you so much for having me.

Jasmine, let's just skip the pleasantries. How the heck did you go from law school to picking up a camera, of all things, and building the business of your dreams?

You know, it's a crazy story, and I will give you the shortest route possible. And if you want details, we can fill it in. But the shortest answer is that my mother had a relapse with brain cancer while I was in law school. And it just forced me to reconcile what I wanted to do with my life. She was 50 years old, and I was 25, and I had to just look at what my options were at that time. And the idea, the thought that I had was, if I can only have 25 more years in my life, do I want to spend them being a Lawyer. And the answer was no. And, you know, the truth of the matter is we're not guaranteed another 25 years. We're not guaranteed another 25 minutes. And so I think in that regard, having this ability to recalibrate where I wanted to go with my life and just take a risk, and it was a big risk. It was a risk to leave law school under the auspice that I was going to be taking care of my ailing mother. And it was during that time that my long term boyfriend, we had dated nine years, and I said, I really want my mom to be at our wedding. So we planned a wedding in three months and against all odds, my mother and my father walked me down the aisle. And I thought to myself, I'm so happy in this moment. Is there any chance for me to pursue what I really have always wanted to do, which is to be a photographer? And, and so that Christmas, my newly minted husband gave me a camera and I was off starting my very first business.

Wow, that story kind of pulls the heartstrings. Scott.

Well, Mark, it gets better because I am so happy to report that my mother is in full health. She had this miraculous turnaround that was completely unexpected and unanticipated. Her battle was about six years with two forms of brain cancer. And her story is just a miracle. And I think it inspired me. It was one of those wake up calls in my life to say, what are you doing and what is the impact you're having in the world? And I owe everything I have just to her resilience and her example of what it means to live a full life and fight for the things that you want.

At any point did your mom or dad or your husband say, you know, Jasmine, maybe do the practical thing now and at least, you know, have the law degree fall back on it, you know, photography.

Yes, Mark. Well, actually, I should say no, Mark. So here's the truth of the matter is I always joke with my husband and it took him a while for him to understand the type of family I hailed from. And I proudly say that we're a family of quitters. We quit anything that doesn't make us happy. And I think that it's really, it's, it reframes how you approach making decisions in your life. But my father immigrated to America from Mexico and my mother was born in Puerto Rico. And it was a tough, it was like a tough go, like starting your life in mainstream America in one of the largest cities, and he didn't speak English and he had to earn his citizenship by enrolling and, excuse me, enlisting in the U.S. marine Corps. And I think that his whole life he took on jobs and he took on responsibilities to ensure that his children had opportunities he never had. And so he raised us on this belief that he has spent his whole life sacrificing to empower his children to not have to live and do things that didn't make them happy. And instead he said, I would love to come to this country, sacrifice everything I can to have my children have the luxury of choosing and pursuing the things that truly make them happy and that make a difference in the world. And I'm indebted to him.

Wow. SCOTT Todd, what are your thoughts?

So I just have a question, you.

Know, like, do you think it's easier.

Jasmine, like, to, to go, like, younger, like 25 years old, you're leaving law school to pursue kind of the, the, the career that you really want, you know, photography? Is it easier to do it when you're younger, or do you think that you can just take that leap at any age in, in your life, as long as you're willing to kind of hunker down, do the hard work to, to build whatever you need to build and, and grow?

SCOTT that's a fantastic question, and I haven't been in my life long enough to assess it. I think that I could properly answer this question when I'm 75, 85, and hopefully 105, but the truth of the matter remains for me at this moment is that it is very hard, and it will always continue to be hard, and it'll be hard in different capacities. You know, it's hard when you are trying to transition, when you're 25, and you don't have street credibility, you don't have money, you don't have connections. And it could be hard when you're 45, when your children are getting ready to go to college. And it could be hard at 75 when you think that people are predisposed to thinking away a certain way about you because of your age. It will be hard, but hard for different reasons. And I think that I would prefer to look back in my life at having gone through a series of trainings to be a consistent fighter and to be a consistent quitter, when I know that the situation isn't intended for what it should be at that moment.

I think everybody should have supportive parents like Jasmine. SCOTT so, Jasmine, the question, you know, go ahead, Mark.

I was gonna say, I think it would be a lot, the world would be a lot easier if every parent was supportive like that, as opposed to, no, you gotta go to school, you gotta get good grades, and then you gotta go get a job. You know, if everybody was parents, was just like, hey, find your way.

You'll be okay. Yeah, I mean, Jasmine, do you have kids?

I don't, not yet.

Okay, so I've got three, Scott's got two. I'll tell you, there's a lot of fear, right? And it's hard to kind of get out of that. Like you, because you don't want your children, or you're afraid that if you don't guide them, sort of this conventional path, that they'll suffer. Right? Nobody wants their kids to suffer yet. You want to support them. You want to support their dreams. And I would ask you, so what, what is the best lesson that you've learned from your mom?

Creative freedom. She is a true. She's a true hippie through and through. My name is Jasmine Star, and I have a twin sister and her name is Bianca Flower, and I have another sister, and her name is Alexandria Lavender. So there's five Hispanic children all running around the world with these really crazy hippie names. But I will say that she really encouraged us from an early age. I didn't learn how. I was homeschooled. She homeschooled all of her five children, and I didn't learn how to read until I was almost 12 years old. So 11 and a half. 12 years old, which is really late in the learning curve. And instead of her becoming really worried that I was falling behind, she firmly believed that independently, her children were going to learn at the pace that suited them. And by the time I was 12 and a half, 13, I was finishing novels in a day. I finished one of my very first big books I finished was War and Peace. And this was before I was 14 years old. And so I became an avid reader. And I think that given the ability and the wherewithal and the fortitude, just to simply say, I know who you are and I see you working hard and it's going to click. And I think that that principle. I see you. I know you're working hard and it's going to click, has served me really well throughout, like, the different maturations of my career.

Scott, are you going to say something? I don't want to step.

No, go ahead.

Good. Yeah, Yeah. I mean, it's pretty inspirational. So what are some of the choices that you've made, besides quitting law school, that you think have made you what you are today? Especially from like an entrepreneurial standpoint.

You know, I think that I can speak a little closely to this because I worked so hard. So I had, you know, picked up a camera in 2006 and I had, I didn't have resources, I didn't have money, I didn't come from a family of connections, I had never even owned a camera. And yet I told my loved ones that I want to be a photographer. So for all intents and purposes, this sounds ludicrous and absolutely ridiculous, but in 2009, I was voted one of the top 10 photographers in the world. And then years later were voted the most influential photographers in the world, the most socially influential photographers. And I firmly believe that when you pour yourself into something and you can understand the industry that you're in, you can listen to your consumers needs and then you can create products and services that are perfectly suited for them, your business grows. And so as a result, the studio, the business got so large, we're able to travel the world. I work with my husband and business partner and we're able to travel the world, we're able to speak and teach and create things. And for all intents and purposes, on the outside, what the business became was the one personer in the industry. And I think on the outside, when people would say like, that's amazing, how wonderful that you can do that and subsystem what you're passionate about. And then for me to kind of pivot into the world of online entrepreneurship and teaching not just photographers how to run a business, but entrepreneurs how to run stronger businesses. And it's impossible. As hard as I tried to run two businesses simultaneously, you have to kind of pick. I once heard somebody say, you can't chase two rabbits at once. You have to choose the thing that will give you growth and fulfillment. And I think that required for me to take a step back from my photography career and really focus creating online education for entrepreneurs. And I think that was met with a lot of resistance from outsiders. It's like, why would you leave the thing that you worked so hard for? And I don't think, I don't ever view it as leaving. I will always be a photographer, but now I'm a photographer with very different focused in intentions. And I think that from the outside people can say how or why would you leave that? And they think that life is too short not to pursue those things in such a larger capacity.

I think it's really sort of serendipitous for you that. Because from my point of view, I think what you did was not just brave and intelligent, but really almost necessary in a sense that we have to keep growing. And so many people get trapped by expertise. I see it all the time. And they can't grow because they're so busy being the expert. You can't grow if you're the one doing the photo shoots, right?

Absolutely.

And you see it all the time. And I think that, I mean, I don't know if you did it intentionally or if it was just serendipitous or just the fact that you're like, well, I'll drop out of here. I'll drop. Like you just. I want to do it right kind of thing. But was there ever a point where you thought to yourself, I'm the best in the world at this, and maybe, maybe I should just, you know, I'm struggling here because, like, there's gotta be a struggle in the beginning. Maybe I should just go back to it.

Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's. There's always. There is. There's comfort in comfort, you know, there's comfort and comfortability. I understand though, that as I've seen other people in my profession and in similar industries is that we create our own glass ceilings and so we feel like we can't move past them, but it's only due to the fear of us breaking what we know already works. I knew that for longevity, for inspiration, for continuity. That very much how we see other businesses take on new life forms, rebrand, find different growth of strategy, that I can only grow to a certain. To a certain size. And I would never want to. I would rather be totally and completely afraid of the future and excited instead of feeling stifled by safety and comfortability.

Yeah. And from a business standpoint, you had solo economic dependency, which is if you weren't working, you weren't making any money. Now you've got passive income piece to your business with the. You know, you build it once and you get that recurring income coming in.

Absolutely.

The products and services.

Absolutely. And we learned the power of that in the photography realm. So I was able to create digital products for photographers to streamline their business. And it was wonderful. I mean, it started off very simply. It started off with just with PDFs and helpful resources. It turned into videos, it turned into online streaming, education. And we have to, as we diversify our business, you know, that has to be put on the back burner. We're not going to be continuing to build stuff that is relegated to a singular industry and instead have a little bit more a mass appeal for concepts that I know. Apply to businesses and entrepreneurs, period.

Makes sense. Scott. Todd, what are your thoughts?

Oh, I just want to shift a little bit. So, Jasmine, you know, the photography business is really, really a competitive business, right? I mean, like, you have a. Now more than ever, you have, like, this lower. Your lower barrier of entry, right? Like, I can go and I can buy. I mean, I can take pretty dang good pictures of my iPhone, right? You know, like, they've got the portrait mode on here, and, you know, I mean, I can go buy a nice, you know, camera for less than 1000 bucks. Okay. And then I can go out there and I can, like, call myself a photographer. There's nothing stopping me. So how do you recommend to other photographers or other people? Like, how do you break through the noise and really get yourself above and beyond kind of the fray of the amateur photographers who are, you know, willing to do work for, like, nothing on Craigslist?

You know, Scott, I have to take a step back, and I have to first acknowledge that as technology improves in every industry, not just photography, but across industries, is that the barriers to entry lower across the board. And for us to assume that lower barriers of entry have expanded due to this, I think is a little false. Because if it's applying to everybody all at the same time, it's just the state of competition in its current state of form. So instead of looking at this as well, the barriers to entry are now lower. Therefore there's more competition. I simply take it as a fact, if somebody can do it, then they have become somebody part of my industry. So instead of looking them as an opposition, I look at them as an ally. What can I do to create opportunities for people laterally as well as for my clients? So from the client perspective, the goal for me to stick out amongst competition would simply to be to create excitement, experiences. Because Seth Godin defines a brand as a set of series and expectations that encourage people to choose one brand over another. So I know that I sell photography or education resources, and Starbucks sells coffee and Pete sells coffee. Why are we choosing those things based on experiences? These are preconceived notions of why somebody would choose one service over the other. And I have to know that, though I can shoot with the exact same camera as you and I can use the same lightroom presets, and I can have the same Facebook marketing. I can do everything the same. But you don't have my eyes and I don't have your mind, and I don't have your personality, and you don't have my background. And you don't have my HUD spot and my grit. So we all bring very different things to the table. And I have to understand the way that you understand is that we're both uniquely qualified to serve two entirely different sets of people. There's not one great photographer that every one client wants. Heck no. My dream client could be your nightmare client. And so I think in that regard, it's really important for me to understand that instead of competition, I have allies, peers, and there's a very big. And the dogs agree with me.

They do agree with you. I will tell you, this is a big thing because the industry or the type of real estate that Mark and I do is a very non competitive real estate environment. However, a lot of people have that scarcity mindset, like, I got to keep this a secret tell. And it's almost like the same thing with photography, you know, like as more people come and it brings attention to the market, then all ships rise with the tide. Right. You know, it's not something that one has to die in order for someone else to win. I mean, we can all benefit from, you know, bringing awareness to an industry or to a market or to an area. So those of you that look at, you know, those podcasts listening to us that think like, oh, I can't, I can't buy property in that area because other people are. That's the best place to buy property because now we're bringing all the attention to it. We're making the consumer aware.

Absolutely. And when it comes to the consumer, just to hone in and have actionable steps for our listeners today, it's in order to stand out amongst the competition, you have to work harder. Now it's just the state. You can't look back lovingly or romantically at what used to be real estate and what used to be the photography industry, that doesn't exist anymore, the 21st century moving forward, it will never look the same. And the marketing efforts that used to work for decades at a time will probably work for less than a year. So you, if you want to have longevity in any industry, you have to learn and leverage how people are communicating, how people want to be served and the value that you're presenting to them. Specifically online. I bought a new home, not a new home. I bought a fixer upper about just over a year and a half ago. And when it came time for us to look for real estate agents for what we were looking for specifically, we turned first and foremost to our friends and then our friends and family very much how most people look for recommendations. And once we found, like made a list of four or five people, we went immediately online to their websites, to their social media, to their bio sections. We wanted to know about them because we knew that for all intents and purposes, they can be the middle person to a transaction. But we were looking for something more than that. It's not simply for us, can you get the contract signed? It's can you walk through one of the most significant journeys of our married life in this moment? And to go through that and to the work that's required, the emotional connection really does matter. And I think that that's a big component moving forward for a younger generation of people who are buying homes. That those things are people are. Those are things that people are researching as they decide to invest with who's providing a product or service.

Jasmine, tell us something we don't know about taking great photos. Because I know for like, you know, Scott and I don't really take our own photos anymore, but I used to take photos of raw land all the time and it would have been really nice to know from a professional. Here's how you take a great photo.

An easy tip is to find the best light. Light can take a very average photo in an average location and make it beautiful. And you can be the most picturesque, gorgeous place. But if you have a really bad light, it's not going to convey as well. So the best time of day, if you want to be, let's say, shooting landscape outdoors, the best time of day is going to be at sunrise or at sunset. Why? Because your light source, AKA the sun, is the softest. Now, if you're shooting real estate photos, the best time of day to shoot would be noon because the sun is right above the house. So you're not going to get these really harsh shadows coming in through the windows, kind of like, oh, well, this is really a wall. But what you see, this big bright line bisecting it, that's just a shadow. That's the things that you want to avoid. So basically, the nutshell tip is find good light. And if there are photographers, excuse me, real estate agents, who are listening to the podcast, I would highly encourage them to visit the house at three different times throughout the day, depending on the location of the house, so that you can see where is the sun overhead. Because that house could be in a canyon, it could be tucked away in a different area. So understanding where the light plays a position could be extraordinarily valuable when it comes to photos, because photos sell all Right.

Fantastic.

Mark the golden hour, man. You gotta learn the golden hour.

I think there's an app for that, actually.

There is.

Yeah, there is.

There is, there is. There is. Now, you know, I mean, sorry, I'm gonna get like super technical, but the app is very wonderful. But the app could be 100% true. But if you're trying to take a picture of a house and there's a big weeping willow in the backyard, it might not be the best time to shoot because you don't know where the sun is in relation to the weeping willow. So those are kind of things to into consideration when it comes to taking photos at a certain time of day.

This is why I hire professional photographers.

Exactly. Good for you.

Good for you. So, Jasmine, I want to know, if you're on your deathbed, right, and you're surrounded by friends and family, what would be your last words of advice that you would give before you leave?

Give until you can't. I feel like I have been given so much in my life by my parents, by loved ones, by mentors, by industry peers. I have been given so much by people who didn't like me. I've learned valuable lessons as a result of that. And so I think that as a manifestation of the gifts that I've received, I am indebted and I encourage others to continue to out give because there's nothing that you cannot. Everybody has a skill set and a gift to give to others. And sometimes we. We put a basket over our light for fear of what people might think of us, might think of our advice or our feedback or input or what if the thing that we want to give or share is declined or made fun of. But I think that until you live your fullest, the only time that you can live your fullest is when you look back and said, I have given until I can no longer give.

No more.

I like it. Scott Todd, you like it? I love it.

Great advice.

All right, well, we're at that point in the podcast now where I think Jasmine's given a lot of great tips, but we're going to ask her for one more. What is your tip of the week? A website resource, A book, something actionable where the art of passive income listeners can go right now, improve their businesses, improve their lives. What have you got?

Well, I'm a big believer in mindset and pouring just as much time and energy into your business as into yourself. So I read a book last year called Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, and it is absolutely fantastic. And when it comes to reframing the way that your mind perceives passion projects. Some of my best and biggest and most successful business endeavors has been a result of simply experimentation and giving myself the permission to pursue curiosity. And instead of pursuing only things that I know would result in income. And what has manifested is just these amazing projects that I love and I have been able to monetize. So the book is not business related. It's actually mindset creativity. But I feel that all of us who are in the online sphere, people who are trying to create forms of passive income, myself included, have a hard time giving myself the permission to experiment with things that may or may not work. And this book really reprograms the way that your mind thinks about those things.

This is the scene Elizabeth Gilbert, that.

Wrote Eat Cray Love. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And it is incredible. This book has been on the national bestseller list. It's international bestseller. I mean, it's resonating with people beyond her fiction writing because she's talking about pursuing passion projects when it comes to simply writing for the sake of writing. But what she's able to do, because there's also the Big Magic podcast, she takes people in different creative spheres and talks to, talks, talks to them about the creative process according to the industry that they're in. It's fascinating and I think it's applicable to people who are just creators in general.

I love this. Big Magic is broken into six courage, enchantment, permission, persistence, trust, and divinity. And Gilbert wonders in the first, do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden with you? Well, I mean, I think that, I think this is gonna be a good book. I mean, is it too woo woo for you? Scott? Todd, wait.

Scott.

I lost you there. Unmute. There you go. Here you go.

Sorry, sorry. I don't, I don't think it's too woo woo. No.

And here's the thing, Mark and Scott, is that I am not a Woo Woo book reader. So that's why when I first initially read this, I was like, I'm not so sure if the is for me. But the fact of the matter is, is I know that there are more gems in the book than not. And this is coming from somebody who's not into the woo woo kind of world. I did find it mentions divinity as one of them. And I think it's divinity not in the source of it being religious in any way, shape or form, but understanding self. But more than anything, the largest portion of the book, I believe, focuses on permission. Whether or not we give ourselves the permission to explore. The permission to pursue passion projects, the permission to say, I want to try this thing. And though I'm not sure I can find a way to monetize it, I'm going to do it for the sake and the love of what I do. And I think that that's really fascinating. As you get into a business, it's easy to get into the rut. Like, I got to do this because this works. I know how much this makes. Here I go. And then all of a sudden you wake up and you're 75 years old and you wonder, what if I had tried that? And I don't want to live my life on my deathbed wondering what if? I'd rather just pursue it and make mistakes along the way. And the failures are the thing that make me stronger. I know how to re approach a future subject when the time comes.

Alright, great tip. Big magic Scott. Todd, what's your tip of the week?

Well, this is a tip that Jasmine does not need. Okay, so. But maybe we need it. Check out this app. Mark, go to the app store. Itunes app store. It's called X acto photo cut. The background remover. You know, you take a picture, you know, you don't like the background behind you. Yeah, you can go and you can do what Jasmine would do.

Wait, what about my portrait Mode on the iPhone 7? It blurs it. I like that.

But maybe there's something in the background that you don't want. You want cut out. Right?

So this does it.

Exacto Hyphen photo cut.

I hate when you do this to me. I know.

I do it like all the time.

Right. I know. By the way, I just set up my first felt card. It was really fun. I loved it.

Jasmine, do you know about felt?

I don't.

Okay.

It's an app you down obviously download for your phone. It's felt. And what happens is you can take out like you can take a picture of something. Okay. So you could take one of your pictures and then using your phone, you can do a handwritten note that they, that they take. It's like $3. They print it and mail it out for you with your handwriting so you could sign your name. You could do something different. Come on, Mark, are you on the, on the site yet?

An exacto? Yeah, yeah, I just bought it for three bucks. So iTunes.

ITunes needs to cut me in on a commission here.

I know, I know. All right, so my tip of the week is learn more about Jasmine Star and Jasmine. The entrepreneurial journey and teachings aren't just for photographers. Is that right?

No, they're for entrepreneurs specifically. I think they're better suited for creative entrepreneurs. So people who are the source of the thing that they're making, selling, producing.

All right, fantastic. So, Jasmine Star.com, check out what we can learn there. Are we good?

I think we're great. I can't thank you guys enough for taking the time to chat with me today and inviting me to listen in. For those of you guys who are listening in, I appreciate your time and consideration, and I wish you guys all the best.

Thank you so much. I do want to remind the listeners the only way, the only way we are going to get the quality of guests like a Jasmine Star to come on this podcast is if you do this three really simple, really fast things. Subscribe, rate, and review the podcast and download all the podcasts, because I have a competition going. But if you do that, if you send us a screenshot of your review to support thelangeek.com we're gonna send you for free the $97 passive income launch kit. I do want to remind everybody that today's podcast is sponsored by posting domination.com TheLandgeek Scott, Todd, are we good, man?

We are good.

All right, well, thanks, everybody. Thank you, listeners. Should we even do it, Scott? Jasmine's gonna be like these. This might be the two geekiest, dorkiest guys.

No, I'm right at home. I don't know what you guys are talking about. I'm right at home.

Well, you haven't seen this yet.

Oh, okay.

Oh, wait. Yeah. Okay, I'm ready for it, guys.

Okay, ready, Mark.

One, two, three. Let freedom ring.

Terrible.

Horrible. You know, it never gets better, actually. It is what it is. It's like two guys trying to high five, and they just kind of, like, just completely miss it. We're gonna have to figure out an end to this anyways.

We pull it off, though. I think we pull it off.

Just own it, guys. Own it. Lean into it.

We're gonna lean into it. No worries. All right, thanks, everybody.

Thanks.