Do you want to run a business that makes a valuable impact and gives back to the creative community? I think a ton of entrepreneurs want to make an impact with their services but don’t know how to do it while they’re running a business. In this episode, I’m sitting down with my friend Chip Dizard to talk about making the shift from photography to education, and how business owners can improve the creative community.

The Branded by Bernel Podcast is brought to you by Bernel Westbrook, lead designer and founder of Branded by Bernel, a design studio dedicated to building strong brands and Showit websites for creative entrepreneurs.

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Chip made an impact by offering services that his business needed

In the beginning days of his photography business, Chip admits he made a lot of mistakes when it came to marketing. He took time to take courses and educate himself, and he quickly became an expert in Facebook and Instagram ads. Chip recognized that other photographers, videographers, and creatives also needed to learn these online marketing skills, so he put together his own course.

According to Chip, the best way to help others is to learn from your mistakes as a business owner and look at what your business needs to thrive. Chances are that other businesses are making the same mistakes and need your expertise! 

Chips favorite business resources

“Readers are leaders,” -Chip Dizárd

Chip loves reading personal development books from Don Miller and John Maxwell. He also emphasizes the importance of reading books outside of the photography and videography niche. Instead, Chip looks for books that will make him a well-rounded person.

Every year, Chip takes a personal retreat to Portland, Maine, where he doesn’t know anyone. He journals out his goals and plans for the next year and visualizes where he wants to be in 12 months. Chip considers self-care to be an important business resource, especially for Black men. 

“It’s time to normalize self-care for us. You know, let’s normalize it for black men and for men in general, right?” 

To make an impact, you need to drop your business agenda

The best way to make an impact on others is through authentic relationships. Whether you are communicating with clients or other businesses, it’s important to care for them in a real way instead of making it about what you could get from them. 

It’s important for your business to be upfront about their values. You may worry about losing followers and clients, but the authentic community you gain will make it all worth it. You should also do business with other entrepreneurs and companies that align with your values. 

Let your skill catch up to your taste

In his first few years as a photographer, Chip didn’t know how to pose people for photos. He had a high taste for what he wanted his photos to look like, but he didn’t have the skillset to back up his taste. Chip kept practicing and taking jobs and gradually getting better. He also took courses and found ways to educate himself.

Chip encourages all new entrepreneurs starting out to not give up just because the journey isn’t easy. Running your own business takes time, dedication, and effort. Keep working, and your skills will catch up to your taste.

“I just want to make sure at the end of the day, that we could just give it all we got and just really have peace with it.” Chip Dizárd

3 Actionable Steps from Chip

1. Network. Your network is your net worth. When you network and help other people, you will never be in need of anything. 
2. Do good work. Put yourself on a deadline to learn a new skill or deliver new work. The more good work you do, the quicker your skills will catch up to your taste.
3. Having a solid branding package and message. Your message is the key to your business. It’s the energy that your business exudes, which is what will attract your ideal client. 

Get to Know Chip

Chip Dizárd is a world renowned photographer who teaches creative entrepreneurs the secrets to growing their business. He teaches skills to thrive in business through educational videos, in-depth training, mentoring programs, consulting, and educating groups through public speaking. Chip has mastered social media marketing, positive engagement, and how to turn inquiries into life-long client relationships. He still provides top quality brand photography for weddings, business professionals, and models but has more to offer. 

Chip is excited to help both the developing and seasoned creatives take their business and brand to the next level. He teaches an Instagram Ad Funnel Course and he offers Facebook and Instagram Ad Services.

Connect with Chip

Website:    chipdizard.com/

Instagram:    instagram.com/ChipDizard/

Facebook:    Facebook.com/chipdizardstudios

Ira Glass Quote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHrmKL2XKcE&ab_channel=PlamenPanchevStudios

Connect with Bernel

brandedbybernel.com

instagram.com/brandedbybernel

Review the Transcript:

Bernel
Hey, hun. Welcome to the Branded by Bernel podcast. I’m your host Bernel. You may know me as the branding and web designer who obsesses over the details so you don’t have to. We all desire to be great at what we do. Although once we get there, no one seems to talk about the messy middle. This motivated me to set the table and invite industry peers over to share stories about living and working in the creative world. So grab the OJ a champagne, pull up a chair, join the creative community and be prepared to build a brand you fall in love with. This is the Branded by Bernel podcast.

Bernel
So today on the podcast, we are joined by Chip Dizard. I’m super excited for you guys to meet chip. He is a world renowned photographer who teaches creative entrepreneurs, the secrets to growing their businesses. He teaches skills to thrive in business through educational videos, in depth training, mentoring programs, consulting, educational groups, public speaking, all the things, chip has really mastered social media marketing, positive engagement, and how to turn inquiries into lifelong client relationships. So I am so glad to have you here today, champ.

Chip Dizard
Hey, thank you. But no, I’m so glad to be here. And congratulations on your podcast. I feel honored that I’m on Season One. And I made it.

Bernel
Thank you so much so much. For those of you listening at home chip, and I met at show at United in 2019. He was a keynote speaker and he just blew it out of the water. I was sitting there taking notes. And I was super nervous because I actually had a five minute fuel that day. But I was sitting there listening to him speak and he was so natural. And I was like one day I will get to interview this man. So I’m so excited that you’re here.

Chip Dizard
Then and you know, when I saw you and I saw your five minute fuel, I want to make sure that I was there and I supported you remember I I sought you out. I say you know what? You did a good job. I remember. And that’s honestly I mean a lot of people, but a lot of people aren’t memorable. But you were very memorable. And I remember talking to you at show and that was my first actually Brunel, believe it or not, that was my first keynote speech I’ve ever done people think I promise you last year showing United I had a five minute fuel in 2018. And that story, I know, it’s not on what we’re talking about today, but five minute fuel. And then they asked me to do a keynote in 2019. So I didn’t I went from people really not knowing who I was to people really knowing who I who I was. So it’s kind of in the show at community. It was a weird kind of thing. Because how I got there was just like through through a lady into my Coven, I got into my coven. And she told me about the conference. And you know, it just kind of spawned from there. But I’m very fortunate. So it just goes to show if you work hard, you do a good job, you can have opportunities that are presented for you.

Bernel
Yes, yes. I love that. And then you really showed your heart by giving back and providing so many educational resources. And I know that that’s huge for so many in the creative community right now. They’re looking for direction. So that is awesome. So tell me chip, how long have you been in business?

Chip Dizard
Okay, so I’ve been in business. Wow. A long time. I feel like an old guy. So I’ve been doing weddings and portraits since about 2011. And prior to that DOJ weddings, I’ve had my my business license here in the state of Maryland, since about 2005. But really taking it seriously probably like 2010. So you know, you have you have a business, but you’re really not doing anything with it. So I’ve been in business. So I really, mark when I became full time in 2015. But from 2010, to about 2015. And you know, even before that, I was kind of dabbling. I got my start in weddings and technology in the church. So what happened? I was doing PowerPoints, and when we have people know about church ministry, that was my thing. And I really enjoyed it. I was a volunteer, and I made a lot of mistakes. And I learned the photography side, I went to school, of course for it. But I learned more the video side and more of the audio, a little bit of audio production. And as a volunteer, and then a volunteer. Then I had other opportunities, and I worked at a church and I became a staff member. And then I went to teach and do some other things. But yeah, it’s it’s really been a wild wild ride, but it’s been a good one.

Bernel
That is incredible. Wow. So I had no idea that your story started in a church or by volunteering. So that’s awesome. So tell me a little bit about your services. I know we kind of touched on that at the beginning. We know you’re a photographer videographer, but I see now you’re doing a lot with Facebook and Instagram ads. So how did that pivot come about. Yeah. So

Chip Dizard
I was trying to just get my business off the ground. And I’m here, you know, in Baltimore in the Washington DMV area. And if anybody knows about this area, it’s a lot of talented people. I mean, it’s telling the people in every city like Atlanta, you know, Boston, New York, but this year, there’s a dearth of talent Oh, back in 20, maybe it was 2014 2015. When, when 2016, probably when the algorithm started changing, and you used to post up to your Facebook business page, and it used to get traction, you know, and people used to like it comment, when likes matter on Facebook business page, I wasn’t into Instagram as much I can’t remember when I got on Instagram. But nevertheless, I said, You know what, maybe if I start paying for traffic, I can do it. Like, I can get to the front of the line, because I knew a lot of my colleagues, were too cheap to do it on time. And we all didn’t. So I figure, if I can figure this out, I took some classes, there’s some online workshops, and I said, You know what, I can get the front line with videos, and viral stuff. Because here’s the thing that I realized is that people need it, you got the best product or service in the world, but if people don’t know who you are, and they cannot have the top of mind, you know, if I’m looking for a mechanic, who’s the first person you would recommend, I’m looking for a lawyer, who’s a first person, you know, look for a photographer, I wanted to be in that name. And I wasn’t. And I just worked real hard, I figured it out, took some classes. And then later on, I say, you know, I can help other photographers, other creatives, and start doing classes, workshops, and things like that, and speaking on it with with the mistakes and successes that I’ve made. And I do it now. And I have a team. It’s three of us, including me, I’m sorry, a total of three of us. And we are running ads for clients all around the country. And we are pivoting even in this pandemic right now to do that, and we also train people as well. So that is kind of,

Bernel
right. And a lot of times that’s the best services. When you see a need in the industry or need in your own business. You educated yourself, you mastered your formula to make it happen for your business. And now you teach other people and I saw that you now have an Instagram ad funnel course.

Chip Dizard
Yes, I do. We just finished recording it. It’s a mini course. And that is being added on to it. Because I know a lot of people use the gram these days. And I know a lot of people wanted to figure out how to have a course. Really the mass of course I’m working on it’s called from lookers to bookers. Right. So we understand that people always looking at stuff, but how do we convert these folks? And it’s really about our messaging. It’s really not about how much we’re spending. It’s about a targeting and our messaging because people we know, it’s like a funnel, right? When people don’t know us, and people want you to design your website, we’re going to research you first right now. And then after we research you, we’re gonna say okay, maybe I’ll give her a chance. And then after that, I’ll say, Okay, well, let me give her a chance. You know, once I do my research and due diligence, and, and less a thing people sometimes get into advertising, thinking that they’ll spend money, and what they spend will automatically get an instant return. Sometimes we’re planting seeds that don’t harvest for years, sometimes two years. I know, there’s probably some clients that you’ve been talking to, for like, six, eight months, and then it’s the right time. Yes, you know,

Bernel
that is so true. Oh, my goodness, I’m so glad that you pointed that out that there are seeds that you plant that don’t harvest right away. On average, when people come to me and are finally ready to book, they tell me they’re like, Oh, we’ve been watching you for six months, we’ve been following along for a year, we heard you speak at a conference two years ago. And so it’s really that you’re planting those seeds. And then by staying consistent by having continuous brand messaging, that’s how people build that trust with you. And once they trust you, they’re gonna pay you.

Chip Dizard
Yeah, and that’s the thing, right? We say know, like, and trust, you’ve heard that. And at the bottom line, people want to do two things. And I’ve heard this from the book story brand by Donald Miller. And he says, thrive and survive, right. And they want things they sometimes they don’t buy the best products, he says, but they buy the products and services that they understand the fastest. So if I can have my stuff to be broken down, and I’m a former teacher, and educator as well. So I’d know how to break things down to bite sized pieces. So I’ve been very fortunate with that. So I have that background as a technology background. So I know, you know, if you say hey, Brunel, like a fifth grader can do it. And of course, advertising can be very convoluted, we get that but if I can break it down into bite sized pieces, you can understand some things and some good things on it, then you will be able to make a decision. Same thing with anything website, photography, videography, any creative thing that you know, and that’s why I love show it so much because when I switched my website, it was easy. is easy for me to understand it. It was just I did my research. And then I said, You know what? It was easy for me to switch over to show it.

Bernel
Yeah, show it is an amazing platform. If you’re listening at home and you have not explored show it yet, what are you waiting for? They have a 14 day trial. It’s, it’s amazing. And it’s easy. I think that that is a huge selling point for people. Yeah. So you mentioned that you have an education background. So tell me a little bit about how you decided to become an entrepreneur?

Chip Dizard
Well, it was really my mentor at the time, I’ll never forget, as I was getting business, and I wasn’t I was doing okay. I wasn’t ready to make a jump. As an entrepreneur, I was just happy as a teacher having my six weeks off during the summer, do my weddings during my events during things on Saturday, Sundays. But then he said, Chip, you’re gonna get busy. I was like, No, you’re crazy. I’m not going to leave my good school teacher job where I have a six weeks vacation. I get off at 230 Every day, you know, I don’t want to work. You know, I come in at 730 I get on 230. I don’t have to be that late, or do anything like that. So I had a pretty good situation. And I liked the school. It wasn’t one of the better schools a magnet school in Baltimore, believe it or not, it was a really good school. And so it was hard. So a lot of people become entrepreneurs, because they hate their job, they hate their boss, they make a lot of money. I was the opposite. I like my boss, they liked me, I was making pretty good money as a teacher doing what I was doing. And I have a good side hustle. But then I came to a point where I started getting more inquiries for things that I knew I could not take off. And as a school teacher, it’s hard to take off in January and February, because much time off, unless you get some type of excuse, or at least a definite family or something. And you know, it just started getting more and more. And he just said, ship, this is what you need to do. I said no, let me just wait till next year. And next year came and went. And I said no, let me wait till next year. And then another year came and went and that’s it. Okay, I gotta do it now. And that’s what I did it. And I had some money saved up didn’t have a lot. But I also was smart enough not to just go cold turkey. When I quit my job, I still had a side hustle where I worked at the church on the weekends, where I was doing media ministry. So that was a part time job where I’d had a fixed salary. So if I’m encouraging any entrepreneur, and say, you know, they say, you know, quit your job, just go cold turkey. No, I didn’t do that. I still had a side gig, where if all else failed, if I didn’t book any clients, I still was able to pay my mortgage, my rent my bills, you know, I mean, I wasn’t able to live great, but I was able to live at least do something. You know,

Bernel
yeah, that safety net is really important. I hear a lot of people say, Oh, just quit your job and start a business. But starting a business is a marathon. It’s not a sprint. I tell people that all the time, slow and steady wins the race. And of course, you pick up the end, you go full speed ahead. But you don’t come out the gate running when running a business. And I think that’s a misconception. People look at social media, people can watch your success story and see that, you know, now you travel all over the world. And now you have all kinds of brides and all kinds of speaking engagements. And they think, Wow, if I quit my job, I can be just like, Chip, but it took time to get here

Chip Dizard
years, it took at least at least four or five years really. And like when I tell you this is a new Brunel. And I want to just encourage somebody, like nothing was given to me. We had to earn it and right. And when I say that, I’m just being full disclosure, like, legit, I did not start speaking publicly like this till 20, probably 18. That’s only three years ago. So you understand. It’s not like it was 10 years ago, I’ve only started doing keynotes in 2019. You know, so only her educational courses in 2020. So all this stuff is new. And you can be accelerated fairly quickly. But you have to be grounded to know that you have to have people around you that when I say that love you, that are not impressed by you. But they will tell you where your circle is and tell you where your blind spots are. Because you really need that in life. Because you can think that you do a great job, but you always can do better. And that’s how I live my life. And people I mentor, we always can get better, no matter what. And I just believe the best is yet to come even in 2020. And when I when I looked at my numbers and when people are looking at in their numbers, and I was just talking to a mentee a few minutes ago before I got on podcast and he’s having a rough 2021 And I’m like okay, well what can we do to turn this ship around? And I gave him some ideas, some things because I mean, it’s hard out here and you know, to get clients to make money. But here’s the thing that I realized is that everybody is not losing says some people that winning big everybody that’s true. Everybody is not Bro. Yeah, exactly Home Improvement people, people that do that do paintings, painters, any you know, of course, the travel industry is, is bad hotel industry, but everybody does I lose it, and you have opportunity. Like Like, like what I’m doing, I pivot into live streaming educational videos, Facebook ads, Instagram marketing. So I mean, you just have to be very nimble with what you do. And I think that’s what we have to do in this economy, because, you know, things are never going to be the same, at least for the next, at least a year or a year and a half, I really believe.

Bernel
No, I completely agree with you, the creative community took a hit, especially as small businesses, but everybody’s not losing your right. A lot of people have pivoted, it has been a true testament to how resilient this community is and how creative we are. Because almost everybody came out with new services overnight, it seemed like and so that kind of leads me to my next question of what are some of the best resources that have helped you along the way?

Chip Dizard
Wow, so many, I just want to say that I read a lot. So I believe that readers and leaders, leaders are readers, I say, you know, and one of the resources that I lean on, are not only just creative stuff that do with photography, it’s more of the inspirational stuff that I’m doing, and more of the podcasts that I listened to. And even on clubhouse, you know, I can be on clubhouse I can, you know, there’s certain leaders I follow the guy that talked about storebrand, Donald Miller, and their other leaders, I listened to a guy named John Maxwell, I mean, so many. But the thing is that I like to read things that are not in my industry. Not really, it can be current events, it can be things but you need I believe that you need to be a well rounded person. And I think that’s easy for me to just read things in a photography and videography industry on a web design. If you enter that, or are the creative community, I think that we have to expand our reach. And one thing that’s really helped me and I was telling somebody this the other day, but now is I do something I didn’t do in 2020. I’m gonna do it back in 2021. I do something that’s helped me call a personal retreat every year in October, and I go to a place as people like, why do you go up there I go to place, Maine, Portland, Maine, I know, it’s weird. Like when the worlds up there. Nothing except like houses, and a lobster. So I needed I need to go to Miami, I don’t need to go to LA Atlanta, where I know a lot of people and I get distracted. So I go somewhere. And then if I, I may have a team member come up one of the days, but go up there and just write out what my goals are for the year for the upcoming year. What I need to do I did it here in 2020. Because I didn’t travel as much as I did, and 2019. But where do I see myself? Where do I want to be? And basically, it’s almost like a mini life plan for your year. And I think if you write that out, you have to you don’t want to get too hokey here. But you have manifested stuff in our life, right? What you want, you have to do like speaking out, and I’m not the most spiritual person. But I know that when you speak things out, and you see yourself and you envision yourself, see, here’s the thing, someone asked me one time say, Chip, are you surprised by your success that you had? And you know what? I honestly told this lady in front of a crowd? I said, No. And it wasn’t an arrogant answer. But it was because I manifested this stuff. And I saw it. So I saw myself speaking before crowd before the crowd knew who I was, you understand what I’m saying? So they’re just catching up to what I’ve already manifested in my life. So if you do that, I’m not saying everything will work out in your favor, of course it won’t. But you’ll be ready. So when they are five minutes, or if they give you 55 minutes, you’ll be ready. And that’s what I do. If you’re if you do well in a crowd of five people, and they get a crowd of 500. And my thing is, but now we just have to give it all we got. So when I manifest that stuff, when I take my retreats, and I take my meditation, and I do things, I just want to make sure in life that I give it all I got at the end of the day, I don’t care if people say have a great photographer, I’ll just say Hey, that guy helped me because a great human being. And you know what I learned from this guy? Because that’s all we have. It is like we see people dying every day from this terrible virus at the end of the day. And they say, but now you’re a great website person. I think you failed. I think, yeah, we want a great human being. What did you do when I was down? You know, when I needed some money, or I needed some help, you know, or just to say, Hi, how are you doing and not wanting anything? I mean, people just call you to say, Hey, I didn’t want anything I just want to check on you. That means so much more than just hey, can you do this website update? Hey, can you give me these photos? So I know I went off on a tangent on that answer. But I’m really passionate about self care, because I didn’t do it for years. I just grind grind, grind, grind, grind, and I didn’t do any self care. Now I’m in this Self Care mode, and I just, you know, especially men, black men, especially we, you know, we hear women doing self care, self care for black men. It’s just like, Hmm, you know, it’s like hokey. It’s like weird. But it’s, it’s time to normalize self care for us. You know, let’s normalize it for black men and for men in general, right?

Bernel
Yes. Yes. Let’s normalize self care. I’m here for that. I don’t know. I mean, I feel like yes, it’s common for women. But even for black women, self care is just recently being normalized. That hustle mentality that I feel like has been ingrained in us since birth. I think everybody is learning to calm down. But that hustle mentality is going to lead to burnout. And it’s going to lead to stress and fatigue. And in really focusing on self care, and then serving others. I think that was excellent. The point you brought out about just checking on people with no ulterior motive, and you really do embody that. I remember when the pandemic first came, and I think I had written a post or something about being stressed out, and you messaged me on Instagram, you’re like, Hey, are you good? Like, how’s everything going with your business, and we had only met one time, but that really stuck out to me that like, hey, we don’t really know each other. But you took a like, a 32nd. Time out of your day, just to say, Hey, are you good? And so I think that if more people use social media for authentic connections, instead of like this curated engagement, or trying to get people to spend money with them, then a lot more people would have true followers and true clients.

Chip Dizard
And I totally agree. And I think that’s when we’re normalizing authentic relationships. It’s not like, Oh, you slayed this girl? You Oh, you did this? No, we normalize those authentic relationships. And then check on people without an agenda. And my every, I can tell people, every compliment, everything doesn’t come with an agenda. It’s not like, Okay, you did a great job. Oh, can you give me my website for half price? No, it’s just like, I’m just saying you do good work. And I’m willing to pay your full price for your services, because that’s what I value. You know, I value I value you I value what you do. And that’s what we want when people to do with us, and especially in this economy, and it’s a small business owner. And we’re recording this during Black History Month, and a lot of companies are looking to spin dollars off, of course, with black designers like you like congratulations, you show it partner, design partner, one of the first African American ones, are you the first one?

Bernel
Yeah, that’s still very surreal to me. And I get phone calls all the time that are like, we went and looked for design partners, and we saw you and that inspired us like I’ve actually had women tell me that. So that’s exactly

Chip Dizard
that’s, and that’s what we need. And not only during Black History Month, we need 365, right? Because we are all riding on the shoulders of someone else, whether what race you are, but we know that’s African Americans in this creative space. When you go to these conferences, there’s not a lot of us. So I understand. And especially that I know that I have to make sure I have my stuff on point, like you had your stuff on point. And you know that you have to be better or, and then over deliver. And I just that’s just that’s just facts. And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just that we know that and people hear this podcast, you hear me talk about race. You hear me talk, I used to be scared to talk about race. Let me tell you some I was scared to death to do this presentation on black photographers, and let’s say oh, it’s gonna kill my brand. It’s gonna do this, who’s gonna do that? Now talk to a friend of mine, who happened to be white. He said, Chip, you can talk whatever, you you live this, who better to talk on it than you. And you know what I said? I’m so worried about what other people think of me and stop being polarized and yeah, I’m gonna lose some followers. I’m gonna lose some clients maybe. But guess what the people that have gained are so worth it. So I want to encourage people to live their truth and whatever you need to do if it’s in your heart, and you feel you run it by somebody it’s in your heart and spirit go for it. You know, like how you are designed pardon and now you’re blazing the trail for other African Americans to do what you have done. And that’s a big deal.

Bernel
Yeah, that’s that’s so powerful. I agree. I think that you know, when you are the first at something or when you don’t see a lot of people who look like you in your industry you do you worry about it. You worry about being too much. Am I too loud? Am I too extra? Do I show my face too much but I completely agree with everything you just said just do it like live your truth embody it and you may lose people but what you’re gonna gain is incredible.

Chip Dizard
So yeah, I’m so I’m so fortunate that this community of show it and Todd just a shout if he’s listening to this. He spoke about race relations before it was popular. Let me just put that out there. You remember he spoke about it way before the George Floyd, the the whole situation of breonna. Taylor’s and he tackled a tough subject, where a lot of people like what in the world is doing, and the air can come out of a room, and I applaud a company, i That’s why I do business with showing, I do business with companies that support what I support and what my values are. So I encourage you, whatever company you do business with, look at their values, look at where they support. And not only where they support, where they put their, their mouth and their money into it. So this is not advertising for children, of course, but I just wanted to affirm, affirm that because we know how the struggle is and we do it everyday. We live with it. And there are people who will never know what it means to be black in America, no matter what. But we understand that we go forward anyhow. Because that’s all we know. That’s all we know.

Bernel
Yes, yes, yes, completely agree with all of that. So, you know, that can be looked at as a challenge. But I think that we both looked at it as a motivating factor. And so that’s kind of where mindset comes in a lot. So we’ve talked about some of the challenges of starting businesses starting successful businesses. But how do you think that you overcame the initial challenges? We’ve kind of talked about finding clients Hale finding our truth, living in our truth. But what helped you overcome that to get to the chip that we see now?

Chip Dizard
Wow, I think it was, like everybody says, we hear this a lot in our creative community. Am I not good enough? That imposter syndrome, we all been there, Brunel, we all looked at our designs, we’ve all looked at our photographs, we say, and we look at someone else’s. And it’s that comparison trap, right? And it was one of those kinds of things. It says, Okay, there’s a guy that I follow, he has his podcast well, and he has something going on YouTube is called This American Life is named as Ira Glass, and he has his video, and I’ll send you a cheat for the show notes. And he says, when you’re first starting out as a creative, your taste is actually better than what you can produce. So I like to eat right, but I’m not a great cook. Right? So I’m okay in the kitchen can make breakfast for a while. But I know I can be a foodie because I like good food, right? But now, I know, I can’t make the chef’s specialties like I go out in DC or Charlotte or Atlanta to take right. So. Exactly. So my tastes better when I can produce when you first started now, and the only way to close that gap. And then what you do is to produce a volume of work, he says, so you have to produce, even if you don’t have the work. You know, I remember when I was shooting weddings, I have three daughters. And I didn’t know how to pose people correctly. And I got them in the backyard. And I had the three they looked like you know Destiny’s Child, I had them posing. You know, so think about a six year old, six year old twins, eight year old that two years apart. I had him you know, now they’re teenagers now, but when they were young, and I had a posing because I didn’t know how to pose and I didn’t. Nobody says, Hey, five friends get together. Let me practice posing. No, I just go to a wedding. And I figure it out. You know, but I so I just kept on practicing. I put myself on a deadline. And my skills eventually caught up to where my tastes were. You understand? It’s like your website design skills. When you first start out aren’t that good? And you look at other people’s and then you keep on doing websites, you keep on doing it, and you get better. And that’s the thing for me, you just have to get better. Because when people say, Oh, just get better? Well, what do you do? You got to do a volume of work. You have to put yourself on a deadline, if you don’t have work, guess what I did, I shot people for free. I got people, my nonprofit organization I work with to do some free headshots, because I needed that. And I use a church really as my guinea pigs for a lot of stuff. And then I got better, but keep on doing it and keep on and getting critiques and getting better.

Bernel
Yes, oh my goodness, I completely agree. I look back at websites that I designed when I first got started. And I’m like cringing. I’m like, oh my goodness, who let me put that out there. But I don’t delete that stuff. Because I realized that that’s a part of my journey. That is how I got to where I am. And yeah, it’s an a remarkable feeling when you can sit back at the work you produce and just look at the work you produce now and be like, Wow, I dreamed of this day, looking at other people and wonder how in the world did they create that? And now we’re creating things on that level or possibly better. And you know, that’s not a brag that’s just a humble experience of what happens when you stick with something and you continue to practice.

Chip Dizard
And I think that we have to be and and when people are if you’re listening to this podcast, if you’re just a beginner just starting out, don’t get discouraged. Remember, you cannot compare yourself to Brunel or myself who’ve been doing this for a while. And I think that’s what people they want a fast start and they want The huge they want to become a design partner, but you have to pay your dues, you have to, you have to do what you have to do. And it’s not going to come, like quickly or easy, but you can get to it. You know, I took classes, I took other stuff, I took speaking classes, you know, there’s a lot of stuff that’s into it. But at the end of the day, that when you invest in yourself, that pays the best dividends, you know, and when you invest in yourself, and you know, that when you’re trying to get better, and you’re intentional about it, especially when you taste it’s like, oh my God, but I can’t produce that. So if I want to become a better cook, guess what I’m gonna do, I want to take a cooking class, I want to go and do other stuff, and stop trying to call myself a so called foodie. And I’d be able to cook hourly. You know, so I just, I just love when I see the light bulb game, and people actually start, just think about this for now, if you actually started believing in yourself, if you actually thought and say, You know what, I am pretty good at this. It’s not being conceited. But you have to because if you don’t guess what your client will see right through it, and nobody will ever believe you. Let me tell you a quick story. I just got back from Cancun, Mexico, there was I got the, and it’s all about relationships. So I got there during a pandemic, and I’ve just got back in the other night. And the bride was I’d never met the bride got to her wedding planner colleague I know. And when I flew down there, it was good. It was a Thursday wedding. It was great. But then we saw that 40% chance of rain in the evening. Anything you know about rain in the Caribbean? 40% 100%. Okay. 30% means 90 tropical storm. Yeah, exactly. So during a ceremony, everything was fine. As soon as we got to take some portraits, as soon as we got that golf cart to go to the reception was no 10 Beautiful. And the heavens started opening up, and the rains are coming. So I got some pictures. And I was like, Oh my God, this bride is gonna be crying, gonna look, whatever. So she took shelter for a little bit. And we got some more pictures, and we didn’t get the sunset picture, we want it. And then the heavens opened up again. I was still shooting, I was still shooting, I was still doing it. And a bride’s mother came to me, she’s wrote on my Instagram post, one of my Instagram posts I have for the wedding. In Mexico, she said, she said, Chip, you kept shooting, even in the rain, because, you know, they had towels. Well, they had they were partying. And still, the only reason they stopped it because they had electrical things with the DJ, you know, but I knew that my equipment, but I planned ahead. And I’ve been in situations where I had to shoot in the snow, shoot in the rain, not weddings in itself, but in the cold. But just different things that are my equipment was ready, because I’ve been in those situations before. So I understand that I planned, and I was ready for it. And if they brought me to there, and they’re outside of the Caribbean, even in the rain, we’re right in the 30 degree weather like we are now on the East Coast, it’s 7580 degrees, a little rain ain’t gonna kill me. So I want to make sure that, that in life, the point story is that, that no matter what’s happened, I try to give it all I got whether I’m here, whether I’m at an arranged soap place, whether I’m in a snowfield place. That’s why I just want to make sure at the end of the day, that we could just give it all we got and just really have peace with it.

Bernel
Yeah, I think that that is phenomenal. And then what I also took from your story is that you were prepared, you didn’t know exactly what would happen, but you were prepared for the rain. And so that’s a lesson that we can take as entrepreneurs to rain is going to come symbolic rain or real rain. And we just have to be prepared for it. Nobody was prepared for a worldwide pandemic. Like if you had asked us 12 months ago, if we thought that the United States would be in quarantine, like everyone would have laughed. But we’re here and if you structured your business, in a way, if you had always been networking, if you had always put in good practices always gave it 100% You didn’t lose all of your clients last year, because you had prepared for that rain before it came.

Chip Dizard
Yeah. And I had things set up that were in place that I’ve worked on years ago, like live streaming when I was working at a church media person, so I knew how to do live streaming, all I had to do is buy some new equipment and make some investments. So here’s another point I want to tell people for now. Sometimes you just got to make investments that may not pay off immediately, but they can pay off later on. I made a sizable investment in some totally I’m not equipment kinda guy where I love buying because I don’t believe in a whole bunch of overhead right? I like nice things. But somebody told me when this thing hit and my weddings Kevin said, You know what, I need to buy some new live streaming equipment. And you know, I made a sizable investment in there in it and I was like, Man, I hope I get this money back. And sure enough, it’s cut back tenfold and even 2021 Were doing live stream and to hire people to go out and do it. I’m training people so you know, I didn’t want to do it at first because I was being cheap. I’ll be honest because I don’t like buying equipment. But I have to buy equipment in order to get the job done. And especially with the price of this equipment costs, I was like, ah, you know, but I said, You know what I’m gonna take this risk, but it’s not risk if I knew I had a marketing plan behind it. And that’s what I had. Because people can buy things. And then as you’re sitting on the shelf, how many computers or laptops or, or stylus pens or Wacom tablets that people have that just don’t do anything? They’re just sitting there. But if we buy equipment, we have a plan with it, we can make our money back.

Bernel
Yes, I love that educated investments. Yeah, I think that when you make an educated investment, you’ll definitely see a return on that. So that is so good. Oh, my goodness chips, so many gems, you have dropped so many gems? I’m trying to drop rocks, right? People Java gems or rocks? So why have very mixed feelings about that on clubhouse? Because people are dropping rocks? In trying to disguise them as gems? Yes, yes. That’s funny. Yes. But I mean, your work is a testament to the knowledge and the skill set that you have. And so if you’re listening to this at home, and you’re wondering about clubhouse, or podcasts or just weird to get education, check out these people’s work, if their work doesn’t match what they’re telling you to do, then you might need to sift through that and go to a different room.

Chip Dizard
Yeah, and also look at the look at their receipts who have they helped, because they can say they’re great Brunel, but if other people really cosign on them, and people have to be credible. And that’s how I judge people clubhouse will podcast on other stuff, because you can have, there’s a lot of people with great work, but they follow through and the business is shabby. And I know a lot of people, and I was one of them, where my work was pretty good. But guess what? I didn’t have a you know, HoneyBook or dubsado. I didn’t have, you know, send the invoices through Microsoft Word shabby, shabby, you don’t say? forthright here, be very honest, I didn’t have a CRM, I didn’t have a flow desk email system. I’m sending emails through Gmail and blind copying everybody. I mean, come on, what was I doing in my business?

Bernel
I didn’t I mean, I wasn’t sending emails at all for a very long time. And a business colleague actually helped me with that. And, you know, that’s why we have to be receptive to criticism. And that’s why we have to learn from it. Because somebody said that, how are you in digital marketing, and you don’t utilize email marketing. And I just had to sit with that for

Chip Dizard
Wow, with that right now, but now that they just hit me.

Bernel
And what’s crazy is I was not unsuccessful, like I was booking out months in advance without ever touching email marketing. But when they asked me that question, I had to step back and ask myself, Am I operating my business, like a freelancer or like a CEO. And if I’m operating my business, like a CEO, then I definitely needed to use email marketing. So guess what I did, I watched YouTube videos, I took a course I got floated. And now that system and process is something that I’m able to teach my clients. Now that’s something that I’ve been able to add to my wheelhouse of skills. So I completely agree, invest in your education and level up, live up to the brand that you say you’re creating.

Chip Dizard
Yeah, and I think we have to do that. Because, and But see, here’s the thing, you could have taken that feedback that was given to you. You can like you can tell you that and it can’t go on left, but at least you see it with that feedback. That’s, that’s the difference between a professional and an amateur. Amateur will get upset will say BNF feelings, being you’re upset unfollowing and blocking people to give them feedback. But a professional sits with it. Like you said, I sat with it. And he said, You know what? I’m successful, but I can be better. Right? That’s the key word. You said I’m successful, but I can be better. Like I said, I said, I knew I was making making money. But why am I sending invoices through Microsoft Word? I mean that and then I’m asking people to send me checks, or it’s asking people to give me their credit card number over the phone or whatever, because I didn’t trust the system. I didn’t have excuse me, you know, yeah, through through HelloSign. So I had like three different systems for contractor invoices, and you know, shabby, but I was doing good work, but share. And now when people see you, you send your invoices a certain way, you’re sending your contracts, all in dubsado or HoneyBook, whatever, you use 17 hats, and it’s there. And I think that we’re at the point that we have to teach people that we have to spend money to make money, right? And it has to be an investment in ourselves because like someone says, if you knew better, you do better, and I didn’t know somebody put me and I just sit with that. Why? Why am I sending these things? And I I have a written list of invoices that people owe me and I have no clue what my books look like. Yeah, no, no, I was only part time. And the thing was that we disguised saying, Well, you know, it’s a hobby right now. I only have are three clients. I don’t need a CRM, I don’t need a flow desk. I only have 25 email addresses, you know, so that that is that the skies that we say? And then when we grow, we’re like, Oh, my God, I need it. I need it. I need it, you know?

Bernel
Yeah, that is so, so true. And I think that a lot of times people rely on their skills, instead of really setting up a business for success. There’s a lot of talented people who do not have a good business. And so there’s a difference. And I think that that is what the defining mark between just profitable and then profitable and sustainable, like, that’s the line. How good is your business operating? So? Yeah, a lot of me, hey, that’s that tell it like it is honesty that I feel like both of us bring to the table and you know, it’s not going to tickle people’s ears. It’s not going to be what you want to hear all the time, but it’s gonna be what you need to hear in order to get to that next level. So yes, I love it. Yes, so chip, this is my absolute favorite part of the podcast. If you’re listening at home, you know what time it is, grab your journals, grab your pens, because chip is gonna give us three actionable steps that you can take today to move forward in building your business.

Chip Dizard
So for now, the three actionable steps I want to leave with the audience today are number one is network, we know that your network is your net worth. So online podcast, create content. If you’re not even on a podcast, create your own podcasts, look at what Brunel did, okay? Get yourself together and go out there. And guess what, when you network, and you help other people, you will never ever be in need of anything, because when you help other people and share their story, it will amplify you number two, do good work that’s given right we say Good work, I talked about good taste, and what you could do to get close the gap between your tastes and where you need to go is to do a volume of good work. So do a volume of good work. Put yourself on a deadline, even if you do not have the work right now. And it’s something filmed something What’s your cell phone, put it out there, do Instagram story about where you would like to shoot? I know a person that was like, Hey, I don’t I haven’t shot this video but he went and he filmed if I were to shoot at this video, this is what I would do create those contents and number three is branding have a solid branding package and message and Brunel you know you know this more than anybody that your messaging is the key and I’m not talking just about the pretty because everybody loves a pretty but what is your key message think about this. If I told you this phrase, you can finish it. If I say 15 minutes can save you what you are going to finish and say yeah, 15% or more or your car insurance. What is your message? What is your brand message? Mine is that I’m chiplet I’m in your photography and your Facebook ads and Instagram ads you know that that’s what I exclude that energy and everything like that. So network which online do what you got to do Google work, put yourself on a deadline and then your branding and your messaging and then here’s a bonus one Bernau always follow through and give 120 That’s what I want to say to that. Oh,

Bernel
yes. I like that. See? That was a chiplet Truth bomb, right? You have 120 Because everybody is trying to give 100 But if you give 120 You already surpassed it? Yes. It’s a blessing. Thank you. Yes. Oh, my goodness. Chip. Well, thank you so so much for being on the show today. Where can people find you? Because I know they want to go?

Chip Dizard
Well, hey, thank you for now. You can find me on Instagram at chip design and Chrp DIC ARD, search me on Google on Facebook, Pinterest, everywhere. Where records are sold, I’m there with social media streets are their, um, their chiplet is a hashtag. And I would love for you to tell me how you were inspired by me. I would love to repost you and I love to follow you and help you on your journey.

Bernel
Yeah, so you’ve heard it here, folks. You know what to do? Go find chip. Thank you so much for being here today.

Chip Dizard
Thank you for having me.

Bernel
Wow, that went by really fast. As always, thank you so much for showing up in my little corner of the internet. I would love to hear your thoughts on the show. So please, please subscribe, leave a review and share what you learned with friends. Some of the best things in life are freebies. So don’t forget to head over to Brandon I pronounced.com to check out our free branding goodies, the show notes and more educational resources