0022: The Key to a great shot, regardless of camera with International Photographer & Best Selling Author Rosh Sillars

Intro [0:00]

EA interviews Episode 22. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:13]

Welcome Expert Authority World. I’m excited to be here with you and bring to you Rosh Sillars from the Rosh Group, photography expert and world traveler and best selling author. He’s going to be sharing his insight on photography with you. Have you ever wanted to take a good picture? Have you ever wanted to know what goes into a good picture? How do you get that perfect shot? There are so many people out there that will just arbitrarily do a Facebook Live and they’re like, “Oh. I have a phone and now I’m a photographer.” And they think that just because they have a camera that makes them a photographer. And this is my personal viewpoint on it because I get photography and videography questions as well. But do you know about color temperature on the lighting? Do you know about composition if you’re using audio? All of these things play a factor in the final shot. So I’m going to let him jump into it. But first let’s thank our sponsor. 

SPONSOR BeLive [1:04]

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Mario Fachini [1:32]

And we are back with Mr. Rosh Sillars from the Rosh Group. Rosh, I’m excited to have you here. What are you most excited about? 

Rosh Sillars [1:33]

Oh, this is wonderful. Thank you for having me on, Mario. This is a lot of fun. We’re going to have a great conversation. 

Mario Fachini [1:38]

Well, I appreciate that. It’s a pleasure to have you. I can’t wait for you to share because I know what you’ve been doing over the years. And it’s been a while since we first connected kind of indirectly. But it’s funny how everything works out. And I’m really glad because you’ve taught me a lot as I followed you and you’ve shared some insights. So I want to start off with the inspiration for your company and why photography. Where did it all come from? 

Rosh Sillars [2:01]

Oh, wow. That goes way back for me. My father like to photograph. We had a dark room in the basement when I was a young boy. And so that just kind of got me the bug he would share me. I’d go out to Montana to visit family and spend the summers out there. And he handed me his camera. And it was a manual 35 millimeter camera. So I learned early on. And I went into high school and came out of high school. I went to a great school that had a great program. I came out of high school as one of the top young photographers in the nation through scholastics. And it just went on from there. And I went into the newspaper business. I got my degree in photography. And I’ve continued on all the way up into the highest levels of advertising photography. Pretty much I’ve probably photographed just about everything except for war. Although my newspaper career certainly put me in interesting situations. 

Mario Fachini [2:55]

What was your most memorable moment from over the years? 

Rosh Sillars [2:58]

Wow. There isn’t one. You know, I’ve had the opportunity to photograph a lot of interesting people. And one of the moments that really helped me understand how to treat people and how to interact with people was – it’s a number of years ago now – but I was photographing Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York. And I went in, it was a it was a last minute thing. My hair was all over – when I had hair – all over the place. Like, literally I had to run the last second call. I met a reporter. And we went into this small room and there she was. And there’s a PR person to the right of us and the two of us. And before we get started we did a little chit chat. She seemed a little stiff, a little nervous. But not nervous, but stiff. Just not sure who we were, the nervous part is from. And I reached down into my bag and I pull out a flash and I look at her and I say, “Would you mind if I use flash?” And there’s this sudden silence. And she looked at me and you could feel the tension in the room. “So you know, you’re the first person ever to ask me to take my photograph?” I have to remember at that time – this wasn’t long after Diana had passed – and she was one of the most photographed people in the world. And so that idea of being able to just connect with somebody understand that everybody is a real person. If you can build that rapport and that relationship with people. And after that, she was all about us. We had a great time. She actually looked over the PR person and send them out of the room. And we just talked royal family, took photos, great interview. And she literally was walking us to the door because she didn’t want us to leave because she knew somebody else who may not have so much respect just as a thing was coming in next. So it’s that kind of a thing. Those moments, I think, ultimately for me, especially for the types of photography I’ve done, I’m more in advertising and marketing photography today. But I really enjoyed the media side because I was capturing history. And people saw history through my eyes, whether I was on the campaign trail or just documenting a big event. I felt that sense of being a part of history and playing my role in the world. So that was – I really did enjoy that. 

Mario Fachini [5:26]

Well, that does sound like a lot of fun. And I appreciate you for sharing that because what a lot of people don’t realize is exactly what you articulated, that everybody is somebody’s somebody. They’re not an object. It’s not just, you know, something you photograph. They’re alive human being with the same feelings and emotions and intellect that everyone else has. And it’s something as simple as that that makes the biggest difference. So thank you for (1) being you and then sharing that because so many people just think it’s, “Nikon or Canon.” And we might jump into that. 

Rosh Sillars [6:01]

Equipment is good but that’s not what it’s about. It really is not. 

Mario Fachini [6:05]

Yeah. I tell people all the time, it’s about the psychology, not the technology. 

Rosh Sillars [6:09]

Much better way to put it. 

Mario Fachini [6:10]

So let’s talk about who you helped and how you helped them.

Rosh Sillars [6:14]

Well, I work in a few areas. I own a media company. And my career has certainly evolved over time. And I start off helping a lot of photographers. I’ve worked at the universities as a photojournalism instructor and digital photography instructor. And getting into the social in the mid-2000s, I really started supporting other photographers in that arena on the business side of photography. And even some of the areas that I’ve known for is supporting photographer’s pricing. I have a big article that comes out every year. So really, it’s support the business side of photography as much as how to take a better photograph. I’m always happy to answer those questions. But there’s not as many people out there really supporting photographers on the business side. So I really enjoy doing that. I’ve taken that a little bit more mainstream these days. I have more mainstream clients than just photos. But obviously, photography is my core and certainly in my heart. 

Mario Fachini [7:09]

So you had touched on your clients. Let’s talk about them for a minute. What is your biggest client success story? They were having a problem, they came to you, you helped you solve it. What was the biggest transformation you were able to give them? For you – 

Rosh Sillars [7:24]

Wow, that’s a great question, Mario. I don’t know what the best one was. I mean, I have had very large clients being in Metro Detroit area. A lot of automotive, international automotive. But also some of the recently until the last year when the agency lost the account, I was doing all the foods. And I did a lot of work there. And that was really good. But I have all sized clients when it comes to photography. From, you know, portrait sessions all the way up to – just, literally, before we went on the air had an agency called me to photograph for a brand. So it’s all across the board. And I’ve had a great career. So quite often when a big opportunity comes around, especially in the area of food, I often get a look. And at least people consider my work. But you know, a lot of times these days the problems – or simply as the other day having to photograph a huge line of trucks. And they only had them for the one day in the morning. And you know how shorter days are and they wanted me to photograph it around [8:00]. Well, the sun is hardly up at [8:00]. And, oh, my goodness, that day, it was raining and foggy. But yet I had to photograph that line of the trucks. Figure out how to make that work. So a lot of times, just that experience of learning how to create a really good image, whether it’s in post production – in this case, that certainly had to be the case – there’s a lot of post production elements. Because photography has changed so much. It used to be all about pre-production and then you get the shot and turn the film in. Today it’s all about post-production. So there’s been a big shift in photography and staying up with how you can solve problems differently now with the tools that are available. It’s something new every day. And in being in Metro Detroit, I can’t focus just on food because, although, the food area of business is certainly growing in Metro Detroit, there’s so many other opportunities that are going on. So I have my fingers in a lot of different stuff. 

Mario Fachini [9:34]

So I want to ask you about the food because you piqued my interest. I absolutely love food. What’s one of your favorite clients you’ve worked with in the food industry? I’m thinking maybe Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris. Have you worked with any of them? Because you got steak on my mind with some – 

Rosh Sillars [9:50] 

I’ve certainly photographed steak. But you know, like I said, the Aldi was really good because that’s the international account. And we did a lot of hero shots for their covers of their in house magazines and for their ads and for their trucks. And that was a consistent client that offered a lot of different types of food type photography. And it was really, really pretty cool. But I photographed in the years past that for Olga’s and Don Foods and Mongolian BBQ. It’s been a regular through the years. So there’s a number of different and new ones all time. And quite honestly, a lot of startups in Detroit recently, in the last eight few years, that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of their growth. And getting the word out, creating really nice images so they can show off their wonderful products. You know, you can do it on your own. But you have to remember that photograph is representing you and it’s the first connection that a lot of people have with your brand. So it needs to be good. You can’t just have good enough. You really need to have it top notch. Even if you just invest in one photograph and do that one. Well, that’s better than having a bunch of average photographs representing you. 

Mario Fachini [11:10]

I agree with that. 100%. And right before we went on the air here, I was going through my checklist of what to do to prepare to be on camera. And so many people don’t even think about that. It’s amazing to me because they’ll get the professional photos as well you should. They’ll get the professional video as well you should. They’ll buy the suit. They’ll buy the dress. They’ll get the banner made. They’ll get the business cards. They’ll do everything. And then they do a Facebook Live or YouTube Live, they do something on video, and they don’t invest $10, $18 on an extra light and extra 30 on a webcam. And it’s like, “How brand representative are you?” 

Rosh Sillars [11:55]

Well, as a photographer, this is something that’s been true for a long, long time. People will spend just a boatload of money on the media. Like say for example, a billboard campaign. That’s not cheap. And they’ll spend a lot of money and then they’ll come to you and say, “Can you create a photograph for a couple hundred bucks for us? We’ve really blown our budget.” I’m like, “Wait a minute, this is the most important thing that you have going. And you want to skimp on the thing that’s representing your brand.” But it happens all the time. Sometimes it’s everything, the photos and afterthought. And you know, honestly, there’s some elements that look, we are in the heyday of photography. And you have to have photography. Now, at the same time lot of photographers say, “What are you talking about? It’s so hard these days.” That’s because there’s so many photographers too. But that’s true in a lot of areas. There are a ton of writers, there are ton of videographers, there are a ton of pretty much everything out there because Google has lowered the bar. Anybody can figure anything these days. And so you need to find a way to separate yourself from the competition. So it really is all about branding. There are photographers who charge $100 and there are photographers who charge $50,000. Why can they do that if there’s so many different photographers? How are photographers charging sincerely $10,000 a day regularly? Because they’ve developed the brand. And they’re attracting not the people that – the people want to hire a $100 photographer, will hire the $100 photographer. There are people who want the $10,000 photographer, will hire the $10,000 photographer. And you can decide which one you want to be. And it takes a different level of work. And certainly branding is a big part of it. 

Mario Fachini [13:42]

Let’s jump into that a little bit. Because this is a very common question. It’s a very good question. I don’t think people address it enough and realize it. But one of the things my clients always ask me and when we’re going through my eight week training, one of the things we touch on is packaging and pricing. And that’s exactly it. You know, we go through publishing the book and creating a training so you can profit from it. And they’re going, “Oh, I want to sell it for $97 or $197 or $297.” And I personally don’t tell anyone it’s part of the requirement. I won’t let you sell it under $2,000. That’s like a good starting point truthfully – 

Rosh Sillars [14:21]

Your reputation. You know, your brand is your reputation. And yeah, you decide where you want to be. 

Mario Fachini [14:27]

When you said that there’s people for $100, $1,000, $10,000 and $50,000, where do you want to be? Why do you think people choose to just play at the low level? 

Rosh Sillars [14:41]

Because they feel safe. And sometimes – and you know this, Mario. Sometimes we decide what other people can afford. And sometimes it’s our own self worth. We feel like – I mean, a lot of times people get into photography early on and say, “Wow. I made 100 bucks for this photograph. Boy, if I could just do this so many more times, I’m going to make -” but they fail to realize how hard it is to make that – find more people who need that $100. They took months to get to that one. And then a few months later, they got another one. Like, “Wow. If I just worked a little harder.” It’s not going to be that – everyone is fighting for the clients. So which clients do you want to fight for? It’s going to take about the same amount of effort. Just about. Because you have to think about it. There are thousands and thousands of photographers fighting for the $100, right? There are hundreds of people fighting for the $10,000. So you’re fighting against fewer people going after the $10,000. And when you get it, – which you won’t get it as often as you’ll get the $100 – so you went three to one $10,000. So you made $300 or you made 10,000 one time. I mean, you can choose. You can choose. But you have to work on your craft. And you have to deliver too. And you also have to have the portfolio.  And a lot of times, it’s certainly networking and developing. And again, it’s hard to get the first one. It’s very hard. But once you have sold your photography at a certain level, you’ve developed a network and people refer people who need $10,000 photographers. And people who need $100 photographers and people who need $100 photographers who will be referred by people who hire a $100 photographer. So once you get into that network and start developing that reputation, you’ll get there. Never ever say it’s easy. But it’s not easy at either level. 

Mario Fachini [16:40]

Yeah. There’s definitely work that goes into it. And there’s – I was thinking about this yesterday and you’re bringing me back to my first client and shoot. And it was for a restaurant. I love that food. It was a pizza place. And it was for a website. And they said, “Well, can you take some photography also.” And I quoted them on the site. And it was a whopping 500 with an extra page for 100. And I said yes to the photography for 50 bucks. And I was just so excited to be able to do it. And I took a compliment out of it. Because even five years later, they were still using it on their ads, on their TV commercials, on the menus, and everything. And my little trick – I’m still implementing it now with the soft boxes – but I took a napkin over the flash so it wasn’t super bright. And it gave it that soft look. And it’s reminiscent because there’s people reaching out even, again, yesterday that want to fly me and to produce Facebook Live streams because, I guess, they think what I’m doing here is – they see it and it was more referrals. So there’s that both ends of it where you go, “Hey. It’s been over ten years. Here’s where you started. Here’s where you’re going.” But let me dive even deeper. Why do you think people after five or ten years, I still see some of them that they don’t progress, so to speak. They still stay where they were. And you had touched on that safe zone. But what else do you think could be playing a role that we could break through for someone listening? 

Rosh Sillars [18:08]

When I – a lot of times they said that, you know, the idea of that $50, $100, or maybe even $200 for a photograph and you do get used to that. And it’s harder to build your way up from there. When I taught photojournalism, I would talk to young journalists and say, “You know, some of you are going to work for a weekly newspaper. And some of you are going to work for the New York Times. Why? Well, because some of you apply to the New York Times.” You don’t know until you apply and go through the process. And so you don’t know what you need to fix. You need to go to the big ad agency, knock on the door, and say, “This is my portfolio. What do you think?” And you know what? They may say, “Well, in about 50 years, you might be ready.” But that’s fine. What are those things? In other words, you may not get in the first time but you need to know the process. You need to know that, “Oh, wait a minute. I just talked to an absolutely wrong person. But now that I’ve been there, I know who the right person to talk to is. And I can start working and networking towards that right direction.” So a lot of times it is our comfort zone, where we are. And you can work your way up. I worked my way up from a weekly newspaper all the way up to international photography slowly. But that’s my way. I know guys who assisted – went out, left school, assisted big time photographers. The next thing I know, I hear they’re flying all over the world knocking on doors. My coauthor for my first book, she’s a great example. I use her all the time. Her name is Lindsay Adler. And when I met her, nobody knew who she was. I mean, literally. I mean, but we connected on Twitter. And we met in New York. And it turns out she’s writing a book. And there’s a whole long fun story behind that. But today, ten years later, she travels all over the world. She’s one of the top photographer. She’s a Canon Explorer of Light at 30. I mean, it’s huge. But that’s because she worked really, really hard. She knocked down a lot of doors. If there’s anybody that says you can’t do it because of your age or you have to earn your dues. She was doing it just a few years out of school. And this is what I often tell people, everybody will say to you that you need to earn your dues. Don’t listen to them. Because by the time you earn your dues and you’re at the age or have enough experience that that they were telling you, you needed, they’re looking for fresh blood. So you don’t win either way. I mean, so you have to decide yourself that you’re ready to go. This is your time. And don’t listen to people who say you have to go through so many hoops. Just keep improving what you’re doing every day. 

Mario Fachini [21:03]

I absolutely love that. One of the things I learned and I’m very thankful and now I tell my clients is go an inch wide and a mile deep. So many people spread out all over the place. And they never become the best at what they do. What I’m hearing from you is become the best and you’ll attract that to you instead of just being all over the place continually forever. Like you said, you’re not going to win either way. It’s either going to take too long. And then, I mean, factor in inflation. Great. You raise your rates. Now they’re not even worth it anymore. 

Rosh Sillars [21:34]

We all have to find our own. Some people are very happy taking senior portraits for their local community. It’s a very fulfilling career doing that. People love it. They bring a fashion flair or their own look to it. They love working with the kids. Success does not mean that you are making a million dollars as an international photographer. Whenever people ask me what is success in business, I say positive cash flow. It’s just that simple. I rather be a photographer who only makes, say, a total of $50,000 or $25,000 a year. But have an extra thousand leftover. Than a photographer or a business person that makes half a million or a million a year, but owes 300,000 at the end. I mean, it’s positive. If you have more coming in than going out at the end of the month or the end of the year, you are a successful business person as far as I’m concerned. 

Mario Fachini [22:32]

I like that analogy. Because when I’m working with clients on our profitability matrix for their business, it’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep. 

Rosh Sillars [22:40]

Mm hmm. Exactly right. 

Mario Fachini [22:42]

So you would touched on something and we’re going to segue into it. How has publishing, how has your book helped your business? 

Rosh Sillars [22:50]

Well, that expertise element really does help. So I guess we go back to Lindsay. And again back to how you treat people. So Lindsay, again, that time, Twitter’s always been one of my main areas that I’ve developed in social. And at the time, she had maybe 200 followers and nobody knew who she was. But she was excited. She heard we’re going to New York to speak at the Javits Center. So she met me and a couple other people there from podcasts and from social media. And she’s really – she’s full of energy. She had so much energy, Mario. I pulled out my microphone and interviewed her right there. She had that much energy. I knew she was going places. And she joined us later on other things. But it turned out that later after that meeting, that she called me and asked me if she could interview me for her book. And I’m like, “Yeah. Sure.” And of course, I’m like, “What’s the book about?” She’s like, “Well, social media for photographers.” Well, that’s the book I’ve been writing all summer. So I could have been really – I could have been rude. “Like, one, who are you? You’re out of college and now you’re going to write a big book for photographers.” And I said, “No.” I embraced this. “Anything I can do to support you, whatever you need. Of course, you can interview me for your book.” And so she did. And then, actually, about six weeks later, it turns out that the person she had partnered with on the book, her coauthor, really didn’t know anything about social media. And the publisher fired her. Now, the big difference she had that I didn’t have is she had a publisher. And the reason was, is because she worked so hard. She knocked on door after door and got no after no. But eventually found somebody who had a bit book deal and referred her to their publisher. And they said, “Yes. Great idea.” And so she told them when they fired her coauthor that she knew me. She had met me and that she thought that maybe I could help save the book. Because they were going past deadline. So she tweeted me, she said, “Rosh, what are you doing?” And so I said, you know, “Yeah. I can help out.” And I called the publisher like, “Yeah. We know who you are. Can you get this thing done in eight weeks?” And we did. And we got it out by that May and fully on the shelves by May in the bookstores. And that’s the way it worked. And the book helped, you know, certainly having a book from a publisher gives you a bit of credibility. It helps me bring on Wiley as my next publisher. Because after that, I wrote my own book, self-published. You know what? Anybody who thinks they have to have a publisher, it’s ridiculous. The bottom line is, you’re still – it’s nice to have some of that team element, it’s nice to have the editors and all that. But the bottom line is, you still have to do all the hard work after it’s launched. You have to sell it. So having been on both sides of self-publishing and having a big publisher publish for you, don’t be afraid of self-publishing. But it is nice having that under my belt. And then I – so I did my own self-published book. And then I went to Wiley. I knocked on the door with a few ideas. And so, “Yeah. We know who you are.” They actually had a competition book just like mine and they published one. And so I gave them a few ideas. They said, “Consider us your new publisher.” “Great. Wonderful.” And they rejected my ideas but they asked me to stay on and write two other books, which I did. So I wrote two books for them. And that was enough. They were about cameras and the Digital Field Guide. So itwas a lot of fun. I got to photograph for them. And test out all the cameras. And help people out with taking better photographs. But those are so – it’s hard to know. The camera comes out and you have to have this thing done in six weeks. But it was certainly an experience. And so being able to go to the bookstore and seeing your books on the shelves and being able to say, “Hey. I have three or four books under my belt.” Yeah, people listen. It does open some doors. It really does. 

Mario Fachini [27:10]

That is fantastic. And for you listening, you’re going to want to back that part back up. Because I heard no less than seven or eight #solidgoldnuggets in there. And I’m going to touch on a few of them. And you were saying, she reached out. She was doing the same thing as you or similar. Not the same. But she reached out. She asked. She took a [inaudible [00:27:27], like I like to say. 

Rosh Sillars [27:27]

She knocked on doors.  

Mario Fachini [27:29]

And the other thing was, “She tweeted me.” So many people ask, how do you book guests on your show? How do you do this? How do you get clients? Just know what you’re going after. She reached out on Twitter. 

Rosh Sillars [27:41] 

Yeah. So that’s how we got Wiley. 

Mario Fachini [27:42]

[Inaudible]. 

Rosh Sillars [27:43]

I mean, I asked her LinkedIn. I just typed in LinkedIn acquisition editor for Wiley. Because I wanted Wiley specifically. I don’t know why. I just always had this thing that I wanted Wiley. So

yeah, and then I couldn’t get through on LinkedIn. So I went to Facebook. Now I had the name, I went to Facebook. I said, “Hey. Are you the person I can contact?” And she said, “Yeah.” And so thus the relationship begun. 

Mario Fachini [28:10]

That is so cool. So we’re going to go into video. How has video helped your business? Because I may have seen you do just one or two over the years? 

Rosh Sillars [28:21]

Yeah, let’s see. Well, I made about 1,000 videos. And, you know, I’ve gained clients through videos. It helps [inaudible [00:28:31] the ability to connect with somebody better. And I’m going to be very candid about it, that’s something I’m still working on, the connectability. In my videos, I add a few subscribers every day. And I’m always trying to do better and get better at my videos. And I understand YouTube very well. I connect – I’m pretty well connected with a lot of the YouTube educators. And I consider many of them friends. But I’m still kind of, you know, a slow growth channel. Well, let me give you a tale of two to channel. I have one channel which I have about – tapping on 800 videos. About 1200 subscribers. Not very much for that many videos. It really is not. And the reason for that, I know the reason for that, it’s because it’s such a wide area. It’s business and marketing. So I may be even talk about SEO one day. And so someone follows me on SEO. And then the next day, I’m talking Facebook. And so that’s not so interesting to them. And then maybe I talked about something else. So it could be a number of videos before talk Facebook again. By that point in time, the algorithm says, “Okay. This person is really not interested in Rosh’s videos.” And that’s really how it works. You have to build and create bingeable content on YouTube. And this is true with any of the social platforms. My other channel is growing at about the same speed. And I started as just pricing for photographers. It’s an area I write on and all that and it grew. I got 100 subs in two days for that. And it just kept growing. Now I put a video up every week or two and it competes with the growth of my other channel where I’m putting three and four and I’m always focused on. Here’s the issue, you have to win. You really do need to niche out. You really do. And create bingeable content so someone watches one and they watch another However, you can burn out really quickly that way. So you have to know that that could happen. So I decided, I’m just going to go into the long haul. I’m going to get to my goal. And it’s true, I think, for a lot of my social and a lot of what I do,. It’s not necessarily that I’m the best. But I just keep going and I outlast. And that outlasting has gotten me very far in my career. I was just the last standing. There are a lot of people who popped early and burned out. Did really well in this area and that way and burned out. A five or six years later, I’m now the veteran. And so it kind of works out that way. And so I’m doing the same thing with my YouTube channel. I’m two years in with my main channel and I’ll just keep going. And I’ll be where I want to be. And may it may be five years. So what? I’ll get there. 

Mario Fachini [31:24]

And that’s why you are the best. Because what I’m hearing there is you committed to it. So many people think it’s just, “Oh, I’m going to shoot one video and I’m going to have a million subscribers and all this stuff.” And, you know, I thought about it even before I started the show going, how serious do I want to take this. And I was like, “I’m going to do this right like I do everything. Or I’m not going to do it at all.” And it makes a difference. Because in essence, shooting the video or the photography, that’s just clicking the button. But the other 99.9% that goes into it reminds me of the iceberg of here’s what you see and here’s the reality of it. 

Rosh Sillars [32:01]

Yeah. And kind of lean back to the business side of doing videography, obviously. Doing video and creating videos has allowed me to pull on clients who want to be able to do. I just had a meeting about an hour before we went on air with somebody who wants to do YouTube. And wants me to consult them on video and how to support them. And someone I’ve known for many years. And she knows I’ve been doing this. And so here we are. And so that kind of thing, you often will get opportunities you never knew where possible once you start doing these things and getting into the process. Because once you go through the process, now you’re an expert. And the more you do it, the more of an expert you can be. And you can take that experience and share it with other people. Or you know, you can – well, so if it’s creating and lighting videos,” Well, now I can support other people with creating and lighting videos.” So though my career has traditionally been still, I now find myself with more opportunities with interesting opportunities related to video just because I started to take it on. 

Mario Fachini [33:06]

Yeah. That’s what I like about the industry. When I started – I’ve always loved photography. Then I got into modeling. And I’ve always loved videography. And they all complement each other very well because it’s the same principles. It’s just a matter of are you in front of the camera or behind the camera. So Rosh, I appreciate you for sharing that with us. We’re going to jump into the Imperfect Action Round. But first guess what we’re going to do? 

Rosh Sillars [33:29]

Sponsor. 

Mario Fachini [33:30]

Thank them. We’re going to thank them. 

Rosh Sillars [33:32]

We’re going to thank them

Mario Fachini [33:34]

All right. We’ll be right back. 

SPONSOR BeLive [33:36]

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Mario Fachini [34:42]

You all ready for this? Dan, dan, bump, bump, bump, bump. Okay. We’re back with the Imperfect Action Round. Rosh, are you ready to take imperfect action? 

Rosh Sillars [34:51]

I don’t know. But I’ll do my best. 

Mario Fachini [34:55]

So what we’re going to do here, I got a couple questions for you. They’re rapid fire, I only need a 60-second answer. But what is the biggest problem you see your audience make and how can they fix it? 

Rosh Sillars [35:09]

Not starting and then starting. Seriously. I mean, that’s the biggest problem most people have is not starting. And the way to fix it is to start. And do something, even if it’s something small every single day, and allow it to snowball. 

Mario Fachini [35:20]

I love it. All right. What is the fastest path to the cash? 

Rosh Sillars [35:25]

Oh, that’s a great question. Charging and charging enough. I think most people undervalue themselves. If you want people to feel you have value, you need to believe you have value and then charge appropriately. 

Mario Fachini [35:39]

I love it. All right. So the last one is, how do you maximize the customer lifetime value? You’ve taken the time, energy, and money to get your first client and you tenth, 50th, 100th. You have a business. How do you keep that going so you’re not on a revenue roller coaster?  

Rosh Sillars [35:54]

It’s one word, communication. You have to continue to communicate and keep them in the loop. And it’s awareness traffic conversions and retention. And you’re talking retention. A lot of people forget about that. And that could be email. It could be retargeting. It could be creating events for people. There are a lot of ways to go about it. Vacational, “hey, how you doing” phone call. But the main word in all of that is communication and don’t forget about it. 

Mario Fachini [36:22]

Absolutely love it. You’re nailing this. It seems like you’ve done this just once or twice. 

Rosh Sillars [36:25]

Maybe. 

Mario Fachini [36:27]

Okay. So now, we’re going to ask you what is your favorite business book that’s made the biggest impact on your life? 

Rosh Sillars [36:34]

Wow. That is a good question. I think there’ve been a few and it’s really the classics these days. But you know what? This is it. Hands down. This is the one I recommend to everyone. And that is Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. Hands down by far the one. It was originally written for writers. But that idea of resistance, the idea of going to work every day, especially when you’re independent business person, that’s so important. And he really just lays out in a way that you say, “Oh, yeah. Okay. This is what I got to do.” So the War of Art by Steven Pressfield. 

Mario Fachini [37:10]

It’s a great one. I remember when I read it. That’s a great recommendation. All right. Well, I appreciate you for being here. Why don’t you let everyone know where they can find you and learn more. 

Rosh Sillars [37:19]

Well, very easy. Let’s just stick with the videos, so if you’re a photographer and you want to learn about pricing and photography, go to Price.Photography. Just put the Price.Photography in the URL and that will take you to my YouTube site. Or you can go Rosh.Video and that’ll take you to my general business and marketing YouTube page. Easy enough. 

Mario Fachini [37:44]

Very good. Well, Rosh, sincerely thank you for being here. It’s been an absolute pleasure. 

Rosh Sillars [37:47]

Thanks for having me. Thanks for having me, Mario. I really do appreciate it. I appreciate the opportunity. 

Mario Fachini [37:51]

All right. Everyone, well, I hope you enjoyed the episode. Have a great day and God bless. 

SPONSOR Expert Authority Checklist [37:56]

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SPONSOR BeLive [39:12]

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www.ExpertAuthorityWorld.com [39:48]

Thanks for listening to the episode. I hope you got a lot of value out of it. Let’s continue the conversation over in the community, ExpertAuthorityWorld com. We can have discussions, talk about the episodes, and I’d love to get your thoughts on it. Once again ExpertAuthorityWorld.com.