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Brennan Haelig of www.jumpstartroi.com is the CEO and Founder of Jump Start ROI – a marketing agency that helps business owners find and attract their perfect leads and turn them into paying customers.

This includes Done-For-You advertising across Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube, LinkedIn and TikTok.

Plus, they help with your website copy, landing pages, email and text messaging.

I first became aware of Brennan and his company through long-term PhotoBizX Member, past guest and course presenter, John Glaser.

Here's what John told me in a recent message…

I have a podcast guest for you. He is running my Facebook ads and is totally cutting the costs.

For example, one of my best booking and sales genres is senior dogs. However, about a year ago, the ads stopped working, and all my leads were worth around $20. I stopped doing it, tried again, and got the same result.

This guy started one for me, and I am getting $3.50 leads.

He is working with another photographer, and they have reported some success with him.

John was, of course, referring to Brennan Haelig, who shares how photographers should be utilising Meta Ads that actually work, and don't cost a fortune.

Here's some more of what we covered in the interview:

• Why a basic website didn’t hold Brennan back from scaling a profitable agency
• The surprising truth about Upwork: how it can attract premium clients, not just cheapskates
• Is your marketing agency ripping you off? What you should get for $1,500 a month — and what to steer clear of
• An affordable way to test ads before paying big money to an agency
• Why Brennan still backs lead ads as the best bet for photography leads — and how to make them pay
• The simple ad formula photographers can use: portrait images + strong headlines = more conversions
• How to stop wasting money on dud ads with creative testing and data-led decisions
• Marketing on autopilot while you’re on holiday — how automations can keep bookings rolling in
• Why Facebook still beats TikTok, Google, and LinkedIn for local lead gen (and how to use it)
• Local SEO vs LinkedIn Ads: what actually works for headshot and portrait bookings
• Running ads without being locked into a contract — Brennan’s client-first model
• What to know before risking your last dollar on Facebook Ads
• The critical reason to own your ad accounts, not hand them over to an agency
• Brennan’s take on whether AI will replace your advertising efforts — and how to stay ahead
• Why photographers who understand ad platforms have a real market advantage
• How Brennan’s agency is rewriting the rulebook with no contracts, transparency, and genuine results

What’s on Offer for Premium Members

If you’re on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interviews each week, a fantastic back catalogue of interviews, and have ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.

Plus, special member-only interviews.

We are small and lean enough to where we talk with the majority of our clients most days of the week. You know, John Glaser, who referred us to you, we talked to him almost every day, five days a week. And we can do that because we're small enough to be able to have that level of communication and also not charge an arm and a leg for what we do. — Brennan Haelig

You'll also receive access to the members-only Secret Facebook Group, where you can connect with other Premium Members and interview guests to help, support and motivate you to take ideas you hear in each episode and put them into action. The group also has FB live video tutorials, role-play, and special live interviews. You will not find more friendly, motivated, caring and sharing photographers online.

Seriously, that's not all.

If you're only spending $100 a week, it's probably not quite enough to be able to make those decisions. So you have to spend enough, not only to afford the cost of an agency, but even if you're just running your ads on your own, you need to spend enough to get enough statistically significant data to make better decisions faster. — Brennan Haelig

In addition to everything above, you'll get access to instructions on forming or joining a MasterMind Group with other premium members. These groups are super motivating, make you accountable, and build friendships with other pro photographers with motives similar to yours – to build a more successful photography business.

What is your big takeaway?

Following this interview, I’d love to know if you're taking anything from what Brennan shared. Is there something you heard that excited or motivated you to the point where you thought, yeah, I'm going to do that! If so, leave your thoughts in the comments below; let me know your takeaways and what you plan to implement in your business based on what you heard in today's episode.

With Google, it's generally more expensive, but the quality is better. With Facebook, it's cheaper, but the quality is worse. And when I say cheaper or more expensive, I mean in cost per lead or cost per conversion type of terms. — Brennan Haelig

If you have any questions I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Brennan, or a way to thank you for coming on the show, feel free to add them in the comments area below.

iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs

I check for any new iTunes or Google reviews each week, and it's always a buzz to receive these… for several reasons.

Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome!

Secondly, iTunes and Google are the most significant podcast search engines, and your reviews and ratings help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners mean more interviews and, ultimately, a better show.

Most of the lead volume actually comes from Facebook, even though, for photographers, Instagram is usually the platform that they care about the most, but it is actually not where you're going to get most of the leads. — Brennan Haelig

If you have left a review in the past, thank you! If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes or https://photobizx.com/google. You can leave some honest feedback and a rating, which will help me and the show. I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL of your website and your name.

Alternatively, if you've left a review for PhotoBizX and are looking for more backlinks to help your SEO, leave a review for the new Photography Xperiment Podcast. Email me your keywords or phrases and where you'd like me to link them.

Meta is very good at understanding what is this ad? Who is it for? It's looking at your website traffic data, all the data you might have collected on your Facebook pixel, all of that stuff. And so, really they want you to get results because they want you to spend money. — Brennan Haelig

Another great way to get a backlink to your site is to send a video testimonial. It doesn't need to be fancy, and your phone will be perfect. Click record and tell me how PhotoBizX has impacted you and your photography business.​

Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:

Jump Start ROI

Jump Start ROI on LinkedIn

Episode 538: John Glaser – Facebook Ads and what you need to be aware of when running yours

I personally try to get every single one of our clients to really understand what's going on in their ad account so that they can access it themselves at any time. The back end of meta is not the most user friendly. It's definitely not, but I think that it's really empowering if you as the business owner know how to do that. — Brennan Haelig

Thank you!

Big thanks to Brennan for sharing so openly in this episode. It’s great to hear from someone flipping the script on how marketing should work — with transparency, fair pricing, and real results, rather than empty agency promises. I reckon you’ll walk away with plenty to think about, whether that’s taking back control of your ads, cutting what’s not working, or building a more sustainable way to grow your photography business. Love to hear your thoughts on this one!

You need to be spending enough to get enough traffic and enough lead flow so that you can learn ‘How well does my site or landing page convert customers?' ‘What is it going to cost me to get leads?' ‘How many of these leads actually turn into customers?'— Brennan Haelig

That’s it for me this week; I hope everything is going well for you in life and business!

Thanks, and speak soon
Andrew

The post 624: Brennan Haelig – The Photographer’s Guide to Meta Ads That Actually Work (and Don’t Cost a Fortune) appeared first on Photography Business Xposed - Photography Podcast - how to build and market your portrait and wedding photography business.