502. Stop Giving Away Your Best Ideas for Free with Tara Turkington

Tara Turkington has spent a decade building a photography business, and now she's eyeing the jump into video — but she's stuck on the same things that trip up almost everyone: no portfolio, no contracts, and a recent client who walked off with her ideas. So I coached her live on the show. We get into pricing your expertise instead of giving it away, what a discovery call should actually accomplish, and why the portfolio problem is way smaller than it feels. Key Takeaways Free ideas don't get valued. If you're brainstorming concepts before a contract exists, you're doing unpaid consulting — and clients treat it that way. Charge for the thinking. A paid discovery workshop reframes you from vendor to strategic partner before a single frame gets shot. Contracts aren't just for paid work. Free projects and trade deals need them more, not less, because that's where expectations get fuzzy fast. Your first portfolio piece is hiding in your current client list. You're already on their sets. Ask for access, sign an agreement, make the thing. About Tara Turkington Tara is a born-and-raised Michigander, based in Détroit, Michigan. Her photography journey started unexpectedly in 2016 while she was finishing her first year of law school and raising her, now, eleven year old daughter. After a spontaneous trip to Colombia, Tara shared photos online that caught the attention of an established photographer, who invited her to shoot behind-the-scenes content for ABC's The Bachelor's, contestants. Once those images hit social media, opportunities started rolling in—from brands and businesses to municipalities and individuals. Somewhere along the way, Tara realized photography was what truly lit her up, so she took a leap of faith, left law school, and never looked back. Now Tara spends her days meeting incredible people, capturing meaningful moments, and helping clients bring their ideas to life. No two days are the same—and she loves it that way. In This Episode [00:00] Welcome to the show! [04:02] Meet Tara Turkington [11:37] One Man Show [18:10] Emotional Buyers [25:21] Creative Directing [26:37] Contracts And Intellectual Property [37:41] Building A Team [39:28] Ways To Build a Portfolio [48:33] Connect with Tara [49:13] Outro Quotes "People who pay, pay attention." — Ryan Koral "As soon as I put a $2,500 price tag on the workshop, now it's like, okay, we believe Ryan — they really want it to work because they've already invested money." — Ryan Koral "So I think where I went wrong is I basically gave a workshop for free." — Tara Turkington "I don't think you need three projects. You do one that's kind of good, then the next one is going to be kind of gooder." — Ryan Koral "I'm still thinking with 2016 mind, and it's like — you have a literal decade of experience." — Tara Turkington Guest Links Check out Tara's portfolio at taraturkingtonllc.com Follow Tara on IG Links Find out more about the Studio Sherpas Mastermind Join the Grow Your Video Business Facebook Group  Follow Ryan Koral on Instagram Follow Grow Your Video Business on Instagram Join us on Onward Summit Join the Studio Sherpas newsletter