Entrepreneur: Jared Polin

Biz: Fro Knows Photo

Tilt: Improving photography skills

Scene: Fro Knows Photo, YouTube (1.46M), Jared Polin Photography, LinkedIn (635)

Snack Bites: 

  • Jared Polin and a photographer friend wanted to create a website called Pro Photo 101. That idea never materialized, but Jared found himself in front of a camera making a test video about his Nikon gear. He failed for 10 minutes and thought he wasn’t an on-camera guy.
  • Not wanting to build a YouTube channel with his name, Jared came up with Fro Knows Photo (and yes, his hair did have something to do with it.)
  • Jared and his team operate out of the Fro Factory in Philadelphia, where they built sets so they’re ready to record all their video types.
  • In 2019, Fro Knows Photo earned the coveted 1M subscriber mark on YouTube.

Why We Stan: Jared loves the rhyme and sees the value of a personal but not personally named brand. We also like his Six Degrees of Photography, where he uses his skills to tell stories of well-known people and get connected to the people they know, too.

The Story of Jared Polin

Pro Photo 101, a website idea created by Jared Polin and a photographer friend, never went live. But it did leave Jared in his basement with a camera in front of him.

He made a test video about his Nikon gear, and it didn’t go well. “I was once that guy who could not put five words in a row together before stopping,” Jared says.

But less than a decade later, he hit the prestigious 1M subscriber mark on YouTube with FroKnowsPhoto. He’s published thousands of videos reviewing products, talking about how to get better images, and profiling subjects. He’s got a podcast with over 100 episodes, and of course, he’s got merch.

Even in that auspicious beginning, Jared realized he wanted to make a name for himself as an expert in photography and correct information he saw offered by other YouTube creators. 

“Instead of telling them that they sucked in the comments, I decided to give it a go myself at the time,” he says.

But he wanted to create a brand that wasn’t named for him. “I wanted something catchy and more memorable,” he says.

He found inspiration in his hair and Gary Vay-ner-chuk (three syllables). Fro Knows Photo was born. In the beginning, he posted two videos a day, coming up with an idea, filming and editing it, and posting it by lunchtime. He repeated the process in the afternoon.

At night, he would spend hours replying to every comment and answering every email in his inbox. He also attracted new followers to his channel when he commented on other people’s videos.

Over the years, he’s produced thousands of videos, and by 2019, he had two full-time employees on the team operating out of the Fro Factory in Philadelphia.

They created a proper workflow for creating more content and built multiple sets. So if they’re unboxing videos, they’re on the store set. They record the podcasts on the Raw Talk set. They film question-and-answer videos and website critiques at the desk set. All are pre-lit and ready to go when the content team needs to create.

But Jared didn’t ignore his personal brand built on his name. He has a personal photography business. On that site, he features a series of profiles called Six Degrees of Photography in a mix of powerful color and black-and-white images. “I spend a day in the life of interesting people, capturing their images. In turn, they connect me with other interesting people anywhere in the world,” Jared explains.

The profiles include former NFL star Steve Weatherford, author Lewis Howes, singer-songwriter Skylar Grey, and college head basketball coach George Raveling.

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About the author

Ann regularly combines words and strategy for B2B, B2C, and nonprofits, continuing to live up to her high school nickname, Editor Ann. An IABC Communicator of the Year and founder of G Force Communication, Ann coaches and trains professionals in all things content. Connect with her on LinkedIn and Twitter.