$400K With Zero Marketing: Ryan Murphy on Answering the Phone, the KY Derby, and Going Full-Time

He does zero marketing, advertises nowhere, and still can't cover all his bookings. In just over four years Ryan Murphy has pulled more than $400,000 out of a photo booth business built on one habit almost nobody sticks to. What is he actually doing differently? In this Six-Figure Club episode of the Photobooth Podcast, Amber talks with Ryan Murphy of Next Event Photobooth in Louisville, Kentucky, home of the Kentucky Derby. A drummer who worked corporate events and galas for years, Ryan bought his first booth in 2021 and went full-time in January. Ryan talks about watching a competitor's Windows-based booth crash at the Derby and choosing an iPad-based system that hasn't failed him across 24 activations in four days. He also explains how he built a family-run operation with his wife and 17-year-old son. For three years running, he's been Ford's photo and video activation team at the Derby. He also shares the anti-marketing playbook behind his 20 to 40% yearly growth: no ads, no Wedding Pro, just a solid website, a Google Business listing, and the discipline to call people right back. He covers his phone-first sales process, the gala gift-card strategy, and why $1 million might be closer than he thinks. If you want to scale or go full-time, this one's for you. We Break Down: Working the Kentucky Derby as Ford's activation team: 24 activations in four days Why Ryan bet on photo booths in 2021 after a record band year vanished in 48 hours How SBA relief money funded the first booth Why he chose an iPad-based booth after watching a Windows-based 360 crash at the Derby How his wife and 17-year-old son run the glam bot for Ford execs The zero-marketing formula: an on-point website and a Google Business listing The one habit that beats every marketing spend: answer the phone and call back fast The Friday-Monday cold outreach routine that lands him in a client's inbox twice The BMW call that changed everything and why corporate content compounds Becoming a vendor for your local public school system Ryan's phone-first sales process that closes 99.9% of the time Why "checking in" reeks of desperation, and the automated follow-up that replaces it The gala gift-card strategy: donate a digital booth, write it off, and upsell Expanding to four Guac and Chips booths in 2026 and white labeling The road to $1 million Chapters: 00:00 - Episode Begins 00:38 - Meet Ryan Murphy & the Kentucky Derby 02:10 - The Six-Figure Club: Over $400K in Cumulative Revenue 03:00 - Take Me Back: Betting on the Photo Booth Business in 2021 05:41 - Full-Time or Side Hustle? 05:58 - Why He Chose Photo Booth Supply Co. 09:15 - What He Does Differently: The Zero-Marketing Formula 14:50 - The One Event That Shifted Everything: The BMW Call 19:52 - The Sales Process: How Ryan Secures Bookings 23:35 - Following Up Without Chasing: Automated Outreach 26:13 - Expanding to Four Booths in 2026 28:11 - Doing Well in Louisville & Advice for Smaller Markets 33:17 - The Road to the Millionaires Club Resources: Next Event Photobooth: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nexteventphotobooth/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nexteventphotobooth/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nexteventphoto Ryan Murphy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-murphy-267b9563/ Photo Booth Supply Co. https://photoboothsupplyco.com/