Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 40: Lauren Carnes - The Recipe for a Successful Pitch
146 Plays6 years ago
Today’s guest is communications coach and strategist Lauren Carnes.
Lauren helps creative and lifestyle brands bridge the gap between imagery and copywriting. And her marketing, PR, and social media background includes experience working alongside some major brands.
Today she is sharing the recipe for a successful pitch. We chat about what exactly that means, and everything from setting yourself up for success through tips for the actual pitch itself.
With a background in public relations and social media marketing, Lauren has always been a lover of telling great stories. For 6 years she worked alongside international brands including Nike, Airstream, the John Maxwell Company, and Chick-fil-A in defining unique elements of their stories and serving as their brand voice through digital, print, and in-person engagements.
In 2014, she made the leap to launching Lauren Carnes Photography serving couples, creatives, and foodies through wedding, branding, and food photography. After successfully growing her photography business, she focused on merging her two creative passions into one business by coaching creatives on consistent brand voice, marketing & sales strategies, and imagery.
Since then, she's worked alongside brands like the Rising Tide Society & HoneyBook, Natalie Franke, Megan Martin Creative, Rachel Allene, Creme Brands, Creative at Heart, and more, infusing communications strategy and consistency into a variety of brand elements. When she's not in the office, she can be found cooking, hosting friends, or exploring new cities with her husband, Chip, son, Oliver, and their fur-baby, Sophie.
For the show notes and more resources, head on over to https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-lauren-carnes-episode-40.
Recommended
Transcript
Crafting a Client Pitch
00:00:05
Speaker
But pitching in the sense of what we're going to talk about today is a little bit more of kind of how to sell yourself to a potential new client and how to kind of influence a customer to go from even discovering who you are to actually swiping their card and purchasing from you and then ultimately being the people who sell you to others.
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to the Brands at Book Show, where we help creative, service-based businesses build their brands and find more clients. I'm your host, Davy Jones.
Meet Lauren Carnes
00:00:41
Speaker
Today's guest is communications coach and strategist Lauren Carnes. Lauren helps creative and lifestyle brands bridge the gap between imagery and copywriting. And her marketing PR and social media background includes experience working alongside some major brands. Today she is sharing the recipe for a successful pitch. We chat about exactly what that means and everything from setting yourself up for success through tips for the actual pitch itself.
00:01:06
Speaker
Be sure to check out the show notes at DavianCrista.com for the resources we mentioned during the episode, and I'd like to hear from you about what kind of content you'd like to see on the Brands at Book podcast as we move forward. I'd also like to know what episodes you've enjoyed most so far and why. To leave your feedback, head on over to the Davian Crista Facebook page and send us a message. Now, onto the episode.
Balancing Motherhood and Business
00:01:32
Speaker
Welcome Lauren to the brands that book show. This is episode has been a long time coming. We talked about this pre Oliver, a while before Oliver arrived. And for those of you listening who don't know Lauren, Lauren just introduced their first into the world. So how's motherhood?
00:01:47
Speaker
Motherhood is going great. It is everything and more than they tell you and also everything and more that they don't tell you. It has been the absolute best time of our lives. We're loving getting to welcome Oliver into the world and learn all about him and see him grow and also just kind of learn what it means to be a mother and also what it means to be a mom and a business owner.
00:02:10
Speaker
And just kind of navigating those waters, I think it can be a little intimidating. And anyone who is listening to this who either is a mom or would like to be a mom one day or is a dad and or would like to be a dad one day and is kind of feeling those tensions know that it's okay. But you will figure it out. We all do. And Davey, I think you can probably attest to that as well. So it's been super sweet. He's absolutely adorable. Yeah.
00:02:33
Speaker
It's definitely a challenge. I've talked about on the podcast a couple of times just feeling vastly unprepared for what or just my expectations being totally off to or unrealistic when it comes to being a parent now and adjusting to running a business and being a parent as well. I know that Krista has dealt with this as well.
Lauren's Career Journey
00:02:52
Speaker
You're still in the beginning phases here. You're just getting out of maternity leave here and I really appreciate you making time for us.
00:03:00
Speaker
towards the end of maternity leave here as well. But like I said, this episode has been a long time coming. And we talked I think even around the time I started the podcast or shortly afterwards about having you come on as a guest, you have such a unique perspective, because you've dabbled in all sorts of different things. But and dabbled is not the right word. I think that doesn't do justice to
00:03:22
Speaker
your expertise. So I don't want to, you know, I want to make sure that that I mentioned that but I guess the common thread throughout those experiences is communications and marketing and PR. And so we're going to actually talk about pitching today. And can you tell us though a little bit about your background and how you got started?
00:03:41
Speaker
Absolutely. That's a great question. And you are right. I have maybe dabbled isn't the right word, but I do have quite a few variety of things that I've done in the creative industry and in the background. And so to give you a little idea about how I even got to where I am today. In college, I was a public relations and Spanish major with a certificate in personal and organizational leadership. So that was like, I had two majors in this random certificate that I did.
00:04:06
Speaker
and kind of went into it thinking public relations I like people I like relating to the public that sounds great but honestly at the time I didn't even really know what public relations meant so going through the program it's a great program I was the University of Georgia and it's a very well renowned program for PR and I started learning that PR is actually not necessarily relating to the public it's actually more the concept of traditional media pitching
00:04:31
Speaker
So, this is the idea of kind of calling up a reporter with a story that you have to share. And I worked with clients like Nike and Airstream Trailers, that sort of thing, if you know the Silver Bullet Trailers, which is my dream to have one one day. So, I would call up a reporter and let them know that, hey, this new Nike store is grand opening in Chicago and we want to invite you out to do kind of a media tour and then I would fly up to Chicago.
00:04:54
Speaker
give the media tour and kind of give them all of the talking points and all the tips of everything that is really unique to that particular store. And then I would fly back down the next day, 24 hour trip, nice and quick. And so that's where kind of that PR began for me was that traditional media pitching. It was a lot of being able to find a story, hone it really nicely and sell it to a reporter who has no time really to listen to me and a zillion emails in their inbox. And honestly, they don't really want to answer the phone. Let's be honest. They like aren't really interested in listening to me call them.
00:05:21
Speaker
And so that's where kind of my story began was working in a traditional PR agency.
From PR to Brand Storytelling
00:05:27
Speaker
And over the time, that was really when kind of social media marketing was really starting to boom. This was, let's see, I graduated in 2011. So it was really when people started to say like, oh, social media marketing for business is key. And we started having PR clients who were interested in us doing some of their social.
00:05:42
Speaker
So I started making the transition from doing the traditional media pitching to the brand storytelling via social content. So I would kind of go and sit down and have excavation days where we'd learn all about the client and learn about their ideal client and who their target audience is. And then I would sit and basically we would craft content for their social and I would be the voice of these social media channels for these companies. And it was always funny whenever people would find out they'd be like, that's you who responded to me. I had no idea.
00:06:09
Speaker
And so if you're getting responded by, um, responded to from your favorite brand, you never know. It could be just either me or Davey. Someone you know, one of your neighbors. And so I started in traditional media pitching and then I went into social media. And from there, my husband is a urology resident. So he is in his fifth year of five for residency and that's post-med school. So this is nine years coming. We're finished in June.
00:06:34
Speaker
and we are super excited. And at the time we were finishing up med school and waiting to find out where it would be moving. And I knew that I probably wasn't going to be able to do the career path that I had been doing because anyone who is in the medical world or knows anyone who is, it's kind of unpredictable where you're going to go next. And so we knew that I would be moving away from the city we were living in. And so at that time I had always been interested in photography and I was the yearbook editor in high school and had always kind of been the girl with the camera.
00:07:03
Speaker
and decided that I was going to start doing photography business. And so I started second shooting and third shooting for some people in the Atlanta area and just started kind of building a photography business within this industry. Obviously, it was a super saturated industry. The Atlanta market is very saturated as well. But I kind of just put my PR marketing communications skills to use to build this photography business. And within the first full year of business, I was shooting somewhere around 24 weddings in the first full year of business.
00:07:31
Speaker
So, it went from 0 to 60 pretty quickly. And people always would kind of ask me, like, how did you do that? Especially in a saturated market. And I was consistently raising my prices. I wasn't charging, you know, $500 for a wedding. And so, I was consistently raising my prices and quickly built that business. And whenever people would ask me how I was doing that, I would always kind of tell them, well, it's marketing, you know, like,
00:07:53
Speaker
yeah i like i have a camera i feel like i'm a decent photographer and i enjoy shooting but i am just a marketer really like i'm good at communications i'm good at marketing and the people say something like you know but really really how do you how do you do it.
00:08:08
Speaker
Yeah, and they would. And that is actually where I never really thought that I'd go back into the communications industry.
Coaching Creative Business Owners
00:08:15
Speaker
Like I never thought that I would move back in that direction. But that's how really I've gotten to where now I do a lot of communications and kind of marketing and sales coaching for creative business owners so that they can learn really the tactics and exactly what it is that I did in pitching for potential new clients. So talking to potential photography business or potential photography clients and talking to
00:08:37
Speaker
people who are kind of outside of the realm of the wedding industry, that's where I really started. But I started pursuing things like food photography and editorial photography. And so I talk to people now about kind of what it looks like to be a brand that books really, and how to do that in the marketing sense. And so pitching now for me looks a lot like talking to yes, I still I still shoot, I still do a lot of photography, but also I talked to a lot of small business owners and creatives about how I can help them be able to do some of the things that
00:09:06
Speaker
they are looking to do and build their business in the way that they want to. So it's been a really fun journey and kind of has encompassed everything now that I love. So now I get to do the photography and the marketing and communication side of things together.
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah, it's also interesting how people's, you know, backgrounds sort of meld together into whatever it is that they're doing now. And that's actually how we met. So we met years ago now. Yeah, I think towards the beginning of the Rising Tide Society. So we just, Kristin, Natalie, Huey and I just founded the Rising Tide Society. We got an email from you. And it was, again, like we got a lot of emails back then, but obviously we had responded to that email. And I forget what I should have seen if I could find that email.
00:09:45
Speaker
I think I remember the first time that we connected. Yeah. Do you want me to tell you what it is? Absolutely. Okay. So I think I remember kind of taking, pulling out from, I like jokingly say that I had like file holders in my brain that I'm like, let me pull out the traditional media pitching file holder. And I had kind of pulled some of those tips and tricks and had pitched to our local Augusta media about the fact that the rising tide society existed and that we were one of the first 12 cities
00:10:12
Speaker
to have a location. And so I had gotten some media coverage for our local news market and had sent it over to you guys being like, hey, I just wanted to let you know like here this is in case you're interested, feel free to like read it or share it or whatever. And y'all were like, wait, this is this is really good. How'd you do this?
00:10:28
Speaker
And so that's where the conversation I think began. And it just kind of went from there and being able to kind of take part in what Rising Tide was doing. I was the leader of the local Augusta chapter. But from there, I think that's where it began, if I remember correctly. Yeah, no, I think that's right.
The Role of PR in Business
00:10:42
Speaker
And I think us kind of thinking to ourselves like, oh, wait, you know, like, this kind of thing could be really helpful. And so from there, I think just started a relationship where we, you know, went to you for help along those lines for a number of different things. And you're still working at least a little bit right with Rising Tide Society and Honeybook,
00:10:57
Speaker
on those kinds of elements. Exactly. Doing some contract work for them. And still, it's super fun to just think that it began with a simple email to you guys saying one of the billion emails. But I think that that's kind of a little bit of what we're going to talk about even today is how to set yourself apart, how to be noticed in your inbox. It's a saturated industry that you're working in and that sort of thing. So that's actually kind of fun.
00:11:21
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Can you set the stage a little bit for what we're about to talk about here? And you know, we talked or you just chatted a little bit about traditional media pitching. But today, we're going to chat a little bit more about, you know, pitching clients, I guess, right? So what's that distinction look like?
00:11:36
Speaker
Yeah. So I think a lot of times people get kind of confused about what a pitch is, especially because they don't always think that
The Art of Pitching
00:11:44
Speaker
they pitch. So like I want whoever's listening, I want you to like internally think like, Oh yeah, I definitely pitch or no, I don't really feel like I pitch. Like that's not really me. And so traditional media pitching is.
00:11:55
Speaker
calling a reporter for a story to share that maybe you want to be featured in your local news or maybe you have something that you think would be really interesting. Maybe, you know, maybe you've seen some wedding images or something of that sort go viral and you want to be able to kind of share them with your local news market. That's the traditional media pitching. But pitching in the sense of what we're going to talk about today is a little bit more of kind of how to sell yourself to a potential new client and how to kind of influence a customer to go from even discovering who you are
00:12:23
Speaker
to actually swiping their card and purchasing from you and then ultimately being the people who sell you to others. So kind of that referral network, building that from there and being able to make it so that your pitch kind of does the work for you long term. And so I think if you are one of those people who a second ago said like, no, I don't really think I pitch. I think I'm just going to debunk that myth.
00:12:44
Speaker
that everyone does actually pitch. If you have something to sell, you are pitching. Whether it's a hard sell or not, that's something that we can talk a little bit more about. But we're going to talk a little bit about kind of what it looks like to set yourselves up for a successful pitch. So setting yourself up to sell your potential client well.
00:13:00
Speaker
And make it feel as though it's not salesy or skeezy or scammy because I think that's often the connotation. And it doesn't have to be. So I think that's just a little bit of an overview of kind of what we're going to talk about and the tactics to be able to do that well.
00:13:13
Speaker
I'm excited to dive into this because I think there are a lot of people out there that either one, just want to focus on whatever it is that they're doing, either it's the art that they're creating or the product that they're making, whatever it is, and just think, okay, if I create a good enough product, people are going to learn about it and want to buy it, or if I do a good enough job within whatever the service is, people are going to want to book me, and that's just not the case. If you build it, they will come.
00:13:38
Speaker
Yeah, it's just only in feel the dreams only in feel the dream. So this I think is such an important conversation. And it's one of those things that I think people just feel nervous, you know, about, you know, is selling because it does, especially without practice, it does feel a little bit skeezy, you know, it's like, but wait, there's more. Yeah.
00:13:56
Speaker
You know, like, feels a little bit like late night infomercials, which can be kind of funny to watch sometimes, but you can learn some tactics there of what not to do and also what to do. Yeah, for sure. So how we just dive into it? What are the elements of a successful pitch?
00:14:11
Speaker
Yeah, that's a great question. So I always like to think of a successful pitch and the idea of kind of like your elevator pitch, if you will. And I jokingly say that I'm like, I've never pitched anyone in an elevator. I don't know about you guys. But I think it's something that so often we think of like, okay, I need to have 30 seconds up. Here's my spiel. Like this is what I say. And this is how I go from like, these people don't have a clue who I am to all right, they're ready to book.
00:14:34
Speaker
But it's so much more than that. It's such a process leading up to actually pitching someone. But the things, the elements of a successful pitch in order to actually be prepared for that 30 second moment of glory, right, is who you are, what you do, who you do it for, and ultimately what are the results. And I think a lot of times people forget that fourth one. They forget about the fact that people want to know what the results are going to be for them.
00:14:59
Speaker
in hiring you so a lot of times people leave that out they just kind of talk about themselves and they talk about like this is why I'm qualified I love to do the work that I do and I always think I'm like well I hope you love to do it because we're gonna pay you to do it for us but people want to know what it is that they are going to get out of it you know like we are inherently selfish people right they want to know what they're going to get out of it and so that's where the results are really important and the who you do it for
00:15:22
Speaker
is also really key. People need to know that they're being singled out saying, like, I am the perfect person for you. And I think actually, I think you just at the time of recording this, I think you just had Petronella do a podcast on ideal client. It's kind of that idea, like you want your ideal client to be able to hear your unique value proposition and know immediately beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are the person for them.
Targeting the Right Client
00:15:42
Speaker
And then ultimately they want to know what it is that they're gonna get out of it what are those results gonna be so if you are a coach what might they see as a transformation in their business by hiring you to do coaching and so that successful pitch kind of leads up to.
00:15:57
Speaker
who you are, what you do, who you do it for, and what the results are for those people. And it makes it so that the leads are much more qualified, because they've been prepared in advance knowing that like, okay, I am the type of person that this person works with. And they have seen great results other times that they've worked with people like me. And I can see those results too. So I think that that is really what makes a pitch easy in the end. And it makes it easy for people to say yes, if you can kind of have those elements.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. I think that I really like the highlight on the results. I think that's important. Also, just having a number of great guests here on the show, so many of them reiterate this idea that they don't mind repelling the wrong people. It's not only this concept that the people who you are for, you want to make sure that those people know it without a shadow of a doubt.
00:16:44
Speaker
But the people who aren't for you, you know, or just aren't going to be a good fit, you know, it's not going to help you by serving them. It's not going to help them by you trying to serve them. So I think that's important as well to remember. I think people are just, they're just scared, right, of sending work the other way.
00:16:58
Speaker
Especially if you're newer in business, it's hard to think of the fact that there are people who are willing to swipe their card. They're willing to give you money that you are going to lose out on. But ultimately, if the goal really is that you would serve them well, y'all both would enjoy the experience and then ultimately that they would share about their incredible experience with other people like them. You don't want more people like them, right? Like that's not going to propel your business in the way that you want. You are not going to be able to provide them the results that they're looking for.
00:17:25
Speaker
because the experience isn't really what they're looking for and so being okay knowing that and knowing that ultimately if you can get those right people and get the results for those right people they're going to be kind of your brand evangelists who make it so that you get more of those right people and then your business grows in general so it can feel intimidating to kind of repel the wrong people but it's so valuable and I think one of the best things really you can do in business.
00:17:47
Speaker
I really like the focus on results because it makes it so much more benefit
Focusing on Benefits Over Features
00:17:53
Speaker
driven. I think we get lost in telling people about features. If you're a photographer, you're going to get a USB and it's going to have a bunch of photos on them. You're going to get about a thousand photos, but people don't really care about those things.
00:18:08
Speaker
At the end of the day, we want to know what deliverables are and that should be clear between you and your client for sure. But people want to know what benefit or as you put it, transformation that they're going to experience by investing in your service. They want to know that they're going to get pictures that they can share with kids and grandkids one day that are going to protect that legacy, not that they're going to get exactly 997 pictures on a USB.
00:18:33
Speaker
Right, because people have a hard time picturing like I can't picture what 997 that number looks like, but I can picture the value of a photo with
00:18:44
Speaker
a grandparent who maybe you have had a really cherished relationship with over your whole entire life. And you think of this one really kind of legacy-driven result that you're going to get. You're going to have this physical tangible element that's really special for someone who's really important to you in your life. And so those results make it so much easier. Like you said, features versus benefits. The deliverables are important. You want to know. But ultimately, what are the benefits of those deliverables? How is it going to make you feel? Because ultimately, we want to know that we are
00:19:12
Speaker
investing in something that's going to make us feel like we made the right decision. Yeah. And I think the food industry or the health industry just in general does a really good job of this, right? And I'm not saying that you should look at them and do everything that they do because there's definitely, just like we said with the late night infomercial, definitely things that you want to avoid for sure. But they do such a good job of focusing on the benefits, right? When you think about it, I mean, when they're selling that program, they're not highlighting the fact that you only get to eat three calories a day.
00:19:40
Speaker
right? They're highlighting the house, you're gonna see inches off your weight. Exactly. And your clothes are gonna fit better. And you're gonna feel more confident when you go out to the to the shopping mall. But yeah, I mean, I just think they do such a good job of highlighting the benefits, right? And so that is something that I think we can learn from that that industry in general. So as somebody starts to, I guess, get so those are the elements of a good pitch. How can somebody set themselves up for a successful pitch?
00:20:08
Speaker
So when someone's kind of preparing for pitching, there are a few things that I always like for them to think of before they even get to the pitch. I think a lot of times, like I mentioned, people think that it's like the 30 second spiel, but there is such a process leading up to that pitch.
00:20:23
Speaker
And it ultimately is kind of the concept of being able to talk to the right person about the right product at the right time and with the right ingredients. I'm a foodie, so when you mention the food industry and the health industry, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm tracking right there with you. And so I always kind of think of ingredients. And so you have your pantry staples, but then you also have these like extra ingredients that really prepare you for that pitch for when you actually sit down to do the hard sell. Or if you're not someone that's having meetings where you're doing like an actual pitch,
00:20:51
Speaker
what a pitch looks like when you're just communicating with people on a day-to-day basis and being able to kind of build that no-life trust factor. And so the right person really is kind of that no-life trust. You want to be able to kind of find that ideal client. I'm sure there are a billion different people who have mentioned this in the podcast over the course of time, so I won't go in too much detail with that. But just kind of being sure that you know who you're talking to and what it is that they're looking for. Because ultimately, you need to be building a product or creating a product that is the right product for them.
00:21:18
Speaker
And that's not just what they want, but it's also what they need. It's something that it's inherently going to make their lives better. It's going to ease pain. It's going to solve a problem that they have. And it's easier for you to have a successful pitch if you know that you are building something to solve a problem. Instead of just building something that you're like, this is fun, I enjoy it. But you're building something that people have actually told you is a problem in their life. And it makes it a lot easier when you have that right product for them. Then it makes it so you can literally say like, hey, you've said that you have this issue.
00:21:46
Speaker
And I've created something specifically for that and so that right product is key. And then at the right time. Can I back up real quick for right for right person, especially. Do you have any tips like as you coach people through figuring out who the right person is? What are some ways that that you find that people really come to understand that?
00:22:05
Speaker
I think a lot of times it is who you resonate with and who resonates with you. So I like to do things like share things on Instagram stories to test out potential content and see what it is that people kind of click with.
00:22:20
Speaker
see the things that vibe with people and that make them kind of say like, yes, I'm with you on that. Right. And so I think an example of that for me is food. My clients in general value and experience more than just a product. Right. That's something that I know.
00:22:37
Speaker
And part of that comes in the sense of the experience of food. I love to talk about cooking and what we're eating and new things, new products that I'm trying. But I never would have known and been able to kind of correlate that the ideal client, the right person for me, is someone who values an experience if I hadn't shared about experiences that I was having with food. And so I use Instagram stories. And I think that this is a great way, a great tactic to kind of find that ideal client test out some content, test out things and share things that you think
00:23:06
Speaker
maybe my people might be interested in this. And you find commonalities. So you find things that you both share interests in, you both share values in, because ultimately it's less about like, oh, well, especially, you know, like I said, I come from a wedding photography background, like, I like pink florals, this person likes pink florals, therefore we must be, we must, you know, bye.
00:23:27
Speaker
it's more about the value behind it. So why do they like pink florals? Maybe growing up, their childhood home had this bush that the bride and her mother would always go in Lake Garden and pick the flowers and make little bouquets. And that's why she wanted pink flowers on her wedding day. Really, that ends up speaking to kind of like legacy and a value on family, right? And so going back to what the values are for the right person is where I think you can really find that you can find
00:23:54
Speaker
the way that you sync with someone a lot better than just being like, oh, yeah, we like the same things. And so for something like a shared experience, for me, I've learned that my people value more than just like the show up, do a job move, like finish up leap. They want to be able to kind of build a relationship and go through a process together and be able to share an experience together.
00:24:17
Speaker
And so testing out some content, just kind of being yourself, honestly. I know that sounds kind of silly, but authenticity. Being authentic in the way that you share the type of things that matter to you will automatically attract the type of people that could be your right person. And so something like Instagram Stories is a great place to be able to do that because you have people who are a captive audience and kind of like binge watching.
00:24:41
Speaker
And if they respond to it and engage with it, it's a likelihood that you've kind of struck a chord with them, right? And it also disappears in 24 hours if it's not something that resonates. Exactly. I mean, and you'd be surprised the type of things that might resonate that you never expected. I one time shared about, like I said, I'm a foodie, I'm also like kind of crunchy, I like healthy things and exploring new stuff like that. And so I have been in a process, it's a long process to kind of
00:25:11
Speaker
cleaning up our cleaning supplies and beauty supplies things like that in our house and i shared about my journey to finding clean and non-toxic deodorant which i'm sure i thought at the time that people were gonna think i was totally psycho i'm sure some people did but i don't think i've ever had more dms in response to anything than the journey of the deodorant.
00:25:33
Speaker
And it made me learn that truly people once again they value for for my audience they value the background of things they value knowing like where things come from and why it's important. And that has helped me learn about the type of client that I serve best is the people who want to know.
00:25:50
Speaker
they want to know that what they're investing in is a good product and that there has been thought that's gone into creating it and that it is going to actually benefit you in ways more than just being a deodorant, right? Sure. Yeah. Who knew?
00:26:06
Speaker
I've actually stopped giving Krista input on what she should or should not share, especially on Instagram stories, just because what you're saying is so true. It's unbelievable really what resonates with people, what doesn't resonate with people, what people are interested in hearing and what they're not interested in hearing. And I guess I sometimes take a step back and be remembered like I am, first of all, a guy. And a lot of our audience is women.
00:26:32
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's so just, I should give Krista sometimes the benefit of the doubt there that she's going to understand, you know, like what's going to resonate with people a little bit more than, than I might. But it's just so I guess time after time, you know, I'm like, why, you know, why are you sharing that? And all of a sudden, Chris is like, I'm getting all I'm getting all these, you know, all this interest in it, yada, yada, yada. And I'm just like, all right, I was wrong. But yeah, I think it's totally true.
00:26:57
Speaker
And it really, I mean, I can talk all day about the value of an Instagram DM. And that is actually one of the places that I've built that no like trust relationship the most is through Instagram DMs and kind of found who that right person is through my DMs and ultimately have converted quite a few of my clients from Instagram DMs. Yeah.
00:27:18
Speaker
We're going to – I do want to mention something about DMs real quick and then we're going to get on to right time which is the next thing which is this. I'm a big believer that if you show up on Instagram then or Facebook or wherever it is that if people reach out via that platform, you know, you can't get frustrated with the fact they reach out. I feel like I see all the time especially on Facebook different forms and stuff.
00:27:39
Speaker
this bride reached out via Instagram or Facebook Messenger and it's so annoying when they do that because it doesn't go into my form and then it goes into my nice, neat CRM and this and that. I'm like, listen, you're showing up here. You're posting these places. This is a good problem to have. They're reaching out to you. You better be available and then go ahead and go through the process of converting them because they are ready. They're willing and able to purchase
00:28:08
Speaker
And what's going to be more personable? Is it going to be more personable you sending basically, I mean, a DM is like a text message, you know, back and forth between this person or is it going to email? No, I agree. It's actually funny. I do. I like have people's cell phone numbers and I will sometimes go to DM them because I'll think of something in the middle of the night. I'm like, I don't want to bug them. I'll just send them a DM.
00:28:27
Speaker
It's this nice middle ground between texting and and email for sure, you know, like with a DM I feel like sometimes I'll send friends, you know DMS because I'm like, you know, I don't really want to start the group chain thing and whatever but anyways, we are We were getting sidetracked. So next next part or setting yourself up for a successful pitch right person just talked about that and some other stuff and Now right time. Yeah, right. Is that right? That's right product a little bit and then right time
00:28:57
Speaker
Yes. All right. Right product. But we can skip to right time if you want to. Yeah, we can go right product. That's fine. Let's go in order. So right person, right product. Awesome. So the right product is kind of this idea that I mentioned that you have to be able to create a product of what people actually want, but also what they need. And I think a lot of times that we think of, Oh, well, I've just created this because I think that it's fun and unique. And I don't see something like it in the industry. Obviously, people want it. But
00:29:25
Speaker
In the grand scheme of things, they may not. There may be a reason that it doesn't exist in the industry or in whatever field you work in. There may be a reason that it's not created that way because people don't want it. But they may not know that they want it yet. And that's exactly where it's important is to kind of survey your audience and find what it is that they want. So once you find who that right person is, being able to survey your audience and ask them what it is that they want, what it is that they're looking for. I think a great way to think of this is what had they used in the past that was not successful.
00:29:55
Speaker
And why and if you're in the wedding industry you may find that you can't ask them quite as easily like what did you have as an experience of a wedding photographer in the past and why was it not successful but kind of thinking of it in the way of like what are things that people have not liked previously and how can I create a product.
00:30:11
Speaker
or a service that is going to be specifically what it is that they want and when i say product i don't mean like necessarily a physical product because i know that many of us are listening are going to be service-based entrepreneurs probably but a product in general is kind of can be this service as well so
00:30:27
Speaker
figuring out what it is that wasn't successful in the past for them and then solving that problem by whatever you create. Because ultimately, if you can ease the pain and fulfill a need for them, you are going to find that that's a lot more successful than just what they want because someone may want a wedding photographer.
00:30:42
Speaker
they may want those 997 images on a gold plated USB. But what they really need is they need someone who's going to assure them possibly that on their wedding day, they are going to stay on a good timeline because their bridesmaids are chatty and enjoy the fun of being able to kind of get ready all morning, but then they know that they're probably going to be late. So they really make up is going to run late because it always runs late. No offense, the hair and makeup people listening.
00:31:09
Speaker
Right. It is not their fault. It's just, you know, there are a lot of people to tend to and everyone wants to look beautiful. And so knowing that you are going to let them look beautiful, you're going to let them be able to have kind of those moments, those really special time together, but also that really what they need is they need the assurance that you're someone who's going to be able to kind of guide that timeline, for example, for the day.
00:31:28
Speaker
And so you might be able to say, OK, well, my product is wedding photography. But it also includes that I will sit down with you and create a custom photo timeline for your wedding day. And I have a second shooter or an assistant who helps make sure that we stay on track during the day so that if anything gets off, we can always get back on track. And that's kind of how I like to think of it as like, yes, they want wedding photography, but what is it that they need? And asking them kind of what their concerns are, what their pain points are, what their problems are within.
00:31:54
Speaker
the current setup of their experience or whatever the product currently entails allows you to find ways to create a product that better fulfills their needs and so it makes it so that you will be able to be set apart and it's easier to pitch them when they're comparing apples to apples and they're saying okay here's a photographer here's a photographer but what is different is this person made me feel something that
00:32:16
Speaker
had a level of comfort and it eased a pain for me. It eased a worry and made me feel as though, you know, people are risk averse. They don't want to buy into something that they're concerned is not going to benefit them. And so if you can kind of help them alleviate the risk, it makes it a lot easier for them to say yes to whatever product you're offering.
00:32:33
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. And I want to go back to something you said earlier on, even sometimes if I hear people say, well, I've thought of this idea for a business or for a service or whatnot, and nobody else is doing it. Nobody is doing it. Sometimes I just want to say, well, okay, why is nobody else doing it? I mean, in some cases, it is truly an innovative idea. Innovative. Exactly. Absolutely. And it's something that people are going to want and you hear about it and you're like, okay.
00:32:55
Speaker
But other times, you have to wonder, is nobody doing it because there's not a need for it or other people have tried it and they have failed. And I think there's that fine line, especially around surveying. I have so many mixed feelings about surveying and asking for feedback because even as you survey your audience, you need to kind of cut through the noise of, okay, what do they really want? Because sometimes people tell you they want a certain thing, but really,
00:33:19
Speaker
you know, what do they truly want? What are their desires? What are their needs? And that can be a lot harder to do. And the thing is, is you can get those results. You can get what it is that someone really wants and what they really need. You can get those results from a numerous
00:33:34
Speaker
number of different paths right kind of going back to the health and weight loss industry like you can eat three calories a day and lose weight but you also can exercise and so ultimately if they want to be able to fit into their genes better for example there are a bunch of different ways that that can be that that can be possible but what is a product that's going to create the least barrier to entry for them to say yes that's important for me.
00:33:57
Speaker
And I'm willing to say yes to do that. You know, I think it's a lot of times we forget that your idea might be a great idea. But is there another way in order to achieve those results with limited work for the person? Because ultimately, people want something that's going to be kind of easy and handed to them on a silver platter. Really, they want to be able to look and say, like, check all these boxes and I'm in. Right.
00:34:18
Speaker
Yeah, and I think so if you are doing something that maybe nobody else out there is doing, and you're not finding that much success, but you know, that this is something that could serve the market, I think a lot of it, you know, comes down to education, you know, just educating people on what it is that you're doing. So anyways, going on to we hit right person, right product, and we're on right time.
00:34:38
Speaker
Absolutely. Okay. So right time, I think a lot of times when people talk to when, you know, I'll work with coaching clients about this idea of like, you need to be making sure that you're pitching them at the right time, people are like, well, how do I know it's the right time?
00:34:49
Speaker
And I think a lot of times people wait too long to be completely honest. I think a lot of times people are like, I'm nervous. What if they're not ready? The great thing is is you can always pitch people multiple times. You know, someone might not be ready at a specific time, but they might be ready at another later time. And the way that you nurture them and navigate that process to getting them kind of down your customer journey pipeline.
00:35:09
Speaker
is providing them with content that assures them that you are providing a product that is exactly what they need. And so there's something that's kind of an old marketing concept that you might have heard before. It's called the Rule of Seven. And the idea that people should hear from you seven times before they are sold to, right, before they're pitched to.
00:35:30
Speaker
Typically, and I see this over and over again, A, one, just a lot of people who don't follow up at all. And again, I know, so I'm talking more about following up to an inquiry, let's say, or something like that, that people just won't follow up at all. But then oftentimes when I ask people how often they follow up, if they do follow up at all, it's like two, maybe three times.
00:35:49
Speaker
And so it's like, well, there's a level of being able to say like, okay, what, you know, what did they hear from you beforehand? How many times has someone heard from you? And that doesn't mean that you need to follow up 20 times. You know, I think it's kind of like, at some point you'll learn like, yeah, I probably have moved on. But the rule of seven to me, I kind of jokingly say I'm like, it's not really in a digital era. It's not seven anymore. I mean, you people have the opportunity to hear from you seven times in a 24 hour period, just from, you know, maybe it's
00:36:16
Speaker
seeing an Instagram story, seeing an Instagram post, seeing a Facebook post, getting an email from you. It's very easy to have touchpoints with people now, but it's really important that when you think of that idea of getting people engaged with you, that it doesn't end with the pitch. And that's something that I talk about later, this idea of following up. It's like the pitch is not your last touchpoint.
00:36:38
Speaker
That's actually should be really the beginning of a new set of touch points, right? Like you should have an opportunity to follow up with them. And I'll even talk a little bit about that. One of my favorite things is at the pitch, giving yourself a reason to follow up with them. And really, it's key. I always tell people I'm like, find something that you can tell them during if you're doing a hard pitch.
00:36:56
Speaker
that you can say, I'm going to get you XYZ. I'm going to send this back to you after our meeting or after our call or after our consultation. I'm going to send this to you because it gives you a reason to follow up and it makes it so that you can show that you do what you're going to say you're doing or you say what you're doing.
00:37:13
Speaker
Yeah, whatever, you know, we get it, we get it. And so those that idea of kind of pitching at the right time, you also have to know that like, it may not be the right time that moment. But if they say even if they give you a no, and if it's something that it's not a time sensitive something, so maybe you, you were going to work with them on brand design, perhaps.
00:37:32
Speaker
And they are like, you know, never mind, this isn't really going to work right now. I can't afford it. Well, that's an opportunity for you to say, hey, I totally understand. Like, let's keep in touch. I'd love to hear about what your business is looking like long term and then actually follow up with them so that you will continue to stay top of mind so that you do continue to nurture them. You continue to bring them down that customer pipeline. And so then it becomes the right time. And when they have the finances or have the ability to go ahead and say, like, now is the time to book that you're the person that they are.
00:38:02
Speaker
think of to book. And it makes it way easier. You've already nurtured them. You've already brought them down that pipeline. And so you do follow up and you say like, hey, you know, I totally understand if now's not the right time, I'll touch back with you in six months. And you put it on your calendar and you touch back them in six months.
00:38:16
Speaker
And I can't emphasize enough. I know how much value we've gotten from that as a business, actually putting that on the calendar. If somebody says, hey, you know, the holidays, it's a really busy time. And this is something I want to tackle in the new year. I will put it on my, we used to do, it's a T-E-U-X. Okay, yeah, it's awesome. So I'll put that in the show notes. It is the best as far as like, just to do list. I don't function without it.
00:38:39
Speaker
We use ClickUp, just similar to Asana for project management, right? Yeah, exactly. But I need to do in order to function on a daily task by task basis. But I'll go fast forward into a couple months and I'll put it just follow up with so and so. And just yesterday, we booked a client who, when it was actually email, she had responded to an email that Krista had sent probably a year ago with some details about working with us.
00:39:04
Speaker
but she's on our email list and things like that. So just, you know, exactly what you're saying like, now might not be the right time, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't follow up whether it be, you know, via email list or Facebook or Instagram or whatever, you know, whatever it might be, you still need to be putting content out there. And I think that we feel sometimes like that we're overdoing it when we really aren't, you know, it's like
00:39:27
Speaker
I talk about this in terms of content a lot, you know, we write a blog post, we spend hours on it, we share it once, you know, and then we're like, well, you know, we just exactly we feel like we shouldn't share it again, because it's like, Oh, well, I just shared it. And I don't want to annoy people, you know, but you're like, 5% of people who like your Facebook page saw that post, you know,
00:39:48
Speaker
And I think in that same vein, something that we forget is we as entrepreneurs are consuming content from everyone all the time. All of our friends are creating content that's in the same vein as the types of things that we're creating, right? Blog posts and Instagram stories and posts and Facebook posts and sending out emails via a newsletter. They're all creating this content. We feel inundated.
00:40:12
Speaker
So we have to remember that sometimes that might not be the case for someone that's outside of the creative industry. And if you are serving, if you're B2B, if you're serving someone within the creative industry or you're serving someone who's also a business owner, you have to remember that if you know that they are getting a lot of content, what is it about your content or you that is going to help you stand out in order to make it so that long-term it's easy for when you do look at your to-do list, you know, six months down the road.
00:40:39
Speaker
And my goal, something like I love hearing you say that, Davey, I love that you used to do too, because it's truly amazing. It's the best. Everyone should do it. And I learned about it for the first time, I think from Seth Godin, who's like, to me, the genius of all marketing things. A decade ahead all the time. Right, exactly. And I've used it, honestly, actually, probably about a decade now. I mean, I've been using to-do since college. I think Krista got me hooked on it, and she's probably been using it since college as well. Yeah.
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah, but i think it's really important for us to remember that we ultimately like we do have to find a way to set ourselves apart and be top of mind and one of my favorite things about those moments when people say hey now is not a good time is i intentionally find ways to engage with that person specifically.
00:41:20
Speaker
as well. And so I encourage people to do that. Like, if that means that, you know, they say now's not a good time, but you're not following them on social media, go ahead and follow them and take advantage of not I say take advantage, not a negative way, take advantage of the fact that we have a digital era where we can make it really easy for us to build up
00:41:38
Speaker
a potential lead so that they know that like we're invested in them as well. So when people via my newsletter respond saying one day I want to work with you I like can't wait one day I'm totally gonna hire you for coaching. I'm like that's awesome. I'd love to work with you one day. So I make sure that if I see them on Instagram if I see a post
00:41:56
Speaker
I'm commenting on it that I'm engaging with them because I want them to know that I care about them too and it also truthfully makes it easier for me when we start to work together because it does it's happened where long term later on someone comes and it makes it easier because I know what they've been doing for the last six months.
00:42:12
Speaker
And it's really easy for them to say, hey, we're interested in XYZ and talking about these things here. Here's what we've been doing. I'm like, oh yeah, I'm totally tracking with you because I already am prepared. I've been following along with your life and your business. And I think it's awesome what you're doing. So let's get started. You know, it just makes it really a lot easier.
00:42:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's just so powerful. And for people who are worried about like following up and being annoying and all that, like, I follow up probably between five and seven times with people, you know, that's probably on average, unless I think it's not the right fit for whatever reason, but probably five to seven times. And I've never once had somebody email me back and be like, would you just please stop emailing me, you know, all eventually, I might eventually get a response that's like, hey, you know, we've decided to, you know, maybe go a different direction, or we've decided that this isn't within the budget now. But at least you know,
00:42:58
Speaker
And that's what I was going to say. The great thing about following up five to seven times is the fact that if they're not interested, they'll tell you because they are going to be like, please stop emailing me. They're going to be like, hey, we've decided to go a different direction or it's not in the budget right now. And it makes it so that you know and you know that, OK, right now is not the right time. And it also helps you know that it's not that you don't have the right product.
00:43:20
Speaker
they may respond saying we love what you're doing and we can't wait to work with you but just right now is not the right time so it helps you being in the sense that i think sometimes we have like the oh my gosh what's wrong with me kind of feeling if someone doesn't look if they're not and we assume it's our prices.
00:43:36
Speaker
You know, it's the first place people go is like, I'm probably too expensive, you know, but you don't know that and not everybody's gonna answer and not everybody's, you know, maybe not even everybody's truthful and you know, they won't let you down easy or whatever. But there's a lot of good information that you can get from a follow-up that's not necessarily a yes.
00:43:55
Speaker
Exactly. Yeah. And it lets you know that if it's not the pricing, well, what is it? Maybe it was the wrong person or maybe it was the wrong product. And so being able to kind of evaluate that allows you to have more success in future pitches because you can reevaluate and say, okay, this wasn't working for XYZ reason. Let's change that for the future.
00:44:14
Speaker
So getting on to the actual pitch itself. So tips for people who are actually sitting down, whether it's a virtual like this is, or you're at a coffee shop or at your office, wherever it is that you conduct business and actually do that pitch. What tips do you have for people to be successful?
00:44:31
Speaker
That is a great question. And it makes it where it's like, this is when people are like, Oh my gosh, I'm really like, I'm nervous for this pitch. What do I do now? Now that I'm here, now that I've nurtured the client, now that we've prepared, and I know I have the right person and the right product in the right time. The great thing is, is if you have those three things, you honestly have kind of already sold yourself. You've kind of already pitched for yourself
00:44:51
Speaker
in the nurture process leading up to this actual sit down moment of glory, right? So you shouldn't actually feel I just want to alleviate the burden for you right now. Whoever's listening that if you're feeling like when you get to the actual like pitch time that all of a sudden you're like, Oh my gosh, I don't know this person. I don't they don't know me. I don't know anything about them. What are they looking for? Do they even know what I'm selling? If you get to that point, you might need to take a few steps back and kind of reevaluate the process in advance.
00:45:17
Speaker
But if you get to the point where you're like, these people know what I'm selling, and they're interested, they have been confirmed, they've even seen my prices, and know that it's not the pricing that's going to scare them away. At that point, the pitch and actually chatting with someone to sell your services is really an easy process. Because they have already raised their hand and opted in saying, yes, I'm interested. Yes, I'm ready. Yes, I have the money for it. Yes, now's the right time. And what you have to offer is exactly what I need. And only you can do it for me.
00:45:44
Speaker
And so by them saying, yeah, I'm ready to sit down with you, it makes it really easy and kind of alleviate some of that pain that you feel of saying like, oh my gosh, what do I do? And so when you get to the pitch, I want you to remember in starting that you need to kind of prepare ahead of time for a posture of purchasing and a posture of pitching.
00:46:04
Speaker
And this is the idea that you have everything in its place ready to go. Going back to kind of being a foodie, there's this term called misimplas, and it means everything in its place. I, when I used to do traditional media pitching, would literally have a kind of like sheets of paper in front of me of talking points that if the reporter asked this question, this is the direction I would go. If the reporter asked this question, this is the direction I would go. And it made it so that I was prepared to pitch. I kind of had this posture of saying I have everything in its place and I am ready to go.
00:46:30
Speaker
This means for you that you also need to know the way that you pitch best. So if you are the kind of person who just wants a casual conversation over coffee, coordinate that and make that possible for you and make it so that it doesn't feel quite so, okay, tell me about this and that and this is why you're looking for this. Okay, great. Like we don't need to be sitting all button depth. You can just have a conversation if that's your style. If you're more than the type of person who you're like, I actually do better
00:46:55
Speaker
be a phone because i get like i get choked up a little bit when i'm you know actually feeling like i'm sitting down with someone you can have a conversation over the phone if you're the kind of person and there is value in seeing face to face is seeing i like i love baby that you do this podcast even though that has a new mom i had to like you know.
00:47:15
Speaker
Yeah, I should send out an email in advance because I'm like sitting here in sweats, you know, it is Friday afternoon, though. But I love that I get to see you because I can see you nodding like I can see you tracking with things I'm saying it affirms to me that we're on the same page.
00:47:30
Speaker
And so for that posture of purchasing, if that makes you feel comfortable and you're not in a place where maybe you work digitally or maybe you are a service provider who works in person, but you have to meet with someone digitally, being able to do a video conference with someone allows you to kind of look eye to eye a little bit more and see the posture of purchasing and the posture of pitching, see that engage. And you actually physically, this is something that we used to describe when I would do the media pitching,
00:47:57
Speaker
You could almost hear people on the phone because we were pitching primarily via phone. You could almost hear them lean in. And that's the great thing about being prepared ahead of time is that they are ready to purchase. They know what's to come.
00:48:10
Speaker
And so if you can go ahead and get them prepared, it's almost that opportunity when you're sitting with someone, when you're face to face, when you're via video, that when you start kind of having the conversation and start sharing about what it is that you have to offer, they lean in because they already know they're like, yes, this is what I want. What you're talking about is going to alleviate my pain.
00:48:29
Speaker
And so preparing them in advance by letting them know what it is that you are, what your offerings are, the way that they have served people in the past. So kind of some of those testimonials, what the price point looks like, what the average price point looks like, that's even an option. You don't have to give them every single little breakdown. Sometimes that's overwhelming. In fact, a lot of times it's overwhelming. But giving them that average and what it is that maybe they might be interested in purchasing and based on what they've shared,
00:48:53
Speaker
And a lot of that comes from things like an intake form. You can find out details about what it is that they're looking for, what was successful in the past, if you're in the wedding industry, kind of what their wedding day looks like, if maybe they know what their venue is going to be and you've photographed or planned a wedding at that same venue prior, sending them over the blog post, letting them know, kind of affirming to them like, yes, I've done this before, I'm prepared, I'm an expert in this.
00:49:15
Speaker
So that when they come and when they say, yeah, I'm ready to meet with you, you're not wasting your time or their time. It's that they are, they're ready. So for me, like when I meet with someone at that point, I know that there's a pretty good chance that they're going to book because we've already gone through the process ahead of time. We've already done all the other stuff. And so if we meet together, that means that it's like, okay, where do I sign?
00:49:36
Speaker
And so preparing for a posture of purchasing and pitching is really important. And then from there, I just want you to let them talk. You need to ask the questions. You need to listen and be an active listener. So engage with things that they're sharing when you notice that they're sharing something that they have some discomfort about or that they're particularly excited about. You need to share in those emotions with them.
00:49:58
Speaker
And so asking questions further about that, if someone shares maybe that they're worried about their timeline, like I mentioned earlier, they're worried about staying on track on their wedding day, asking some questions about like, okay, well, do you know, like, what time is your ceremony? And let's, this is kind of how it works. So alleviating that pain.
00:50:13
Speaker
So this is the ceremony time, well great, then let's back up this many hours. This is about when you would need to start getting ready. And if you're worried about how long it's going to take to get ready, let's just add an extra half an hour in there. Let's just, you know, kind of add some wiggle room. So you're an active listener and you repeat to them and use their exact same words. So if they're like, we really are so excited about XYZ or
00:50:34
Speaker
if you're a coach or a designer and they're particularly saying like i have seen new clients come because they particularly love this part of my brand or this part of my website that i have currently i really want to hone in on that saying okay so you want to hone in on xyz literally repeating back to them and it's okay to feel redundant here because people want to know that they're heard
00:50:54
Speaker
that you're hearing them literally exactly what they're saying and you're able to act on that. You're able to provide what it is that they're like, I really love food. I want to be able to highlight that on my website. That was something I, you know, I'm fortunate enough to have a Krista and Davey template for my show website. And it was amazing because the template that I used, it's not designed exactly for what I needed, but I knew that I was able to take the like super easy, tweakable website that they've built and make it into fitting exactly what I need.
00:51:24
Speaker
And so for something like I knew my clients, because I do food photography and also coaching, I was able to like take, you know, they have these perfectly positioned spots where it has like a quote that I could just pop in a quote. That's like something kind of foodie or about an experience and it pertains to my client. And so they were able to create something that literally like if they had been like, if I had said, this is what I want, they'd be like, Oh, great. Well, don't worry. We have that for you. And so if someone is sharing something, this is what I want. This is what I'm feeling. This is what I'm nervous about. Repeat it back to them and say,
00:51:54
Speaker
Here it is that I have like, here's what I can do to solve that problem. And so that leads me to easing the pain. I do want to yeah, I do want to jump in there about it because I just think that asking questions and letting people talk is so valuable, especially during whether it be a discovery call or console call, or, you know, the pitch or whatever, however you want to whatever you want to call that.
00:52:12
Speaker
They're powerful for a number of reasons. One, they allow you to frame the conversation, you know, like they allow you to talk about exactly, you know, and you can things in a way that, you know, so for instance, like during a wedding when we were shooting and talking to potential wedding photography clients, you know, saying, Hey, when would you want to schedule your engagement session? You know, that that question assumed a couple of things.
00:52:32
Speaker
Yeah, it assumes they want an engagement session. It assumes that they're going to book us and use us for an engagement session. It allows us to talk through their entire session. I love how it just frames the conversation, allows you to take it where you want it to go. It breaks the ice a little bit. It shows that you're interested in that you care by saying, how much wedding planning do you have done or how much
00:52:51
Speaker
What does this process look like for you already? And then being able to interject with your experience. Oh, that's been a hard element of your wedding to plan. Fortunately, I've worked with a number of XYZ vendors. I would love to be able to send you some of their names. And like you were saying earlier, it's just the opportunity to follow up with them. It's a great example of it.
00:53:11
Speaker
48 hours later, if you just haven't heard from that couple, because life has gotten busy, this is an opportunity to follow up with those names and say, hey, these are the names of the vendors I was talking about. Do you have any additional questions from our console call or whatever? Yep. That's a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier. Huge fan of everything that you're saying around letting people talk, especially asking questions.
00:53:34
Speaker
Mm hmm. No, I think that's so good. And I think it really is. It's important for you, like, kind of like Davey said, you frame the conversation. And that's really that goes back to kind of preparing in advance, like, you know what it is that you need to talk about and what you need to talk about in order to get to the conversation of the end of being like, okay, this is how you can hire me. This is how much it's going to cost. This is the next steps, you know, like,
00:53:55
Speaker
You frame it so that you get to this point at the end. So it makes it way easier. And you kind of have a little bit of a template in your brain. And if it works for you, and if you're in a setting where you can, like I mentioned, when I used to be on the phone pitching media, I literally had physical pieces of paper. Even right now, I have a kind of almost talking point. So just things that I know that Davey and I had chatted through, we wanted to talk about. I have it just sitting on my computer in case I need to reference it. In case I'm like, oh, yeah, what did we want to talk about? Oh, here it is. It makes it so that we're able to continue tracking.
00:54:24
Speaker
And it's the same thing when you're in a conversation for pitching someone. You just have a little bit of a guideline and a template, and you're able to say, hey, let me ask you these questions so that I can assume that we're going to book, and here's how you book. So I love that you mentioned that, Davey. I think it's awesome.
00:54:40
Speaker
So what's the next, I know there's, there's one other, there's at least one other element you want to talk about, right? So easing the pain, making sure that whatever you're providing is going to make their lives easier, better, happier, less stressful, that they're going to feel more fulfilled, that they're going to have seven inches off their waist and feel more confident in their genes, you know, that kind of more energy.
00:54:59
Speaker
have more energy. So providing them the results, but also showing that you recognize that there is pain in whatever process. People aren't willing to invest in something unless they're feeling the pain of a problem. And so being able to provide them that solution is key for the pitch. And so kind of talking about what their pain is and saying, I feel you, that me too statement is so key and something that's really valuable. Kind of like you said, like, oh, you're experiencing pain in the process of your planning for that.
00:55:25
Speaker
I know I got married once. I also have that experience. Don't worry. Let me send you some people and some referrals that I think that really would be fitting for you. And I know a few different people. There's one in particular that I particularly love for you. And that just gives that social proof. It's like, oh yes, there's this one person. Let me send them to you.
00:55:43
Speaker
So easing that pain and being able to kind of show them that you only are the solution to their problem and that maybe you have these relationships that you're like, it's easy for me to go ahead and help you along in this process. And then finally making the ask, you actually have to tell them like, hey, okay, so would you like to work together? This is what this looks like. Here are kind of the next steps.
00:56:03
Speaker
And then you eliminate the barriers for them to actually book you. Because I think so often we forget that people actually have to sign and go through that process. It's not like, oh yeah, that sounds really fun. Let's do it. But you have to get them to say yes. And you don't want them to have anything that is going to make them halt before they actually sign and provide their credit card or provide whatever it is. That's the final step for you. And so having something like a honey book for a contract system
00:56:29
Speaker
makes it really easy for people to book online and move quickly through something, or making it so that they aren't surprised by any additional fees or any kind of nickel and diming that might come at the very end that makes it be like, oh, I thought it was only going to be 500, but now it's going to be like
00:56:44
Speaker
$5.99 because there's an extra fee to use your program, you know, things like that, make sure that you are eliminating those barriers to entry. And that is so key in the process. And then finally, just following up and actually doing the work that you say you're going to do, because it makes it way easier to pitch in the future if they can give referrals for you, if they can say like, this person was incredible, and everything that they did was exactly on par with what I was expecting. And so the importance of following up, like we mentioned, is just key, we really can't say that enough.
00:57:14
Speaker
Yeah, you can't emphasize that enough. Pretty much every email I send to anyone about anything, I always include at least one question. Because if you ask a question in an email, people feel more of a burden to actually respond back. They're not just getting a bunch of information, which doesn't necessitate a response. It doesn't.
00:57:32
Speaker
And I think, you know, that big ask at the end, it seems scary. But I think if you follow a process like you've outlined, Lauren, that you've gotten a bunch of yeses along the way, you know, they have already said, Yeah, I'm interested. And that is actually something they're, I don't know if people are listening who if they know, Robert Cialdini's book influence,
00:57:52
Speaker
One of the kind of six psychological tactics for influencing and selling people is called commitment and consistency. And people will do anything in their power that they can to remain consistent with what they've said previously. And if they've already said yes a bunch of times, by the time that they get to the end, basically they've said yes, because psychologically they feel compelled to say yes.
00:58:15
Speaker
And so it makes it easy for them to be like, yeah, okay, great. Yeah. It's backed by science. You know, the more small yeses you get along the way, the easier it is to get that bigger, bigger yes down the line. The foot and the door. That's right. So, well, let's see, you know, we were talking before this episode started and you were like, so about how long does this go? And I'm like, well, you know, we try to hit like 40 minutes and here we are at like 60 plus. I was looking at the time, I was like, yeah, we've been chatting.
00:58:41
Speaker
which is totally, totally fine because I think that everything that you said today, A, love how practical it is, and B, I think just such a necessary conversation for a lot of people to have with themselves in their business because I think we all get into business thinking it would be so much fun to do XYZ. But we don't say that out loud. It generally doesn't include like, oh, it'd be so much fun to handle all this paperwork that goes along with
00:59:05
Speaker
handling all these clients, right? Or it'd be so much fun to ask people for money and their business and stuff like that. So I think that this is such a valuable conversation. I'm really excited for people to hear about it. I know that you have resources available that act as sort of an extension of everything that we talked about today. And you also have a great newsletter that you send out as well every Thursday. So can you tell us more about that?
00:59:29
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. Best way to probably find my newsletter, to give you an idea, I don't, I mean, you know, people say like, don't call it a newsletter because nobody wants to go on the newsletter. This is my best content that I send out every single week. And so people can get access to it in order to have kind of a little bit of encouragement and education related to communications and marketing strategies.
00:59:49
Speaker
as well as some photography and also just a lot of fun in general, every single Thursday. And so you can actually get that if you go to my website, which like I mentioned, is a beautiful template from Kristin and Davey's site that has been later customized a little bit. It is laurincarnes.com slash menu is going to be where you can find the signature brand voice guide that's going to go ahead and get you the ability to kind of find that ideal client
01:00:15
Speaker
and also will allow you to hop on my newsletter as well. And so that is the first spot. And then also, I do have a little resource for you guys. And let me pull it up because now my computer is just wanting to be a little funky. And I'll make sure that all of these are linked to in the show notes. So if you head to the show notes, you'll find links to all of these.
01:00:34
Speaker
I love that. If you guys want to be able to get access to being able to kind of prepare for pitching and positioning your pitch, I have a resource at bit.ly slash position your pitch. And so that's all lowercase because I know Bitly can be a little funky.
01:00:50
Speaker
And you can go there and that will get you access to being able to find some content prompts for figuring out your elevator pitch, that signature brand voice guide that I mentioned, and also some email marketing tips specifically for content creation in order to be able to nurture your audience so that you kind of get to where when you are sitting down for the pitch that they are already prepared. And they've gone through kind of a welcome sequence that makes them know who you are, what you do, who you do it for, and what the results are.
01:01:19
Speaker
Bit.ly slash position your pitch and Dave, you'll send that over to you so that you can have access to that easy for the show notes. Perfect. And like I said, all those will be found in the show notes. And if you were thinking throughout this episode that this is stuff that you need to implement in your business, these are great practical activities to go through to actually get you there.
01:01:38
Speaker
So Lauren, thank you again for making time out of your day. I literally know how challenging it can be, especially early on to walk around unpredictable, nap schedule and all of that. So really appreciate your time. It sounds like he successfully slept and thank goodness for awesome mother-in-laws to come and help. So I'm so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. I know it was a long time coming, but this was super fun.
01:02:06
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Brands That Book Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving a review in iTunes. For show notes and other resources, head on over to devianchrista.com.
01:02:28
Speaker
you