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Episode 38: Julie Paisley - Keeping Things Personal
161 Plays6 years ago
Today’s guest is Julie Paisley, a destination wedding photographer and educator based in Nashville, TN.
Julie’s work can be found on every major wedding blog, she's been published countless times in print, including a feature on the cover of People, TWICE. And she has a client roster featuring some names that you probably recognize.
Today we’re chatting about how to increase word of mouth referrals—both from clients and other businesses—by keeping things personal.
Before we get started: If you are hybrid photographer—you shoot both film and digital formats—there’s a conference I think you need to check out that’s hosted by Julie along with Jonathan Canlas and Belinda Olson. It’s called The Hybrid Collective, and this is year it’s happening in Nashville from May 6th-8th and registration is currently open! Head on over to the hybrid co dot com to check out the speaker line-up, styled shoots, breakout sessions, and master classes. I’ll be there teaching… and I’ll be giving out some awesome bonuses during my classes—I hope to see you there!
For show notes and other resources, go to https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-julie-paisley-episode-38
Recommended
Transcript
Personal Branding and Business Success
00:00:05
Speaker
you know, be a fruit loop in the Cheerios world. You gotta find the way that you can stand out, you know, and nobody else can take our personality. They can't copy us, like that's us, they can copy our work, they can copy our website, they can copy all of that stuff, but they can't take away who we are.
The Brands at Book Show with Julie Paisley
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.
00:00:41
Speaker
Today's guest is Julie Paisley, a destination wedding photographer and educator based in Nashville, Tennessee. Julie's work can be found on pretty much every major wedding blog, and she's been published countless times in print, including not one, but two features on the cover of People magazine. And she has a pretty cool client roster featuring some names that I bet you'll recognize.
Hybrid Collective Conference for Photographers
00:01:03
Speaker
Today we're chatting about how to increase word of mouth referrals, both from clients and other businesses or vendors, by keeping things personal.
00:01:11
Speaker
Before we get started, if you are a hybrid photographer, you shoot both film and digital formats. There's a conference that I think you need to check out. It's actually hosted by Julie, along with Jonathan Canlis and Belinda Olson. It's called The Hybrid Collective, and this year it's happening in Nashville from May 6th to 8th, and registration is currently open. Head on over to hybridco.com to check out the speaker lineup, style shoots, breakout sessions, and master classes. I'll be there teaching, and I'll be giving out some awesome bonuses during my classes. I hope to see you there.
Client Referrals and Personality-Driven Service
00:01:41
Speaker
Be sure to check out the show notes at davianchrista.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 Christa Facebook page and send us a message. Now, onto the episode.
00:02:05
Speaker
Welcome to the Brands at Books show. Julie, I'm excited to talk to you, because I know you've worked with some pretty amazing people. And so we get to chat about that a little bit. And we're talking client referrals, you know, so if you're interested in getting client referrals from pretty amazing people, I feel like Julie Paisley is the person to talk to. So welcome. Oh, I am so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me.
00:02:28
Speaker
Yeah. And before we get started, I do want to mention the Hybrid Collective Conference, which is a conference that you put on in Nashville. Can you tell us a little bit more about that and who that is for before we get started here, just so that everybody hears about it?
00:02:41
Speaker
Absolutely. So it was actually this is our third year of hosting the hybrid conference. We really were sitting down together. We were attending a large conference and we were talking about how we didn't feel like there was a conference out there that really cater to film and digital shooters.
00:02:59
Speaker
And it seemed like, you know, there was different ones that would do different things, but no one really just focused in on that. And so at first, when we first started it, it was, you know, our focus was definitely for hybrid shooters, for film photographers and digitalists to come together and both mediums come together and to really talk about how both mediums are important. And now the conference
Julie's Journey from Teaching to Photography
00:03:20
Speaker
has grown. So now we're bringing in like people like you that can come in and talk about SEO,
00:03:25
Speaker
which is really awesome and what our people need instead of just shooting pretty pictures. Because we know that the pretty pictures, that's not always going to book your wedding. So you need to have the other things and the business. And so now we've grown every year. It's been an amazing opportunity. So I co-own the conference with Belinda Olson and with John Canlis. And so the three of us run the conference together and we're just super excited about this year.
00:03:56
Speaker
We really took a big step and we added on a lot more photographers. Before in the past, we only had like 10 keynote speakers, but now we've opened up to master classes and styled shoots. And so there's 32 speakers that will be there this year. So it's quite a jump from 32 to 10. And it's going to be hosted this year in Nashville. We do travel around and do it in different places. This year it's in Nashville and it's May 6th through the 8th.
00:04:22
Speaker
And there are still openings, so we do still have availability for people to sign up. And you can find out all about it on www.thehybridco.com. So we would love to have you.
00:04:35
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm, I'm pretty pumped about this conference. I mean, talk about it. Awesome founding crew, you Belinda and Jonathan Canlis. Jonathan, I met a couple of years ago as I was just getting started shooting film. And it was very formative for me that experience with him. So I'm looking forward to seeing him again. And I think you guys just have such an awesome crew there. A lot of people whose work I really admire, but haven't been able to meet yet. So I'm excited about that. I will say prices go up March 1st, so better to buy a ticket now than wait for later.
00:05:04
Speaker
Yes, for sure. Plus the extra classes, the master classes and the styled shoots, they sell out really quickly. So a lot of them are already sold out. We're going to be adding some more actually this weekend. So you want to make sure that if you're one a part of that, you definitely need to go ahead and sign up sooner than later.
00:05:22
Speaker
So getting back to you, really excited to chat. Like I said, you've worked with some awesome people, not to name drop, but Thomas Rhett and Lady A you've worked with before, among a number of others that, that you can't even talk about. So I, again, really excited to talk about client referrals here, but I want to talk, I want to talk first about where it all began. You know, how did you get into photography? How did your business get started? Tell us about it.
00:05:47
Speaker
Absolutely. So I'm a little bit older than most photographers. I don't believe it. I know I am. I am actually 47 years old. So I started my business when I was 37, which most people, you know, in this day and age, most photographers are starting younger. This is my second career. My first career, I was a teacher. Awesome. What years? So I taught K5.
00:06:14
Speaker
Okay, I could never do that. I taught high school. I substituted once for an elementary school teacher and it was the most exhausted I think I've ever been. It's a lot, but I tell my groomsmen all the time that it was practice. I can really put up with five-year-olds, so I can totally put up with the groomsmen as well.
Rapid Career Growth Through Client Relationships
00:06:33
Speaker
Sometimes they laugh, sometimes they don't. Also, I have a degree in music and I have a master's degree in special ed.
00:06:42
Speaker
I taught kindergarten in the morning and then I would teach music and drama in the afternoons. And so yeah, it's a big change to come from that to photography.
00:06:52
Speaker
basically 10 years ago, I'm in my 10th year of business now, I actually was given a camera. So I was given a Canon Rebel. I think we all start with that Canon Rebel. And so I was given one and I just really started playing around. My daughter is autistic and she's highly functioning, but we were at that point in her life to where taking her in to have studio pictures made, it wasn't happening. It just, it wasn't happening.
00:07:21
Speaker
I found with my camera taking my kids out and letting her just be a kid and play that I was capturing images of her that were so real. And so I started posting that and then people started seeing it and said, well, will you take our family like that? And I'm like, sure. Because it was just fun for me. I thought, hey, this is a great side job when I'm not teaching, you know, I can do this during the summer. Well, let's just say that
00:07:46
Speaker
My first year of shooting in 2009, which I was playing around, grew so quickly that I actually, when we went into 2010, I quit my job after that semester, that first semester. So it was nuts. I went from six weddings in 2010 to 41 in 2011. Dang. From six to 41. Yes. And they were all referrals. Literally referrals.
00:08:16
Speaker
That's crazy. And 41, do you still shoot that volume? Up until this year. Really? I was shooting 30 to 40 weddings a year. Up until this year, I'm only taking 10. I think the most we ever shot was 47. And after we were done for that year, it was so exhausting. We were like, we can't ever do that again.
00:08:35
Speaker
Yeah, 2017, I did 38, and I was just like, whoa, I'm way too old for this. Last year, we cut back. Last year, we did 27. So it was definitely lower than that. And then this year, I'm only taking 10 and I'm booked. Okay, okay. So this year, 2019. Yes, yes. Awesome. So all of those are client referrals. I guess we should just dive into it. I mean, like, how did you how did you make that work? Were you intentional about
00:09:03
Speaker
doing something that led to those client referrals? I think the biggest thing is just service. It's just how you treat your clients.
00:09:11
Speaker
From day one, I have always treated my clients like they were just my friends and they were not necessarily my clients. And so, you know, I would get to know them. I would follow them on Instagram, follow them on Facebook, become friends with them, communicate with them far past, just like, Hey, let's talk about a timeline. You know, I would tell my brides, I would text them and say, Hey, I want to see your dress. Send me a picture.
00:09:34
Speaker
And so when I arrived at the wedding, I felt like everybody already knew who I was. The wedding party, the moms and the dads were coming up and hugging me. They were like, oh, I just saw that you were just in Paris or whatever. And they felt comfortable with me. And when people feel comfortable with you, they're gonna talk about you. And they're gonna love your images before you even shoot them. When you're walking away from a wedding and they're already telling you, oh my gosh, I know I already love them. And they haven't even seen them yet.
00:10:04
Speaker
you know that that is what gets people telling everybody else about you and it's how you are at the wedding like we've gotten referrals because we're efficient we work fast we're always smiling we're always happy and they want that type of wedding photographer there so i have never had to really actively promote my business it has come from referrals
00:10:28
Speaker
And I love that. And even now, you know, where I'm only booking the 10, like, I wouldn't even have to have a website on there because it's like the people that come to me like all 10 of my weddings this year, they have known me from a referral.
Building Strong Client Connections
00:10:42
Speaker
So either their other photographers, you know, so they've gotten to know me that way.
00:10:46
Speaker
or their past clients maybe a sister or a bridesmaid or even a guest like my biggest wedding this year which is crazy because it's over 20k i can't even like fathom that but she was a guest at a wedding three years ago
00:11:02
Speaker
and she started following me right away and she told her mom she's like she wasn't even dating anybody at the time she's like whenever i get married she is shooting my wedding because i loved watching her at the wedding and now that she follows me up she follows me on instagram so she literally called me and basically said okay
00:11:19
Speaker
we're considering these three dates which one's available and then how do i book you and i was like what don't you see my prices like whatever is let's do it and i'll probably add on to it and i was just like floor like she's like i thought i have fallen in love with you like you're my best friend now so i have my wedding so i just feel like
00:11:38
Speaker
that's the way to go like that's how you stand out in this industry competing with all the sharks in the red ocean like i don't want to be that person i want to make such an impression on my clients that they just automatically tell everybody else and then i don't have to worry about those cookies.
00:11:55
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean, backing up here, you have a very personal brand, you're talking about how you're texting with the couple, you know, your text with the bride asking to see a picture of her dress. Like, how did you build that personal brand? Like, how did you work those sort of personal elements into your, you know, client experience to, you know, encourage those relationships?
00:12:15
Speaker
I think it's just my personality. I literally love everybody I meet and you automatically become my best friend and I'm going to hug you. It's what it is. That's just me. It just naturally happened. I don't even think I realized that that was a strategy that I was using. I've just always been me. On my Instagram, I'm very me. You might see me with rollers in my hair.
00:12:45
Speaker
You're going to see me eating my bad habits of sugar because I really like sugar. And I believe in attracting and repelling. So can you go into that a little bit more? So attracting and repelling, I'm guessing you're talking clients here. What does that look like for you?
00:13:01
Speaker
No, basically, I'm a very outgoing, happy, very excited type person. The more excited I get, the louder I talk and the faster I talk and the more Southern I become. And so it's like if I had a client and I feel like it's super important for me to put all of that out there on me because I don't want this soft spoken, very gentle, quiet bride.
00:13:25
Speaker
to see my work and be drawn to my work, which is great. But then all of a sudden I'm in her face. You know, and I'm like scaring her to death. And so I think that it's so important for us to do that. And like, and the cool thing is, is that my brides are like me.
00:13:44
Speaker
like because they connect with me when they see how, you know, I'm happy and I'm vibrant and I have energy like literally my 20 something year olds that work with me for wedding days. Like I'm having to like at the end of the day going, okay, snap out. Get some caffeine. Get some caffeine here. All this energy. I'm old.
00:14:03
Speaker
but my brides are like that too. And I think it's just, like I said, it's important. I don't think that you should, like I tell people all the time, I don't preach the pretty pictures. Like it's more than pretty pictures because your pretty pictures are not really connecting you with those true clients who are going to sing your praises and tell the world about you and that are going to turn into your clients for next year and the next year and the next year.
00:14:27
Speaker
So where do you, I guess, where do you show up with that personality? I mean, obviously on the wedding day, people are going to see that, but beyond the wedding day, you know, what are some ways that you show people that personality?
00:14:39
Speaker
Okay, so first of all, my gifts are different. So I don't do the typical, here's the arranged gifts, you know, with a candle and a bottle of wine or whatever it is, no offense to anybody that does that, that works for people. It doesn't work great for me. So I send some of my favorite things. So that would be like ice cream.
00:14:59
Speaker
who doesn't love ice cream i know exactly it'd be ice cream and it would be oh my gosh lush bath bombs and like and i don't so and i don't like i surprise with gifts so they never know when they're getting them they don't just get the initial
00:15:14
Speaker
you know, oh hey, you booked your wedding, here's your gift, you know. So I go through and one of the things that we do that I think has really helped us is we send out a getting to know you questionnaire and it's really deep. Like we're digging deep, like what is your favorite candy? What is your favorite dream? What is, I mean, I dig deep into all of their favorites.
00:15:33
Speaker
and so we send that out immediately when they book so they book they get to thank you from us we're so excited and hey we we are ready to get to know you please fill us out with us for us right away so i take that and then i start building their gifting throughout the year and so
00:15:48
Speaker
Like, if there's a bride that we know, like, they're obsessed with coffee, well, then I'm going to surprise them with, like, coffee from different places. And, you know, different things like that. If it's ice cream, I'm going to give them that. I really cater to them with their gifts, so they're very personalized. So they're a little bit of me in the gift, and they're a little bit of them. And so I think that that automatically, like, helps me stand out, because I'm different in that aspect.
00:16:13
Speaker
So do you plan, do you send out these gifts at certain times throughout the experience or is it really just kind of like random? You know, it's kind of random. Like, like for instance, right now I am sending out Valentine gifts to all of my couples. That's amazing. And they would never expect that, you know?
00:16:30
Speaker
And so, and I'm sending out, so I'm sending out the book, The Five Love Languages, which hello is Valentine. And so if any of my, many of my people are listening, hopefully this won't happen until. Yeah, this is after. Yeah, this is after Valentine's. You're all set. We won't spoil any surprises. Yeah, I'm sending them cotton candy too. Love cotton candy.
00:16:52
Speaker
just a little bit of me, like it's gourmet cotton candy and like little vintage Valentine's, you know, so I'm just so excited to get these out to them and they're, they will be expecting it. Like I did last year, I sent out little Easter baskets.
00:17:08
Speaker
to my clients. And then what I usually do too is when we meet up for the engagement session, I personalize a gift for them there. So if they're coming to Nashville and they're getting married in Nashville, then I'm going to give them all kinds of cute little Nashville things in that gift. So that's just kind of how we do it. They're kind of random. Or if I just see something that speaks to me, that's one of my brides, I buy it and I send it to her just randomly.
00:17:32
Speaker
And I imagine that they're thrilled with all this combined with the experience and getting amazing pictures.
Vendor Relationships and Brand Consistency
00:17:38
Speaker
So I'm sure you get a lot of client referrals especially. Do you get a fair amount of referrals from other vendors as well? Do some of these things extend beyond just your clients? Do you apply some of these things to other vendors like planners for instance? And do you get a lot of referrals from them?
00:17:55
Speaker
Yes, we're like 50 50. Okay, so we're like 50 referrals from clients were 50 referrals from vendors. I do the same with them. I gift them. I show my personality. I do all of that for my vendor friends as well. And I mean, we are like I said, we really
00:18:12
Speaker
You know even though right now I'm to the point to where I've kind of my personally I have kind of branched out of Nashville just because my pricing you know cuz I'm only taking ten so I majorly increase my pricing but I have a team member that services my Nashville weddings and so she's priced in the national range you know where I was before I raised my prices.
00:18:34
Speaker
And we even still get the referrals. Even though it's not me personally, they know my brand and they know that they still get that same experience. Like I'm still communicating with them. I'm still like myself and my associate that shoots with me, we're meeting with them. So again, they just, they want to refer us because they like us. You know, it's not just the pretty pictures and they know that we're going to deliver. They like us. It makes such a huge difference.
00:19:02
Speaker
It really does. It makes such a big difference on the day of, you know, when you have to work alongside these people to be working with people that you really like. And I want to talk a little bit more about that because so you have an associate that works, I'm guessing she works weddings alone. So weddings that you're not there for, right?
00:19:19
Speaker
You have a very personal brand and I can even see that excitement even in just this recording here. I imagine that there's people that come to you like that one bride you were speaking of earlier that are like, I want to work with you. Has that been an issue at all in terms of having this personal brand but then also having associates?
00:19:38
Speaker
Well, I don't have associates, so we have tried several. So we are actually, I was thinking about when I did the big price range, you know, before I was shooting the 30 to 40 weddings. So pretty much I was able to, you know, to do most of the weddings that wanted me and requested me. But this year when we made our big shift to only 10,
00:19:57
Speaker
So it's not completely official. It will be in a few months, but she's actually coming on with me. She has actually shot as an associate with me. She has also been a second shooter with me, but she will only be doing weddings with me. So we're branding it as, it's Julie and I'm not going to say her name right now, but that's how we're branding it. So like when you go to the, we're getting a new website and everything. So when you go to my website and you click on the weddings, you're seeing both of our faces. Okay. Okay.
00:20:24
Speaker
And so that's how we're branding it. So we're branding like, if you want Julie and her name, you pay this amount. If you, you know, if that is not in your budget, well, then she is available to do the web is here. And so that way I never wanted my brides to feel like they settled.
00:20:43
Speaker
Yeah, that was one of the issues that I really struggle with associates. And so it was very important to me that if we were going to continue this route, which I really wanted to because like I said, I built these relationships with these vendors here in Nashville. And I don't want to let that go. Yeah, that's been five years of nurturing and building these and they don't, you know, like right now they're so sad because they're like,
00:21:06
Speaker
our brides can't afford you anymore. You know, most of them, I mean, you still get a few of the ones a while that can, but most of the in line like, well, guess what? I have something for you. And they are so excited about it. So it will still be the Julie Paisley brand. And it's just, but this is us. These are the, it's the two of us, you know,
00:21:24
Speaker
So you can pay this price and get the both of us or you can just pay this price and get her. And I think that everybody will still be okay.
Authenticity in Marketing and Client Selection
00:21:30
Speaker
We've been able to book weddings even through that because again, I still call up the bride. I'm still talking with the bride. I'm making those connections. I'm sending out the gifts. I'm checking in even though my associate is shooting the wedding.
00:21:44
Speaker
Sure. And that's such interesting, always interested in hearing about these different models, because I feel like, you know, back in the day, so to speak, there were a lot of associate programs out there. And then I feel like it shifted away from that a little bit around more personal brands, but I'm seeing more and more.
00:22:00
Speaker
you know, associate programs pop up and successful ones as well that are still very personal. They're not, you know, like the faceless associate, you know, programs of old. So I'm always really interested in hearing about those models. I do have sort of a question, a side question here, again, right off of or talking about building relationships with planners. One question that we get a lot is, you know, people posting or asking, you know, I'm thinking about paying for a listing in like the knot or wedding wire or
00:22:27
Speaker
whatever directory it is that they're considered paying for a listing in, where do you think that money is better spent on something like that or on something like building relationships with vendors through things like gifts and cards and stuff like that?
00:22:42
Speaker
Oh, hands down building relationships, literally like, you know, I, I did all those things. Yeah. So when I first got started, you know, I've never, well, I've never had a not listing or I think we tried wedding wire for like three months and we didn't do it. It never worked for us. Like we were just getting everything from everybody else. So why would we do that? I was on style me pretty for several years, but honestly I was on style me pretty just for the ease of
00:23:06
Speaker
getting things submitted and getting published, but we discontinued it this year. Nothing against us. You know, style me pretty, but we don't need it. I would rather take that marketing money and do beautiful style shoots or something with these vendors, give them my time and my money and my pictures and have them promote me. That's what I would rather do. I'd rather spend money on gifts for them. I would rather spend money on client gifts so that my clients
00:23:33
Speaker
Promoting me so I hands down feel like that's what you do as you build that personal brand But you also build it within your vendors and your clients as well
00:23:42
Speaker
Yeah, I love that perspective. And I think it's spot on. And we were the same way. We never paid for anything with The Knot or Wedding Wire. We had a listing with Style Me Pretty, the Little Black Book one. But it was really more for the submission, you know, like you're more likely to be featured, you know, if you had one. And we got rid of that before, you know, before a long two. So really, really appreciate that perspective.
00:24:06
Speaker
I do want to talk about some of these referrals that you've gotten for these bigger names, especially in the country music world, like Lady Annabelle. How did you break into that sort of sphere of wedding? I don't know how else to put it.
00:24:23
Speaker
So it really happened very naturally and organically. I never like put myself out there to any publisher, you know, a publicist or anything like that. So how I got the whole Thomas Rhett situation is that I actually shot his sister-in-law's wedding. And the funny thing is at the wedding, I had no idea who he was. I kept calling him brother-in-law and they would giggle when I would call him that. And I was like, I don't know. I just thought they thought it was funny because I wouldn't call him by his name.
00:24:53
Speaker
But I had no idea who he was. No idea. And I didn't even know it until the end of the night. So, you know, being in Nashville is very common to have celebrities at your weddings. But the thing is, is Nashville kind of has a code. We, if you see a celebrity out, and you will, like we see them all the time, you don't go up to them. You, they're normal people. They're there with their family. You treat them with respect. And so,
00:25:18
Speaker
My girls know, I always tell my girls, hey, if there's a celebrity at the wedding, don't you dare go up to them and ask for a picture, don't you dare, you know, go goo goo goo goo over them or anything, because they're just people, they're guests, you know, and we treat them like that. And so finally, at the end of the night, and this family too, and I think that's one of the reasons why Thomas Rhett and Lauren are so, his wife Lauren, are so like popular because they're so down to earth and just normal.
00:25:43
Speaker
And so at the end of the night, my two girls that were working the wedding with me came and said, Julie, we know that you said we can't do this, but can we please, please, please get a picture? I see people taking pictures. And I'm like, who are you talking about? Thomas Rhett. And I'm like, who's Thomas Rhett? And they're like, die a happy man. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I've heard that so much at home. Now I know who he is.
00:26:05
Speaker
I got that connection because I was just normal and I treated them like normal people and they loved that. So when they got pregnant, Lauren, his wife texted me like legit just texted me. She got her number from, she got my number from her and she texted me and said,
00:26:21
Speaker
Hey, can you do our maternity? We did the maternity. It went crazy viral. Then People magazine wanted a piece of it when the baby was born. And then that's how that bone and I got a cover on People magazine and five or six pages in the magazine, you know, the write up and on People TV, which was really cool. So that was literally just me being me at a wedding and not really doing anything special.
00:26:45
Speaker
And then Lady Annabelle, when she had her twins, when Hillary had her twins, people wanted to do again another feature. And so she was, is friends with the Rets. And so she requested me and she told her agent, like, I really want this photographer. You reach out to her because I love the way that she kept their pictures so natural. And also, you know, Thomas and Lauren gave her a good, you know, a good referral.
00:27:11
Speaker
And then from then we've gotten several others. Like it's funny because I'm a wedding photographer, but I actually do family pictures for celebrities a lot, but they want to keep those private. And so, you know, of course we have to sign the NDA plus I go to their home. So it's, you know, it's a big deal and it's, I'm very honored to be able to do that. And I've had a few celebrity weddings since then.
00:27:33
Speaker
photograph Thomas Rhett's dad's marriage when he got remarried. So that all came from that. So that was literally like a stream of like three, four referral shoots and weddings just from that one wedding. So it's pretty cool how that works out. Yeah, so pretty much everything you currently do even is client or vendor referrals. Yes, absolutely.
00:27:56
Speaker
What's so awesome about hearing you talk about all of this is that you're not implementing some crazy, difficult marketing strategy that's overly complex. You're simply being you to the fullest meaning of whatever that is. And then beyond that, just building great relationships with the people around you.
00:28:19
Speaker
And I think sometimes we fall back on the excuse if we're not getting the referrals we want or whatever that for whatever reason it's not attainable to us. There's just something we don't know that if we learned that that would propel our career.
00:28:36
Speaker
But a lot of your success, it seems like just really pouring into those relationships. And that's not to discount the beautiful photos that you take and all the investment that you've put into honing your craft because that's definitely a part of it. But I do love just how relationship oriented your business is and that it's led to some crazy celebrity shoots.
00:28:59
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. I mean, that's the key. I was just, I did a webinar last week and I was just talking about don't, you know, be a fruit loop in the Cheerios world. Find the way that you can stand out, you know, and nobody else can take our personality. They can't copy us like that's us. They can copy our work. They can copy our website. They can copy all of that stuff.
00:29:22
Speaker
but they can't take away who we are. And I feel like that has been my, I tell people all the time like, I want to credit it to pretty work, but I truly feel like it's they like me. You know, they want to hire me because they like me.
00:29:38
Speaker
So it's really huge. And I'm really trying to preach this to people, but some people aren't quite carrying on, you know, like they want to make the excuses. Well, it's oversaturated. That's why I'm not booking, you know, or my website is not as pretty as theirs. And that's why I'm not looking. And those things, you know, definitely a great website is key for sure. And there are SEO and a lot of things that you need to do that. But
00:30:01
Speaker
Still, I feel like the number one thing that people are missing out on is putting their personality in their brand, and just being themselves. Yeah. And you know, something else that just came to mind too is like, you don't have this air of the unapproachable artist, you know what I'm talking about how, you know, some, some people's brands, it just seems like you can't you shouldn't even go and talk to them. You know, it's just like, it's all it's only about the art. And, and that's not a knock on that type of brand. But
00:30:31
Speaker
you have a very approachable brand and personality and you still are in the upper echelons of your craft, which I think that's great. I think that's incredible. I think for people who don't resonate with that kind of artistry or that brand that seems unapproachable, do you know what I'm saying? Exactly. It gives hope.
00:30:55
Speaker
Well, that's what I was telling the other day in my webinar. I was just saying, I was like, you know what, you know, I can walk around with my Louis Vuitton bag, but I can also walk around with my Target bag at the same time. You know, and it's like, I want people to feel that way. Like I want a living room comfortable. I always tell people that I kind of describe my brand as a warm hug. I always want to be that way. I don't care. I don't care how much money I'm making. Who cares about that?
00:31:22
Speaker
As long as I'm giving people experiences and I'm treating people the way that they should be treated, that's all that matters to me. And I'm sure the money follows too when you do those things.
00:31:34
Speaker
It really does. And a lot of people think too, you know, I know I got brought up in this, I would say probably about four or five years ago, you know, when I was really deep into, you know, I had started shooting film and I kind of felt like, okay, in order to be this high end and get these really expensive weddings,
00:31:53
Speaker
I have to have this type of brand and I tried it and I'm like, oh no, this is not me. And the thing is I'm booking weddings the same prices that they're booking weddings at, but I'm still personal. Like there are very wealthy people out there who want personal people. You know, they don't want to just hire somebody that are just like hired help. Like I will never be hired help. I don't like that. I don't care how much money you have, how much money you're spending on your wedding. I want to come in, I'm not hired help.
00:32:22
Speaker
I am part of you, they're your team. I am part of, I want to get to know you. And so I kind of, I really look into that with my brides. I'm very picky about the brides that I choose. I can tell immediately when they send in the inquiry, whether it's going to be a yes or no. Like I know, and I love that. And I very, very, very rarely, like I could say in my 10 years of business, I can probably count on one hand,
00:32:49
Speaker
and not even using all five fingers. People who have like really been like, oh my gosh, how did you slip through the cracks? You know, so I love that. I mean, if you can go through a whole year and maybe only have, you know, doing 30 to 40 weddings and hundreds of sessions and only have one person that made a big deal, but you, you really realized that that wasn't my fault. That's them.
00:33:11
Speaker
And so I just think it's just a cool thing to have. And you definitely save a lot of heartache that way by making sure that you are definitely marketing to the right people.
Transition to Educational Roles
00:33:21
Speaker
Yeah. And just as we wrap up here, how do you make sure when an inquiry comes in that it's going to be a right fit? Do you have a certain process that you go through? Are there certain things that you look for specifically where you're like, that sounds like it just might not be a good wedding for us?
00:33:36
Speaker
Yeah. So we're, we definitely asked, like, we want to know what their photography budget is. We want to know where the wedding is. We need location. We also asked how they found out about us. We asked them to tell us about their day and why they want Julie Paisley to shoot their wedding.
00:33:54
Speaker
And usually by just because if you're just getting the people that are just price shopping, they're not going to take the time to fill that out. Yeah. And price shoppers are not my brides. Yeah, they probably can't afford you. Yeah. Yeah. These two is that I want a bride that is literally coming to me. And the funny thing is, is that especially I shoot a lot of photographers weddings.
00:34:13
Speaker
And they won't even be technically engaged, but they're already deciding on their wedding date because, you know, photographers, we have to plan ahead. And they'll literally book me before they're officially engaged. Like, they're like, you can't say that I just booked you because it's not official yet. Like, I legit just booked a wedding yesterday for a fellow photographer who's been following me for years, and she is not engaged yet. Set the date because they need to do that, but they're not technically engaged.
00:34:42
Speaker
And so it happens all the time. And so that's the people that I want. I want the people that come to me and say, these are three dates or when are you available in October? And that's when we're going to get married. Even if we have to change our venue, we're going to get married around you. Those are my clients. Those are the ones I. So last question here. Do you ever miss the classroom?
00:35:01
Speaker
I do, but that's why I teach. That's why I teach other photographers. Like I'm so passionate and I'm so excited, you know, as I'm going through, you know, I went through my 10 years of being in the trenches and shooting all of these weddings, you know, now I'm able to, you know, gradually start lessening my wedding. So tens this year and I feel like over the next probably
00:35:24
Speaker
two or three or four years, it'd probably go to like five or something like that. But now I can really turn my focus into educating other photographers. I'm super, super passionate about it. I love it. I love creating courses and I love mentoring and I'm leading a mastermind this year, which has been like the most fantastic thing ever.
00:35:45
Speaker
And so I feel like I'm still getting to be a teacher because that's my calling. I know that that's my calling. I knew from like in high school that I was meant to be a teacher. So even though I'm not teaching in a physical classroom anymore, I'm still teaching and it makes me so happy.
00:36:01
Speaker
Eventually, it's all the best parts of teaching. I miss the classroom, but I really miss the relationships and teaching in general. Don't quite miss the bureaucracy and that kind of stuff that goes with it. It really is. It's the best of both worlds. It really is. I just love my job so much and I feel like that's what keeps me young. Just because I love it. If you love a job, like they say, you'll never work a day in your life.
00:36:30
Speaker
And it's just, it's so true. So where can people learn more about your courses and some of these educational opportunities that you provide? So everything is pretty much on my website. So you can just go to julie paisley.com and we have a store and you can click on the store. You can click on, you know, to find out about workshops and to find out different offerings that we have. Definitely follow me on Instagram though, because that's the meat. That's where you really get to know Julie. And that's where I really like put everything that we're doing out there.
00:36:59
Speaker
Instagram is definitely my way. That's where I'm at every day. So Instagram is really easy too. It's just at Julie Paisley. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to come on here and share your expertise and tell us some stories. We really appreciate it. I'm so excited and I'm excited to have you at Hyperco. So yeah, wait for that. It's going to be awesome. I've only ever been to Nashville once and it was really just the airport. So I'm excited as well. Nashville is so cool. You'll love it. I know. I can't wait. Thank you.
00:37:28
Speaker
You're welcome. Bye-bye. 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.
00:37:57
Speaker
you