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Episode 107 - How to book more high-end clients - Elizabeth Solaru
205 Plays2 years ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! Today I have Elizabeth Solaru ,Best selling Author, keynote speaker, best luxury wedding cake majer.
Elizabeth is an international speaker and a competition judge who travels the globe speaking to fellow cake makers, women in business, wedding industry professionals, and other entrepreneurial groups. She presents on a number of topics ranging from her own inspirational creative journey from Microbiologist, and Headhunter to luxury cake designer, successfully distinguishing her company in the industry..
Today's hot topic: How to book more high-end clients
Luxury clients
Luxury selling
Luxury buying
Connect with Elizabeth
https://www.instagram.com/elizabethscakeemporium/
Freebie A free 30 minute discovery call
Connect with Carissa Woo
DM me the work demo to get the free 20 minute training - How to get 10-15 quality leads a month
https://heckyesmedia.co/book Buy my book
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Triple Threat Marketing and Sales System
00:00:00
Speaker
Happy Woo Wednesdays! If you guys haven't heard, I have a new program out for all wedding professionals, not just wedding photographers. It's called the Triple Threat Marketing and Sales System. And pretty much I redo your brand, I do all your marketing assets, and I help you with sales. I have a 20-minute demo for you guys on how to get high-paying clients without relying on Facebook ads.
00:00:28
Speaker
Relying on Facebook groups or being in the industry for five plus years. I'll link it up in the show notes It is amazing.
Meet Elizabeth Solaru and Her Luxury Cake Business
00:00:37
Speaker
I hope you guys check it out Please do it right now after you listen to this amazing episode with Elizabeth cakes Emporium I met her through a wedding summit and I just thought she was just so cool and like I just I don't know I love her way of thinking She really works with
00:00:55
Speaker
high-end wedding clients selling her cakes. I love her story of making a cake for Queen Elizabeth, which is crazy. It's really the one and only Queen Elizabeth and how that kind of snowballed into getting all her high-end clients. She has really out-of-the-box thinking and she is going to really
00:01:16
Speaker
help you get out of this demographic of people just wanting to nickel and dime you. I think she is going to teach you how to get luxury clients, luxury selling, luxury buying, and she just teaches you how to book more high-end clients. You are going to love her. You are going to love this episode. Enjoy.
Carissa Wu's Journey from Photographer to Coach
00:01:38
Speaker
Welcome to Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. I'm your host, Carissa, and I've been a Los Angeles wedding photographer for over a decade. I've traveled the world, built my team, and seen it all. I now coach wedding photographers hit 10K a month and build a thriving business. In this podcast, we are going to deep dive into how top wedding creatives get that heck yes from their dream clients. We are not holding back on the struggles of the business and how to push through the noise. Some healthy hustle, mindset shifts, up-leveling your money story,
00:02:07
Speaker
Time-hacks because I'm a mom of two, a little bit of woo-woo, and most importantly, self-love and confidence are just a few of the many things we will talk about. I want to give you a genuine thank you for following along my journey. I hope to inspire you every Woo Wednesday so that you say, heck yes, to listening to this podcast. See you guys soon!
00:02:30
Speaker
Hey everyone, welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with me, your girl, Carissa Wu.
Elizabeth Solaru's Transition from Scientist to Cake Artist
00:02:34
Speaker
I have the famous Elizabeth Solaro in the Get a Heck Yes house, and she is the owner of Elizabeth Cakes Emporium, the home of luxury wedding cakes, and she is based in London. We actually met recently, we were part of the wedding summit, Heidi Thompson's wedding summit, where there was thousands of brides attended, and we connected, and I was just so,
00:02:59
Speaker
impressed by you. You are a author, a keynote speaker. You spoke around the world and you are the best luxury wedding cake majeure so in the world. So I'm just so honored for you to be here. Welcome Elizabeth. Thank you so much and thank you for asking me. It's such an honor to be on your podcast. So I'm so excited to speak to everyone today.
00:03:26
Speaker
Yay, and today's hot topic is a very, very hot topic. Everyone wants to know about this topic, but is how to book more high-end clients, because we don't want the nickel and dime, whereas that's not a good place to be. But before that, Elizabeth, tell us a little bit about yourself, even starting from growing up.
00:03:47
Speaker
Gosh, I'll give you a potted history because we'll be here all day. I rent so many moons year old, but give you a potted history. I grew up as what I would describe as a third culture child. So my parents are immigrants. They met in London when they came to study.
Starting a Business During Economic Recession
00:04:10
Speaker
I was born in London and then I got taken back
00:04:15
Speaker
to their home country, Nigeria.
00:04:18
Speaker
for a little bit and then I came back to the UK again. But at university, I studied microbiology. I got my master's in medical microbiology and parasitology and I worked as a scientist in a hospital for many, many years and then took off and decided to work in the city as a headhunter, did an MBA,
00:04:46
Speaker
and then milestone birthday. And I thought, if I don't do it now, I'll never do it. So I decided to set up my own cake company and here we are today. So that is me. That was a cool, cool unique story. I guess scientists and cakes have, you know, a little bit of correlation, like all ingredients I'm putting all together. But yeah, that's amazing. So, okay, so parent, she went to,
00:05:13
Speaker
London to Nigeria and back and scientists. What was, take me back to that milestone birthday. What was it in your life that you just needed a change and why cakes?
00:05:29
Speaker
Oh, that's a very good question. Now, as you can understand, when you grow up in an immigrant household, anything to do with arts or anything to do with baking is really frowned upon because it's all about education, education, education. So I started baking when I was about nine. And in an African household, in those days, your oven was used for storage. It really wasn't used for baking. Oh, interesting. So I was quite unusual in that. And we didn't have any baking tins.
00:05:58
Speaker
So I'd use my mom's old pots to bake. And some, obviously some cakes came out really well, some were complete and utter disasters, but I baked and baked. And then after a while I had to pack it in because of focusing on my education. But when I started working as a headhunter in the city, I got really, really stressed because 18 hour days, very long days, et cetera. So at the weekends, I baked. I just went back to baking.
00:06:27
Speaker
So when I then had to leave my job, it was around about 2007, 2006, 2008, when the city was going through a recession and the first thing people do is stop hiring executives.
00:06:44
Speaker
That's what happened.
Elizabeth's Breakthrough in the Luxury Market
00:06:45
Speaker
So I decided now or never. So it probably was the worst time to set up a baking business, but it ended up being one of the best times to set up a baking business. So that's what precipitated that move into me setting up my baking company. Oh, that's amazing. Okay. So if you're not driving, go to Instagram right now. It's Elizabeth cake Emporium. Go check out these cakes. It's the,
00:07:11
Speaker
most amazing cakes I ever seen in my life. Take me back to that first year. You know, it must have been such a whirlwind to go from corporate, you know, scientist, a headhunter to, you know, big hole and, you know, going back to your passion of baking cakes. But how did you tap into the luxury business? What were the struggles? How did you overcome it? Just take me through that first year. Oh, my God. Okay.
00:07:36
Speaker
there was a lot of struggles, a lot. Obviously, you know, where do I start? I didn't know anyone, as Jane Austen said in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet said of her sister, she said she has no money, no connections, how is she gonna survive? And that was exactly me. I had no money, I had no connections, but I then had to get creative, I had to think. Now, as a headhunter,
00:08:06
Speaker
we were required to make 100 full cold calls every week. So 100 full calls every week. I never achieved 100. I'm not going to lie. That's a lot. Exactly. That's a lot. That's 120 day, et cetera. But the most important thing was we got trained on cold calling. So you knew the answer was going to be no, but you kept calling anyway until you get your yes.
00:08:32
Speaker
So I applied the same principle. I took the, in those days it was called the yellow pages because there were no directories online. So I took the yellow pages and I started calling all the party planners. And a lot was no, no, no, no, no. Until
00:08:50
Speaker
one day and I'll never ever forget the day that changed the trajectory of my business called and a very young girl at the other end and she said, do you make cupcakes? Now remember this was about 15, 16 years ago and cupcakes were not mainstream in the UK certainly. And I said, yes, of course we make cupcakes. And she said, great, because we've been looking for an amazing cupcake maker
00:09:15
Speaker
And I said to her, oh, by the way, I'm going to be in your area in the next three days. Can I drop some samples for you? And she said, of course. So I then gave myself a couple of days, ran around, got the best boxes I can find, made some samples, and I dropped them. And I was even too scared to introduce myself as Elizabeth. I just said, delivery from Elizabeth? Dropped and I ran.
00:09:42
Speaker
You're like a door, what's it called? Dining down. I did go into the offices though, I'm not gonna lie. But as I dropped them, but before I got home, I got a phone call from somebody called Lady Elizabeth Anson, who happened to be the Queen's cousin. What? I know, the late Queen Elizabeth, that was her cousin, as in direct cousin, as in on the mother's side, the only person who called her who called her by her name.
00:10:12
Speaker
And she said, I've tasted your cakes. Absolutely amazing. They look spectacular. I want you to come back and I'm going to place an order for 200 cupcakes. Now, the story is great. If it ended there, that's good. That is good. However, she did something that was
00:10:32
Speaker
I mean, you know, it was totally undeserved by me. I think it was the most gracious thing that someone could ever do to me in those days. She then wrote me a handwritten note and she said some lovely words about my cupcakes and she said,
00:10:49
Speaker
you can use this note as part of your marketing material. So that testimonial, as you can imagine, whenever I did wedding shows, it was front and center on my banner. I still have it on my website. It is not coming off. It was incredible. And her name
00:11:09
Speaker
opened doors into the high-end world. That was how. I know chills, right? What the heck? The story is insane. Okay, keep going. And that was how I got started. And from there, again, I did other things. And another tip, when you have no money, this is what I did.
Creative Marketing Strategies for Cake Business
00:11:33
Speaker
I went to my local cab office because in the UK we had mini cabs so they had a cab office so I went there and I got chatting with the controller and he said to me that they leaflet because what happened was I got a leaflet from them and it got me thinking that if they leaflet
00:11:54
Speaker
can I give them my cards so they can leaflet certain postcodes for me because I only wanted postcodes where there were rich people so that was what I did so and he said to me yeah I'll do it for 10 pounds and I couldn't believe it was only charging me 10 pounds so I gave him a hundred postcards so on
00:12:16
Speaker
And every time they leaflet maybe once a week or once every two weeks, I always got an order from a really nice address. So again, that was another creative way of getting into the high end world.
00:12:32
Speaker
Another thing I did was, I don't know if you have them, we have people that deliver paper to, I can't remember the word for it. Yeah, Paperboy. Paperboy, that's it, Paperboys and Papergirls. I went to some local shops, again, did the same thing, same principle, certain postcodes, can I put my postcards
00:12:55
Speaker
in the newspapers or magazines or whatever. And it was like, sure, it was extra money for the news agent. And I did that. And remember, this was nearly 20 years ago. So those were the markets and techniques I used to try and get my cards in front of people. Wow. Are you guys listening? Like literally Queen Elizabeth, I kind of chuckle when you said that, but it was really like Queen Elizabeth's cousin.
00:13:22
Speaker
It's hilarious. I feel like we should turn this into like a rom-com, right? I know, right? But as long as you give me a really gorgeous man, like my own prince, the postcard lands in front of him, he falls in love with the cakes, and then he falls in love. Unfortunately, I'm too old, so it's not going to happen. Who would be your leading man, Elizabeth? Oh, that's a good question. Oh, my God. Ooh.
00:13:52
Speaker
So many to choose from. Gosh, that's a good question. I do like the guy. Oh, God, I can't remember his name, but he was in a person of interest. He, you know, in a suit, very soft, gentle-ish voice.
00:14:13
Speaker
Yeah, him, I love. Okay, I gotta look him up. I can't remember his name, but he was in person of interest. That is the picture I have in mind. Yeah, we have to pitch this to like a screenwriter, like after this, because we have to turn your life into a rom-com.
00:14:32
Speaker
me and you we did a IG live and we talked about this you know luxury getting into luxury space the way you did it you did it old school like um
00:14:44
Speaker
which is a pretty serendipitous story, beyond serendipitous, but it was a lot of hard work and hustle and a lot of cold calling and getting your name out there, which is crazy, but on the IG live, you actually changed my mindset.
00:15:03
Speaker
about the luxury clientele, the luxury brand. You know, we think it's so like untouchable, the 1% whatever, but tell me about your mentality of the luxury market.
00:15:17
Speaker
Right. And that's a really great question. And I love what you said about people thinking they're untouchable or unreachable. They are not. They're human. They need stuff. They need groceries. They need stuff like normal people do. But this is my mentality and this is my these are my observations.
00:15:38
Speaker
Three things that you need to do. Number one, you've got to have a good product. There's no point. If your product is mediocre or not up to par, you need to fix that. It needs to be good. It doesn't need to be the best. And people make that mistake of trying to so perfect the product. If you can perfect it as much as you can, great. But it needs to be good. And I can't emphasize that enough.
00:16:03
Speaker
That's number one. The second thing is that you need to know that there are different types of luxury clients. So I gave a couple of examples in my presentation that we did in the Book More Weddings Summit with Heidi. So I identified about, I don't know, seven, eight, nine different types of luxury client. You need to know who you're targeting. So for example, I do want to go for an aspirational client.
00:16:31
Speaker
Do you want to go for simply the best client? Different mentalities, same sort of space and sphere, but one is more further along than another. So you need to think about, okay, who do I really want to target and go for? So for the aspirational, just to give you an example, they have people that they look up to, that they aim to be like. But one of your questions would be, who inspires you?
00:17:01
Speaker
for example, who inspires you, who's your hero, shero, whatever. So you need to ask that question of your aspirational. For your simply the best, it could be something like what brand is your dream brand or what brand is out there that you buy from or you think is the best. So when you get that, you then begin to, then you can personalize your marketing to that client.
00:17:28
Speaker
The problem is we and I'm guilty, by the way, we all have our website. We've worked for slaved over it for hours, worked with a copywriter, but it's generic. It's the same thing. The magic happens when you get the inquiry and then you need to personalize or
00:17:46
Speaker
in your booking form, for example, you have, what's the date of your wedding? What's the date? What's it that? They're just wanted to, you know, you can, you can include one or two fun, seemingly fun and harmless questions. That way, as soon as you get that inquiry, you can then begin to personalize to that person. So you have an idea already that they are. So that's number two, the third thing that you need to do,
00:18:15
Speaker
when you are dealing with high-end clients is to be able, it's confidence.
Pricing Confidence and High-End Branding
00:18:23
Speaker
It's confidence about what your prices are. Because I see many people saying, oh, you've got to tell them it delivers value. You've got to prove the value. Not necessarily. It's a yes and no for me. In some cases, yes, there is an education piece, but in some cases, it's a no. Your prices are what they are.
00:18:45
Speaker
If you go into Chanel or Gucci or even a department store where you have a whole range of luxury products, different prices, some of them are almost identical to be honest, some of them are probably manufactured in the same place.
00:19:01
Speaker
but the branding is what makes the difference. So this is where, if you are confident in your brand, again, if you've only been going for a day, you can't compare yourself to someone who's maybe been going for, you know, 10 years. So for example, if you're a planner and you're new, and then someone who's done every wedding in the world, you can't compare. And I think this is where people get it wrong. They either overprice or
00:19:29
Speaker
even more commonly, they underprice. But this is where you need to find the balance and the value, because if you underprice, it sometimes puts off some clients. Some clients think, oh, great, she's underpricing. What a bargain. And some clients think, oh, you know, how can she do all that for that little? If we take photographers, for example, I know some photographers that charge 100 grand,
00:19:59
Speaker
25,000 grand, and some that charge 5 grand, 2,000 grand. So I'm sorry, 2,000 pounds. So again, and if I've seen photographers who charge 2,000 pounds,
00:20:12
Speaker
produce the most incredible work. But again, it's about having the confidence to say, I'm going to add another zero. And this is the challenge that I tend to give people. I would say to you, think of the most you want to charge for a product. So add like a zero behind your best price and then create a product to fit that price.
00:20:41
Speaker
Wow. So you create the product first. I know you have a buyer, but create the product first and then put that massive price tag on it. And then when somebody comes along, because you never know when, cause when you're showing your, your couples options, then you say you show them the 20 grand option. All of a sudden the 5,000 grand or 5,000 pound or the 2,000 pound, the 2,000 would seem cheap and the 5,000 would seem actually that's doable.
00:21:10
Speaker
So think about your pricing. So that would be my third tip. Pardon this short commercial. It is launch time. The HEC Yes Media team saw launch four months ago and our clients are blown away getting results after results. The new program is called the Triple Threat Marketing and Sales System for all wedding professionals. So wedding pros, I'm talking to you. Do you guys need a new brand identity?
00:21:38
Speaker
Is your website homepage not catching the attention of your ideal client and just not working for you? Do you guys want to get on the preferred venue vendor list, the holy grail of lists, which is a lifetime of ready to buy clients? And once you get the lead, are you just tired of getting ghosted? Let us help you with your sales.
00:21:58
Speaker
So watch this 23-minute demo on how to get high-paying wedding clients without posting on social media three times a day, Facebook ads, or being in the industry for five-plus years. It's all linked up. I made the best program in the industry, and it's truly going to help you become the one. Enjoy!
00:22:19
Speaker
Wow. Okay. I'm just, I'm quiet because I'm actually wrapping my head around this, but let me just recap real fast. But first of all, to get high end clients, you have to have a good product. It doesn't have to be the best of the best, but it has to be amazing product.
00:22:37
Speaker
You're not going to tell us seven different types of luxury brands, but there's different types of luxury people. And you mentioned aspirational. They're trying to get somewhere. So who do they aspire to be? And then the best, which thinking of the best, who do they think are the best? Like what stores do they shop at? What brands do they love?
00:22:59
Speaker
And then you mentioned the inquiry form, which I thought was really cool, which adds some fun questions related to your brand. And then therefore, when you respond, you could be very custom personalized and get to know them on a deeper level. And then tip three is confidence.
00:23:16
Speaker
Um, this is where I've always struggled. Sometimes if you give them like wiggle room, um, they meet you at your confidence level where you think you're valued, but it's like, kind of like, Hey, I'm up here. This is my value. Um, meet me here or, or, or adult. So I really love that mindset shift. Yeah.
00:23:38
Speaker
And that was a perfect summary. And anyone listening, if that's all you take away from this podcast, I'm happy. That was fun. And I think something that I was alluding to before in our IG live, but it was, I think you said something about the mindset of luxury clients. It was, do you remember what you said?
00:24:03
Speaker
I think with luxury clients, again, depending on the client and with their mindset, they're constantly surrounded by beautiful things, especially things that they're particularly interested in. So let's think about someone who loves shopping for shoes.
00:24:22
Speaker
So in the process of shopping for shoes, they probably see, I don't know, 10, 15, 20 pairs regularly, every time. They look at their wardrobe, they see amazing shoes, amazing shoes, amazing shoes. So they get accustomed to that sort of quality, that sort of level, that sort of environment, that sort of thing. So if you then want to bring in your product, it has to be comparable. You have to have the mindset
00:24:51
Speaker
to be able to say to them what I'm showing you what I'm presenting to you is just as good if not better than what than what you know so again mindset again that goes to confidence that goes to the way you present your product
00:25:12
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I remember. I remember now, but that was great. But you said something about like people always say, oh, I want to charge more. I want I want my price to be at this point. But you really should change a question until like what what you go for. Yeah. So instead of asking, oh, you know, what's the most I can charge?
00:25:33
Speaker
your question should be, what's the most value I can give? That's why I said when you're creating your product, you need to think about the most amazing value you can give. So if for me as a cake maker, if the most value is maybe creating a 10 tier cake, importing my butter that was hand churned by maidens and
00:25:58
Speaker
The cows are fed on a special grass, et cetera, et cetera. Every part of the value chain, so production, presentation, every part should screen value, value, value, so that when you're presenting to your client, you're able to tell an amazing story.
00:26:18
Speaker
um the eggs were produced these hens there's only 10 of them in the world so it's things like that that add value that is where the luxury comes from and then of course um being if you're a creative being an artisan
00:26:34
Speaker
Again, the value comes from there, you know, what you can create that maybe nobody else has created or if other people are doing it is because you did it first, maybe the world record, blah, blah, blah. So it's about value, value, value. That's how you demonstrate value, not as some people say, or trying to defend your pricing or whatever it is, I give you X amount of time, you know, so what?
00:27:01
Speaker
Yes, you can give 100 hours, but what is the outcome? What's the value? What are they getting at the other end? Because for me, for example, as a cake maker, my job isn't done until the cake is on the table. It's looking amazing and they cut it and they eat it and they're happy. That is my job done.
00:27:20
Speaker
And more importantly, whatever they eat has to be memorable because they can have eggs. And it becomes memorable if there are amazing emotions associated with that. So if you're a photographer, for example, I know a photographer who produces some of the best albums I've ever seen in my life. The first time I saw her albums were 12 years ago. I still remember. Wow.
00:27:48
Speaker
because they were the most, I mean, the look, the feel, the story. I mean, she was a storyteller. So that is what I mean by value. Interesting. Yeah, even when I started my coaching career, I had this friend, he's been a coach for 20 years. And he goes, Krista, like, you know, your students here, they go through the Willy Wonka, you know, machine and at the at the end of your program,
00:28:17
Speaker
what result do they get? And that really like shifted my mindset. So it's interesting that you're like even coaching worlds to wedding professional worlds, cakes, photography, DJ's, florists, it's like getting them that that result, the experience and kind of like what differentiates you throughout the whole entire experience. That's what kind of high end means to you. I wanted to ask you this question because
00:28:41
Speaker
say like someone has been shooting like weddings for pretty cheap like $2,500, $3,000 and they've been in this market for about three to five years and they're really stuck like um and yeah people get stuck there all the time it's just the easiest place to get stuck and they just can't get out of it and people are still nickel and diming them wanting a bigger discount so they're like
00:29:05
Speaker
Why me? How am I going to charge 7k, 10k? What would you say to help them get out the funk today?
Advice for Wedding Professionals in a Pricing Rut
00:29:14
Speaker
Oh, they're not going to like this at all. I did. I did this in 2013.
00:29:20
Speaker
So I've been through it, so I know what it's like. The first thing you do is double your prices overnight so that you get rid of all the nickel and dimers. So you're going to lose 80% of them and you're going to be very upset and you're going to panic and you're going to say, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, I'm not going to have any clients, no one's going to book me. You will go through that panic phase.
00:29:42
Speaker
again I know exactly because again these are things I say in my head oh my god oh my god what have I done am I crazy so you need to double your prices overnight that's the first you need to do and then you need to start fishing in deeper waters because you were in shallow waters before you need to go out into the deep and in the deep you need better equipment a better boat better people this is where you need to start networking better
00:30:07
Speaker
um yeah you're not gonna like it that hit me that hit me in the heart pretty you're gonna start networking and funnily enough the moment you do that you will start meeting people it's really weird you will start meeting the right people the moment you do that and the reason being um you're out of your comfort zone so you're gonna get tested and that's normal but you will start meeting people and then you need to start doing um
00:30:34
Speaker
You could do, I always recommend maybe do exclusive events. This is where you need to hustle. Go to a venue instead of the usual wedding shows where there's 10 of you or 25 of you in a room.
00:30:48
Speaker
and you have your booths and the bride's come, think about doing something different, maybe an incredible experience, invite a waiting list. And then you're, so again, you're building that exclusivity that we're only in. So again, that's what you need to start doing. So you get together with other wedding professionals who are looking to level up.
00:31:15
Speaker
and then go to people who had leveled up and then start, I don't care what you have to do, start talking to them or you wanted to work with them, I did all this. I organized as a cake maker, probably one of the first, because usually styled shoots are organized by planners, I organized style shoots, I branded my shoots, I did an amazing one, Frida Kahlo,
00:31:38
Speaker
shoot and I did two looks based on a painting of hers called Las Dos Fridas and it went viral this was a few years ago 2018 something like that and it went viral and the florist was a good friend
00:31:59
Speaker
again i was very you know i was really on um i did another one um with just white tulips called um again i you know if you go on my ig page and you go a lot further you will see all these shoots
00:32:14
Speaker
And that was because I did loads of shoots with different people, but I wasn't getting the images that I wanted. I wasn't getting the images that I wanted and for a lot of shoots it was gold blush.
00:32:30
Speaker
and white, gold, blush and white. I wanted color, I wanted something different. So some risks will not pay off. I've collaborated on shoots where it's been a doozy, but you need to take a few risks
00:32:46
Speaker
New images, new branding. Branding is great, but you need to let that branding work for you. And you need to get it in your... Because with some high-end clients, it's word of mouth, word of mouth, word of mouth. Some you can find on social media. Again, I have a headhunting background. I know how to track people down. I know how to use Google to track people down.
00:33:11
Speaker
And the thing is, the lucky for you guys, I put everything in a book. So my book should be coming out by the end of the year where I actually tell you how to find high end clients, what conferences to go to, where to look, et cetera, et cetera. There are some techniques I didn't put in the book because it really is literally stalking.
00:33:36
Speaker
And you've got to respect people's privacy. So my point is, where there's a will, there's a way. But start by networking differently. Number one, if you're feeling stuck, it means your body is telling you to grow.
00:33:53
Speaker
It means you need to grow. You need to start networking differently. You may need to find a coach. You may need to organize certain things. Go to certain venues that you're scared of approaching. Go talk to the director of events. Go talk to the general manager. So there are loads of things you can do. So many. By the way, I've not asked you to spend any money yet.
00:34:21
Speaker
not, you know, quite a few of these things don't cost any money except time and a bit of hustle and a bit of rejection. So yeah.
00:34:33
Speaker
Absolutely mind blown. That really hit me. That really hit me. Double your prices. It'll come. You'll, you'll change from that moment on and never look back. I think that was just most amazing, a hot topic, but we're going to go into rapid fire questions. Um, Elizabeth, what was, what was your favorite wedding? My favorite wedding.
00:35:00
Speaker
I know you do cakes, but just take me through the best wedding that really stands out in your career. Oh, my God. Okay. Oh, dear. Okay. There are quite a few. Okay. Oh, my God. For different reasons, but the one that was the most in terms of drama,
00:35:22
Speaker
but ended up being like in terms of looks and in terms of what we delivered was when I delivered a 20-tier cake to the Palais-Lichtenstein in Vienna for the most loveliest, the loveliest, loveliest American couple ever.
00:35:43
Speaker
So that was a favorite. But the cake, fine, but getting, you know, driving all the way from London to Vienna was drama. At one point, a major road was closed because there was a massive accident and we had to go round the whole of Germany in order to get to Vienna.
00:36:02
Speaker
And then we had to race against time so that because the palace closes at a certain time, 6 30. And if they stayed open, the couple got charged thousands of dollars every 15 minutes.
00:36:17
Speaker
the pressure was on but yeah but they they looked after us I got put in the most incredible apartment with a rooftop it was a beautiful so again that was one of my favorites for many reasons
00:36:32
Speaker
Uh, you're a great storyteller. I feel like I'm almost in like a movie, like I said, or like a book. And I just, I feel like I'm in this, this fairy tale, but so you are a world-renowned speaker and you know, I'm trying to get my speaking career going. What is one tip you have for me and for our audience and how to become a speaker? Gosh, um, oh, a couple of things. Do what you're doing now. Podcasting is great.
00:37:01
Speaker
number one. Number two, gosh, okay, you need to, if you can, find the one topic that is your thing. So for me, my one topic, luxury clients in particular, because many people are scared of
00:37:21
Speaker
you know stepping into that into that world because oh my god you know it's this is that the other just whatever your topic is just step into it lean into it um make it part of your personal branding because when it comes to our personal branding we can be known for many things some people they do this authentic what's and all um you know they you know they show authentic self
00:37:46
Speaker
flaws and everything. Some people, they have a specialist topic.
Becoming a Speaker and Building Personal Brand
00:37:50
Speaker
Some people are inspirational. So you need to lean in. So whatever the topic is,
00:37:57
Speaker
make that part of your personal branding so when they see you, they know, okay, she talks about X. That's what Heidi messaged me. I've been on her summit for two times and she's like, you're known for mastering the sales call. Like we want to have you. So that's a good reminder. Thank you so much for that. So master that. And the third thing you need to do at some point, start thinking of putting a show reel together.
00:38:25
Speaker
I've not done one yet, by the way, because I'm hopeless with cameras. I'm looking for, but you need to put together a show reel. Say your podcast, for example, you can put together little snippets.
00:38:37
Speaker
of that together. And then again, the usual hustle stages you want to speak at, you might not get on those stages immediately. You might ask to be a part of a panel, because they might put you on a panel with other people, see how you interact before promoting you to main speaker. And another thing you've done, which is brilliant, build your own platform. So there's nothing stopping you right now from saying,
00:39:06
Speaker
Next year, I'm going to I'm going to have a summit. I'm going to put my hometown and people sometimes think, oh, my God, if I'm not in a major city, people might not come.
00:39:16
Speaker
people will travel for the opportunity to get a platform. So you can get together with your local hotel, local estate agent, sorry, local travel agent, get together. There are things you can do. So again, just keep active, but I think you're great start with the podcast, great start with a topic and then your personal branding and just make sure you constantly post about that topic
00:39:45
Speaker
all the time. Oh, I love that. Thank you for
Techniques for Client Agreement and Understanding Needs
00:39:48
Speaker
that. That's really helpful for me. And last question, Elizabeth. What is your favorite heck yes technique? How do you get the heck yes from your dream client? Oh, okay. I had a heck yes today. For me,
00:40:08
Speaker
When, when the, it's, it's the, I tried to match the tone of the email or inquiry. So I, I'm, I'm not a stickler for, you must fill my form or whatever. I'm not a stickler for that. So if they WhatsApp me, um, and as a cash, yep, I match the WhatsApp. If they email me, I match that, um, as well. And then I tried to keep the conversation going and I tried to draw out exactly what they're after.
00:40:38
Speaker
And I've often gotten clients to even double their budget sometimes, based on what it is they're after, and based on some of the things I ask, you know, who inspires you, you know, favourite this, da da da da, and then that's how I get my head kiss.
00:40:53
Speaker
Ah, so good. I love that you said that. So out of the box thinking, it's unique. And I think it's your experience with people and just understanding peace people and just matching them at their energy. I think it's so helpful. I use that technique like mirroring and just, you know, connecting with people on a deeper level. But where can everyone find you? This is such amazing conversation. And tell everyone how to work with you.
00:41:19
Speaker
Right, if you find me on LinkedIn, that's where, for my coaching clients, et cetera, I send them to LinkedIn, Elizabeth Salaru, just find me on LinkedIn, message me, I respond. Also, if you go to my cake Instagram, Elizabeth's Cake Emporium, again, message me. And then I'm on Instagram as Elizabeth Salaru as well. I've literally just set up Elizabeth Salaru just before the conference last week. So that's where you can find me.
00:41:49
Speaker
Yay. Thank you, Elizabeth. This is an honor and I'm so glad I have a friend in London. Thanks for joining me this week on Get a Heck Yes with Carissa Wu. Make sure to follow, subscribe, leave a review, or tell a friend about the show. Take a screenshot and post to IG. Tag me. Also, don't forget to download my free guide on how to become a lead generating machine. See you next time, wedding pros.