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48; How to create and book luxury clients - Alora Rachelle
260 Plays3 years ago
Happy Woo Wednesdays! Today Alora and I are doing a double trouble episode. I'm posting this on my podcast and she is posting the same convo on her podcast.
Today she is going to share her insight on how to create luxury high-end clients and I'm giving insight into how to close them. It's just a real and raw conversation.
We met on the gram and shortly learned that we are twins, both wedding photographs and educations, podcasters, moms of 2 kids the same age and have so much more in common.
I love how her parents instilled in her that she could do anything!
She used her passion for fashion and incorporated it into her biz
I love the story of her sharing how she went viral and booked 17 weddings in one month.
She makes me laugh so hard and so happy.
Hot topic:
How to Book Editorial Weddings
- A Luxe Client Experience For Photographers
- Why Mindset Is More Important Than Marketing
- Understanding Your Why To Book Your Dream Clients
- The Real Secrets To Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
Alora Rachelle is an expert wedding photographer and marketing coach who believes in the art of a strategic brand & marketing plan to grow a profitable business. She is passionate about helping others by creating a profitable business that also keeps you in the CEO seat of your business.
As an educator for photographers, Alora is the creator of The Wedding CEO, a six-month group coaching program that will take your business from 0 to six figures teaching the same methods that propelled her business forward.
Connect with Alora
https://www.instagram.com/alora.rachelle/
https://podcast.alorarachelle.com/
What's your CEO personality quiz for photographers
https://www.alorarachelle.com/quiz
Connect with Carissa
https://instagram.com/carissawoo
https://heckyesmedia.co/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the New Podcast Format
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with me, your host, Carissa Wu. I have a new format of the episode today. Today, me and Ellora Michelle have a fun conversation about how to book editorial luxury weddings and then close them. She's the best and we laugh a lot.
00:00:15
Speaker
She
Meet Ellora Michelle: Background and Coaching
00:00:16
Speaker
has an amazing podcast for wedding photographers called Hello CEO. She's a Detroit wedding photographer and she has a group hybrid coaching program just like me. We both have a two and five year old and have been in the industry for the same amount of time.
00:00:33
Speaker
We are practically the same person. That's why we are airing this episode on both of our podcasts the same day. Hope you enjoy. Please leave me a review and go check out Hello CEO Podcast and DM Elora and say hello. Enjoy.
00:00:51
Speaker
Welcome
Carissa Wu's Podcast and Photography Journey
00:00:52
Speaker
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,
00:01:20
Speaker
Time packs 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!
00:01:43
Speaker
Hey, everyone.
The Dual Podcast Collaboration
00:01:44
Speaker
I'm actually Carissa Wu from Carissa with photography and we are doing a dual podcast today. I'm from get a heck yes from Carissa Wu and we have the lovely Alora Rochelle from the Hello CEO podcast.
00:01:59
Speaker
Yes, yes. And we decided to be business buddies because we are both podcasters and fellow photographers. And we helped the wedding industry. And yeah, we totally connected through Instagram. And we decided to do an episode together. Yay. It only makes sense because we're the same person. It's gonna like creep everybody out as we get further down because we're both threes. I love does that a stroller in the background?
00:02:36
Speaker
Oh my god, that's my next purchase. And then we both have two kids like it's gonna be fun. And I just I'm really excited to dive in the topics that we have lined up today. Kind of have like no notes, which I think is gonna be even more fun. This is gonna be more like a conversation versus like an interview. And yeah, this is gonna be great.
00:02:55
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So I guess for just both of our listeners, tell us a little bit about you in a nutshell. Yeah. Okay.
Ellora's Early Challenges and Growth
00:03:04
Speaker
Well, I feel like I tell this story so much, but if you don't know me, um, so I started off like, Oh my goodness. Oh, years ago, almost a decade now I've been in the industry for almost a decade and I taught myself marketing. Um, because that's like the biggest thing you have is like, Oh, I want to start a business. And then you're like,
00:03:24
Speaker
I have no clients, but I have family members, right? So I learned how to market, build a portfolio, and then eventually went, quote unquote, viral-ish in the Metro Times here.
00:03:38
Speaker
20. No, I had booked 17 weddings that month. And I just got home from the hospital with my first daughter. And I was like crying in the couch, like as my husband says, fresh in stitches. It was great.
00:03:55
Speaker
So I guess you could say like wow, it was just like a Really fast growth and so I had to learn a lot of things really quickly one how to keep that going like with like client experience customer service and then also Just like systems. I had no systems. I did not have a CRM. I didn't have to sado honey book I was like I'll just send them a contract with this PDF and fax it to me because I'm a grandma and didn't work out so what when that happened and
00:04:23
Speaker
I had like my whole life just shifted but I was able to eventually get things together and it really gave me the push that I needed to like scale because I was forced to like let go of editing. I had to outsource. I have a child that is
00:04:41
Speaker
I don't know, brand new. She required a lot of me and I was like, okay, well, I can't constantly be like, I'm going to edit these weddings. Nobody can be me. So I had to learn how to do a lot of things quickly. And I think it was better for me that way because I'm a little hard-headed and I do think that probably nobody could do something better than me.
00:05:04
Speaker
You're like, yes, I agree. Yes, this is true. After that happened, and I've been doing it consistently for years, I decided to start a podcast, help other people with the same issues that I had, or even just how to get out there, how to get started, how to have your brand be known per se.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah, that's a little bit about me, my story and how I got started in the industry in an explosive way. Wow. So what year was that and how did you go viral and how the hell did you book? How did you shoot 17 weddings? No, so I booked them that month. God, I was like, that's impossible. I don't know.
00:05:47
Speaker
Disclaimer, I did not shoot 17. Oh, you booked them. Oh, yeah, that's a lot. That's awesome. Yeah, that's cheating. It was, yes. How did you go viral? Yeah, well, basically, like, back then, that was like around, so it was like, what, 2017? 2018? No, it was 2017.
00:06:09
Speaker
Okay. And that was when like Instagram business accounts were like getting the hang of things. Instagram stories was about to be released. So Instagram was becoming a business page. And the thing is, I actually didn't have a lot of followers. I had like 5k or less.
00:06:25
Speaker
But because of the work I was consistently putting out there, the way that I was positioning my brand, they thought that I was the number one Detroit wedding photographer to follow on Instagram. And when you search Detroit wedding photographer, that article came out every time. So that SEO was crazy strong for brides in a year.
00:06:45
Speaker
Yes, and it was great. But okay, enough about me, Grissa. I want to hear your story. How did you get started in the industry?
Carissa's Entry into Wedding Photography
00:06:54
Speaker
Because I'm really curious.
00:06:56
Speaker
Okay, so for my listeners, that is who was talking to Laura Rochelle. And you have to check out her work, because it's amazing. And it's very high end editorial. She's a lot of black and whites. Her couples are very elegant and very charming. And it's just outstanding, consistent, just high luxury work.
00:07:21
Speaker
And then for people that don't know me, for your listeners, hello, CEO. Again, I'm Carissa Wu with Carissa with Photography. I'm also a coach. So like we said, we're twinsies. I got started like 12 years ago. I'm from LA. And I got in at a really good time. It was before even the wedding blogs.
00:07:44
Speaker
way before Pinterest or Instagram. We had Facebook. But yeah, I did some bride shows I booked 50 weddings my first year. Oh my gosh. Yeah, so that was a shit show. I got I got a little I did pretty well like my beginning years. I was in high demand from right from the get go and then I got lazy. I got cocky. I thought I knew it all.
00:08:10
Speaker
And then like, everyone got better than me. And I'm like, where are the inquiries? And there's like 1000 of new photographers every day. So right. So it was like, what happened? And I wasn't super on social media, because those are the glory days when you know, you don't have to compare yourself all the time. But I'm blessed in the curse. So I didn't know what was going on.
00:08:30
Speaker
And yeah, so then I had to kind of up my game, make career started networking with like venues and vendors and getting on the vendor list. And I guess my, you could say my style is like super like fun and vibrant and colorful and quirky and
00:08:47
Speaker
My couples just love to have like, you know, be crazy and have a good time. And I guess today we're going to kind of give a lot of banter and like have conversation. But our main topic is how to book these editorial weddings. That's your, you know, your expertise. And then my expertise, I'm going to be talking about how to close these weddings. I am so excited about this.
00:09:17
Speaker
Okay. I love your energy. I just I'm like, who is just like building up the trailer for this. But yeah, that is interesting. So I actually I'm actually really interested because I've never heard this kind of version of like the story because it's usually like, Oh, I got started. I had a friend who said shit by wedding. But you're like, No, I was already explosive. But then I just didn't know like, I kind of want you to expand your story a little bit. Like,
00:09:45
Speaker
How did you know that? Well, I guess everybody was booking without you or like, were your your inquiries tanked? Like, I guess, how did you know what was the problem? Oh, good question.
Mindset Challenges and Sales Strategy
00:09:58
Speaker
I had to ask around which is hard because I don't really like criticism. So I would ask like my little cousin because she's like, cute and popular. Like, what I'm doing wrong.
00:10:14
Speaker
I would ask around like to poke around on my website. I actually had to like compare myself again to other photographers like hey, is my work like not up to par? I had to start doing more styled shoots, more editorial shoots, you know, getting those like really expensive like fun dresses and like really making my work like stand out more. Yeah, people just weren't knocking on my door anymore.
00:10:42
Speaker
So I was like, what's going on? I like that you did something about it, though, and didn't just like drop out, you know, like, I quit the market is saturated, I'm leaving. It's, it's a lot of people like complain and get negative, but I'm like, dude,
00:10:58
Speaker
If you're not getting leads, you gotta look at your portfolio, honestly. It's done, baby. It's done. Yeah. I guess you could give some tips to our listeners of how you kind of
00:11:14
Speaker
like got started with the editorial high end weddings, because people, you know, are very intimidated by it, how you knew you wanted that market, and how you really went for that market and, you know, really flourished in that market, which is very hard to do.
00:11:30
Speaker
Really, it's really hard to do. Okay, I'm not trying to make it sound easy or anything. No, I know you did it really fast, but I think for some people like me, they get in that space where I'm like, I'm not good enough. I don't deserve it. Who am I to be on a venue, vendor list?
00:11:51
Speaker
Those brides intimidate me, those weddings intimidate me, those planners intimidate me. So it's kind of like, what was your mindset behind it? Were you just always like a natural badass? Okay, so that's why I do a lot of my episodes on mindset because I actually didn't realize that I didn't have mindset issues. I don't know if that sounds weird, but I always thought I could do anything.
00:12:14
Speaker
And when I couldn't, then I was like, I'm awful. But oh, that's amazing. I don't know. I mean, it's hard to explain, but like, I don't know. I come from a family of entrepreneurs. So my dad would always tell me to stop working for other people, stop working at this retail place, stop doing that. You're not going to make enough money. Like, you know, the best job as an entrepreneur, you know, the sky's the limit. So I'm like, okay, well, I mean, I can do this. I can do anything, you know. So but wow.
00:12:39
Speaker
But when you start raising your prices, that's when you get kicked back like, ooh, I don't think I'm actually worth this much. Or the most popular one that I hear is like, well, I wouldn't pay that. So I'm not going to charge that. And I'm like, girl, you are not.
00:13:00
Speaker
like you're not your ideal customer like you are but you're not like obviously our clients invest way more into things than we do because that's just how
Ellora's Editorial Style and Personal Branding
00:13:08
Speaker
it works. I mean unless you're okay with like that perfect average you know investment of weddings and like that you guys could like go to coffee together. My clients are a little too busy for that but
00:13:20
Speaker
Honestly, you have to do that client avatar thing just to see who you really want to work with. I don't say stay there. I don't say be strict about it and be like, I'm not hiring them because they don't shop at Madewell or they don't have a YSL purse. But I'm saying just knowing who you really want to work with and why is a big one.
00:13:40
Speaker
But for me, I have always been drawn to fashion. I actually studied it in high school and college. I used to always take out magazines. That was what taught me how to pose people. I used to study old magazines. I studied it because there was no Pinterest. I studied magazines.
00:14:01
Speaker
Okay. All right. So I would cut out like magazines and I would try and I'm gonna even like emulate it in the mirror. And then like, I would learn how to communicate that to like the people that I was posing, aka my sisters and cousins. But that taught me how to be really good at posing. Because actually, you know, you find down the editorial bit that they actually like to be directed a little bit. Not all the time.
00:14:24
Speaker
but they want to know you know what you're doing because if they get if they stand there and they're extremely expensive custom made tailored gown and you're like um jumping toys back they're like no okay and like i've done it all like i have so i didn't start out editorial though like i've always been drawn to it but it didn't really exist
00:14:51
Speaker
It was either like very, very traditional or like dark and moody, like light and airy, dark and moody. And so I like the in-between, so I actually never fit in. So I said, you know what? I'm going to be light and airy for two years. And I didn't like it. Everybody was overexposed. I felt bad. I was like, oh no, skin tones are green. And so I was like, let me go to dark and moody. Dark and moody is super warm. Everybody's got chondis. It's fine. And.
00:15:20
Speaker
I like me. I'm still very yellow. That's what my mom always tells me, like, don't make me, like, make me look olive, Alora. I'm olive. I'm like, okay. I got this. Um, who's like took me out. Okay. So, so then.
00:15:42
Speaker
I finally found like the in-between and I was like, okay, let me study like cinema. Cinema is like my go-to for sure. And I was like, let me be, I'm just going to study this. I'm going to tear apart these movies. Look at the colors, look at the lighting. And so that is really what took my entire business to the next level. And you know what it was because I wasn't fitting in a box anymore. I was like,
00:16:06
Speaker
If this is what I love, and I love magazines, and I love cinema, I'm just gonna do that. Like, I'm leaving the box. And so, turns out that LA, of course, is always ahead of us Midwesterners over here. You guys were already like, they, they exclaimed this new genre called editorial. And I was like, that's me. That's who I've been like all along. Are you kidding me? Wow.
00:16:30
Speaker
I was like, okay, great. Cool. Like challenge accepted. So I dove head on, you know, and I just, I don't know. I mean, it's hard to explain. That's such a long story. Like, I mean, it was, but I just, um, I don't know. And so like, that's what I teach, like my students at least is that like, you really need to dive deep in and figure out like who you are and what you want to do versus looking at your competition and be like, Oh, I could never be them. You're right. You can't, and you're not. So do,
00:17:00
Speaker
you, you know, like look inside and find your brand magic. And I promise you, you're going to be so much more confident behind that. And you'll probably have less mindset struggles because you're not trying to be so and so on Instagram, you know, I was gonna ask you, so were you trying to be like a fashion designer?
00:17:20
Speaker
I wanted to. Okay. Yes. So you wanted to be a fashion designer, and you're going to school for it and it didn't like pan out or you just kind of found wedding photography instead.
00:17:31
Speaker
Okay, my story story. Yeah, so I actually wanted to go to school for fashion design, but I was told, you know, due to that, did you take that like personality career test like in high school? And there was like people saying who else got funeral director on that personality. I was crying in the car.
00:17:57
Speaker
I got web designer and I really think fashion designer was like third and I was like, oh great as a designer, like I'm down. So I went to school for that and I go to college and everybody in that class was a man and they were really old and I was like, nope.
00:18:12
Speaker
This is not my vibe. No. And so I was like, I think I'm going to switch my major. I don't know what it is yet, but I'll just take a bunch of psychology classes or whatever. And they're like, well, we have this photography elective open. It's an easy A. Everybody loves it. And I'm like, okay, cool. The teacher used to shoot with Michael Jackson. I'm down.
00:18:32
Speaker
Yes. With that class, very true, easy A. Lots of trees and grass and flower shots. Later, my teacher's like, you should do weddings. And I was like, Bill, there's no money in weddings. Because I know my friends who did weddings for $50. I'm like, there's no money in this. And he's like, no, it's a career. I promise you. People are doing this. I've done it for years. You can make a pretty good book. And me working at Wendy's, I'm like, hmm.
00:19:01
Speaker
Well, I'm like, if you're sure I'll ever do it, I was like, you know, that is like, let me try this. So I made a website on Wix and I said, let's do this. You got this pink and baby blue branding and you did this font in Google Docs. Like let's go. Let's go. Actually, it was Word Docs. Google Docs did not exist. So Word Doc, you think? And I screenshot it and I said, that's it. Allure Rochelle photography is in business. Nice. I use Wix too. That's so funny. It's very scrappy.
00:19:29
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, I love that. When I was a kid, like people, my mom would always ask her like that job that the kid always says, I was like fashion designer, fashion designer. But I never, I never really experienced the whole fashion world. But that's really good. Like I think it really helped you like tap into that editorial look.
00:19:49
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's uh, it's not too shabby. I feel like it comes natural though, because it was like something I, I wanted to do. And so like, it just turns out that like now, instead of designing, you know, clothes, my brides have like really gorgeous statement dresses. Yes. And I'm like, I get to live through this career through weddings and it's fun. And yeah, so, okay. But like, Chris, what?
00:20:17
Speaker
got
Carissa's Approach to Sales and Client Trust
00:20:18
Speaker
you into learning about sales? Oh, great question. I think like I said, when I was not doing very well in my business, I had seven meetings and you know how hard that is to get like those seven meetings.
00:20:37
Speaker
I got the meetings, I sat down with them for an hour or whatever, cleaned my office, anxiety all day about it. And then they then they said no, or ghosted me or whatever went with another direction. And I was like, so sad, like almost like went into depression. And like, my friends are saying like, Oh, maybe you should work for another photographer, blah, blah, blah, you know, get a job.
00:21:04
Speaker
which I would never do, which is because once you have freedom, like you'll never go back. Yeah, never. Literally like prison. So I was like, heck no. So I had to figure it out. So I guess I hired a money coach, I hired a sales coach, I took all these courses, sales, sales, sales,
00:21:20
Speaker
I don't teach posing because I've always been good at posing. I was a dancer my whole life. I struggled with sales. I was so super awkward. I'm just, you know, pretty shy. And so I had to overcome my fear of sales. And that's kind of why I teach it.
00:21:36
Speaker
Okay. Cause I was going to say everyone is afraid of sales and like, can you, I'm not afraid of sales cause my dad's a salesman too. So like I was so used to being like, Hey, you want this thing? It's really great. Blah, blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, if they don't want it, they don't want it. But can you like break down the process? Like just like for me, like what comes up, like, or what used to come up when you would talk, like when people would say sales or when they'd be like, um, well, you're not doing this. You need to do this. Like what is the fear behind sales? Really? I think
00:22:05
Speaker
my fear the most was not understanding how to communicate to the couples because you know I remember like people would even hire me and they would ask me the question all these questions about the wedding and I'm kind of like dude I'm just there like I'm gonna be there like photographing your wedding like like I can't articulate everything that happens in a wedding because I was just too new
00:22:30
Speaker
So now once you experience weddings, you know weddings, everything that's going to go down. Like, hey, you better give yourself some wiggle room after the makeup because you had to put on your space. You have to tip the vendors. You have to fix your eyeliner. You have to go to the bathroom. All these little things that you'd know and you would never understand. Like, hey, you didn't give yourself enough time for driving. Or who are you guys going to care about? Are you going to take a limo? How about the parking situation? You know all the nooks and crannies of a wedding.
00:23:01
Speaker
It's scary, like if you're new, you just don't know like what to say to the couples or like how to sell yourself and like going back to your, you know, perfect client avatar, like who even are you as a photographer? And like, why should they choose you? Why do you stand out? So I think that's the biggest struggle just being like intimidated, intimidated by the conversation.
00:23:19
Speaker
Yeah. I feel like that is just, and it's like, I, maybe it's cause like you don't know what you don't know because nobody talks about sales. Everyone just talks about marketing or branding, or you just need an LLC or you just need to have this and that. And it's like, you need a good Instagram, but no one talks about, so once you have these clients, like what in the world are you going to do with them? Or if something's not working, it doesn't mean you're a bad photographer, right? Like when I hear a lot.
00:23:48
Speaker
Yeah, you could have a great portfolio and then be getting the leads and then maybe send your price list and you hear crickets and you're like, why? So I guess it comes down to my approach is different from other people, but the main chunk of it is getting on the phone or a Zoom call with your potential clients and having that conversation, like understanding their likes and dislikes and asking photography related questions, breaking down walls, showing your personality, getting to know them, blah, blah, blah.
00:24:18
Speaker
But so after I get the inquiry, I actually like text them right away, like literally right away. And I get them on like a 10 minute phone call, usually with a bride, sometimes a groom. And I just kind of like, it's very basic, but I'm pretty much have my like star personality on and just
00:24:35
Speaker
very super excited for them. And I do have good energy. I can't say I had good energy when I just had the baby, you know, it's like even hard to put on that happy face, you know, when you're postpartum. Now, you know, I got my groove on, Stella's got her groove bag type of thing. But when I get them on the call, like I'm literally like, whoo, you know, like jumping them and down for them and just kind of getting to know them. And I think at the end of the day, they feel like they could trust me and they feel like I'm going to take care of them.
00:25:05
Speaker
And that's like the big thing. Yeah. I feel like client experience goes a long way too. Like I'm learning with the shift of like the rise in photographers and then kind of like the rise and like coaches is that clients now have so many options. I think they're looking more like even though they love a brand or they love your work, I think they're looking also for a personality fit as well.
00:25:30
Speaker
Like if I've had a bride call me in a panic, it was like, I don't think, like I just had this amazing photographer. I loved her stuff. And, um, but I got on the phone with her and like, I just, we had not vibe at all. And I just knew that I couldn't like hire her or she couldn't handle my family or she couldn't. And I was like, whoa, this is new. Like, I feel like brides know the game now. So it's like, like you said, we just have to step it up and kind of analyze like, Hmm,
00:25:59
Speaker
Something might not be working anymore. You might have to learn sales. You might have to learn client experience. You know, it's crazy. Yeah. And I'm not like a sales expert or like sales psychology expert. It's just, you know, after we talked to thousands of brides, we kind of understand that really well. Like I go to a bar and I'm just like, what's your love story? You know, just.
00:26:18
Speaker
this. It's just the conversation that I go to because I'm so used to it. And I'm good at it. I'm like, I asked the follow up questions, you know, the proposal story, and I'm interested. And, you know, how many guests are they going to do first look? And why is wedding photography important stuff like that? I just I love talking about like the whole love story part. But I was gonna ask you, like, do you send your prices out and then just
00:26:45
Speaker
wait for them to like book a call or what's like your process? Oh, yeah, nope. Um, I do send them a little bit of like a pricing proposal, but higher end clients are very much into custom proposals. Oh, they're not really intrigued by a pricing guide. Okay.
00:27:03
Speaker
Well, I don't want this, but I want this and I want to triple this. This is the only thing that doesn't work. Okay. They're like, all right, cool. I'll find somebody else. Like you obviously don't care about me. I think luxury clients, they want to know that they're taken care of. And so like we teach about a luxury client experience.
00:27:20
Speaker
Um, just because I just feel like from the beginning, if you don't answer their questions before they ask, they're already asking questions in their head. Like you gotta think about luxury brands and like the way that they approach things. And when you walk into like a certain, I don't know, Von Mar or something and like the way that they treat you, you know, there's a piano playing in the middle of the room, you know, it's like, wow.
00:27:41
Speaker
like I belong here, you know, and isn't necessarily quote unquote, luxury people, everybody wants to feel that way. And so for me, I do offer that but I make it very clear that I am here to serve you.
00:27:55
Speaker
you know, anything you need, let me know. I will custom anything. And like I have like email scripts and all that jazz, but like I have a process and that process has like, I think my customer service and personality like books me the leads as well. Just because like I said, you can't, I don't know, you can't really become a different personality. And so it's kind of nice to be able to attract people that just like get it. And they're like, Oh, we want her. Like she's the one we'll make our budget work. You know, we've seen her accolades.
00:28:24
Speaker
so many things. But yeah, that's my view. Okay, first of all, you do have a great personality. I have to say, you make me feel very comfortable. You're hilarious. And when you talk about yourself on Instagram, it really does show your personality. It really does. I can't do this. No, like your confidence and when I you know, putting the photo with the the caption, you come off as
00:28:51
Speaker
like you know, you really know who you are. And I think that was instilled by you know, your, your dad or your mom from saying you could do anything. So yeah, it really you really shine on your social and then when you meet you, it's just like a, you know, heck yes. Obviously.
Sales Mindset and Market Differentiation
00:29:07
Speaker
You're so cute. No, you're the same though. I feel like you're so like
00:29:10
Speaker
bubbly in your photos. And I was like really excited to talk to you. I was like, Oh my god, she's gonna make me laugh. And you already have so many times. Same, same, feel the same. Okay, let me tell one more thing about the sales call. I do like a little album viewing, which really helps. So I pick my favorite album and I walk them through it like on
00:29:35
Speaker
I put on Canva. So I like share the screen. And I kind of just asked him questions. As I go through the album, like, are you you know, are you guys big dancers? Are you tell me a little bit about your family dynamic, you know, and then at the end, I really asked like, if I do get them on a zoom call, which some of them really like, then I asked him really powerful questions, like, at the end, like, what do you love most about each other?
00:30:04
Speaker
it may come off as kind of intimidating for some newer photographers to ask those type of powerful questions. But I think because I've been doing it so long, like, I don't even have to preface it. I just asked. I agree. Yeah, yeah, it gets people like off their guard and they kind of let their guard down.
00:30:26
Speaker
Yeah. So can you talk a little bit about albums because I know, and that's probably another thing with selling. They're like, well, I don't know where to get started. I don't want to, I don't want to push it. I just want to be cool. I don't, they don't even need an album. They'll just print one on Shutterfly, blah, blah, blah. And I've, I've heard it all, but I'd love to hear your perspective.
00:30:45
Speaker
Yeah, I do hype up the album. I say like, I know that you're wedding better than anyone. And I actually care about your photos more than you do. So I told them like, trust me, you're not going to make this type of album on Shutterfly. Like you said, like, this is this is different. Like these albums are like flesh mount. They're exactly curated to tell your story. It's like perfectly edited.
00:31:12
Speaker
you literally have it forever like passed down to generations and generations like you need the album. So really hype it up. Like you could print your photos but the album is like your true like wedding story and you know marriage is really tough you have ups and downs but you could always go to your wedding album or wedding video and be like that was like when we were like friggin
00:31:33
Speaker
Babies. The best, yeah. Babies, yeah, exactly. Looking at your photos like, wow, we were super hot and you didn't even know it back then. You didn't even know. I would like to appreciate this girl, okay? Who took a chance on you? Yes. I love that, honestly. And you know what I think too about sales is, and that's another thing that you have to reframe it because
00:31:55
Speaker
Really all sales is, is just, you were just explaining the value. There was no buy now, 1999, call 1-800-so-and-so and then get free shipping and handling. That's what we're used to, you know? You're like, no, this is, you guys are beautiful. I care about this. It's hand curated. There's so much of value there. And they're like, well, if she says it's great, then it has to be. It's just that simple.
00:32:25
Speaker
I got in the last like two or three days, 18 inquiries. What the heck? Hey guys, you all know me. I'm Carissa Wu and I'm a coach for wedding photographers. I've also been a wedding photographer for over a decade, so I've been through it all. I was a shy, awkward girl and I've come so far. I'm now beyond passionate about helping wedding photographers not struggle how I did for so many years.
00:32:52
Speaker
It was six years into my business and I was so tired of being ghosted, nickel undimed, and hearing the dreaded words, we went a different direction. I also knew I needed to find a way to not rely on referrals or paying $350 a month for the knot to get my leads. I didn't want to have anxiety about when my next payday was going to come and I wanted to scale my business.
00:33:14
Speaker
Fast forward to now, I created my very own stack system to help wedding photographers get constant leads and master the dreaded sales call, and get a heck yes in 24 hours or less, and charge more than 4, 5, 6K. No more waiting around, guys. This is our livelihood, our artistry, and our passion, and we deserve to be respected, valued, and paid for what we are worth. I've helped so many wedding photographers.
00:33:39
Speaker
watch my 20 minute masterclass all about lead generation and closing the sale the link is in the bio you don't want to miss out on the wedding boom and you don't want to miss out on booking your calendar for 2022 it's engagement season guys so you don't want to miss this see you guys soon yeah you could up the value like when they have the album in the package like i do a three tier package and custom proposals too um but when when you hypo the album it makes like the value of this package like
00:34:09
Speaker
like a five, six, seven K package, like more like, Oh, we need this. Not like, Oh my god, like, why are we spending so much? What is it even worth? You know, like, you really have to hype up the value of like the album, like no one could do this for you. And yeah, being able to talk about like, why you're different from other photographers or why you stand out like your perfect bride, because
00:34:32
Speaker
you know, you're interviewing them just as much as like they're interviewing you. So you have to have that mindset and the mindset that it's just a conversation, getting to know each other. And it's not like scary. So that's why I love like, talking to my brides.
00:34:49
Speaker
And if you like people, you have to like people if you're in this business, by the way, because like, putting it very simple, you know, it's like you're gonna have a lot of communication with them. Like you are their photographer, you're literally capturing their entire love story that's supposed to last forever. You know? Yeah, yeah. And I've seen photographers that are interpreted and they could get away with it. But you have to be able to communicate that through your copy to like, you're more like the fly in the wall and more like
00:35:18
Speaker
all candidates, all photojournalistic like you don't have to direct but you have to find like the client that wants that like I'm very directive and you know, I could be you know, paparazzi lens when I have to but for the most most part like they're definitely going to see me so they have to buy well with me. Yeah.
00:35:37
Speaker
I totally get that it's just it's a very front facing but then there's also a lot in the back end like there's there's a lot that has to like get this going to be profitable and smooth but it's totally worth it and I feel like if you love you know weddings and you love love and you love people I think that it's it's the perfect I don't know it's the perfect end all be all it's it's a great business to be in yeah I was gonna ask you so how did you go from like
00:36:05
Speaker
Um, you said baby blue or pink like Wix site to, um, you know, closing like these are booking these high end luxury clients. I have like couture dresses. Like what was the biggest struggle with that? Like your mindset? Did you have any imposter syndrome? And how did you overcome that?
00:36:24
Speaker
Ooh, girl, she's over here taking off my sweater. Yes, I had a lot of imposter syndrome. So when you go from the average price, and if you Google search, what's the average photographer wedding investment? And you'll see it's 2K to 3K or something. So when you jump from that and you're like, you know what? I'm just going to triple my prices. It's fine. The leads will come.
00:36:46
Speaker
And your mind will be like, ah, you're not that good. Do you even know what a luxury brand is? How are you even going to attract these people? Because I feel like it's just that anxiety thing. What if there's never enough? There's never enough. I could never. So and so is better than me. It might not be for me. And all of that, as I always say in my Six Figure Mindset episode, is that it's just your mind protecting you. None of that is true.
00:37:14
Speaker
you haven't even put in the work to see if it could work yet. So my whole thing is if you hear anything and you're and you're like, it's like telling you not to do something. That's the thing you got to do, man. Listen, jump in. I gotta listen to the episode. I like a same like income for a long time. Because in my mind, I thought that advancing mean pain, like
00:37:40
Speaker
in my income. And I listened to a lot of like Jim Proctor, like I was just like YouTube random like money searches, money mindset searches. And it was like a millionaire even if they lose all that money, like it's pretty easy for them to like get it back the next year through a different business just because
00:38:01
Speaker
of their mindset, or if like everyone's bank account was wiped zero, probably the next year, it would be like the same amount that they made, because it's just like our mindset. So I really like struck a chord with me. And I did a lot of like mindset money work during the pandemic, because I was like not doing anything. And yeah, what I learned about myself was when I thought about growing like, better financial income for myself, I mean,
00:38:30
Speaker
a lot of pain growing. And guess what? It was a lot of pain. I actually hired a coach and I really pushed myself to do the coaching thing, to scale it, to have the group course, not do things my own way, like have the system that someone else is already doing it. It was very painful. Pretty much like mental breakdown. 2021. Oh my gosh.
00:38:57
Speaker
Yeah, because it was like, I was literally trying to make it work so bad for that year or less than a year. And it was really hard because you have to give up a lot of like your free time. You know, with two kids, it's a it's a lot harder, you know, shifting around trying to do the podcast, the photography, the coaching, you know, learning, getting coached, you know, coaching people doing things for free, starting new business system, different target market, like,
00:39:27
Speaker
It was really, really tough. But at the end of the day, like I'm literally a new person because of it. And my mindset shifted from like the six figure mark to much higher. Yeah. Oh my goodness. I mean, I keep forgetting that we're moms. We haven't talked about our kids once, but it's true because it's like we have a limited amount of time that we can do something.
00:39:54
Speaker
And growing a coaching business is like a world within a world within a world. Like totally becoming an educator is not just doing a mentorship program. It's not, it is a million other things, but I think you learn how to manage your time and you learn how, at least I have learned that I have to be my biggest cheerleader no matter what, like nobody else is. What did Mel Robbins say? Like no one's coming. He told my husband that no one's coming. Like no one's coming to get you. You have to push yourself.
00:40:23
Speaker
He's like, oh my gosh, that's awful. I'm like, you have to remind, like nobody else, if when you're an entrepreneur, no one's checking in on you to be like, Hey, did you do that contract? Did you sign up for that course? No. They're like, here's what you paid. I hope you do. It's like college, right? The professor's like, listen, you already paid me. So you better show up and do the work. And so the same thing is for us. Like we have to learn how to do that in less amount of time. So like that respecting the girl for doing it, especially through the
00:40:50
Speaker
the breakdowns and all that stuff. Because it is really hard. And the pandemic didn't help us very much. Having them 24 seven, I was pregnant. So I was crying left and right. I didn't know if the world was on fire or like if I was going to have the kid at home. Like it was crazy. But we made it. Yeah, I have the same. We were the same. We're the same person. It's creeping me out. It really is like, I love it so much. When did you start your coaching program?
00:41:19
Speaker
Um, so I actually just started it in January. Oh, thank you. Oh, it's gonna take off. Oh my god. Oh, you're so nice. Thank you. Yeah, what's been the biggest struggle? I'm sure there's many. But what do you think it is? In terms of coaching or in terms of like the transition from like, photographer to coaching and yeah,
00:41:44
Speaker
Okay.
Transitioning from Photography to Coaching
00:41:45
Speaker
So I think the thing about wedding photography business, if we can just get raw and real here for those that aren't interested in growing a coaching business, I guess, turn off your ears, but it's like wedding, the wedding business can really be almost an autopilot. Like the workflows, the emails, all that stuff can auto send. You hop on a call, more workflows auto sends and that's like, and then you show up and then more workflows and auto send, right? That's it. But for the coaching business, like.
00:42:10
Speaker
I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this and I'll be great and I'll be successful. And it's like, nope, you gotta do this. Okay, I'm gonna do that and it's gonna be great and nope, you gotta do this. And then you have to invest in this person. And then you have to learn about money mindset. Then you have to learn about sales. Then you have to learn about this. And then you have to learn how to be a good leader because you have a team.
00:42:29
Speaker
It was to the point where I would go on walks and just be like, all right, Galore, you got this. Don't give up. And then sometimes I'm like, I'm giving up. I'm just going to be a photographer. I can't do this anymore. But it's a lot of work. It's real. It's raw. Anything new, I feel like it's going to come with a new set of challenges and obstacles. And you just have to reframe your mind and be like, all right, this is going to be crazy. But if you believe in yourself, you can do it. Because like I said, no one's coming. Oh, I love it.
00:42:58
Speaker
You build it, they will come, but it's like, no one will come. No one will come. It's like you build it, but nobody's coming. Where are the people at? Yeah. And that's like another thing is you're going to have to learn your marketing strategy changes. You're not bringing in client like brides anymore. You're bringing in students. You're bringing in people that are struggling with the thing that you struggled with 10 years ago. So then you have to...
00:43:28
Speaker
With anything, like I said, comes with a set of challenges. But you're doing it. I'm doing it. We have two kids. It's happening. Can I tell you my little epiphany? Please. Okay, so I've done it all. But I think my biggest shift was you have to kind of change the mindset of photographers and have your one signature way that you teach.
00:43:51
Speaker
Like we can kind of teach it all because we've been in the game forever. We can do blogging, we can do Pinterest, SEO, you know, how to make a caption, reels. But you need your like very like signature like approach to something. And like the first thing you have to like change the mindset of the photographer like, hey, maybe like you don't have to do it all. Hey, you could jump from zero to high end clients like your first year, like shifting their mindset like they can do it.
00:44:19
Speaker
And then you have to be like, okay, this is my signature method of doing something, you know, A, B, C, D, being really able to communicate that and not being like too confusing. And then obviously the clothes, which I love asking for the sale. Is there like a signature method? Like what do you call that? You could call yours, you know, like the CEO.
00:44:49
Speaker
the CEO luxury brand photographer, signature method, and you have your approach. Mine is kind of like how to get leads on autopilot type of thing. I love that. Because it's kind of like, we all are evolving, like as photographers, like, obviously, wedding photography is like the best job in the world. But it's like, when you see the money coming in, and when you start booking, you're most likely just going to get better and better.
00:45:18
Speaker
But people struggle the most with getting the clients. Yes. When you step into the industry, you have no idea how to communicate to those people instead of being like, hey, I have a mini session. Sign up in this link. And you're like, where are the people? Oh my goodness. And it's like marketing is a lot more. I thought marketing was a simple term. And then I come to find out is actually the branding, the marketing, the client experience, your website,
00:45:46
Speaker
all of it. I was like, it's an entire process. Like marketing's not like, Oh, how do I get clients? It's like, uh-uh, boo. There's a five step process here. Like you have to first get your mindset together because you're right. You ain't right. Like you ain't going to be right for a minute and just know what's happening. And then, you know, figure out who you are and then figure out like how to communicate that now that you know who you are. And then like, that's the part with the marketing is that it can go a million different ways. And so yeah, for sure. But I like that, um,
00:46:16
Speaker
I like that ours like definitely play into each other. It feels like we have like a whole 12 month program combined. Yeah. Interesting. I wouldn't want it to ask you like, say you're a new photographer, and you're trying to figure out like who you are as a photographer, like, where do you start? Do you just start like jotting down notes or like asking your previous clients like,
00:46:42
Speaker
what they thought of you or how would your friends describe you like say someone that is Multi-faceted and likes everything like I like garden like a beach. I like hipster. I'm colorful. I like monochromatic. I like moody like How would they go about to just to kind of like? Figure out who they really are and how how do we encourage people to like really understand like the riches are in the niches? Hmm
00:47:07
Speaker
Yeah, because I feel like when you're talking to everyone, you are talking to no one. And I was against that for a while, to be honest with you. I was like, um, no, because the more people you talk to, the more people you reach. And it's honestly because there's so much noise and I'm not saying the market is saturated because it's such a common term, but I'm saying is that
00:47:23
Speaker
If you don't stand out and you aren't the go-to for a specific reason, no one's going to hire you. Let's see. I had a thyroid issue after I had my son, which is why I'm done having kids. God bless me. I had to see an endocrinologist. I could not see a family doctor. I couldn't see a pediatrician. You got to think about people that have specialties.
00:47:47
Speaker
What is your specialty? Now, if that's, I feel like once you get the marketing machine going, it makes sense to niche down, of course. But if you're like, I don't want the noise, I want to niche down right away and book hiring clients, like go you. Okay. Cause like we all need that in our life. But for like my process is I do a lot of like inner
00:48:08
Speaker
work. And I have this big Google Doc, I mean, it's super long, but it's called a deep dive. And we dive into, I can just give you three questions off the top of my head. The first one is kind of like, who are you? What do you do and why do you do this, right?
00:48:26
Speaker
why do you even like what you're doing? What is the most important thing that you capture on the wedding day to you? How does this connect with your why? And so you just keep writing those things over and over and over and then you look back and so I say, now look at this entire document that you've filled out, these pages and pages. And I'm like, what are the common themes?
00:48:51
Speaker
Like when you look at this document, like what are you drawn to or like what don't you like about what you're doing? You know, so like just even because like that can let you know the kind of clients you don't want to work with even like right away if you don't want to make an avatar. So I do a lot of inner work and just like what do you want? Like what do you want and why do you want it?
00:49:10
Speaker
And so once we go through that, then like we hop on a group call and we like talk through their design. What are you drawn to? We come up with like a very custom mood board with each student. And so they're able to be like, I am shooting things that I don't like. And now I know why I wanted to quit the industry. And I'm like,
00:49:32
Speaker
you've been attracting it because it's all your show. And it's just like we're having those breakthroughs and realize, I was in a box, like I was in all these different niches. And I was like, I don't, I don't think photography is for me. Like I can't get it together. I don't like, I don't feel fulfilled.
Signature Methods and Future Goals
00:49:47
Speaker
And like, of course it's not always about me, but you know, if you're going to drive yourself because no one's coming, you gotta at least like. Yeah, totally. No one's going to get here.
00:50:00
Speaker
Yeah, so that's kind of just a little bit of a sneak peek into the process of how we just go through those layers. But yeah, of course, you can like a million things. I love a ton of things that are bright and colorful. I have, I think, a sheep thingy hanging up here that looks like a boho thing. I don't know.
00:50:19
Speaker
I like modern mid-century. I love it all. I like things. So I'm not saying that like, oh, this is not a part of my life. I just know the kind of clients that I want to work with and the kind of stuff that I want to put out for my business. And sometimes it can be a little separate, you know? I mean, you aren't completely your business, 300%. You can have an identity on your own. Yeah. I love, I mean, I had a lot of at-home moments in your answer, so.
00:50:44
Speaker
Great job on answering the question. That's very insightful. And I think you break it down in like a very easy way. I think the last five minutes, can we just ask each other some like fun rapid fire questions? Okay, yes, let's do it. Okay, um, I guess the first one for you is, what do you think the hardest thing about being a wedding photographer is?
00:51:10
Speaker
Hardest struggle for wedding photographers? Wow. I actually would just say standing out in this industry because the market is saturated. That's a common theme then for this episode.
00:51:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's like, oh, well, I can't do this because I don't this or it's like very just much like a lot of objections dealing with who they are as a person without looking at it as a business. And that's like, it could be, I don't know. It's like a strength and a weakness I have, but I look at things like a business all the time. I'm like, this is not personal. This is not personal.
00:51:42
Speaker
This is business like step away and some people are like, oh my gosh, I'm so invested and I'm like, yeah, but your business isn't literally like who you are. It's a part of who you are. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, just having to like have that clear line and be like, okay, it's like seven o'clock, six o'clock, whatever. I'm done with work. I'm going to go be a person now. I'm no longer, you know what I mean? Like I'm signing off like regular people. So.
00:52:04
Speaker
I mean, that's a whole like pretty much just of your podcast. Hello, CEO. It's like stepping into your CEO role, not like stepping into like, you are the only person you are as a business like you are like, yeah, more than that. I actually have that podcast has been through so many rebrands. I like apologize to all my listeners. They're probably like, what am I listening to with this? It's all good.
00:52:28
Speaker
but it comes natural to me. So I'm like, why don't I just talk about the thing that I've already been talking about with the wrong name? So, but, um, okay. So for you, Chris, I actually want to ask you a fun question. I like this question. And I think I've asked somebody else this before, but like, what is your favorite animal? Oh, I have a dog. You can probably use in the back right there.
00:52:55
Speaker
Oh, he laid out. Yeah, he's a 110 pound golden retriever. But he's caused a lot of stress in my life actually, very big and very furry. So pretty much document all day. Like I love him when he's the worst. Yeah.
00:53:16
Speaker
I'm actually not really like a big animal person. Like, okay. Not an animal that you keep, but like one that you like or think is cute. Like my daughter loves penguins or I love like pandas. So you literally like know it. Nothing? Like not even a snake or an iguana or? My sister has a tortoise and it was in her backyard on Sunday. And I was just very concerned that I was going to step on it. But I thought it was real cute. That's my biggest fear. Yeah. Oh my gosh.
00:53:43
Speaker
It's called, its name is Pliny from the beer, but I would like got close. I was like, Oh my God, I almost stepped on it. Yeah, but I mean, very cute. It just, I'm not the biggest like, Oh my God, I want to pet every dog type of person. No, me neither. I actually love dogs, but I'd rather than they not kiss me. I'd rather. Okay, one question for you.
00:54:10
Speaker
What are you looking forward to most this upcoming year? Personal or business? Going on vacation. So I am a recovering workaholic and I have worked my entire life and have never gone on a vacation, like without work, like left my laptop. My goal is actually to eventually take a sabbatical and at least for a couple of weeks, if not
00:54:37
Speaker
a year. My goal is to have my business in automation and to help others. That's why I really love what I did with the coaching. I think they're graduating next month, but just the whole process is being able to really invest in people and watch them grow. With weddings, it's one and done unless they have babies, but
00:55:03
Speaker
I love kids. I love my kids, but I'm not going to photograph babies. Newborns make me nervous, even though I've had two. They go on and they're gone until the next wedding and the next wedding. But when you're investing in students and watching them grow and helping them with these milestones, it's like,
00:55:20
Speaker
Like, wow, I could do this literally forever. It's never, it doesn't even feel like work for me. I actually like, that's how I know that's the thing I'm supposed to do because it doesn't exhaust me. It doesn't mentally drain me. It actually like gives me momentum. I always get a B12 smoothie and I'm like good for the rest of the day. So those are my two goals. I love that. What are your goals? You know that mind shifting I was telling you about. So I'm very focused on this.
00:55:50
Speaker
three day mini course I'm putting out. I'm actually gonna record my last day after we speak. So the first day is like shifting the mindset of photographers, like you don't have to do it all. Second day is like my signature approach, kind of like you like finding the perfect client avatar and then how to like, you know, how to
00:56:13
Speaker
communicate that. And then the third day is, or the second day is also like how to get the leads on autopilot with like social selling and like attraction marketing. And third day is about how to close them. And then I'm going to push like social selling ads to that mini course. So it's a really cool thing that I got going on because I feel like I don't have to do it all.
00:56:38
Speaker
It's, it was the most freeing thing from this past, like everything I learned this past couple years. And that's kind of now what I'm shifting the mindset of photographer is like, you don't have to do it all, like, stick with the script, stick with this, my method, and you could like free your mind and do well in photography. So it's a very like freeing thing.
00:56:58
Speaker
I love that. I love that, that freedom. That's actually my word of the year. It was thrive at first, but then I was like, ah, girl, get off the hustle. I was like, I want freedom. Yeah, I feel that. Yeah. And then I'm just so happy we had this powerful conversation. And I'm sure me and you are going to connect always and just encourage each other because we're the same person. You're the one person that's coming.
00:57:25
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I'm AAA coming. I'll be there in 10 minutes. Please, please be my AAA. No, this was so great. It was so nice to meet you. Thank you for having me on your podcast and vice versa. I'm so excited for our listeners to hear this. And there's just so much, there's so much good stuff in this. Like I'm actually gonna listen to it for sure. Can't wait. Thank you, Laura. Thanks.
00:57:54
Speaker
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.