Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
How to recalibrate and create balance in your business - Aleya Harris
98 Plays3 years ago
Happy Woo Wednesday! Wedding Photographer and Pro, are you feeling burnt out. Let's fix that.
Hot topic: How to recalibrate and create balance in your business.
Tip 1: See the big picture and use visualizatipon method.
Tip 2: Hire a VA
Tips 3: Stay true to your authentic voice
Aleya Harris is a BioEnergetic Business Coach and the owner of Flourish Marketing. She teaches you how to MAKE GOOD MONEY DOING WHAT YOU LOVE About Flourish Marketing : We use the StoryBrand SB7 Framework to create highly-converting copy, empowering education and BioEnergetic Business Coaching solutions, and profit-driving marketing strategies to help passionate empire-builders turn their talent into treasure.Check out Aleya here:
https://www.instagram.com/aleyaharris/
https://www.flourishmarketing.co/
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-flourishing-entrepreneur-podcast/id1592160743
Freebie
https://aleya-harris.ck.page/ba62157f2c
Connect with Carissa
Tiktok: weddingphotographycoach
Coaching IG: @carissawoo
Photography IG: @carissawoophotography
Download a free guide on how to become a lead generating machine HERE
Watch my free 20 lead generation masterclass https://carissa-woo.mykajabi.com/registration-page...
Thank you to our sponsors Photobooth Supply. Buy the Photo Booth
http://photoboothsupplyco.com/carissawoo
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to 'Get a Heck Yes with Carissa'
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back to Get a Heck Yes with me, Carissa Wu. So I started a new Facebook group called Get a Heck Yes with Carissa, and I'll be sharing tips and tricks on how to run a successful wedding business. I hope you all could join.
Introducing Alaya Harris and Her Journey
00:00:14
Speaker
So I have Alaya Harris from Flourish Marketing on the podcast today, and she is a powerhouse. Be sure to check out her podcast called Flourish Entrepreneur Podcast. She's a successful speaker in the wedding industry.
00:00:28
Speaker
We talk about how to recalibrate and find balance in your heart center business you are going to love.
00:00:38
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,
00:01:07
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!
Carissa and Alaya's Connection and Energy
00:01:29
Speaker
Hey guys, it's Carissa Wu, as you know, and I'm here with a very special guest, Alaya Harris. She is the most positive people. I know I've been stalking her Instagram and on her podcast for months, and she is the owner of Flourish Marketing. Welcome, Alaya. How are you doing?
00:01:47
Speaker
Thank you so much for having me, Carissa. I'm thrilled to be here. It's going to be a lot of fun. So I think I met you on Megan Ealy's podcast. She told me all about you and you're one of her speakers for the wedding professionals. And I looked on her website and I feel like your energy, your photo just pops out on the website and then I stalked you on Instagram and I felt the same way about you. So yeah, I'm just so excited about this conversation.
00:02:15
Speaker
Yeah. Well, thank you very much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here. Yay. So tell me like how you started. Let's take it back like a notch and just how you started like growing up and your background and where you are now today.
Alaya's Career Transition and Culinary Pursuits
00:02:30
Speaker
Sure thing. So grew up with a beautiful, wonderful single mother. And then she made all of the opportunities for me that she could think of. I was really blessed to have her.
00:02:44
Speaker
And I went to the University of Southern California here in Southern California. When I graduated, I got a job in the cosmetic and fashion industries, you know, fashion first, cosmetic second. And I just never really, I mean, it was cool as I, but it was, I remember crying in the car a lot and not really.
00:03:10
Speaker
Not really. I was not truly getting to my heart's purpose. Let's just put it that way. And luckily I didn't have to have that decision for very long because I got laid off for the first time. I've been laid off twice in my life. It's always so funny to me that people say, go get a job, it'll give you stability. And I'm like, that's not been my story.
00:03:37
Speaker
Yeah, it's not stable at all, especially like recession and you know, it is not stable at all at all. So I was laid off and and I ended up going to culinary school to try to get closer to that heart centered purpose.
00:03:58
Speaker
And as I did that, I got some of the best and worst advice that I've gotten in my career. What was it? What was it? It was from a grumpy chef instructor who said, hey, Leah, you're good and all. And you have your straight A's and all. But you are going to have to work for $10 an hour for 10 years before you're able to ever make anything of yourself.
00:04:26
Speaker
Oh my God, that's like lower than poverty down. Yeah, exactly. I was like, don't you realize we live in Los Angeles. You are not setting the bar very high there, my friend. Yeah. So in that I said, uh, uh, clearly you do not know me. Hi, my name is Alayah and that is not how I am built, honey. So I decided when I was in culinary school to start my catering company there and to not wait. So I started a catering,
00:04:55
Speaker
a catering company and a private chef company. And I was excited to have some of my first clients be celebrities and stars of music and
Expanding Skills and Building an Empire
00:05:07
Speaker
film. And I graduated with a 4.0, traveled the world with my clients and was able to grow a business that I truly loved.
00:05:22
Speaker
However, I realized I was kind of at the beck and call of everyone else, meaning I had to jump and when they said jump and jump high, if they said hi, and that's not really how I wanted to live. I loved being able to transmit love for other people through food, but I wasn't really, you know, doing what I wanted to do and building my own empire.
00:05:52
Speaker
So then I made it to working at Google as on the Google food team. And the Google food team allowed me to work on a global capacity and really branch out into exploring my talents and learning more and developing because I was a great entrepreneur, but there was so much that I needed to widen and broaden my perspective.
00:06:19
Speaker
And you really only get that when you have somebody else's money teaching you, right? I would never be flying all over the world and working with those great resources right off the bat on my own. So then I was promoted with my parent company to being the head of marketing for North America. And they were one of the largest corporate food service and facilities management companies.
00:06:44
Speaker
Was that for Google or another one? That was for the parent company. So when I was working with Google, I was a vendor partner. And when you're a vendor partner, you like I had my Google email address, but my checks came through my parent company. Okay, same. I work for Apple, but same thing parent company. Yeah, yeah. See, there you go. Get it.
00:07:04
Speaker
Yeah. Um, and then, um, I was kind of at that same place there where I was making great money. It was feeling good about my accomplishments, but I still, I had now had the knowledge that I needed, but really wasn't able to build that empire. Luckily again, the universe was like, we got you. We're going to lay you off again. So this was my second layoff. Yep.
00:07:32
Speaker
Out I went. And of course, that was not how I wanted it to go. I wanted to have, I had started my business already, but I wanted to move into it full time after I had, you know, all the money saved and all the debt paid and da, da, da, da, da, da. But that's not how life works. So. He's got to jump sometimes. Yeah. He just got to jump or, or you got to be pushed is really what happened.
00:07:56
Speaker
Which is better. Yeah, well, because if it were up to me, I would not have jumped because I was not jumping already. And I could lie to myself and say, yeah, I would have jumped. I would have done it eventually. Yeah, I don't think so. Yeah, that's why it was such a blessing.
00:08:14
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So when that happened, I was able to just say, okay, well, I can get another job or I can really do
Founding Flourish Marketing and Achievements
00:08:27
Speaker
this thing. And I got serious about it and built Flourish Marketing. And there's a lot of story in there in and of itself, but now here we are.
00:08:39
Speaker
building a company. We had our first six figures in five months and we've doubled multiple times since then and we've just been rolling up and up and up and up. Wow. So who do you serve now? And are you like a business coach or do you have courses or what's like the structure of your business? A little bit of everything actually. So we are at our core, we offer strategies in sales funnel, copywriting and bioenergetic business coaching.
00:09:10
Speaker
So the strategy we use is built on the framework that your aligned energy plus business strategy will equal a flourishing empire. So we make sure to take a holistic approach to amplifying the energy of the business owner
00:09:28
Speaker
so that your glow can impact your cash flow in a positive way. And then the sales funnel copywriting comes from that strategy that's truly aligned that brings out your authentic message that allows you to resonate with your ideal client. And it leverages the story brand framework because I'm a Nest health practitioner, as well as a story brand certified guide. And so it really brings those two areas together to uplift
00:09:56
Speaker
the entrepreneur and allow them to flourish in business and life are done for you. And then the coaching is the done with you option where we'll coach you through some of your main challenges using the NES health system to get to the root causes of some of your energetic blockages so that you can unblock your energy and unleash your abundance.
Bioenergetics and NES Health System Explained
00:10:18
Speaker
That's quite the elevator speech, Aliyah. Hey, I am a marketer. I have to have a down pat. If I wasn't able to communicate what I did, then people should definitely not hire me. That's so true. So what is a Nest practitioner?
00:10:35
Speaker
Nest Health is at the forefront of bioenergetics. Bioenergetics is the study detection and correction of energy misalignment in the human body field. The human body field is the energy that surrounds and penetrates your body. Other words for parts or all of the human body field are
00:10:57
Speaker
chakra, your aura, things like that. But we use in the Ness Health System, quantum physics, in addition to I guess metaphysics, which for me is kind of two sides of the same coin. In quantum physics, it's understanding that energy on the quantum level is full of possibility. It's just all about what you tell it to do and what it's been told to do over a longer period of time, right?
00:11:25
Speaker
So, the energy that you've been using in and around your body, if you've experienced some type of trauma, if you have negative self-talk, if you have low self-esteem, a poor image, chronic fatigue, all of that can impact your possibilities, the way that you think, the way that you operate in
00:11:46
Speaker
the world. So the Ness Health System uses a proprietary software that's been based on about 30 years of research to help get to the root cause, see exactly where you're out of alignment, and help you get back into alignment so that you don't have to just scour the internet for more courses, feel like you're listening to your Headspace app and nothing is working. You can truly move forward once and for all. So is it like a like a device that kind of like
00:12:16
Speaker
gets put on different parts of your body and then it could kind of show where your energy is kind of not flowing? No, it's actually even more simple than that. And it sounds almost unbelievable, but every single client that I've used the system on is like, okay, I don't know, like their very first scan. They're like, I don't know about this, but let's see what happens. And it's incredibly accurate.
00:12:43
Speaker
We can do it virtually or in person. All of my clients right now are virtually because we're scanning your voice and your body wave and your body field and your energy field can be carried over your voice and then picked up by this proprietary software.
00:13:02
Speaker
And actually, if you go and you listen to our podcast, A Flourishing Entrepreneur podcast, at the time of this recording, there's two episodes that have been released, episode four and episode nine, that are live coaching sessions. So if you look at the show notes, you can see their scans and then you can see actually how we walk through a bioenergetic coaching scan. So that's our marketing.co slash podcast episode four or episode nine.
00:13:31
Speaker
Oh, I can't wait to listen and I can't wait to get mine done. There's so many questions I have, but tell us more about the StoryBrand, how you got certified in that and what it actually means for like me and the audience.
Impact of Storybrand Certification on Business
00:13:45
Speaker
Sure. So StoryBrand is near and dear to my heart. I actually was certified in the StoryBrand framework by that parent company two weeks before they laid me off.
00:13:58
Speaker
So I'm grateful because they paid for it. So that's a great story. Certified guide ain't cheap. It ain't cheap. And when I got certified, I didn't have a job and was like, okay, well, let's use this framework. And I'm so glad I did. I'm so glad I use it to build my business and I'm glad that I use it to build everyone else's.
00:14:21
Speaker
Storybrand is a narrative-based framework that allows people, businesses, marketers to write words that make people buy. It writes words that are compelling and clear that lead to conversion.
00:14:35
Speaker
The story brand framework is built off of the concept of the hero's journey that was created by Joseph Campbell many moons ago and articulated further by Donald Miller in his book, Building a Story Brand. Building a story brand is, you know, I read it once. Actually, no, I listened to it in the car. I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. So then I read it.
00:14:59
Speaker
And I highlighted it. The whole book was just yellow. So then I said, OK, I need another book to just really soak in all of the juicy details, because it is truly a groundbreaking way to think about how to market your business and get your message out into the world. And it works. So I had created a website before and my business was a different name before Flourish Marketing.
00:15:23
Speaker
And we were not making any money. I moved forward and was able to articulate what we did, who we were, we changed the name. And I really do credit hard work and the Storybrand framework with helping us 6X our revenue over the course of a year, just because we were able to connect better with our ideal client. They understood what we did and how we could serve them.
00:15:49
Speaker
The Storybrand framework follows a really simple kind of pathway. It says there is a character who's your ideal customer who has a problem or who wants something. The character wants something, but they have a problem that's getting in the way of them getting what they want until they meet a guide who calls them to action and has a plan that leads them to success and helps them avoid failure.
00:16:15
Speaker
By using that framework and incorporating the elements in a specific way in your marketing material, you will allow your audience to use their innate sense of storytelling and the desire to listen to story to compel them to purchase. Wow, I want to buy right now. And it's nothing to do with your business. You should definitely go check out the book Building a Story Brand by Donald Miller. And then if you want to
00:16:42
Speaker
If you want us to help them work through their story brand framework and their story brand brand script, we would be happy to do that in our strategy sessions. They can head on over to FlourishMarketing.co slash strategy and check out what we got to offer. Oh, yeah, I'm definitely going to recommend you to everyone. I know you're really a big part of the wedding industry.
Engagement and Evolution in the Wedding Industry
00:17:01
Speaker
So how did you how did you get into the wedding industry for wedding professionals? And is that your target market or is just a certain type of person your target market?
00:17:11
Speaker
Sure. So we started out with just the wedding industry being our target market, but now it's probably actually 75 to 85% of our clientele are not in the wedding industry. Oh, interesting. But I am still a wedding pro educator for the not in wedding wire. I still have a wedding publicist. So we do a little bit of all and both. Our ideal client we realize is not something someone that necessarily niche down to a certain
00:17:41
Speaker
industry, our ideal client is really someone who is looking to build and scale an empire while enjoying their entrepreneurial journey.
00:17:51
Speaker
It's someone who is tired of feeling burned out and lost and confused. It's someone who is realizing that they've done a great job up until this point, but it's time to take it to the next level using the expertise of people who have the certifications. And I have over 13 years of marketing experience because they know that in order to grow, they need to delegate and then they can delegate their marketing to us.
00:18:21
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. I'm looking at your website and I can't wait to work with you. Yeah. Well, thank you. We would love to have you. I know. I'm excited about this, you know, episode, but I'm actually like more excited to talk to you after. Well, that means I'm doing my job. Yes, you are. I'm so excited for everything about you. Okay. So I mean, it's explained so much, but I just have to ask the question because it's a name on my podcast. But how do you get the heck yes from your ideal clients?
00:18:50
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.
00:19:17
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.
00:19:32
Speaker
I didn't want to have anxiety about when my next payday was going to come and I wanted to scale my business. 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.
00:19:49
Speaker
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. 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.
00:20:16
Speaker
It's engagement season guys, so you don't want to miss this. See you guys soon. Well, it's usually by articulating their problem back to them in a way that makes them feel seen and understood. A lot of the times... Mic drop, mic drop for sure. A lot of the times people forget to articulate the problem and the problem is what compels people to buy.
00:20:37
Speaker
So you, for example, you have a headache and you feel frustrated because your headache is blocking you from moving forward with the rest of your day and you're feeling your best and it really shouldn't be like that. You should be able to deal with the headache. So what do you do? You reach for Tylenol.
00:20:55
Speaker
that problem, the external problem of you having the headache, the internal problem of how that is making you feel, and the philosophical problem of why it's just plain wrong that you have to have that headache because you deserve to have an amazing day, those problems cause people to buy.
00:21:13
Speaker
They cause people to search and then they cause people to purchase. So a lot of the times we talk about how great we are in our websites, why it's so wonderful, why we're so proud of what we do, but people are still wondering why they would reach for us, like they would reach for that Tylenol bottle. You have to articulate that problem so then you get that heck yes right in the beginning. And then who you are and what you do are just ways to say, this is how we remove that problem for you.
00:21:40
Speaker
Oh my God. I'm like buzzing right now and I can't wait for you to help me. Help me with my finals. Yay. Oh my God. Okay. I need you so bad. Tell us about your hot topic and why you chose it. Sure. I mean, it's, it's basically what we've been talking about up until this point in time, which is finding balance.
Aligning Energy for Empire-Building
00:22:04
Speaker
And a lot of the times when you're a business owner and an entrepreneur,
00:22:08
Speaker
you get so stuck in, I need to work hard, work hard, work hard that you look up and you don't even realize what you were working for. Yeah. Why is it so difficult? Why is my life so difficult? Why do I actually feel like I just created a job for myself? Well, you did create a job for yourself. You were supposed to be building a business and you messed around and created a job.
00:22:32
Speaker
Oh, never heard that before. Yeah. Makes so much sense though. It does. And that's what a lot of people do. And you need to take a step back and say, okay, what do I really want? Realign to your vision, realign your energy and realign your goals to get yourself into empire building mode and out of job building mode. Oh my God, you're so good. Thank you. Thank you.
00:23:01
Speaker
Okay, so I'm you talked a lot about heart purpose, like you talked about your you know, you worked in as a chef, and that was kind of like you wanted to do like your heart purpose. And then you kind of like transitioned out of that. Like, how do you center to your heart? Is it like meditation? Or do like kind of tap into your energetic biohacking? Like you do? Like, what are some takeaway?
00:23:28
Speaker
things for our audience to do this today. Sure. I mean, the best way to get the takeaways is I, cause I get asked this question a lot is we created a guide for it. So you could go to flourish marketing.co slash recalibrate flourish. Yep.
00:23:49
Speaker
And at floristmarketing.co slash recalibrate you will be able to download our recalibration guide. It includes how to know when you're in alignment, how to know when you're out of alignment, different tools and techniques to get back in alignment, journal prompts, book resources, video resources, as well as mantras to really help you get back on.
00:24:09
Speaker
And recalibration sometimes is meditation, visualization, sometimes it's about articulating your 10 year plan, sometimes it's about looking at your metrics to see what's working and what's not, being able to track your marketing efforts and see where you are making, what's actually making you money and what isn't making you money.
00:24:28
Speaker
It's all of those things that will allow you to come better into alignment. By doing that, I was able to really adopt the motto of doing more by doing less. When you do more by doing less, then you have that time and you're focusing your efforts and you're not coming from a place of fear of, oh my gosh, I just have to do all these things, otherwise I'm going to be broke. You're saying, okay, how do I focus to get the biggest bang for my buck?
00:24:53
Speaker
Okay, so I would say creating balance and your business just to keep it kind of structured. Would you say tip number one would be like creating that 10 year vision? Um, it really depends on where you are out of balance. Getting getting clear on where you're going is key getting getting clear on what are the
00:25:16
Speaker
like kind of the one thing that you need to do to get there and have that be your main focus and then block out time to do that one thing. And for me, that one thing is visualization, meditation, and then getting into the strategy to make, and I make time specifically on my calendar to get out of the weeds and into the strategy because otherwise you'll get sucked into your business and you'll end up feeling like you're serving your business rather than your business serving you.
00:25:47
Speaker
Huh, okay, so just kind of tapping into the CEO. How is it like it's a little bit hard when you don't have a team and you are doing all the things like, do you just have to time block that set set a time block to just visualize on like the big picture and that would be like the main the most important thing to do?
00:26:05
Speaker
Yeah, I would think that you would time block, but you could also get a VA. Like if you don't have a team, I would recommend outsourcing admin to a VA because there are people who are really good at it and that does not need to be you. And VA is people like, oh my gosh, I'm going to hire someone. I'm like, you can get a VA as a 1099 contractor to help with admin 10 hours a week, 40 hours a month, something like that. It's not a commitment.
00:26:34
Speaker
But once you do that, you're then saying, well, look at what else the 10 other hours I have that I can use to build or grow or market, as opposed to sitting here doing doing the admin stuff that I can delegate. In general, when you're building your empire, you want to remember to stay in your zone of genius and allow others to stay in theirs. OK, you can do the thing. So if you're a photographer, the more you are taking photos or the more you're giving creative direction,
00:27:03
Speaker
the more money you will make. For me, I am a strategist, a copywriter, and a coach. So the more that I'm creating copywriting products for my writers to write, the more that I am developing my coaching products, the more that I am being able to develop strategic products for my clients and guide their strategy, the more money I make. The more that I find myself trying to wrangle dubsado and figure out my automations in ConvertKit and answer a whole bunch of email, the less money I make.
00:27:32
Speaker
Yeah, I totally hear you. Like when I started this coaching business, I actually had to automate my wedding photography business. And I wish I did it like 10 years ago, but I have like a dubsado genius and workflow genius. I'm like, wow, this could have saved me like years out of my life. Yeah, exactly. Absolutely.
00:27:52
Speaker
Okay, so I'm just going to write down notes. So number one for tip for creating balance and business is like see the big picture. So visualize, meditate on it. And number two is hire a VA like outsource all the little things that take up time. And then what would your number three tip be? Um, I would say that my number three tip would probably be to always kind of make sure that you're saying true to your authentic voice. Okay.
00:28:22
Speaker
Because your authentic voice is what makes your business shine. You don't have to do what everyone else is doing. You might see them being successful. Congratulate them. They've found one of their agreements that they're supposed to be here to do in life and they're shining in it. Now it's time for you to find yours.
00:28:45
Speaker
not for you to mimic theirs. And that goes back to the story brand, right? Yes, it goes back to story brand, but it also really just goes back to finding yourself and realizing that as a business owner, you can make your own make your own way.
00:29:06
Speaker
Yeah, I just I totally hear you because I feel like my coaching program, I keep trying to like, you know, do all the things to make people successful, a successful wedding photographer. But I think my heart purpose is more just niching down. And I always feel like my zone of genius is like, you know, mastering the sales call and closing the sale. So I just keep reminding myself of that. So this is a this is a good reminder to kind of stay where like my authentic voices
00:29:36
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Cool. So I was just reading your email from your BA, but she talked about high converting marketing strategies. So can you touch a little bit upon that? Or how you feel about what you think about high converting marketing strategies or what they are? Well, a high converting marketing strategy, I mean, that's, that's, there's a whole bunch of them. But
00:30:00
Speaker
Really, it's about being able to connect with your ideal client and realize that marketing is about building lucrative relationships.
Building Relationships and Spiritual Connection
00:30:11
Speaker
And if you're building lucrative relationships, then you're going to make more money. It'll be more highly converting. So when you are trying to
00:30:23
Speaker
you know, take those strangers and turn them into customers, you can reach them more effectively if you have a clear message and you're going where they're hanging out. Those are the baseline for highly converting marketing strategies.
00:30:42
Speaker
Yeah, kind of like knowing exactly if they're on Pinterest or they're on Instagram or where they shop and what they do and if they like paper magazines, if they like online, stuff like that. Yeah, pretty much. That's a great place to start.
00:30:58
Speaker
Cool, cool, okay, so like I told you, I've been listening to you a lot on your podcast and other people's podcast, and you talk about this never-ending grind and tapping into your heart's purpose. Was there something that you went through in the past that helped you overcome getting out of the grind or something significant that just kind of made you be like, forget this, I need to just focus on a peaceful life and just make it
00:31:28
Speaker
Make a peaceful life for yourself so you don't have to feel like always grinding every day and always stressed out Yeah, I mean there's been a couple of those moments I think that one of those moments is really just when I was burnt out and I said that there's got to be a better way this is Not how I want to live my life. I don't want to just be stuck in these four walls of my office and
00:31:53
Speaker
inside my apartment, I want to do other things and experience life in better and grander ways. And the only way to do that is to be able to get a different perspective. So I started saying, well, what can I remove? What can I streamline? What can I do to make the money while still
00:32:13
Speaker
keeping my sanity, right? And being burned out, a lot of times people are like, Oh, it's burnout. It's horrible. Yeah, it's not the most fun, but it is a big wake up call. It's about you being able to say, Okay, I'm burned out. Now let me unburn myself. Yeah, move forward and learn the lesson so I don't have to go back there again.
00:32:37
Speaker
Yeah, I'm so burnt out. I had two weddings this weekend, six shoots. And then I look at my calendar thinking, I'm going to rest on Monday, which is yesterday. And then I'm sick. And I have an engagement shoot. And I'm just like, what am I doing with my life? Oh my gosh, I just can't say no. So when you say new perspective, I think that kind of is a
00:33:04
Speaker
aha moment for me, just kind of like thinking things differently. So you're going to help me with that. Yeah, I'm so glad to help. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Okay, so anything more you want to touch on about creating balance in business for creative entrepreneurs and wedding pros? No, I think that we've gotten through the main, the main bit here is they should have some great things to take away.
00:33:31
Speaker
Yes, it was so good. Okay, so we're gonna get to know you a little bit more. So with rapid fire questions. So I the first question is, what is your woo factor? What is your Leah Harris factor? Like what makes you stand out?
00:33:45
Speaker
I think being spiritually curious and having the ability to share the learnings and help other people tap into their own spiritual self and center is one of my secret sauces. And I do that all the time, whether you're sitting as a coach, whether we're writing copy, that's just what I bring.
00:34:07
Speaker
Yeah, I feel that you are very spiritual and I see that like in your copy and I see that in your photos and it just like, you're just shining. And I feel like I actually have a copywriter and then we looked on your website, she's like, wow, like she really just like pops out and just, you have good energy from just your photos. Hey, thank you so much.
00:34:31
Speaker
Okay, next question. You touch a lot upon this, but what is one marketing strategy that maybe wedding pros don't know about or are not doing or you don't see in the industry, like could be like a lead magnet or an email sequence or a funnel or anything?
00:34:49
Speaker
Well, I talk about email sequences a lot, and I think that that could be one of them. But truly, I think it's words like people buy because they read words that make them buy. A lot of people in the wedding industry rely on photos with no words. The photos are beautiful. But then your site looks like and sounds like everybody else's site.
00:35:13
Speaker
So what are you doing to stand out? Well, it's going to be the words, especially if you are a photographer. People, when they're looking at your photos, they might know that they are beautiful, but they don't really understand the technique that went into them. They just want beautiful photos for their wedding.
00:35:29
Speaker
So describing that, what is your differentiation? What is the problem that you solve? Why do you solve it in a different way than everyone else? You need words to do that. And not cookie cutter words that sound like, yes, we'll have exquisite photos for your timeless experience. I don't reveal them in love, married to my best friend. Yeah, exactly. You need to create words that actually hit the mark and hit your ideal client in a place that makes someone to buy from you.
00:35:59
Speaker
Yeah, I just went digging deep into that too, because my last wedding, she texted me the day after like, wow, your team is so like attentive to our needs and feelings. And it just felt so good. And I kept like, telling her in the meeting. And on the day, like I tell my clients, hey, like we're a team, like,
00:36:16
Speaker
you know, I'm a directing machine, but if you need a certain shot, like, please let me know. And we're always communicating throughout the whole day. So this is a team effort. And it just, it really, it really helps with the client experience. So that's definitely like something I want to portray on my website. Absolutely. Well, I think that you definitely should. Cool, cool. Okay, so a little bit more fun question. But what do you like to do for fun?
00:36:41
Speaker
Um, a lot of the times it's, you know, hanging out with my husband. He's, he's my best friend. I'm a big fan of him. Um, I know you said he's a G because he went through everything with you. He's been through everything with me. Um, I also, what does he do? Tell me about him.
00:37:00
Speaker
Um, yeah, sure. So he is a college professor. We actually met at a party. He's not a typical college professor. He's a, he's a cool college professor. Yeah. So he's really cool. Really cool. I also like, um, I have this karaoke app that I sing into to relieve stress. So that's, I think I know it's called Smule.
00:37:24
Speaker
I downloaded it. It's kind of expensive, like the weekly, but I was singing with my sister. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. I mean, mine as well, right? Yeah, when I'm super stressed, I'll just go karaoke with like me and my daughter and my auntie. That sounds fun. We should do spiel. Okay, I'll download and we'll sing Girl on Fire. There we go.
00:37:50
Speaker
Cool, cool. Okay, since you have a podcast, ask me a question, please. Ask you a question? Yeah. Oh, okay. So what is your top tip for helping business owners grow their business?
00:38:06
Speaker
Ooh, let's see. I would say, yeah, definitely your message, like you've been talking about throughout this episode, but I think one thing that they should have is like a lead magnet to kind of warm up their cold leads to warm leads. So like it could be something very specific to their niche or it could be specific to their location, like top five places you like to shoot in South Bay or,
00:38:33
Speaker
most epic places to shoot in Los Angeles. So something like people would click on. Oh, that's a great tip. Yeah, something like people don't know is people are just not going to like, you know, buy or book their photographer like ASAP. It's like they they've been kind of stalking you for a year or two years, and they kind of have to warm up to you. So you're trying to like kind of grab attention to these people that are
00:39:01
Speaker
not engaged, but going to be engaged. So they're just ready to, you know, get that ring on it. And they're ready to be in a marriage. So it's not the people like, ready to buy. So you have to kind of warm them up from a long time from now. I totally agree. I think that's great advice.
00:39:21
Speaker
No, thank you. Thank you. Okay. One last, um, I want you to tell everyone like where to find you and how to work with you. And then just like lasting words from Aliyah Harris for wedding professionals.
Contact Information and Resources
00:39:35
Speaker
Sure. So like I said, there's a couple of things that you can do. You can go to flourish marketing.co.
00:39:40
Speaker
slash recalibrate to download our recalibration guide. You can also take a listen to the Flourishing Entrepreneur podcast at flourishmarketing.co slash podcast. It's so good. It's so good, guys. Thank you. And actually, I said earlier that there were coaching episodes for episodes nine and four, but I also forgot there's another one at episode two, if you're interested in the coaching episodes. Our highest listen to episode is actually our
00:40:06
Speaker
our purpose and power meditation episodes. So if you're wanting to get your moment of Zen, you can listen to those as well. Otherwise, you can also find me on Instagram at Aleah Harris, A-L-E-Y-A-H-A-R-R-I-S. Yes, and I love your reels and I love your IGTVs. Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate that.
00:40:27
Speaker
Yeah, it was wonderful having you on and thank you so much for your time. I know you're you're busy boss lady and I'm so excited to work with you. Yeah, I'm excited to work with you too. Yeah, story brand. Okay, talk to you soon.
00:40:46
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.