Speaker 1: 0:10

Welcome to the Wedding CEO podcast, where we discuss all things marketing, sales and scaling so you can become the CEO of your life and business. I'm Elora Rochelle and I've been a wedding photographer for over a decade and now I'm sharing all of my secrets so you can stop sacrificing your time and make more money like a CEO. Oh hey, welcome back to another episode. Today we're going to be talking about the main theme of this entire podcast. We're going to talk about what it actually takes to become the wedding CEO of your business. Are you ready? Let's go.

Speaker 1: 0:45

Number one a CEO knows their numbers, the cost of doing business, how much they need to survive as a business. Most photographers throw numbers out there. They lose money or they profit nothing and they burn out and they quit and they say, oh, this is not for me, it's going to take too long to become successful. No, it's not, it's maybe pie, it's because you threw numbers out into the wind and you threw it against the wall and hoped it would stick, when the numbers were weak and they weren't strategized and they weren't planned in advance. Or you just say I'm worth this much and I'm going to put it out there. Or you have the beautiful mindset issue of no one's going to pay this, so I'm just going to put out this number and if nobody buys it, then I'm awful and I don't deserve to be a photographer. That's not true. First of all, mindset, mindset, mindset which is on to the next thing. Number two a CEO has a strong mindset Like it's imperative. Okay, in my program, because there's so many mindset shifts on charging more worthiness, the fear of missing out, the fear of failure, the fear of their own potential.

Speaker 1: 1:43

I created an entire private podcast just for my wedding CEO students where they can just binge mindset pep talks on the go. For example, everybody in the world is struggling with scarcity versus abundance. I have and I have conquered it, which is why I can speak on it. But if you're unsure of yourself, you're going to think to yourself oh my gosh, there's just not enough for me, there's not enough clients, there's not enough money, there's not enough anything So-and-so is doing X and they're making six figures and I'm still making $1,000 a year. I mean, that's like a very worst case scenario. But instead of shifting your mindset, just a little sneak peek into the private podcast, focusing on the competition. Instead of focusing on the competition, why don't you focus on yourself and think, hmm, why not me? I'm just as deserving as anyone else. If they can do it, so can I. And that is why I have invested in myself and I'm going to apply everything that I'm learning. It's that simple. There's just not enough. It's that simple Then-and then, surprisingly, the general distance of the YouTube network and all the other web languages is Consultant Number three a CEO has a compelling brand strategy.

Speaker 1: 2:46

A DIY brand is so easy to see through. As a web designer dropout, one thing I've studied through and through is web design, also how to structure the web design in order for it to be compelling. And converting. A structure of the website is probably the most important thing of the website. Although we love the visuals, we love the gifts, we love the transitions of videos and photos fading in and out, but what people don't really talk about is the structure of the website and how it has to flow to make the client do exactly what you want them to do. And if it is not, then a client is going to get bored. Or I'm going to get bored if I'm on your website and I'm not even going to think to book you through your contact form. I'm not even make it to your contact form just by the information you have on your site. So that is just a little piece of the brand strategy.

Speaker 1: 3:35

The other brand strategy can just be about what your brand even stands for. A website is just only a piece of the brand and marketing puzzle. It's wedged in between there. It has all the information that your brand represents, who they are, who they serve, but also your website's going to do the marketing for you. Because once people get off at Instagram they're like all right, is this person a professional or a side hustler? Let's look at their website. At least that's what I think. If I'm going to spend a lot of money on something, I want to know this person's legit and not that they're just doing this an hour a week and it's like a side hustle and I won't be served as a client Like these are all the things that go through my head when I'm hiring someone for a service. So anyway, make sure that your brand and your brand strategy is compelling.

Speaker 1: 4:15

Number four a CEO has a luxury white glove client experience. This one has actually been overlooked a ton in the past. Not really sure why, but I think photographers in the industry or just business owners in general, are realizing that a luxury client experience is a huge marketing campaign, like huge, because if you serve them and you serve them well, constantly with surprises and just I don't know meeting their needs, they're going to be your biggest referral base AKA old school, old fashioned word of mouth, in the best way, we hope right. And so we give our students email scripts, workflow videos and, of course, customer proposal templates to really take this to the next level. So your clients are raving about you from onboarding to offboarding and they're telling everyone like it doesn't matter what this person charges, they need to hire you. So your clients are raving about you to everyone and they're saying they need to hire you regardless what you charge, which is the biggest compliment. Also, that's like your arrival statement, like yeah, my word of mouth is so strong that I doubled my prices and people haven't blinked. Or this person was a referral for a client that I charged $2,000 less and their referral friend booked me anyway. Like just off your shoulders, huge compliment.

Speaker 1: 5:33

So having a luxury client experience, making sure your clients are taken care of, is just like. For me it's a non-negotiable. I'm like a next day, maybe like 48 hour sneak peak person and that's just a non-negotiable for me. No matter what like even if my kids are going crazy I will get a sitter. Like I have to do those 48 hour sneak peaks. So it's just something my clients probably expect by now just by seeing me post same day sneak peaks or whatever but it's just something that's non-negotiable for me and it's non-negotiable for them. They hired me. It's actually the best part, the best time to give them sneak peaks, because everybody's still so excited and at the edge of their seats like, oh my gosh, I wonder how those images take in. Oh my gosh, I wonder how those images look like the photographer. She was so good, she was so professional. I can't wait to see her images. You know her friends are following you on Instagram. They're all like oh my gosh, you were so amazing. And everybody's still so excited. Just as a free tip here for me it has worked wonders to do a 48 hour sneak peak. I used to do same day and that actually led me to burnout and I would be up until like 3am doing same day sneak peaks and my clients wouldn't answer until like two days after, like while they're getting on the plane to their honeymoon. So I was like why am I killing myself to do this? I can wait a day or two, so it's fine.

Speaker 1: 6:51

Number five a CEO scales their sales. While it's super fun and exciting to do everything yourself, you are one, wasting your time on small tasks that could be delegated. Two your business can't grow if it's just maintaining to stay afloat. We teach how to make your first hire from A to Z in order to free up your time and work less than 20 hours a week In your business. Guaranteed. I work probably about I want to say I used to work 10 hours. I think I work like five hours a week in my photography business. All the rest of my work is going to my coaching business, because I'm in the building process. All my workflows are on autopilot, like everything is working for me. But that's not what I mean when I'm saying scaling your sales.

Speaker 1: 7:36

There are other ways you can make income, like in our program. We have passive income, how to make your first mentorship program, all the other stuff that people decide they want to do. You don't have to do it. Some people don't want to have a mentorship program. Some people just want to do a mini session sellout Do it. Some people just want to offer branding services, boudoir services, like you can branch off of so many things than just engagements and weddings. There's so much you can do. You can brand it, you can launch it and have people obsessed to sign up for it. It's just that easy. So these are the five things that I think everybody needs to have in order to become the wedding CEO of their business.

Speaker 1: 8:13

What do you think Sound good? You like? You like what you hear? If so, this is pretty much every single thing that we cover in the wedding CEO program. If you're interested and I think you are, if you listened to this episode, you clicked it for a reason Feel free to apply link in the show notes or wwwwallawrwachellecom slash wedding CEO and you will get access actually to a free private training that will explain our entire process, also the three-part framework that makes it essential to even have a six-finger business and a secret.

Speaker 1: 8:44

It's actually really easy and we break it down in that video. So love to see you there. Head to the free training and thanks so much for listening. I hope you're gonna have an amazing day, an amazing week, an amazing month, and I will see you in the week after the next. I think that's what we're doing. We're doing a bye monthly, bye weekly, bye monthly. I don't know what it's called. Anyway, I will see you later. Bye, move A hahha. Get network 14 underlying Wait, don't go yet. If you loved today's episode, I would love if you took five seconds to leave a rating and a five star review. If you do, send me a DM so I can give you a virtual hug and, of course, a shout out Now, if you're ready to grow your photography business, I invite you to join the waitlist for the wedding CEO.

Speaker 1: 9:32

The wedding CEO is my signature program for wedding photographers who are ready to scale their way to 100K. You're finally ready to work less, make more and live your dream life. If you've seen my Instagram, then you'll know we have students making five bigger months, launching their dream brands, doubling their prices, taking vacations and more, which are lifetime skills that you can take with you, even if you decide to leave the industry. Join the waitlist for when we open the doors on November 14th, to the waitlist only, and you're going to get an exclusive advanced private training on how to scale to 100K, booking less than 20 weddings a year. And, trust me, you don't want to miss this Link in the show notes. See you inside.