Alora Rachelle 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. Yes, you did read that right. I am more of a let's be competitive with who we were yesterday versus who we are today, and not necessarily being competitive with others. But I had to be a little spicy today and I kind of don't care. So I do have to say a little healthy competition never hurt anyone. No, seriously, you want to be the first in your industry to take the leap on anything. As soon as a new anything comes out, I'm willing to try it, maybe because I just want to be first. But you never know what's going to happen next. You never know if it's going to take off. You don't know. I think that maybe could be a thing about marketing, because I know it's like it's something that I didn't know that I did. So maybe a part of marketing could just be diving all the way into something new and if it doesn't work, leave it. But if it does take off, then there you go A marketing platform. I guess I meant that in terms of social media. But regardless, you want to be the first in your industry to take the leap or elevate your images before your competitors do. Maybe start pivoting out of shooting 30 plus weddings a year, because it's not sustainable.

Alora Rachelle 1:46

That was one thing I learned. I learned that I complained a lot when I was stressed out. I'm not naturally somebody that just likes to complain. Honestly, complaining bothers me and it bothers me when I do it. It's just one of those things. But I think Misery does love company too, because I would find that my peers were also overwhelmed, overbooked, feeling resentful, feeling underpaid, all those things. So let's do something about it. Why don't we start educating ourselves? And guys, the opportunity for education is wild. It was $850 for a mentorship back in 2012 and there was no recording of videos. It was just like, hey, hang out with me for like $900. The ability you guys have to take a course with you and keep it and refer to it and learn on the go and not have to spend so much money but just to get started, just get your feet wet, you know, is wild.

Alora Rachelle 2:47

To me, the possibilities are actually endless. I want you to be able to elevate your images. I want you to be able to rise above, I want you to book less and I want you to make more. That is actually the whole purpose of this entire podcast is to teach you secrets and strategies so you can level up your business. Did I say before, your competitors and peers do no, but I mean, you got to be competitive with somebody.

Alora Rachelle 3:15

So, anyway, imagine this your portfolio is elevated and curated, your images are iconic and luxury, your work is cinematic and enticing. You want to do less, you want to make more and all that jazz, and I want that for you too. It's why I'm recording this episode, and I want to let you know that it's possible before you say oh my gosh, is that really possible for me? Yes, so for everybody who changed their brand and their colors and their vibe every year, you can do whatever the heck you want to do, and I want to share how I did it. So, bts and all. I want to shout it from the rooftops so everybody can know this can be done. Shifting your images alone will attract your dream clients. Boom, that's it. So if you're finally ready to dip your toe and come crashing into the luxury market with those beautiful laid back clients that we love. You need to align your work with your goals. You need to shift your portfolio before your competitors do. Now, how do we do that? Well, I would say the first thing is you know it's time to look at those images. I want you to look at your Instagram and want you to look at your website. I just want you to look at it and be like is this, is this serving me? You know, is this what I want? Do I want more of this?

Alora Rachelle 4:34

I remember one time I went up to a mentor and I was like I am so tired of these shot lists and these perfect poses and I don't want to do it anymore. And I'm so tired, why do I keep getting clients that want these perfect images? And so she looked at my website and was like she just showed it to me like this is your fault. No-transcript, it's your fault. And I was like what do you mean? She's like if you want those images, then you need to go through, deselect the perfect ones and completely shift your portfolio. And I was like that's impossible. It can't be that easy, because it's got to be hard, right? If it's not hard, it's not worth it. At least that's what I tell myself. I have a lot of work to be done, but back then it seemed impossible and I was definitely just getting like it was type A clients.

Alora Rachelle 5:22

But the ones that were like nitpicky, the ones that wanted control of everything, that were like, did you get that photo? That's not me, I'm so chill, I'm so chill. I mean, that's why I have systems in place so I can be chill. I just I'd rather not. So anyway, I did that one thing and I kid you not. A couple months later I got the perfect dream inquiry and I was like I was the problem. It was me. So that's the perfect way to elevate your portfolio without what you already have. Like, if you can't even just handle where to start, just look at your images. Like, what are you posting? Is that what you want? Do you want more of that? If not, it's time to clean up, sign a clean house. It's time to do some spring cleaning. I don't know, is that a thing? Probably not. But anyway, that's what I learned. That's what I learned.

Alora Rachelle 6:08

And then I shifted forward how I was photographing my clients. I hated posing, so why was I over posing so much? You get in the habit as a wedding photographer. You just have those go-to prompts. You have those go-to things. You do and say and take pictures of it and that's what clients expect. You give it to them. You feel like, oh great, they have what they want. I don't, I don't have anything for me. And so that's when I was like, okay, how can I shift this in a way where I can start attracting these dream clients and letting go of all the type A ways that I was delivering my photos, that I was directing my clients, that I was you know what I mean Like, can I just be quiet a little bit and maybe I'll get more organic images? I don't know. So I started doing that and I created this hybrid style of storytelling, if you will, and directing.

Alora Rachelle 7:00

I just wasn't about this model like a mannequin and that was what we were taught. You know, if you have anybody I don't even know if anybody here remembers Creative Live, but they would have these like live, free educational videos where educators would come on and tell you what to do, and I just remember like one of these speakers had like 10 different poses and it was like tilt your head this way, put your hand this way, do this, do that, don't do this, do that. And then turn your head and then this and like I'll do that to a point if something's unflattering, just being like, oh, you know, just like, close your hands, you know princess fingers. But the whole time where they would stop and a natural, beautiful moment with the couple, just to pose them, I was like I don't want to do that, like that's not. Why am I doing this? That's not what I want to do, right. And so I kept thinking like I don't want to pose these hands perfectly anymore, I don't want to stress out my groom anymore that he's already stressed out. And so I had to tell myself this isn't working and there has to be a better way, a way that looks good, a way that feels good to me and also puts my clients at ease.

Alora Rachelle 8:02

So after I shifted my work, I would go out to with my clients. Afterwards I would hang out. I actually used to hang out with my clients after an engaged session. They'd be like, hey, you want to go get something to eat? And I'd be like, yeah, let's do it. So we would hang out, we would talk about the wedding, we'd talk about them, we'd talk about life. It was just so fun. But anyway, a lot of times the groom would tell me like thank you, this was so fun. We can't wait for the wedding day. If it's anything like this, we're going to have such a great time. We're so glad we hired you. And that's how I knew that it was working. And I hit the jackpot If the groom loved taking photos and he had a great time, it's going to be a good day.

Elevating Your Cinematic Editorial Portfolio

Alora Rachelle 8:39

I had to reflect and be like this is working. So I decided to scrap the rules and just continue doing what I wanted to do. And I think that makes sense, because even as a kid I was really. I didn't like rules. I didn't really like working for other people, because I felt like I could always do it better. I didn't have a choice but to be an entrepreneur, anyway. So I scrapped the rules and my clients loved it. For years they were like this is so much fun. Or I was in a bridal party, you know, with one of my friends weddings and the photographer was near as nice as you, or fun as you, or blah, blah, blah.

Alora Rachelle 9:12

So that's why, in our course of cinematic editorial, we teach you how to set the stage, the tone and the mood with your clients so that you can shift your portfolio to be more elevated and give your clients timeless direction and that they kind of turn into their own every single time, like no image will be exactly the same. That's the beauty of it, you know. That's the beauty of like editorial storytelling. So, tip of the day, direct your clients. They'll thank you later. And don't forget to go through those images and shift them before your competitors do. All right, I will see you in the next episode. Bye, bye.