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Hello and welcome or welcome back to the podcast. I am so frustrated 'cause I recorded the best masterclass for you guys and it didn't even record. So round two, let's do this. In this episode I'm gonna be talking about why you need to be incomparable in order to stand out in the industry. And it does sound like a double meaning because it is. But for the sake of this episode, let's just dive into what incomparable means. Incomparable means without an equal in quality or extent, matchless, without equal beyond. Compare, unparalleled and unable to be compared totally different in nature or extent. And that is what I want for you. I want you to build a wedding photography business that is unparalleled matchless, because you'll become the go-to in whatever your expertise is in the wedding industry. Now a lot of photographers struggle with this because of the comparison trap, the most incredible thing about human beings is that we are innately different, because no two people are exactly alike in personality and experiences, the way that they perceive the world, what they do, what they create, how they react. And so you're gonna put all those things. Into your business. Before I get on my whole high horse about the industry and how, I don't really believe that it is saturated. Yes, there's a lot of people in it, but in this case, I have actually never looked up the definition of saturated, so let's dive into that together Saturated in terms of the market is that when the supply is beyond the point at which the demand for a product is satisfied I am just gonna say this, I believe that the term, the market is saturated in terms of data is actually incorrect. Because market saturation is when a market has reached a point where the supply of something is greater than the demand for it. And I don't believe that to be true. Maybe there is increased competition. Maybe it is harder to get inquiries and maybe people are comparing to pricing. But I don't think that's because of saturation. And I'm gonna tell you why. Because while doing research on this, just to see if the market really is saturated, just so I have all my facts together, my duck's in a row. The data says that there are about 271,000 photography businesses now. They don't have the metrics on wedding photography. Just photography, okay. This is in the us which is actually interesting because it's a 3% increase from last year. If you look at it in the grand scheme of things, while there are more photographers, the budget for the wedding industry as a whole is only increasing more and more every single year. So according to fortune business insights.com, they have projected that in 2024 the wedding photography industry was estimated at $23 billion in 2024, but it is estimated to actually reach $43 billion by 2032. And when I did research on how many people there were in the world I used to say there's 7 billion people in the world now. There's 8 billion people in the world. So as the number of people are increasing, the market is increasing, the photographers are increasing to reach the demand of no longer 7 billion people in the world, but 8 billion people in the world. And according to a very quick search done, it is an estimated in 2025 that approximately 2.3 million couples are gonna get married in the United States, which translates to about 6,200 weddings per day. Let's just go off on a tangent really quick. So if there's 2.3 million couples getting married every year in the us, this is just the us We're not even talking about destination photographers. That's a whole different bracket, right? That's global, but. And there's 271,319 photographers. That's not necessarily wedding photographers, but if we did the math 2 million divided by 271,319, let's say there's that many wedding photographers, which there aren't everybody would get eight weddings a year, which is not terrible. But it's not really factual because we know that there's not that many wedding photographers as many people come into the industry. There's also people leaving the industry, right? There's people doing other things. I just spoke with a wedding photographer who decided to open a bridal shop, and she said she wants to play with photography and make it a hobby again. So be it. And so while there are more weddings, the budget is getting bigger. So yes, the photography industry is growing anywhere from three to 7% a year. Projected to be, and with wedding couples booking anywhere from three to six months versus them booking 12 to 18 months like they did in the past, you really can't. Predict what's gonna happen. You can't predict who's gonna come across your inquiry page and book you. You can put all your best efforts into marketing and coming up with a plan and a strategy, but at the end of the day, you don't know how soon you can go from five weddings this year to 15 by the end of this year, from last minute weddings, micro weddings, elopements, and what have you, because everybody's doing everything their way. So what if we just say to ourselves, everything is gonna be fine. You're gonna put in the work and put your best foot forward and. Make the efforts to make sure that you're booked out and not really worry about what the industry is doing. But I tell you what, looking at the statistics here, it's only growing and expanding. There's more people. There's more photographers, and guess what? The wedding industry budget is increasing to an estimated about $40 billion. The wedding industry is only growing as a whole, so why don't you choose to grow with it Instead of staying in the same place and not doing anything, thinking that nothing's ever going to change. And so what does that have to do with an incomparable brand? Now that we know that the industry is not saturated and that there is enough room and enough people and weddings and money for everyone, now we can figure out how you're gonna position yourself To attract your dream couples so that you can book at least 20 weddings a year if that's what you want, to stay happily booked and profitable and be able to serve the couples that value you, that value your work, and ultimately are willing to pay high ticket for it. That's ultimately what we want. We don't have to worry about the big picture all the time. Why don't we just focus on the things that we can control, and that is our brand positioning. And so ultimately all of us have unique experiences and stories we can tell. We also have unique styles. Yes, we all wanna fit into one of the boxes of light and airy, dark and moody editorial, storytelling, all those things, documentary. There's gonna be some nuances though to your style that you can bring that really do differentiate you from the others that have a similar style to you, and that's where the incomparable brand comes in. So not only is your style going to be different, but also the way you present, the things you talk about, the things you stand on, the things you value the things you believe, that's what's gonna make you incomparable. The way you show up things you like, things you don't like, things you resonate with. All those things factor in your personal brand and what makes you different and stand out. And we're gonna be able to help you position that in a way that sells versus a way that makes you look like a sloppy brand. I don't believe in making your personal brand that high-end intense where people don't trust your professionalism. Like you can be professional, but you can also be the high end professional choice, right? And, inside of our Wedding Photographer Group program that we're launching soon, we're gonna be able to help you with this. We're gonna give you some journal prompts that are gonna help you be able to really uncover the deep stuff like deep inside. I'm gonna ask you questions about your life. I'm gonna ask you questions about everything, even about relationships your childhood. Because all of those things, when they do come up, it's gonna give you so much clarity and you're gonna be like, oh, that's why I believe this. That's why I want to do this. That's why I love this part of the wedding day. It's all going to click, and when it clicks, that will be your perfect personal brand. Latte and we are gonna make it taste so delicious And then you're gonna be confident marketing behind it because innately it is you and you actually stand behind it. So I want you to think about this. The next time you feel the need to go down the comparison trap, get on Instagram, look at what everybody else is doing, what everyone else is posting, what's going viral, what's getting comments, what's getting views? I just want you to start looking at your own work. I want you to go through your past weddings, right? And just really thinking like, what can I focus on in my business right now? Can I turn off Instagram? Can I touch grass, and can I go back to the reason I started this business in the first place? And why was that really? Was it to make beautiful art? Was it to create connections? Was it to build a business that you felt like was impossible to build, and what is the story behind that? And going back to that will always kind of center you in a way of being like, okay, I can move on. That person is doing something that works for them, but I'm gonna do something that works for me and I'm gonna end this comparison trap once and for all. So, I actually have a psychology and web design background, and with that background, I've decided to finally bring a solution to this problem once and for all, which is why I created the rebrand studio. And the rebrand studio is one of the new bonuses that I'm talking about that we're adding to the program. And so once you have all of these things mapped out and you've come up with your own unique story, we're gonna take that information, which was already your homework. We're gonna take that and then we're gonna help. Design a unique brand for you in 30 days. In the past, I gave the structure and then I said, go hire a web designer and a brand designer, and I wish you the best of luck, but now we have a rebrand studio, and you will also get my eyes on this because what they did before is they would hire somebody and then be like, oh my gosh, the Lord, can you review every single website page? Can you check the copy? Can you make sure everything's good to go? We have a agency in this program that's gonna take care of that. Somebody is going to help you with your unique design, tailored to whatever you have come up with. I'm going to look at it and approve it. You will have my eyes on it, and if you want any kind of feedback if you feel lost or stuck or something's not connecting, I will be inside of the rebrand studio and I'll be able to give you on-demand feedback on that. We also have a copywriter and a graphic and web designer who will be working on this and then turning it over to you in 30 days as long as you hit all of the deadlines that we provide you. So what does this mean for you? This means that everything that you need to do and accomplish will be inside our revamped signature wedding photographer program. And I'm so excited because I am definitely a rebrand girl, and I was a serial rebrand, or I would rebrand every six months to 12 months. And every time I rebranded, it was to a different audience and I got different couples every single time. So professional here. If there's anybody who knows anything about a strategic rebrand, it is me. But the best part is I don't want you to do what I did and rebrand to attract different people. I want this to be your set rebrand with refreshes possibly needed, but I want this to be positioned in a way where you're like, no, this feels aligned. I don't need to do this again next year. I want this to stretch and last you as you develop and grow inside of the program, figure out who you are because innately we are always changing and developing, and I 100% stand by that and I think all of us do. Nod to the mindset episode about growth mindset versus fixed mindset. But I also wanna make sure you're not throwing your money out the window because you feel like you need a rebrand and you put together a board, but you don't really know why you like it or how you feel about it. You don't have any values, you just don't have any structure or strategy behind it knowing that you're gonna have to invest in that again, that will not be the case inside of this program. You are gonna have such clarity after you work with us inside of the rebrand studio. It is going to be amazing, and the existing students also get first dibs on the rebrand studio. I'm so excited to launch it. That way you will be able to be incomparable in the industry, but also feel like everything you need is in one program, especially to take you from low self-esteem, low confidence to being like, Nope, this is who I am. This is who I serve, this is how I do it, and now I'm going to light the fire in my marketing and book, all the dream couples I've wanted to work with since I started my business, that is what I want to achieve. And so I've been behind the scenes putting this together, creating a structure and strategy for this, and it's gonna be incredible. Once we launch this April 22nd, you're gonna wanna be on the wait list for this just to be inside of the rebrand studio. Get ready for the best rebrand of your life matchless to anybody else in the industry because we're gonna help you do that, and we're gonna help you figure out what you can bring to the wedding industry that nobody's ever seen before. So that is the end of this incomparable brand episode, and if you want more where this came from, don't forget to RSVP for my Free Life Masterclass. We're gonna dive into how to build this beautiful luxury wedding photography brand so you can raise your prices and book high-end weddings without sacrificing your life, your time freedom, all those things. I want you to be able to plan a maternity leave and fund it. I want you be able to travel without having to wonder where the money's coming from. I want you to close your books for the fall because that's busy season in the Midwest, and be like, Nope, I don't need to book any weddings in October. Actually, I'm taking October off because I met my goal and I know exactly how many weddings I need to book at what price point, and I'm good. I've actually had a student do this, and she's yeah, no, I'm just not booking in October. I'm done. I was like, oh, love that for you. Putting the power back in your own hands, realizing that you're the CEO of your life and business is a powerful thing, but having the confidence to do that, man, you'll be unstoppable. All right, that's it for this week's episode. I will see you in the next one, and if you are SVP, I will also see you live on the free masterclass. I will see you next week. Bye.