The new year is nearly here so I guess that means I should write something about goal-setting.

Welp, I’m sorry but that’s not gonna happen today.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good target to shoot for. Here’s the thing, though:

It’s what you do to reach a goal that’s more important than setting them.

For example, I’d like to lose 25 pounds in 2020. To do that I’ll need to consume fewer calories...

You want to know a secret?

The key to making more money isn’t only about you or your work. Sure, that’s important. But so many other people are really great to work with, have tons of experience, and provide a really great service/product.

I’m being serious. It’s not enough to showcase beautiful work, make lots of friends in the industry who can refer you clients, and get on a who’s who list fro...

I was talking with a client the other day about the challenges facing her business and I want to share it with you…

Let’s call her Sarah. Sarah’s a photographer in a major Midwest market like Chicago (none of this is true, but I want to include a character so you can enjoy it more.) Sarah called because she wanted to raise her prices and needed my advice on how to do it. 

When we first got on th...

I hear it all the time. It’s sad. I mean, it really makes me sad.
 
“I’m 80% booked for next year, and it’s still not even engagement season!!”
 
Now, I know what you’re thinking. A wedding pro way ahead on their booking pace should make me happy. They’re killing it, you think.
 
Maybe.
 
Here’s another one: “I’ve only got two Saturdays open for next summer and fall!!!”
 
Again, you think I should send them...

It’s not easy to know where you stand with your business. Are you winning? Are you losing? If so, by how much?

The real question is: How do you know?

Are you looking at how many weddings you have on the books? That’s old news! Why? It’s what economists call a “lagging indicator,” which means it measures the effect of what’s already happened.

When you book a wedding it’s a result of the work you...

We all know testimonials are super important to potential clients. Why? Risk is a huge factor at the end of the decision-making process, and knowing others loved your services makes new buyers feel more confident you’ll do the same for them.

Not all testimonials are the same, though.

You know what I’m talking about:

“Sam was so great to work with and solved all my business problems. I’d recomme...

The wedding industry is built on referrals. Studies show time and again how important recommendations are for couples making decisions on their vendors. Testimonials, especially, could push a potential buyer over the line when it comes to choosing you over your competition.
 
But reviews will only get you so far. Social proof is important to reassure nervous buyers, and putting them on your website ...

Last week, we talked about how important it is to keep your best clients engaged with your brand. (If you didn’t read the post do it now. I’ll wait…)

Put your business on the flywheel instead of dropping new leads through the traditional sales funnel.

I hear you. Yeah yeah…In the wedding world it’s hard to get repeat clients (though parents can pay for another sibling to use your services)...

The talk of sales and marketing funnels may have finally reached a tipping point…and are now going down the drain!

I couldn’t be happier. Now, we get to focus on what really matters.

Clients.

The problem with the funnel approach is that you have to keep pouring in at the top to get a little bit out of the bottom. What nobody tells you is that you’re leaking leads out of the sides. So, you have ...

My first year selling events for the venue where I worked, we did less than 15 weddings in each of our peak months. That accounted for about half of all the business we did, which made sense because that fit the revenues resort-wide. 

July and August were gold for us. Or so we thought…

The last year I sold weddings for the resort we had 60 events in 62 days. I’m not talking about big events with sma...