May 6, 2021
Live coaching calls!!! We’ll be bringing on some past students from some of our courses to talk on the show about what they’re struggling with within their business, and we’ll coach them through our solutions, strategies, and advice! Please let us know if you love this new type of episode by leaving a review on apple podcasts. We loved this coaching call and would love to keep doing more in the future if you love listening in on them too!
Today we’re talking with the incredible Allie Davies. Allie is an intimate wedding and elopement photographer based in Columbus, Ohio.
She’s been shooting for over 10 years, and her passion is creating images that evoke that sense of nostalgia and authenticity we all feel when looking back at old photographs.
When we asked her what she was struggling with she said:
“I went from fully booked last year to be less than half booked for this year and I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong! I feel like I try everything out there — showing up on social media consistently, providing an amazing client experience, quality photos, etc. Help!”
HELP IS ON THE WAY, DEAR! Today we went through the backend of Allie’s business from her client communication process, her initial email response, her Instagram marketing strategy, her website, and more.
If you’re in a similar situation as Allie, you feel like you’re doing ALL the things, but you’re still coming up short with bookings and you’re feeling frustrated or discouraged… listen today. This episode is hopefully gonna give you some tips, ideas, strategies, and encouragement. We’re so excited for this first coaching session, so let’s get right to it!
Evie: Why don’t you introduce yourself, share who you are, what you do, all that good stuff!
Allie: I am a full-time wedding and elopement photographer, based in Columbus, Ohio and I have been doing photography for over ten years. I have been doing my business full-time now for about three years. I live here with my husband, Jordan, we’ve been married for about three and half years and have a really sweet blue heeler puppy named Indigo and a cat named Steve. We help co-lead a Bible study together for people in college and post-college.
Lindsey: We know a little bit because we have talked before the recording of where you are in business and what you are struggling with, but give us a brief rundown of where you are at in your business, what you are struggling with, and what pain points that you just keep hitting a wall on.
Allie: When I first started my business full-time a few years ago, I was fully booked every year and was not having a problem getting bookings and was even having to turn away work. But then this year came around and my bookings have been way slower, I’m less than half booked at this point where I would have been fully booked this time last year. I have been running into a wall of why are people not wanting to book with me, why am I not getting as many inquiries as I used to. Just wondering if I need to get in front of people more and what is going on.
Lindsey: I like this because it sets us up to be like Nancy Drew detective and solve the mystery. You are not alone in this, this happens to a lot of people. The main two issues that we always find are people who are at the beginning of their career, that need bookings and how do they get them and then there are the people who have gotten bookings and are successful but as the world changes and people hit a wall in a certain way, is very similar to the way you are. You are not alone in this struggle, I have had seasons of drought and not getting bookings and wondering what is wrong. Your problem is relatable, even though it is frustrating. We know you have questions for us but we also want to be Nancy Drew and fish out what could be the issue.
Evie: I have so many questions, but first of all you said you are a wedding and elopement, so do you shoot larger weddings? Or are you more intimate weddings, do you shoot local elopements or destination elopements? We want to get a better grasp on who your clientele is.
Allie: I do all sizes of weddings, I mostly do bigger weddings but have done a lot of smaller ones especially in this last year. They are pretty much all local to Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.
Evie: Part of the reason I was asking that is that with Covid and if you were shooting a lot of bigger weddings, were you possibly experiencing a lag or lack of interest because a lot of people are pivoting from bigger weddings after Covid. I was wondering if you were subconsciously marketing/showing more of the bigger weddings, marketing to them, and experiencing less interest. But I am sure you have also been focusing on that as many photographers have had Covid pivoting on the front of their minds.
Allie: I think that is a good point, as things started to shut down I started to pivot to try and market more of that and I was shooting a lot more elopements. So I was trying to feature more of that and change up the language on my website, but I think your comment of subconsciously marketing to bigger weddings is probably valid.
Lindsey: When you say you were fully booked last year and then this year you’re struggling. Do you mean 2020 you were fully booked and 2021 you’re struggling?
Allie: Yes, so I ended up doing more weddings than I thought I would do in 2020, and I think I did almost 30. And then this year I have like 13.
Lindsey: If you were talking about 2019 being fully booked and 2020 wasn’t, that’s where I was like Covid, but we have to be even more detective. You want to start asking us more questions.
Allie: One thing I was wondering is, is this may be related to my initial email, client communication, and if you have thoughts on how I can up-level that kind of stuff?
Evie: How we want to start this is, Allie, can you walk us through your client experience and communication process from even the first email. Tell us what that first email looks like and sounds like and then what your process is from there and then we have an idea of what we are talking about.
Allie: Depending on how they reach out, if I get a DM I will send people a voice recording saying “Hey thanks so much for reaching out, I would love it if you could fill out my contact form and browse my website” and then send them a link. That’s if they don’t go straight to my website. Once I get a response, I will respond within 24 hours, but usually, it’s within 12. It will include, “I am so excited for you guys”, I will respond to personal things that they have shared about their relationship, it will include a pricing guide, which includes all of my FAQ’s which are also on my website. It includes a sample timeline and all the package breakdowns, so I will send them that and respond to all the personal things they said and then we will set up a consult call. It’s been on Zoom a lot more recently due to Covid but I try to make them in person if I can to answer questions and tell them more about me.
Lindsey: When you say you are only half booked for the year, 13 bookings, where are people falling off? Are you getting ghosted, with no one responding to that initial email? Or are you getting responses and then they just fizzle out after that?
Evie: Or are you not getting inquiries?
Allie: It’s kind of a combination. A lot of it I have gotten fewer inquiries, that’s been probably the strangest thing, but also when I get inquiries I’ll have a number of them where I will respond and they’ll respond once or twice and then nothing. Or I have had several people who I have met with and they have gone with someone else.
Lindsey: I listen to your email and that is incredible, I think a lot of people aren’t even doing a good chunk of the things that you are doing in that initial email. You’re giving them the kitchen sink which I love. How are you writing? What is your language like in your initial email? I ask that because even if you are including everything in the kitchen sink and giving them a beautiful pricing guide and a sample timeline, my question is a lot of times the language and the words that you are using all photographers say the same thing. “Thank you so much for inquiring, I am so excited! Congrats on your engagement, I would be honored…” It is the typical speel, so I am just curious what it says or how you are saying it.
Allie: It’s pretty similar to what you just said, “Thanks so much for reaching out and interested in my work. I am so stoked to be a part of your story. Congrats on your engagement.” Then I will mention some of the personal things that they said and then “As of now I am available for your wedding day and would love to work with you”. It’s the standard.
Lindsey: Alright I think we found one Nancy Drew clue!
Evie: One of the first things you could say in that email Allie, is something very YOU. While talking to you, you might not have the verbiage and language that Lindsey and I do like a crazy psycho with too much caffeine. When I am saying use your language and try to spice it up, I don’t mean try to be Lindsey and me where we are like BLAHHH, but you could include something specific to how you talk to your friends every day. My point is something that is very you and sounds a little bit different than “Congrats, I would love to be a part of your story”. Bring in some of those personal touches from the beginning of not only your verbiage but “I can’t believe he proposed on…”. Bring in the details that they shared so you can incorporate that and then get into “I am so happy you reached out”. Include something a little different, because I guarantee your couples are reaching out to a handful of other photographers and if every email sounds the same even if you are incorporating more information, that’s just another way that you can stand out and set yourself apart from the other responses that they are getting as well.
Lindsey: Something else I would add to that is read your emails out loud. We want you to approach your templates, look them over, maybe rewrite them and pretend you are texting your best friend. How do you text your best friend? What type of verbiage do you use when you are out to dinner casually with your friends over margaritas? What language do you use? What slang words do you use? That is where your personality can come out more and shine and that’s one aspect that is going to set your emails apart from everyone else they are reaching out to. Another thing, on your website, do you have an experience page at all?
Allie: Yeah, I do.
Lindsey: What kind of things does it say on there?
Allie: I have stuff on my about page and experience page, on the about page is kind of my why and on the experience page it walks through my process. It kind of gives them a written version of the client experience and then it includes my core values and an explanation of each one and then some reviews, investment stuff, and then next steps.
Lindsey: That is awesome, for everyone listening, that is what an experience page should be, so kudos to you! My advice is you don’t have to copy and paste that experience page and put it in that email, however, I have found something that makes me stand apart and even coaching students when I tell them this stand apart. Write your emails as if they have never seen your website. They probably have, but when you are writing your emails I want you to share that experience with them. Again if they are reaching out to every single photographer and every single one is like “Thanks, congrats, so excited, honored you’re picking me, here’s my guide”, it all starts to sound the same. One if you show up as a genuine human being, using gifs, slang, or talking like a best friend that is going to make you stand out. Another thing that will make you stand out is if you show up and you tell them from the get-go what the experience of working with you is going to look like. That is what I think is going to set you apart. It is easing their fears and making sure that they are the absolute best fit for you, so that way even if you are at a higher price point than someone else they will look at it and resonate with everything that you said. It will stand out and be so much more heartwarming.
Evie: When you said that if somebody inquires with you through a DM and you send them a voice message, that is amazing! I would even maybe say take it a step further and send a video message back, that’s not necessarily vital but is a great way to connect with them even further and give them that feeling of face timing with a friend. If you are struggling with converting those DM inquiries and hooking them from the beginning, showing yourself and connecting with them in that way would be a great way to take it a notch higher. I know the response times you said you usually respond within 12 hours, my encouragement in this season where you are kind of struggling, try to shorten that even further. Try to respond within an hour, or two or three after that initial inquiry so that they are still sitting there and maybe still doing more wedding planning and see your email come through. If you’re in the season of trying to hook those potential clients and standing out from the rest and being the best, there is nothing wrong with a 12-24 hours response time at all, these are just tiny little tweaks. Then on the pricing guide, do you offer the next steps at the end of your pricing guide?
Allie: Yeah I do.
Evie: I figured you already did but wanted to throw that out there as well. Then do you have reviews on your pricing guide as well?
Allie: Yes I do!
Evie: Perfect, you are already doing so much, so this is fun and challenging for Lindsey and me because we are having to dig deep. It might be a little bit less of your client communication process, the email might have been the biggest tweaks you could make, but other than that I think it might be something at the forefront of your marketing.
Lindsey: That was my thought because the other thing you said is you’re getting a lot fewer inquiries than previously. This tells me that half of the issue might be in marketing than client communication in general. Do you want to move on to questions to that end? Where do you want to go?
Allie: What should I be doing differently on Instagram?
Lindsey: Can you give us your handle?
Allie: @alexandra.faith
Evie: Then while we are looking at your Instagram, do you want to talk to us about your overarching Instagram strategy? How often are you posting? Who are you trying to reach? Are you using hashtags?
Allie: I try to post in my feed, if not every day, but every weekday. I have been trying to use Reels more, I use hashtags and should probably mix them up more, and then I post on my stories every day. I’m in an engagement group with other photographers and we comment on each other’s stuff and engage with other people as well. I try to share a lot of wedding tips and use Reels to educate brides. I think it is easy to educate photographers but I am not trying to go down that route so I have been trying to educate brides.
Lindsey: I like that you said that, because a lot of times when people hear the word education they think they need to be a business coach now, but no. That’s not what that means.
Evie: I am so impressed with your captions, you are giving so much helpful information. There is so much helpful information on there, just want you to know you are truly killing it on Instagram so let’s maybe try to find something wrong because so far I am seeing amazingness.
Lindsey: The only thing I can kind of see from a brief first glance is you are showing up, but it’s pretty few and far between as far as I am scrolling. That’s a small little tip. How much are you showing up on stories and talking to the camera?
Allie: Probably a couple of times a week.
Lindsey: Okay, I would try every day. Again we are getting picky because you are incredible. The reason you are here and saying I am stuck, a lot of the things you are already doing are things we would already encourage people to do. You’re in a good spot but I also want to remind you what got you here, it is not going to get you to the next level. I think that is something important as business owners we need to remember. We have upswings and downswings. I just want to encourage you that you are doing incredible, anything we are giving you right now is on top of all the other incredible things you are already doing. But I would say at least on your feed trying to show up at least 2-3 more times than you currently are. Right now it is like one every ten to twelve photos. I would encourage one every four, which might be aggressive, but at this point, we are experimenting and trying new things. I am wondering if the missing link is where Allie is? I want to see your personality, your pets, your home. I think that is the missing link, it almost feels influence-y, but I think pulling a little more personality and you into your brand might help people chose you over somebody else. At the end of the day our photos can only get so good, but what is going to make someone choose you over Joe down the street is yes your communication, your pricing point, but also connection. One of the biggest things that are going to help you get those inquiries and then actually book them. I would encourage you to show up and share your personal life and again when I say personal life, it doesn’t have to be the deepest darkest parts of your soul. Anything you are comfortable with sharing in your business, but people grab onto that and resonate with vulnerability and people being real.
Evie: I have a few other thoughts too. This is all very trying to knit pick and offer suggestions and strategies that you can try. One thing that I noticed in your recent posts, is that some are from larger weddings with a lot of guests and I think that potentially might not be reaching the majority of the people you are trying to reach because of Covid. If you are wanting to showcase the small intimate backyard weddings that you shot last year because the majority of the brides this year are planning that small intimate backyard wedding and maybe even showing up with tips like that. How to convert your larger wedding into a smaller backyard wedding. Speak directly to the covid brides and the people who were planning on getting married last year and had to reschedule or cancel. That can help speak more and more to the pain points of your ideal clients. That’s one thing and the other thing is I see you are doing some Reels which is amazing but I would say hit Reels hard right now. They are popping off, so put a lot of energy towards them. With Reels, try to showcase your face a lot on them, that will build a lot of connection and brand recognition. The third thing I was thinking was that if you are in a slower season, you’re not out shooting a ton, I would either spend a lot of the time you would be out shooting showcasing behind the scenes for your clients. Or get out and shoot to showcase that you are still out and working. It will help keep your creativity alive with no pressure but it will also show to people who are watching that this photographer is still out there shooting. If you feel like you aren’t out there shooting enough, I would say maybe pretend like you are. That is almost going back to the beginning when you first get into photographing and you’re doing styled shoots and couple sessions for free all the time. It’s crazy that if you aren’t out there shooting and showing that you are, that your inquiries will drop. Whereas if you are out doing a shoot once a week you will get a lot more inquiries. When I am hearing that your inquiries are a little lower, maybe you just need to get out there and start shooting and showcasing yourself to potential clients.
Allie: That’s great. I set up a free shoot last week and have another one this week.
Lindsey: While Evie was talking I went over to your website and it is perfect, so beautiful! You are killing it! You are doing this killer on Instagram, but I would also bring it over to your blog. I mainly see your sessions and weddings on your blog which is great, but I would start incorporating the same type of tips and tricks for couples and wedding couples that you are giving on Instagram, turn that into slightly longer content for your blog. Your most recent post was wedding timeline tips, so do a blog on that. Taking that service type of content and turning it into blog posts. Instagram is one aspect of getting people into the door and SEO is another one and I’m not sure how much you are focusing on SEO but blogs help a ton. If you are shooting locally in Columbus a great blog post that you could do is your top five favorite wedding venues in Columbus, Ohio. If you think from a bride’s perspective, what is the first thing after they get engaged that they are searching for? It is a venue and a date, almost always before a photographer. That would be my tip but another for blogging is showing up personally, again you get to decide how vulnerable you want to be. Personal life, top ten books that you read this year that you loved. It is giving value in a more lifestyle personal way.
Evie: The only other thing that I am looking at on your site is the navigation. This is just my recommendation, but I would change your information right now, so all your experience, investment, next steps are all under info. I would encourage changing that from info to the experience and then put the investment on another page as well. People will probably not know where to find your pricing if it’s under info. I would recommend changing it to experience or something other than info so that it adds a bit more lux and a high-end feel.
Lindsey: I would change the contact page to “book me”. It is just a slightly more aggressive way to say it and that we’re not just fishing around, we’re doing this thing!
Evie: The other thing I wanted to throw in there on the contact page, would remove the pricing on the top of the contact page and replace it with a reiteration of why I am the best without sounding like it. Almost like a simplified experience page.
Allie: What do you think are the next steps for my business?
Lindsey: You are doing all the things in this season to get booked, yet you are not, other than all the tips that we have recommended. It might be, when we have a stalemate in our business where things are down we think it is one big issue. Oftentimes it is more so a lot of little things. On the surface, you are doing freaking incredible, but I think it might just be these little things here and there to position you in front of your ideal client. I would say moving forward to do more of what we just said of blogging and posting more about you. I would also write down your goals and think about where you are wanting to go in your business. When you write it down and visually see what you are working towards, then the steps become more clear.
Evie: This might just be a season of reflection and reset and it might be an intentional season for you for some reason to try something new. Not necessarily other than photography, but try something new in your photography. Get out and try something different and creative, start trying to do Tik Toks or Reels. Harness this season in a way of not viewing it as a negative thing but view it as having more time on your hands to let yourself revamp the backed of your client experience, or get out and shoot a ton and experience creativity in a way you haven’t in awhile. Maybe look around at your ideal clients and think about what they are struggling with and how can you serve them more. Start helping brides and grooms and couples, pivot into the wedding industry shift after covid of intimate weddings and navigating all that. I know this slower season is so frustrating especially when you are doing everything. Instead of sitting there and saying I am trying and doing everything but think how can you turn this into something good or focus on something else. Take advantage of this time to try something new for your business. I don’t feel this slow season is going to last forever and I don’t think it is a reflection of you as a business owner, but it’s a series of little things that have lead to this one-off fluke slow season, but you can use it now to prepare for the rush that is going to happen in your business later.
Allie: I think that is spot on with what I have been thinking about. It is funny because, at the beginning of 2021, I had a sense that things were going to be slower. I felt like I was hitting my head against the wall and I spent a lot of time praying about it and for some reason, I felt like the answer was no more. I think God was telling me I was putting my identity in it too much and was too burnt out and He was reminding me to reevaluate during this time.
Lindsey: I think that is so wise that you can recognize that. I had the same season happen to me in 2019, right before I had Eloise. When seasons of slowness are forced upon us almost when it doesn’t make sense. It is so wise to look at that and think God intentionally slowed this season down because he knows you better than you know yourself and He knows what you need this year. He knows what we need before we need it and is so cool how He works with that. Sitting back and knowing that your business and life are in God’s hands and know that He has got you.
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WASSUP FRIENDS. We’re Evie + Lindsey, co-founders of this wild partayyy called The Heart University. Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs to kick freaking BUTT in their businesses, dive down into the heart of their why and how, and serve you with all possible tools you’ll need to up-level your business game and CRUSH those goals of yours.
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