April 22, 2025 • 23 mins
In this episode, host Alora wraps up the 10K wedding series with her favorite topic: the three crucial pricing strategies every wedding photographer needs to charge 10K for weddings.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello and welcome back to thepodcast, and this is the last of
the 10 K wedding series, and Isaved the best for last because
obviously this is my favoriteone.
Drum roll please.
The three pricing strategies youneed to charge 10 K for
weddings.
Yes, I've saved the best forlast.
But before we dive into it, Iwanted to announce that if you
(00:24):
are on my email list and thewait list, you already seen some
glimpses of the rebrand, my newlogos, my new program names,
everything that I have beenworking on since the last week
of December.
It is here and it is out in theopen and it feels so good to
finally talk about it.
But I will just actually makethat its own episode where I
(00:47):
talk about just everything aboutthe new program, what it's gonna
look like, all that other greatstuff.
But I just wanna say it feelsso, so good to talk about it.
If you see the Instagram name,it has changed from the wedding,
CEO to wedding atelier, and.
Yeah, my new profile picture,because I could not resist.
(01:09):
It was film, it was full sun.
I felt like I had a moment, eventhough we got kicked outta the
people mover, we still pressedon and made really good images.
So shout out to my girl Paloma.
'cause she really did slay thatphoto shoot.
And she gave it her all, withall eight cameras that she had
on her.
Oh God bless her.
Today is the day it's the 21st.
(01:29):
So actually you'll be listeningto this tomorrow, but the 21st
feels so so good.
If you are on the email list andyou got the sneak peek and my
whole rundown of everything, I'ma, I'm gonna be doing a shout
out to every single person thatcontributed to this rebrand,
probably towards the end of thislaunch.
It's'cause we have so muchcontent coming out, so many
amazing alumni stories and justso many things.
(01:50):
Happening at all at the sametime.
I was getting overwhelmed aboutit, and my husband's like, why
do you do this to yourself?
I always like to blame otherpeople.
And then you look in the mirrorand you realize, oh, it's me.
I'm the problem.
I'm the one who came up with thestrategy.
I'm the one who gave it a crazydeadline and hired so many
people and had so manyturnarounds for multiple things,
(02:12):
but.
In the end, although it feltlike a beautiful, strategic,
chaotic mess, it has cometogether so beautifully.
Me and Sarah Kli are runningthrough this website.
She's giving me.
Updates every few hours.
We're DMing each other, we'resending voice messages, and it's
just beautiful.
It's just really beautiful tohave amazing, ambitious women
(02:35):
that I have worked with thathave helped me just come up with
everything from the strategy tothis new brand world that I have
created and.
I don't know.
I just, I'm feeling verythankful.
Very thankful.
So let's dive into the threepricing strategies you need to
charge 10 K weddings.
So without further ado, I haveto go ahead and mention the
number one non-negotiable.
And if you haven't even gottenhere yet, you better say you
(02:57):
better reserve time for thismasterclass.
It's gonna change your life whenyou understand just the pricing
psychology of everything.
But you need to know your bareminimum number.
That you have to make in orderto stay in business, pay your
bills, pay your mortgage,whatever it is that you are
paying for, because I knoweverybody has different
lifestyles and differentexperiences.
(03:18):
Maybe some people are married,maybe some people aren't.
Maybe some people are about tobe married.
Maybe living with somebody.
But either way, you still needto know your bottom line number.
What is that bottom line number?
Stop copying off of otherpeople's prices in your area in
the industry, and actually lookto the data.
Look to your own profit versusexpenses so that you actually
(03:42):
know Hey, even though I feellike, I don't know, this is a
big thing, but a lot ofphotographers say that I cannot
charge X because I just don'tfeel like it's worth it yet.
And I'm like, when?
When will it be worth it?
I have to ask you this question.
When will it be worth it toraise your prices?
What does feeling worth itreally mean?
What does that mean?
I really wanna know.
(04:02):
I wanna know when do you thinkyou have finally arrived to
where you can consistently.
Be able to compete withinflation.
I'm not even talking about yourcompetitor, I'm talking about
inflation.
Your willingness to survive,your willingness to pay your
bills, and contribute to, Idon't know, owning your own
place, splitting rent withsomebody.
(04:24):
What does that look like and howmuch does that cost?
I could talk about this forever.
Clearly, and that's just likethe number one thing.
Like before I even wanna talkabout your prices, I wanna know,
okay, how much do you actuallyneed to make in order to survive
a year?
How much does this businessactually have to bring in every
single year?
And then we can figure out howmany weddings you need to book
(04:47):
at what price, but I can't evenget there if I don't even know
what you need.
You know what I mean?
It's help me to help you, tohelp the business.
And then the next part about itis gonna be your pricing,
obviously.
And we're gonna come up with acouple of things together and
figure out what that looks likeand what price range are you
looking to achieve.
(05:08):
Because some people will say I'mcharging 5K, but I really wanna
charge seven K.
I know I can do that.
Some people have no pricingdrama.
They're just like, I just needthe strategy.
I just need to know how to do itwithout.
Just tripling it and losing mymind and granted I get it.
I do.
So really understanding about,okay, I wanna raise my prices to
(05:29):
this price.
I wanna raise my packages tothis price.
I.
Why I need to do that.
Now, the part about it is how,and I'm going to say through
your positioning, the way thatyou position your packages is
telling people exactly how theyneed to buy from you, or that
they don't need to buy from you.
(05:49):
Did you know if your price istoo cheap, but yet you've been
in the business for five toseven years longer than two to
three years, and your prices arestill at three K, or you're
charging below that?
People are going to think youstarted yesterday.
Okay high-end couples are notgonna deal with the competitive
average market pricing.
(06:10):
They want the best, they wantsomebody who knows how to use
their flash.
They want someone who knows howto photograph in any lighting
scenario in any situation, hasat least a hundred plus weddings
under their belt.
And you don't want them gettingon a call drilling you because
they don't trust that you areprofessional enough or you're
capable enough to capture theirwedding day.
(06:32):
And that's a lot of the timeslike this is, I'm just gonna go
on a tangent, but that's a lotof the times that I'll have my
students be like they came onthe call and they were just
asking me a bunch of questions.
And I'm like, because you didn'tanswer their questions before
you got on the call.
Every single thing that you doin this business is going to be
intentional the way you positionyour images, the way your
messaging talks about thoseimages and talks about your
(06:52):
experience, like every singlething builds on each other.
It's those tiny little detailsthat compound together to build
a business that says she is anexpert wedding photographer and
worth the X amount of price thatshe charges.
And I'm just gonna say seven kplus minimum.
Like I wanna get to a pointwhere we're not all in the C of
(07:13):
three to 5K.
And trying to outdo each other.
I think it's time to rise aboveand a lot of things that people
don't know about, just ingeneral in the market, in
society, in business, anythingto do with like purchasing goods
and services is that there is nocompetition at the top.
Really, the competition is allat the bottom where everybody's
(07:36):
scared to raise their prices,where everybody is the average.
So when they're booking a callwith you, they have 20
photographers in their weddingtabs.
Going through and trying to seethe difference about why they
should choose you.
I don't want you to be in theaverage market anymore.
I'm sure there are photographercoaches and mentors that teach
you how to do that.
(07:56):
That's not me.
Like I, no, I feel like.
We only have so much time inthis world, so much time with
our family and our friends, andif you've ever experienced
something as deep as grief andloss, then you will know that
once that loss happens, the waythat you spend your time is
(08:16):
going to be different the wayyou think about life.
Is gonna be different and you'regonna be thinking to yourself, I
wish I had more time with thisperson.
I wish I traveled more.
I wish I saw the world more.
Or maybe like you're getting tolike your mid to late twenties
and you feel like, whoa, wait aminute.
Life is passing me by.
All I do is work and I'm notliving at all.
(08:39):
What is the point in making sixfigures with 30 plus weddings
and being mentally destroyed andburned out all the time?
What is the point?
What is the point?
Always staying in hustle mode.
I can speak to this because Ilived this and I wouldn't wish
it on anybody, but as weddingphotographers, we do this
because we get stuck staying inthe same prices thinking we
(09:00):
can't raise them thinking thatwe'll break our business because
nobody's gonna pay that theywill.
There's people in every singlepricing market.
I guarantee you, let's talkabout somebody who's like super
famous, but I think HOSA V nowis charging at least 20 to 30 K
for weddings.
So there is a market at everyprice point, but are you willing
(09:23):
to get over yourself?
Are you willing to listen to allthese mindset episodes?
I have been trickling about toget you ready to raise your
prices?
Are you willing to put thataside and just jump and not
knowing what's gonna happen?
Because worst case scenario, youget back to the drawing board
and you make tweaks.
That's the worst thing that'sgonna happen.
(09:43):
The best thing that's gonnahappen is that you actually book
weddings at this higher pricing,and for the price of one wedding
would've been two weddings foryou last year, maybe three
weddings for you last year.
And you're gonna be able to lookback and be like, oh my gosh,
I'm so glad I made those changestoday.
Because maybe you're booking2026 weddings and you already
know they're too cheap, andyou're like, oh my gosh.
(10:04):
Like I already know that I'mgonna regret driving to these
weddings next year.
Why are you building a businesslike that?
We should be striving for more.
We should get uncomfortable.
Fear is a sign that you're doingsomething new.
That's really it.
Fear is just your mind,protecting yourself from getting
hurt.
But what if you're not gonna gethurt?
(10:25):
And I'm just challenging youhere.
In terms of mindset, what ifeverything is not gonna fall
apart?
What if your business doesn'tfail as somebody who tripled
their prices in a year?
It can be done.
It really can be done withsomething as simple as pricing.
Now, of course there's gonna bepricing psychology, the way that
you do your numbers, the waythat you include everything in
those packages, but also thepositioning, the way that you're
(10:48):
able to talk about it, the wayyou present it, the way you're
telling them to buy from you,and you don't have to have
multiple packages.
I hear so many people saying Idon't want packages.
I just want a flat rate, becausemy non-negotiable is a 10 hour
day.
Okay you can do that.
You can do whatever you want,right?
You don't have to have packagesif you don't want to.
If you don't want three, you canjust have two.
(11:09):
I have tons of students who bookwith two packages.
I have students who made their ala carte one package and they
can add on everything as theysee.
And because they're able tocommunicate the value, the
couples trust them.
They said, yeah, we want you andthis is what we want.
They're adding on more.
Than what they thought they weregoing to invest because they saw
the value, because of the waythe positioning was set, maybe
because of the way thateverything was included or not
(11:31):
included.
All of these things play a hugerole in you being able to raise
your prices confidently.
Though I think the confidentpart comes and just knowing what
to do and knowing that noteverything is gonna work out,
but it's okay.
You can try something new.
I challenge you to think aboutnew ways of doing something new
that maybe you haven't heard ofbefore, maybe something you
(11:53):
haven't tried.
And I always say if you get thisgut feeling that you're like, I
don't wanna do things that way.
I wanna do it this way.
Maybe you're playing to yourstrengths.
Maybe it's I'm really good atthis, or maybe I want all of my
couples to have an album.
Okay.
We need to position your pricesto accommodate that and make
sure that you're not losingmoney.
So many times I have studentslosing money in their middle
(12:16):
package because their firstpackage is the most profitable.
I don't want that.
I want every single package, ifyou have multiple packages to
play upon each other, and theprofit should also be
increasing, not decreasingbecause you have everything in
the kitchen sink for three K,4K.
No, it shows me that you have alittle bit of a scarcity
(12:38):
mindset, and so you're charging,so like the packages are so
close in price range because youdon't know what you're doing,
and that's what it says to me.
Now.
Maybe I have been in this longenough to where I can spot it a
mile away.
Maybe your couples don't notice.
But as somebody who shops quitefrequently you notice the price
positioning and the price willtell you how to think about all
(12:59):
the other prices in the store,right?
And maybe you're comparing thetwo, but being like, no, I like
this jacket'cause it has goldbuttons.
Instead of brown buttons, I'mwilling to pay extra for the
gold, right?
That is how people think aboutpricing.
And so the same thing goes foryour wedding packages.
And I'm just gonna say it, 90%of the pricing audits I reviewed
we're either too cheap, tooexpensive, and not even creating
(13:22):
value in their packages.
I would look and say to myself,the lowest package actually
looks better to me.
The lowest package haseverything I need.
Why in the world would I get themiddle?
I don't have to.
I'm good.
Everything I need is for threeK.
Why do I need the middlepackage?
I'm paying an extra 1500 foranother hour or two.
Like I'm good.
I have everything.
(13:42):
And so when you understand howto position your pricing in a
way that is appealing to couplesand appealing to buyers, in a
sense, you will position them ina way that causes them to invest
higher, because when you see thevalue in something, when you
feel like, okay, this actuallymakes sense, I'm willing to pay
for that.
I'm already invested.
She already has all of thisgoing for her.
(14:04):
I know that I'm gonna get thisresult from her work.
I know I'm gonna get this.
She has this much experience,like she, they're already
invested.
Up to this point in youspecifically and what you
presented to them.
But now that they're not goinganywhere, yeah, they're willing
to invest more.
'cause now they see the value inyou as the photographer.
And this will change absolutelyeverything that you do inside of
(14:25):
your business.
Once you figure out your bareminimum pricing, once you gain
the confidence to talk about iton the call, to talk about it in
email.
Once you're able to position itin a way of being like, no, you,
this is what you're getting.
This is not a market.
Okay?
We're not comparing peaches andoranges.
I dunno, that's a thing, butit's gonna change everything.
(14:47):
It's like going from artist toCEO and I am doing a training
about that actually in our newprogram, wedding Atelier, I love
saying it, now, I can say it,but inside of Wedding Atelier,
we're gonna be having a seriesof.
Act like an artist.
Think like a CEO plan, like amillionaire, because why not?
Why not just go for the million?
(15:07):
But really just building thosesteps of being like, okay, I am
a business owner.
I am an artist, I am aphotographer.
I'm incredible.
Whatever you need to tellyourself, okay, whatever your
mom is telling you, yourgrandma, listen, I support you,
but now it's time to get towork.
Now it's time to build thisbusiness.
So this isn't a hobby, so thisisn't a side hustle anymore.
Like you wanna make big girlmoney, so let's do it.
(15:31):
But here's the thing, if youcan't position your prices in a
way that actually appeals totheir couples, they're gonna
book someone else.
Every time I had somebody sendme a message saying it's not my
pricing.
I already know that's not it.
I just need to market more.
And so they were explaining tome this recent inquiry they had,
and she was like, yeah they werelooking at me and they were
looking at someone else.
They ended up booking withsomebody else at a higher price
(15:53):
point.
And I'm like, that is yourpricing.
Because for some reason they sawthe value in somebody else.
But they said with you it wasbudget, but it wasn't actually
budget because they spent morethan their budget on somebody
else.
Something was not clicking, ormaybe they thought you were an
amateur and they weren't willingto invest high ticket in an
amateur.
So all of the things that go inwith buyer types.
(16:17):
Pricing, sales, psychology, allof these things come together to
really curate this one of a kindhigh end experience.
But you have to make sure you'rehitting every single point, like
everything you present to thewebsite, to the pictures that
you post, that represent whatyou want to shoot more of to
your messaging to your personalbrand.
All of these pieces fit togetherlike a perfect puzzle to create
(16:40):
the most successful andprofitable wedding photography
business in the world.
Let's just say that.
Okay, so do you really need moreinquiries or do you need to
position your packages in a waythat appeals to high end
clients?
I had this client join recentlywho had an amazing, incredible
brand.
Everything looks beautiful andhigh end, but for some reason
(17:04):
she just could not bookweddings.
She couldn't book the weddings,but everything looked so good
like on paper, right?
If you go on her website, you'relike, oh my gosh, she's a luxury
photographer, but she wascharging six k.
Starting.
And she said, I couldn't evenbook that.
She's it was hard just to getthem to even think that it was
worth the six K.
And I was like, we gotta get ona call.
So she enrolled within 48 hours.
(17:25):
And when you enroll in 48 hours,our bonus is that you get a
one-on-one call with me and Irip apart anything you want me
to.
And so we worked on that and herpricing and then figuring out
what she wants to include, whatshe doesn't wanna include.
And I said, okay, we're justgonna do this.
Just try it if it doesn't work.
Then we'll change it again.
You can always message me insideof the program and we'll work on
(17:46):
it.
And she immediately had anotherinquiry at 12 K and booked it.
And that's why it's so importantto have this under your belt
because you wanna be in a placewhere you know you can make
small tweaks here and there, andbook your next wedding.
Just from repositioning yourprices alone, and I think this
(18:07):
is something actually a lot ofpeople don't talk about, but
I've never really had too muchpricing, drama, and I felt like
I was always in a good placewhen I was getting tons of
inquiries and I was booking tonsof weddings.
That's when I was like, okay, Ican raise my prices.
So I would always act on thatwhile I was still in that mood.
But when there's no inquiries, Iget it.
It's so hard.
You're like if there's cricketsin my inbox, and then everybody
(18:28):
who does get on a call with mesays, you're too expensive.
That doesn't even make sense toraise your prices.
But then I look at them and I'mlike, okay, but your prices are
ranged.
I, your prices are ranged from5K to 15 k.
I don't even know where tobegin.
And also you're speaking to fourdifferent.
Clientele at once.
At once, and so that's sooverwhelming.
(18:50):
People don't even know where tostart.
And I'm just giving youexperience from all the pricing
audits I have done in the pastfew months.
It is either peopleundercharging, overcharging, or
having too many options to wherethey had pricing fatigue and
they were like, I don't knowwhat to do.
I don't even know what I wantanymore.
I just want my wedding captured.
And so you have to be able toguide your couples in this
(19:12):
experience.
And don't just give them apricing guide that's 15 pages
long with five differentpackages and be like, pick your
favorite one.
That's just not, that's just nothow it goes.
And like when you think about ahigh-end experience, when you go
to any, like any nice.
Maybe a luxury store from thebeginning.
They're gonna greet you.
They're gonna say, is thereanything you need help with?
(19:33):
And maybe they'll tell yousomething that they have that's
new or maybe they won't, andthey'll leave you to your own
shopping.
So if you're listening to thisepisode.
You still have a little bit oftime to RSVP for my live
masterclass, and how to book 10K weddings this year, because
I'm gonna be going over thethree tools that you need to
make sure that this happens andI'm gonna show you how easy it
(19:55):
is and how I've also helped mystudents do the same thing.
Because once you have thesethree tools perfectly in place,
the last part is selling.
And when you're able to serveyour couples on the call, it's
gonna be the easiest partbecause you can stand
confidently behind what you'vebuilt, you know that your worth
is invaluable, so you're nottied to your work and worth.
In the same way you know howmuch you need to make to stay in
(20:18):
business.
You know how much you need tomake to pay your bills, and you
know how you're gonna build themost iconic brand in the
industry when you are confident.
That's when selling becomeseasy.
And if you are nervous abouttalking about your package, if
you're nervous to sell on acall, if you are just nervous,
that means your confidence islacking somewhere, which means
(20:38):
one of these tools are lackingin terms of your brand
positioning.
Your marketing positioning andyour pricing, right?
And so something is missing inthose three and being able to be
so for real with yourself and belike, what is the problem?
I need to figure out thesolution so I can book this next
wedding, because time is of theessence my dear.
(21:00):
That's what I'm gonna ask youand I'm gonna leave you with on
this episode today is what toolsare you missing that you know
you need to work on?
Go ahead and feel free to writeit out.
Write out what's working, what'snot working.
Are you getting inquiries?
Are you getting dream couples?
If not, why not?
Right inside of the weddingAtelier, we give you our sales
tools that are gonna help younot only book your next wedding,
(21:21):
but at your highest package, orwith them adding on extras,
which is a goal.
And this tool alone is what awedding atelier is known for.
My art of yes sales script, andthey scream it from the
rooftops, but it's also helpedover 50 plus alumni make 2.5
million inside of this programusing this one tool.
(21:41):
So if you're ready to join usbefore it's too late, you can
either enroll now, if you'relistening after the masterclass,
or you can RSVP for themasterclass.
There will be a replay.
But if you don't come live.
You're not getting the pricingaudits replay.
I'm gonna actually clip thoseout at their own discretion
because whoever comes live getsa pricing audit.
(22:02):
If you're not coming live, thereplay will have that part cut
out.
But you will get to listen toeverything that's included.
And of course, my marketingcampaign update, I'm gonna do
Barbie versus Wicked.
You know me, I love amasterclass.
I love to Yap.
Yap.
And that's why I have a podcast.
All right, I will see you in thenext episode, and I cannot wait
to see you if you're gonna comelive on my masterclass.
(22:24):
Have an amazing week and we'llchat soon.
Bye.
Hello and welcome back to thepodcast, and this is the last of
the 10 K wedding series, and Isaved the best for last because
obviously this is my favoriteone.
Drum roll please.
The three pricing strategies youneed to charge 10 K for
weddings.
Yes, I've saved the best forlast.
But before we dive into it, Iwanted to announce that if you
(00:24):
are on my email list and thewait list, you already seen some
glimpses of the rebrand, my newlogos, my new program names,
everything that I have beenworking on since the last week
of December.
It is here and it is out in theopen and it feels so good to
finally talk about it.
But I will just actually makethat its own episode where I
(00:47):
talk about just everything aboutthe new program, what it's gonna
look like, all that other greatstuff.
But I just wanna say it feelsso, so good to talk about it.
If you see the Instagram name,it has changed from the wedding,
CEO to wedding atelier, and.
Yeah, my new profile picture,because I could not resist.
(01:09):
It was film, it was full sun.
I felt like I had a moment, eventhough we got kicked outta the
people mover, we still pressedon and made really good images.
So shout out to my girl Paloma.
'cause she really did slay thatphoto shoot.
And she gave it her all, withall eight cameras that she had
on her.
Oh God bless her.
Today is the day it's the 21st.
(01:29):
So actually you'll be listeningto this tomorrow, but the 21st
feels so so good.
If you are on the email list andyou got the sneak peek and my
whole rundown of everything, I'ma, I'm gonna be doing a shout
out to every single person thatcontributed to this rebrand,
probably towards the end of thislaunch.
It's'cause we have so muchcontent coming out, so many
amazing alumni stories and justso many things.
(01:50):
Happening at all at the sametime.
I was getting overwhelmed aboutit, and my husband's like, why
do you do this to yourself?
I always like to blame otherpeople.
And then you look in the mirrorand you realize, oh, it's me.
I'm the problem.
I'm the one who came up with thestrategy.
I'm the one who gave it a crazydeadline and hired so many
people and had so manyturnarounds for multiple things,
(02:12):
but.
In the end, although it feltlike a beautiful, strategic,
chaotic mess, it has cometogether so beautifully.
Me and Sarah Kli are runningthrough this website.
She's giving me.
Updates every few hours.
We're DMing each other, we'resending voice messages, and it's
just beautiful.
It's just really beautiful tohave amazing, ambitious women
(02:35):
that I have worked with thathave helped me just come up with
everything from the strategy tothis new brand world that I have
created and.
I don't know.
I just, I'm feeling verythankful.
Very thankful.
So let's dive into the threepricing strategies you need to
charge 10 K weddings.
So without further ado, I haveto go ahead and mention the
number one non-negotiable.
And if you haven't even gottenhere yet, you better say you
(02:57):
better reserve time for thismasterclass.
It's gonna change your life whenyou understand just the pricing
psychology of everything.
But you need to know your bareminimum number.
That you have to make in orderto stay in business, pay your
bills, pay your mortgage,whatever it is that you are
paying for, because I knoweverybody has different
lifestyles and differentexperiences.
(03:18):
Maybe some people are married,maybe some people aren't.
Maybe some people are about tobe married.
Maybe living with somebody.
But either way, you still needto know your bottom line number.
What is that bottom line number?
Stop copying off of otherpeople's prices in your area in
the industry, and actually lookto the data.
Look to your own profit versusexpenses so that you actually
(03:42):
know Hey, even though I feellike, I don't know, this is a
big thing, but a lot ofphotographers say that I cannot
charge X because I just don'tfeel like it's worth it yet.
And I'm like, when?
When will it be worth it?
I have to ask you this question.
When will it be worth it toraise your prices?
What does feeling worth itreally mean?
What does that mean?
I really wanna know.
(04:02):
I wanna know when do you thinkyou have finally arrived to
where you can consistently.
Be able to compete withinflation.
I'm not even talking about yourcompetitor, I'm talking about
inflation.
Your willingness to survive,your willingness to pay your
bills, and contribute to, Idon't know, owning your own
place, splitting rent withsomebody.
(04:24):
What does that look like and howmuch does that cost?
I could talk about this forever.
Clearly, and that's just likethe number one thing.
Like before I even wanna talkabout your prices, I wanna know,
okay, how much do you actuallyneed to make in order to survive
a year?
How much does this businessactually have to bring in every
single year?
And then we can figure out howmany weddings you need to book
(04:47):
at what price, but I can't evenget there if I don't even know
what you need.
You know what I mean?
It's help me to help you, tohelp the business.
And then the next part about itis gonna be your pricing,
obviously.
And we're gonna come up with acouple of things together and
figure out what that looks likeand what price range are you
looking to achieve.
(05:08):
Because some people will say I'mcharging 5K, but I really wanna
charge seven K.
I know I can do that.
Some people have no pricingdrama.
They're just like, I just needthe strategy.
I just need to know how to do itwithout.
Just tripling it and losing mymind and granted I get it.
I do.
So really understanding about,okay, I wanna raise my prices to
(05:29):
this price.
I wanna raise my packages tothis price.
I.
Why I need to do that.
Now, the part about it is how,and I'm going to say through
your positioning, the way thatyou position your packages is
telling people exactly how theyneed to buy from you, or that
they don't need to buy from you.
(05:49):
Did you know if your price istoo cheap, but yet you've been
in the business for five toseven years longer than two to
three years, and your prices arestill at three K, or you're
charging below that?
People are going to think youstarted yesterday.
Okay high-end couples are notgonna deal with the competitive
average market pricing.
(06:10):
They want the best, they wantsomebody who knows how to use
their flash.
They want someone who knows howto photograph in any lighting
scenario in any situation, hasat least a hundred plus weddings
under their belt.
And you don't want them gettingon a call drilling you because
they don't trust that you areprofessional enough or you're
capable enough to capture theirwedding day.
(06:32):
And that's a lot of the timeslike this is, I'm just gonna go
on a tangent, but that's a lotof the times that I'll have my
students be like they came onthe call and they were just
asking me a bunch of questions.
And I'm like, because you didn'tanswer their questions before
you got on the call.
Every single thing that you doin this business is going to be
intentional the way you positionyour images, the way your
messaging talks about thoseimages and talks about your
(06:52):
experience, like every singlething builds on each other.
It's those tiny little detailsthat compound together to build
a business that says she is anexpert wedding photographer and
worth the X amount of price thatshe charges.
And I'm just gonna say seven kplus minimum.
Like I wanna get to a pointwhere we're not all in the C of
(07:13):
three to 5K.
And trying to outdo each other.
I think it's time to rise aboveand a lot of things that people
don't know about, just ingeneral in the market, in
society, in business, anythingto do with like purchasing goods
and services is that there is nocompetition at the top.
Really, the competition is allat the bottom where everybody's
(07:36):
scared to raise their prices,where everybody is the average.
So when they're booking a callwith you, they have 20
photographers in their weddingtabs.
Going through and trying to seethe difference about why they
should choose you.
I don't want you to be in theaverage market anymore.
I'm sure there are photographercoaches and mentors that teach
you how to do that.
(07:56):
That's not me.
Like I, no, I feel like.
We only have so much time inthis world, so much time with
our family and our friends, andif you've ever experienced
something as deep as grief andloss, then you will know that
once that loss happens, the waythat you spend your time is
(08:16):
going to be different the wayyou think about life.
Is gonna be different and you'regonna be thinking to yourself, I
wish I had more time with thisperson.
I wish I traveled more.
I wish I saw the world more.
Or maybe like you're getting tolike your mid to late twenties
and you feel like, whoa, wait aminute.
Life is passing me by.
All I do is work and I'm notliving at all.
(08:39):
What is the point in making sixfigures with 30 plus weddings
and being mentally destroyed andburned out all the time?
What is the point?
What is the point?
Always staying in hustle mode.
I can speak to this because Ilived this and I wouldn't wish
it on anybody, but as weddingphotographers, we do this
because we get stuck staying inthe same prices thinking we
(09:00):
can't raise them thinking thatwe'll break our business because
nobody's gonna pay that theywill.
There's people in every singlepricing market.
I guarantee you, let's talkabout somebody who's like super
famous, but I think HOSA V nowis charging at least 20 to 30 K
for weddings.
So there is a market at everyprice point, but are you willing
(09:23):
to get over yourself?
Are you willing to listen to allthese mindset episodes?
I have been trickling about toget you ready to raise your
prices?
Are you willing to put thataside and just jump and not
knowing what's gonna happen?
Because worst case scenario, youget back to the drawing board
and you make tweaks.
That's the worst thing that'sgonna happen.
(09:43):
The best thing that's gonnahappen is that you actually book
weddings at this higher pricing,and for the price of one wedding
would've been two weddings foryou last year, maybe three
weddings for you last year.
And you're gonna be able to lookback and be like, oh my gosh,
I'm so glad I made those changestoday.
Because maybe you're booking2026 weddings and you already
know they're too cheap, andyou're like, oh my gosh.
(10:04):
Like I already know that I'mgonna regret driving to these
weddings next year.
Why are you building a businesslike that?
We should be striving for more.
We should get uncomfortable.
Fear is a sign that you're doingsomething new.
That's really it.
Fear is just your mind,protecting yourself from getting
hurt.
But what if you're not gonna gethurt?
(10:25):
And I'm just challenging youhere.
In terms of mindset, what ifeverything is not gonna fall
apart?
What if your business doesn'tfail as somebody who tripled
their prices in a year?
It can be done.
It really can be done withsomething as simple as pricing.
Now, of course there's gonna bepricing psychology, the way that
you do your numbers, the waythat you include everything in
those packages, but also thepositioning, the way that you're
(10:48):
able to talk about it, the wayyou present it, the way you're
telling them to buy from you,and you don't have to have
multiple packages.
I hear so many people saying Idon't want packages.
I just want a flat rate, becausemy non-negotiable is a 10 hour
day.
Okay you can do that.
You can do whatever you want,right?
You don't have to have packagesif you don't want to.
If you don't want three, you canjust have two.
(11:09):
I have tons of students who bookwith two packages.
I have students who made their ala carte one package and they
can add on everything as theysee.
And because they're able tocommunicate the value, the
couples trust them.
They said, yeah, we want you andthis is what we want.
They're adding on more.
Than what they thought they weregoing to invest because they saw
the value, because of the waythe positioning was set, maybe
because of the way thateverything was included or not
(11:31):
included.
All of these things play a hugerole in you being able to raise
your prices confidently.
Though I think the confidentpart comes and just knowing what
to do and knowing that noteverything is gonna work out,
but it's okay.
You can try something new.
I challenge you to think aboutnew ways of doing something new
that maybe you haven't heard ofbefore, maybe something you
(11:53):
haven't tried.
And I always say if you get thisgut feeling that you're like, I
don't wanna do things that way.
I wanna do it this way.
Maybe you're playing to yourstrengths.
Maybe it's I'm really good atthis, or maybe I want all of my
couples to have an album.
Okay.
We need to position your pricesto accommodate that and make
sure that you're not losingmoney.
So many times I have studentslosing money in their middle
(12:16):
package because their firstpackage is the most profitable.
I don't want that.
I want every single package, ifyou have multiple packages to
play upon each other, and theprofit should also be
increasing, not decreasingbecause you have everything in
the kitchen sink for three K,4K.
No, it shows me that you have alittle bit of a scarcity
(12:38):
mindset, and so you're charging,so like the packages are so
close in price range because youdon't know what you're doing,
and that's what it says to me.
Now.
Maybe I have been in this longenough to where I can spot it a
mile away.
Maybe your couples don't notice.
But as somebody who shops quitefrequently you notice the price
positioning and the price willtell you how to think about all
(12:59):
the other prices in the store,right?
And maybe you're comparing thetwo, but being like, no, I like
this jacket'cause it has goldbuttons.
Instead of brown buttons, I'mwilling to pay extra for the
gold, right?
That is how people think aboutpricing.
And so the same thing goes foryour wedding packages.
And I'm just gonna say it, 90%of the pricing audits I reviewed
we're either too cheap, tooexpensive, and not even creating
(13:22):
value in their packages.
I would look and say to myself,the lowest package actually
looks better to me.
The lowest package haseverything I need.
Why in the world would I get themiddle?
I don't have to.
I'm good.
Everything I need is for threeK.
Why do I need the middlepackage?
I'm paying an extra 1500 foranother hour or two.
Like I'm good.
I have everything.
(13:42):
And so when you understand howto position your pricing in a
way that is appealing to couplesand appealing to buyers, in a
sense, you will position them ina way that causes them to invest
higher, because when you see thevalue in something, when you
feel like, okay, this actuallymakes sense, I'm willing to pay
for that.
I'm already invested.
She already has all of thisgoing for her.
(14:04):
I know that I'm gonna get thisresult from her work.
I know I'm gonna get this.
She has this much experience,like she, they're already
invested.
Up to this point in youspecifically and what you
presented to them.
But now that they're not goinganywhere, yeah, they're willing
to invest more.
'cause now they see the value inyou as the photographer.
And this will change absolutelyeverything that you do inside of
(14:25):
your business.
Once you figure out your bareminimum pricing, once you gain
the confidence to talk about iton the call, to talk about it in
email.
Once you're able to position itin a way of being like, no, you,
this is what you're getting.
This is not a market.
Okay?
We're not comparing peaches andoranges.
I dunno, that's a thing, butit's gonna change everything.
(14:47):
It's like going from artist toCEO and I am doing a training
about that actually in our newprogram, wedding Atelier, I love
saying it, now, I can say it,but inside of Wedding Atelier,
we're gonna be having a seriesof.
Act like an artist.
Think like a CEO plan, like amillionaire, because why not?
Why not just go for the million?
(15:07):
But really just building thosesteps of being like, okay, I am
a business owner.
I am an artist, I am aphotographer.
I'm incredible.
Whatever you need to tellyourself, okay, whatever your
mom is telling you, yourgrandma, listen, I support you,
but now it's time to get towork.
Now it's time to build thisbusiness.
So this isn't a hobby, so thisisn't a side hustle anymore.
Like you wanna make big girlmoney, so let's do it.
(15:31):
But here's the thing, if youcan't position your prices in a
way that actually appeals totheir couples, they're gonna
book someone else.
Every time I had somebody sendme a message saying it's not my
pricing.
I already know that's not it.
I just need to market more.
And so they were explaining tome this recent inquiry they had,
and she was like, yeah they werelooking at me and they were
looking at someone else.
They ended up booking withsomebody else at a higher price
(15:53):
point.
And I'm like, that is yourpricing.
Because for some reason they sawthe value in somebody else.
But they said with you it wasbudget, but it wasn't actually
budget because they spent morethan their budget on somebody
else.
Something was not clicking, ormaybe they thought you were an
amateur and they weren't willingto invest high ticket in an
amateur.
So all of the things that go inwith buyer types.
(16:17):
Pricing, sales, psychology, allof these things come together to
really curate this one of a kindhigh end experience.
But you have to make sure you'rehitting every single point, like
everything you present to thewebsite, to the pictures that
you post, that represent whatyou want to shoot more of to
your messaging to your personalbrand.
All of these pieces fit togetherlike a perfect puzzle to create
(16:40):
the most successful andprofitable wedding photography
business in the world.
Let's just say that.
Okay, so do you really need moreinquiries or do you need to
position your packages in a waythat appeals to high end
clients?
I had this client join recentlywho had an amazing, incredible
brand.
Everything looks beautiful andhigh end, but for some reason
(17:04):
she just could not bookweddings.
She couldn't book the weddings,but everything looked so good
like on paper, right?
If you go on her website, you'relike, oh my gosh, she's a luxury
photographer, but she wascharging six k.
Starting.
And she said, I couldn't evenbook that.
She's it was hard just to getthem to even think that it was
worth the six K.
And I was like, we gotta get ona call.
So she enrolled within 48 hours.
(17:25):
And when you enroll in 48 hours,our bonus is that you get a
one-on-one call with me and Irip apart anything you want me
to.
And so we worked on that and herpricing and then figuring out
what she wants to include, whatshe doesn't wanna include.
And I said, okay, we're justgonna do this.
Just try it if it doesn't work.
Then we'll change it again.
You can always message me insideof the program and we'll work on
(17:46):
it.
And she immediately had anotherinquiry at 12 K and booked it.
And that's why it's so importantto have this under your belt
because you wanna be in a placewhere you know you can make
small tweaks here and there, andbook your next wedding.
Just from repositioning yourprices alone, and I think this
(18:07):
is something actually a lot ofpeople don't talk about, but
I've never really had too muchpricing, drama, and I felt like
I was always in a good placewhen I was getting tons of
inquiries and I was booking tonsof weddings.
That's when I was like, okay, Ican raise my prices.
So I would always act on thatwhile I was still in that mood.
But when there's no inquiries, Iget it.
It's so hard.
You're like if there's cricketsin my inbox, and then everybody
(18:28):
who does get on a call with mesays, you're too expensive.
That doesn't even make sense toraise your prices.
But then I look at them and I'mlike, okay, but your prices are
ranged.
I, your prices are ranged from5K to 15 k.
I don't even know where tobegin.
And also you're speaking to fourdifferent.
Clientele at once.
At once, and so that's sooverwhelming.
(18:50):
People don't even know where tostart.
And I'm just giving youexperience from all the pricing
audits I have done in the pastfew months.
It is either peopleundercharging, overcharging, or
having too many options to wherethey had pricing fatigue and
they were like, I don't knowwhat to do.
I don't even know what I wantanymore.
I just want my wedding captured.
And so you have to be able toguide your couples in this
(19:12):
experience.
And don't just give them apricing guide that's 15 pages
long with five differentpackages and be like, pick your
favorite one.
That's just not, that's just nothow it goes.
And like when you think about ahigh-end experience, when you go
to any, like any nice.
Maybe a luxury store from thebeginning.
They're gonna greet you.
They're gonna say, is thereanything you need help with?
(19:33):
And maybe they'll tell yousomething that they have that's
new or maybe they won't, andthey'll leave you to your own
shopping.
So if you're listening to thisepisode.
You still have a little bit oftime to RSVP for my live
masterclass, and how to book 10K weddings this year, because
I'm gonna be going over thethree tools that you need to
make sure that this happens andI'm gonna show you how easy it
(19:55):
is and how I've also helped mystudents do the same thing.
Because once you have thesethree tools perfectly in place,
the last part is selling.
And when you're able to serveyour couples on the call, it's
gonna be the easiest partbecause you can stand
confidently behind what you'vebuilt, you know that your worth
is invaluable, so you're nottied to your work and worth.
In the same way you know howmuch you need to make to stay in
(20:18):
business.
You know how much you need tomake to pay your bills, and you
know how you're gonna build themost iconic brand in the
industry when you are confident.
That's when selling becomeseasy.
And if you are nervous abouttalking about your package, if
you're nervous to sell on acall, if you are just nervous,
that means your confidence islacking somewhere, which means
(20:38):
one of these tools are lackingin terms of your brand
positioning.
Your marketing positioning andyour pricing, right?
And so something is missing inthose three and being able to be
so for real with yourself and belike, what is the problem?
I need to figure out thesolution so I can book this next
wedding, because time is of theessence my dear.
(21:00):
That's what I'm gonna ask youand I'm gonna leave you with on
this episode today is what toolsare you missing that you know
you need to work on?
Go ahead and feel free to writeit out.
Write out what's working, what'snot working.
Are you getting inquiries?
Are you getting dream couples?
If not, why not?
Right inside of the weddingAtelier, we give you our sales
tools that are gonna help younot only book your next wedding,
(21:21):
but at your highest package, orwith them adding on extras,
which is a goal.
And this tool alone is what awedding atelier is known for.
My art of yes sales script, andthey scream it from the
rooftops, but it's also helpedover 50 plus alumni make 2.5
million inside of this programusing this one tool.
(21:41):
So if you're ready to join usbefore it's too late, you can
either enroll now, if you'relistening after the masterclass,
or you can RSVP for themasterclass.
There will be a replay.
But if you don't come live.
You're not getting the pricingaudits replay.
I'm gonna actually clip thoseout at their own discretion
because whoever comes live getsa pricing audit.
(22:02):
If you're not coming live, thereplay will have that part cut
out.
But you will get to listen toeverything that's included.
And of course, my marketingcampaign update, I'm gonna do
Barbie versus Wicked.
You know me, I love amasterclass.
I love to Yap.
Yap.
And that's why I have a podcast.
All right, I will see you in thenext episode, and I cannot wait
to see you if you're gonna comelive on my masterclass.
(22:24):
Have an amazing week and we'llchat soon.
Bye.
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