We are continuing with the scaling series, and talking specifically about how I got to the point in my business where I have a work/life balance and could enjoy 2 weeks completely off while in Japan in May while barely working the rest of the month and still bringing in 5 figures.
I know the topic of money can be a sensitive one for many, and I just want to acknowledge right away that I’m not the kind of mentor who brags about money wins or even likes to share them in the first place. For me, it has never been about the money. That’s not why I started my photography business or pivoted into education.
My hope is that this will leave you feeling inspired with some tangible takeaways on how you can set your business up in a way that actually supports your work/life balance rather than you having to be a slave to your business in order to be “profitable.”
Profitable is going to be something different for every single business. Whatever it means to you is the kind of lens I want you to view this episode in, but also at the same time, just know that with scaling your business, the money follows, but it’s really not a focus on that.
It’s important to share so you understand the different ways you can set your business up for more of that sustainable and consistent income rather than having huge ebbs and flows.
So let me ask you these questions:
If your answer was no to most or all of these questions, then my friend, let’s dive into today’s episode where I’m holding nothing back, including the hard parts of talking about money and scaling your business.
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We are continuing with the scaling series, and talking specifically about how I got to the point in my business where I have a work/life balance and could enjoy 2 weeks completely off while in Japan in May while barely working the rest of the month and still bringing in 5 figures.
I know the topic of money can be a sensitive one for many, and I just want to acknowledge right away that I’m not the kind of mentor who brags about money wins or even likes to share them in the first place. For me, it has never been about the money. That’s not why I started my photography business or pivoted into education.
My hope is that this will leave you feeling inspired with some tangible takeaways on how you can set your business up in a way that actually supports your work/life balance rather than you having to be a slave to your business in order to be “profitable.”
Profitable is going to be something different for every single business. Whatever it means to you is the kind of lens I want you to view this episode in, but also at the same time, just know that with scaling your business, the money follows, but it’s really not a focus on that.
It’s important to share so you understand the different ways you can set your business up for more of that sustainable and consistent income rather than having huge ebbs and flows.
So let me ask you these questions:
If your answer was no to most or all of these questions, then my friend, let’s dive into today’s episode where I’m holding nothing back, including the hard parts of talking about money and scaling your business.
Before I dive into the specifics of how I was able to make 5 figures while taking a month off, I want to share my personal relationship with money and how I felt in the month of May. I made $22k, and that was actually one of my lower-income months. My normal income months are generally around $45k-$55k. I share this because, in May, I felt like there was a need to one-up all of my best months even though I was taking it off. I wanted to spend that time with my husband and not have to respond to DMs or tend to coaching program applications.
I know that so much of your business can be outsourced, but some of it really does require you, and I had to come to terms with this. For example, for my coaching program applications, I personally review every single application and look through their Instagram and website. I’ll also send them messages or voice messages in the DMs because it’s more personal.
So, with the fact that I didn’t want to outsource this, I had to accept that I was just going to have fewer sales that month. It was something that stressed me out at the beginning of the month, and if I hadn’t gotten myself in check, I would have lost a lot of the joy I did end up having while I took this time completely off. So, this is your permission that you don’t always have to be so money-motivated or trying to one-up your last best month.
Now, let’s dive into the tangible things you can apply to your business right now that will help you get to this point where you can truly take the time off and your business won’t crumble without you.
This is a hill that I will die on. It’s a huge part of having that consistent, reliable income that covers your rigid expenses because there are ebbs and flows in every single business. If you can learn how to manage your finances well, you are going to be building more of that monthly recurring revenue.
If you have no idea where to even start with managing your finances, then a great place to start is the book Profit First. I recommend it to every single student I mentor. This is even covered in my pricing workshop and pricing calculator.
One thing I have thought about making available to all of you whether you join Book It or Scale It is my pricing workshop and pricing calculator where you can learn how to manage your finances. I teach you in there how to know your numbers, how to know what your expenses are, how to know how many weddings you should book, what your average booking rate is, and what your hourly rate should be. If this is something you would be interested in, just let me know you want me to launch it because it’s already put together!
The next thing I would do is divide your bookings into more than just the 50% that’s due at booking and 50% before the wedding event. This will serve you really well in those low months having more payments. It’s a huge piece of what sustained me during the month I was taking completely off.
Part of what I will be teaching in Scale It is managing your profits and implementing the advanced marketing and advertising pieces that we talked about in Episode 31 into your money-makers, that you have passive sales coming in even when you’re not the most active in your business. Having these in place is how I was able to make the $22k I did in May.
An admin assistant can do so many things for you. I have mine do a ton of different things for me in both the education side and photography side of my business. Specifically speaking on the photography side, when I was in Japan, I knew I wouldn’t be available for discovery calls. I needed to set that boundary and have those realistic expectations shared with each client who would be inquiring with me to photograph their day.
Having my admin assistant send an email template that I had drafted up to share more about how I was in Japan, let them know when I was going to be back in the office, and that I’d happily reserve their wedding day until the time we got to talk had a bigger impact than having an out of office responder. It will end up drawing in those couples who really connect with your personal brand.
This is how you get to the point where you have people waiting for you rather than you having to grind and consistently be in your business.
Another thing I had my admin assistant do for me was serve my couples while I was gone by sending out workflow actions. This is something an admin assistant can easily be trained and trusted to do for you while you’re gone because it’s already pretty much all setup.
Having someone to help you during this time is going to give a great client experience and ensure that you’re serving your couples on the experience you sold them on at the very beginning, even when you’re gone.
One other thing I had her take over for me, which is definitely a money-making thing, was serving my couples really well so that I could continue to get referrals to their friends, and then their friends, and then their friends.
That alone isn’t enough. Having multiple streams of income you could foresee making is one thing, but having multiple streams of income that actually bring in income is another thing. Going back to 2 of the ways I shared to scale in episode 31, you need advanced marketing and advertising strategies, as well as outsourcing help in order to make more passive income sales.
So, for example, if you have albums, but you have no consistent plan on how to market or advertise them, then what the heck is the point? Or, if you have a digital product you want to sell to couples or even photographers, it’s not going to make you any income if you don’t have a consistent plan or a funnel on how to market and advertise them.
I highly recommend trying to do this, and in full transparency, I do not batch my content on a weekly basis. Usually, I try to be more diligent about batching whenever I know I’m going to be out of town just so I can consistently have content going out, but I want you to focus on quality over quantity.
If you can figure out a day of the week that works best for you to batch, I highly recommend doing so. You can even batch your stories and videos and they can automatically be scheduled and posted for you, and this is something, again, you could have your admin assistant take care of for you
Always having content going out and reaching new eyes and knowing that your audience is nurtured while you’re on vacation is highly, highly impactful. I truly believe that even though I had a slower income month in May, it was preparing me for my biggest income month in June.
I truly believe these 4 pieces I shared with you are the biggest ways I was able to take off an entire month and still make 5 figures. And if you’re still feeling like you want that pricing calculator and pricing workshop, drop me a DM and we will make it happen for you.
I truly hope regardless of where you’re at today, how your business is going, or how you’re feeling this busy season, I hope you got some tangible takeaways from this episode to set your business up so it continues to serve you even in your slower seasons and it enables you to be able to take the time off and still have income.
Episode 31: 5 Modern Ways to Scale Your Photography Business
The Secret to Scaling Your Photography Business Freebie
Attract and Book Dream Couples Free Workshop
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