Peter: We're with another member of the Next Level photography training program, Allie Johns of Alyssa Michele Photography. I think this will be really valuable for the group and for everyone watching. Introduce yourself. Tell us how long you've been shooting.

Allie: I'm in East Tennessee. I mostly photograph weddings, but I do some portrait sessions too. I officially started my business at the end of 2017. I was in college, so I considered myself part-time. I was really busy and didn't put much effort into the business. I just photographed what came in, and it slowly grew on its own. At the beginning of this year, I decided to go full-time. I'm out of school now, and this is my full-time job.

Peter: When did you officially go full-time?

Allie: January. That's when I decided I'd consider myself full-time.

Peter: And we started working together in April, a couple of months later. And you had a baby shortly after that.

Peter: That's a big leap for a lot of people. Why did you decide to go full-time?

Allie: I was almost forced to, in a way. I was in my master's program for physician assistant studies, and I had paused photography completely, because the school didn't want you to work. Part of the way into the program, my husband and I found out we were expecting our first baby. PA programs are pretty much start to finish and year-round, at least the ones I know of, so I couldn't pause, have the baby and restart later. I'd either have to go back to school right after having the baby, or stop and maybe try again in the future. I didn't want to miss the first couple of years of his life. I wanted to be home with him. My mom was always at home with us growing up, and I wanted to do that too. So I thought, "I've done photography before. I made okay money at it. It was enough. Let's just try it." I decided I wasn't going back to school, and I'd hit photography hard and see how it went.

Peter: So you bet on yourself.

Allie: It's a big shift. Since elementary school, my path was the medical field. So it was a huge jump to go from a secure job that can pay six figures to doing this all on my own.

Peter: How long did it take you to make that decision?

Allie: A long time. I quit PA school at the beginning of October, but I refused to let go of it in my mind. I kept telling myself I'd go back in the future. From October to January, I guess you'd call it denial. In January, I decided to go full-time, but in the back of my mind I still thought I'd go back. So from October until April, when I joined you, I wasn't completely committed. I knew I didn't want to go back to school, because I didn't want to miss those first couple of years, but I hadn't said it out loud yet. I thought I'd do photography full-time for a year or so and then go back. In April, I said, "Allie, you're kidding yourself. You know you love photography, you want to do this, and you want to be able to stay home most of the time."

Peter: And part of the catalyst was knowing the baby was coming.

Allie: That was a big part of it.

Peter: When we got connected, what was the main problem you were trying to solve?

Allie: I wasn't getting leads and inquiries. People weren't filling out the form on my website. For the most part, I could get people booked once they reached out, but people weren't finding me.

Peter: A lot of people tell me that. If they can get couples on the phone, they'll book them. They just need more people on the phone.

Peter: Where was the business at in terms of revenue?

Allie: I pulled up my exact numbers from Sprout Studio, which is what I use. Looking only at weddings, all of 2021, I had about $30,000 in sales. If you include sessions, it was about $40,000. But weddings are what I mostly want to do. For 2022 so far, and it's the middle of July, I have $70,000 in wedding sales, and $75,000 for everything.

Peter: That's epic.

Allie: I'm so excited about it.

Allie: I started in April, and I had my baby in the middle of May. So I had about five weeks from when I started before I took maternity leave, and I had $45,000 in wedding sales.

Peter: If you missed that: Allie made $45,000 in wedding bookings in about four or five weeks. She went from not getting many wedding inquiries to $45,000 in a month. How did that happen?

Allie: Being in your program, learning how to get leads in, how to nurture them, talking to them and being a good resource for them.

Peter: On a coaching call the other day, we were looking at your numbers. Do you remember how many consultations you did?

Allie: I think it was 13.

Peter: And about 11 of them booked. By the time couples got to a consultation with you, they were ready to go.

Allie: Yes. And my average booking increased by over $1,000, and I didn't change anything. It was just that I was nurturing them ahead of time. I'd done consultations in the past, so that wasn't new for me. But they felt more comfortable with me and had talked to me beforehand, so they were willing to invest more. I think that's what happened.

Peter: When you talk about nurturing, what do you mean? What's working well?

Allie: For me, it's talking to them before we even do the consultation, asking about their wedding and being genuinely interested in their lives. And resources. I have a wedding Facebook group where I post helpful tips and tricks. I've even interviewed other vendors from the area about the planning industry, florists and things like that. If a couple is having trouble or stressed about something, I'll tag them in one of those videos and say, "Watch this. I think it'll help you." Or if they have questions about anything, even if it's not related to photography, even if I'm not sure they're going to book me, I try to be a helpful resource. I've actually had several people say, "Oh my goodness, no one else has done this. This is so amazing. Thank you so much."

Peter: Whenever someone tells me they've had really rapid success and I ask why, it's always the same answer. They take a real interest in people and try to be helpful, even if they don't book. And ironically, more people book them because of it. But that's not why they do it, and that's why it comes back.

Peter: You came in in April, and within a week we'd built and launched your ads and you started getting a lot of leads. But you were in your third trimester. How were you feeling?

Allie: It was a lot. Emotionally, there was the baby shower, getting everything ready, washing clothes, and knowing our whole lives were about to change. I think the fact that I was about to have him worked to my benefit, because I was ready to hit it hard. I knew I'd have to take time off when he got here, and I wanted my business to grow anyway. If I was going to invest in the program, I wanted to get the most out of it. That was actually another reason I was hesitant. I didn't want to start, barely get into things, have the baby and then try to get back into it. The idea seemed overwhelming, but in the moment, it wasn't too bad. The process you teach for getting people booked is simple. That doesn't mean it's easy. It's a simple idea, but it's not easy to do. I was very motivated and hit things hard to get started. It consumed my life, but I was still able to prepare for him. So it was exciting, overwhelming and crazy, all of it.

Peter: Making $45,000 in a month in a wedding photography business isn't normal. Bigger studios with salespeople, multiple shooters and assistants do numbers like that. How did you motivate yourself?

Allie: When I started seeing results, it motivated me to set another goal, and then another. On our first meeting, before the ads were running, I set a goal of booking two weddings before I went on maternity leave. You said I could do better than that. I said, "No, if I can get two, I'll be happy." Then I got those two, and I thought, "I can do more than that." I'd get so excited to see myself succeeding, like, "Oh my goodness, I can do this." The more I did, the more motivated I got. And I knew I could take time off and not worry about my business because it had done so well, and just enjoy my time with my son.

Peter: Why did you keep pushing after the two weddings?

Allie: I booked those two in probably less than a week. So I thought, "I still have plenty of time. That was easy." It's a simple process. You have to actually work and be motivated, but as long as you put in the work, it's simple. So I thought, "I can do that again. Let's see how far I can go." I really thought I'd hit $50,000, and I got so close. Next month.

Peter: Two people can have the exact same experience and get totally different results, or give it a totally different meaning. Some people book a wedding and take their foot off the gas. You wanted to go further.

Allie: I was so proud of myself. I thought, "I can do better. Let's keep going."

Peter: It starts to feel like a game. How many more people can I talk to? How many more can I book?

Peter: Then you had the baby, and we paused things for a few weeks. How are you finding things now, running your business as a mom?

Allie: It's definitely different. A lot of the time, I'm holding him and working with the other hand. I expected not to get as much done, but it's actually the opposite. It's made me focus. When I do have time to work, I know I have to get things done. Some days my husband is off work and has the baby, or my mom comes to help, but I'm still finding the balance between which days I need to work and which days I need to be with family. I think I'll get it.

Peter: There are a lot of moms in the Next Level community and outside it. It's interesting that having him is helping you be more focused. It's how you frame it.

Peter: What was the most transformational thing for you in Next Level?

Allie: Nurturing the leads. When I was part-time, I wanted to make everything automatic so I wouldn't have to spend as much time on it. If someone filled out the contact form on my website, they'd get an automatic email. If they didn't respond, they'd get a reminder, and if they still didn't respond, they'd get my pricing guide. It was all automatic, and it wasn't working the best. Actually reaching out to leads personally, saying, "I saw you're getting married at this venue," or "When did you get engaged?", and really talking to them and nurturing them was a big turning point.

Peter: People in our industry want to automate so much. I come from digital marketing, where people love to automate, but photographers might do it even more. Why do you think that is?

Allie: Maybe because they want to spend more time photographing and not doing the business side. You can still automate things. I have a lot of things automated, but mostly after couples book. They automatically get a wedding guide and a reminder to schedule their engagement session, things like that. But I think photographers try to automate because they don't want to deal with the business side. They just want to photograph.

Peter: We're not saying don't automate where it makes sense. But you don't make $45,000 in a month if you try to automate the human connection.

Allie: It's just the human, heart-to-heart connecting with people. That makes a big difference.

Peter: What's your number one piece of advice for other members of Next Level?

Allie: Keep challenging yourself. I'm constantly looking for the next goal to hit, whether that's building a team or doing in-person sales. I find it fun. I don't know if that's normal or just a personality trait, but I have fun challenging myself and hitting goals. Of course I enjoy the income, but that's really not it for me. It's the numbers and the goals. Seeing my business grow is so exciting, and I love it.

Peter: At a certain point, it's not about the money. It's about what you can create and who you become in the process. What's next for you? We've been working on boudoir.

Allie: I have to rein myself in a little, because I had a lot of time to think on maternity leave. We started working on boudoir, and I'm going to keep building that, because I want to make it a full client experience instead of just a session. In-person sales is another big thing for me. I've done a little in the past. And building a team. Those are my next three big goals.

Peter: And you just sold some products, right?

Allie: I had my first in-person sales session in a very long time.

Peter: And people are buying. One last question. Say another photographer is listening and thinking about joining Next Level, but they're on the fence like you were. What would you say?

Allie: The sooner you start, the sooner you can start getting results. So quit putting it off. If you want to build your business, whether that means quitting your job or growing a business that's already full-time, just go for it, even if you're scared. In-person sales still kind of scares me. I've done it a little in the past, and I was scared last night, but I don't think it showed, and I did it anyway, and it worked. Same with Next Level. If you're thinking about it, do it. Take the leap. If you start now, you'll start seeing results now. If you keep putting it off and start five years from now, that's five years wasted. Learn from someone who already knows the ropes instead of trying to figure it out yourself.

Allie: And I've had people who saw you post in the group when I did $20,000 in 20 days reach out to me and ask, "Is this legit? This person's been talking to me." So if you're watching this, get in this program.

Peter: I remember seeing that you did $20,000, and you were just getting started. Now we're running ads for weddings and boudoir, your group is growing every day, and next come products, in-person sales and a team.

Allie, it's been a pleasure working with you. Thanks so much for hopping on today.

Allie: Of course. I'm excited too.