Peter: I'm back with another interview with an incredible client, Susie Martin of Wedding Couture Photography. Susie has an epic story. Tell us a little about yourself and how long you've been shooting.

Susie: I started when I was 17. I worked for someone else for about six years, then quit my job and started my company full-time in 2002. My husband helped me grow it for a number of years, and now it's all on me. I celebrated my 20th year in business in March.

Peter: We met in 2020 and started working together in 2021. What made you want to sign up?

Susie: I got a taste in 2020 of what it's like not to work so much. I wanted to transition out of being the photographer while still running my business, which is generally a steady, successful business. I needed help with marketing and a way to book my team without couples asking for me specifically.

In 2021, we had close to 90 weddings. Maybe 40 or 50 were new, and the rest were reschedules from 2020. I personally shot about 60. It was a lot, but it showed me we could handle the volume. Normally, I cap myself at 25 to 30 weddings so I don't burn out. This year I had 22. For 2023, we have 45 booked so far, and only eight of those are mine.

Peter: Where were most of your clients coming from back then?

Susie: About 50% were referrals from past clients, and 30% to 40% came from relationship marketing with venues, DJs, and videographers. The other 10% came from Google, our blog, and organic Facebook posts. I was getting maybe 10 to 15 leads a month. Eight to 10 would get on a call, and I'd book four or five.

Peter: Why was it harder to book your team than you?

Susie: Because those couples were referred, and they were asking for me. Even when a venue mentioned the company name, they'd say, "You have to work with Susie." I needed to transition out of it being just me. My other photographers could have done more, but I couldn't get enough leads to book them.

Peter: For anyone listening who gets most of their business through referrals, that's the problem. You don't have a lever to pull to turn attention from people who don't know you into leads.

Susie: For my entire first year with you, I just worked on organic social media, with no ads. Those leads were cold. They didn't know me, so it was great practice. Just doing that, I booked one or two extra weddings a month, so five, six, or sometimes seven instead of four or five. And it was easy to book my team, because those couples didn't know me. I just said, "This is my team."

Peter: For people listening, that's an extra 12 to 24 weddings a year without spending any money on ads, just from using social media strategically: growing an audience, reaching out, building connections, and taking people through your booking process.

Susie: Once that was consistent and I had an employee helping, I decided to dive into ads. It wasn't about the money. I was actually intimidated by the number of leads that would come in and whether I could handle them on top of everything at the studio. But I did it. The ad went live June 30th.

My full-time employee, Nicole, is mainly my editor and marketing assistant. She also posts on social media, does my blogs, adds people on Facebook, and starts conversations before I take over.

Peter: So what happened in July?

Susie: I got a lot of leads, like you said I would. I waited a couple of days, started messaging them, got people on calls, started booking weddings, and followed up with everybody. My total sales in July were $33,000. In August, they were $55,215. I spent about $756 on ads between July 1st and August 10th, when I turned them off.

That total includes organic leads, my usual referrals, and upgrades. From the ads alone, I made $42,000 in revenue.

Peter: $42,000 from $756 in ad spend. You don't get that kind of return in real estate or the stock market.

Peter: What three things allowed you to do that over the last two months?

Susie: Consistency, follow-up, and follow-through.

Consistency means doing the same thing for every single lead. A lead comes in, I wait a couple of days, and I message them. Then I follow up a day or two later, whatever system works for you. I got 137 leads in a little over a month, and I was messaging and following up with people every single day.

I did the messaging myself, because it was my first time running ads and I wanted to build a system. I wrote down the things I was saying over and over so I could create an SOP and hand it off to Nicole later.

Peter: That's easy to miss. Even while you were doing it, you were thinking about documenting the process so you could delegate it. You don't get to where you guys are now without that. How many calls did you do?

Susie: I did 60 quick calls to qualify couples and see whether they were ready for a consultation. Out of those, I had 32 consultations, and I booked 14 weddings. I wasn't joking when I said it was a lot of work.

Peter: How did you stay consistent every single day for two months?

Susie: I wanted to see if I could do it. I'd never done it before, so it was a challenge. I keep a task list, and even if I have 60 things to do, I only put the 10 most important ones on it, and I complete them. This was on there every day. And I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I could stop anytime.

Susie: Follow-up isn't just for the people who respond. It's also for the people who didn't. Some people respond to my text right away, and that's great. A day or two later, I go back to the ones who didn't respond and say, "Hey, did you get my message above?" Most of them say, "Oh my gosh, yes. I'm so sorry." They were at work, driving, or busy with their kids. It's normal for people not to respond right away. Out of 137 people I texted, 100 responded and engaged with me.

Follow-up also happens after the quick call, when you suggest getting on a consult, and after the consult, when you check whether they got your proposal. None of these couples booked the same day, not one, but all of them booked within five to seven days. My proposals are open for a week, and you can add gentle urgency, because the giveaway is ending.

It has to sound like a normal person. Be genuine, sound like yourself, and don't talk about your company or yourself in the third person.

Peter: If you message people and they don't get back to you, that's okay. Send another message. When people get a second message, they realize there's an actual person on the other end.

Susie: I'm not a pushy person, and a follow-up isn't "Are you going to book or not?" It's "Did you get my proposal? Do you have any questions? Would you like to jump on another call? I think we had a great connection."

Peter: It's just being a leader. When people are deciding to work with a business, they're looking for someone to guide them through the process.

Susie: Follow-through means doing what you say you're going to do. If I tell someone, "I know you're busy, I'll follow up in a couple of days," then I follow up in a couple of days. If I say I'm sending a Zoom link or a proposal, I send it. You'd be surprised how often I almost forgot.

It also means following through to the end of the promotion. With 137 leads, it gets tiring. With the last 15 or 20, part of me didn't want to follow up, but it would have been such a waste, so I did, and I booked another wedding from them.

Peter: What comes through to me is commitment: just doing it and not making excuses. Once you have the process and the scripts, so much of it is about executing and not getting in your own way.

Peter: We've been working together for about a year and a half. What's been the most transformational thing for you?

Susie: I can see now that I can stop photographing and just book out my team, which was my original goal. Before, I couldn't see it at all. Now I can see the numbers. I can still give people jobs, train new photographers, and do everything I'm doing now without physically being at a 12- or 14-hour wedding day. I can be home with my kids or enjoy a book.

To anyone who isn't part of this yet, it doesn't matter what stage you're at. Whether you're just starting out and want to make $50,000 a year, or you're at $100,000 and want to get to $200,000, this is the company for you. And everyone in Next Level has been so helpful.

Peter: I can't tell you how many people tell me they don't want to be shooting weddings at 60. You went from shooting 30 weddings a year to just eight, and this was your first time running ads. I'm proud of you.