Featured Wedding Superhero: Al Harris, Photographer

“Need help. My DJ and lighting business has come to a stand still.

Seems like leads and inquiries have slowed down. Or maybe I have lost touch with the leads that have come in. Any tips appreciated.”

This is a pretty typical example of how our Acceleration members ask for help in our private Facebook group.

What makes me prouder than a mother hen is how generously the wedding experts share their wisdom and experience.

Check out this response written by Al Harris of Mile Marker Images:

6 Steps to Stop Attracting the WRONG Couples and Book the Ones You Want!

You are a hunter.

You want to stop hunting rabbits and start hunting deer.

1. Do you have the right equipment to hunt deer?
2. More importantly, do you know deer and rabbit have very different habits, routines & habitat?

Yep, a metaphor.

You must go to where your clients are.

1. Find new, higher priced venues.
2. Create ad materials that correctly target desired clients.
3. Start and cultivate relationships with those who serve the clients you want.
4. Start attending functions in more affluent neighborhoods.
5. Change your prices to reflect what you are worth.
6. Track your changes so you know what works.

Know the evolution will take time.

Photo courtesy of Mile Marker Images

When I tripled my rates my bookings took off. I had to accurately value myself before others would.

I thought I was a deal. Turned out I looked cheap.

People know that a $10 haircut looks like you got a $10 haircut.

Stop cutting deals and giving discounts, but if you’re gonna raise your rates you better bring it! You’ve got to show WHY you are the premier vendor of choice.

It’s not what you’re doing, but HOW that makes you YOU.

You better have the vocabulary, charm and disposition to step into the high-stakes wedding world or folks will recognize you are not one of their own.

Why You Should Ditch Wedding Lead Services

You gotta ask yourself, if I’m hunting a specific prey, should I pay a hunting guide or find their run?

That’s how I view these types of lead generators. They are guides.

Their interest lies in getting your money. And because brides are “one time” buyers they aren’t accountable, and you won’t hold them accountable.

Stop looking for ways that others will provide you leads.

Go out into your world (real and digitally) and start thinking about where brides go every day.

Where are they at lunch? Where do they shop and dine? Where are they on social media?

Then go there and watch. Learn their habits.

You’re a hunter. You need to find their run – where they go regularly.

Next, have a clear message that is concise and leverages your uniqueness to the max.

Then tell everyone you meet. Everyone.

When you get gas, tell the other person at the pump. Tell the Starbucks barista – I got two weddings last year by telling folks in Starbucks!

Tell everyone you see. Eventually people will say your words for you. But still keep telling everyone.

Say it in every social media post.

Go to your church, tell the congregation. Tell the grocery store clerk. No one talks to them anymore. Tell the bagger, too. Tell your bank teller. Go knock on all your neighbor’s doors and tell them.

Tell everybody.

I challenge you for one day, tell everybody. Then tell us how that went.

But in the meantime, only pay for results.

BONUS TIP: Find ways to get into the top 3 most exclusive Country Clubs in your market. Do anything.

I once talked to 25 retired ladies at exclusive country club. I was the first non-member to ever speak to them.

I took a couple of wedding canvases and did “show & tell” for 15 minutes. They loooooooooved me. I was their new favorite find.

THEY wanted to find ways to help me succeed cuz they genuinely liked me. They have money to spend and prefer high quality. Those are my kinda folks to serve.

Shared by Al Harris in the Wedding Expert Superheroes Facebook group

The Secrets of the Most Profitable Wedding Experts

Wouldn’t it be great to have a group of wedding peers you can trust to answer ALL your questions and share their most profitable secrets?

Well, you can.

That’s exactly what we do in our Acceleration membership for wedding pros.

You’ll learn:

• How to create a steady stream of QUALITY leads.
• Where to start if you’re overwhelmed and “spinning your wheels.”
• Proven strategies to book more weddings and increase your price.
• Step by step processes that are working for real wedding pros like you.

Oh, and we have fun in the process, ‘cuz that’s how we roll. 🙂

Learn the simple way to a profitable wedding business here.