Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Reigniting the passion in your Wedding Business - with Clare Warren

Transcript

Reigniting the passion in your Wedding Business - with Clare Warren · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

• 0:00
  Clare: I hand write on the day wedding stationary and signage.
• 0:03
  That is what I do.
• 0:04
  That is my business.
• 0:06
  And you know what?
• 0:06
  Now I just feel really confident in being able to say that, you know, a
• 0:10
  sign for a styled shoot could take me four to five hours to write.
• 0:14
  Well, if that shoot isn't quite on brand, it's not really
• 0:18
  gonna give me back what I want.
• 0:20
  Then what else could I use those four to five hours to do?
• 0:23
  And so I learned that my time actually has this value and it needs to be
• 0:28
  spent in getting the most return.
• 0:30
  And then I also need to charge correctly for that time.
• 0:35
  Becca: I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert,
• 0:37
  speaker and blogger, and you are listening to The Wedding Pros
• 0:40
  who are Ready to Grow podcast.
• 0:43
  I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
• 0:46
  examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
• 0:49
  If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
• 0:53
  and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you
• 0:57
  love, then you're in the right place.
• 0:59
  Let's get going with today's episode.
• 1:03
  Today's episode is very special because this is a joint episode
• 1:06
  airing on both my weekly podcast, the Wedding Pros who are Ready to Grow.
• 1:10
  And as part of my free bootcamp series, get Visible and Book More Weddings.
• 1:14
  If you're a regular podcast listener and you haven't yet joined the free bootcamp
• 1:18
  series, you need to do that right now.
• 1:20
  Go to the show notes for all of the information and the link to join for free.
• 1:24
  There's loads of great content on there that you're going to want to explore.
• 1:27
  And if you are here as part of the bootcamp, make sure you are also
• 1:30
  subscribed to my weekly podcast Wedding Pros Who Are Ready to
• 1:33
  Grow because a new episode is released each and every Thursday.
• 1:37
  Okay, let's dive in.
• 1:39
  Today I'm chatting with one of my fabulous clients, Claire.
• 1:42
  Claire is an amazing calligrapher.
• 1:44
  Her business Claire Warren Calligraphy specializes in handwriting all of the
• 1:48
  finishing touches for a wedding day.
• 1:50
  Claire has recently graduated from my signature program, the Wedding Pro
• 1:53
  Business Builder, and is part of my Wedding Pro members lounge membership.
• 1:57
  I can't wait for you to hear from her, Claire, or welcome to the podcast.
• 2:01
  Hi, Becca.
• 2:02
  It's so great to have you here.
• 2:04
  Thank you for being here.
• 2:05
  Now, just explain to people, anyone listening who might be like, I don't
• 2:09
  understand what a calligrapher is.
• 2:11
  Can you just very quickly explain what that looks like on a wedding day?
• 2:15
  Clare: Yeah, sure.
• 2:16
  So calligraphy is basically fancy writing.
• 2:19
  It's not my normal handwriting.
• 2:20
  It's more of an art form.
• 2:22
  And I hand write everything I do so people can use calligraphy throughout their
• 2:28
  wedding day, in their signage, through their place cards on their table plans,
• 2:33
  any other little extra details like cake, flavor menus, that kind of thing.
• 2:37
  Becca: I'm always really in awe of people that can write calligraphy
• 2:41
  because my calligraphy, if I ever give it a go, is absolutely dreadful,
• 2:45
  and it really does make a difference to those wedding signs when you see
• 2:48
  those beautiful signs in pictures.
• 2:50
  The writing looks so much different, but I bet lots of people think they can
• 2:53
  do it, and then when they try and do it realize it's actually quite difficult.
• 2:56
  Clare: Yeah, I, I have quite a few people messaging me at a last minute
• 3:00
  thinking, oh, I bought a calligraphy set.
• 3:01
  I was gonna write my own place cards, and then the reality has hit
• 3:04
  them and it's all gone very wrong.
• 3:06
  And that's where I can step in and help them.
• 3:08
  Becca: Well, I have seen your work.
• 3:09
  It's absolutely beautiful.
• 3:10
  If you're listening to this and you've never seen Claire's work, do go and have
• 3:13
  a look at her Instagram or her website.
• 3:14
  Cause you can see lots of great pictures of her beautiful calligraphy on there.
• 3:18
  Now Clare, let's go back to the beginning.
• 3:21
  So tell me a bit about your story.
• 3:23
  How did you end up with this business in the wedding industry in the first place?
• 3:28
  Clare: So in a previous life I was a retail visual manager.
• 3:33
  So basically I used to be in charge of a team.
• 3:35
  We did the window displays, we did Christmas decorations, any promotional
• 3:40
  material, like basically anything you saw.
• 3:43
  That's what I was responsible for.
• 3:44
  And I left that in 2016 to have my son.
• 3:48
  And I just then needed that creative outlet and something that was just for
• 3:53
  me and my gran actually does calligraphy, and that's how it all kind of came about.
• 3:58
  And I thought, oh, you know what?
• 4:00
  She would love it if I learned to.
• 4:02
  So I enrolled in a course, I picked up a pen.
• 4:05
  And I just became really passionate about calligraphy and in 2019, I opened
• 4:11
  up an Etsy shop and thought, oh, you know, we'll just see how this goes.
• 4:15
  Maybe this is just a little side hustle to make some extra money around being a mom.
• 4:19
  And it started to do really well.
• 4:21
  People liked what I was selling.
• 4:22
  People started buying things, things were growing.
• 4:26
  And then Covid hit.
• 4:27
  And you know, like a lot of businesses, things didn't go so well during that time.
• 4:32
  But actually for me, that was a chance just to reassess where I was at.
• 4:36
  And I was realizing that I could really turn calligraphy into a
• 4:40
  business and not just a hobby.
• 4:42
  I also had a second child during Covid as well.
• 4:45
  So it just kind of gave me a chance to step back, reassess, and start again.
• 4:51
  And then last year I think I definitely took the leap into this is a business.
• 4:57
  And I launched a website.
• 4:59
  I started doing wedding fairs.
• 5:01
  I started networking, and it's just grown from there.
• 5:04
  And it's just got bigger and bigger and I can't quite believe that my
• 5:08
  little hobby that I started at my kitchen table is now a business.
• 5:12
  Becca: I absolutely love that, and I think it's so true for so many people,
• 5:16
  they start in the wedding industry cause they've got that creative outlet and they
• 5:19
  think, oh, I just wanna do something.
• 5:21
  I just wanna do something with my creativity.
• 5:23
  Then the money starts coming in and then all of a sudden you realize, yikes, I
• 5:26
  actually have proper full on business on my hands where I've gotta do tax returns
• 5:31
  and all of the other things as well.
• 5:32
  It can be a little bit overwhelming.
• 5:34
  So when you had your Etsy store, were you doing things for weddings at that point?
• 5:37
  Or were you just selling artwork?
• 5:39
  Clare: No, I was focusing on weddings.
• 5:41
  So my gran wrote my place cards for my wedding.
• 5:44
  And the guests absolutely loved them.
• 5:47
  And so when I felt confident enough to start selling things, I thought, oh,
• 5:50
  you know, not everyone's got a grand like mine who can write as beautifully
• 5:53
  as mine can, so let's just try selling place cards and let's see if I can
• 5:58
  help other couples have the kind of beautiful details that that I had.
• 6:02
  Becca: Wow.
• 6:02
  I love that your grand must.
• 6:03
  Been so proud of you to see all of the work that you've put into it and that
• 6:07
  you've taken on her passion and now you are using it yourself and crazy.
• 6:11
  And so often I find that as well when I talk to people, that people
• 6:14
  have got people in their family that have been their inspiration
• 6:18
  or perhaps their entrepreneurial or they've got their creativity, and I
• 6:21
  absolutely love to see that pass down.
• 6:23
  Through the generations now.
• 6:25
  You talked about your journey, we talked about covid.
• 6:26
  We won't go there because we all know that that was a difficult year.
• 6:30
  But other than that, from that kinda starting and thinking, right, I'm
• 6:33
  gonna have this business, I'm gonna do some creativity through to where
• 6:37
  you are now, what have been some of the stumbling blocks or some
• 6:39
  of the struggles along the way?
• 6:41
  Clare: I think I just didn't realize how many different elements were
• 6:45
  involved in running a business.
• 6:47
  And you have got a lot of plates to spin all of the time.
• 6:51
  And in all honesty, it's just been overwhelming and I don't think I
• 6:55
  was quite prepared for how much of a struggle it was gonna be.
• 7:00
  I've really found it hard to juggle the business around two small children.
• 7:05
  I don't have an awful lot of time, and I've definitely been probably reflection.
• 7:12
  I've been spending time doing the wrong things, and I've
• 7:15
  wasted an awful lot of time.
• 7:17
  I've had definite moments of doubting whether or not I'm doing the right thing.
• 7:21
  I've often thought, oh, maybe I could, could go back to a, a nine to five job.
• 7:25
  At least I'd get to leave it and come home to my kids.
• 7:28
  But then that passion for calligraphy, it, it's just too strong, and I've
• 7:33
  always just kept going and wanted to keep going and wanted it to do well.
• 7:36
  So.
• 7:36
  Becca: Yeah, and I think your struggles are, you're not alone in that.
• 7:39
  Like so many people, including myself, we all have those days where we think,
• 7:43
  oh, it'd be so much easier to just go and work in Tescos and and Jack it all in.
• 7:47
  But then we realize, oh, actually no, it's good to have the freedom.
• 7:50
  It's good to have our passion.
• 7:51
  It's good to our own thing.
• 7:53
  Maybe we just need a bit of encouragement, a bit of support, a bit of help along
• 7:56
  the way, because ultimately we do.
• 7:58
  You know, we're not born understanding how to run a business.
• 8:01
  We need to learn it as well.
• 8:02
  And also we need that community around us.
• 8:04
  We need people who understand what it's like to encourage us.
• 8:08
  Along the way as well.
• 8:09
  Now, I'd love to dive into what you said because you said that there's some things
• 8:12
  where you think, looking back, that maybe you spent a lot of time doing a lot of
• 8:15
  things that weren't the right thing.
• 8:17
  I'd love to get into that a little bit because there might be people
• 8:19
  listening that we could help avoid doing the wrong things for a long time.
• 8:23
  So can you gimme an example of something that you think
• 8:26
  that was just a waste of time?
• 8:28
  Clare: I think I got very excited about what I could create for people's
• 8:33
  weddings and I spent a lot of time.
• 8:38
  Developing some products and some place cards, and they just weren't necessarily
• 8:44
  right and they weren't necessarily me and the direction that I wanted ahead in.
• 8:49
  I would see things on Pinterest and it would spark this moment of creativity,
• 8:55
  and then I would go off and find my card and write these place cards and
• 8:59
  get really excited, and it just wasn't the right use of my time at all.
• 9:05
  It was important to think about the products.
• 9:07
  Absolutely.
• 9:07
  And think about what I was trying to sell, but not quite to the degree that
• 9:12
  I was doing it, because actually I then wasn't focusing on anything else.
• 9:15
  I wasn't thinking about, well, how am I gonna sell this?
• 9:18
  You know, what is my brand?
• 9:20
  You know, is this actually right?
• 9:22
  I was loading things onto Instagram.
• 9:24
  That looking back just made no sense there.
• 9:28
  There was just no consistency.
• 9:31
  I was just all over the place, to be honest.
• 9:32
  Becca: And again, I think that's a totally normal story though because you, you get
• 9:37
  into this because you love calligraphy, so it's really easy to go down a Pinterest
• 9:41
  rabbit hole, and it's really easy to find lots of new ideas and it's really easy
• 9:45
  to get creative because that's the part of the business we really enjoy is the
• 9:48
  writing or the, the doing or the making.
• 9:51
  And then all of a sudden we think, oh, this isn't actually making us any money.
• 9:54
  Cause we're just spending all of our time doing the pretty thing.
• 9:57
  So you're right, you've gotta get to that point of finding the balance between,
• 10:01
  yes, I wanna be creative, but I also wanna make money from this passion of mine.
• 10:06
  Now I mentioned in the intro at the beginning that recently
• 10:10
  you went through my signature program, the Wedding Pro Business.
• 10:14
  Builder.
• 10:15
  Why was that attractive to you?
• 10:17
  What was it about that program that thought made you think, yeah, I
• 10:20
  should probably go through this?
• 10:22
  Clare: So, when I found the course, I was at a point in my business where I
• 10:26
  was quite honestly just overwhelmed.
• 10:29
  You know, I was having to do all of these things that I've never had to do before.
• 10:33
  I had no experience in designing a website.
• 10:36
  Social media was just this.
• 10:38
  Absolute huge headache that I just couldn't understand.
• 10:42
  I had to get my head around finances and none of that stuff
• 10:46
  I'd ever learned in retail.
• 10:47
  You know, I did pretty things and, and I just thought, you know what?
• 10:52
  I need someone, I need an expert that can help me navigate through
• 10:57
  all of these different areas and just help me take control back.
• 11:02
  Again.
• 11:03
  It was just all feeling too much.
• 11:06
  I think I'd lost love with my business if I'm being honest and wasn't quite
• 11:12
  ready to give up, but knew that I had to do something and I had to
• 11:17
  invest, and I had to just go for it.
• 11:20
  I had to just dive in and see what happened.
• 11:23
  When I found the course, I liked the fact that everyone on the
• 11:28
  course was at the same level.
• 11:30
  Some of the other courses I've done in the past, you have people
• 11:33
  at different levels, at different points in their business, and often I
• 11:37
  found that to be quite intimidating.
• 11:39
  And sometimes I came off those courses feeling even more overwhelmed
• 11:42
  than I did before, cuz I was thinking, oh, I'm not like them.
• 11:45
  You know, I haven't got this.
• 11:46
  I'm not that expert.
• 11:48
  And so knowing that everyone on this course was struggling, needed some
• 11:54
  help, wanted a successful business, that was a real driving factor.
• 11:58
  To do this course.
• 11:59
  Becca: Yeah, and I'm really glad you say that actually, because one of the reasons
• 12:02
  that I developed it this way is to give everyone the foundations, because I
• 12:07
  think there's a bit of vulnerability that comes when we have to admit to ourselves.
• 12:10
  Actually, I don't know what to do next.
• 12:12
  I don't know how to do that.
• 12:14
  And I put out a post on social media.
• 12:16
  I remember when I first launched it saying It's okay because I
• 12:20
  dunno how to do calligraphy.
• 12:21
  I dunno how to do photography.
• 12:23
  I don't.
• 12:23
  I don't know how to plan a wedding at this luxury hotel, but I do
• 12:28
  understand business and marketing.
• 12:29
  So it's okay that you don't understand business and marketing because you can
• 12:33
  do the other things and that's why you come together and make something magical.
• 12:38
  And that's exactly right.
• 12:39
  So if you are listening to this and you are thinking, yeah, I relate
• 12:42
  to this, I'm struggling, it's those foundations I need to put in place.
• 12:46
  It's okay to come to that realization and it's okay to think, yeah, I
• 12:49
  could take a bit of help with this and then I can take that creativity
• 12:52
  and make it more successful.
• 12:54
  Now, when you look back over the modules, so you've been through all
• 12:57
  four of the modules, I know you've completed all of them, and the workbooks.
• 13:01
  When you look back over that, what are the things that stood out to
• 13:04
  you that you've learned from it?
• 13:07
  Clare: Oh gosh.
• 13:08
  There are so many things I learned from this course.
• 13:10
  I think even in areas that I thought I was okay with, there was still
• 13:14
  these little nuggets of advice that I could take and these little tweaks
• 13:19
  that I could make to my business that just made my life so much simpler.
• 13:23
  I'd say one big thing I did learn is about taking control of my business.
• 13:28
  Instead of letting my business control me, I was just drowning
• 13:32
  in all of the business.
• 13:34
  Things that you have to do.
• 13:36
  And I found myself constantly saying yes to everything, which
• 13:39
  definitely wasn't helping.
• 13:41
  So I was saying yes to shoots, I was saying yes to wedding fairs.
• 13:44
  I was saying yes to custom calligraphy projects.
• 13:47
  And one thing that I was really struggling with was saying, no.
• 13:50
  And this definitely wasn't helping, but I thought, well, if I, if I don't
• 13:54
  say yes, then I'm not gonna have any business and I'm gonna lose customers,
• 13:59
  and this is gonna reflect badly on me.
• 14:02
  So, for example, I often get approached to write out poems for weddings.
• 14:07
  Now, before I did this course, my business head was like, okay,
• 14:10
  poems, well, it's for a wedding.
• 14:12
  This is great.
• 14:13
  It's calligraphy.
• 14:14
  It's personal.
• 14:15
  It's handwritten.
• 14:16
  I can charge a little bit more for these poems.
• 14:18
  So actually this makes, this makes sense.
• 14:21
  Why?
• 14:21
  Why would I say no?
• 14:22
  So recently I had a mother who had written a poem for her daughter and
• 14:27
  then wanted to present it on her wedding day, you know, in a little frame,
• 14:30
  and I said yes, and it took me three days and 14 copies to do this poem.
• 14:38
  And.
• 14:39
  If you've not done calligraphy before, you won't know that sometimes when you're
• 14:42
  writing the pen just kind of coughs and ink sprays all over the page and
• 14:47
  there's nothing you can do about it.
• 14:49
  But start again.
• 14:51
  And I was finding that this was happening usually on the last
• 14:54
  line that you were writing.
• 14:56
  So that's two hours of your time that you're not getting paid for,
• 15:01
  and it's a complete waste of time.
• 15:03
  And in those three days, I hated calligraphy.
• 15:07
  I hated it, and all aspects of my business just stopped.
• 15:11
  I had no work life balance.
• 15:13
  I was really, really frustrated with myself that I just couldn't
• 15:16
  get this simple project done.
• 15:19
  But after I completed the course, I realized, you know what?
• 15:22
  I hate writing poems, and it is absolutely okay to say no.
• 15:27
  You know, I see other calligraphers writing poems and that's fine.
• 15:31
  They can, they can do that.
• 15:32
  But I hand write on the day wedding stationary and signage.
• 15:36
  That is what I do.
• 15:37
  That is my business.
• 15:39
  And you know what?
• 15:40
  Now I just feel really confident in being able to say that.
• 15:44
  And also I realize that if I can say no to writing poems, I can
• 15:48
  say no to other things as well.
• 15:50
  And that actually the time that I would get back can be better used
• 15:54
  to drive my business in other ways.
• 15:57
  So, you know, a sign for a styled shoot could take me four to five hours to write.
• 16:02
  Well, if that shoot isn't quite on brand, it's not really
• 16:05
  gonna give me back what I want.
• 16:07
  Then what else could I use those four to five hours to do?
• 16:11
  And so I learned that my time actually has this value and it needs to be
• 16:16
  spent in getting the most return.
• 16:19
  And then I also need to charge correctly for that time.
• 16:22
  Becca: I absolutely love that it's music to my ears to hear you saying
• 16:25
  all of these things because it's so true and it's so important.
• 16:29
  And sometimes we do need to sit down and come to that realization.
• 16:32
  And I think the exercise of going through a course and go through the workbook,
• 16:36
  Books and just stopping and reflecting and thinking and writing down the money
• 16:41
  and seeing it on paper makes you realize, okay, well I'm getting paid x amount for
• 16:45
  this poem, but it's taken me three days.
• 16:47
  What could I have done in that time that could have made me more money?
• 16:50
  Or what do I need to charge to make it worth me spending three days on a poem?
• 16:55
  Right?
• 16:55
  Yeah.
• 16:55
  I'll do your poem, but it's gonna cost you a thousand pounds.
• 16:58
  Feel free to book me if you want, but if you don't wanna pay that, that's okay.
• 17:01
  Goodbye.
• 17:02
  See you later.
• 17:03
  Like it's having, it's having the control to do that.
• 17:06
  Now.
• 17:06
  I know one of the things, so at the beginning of the course, we went
• 17:08
  through branding and marketing things.
• 17:12
  Now your branding, everything is great.
• 17:13
  Your colors are beautiful because you are creative.
• 17:16
  That's exactly what you do.
• 17:18
  But I know that even in that, there were areas that you learned, there's
• 17:21
  been areas that you've tweaked.
• 17:23
  On your website, hasn't there?
• 17:25
  Clare: Yeah, so I, I thought I was great with branding and marketing.
• 17:28
  That was my job for 13 years.
• 17:30
  So when I saw that, that was the modules, I thought, oh, you know,
• 17:33
  I, I should be okay with this.
• 17:35
  I should be fine.
• 17:36
  But actually, you know what, I, I wasn't, and there were so many bits of
• 17:40
  the marketing module that I learned that I just wasn't doing, and I think I was
• 17:45
  actually making my life really hard.
• 17:47
  You know, I thought, yeah, got marketing, I've got this, I can do this.
• 17:52
  But I had no plan for it.
• 17:54
  I was just kind of blagging it and hoping for the best.
• 17:57
  And then doing the modules, I realized, you know what, I, I do need to sit down.
• 18:00
  I need to do this properly, I need to figure this out, and
• 18:04
  then I need to implement it.
• 18:06
  And then with, with branding and, you know, the customer journey.
• 18:09
  So, Again, I thought, I thought I was safe.
• 18:12
  I thought I had completely nailed that on my website, but
• 18:16
  in actual fact, you know what?
• 18:17
  I hadn't.
• 18:18
  And when we reviewed it on one of the Zoom calls with fresh eyes, I
• 18:22
  realized that actually I was making it quite complicated for my couples
• 18:26
  to navigate through my website.
• 18:28
  You know, yes, my branding was great.
• 18:30
  And yes, from that aspect, it flowed really nicely.
• 18:33
  But the information that I was putting out there, it, it just wasn't right.
• 18:38
  It needed some tweaking.
• 18:40
  And that's one of the things that I've spent quite a lot of
• 18:42
  focus on, on doing and changing.
• 18:45
  And it's just made it so much better and I just learned so much about it.
• 18:50
  Becca: Yeah.
• 18:50
  And sometimes as well, you just need that fresh perspective because we're so
• 18:53
  involved in our own businesses that we can't always see the wood for the trees.
• 18:57
  And when someone else goes and looks at it, They can point out things that
• 19:01
  we think, oh yeah, that's actually really obvious now, but we don't
• 19:04
  see it because we spend so much of our time working in our businesses.
• 19:09
  And then in module four, I know module four is a really difficult
• 19:12
  one for a lot of people because it's when we start looking at finances.
• 19:16
  So in module four, we go through the finances in detail, we get the
• 19:19
  spreadsheets out, we talk about profit.
• 19:22
  We talk about are we actually paying ourselves anything.
• 19:25
  How was module four for you?
• 19:28
  Clare: Module four.
• 19:28
  I went into feeling quite scared.
• 19:31
  I knew that pricing.
• 19:33
  I think for a lot of people it's such a headache and I knew that
• 19:36
  my pricing just wasn't right.
• 19:39
  I also knew that I had no control really over my finances.
• 19:43
  You know, sometimes months were good, sometimes months weren't so good.
• 19:46
  But actually as an overall, I had no clue really how my business was doing.
• 19:51
  So after completing the modules, I just took a step back.
• 19:55
  I put my business hat on.
• 19:57
  And I started looking at pricing.
• 20:00
  And you know what?
• 20:00
  Looking at it from a business point of view, it took kind
• 20:03
  of that emotion out of it.
• 20:05
  And that's what had been holding me back before.
• 20:07
  You know, some of my products I was looking at and I was
• 20:10
  thinking, oh, I can't charge that.
• 20:11
  You know, there's no way that someone would charge that.
• 20:14
  But actually putting on that business hat, I was like, you know what?
• 20:17
  My ideal client would pay that.
• 20:19
  And that is what I should be charging because that's what it's worth.
• 20:23
  And you did this great spreadsheet where you can break down, you know,
• 20:26
  how much a product is and then how much it's cost to sort of buy the
• 20:29
  materials and then how much it it costs to do it, and your time and things.
• 20:33
  And it made me realize that I was massively undercharging in some areas.
• 20:37
  Massively.
• 20:39
  And.
• 20:40
  Once I'd got that all figured out, you know, it was kind of liberating.
• 20:44
  It was all of a sudden this, this pricing stress had just completely gone and I was
• 20:50
  really confident in what I was charging.
• 20:53
  And then alongside of all of that, my products, it can, it can
• 20:57
  be quite difficult for couples.
• 20:59
  I do so many different things that often they're like, well,
• 21:02
  where on earth do I start?
• 21:04
  Like, what do I need for my wedding?
• 21:05
  You know, how much is this all gonna cost me?
• 21:08
  So on your advice, I put together some packages, and this has honestly been
• 21:14
  one of the best things that I've done.
• 21:16
  It's just made my life and the customer's life so much easier.
• 21:21
  They can instantly see how much I charge.
• 21:24
  When they've sent me those emails saying, you know what, what?
• 21:26
  What's your price?
• 21:27
  You know, what kind of things am I looking at?
• 21:29
  I can just ping them across the link to the page and it's all there
• 21:32
  and it's all done, ready for them.
• 21:34
  And it's just a really solid starting point that we can then go from there.
• 21:39
  And of course, I can explain to them that I can tweak things and
• 21:42
  we can add things and take things away, but that can all come later.
• 21:45
  But that basic pricing is there and I am so confident in those prices.
• 21:52
  That it is just made such a huge difference.
• 21:55
  One of the other things you'd said as well around finances is opening a
• 21:59
  business bank account, and you know what?
• 22:01
  I did it.
• 22:02
  And that shift in mindset from, you know what, this isn't any longer
• 22:07
  a hobby that I'm selling on Etsy and doing at my kitchen table.
• 22:10
  That's actually doing quite well that it is now a business.
• 22:14
  That change has just been amazing.
• 22:17
  Becca: Yeah.
• 22:17
  And so much of this stuff does come down to mindset and understanding, oh
• 22:22
  yeah, I'm not just playing at this.
• 22:23
  I can do this properly and I can have the confidence to do this
• 22:26
  properly and charge my worth.
• 22:28
  And I think the thing is when we get those spreadsheets out and the
• 22:30
  stark reality of I'm really not making any money from this part of
• 22:34
  the business, I need to charge more.
• 22:36
  I think the reason, like you said, that we don't always charge what we're worth
• 22:39
  is emotional because we think no one pay.
• 22:43
  Actually when you realize, well then I might as well not bother doing
• 22:45
  this cuz otherwise I'm just basically giving this stuff away for free or
• 22:48
  for very little and we have confidence in the prices that we're charging.
• 22:52
  All of a sudden we don't worry about putting those price on our website because
• 22:56
  we can say, well, that's what I'm worth.
• 22:58
  That's the amount of hours it takes me if you don't want it.
• 23:00
  Then that's absolutely fine.
• 23:02
  You can, you can move on.
• 23:03
  But I know in myself, I can justify it.
• 23:05
  And I think we're, we're frightened that people say to us, why are
• 23:08
  you charging that that much?
• 23:09
  That's too expensive.
• 23:10
  Which is why we don't wanna charge it.
• 23:12
  But actually confident in that.
• 23:13
  And we can say, well this is why, because it takes us this many hours
• 23:16
  and it, you know, I've honed my skill for this many years, and if you wanna
• 23:20
  give it a go yourself, good luck.
• 23:22
  Because we all know how difficult it's, and the pen's gonna explode when you
• 23:25
  start writing out that poem and you know you're gonna come right back to me
• 23:29
  and realize why I'm charging my worth.
• 23:30
  I think confidence is so important and it's so nice for me to see even within
• 23:35
  the last couple of months of you going through the program, watching you grow,
• 23:39
  watching your confidence grow and watching you realize, yeah, got a business.
• 23:42
  And from this.
• 23:44
  Absolutely.
• 23:45
  Now, we've talked about the things you've learned.
• 23:47
  I know that you were just the most incredible action taker when you
• 23:50
  went through the program every week.
• 23:53
  You were going through things, and then I was seeing changes happening overnight.
• 23:56
  You worked incredibly hard.
• 23:57
  What things have you actually gone ahead and implemented
• 24:01
  over the last couple of weeks?
• 24:02
  A month?
• 24:02
  Clare: Yeah, so I'd said after your website review on that, one of those
• 24:06
  first Zoom calls that I needed to change my customer journey and that I needed to
• 24:11
  just streamline everything a little bit.
• 24:14
  So that's exactly what I did.
• 24:15
  So I tweaked the layout slightly.
• 24:19
  I added in more images.
• 24:21
  I added in pricing as well.
• 24:23
  I obviously uploaded all my packages.
• 24:25
  And then I think the most significant thing I did was I just added a book a
• 24:29
  call button into my header, and then I added this button throughout my website.
• 24:35
  And you know what?
• 24:37
  It was such a simple thing to do.
• 24:39
  But it just makes it super, super clear that that is what I want any
• 24:43
  prospective couples to do next.
• 24:45
  It's book a call and then we can go from there.
• 24:48
  So the changes to my website.
• 24:52
  I was already fairly confident in my website, but now I'm
• 24:55
  like, no, this is right.
• 24:56
  I've, I've really, really got this.
• 24:58
  And it just feels so much more professional and I'm not quite as
• 25:02
  embarrassed sending people to it anymore.
• 25:04
  You know, when I link to my packages, it is a page on my website.
• 25:07
  They are gonna see what's there, and then hopefully they will book a call.
• 25:11
  But I'm just, again, it's just that confidence.
• 25:14
  I'm just far, far more confident in actually putting it out there,
• 25:17
  Becca: and that's so important as well.
• 25:19
  And I often say to people, if you are at a point when you are embarrassed about
• 25:22
  sending people to your website, that is a sign that you need to do something
• 25:25
  differently because no one wants to be embarrassed about their business.
• 25:29
  Like that's not the point of it.
• 25:30
  And if you are listening to this, and again, if you are resonating, then that's
• 25:34
  a sign that you need to do something.
• 25:35
  It's not because you are not good enough, it's.
• 25:37
  Just a sign that you need to learn something new or invest in
• 25:40
  someone to do your website for you or do something differently.
• 25:43
  Don't stay in that position of feeling icky because that will just transfer
• 25:48
  over your clients confident and you're confident in what you charge and you're
• 25:53
  confident and your professionalism.
• 25:55
  People are much more likely to pay your prices and work with you than
• 25:59
  if they pick up on those vibes that you're not confident at all.
• 26:02
  Please tell me as well, Claire, have you implemented some price rises
• 26:06
  since going through that spreadsheet?
• 26:08
  Clare: Yes, I have.
• 26:09
  Absolutely.
• 26:11
  And some of the things that I was really unsure about putting
• 26:15
  up, actually, it feels so good.
• 26:17
  And some of them I've doubled my prices.
• 26:20
  But it's, it's that confidence of, you know what, yes, that is what I'm worth.
• 26:25
  And also that is what my ideal customer would pay to have something that beautiful
• 26:30
  and that handwritten at their wedding.
• 26:32
  And that in itself is just such a huge mindset shift.
• 26:36
  But yeah, all of my prices have gone up.
• 26:39
  All of them.
• 26:39
  Becca: Good.
• 26:40
  I'm so pleased to hear it because you absolutely are worth it.
• 26:42
  And one of the things I think to myself when I think, oh, people think that my
• 26:47
  prices are too high, I have to remember going back to what you said right at
• 26:50
  the beginning, you've got two kids.
• 26:52
  That's why you stopped your working to spend time with them.
• 26:54
  And actually when.
• 26:56
  When your work is taking some of that time away from your children, that time
• 27:00
  is actually incredibly valuable and it does come at a price tag, and we don't
• 27:05
  wanna just be giving that away for free.
• 27:07
  We wanna be making sure that we're charging our worth.
• 27:09
  So you deserve every penny that you are charging for your work,
• 27:12
  because it's absolutely beautiful.
• 27:14
  Now, I know it's early days, but so far you've made some of these changes.
• 27:17
  Obviously there's been a big change in yourself and your mindset.
• 27:20
  Have you seen any results yet from anything you've
• 27:23
  Clare: implemented?
• 27:24
  So last week I had my first Zoom call with a potential couple that
• 27:29
  was booked through my website using that button and using that Calendly
• 27:34
  link that I popped in there as well.
• 27:36
  And you know what?
• 27:37
  It was just amazing.
• 27:39
  Terrifying, but amazing.
• 27:41
  And the couple actually said, oh, you know, we had a look through your
• 27:44
  website and we really loved what we saw.
• 27:46
  And to me that was just like, oh, I did it.
• 27:49
  I did it.
• 27:50
  Like, and, and the couple are absolutely my ideal couple.
• 27:54
  Absolutely, if I could write them on paper, that is who I
• 27:58
  was talking to on this call.
• 28:00
  And I'd already sent them my packages list.
• 28:03
  You know, that they'd already asked about pricing, so I
• 28:06
  popped them across my packages.
• 28:08
  So as well, I already knew that they knew what I was charging and that
• 28:12
  they could afford it, and that they could factor it into their budget.
• 28:15
  And it was just, it was just amazing.
• 28:18
  It was just amazing.
• 28:19
  And I, I am pretty sure I would not have got them.
• 28:23
  Contacting me if I hadn't of done the changes.
• 28:26
  And implemented the things from the course
• 28:28
  Becca: and what great affirmation for you as well to know that all of that hard
• 28:32
  work, those late nights, the things you're putting in to make those changes and to
• 28:35
  upgrade the website and to put the prices up, that's great affirmation for you to
• 28:39
  show you that actually yeah, this does work and it will attract the right people.
• 28:43
  And I've just gotta keep on with that confidence and believe that it definitely
• 28:46
  will happen and, and that it was.
• 28:48
  All definitely the right thing.
• 28:49
  I'm so pleased, and I'm sure that you're gonna see more of that.
• 28:52
  The more you keep sending out those packages, the more that you
• 28:54
  keep showing people your website, the more people are gonna start
• 28:57
  booking a call and the more and more successful you're going to become.
• 29:01
  Claire, it's been such a pleasure chatting to you.
• 29:04
  If people are out there and thinking, I really resonate with what Claire's
• 29:08
  saying, I think I need to do something.
• 29:10
  Maybe I should look at this.
• 29:11
  Business builder program that Becca's talking about and they're
• 29:14
  on the fence about it cause it feels like a bit of an investment.
• 29:17
  What would you say to them?
• 29:18
  Clare: So I'd say if you are on the fence about it, then that's exactly where I was.
• 29:23
  And actually that's a really good reason in itself to do it.
• 29:26
  You're clearly there because you have this business that maybe you
• 29:29
  are finding a bit overwhelming.
• 29:31
  You want a bit more training, you want it to grow and be successful, but you
• 29:35
  just need a bit of extra help and a bit of a kick in order to get there.
• 29:40
  And you know what?
• 29:41
  This business builder course will a hundred percent get you there.
• 29:44
  For me, it's not just move me to the next step.
• 29:47
  It's moved me like 10 steps further forward than I ever would've been before.
• 29:52
  I was, you know, considering the cost of the course.
• 29:54
  So, When I actually enrolled, I had no bookings for the year.
• 29:59
  I had zero inquiries.
• 30:02
  And you know, some people are like, are you, are you crazy?
• 30:05
  But you know what?
• 30:06
  The couple that I spoke to the other day, they're potentially paying
• 30:09
  me more than the course is worth.
• 30:11
  So already in that one booking, it has more than paid for itself.
• 30:16
  I think my other concern and, and some people's concerns may be around time,
• 30:21
  but you know what, I'm a mum of two.
• 30:23
  I do that full time and time is not a luxury I have, but because the modules
• 30:28
  are released a week at a time, it's never overwhelming at how much you have to do.
• 30:34
  And also the videos are around six minutes.
• 30:36
  So actually I could easily slot that into my day.
• 30:39
  You know, sometimes I'd watch it while I was doing some of the
• 30:41
  ironing and then I could then process what was happening afterwards.
• 30:45
  And I just actually found that, you know, time and money and all of those things
• 30:52
  actually it, it was just so worth it.
• 30:54
  It was so, so worth it.
• 30:56
  Plus the Zoom calls that we did and the feedback that you gave was just, Worth so
• 31:03
  much in itself, and I've made connections with other wedding supplies that are
• 31:07
  in the same place that I am and that I'm not alone, and that everyone else
• 31:11
  is going through these struggles too.
• 31:13
  And that for me is just, has just been amazing.
• 31:17
  Becca: Well, I found it amazing to watch your journey in such a short
• 31:20
  time and to see you blossoming and growing in confidence.
• 31:24
  And the good news for me is that you are sticking around because you
• 31:26
  are inside of my Wedding Pro members lounge, as we talked about earlier.
• 31:30
  So I get to watch that journey as we go through the next few months
• 31:33
  and see what you achieve next.
• 31:35
  Claire, what's next for you?
• 31:36
  When you look forward to the next kinda year of your business, where
• 31:39
  do you see yourself heading next?
• 31:41
  Clare: So I've just booked to exhibit at the East Anglia Wedding Show next
• 31:44
  year, which is something that I've always wanted to do, but just have
• 31:48
  never quite had the confidence to do it.
• 31:50
  But again, after finishing the course, I was like, I can do this.
• 31:53
  I've got this.
• 31:54
  So I booked it and in February, that's where I'll be, my little girl
• 31:58
  starts nursery school in September.
• 32:00
  So all of a sudden I'm gonna have all of this time that I've just
• 32:04
  been missing, but I now know.
• 32:07
  What I can do with my time.
• 32:09
  I appreciate the time that I'm gonna have, and I can now put in plans to use
• 32:14
  it in the right way Before the course, I think I just would've wasted it.
• 32:18
  I would've just been all over the place still and not really focusing
• 32:21
  on the things that I needed to.
• 32:23
  Hopefully my business will just keep growing, and I think we've definitely
• 32:27
  moved away from, it's a hobby.
• 32:30
  It's definitely now a business, and I think my ultimate goal is to be one
• 32:33
  of Norfolk's top wedding suppliers.
• 32:35
  Which having now finished this course, I feel like I'm kind of
• 32:39
  halfway there and I can do it.
• 32:41
  Becca: Absolutely.
• 32:42
  I believe that you definitely can be, you can get yourself on that map and
• 32:46
  I'm excited to hear how the wedding show goes when that happens as well.
• 32:49
  Make sure you've got a copy of those packages ready and
• 32:52
  available for every single person.
• 32:53
  And you know what I'm gonna say as well, make sure you collect everybody's
• 32:57
  details because you can't do a wedding show and let them walk away.
• 33:01
  Claire, I'm so thrilled that you chatted with me today, and I'm so excited to
• 33:05
  see where this journey takes you next.
• 33:07
  You definitely can become one of Norfolk's best wedding suppliers.
• 33:11
  I believe that's definitely where you are headed next, so just keep
• 33:15
  on going with that confidence.
• 33:16
  Keep on going with everything you've learned and stick to the plan.
• 33:19
  Don't fritter away time.
• 33:20
  Have a look at those plans, look at the numbers and work out.
• 33:23
  What you need to do.
• 33:23
  And remember, you don't need to do those wedding poems anymore.
• 33:28
  Clare I always end my podcast with the same question, which is, what's
• 33:33
  one thing you wish you'd known sooner in your wedding business?
• 33:36
  Clare: I wish I had realized that you really can't run before, you can walk.
• 33:41
  I when I started this business, I was just so excited and had all of these
• 33:47
  ideas, and I became way too distracted in trying to do too many things, and
• 33:53
  eventually that just led to this complete overwhelm and so much wasted time.
• 33:58
  I was very guilty of trying to do everything perfectly that I
• 34:02
  definitely ended up doing nothing at all, and I just wish that I had
• 34:06
  known that you need to start small.
• 34:09
  And it's okay to start small.
• 34:11
  You need to start at the beginning and everything will just build from there.
• 34:14
  Just trust the process.
• 34:16
  Just be you.
• 34:18
  Allow yourself that time just to breathe and to reflect, and
• 34:23
  then you will be successful.
• 34:24
  Becca: So, So true and so good.
• 34:26
  Thank you so much for your time today, Clare, if people wanna find
• 34:29
  out more about your business, where's the best place for them to go?
• 34:32
  Clare: Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram and Facebook
• 34:36
  at Clare Warren Calligraphy.
• 34:38
  And then there's also my website.
• 34:40
  www.clarewarrencalligraphy.co uk or just reach out, send me an email, send
• 34:45
  me a message and I'll happily respond.
• 34:46
  Becca: Fabulous.
• 34:47
  And do go and check out Claire's work on Instagram And do go and
• 34:50
  have a look at her website as well.
• 34:51
  Cause you can go and have a look at that customer journey that
• 34:54
  we were talking about from her packages through to booking a call.
• 34:57
  Claire, thank you for your time.
• 34:59
  It's been a pleasure.
• 35:00
  Clare: Thank you so much for having me.
• 35:03
  Becca: Didn't you just love hearing from Claire?
• 35:05
  I know that her story will have resonated with so many of you, and if that's
• 35:10
  you and you're thinking, yeah, this really makes sense to me and I need
• 35:13
  some help, do get in touch with me.
• 35:15
  Find out more about the Wedding Pro Business Builder Program.
• 35:18
  I'll make sure that I put all of the information about the
• 35:20
  program in the show notes.
• 35:21
  The great thing is that it's available now and you can join it at.
• 35:24
  Anytime.
• 35:25
  So you can do it in your own time, but do go and take action.
• 35:29
  You don't wanna waste any more time.
• 35:30
  And if you've got any questions for me about whether it's right for you,
• 35:33
  just reach out to me at Becca Pountney on Instagram or send me an email.
• 35:37
  All of the details are in the show notes.
• 35:39
  I'll see you next time.