328. The Email Habit Killing Wedding Business Owners

You didn’t start your business to stay stuck. If you're ready to finally hit 6 or 7 figures WITHOUT burning out — book a call with our team → https://weddingproceo.com/application

If you feel like you aren't actually "working" unless your inbox is open, we need to talk, because that "responsiveness" is actually the ceiling keeping you from scaling. 

I’m sharing the exact triage system that helps overworked wedding pros stop reacting to every tiny weekend fire and start reclaiming 10+ hours a week for the big CEO moves that actually grow your revenue. 

It’s time to stop letting your inbox run your company and start leading with intention—are you ready to take back your time? 

The (FREE!)ASSUME Sales Training: 2x your wedding bookings in 30 days—step by step. Thousands of wedding pros have already used it to land more clients immediately! http://weddingproceo.com/freetrainingorg

A favorite book of mine: Profit First by Mike Michalowicz 

https://amzn.to/4lbqZFw

Another favorite book of mine: Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell 

https://amzn.to/3ITKLb4

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EPISODE SHOW NOTES BLOG & MORE:

https://weddingproceo.com/email-habit-killing-wedding-business/

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Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Wedding Pro CEO Podcast. If you find these strategies helpful, make sure to share this episode with your fellow wedding pros. And remember, in the world of weddings, it's all about building genuine relationships and showcasing your best work. Until next time, keep shining, CEOs!

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Transcript

1:01

Most wedding pros think they're broke because they need more bookings. But that's not the real problem. The real reason your wedding business is still broke is because you pay everyone else first and hope that there's something left over for you. And today we're gonna fix that because if you're not paying yourself a real salary every single month, you don't have a business, you have a very expensive hobby. You work nonstop Nights, weekends, holidays. You pay your team, you pay your vendors, you pay your software, you pay your expenses, and then you look at the account and think, hopefully there's something left over for me. But usually there isn't. I'm gonna show you three things. First, why the leftover mentality keeps wedding business owners broke. Second, how to set up a real salary even when your income is inconsistent. And third, the mindset shift that turns your business into an actual paycheck. By the end of this you'll know exactly how to start paying yourself, even if your bookings feel unpredictable. So let's start with the biggest mistake that I see most wedding pros pay everyone else first and they hope that there's something left over for themselves. That right there is the biggest part of your problem, because when you treat your own pay like an afterthought, your business is gonna think about it like You end up burnt out and resentful and constantly stressed about money. You built a business and somehow you're the only person not getting paid properly. And I ran my business this way for way too long. So let me say this clearly. If you don't pay yourself first, you are literally working for free and you are the most important employee and your entire business, not your assistant. Not your associate, not your second shooter, you. When you're always last in line financially, your business will never become sustainable because overworked and underpaid can only last so long. So here's the shift that so many business owners miss. A real salary is not a bonus that you get when there's extra money. A salary is a non-negotiable line item in your business. And just like your rent, just like your payroll, just like your software, just like the insurance you need to run your business. You decide what you need to live, and then you build the business to support that number. Too many wedding pros treat their pay like an owner's draw. It's random, it's inconsistent. It's dependent on whether the month felt good, but that's not a salary and that's not how you can possibly run your personal life. A salary is consistent, and the moment you automate that consistency, something changes. You stop feeling like a freelancer, you stop feeling like your business is taking advantage of you, and you start operating like a real CEO. And here's another truth that most people don't wanna hear. Your business should serve your life, not the other way around. But if you're always waiting for a good month to pay yourself, you're building your life around the leftovers of your business. Let's flip that. Instead, I want you to decide what you need to manage your personal life, and then I want you to design a business and design revenue goals around how to deliver on that, because something interesting happens when your salary becomes non-negotiable. You start making better decisions. You stop saying yes to work that isn't profitable. You value your time more, and you start asking questions like, does this package actually make me money? Or why am I charging this price? Or how many weddings do I actually need to break even? And also, my break even now includes a salary for myself. You reverse engineer your pricing and bookings to meet the entire financial responsibility of the business, which includes paying you and suddenly your business has direction Paying yourself first forces you to run a real business because when your salary is non-negotiable, you have to know your numbers. You have to start seeing things like. Unprofitable packages or wasteful spending or underpriced services, you start tracking metrics, you start pricing for profit. You start making data-driven decisions instead of emotional ones, and all of a sudden your confidence grows and you attract better clients. You stop saying yes to everything, and you stop operating like a stressed out freelancer. You're now operating like the CEO your business needs it to be. Now, here's where I start to get pushback from people that I interact with, either in the dms or when I'm speaking in an event. I'll hear business owners say to me, Brandee, my income isn't consistent enough to pay myself. My leads are all over the place. I don't know whether I'm gonna have a $10,000 month or a$2,000 month, and I get it. Wedding businesses can feel unpredictable, but here's the key. You don't have to start with a perfect salary. You just need to start with a consistent one, even if it's small. Back at the beginning of my business, I paid myself a couple of hundred dollars every single month, but it was getting into the habit of making myself an expense of the business, and we slowly started to grow that as we grew the business. So even if it's a hundred dollars a month. The habit matters more than the number. So step one, choose a number that you can commit to every single month. Non-negotiable must be paid. Step two, automate the transfer. So it happens whether you think about it or not, this is massive. If you have to go into the bank account and make the transfer, you're gonna be afraid to do it. And so you're not going to, but everyone else somehow still gets paid. Set the transfer up on auto draft from one bank account to the other. So that it happens no matter what. Step three, increase your salary as your business grows. Consistency builds momentum and momentum builds confidence. Seeing a paycheck, even a small one reminds you that your business is working for you and not the other way around. Okay, so let's recap what we talked about. If you're not paying yourself first, you're literally working for free. A real salary is not a bonus. It's a non-negotiable because you are the most important employee in your business, and you must be paid for that. Your business should serve your life and not the other way around. And the fastest way to start running a real business is simple. Pay yourself first, even if it starts small. And if this hit a nerve, CEO, it's probably because you're ready to start running your business like a CEO instead of an overwhelmed operator. that's exactly what we help wedding pros do. Inside of Wedding Pro's, CEO, we help you price your services profitably, build predictable revenue, and create a business that actually pays you like a CEO if you want help doing that, the next step is simple. I wanna invite you to book a gap assessment call with our team. We're gonna look at your business, your pricing, your bookings, and your revenue, and help you see exactly what's missing between where you are now and where you wanna go. You can head over to wedding pro ceo.com/application, or just click the link in the description. CEO. We kept this one short and sweet and to the point because sometimes it's just one strategic tip that you need to really see growth and scalability in your business. If you loved this episode, I would love it if you would share it with another Wedding Pro who needs to hear this exact message. And if you're feeling extra generous, take two minutes to please leave a five star review on whatever platform that you're listening on. We appreciate it so much, and I will see you next time.