27. How Gillie Bird booked $71,000 in just weeks

Featured Creative Episode!
Meet Gillie Bird, a fine art luxury wedding photographer in Toronto. She shares how she got her start, the struggle she was facing in her business and the steps she took to transform her bookings - from just 2 weddings booked for 2024 to ELEVEN booked in just 7 weeks, including her first 5-figure contract and a celebrity wedding (a Bachelor Nation couple!).

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And find Gillie on instagram at https://www.instagram.com/gilliebird_

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Transcript

I kept on sort of blaming it on the market that I'm in, that people don't want to spend the money. There was a lack of direction in my mind because I wasn't sure what to do. I needed something to get the ball rolling because I could see people around me who were booking, and I didn't know why I wasn't booking, even though I maybe charge a little bit more or, you know, my ideal client might be a little bit different. I knew I needed something else to push me forward.

Let's face it, most of us would rather be creating art than running a successful business, but we can 100% do both. My name is Erica Ewing. I'm a wedding photographer in sales and marketing expert for creative entrepreneurs. I'm here to help you define the life of your dreams and create a business that supports just that. Welcome to the Successful Creatives podcast.

One of the reasons I created this podcast was to be able to showcase just incredible creatives who were doing incredible things in running really spectacular businesses, businesses that not only serve them creatively, but also support their life financially. That's what it's all about. Today I am so excited to feature Gillie Bird. She is a Toronto Fine Art wedding photographer and she is absolutely so, so talented. I first met her through my Super Attractor Academy and she'll talk a little bit about some of her struggles with bookings and the kind of stark difference that she experienced over just a period of weeks. So she first found out about me through the overlooked to fully booked masterclass, and she jumped in and learned about my approach to sales. She learned really what my sales system is and it really resonated with her. She doesn't take business investments lightly. She really considers where she's spending her money. She's got big priorities and big growth plans. And so every dollar that she spends in her business is going to be an important one. But she told me that she knew something was missing from her process and that she needed the structure.

So when she heard the system that I run in my business and that I help other creatives run in theirs, she knew she needed to be able to communicate her value in a different way, in a way that really stood out and set her apart from her competition and she was really ready to take a big, big leap. So she jumped in and within less than 8 weeks, while the program was still running, she booked $71,000 in weddings. And she's going to tell us exactly how she did it, and I am going to tell you. I was surprised in working with her twice. 1st when I saw she signed up. So all of my students fill out intake questionnaires where I really get to know their business. I can kind of dig in before the program even starts, and I was blown away by the caliber of her work, by her gorgeous website, by her branding. Everything like, this woman has it all dialed in. But her #’s were staggering in the opposite direction. You would never think that she would have been someone to struggle.

I think that that is a common misconception in our industry where we look at someone's work, we look at the, you know, like even as silly as the number of followers that someone has. And we think that that's an indication that they must be just totally crushing it in business. But it's like a duck swimming in water where everything looks calm and peaceful and successful, above the water, but below the water, it's like two little duck feet paddling as hard as you can and sort of swimming in circles. And that's kind of what was going on with her. And we'll get into her real numbers. She had, you know, like 100 inquiries over the last 6 months. And she booked, I think, 2 or 3 weddings. She had just 2 weddings on the books for 2024. And she's so candid and open with her numbers, she's going to blow you away. So first, when I saw her results or her initial results that she wasn't getting, knowing what the potential was for her. I looked at her work just as I do with everybody, and I just see this huge potential for the students who jump into my program. So that was the first time I was surprised. Now Gillie is a full time educator. She's a full time teacher, and this is something that's really important to her core. She doesn't plan to leave education. She's got big goals for the changes that she wants to see, really in the education system, which I love about her.

Okay, so she wasn't able to make our live calls. So the Superfractor Academy, it has a group coach program to it. There's a training portal that you get. There's my entire done for you system that you plug into, but there's also weekly group calls just to make sure everybody's on track, you know, do some of the work together live. She wasn't able to make any of these calls because she was busy with her day job, which was fine. But I always get nervous when my students can't make calls because I don't know how their progress is going. So Gillie shows up on week 8, the very last call, and she drops me a note in my inbox and she says, I'm so excited I get to make this live call. By the way, I've booked 11 weddings and since this program started, including my first five figure contract and a wedding from Bachelor Nation, this was a total mic drop that just appeared in my inbox, where she had been pretty much silent throughout the duration of the program, but she just showed up. She did the work every single week. She implemented the system into her business. She watched the replays of the lives, and she did the damn thing so that she had booked 11 weddings. And that was a matter of 7 weeks. The program was still running. I don't know, it's like a handful of weeks.

It's not even 2 months and she had this colossal growth. So I want you to know all about her. I want you to know about her business. She's such a creative. She is like an artist to start. She is an artist first. But when she tapped into a business system, a sales system, I want you to see the transformation that took over her business and just really is changing her life. And even beyond the sales system, there is a theme that weaves through her entire journey, her entire story from how she got started to where she is today, to incorporating super 8. I just want to see if you can pick up on what that theme is, because it's also been a huge pillar in my business, too, and I think it's an underlying factor to success, to growing a business that feels easy when you have this one little component dialed in and it's part of your marketing. Just a hint. Without further ado, here's the interview with Gillie Bird.

I am so excited for today's podcast interview. I have Gillie of Gillie Bird Photography with me and Gillie is a fine art luxury wedding photographer based in Toronto. You've got to go see her work. She is beyond talented. She is an artist and a creator and an incredible human being and I'm so excited to interview her today. Julie, how are you?

That's so kind of you to say all of that. I'm doing so well. Thank you so much for having me. 

Yes, I'm so excited to have you on the podcast. I've had the ability to get to know you over the last couple of months together through the Super Attractor Academy, and you are one of those people that I just want my audience to hear from. I just find you to be an inspiration. I see your work online and I just want more. So let's dig in your business. How did you get your start in photography?

I've always been an avid photographer for personal reasons. I always joke that I was the girl who, when we would go out to the club and university, I would have my camera around my wrist and upload all my photos to Facebook. But I started shooting with, you know, like a canon rebel in university, and I would do portraits of my friends and travel photography because I lived abroad for a year. I feel like something shifted in my mind, uh, in 2018. Some friends of mine had an engagement party, and it ended up being their surprise wedding. And I remember during the ceremony we were also surprised. But in my mind I was like, oh my gosh, I wish I had brought my camera to take photos. And my friend came up to me after and she was like, I was going to ask you to bring your camera, but I really wanted it to be a surprise for everyone. And I was like, well, I have my phone like, let's go take some photos of you guys and of your family. And they turned out really, really nice, considering they were just on my phone and I edited them. I put an album together and sent it to them and I was like, this. This was fun. Like, should I do this for real? And I went to Henry's, which is our local camera shop, and I bought a Canon 60, and I started playing around with it, doing family shoots and portrait shoots for my friends. And I think, when the ball really got rolling, when I started networking with photographers in my area and I went to some workshops in the area that photographers who I really admired at the time were putting on locally. I started 2nd shooting and the ball rolled from there and I got right into it.

You said you studied abroad. Where did you study?

I studied in Brussels at the University of Brussels. I'm a teacher now, and I majored in French language and linguistics. So I did a year of my French major program in Brussels.

That's amazing. What was that experience like?

It was awesome. I felt like I burst through my little bubble of what I knew the world to be, and gained some independence and a lot of language skills. And it was so fun. We chose Brussels because the airport in Brussels flies everywhere in Europe. It wasn't like I was in a small town where I would have to take a train to the airport. We could just go wherever we wanted. We traveled almost every weekend, my friends and I.

Right down the road from Brussels. Did you explore Bruges at all?

Yeah, it was amazing.

My husband and I had gone to Paris for our 10th anniversary, and friends of ours said, when you're in Europe, you should travel somewhere else. It was our first time. So somebody had mentioned Bruges to us. So we got to spend a few days there and it was just incredible.

The small towns in Belgium, I think are very underrated and people don't really know that they're there, like Bruges, Antwerp, Ghent, Liege, like they're all beautiful and everyone should. If you go to Belgium, you're not getting the full experience if you just go to Brussels. Although Brussels was really fun.

Okay, so I met you because you joined the Super Attractor Academy, which is my sales system and in your bookings, absolutely skyrocketed while you were in the 8 week program. So I really want to dive into what your results were from this program and just the shift that you've felt. But before we kind of get into that, let's talk about what your life was like, what your business was like before you joined the Academy and tapped into the sales system. What did business feel like back then? Back in January.

I kind of felt at a loss because I was looking at my work and I was trying to understand where the disconnect was because I take a lot of pride in what I create, and I knew that my imagery and that my work was beautiful. I kept on sort of blaming it on the market that I'm in. That people don't want to spend the money and I was just feeling very disappointed. There was a lack of direction in my mind because I wasn't sure what to do. Shooting film, there's a high cost on the back end, and I knew that I couldn't lower my rates to, um, to get bookings. It just wasn't an option and I so I needed, I needed something to get the ball rolling because I could see people around me who were booking, and I didn't know why I wasn't booking, even though I maybe I charge a little bit more or, you know, my ideal client might be a little bit different. I knew I needed something else to push me forward.

Yeah, and I think that's one of the reasons why I felt so compelled to get you on the podcast so quickly is because I do think that sentiment of feeling like, well, is it the market? Is it like when you in your case, you felt very good about the work that you're providing, the experience that you're giving to your clients? It feels like you should be booking, right? Like what? What's broken here? Is it the market? What is it? You have to, you know, dig into what that issue is and people likely come to your website, see your content and our thinking. Like Gillie, why would she have any problem booking right.

100% I that people do say that and my friends especially say that. Oh you're doing so well and I with some of my closest friends I had to be like, yeah, well not at the moment. Referrals would be great, but I don't like to I don't like to rely on friend referrals. I think that that's a tough place to put them in. But that's sort of where I was at. I was like, oh gosh, this isn't going the way I wanted it to go. Yep.

Yeah, so what was like the tipping point that pushed you to sign up?

I think it was the end of January right. Yep. And I had 3 weddings on the books for this year, and 1 of the couples had just messaged me to say that their relationship had ended. So then it was 2 weddings for that year for 2024. I had 2 weddings on the books as of January 2024, and it was the point where I was like, oh, okay, I need to do something, I joined. I joined the program after I saw an ad, so keep pushing out the ads.

Oh, good. That's good. Did you go straight from the ad to signing up for the program, or did you watch that initial webinar?

I watched the webinar. I signed up for the webinar, and then I think I bookmarked the link to your landing page somewhere and I didn't sign up right away. I took a day to think about it and then I did it.

I love it, I love it, and then we'll talk about the results that you've had since, um, since you've gotten in. But do you mind if I share a little bit from your initial, um, input questionnaire? Because I feel like that will really help just amplify what you were saying. Because in my program, I, we look at real hard numbers, right? Like, we look at the data and it's all about taking the emotion out of the sales process and out of why an inquiry is or is not booking and then creating like a systematic approach to that. And part of that is looking at the data. Yeah. Okay. With me sharing your numbers. Yes.

Of course.

Okay. Excellent. So you had said, I know the problem lies in what happens after the inquiry hits my inbox. So I'm really excited to make changes and see results in this program is really, really great for people who are getting inquiries in the door. Right. So I asked, how many inquiries did you receive in the last 6 months? And you had said, there are 100 inquiries in my inbox from the last 6 months, and I may have deleted some. So the # is higher. So you already had a ton of people reaching out to you about your services, right?

Yes, so many. I would say the majority either didn't respond to my initial email or came back and said the pricing was too high.

Yeah. So ghosting or felt like price shopping. Yep and of those 100 you booked 5. Yeah. Those are like staggering #’s.

Yeah, it was very demoralizing. I was so discouraged. Yeah. So one of those is like in the last 6 months. So the 3 of those were the 2024 weddings, 1 was a 2025 wedding that I booked way ahead. Then 1 of them was a last minute 2024 wedding or 2023 wedding rather. So yeah, I had the 3 from 2024 and then the 1 couple broke up and I was like, I need to do something.

So yeah. Hence back to the tipping point of like, okay, stuff needs to happen. Stuff needs to change, something needs to change. Okay. So you found the academy and that felt like the right fit for you. Like to me, the businesses that succeed in the business, owners that succeed are the ones that see that they have a problem and lean into that and really and really say like, okay, I'm I'm here. I'm committed to figuring out what the solution is. Exactly what you said. I'm not willing to reduce my prices to compete on price. I do know my work, I do. I have confidence in the value that I'm providing. I need to figure this out as to why. I have 100 inquiries and only 5 of them have booked, right? So you sign up for the Academy. What was that experience like for you from going to that place of 100 inquiries, 5 booked to the experience of joining the Academy.

Well I was so excited to have some structure. I think because I have another full time job that I'm not planning on leaving. It's been a bit of a difficult time balancing putting systems in place for my business. Having structures in place to help me with the sales process, especially because it feels, I think as women in business, it kind of feels a little icky for us sometimes, but that's a systemic issue that we have to overcome together.

Preach.

Yeah. So I was just really excited to have some structure. I knew from the webinar that the structure was something that felt attainable and at that time was going into my consult calls with no structure. I would have some questions ready to go, but no visuals, no slides, no sort of guiding framework to push me through. I think before I signed up for the program a couple months earlier, I had a consult with a planner and the couple, and I knew when I got off that call, I was like, there was something missing. I didn't even really know at the time that I was missing a huge chunk of what a consult should look like. And I didn't get that wedding. Tthat was another wake up call for me as well. So I was just excited to have that structure in place. Um, like the runway and all of those things?

Yes. What was your biggest game changing takeaway?

That's a really good question. Probably the power of the visual element of the consult, because I think that a lot of the couples who I booked for this year booked me. New, new on the call that they wanted to book me because they were seeing themselves in the images that were being shared on the call.

Mhm.

And that was a huge light bulb moment for me.

Right and I think that this is a piece that so many are missing is really the intentionality around the message and the consultation process showing visuals that your clients can see themselves in in a really intentional way. Can I share your results after joining the academy? Yes.

Of course.

Okay, good. So you had sent me a note and you had said this was just at, like last week of the program. You said, I've been implementing a lot of things in the back end. The biggest 1 is slides for consultations, calls like we just talked about. I feel like my message has been elevated and I've had incredible results. I've booked 11 weddings since the start of the course. So basically that was like a 7 week period at that point. One of them being a high profile Bachelor Nation wedding and another being my 1st 5 figure contract. Yeah. That's amazing.

I'm still at a loss that I'm shooting that bachelor wedding. Yeah that's, I really don't have words.

I am so proud of you. I'm not surprised at all. I almost feel like this system allowed you to, like, step into the role that you knew that you were already ready to play.

Yes, I knew that. I knew that my potential was there.

Yes. So it almost feels like you were able to lean into your own value more and position yourself to these people in a sales process that feels really good to them. It feels like a total no brainer to them. And now you're booking these weddings that you're like, I like, I can't believe that. I can't believe this is my booking.

I know, and they're all incredible people. They are all my exact ideal client, I didn't have to stray away from that. Even that 5 figure wedding. I'm so excited to shoot their wedding. But they're just such incredible, values oriented people. I'm just so stoked to have them and to be working with them.

I love that and that's been the same experience for myself too. Once I created the system, I was seeing how my clients up-leveled to the point where I'm literally obsessed with everyone that I'm booking now. They're all so kind hearted and gracious and so much gratitude for the things that we create for them. Yeah, absolutely. And I know values are really important to you too, and really like giving back to the community in making a positive impact on the community, too. Do you see an alignment there with your couples as well?

Yes. I think that incorporating my values into my copy on my website and into the things that I'm posting on social media has made a difference in who reaches out to me. I even noticed based on who follows me on social media, I know I see the little things that have made a difference. These couples, when they reach out, they tell me, you know, I noticed this about you. I noticed that you had this on your website and this is why we wanted to reach out, because it's a huge, not necessarily a deal breaker for us when when they're finding a photographer, but it definitely helps them to narrow in on someone who they, they know that they align with in terms of values. I think because I am a public school teacher and I've done a lot of graduate level research in social justice education. The things that I stand for are non-negotiables in my life, and I need that to be reflected in my business as well.

Yeah, yeah. I love that there's such power in messaging and being able to present yourself in a way where your ideal clients are able to, like, make that connection, self-identify and get into your world. Yeah. Okay. So can you tell me of those bookings, what was your total revenue that you brought in over those weeks together?

So the gross revenue from those weddings is $71,000.

Yay. Yeah, that's pretty awesome. That's very exciting.

Yeah, and you know, too, that this was just the tip of the iceberg. Like from here on out, it's up. Right. Yeah.

And I still have inquiries coming in for later in 2024. I'm trying to figure out how to make that work life balance and business balance happen. Yes, they're still coming in. It's a quieter time right now approaching like spring wedding season. But yeah, I'm really excited for what's to come.

Yeah, yeah I love it! I love all the things I can't wait to just keep following you and see what other magical celebrity weddings you have. So now that you have the system like we're talking about moving forward, what do you feel like is possible for you now that you have this system in place in your business?

Well, I feel like things are more streamlined and I can focus my energy maybe on other areas that I want to systematize. I know that my communications, my emailing forms, questionnaires, things like that. I think now that I have a sales system, now I can move on to a communication system and then I can systematize every part of my business, which I'm so excited about. But I think the biggest thing for me is the quality of the clients I'm booking means that this upward trajectory will allow me to get published and, you know, receive more. I don't know if accolades is the right word, but receive more accolades and attract even better, even better clients and even better weddings into my work. So I'm just really excited for what's to come in 2025. I kind of said at the start of this year, I was like, okay, if this isn't the year that things blow up, then it'll be 2025. I think that this year it's not that things blew up necessarily, but  I’ve booked so many incredible weddings for this year that I think that 2025 is going to be just next level.

Okay, 1 last question for you. What would you recommend to anybody who's struggling with bookings right now?

Don't lower your prices, stick to your guns. I think that pricing yourself based on your actual operating expenses and your actual needs, in terms of what you need to live, is more important than getting a booking. So if you can stand behind your pricing, then you'll be fine and put a system in place to attract the people that you want to work with. I think those are the biggest things.

Excellent. I could not echo those two things more. Where can people find you online?

Um, Instagram, TikTok, which I don't use as much. My ideal client is on Instagram, @gilliebird_. You can find me there and my website is gilliebird.com. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day. I have absolutely loved chatting with you and digging into your business even more, and I am beyond thrilled with the results that you've had from this program.

Thank you so much for having me. It's nice to talk everything out loud and really hear my accomplishments back at me, because sometimes I just move through life and forget all the amazing things I've done. So it's really, really affirming to hear it, you know, retold to me.

Yes. Good, good. And I and I 100% agree there too. Like I feel like as creatives and as entrepreneurs, we're always like, okay, did it on to the next, did it on to the next. And so yes, it's really, really nice to pause and be able to celebrate you.

Thank you so much. Have an awesome day. I'm so glad that I got to come and chat.

Thanks, Gillie. 

There is a way to stand out in today's market, bigger and better than you could have ever imagined, so that instead of dealing with price shoppers, instead of dealing with the frustration of ghosting, you become the sought after creative. You become the person that people are willing to spend more for. And it starts with just one simple shift. I'm teaching my entire approach to this in an upcoming masterclass, and you can snag your seat totally for free. This is the overlooked to Fully Booked masterclass. 

It's exactly how I raised rates by 45% and book even to today at a 90% close rate on my consultations. It's how Gillie Bird from episode 27, was able to book 11 weddings in just 7 weeks, including her first five figure contract and a wedding from Bachelor Nation. It's how Anne Bailey ditched her lowest package and booked the very next consult. It's how Matt Green was able to shake off a slump and book a wedding within a week, and how Lauren Carroll has booked 8 out of 8 of her last consultations. This program is so powerful and I am teaching it all in my free masterclass. Click the link in the show notes and join me on June 5th. This information is going to be a game changer if you've got big growth planned, but you're feeling like you need a little bit of a boost.