Your mindset about money affects more than just your business. It affects your confidence, your feelings of worth and the value that you place on your time and work. Today we’re talking about all things money with return guest and friend, Kimberly Wylie. Kimberly is an absolute inspiration in this field and even though she started out in the world of finance and is a pro at Excel spreadsheets, that didn’t prevent her from experiencing the fears and doubts that so many small business owners encounter when it comes to pricing and selling their products. Kimberly went down the road of charging what everyone else was charging and working too hard for too little. She made the painful realization that the value she was placing on her services and products was actually a reflection of how she valued herself. It didn’t take long before she realized that she already knew how to see the stories that are told through numbers in a business and decided to start telling a different story for herself and her business partner Jessica Sikes. 

Is talking about money and pricing uncomfortable for you? Kimberly contends that is actually a good thing! By definition, a business should be profitable and in an ever-changing economy, it is vital to consider how we value our work, time, and most importantly, the value we provide to our clients. To level up and scale your business, Kimberly challenges you to stop thinking of photography as a commodity and, instead, cross the bridge into making every session special and step into creating a true luxury brand for your business. 

How? Listen in as Kim gives actionable steps to take to help shift your money mindset into thought processes that will increase your bottom line.

You’ll learn how to:

• Stop pricing from your own pocketbook.
• Get uncomfortable (in a good way!) with your pricing.
• Base your pricing on actual math and see the stories that numbers are telling.
• Value yourself and your time.
• Build trust with your clients to send the message that your products and services are very much worth the price you are charging.
• Understand the energy of money.

 

Here’s a glance at this episode:

• [2:58] - We all have our own feelings about money. Your views on money are developed by many components and impact your decision making.
• [4:10] - Money is just a piece of paper and in the world of cryptocurrency, it is just an agreed upon value.
• [7:10] - When digital photography came along, many people became photographers and eventually led to photography becoming a commodity.
• [9:31] - The way the “shoot and burn” model is used is to create disposable imagery.
• [11:53] - There are so many elements that come together for a finished product. The commodity is the digital file, but the finished piece is on the wall or in an album.
• [12:45] - Many women have started their work in photography and Kim believes that undercharging for their work is a result of why they became a photographer.
• [16:06] - Numbers tell stories and help you make decisions.
• [18:28] - Kim shares the metrics she uses and pays close attention to.
• [19:40] - There is a shift that must take place if you do not have a money mindset. It is uncomfortable to charge what you are worth with the commodity mindset.
• [21:00] - Kim advises to avoid pricing based on your own pocketbook.
• [23:01] - You might think that you would never spend an amount of money on something, but it is because you can create it.
• [25:08] - Initially, Kim priced her services and products based on her competitors’ pricing.
• [27:01] - It is harder to make risky decisions if you don’t have support or a “safety net.” 
• [28:03] - If consumers see your low pricing, they may think that your work is not valuable.
• [32:56] - Knowing you need to make changes but not knowing what the changes should be can be very scary.
• [34:49] - On the flip side, sometimes money causes some decisions to be easier to make.
• [37:51] - Consider all of the little things that go into your time.
• [39:16] - Recognizing her own buying behavior changed the way Kim priced her services and products.
• [41:06] - “Shoot and burn” is okay, but bringing in more money will be tougher.
• [43:02] - Kim describes some of the extra things you can do to level up to luxury.
• [46:03] - The first step is to raise prices and then you can get creative in building more value.
• [48:39] - The intangible elements to a luxury brand are often not considered in pricing.
• [50:23] - The only success in “shoot and burn” is volume.
• [51:42] - Figure out the things that make people want to come to you. It isn’t the commodity, it’s the service.
• [54:02] - Think of all the pain points of your ideal client and provide a solution right at the start.
• [55:17] - Your mindset will shift you from “commodity in better packaging” to true luxury.
• [57:20] - Photographers who are the most successful have amazing relationships with their clients.
• [60:12] - For many luxury clients, time is what is most valued.
• [63:17] - When thinking about your ideal client or the client that wants it all, ask yourself if there is anyone else that offers the experience you provide.
• [65:02] - Make your rules based on the bulk of your clients.
• [66:19] - We all have things that are gifts and they come easy to us. But they also become easy for us to devalue in ourselves.
• [67:57] - Get uncomfortable with your prices.
• [70:53] - Just because you have your system working like a well-oiled machine, doesn’t mean you should charge less because it takes you less time.
• [72:03] - Allison references a questionnaire in the highly recommended book Secrets of Six-Figure Women by Barbara Stanny.
• [75:06] - Using a personal experience, Allison demonstrates the importance of intrinsic value of yourself and your business.

Links and Resources:

Kimberly Wylie
Website | Instagram

Do The ReWork
Website | Instagram

Allison Tyler Jones
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn