Everything is BS
Navigating the Wedding Industry: A Guide for Entrepreneurs Pt. 1
Ever been caught in a heatwave at Disney World? We certainly have, and boy do we have a story to tell you. Picture this; long lines, restless kids and a sky-high temperature that could fry an egg on the sidewalk. But it wasn't all doom and gloom, far from it. We got some insider insight from a member of our family who happened to be a Disney intern. And because we love you, we're sharing all the tips and tricks we learned.
Meanwhile, back home, we swapped the spiraling roller coasters for a roller coaster of emotions as we discuss the upcoming Star Wars movie and the new Barbie film. Brace yourself for a nostalgia trip as we reminisce about the Barbie toy aisles and how they compare to the portrayal of Barbie's world in the movie. And we don't stop there. We delve into the nitty-gritty of the casting decisions and the subtle, yet powerful messages we saw in the film.
Entrepreneur or an aspiring photographer looking to make it in the wedding industry? We've got you covered. Hear us out on the pros and cons of marketing platforms like the Knot and Wedding Wire, and why we think Google, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube may be a more fruitful investment. We share our thoughts on the kind of hustle and dedication you need to turn your passion into a full-time career. If you're ready to break free from the 9-5 grind, this is for you.
Ever been caught in a heatwave at Disney World? We certainly have, and boy do we have a story to tell you. Picture this; long lines, restless kids and a sky-high temperature that could fry an egg on the sidewalk. But it wasn't all doom and gloom, far from it. We got some insider insight from a member of our family who happened to be a Disney intern. And because we love you, we're sharing all the tips and tricks we learned.
Meanwhile, back home, we swapped the spiraling roller coasters for a roller coaster of emotions as we discuss the upcoming Star Wars movie and the new Barbie film. Brace yourself for a nostalgia trip as we reminisce about the Barbie toy aisles and how they compare to the portrayal of Barbie's world in the movie. And we don't stop there. We delve into the nitty-gritty of the casting decisions and the subtle, yet powerful messages we saw in the film.
Entrepreneur or an aspiring photographer looking to make it in the wedding industry? We've got you covered. Hear us out on the pros and cons of marketing platforms like the Knot and Wedding Wire, and why we think Google, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube may be a more fruitful investment. We share our thoughts on the kind of hustle and dedication you need to turn your passion into a full-time career. If you're ready to break free from the 9-5 grind, this is for you.
Every week five or three, two, one we are here starting live.
Speaker 1:Well, it's just fun to say that we're not really live. You know it does.
Speaker 2:It does feel alive when it does the five, four, three, two, one. It's a little like it does.
Speaker 1:If you're listening to this, you're it's, you're listening to a recorded podcast, but for us it feels live. So, brooke, you just went on an adventure to Drumroll.
Speaker 2:There's no.
Speaker 1:Disney World.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What's the line? It's all football players say they did in the nineties when they win the Super Bowl. What are you going to do now?
Speaker 2:Oh.
Speaker 1:I'm going to rest.
Speaker 2:I'm going to rest.
Speaker 1:That is the appropriate response. Yeah, that is what you and I would do. I don't need to go to rest.
Speaker 2:I don't understand how parents are able to like take a vacation and run after their children around these huge parks and then like get home on like a Saturday or a Sunday and then go back to work on Monday. Like I don't. I feel like I need a vacation to recoup from my adventure vacation.
Speaker 1:Wild yeah I it's nuts what? So I entirely agree with that. I've been on vacation enough times where if I've set up vacation, that goes into the next day is work it is. It is so stressful, there's a little bit of anxiety in there and I need that almost if I could have a weekend after a vacation sounds.
Speaker 1:So this is, you know, first world problems, but having that vacation, just just, I'd be good with one day, but two days is prime. That's where it's. You know, get home, laundry your house, you know, maybe tidy up, and you just kind of get back into the groove of your life, and then you're like okay, I'm ready for work.
Speaker 2:Well, I've, I planned accordingly for that. But then we got home. I'm a nut Like I just can't when I'm sitting at my house and I like we got back on Thursday evening so we did have the weekend, and I'm still like exhausted. Well, because we got home and like the first day home was like rest day, which was good, but I'm still. I'm so antsy that I ended up just cleaning the house Like I don't, nothing was messy, it was fine. My mom stayed here while we were gone and she didn't like create a mess, but I just I was just like that need.
Speaker 2:I'm like okay towels, sheets got, you know like yeah. And then the following day, we actually just decided that we well, we didn't just decide, we've had this plan for a while, but we like fully committed to throwing a Halloween party this year.
Speaker 2:And yes, and so we were like okay, like what do we need to get done in order for that to happen? And we've been talking about redoing the basement for a really long time, but it's such a daunting task to like think about starting and like putting up the walls and doing all the things, especially because, like we hadn't cleared out the basement yet. So then on Saturday and Sunday it was basically like okay, like planning mode, let's clean out the basement so that when we're ready to actually throw up the walls, we can just do that. And it's not, like you know, there's like steps to get to the project.
Speaker 2:So what should have been and I planned accordingly for a full weekend home to like relax, because I knew we were going to go to Disney and like run around and all the what I planned didn't happen, and I'm just a nut. So I ended up cleaning and we cleaned the garage and we like cleaned out the basement, and so it's all ready for us to start when we're ready to start. But now, like today, I have all the things to do and I'm just like I'm dragon, I'm like so bad.
Speaker 1:So what is the? What is the lesson learned here? So you mentally went into this with I'm going to set aside all this time and it's going to be great when I get back from Disney World after being exhausted, being in the heat in July. Oh my God, it was so hot, so hot, I'm sure it was.
Speaker 1:So I mean it was disgusting here too, I mean I was melting I mean July, the I'm sure you were melting, I'm sure it gets the only difference between here and there at for this specific weather week, or whether month I should say the whole month of July here has been just humid every single day was that the sun is even higher in the sky where you are, so it's even hotter during midday.
Speaker 2:So it was literally nuts.
Speaker 2:And so like, okay, like I had such a good time at Disney because my little brother was there and he was showing us around and if for anybody who doesn't know, my little brother is a Disney intern I think we talked about that on the last podcast so he really did have like a really he had a good insight to like where everything was, how everything was going to go and all of that.
Speaker 2:I think I'm an idiot because well, first of all, we planned this trip in July, not because we wanted to go in the dead heat of the summer, but we planned it because your internship, you can either re-up and stay for longer, but he hadn't gotten that opportunity yet. So we didn't know if he was coming home in August when his internship actually ended, or if he was going to be able to extend. So I figured like, okay, well, I want to go before. I, you know, before he doesn't have the opportunity to help us out with the tickets and all that. So we planned it for July and then, a week after we booked our tickets, he was offered the extension into next April. So we could have gone this winter.
Speaker 1:but you didn't know, you didn't know, but that's still frustrating slightly.
Speaker 2:I was like, okay, I guess we'll just melt in the heat. So yeah, we were walking around but I feel really dumb because I didn't. I thought like okay, the dead of the summer it's going to be, it's going to be dead, Like the parks, like who would willingly do that? Apparently, a lot of people willingly go in July, like so much so, where we had to wait three hours for the Tower of Terror. Three hours Three hours.
Speaker 1:Oh, and you couldn't? I'm assuming you couldn't do the. I don't even know what their special past is called anymore Lightning Lane.
Speaker 2:So Lightning Lane you okay. So I was really confused, because when we used to go we used to get fast passes.
Speaker 1:That's the story I hear over and over, and people are confused, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, it sucked because, like I was thinking like, okay, tyler got us into the parks for free with his you know, the water, the water the microphone is like.
Speaker 1:I tried, I did not push back away. I have to remember, like, like, really.
Speaker 2:So we figured, like he's getting us into the parks for free, we could totally splurge on the Lightning passes, fast passes, whatever they're called. The genie, whatever the thing is, is like the Lightning passes you can only use for one ride per day and they're $15 for the ride. So to go on Guardians of the Galaxy, we had to pay $45 for us to get in line and like a virtual queue. It was really strange. We kind of like we felt so stupid because we got to the park and we didn't know that that was like the thing. So we ran right towards Guardian of the Galaxy but they already had an instant queue set up. So there is no way to actually just get in line like you used to be able to with like amusement parks and stuff.
Speaker 2:You literally have to have the app login, do the queue and then you're like virtually waiting in line for a certain time.
Speaker 1:They don't have a regular line for it.
Speaker 2:No, no, because it's new and because everybody wants to get on it you either have to pay for the Lightning passes or you have to be set up in that virtual queue from like the night before. So we were there at rope drop thinking like, okay, we'll get in, we'll run right to Guardians of the Galaxy, We'll be like one of the first in line. So we were one of the first ones to actually reach the ride. But we literally physically could not get in line. They wouldn't let us.
Speaker 1:That's so frustrating, oh my God.
Speaker 2:We were pissed and we didn't know how to use the apps, because Tyler he works there and like he doesn't really have to do that stuff.
Speaker 2:But we do as the like, the regular guests. So we were so mad. We're like, okay, well, we just got here for early entry to get into the line and then it's literally not even something that you can do. So we paid $45 to get into the Lightning lane and then you, it's not even like a lightning lane. You have to wait for like a one PM time where your lightning time is at one PM.
Speaker 1:So it's like so when you, when you actually went though at one PM, how long did you have to wait?
Speaker 2:Like 30 minutes, but it was I mean Still 30 minutes. I'm telling you, the parks were like literally insane Like. I had no idea. Me and Chad, like you know, we had a really good time because we're like waiting in line with Tyler and, like you know it's it's fine, like we're having a really good time. But we looked at each other and we're like how do parents do this, with like screaming children in the line for like literally like three hours for some of these rides? It's nuts.
Speaker 1:That's crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So I need to know though, because I've heard everything about that ride the Guardians of the Galaxy ride Is it cool?
Speaker 2:Exceeded all expectations. It was like it was so cool.
Speaker 1:My brother said it was the best ride he's ever done. Like that's what he told me he said. As far as a like it checks all the boxes of craziness or ridiculous unexpected.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like it's, it's got like um shit. I know it's got like some virtual stuff, so like you think you're going one way and you're actually going the other way, and like the cars turn and it's. It is a very cool ride. It was worth the $45 to get.
Speaker 1:Damn it Damn it Brooke, it's not helping. I know.
Speaker 2:Well, the one thing that we didn't get to do, um. We thought that we were going to have like a full day to be able to go to universal Um, so I thought that I was going to be able to do the Velocico star and Chad was supposed to redeem himself on space mountain. And we got to magic kingdom and they had just closed the ride. I don't know if somebody like throw up or lost something, or yeah, well, it was stupid because we did that Devastated.
Speaker 1:That's one of my favorite rides Space we did the park hopper passes Um.
Speaker 2:we wanted to go on. What was it, Tron? What's in that park too?
Speaker 1:And then also the rides too, that I it was also closed?
Speaker 2:Did it was closed? It was closed. We we parked Magic kingdom.
Speaker 1:Get your shit together.
Speaker 2:Magic kingdom sucked Like I'm not even going to lie Like we loved Epcot, we loved animal kingdom. Hollywood studios was so packed that, like you, could barely even do anything.
Speaker 1:Like that was where we had to wait in mind for three hours. That Star Wars land is really cool though, so I mean that's good. That's going to be a long time before those crowds go down, because that is such a unique right?
Speaker 2:Just all the detail and everything. Why the story?
Speaker 1:about that place so do you? Yeah, I'll make it short, but I'm going to have you continue. I don't want to hear more about your, your, your experience here.
Speaker 2:Um, so a few things. That stood out was obviously the three hour waits, Um the Star Wars thing. I felt like, uh, we, we got the blue milk, which was really good Did you did you try that?
Speaker 1:Get that Yep. Did you get the green one? I, someone else that I think Kelly's, Kelly's mom got it maybe, or a dad and I tried it so but I definitely had the green one.
Speaker 2:The green one is orange. Yeah, the green one is orange blossom. I looked them up cause, like we didn't want to waste $8 on a blue milk, I it was like ew, yeah, it's not, it's not appetizing, it's like the hot yeah, like hot July is like blue milk.
Speaker 1:I didn't even know about that Yep Well, so I wanted to make sure it didn't have any dairy and stuff.
Speaker 2:So the blue one was dragon fruit and the green one is orange blossom. So we didn't try the green one, but we did try the blue one. We didn't try the blue one with tie and we also did this thing in Hollywood studio. Well, so, first of all, the animal kingdom was just, or no. Animal kingdom was amazing, Magic kingdom. We parked, hopped over there and then, within five minutes of getting off of the train thing, they closed space mountain. And I guess when Chad was a kid, he like they were in line and then, like he was so young that his brother kept doing this thing of like oh, like you know, you're not tall enough, or like you might have a heart attack, or whatever you know, and like. So when they got up to the line, after waiting for like an hour and something, Chad just like totally melt, he melted and was like I can't do this, Yep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so he was like I want to redeem myself.
Speaker 1:So he still hasn't done it yet.
Speaker 2:He still hasn't done it because when we got there, they closed space mountain and they closed Tron and they were right next to each other. So we waited in line for haunted mansion for about an hour and a half and then which? There was a screaming little girl in the line and I totally, totally, totally understand that like parents can't really do anything. But this mom specifically was like taking her toys out of her bag and was like I'm going to hand these out to the other kids if you don't stop crying, which made her cry even harder and the parents did not care. It was like she's just screaming behind us and all three of us were like can you just like you have to do something that isn't going to drive your kid? Absolutely insane, you know like. So there was that.
Speaker 1:We were waiting in line to Disney. That's the risk always is, just because it's, I mean, it's a park for kids, essentially, and adults, but but magic kingdom is geared so much more towards the kids.
Speaker 2:So we were like, okay, we can't be here.
Speaker 1:Like literally we all were like did you do the hall of presence? Kelly's going to have to hear us. No, all of presidents is in magic kingdom and for me I thought it was one of the coolest rides. It is corny as all you. I wish I would have told you and you would have just did it. It's like a 30 minute show. You're going to get in because the lines are never that crazy long.
Speaker 2:And well, because somebody looks at the hall of presidents is like okay, wait a minute, though wait a minute that fear that. So it's a nerd huge nerd.
Speaker 1:I don't even care, it was incredible. They got things in glass cases that are from past presidents. Before you go into the show yeah. That I want like, like we're talking 1800s.
Speaker 1:They have like somebody's oh my God, I wish I could remember who. I think they have Roosevelt's like like coin bag or something it says in the case like this is actual coin bag and it's like, oh, that's kind of cool Again, nerding out here. But then you go into the theater and it's huge. I mean it feels bigger than an IMAX theater, if you've ever been there. It is, it is massive. And I always think to myself when I went in there for the first time, how many seats were there and it was like there's no way they're filling this up, this, this. I mean there's an enormous amount of seats.
Speaker 2:Do they?
Speaker 1:They didn't fill them up but it was a lot. It was still a lot of people and like there's a whole like this like 10 minute movie that goes through like history of all our presidents up, but it's, it's really cool, it's really well done. It's not like boring documentary style, it's very like you know it's animated action, he kind of thinks you're in.
Speaker 2:Maybe I'll tell Tyler to go check it out.
Speaker 1:Tell him to check it out and the theater show is done. The screen lifts up and it's animatronic.
Speaker 2:Every US president, all of them they all talk and they all say something.
Speaker 1:It was I mean all the way up through Biden Like they've had them all.
Speaker 2:Animatronics are usually like a little creepy, Are they like? Oh, they are a little bit creepy, but you got.
Speaker 1:Lincoln's. You know he's, he's like the narrator, so he like narrates the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Oh, my God.
Speaker 1:It, just it just. The spotlight moves around to each one and it tells you some little thing about it. So it was done For me. As an adult, I was, like you know, magic Kingdom is full of. It's a very, very kid oriented.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a nice break.
Speaker 1:I was like oh yeah, that was exciting. So and there's, it's relatively not super kid loud screaming, you know air conditioned theater.
Speaker 2:Kid wants to sit there and watch the president Exactly.
Speaker 1:All those things you did as a kid that you hated, but now as an adult, I'm like oh I, you know, I appreciate it Well.
Speaker 2:so there was one other thing that stuck out about our trip that, like I don't know, I felt like kind of a dick after, but like so we waited to get and I'm so curious to know if you know about this, if you've done this. If you, I don't know, we didn't. So we waited to get into this like 50 style diner and like again you had to get into the virtual queue and you had to make your reservations, like well in advance. No, this one was Hollywood Studios.
Speaker 1:Hollywood Studios.
Speaker 2:I think it was called like prime time cafe or something, and I this is a spoiler like if you are into the Disney magic and I guess you don't know about this and you want to go to prime time cafe, skip the next 30 ish seconds because we didn't know and I guess everybody else in the restaurant knew. So Tyler said that he's always wanted to go and eat in this prime time cafe. So we make the reservations and the. I don't know. I don't know if this had anything to do with it. The woman at the at the, the hostess stand was like kind of rude to Chad, but like we were like okay, like we do keep trying to go in a little early, you know. So like maybe it's warranted or whatever. But when we got in it was really cool. It was themed like fifties, everything.
Speaker 1:The.
Speaker 2:TVs were old. They had, like Dick Van Dyke on the screen, which he always reminded me of my dad growing up, which my dad.
Speaker 1:I saw the photo. I saw the photo you posted on.
Speaker 2:Instagram. Don't they look kind of similar? I mean, dick Van Dyke has a little bit more of like the ball nose on the end. But I always felt like when I watched Harry Potter I was like literally watching my dad or not.
Speaker 1:Harry Potter, oh my God, mary Poppins I absolutely just had a panic attack of like where did I miss the big guy? Can Harry Potter?
Speaker 2:No, no, I'm just still waking up. So we get into the diner and they, they, they bring us over to our seats and, like our waiter is like yelling at the other people in our room, like kind of like, like he got behind, like one of the girls and he's like right, like in her ear was like you know, and she's like, and then, like we sat down, he's like all right, everybody say hi to your cousins and everybody's like hi, cousins, and we're like okay, like all three, and we're starving, like we I think we were to the point where we were hangry, like it was like okay, like we've been in the theme park when it's hot, yes, happens pretty quick.
Speaker 2:The way that he's yelling at everybody, we're like, okay, like what the fuck is happening here? Like we didn't know, like I don't know. So he comes over and he slams the utensils on the table and he's like here, and then he like throws our straws at us and he's like what do you want? I'm looking at Chad like this doesn't seem like a Disney thing, you know. So then he's like you know, like what can I get you out of dad's liquor cabinet? You know, whatever he's like I have the key. But just being very like animated gruff, like kind of like I don't know, he was like making fun, making fun of people, but in a lighthearted way. And then people are looking at us and like laughing at us because, like we don't understand, but they very clearly do. Like we really like we felt like we were like the butt of a joke. So so I, so I looked at them and we're all hungry and this guy is like in Chad's ear.
Speaker 2:Like he like came up behind him and was like like about the menu and then, like I, looked at the woman next to me and I was like well, I, and I think I kind of I definitely like ruined the vibe because I looked at the woman next to me and I was like we had no idea that this is like what we were doing. We didn't know, like we're starting to get the idea that like this is a themed restaurant and like he's acting and whatever, but like when we sat down, it's like it just was very jarring, like to feel that way as soon as we sat down. So I looked at her and I was like we had no idea and then they kind of they looked at us like you guys didn't know and you know he, it was really really strange. I think I killed the vibe because I was just like we didn't really sign up for this, like we had no idea that this was like what this was and we were really. So he literally brought out a hat that said hangry and he put it on my head and I'm like, okay, I get it. This is like Dick's last resort kind of.
Speaker 2:Have you ever been to that restaurant?
Speaker 1:No, I have not.
Speaker 2:So Dick's last resort is like they make fun of you, like the whole time they make fun of you, they put like feeling of heard of this?
Speaker 2:I definitely have heard of this, my sister and I went with my parents at one point and, like you know, they put like on her hat, like the titty fairy missed my house, like it's, it's that kind of point. So he like did this like chef's hat. Then he wrote on the side like I'm hangry because, like I was the one who killed the vibe and like you know he's like there are three rules of this restaurant. Like one, no elbows on the table. And like my elbows were on the table, and he looked at me and I was like okay, like okay, like just fucking dude, we just put our menus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, because, and like the other thing is like, we're not children. You know, like it was, there were the other tables in there like they had kids.
Speaker 2:And like he was saying like you know, rule number three is like you eat all of your vegetables. Are we're going to give them to you? And it's like okay, dude, like we are grown ass adults here. Like he looked at Tyler at one point and was like so, are you going to set the table or what? And Tyler's like okay, I don't really know how he's like, I'll walk you through it. I was like okay yeah, that's what.
Speaker 1:So Disney is full of these experiences and experiences, but it's unfortunate that you didn't know we had no idea. Yeah, I mean, that's hilarious. It's kind of funny after the fact, but but I do feel bad that if you're, if you're angry, you're hot and tired and you're looking for this and you don't want this. Terrible, terrible. I would definitely be like, oh God, we fail, we picked the wrong place.
Speaker 2:And everybody else was like. They were like, oh, this is our second time here this week, like this is our favorite place to come. You know, they were specifically requested this actor to like be there. Wow, yes, and he was. Do he was. He was very nice. It just was like a lot to like walk into and not know. So I totally felt like, oh, like I'm the bitch that killed the vibe.
Speaker 1:You know, I just was like he's like yelling at us and I'm like you know how many times they probably go through that, with people doing the exact same thing.
Speaker 2:No, he said he goes. You're my first table in four months.
Speaker 1:That didn't know about this, and I'm in chat and Tyler were like what the fuck. I don't believe him. I don't know if maybe he's just saying that. I just I find it very hard to believe that the millions of people that go through that park and that restaurant that that that happens.
Speaker 1:Maybe we should have like read about like the experience or something I don't know, I just like they've got so many changes going on that, for someone who hasn't been to an amusement park in a while which is for a lot of people, because Disney is expensive and if you don't live in Florida, so you know it's a trip, it's a planned thing there's been so many changes that there needs to be some form of a serious like I don't know, like a welcome email, like like a you need to read this to understand how this park works. Now. Parks, it's not, it's not and it's. I don't remember there being good information the last time we went, which was 2021.
Speaker 1:I think we went but I don't remember receiving anything that was like these are the major changes and how you book your ride and how you do this, that would be a really good thing.
Speaker 2:So if they are, it was pretty darned seeing it. So, yeah, no, it was. It was pretty jarring, like it was like like it kind of made me upset that, like you know, you go to an amusement park and you expect to wait in the lines, right, like if you don't pay for the fast passes, you expect to be able to just jump in a line and get in it. I felt bad for people who, like maybe aren't that savvy with their phones. Like I literally couldn't figure it out on my app.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:I'd had to book like my lightning lane through his and I'm like for people who don't understand this like that seems like such a pain in the ass to like get into a virtual queue and like know your time.
Speaker 1:And then you still have to wait a certain market. They have decided that it's probably millennials.
Speaker 1:Now, yeah the millennial generation is going to be the ones that have the kids, because we're all in our 30s and they need to make it exciting and new. And some board that does their marketing and everything decided that this is how this is going to go, especially with the fast pass, and I know that was a big risk and investment and apparently I know that the general reviews and this is a generalization I remember reading this last year that people are unhappy with that whole concept, but their sales went up, so I don't know they're still going, they're still making money in the park, so it's kind of wild.
Speaker 1:So if you hate it that much, don't go. I guess that's that's the end story to not support that. But people are still going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it was, it was. It was pretty crazy. And then there was like so there's like a little bit of like that, and then I'll shut up about this, but there's like a little bit of that Disney magic that I feel like you get so much more when you have like an actual child with you, even as an adult, like, for example, I don't know if you saw like the Barbie movie, did you see that?
Speaker 1:yet so it's funny to say that we literally saw it two nights ago.
Speaker 2:Okay, you have to tell me about it, but I will.
Speaker 2:We were getting on this ride and like I don't know, like whatever, we're adults, so like the adults are going to talk to us and whatever, but like for you to be a cast member. We were waiting in line for it was Far Guardians of the Galaxy, I think, and right before we got on the guy no, it wasn't, it was something else. But anyway, the guy was like did you guys see the Barbie movie? And I'm like no, and he was like it sucked, I wanted to slit my wrist after it and I'm like yo, I'm like dude, like there are kids in line and like what are you, you know? Like this is a cast member, this is a cast member.
Speaker 2:That was like trying to help us get in line and he's talking about slitting his wrist after seeing the Barbie movie.
Speaker 1:Oh, I thought you were going to talk about the base state in character Interesting.
Speaker 2:No, well, that's what I'm saying is like I think that a lot of like Disney people were like comfortable breaking character around us because, like we were adults, we were very clearly an adult group me, chad and Tyler. So like, regardless of like us being adults or whatever, I just think that maybe at a theme park, you shouldn't be talking about how you hated the Barbie movie so much that you're. We're ready to slit your wrist after it.
Speaker 1:I just kind of looked at him.
Speaker 2:Like first of all, you're talking to a woman. Like you're talking to a woman like I know what that movie was about I didn't see it yet but like maybe don't. And then also like you don't know if other kids are like listening, I don't know, I just felt kind of weird. Like it seemed like I really wanted to go and like it sounds so stupid, like experience the magic and whatever, but like when you have so many people looking at you, like yeah, just like this group of adults that someone trying to I Don't know and be cool, break character and and be the opposite of what you described in your story, where you wanted this guy to break character because he was.
Speaker 1:You were not expecting it.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, here.
Speaker 2:I am complaining about how this dude is talking to us like normal people instead of you know, and we're like we wish that we he could just get out of his role a little bit.
Speaker 1:So we can enjoy our meal. Just it's had. Yeah, just just dial down how much out of your character.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but no, that's not okay to say that's not a stranger, that's you know in front of children, like at a party.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like. No, that's weird, that's weird.
Speaker 2:So your Star Wars thing. And then I want to hear about the Barbie movie, because I I'm still like, like Jerry, I I'll see it, but I don't want to pay to go see it, cuz I don't, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Star Wars thing. I had a Star Wars story, didn't?
Speaker 2:you did Shit you're like, I'll let you finish, and then I talked for 30 minutes.
Speaker 1:Oh, it's okay. Star Wars story. I'm gonna wrangle my brain. What was it? I Don't remember, so it's gonna it'll come back to me. I'm Barbie, barbie. I thought it was great, so did you. Did you like?
Speaker 2:see a lot of like the hidden messages in it that are or did Kelly have to be like? This is this and this is so Kelly loved it.
Speaker 1:Kelly loved that movie and I so first, like you know, preface for my opinion. I thought it was a great movie. It did not tap into some of those emotional, nostalgic things and themes, because I just didn't play with Barbies when I was a kid. So like do I remember that era and generation? Absolutely, that's when I was a kid, going to Toys R Us and it didn't matter.
Speaker 1:Target Walmart you walk every aisles and you knew the Barbie aisle because it was all pink. So it was, that was, but I just went right by it. So I, I I think they did an excellent job with the constantly, how do you make a Barbie movie and make it for Adults, but there's gonna be kids that see it, so you can't go too crazy, because Barbie's still a thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and.
Speaker 1:I thought they hit it perfect. It was done very well. They made it. It's not all, it's not what you think. I think Kelly said it well. She was like I think I went into this thinking it was all gonna be like it has as and fun, and it actually ends up not being that, and it was yeah whoa, so good.
Speaker 1:Good messages in there, good storyline For for what you can create with a movie that's titled Barbie. That's literally about a children's doll. I don't think they could have done a better job so it was supposed to be Amy Schumer. Yes, I think casting. I can't make my name Margot Robbie Margot.
Speaker 2:Robbie is definitely the way to go. Yeah she literally is Barbie.
Speaker 1:She's so beautiful she she did such a great job, yeah, between her and Ryan Gosling, who also was the perfect Ken I Bet he was I like.
Speaker 2:I can't wait until it comes out. I'm not gonna pay to go see it and like, but I've listened and paying more than I have.
Speaker 1:Go. You should go see it right before it, right before it's not, or right before it's about to come to video, or Okay, video DVD, whatever DVD. God, that's embarrassing. Streaming, whatever you call now, I guess you just say streaming before it's on the app before yeah, before it's on the apps and Go to the theater, because then, like, maybe nobody'll be there and it's just yeah.
Speaker 1:We picked a later showing and we looked at the amount of people that had reserved their seats and it was super minimal. So, like, okay, it was kind of nice. We had, you know, a fairly Small theater, but there wasn't a lot of people in it, which was great.
Speaker 2:So I'm seeing a lot of like the hidden things, like I'm watching the tiktoks about like the hidden things that are on it. Like I guess at some point maybe this is a spoiler, I don't know, but at some point like she's talking to these girls and they're like the mean girls from high school and their names are like Sasha, jade, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Right, those are Bratz, those are brats. Yeah, those are the main four Bratz dolls and like.
Speaker 1:So there's a lot of like hidden things. I wouldn't have caught that, yeah, cuz they're like her they're like her rivals. Yeah, I remember the Bratz dolls Absolutely. I just would have. I loved Bratz.
Speaker 2:I way too long too. I played with Bratz like well After I was supposed to play with Bratz but to be fair, to be fair, my parents bought like like these little box rooms that you could design. So I think that was like the start of my like interior design love was like designing the rooms for the Bratz. So I wasn't really like playing with them. I was more like, oh, I'm gonna redo their room this weekend, you know. But I yeah I did that embarrassingly late into my probably teen years.
Speaker 1:Hey, that's wild imagination, that's I mean those, it's they what else am I gonna do?
Speaker 2:I'm going to my dad's house every weekend like.
Speaker 1:Bring the Bratz dolls. I remember what. I clearly remember the Bratz dolls commercials, like that was. I remember that being such a thing. So yeah, crazy, yeah, no, I end the story on that. They did an amazing job. So okay for someone that didn't play with Barbies, I Was still in that movie, pretty like I was.
Speaker 1:I was into it so cuz I was done so good so and maybe I'll drag Chad, maybe I'll it's fun to see it in the theater, because it's on top of it too, because the Great job between like the colors, where just how oh you go into when you're in the Barbie world. It's like, it's just like wow does look so bright, yeah, and then, and then they go into the real world and it's like. This is depressing, it looks like shit.
Speaker 2:So I wonder if they're gonna make like a Barbie exhibit in like New York City or something where you walk into Barbie world.
Speaker 1:I'm sure the idea has been. Yeah, no, no doubt that idea has been tossed around, so I would go to go to guess that All around worth it. Go see that we didn't see the other one, openheimer. I do want to see that, though, cuz I am history guy, so history.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I loved how that, like all of the marketing, was like barbenheimer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the screen is like it's now.
Speaker 2:The Sun is hitting it, so now it's like creating all of these like light things. But anyway, why don't?
Speaker 1:you. Hey, this is like rave.
Speaker 2:Why don't you kick off our topic today, while I do this?
Speaker 1:so this is the time yeah, we're gonna transition into something a little bit more deep, revolving Our careers a bit so, and anyone who's in the Space of entrepreneurship photographer. So we're leaning into, we're leaning into marketing today, which is always and we could talk about this topic and probably have multiple episodes on this because this is a large topic but we're gonna just touch the surface today of marketing and we're gonna talk about Brooke and I have both had a business for years now. We have new clients, we have recurring clients, so there's something we must be doing correct. There's a lot of things I'm always doing wrong, but there must be something we're doing correct to get this. We're gonna talk about that today and maybe inspire some, some new, some new marketing material for any of the entrepreneurs listening or or if anybody wants to reach out and tell us what the wave of the future for marketing is and how we could do it better. Always, always interested to hear. So Kind of an easy place to start for for the concept of marketing. So we've got two photographers here.
Speaker 1:I think a good way to break this out is there are. It doesn't matter what business you're in as an entrepreneur. In general, there are some very basic guidelines, tactics, rules for marketing, whatever it is you're selling. And then you kind of have to narrow it in a bit. So there's you know, services and product. So there's e-commerce and physical storefront. There's you can break it down into industry. And then you can break it down to within the industry, what is it that you're actually selling. And Once you get into that realm, then you can really start diving into the meat and potatoes of how to market.
Speaker 1:And it's not as easy as you think. We'll start with just paid ads, and when I say paid ads, I'm talking about anything let's talk about if you want to, and I've done this, so I've tried a lot of different things. I can tell you what's work, what hasn't. And it's just my small window, because it's a huge, huge topic. But when you start off and you want to sell something Gut instinct, because we're in front of it every day and you don't know how to go about this is I'm going to, let's say, put up a webpage or a Po. I'm not even say a webpage, I'm gonna say a post on social media. Hey, I've started this business. Be, I'm selling product. Whatever this product see and see product. See, you should come buy it, here's my offer. And sometimes people go and say, like you know, sale now through the next week or two weeks, and then they just put it out into the world and go okay, sales are gonna start coming in and you hear crickets, absolute crickets most of the time anyway most of the time crickets.
Speaker 1:There is so much more to this, so much more to this. So let's, let's go into. So I'm talking about paid marketing. So this is something that I've done a lot of. I've done a lot of experimentation between Google, instagram, facebook. I've done Pinterest paid ads. I've done haven't done Twitter paid ads, but I don't even know if that was a thing back a few years ago. I've done, and currently the wedding wire and not I do have kind of got those services currently, wedding wire or not.
Speaker 1:So what's fun about that? I am, it's my contract renewed and I I wish that it didn't so, and of course, the Say this very carefully the way that they lock you in is Not great. It's not. It's not great, so, realistically, I'll be probably getting rid of it next year. Okay, so it's. Has it brought me clients? Sure, do I have to waste an enormous amount of time weeding through bots and things and fake leads yeah, I do to the point where I'm looking at the leads coming in through the not wedding wire and it's not worth it anymore. I could take that money and time and apply it to Google or YouTube and probably make an enormous amount, a better return on my investment, for not just time, but or I should say, not just money, but time. Time is the biggest thing. They make it sound so easy where you put up your storefront and we're just gonna send clients your way.
Speaker 1:The problem with the knot and wedding wire and any, any advertising service like that that You're being put up in a room with other vendors.
Speaker 1:So when people come and search you, there's a million other things to click on and no matter what they're automatically comparing you to, to price, because on there you need to put either a starting price or recommended price, which is all things that we'll talk about when you put on your website and such.
Speaker 1:But the point is you're in a room of comparison and when price is the only thing people are comparing, it's first of all, it's a terrible way to find a great vendor, because you're not doing a good job understanding what they're actually providing other than a cheaper price, but you don't know the personality, you don't know what they're. We can put some photos on that, but it's very minimal, it's not very intimate at all and for something like photography, you it needs to be to a level. So there's the comparison game going on in the wedding wire and the not world and that type of advertising service. So it's in my mind, it is the least efficient way of marketing, because you are paying money for this spot that they also rotate you through. So basically, if you're on the not wedding wire and you're not on page one, first of all, it's not even worth it because nobody's going to page two, three or four. So there's that realm. You're just throwing money out the window. This is just my opinion.
Speaker 2:And you have to pay to be on page one, correct?
Speaker 1:You have to pay. So they have different tiers. So tier one is like which they advertise is like hey, you can be on the not wedding wire for blah, blah, blah, this price, and yeah, but you're on page six like no one's gonna find you. No, and they'll say to you oh, but it increases your SEO and stuff and sure that may help a little bit, but it doesn't bring you directly to your website, it brings you to their website, so it's not helpful.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So let's say, we pay extra for page one. Now we're on page one. Page one, though, has 30 vendors on it, 30 photographers to go through. That's an outrageous amount of comparison, and I'm gonna go to guess that a lot of people on there are gonna scroll through and be like oh well, 10 of these look great and they're selling their services for $1,500. I'm not even gonna get, I'm not even gonna consider the other ones.
Speaker 1:So there's that realm. You lose out on all of that. And on top of it, where you're placed on, page one rotates, so like if I all of a sudden get a string of leads through the knot. I know that my rotation has moved to the top, I can almost guarantee it. I'm back towards the top, and then, all of a sudden, the knot and wedding wire leads go down. For me it's because I've rotated to the bottom of page one, and I don't understand this. Is someone smarter than me can explain this? Or if they know, or they don't release this information. I don't know when and how they do that. When they've rotate through. It has nothing to do with me, seemingly, because I've updated my photos and my bios and things on there, and it doesn't make a difference for where I'm placed on that page one. You can also pay double extra and be on their spotlight, which always stays at the top, but they only have a limited number of those spots and it's hella expensive.
Speaker 2:Totally not worth it. How hella expensive.
Speaker 1:It depends on the market that you're advertising in.
Speaker 1:So if I'm advertising in Westchester County in New York, it's extremely expensive because there's a lot of volume there, there's a lot of people, a lot of eyeballs and the demographic there there's a lot of people that have money out there, Whereas if I advertise in Eastern Central Rhode Island, there's just not as many people. There it's gonna be a little cheaper, so it's still pricey. So for that same price that you're spending per month to be on there, you could be putting that towards a very carefully curated Google ad which will serve you better, or invest it into a SEO specialist, or not even a specialist, but someone that will help you understand SEO so that you can start taking charge of that and play the long game so that your website starts ranking up when people search. Because I'm gonna go to guess and you tell me otherwise, Brook. When you search for something on Google, do you skip over with your eyes the first things that pop up that say sponsored ad? Do you just go to the first thing that's not sponsored ad?
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:We have all yeah. Yes, it's true, we've been a lot of us, and I know that's not for everybody, but I'm gonna go to guess I would love to do a poll how many people are actually clicking on that sponsored ad? Because for me it feels spammy a little bit. It does.
Speaker 2:So I just wanna go-. I'm like, oh, this must not be that good, because they paid to get it up here.
Speaker 1:They are aware of that. Google's aware of that. So I have noticed that how they present it is shifting. It changes a little bit. It doesn't feel so spammy as a recent, but it's still there. So how to understand your individual's spending habits and how they find you and how they even get to click on you is so varied and it's one of our biggest challenges in the marketing world.
Speaker 2:Before wait, before we get into this, can you just tell me how you booked your first wedding?
Speaker 1:I would-.
Speaker 2:Had you done any marketing for that beforehand, or did you get it by chance and then you fell in love with it Like just-?
Speaker 1:Yep, yep, nope. So I had been. So I started the social media game. So I started taking photos of everything. I started taking photos of sidewalks and architecture, people that would even let me do it, family and friends. And then I got my first family session and that was from a family friend, and then it was a very small payment, but that was step one. So now I have some photos that were from a paid client that I can start using. And then I asked to do a bridal shoe with one of my wife's a bridal shoe, a bride and groom One of my wife's good friends and they dressed up and Kelly dressed up in their wedding gown and we went to the park and I did just a ton of photos of all different things.
Speaker 1:So, whatever it is that you're marketing on your Instagram and I'll just say Instagram for it now, if you wanna do weddings, don't post things of non-weddings. That's kind of like the rule number one. If you're looking to do and hope to get more wedding clients, don't post photos of families, because that's not helping your cause. So I wanted to break into the wedding game, which means I needed wedding photos. So where do you start? Where do you start? So that's where I started with just simply free shoots, just asking people to allow me to shoot couples. You went fully free. So after I had some material from my wife and her friend and things like that, I kept posting, kept reposting it, reposting it. And then I did an engagement session for free and it was a again, it was friends, so we're still in the friend zone world, but they were kind enough to let me do it, so I did it and at the time I loved those photos and posted them. And then those same friends asked us if we would do, because Kelly was my secretary at the time, asked us if they would shoot their wedding Well, knowingly that we were very new in that realm. So they took that risk and they were okay with it they're super kind people and it allowed me to get an actual full wedding into my portfolio, which was really, really cool. And then from there I got another ask that was once again friend of a friend did the same thing.
Speaker 1:Then I started marketing free engagement sessions, and this was through a program that I signed up for from another photographer. I did his course and there was an actual like tactic, a tactical way of doing it where it was a landing page do a free engagement session and then you might book the couple, or your odds of booking the couple are much higher If you're able to secure a couple that has not booked a photographer but wants to do a free engagement session. As long as you provide a good experience and good photos, your odds are higher than just simply shouting on the Instagram hey, I'm looking for weddings. You know, I'm selling my services because you're not gonna get anybody that way. It's just, it's just not gonna happen unless you have a giant following or a community and there's proof of concept. So that's that's the hardest part proof of concept and trust. And From there it continued to grow so once I got the next one in. So now I've got two weddings under my belt, I've got a third one coming in and you, just, you just keep going. You just have to Say this word very carefully.
Speaker 1:We're very the word hustle has gotten such a bad stigma to it because we want to talk about mental health and, you know, making sure you take care of yourself and you don't want to burn yourself out. But I will say this carefully. But when you are Starting off in a new, you want to grow a business. You want to start off and you want it to To grow. You're looking to make this a career that pays your bills full-time. If that is your plan, I Don't want to say there's no other way but to hustle. But hustling will get you there a little bit faster. When I say hustling, I mean accepting that not everybody's gonna pay for your services at first and you have to figure out creative ways to get content and To do that it is that word hustle. So did I hustle at the beginning of my career? I did because I was also working a full-time job and the only time you have to edit which I know a lot of people in here know about this You're editing at night. You're editing on weekends. You're always working.
Speaker 1:Yeah but sometimes that's what it takes if you really are determined to make that switch. So that's my, that's my base story. That's how I got, how I worked myself into this industry. No matter which way you spin it, it takes hard work, that's I mean. There's no other way around that. There's no secret sauce to this.
Speaker 2:No, it's, it's funny, I hear I like I see this post that goes around all the time and it's like. It's like Open your own business and do something that you love, and it has like you know, and you'll never work a day in your life, and it's crossed out and it's like you'll work really, really fucking hard every day you will.
Speaker 1:You'll be stressed out a lot. You're gonna make a lot of. You're gonna have so many failures, endless failures and things that you're gonna be like. I can't believe. I made that mistake and it's part of it. It's just all part of it. Determination and consistency is You're two biggest allies. To do anything, you don't need to be fully talented. That's that is also I'm some people here. I've heard that many times as well.
Speaker 2:Consistency will trump talent every time so the other thing that I think is kind of interesting because I didn't start my career, I mean, I I Feel like one of the best ways to break into the wedding industry is by second shooting for a photographer who is already pretty established within that community. And I've had a few second shooters of mine go on to open their own businesses and, you know, start shooting on their own.
Speaker 2:And but it's so funny because you didn't do that and neither did I. I hadn't second shot for anybody before Shooting my own, like my first wedding. I was shooting it by myself and I had never I, I it was. I shot my first wedding for $600 and it was somebody from my hometown and they were fully aware and I think that that's like really important is that if you're gonna jump into something, like this.
Speaker 2:You need to make sure that you're not like acting like you're too big for your bridges, kind of like you need to have some level of Honesty where it's like this is my first time and I am charging these rates because it's my first time and you know, kind of just like letting them know fully what they're going into is hiring you as their wedding photographer, because it is it's a huge day, it's a huge Task, it is the biggest day of someone's life, which we can get into the mental capacity that that takes a little bit later. But yeah, I do find it so interesting that both of us kind of shot our own first wedding before having second shot for somebody else. And I think that that's a lot of the reason why I generally don't second shoot for people is because, like, maybe it's because I'm a control freak and I feel like I, in order to have my my it's gonna, it's gonna make me sound kind of snooty, but like in order to have my name, like, even if I'm second shooting, like if I'm second shooting for you, I want to make sure that those people had a good experience with Brooke Brady within Chris Styles.
Speaker 2:You know what I'm saying. So it's I Don't really know where I'm trying to go with. That is like Okay, it's you.
Speaker 1:You hit the nail on the head. So the conversation piece here is that most people, I'd say popular, popular advice in this realm would be you know, always make sure you second shoot before you start doing your own weddings. Yeah, you and I are examples of that. We did not do that. I think it depends on your personality. That's not because For me it's a. I'm oh, I've always been a very like.
Speaker 1:There's like four different types of sales people. Lone Wolf is one of them. Lone wolf being, you know, do everything on their own. Not good at delegating, working on that big time it's been a huge one. For me this year is delegating, because it makes my life a lot easier and more efficient for my business. But but in this, in, in this example, kelly explained it to me and she heard it from somebody, and I think Jennifer's a patka explained this to me too. It was. She also heard the same thing and it was like. It was like how Men and women's brains works when it comes to multitasking, and I don't think it would comes down to men and women, but it comes down to personality in the end here. But essentially in the example, women's brains are Like spider webs where you can, you can hop around from every web to web in conversation or whatever you're doing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and men's brains are like filing cabinets, where when I have one open, that's the filing cabinet that's open you. If you try to jump to you know topic over here or make me do something over here, I'm not in that filing cabinet. I can't go there.
Speaker 2:Yet I have here reminds me a sponge Bob. Do you remember that episode?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I. And it's funny because you will hear wedding professionals say you know, like, obviously, be careful who you choose for your wedding. It depends on the size of the wedding, the style of the wedding, yeah, the budget of the wedding, all of that kind of stuff. But it's not it is okay to choose somebody who doesn't have experience. You just need to know what you're going into and what to expect out of that experience with this person who is doing something that's new for them. Because I I always, you know somebody took a chance on me.
Speaker 2:If you're looking for a budgeted wedding photography, you have to understand the risks that is that come with hiring somebody that has no experience. But at the same time, you can have a really great experience, like, hopefully, the people who I started out my career with. They had the experience that they expected. But setting those expectations, I think, is a really, really important part of your marketing when you're Beginning, because if you're marketing yourself as a luxury photographer from the very start and then you don't provide luxury service, that is, yeah, an essential way to make your business tank.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's, it's hot, it's hard right, it's hard to know when you can start advertising or marketing certain the clients that you're hoping to get, and you can't just walk into a luxury wedding more. You can't walk into a luxury anything business without experience. You, you, there's an expectation from that Environment and you're not going to be able to provide it is my guess until you've had a decent amount of experience.
Speaker 1:Right so yeah, you should be focusing on your craft before getting into the detailed Types of clientele that you want to break it down to now. You may want a certain clientele that you're hoping to get, which in this case isn't. You know, the luxury market is the example. But when you are right from the get-go, in the beginning, you kind of have to feel that out. You have to practice around and take a wide variety of clients. That's a always good advice right.
Speaker 2:I do think it's so interesting that you have paid for so much marketing, because I know it's so funny. Like when you said that this episode was going to be about marketing, I'm like I don't really know if I have a lot to add, even though I literally was a marketing advantage.
Speaker 1:That's so excited about us, like that's literally you, you've got some. You've got some stuff in that brain in there, somewhere that you From education.
Speaker 2:Hey guys, we're actually doing things a little differently. This week, in the height of our busy wedding seasons, we couldn't find the time to chat, so we're releasing part two of this episode next week. We also have been receiving a lot of questions from you guys to answer about life, weddings, work balance, etc. We'll be starting to release a mini episode weekly to answer one question per week. If you're interested in having us answer your question, you can head to our Instagram and send us a DM. Thanks so much for listening and we'll see you guys next week.