Dolly Delong: Hello everyone. And welcome back to another episode of the systems and workflow magic podcast. I am your systems workflow and launching BFF and guide Dolly DeLong. And today I’m so excited to welcome John Mansfield on the podcast today. Now, before he introduces himself, I’m going to do a little more formal introduction. So John is a Texas based wedding and brand photographer, podcaster. Business coach and lover of all things. Coffee and cheesecake. Yes, especially coffee cheesecake. he’s a work from home dad who believes in living a life that provides success in business, freedom and schedules, and most importantly, time to spend with the ones you love while doing the things you love. He’s a husband, a dad of three, and a constant student of all life has to teach him. John believes that growing mindsets make the biggest impact in our lives and businesses and focuses on that in his coaching and through hosting the Wisdom in the Tangents podcast. So John, it’s so good to have you here. Thank you for coming.
John Mansfield: Dolly, thank you so much for having me. I am so excited to talk with you. I’m just like while you were doing that intro, I’m just like beaming over here. It’s like, yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m here. I’m ready to talk. Let’s go. This is fun. But yeah, I’m honored to be here. I’m excited to chat. Just it’s gonna be fun.
Dolly Delong: yeah, well, when like listeners, if you are brand new to the podcast, you should know that John had invited me to be on his podcast. And we spoke about all things launching and workflows. And I had so much fun on John’s podcast. And so I will be sure to link that in the show notes so that you can go and give him a follow. But I was like, I had so much fun talking with him. He needs to come on the podcast and you all know, like, I normally just do female voices on the podcast. And so this is a, John, like I am legitimately so excited to have you on because normally Like I get pitches from guys in my inbox and it’s normally like, Oh, I’m going to talk to your audience about how to grow to eight figures. And I was like, I, I don’t think, you know, my audience that
John Mansfield: Yeah. Have you listened to any of the podcast episodes?
Dolly Delong: I’m like, I don’t think you’ve listened to any. And so the fact that you like, Did your due diligence and you like researched and you like really got to know my audience. I was like, this guy’s cool. I want him on the podcast and also like to set the stage listeners, John. as I said in the introduction, like he is a wedding photographer. And I know that I have a lot of wedding photographers who listen into this podcast. And so. I don’t have that background. I’m a family photographer is very different, very different clientele. And so I wanted John to come in and what we’re essentially going to be talking about, or John is going to be talking about is crafting a seamless client nurturing workflow, from booking. To six months after the big day, essentially the wedding day. And so that is a giant workflow. And that’s something that I do not have expertise in, but I know John has expertise and he serves so many clients. I was. creeping on your website. And I was like, this man loves his clients a lot like the pictures you have on your website with your clients. I’m like, they must, he must have created a wonderful client experience for them from start to finish to continue to book new clients. And so this was, this was perfect. And as we are going, as we’re starting 2025, especially, I know listeners. if you are a wedding photographer, you might be in your. A quote unquote slower season. So now is a good time to assess your workflows and to reassess like what you can hone in. So John, take it away. I’m, I’m just so excited to have
John Mansfield: no. I love this. This is, this is great. And like, I’m really glad that that came through on my website too. Cause I, I try to do that. I really, I really poor, like I, my, my business name is all heart photography and it took me a really long time. Like, well, it was like my entire lunch break one day at my nine to five. So I guess it wasn’t that long, but I, it was important to me to Find a name that like, it wasn’t just, not a knock. Cause I know that you’re like Dolly DeLong photography. but like, I didn’t want it to just be my name. Cause one day I was like, maybe I’ll have associates, maybe I’ll like grow this into something. which I do now, which is cool. but like, I wanted it to the name to immediately put people at ease, and all heart, I do everything with all of my heart. And, and I, I pour. my whole heart into every single client. if they let me, some of them are very private. Some of them are like, we don’t have social media.
We don’t like to meet up for coffee. We live out of state or something. And I’m just kind of like this last weekend, knew the bride really well. We had communicated the Grimm’s just like. Not really part of it. He was like, I’m going to help with decorations. And then, we hit it off on the day. So I’m, I’m glad that came through, but yeah, it is, it’s really important to me and that’s one of the reasons why I created this whole workflow You know, I came into the wedding industry not knowing anything. I worked at a wedding venue in college, like setting out the chairs. And I was one of those people coming out at one in the morning and like tearing everything down and mopping the floors. And, and that kind of was my foot into. Wedding photography. so with that, I came in knowing nothing. I, I didn’t know any educators. I knew no photographers. I was not following anyone and, just kind of like built everything, just, just very scrappy from nothing. And I noticed a big gap of like, there was a lot of lead nurturing and a lot of like work on the front end to get them to book.
And then for a lot of people, once they booked, it was just like, all right, cool. See ya at the wedding day, I guess. And it was just
Dolly Delong: you in eight
John Mansfield: Yeah. Yeah. Like enjoy the next nine months of planning. I’ll see ya. You know, I might check in the week before. so I wanted to have something where I was, having more touch points with them, maybe, you know, sharing some resources, making the planning process a little bit easier for them.
Cause they’re most likely coming in knowing nothing as well, where they’re just like, I don’t know. Like it’s, it’s funny. I talked to a bunch of couples and they were like, well, this is the first wedding that I’m ever planning. And I was like, yeah, that makes sense.
Dolly Delong: Wow. Okay. So youshared. A lot of gems in that, last two or three sentences. So we’re going to go backwards and start with first, could you give. Listeners more of a broad overview of your client nurturing workflow. Like you don’t have to like get in the nitty gritty, but just what are all the milestones or just give us a little bit.
An overview from the moment a client books with you, all the way to six months after their wedding day. Cause when you said six months in your intake form, I was like, wow, six months. Like, cause usually you said this, when you get to the actual wedding date, that’s when like the wedding photographers usually like, Hey, I’m here.
And then after that, that’s it. Then here’s your gallery. And then I’m moving on to the next client.
John Mansfield: Yeah. So, kind of the major touch points in that whole process is, the initial, like the welcome, I send a bunch of resources, I’ve created a bunch of things over the years, cause, like I said earlier,a lot of people, this is their first time planning a wedding, maybe their first time being in a wedding.
Like they were never bridesmaids, groomsmen, anything. And they’re just like, I don’t know where to start. There’s so many things on Pinterest. I am overwhelmed and being someone who I’ve been in the industry for I don’t know. What is it? 12 years now. And, like I’ve, I’ve been to hundreds of weddings. I have photographed hundreds of weddings.
I have a lot of expertise that I can share. And even if you photographed three weddings, you’ve probably been, on the backend of more weddings than they have. So you can share things about like, you know, you want to plan your ceremony around this time so that you have time for Uh, you know, light for photos before sunset and stuff that maybe not everyone thinks about.
So kind of starting with a welcome, some resources, I sprinkle in the resources as we go through the whole planning process. and then, you know, planning an engagement session, if they booked one, bridles, groomels, anything like that. Uh, I’ve done a few grimmels. They are fun. I am, I’m all about, I need, I really need to post more about those and maybe do a whole blog post because one, we went to like a distillery and it was just whiskey and cigars and he brought his electric guitar out and we like played with the headlights of his Jeep.
It was, it was a fun time. but like planning that kind of stuff and then just checking in and just being like reminding them, like, Hey, I’m here. If you need anything and also just kind of gauging stress levels and gauging, maybe some fires that I can help put out later on. and and then just like offering kind of, different, different deals and upsells and stuff like that as well.
And then on through the wedding planning, like that, like two months before the wedding is, Lots of emails and lots of things, for timelines and family, formal shot lists and all that kind of stuff. And then. After the delivery of the photos and they have their gallery and all of that, I don’t just Cut ties Like I have that six month after email to just remind them like Y’all are more than just a person.
You’re, you’re more than, or more than just like a number or like, all right, that was my 18th wedding of the year. And then like onto the next one. But just like, like I’m, I’m thinking of y’all and yeah, it’s automated. Um, but like whenever I wrote it, I was thinking about them whenever I scheduled it to go.
and, and like all the words in there, They mean that, like, I still mean it. so it, it’s just kinda like keeps me in mind, and top of mind, especially, you know, most people who are getting married, they also have friends who are getting married. So it kind of keeps me in mind if they’re like, Oh yeah, I forgot.
My friend Sarah just got engaged. Let me send her over John’s info.
Dolly Delong: I love that so much. So, listen, this is what I gleaned from just like, in the beginning of this conversation. So John, it sounded like you, Without really putting on an investigative hat, you saw a gap in the wedding market of a workflow, not having, client touch points because a lot of your peers or a lot of other wedding photographers were just like, Maybe like show or sending an email, touching base a week or two weeks before delivering the gallery.
And then that’s it. And so with your 12 years of experience, you’ve seen, okay, they need touch points to not only know what realistic expectations are for the wedding, but how to be like emotionally prepared, physically prepared, like really like, it comes down to helping your clients know. Expectations and so that they can have a really good flow and really good experience with you and a good wedding day experience overall.
so I’m guessing I correct me if I’m wrong. Did that just like take you like, I’m being sarcastic when I say this, but like, did it take you just like a minute to write it all out? But like, what did you have to do to map this all out? Did you actually sit down and map this out or was it like over time you mapped it out?
John Mansfield: So I did sit down and, and map everything out.
Dolly Delong: Yes
John Mansfield: And then it has built over the years, uh, cause I am, I am a constant learner. I am always wanting, like, I am a student of life. I’m always like gleaning stuff. I just podcasts all over the time, or like just constantly, I have a little earbud in my ear listening all the time.
but like, as I find new things, I I’ll add it in there. It’s something that, a friend of mine, Tyler Spire, who’s a,luxury wedding planner out in California, he had told me once that like the luxury market like is all about removing friction. Like if you want an elevated client experience, remove the friction points, give them a resource or give them the answer to a question that you know that they’re going to have before they send you the email of like, Hey, When should we plan for our engagement shoot?
But send them an email of like, Hey, you know, if you’re wanting to get your photos done in the spring, when it’s like nice here in Texas, we can plan for that. Those get booked out pretty early. So like, even, even now, like we’re a few months out, we need to be, getting that on the books and like getting ahead, being proactive instead of reactive to their questions.
And like, Providing that before and then like that is gonna elevate their experience. We’re just like this is so easy. Just working with you
Dolly Delong: I love that so much. So listeners, I think John is just like giving you verbal permission to like sit down and write it out and then know that it will ebb and flow, it will grow over time as your experience with weddings, continues to grow, because I’m sure John, when you initially wrote out that first workflow, you experienced one or two other weddings and you’re like, No, I’m going to actually add this, or take this out.
And so,
John Mansfield: an email that I don’t really need to send. I don’t think they need this It was just something that I thought of in the day. But yeah, like being okay, like I love Like you don’t like set it and forget it like You can do that for a season, but always come back to it and, and keep that in the back of your mind as you’re going through weddings, as you get questions from people.
Like I had a ton of people asking me, what’s a first look. Cause I would talk to them and be like, Hey, do you, are y’all wanting to do a first look? Uh, which if you don’t know, it’s where you see each other before the ceremony. And it’s like nice private time without hundreds of eyes looking at you. And a lot of people, if you’re not in the wedding industry, if you’ve not been to or been in a lot of weddings, you don’t know what a first look is.
And after like the fourth or fifth time I had someone asking me that I was like, I should write a blog about this. I need a resource that I can send this out and give that as an option so that these couples are not finalizing their timeline and everything. And then finding out, Oh, we could do a first look.
Well now we have to move this stuff around and hair and makeup is only going to be there for this. And like, it’s. Stress and friction, but giving them those options and stuff. So like be open to, to recognizing those things. Whenever you get a bunch of the same question over and over again, that’s a great, something to put into a resource
Dolly Delong: I love that you all know how much listeners, you all know how I love good long form content. You can use that for SEO purposes, because like John was saying, most likely these clients are probably typing it into Pinterest or to Google at like, what is a first look or how to plan for a first look? And what if John had created like an SEO friendly blog post and it came up?
And then it pointed towards him. So I’m just looking at it from that perspective listeners. And I love John that you are doing that. So let’s break it down even more. What does your initial, um, booking face look like? Meaning like, what does the communication look like with you? immediately after a client books with you.
John Mansfield: Well, I mean, I have the automations in my CRM to like, whenever they book, they sign their contract, send over their retainer. It sends the initial email of like, Hey, I received your money. Okay. We’re good. You don’t have to worry that it’s just like out there in the ether somewhere. give them that peace of mind.
And cause usually whenever you’re like thousands of dollars going
Dolly Delong: It’s like, Oh, did this go to the right
John Mansfield: cool. You’ve received it. I feel good. it’s like back in the day when we would write checks and mail it off. It’s like. I hope it gets there because I need this, whatever I’m buying. so like giving them that peace of mind, that’s automated in the CRM.
And then I have an automated, welcome email. So right after that, it’s automated. I think it’s like two or three hours later. So it’s not just like boom, boom, boom. but it’s another one kind of. I offset it. So it, it feels like I saw that they had paid and signed their contract. And then I jumped in and was like, Hey, actually typing this up.
I, I love doing that where it’s not just like instantaneous. but this one is a welcome and just says, you know, how excited I am to be working with them and that I really value the connection with them. Leading up to the wedding. Cause it’s going to one, make their photos better. Cause they’re going to feel more comfortable being with me rather than like meeting me on the day and being like, all right, there’s a strange dude with a camera in my face.
I feel weird. but like being like, Oh no. John, like we’ve, we’ve met over zoom or we had coffee together or like we follow each other on Instagram now. And he liked the photo whenever I was like, say yes to the dress and all that kind of stuff. So I kind of hyped them up about how great this experience is going to be.
And then I have a welcome guide that is. It’s probably too long. I think it’s, I could just keep adding to it. I think it’s like 128 pages or something now. but it’s just like anything and everything, all of the, like, this is what you need for an emergency kit for the wedding day. I talk about engagement shoots and first looks and, sample timelines and inspo photos and like, All of that is in there, initially to give them some, some reading and, and some help with planning.
And that’s like my initial, and I, I always leave it with like, know that I’m here. If you have any questions, I don’t like the whole, like, if you have any questions, hit me up kind of thing. But, just like I am here, I am a resource for you. I have open communication, shoot me an email, send me a text during business hours and I’ll get it back to you.
Dolly Delong: I love that so much. So it sounds to me like this phase that you’re talking about is like you are sprinkling this in leading up to the actual wedding date. So correct me if I’m wrong. You’re not just like putting it all in like in one giant email. Like you are like purposefully sprinkling it in leading up to the wedding
John Mansfield: Well, the, that, that whole like 128 page guide,
Dolly Delong: Yeah.
John Mansfield: just send that over. So that’s for them to go through. And then as we’re leading up to the day, I have different emails scheduled at like eight, nine months out. I’ll send an email of, engagement sessions. And that’s like, if that’s part of their package, then that email is now in the sequence of my CRM.
and, we can plan that kind of like what I was saying earlier about like the season of the year and, and all that. and then that also has like a wardrobe guide and, um, a blog post that I put together of some local, locations, of like, I don’t know, 17 or so, of just like. Different options and stuff, which that one I didn’t even think about it.
But like SEO was so great. Like that is the number one lead generator of, of traffic to my website. Is that blog from like seven years ago?
Dolly Delong: You’re like, yes, I love that so much. The power of SEO. I love that.
John Mansfield: Yeah. And then I just have to update the photos because seven years ago, John, was not taking the same photos. I am today again, constant learning. but yeah, like as we’re going closer to the day, and with, with weddings, it’s a little bit harder to. Have those like set scheduled for certain times because like post COVID, everything is so, you know, I’ll get some people that book 16, 18 months out and others that are like, Hey, we’re getting married in three months.
And, are you available? And so like, if I have those scheduled to all go before, That three months and they’re just going to get hit with like seven emails at the same time.but just kind of like, I have those already templated already set up. So once we hit four months, I can send an email about first looks.
Have y’all thought about a first look? And then. Point them toward my blog post. and also mentioned that it was in the guide that I sent over and those kind of resources and helpful tips and things throughout, the planning process.
Dolly Delong: Okay, great. Thank you so much for sharing like all of these, like what I love the most that you’ve shared so far that I keep on going back to is. In my mind, and I’ve said this out loud, is that you are utilizing long form content and you’re sending them long form content, like listeners. This is so important because if you are wondering, okay, like how does this have, like, what does this have anything to do with SEO?
Like John just hit up on that. Like he wrote this long form blog post and then he now like uses that long form, like I almost said podcast, but, um, blog post. In an actual email in the workflow. So it’s working for him two ways. It’s working for him as a lead gen. And then it’s also working to serve his current clients and nurturing them in this workflow.
So there is so much power in like long form content and how you infuse it in your workflow. I know I’m so repetitive listers, but I just want to hit up on that.
John Mansfield: You repetitive, we need this. Like there is so many times that I’ll hear something and I’m just like, that’s good. I should do that. And then six months later I hear it again from like a different podcast. I’m like, that’s good. I needed to do that. And like, like if this is you listening today, get that long form content out there, even if it’s not great.
Like you can always go back and edit blogs and I encourage you to, but like I am all about repurposing content and having those blogs to where it, it brings in, those leads for SEO purposes, but also as a resource that I can send to my clients. And then also as something that, you know, as I’m planning out my like social media content, strategy, I can be like, okay, I already have like, Paragraphs of captions that I can just copy, paste, use one of the photos from that blog, and then there’s my post for today.
Dolly Delong: I love
John Mansfield: repurposing content, I am all about recycling. It is my favorite thing.
Dolly Delong: love that. That’s such great advice.
Dolly Delong: let’s then kind of talk about The tools in tech, because, okay, I will say this listener, if you think like, okay, John is going to present the ultimate magical tool I need to use. I will say this, you all should know this about me. I love looking at the tool belt.
You already have Lori, the apps and the tools you already have within your business. How can you utilize it? And whatever John recommends, like from his tool belt, see if your tool belt. Apps, resources, you can already use it. because I don’t want you to go out and feel like you have to spend all this money and.
Have more overhead costs and then neglect the actual workflow itself. Cause you’re so focused in on having the perfect tool and the perfect tech setup and everything. Like the whole point of this is to create a client journey. And sometimes that means setting down and writing it out on a Google doc or, and then implementing it on your CRM.
And that’s like. One tech tool. That’s it. So I was going to ask you, John, like, do you use any specific tools or platforms to manage this workflow? was it hard for you to get started or did you have, feel the need to, I’m asking 10 questions in one. And I’m so
John Mansfield: No, no, you’re good. You’re good.
Dolly Delong: was there a temptation?
Like, Oh, I need to use this. And then I need to use this. And then I need to use this.
John Mansfield: Oh yeah. Yeah. All of the, all the time. I mean, I’m, I’m hit with all of the ads. I get all of these like on Instagram especially is always just like, this is a great tool for this and you need to get this to, you know, maximize these things. I’m like, that does sound good. Okay. Maybe I should. And like, I, I love the point that you just made of like, Look at your own tool belt.
What are the tools that you currently have? Can you use them? Are they efficient? Do you need to upgrade a tool? Do you need like if, if you’re still like typing everything out and then sending like all the emails by hand? Rewriting everything, you have tools that you can use to, you know, email templates are my, my best friend.
I have hundreds of email templates. and, and like, that’s what all of this workflow is. They are. Email templates, um, but also the long form content and guides and things like that. So like, the, the guide that I have, I bought a template, from someone else, and then I filled it in with all of my photos and information and that took me.
It may be two days. but you know, it’s 100 plus pages. So it is a lot. and like the, the main tools that I use are email automations. I, I use, Tave as my CRM. I also use Honeybook. and both of those have, I mean, pretty much every CRM has great email automations to where you can put these templates in there and it is just, it’s very easy to just put that into the email, send it off and, you know, maybe depending on your CRM, maybe you have to manually send it, maybe you can set it on a schedule, but I, I’m all about using the tools that I currently have, unless there’s something out there that’s, that’s better.
You know, for, for a while, like all of my long form content, all of my emails, I was typing and I am not the best typer. Uh, I’m better than, better than just two fingers. I was for the video or for
Dolly Delong: finger at a time.
John Mansfield: Yeah. Like I, I’m okay at typing, but I misspell a lot and it just takes a long time. and I’m also like, whenever I read it’s my internal monologue voice reading and that voice is not super quick.
uh, yeah, I’m just not, I don’t love typing. So I use my phone and I will just record an audio message. You can also do this on your computer. Just like record an audio message. You can use a, like an app like descript or something like that. You then trans not translate, but transcribe, yeah.
transcribe what you just said. Cause I’m, I’m good at talking. I mean, I got a podcast. I like talking to people. I can talk and, and like one of the benefits of. Speaking long form content, and then having that transcribed is that it’s actually in your literal voice, like you’re not writing because for me, whenever I get into a keyboard and I start writing, at least whenever I first started my business, it was very proper.
It was very, hello, good madam. And, you know, like all the, all the formal things and sincerely John and, and all of that. And it wasn’t me. and it, it, it felt more cause I was like, you know, fresh out of college and everything. So I was, I was still in the, like writing essays mode. so having that where you can actually like speak your voice.
into words is great. it’s very helpful for me. Yeah.
Dolly Delong: love that so much. Thank you for sharing that, that tip, especially if so listeners, if you are also having a really hard time, like writing out, then I encourage you to do take John and John’s advice and just speak into your phone and have like an app, to script, transcribe it for you and see what happens.
And I actually utilize transcriptions for my podcast and I put it into chat GPT and it’s my voice. And I ask it, Hey, will you likehelp me write out a blog post based off of this podcast, because now you have the whole transcription and that’s helped me with my own blog posts.
So utilize, systems like AI tools as well. Listeners.
John Mansfield: I, I am embracing AI,
Dolly Delong: I love it.
John Mansfield: completely. Like, I’m sure there’s, you know, conspiracies and all that. I’ve seen iRobot and
Dolly Delong: I
John Mansfield: movies, but like, I’m for, for like, especially for like ideation and like that part of it. I love just like having a chat with, Chad, GBT about like, what are some things, in, in just like sparking my creativity of like, Oh yeah, yeah, that is, that is correct.
That is something that I should talk about. And now it’s like boosted that creativity and now I can just run with it.
Dolly Delong: I love that so much. So as we wrap up, cause I know we’ve been chatting for a little over 30
John Mansfield: I know I saw that. I was like, how has it been 30 minutes already?
Dolly Delong: it’s just like, I’m so sorry. I don’t want to take up too much of your time, but I wanted to share two more things with you. The first thing is why you were talking about your big client guide.
Um, have you ever considered, this is again, this is my brain working in lead gen mode. I’m like, have you ever considered. Taking your guide and transforming it into a private podcast to get people to like, listen in to how to prepare just in case they don’t want to read.
John Mansfield: Yes. So I have a private Facebook group, that I will go in there and like, I’ll, I’ll do lives every now and then. And it’s just for engaged couples and people planning weddings. or I guess it’s not. It’s in order to like view everything you have to join, but, but it’s not like a paid thing, but that is also a good lead generator because people will.
Just find, I forget what the name of it is now. I named it years ago, but it’s just like, planning your dream wedding or something. And
Dolly Delong: so smart.
John Mansfield: and I
just have
Dolly Delong: like go back.
John Mansfield: they can scroll back. I do live videos in there where people ask questions and I can just like. Go back and forth with them. Uh, and then I also have, videos and I share links to my blog whenever I do new blogs, but I’ll, I’ll have videos talking about first looks or talking about when you should set your ceremony time based on the time of year and when sunset is and like little, little tips like that, little five minute videos.
That are easy for them to come in. But yeah, I’ve thought about doing the podcast thing. I’ve been on a couple like, like business to client based podcasts before, sharing stuff. So who knows? I like, I like podcasting, so I might start another one. We’ll see 2025
Dolly Delong: Well.
John Mansfield: so many, so many
Dolly Delong: Ideas, so many options. Well, I was just thinking like, wow, like for the listeners who like, I’m so glad that you have like video formats of you re essentially repurposing your blogs, repurposing that timeline of like your workflow, because like listeners, like your clients may have different.
I guess like learning and consuming personalities. And so I think it’s great that John, you’ve inserted like pretty much the same information in video form. So just in case a person doesn’t, cause you know, like there’s always, there are always the clients that never read anything and you get frustrated with them and that’s not their learning style.
And now you’re like, okay, I’m going to create videos that answer the same question and you’re meeting them where they are. So that’s so good. So. Listeners insert different learning styles in this workflow as well.
John Mansfield: And then you can take little parts of that video or even just, you know, as you’re recording that video, that’s like five, six minutes long. Be like, Ooh, this is a really good point. Let me make a quick 30 second video, pop it up on Tik TOK and Instagram. And now, you know, starting to get more leads. So yeah, repurposing everything.
I just, everything just whittles down
Dolly Delong: I love it so much. Okay. So as the second follow up question is, as we wrap up, if someone is just starting to create a nurturing workflow, what would be the first few steps you’d recommend to make this process more manageable? Because I know that like you and I are talking about this, this is fun and exciting for us because like we’re on the other side, we’ve already done like the workflow, I love talking about, like, the different steps, it’s fun for me, but I know that there are listeners that are, like, looking at this, it’s like that big, like, wave in front of them, and it feels overwhelming, or that big mountain, like, where do I even begin?
Like, this sounds impossible,
John Mansfield: It’s like, it’s like staring at the mountain of like, what is that one in like Colorado? That’s like 14, 000 steps or something. It’s just like, this is so much like I want to get up there to the summit. I know that that would be good for me, but.
Dolly Delong: but no.
John Mansfield: and you just got to like focus on one step at a time.
So I would suggest, one sitting down and just thinking about your clients and what are some pain points that they have? What are some friction points that they might experience where they would either be reaching out to you? You can also look through past emails, DMs, texts, whatever you have.
communication with past clients and see what questions they were coming to you with, and then create content around those things, and create, maybe some, some emails that you can schedule at certain times of the process. And this is, you know, for anyone, for wedding photographers, family photographers, boudoir, pet photography, like think of the things that you get asked often.
And then create automations for that, because that’s going to elevate your service. It’s going to elevate that client experience, and create raving clients that are just going to tell all of their friends, like it was so great working with Dolly because she answered this question for me. I didn’t even think about this.
And she was sending me resources about this and like, everything was just smooth and just start. Pick one, do that one. if you write out like seven or eight different things, just pick one. It doesn’t matter which one, unless you’re like, this one is the one I need to start with, but like, just, just do one, take that first step, get it together.
Record the audio message. Maybe you don’t transcribe it the same day, but like put it on your to do list too. To where it’s not just something that’s going to fall off. And then six months from now, you’re like, Oh yeah, I remember that episode with Dolly and John and I need to do this again. but like put it in your, like, if it’s not in my calendar, it’s not happening.
So I, I schedule things, to work on stuff like that. I did want to go through, a couple of the pain points that I’ve seen, just for anyone
Dolly Delong: so
John Mansfield: Wedding photographer and like, I don’t know, John, what, what are someone’s? so I’m just going to go through a few of my, emails. So I talked about that, that wedding, welcome email with the guide.
and then also about, client or engagement session locations and wardrobes, you can do like multiple emails there about different locations, for their engagement session or bridals or whatever. This can also work really well for families of like, Hey, if you don’t have a location in mind, here are some of my favorites in
Dolly Delong: Mm hmm.
John Mansfield: or these are the ones that are more like nature vibes. And these are like urban vibes. And these are like, you know, going to a Chuck E. Cheese and taking photos in there, like just like unique quirky kind of things. And then I, I love sending like, just because emails are just like, Hey, what’s thinking about y’all today?
If you have anything reach out, if not have a great day. I’m excited to work with you. It’s like you, you stay top of mind and they also feel cared for and wanted. And then I have different emails. Like if you have, different services, albums, wall art, anything like that, you can nurture that along the process too.
And just start talking about it. Cause if you don’t talk about it, they’re not going to buy it most likely. but talking about it in a way that you’re like, And not, Hey, come buy this thing. And I want to upsell and make more money. It was like, Hey, I don’t know if you know that I, I offer albums. I love these things.
They’re just, they are high, the highest quality and they’re a great way to like preserve your memories, share, like look at with other people and like speak about it in a way that. Elevates all of that. and then of course, like leading up to the wedding, you have the, all the prep timeline, prep, family photo shot list prep.
I, I love sending one. I got this from Ben Hartley years ago, of sending an email about who their supporters are. Like, who are the people, who’s, who’s the important people? Like, I, I have like your parents and your siblings names in the form that you’ve filled out, but who’s the people that have been there for you over the years?
What are their names? And I want to make sure to get photos of you with them on the
wedding day.
Dolly Delong: Oh, listeners, I hope you are taking notes. That was a really good gem right there.
John Mansfield: so yeah, that’s just a few of them. I’ve got a bunch more. If you want to, uh, listeners, shoot me a DM. I’m happy to just like line out all of those and, send them over to you.
Dolly Delong: Well, I know that you have a really good free guide about, emails specifically. Can you tell listeners about that? And I will be sure to link it in the show notes as well.
John Mansfield: Cool. Yeah. Yeah. This is my initial wedding inquiry templates. so this is like the lead nurturing before they book. Uh, so I have like verbatim what I send in there. and also if you use Tave, it has like the, they call them tokens, like the, the automated, like replacing like client first name and partner first name.
that kind of stuff. So it’s all in there. You can just copy. Paste, obviously tweak it for your voice. but yeah, it’s my whole lead nurturing sequence for, when they initially book or, initially inquire through like follow ups and the magic email and all that kind of stuff. Yeah,
Dolly Delong: that. John, you dropped so much wisdom for my audience. I want to say thank you so much again for coming on for your time and for everything. do you mind sharing with listeners where they can find you, connect with you and even work with you if they’re, if they are a wedding photographer and they’re like, we want more of John in our life.
We want more guidance from him. How can people connect with you?
John Mansfield: for sure. And yeah, thank you so much for having me on the show. Like this has been so much fun. Like I, we honestly, we could just go on for hours and hours. but I know that we have other things going on today. I have a sick child out there that looks very pitiful. but I’m going to go snuggle with her in like five minutes.
Yeah, uh, you can find me, uh, Instagram. It’s a great place. I pretty much live there. I’m a millennial. Instagram is, uh, allheartphoto, and that’s heart like H E A R T. the podcast, Wisdom in the Tangents. check out Dolly’s episode 229. If not, it’s around there. And then, yeah, if you want to work with me, all heartphoto.
com slash education has, some different places that we can work together, mentorships, coaching, all that kind of stuff.
Dolly Delong: Well, John, you are awesome. I hope you know that you’re very awesome and thank you so much for coming on the podcast. listeners be sure to head over to the show notes again, everything will be linked there and please give John a follow and really, truly get to know him. Cause he’s a really. Awesome person.
So anyways, for those of you who have listened all the way through, thank you so much. And I will see you all next week with a brand new systems and workflow related podcast episode. And until then stay streamlined and magical. You amazing muggle you, and I will talk to you all next week. Bye.
John Mansfield: Bye.
