WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY MENTORING

+ Strategic Business Coach

I’m Erika and I help wedding photographers develop sustainable strategies to level-up their business by offering wedding photography mentoring. I help you navigate difficult situations, and plan for profitability, sustainability + growth in your unique market.

OH GREAT,
ANOTHER
“COACH”…

In an industry where folks turn to “being an educator”, why am I any different?

Being an educator is about being invested in learning; both those coming to you for learning and your own. I’m a dedicated educator who aside from having a natural gift for teaching, went and did the work to make sure I have skills appropriate for all learners. In 2015 I completed my Adult Education certificate from Seneca College to ensure I’m bringing quality and meaningful teaching strategies to our experience together.

I’M NOT YOUR TRADIATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY EDUCATOR…

HI I’M ERIKA YOUR NON-TRADITIONAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY MENTOR + COACH

It’s been over 12 years and 2 recessions and I’m still going strong. I started out with a Canon Rebel and a $750 wedding and have grown my business to have served over 650 happy couples throughout not only a recession but also a pandemic.

I started before you could buy presets or ask questions in Facebook groups and learned not only through strategic workshops (outside of the photography community) but through real-life experience. I learned how to be a teacher; I sought out formal education to build my skills first so that I can offer you real learning experiences and not just regurgitated influencer-style “coaching”.

WHY AM I AN EDUCATOR?

IN A COMMUNITY THAT IS OVERSATURATED WITH INFLUENCERS TURNED ‘EDUCATOR’ – WHY DO I THINK THERE’S ROOM FOR ME AND WHAT I OFFER?

01.

STRATEGY IS NEVER JUST ‘TRENDY’, IT’S LONG LASTING

Education is based on existing, successful business strategies and creative solutions appropriate for your market. Photography is about making pretty pictures, but running a successful photography business is about everything else. Let’s put down the camera for a moment and give you tools to adapt to the changing markets and ever-evolving trends.

02.

WE’RE ONLY AS STRONG AS OUR WEAKEST LINK… AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS AN INDUSTRY

When you own your own business, you need to be keenly aware of where your weaknesses are. It’s humbling but it’s the most appropriate way to learn how to grow – and when you grow, the industry grows. Community over competition is no longer appropriate: healthy competition and encouraged growth is where it’s at.

03.

RESPECT YOUR BUDGET AND YOUR TIME AND PROVIDE THE COMMUNITY WITH OPTIONS

COVID nearly destroyed the wedding industry; I totally get that not everyone has hundreds of dollars to invest into education and I respect the fact that more of you than ever before are ready to level-up. I spent the majority of 2020 converting previous in-person content into strategic and well thought out self-paced learning modules so we can be accessible to more folks at a wider variety of budgets. They’re all available in our store.


01. Business Coaching

Business coaching is a 1-on-1 coaching service that is a “free for all” when it comes to topics that we can cover and how long we spend together. This can be a one-time coaching call or can extend into a longer term coaching plan, it’s literally built for you and your unique needs! Sessions start with a pre-assessment and 90-minute call and are continues on as necessary.

Some of the topics that are most frequently requested by photographers and business people are: building an associate team of photographers, building an associate team of videographers and filmmakers, how to build a more authentically inclusive business model, mastering your workflow, Dubsado/CRM workflow creation and automation, increasing print and album sales, managing client expectations and pushing past the norm and finding your true goals and authentic brand.

wedding photography mentoring, wedding photography courses online

wedding photography mentoring, wedding photography courses online

02. Branding + Visual Strategies

A brand is so much more than a logo and some colours; a brand needs to be both authentically built and strategically executed. Branding + visual strategies coaching starts with a pre-assessment and research stage both followed by a full and complete report on your current brand including what you’re rockin’ and where you can be improving. After delivery of the report a follow-up call is scheduled to go over strategies to achieving your desired brand and how to execute your brand in a manner condusive for finding your ideal clients. Branding + visual strategies coaching takes place over 2-3 weeks from begging to end and can be further expanded on by shifting to a business coaching model for future follow-ups.


03. Resolution + Communication Consulting

We’ve all been there before; stuck in a sticky situation with an unhappy or upset client and we have one chance to navigate this properly in order to not only de-escalate the situation but to stay focused on a positive and fair resolution. Strong, unbiased and thoughtful communication are key to ensuring that the situation is navigated successfully and risk to your business and reputation is mitigated as best possible.

Communication consulting is also beneficial for those who frequently find themselves having to manage and re-manage their clients expectations, who find themselves always having to answer the same questions over and over again and who want to improve their overall communication skills with their clients from the moment of inquiry. Resolution + communication consulting is a 45 minute zoom call to discuss communication strategies that is scheduled after a pre-assessment and disclosure of all known information and includes a sample email response to your unique situation. If additional longer-term services are required for more complex situations or if additional email or written templates are required, we can easily move to a business coaching model.

wedding photography mentoring, wedding photography courses online

wedding photography mentoring, wedding photography courses online

04. Personalized Pricing

Getting your pricing right is so important; you need to make sure you’re not selling yourself short but also need your prices to reflect what’s “normal” for your area and market. (I know a lot of big fancy coaches would disagree with me on that, but the reality is that you can’t just charge $7k for a wedding if not a single person in your market wants to spend over $3k!)

My background, before photography, is in physics – math is my jam! Personalized pricing coaching means that you provide me the info I need and I’ll not only do all the fancy calculations for you, but we’ll add strategy to how you create your packages and your a la carte items as well as strategy for bargaining and negotiating with clients while still protecting your profit. This includes pre-assessment, information acquisition, a report based on your unique numbers and calls to discuss strategy.


05. Online Courses

We totally get that not everyone has the available budget to invest in long term, in-person wedding photography mentoring and coaching, so we’ve made a lot of our content accessible through online courses designed in a easy-to-naviagate PDF format. Our online course guides are designed to provide you with actual information and skills – it’s not just us preaching and telling you what you should do. We recognize that all businesses are unique and flexibility is needed, even in online learning material!

wedding photography mentoring, wedding photography courses online

What’s the difference between coaching and other services?

If you’re looking for wedding photography mentoring or wedding photography coaching you probably have a list of a few things that you want to work through and you want some follow-up as you make progress. The key difference between our Branding + Visual Strategies, Resolution + Communication Consultation and Personal Pricing Strategies services and our overall Business Coaching services is that Business Coaching is designed to be a continuous relationship.

Coaching is not going to be nearly as effective if you want a “one-and-done” approach; coaching is not only delivery of information but nurturing a mindset change, setting and accomplishing goals, and making a plan for overall improvement in your business and client experience. We only take on 1 coaching client per month for this reason!


Featured Blog Articles For Photographers

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

CANADIAN
ALBUM
COMPANIES

READ IT

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

CONFESSIONS OF AN “UNCOOL” PHOTOGRAPHER

READ IT

photographers, toronto maternity lifestyle photography, toronto family photographers, toronto family photographer

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

11 THINGS TO DO INSTEAD OF FRONT PORCH SESSIONS

READ IT


What others are saying…

BARRIE, ONTARIO

TANYA ELLIS

I’ve recently had the pleasure of receiving some one on one business mentoring with Erika and highly recommend her for any type of photography business coaching or mentoring needed! Being in the photography industry for 12 years and branching out on my own for the first time in 2020, I found myself struggling in many areas that I never had to worry about before and Erikas knowledge and expertise have greatly helped me with the business side of things especially when faced with the challenges that our industry has due to COVID.

She is a super kind, friendly and supportive teacher. If you’re in need of someone to give you a healthy dose of butt kicking motivation and to provide the tools necessary to grow your business then she’s it. I’m looking forward to implementing ideas discussed within my own business model moving forward and am grateful to have had the pleasure to work with her!

MEAFORD, ONTARIO

FRANCES MORENCY

I enlisted Erika’s help a few y ears back to help me get some perspective on adding associate photographers to my business. She was so helpful and detailed in her explanations on how her associate photography business was born and she event went through every last detail with me which was very helpful.

Erika would be my first choice to recommend to anyone searching for a wedding photography mentor – thank you so much for everything you did for me!

PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO

HEATHER MacEACHERN-TARASICK

Working with Erika helped me elevate my brand and my business in ways I didn’t think were possible.

She gave me the tools I needed to truly examine what kind of clients I want to tracct and how to obtain them.

Truthfully, I was hesitant to do the work, as I thought my business was fine…. but when I was open to her analysis and looked deeper, she was so spot on!!!

Thank you SO much Erika, I wish I hadn’t waited so long and I’m so happy that I was able to further grow my business with you.

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY MENTORING: FAQ


General
Questions

What’s the difference between mentoring + coaching?

There’s a lot of overlap between coaching and mentoring but in general, mentoring is more about sharing ones personal experiences and coaching is more about creating an actionable plan. Since we’re all about giving folks actionable information as well as sharing our expertise. We’re a hybrid mentor/coach.

What benefits will mentoring or coaching having on my business?

That all depends on the length of time we work together and how pumped you are to really level-up your business and make change. Coaching and mentoring can not only make you more accountable but can also drive you to increase your productivity, reframes your mindset to be more strategic, and breaks you out of your comfort zone to grow your business.


Pricing
Questions

I want to add associates to my team, can you help me do that?

Absolutely I can help you with that – I’ve helped a number of photographers consider adding associates. Bringing on associates requires so much more thought and planning than folks make it seem when they offer Facebook advice, let’s discuss your goals and I’ll make recommendations to your unique situation.

Who can mentor with you? Is this open to folks world wide or local only?

Mentoring is available to any individual who is ready to level-up their business with sustainable strategies and actionable education. Whether you’ve been in business for 2 years or 20 years, you’re welcome here with me! The only thing I ask though is that you’re truly motivated and driven for change. If you expect to level-up your business without actually making any changes then this education is not for you.

COVID left me broke, do you offer discounts on coaching?

COVID hurt a lot of us – I get it! When money is tight, it’s hard to find a way to part with an investment into education so I have some alternatives. First, consider the self-paced digital download guides. They’re super helpful and very budget friendly. Secondly, join our Facebook group as we do occasionally post about promotions!

How do I book my session with you? (Personalized or other)

Send us a message at info@ten2tenphotography.com or send us a message via our contact form to book. Let us know what is that you want to book and we’ll provide you with a list of availability. Depending on the time of year, there may be a wait list up to 6-8 weeks

KIND WORDS

“I’ve mentored with Erika on several occasions and she’s made such a difference in my business.
She’s helped me with branding, strategy, pricing, and resolving high emotional situations during COVID. I can’t recommend her enough.”

-PAULA VISCO



GET IN TOUCH

Toronto Wedding Photographers based in Durham and Cambridge Districts