As full-time professionals in the wedding industry, it's easy to attribute our hardships and struggles to a flailing economy, the quality of our work, our (lack of) sales & marketing skills, or even national politics.

But as we learn from Fabio Miglio (named 2021 Europe's Best Wedding Photographer by Way Up North), our experiences here in the US are not uniquely an American one. Fabio works just as hard as we do, striving every day to remain relevant in a quickly changing marketplace.

We recently hung out with Italian wedding photographer Fabio Miglio and chatted about his illustrious career, his creative process, how he juggles all of that with being a first-time dad, as well as how he's navigating this current climate in the wedding industry.

You can check out Fabio's work here: https://fabiomiglio.com/

And you can follow him on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/iamfabiomiglio

In this day in age of countless online resources and tools at our fingertips, do engaged couples still need a wedding planner?

And if you're a wedding creative, what are wedding planners looking for when they're building their creative team to help bring their clients' vision to life?

Kelly Seca of Gifted Events joins us in the studio on this episode to give us a peek into the life and work of a wedding planner who serves high-end, luxury clientele here in the NYC area and abroad.

You can check out Gifted Events here: https://www.giftedeventsnj.com/

And follow them on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/giftedeventsnj/

How do you start your business when you've got no portfolio, no industry connections, and you find yourself in a market that's just overflowing with talent?

Andre Brown of the Bokeh Photo Summit knows a thing or two about starting from the ground up, and is now one of the most decorated, celebrated, and sought-after wedding photographers in our industry.

Learn more about how he attracts and books luxury clients, whether it's his over-the-top client experience, or his laser-focus on making sure his business is a well-oiled machine.

Listeners will also receive some special promo codes to his upcoming conference in Atlanta on August 12-14, 2024, where he's invited some of the top minds in the industry to teach photographers how to level up in their business and creativity - but here's the catch: you've got to listen to win!

Learn more about the summit here: https://bokehacademy.co/summit/

"Some people are so consumed and pre-occupied with their product, that they forget the EXPERIENCE is a part of that product."

Our good friend Ben Davis dropping GOLD on this episode with the Focused AF crew. Learn how he attracts and serve his high-end luxury clients, while juggling his VERY busy family life.

You can check him and his wife out here: https://yameanstudiosfilms.com/

The secret to getting more bookings isn't being everything to everyone. As you'll learn in this episode, we all have an ideal client that our brands are best equipped to serve. And if you can be everything to just a few select customers in your market, this secret alone should keep you busy, profitable - but most importantly, avoid burnout in a long, successful career.

Today's drink is an Apricot Sour:

- 2oz apricot brandy

- 2oz sour mix (lazy, I know)

- Top off with ice and enjoy!

If you think that being a wedding photographer in this day in age is hard, try being a wedding filmmaker! We won't argue it's been a strange year for most of us, where it's easy to blame the economy and newbies racing to the bottom of the barrel.

Despite this, Jonathan of 4k Wedding Films continues to thrive by filming an impressively high volume of weddings by leveraging every, single marketing channel at his disposal.

And you know what else? He doesn't have an associate team, you can actually find him on The Knot & WeddingWire (where he continues to get a ton of leads), but you definitely won't find him at the bottom of the pricing barrel!

You can find him at:

https://4kweddingvideographer.com/

@4kweddings_

Taylor Jackson is a husband, dog-dad, world-traveler, photographer, educator, and pizza-connoisseur. In this episode, we learn how he keeps his creative energy up, year-in and year-out, even after having done over 1000+ weddings in his career.

You can check him out here:

IG: @taylorjackson

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorJacksonPhoto

"I never signed up to be an influencer."

"I never signed up to be a content-creator."

"I signed up to create pretty things....and that's it."

When you signed up to be a business owner in the wedding industry, you signed up to do whatever it takes to get people to fall in love with your work, your brand, and your voice. Being amazing at your craft is no longer enough - not only do you have to put yourself out there, you have to put yourself out there PROPERLY so that these social and search platforms will deliver you to their audiences.

And that is exactly what Angela Shae of Social Templates will share with us today. What are some ways that we can leverage social media to help us reach our target audiences and grow our businesses? What can we do better? What should we definitely STOP doing? Learn all this, and more, on today's episode.

https://socialtemplates.co/

@socialtemplates.co

On this episode, we continue to share some of our sales & marketing tips/strategies that have allowed us to attract/book new clients during an otherwise slow(er) year.

On this episode, the Focused AF cohosts join Ben on his weekly live, to talk about their recent influx of inquiries and bookings. We share some tips/strategies that have helped our brands continue to book clients during this otherwise strange time for other business owners.