EPISODE #77: TOP 12 REASONS WHY PROSPECTIVE COUPLES DON'T BOOK ME - PART 2

Summary:

In the second part of this two-part series about reasons why clients decide NOT to book my services, I’ll discuss some of the ways to address this in your wedding photography business. Whether you’re charging above the budget of prospective clients, don’t have experience shooting at their venue or aren’t offering both photography and videography services, how can you book prospective clients and minimize the number who may go elsewhere?

There are some reasons why prospective clients don’t book that you really can’t do anything about or doing so would compromise your business. While you can address other reasons by improving your reputation as a wedding photography or your people skills. I’ll discuss some of the strategies I use to handle these situations and how effective they have been to help me book prospective clients in the future.

The important thing is not to be offended by rejections, but analyze “why” and how you can improve things for the long-term.

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EPISODE #76: TOP 12 REASONS WHY PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS DON'T BOOK ME - PART 1

Summary:

As wedding photographers looking to grow our businesses and book more clients, we’re always looking for success stories of how others have achieved the goals we set for ourselves. But when it comes down to it, there’s a lot we can learn from why prospective wedding photography clients don’t decide to book our services and end up going elsewhere.

This episode looks into some of the reasons why prospective wedding photography clients have decided not to book me in the past. From liking someone else’s style over mine to getting another referral from family and friends and simply that my price was too high, we’ll look into some of these reasons.

In the early years, sometimes it came down to a lack of authority in the wedding photography world, with few online reviews and no experience shooting at their venue or their type of wedding. While in other instances it was because I didn’t offer both photography and videography services, or that they simply didn’t click with me as a person.

Being rejected by a prospective client is not the end of the world, but recognizing why and addressing the issue if you can is an important part of developing your wedding photography business and booking more clients in the future.

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EPISODE #75: YOU NEED TO PRODUCE MORE CONTENT THAN YOU CONSUME

Summary:

Have you ever spent days on end immersed in wedding photography education - listening to podcasts, watching online tutorials or even chatting with other wedding photographers - and realize at the end of the week that you haven’t actually done anything practical to help book more weddings? While learning is an essential part of improving your skills and business management as a wedding photographer, it’s so important that we aren’t consuming more than we are producing.

It’s easy to get carried away on the wedding photography education side of things, particularly if you’re just starting out and are struggling to book clients. You might think that if you are constantly learning, then your time is being put to good use. But learning is only useful if you transform it into actionable tasks which will ultimately help grow your business.

You can compare it to something as simple as eating and exercise. We need to eat to keep going as humans, but we can’t just keep consuming food without exercise. Exercise is essential to ensure we live productive lives, just as producing content as wedding photographs is vital if we want to succeed in our business. So while this podcast is an important ingredient in your wedding photography education, it will only help to feed your business if you put it to practical use.

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EPISODE #74: HOW IS THAT GOING TO HELP ME BOOK MORE WEDDINGS?

Summary:

As wedding photographers, we’ve got a lot on our plates. Most people don’t realize that aside from actually shooting weddings, we’re marketing and branding our businesses, networking with other vendors, and constantly developing our people skills. Clients don’t appear just like that and it’s an ongoing process to ensure we are booking enough weddings to make our businesses financially viable.

With so many things to deal with behind the scenes, it can be really easy to become overwhelmed and lose focus. Which is why it’s important to step back and ask yourself, “How is that going to help me book more weddings?” At the end of the day, we need to be making a profit and investing our time, energy, and money in the right area is crucial to ensure that happens.

In this episode, we’ll chat about different ways you can use your time and money efficiently to ensure you book more weddings (as well as discuss a few areas that might not be so useful). From purchasing new gear to spending time marketing through social media and attending photography workshops and conferences.

Each decision you make should start with weighing up pros and cons and whether at the end of the day it is going to help you book more weddings and achieve your wedding photography business goals.

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EPISODE #73: THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE TO YOUR CLIENTS

Summary:

It never ceases to amaze me just how many of my clients have had bad customer service from other prospective wedding photographers before they found me. From not responding to their emails to totally changing their tune once the booking has been secured, it’s so important to not underestimate how valuable amazing customer service is and how it can be vital in the success of your business.

In this episode, we’re chatting all about what you can do to give your clients the best wedding photography customer service possible and make their experience one they'll never forget. This is particularly important if you are just starting out and don’t have an extensive portfolio to showcase your work. It’s exactly how I laid the foundations for my wedding photography business and still at the core of how I run things today. Answer their emails in a timely manner, know their questions and concerns before they do, and most of all, treat them the way you would want to be treated.

A successful wedding photography business is all about what I call it the “3Ps” - photography, pricing, and personality. You need to be taking high-quality and beautiful images. You should have competitive pricing to draw prospective clients in. And you need to have a personality and customer service that is authentic and caring. Even if you’ve got hundreds of weddings under your belt, there is no substitute for amazing customer service and it’s what your clients will remember you by.

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EPISODE #72: WHAT I LEARNED FROM SHOPPING FOR A HOME THE PAST  FEW WEEKS

Summary:

Purchasing a home is perhaps the biggest financial commitment we make in our lives and as my wife and I venture into the world of real estate looking for our first home, I’ve started to draw some parallels with my wedding photography clients. As we search online using Zillow and attend open homes, I’ve found that being a potential home-owner customer has some similarities with the brides and grooms who are in the market for a wedding photographer.

From ideas about customer service to the thought processes you go through and even the step-by-step procedures you need to take, we’ll discuss how choosing a home can be similar to selecting a wedding photographer to document your special day. It’s a decision you don’t want to get wrong, not only because of the financial expense but the emotional stress that goes along with it.

Using my insight as a potential homeowner, I’ll chat about the lessons I learned from being a customer in the real estate industry and how they relate to my wedding photography clients. We’ll discuss tips to ensure it doesn’t become overwhelming and I’ll give some of my advice for making the most efficient use of the time you have available.

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EPISODE #71: WHEN IS ENOUGH...ENOUGH, AND IT'S TIME TO CHANGE THINGS UP IN YOUR BUSINESS?

Summary:

Whether you’re just starting out in wedding photography or you’ve been at it a few years, chances are there will be a point where you ask yourself “Is this really working?” Being self-employed is challenging at times and if you’re not getting enough leads, not making ends meet or just having general wedding photography business struggles, you might be thinking that enough is enough and it’s time to throw it all in.

This episode looks at how we can approach this situation when it arises and should you just give up or tackle it from a different angle. While it’s important to follow your heart and believe in yourself, you need to base your business success on facts and numbers. If the earnings aren't coming in to make ends meet or you’re not getting the creative satisfaction you wanted out of your current wedding photography business, then you need to change things up.

Have you tried different techniques and strategies to attract new clients? How have you marketed or branded your business to make it stand out? Are you paying attention to how clients respond to your work? You need to find quantifiable aspects of your business to monitor over a designated period of time, after which you can decide whether enough is enough or you’re on the upward curve.

Running a small business requires you to be flexible and willing to change with the times, as well as resilient in the face of obstacles. So it’s important to stay focused on what it is you want to achieve when wedding photography business problems arise and be realistic about where you are headed.

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EPISODE #70: RECAP OF WPPI 2017

Summary:

The WPPI Convention is the largest wedding photography conference in the United States and this year was held in the Entertainment Capital of the World - Las Vegas. It’s an opportunity to connect with wedding photographers from across the country, learn about the latest trends and technology, and be inspired through information classes and discussions.

This year I was lucky enough to attend and wanted to give my listeners a recap of why I went, what happened while I was there, and the take-home lessons I learned. From trade show to classes, networking events and parties, there is so much going on that you need to pace yourself. But you can see first-hand what vendors across the country are offering, from prints and online galleries to the latest equipment, and make connections that you otherwise wouldn’t back home. The WPPI Convention is not just about how you can improve your wedding photography business, but also connect with new colleagues and find out the latest trends in the industry.

I would always recommend it to other wedding photographers, both those just starting out and seasoned pros. There’s plenty going on to inspire and motivate you, and lots of new tips and techniques that you can apply to your own business. So if you’re thinking you might want to be a part of it next year, this podcast will give you all the information you need.

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EPISODE #69: IT'S TAX SEASON: HAVE YOUR DONE YOURS...CORRECTLY?

Summary:

It’s that time of year again, and for those of us who are self-employed, doing your taxes is a burden to say the least. Not only can it be a time-consuming task, but unlike most people, we’re going to be paying tax, rather than receiving a refund. So this podcast is designed to help you do this accurately and efficiently with some of my top tax income tax return tips for wedding photographers.

We’ll talk about why we have to do taxes in the first place and what it means as a self-employed individual, as well as the importance of keeping up-to-date records of what you are earning and spending. Whether you opt to do your taxes yourself or through a CPA, it’s important that you are accurate and only write off business expenses and report all the income you make...it's the right thing to do!

I’ll give you some of my top tax tips from the last several years as a professional wedding photographer and my insider advice for completing your tax return as stress-free as possible. From filling out forms to the logistics of tax recording, we’ll break it all down.

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EPISODE #68: HOW TO KEEP YOUR PASSION FOR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WHEN YOU LOSE IT.

Summary:

Let’s face it. No matter what industry you work in, there are times when you lose your motivation and wake up feeling uninspired and frustrated. So this episode is all about what to do when that happens and how to reignite your passion for wedding photography and stay in the business.

We’ll chat about some of the reasons you might lose your passion in the first place, from stressful situations on wedding days and not enough time to capture portraits, to having too much work maintaining the business side of things. Perhaps you’re not getting the emotions you need from clients or their budget inquiries are below your starting point. Or it might be as straight forward as no longer getting the same enjoyment you used to out of capturing a couple’s special day.

So if this happens, what should you do to reignite your passion for wedding photography? First and foremost, you need to remember why you got into wedding photography in the first place. Maybe it was the desire to do something creative or make a difference in the lives of the couples you work with. Or perhaps it was about being your own boss and having a flexible schedule. For some of us it’s about the opportunity to learn about different cultures and faiths.

Whatever your initial driving passion was, that’s what you need to reconnect with and this wedding photography podcast episode will help you do just that!

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