dustin_hatcher Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>Hi All,<br> My wife and I started our wedding photography business last year in January (2008) and are now looking to jump up out of the budget-bride/craigslist market and get talking to brides who are interested in something more than shoot and burn type photography.<br> We visited WPPI this year and were able to select our album vendors. We are also putting up a brand new website and blog in a couple of weeks that has a much more professional feel to it than what we we're doing before.<br> We've already got our packages together and we're ready to go, but we're unsure as to what some of the better ways to market ourselves would be or even really where to start to begin getting into the more upscale market. <br> We've looked into advertising with The Knot and a couple other magazines, but we're not really sure its a great use of our money and we think it might be better spent, but we just don't know where. If anyone here would be obliged to give us some help we'd really appreciate it.<br> Our market is the San Francisco Bay Area just FYI. :)</p> <p>Thank you all!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_whitcomb1 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>First, identify your ideal client with specifics, i.e., age, education level, style, tastes, income level, etc. This will help you with step 2, create a marketing plan that targets your ideal client with laser beam focus. For different levels there are different strategies, pick your market and go after it with tenacity! Also remember, every decision you make today needs to be weighed against how it will affect your business 5 years from now. Picking the wrong market today could hinder your ability to change to a higher or lower market in the future. So until you figure out a couple of things I wouldn't spend money throwing ideas up against the wall to see what sticks.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcmanamey Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>The best advertising money we've spent has been the free party/planning guides that can be picked up in a variety of stores. Locally, it's Wichita Wedding Ideas (replace w/ the name of your town) and Wichita Brides (same thing). I don't know exactly the markets they are in, but advertising is way cheaper than the newspaper and some other options, and has brought us our best returns.</p> <p>The Wedding Ideas can be found all over - including Wal Mart and grocery stores. I have gotten calls from brides all across the spectrum from this ad. Our 1st year, the only advertising I did - no other presence anywhere - brought us almost more business than we could handle.<br> Brides is found in more upscale locations - bridal shops, jewelry stores, etc - and this is our 1st year advertising with them. I have already received more calls through Brides than Wedding Ideas, and on an annual basis, the cost of advertising is far cheaper than Wedding Ideas.</p> <p>The other thing is - look into Wedding Wire.com. I like the way they have their referral system set up.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin_hatcher Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>I think we actually have our ideal client specifics down pretty well, its just knowing where to focus that laser beam that's a bit of a blur to us. We know they read the latest magazines etc, but with it costing so much and just a small limited marketing budget its hard to know where to really focus that money.</p> <p>Maria: Thank you, I will definitely look into those ideas!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_whitcomb1 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>The one thing that has helped us with reaching the high-end clientele in our area has been to provide photography services for upscale salons, resturaunts, and charity campaigns. We also place custom 5x7 double sided cards printed on linen card stock at places where they will be seen by our target market. Whatever course you decide to take make sure your results are measureable to see if its a good way to spend your time and money. Try salons and spas first since that's a really cheap way of showing your work and connecting with people.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede_spoltore Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>There's an excellent book from Amherst Media about Marketing & Selling for Weddings & Portraits. It has some excellent marketing ideas for upscale selling.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_ellis Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>Get a solid business plan, select your absolute best images and show only those on your site, and network with anybody in the wedding business (venues, cakeries, florists, planners, other photographers, etc.)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_hovland Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>Direct mail.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_garcia10 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>It can take a lot of trial and error before you can nail your target market. what works for others may not work for you and vice versa. try facebook or google adwords... and read lots of books about marketing and advertising. it helps! good luck!</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiago_valente Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>Hi Dustin,<br /> <br /> I'm a wedding photographer for some years, but I had the same problem in the beggining. I come from a marketing background and I can tell you that there is no easy or unique solutions, you'll have to try and that might take these 1 or 2 next years until you reach a confortable level and when you think you did, things change...<br /> <br /> First I would recommend to leave Craigs list and all that low-budget stuff ... :)<br /> <br /> I never did price war, for me that was the major mistake you did, because you are now seen as a low-budget photographer and you have to crawl your way out (the best would be to start as assistant and evolute from there). <br /> <br /> One thing that is free and it looks nowadays nobody cares about is the mouth-to-mouth. If you want to shoot middle-upper or upper class you must "fit in" or best, be one of them, go to the same places. With time you start relating to them. A wedding photographer has to be a good public relations as his business goes around people. This takes time, there is no one-minute solutios, you'll have to get the "opinion-makers" atention.<br /> <br /> If you can, be present with a professional looking booth in your local wedding show, this will present you to the community (remember that the mouth-to-mouth is the best advertising) and to other phtographers. They will start to see you as competition and not as a "low-budget intruder". Speak to them all, create relations, you're now one of them!<br /> <br /> I also have some agreements (10% fee) with some very nice local venue places, bride shops, florists. They usually recommend 1 or 2 photographers when the B&G goes there to visit the space, try the dress or choose the flowers. This for me is very important income of new clients that in the future will recommend me also.<br /> Remember I'm talking about elegant and very nice places. Try to contact some of them and try to reach an agreement, remember that you'll have to offer them something, and when I say "something" I mean money (10%)<br /> <br /> My advertising money 100-150€ goes to google adwords and it gives me about 5 e-mail queries a day, the rest comes from my personal contacts. If I had the money I would also do one or two ads in the best brides magazine. I'm also in WPJA and some other websites. Foruns are good to connect with the competion.<br /> <br /> To finnish I'll reccomend a fantastic web marketing tool that I've bought in January. the Kertesz template, you can read more about it in: http://www.thinklikeabride.com/theagency/kertesz/ <br /> This really helped me saving some money as I reduced my adwords to 75€-100€ this month. What is it? It's a hybrid website/blog template, all customizable and prepared for the photography market. With some customization and start blogging about weddings made me into the first and second page of google organic (non-paid) search! <br /> <br /> All the best to your new business!!<br /> Moderator note: Personal Website removed. <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lightsmith1 Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>It may take longer but a tried and true process is to keep ratcheting up your rates and shooting well enough to gradually increase the percentage of your business that comes from referrals. With albums the key consideration should be the time involved to do the necessary image processing and design the layouts. It does little good to sell a $500 cost album for $1500 if you have to spend 80 hours putting it together.<br> Doing upper end wedding means more than offering albums but also having a higher quality product in terms of the images you produce which in turn may require an investment in equipment and training.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin_hatcher Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 <p>Wow thank you all! Definitely some info to get crackin on! And I most definitely agree with the sentiment that there is no magic wand to wave. I don't mind doing the hard work and figuring out what works, but I thank you all for providing some valuable info that will get me jump started in the right direction :)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 <p>How many Weddings have you done? <br> How many Weddings have you on your books now, yet to do?<br> WW</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin_hatcher Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 <p>We did a handful last year (5 or so) and this year we have 2 definites and a couple more in the works. We noticed it seems like a lot of brides are having their weddings in September this year.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 <p><strong><em>"last year (5 or so) and this year we have 2 definite and a couple more in the works."</em></strong><br> <br> Then it seems to me you have 5 or so clients to whom you should be marketing your referral plan. (perhaps a complementary 1 year anniversary sitting for any lead / and a complimentary 10 x 8 for any booking)* <br> <br> Also you have 2 Booked clients to whom you should be marketing your new packages at a special bonus offer of the additional 14 x 11 enlargements at half price,* because they have already booked with you.<br> <br> * (Adapt as you see fit)<br> <br> The point is in the upper middle market, referral is the best marketing plan.<br> <br> I am a long way away from San Francisco Bay and I make no claim to know the intricacies of your particular piece of the pie - but I have shot a lot of Weddings - My market is the upper middle market, and although now somewhat boutique I think that in this area of the marketplace, wherever you are in the world, you should begin building your referral base, yesterday.<br> <br> WW</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustin_hatcher Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 <p>Hi William,<br> Thank you for the advice. I'm going to put that to good use in the next coming weeks as we launch our [new] website and blog. We are working up some promo's right now and our past and present clients will be the first to hear of all the new special deals they can get :)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_hovland Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 <p>If you have done budget brides in the past, word of mouth will bring you budget brides in the future.<br> There is no ladder to take you up to the higher socio-economic level- you can't work your way up.<br> You have to jump up.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 <p><strong><em>"If you have done budget brides in the past, word of mouth will bring you budget brides in the future."</em></strong></p> <p>Hi Steve,<br> I disagree.</p> <p>Also, People are not born "Budget Brides"<br> WW</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_harrington1 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 <p>High end weddings require high end portfolios. To quickly break into that market, hire a couple of models to do engagement and bridal portraits. Go to a high end hotel, restraunt or other venue that's instantly recognizable as an upper income location and shoot the models pictures for advertising on your new website. You don't need a whole bunch, just great quality. Since most people don't really care about table shots etc when selecting a photographer you should be able to present just a few images. In many cases people equate money with quality and success. I'm not saying having stylish attire and a rolex will get you all jobs, but it won't cost you any.<br> Take one or two of your low end weddings and spend alot of time editing the pictures so that you have perhaps 10 great pages of images and pay for a couple of sample albums of different sizes. Most album co's will give you a substantial discount for studio samples. Offer value added services like digital photo frames with images installed, mounted prints and definately show why they should hire you. Show them a formal portrait that has been printed without correction, and then show them the same image after retouching and printing - tell them lower end photographers often don't correct or retouch images prior to selection. Finally have a proofing gallery on your website and let them know that you post images within 1 week of the wedding so they can share images with family and friends who weren't able to make the wedding or just want to remember the day.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 <p ><strong ><em >“High end weddings require high end portfolios. . .” </em></strong></p> <p > </p> <p >and then the writer goes on to list some practical examples as to how to have an <strong ><em >high end presentation</em></strong>, to match <strong ><em >the high end portfolio.</em></strong></p> <p > </p> <p >I agree. </p> <p > </p> <p >WW</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_hovland Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 <p>WW - Unfortunately, we have a very real class system in the US, and I think people are indeed born as budget brides and as high end brides. <br> There is a lot less upward mobility than our mythology tells us. A few rise from low to high by making a lot of money, but that is not the same as moving into the blue blood world. <br> There are a variety of derogatory terms the true upper class uses about them- nouveau riche, arrivistes, social climbers.<br> And there is very little socializing between classes, so there is a very low probability that a budget bride will refer you to a high-end bride. <br> I really think that if you want high-end you have to go hunting for it unless you were born in the upper income/social classes.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted March 8, 2009 Share Posted March 8, 2009 <p>Steve,<br> <br> I did not take any conditions similar to which you mention, into any consideration. Thank you for taking the time to bring these points to my attention.<br> <br> [Aside comment]: Also, just to be specific, I think we are talking in this thread about upper-middle and middle-spend Brides: "High End" is is a very Boutique Market in which I would include Public Figures etc - but this is only a minor point and does not impact upon the points you make.<br> <br> WW </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark_harrington1 Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 <p>I completely disagree with Steve Hovland; although correct in his assertation that we live in a psuedo cast system, the have not's are equally adept at spending money. I live in Southern California and even though the average household income is probably in the mid double digits to low 100K's, many people have purchased 500K+ homes (which they are now losing). I would hazzard a guess that as a group hispanics spend far more on weddings than do their caucasion counterparts. The difference in my opinion is on the importance of the wedding day and subsequent desire to capture the event on film. I would qualify as the elite class based on income and education, but still live a middle class lifestyle and I would not pay the prices some photographers charge, but many with much less money than I do. The average wedding in SoCal with a bound album is worth about 3-5K in photo revenue. Many more go up from there. It is not at all uncommon to see 3 or more photographers and videographers at venues charging $75-100 per guest. Obviously this level isn't the true "high end", but a typical wedding. I would venture to assume that the truly wealthy wouldn't hire a photographer who frequents Photo.net..........</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_hovland Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 <p>Mark- why would hanging out on photo.net disqualify one from being hired by rich folks?<br> Do you watch Platinum Weddings on DirecTV 260?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Michael Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 <p>Mark,<br> <br> Thank you for your perspective also, on this discussion.<br> <br> <strong><em>"I would venture to assume that the truly wealthy wouldn't hire a photographer who frequents Photo.net.........."</em></strong><br> <br> And to follow on from Steve's question . . . Is this comment: USA; Southern California specific or is it a view you hold that is general in Geographic Customer Base? <br> <br> WW</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now