What am I doing wrong?

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>From revisiting your site I see that you've taken much of the feedback here and made some very positive changes to your site....looks better.</p>

<p>One more suggestion, Try to develop your outdoor lighting skills and add fill on your subjects, you can also compensate somewhat with post-processing work )see sample before & after image below). Consider joining WPPI, PPA, and/or NAPP and network with local pros as much as possible. Good luck.</p><div></div>

[goldbergbarry]

<p>Hi Aura,</p>

<p>I am very impressed that you made some of the changes that we recommended in this thread. The site is definitely looking much better. Nice job!</p>

<p>With the changes that you made, I see that you took my advice and killed the Facebook and blog links from the splash page. Right now there is just a splash page that a person has to go through to get to your site. I should have been more explicit in my feedback and I apologize that I wasn't but I recommend that you kill the splash page. Splash pages add no value and you are just making it more difficult in getting to your site.</p>

<p>It's funny because 10-15 years ago, everyone automatically created a splash page for their sites, even large corporations. From all the studies, they discovered that this just creates a barrier for people going to your site and many people drop-off without hitting your home page. That is why splash pages have disappeared.</p>

<p>Therefore I recommend that you kill the splash page and just put people at your lovely home page.</p>

<p>Barry<br>

EDIT to fix typos.</p>

[aura_jane]

Barry, you have an interesting point. The reason I have a splash page to begin with is that I was told that it would help with

seo and that if a person did not have a flash player, they could not see my site at all. I had planned to remedy this by

getting an HTML mirror site, but haven't had the extra money for it. All my extra money goes to lenses and gear. As soon

as I can do that, I will take your advise and remove the splash page. I wasn't aware that it scared people off, but it makes

sense. People are afraid of viruses. I'm sure they don't want to click a button when they don't know where it will take them.

[kate callahan]

<p>Hi Aura Jane,<br>

I'm late joining in here ... but it looks like you've gotten some great advice. I know you mentioned that you don't enjoy working with kids as much because you find that what parents want isn't what you want to shoot. I went through the same thing when I was starting out and found it to be really frustrating. I remedied the situation by offering free shoots. The catch was, I got to style it exactly as I wanted. I chose the location. I called the shots. In doing this, I built up a portfolio of images that represented my style. This allowed me to remove the images in my portfolio that were there simply because I needed to put something there and not because they were great! Suddenly, I wasn't getting any more calls from people who wanted a shoot that wasn't "me". Instead, I began getting calls from people who were choosing me not because I'm an available photographer, but because they loved my style. I did the same thing when I was putting together my wedding portfolio a few months back. I never second shot for anyone and have only done a handful of weddings, really, but in order to build up images that were a good representation of my style, I offered free bridal shoots. It was a lot of work, but it paid off. Anyway, best wishes with your endeavors. I know it can be hard at first, but hang in there. I think you're going to do great! Oh, and also, if weddings really are your primary focus, then you might want to have them be at the top of the list of your portfolio instead of kids : ) Take care, Kate</p>

[yvonne_selnick]

<p>Like all business models, Wedding Photographers are part of a supply/demand market. Sure, there's a high demand for Wedding photography, but there is a HUGE supply of Wedding Photographers and its growing by leaps and bounds. With such a huge supply of vendors, prices stay low and mortality (going out of business) is high. Occupational trends and Google NAIC statistics show a faster growth rate in this profession than any other currently being tracked. I suppose this sounds negative coming from me who is a college prof teaching photography, but I think the analysis is correct. There is a great surplus of photographers and the "low business/no business/low prices" paradigm is one that is here to stay.</p>

[wogears]

<p>Quick Note: Your wedding slide show caused my browser to lock up.</p>

[vitadesigns]

<p>Aura,</p>

<p>I might be able to add to this discussion. I am a photographer that is near your experience and time in the business, but I feel as though I have gone a different route and feel quite successful, for the amount of time my business has been advertising. </p>

<p>Some thoughts:<br>

1. Network, Network, Network! My company has made connections with other photographers and companies. We didn't look for anything but friendship from these connections. Several of our photographer friends have helped me hone my craft and give me great tips on the local market and how they have been successful. In Pittsburgh, where I work, most of the photographers have pointed to the local bridal shows as their biggest source of clients. We spent the money to be there. Figure out where other photographers go to get clients and put yourself there.</p>

<p>2. Along the same lines, one of our company friends has turned into a great source of clients. We made contact with a young woman who was relatively new in her position as the events coordinator and started doing free promotional work for her. She liked our work and our personalities and began to give us referrals. Now, we have worked ourselves into being their preferred photographer. All that has happened over the last 9 months. Networking gives you the best chance for that "foot in the door" that we all need to succeed. </p>

<p>3. Advertising. We put a lot of time into making creatively designed postcards, business cards, and other promotional material. These, we feel, have set us apart from our competition. When the possible client looks at your printed material are you just one of many they are looking at? Are you going to be remembered or tossed out like the rest of the photographers' printed ads? We felt it worth the time and cost to make exceptional printed advertising. </p>

<p>4. Our goal started out to get bookings. We failed 90% of the time! We then observed another local photography company, that we felt were our biggest competitors (one of the best in Pittsburgh), booking consultations and not weddings. We then changed our goal. Now we want to book consultations and not weddings. When we meet with the possible client for the second time (the consultation), it's over coffee at a local shop and in that one on one setting we are able to give our whole attention and presentation. Our success rate has skyrocketed! Out of 10 consultations, 9 have ended in bookings, and that 1 that didn't book we are not done courting! We have put more time into the process and the result has been that clients have spent more time getting to know us. Even though my portfolio is very bare - until this summer I have had only one 'real' wedding to show, and it was a traditional Indian wedding! (beautiful but not typical) - the clients have trusted in us, I think because of the experience we have provided up to the point of booking. We come across professional and confident. Our print work looks amazing and we treat our possible clients like royalty. They respond to our efforts.</p>

<p>5. Of all the things we have done to get bookings, our website was the last. We used a free service because we couldn't afford to pay for hosting. We had 5 pages total! We kept it very barebones. Only the one wedding I had shot was posted, no calendar, no fluff. We had three packages with pricing and then a contact page. But it worked, it was good enough to book consultations, our goal. From there we were able to sell the experience we offered, even without the vast portfolio of much more accomplished photographers. </p>

<p>I hope my experiences are able to help you succeed! If you take anything away: HARD WORK PAYS OFF!! <br>

Also, be encouraged, I started my company back in September of '09 and this is our first wedding season. Before that I was in CA trying to shoot at weddings I was only invited to attend with my trusty D40 and an SB400. So in less than a year and moving from one market across the country to a totally different one, we have found a solid footing and game plan that seems to be paying dividends. Your business can pick up fast if you put the time into it. Good luck!!</p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>Anthony, you've gone out of your way to pass-on some sound marketing advice.....hope Aura appreciates it.</p>

<p>Aura, you also might want to add your site URL to your P-net membership page to create another link to your site.</p>