Posts tagged marketing | Columbus Wedding Photographer

With a Bang!

A single component of being a wedding photographer can be very tough, and very rewarding – constantly working with new people. Not only must we work with brand new couples, but also florists, cake artists, wedding planners and venues. On the one hand, starting a rewarding relationship can be tough. Conversely, new relationships that really blossom can last a lifetime. With new clients, I like to help the process along.

To kick things off with a bang, I always greet new clients with excitement. Weddings are a really exciting time for couples and I want to contribute to the enthusiasm. After the boring contract business is done, I want to make sure the excitement builds right away. I take time to send couples an email right away. I greet them with honest excitement. After all, I really am excited to be working with them and to start a new relationship. This kind of opening helps reassure any client that they made the right decision. The news is filled with sensationalized wedding horror stories, so reassuring your clients can make a big difference.

A week later, I follow-up with step two. No, I don’t send them some FAQ document or more things “deal” with. Instead, I send them a simple gift, and the gift is something personal to me. A core component of my brand is the idea of a “gift,” so offering my clients something at the beginning really helps to under-score my brand.

If this concept sounds right for you, but you feel it might be too expensive, you’re be over-thinking it. The gift I offer is small and inexpensive. What’s important is that the gift is personal to me. So how did I arrive at this specific gift?

I often greet clients in my home-office with fresh cookies. It’s just a great way to start a meeting!
The sweet treats are a specific memory from my youth that I am excited to share. Hopefully, this creates a personal connection.
Last, I want to underscore my gratitude with personalized thank you note.

In the future, I will be adding some more components that will allow the welcome gift to be personal to my clients as well. Are sweet treats not right for you? All that’s needed to come up with something unique and personal to you is a small time investment.

How to build great relationships with wedding clients

On a completely random note, business has been growing by leaps and bangs lately. So much so that the shipping department needed a new employee. I recently added “Hector” to the staff 😉 I expect he will improve productivity. And yes, I do name inanimate objects around the office. Weird, but that’s me.

Gravity & the Importance of Thanking the Team

This morning I have been sitting in my office doing chores. Then it dawned on me – my chore this morning is actually pretty important and could be of interest to others. So here it is – gravity and the importance of thanking the team. Yes, I am might use a space analogy to demonstrate the importance of team work and recognizing good work. I have to warn you though, this post could get a little punnie (Ha!).

The Bride and Groom are the stars at any wedding. All of the vendors then orbit around their gravity to form the wedding event. As a photographer, I’m a small part of the wedding solar system. Every satellite in the team has to do a great job with beautiful synchronicity to create an amazing wedding for our clients. Team work is crucial, and so is giving thanks. As just a small part of any wedding, I should be thankful to all the vendors who keep the wedding running and looking amazing. The day of the wedding, I make sure to personally thank anyone I can find. I also like to follow-up later with a more substantial thank you.

The follow-up really helps to cement my heart-felt appreciation, but it also pays additional benefits. It gives me a chance to market my business (albeit slyly) and to strengthen my brand with others. All of this will help me to find and work with my perfect clients. Whenever possible, I try to include a little gift for the vendor.

Including an album for the vendor is a perfect choice. It communicates the quality of my work – but also the quality of the vendors. When done right, albums can be effective and affordable-ish. I deliberately choose images that reflect the vendor’s best work. I make sure these are printed large and get attention. I also make sure to use the vendors name and logo in the layout. The rest I fill in with great photos showing the happy couple. Collectively the album is about the vendor. But it is also about my work.

I package each album nicely and in a manner consistent with my branding. I then take the time to hand-write a very personal thank you note. Both of these actions ensure I am remembered as a person and as a business – separately. I want them to remember that it was nice working with me. I want them to say “you should hire Hunter Photographic”. Hopefully the difference between those two points is clear.

I don’t create a personalized album for every vendor. Instead, I start by picking the ones who’ve done an amazing job. After all, I want to work with a great team. Second, I also consider vendors who seek a similar client as myself. This helps to ensure I find the right clients in the future. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or resources to send a personalized thank you to everyone. Instead of doing something small for many, I do something big for a few.

Why go to all this trouble? Here are a few reasons –

Brand recognition and distinction
Increased marketing reach
More contact with the type of couples I love
Giving thanks feels great and it’s the right thing to do!

Marketing your wedding photography and strengthening your brand with vendor thank you gifts.

So that was my chore today. I’m excited for two reasons. First, some friends will receive gorgeous gifts that they deserve this week. Second, I’m also excited for what the future could hold. I’m definitely looking forward to new doors opening.

Guide to Growing a Wedding Photography Business

I have some recommended reading for you. Don’t worry, this one is easy and short. If you are a wedding photographer, or considering becoming one, definitely check out the latest guide from PhotoShelter – How to Grow a Wedding Photography Business. This PDF guide features a lot of great content covering everything from marketing to client care. It also features input from top industry professionals including Ryan Brenizer, Brian Dorsey and your’s truly. You can get your free copy here.

In the guide, I discuss a few topics critical to starting a successful wedding photography business. Key point include correcting for the inevitable mistakes, creating a cohesive brand, and building your site for solid SEO performance (that’s Google, y’all). I highly recommend getting a copy for yourself. I plan to read it cover-to-cover tonight.

But wait, there’s more! When PhotoShelter interviewed me for the guide, we talked for a solid hour. The whole process has been a pleasure. However, there were a couple tips I forgot to include during the interview. To provide additional benefit, I though I would include the additional information right here.

Are you absolutely certain?
Photography can sound like a wonderful career. People have visions of running all over the world photographing amazing clients in beautiful locations. But that’s not how it works. In reality, photography is tough. It doesn’t pay well and you have to work very long hours. Of the hours you do work, very few are actually spent capturing photographs. The balance of the time is spent running a business, caring for your clients, editing photos, and really boring stuff like….taxes!

So ask yourself this – must I become a professional photographer to be happy? If you like your job well enough and enjoy time with your family, consider remaining a very serious amateur. There is nothing wrong with being the best damn amateur photographer ever. However, if you are chasing a vision in your head that you can’t get out, then maybe it is time to become a pro. One commonality among the professionals I know is an insatiable drive to capture a certain vision again and again. It’s not something they can let go.

It’s a vision thing
Being a master at business and client relations is important, but when it comes to any creative pursuit, you need a solid vision that defines your work. Developing this vision is like developing a muscle – it needs work each and every day. Here are some initial steps I took to hone my personal vision –

Use a tool like Google reader to build a large collection of work that speaks to you. Google reader is a great tool for curating work from other photography blogs.
Over time, decide which of the collected works really speak to you. Eliminate all those that don’t.
Hone the remaining list down to those that share common visual themes. What you like creatively will begin to stick out.
With your list of “visionaries” in mind, take the style you have curated and make it your own. Add your personal touch.

The above is not something that has an ending. It’s a muscle you must constantly exercise.

It’s always personal
The saying “it’s just business” makes my skin crawl. Who could think such a thing?! Business is, and should be, very personal. Build your photography or creative business around relationships. Serve your clients well and constantly surprise them. Show them you care about more than just their work. Demonstrate that you care for them as people. As I mention in the guide, a core component to my brand is that I want my clients to feel as though they were given a gift. This is a critical part of what I do for my clients – and it’s deeply personal for me and for them.

That’s all for today. Definitely checkout the guide. Also, stop back here often. I will be adding much more content for photographers very soon. Until then, you can keep up with our current work on Facebook.

Tagged: marketing