I think by now most of us realize that business in general, and the wedding industry in particular, is very relational. Simply put, we are happier, do better work, get burned out less, and have more job & life satisfaction overall when we work with people we actually like. People we have strong relationships with. The kinds of couples that we would want to be friends with anyway had we met them in any other walk of life. And the kinds of couples that we would gladly spend time with, even if it wasn’t part of our job. These are the kinds of couples we have affectionately deemed our “Clients-Turned-Friends.” The question then becomes: Ok, so how do you find couples like that? How do you
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The Magic Bullet of Successful Wedding Photography
“Boy, I never knew I could look so good.” – Lisa Binder, Washington DC If you were to create a list of the various components for building a successful wedding photography business, you would most likely include things like great customer service, personality marketing, understanding your ideal client, great photography, recognizable style, and unique product offerings. Yet, there is one component—arguably the most important component—that probably wouldn’t make your list. It’s what I consider to be the “magic bullet” of wedding photography and the one thing that leads to more bookings, more sales, and more happy clients than anything else. Ironically, it’s also the trait that I find to be almost a lost art in today’s highly competitive wedding photography market! So what is it?
Reinventing Yourself: A Meandering Journey with Joe.
An Interview with Joe Buissink by Rachel LaCour Niesen Atlanta photographers- hear more of Joe’s story tomorrow, July 13th, at the Atlanta PUG Meeting! Then, come back on Thursday for Pictage & ShootQ Business Bootcamp! “I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone.” – Henry Rollins This is one of my favorite quotes by an artist I admire. He’s characteristically irreverent and unconcerned about pissing people off. In fact, he implies that we must define ourselves by reinvention. The last statement is particularly poignant: “To cut yourself out of stone.” Notice he didn’t say “sculpt.” He said “cut.” Did you hear that? CUT. Reinvention is a painful process.
Your Photography Business is Not About You
Your photography business is not about you. That’s not something we hear very much these days. In fact, I feel sometimes that one of the strongest messages we hear during this rapid growth of the industry is the exact opposite. We hear that it’s all about us. That we need to market ourselves in order to stand apart from the crowds. That it’s not about the photography, it’s about the photographer. That it’s about our unique personality, our particular eye, and our ability to make photographic art that nobody else can create. It’s YOU that defines your brand and separates your business from everyone else in the market. I would agree 100% with those statements. But I still submit to you guys that your business
Facilitating Interaction in a Non-Creative Environment
Every once in a while you come across the perfect wedding day: the weather is favorable, the venue is elaborate, and the wedding party is the most photogenic group you have ever photographed. But all too often you come across a different scene: it’s the coldest day of the year, the venue’s most promising background is a brick wall, and the couple admits that they sometimes feel a little awkward in front of a camera. But, in BOTH of these situations they hired you for your creative work. How do you remain creative in a non-creative environment while at the same time ensuring that your couple feels and looks relaxed and natural in each frame? One way we do this is by focusing on facilitating
Why I Travel for Engagement Shoots
People ask me all the time why I frequently travel for engagement shoots. Many photographers balk at driving more than 30 minutes to photograph an engagement session, since the actual shoot time for these sessions is usually a few hours at most. So why is it that I’m more than eager to hop on a plane and travel across the continent just for a shoot that will last a few hours? Here’s just a few of the reasons why I love traveling for these engagement shoots: 1. It’s crucial to photograph people in places that are meaningful to them. When I’m traveling for an engagement shoot, I often travel to the place where the couple first met or where they currently live. About half the
Photography Notes: A Wedding at the Grand Canyon
I wanted to take a departure from my normal technical podcast today and talk about a wedding I just photographed and some of my thoughts behind it. This is the first time I’ve done this, but I had such a strong reaction to this wedding and want to learn from this experience by discussing my thoughts and emotions. After all, this is what we’re paid to do, our job is to experience and to learn and to apply that knowledge and wisdom to our photography. So, I thought I would share this exercise with you and I encourage you to try it as well. Manuel and Samirah were married on the edge of the Grand Canyon, but it was not just their wedding location that
4 Tips for Building Valuable Vendor Partnerships that Last
A wedding is successful because of the collaboration of multiple vendors, working together for their client. When each vendor works together the event goes on beautifully. That is why we refer to each company that was a part of a wedding day not as vendors but as partners. A partner is “a friend who shares a common interest or participates in achieving a common goal.” Face it, we could all use more business. Developing meaningful partnerships, is one way to get more business. With that in mind, here are a few ways you can provide a wonderful experience with wedding partners and build those relationship to help grow your business. These easy tips will guarantee your business to grow with new referrals from new partners.
Three Essential Skills for Today’s Wedding Photographer
Times….they are a changin’. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard some of the doom and gloom that’s been rumbling in our industry. And although the photo industry is different than it used to be, this isn’t necessarily bad news. The photographers who are able to successfully navigate the changing industry landscape are still running successful businesses and have adapted to ensure that their business will still be around in the years to come. Whether you’re just jumping in and are new to the industry or you’re a seasoned pro, here are three essential skills that will help you succeed. 1. Choose your Words Wisely. As you’ve built your photography business, at some point you probably were told about the exercise of
Are You a Specialist or a Generalist?
Are you a Specialist or Generalist? Today we’ll talk about what this means, why it matters & how to figure out which category you belong in. Specialization and generalization are two totally different approaches to doing business. Business owners tend to adopt a bit of both practices, but doing so actually ends up hurting their business. I’ll admit that over the years I’ve done my share of this as well. That’s why I want to start this dialogue and share some of what I’ve learned about making intentional choices and clearly developing a purpose for a photography business. Are you a Generalist? A generalist is a person (or business) whose skills, interests, and/or habits are evenly distributed and unspecialized. A generalist has NOT chosen a