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Download link: Episode 9
This is not episode 11!
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Question #1: What TV shows do you recommend? *(Likely the best question we’ve ever received.)
Dave: I just finished watching the first two seasons of Fringe, and it’s so good. If you’re an X-Files fan, you’re going to love Fringe.
Taylor: How I Met Your Mother – it’s a great show. Neil Patrick Harris is pretty much a hero and his character on that show is both ironic and amazing.
Dave: And then all the obvious ones – like Dexter.
Question #2: Do you turn down a bride if she’s not a fit for you or your company? And how do you go about doing such things?
Taylor: I typically pre-qualify really well. If we’re not a right fit, usually the bride’s not even going to attempt to book me. Usually we’ll meet and realize there’s no connection there, and then there’s no follow up email on my part, so the problem usually goes away.
Dave: As simple as this sounds, turn off the charm. If you’re halfway through the meeting and you’re not feeling the vibe and you think she may be a bridezilla, just turn off your charm, hand over your prices and ask if there’s anything else you can tell them about. If you don’t want to do it, don’t hustle for it.
Taylor: I’ve been a believer of the 80/20 rule – where 20% of your clients take up 80% of your time, so I’ve been doing my best to try and avoid booking those 20%. And I know maybe it’s a financial loss, but it gives me so much more time to live my life.
Dave: And you want to shoot a job you love, anyway. We put so much heart and soul into our work that it doesn’t make sense to make that investment if you’re not happy.
Taylor: I found that when I was first starting out I attracted more of “those” brides – and I think that comes with the price tag. They’re the people that don’t really appreciate wedding photography and they consider you the “button-pusher” like that’s all you’re there for. The more you move up in price range, the more the people that book you appreciate what you do. And if they’re not the right fit, you can tell them you don’t think it’s working out and send them to other photographers: “I think you’d really connect with so-and-so”.
Or the other more lucrative method is to call and say someone already booked that date – unless they’re willing to re-arrange their wedding, and in that case I think you’re destined to shoot them.
Question #3: What books/audio books do you suggest listening to?
Dave: I put this out on Facebook a couple weeks ago myself because I was looking for marketing inspiration, and I got some awesome tips. I like Seth Godin and I listen to his audio books when I’m driving around.
Taylor: I really like everything by Malcolm Gladwell as well as Seth and Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris – it’s actually a life-changing book.
Dave: If you’re ready to put it into effect and
challenge yourself this book will blow your mind.
Taylor: It’s probably the reason I started outsourcing everything, too.
Dave: It puts forth the idea that if you’re not critical in the process you shouldn’t be doing it. You should be on your business, not in it – if you don’t want to play an employee, pay a subcontractor for the work you need done so you can free up your time and shoot more – because that’s where the money is.
Taylor: You’re essentially buying back your freedom from your business, and it’s revolutionized everything.
Dave: And that’s where the 80/20 principle comes in – though he calls it the 95/5 principle because the ratio’s even higher. He had 20 good clients and 80 bad ones, so with the 80, he told them the minimum they needed to order and the way they had to go about it – and he fired his clients, basically. So that way, he could service the 20 twice as well.
Taylor: Another good one I just finished was Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh which is the Zappo story, and it’s one I’m willing to put Four Hour Workweek. It’s his story, and it starts back from age 3 and moves onward, and it’s ridiculous to see where he started and where he ended up.
Question #4: Should I shoot an entire wedding with a ring light?
Taylor: Yes. The answer is definitely yes.
Dave: If you want something different and unique, yes – but you’ll need long extension cables.
Taylor: But you can get portable ones. But seriously I try to avoid that. I like the Better Bounce Card which is a little sock thing, and if you head to http://www.betterbouncecard.com there’s a how-to on how to make it. I’ve never used it, but it’s a sock that goes into the flash and it stops the light from going into the guests’ eyes, so any light just hits the wall instead. But I’m sure you can buy the actual product if you’d rather.
But the answer is yes. Yes, definitely do it.
Question #5: Are there any online communities you suggest checking out?
Dave: In terms of photo discussions, online learning and interaction, I definitely recommend potluckphoto.com. And if not that, I’m a huge advocate for Jerry Ghionis ICE Society. Every month he puts out a new chapter and it’s got how-tos and videos, and when you sign up for it, you can watch every video going backwards.
Taylor: And it’s cheap and easy to sit at your computer and stream them. I really found it helpful to see his approach to everything – but just to see him working on an actual wedding day was really beneficial to me. I know that posing everything so specifically isn’t for me, but I know that now because of watching the videos.
Dave: And DWF.
Taylor: Yeah. I was a member, but my membership just lapsed. It’s a great place to get started, but my issue is that it cycles mid-year and the same questions start coming back in. And it’s almost too big of a community to feel like it’s yours
Dave: I think the key to using a site like that is not read everything from everyone, but to find a few people that put out good advice. The thing that frustrates me is that when someone raises a good question, about 50 people say “great question” – where I’d prefer it to remain succinct.
Tayor: And it’s overwhelming the amount of information you get sometimes. Personally if the topic’s more than two pages and I haven’t started at the beginning there’s about a zero per cent chance I’ll read it.
The other one I use is Open Source Photo. It’s an overwhelming amount of categories for me, where I’d much rather have five good forums with interactive forums than something that gets updated every three or four days. DWF is a great site, though, for someone just getting started – there’s a lot of information on there.
