How to get into wedding photography?

Taylor: Alright, onto the next question then. They asked our advice on how to jumpstart our businesses – or your business, specifically. And I guess, Dave – do you want to go first with that?

Dave: Yeah, I think a great way to start your business is really don’t try to be a jack of all trades. Find out what interests as a photographer – obviously start it with some creative shoot friends and someone that falls into that category. So if it’s fashion photography, find some models, somewhere like Model Mayhem and jump right in there. Start some creative shoots, work with a stylist, makeup artist and a hairdresser and do something that’s sort of down your alley because then you’re showing work that’s going to attract people that want the work that you want to do.

That was wordy, but I think that’s an important way to start your business. Define who you want to be by the work you do, and if you have to work cheap or free to do that, I think that’s valuable in your early years.

Taylor: Yeah, it’s a really good idea to kind of create your perfect “for you” portfolio right off the start. That way, you’re attracting more people that are similar to that type of person. So if you want to do fun, fashion-y, creative stuff, you don’t really want to be attracting people that are the complete opposite of that. I found at least for wedding work, having those fun, happy couples really attracted more fun, happy couples to my website.

Dave: Definitely. I think avoiding the clichés as well – I think standing out and being different and doing what you love will attract you to people that share that, you know? You see it way too many times, but everyone’s got all the cliché shots in their portfolio and they just end up being vanilla among the sea of available photographers in every field. So I think the photographers who always stand out are the ones who don’t follow [those people’s] lead, and the only way to do that is to ignore that gut feeling to say, ‘I’ve got to prove I can do a macro shot, I’ve got to prove I can do the shot of the back of the dress’ or whatever it is. Like, I’m talking a wedding here, but in any field, [if] you stand out and create your own shots, your own style, you’ll excel.

Taylor: Yeah. And another thing that I would really stress for jumpstarting your business is a) sign up for a Twitter account and b) if you don’t have a blog, get one immediately.

Dave: Totally.

Taylor: Definitely a WordPress blog if you can – which everyone should be able to if you have your own web space. And just blog about anything you take photos of – within reason, at least. So for the most part, anything.

Dave: Keep it family-friendly.

Taylor: Yep – rated “G” for “Google”. The good thing with that is if you start getting mentioned by other blogs or if other people start linking to you, that Google love is appreciative where the longer it’s around, the better it’s going to be for your website. The more incoming links you have to your website, the better, so try to get as many of those as you possibly can.

Another thing that I did in the beginning was Facebook advertising, and it was a cheap way to get my website out there. I feel like people are a little bit sceptical whenever they click on an ad – especially the top-listed ones. We were talking about this earlier – Dave said how the top-ranked Google ads were the ones that were obviously paid for. People know that they’re paid for, and it’s not as credible as if they find you organically. And I don’t know – Dave, do you want to talk about anything?

Dave: I just agree wholeheartedly with that. I think if people sort of feel like they’ve just discovered you through Google, not only do they feel like Google’s recommending you, but they also feel like they’ve been involved in that process. Somehow, when they land on your site, they feel like ‘oh man – I’ve discovered this’, you know? And that’s kind of exciting for them – especially because they’ve searched for something relevant, whether it’s their venue or their dress designer.

Taylor: So they’re seeing kind of their venue for the first time through your pictures.

Dave: Through your eyes, and going ‘wow – I’ve been to this venue, and I didn’t realize it could look that amazing’.

Taylor: You really just become part of the day already, at least for weddings.

Dave: And I think the same again – we’re sort of going down the path of talking about weddings here, but I think in any field, if someone is looking for really unique family portraits and they find that on your site, they’re going to be like, ‘okay, that’s what I want’, and when they call you, they’re already sold. All they need to know is if you are pretty much available or whether the price is right.

Actually, that’s a great thing to talk about – pricing and whether that’s public. I know people often have that question.

Taylor: Yeah. My pricing, I have a starting rate, and then everything just kind of goes from there. But I know that you’ve found having all of your pricing out there is really beneficial.

Dave: Yeah, it’s something we’ve been doing for about twelve months now. We’ve been publicly listing our pricing on our main page of our website and blog so that people can’t miss it, and I think right away they either say ‘we love the work, but can we afford it?’ and they look at the pricing page and say no. And you know, that’s fine – I understand that not everyone can afford beautiful photography, but they might be able to find someone in their price range that they do like.

I think the more our industry is transparent in terms of the price ranges that are out there [the better], because it’s totally unregulated. You can get anywhere from a $500 photographer to a $5000, $10 000, $15 000 [photographer] quite easily [because] everyone’s got a different level of visual understanding. So I think if they love your work they know the price right away then by the time they’re emailing you and calling you, they’ve already pre-qualified and there’s nothing to negotiate – nothing to figure out, because they know what they’re getting in for.

Taylor: And that kind of plays on the ‘I want people to walk away from anyone’s website knowing who the person is, knowing their work and the prices’. And at that point, they’re like 80% booked, and once they meet with you, it’s just [about] disarming any concerns they may have, that’s it.

And I found that having a video that kind of shows exactly who I am just really, really helps connect with that couple and/or any potential clients that might be coming in and they either love me or they don’t love me, and I’m fine either way as long as I’m attracting those people that love me. I just get to work with those people that I really, really connect with, and it makes life a lot better for me than if I was dreading going into another corporate shoot or another wedding every weekend – I can just know that I’m working with awesome people all the time that are on the other side of the lens, and it keeps me happy.