Where to meet with your wedding clients?

Dave: Totally. What do you think [about] somebody who’s asking where [the best place to meet is] when you’re starting out? So with any photography business, it’s varied – whether you need a studio space or you rent a studio space, what your meeting needs are, it varies according to the client. Let’s just assume this person’s a portrait photographer. What have you done in the past for meeting spaces?

Taylor: [With] meeting spaces, the obvious ones are always the coffee shop, and I did start out there for a little bit and did a few meetings at coffee shops, that kind of thing. What I really recommend for anyone else would be to find a local restaurant or – I used a hotel restaurant – and set up a nice rapport with that company. And every time you go in, just sit down and make sure you tip them well because you’re probably only going to be drinking a couple of coffees.

And I found that meetings in kind of a nicer upscale restaurant qualifies you as a person – even if you’re not charging $3000, $5000 for a wedding – it just kind of says that you care.

Dave: Yeah, totally. I think even turning up at the venue, that’s something I’ve heard a lot of photographers do because generally most clients have their venue booked first to secure their date – and then photography’s about third, fourth on the list. But why not turn up at their venue? Have a look around yourself if you haven’t shot there before, and it’s something that makes the couple be able to envision you being in their venue with them – and they’re making the emotional bonds with you at that point. I think that’s a very strong way to go.

Taylor: And then from there – I’m into kind of a home-based type of studio set up now, and I’m completely happy with it, just [with] the amount of meetings that I have I’m fine by. And for me at least, I don’t have any need for an external studio and I feel that would be an overhead cost that I would be struggling to recoup for, and I may take on some jobs that I should have passed along the line to somebody else just to make that end meet. And it’s just a stress that I don’t need.

Dave: What do you recommend for people with kids or with families for meeting spaces?

Taylor: Hm. I don’t know – you have a studio so . . .

Dave: If you want to talk about that, yeah it’s great to have a studio – it really is. It really diminishes the amount of time people spend negotiating with you – if at all, because they’re stepping in and seeing your business.

Taylor: A credibility indicator, too.

Dave: Yeah, totally. But I think that’s pretty unrealistic for a lot of photographers who are starting out because it’s a large overhead. We use it purely as interview space – we’re not even working there – so the real only value for us is having somewhere we can go. We’ve got two wiener dogs and they bark a lot if people come into the house, so having somewhere to go and just getting a quiet, clean, easy space to use – there’s never any cooking smells or whatever, right? You want it to be professional but inviting.

I think if you’re going to do a space in your home, the best thing you can do is have it in the front of your home, make it a “no kids” zone, no house stuff there – it’s a very commercial space. Keep it very professional, have some candles going, make it really warm and inviting so that they know it’s your home but they can also see that you are serious about it – you haven’t just put an album in your living room. It’s more like it’s your photography area in your house, so you kind of have to dedicate a room, I think