You probably got into wedding photography because you loved the photography part, and not because you really wanted to be a business person. Unfortunately, without savvy business practices and plans,
Before you even start shooting your next wedding, you can take steps to grow your wedding photography business just by getting more savvy about your marketing, storage, and editing.
ShootDotEdit’s comprehensive online guide, How to Grow Your Wedding Business, can help you approach your wedding photography business more like, well, a business — which will not only help you find new clients, but also free up time in your day.
Change your title: Go to your LinkedIn profile. What is your title? Does it say you’re the CEO or owner of your photography business? Because it should. You’re the authority on your business, and you want your potential clients to know that. This simple act is a great boost for your own self-esteem, and can also change the way you view yourself and your business.
“As entrepreneurs, the product is the business. The business is what you build and what you manage. This is the mindset of the business owner, and this is the product they focus on,” according to ShootDotEdit.
Make a post-pro plan: This sounds simple, but you’d be surprised how many photographers use work-arounds temporary measures for important aspects of the post-shoot stuff, like culling and editing.
“According to a recent survey by the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers, the typical photographer spends almost 30% of their time editing images. Every minute you spend editing is time that you can’t spend growing your business…You need a system in place that allows you to review, sort, and prepare your images for editing as quickly and painlessly as possible so you can continue with your post-shoot workow,” according to ShootDotEdit, which means making a very clear, step-by-step plan.
Know exactly how you’re going to work your way through your inventory — which programs you’re using for each purpose, and how long it should take — before you sit down, exhilarated and disorganized.
Simplify your secondary solutions: If you’re not using the many, many time-saving apps available to small businesses, you’re probably not using your time as efficiently as you could be. Whether it’s time managers like Wunderlist, which can help you set deadlines and also prioritize tasks, or social media marketing simplifiers like HootSuite, which allow you do do all of your social media outreach in one simple place, streamlining your non-photo workflow with these tools can free up a lot of time.
Other time-savers ShootDotEdit recommends include Asana, Dropbox, and Evernote.
Spruce up your site: Does your “About” page still say that it’s a WordPress page? If so, it’s time to get that handled. One of the easiest ways to grow your wedding photography business is to clean up your client-facing profiles and pages. Take some time to streamline your Facebook and Twitter accounts, pin some inspirational images, and make sure your “About” page is completely thorough. ShootDotEdit recommends answering these five questions to help potential clients get to know you:
1. Who are you?
2. How can you help me?
3. How did you get here?
4. Why should clients trust you?
5. What do you share in common?
Get the rest of the tips — free — from ShootDotEdit, and be sure to tune in for SkillSet: Wedding Essentials.
