The Quick & Dirty Guide to Wedding Photography Business Branding

We’ve written about branding at length before, with talk on finding your own niche and sticking to it, as well as several other techniques to help you stand out on today’s complex photography market. Today, however, we’re going to make everything simple and clear for your convenience, with a quick and dirty guide to wedding photography business branding. We’ll be covering all the basics, from getting your reputation off the ground, to putting it to work for you – all outlined in some simple, easy-to-follow steps. Oh, and good luck!

The definitive guide to wedding photography business branding: Newbie edition

1. Making a name and a living at the same time

Back in the day, when print photography was much more important than it is today, in the digital era, photographers would make a name for themselves by getting gallery exposure, followed up with editorial work. Far be it from us, in our guide to wedding photography business branding, to dissuade you from garnering exposure via exhibitions. But, since they’re less likely to draw lucrative clients today than two or three decades ago, you’d be better advised to get some exposure online first, via curated websites. Promote any exposure you can get on your own social media channels and watch as the work rolls in.

2. Don’t underestimate stock photography

As many a seasoned photog will tell you, stock photography doesn’t sell nearly as well as it used to, nowadays. However, if you manage to get a bit of reputation off the ground, you might be surprised to learn that stock will provide a welcome stream of steady income. The trick to making this work often entails taking up several assignments at once – the pay isn’t big, but it’s dependable, when you do strike a lucrative stock photography contract.

3. Have the best possible online presence

In between running and maintaining a blog, several social media accounts (Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are nearly compulsory) and setting up a professional website, you might even want to look into hiring an assistant to handle the workload for you. At the same time, even if you do choose to go down this route, it’s important to maintain a personal approach to your online presence. In other words, don’t make your fans and followers feel like they’re been talked at by a company, but by a genuine human being.

4. Consider hiring an editor

What’s all this talk about hiring someone else do the work for you?, you may ask. After all, the best way to take care of business is to do it yourself, right? Most of the time, yes – but not all the time. If, for instance, editing your work is not your strong suit (which, incidentally, is something that a lot of photographers struggle with), you should definitely think about hiring someone to edit the photos for you. After all, your end goal is to put your best foot forward, as it were, and make sure that the images that get out there with your name on them are the best possible ones.

5. Work on as many projects as possible

We’ve mentioned this before, in connection with stock photography, but it’s a good rule of thumb to go by, no matter the type of assignment. From shooting weddings pure and simple, to taking on editorial assignments, it’s a good idea to put out as much work as you can. You will thus expand your scope, grow your business, showcase your skill, and make sure you get your name out there, on as many people’s radars as possible. And that can’t be a bad idea, right?

Filed Under: Marketing Tagged With: Blog, business branding, facebook, Instagram, marketing, marketing your photography business, Online Marketing, Photographer, photographers, Photography, Photography Business, Photography Marketing, pinterest, twitter, Wedding Photography

How wedding photographers can maximize on Twitter

by Andrew Funderburg

A Guest Article By Andrew Funderburg

1. Your Target Audience The main people a wedding photographer will want to target on Twitter is other wedding industry vendors. Since it’s damn-near impossible to know which Twitter users are brides-to-be, target vendors. Use Twitter to know who is doing what. Offer help if you see someone starting a project. Some suggestions:

Magazine Editors
Wedding Planners
Gown Shops
Florists
Venues

You get the picture. Twitter is an AWESOME way to break the ice with new vendors and other industry professionals you have yet to meet. Then when you do finally get some face time, you’ll have some familiarity to start with.

2. Look for people who talk back OK, so now you’ve found vendors with Twitter accounts. How do you know if they’re worth pursuing? Look at their stream. If they send out plenty of @replies, then this is who you want to talk to. If on the other hand, their stream is just one-way announcements and links to their Web site, chances are you won’t get much out of them. (They haven’t figured out how to use Twitter yet!)

3. Reach Out Twitter is not an “if you build it, they will come” type medium. In fact, it’s the opposite. You have to REACH OUT to people. You do this on Twitter by first following the people you’re targeting and then replying to their tweets. They’ll follow back after awhile. You have to jump-start it.

4. Be Interesting This should be a no-brainer, but have something to say. If you’re not witty yourself, provide resources, tips and info. You also can have good taste in retweets. @PicSeshu is someone who does this very well and has become a great photography resource on Twitter. Keep in mind your target audience and provide relevant info.

5. Have Fun The simplest law of the social universe, if you’re having fun people will be attracted to you. People want to do business with and be around other positive, upbeat people.

There you have it. That’s how a wedding photographer can use Twitter for business.

Filed Under: Twitter Tagged With: social media, Social Networking, twitter, Wedding Photography

Why The Only Thing That Matters To Your Photography Business Is Traffic

by Virtual Photography

We have a building down the street from us that has housed five different restaurants in the past two years. The first had been around for years, and the owners were a part of the community. But they decided to retire, and sold the business. That owner “forgot” to pay taxes, and was shut down in a matter of months. And so the cycle began. Restaurant number two opened and shut down. Same with number three, four and five. Right now there is another large dumpster out front, so I’m sure number six will be open in just a few more weeks.

Why did each of these businesses fail so quickly? Ultimately it came down to traffic. If there aren’t enough people coming through the doors to make ends meet, you can’t survive as a business.

In order to get new business through your doors, you have to generate the traffic. Whether its recommendations from friends, coupons mailed to nearby homes, or networking with local businesses, you have to do something to generate the traffic.

That same thought process carries through to the online world as well.

In order to make connections online, you have to be “talking” in the right places. Its great if you blog, but if you are the only one reading it, it won’t do you any good. Same goes for Twitter, Facebook and more. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: blogging, driving traffic, facebook, Online Marketing, social media, twitter

Why Every Small Business Owner Must Now Be a Content Provider

by Virtual Photography

This post is Day 14 of 30 Ways In 30 Days To Redesign Your Life With Photography. This series seeks to provide you with practical steps to get you from wherever you are today, to exactly where you want to be – this year! If your goal has always been to take your photography to a whole new level, hang on and start enjoying a new lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

I’m a huge fan of learning from the biggest names in the business. From celebrities, to business owners, to politicians, I’ve always felt if they had what it takes to make it to the top, they must have a tidbit or two of insight on how to get there. Even if you only pick up one important fact from each person, together it can add up to incredible advice.

So you’ll find a lot of biographies on my nightstand. And I love watching interviews on television and online. But something amazing has happened over the past few years.

If you watch or read about anyone from the early baby boomer generation and older, they usually provide a comment along the lines of “if I had to start again today, I’d never be who I am today. The competition is just too intense these days.”

I’ve thought a lot about that, because I have read or heard that from more than one person. Is there really that much more competition? Or is it just that times have changed, and the way we do business has changed?

Its still possible to make it to the top, you just have to do it in a different way.

Let’s take a look at someone like Elvis Presley. When he first started out, he created a record, and him and his agent took it to every radio station around trying to get airtime. They networked on a personal basis, drove from place to place trying to connect, and eventually it all paid off.

Now let’s look at someone like Justin Bieber. Instead of cutting a record, he records a video and places it on YouTube. Then he networks in much the same manner. He makes connections online, and communicates with everyone from a preteen fan to a Hollywood agent.

The Five Necessities To Photography Success

by Virtual Photography

What do you need to succeed as a photographer? A better camera? More equipment? More clients?

Every photographer has a different answer because every photographer is at a different point of the business game. A photographer with a brand new studio will answer differently than a photographer with 30 years of business experience.

Yet there are certain things every photographer needs in order to make it as a successful photographer. It goes beyond the equipment or the experience.

When we were first starting your photography business, we met an incredible artist. Our friend had amazing ideas, and his images had true genius written all over them. Yet he was an artist through and through. He held a small space on Main Street, and only sold his work (at way too low of a price) to people that walked through his door. Or came to him through referral based on his reputation. He survived, but never thrived. Today he is working other jobs around his photography in order to survive.

I see and hear stories like that all the time. They don’t fail because of talent; they fail because of lack of business experience. They fail because of lack of marketing and sales skills. A mediocre photographer with great sales and marketing skills will always do better than an outstanding photographer with few skills.

As a photographer, what do you need to succeed in 2011?

Blogging

Want to know the best tool available to you today? Yep, it’s a blog. Websites are a thing of the past because of limitations they have. They are created using a hodgepodge of coding that simply isn’t attracting the attention of Google. They rely on programming knowledge, which means the average person needs help to make changes and additions. And they allow you to stay active in the social media arena. Traditional marketing is dead – if you aren’t using social in today’s world, you are missing out on huge opportunity.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Social Networking Tagged With: Blog, blogging, facebook, social marketing, social media, twitter, youtube