Best Way to Book Weddings?

[SEO Zach]

I've been aggregating photo directory links for my ebook so this post helped. Thanks raider and guitarkid - you gave me a couple more to look into! I agree that business rarely comes from these, but the links back to your site can be a slight bit beneficial for a photographer's search engine rank. Found this post in a search actually (so sorry for the 2 month delayed response). I wrote a little bit about linking from photo directories in my blog.

Good luck SuspiciousPhoto - organic search is the way to go ;-)

 

[camz]

We have three weddings booked next month I kid you not all three are by referrals. Initially to get your business going you want to market to your direct network first....family, friends, coworkers etc. Like most of the ones in the business have mentioned above, it is word of mouth. A wedding is too intimate and important for clients to hire someone from a cold lead. I swear I hear the same story all the time.

"So how did you hear about us ?"

"Oh..from a friend" or "Oh..from a relative" LOL.

Get your name out there locally. But before you actually do all that you need a portfolio too. Have you shot a wedding before? If not assist for a pro who's work you enjoy.

 

[CSR Studio]

It may take up to a year to really get your name out there. If you haven't shot a wedding before you need to be assisting. Please don't try to photograph a wedding with no experience.

 

[LarissaPhotography]

Wedding shows are great, but definitely have a portfolio before going to the show. We get also hits from Google, word of mouth, craigslist, and a few of the online wedding directories. I'm a cheapo, so I always go for the free directories.

 

[uberben]

Word of mouth is huge and make sure to be picky even when you are starting out. All it takes is one bad client posting bad reviews of you on The Knot or their blog and it can take you down. I would hang out with my family or go shoot for fun then have to do damage control from a bride who has unreasonable expectations.

i'm kind of suprised this hasn't been mentioned yet but have you networked yourself on
facebook yet?

While I didn't get my start that way, it has proven to work great right now for me. Some businesses use a "fan" page, but I decided against that and just use my personal facebook profile for everything. My thoughts are that my clients are not just buying my photo services, they are buying me for the day. I am very transparent with my facebook page and make sure to add all of my old college and highschool classmates as friends. Since I'm only 27, my target market is my generation of people right now. I throw some teasers from most of my shoots in my photo area's and then tag the clients in it. These photos then show up on their sites and are seen by all their friends who are also in that "getting married" age group. Make sure your facebook page is accessable to just about anybody, so join a ton of different networks so those cross-leads will actually make it to your page. On your page have a really nice bio that is honest about who you are and what your into. Put a link to your main webpage on your profile and update both your facebook page and main website often.

Of the 27 weddings I have booked for 2010, I picked up 13 of them off of facebook.

Whats great about getting clients off of facebook is that they aren't always budget weddings. I did have a few craigslist weddings when I first started and they were always "budget" oriented and had a different vibe to them. Not bad, but not really a spectacular wedding either.

 

[B Kennedy]

I agree, if your on facebook its an awesome free way to advertise you service. You can create your page and link what you post on your business page to your own profile. Works great for showing off recent gigs you shot as well as showing people that you're staying busy shooting. And did I mention its free advertising?

 

[msf]

When I looked into facebook marketing, someone suggested to keep your business and personal life seperate. But when I tried to create a fan page, it required to be linked to a regular account, so I had to create a 2nd facebook page, which I didnt really want to do. Plus I dont think facebook approves of having two.

So im wondering if I should just crate the fan page under my regular account, and forget about the not mixing the personal with business?

I was thinking of using the 2nd account and befriending everyone I can find in the community, so when I update the fan page, they will all be alerted. I dont really want to add people I dont really know on my personal site because its hard enough following people on there as it is.

How do you all do this?

 

[delizo23]

Isa Pa Photography is my company name.
but for my website i made it South Jersey Isa Pa Photography.
just so when someone types in google, "South Jersey Photography"
our company name will show up

 

[c.cloudwalker]

I have just looked at your website and, frankly, yes, I would change the business's name.
But more important than that, I think you are setting yourself up right now to not make much money.

May I ask two questions: how many proofs do you intend to deliver per package? And, do you live right in the center of LA?