Wedding Tradeshows worth the money?

swoop_ds

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Hello,

I'm just wondering if wedding photographers on here tend to exhibit at wedding tradeshows? Also, did you find that it was worth your while?

There is one here in town that I am looking at. It costs between 650-850 depending on booth setup and states that 2200 people move through over two days.

Thanks,
-Dave
 
Booths like this can be a great marketing source but it all depends on how much you put into it. If you show up with a cheesy little setup and 15 feet from you is a photographer who has actually invested into their booth setup for tradeshows .. with elegant pillars, tables, drapes, several grand in huge canvases, framed prints, samples, unique marketing pieces, etc. then all you will do for yourself is pay to look like the small-time hobby wedding shooter. If they have 2200 people move through in 2 days I'm guessing there will be some nice setups there .. at least there should be .. not saying there will be. LOL If you want to include tradeshows in your marketing plan it needs to be well planned and well funded. If I was to use tradeshows I would invest probably at least $3-5K in my booth so that I was sure to be a highlight of the event but that's just how I would approach it. I would also only get booths in shows where I had been to the year before and had an idea on what to expect.
 
It kind of depends on who you want to market yourself to as well, and how much you are charging for your weddings. I entered into a wedding trade show in January without ever shooting a wedding before. I put a very minimal amount of much money into my booth, knowing that without any wedding photos I would not be attracting high-end weddings.

I have shot commercial for several years, so I showed commercial photos and some portraits that I had done on the side for people.

I booked three weddings from that show, so for me it really paid off. There are brides that don't want to spend a ton of money on a wedding photographer. I get paid enough to make it worth my while, but much less than most of the photographers in town who have been shooting for years and are well established.

This next year in January I will be raising my prices (a little bit) since I have several weddings under my belt now and will invest a little more time and money into my booth to attract more people.
 

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