Advertising yourself? What's the best option?

[burningbright]

Hi everyone,

I recently began to look at options to advertise myself and I was wondering what kind of advice you had for a "newer" professional photographer. I have been shooting professionally for a few years and have had great clients but I've gotten into a little bit of a rut. The problem is that even though my prices are what you would consider on the lower end, I'm only getting people who want to pay $300 or $500 for a wedding. While I don't mind doing this for close friends and family and sometimes as a gift to them, (I realize weddings are expensive and times are tough) I obviously can not build a business on FREE.

I was wondering specifically about Wedding Wire. I was contacted by them a couple of days ago and at $115/month for a year, it seems like a great deal but I have never dealt with a company like this before. They promise a lot but does anyone have experience with them or any other companies that are similar? Is this the best route to go? How did you get more business?

Any help would be appreciated and I thank you so much in advance!

 

[HikinMike]

Do you have a website and if you do, is it SEO-friendly? That doesn't cost a penny.

BTW, I used to live near Pittsburgh (Murrysville PA). Just went back a few months ago for a visit.

 

[Corbin Lane]

Hi everyone,

I recently began to look at options to advertise myself and I was wondering what kind of advice you had for a "newer" professional photographer. I have been shooting professionally for a few years and have had great clients but I've gotten into a little bit of a rut. The problem is that even though my prices are what you would consider on the lower end, I'm only getting people who want to pay $300 or $500 for a wedding. While I don't mind doing this for close friends and family and sometimes as a gift to them, (I realize weddings are expensive and times are tough) I obviously can not build a business on FREE.

I was wondering specifically about Wedding Wire. I was contacted by them a couple of days ago and at $115/month for a year, it seems like a great deal but I have never dealt with a company like this before. They promise a lot but does anyone have experience with them or any other companies that are similar? Is this the best route to go? How did you get more business?

Any help would be appreciated and I thank you so much in advance!

Like mentioned above, a website is your first step. When you first start out you can't expect the world from everyone so you're going to have to make some sacrifices. I'm not saying do weddings for free but until you're a reputable photographer, you expect them to pay the world.

Word of mouth is also very valuable, even more than online. I would start talking to friends and make a lot of business cards and give them some and ask them politely to help you out.

 

[burningbright]

Hi there,

Yes, I do have a website and I"ve had it for nearly a year now. It has given me more traffic but not they type of traffic that I want. I suppose that's what I'm asking. If you are trying to target a specific group of people, i.e. same sex couples, couples that are more professional and therefore have a bit more money. I strictly seem to attract those that have no money. I started my business in 2007 but I had been shooting for nearly 10 years before that. I have contacts, client reviews about my work, websites, cards, mail outs, postcards. I get some work from word of mouth, some from potential clients from picking up cards where I drop them off, but this isn't getting me a target audience.

I suppose that's what I'm asking...if anyone has information about how to contact people in their target audience and to really grab their attention.

Thank you so much for your input!

 

[Gruen Photo 7 Design]

wedding wire is a good forum to discuss with other wedding professionals. some of the forum members pay to advertise with varying results. free to sign up on site.

use social media outlets for free mktg. try google adwords for some highly targeted site traffic.

 

[heyjoe]

Have you ever set-up at one of those wedding expos? I know Pgh has a couple every year, usually in the early spring. Tons of photogs can be found there because so many brides go. Dunno how expensive it is to get a booth, though.

 

[loosecanon]

Buy this book...
Amazon.com: Guerrilla Marketing: Secrets for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business (9780395906255): Jay Conrad Levinson: Books

Here is his we site
Official Site of Guerrilla Marketing

 

[burningbright]

My girlfriend has that book and told me to read it last week, so I'm going to start reading that ASAP. Thanks so much! (now I have to tell her that she was right...darn it! )

 

[burningbright]

Yeah, I have looked into wedding shows around here and depending on what kind of table you want, how much exposure you want (like not being stuck in a corner somewhere) it runs $400-$800. I would do this if I had the money to shell out but I'm trying to do everything with cash at this point, I don't want to put anything on a credit card until I know that I'm able to be liquid. Thank you so much for the suggestion though!

 

[stephendeleon]

I do the Bridal Show circuit and I know a lot of photogs say this is for low end brides, however for me, it was extremely valuable in building my business.

While our prices start at 2K for a wedding, our average booking is right at 3K. I have had different results from different times of year. Our best shows are in January and we do about 20k in gross receipts from one Bridal Show. We get the 10x10 Corner booth which costs us about $1,000. Additional mailings and printing costs put the total investment per show at about $1700, but from what I have found, nothing beats the face to face time that you get with brides.

 

[Christos_2006]

The way i see it you should tackle your two issues separately. The main issue is your pricing, it is way too low, since I know pricing is based on demographics all demographics have a low, middle and high end. Now if you are charging 300-500 can you guess what your referral base will be? You have experienced it, clients expecting 300-500 coverage.

You must raise your prices, and when you do two things will happen. One, you will kill off your past referral base since they will no longer want to pay the new rates. Two, you now have to market to a new cliental. Before you spend a dime on advertisements, you must identify the market you wish to attract. And a point that you have to get is, that you are not your target market.

Once you have identified who your target client is, and know where they hang out,shop and what they are looking for, revamp your marketing for this client. Once your pricing is all in order and your marketing material is all prepared then you are ready for online advertisements.

Now for online marketing, different things work for different people and the same may not work for you. You may advert on wedding wire but after a year it didn't do anything for you while the knot may be a better bet. But One never knows, so again, identify your client. Once you do this, you will have a better idea on where you should advertise.


Long Island Wedding Photographer

 

[jobyrose]

hey you can use social networking sites for advertising yourself..& also there is an paid option for ad on Facebook. In that option you can specify your target customers like male/female,age group etc. :thumbup: