booking problems

[AprilRamone]

Hi Steve,
My website is NO WHERE near where I want it to be. I do eventually want to have pricing up there and a ton of other things that I want to change about it. But, right now, I haven't had time or the resources to pay someone to do it how I want or to do it myself. So it is on my agenda to do for the business hopefully sometime in the next year or so. Basically, I did a trade with a webdesigner just to get something on the web where I could show my work. That's all my website is. Basically just a place to show what I have.
All I was saying about yours is that the general look of it is just not pretty enough for a bride. She is the one looking for the photography and may not care as much about price right away as the groom, so you have to reel her in with a really romantic/snazzy looking webpage right away.
And, when you were in business before, did you make a profit right away? I've heard it before a million times is that new businesses usually don't make a profit until the 3-5th year of being in business. Obviously some people can do it the first year, but starting a business is expensive and I think your feelings of despair are pretty common. But, don't give up just because things didn't work out right away. In fact, you said you were pretty much breaking even. That's a good thing. As you get more established, you'll probably start to slowly generate more profit.
Also, you say you look at other photographers on the web and get frustrated knowing what they make. How do you know what they are making? Maybe they are barely breaking even too?
Also, if your recording studio is working out better, maybe you really are on to something. You can always do photography on the side every once in awhile and it sounds like you'd like it better that way because you wouldn't be depending on it to make your money.
Just my .03
-April