Bi-Weekly Discussion Thread: How do your clients find you? (+SEO)

Agnieszka

The question is easy. Where and how do your clients find you?

• Do you advertise anywhere, if so where? (magazines? / online?)
• Do you go to bridal fairs?
• Do you connect with local venues?
• Do you connect with local photographers and how?

• How much do you spend on advertising per year?
• How many of your new clients come from one of your former clients? (%)

• SEO! (Search Engine Optimization). What's your approach? What are your key words?
> How do you get on that darn 1st page on google? :dunno

kyeezie

OOOOHHHHHH! What a great topic! I do know (from my 8-5 job) that google has changed the ways on how you get on the front page. It used to be the more money you paid, but now it is money, how popular your site is as well as many other factors. My hubby is an IT guy and every day our boss asks, "how can we get on the front page". But google has made it now where it's not easy to get on that first page.
I am slowly starting my business. Not really rushing into things, so I can't answer many of these questions. I am members of some free places like wedding wire, but I use it for the forum, and a facebook site. Most of my clients come from word of mouth.

tenoverthenose

This was my plan for last yet, new plan for 2011 is in the works...

• Do you advertise anywhere, if so where? (magazines? / online?)
With a few local online resources that have been around much longer than me! Because they have been around for so long, they are the established goto websites for my area (read: Yosemite). They are also locally owned and operated, so I know everyone involved with them. Anyone know of any good places to advertise for brides all over the world thinking about a destination wedding?

• Do you go to bridal fairs?
Nope. Brides at bridal fairs are not my target demographic.

• Do you connect with local venues?
Yes, I know most of the wedding coordinators at my local venues personally. This is a must. Find out what you can do to help them and help them! If you make their lives easy, guess who they like to recommend?

• Do you connect with local photographers and how?
Yes, both personally and online. I love to setup shoots for my local colleagues too. Hang out with these good people, they have lots of good ideas and support.

• How much do you spend on advertising per year?
Embarrassingly little on direct advertising. Much of my advertising is in prints, canvas, albums that I make for vendors.

• How many of your new clients come from one of your former clients? (%)
30-40% but I work an unique market. For most of my clients this is a destination wedding, so the referrals either mean that I travel or that the couple decides to also have a destination wedding.

• SEO! (Search Engine Optimization). What's your approach? What are your key words?
Key words?? I didn't know there was such a thing. Actually this was something that I took very seriously this year, mainly because of my unique market. My website is my primary vehicle of advertisement to long distance brides. I redesigned my site this year, and now it is really just a blog. This allows me to constantly update it with new information. This is both pleasing to my clients (new stuff keeps them coming back) and the google search engine. I write new entries as often as possible and stay on topic of my main goal - yosemite weddings. In six months I took a new website/domain to the front page of google. Next year I want the top spot

Matthew Saville

No advertising whatsoever. I've bought a couple online pay-per-click type ads here and there, but they've never led to bookings.

I do get SEO inquiries from time to time, but 75% of them don't book because they're price shopping.

The best bookings I get are usually through referrals. It just makes sense.

Do you want a client contacting you because THEY think you're the right photographer for them? (And then have to deal with all the issues such as price, trust, etc...)

...Or would you rather have a client contact you because someone else CONFIRMED that you were exactly the right photographer for them? (And then avoid most of the problems with price, trust, etc. because that client already knows what their friend paid, AND that the pictures turned out amazing, AND that you were professional and awesome on the wedding day...)


I'm not dismissing advertising altogether, I'm sure the right photographer with the right business model could totally make bank by advertising. I'm just saying that personally referrals are what I focus on...

If anybody hasn't yet done so, they should study Gary Fong's business model. There are some great videos on B&H that outline the basic business model that he has touted for years and years, his "get rich" business model. Certain parts of it are slightly outdated, (Never releasing high-res files) ...but the core of his business model, referrals, is what every aspiring wedding photographer should study...


Take care,
=Matt=

studio1972

Referrals are best for all the reasons Matt has mentioned, but initially at least you will need to advertise in some way to build up a portfolio of previous work and clients.

Moogle Pepper

Taking notes.

Bsimon

Ready to see how this thread mature!

linandjirsa

SEO + Wedding Vendors
The majority of our inquiries are from Google, whether it be image searches, venue specific searches, or city searches.

A big chunk is from friends of friends (many times via facebook)

Another big chunk is from our wedding vendors, who we work with and take care of by providing albums/seo work/shout outs on the blog, etc

There are a few marketing tips on our photography tutorials website that I have listed in my signature.

Matthew Saville

richy wrote: »

Make fortune selling defective lamp shades retire and make videos of you lazing on yachts with amply proportioned ladies under the thing guise of teaching photography technique Are we thinking about the same guy?

I'm talking about before all that, when he made bank with his "referrals pre-filtered for price" business model. It has been the core reasoning behind my own pursuits...

;-)

=Matt=

Agnieszka

I know, I know ... I owe you guys a new topic ..... sorry for that. things have been a bit hectic lately I'll post a new one soon! Thanks for your patience!

ssimmonsphoto

• Do you advertise anywhere, if so where? (magazines? / online?) No advertising. When I first started, I used Craigslist, but I haven't used it in a while.
• Do you go to bridal fairs? No
• Do you connect with local venues? I'm just prepping to send out a set of jumbo business cards (really they are postcards) to the venues that I worked with a lot this year or who have asked for my info.
• Do you connect with local photographers and how? Yes, primarily through Facebook. I have a group of ladies that I refer brides to if I'm booked and they return the favor.
• How much do you spend on advertising per year? Less than $100 (business cards, vendor packets, 8x10 prints, etc.)
• How many of your new clients come from one of your former clients? (%) For next year, 18 are from former clients (or their guests or bridal party) and 1 is from Google. So 94.7% is from past clients.
• SEO! (Search Engine Optimization). What's your approach? What are your key words? I include the states I have shot in, venues, and vendors. I also tag all of my blog posts and SM galleries with those details.

ExposeTheMoment

Google I'm on the first and second page depending on what you type.

I use wedalert. Wedj. And several other wedding related sites.