Post first wedding marketing

Davidoff

I recently shot my first larger wedding. I think I did ok and want to leverage this work to promote myself and get more assignements as much as I can. What are your tips on this ?

So far I'm thinking about delivering the dvd along with some cards and portrait session " discount vouchers " so the bride can hand them out to some friends of hers.

I'm also thinking about making a gallery on Behance of the best ones for easy sharing. I think facebook is a bit to public for their wishes, I don't know.

What am I missing ? Please keep in mind I have plenty of time and need to shoot.

Matthew Saville

In my opinion, if you want to make it big you gotta GO big. Get them a huge canvas or a nice album. It is products like these that will create true excitement and repeated referrals. A disc, cards, and assorted prints or referral incentives will generate a little bit of buzz and new business, but like I said in my opinion you should go bigger. I don't know what you charged this client or what they're expecting to pay for products post-wedding, nor do I know what your budget is for investing in your business growth overall, but a good sized thinwrap from Bay Photo is around $100 and a very decent leather album from somewhere affordable like Black River is just $200-$250. That, in my opinion, would be the best move for really stepping it up in the market of larger weddings...

=Matt=

Davidoff

As always, thanks for your expert input Matthew.

It was in fact relatively large but I shot it at a cut throat price. I had no wedding work to show them but they were recommended by a friend so they hired me anyway. All this to say I can't really afford to give them an album. Also, in Europe that kind of thing is really expensive. I will give them a medium/large print of a photo I like, that's a great idea.

When you said " referral incentives " what did you mean exactly ? I was thinking some discounts on portrait sessions for her friends but what else would you recommend ?

Qarik

I like your other work..do you have images to show?

Davidoff

Thank you Qarik. Do you mean from the wedding ?

Matthew Saville

Davidoff wrote: »

As always, thanks for your expert input Matthew.

It was in fact relatively large but I shot it at a cut throat price. I had no wedding work to show them but they were recommended by a friend so they hired me anyway. All this to say I can't really afford to give them an album. Also, in Europe that kind of thing is really expensive. I will give them a medium/large print of a photo I like, that's a great idea.

When you said " referral incentives " what did you mean exactly ? I was thinking some discounts on portrait sessions for her friends but what else would you recommend ?

When I say referral incentives, I mean that yes, you gotta go bigger than a print discount or a session coupon. That might generate a few bucks, and further your business slowly, but to truly "go big" you gotta invest more. I understand that it takes money to make money, but I guess that's just what I'm saying. If you want the most growth, save up / reduce overhead and get some bigger "pieces" on display in client's homes. BTW don't mess with European albums, Canadian albums are awesome and affordable. Black River Imaging is my favorite!

=Matt=

karloznz

Matt - Thanks for the reference to "Black River Imaging" look like they have some great products..

VayCayMom

Matt always gives wonderful advice.