Wedding photographers globally, have noticed a decline in clients and reduction in price per client 'Package' due to the the digital revolution, low cost entry point for pro camera gear and anIts tim influx of photographers to the industry.
It's time to get Savvy!
Have you ever stopped to calculate your hourly rate of pay? Including client acquisition, photographing, travel, editing and out of pocket expenses (car, equipment, office, electricity, phone, insurance, internet....list goes on).
If you have, you will know the importance to fully capitalise on the weddings you photograph. Most photographers don't!
'You need to start thinking of a
wedding as a portrait event'
You need to start thinking of a wedding as a portrait event with the possibility of selling family portraits taken at the wedding. I am not talking about the standard family photographs with the wedding couple.
Everyone at a wedding is looking their best, they have spent money on hair, makeup and clothes which means it's a great opportunity to take additional portraits of individual families, couples, siblings, friends etc.
Think of this strategy as a 'Photo Booth' on Steroids gathering data and automatically selling for you!
The key element to success is the the workflow and ability to automatically data match and communicate with the families one on one with individual galleries and individual login codes.
When a person/family receives an individual code via email and SMS communication with just their own portraits, they are more likely to make a purchase, hence finding a workflow and technology that accommodates this essential.
What does a typical workflow look like?
Prior to the Wedding, your bride most likely has an excel file of all the guests and contact details, you can then upload that to Photolink - If they are hesitant to give the data, you can always offer them a kickback of some sort. Remember that this is a great selling point and a benefit to the wedding couple. Don't worry if you can't get the guests details, you can always work on the 'fly' if tethered to a laptop
Set your portable studio up or choose a scenic location at the wedding venue, close to the tables, but far enough not to cause disruption.
Shooting tethered to a laptop using Photolink is the most efficient way to data match or work on the fly, although using QR codes is also a possibility (non tethered).
Ask the MC to announce the 'portrait opportunity' at the start of the reception and follow it up throughout the reception by walking around the tables asking guests/families. There is a lot of time for this at a wedding between speeches, meals, downtime and dancing.
At many weddings, the guests are kept waiting at the reception venue while the bridal party are having the official photoshoot, you could utilise a second photographer at the reception venue to photograph families while they are waiting if this is the case. This is a benefit to the wedding couple and a great selling point!
An example famliy of 4 may end up with around 10 images in total including vaiations (mum with kids, dad with dids, siblings individuals etc). You can also ad a few of your best images of the wedding couple within this families images to enhance sales.
Post wedding - You can of course either decide to edit yourself (if you need to) or outsource your images for editing if desired.
Click one button to upload all your portraits and that's it!
Photosuite automatically sends out emails and SMS with individual login codes for each person/family that has been photographed to view and order prints and products and digital files.
The Lab receives, produces and delivers the order without you lifting a finger!
Remember that this is a simple way of adding revenue to the Wedding Package that you have already sold to the wedding couple.
Now that you have the data of the wedding guests, you can also use it to market your Portrait studio!
(if you have one).