start a wedding photography business

Building a successful wedding photography business can be more challenging than one would think. Just because you can take a photo doesn’t mean starting your own wedding photography business is easy. However, there are certain building blocks that one can take that will help you create a successful start to your wedding photography business. The first and most important building block is to build an efficient and complete business/creative plan. This is the foundation and should include your goals, your mission, and your keys to success.

Your foundation goals will cover what it takes to produce the same great quality results over and over again, and what it takes to be recognized as a top-tier wedding photographer. Your mission should describe what you want to achieve and how you are going to do it. Your keys to success should include how you will meet your customer’s expectations and how you will accomplish this. How will you be competitive with the services you offer? What kind of earnings do you need to become a successful competition?

Before you begin, the first step is to find your identity. Have you figured it out? Be true to yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses as a photographer. Are you ready to start this financially and technically? Do you know your style and identity, and do you do it well? You must know how to describe your photography and your vision. Are you more of a photojournalism photographer who relies on available natural light and spontaneous moments? Do you pre-plan and pose portraits and incorporate technical lighting skills that give you a classic look? Or does it mix it up with both, showcasing a full range of capabilities that give it its own modern and contemporary style?

If you know what you want your photography and identity to look like, but haven’t quite nailed the look yet, you may need more work on your photography before you can establish your business.

Take a look at your photography and decide what level of talent you have and what potential you have. Be critical of your work, but also have others criticize your work for you. Learn how to use constructive criticism to improve your photography. If your identity isn’t where you want it, ask yourself, what needs to be improved? Do you know your equipment (camera, lighting, etc.) well enough? Do you know how to read and measure your exposures? Do you have the right equipment, ie: high resolution digital camera and Photoshop? You need a digital camera to keep up with your competition. Mastering Photoshop and Lightroom and their digital workflow is also of great importance. It’s up to you to overcome any weaknesses with proper education and practice before shooting a wedding.

Photographing a wedding is a big responsibility. Someone has paid a lot of money and trusts you to document this very special and personal day. That’s why it’s so important to be confident enough to walk into any wedding that comes your way and do a solid job of photographing it. Having your skills fine-tuned is only part of what it takes to build that foundation of confidence. The other big part of building trust is experience.

We all start somewhere. So once you have your photography skills and workflow in place, now is the time to prove yourself and your identity. The first step is to know its value. Do you think you’re up for filming a solo wedding for $2000.00? Wait, you don’t have wedding photos for a portfolio. How are you going to sell yourself as a wedding photographer? Well, or you are lucky with someone who trusts and likes your photography regardless of the fact that you have never photographed a wedding. Or decide to build your portfolio by being a second or third photographer for a more established wedding photographer. This is a great way to gain exposure and experience in the wedding photography scene. A great way to go this route is to call all the local wedding photographers in your area and ask if anyone needs a second or third photographer. Once you find some work, ask questions and pay close attention to how they run their business and how they photograph weddings. Everybody has a system. How they film the wedding ceremony, portraits, reception, etc. Use this position to your advantage and build relationships within the wedding industry. The more you learn, the faster you’ll be on your way to becoming competitive. Remember to save money for when you transition on your own.

Once you have a few weddings under your belt, your confidence will lead you at the right time to break away and become that competition you’ve been working for. When you choose, it should be all or nothing. Either stay second shooter or take the risk and become the competition.

Having made the leap into the unknown and exciting world of being your own boss. Your confidence as a photographer has grown and you now have an identity as a wedding photographer. Now you can start your wedding photography business anywhere and anytime.

Hopefully you’ve invested in your own digital camera, backup camera, lenses, computer, Photoshop, etc. Your investment needs to have insurance. You can’t afford to have it stolen or broken; otherwise, all your hard work will be in vain. You must also have liability insurance for CYA. You can get photographer insurance through PPA.

Before you position yourself as a competitor in the wedding photography market, you need to know your competition. They are your best role models to help you get started. Take note of what they charge for packages and what they include with their services. Where and how are they advertised? What niche do they fill and where can you fit in as a new business?

To establish your business you need an address. You can choose a PO Box or other mailbox service like Mail Boxes ETC. I prefer MBE because you can choose a mailbox with a real address. Not to mention that they have many other services. Next, get a separate phone number for your business. To legitimately create your business, you must have a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or a sole proprietorship. You can find out about this through an accountant or through websites like legalzoom.

With the rest of the money you saved, you’ll need to determine how much will be used for marketing and other expenses. Marketing is going to be the most essential thing for your business to take off. Without marketing you don’t have a business. Your marketing essentials are: having your identity, your portfolio, and your line of communication.

Through the library of images you’ve created, choose your best images to use in your portfolio, website, and all marketing and promotional materials. Your portfolio can be made from inkjet prints that you place in an album of your choice, such as the albums provided by Topflight, photoalbumshop, or you can choose to have one of Asuka’s albums or other online print labs printed, such as Snapfish or Shutterfly. Your image identity is now established and will grow over time. However, now you need your business identity. What will your promotional materials look like? What font will you use? What colors will be incorporated? Will you use a logo? It might be a good idea to find a graphic designer to help you with this. Once you figure out your business identity and incorporate it with your promotional materials, you need to create and print them all at once to distribute throughout the year. Make sure you have the basics like your business cards, postcards, brochures, contracts, 8x10s, and any other promotional material you can think of. These materials can be ordered through gotprint.com and vistaprint.com.

Once your promotional materials are finished and the portfolio is printed, you are ready to create your website. See other sites to get an idea of ​​the style of site you want and how it will look. Find someone else to create a website for you if you are not trained in web development, but having a professional do it can be a bit expensive. Some great alternatives are using Craigslist or finding a student at a local college to do it with. Be sure to work with your web developer in creating your SEO (search engine optimization) for the site. This is the most important and is the best way to ensure that you can create a web presence that is optimized for search engines. DIY website templates do not work well for SEO. SEO will concentrate on keywords, alternative tags, one-way links, and proper site presentation.

You now have a business ready to start seeing some return. People are ready to see your business and it’s your job to communicate with them and find them. It’s your job to know your market and touch it with your presence. I suggest getting a creative ad on Craigslist is a priority. Why isn’t it free? Now that you have all your printed promotional materials, where will you distribute them? Research all of the local, state, or national wedding industry businesses and create a directory of them for your advertising. Create your promotional packages with a cover letter, brochure, postcards and a mini portfolio or something that shows your style in more depth. This is a lot of work and can take a while. Get help from friends, family, or repost an ad on Craigslist for temporary help. After you’ve mailed everything, follow up with phone calls to let them know who you are. This will help provide a personal connection to your materials and help start future relationships. Building relationships is very important and will help get the job done through word of mouth. Another great way to build relationships and get some exercise is to participate in wedding shows in your area.

Knowing your business and what you offer your clients and the sector is the most important thing. Just as it is important to know your own identity as a person, it is also important to know your business identity. When the phone starts ringing, people want to see confidence in you and your images. Just remember that pictures speak louder than words and the cream always comes out on top.

Good luck!

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