Behind the Image… Happy New Year!!

2011 is looking good, but there are lots of things we can do to make it a great year.  This is the time to make sure every recently engaged Bride knows we’re ready to photograph their beautiful wedding and create an incredible album that will be in her family for generations…

How do we do that, you ask…?  Well, it’s not just one thing.  First of all, you have to make sure all the wedding coordinators you want to work with remember you.  Touch base with the ones you know and introduce yourself to the ones you want to know.  Hopefully, during the holidays you sent a nice greeting card (custom made with photos if possible), to all your industry contacts as well as all your previous Clients.  Every year we design press printed cards by Bay Photo and send them to everyone we know.

You also want to visit all your favorite venues (make an appointment first) and bring them some samples of your work there, maybe along with some cookies.  Offer to provide them with images for their websites, enlargements (with your logo) for them to show their Clients, and so on… Remember, this time of year they’re meeting with new Brides every day!  You get the picture…

All those prospective Clients are going to check out your site or blog before calling for information or to set up an appointment… How’s your “Web Presence”?  Is it time for a new website?  You should constantly be checking your competition, we do.  Make sure your greatest and latest work is featured and if you have a blog make sure it’s current.  Having a blog is a commitment, much like buying a dog… Once you get one, you have to feed it regularly.  I have to admit, our “dogs” have gone hungry lately, but I promise to do better this year!

Another very important thing is to make sure that when you see new Brides, you have nice work to show them.  Most album companies extend “Sample Discounts” to their clients.  Ours is West Coast Albums, they make a great product!  This is not a very busy time of year for album companies, so this is when you want to make your sample albums, and not just “Clones”, of your best weddings last year.  You want to design albums that will impress new Clients, lots of WOW images and less family groups.  If you sell more albums, the album company sells more albums, so they’ll be very helpful in suggesting sizes, cover treatments, etc.  Here are three spreads from one of our current sample albums.

Lastly, after the very successful 2011 wedding season to come, you should contact bridal magazines, find out their guidelines and submit weddings for publication.  It’s like the Lotto… You can’t win if you don’t play.  Make sure all your venues, coordinators and vendors get images for their sites and add them to your Holiday card list….

I’ll be posting more often this year.  Here and in our “regular” blog… I promise!  If there are any topics you would like me to cover, or any images you want to know about, please, drop me a note and I’ll do my best to help.   Now I’m off to buy some lottery tickets!