I love stamping my passport, I love to travel. It takes know-how and planning and travel has its own challenges, but the benefit is that I get to see every place I go with fresh eyes.
Of course, I always say look local first. But there is a strength to hiring someone who is a match for your vision, regardless of where they are based.
My clients have heightened sensibilities for emotion and art. Many are photographers themselves. Their weddings are deeply important, and if they can’t find the style they want, it’s OK to look outside of their area. If you share their story honestly and it has a style they appreciate, it’ll be a great overall experience.
So do you think you’ll do it, check off every state?
I don’t know if I’ll ever get to every state! I even say in there “if it happens.” Of course, it would be great. I did it to have a landing page for a Facebook post so if I’m looking at my calendar and it’s a little dry, I have something that I can boost; a landing page that has some history to drum up work in an interesting place.
For the same reason, I know I have to have a why behind what I shoot. And a lot of couples, especially the ones that are more romantic, they also need to have a why behind why they hire someone. People want to be a part of something and feel like you’re “theirs” in a way. If they’ve gone through this whole effort to find me and connect with my love of travel or adventure, then I’m theirs. And that has a really powerful effect in shooting the way you want to shoot and charging the way you want to charge. There are only so many sessions I can shoot a year, and I’m always going to give my full effort and attention.
That’s a really powerful perspective on how you market and define your brand. A lot of photographers are out for Google rankings, but it seems like that numbers game isn’t your priority.
I don’t put a whole lot of effort into being ranked really high on Google. I don’t really want to deal with 100 inquiries a month. In a year, I’ll probably get 300 inquiries and only convert ten percent. That’s 30-35 weddings. It’s not that hard to find 30 people who connect with you in a country of 320 million weddings a year!
That post exists so I can switch on a boost whenever I feel like I need to drum up some inquiries. For example, I just had a quiet week and boosted that post nationwide. Now I have two meetings tonight with new couples.
I have a whole series of blog posts on my to-do list for a rainy day in order to drum up very specific types of interest. For example, targeting couples that are already married for shoots “just because” or for an anniversary. It’s a great way to keep busy, and I shoot more than one thing. If I go to Seattle to shoot an engagement or something I can also work in a shoot before and after.