25. Market myself in Portland for summer weddings
Ever since I first visited Portland in the summer of 2005, I've loved that city. It's so full of culture, the downtown area is pedestrian-friendly, the architecture and layout is so visually appealing. Plus I have some great friends there who I enjoy visiting.
So far I've had the opportunity to shoot two weddings in Portland. Back when I was putting together my 101 in 1001 list, I was thinking it would be fun to live in Portland part-time. Arizona has a weird wedding season compared to the rest of the country. We only have a few weddings in the summer because of the crazy-makes-you-want-to-kill-someone-heat and most of our weddings take place in the Fall and Spring months of Oct-Nov/March-May. So I have some extra time on my hands during the summer months AND I usually want to get out of here as much as possible. So I was thinking living and working in Portland during the summer months might be a great solution. Since then some factors have changed and I don't think it would be practical to live up there during the summers, but I would still really enjoy having a few weddings up there each summer season.
So when I was up in Portland last month for Daren & Sarah's wedding, I took advantage of my time and connections there to market myself a bit. Now when I say "market" I don't mean spending tons of money on advertising. My kind of marketing is more networking-related. So here's a few of the things I did:
1. Networked with Daren & Sarah's vendors
I do this for every wedding I shoot but I made sure to take care of every single vendor who worked this wedding. Daren & Sarah amassed a great team--all people I would love to work with in the future. After editing all the images, I had my assistant either email photos or send a CD with photos on it to each vendor. To those I sent a CD to, I also mailed this little container of my brochures:
Ever since I first visited Portland in the summer of 2005, I've loved that city. It's so full of culture, the downtown area is pedestrian-friendly, the architecture and layout is so visually appealing. Plus I have some great friends there who I enjoy visiting.
So far I've had the opportunity to shoot two weddings in Portland. Back when I was putting together my 101 in 1001 list, I was thinking it would be fun to live in Portland part-time. Arizona has a weird wedding season compared to the rest of the country. We only have a few weddings in the summer because of the crazy-makes-you-want-to-kill-someone-heat and most of our weddings take place in the Fall and Spring months of Oct-Nov/March-May. So I have some extra time on my hands during the summer months AND I usually want to get out of here as much as possible. So I was thinking living and working in Portland during the summer months might be a great solution. Since then some factors have changed and I don't think it would be practical to live up there during the summers, but I would still really enjoy having a few weddings up there each summer season.
So when I was up in Portland last month for Daren & Sarah's wedding, I took advantage of my time and connections there to market myself a bit. Now when I say "market" I don't mean spending tons of money on advertising. My kind of marketing is more networking-related. So here's a few of the things I did:
1. Networked with Daren & Sarah's vendors
I do this for every wedding I shoot but I made sure to take care of every single vendor who worked this wedding. Daren & Sarah amassed a great team--all people I would love to work with in the future. After editing all the images, I had my assistant either email photos or send a CD with photos on it to each vendor. To those I sent a CD to, I also mailed this little container of my brochures:
I also made sure to let them all know that I am looking to shoot more Portland weddings in the summer and I am willing to offer free travel to any couples who get married during the months of June-August.
2. Shared with Daren & Sarah's family and guests.
This is also something I do at every wedding but thought I'd share nonetheless :). At the reception, I had my assistant put out little papers on each table asking the guests for their email addresses if they'd like to see all of the photos online after the wedding. I collected all of those and after blogging on the wedding, sent out an email to them, giving them the link to my blog and the link to pre-register on Pictage to view all of the photos once they were edited and online. In addition, I showed a slideshow of some of my favorite images from the wedding at the reception on my laptop and set out business cards for guests to take one if they'd like.
3. Networked with photographers in Portland.
While in Portland, I spoke to the Portland PUG (Pictage User Group)--a great group of photographers who meet monthly.
2. Shared with Daren & Sarah's family and guests.
This is also something I do at every wedding but thought I'd share nonetheless :). At the reception, I had my assistant put out little papers on each table asking the guests for their email addresses if they'd like to see all of the photos online after the wedding. I collected all of those and after blogging on the wedding, sent out an email to them, giving them the link to my blog and the link to pre-register on Pictage to view all of the photos once they were edited and online. In addition, I showed a slideshow of some of my favorite images from the wedding at the reception on my laptop and set out business cards for guests to take one if they'd like.
3. Networked with photographers in Portland.
While in Portland, I spoke to the Portland PUG (Pictage User Group)--a great group of photographers who meet monthly.
I think getting to know other photographers is a great way to grow your business. We can all only do one wedding on any given date so once I'm booked, I like to pass on potential clients to other trusted photographers who would do a good job for them. So beyond sharing about my business, I let this group know that I am wanting to come out their way more. You never know! Just gotta get the word out and see what happens!
So there you have it--some of my common marketing practices AND another one checked off the list!
So there you have it--some of my common marketing practices AND another one checked off the list!
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