Photographers- mark your calendars!

Minor OFD plug!

I'm pleased to share with you that I will be joining several of my colleagues in the wedding industry on November 13th for this year's Virginia Professional Photographers Association's Fall Seminar. Specifically, I will be sitting on the Business and Marketing Roundtable along with some wonderful folks.

It isn't easy being a professional wedding photographer these days- between the budget bride and the added competition of part timers with professional equipment. I look forward to sharing and discussing creative and successful marketing strategies to give one the edge they need in this competitive market.

For more information, please visit: http://vppa.org/pdfs/FallSeminar09.pdf

Hope to see you there!

Who is my bride...really?

Go ahead- ask any one of your wedding pro friends who their bride is. Not always the one they have but the one they want.

And you know what they are going to say? "Oh, I'd like the more high end bride."

Well wouldn't we all.

Today I'd like to talk about targeting your bride. Brides come in all sorts of packages, attitudes and checking accounts. Some are local brides while others travel a great distance to get married in their home state. Some have been married before and some haven't. Some have gone to college and some haven't.

The fact is- we'd all love that elusive high end bride, but guess what? So does everyone else. And- this will really blow your mind-- most of them are not. Yet, they are still booking vendors and getting married. So why aren't your marketing efforts geared towards them?

When working on connecting with your bride, it's important to make sure your message is getting to the right people. And how do you go about that?

For starters, utilize the information from your existing database. Where are they from? How old are they? Who's sending in those checks? These records could offer you a wealth of answers without traveling any further then your computer.

When you have prospects in the door, be sure to ask the right questions. Who else are you speaking with about these services? Who are your other vendors? If they are looking at you and then the part time DJ with the ipod, then we have a problem. If you're up against other reputable vendors in town with similar pricepoints, then you're heading down the right road.

Visit your Facebook Business Page and look at the Insights section, listed on the left. Facebook offers you a free service which literally takes your Fan base and breaks it down by age, gender, location, etc.

Above all else, be honest with yourself. If you are a reception site that only seats up to 80 guests and you are desperately pining for that high end bride, well then you're only hurting yourself in the end.

The good news? Well I'm happy to report- it's not all or nothing. If you don't capture the bride with the platinum budget, there are plenty of great ones out there. And they are waiting for you.

The question is- do you know how to reach them?

Until next time,
Meghan
Meghan@ofdconsulting.com

Why you should know how to pin a Boutonniere: Being an all around Resource

Three years ago, my best friend got married and as with would most wedding professionals like myself, I asked the inevitable question: "Is there anything I can do to help?"

She then reasoned that since I "know weddings," then I could be put in charge of pinning all of the boutonnieres.

Panic.

It was like she had asked me to translate the wedding vows into French (which I can't by the way, despite my heritage). The good news was that this conversation took place over the phone- otherwise she would have seen the immediate panic in my eyes. I no sooner got off the phone that I flagged down our in house florist, declaring that we had a floral emergency and that i simply had to learn how to pin a boutonniere this very instant.

This brings me to today's blog topic- being an all around resource for your brides. Like all vendors, you're naturally going to market your skill set, correct?

Here in lies the problem- that's simply not enough these days. This is especially true in today's market, where the full time professionals are regularly competing with the "weekend warriors"-- that is, folks who devote their weekdays to another trade and then suddenly polish off their digital camera, ipo, what have you and become a wedding professional.

Good products will get people in through the door to speak with you, but if you want to give yourself a true edge over the competitors, you need to know your industry.

When I ran events at reception venues, I made it my business to make everything my business. Sure I knew the ideal temperature on a medium rare steak (130-135 degrees!), and what size linen accommodates a 5' round (120"!), but I also knew what color fondant stained your teeth, where you could get a gown pressed on a holiday weekend and the ideal time of day to take an outdoor bridal-- all while pointing brides to the nearest circuit court to obtain a marriage license.

Suddenly, I was the first person the bride would call with questions. I became her resource. And her? Well she became a revenue stream.

If your business is weddings, then take the time to learn them, and not just your piece of the pie. Keep up to date on the latest trends. Have a general awareness of standard event timeline. Learn what it is that your vendors do- it will only help to make the event that more seamless.

Since that fateful day three years ago, I have put my good boutonniere skills to use- even to the point when I could do it with one eye closed (necessary when thrown into a dressing room- trust me). Before long, I was impressed to find that many of my photography colleagues were doing the same thing.

As for those French vows? Perhaps I'll tackle those next.

Until next time,

Meghan

meghan@ofdconsulting.com