Photo Courtesy Onlinephotoacademy.com

First off, I think Justin and Mary Marantz and I would probably be best friends in real life. I’m sure that’s why their clients love them so much and why they’re so amazing at what they do. Their course Marketing for Wedding Photographers had SO much useful and helpful information. I feel like if I was to watch the class videos again, i would get even more from them, but for now, I’ll leave you with what I took the most from.

***There seems to be a running theme of figuring out WHO your ideal client is. Specifically. How old are they? What are their interests? What do they value? Where do they live? Are they active on social media? And any other important piece of who they are! You need to know what your ideal client is before you can start marketing to them. You can filter the clients to get the ones you really want and you’ll end up having a better connection with them!

***Justin and Mary also touched on the importance of knowing your three words (see more about that from Katelyn’s class HERE). I narrowed mine down to fun, fresh, and romantic.

Fun…these guys had a bit TOO much fun. 😛

Fresh… I loved this shot of the bride and bridesmaids bouquets. I didn’t have a second shooter at this wedding, but I shot this image like I was in the second shooters position.

Romantic….What’s more romantic that the first dance!? 🙂

***Figure out what your WHY is! My answer was easy! I’m a wedding photographer because I want to connect with my clients and give them something they can cherish forever. After the wedding day is over, my service is really the only thing they have to remember their day forever with. I want them to remember how they felt, and what they went through on their big day. I also want their future families to be able to enjoy the photos, and cherish them forever. My family is really big into genealogy and we always wish we had more pictures of our ancestors from the past. I get to do that for my clients’ posterity.

***Now you have your WHY, turn it into something bigger! Turn it into your mission. It should be what your business stands for.

***Justin and Mary have a 2 minute drill! For 2 minutes at your initial meeting, DO NOT talk about pricing or any wedding related. Ideally, it will last longer than 2 minutes, but it will seem less like you’re trying to just sell your work. Personally, I want to build a relationship with my clients, and I love hearing about their first meeting, how he proposed, what they do for a living, ANYTHING besides wedding stuff.

***You want to sell your products the same way you would want to be sold to. If you don’t like a pushy salesperson, then don’t be that pushy salesperson!

***On of the most frequently asked questions I (and everyone else) get as a wedding photographer is “Can we switch out an engagement session for something else?” And Justin and Mary give a resounding NO! Engagement sessions give clients an opportunity to get comfortable with me, we get to hang out and spend time together, and it helps create a great workflow when it comes wedding day.

***Work well with your vendors! They’re the biggest resource you have for future work! Be nice to them, and they’ll be nice to you!

***There’s 3 C’s when it comes to blogging. Consistency-you want to make sure you are consistently blogging to help engage your readers. Content- make your content interesting. Do it right!  Character-your clients/readers want to build a connection with YOU.

AND THERE’S SO MUCH MORE! Justin and Mary Marantz’ course is full of SO much information that I can’t share it all with you! You need to check it out at The Academy. 🙂