Features? Benefits? Nah, THIS is the best way to sell photography
Issue #21
[Read Time < 6 Minutes]
I’ve never been a fan of hunting...although I completely get why it’s an attractive sport.
You’re moving slowly and quietly, peeking around corners, looking for the right angle, waiting, waiting, waiting and THEN your prey shows itself...Bang, or in our case, CLICK!
Photographing weddings is not simply showing up, gathering groups, click, click, and moving on to the next staged event.
I suppose for some, it might be, and that’s unfortunate, and it also explains why many photographers can’t handle the gig for very long.
But you are different. You’re a hunter. You may not wear a photographer’s vest and look like a boujee “enthusiast” (don’t get me started on photo vests), but you’re doing what a wedding photographer SHOULD be doing for their couple – you’re preserving their day for them.
Every venue and every room you walk into is an opportunity to capture a moment that will define the day.
“Whoa, that’s big talk there, Mr. Photographer!”
Yeah, it is...and it’s true. Whether or not you’re going to embrace that truth or not will determine how long you’re going to be successful in your wedding photography career (Yeah, I went THERE.)
I wasn’t born with a love for journalistic integrity and photographic purity. Far from it!
When I started, I did what everyone did, I took of ordinary things. But it didn’t take long before I became bored with taking still images of still things.
I tried other things, but didn’t like wildlife enough to go stalking animals for a living. Sports was cool, but I preferred to play. The first time I attended a wedding with a camera, however, everything changed.
As I looked at the fruits of my labor after I shot my first wedding, I saw moments that were gone forever – perfectly preserved in these proof prints.
Laughter, tears, quick glances, long, loving stares and joy in the eyes of a couple.
Each photo holding heaps of emotion in a micro-moment in time...and I owned them.
By simply pressing my finger on a button at just the right time, I froze a priceless event in history.
And the very best part was that I could now share this moment with someone who would cherish it more than I would – and they would cherish it so much, in fact, that they would pay me money for it!
And you just thought you were taking pictures!
You’ve heard the tropes:
“Every picture tells a story.”
“A picture is worth a thousand words.”
These may be good for ad copy, and they may be true for some people, but for the wedding photographer, I want you to look at these differently:
“Every picture tells someone’s story.”
“A picture is worth a thousand words AND a hundred emotions.”
This is the power you have with your camera, and this is what makes your role at a wedding THE MOST IMPORTANT at a wedding (sure, the chocolate fountain is important too, but you get the point).
Selling Differently
When you meet with your couple before the wedding, it might feel like a sales opportunity.
For some people, sales is as attractive as dental work, so this part will certainly help.
Whether or not you like the “pitch process” part of the wedding meeting, let me suggest a way to look at it differently – in a STORYTELLING way.
You’re probably familiar with the Features vs Benefits aspect of selling. Features are what you say about your product (bells, whistles, etc), whereas Benefits are HOW these features will create a positive outcome for the buyer (this bell improves my life because...).
For a wedding photographer, a feature might be owning the latest and greatest camera gear, and you might spin that as a benefit to your bride because the photos you take for her will be extra sharp and colorful because of your gear (please don’t use this on a bride).
I’ll let you in on a secret – Brides don’t care about gear.
I pitched brides during the transition from film to digital in the early 2000s and had to repeatedly answer the question, “Do you use film or digital?”
Initially, digital photography got a bad rap – not because it was inherently bad, but because photographers didn’t know how to make it look good, or like film.
We all know how that story ended, and we know that in the big picture, brides don’t care what made their picture.
However, they DO care how it was made, and the best way to translate the “how” is by telling them the story behind the photo.
Now we’re talking about your portfolio or what you show your brides when you meet with them.
When I started booking weddings, I didn’t have hundreds of photos to show off. I had ten 17x11 prints mounted on matboards.
On each board was a 5x7 photo with a lot of white space around it. It looked like something you’d see in a gallery.
I presented each photo one by one and told the story behind it, exactly as I did in last week’s photo breakdown issue, with the story behind the photo Dignity.
These photos were my ten favorite photos, and I loved telling these stories because they did two things:
First, this storytelling described my process – I prefer to seek out moments rather than waiting for something to happen.
Brides knew I took this seriously, and they could see artistry in my work even if I didn’t think of it as art.
Second, these stories drew the bride into each photo and made her feel like these moments were her moments.
Don’t forget, most brides are rookies at weddings, so the more you can make them FEEL the wedding, the stronger the connection you’ll have with them.
Each photo was a story told from my vantage point. Some of the stories focused more on the process, and ALL of them described the emotions surrounding the scenes.
I’ll admit, it wasn’t easy telling these stories over and over. Not because it was repetitive but because these were REAL moments in people’s lives, and I often got a little emotional when describing them.
This was not my intention, nor was it ever faked.
That’s the power of storytelling. Combine it with a powerful image, and the emotion is tough to hold back.
I lived that moment, and now this prospective bride and her mom did too.
Selling your wedding services should not be difficult if you’re passionate about your work and how you create it. It certainly shouldn’t take hundreds of photos to convince a bride you know what you’re doing, either.
Even after shooting 500 weddings, I still pitch my brides with a dozen individual photos. Each photo is a memorable moment with a unique story behind it.
It might not seem polished enough for some photographers, but for me and those who want to connect with their brides, this is honest and puts the bride front and center into my world and into the photos that define a wedding day.
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff you make but about the stories you tell.” – Seth Godin
Peeking behind the camera and into the photographer’s mind (and heart) is one of the little parts of the “inner game of wedding photography.”
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