This Is What Happens When You Do Things YOUR Way, AKA The Right Way
Issue #12
[Read Time - 6 minutes]
Quick note before we get started.
This was one of the very first things I noticed many years ago that my fellow wedding photographers were NOT capitalizing on.
It was well over 20 years ago, and although I mentioned it to a few close colleagues, they seemed uninterested in this little “phenomenon.”
This is a shame because if there’s one thing I discovered about wedding photographers is that they are extremely competitive.
I know I sure was, and even though no one else cared, I used this knowledge to gain a significant advantage over my fellow photographers and competition.
Now that I’m more mature, my competitive spirit moves in other ways, but I still firmly contend that focusing on this one thing will put your wedding photography business miles ahead of your competition…if you believe in it.
So, without further teasing, let’s get to it!
Embracing “The Glow”
The wedding is over! The couple has left, and you’ve said your goodbyes to the families, thanking them for “allowing me to be a part of such a great day.”
Feel free to borrow this line - just say it like you mean it, please.
You’re lugging your gear back to your car, a bit dehydrated, a bit hopped up on sweets, and thinking about nothing except getting home and getting your shoes off.
While you’re driving, I want you to consider this.
Your couple has just completed one of the most challenging parts of their relationship…Their Wedding Day.
For the last year, they’ve been juggling their job, their parents, their planning, and their growing relationship.
They are now married and (hopefully) off to spend some much-earned downtime together, reminiscing about this great day and their new life together.
I call this time The Glow.
Everything is nice during The Glow.
They’ll fondly reflect on the magic of their wedding day, and sure, they’ll inevitably bring up the hiccups, but in The Glow, it’s all in the past, and this is a time of relief and excitement.
This happy couple did something great, and The Glow is a time for them to bask in that warmth.
So what does this have to do with you?
As their wedding photographer, it’s your job to deliver their wedding photos WHILE your couple is still in The Glow.
In case you’re wondering, The Glow lasts roughly two weeks with a honeymoon and about nine days without one.
Your consideration on the drive home should be, “What do I need to do to get my photos edited, processed and delivered while my newlyweds are still in The Glow?”
This isn’t an easy question, but with the right planning and system, you can make this happen.
For those not fully familiar with the wedding world, the typical delivery time for wedding photos is around 4-8 weeks, with the good ones delivering closer to 2-3.
If you’ve never edited a few thousand photos, this multi-week timetable might seem reasonable, but The Glow doesn’t care about your timeline.
What happens if you miss The Glow?
I get it, you might be a “part-time” professional at the moment and headed to your full-time job on Monday morning.
This is the reality of most wedding photographers starting out.
I don’t paint, but I can paint you a picture of what normally happens. Here we go.
Your couple returns from their honeymoon, unpacks, gets themselves situated in their new place that now belongs to both of them now, and married life begins.
They’ve opened all the wedding gifts, got excited about all their new toys, returned some and found a home for the keepers and their newlywed abode is coming together nicely.
Their “vacation” is over, and now it’s time to go back to work.
In the evenings, they start working on their thank-you notes. They finish those, finish decorate their new place, and now it’s time to discover who owns the remote.
They decide on a new series over the weekend, and six episodes in (approximately four weeks from the day they exchanged vows), they get an email from you saying, “Hey, your photos are ready!”
Are they still in The Glow? Nope.
Are they still excited to see the photos? Of course, but LIFE has started for them.
Work is back to normal, and they’ve already rolled the dice a few times, spun the wheel, and moved around the board (they’re playing The Game of Life, if you didn’t catch the reference).
Their wedding photos are a bonus at this point - a great bonus, but still a bonus.
For the last month, they’ve learned to live without them.
Friends and family have shared their photos on social media and they’ve enjoyed seeing everything…but not YOUR photos.
Considering how much time, effort, blood, sweat, and possibly tears you’ve invested into these photos, this is not good for either of you.
These photos represent a day in their past. That’s NOT the way to embrace The Glow.
Allow me to grab my paintbrush once again and paint another version for you, albeit a compressed version.
Your couple gets back from their honeymoon, unpacks, checks their email, and is shocked to see a message from you saying, “Hey, your photos are ready!”
Are they still in The Glow? You better believe it!
A phrase comes to mind straight from the business world...Speed to Market.
It means the speed you can get something from concept delivered into your customer’s hands.
In this case, the “concept” is their wedding day photos.
The “delivery” is posting your photos online for your couple (and their family and friends) to view and purchase.
Get your work to your customers as quickly as possible.
Back when I regularly attended the major photography conferences, I made it a point to ask photographers from coast to coast how long it took them to deliver their photos to their clients - sort of an unscientific poll.
The vast majority of them said the same thing...four weeks.
FOUR WEEKS!
I’m sorry, but by that time, The Glow is long gone.
This is where you need to decide how to run your business.
Are you going to be like everyone else? It’s easy to do.
Or are you going to do things differently?
If it takes a month to process your wedding photos, you need to look into better a system to improve this.
There are photo outsourcing options out there, and even AI options are in the mix.
If this is not possible because of finances, I get it. I was in that position myself and altered my week to make sure I delivered on my schedule.
What can you do?
If you positively cannot work your week to meet the timeframe of The Glow, let’s find a way to extend the time until you can get everything done.
Perhaps a slideshow with their photos set to a favorite song? Social media shareables? Those will work!
Call them something fancy like a Photographer Select Preview (I just made that up, so don’t judge).
Be creative, come up with your own plan, but do not ignore the importance of The Glow.
You have the power (and it’s power, believe me) to extend The Glow for about 4-7 additional days.
C’mon, is The Glow really that important?
Yes, it is, and I’ll tell you why - all business here.
When you extend this time, and keep your couple in The Glow, you keep your couple in a place of good decision-making about what comes next.
Planning on selling a Wedding Album?
The Glow will help make that purchase go SO much easier.
Trying to sell a sofa-sized photo of them you took during the Magic Hour with the waves crashing over the rocks behind them (even though they were married in a church miles from the nearest beach)?
The Glow is the time to pitch those lofty ideas and add the polished cherry on top of the magnificent sundae you created.
I’ve seen what it looks like when couples drift out of The Glow - it’s not pretty.
I know a couple who hired someone to shoot their wedding (I was not available), and it took four and a half weeks before they saw their photos.
The couple drifted out of The Glow simply because they had been married for a month and saw nothing to remind them of that day.
Of course, they loved their photos once they arrived, but they missed that magical period of re-experiencing what that day “felt” like shortly after the wedding.
My recommendation: Do whatever you can to embrace The Glow.
I don’t mean to impress you with this, but rather impress upon you the importance of The Glow.
I have received calls, texts and emails from bridesmaids, family members and wedding guests who were so impressed with how fast I delivered the photos back to the couple that they wanted me to shoot their wedding…before we even met.
Crazy?
Yes, but true.
How fast?
One week.
Once you decide to do it, you figure out how to make it happen later.
“Customer service is an opportunity to exceed your customer’s expectations.”
— John Jantsch, Duct Tape Marketing
Delivering your photos while your couple is still in The Glow is one of the little parts of the “inner game of wedding photography.”
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