Hustling Business

I Booked A Wedding Today

I feel pretty good. I booked a wedding today for a fall wedding. The bride is an organized all-business no-nonsense girl. I love brides like this. The reason I mention today’s booking is because she originally hired another photographer. Or I should say, she “tried” to hire another photographer.  The photographer that she selected originally, wouldn’t or couldn’t get her act together.  Phone calls went unanswered. Emails went unanswered. Text messages were ignored. The bride told me she made no less than four appointments with this photographer to get the contract signed, and each time, the photographer called in and couldn’t make it, out of town, or just didn’t show up.

Now she’s my bride. My client. There’s a lot more to this business than being artistic with a camera. You have to answer your phone. You have to be on top of things, and get things done.  You also have to fulfill expectations, and do what you say you’ll do. I mention this, because this is not the first client that I’ve picked up due to another photographer bungling things. It’s happened a lot. I’ve also heard the horror stories.

I heard a story once about a photographer that was constantly late, and sometimes wouldn’t show up at all to weddings. One of my best clients was from a wedding where the original photographer bailed at the last minute. You’d think that this type of behavior would be rare, but I see it too often, especially with the younger, hipster, 20-something photographers.  My advice to all new photographers: Hustle. Stay on top of things. Emails should be answered and checked every 4 hours during the week. Phone calls should be returned the same day within a few hours.

Business 101

Although I wrote this about Wedding Photographers, it applies to many aspects of adult life and business. People are important. Make them feel that way.

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