How to Automate Your Wedding Photography Business for Six Figure Success
Blog content by Eden Strader, from live webinar: How to Automate your Wedding Photography Business for Six Figure Success
Click here to watch the webinar replay
Hi - I'm Eden!
A six figure, destination wedding photographer turned business coach - leading hundreds of creative entrepreneurs in building a life of artistic growth, wealth, and personal power.
In a nutshell? I help creative humans discover their unique flavor of magic.
And that magic is ebbing and flowing throughout all you do as the badass business owner you are–from marketing to mindset, from sales strategy to self care–our magic is alive and well in all that we do.
Nearly 7 years ago I left my corporate job to pursue photography full time - and it led me around the world capturing love everywhere from Hawaii to Switzerland. Now, I love educating photographers on how to do the same- through artistic expression and technical mastery.
In my wedding career I was known for bright colors and funky light - and few things bring me as much joy as helping photographers fall in love with light that they thought they were destined to hate.
SO LET'S GET TO IT- WHY SHOULD YOU START IMPLEMENTING AUTOMATIONS INTO YOUR BUSINESS?
Automation can feel a little scary, but Dubsado has changed my life. One of my biggest offerings is a 9-12 month coaching program. My workflow for that is below.
This Dubsado workflow is taking care of everything from sending forms before every call, following up after calls, midweek check ins, scheduling the calls – it's so many steps that are automated.
If I was doing this all by hand, I would only be able to take 1-2 coaching clients a year, which would not pay the bills. Especially not now that I live in Brooklyn, NY.
Frequent concerns when it comes to automating...
You don't want to change the system that works "enough" right now
You're worried it will be less personal
You're worried it takes too much time
You're worried it's going to overcomplicate things for your clients
This is everyone's checklist! But let's break these down...
You don't want to change the system that works "enough" right now
I get it. It's working "enough." However, if you want to earn more money or scale, you're going to need more time. When you automate, you have more time to make more money, serve your clients more efficiently, or clock out and have a personal life.
You're worried it will be less personal
Approval systems and reminders are great ways to make sure nothing goes out on accident. I'll go over that more here in a bit.
You're worried it takes too much time
Yes, there is a chance that setting up your Dubsado workflow is going to take a little longer today than emailing that client back quickly, but I love knowing something is going to serve me well in the long term. If you just invest a little bit of time here, it's going to save you so much time in the long run.
You're worried it's going to overcomplicate things for your clients
Automations actually allow your clients to feel professionally served, it makes them feel like you care about how easy things are for them, and it feels like they're working with an actual business. One of my favorite things to hear from clients is, "it made it feel so much more professional!"
Now let's dive into a sample wedding photography workflow
Step 1: Client inquires with you with your Dubsado lead capture form that's embedded on your website. They'll start a workflow from here.
Step 2: Reply within 48 hours with investment template. Prompt them to schedule a call. This can be approval based if you want to add a personal touch. This is your first checkpoint that you will use approval!
Step 3: Hop on the call and send your Dubsado proposal. Proposals are a great place to put reviews and answer questions they or past clients have had. Your proposal is a great opportunity to sell to them. From your proposal, your clients will sign and pay within Dubsado.
Step 4: Create a to do that will remind you to send a client gift 4-6 weeks after booking. *Make your client gift something unique that's in line with your brand and your ideal client
Step 5: Wedding day welcome guide sends with example timelines & recommendations for vendors. Link to the website that shows sunset times so they choose the right ceremony time. Set expectations for their experience with you as well.
Step 6: 1 week post booking, send engagement session guide + questionnaire.
Step 7: Schedule engagement session
Step 8: 8 weeks before the wedding, send the wedding prep form. This form has all of the timelines, addresses, and information they need to give to you.
Download the free 9-page wedding photography questionnaire from Eden Strader.
Step 9: Once form completed, send them a scheduler for them to schedule their last call.
Step 10: An automatic email will go out to check in the night before the wedding with your phone number.
Step 11: Wedding day happens!
Step 12: Previews
Step 13: Final delivery – send slideshow with vows audio, albums pricing guide to encourage album sales, and ask for a review.
Now that we've gone through an entire wedding photography workflow – let's talk about ways to personalize your workflow to your business!
Way #1: Inquiry response - Copy & paste this email to your Dubsado account
To customize this email, add personalized smart fields+ mark as "require approval" in the workflow so you can customize further before sending.
"Hi {{client.firstName}}! Thank you so much for contacting me and biggest congratulations on your engagement! We do have your wedding date available and would absolutely love to work with you. I loved reading a bit more about your story, SO excited for you guys to tie the knot in Malibu! It will be absolute magic.
First off, I'd love to provide you with some links to full galleries so you can get an idea of what to expect with your gorgeous wedding!
add a link - Full wedding day (10 hours)
add a link - Destination engagement session. We always love working with my couples prior to the wedding so we can get to know each other a bit more!
I've attached our pricing and packages for you below, feel free to let me know if you have any questions! I'd love to chat more and discuss further details, after you've looked over the pricing guide I'd love to set up a time to chat on the phone about your big day!
You can find a time that works best for you here:
{{scheduler | schedulerLink}}
Speak to you soon. Xx
{{brand.emailTemplate.signature}}"
Way #2: Send branded proposals - Personalized to your strengths and reviews. This is your last sales pitch!
Proposals are another opportunity to show your best work! Give them the option to purchase a higher package or upgrade with add-ons.
Way #3: Add in opportunities to collaborate with your clientele
Plan sessions WITH your clients - ask them questions to their relationship! What is your favorite part of your relationship? What's your favorite physical feature of your partner? Do you have activities you love doing together? (questionnaire time!)
Prompt Pinterest mood boards - encourage them to mood-board how they want their wedding/session to feel! Include your own inspo board in case they need a place to start.
Are there things you wish your clients knew they could do for their sessions / wedding? Let them know and prompt them.
Thanks so much for reading this blog and watching the webinar replay.
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