I found Craig is based in the UK, shoots there and away (especially in France), does great work, has a distinct and notable style with a heavy emphasis on black and white. His wedding photography packages start at $5000 dollars.
From the outside looking in – it appears Craig is doing amazingly well as an international wedding photographer after being in business only a few years. So I asked in a follow up email, why do want to come on the Photo Biz Xposed podcast?
Craig replied, “I'm challenging myself this year, people seem to have put me on a pedestal and so I want to share my ethos. It's a progression thing to me.”
That was enough to get me intrigued and I'm happy it did!
This interview shines a whole new light on wedding photography success, it takes more than you think.
Here’s some of what we cover:
What’s on Offer for Premium Members
If you’re a premium member, you should have received an email with links to your version of this episode where you can hear lots more content from where we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed hard for that include:
If you're on the fence about becoming a premium member, join with the $1 trial today and get access to the FULL interview with Craig George, get access to an amazing back catalogue of interviews and ALL future interviews delivered automatically to your phone or tablet.
Plus, access to a members only Facebook group where we take learning and community to a whole new level.
What is your big takeaway?
Following this interview, I’d love to know what your biggest takeaway is – what is the one thing that you’d like to implement or learnt from what was shared? Let me know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.
I'm not scared of any hard work because I know that it's about muscle memory, it's about shooting as hard as you can, and working as hard as you can – Craig George
If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you’d like to ask Craig or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them below.
iTunes Reviews and Shout-outs
Each week I check for any new iTunes reviews and it's always a buzz to receive these… for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, it's confirmation that I'm on the right track with the interviews and that they really are helping you improve your photography business. That's awesome!
Secondly, iTunes is the biggest search engine when it comes to podcasts and it's your reviews and ratings that help other photographers find PhotoBizX. More listeners means more interviews and ultimately a better show.
If you have left a review in the past, thank you!
If you haven't and you'd like to, head to https://photobizx.com/itunes and you can leave some honest feedback and a rating which will help both me and the show and I'll be sure to thank you on the show and add a link to your website or blog if you let me know the URL like I have with the reviews below:
What Every Photographer Should Be Listening to!
In iTunes by Tori Pintar of Tori Pintar Photography in Montana USA on October 28, 2015
I just stumbled across this podcast and am only a few in but like other reviewers, it is fantastic.
Andrew is the real deal. He is a kind, thoughtful and helpful person. He wants us all to do well and to succeed in our businesses and our lives.
I wrote to him asking for help with something related to his podcast and he was so gracious in his response. We actually wrote a little and he gave me some incredible advice that was so timely and helpful.
Thank you for being such an incredible member of our community!
Just find a way because there is always a way. You just have to be trusting that you can find it yourselves. Don't take the easy option to work on – Craig George
Wedding Photography Pricing – Spencer Lum
Long time listeners will be familiar with Spencer Lum, he's been interviewed twice before on the podcast and is a master tactician in the area of wedding photography sales and pricing – something I am constantly asked about via email from listeners.
Spencer has released a FREE resource on the topic and it's perfectly simple to understand and apply to your business. He has a very cool knack of taking a seemingly complicated subject and breaking it down into easy to understand chunks – I love how he does this!
Click here to get Spencer's ebook, Pricing For Profit. It is free but you will have to give your email address. It's a small trade!
Also, I mentioned last week, Spencer has a series of Webinars in the lead up to the launch of his new sales course – Momentum Sales.
I watched all three Webinars on the weekend and can highly recommend them! There were a couple things he mentioned I'm already doing in my wedding consultations like asking open ended questions to get the bride and groom involved in the consult then, he blew me away with the psychology of how to use those open ended questions to seal the deal and take more bookings.
Click here to see the wedding sales webinars by Spencer.
I have feeling. I've got soul. I've got care and compassion for the world. I'm passionate about what I do completely – Craig George
New Facebook Group for Premium Members
Members have been asking about a private Facebook Group for a long time and I've resisted for a number of reason, some selfish and some rational.
Selfishly, I was worried about the time to monitor the group and keep things on track while answering a barrage of questions which to me are more manageable via email or in the comments area.
I was (still am) worried the number of comments will drop off after each episode and those comments are a reassurance to future guests that listeners are engaged and getting something from the interviews. I won't lie either… Comments are good for SEO and getting found. The more comments, engagement and shares the search engines see, the better https://photobizx.com will rank organically. Like I said, selfish.
Lastly, I was worried about a bunch of photographers in a Facebook Group with a whole lot of pent up keyboard courage ready to shout their opinions at other members. I've seen this way too often in other photography groups and it's not a nice environment.
All that aside, I could see the benefits and felt the time was right. Premium members will have received a link to join and looking at the initial comments and replies, it's going to be a great thing!
Here's just one thread:
Hi all
I'm in Dorset in the UK, I have been in business I guess for about a year just doing a few jobs here and there and quite a bit of wedding second shooting. I gave up my full time job a week ago as I was Marketing Manager for European Tour and Ryder Cup and it was pretty time consuming!!
Now I'm going to work part time for a friend and try and build up the photography business with the aim of going full time at it next summer. That's the plan anyway.
I'm taking on board everything I'm learning on the podcasts and following the ad suggested a few weeks ago I now have 15 bookings!!
God knows when I'm going to fit them in!
My website is http://buttons.photography if you fancied a gander! 🙂
It's so nice that I'm able to do it with a feeling that I'm providing for somebody and I'm creating another feeling for somebody else. It's all about the soul of it – Craig George
Facebook Re-marketing Offer from Kerry Fitzgibbon
Following the last episode with Kerry Fitzgibbon which was heavily focussed on Facebook Advertising and remarking, there have been a lot of comments, emails an messages abut the technical aspect of what Kerry was teaching.
As good as Kerry was at explaining how to set up remarking yourself it was technical and there were a lot of steps. In saying that – there is no doubt the power of remarking will help any photographer improve their bookings.
I did ask Kerry if she had some specific training for listeners and she has come through… Big time!
She has made her remarking training available to listeners for $197 (normally $500!) to you.
Click here to get the training – Social Media Plus One – Remarking Training
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
Craig George Wedding Photography on Facebook Page
Momentum Sales – the wedding sales course by Spencer Lum
Social Media Plus One – Remarking Training – by Kerry Fitzgibbon
Equipment
Canon EOS 5D Mark III 22.3 MP Full Frame
Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Fixed Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM Medium Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras
Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras
Thank you!
Thank you again for listening to the show and thanks to Craig for sharing so much about getting started and building a great wedding photography business.
I avoid my faults like a plague and just concentrate on what I'm good at – Craig George
If you have any suggestions, comments or questions about this episode, please be sure to leave them below in the comment section of this post, and if you liked the episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post!
That’s it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!
Thanks and speak soon
Andrew
Craig I really loved your honesty. A lot of people want to shy away from the “just work hard” approach. Its too hard of a pill for them to swallow. They want one tip that will net them more weddings than they could shoot in a year. Its not like that. And you made it clear! Thank you! I checked out the website and I LOOOOOOOOVE your 100 Shots package. Ive tried to implement film coverage as an add on but no one has taken me up on it. After reading your description, Im clearly just not marketing it right!
Thank you again Craig for the interview!
I loved this week’s podcast.I like Craig’s work ethic (and his photography). There’s no way around it: you have to put in the hard yards.
Great to hear the discussion around Groupon too. I did a similar offer on Wowcher to expand my portfolio earlier in the year as an alternative to second shooting. I got 7 bookings and I am using the photographs from them, and my regular weddings to relaunch my website at the end of this year. It was great experience, both at the weddings and to test my workflow behind the scenes with regard to editing, holding client information, client galleries, print deliveries, etc.
I just hope my trajectory continues on the same path as Craig’s – I’d love to be at 50 weddings a year at his price point in a year or two!
Such a great interview with Craig George, just listened to it for the second time. Every week there’s something new to learn – thank you Andrew and all of your guests!
I absolutely loved the honesty in this interview! Totally resonated with me!
And Andrew, don’t feel crazy. I do the same thing with my social media apps on my phone. They’re all on the 3 screen on my iPhone and I have notifications turned off as well. It allows me to check in with social media when I want to. However, I do something a little similar as well that might be crazy. I also put my email app on the second screen on my iPhone, plus I turn off notifications. It helps keep me out of my inbox as much as possible. I set up an IFTTT recipe that sends me a text message if a new lead comes in. That way, I know that it’s urgent for me to respond back. Other than that, I only check email when I want to. Perhaps that’s crazy, but it keeps me sane. 🙂
Craig, thanks for the interview and your honesty! I guess your clients appreciate it as much as we do. I can’t imagine how hard work you must have done to go from almost free groupon sales to your prices now! It’s motivating. Above all and first of all I love your style and work and that’s the reason why you are so busy right now.
Adrew… this year I have started getting up at five in the morning to do some editing and it works as good as with your writing an e-book 😉
Hey Michal – the whole getting ip early is tough (for me at the start anyway) but it’s so good! I’m sure it’s the perfect way to get more accomplished each day.
Have you tried the Freedom App or are you good at keeping things like email and FB turned off?
Andrew, fortunately or unfortunately I don’t get that much messages so that it would ruin my organization. I guess you guys have to pay the price of fame and popularity 🙂
Haha, that’s definitely not the reason – I’m just too easily distracted.
Would love to hear more about Craig’s workflow to handle that many weddings a year.
After listening to several podcast on this site, THIS one is my FAVORITE! i
I’m in the beginner stage of becoming a photographer, and everything that was said in this interview was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. I love taking photo’s and would love to do this as a career. Its podcasts like these that inspire.. Thank you so much Craig, for your honesty, and not being afraid to share what you have done. I see that I’ve got my work cut out for me in these beginning stages. Great interview, and I know I’ll be back to review this one again and again. Thank you.