Gary Lashmar who also goes by the name Marshal Gray has made a rapid rise in the wedding photography industry and in no time has high prices, plenty of bookings and is hosting wedding photography workshops! He attributes his rapid rise through the ranks down to avoiding the cliched approach of other wedding photographers.

Surely there has to be more to Gary's story than simply doing things differently? There is, and they include not trying to impress his couples, aiming to scare a lot of potential clients away and over delivering in every aspect. Gary goes out of his way to get brides on the phone and once talking to them he has a 90% booking rate and is happy to totally mess up and show that he is human while hardly letting them get a word in.

If you've ever been nervous when speaking to a client, run out of ideas on a shoot, struggling to come up with a pose during the bridal shoot or engagement session, this could be the perfect interview to have you booking more weddings than ever and an ability to truly find your style and creativity.

Here's some more of what we cover:

  • Gary attributes his success to shooting weddings with a  different approach to other wedding photographers
  • How to increase prices quickly when new in the wedding industry
  • What his rate is and what he calls it, what it covers and what the clients get
  • The little things Gary throws his clients to make their experience extra special
  • The real secret to success is under promising and over delivering… every time
  • How you can “blow your clients away” and make their experience more fun and memorable
  • Gary's workflow to convert callers into wedding photography clients
  • Why you should be using your marketing to scare off most people
  • How to find the right target market or perfect match for your business and style of wedding photography
  • The importance of introducing different possibilities to your clients as soon as possible
  • Why Gary thinks he is the world's worst wedding photographer yet still manages to get booked solidly
  • Why you should give yourself permission to “mess up” in front of your clients and how it will improve your photography like never before
  • Discover what happened with Gary's early clients that led him to establishing his unique workflow and an ability to connect with his perfect clients
  • Trying to impress your could be the worst thing you are doing in your photography business
  • Learn the golden rule in wedding photography and how it applies it to your clients
  • The real meaning of spontaneous and how Gary uses this attitude to produce the wedding photographs that his clients love

If you've ever been in the situation of not having enough bookings? Gary has and does face the same issues today but he handles the lack of bookings in a totally different manner to any photographers I've spoken to in the past. Following this interview, if what Gary shared resonates with you, you'll never worry again.

Well, you may worry, but you should have a plan of action to get the phone ringing again and not be hung up on the lack of bookings.

Marshal Gray Photography Podcast Interview

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 implementable content from where we dive deeper into some of the earlier topics plus some new ones that I pushed hard for that include:

    Social media techniques to keep the client enquiries rolling in

    Facebook strategies that really are working for gary in his photography business today

    Gary's best ideas to get bookings from scratch in a brand new location

    Why you need to be looking at what everyone else is doing and then do the opposite… Be DIFFERENT

    The real answer to your success is not learning from what other photographers are doing, it's all sitting there inside you already

Marshal Gray Photography Podcast Interview

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.

If you have any questions that I missed, a specific question you'd like to ask or if you just want to say thanks for coming on the show, feel free to add them below.

If you'd like an easy way to show Peter your thanks, and support for the show at the same time, click the link to create a tweet and automatically let him know you're listening: https://photobizx.com/tweet

The Resources Page

Remember the ever expanding resources page that has a listing of products, programs, hardware, books and directories mentioned in each episode of the show. If you’re looking for something that a guest has mentioned on a previous episode but just can’t remember who or what it was – you’ll find it listed in order on the resources page.

Marshal Gray Photography Podcast Interview

Transcription Service

If you're producing video for your potential clients on your blog or website, don't underestimate the SEO effect if you have those videos transcribed. Remember, Google relies on the written word to index your content, not audio and video.

Chances are, your videos are full of targeted keywords and they need to be transcribed for maximum search-ability.

An easy solution for your transcribing is available right here on PhotoBiz Xposed at photobizx.com/transcribe

iTunes ratings, reviews and Shout-Outs

Each week before recording the podcast I check iTunes for any reviews and each week I'm excited to see what you've had to say about the podcast. It's these iTunes reviews that make a big difference to the podcast being ranked well and found in the iTunes store. If you have the time and are happy to leave an honest rating and review, head over to iTunes.

Don't feel your comments have to be long, involved or gushy, an honest opinion is all I ask. Don't be shy about leaving your business name in the review either – that way I can add a link in the show-notes and show my appreciation with a proper thanks and a Google loving back-link to your website.

Get in Touch or Leave a Voicemail Message

If you'd like to get in touch, ask a question or make a suggestion for the show, you can email me andrew@photobizx.com, find me on Twitter https://twitter.com/andrewhellmich or on Facebook at https://photobizx.com/facebook – I'd love to hear from you!

Marshal Gray Photography Podcast Interview

Websites:

http://www.marshalgrayphotography.com

http://www.thedarephotoexperience.com

http://www.marshalgrayphotography.com/wedding-blog-features/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MARSHALGRAYPHOTOGRAPHY

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarshalGray

Instagram: http://instagram.com/gary_aka_marshalgray

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/Marshalgray/

Google+: https://plus.google.com/100952948746364196875/posts

 

Photographers mentioned in the interview

Jonas Peterson – http://jonaspeterson.com/

Jonas Peterson interview on Photo Biz X – https://photobizx.com/25

Fer Juaristi – http://ferjuaristi.com/

Fer Juaristi interview on Photo Biz X – https://photobizx.com/53

 

Equipment

Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L USM Wide Angle Lens

Marshal Gray Photography Podcast Interview

That's it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you in life and business!

If you've been enjoying the podcast, I'd love for you to tell another photographer about it – it could be in a Facebook Group you're a part of, a photography forum, with a photographer friend or on twitter.

If you do have a twitter account, simply click here: https://photobizx.com/tweet or use the share buttons below.

Thanks and speak soon

Andrew