Amy Wolland, packed up and left New Zealand for Johannesburg, South Africa to start a photography business from scratch and for the first time in her life. In a foreign country, no contacts, no network and a limited knowledge of the market, she needed clients fast if this was going to work. In this interview, Amy reveals the steps she took before arriving and exactly how to generate wedding photography bookings from the get go.
After two and half years, she's refined her process and the business is growing faster than ever. If you're in a position where you are looking to generate not only enquiries but bookings, we discuss the different avenues that were available to Amy and which ones have proven to work well. Although many of her leads are paid for, her strategy, I believe is one of the best if you're looking to get bookings fast and without the time to rank well in Google using the normal SEO methods.
Here's some of what we cover:
Premium Members
Available for download is Amy's scripted reply letter to couples after the initial website enquiry. This letter has been refined and tested and now provides the best conversions for the business. In addition to the letter, I kept Amy on the line to discuss her exact process from website enquiry to booking – including the use of the letter and what approach she and Will take if the letter doesn't get the couple to take action and book an appointment.
What is your big takeaway?
Following the interview, I'd love to know what your biggest takeaway is – what is the one thing that you'd like to implement that Amy had to share? Let me and other listeners know by leaving your thoughts in the comments below.
Remember, by making use of the comments you do get “do follow” links to your website and blog which helps the SEO rankings of your website. It's also a great way for me and other listeners to check out what you do.
iTunes ratings, reviews and Shout-Outs
A big thanks to the two UK listeners that generously left fantastic reviews in the iTunes store for the podcast this week. It's a great help in making the Photo Biz Ex podcast easier to find and be discovered plus it lets me know I'm on the right track.
If you do leave a review in iTunes, be sure to let me know who you are so I can say thanks and add a link to your website.
If you have the time and are happy to leave an honest rating and review, head over to iTunes.
Also, a few shout-outs to photographers/listeners that have made contact via email or social media this week:
Steve – http://jacqui-marie-photography.co.uk
Matt Gruber – http://mattgruberphotography.com
Dianne – http://www.milestonesphotography.com.au
Ms Polka Dot – http://www.polkadotbride.com
Dave – http://www.davidrookphotographer.com
Chris – http://somersetphotographic.co.uk
Thanks everyone, it's been great chatting and hearing from all of you this week.
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!
Links to people, places and things mentioned in this episode:
As Sweet As Images – http://asaimages.co.za
As Sweet As Images on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/AsSweetAsImages
As Sweet As Images on Twitter – https://twitter.com/asaimages
Wedding Friends Wedding Blog – http://www.weddingfriends.co.za
Seddon Portrait House – http://www.seddon.co.nz
Google Adwords – adwords.google.com
That's it for me this week, hope everything is going well for you. I'd love for you to leave a comment below to let me know what you took away from this episode of the podcast.
Speak soon
Andrew
From this point forward it will be hard to top Amy’s most embarrassing moment at a wedding. Hard to beat that one!
I’m sure moving so far away from home and setting up a photo biz was tough. But it sounds like she has made quite a name for herself.
My biggest take away was her SEO skills and how I need to get it in gear in that department.
I also liked when Andrew said that thing about us hearing a lot of tips but never implementing them. I think that is a really good point which we could all do better at.
Thanks for all the effort, Andrew!
Always a pleasure!
Joey Joiner
Fort Worth, TX
USA
Hi Joey,
Moving to a foreign country was certainly tough, but its proof that if one is determined enough, you can build a successful business anywhere in the world, whether you are at home or abroad.
Paid advertising works great in the beginning- obviously it is not a long term/permanent solution, but I believe to first get your name out there, it is important to do. Whilst that is running, you can then spend time working on increasing your organic searchability.
One thing Andrew and I didn’t touch on which I would like to add, is that we had a very well presented and user friendly website in the beginning before we ran any advertisements. We also had portfolio images to entice the clientele that we wanted to attract. Thus when our potential clients click on any of our ads they are taken to our website, and are not disappointed by what they see.
Kind Regards
Amy Wolland
As Sweet As Images
Good point about the website Amy – it’d be a waste of time paying for clicks through to your website if the site itself wasn’t doing it’s job of converting visitors to enquiries.
Best to get your website looking and working great, i.e; no broken links, great images, no typos, easy to navigate and an easy to use contact form before setting up an Adwords or FB advertising campaign.
Thanks Joey – agreed too, hard to beat the hair on fire story for an embarrassing moment at a wedding!
Greetings! Great information for the novice! I’m excited to share these tips with my business partner. I’m also interested in the premium content available– the reply letter & Amy’s booking process. I enrolled in the premium trial membership. Advice on where to go from here?
Hi Cassie, thanks for commenting and great to read you’re enjoying the podcast.
To get access to all the premium content you can sign up on this page: https://photobizx.com/premium-membership/ alternatively, you can pay 6 months upfront for $60 or 12 months for $100.
If you sign up on the membership page, everything is automatic.
Let me know if you prefer the 6 monthly or annual option and I can set that up for you.
I love hearing these helpful tips.
One great thing for me with what you have been saying is that I have been implementing some of the great tips, as I listen to the podcasts straight away, this is one great advantage of just starting a business.
Hi there, have been listening to some of the older podcasts and enjoying the archives.
I have to say Andrew, I was surprised when you asked in the questions if Amy thought that it was a disadvantage starting a wedding photography business as a female or whether she thought males had an advantage there.
I started my business around 2 years ago and I’ve always considered being a female wedding photographer such an advantage for so many reasons!
The brides I meet are similar age and demographic to me or slightly younger, and its easy to get to know them as a peer and have an understanding of what their wants are for wedding photographs. I fit in well when the girls are getting ready on the day, and nudity / brides getting dressed isn’t uncomfortable, and when I head to the boys they are really respectful and cooperative once I help them with dressing / tie / buttonhole advice etc
Just some food for thought, loving the podcasts 🙂
Fiona
Hi Fiona – great to have you listening and thanks for adding your comments. It’s so good to put a name to a “download stat” 🙂
It’s interesting that you’re the first person to ask about that question.
The reason I asked is because I too believe females have an advantage and not having interviewed any newer female photographers, I thought it would be a fair question to ask and one that I was genuinely interested in hearing an answer to.
It’s not a topic or subject that I’ve heard discussed openly before. My previous business partner, Natalie, and I have had a conversation about it and interestingly, she thought guys had it easier.
Maybe it’s a matter of the “grass is always greener” or more likely, it doesn’t really make a difference?