A lot of people are attracted to wedding photography because they think it's an easy way to make money. While it can be profitable, it is by no means an easy way to produce income, and all you need to do is ask a pro photographer if you don't believe me.
There's an obvious difference between making extra money as a wedding photographer and making a decent living with it. It's a lot harder to accomplish the second goal. You have the seasonality of the entire wedding industry to take into account, not to mention the difficulty of actually setting up a successful business in an industry dominated by heavy competition. But nevertheless, there are ways of increasing profit. Here are our favorite three.
1. Get a photo booth
If you don't know how big photo booths are at weddings, you don't belong in this line of work. A photo booth can have a lot of benefits. It's an extra source of fun for the guests, and it can allow you to focus on other aspects of the wedding while a part of the guests have fun with props and selfies. There are a number of ways to incorporate a photo booth in the list of services you provide. You can try the good old DIY method and build one in your garage, but it's not a long term solution by any stretch. Last week, I was speaking with a friend and IMO, showing up to a wedding with a DIY booth would be equivalent to showing up to a wedding with an iPhone. Now there are a number of booth options you can go with, frankly some look like garage built DIY’ers. We recommend professional options that will make your business look premium and help you earn more income. I'm a fan swanky options, the ones that play the part and leave a measurable impact. These options come from Snapden. They're designed at the highest standards (Made in USA too!) to look good and work great in every environment. You get just about everything you need in one package: the booth, the DSLR and the computer. It's ultimately a great experience that will bring you more money and more clients. (Learn more here)
2. Get a style
The best wedding photographers in the world have clients from all corners of the earth because their style is desired. It's one of the hardest things to develop a personal style in this type of photography, but once you develop it, you'll be able to become more selective and ask for more money.
3. Optimize workflow
This should be done without the motivation of making extra money. By optimizing workflow you will have more time for other projects, be they weddings or something else. It's totally non-profitable to spend more than two weeks working on a wedding, so in the long run, you need to boost your speed. Get faster computers and set your own deadlines that you're going to stick to. Remember, the more time you have for promoting your business, the more profitable it will become.
Of course, the old saying "different strokes for different folks" still applies and you might come up with other ways of boosting profits on your own, which is a very good thing. These three however are fail proof regardless if you've been doing this for one year or ten.
Learn more about Snapden Photo Booths here.