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Home: Video University Forums: Digital Photography for Videographers:
Need Marketing advice

robcg1970
Novice

Jan 25, 2007, 10:16 PM

Post #1 of 4 (528 views)
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Need Marketing advice	Can't Post

we started to offer photography late last year and i am happy to say that it has turned out very well. we have a lot of couples booking video and photos with us. i do the video and my wife does the photography.

i finally have some advertisement dollars this year which i want to invest into online advertisement for my web site and blog.

as we know video is usually down on the list of expenses after everything else. photography is high on the list so i am wondering if i should concentrate on promoting our photography services. we've had a lot of brides who initially are interested in photos only but once they find out we do video (and that they are dealing with one company) they get interested in video as well and book a complete package. this has happened many times.

i am in the inland empire area (east of los angeles) and there is a lot of competition for photography but i feel by promoting our photo services i will be able to reach more brides. the video may follow if they are interested.

what do you guys think?
Robert
http://www.godinavideo.com/
http://www.godinavideo.com/blog/

Brian M
Veteran

Jan 26, 2007, 8:10 AM

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Re: [robcg1970] Need Marketing advice [In reply to]	Can't Post

Robert,
You have a very similar situation as us. We found word of mouth has been working best so far. We did a number of free engagement sessions and that has helped a) give us more experience and b) spread the word about our photography. We did one bridal show last week but don't have any impressive albums yet - so we can't compete with the seasoned photogs. We did encode two photo slide shows on our video DVD which has sparked interest from couples. One of the slide shows is of engagement pics and the other is of a basic wedding we started off with.

Brian
website
Brian M

________________________________________________
Photographer & Videographer

Colvin ADTR
Enthusiast

Jan 27, 2007, 4:48 AM

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Scott Brooks
Veteran

Jan 27, 2007, 3:28 PM

Post #4 of 4 (460 views)
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Re: [robcg1970] Need Marketing advice [In reply to]	Can't Post

as we know video is usually down on the list of expenses after everything else. photography is high on the list so i am wondering if i should concentrate on promoting our photography services. we've had a lot of brides who initially are interested in photos only but once they find out we do video (and that they are dealing with one company) they get interested in video as well and book a complete package. this has happened many times.

I'm sure there area many out there that will disagree with your statement, but I'm not one of them. High end video companies are in a position where they no longer have to worry about stuff like this. I'm guessing you and I are not.

I can't believe the number of inquiries I'm getting about video now that I'm doing photography. I'm referring to the questions I receive at bridal shows. (I have two more left to do.) I think there's definately something attractive to one stop shopping. Whether or not a company can pull it off is another issue.

I went with a flash template that I'm fairly satisfied with ... at least for one more year. I've had the site for almost two years. Not until yesterday did I have a page for video. I was going to dump it altogether, but it might turn out to be a decent add on for my photography.

If I'm understanding your position on this, then I highly recommend getting the best website you can afford, have it revolve mainly around your photography, and then devote a single page to video. I don't think you need a page full of clips, but if you have a blog with some clips (along with photos) then a link to that couldn't hurt.

I'm getting excited about 2007 because I think it's going to be one of my busiest years. Not much from wedding videos ... but a few of those thrown in with wedding photography is going to make things move much quicker this year.

Sparky ...