Advertise in Bride Magazines?

[Peacefield]

I'm in NJ and am moderately priced; essentially $1,000 for my time plus ~100% markup on prints, etc. Business has been pretty good over the past few months so I'm thinking about bumping my base rate up to around $1,300 or so. But what I really want to ask about is marketing.

I'm planning on graduating from CraigsList to the world of paid advertisement. I almost certainly will go with a premium listing at WedJ.com. Maybe something at BigDaySmallWorld.com, too.

There's also NJ Bride Magazine, both the printed magazine and website. Have any of you found that these are fruitful investments? Especially, given my lower price point?

Thanks for any insights.

[shaggymatt]

99% of my business comes from word of mouth, so I'd say no to paid advertising. Just getting yourself exposed on those sites, and being active in the forums is of great benefit.

There are TONS of free advertising opportunities out there, you just need to be creative in exploiting them!

I'm also not a full time photographer, and don't have plans at this point to become one. My goal is a wedding a month, and I've been successful in reaching that goal, and have turned some down. After all between an "8-5" job and doing weddings, it leaves little time for other hobbies and family!

[Peacefield]

Likewise, I'm a part timer and my goal is also about 1/month. That's where I'm at now. So growth for me means more revenue per gig, not more gigs. I do expect to earn some word-of-mouth business, but weddings obviously have a long sale cycle so that builds slowly. That's what leads me to wanting to supplement with something a little more sohpisticated than CraigsList.

[tim]

Google adwords works for me, so does a listing on a local weddings site. I advertised in a wedding magazine once, and didn't have a single inquiry that said they say me in the mag. One photographer I know looks at it as just getting his name out there, generate maybe a few leads, but if they see him in the mags then online when they do a search they'll recognise his name and maybe click it.

I don't advertise in magazines.