Wedding photography workshop

[sebmour]

Hi,

I am presently building a Wedding photography workshop. It will last 2 days.

I would like your opinion on which subject should we discuss. Here is my basic plan.
What should I had? What would you like to know about if you were attending?

Thank you for your time.

Wedding photography workshop.

Duration: 2 days

Subjects:

Market
Marketing
Equipment
Lighting
Concepts
Portfolio
Pricing
Shooting

[sebmour]

write your question on my blog for a chance to win a free ticket to the workshop!

http://sebmour.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/help-me-out/

[jonwhite]

Why do you feel qualified to teach a workshop ?

I only ask as it seems to be a common practice these days that a photographer starts up their business and then after a year and having shot a dozen weddings they feel qualified to teach others.

If they have gone from nothing to international megastar of photography or they are doing something radically different to others then maybe they have some great secrets to share but if they are creating great images and competing for business along with everyone else then I am intrigued to know exactly what they will be teaching.

My personal views is that If I were looking to attend a workshop that covered the topics that you have mentioned above I would be looking for it to be taught by one of the industry leaders or great recent success stories that were doing really well rather than someone fairly new to the business.

For people new to the business I think a workshop geared towards a particular strength of theirs would be more sensible, pick what you do better than everyone else and teach that.

[tim]

I agree with Jon. Rather than doing that you might be better off improving your website, I went to see what your photos are like but after 30 seconds i'd seen three images so I gave up. Don't make people wait 10 seconds between images, or whatever it is. You'll be losing bookings because of your website.

Until you have a fantastic portfolio that people can actually see why do you think people will go to your workshop?

You have to define the level you're aiming at, and what you know best that you can share. I only go to workshops with the best of the best, like the Yervant one I went to recently.

[cjcastan]

, like the Yervant one I went to recently.

how is yervant's workshop? I've taken the Ghionis and Schembri 5 days. How long was the yervant workshop, how much and was it worth it?

thanks in advance.

[tim]

how is yervant's workshop? I've taken the Ghionis and Schembri 5 days. How long was the yervant workshop, how much and was it worth it?

thanks in advance.

Two days, A$1100, and yes it was worth it. With time off my day job and flights to Australia it ended up costing more like $3000, kindof expensive but if nothing else it helped motivate me as well as the things I learned :) It was more about business and processing than photography, but I picked up a few tips about photography as well.

Strange thing is he had a model, a girl, but for weddings it'd have sense to have a guy and a girl. The model he hired turned out to be a total bitch too, guess it's just the luck of the draw with agencies.

[sebmour]

Thank you all for your input.

I have been shooting for 2 years and I have done over 40 weddings with 5 out of my own country.
Why do I want to do a workshop? because I like to help people and I get a lot of questions in my market!

I understand your criticism but you think only Dennis Reggie or Jasmine star can teach you something...

TIM: My clients hire me for me and not for my website! I have no issue getting work and I still do not know whom I am competing against! We might have different marketing views!

[tim]

Do you want to do a general "intro to weddings" type workshop, or teach more advanced stuff? Because with that list you have you'll have about two hours for each topic.

I think your website should be to get people to call you, to hire you. I'm not sure yours does that.

[sebmour]

Tim: thank you for your input as I am always listening but don't worry. I get my maximum 15 weddings a years that I now shoot!

I am looking for information to know which one will actually be included in the workshop. I do not think that when you actually are advance in shooting weddings that you will follow workshops about it! I do not want to talk about all of these subjects that's why I was asking for input instead of competence doubting.

I have been to Dennis Reggie, Vincent Laforet, Tyler Stableford workshops and more. I have learned but today I would not go to them since what I have learn form there is useful but very little ad an effect on my photography career since the marketing aspect are totally different.

Thank you all and please answer the question :P

[tim]

What you teach depends who you're targeting, you haven't told us that yet.

[jonwhite]

I understand your criticism but you think only Dennis Reggie or Jasmine star can teach you something...


Not at all, the point I was making was that you were intending to cover subjects that you possibly weren't best skilled to cover and that if you really wanted to teach something then maybe at this point you should be looking at what your strongest area of this business is and holding a workshop just for that rather than trying to cover everything.

As an example I don't think your website or blog are particularly strong and the portfolio video that you created whilst a nice concept and the video itself was well done I thought the physical portfolio you showed (not the images) was poor and wouldn't be something I would show to clients after being in business for a couple years. Show clients what they will end up with as a finished product, sell them the idea of their own images in a beautiful album rather than a collection of decent shots in a plastic covered portfolio folder. So for that reason I wouldn't be inclined to listen to you speak about marketing or portfolios.

Maybe your aiming your course at people who aren't yet in wedding photography in which case you may be able to pitch yourself to them as an industry leader but I think for people that are already active in this market you will struggle to sell them a course covering those subjects.

You have nice images and I think it would be easier for you to sell a course for new photographers wishing to build their portfolios if you hired a couple of models.

[amfoto1]

Some other topics or subtopics you might want to include:

Negotiating.
Documents, contracts, legalities, copyright, model releases.
Meeting and dealing with clients, before, during and after.
Organization.
Archiving.
Sales before, during and after the fact.

[sebmour]

Thank you Jonwhite for your input. Thats what I was looking for.

I do not offer albums so I do no show it :P My images are all given on a External Hard drive. I'll have a photographer Rep (well known in my area) to talk about portfolio and marketing tool!

That's why I want to know the subject. I will not be the lone talker here :P I have very important friends in the marketing and photography world ;)

Models will be present for the shoot aspect of it. I'll even have a future couple play that role. Is that enough real life?

amfoto1

Thank you very much. I had thought about talking about negotiations but I don't negotiate ( I am pretty much set in stone) and also it's different for every couple. Contrat is a great idea. I had not thought about that one.

[tim]

Based on what i've seen you can't teach to much other than n00bs. I think you'd probably be best off doing an introductory type session. Until people can find images on your website that make them think "Wow! I wish I could do that" that's about the only type of person you'll get coming along based on what you've told us so far.

[sebmour]

TIM:
You are not my clientele.
I am asking you, if you went to a workshop, what would be the most interesting topic for you?

I could be childish and reply about your criticism about my work but...I won't!

Have a great day or night whatever it his at the other side of the planet.

To others:

Thank you for reply to the thread, you help is greatly appreciated. I have asked my fellow lawyer to help me write the law side of it since I do understand it but He said he would love to participate and help with his personal input. Pretty cool having great friends. I'll get a crew to film this and make it available for web users...

[tim]

Honestly, because I can't easily see your work on your website I can't work out what I could learn from you. In general, right now i'd want to know more about attracting customers, and shooting a variety of great sellable photos quickly.

[sebmour]

Tim:
Thank you!

Attracting customers is about your customer base. It's about the experience they live with you. You personality is your biggest asset. You have to insure that your customers will always talk about you. You have to pick your customers since not every client is your type of client. I refuse willing paying customers since they do not fit the profile. One bad customer hurts a lot. Take the time to think about it! What makes your service special? Would you hire yourself? What makes you stand out? Are your clients followers of your work? Are they excited about your work? Are your genuinely excited about shooting there wedding?

You can see this when actual clients write back to you about new wedding images on your website. I have 7 past client's that ask me if the car was really broken down?...lol I can also ask any of my clients to talk in front of a video camera for their testimonials and they will travel to the location. A fan base is very important. Do not forget, we are photographers not surgeon. This is fun and we have to make it this way for our customers. You have to make it an experience. Everyone can shoot great wedding images but what is your experience like? Would they invite you to supper, cottage? When they do, you know you hit the target!

I you are looking to sell images, then learn lighting. It's a big importance. I never, ever use direct flash. I have learned to properly bounce it. I bring a Ranger Rx As speed with 2 heads at weddings so I can create images in any type of lighting. You would be surprised how most of my client's go crazy about this since they say that they have never seen this at other weddings.

Offer different printing types. My biggest seller is metallic and glass printing since they get the digital files at 21 mp and they cannot find someone to do this for them. They are surprise when I go deliver the images in person even when they live at a 4 hour flight...Get's me to travel :P

Offer them a printing package. Let's say, 100$ for every 500$ ordered.

I am reading a friend's book called Conversational capital. It's by an ad and communication agency called Sid Lee. They are big worldwide. Take a read at it. It's 180 pages max.

Does this help you a little? I hope so and thank you for actually answering the question.

As for my website. I leave the images there for 7-8 seconds since I want people to have the time to enjoy them. I am a really laid back person and you can feel it on my website! Hence, listen to a great tune and look very carefully at the images :P

Ciao ciao

[tim]

Interesting. To change the question a little, how would you suggest someone new to the business attract customers? Or someone who's moved to a new town? Assuming first that they have little portfolio, and then that they have a moderate portfolio.

[sebmour]

The best most powerful to attract customer. Word of mouth.

New Town: Like I am living since I have moved last march. Website for your area and keep supplying your services from your old city. Show the best and what represent's what your customer can expect.
SEO for your website is crucial. Always PR even in bar's. Leave business cards everywhere since they are cheap...

The rest will be in my workshop.

[jonwhite]

The best most powerful to attract customer. Word of mouth.

New Town: Like I am living since I have moved last march. Website for your area and keep supplying your services from your old city. Show the best and what represent's what your customer can expect.
SEO for your website is crucial. Always PR even in bar's. Leave business cards everywhere since they are cheap...

The rest will be in my workshop.

Sorry but thats a pretty jumbled message and you have hit upon another couple of points that need discussion.

You say SEO is crucial, which I totally agree with but your website and blog arent really optimized for Search Engines at all so I don't really see how you could talk about SEO optimization from a position of strength, even if you got someone else in to talk about it then the fact that you havent done this yourself undermines your workshop imo.

Same goes for anything else that you get others in to talk about imo, you need to be actively doing it yourself or its undermines the message of your worksop.

[sebmour]

I actively do everything myself. You have to understand that an expertise opinion will always have some new and different input that can help others! My blog is brand spanking new. My SEO on my website is good for my area. My page ranking is better then most and it's still climbing!

If I lok at my google page rank which is 4 and yours is 1. I am think I am in the right direction! It doesn't mean that I am not the best that I do not know about it. I was shooting for 1 year for a website company which our contract was for Getty images for stock images. You don't know me, so don't judge to fast!

[jonwhite]

I actively do everything myself. You have to understand that an expertise opinion will always have some new and different input that can help others! My blog is brand spanking new. My SEO on my website is good for my area. My page ranking is better then most and it's still climbing!

If I lok at my google page rank which is 4 and yours is 1. I am think I am in the right direction! It doesn't mean that I am not the best that I do not know about it. I was shooting for 1 year for a website company which our contract was for Getty images for stock images. You don't know me, so don't judge to fast!

I am giving you feedback that you asked for, sorry if you don't like that feedback and you feel that your being judged but thats kinda essential when giving feedback to someone.

Yup you have a page rank of 4, I have had pages with the same rank previously, its part of the equation but its not all of it and when I am judging your SEO knowledge I aren't looking at your page rank because tbh that could be entirely coincidental and have nothing to do with anything you do.

Other things I see here and on your site tell me more about what you do and don't know about SEO which is why I think you would be better off teaching stuff you knew more about.

In the end its your choice of course so knock yourself out and teach what you want, you asked for input and it was given, sorry you didnt like it.

[Nightstalker]

Firstly, can I ask what search terms you rank 4 on Google for? I've just searched for "wedding photographer ottawa" and could not wee your web site.

Secondly, the thing that interests me most would definately be the marketing side of things.

[cjcastan]

Two days, A$1100, and yes it was worth it. With time off my day job and flights to Australia it ended up costing more like $3000, kindof expensive but if nothing else it helped motivate me as well as the things I learned :) It was more about business and processing than photography, but I picked up a few tips about photography as well.

Strange thing is he had a model, a girl, but for weddings it'd have sense to have a guy and a girl. The model he hired turned out to be a total bitch too, guess it's just the luck of the draw with agencies.


hmm I wonder if taking his plus class at WPPI would be a similar experience for less $$$.

I thought his workshop would be 5 day. The most helpful parts I've found (at least for the technical photography skill part) is the critiques. At ghionis & schembri the instructor spent almost a full day critiquing all the student's work.

Maybe WPPI 2011 I'll take yervant's class if he teaches. I've signed for the Sallees this year.

[TheHoff]

I actively do everything myself. You have to understand that an expertise opinion will always have some new and different input that can help others! My blog is brand spanking new. My SEO on my website is good for my area. My page ranking is better then most and it's still climbing!

If I lok at my google page rank which is 4 and yours is 1. I am think I am in the right direction! It doesn't mean that I am not the best that I do not know about it. I was shooting for 1 year for a website company which our contract was for Getty images for stock images. You don't know me, so don't judge to fast!

Hi Sebmour, hate to rain on the SEO parade, but I would agree that your sites are not very well optimized. Page rank means little these days compared to inbound link text. You're missing basic on-page optimizations such as the use of H1 tags, etc.

There are points where photographers should hire professionals -- things like logo design, website design, SEO... while the latter two are full of scams, do-nothings, and hucksters, there are competent professionals available. SEO is one thing you can learn to do yourself almost as good as a professional but you'll need to do more reading and have valid results to show before you can start teaching others. It is one thing to tell students they need to pay attention to it but I wouldn't make it part of your curriculum yet.

edit: nevermind; you never said you were teaching SEO but do be aware, yours could be better optimized

[sebmour]

Thank you TheHoff. I'll be reading more into SEo like I have been doing lately.

Nightstalker: that's funny cause I did not get the same results...I'll look into that. Thank you for your answer.
I know mine could be optimized. I am saying that I am a pro at everything. I am asking what would people like to learn about.

I know if I went to a conference or Workshop I would looking for various type of information.

I see that a lot of people talk about marketing. So that would be a big area to talk about. If my SEO sucks and I still get plenty of new visits on my website, I guess I must be doing something right! I have not done any publicity yet and I still get my 15 x 5K weddings a year!

[mritchy]

Thank you all for your input.

I have been shooting for 2 years and I have done over 40 weddings with 5 out of my own country.
Why do I want to do a workshop? because I like to help people and I get a lot of questions in my market!

I understand your criticism but you think only Dennis Reggie or Jasmine star can teach you something...

TIM: My clients hire me for me and not for my website! I have no issue getting work and I still do not know whom I am competing against! We might have different marketing views!

I shot 43 weddings since April 2009. Should I teach a workshop? Hell no. Not because I have no clue what I am doing, but in my opinion, only masters of a craft should be teaching. I am sorry, but I don't even think 40 weddings is enough to cement your own style or process, let alone teach it to someone else. I don't mean to be a Negative Nancy, but feel as if a little bit more mastering of the craft is a necessary credential to teaching this type of workshop. I second Tim's comment about the website. Give people thumbnails they can click on or something. People don't like being at the will of the computer, they like to feel as if they have control.

[sponserv]

Sebastian,

i am definitely not trying to jump on the bandwagon of criticizing your website but if you have an english teacher among your circle of friends you may want to get some proofreading help.

Just a thought.

[jhcanon]

Guys - sounds to me like the OP doesn't really want (and finds it difficult to accept) any constructive critique. In fairness that wasn't his original question but reasonable (IMHO) questions from Tim and Jon trying to be helpful appeared to be pretty much cast aside with an attitude of "I might not be an expert in everything but I'm doing alright thank you very much".
If I have read that correctly I see little point in anyone offering any more constructive input to help the eventual class be a success. If I have read it wrong then apologies.

[radarnz]

I have to agree with Tim. I would attend your workshop purely on your portfolio, only then would I look at the cost of the two day course. The content of your course is ok. As I am not a professional, I can't offer other subjects for your course, thats your job. However based on your website, I find that it is not user friendly. The slide-shows are tiresome and In general, I'm sorry to say, but the website needs a huge overhaul before I would even begin to consider your course. Your photography is good, but the speed of the website will make people opt for the next search in Google.
This opinion is slightly off subject, but the advise might help your future? Good Luck, I like people with a dream, as long as they can back it up.

[sebmour]

Thank you all for your positive criticism. It's all planned to changed. I just can't get it done quickly since I am also changing a bit of my branding.

I did not like the questions about my abilities because I was looking at another type of answers and competence is very subjective. I have lots of information to share and to teach. I have teached photography before and I see how people elevate their shooting skills and understanding afterwards.
We shall see how it goes since it going to get done this week-end.

Let me ask you a simple question, if your wife says because every time you ask the same question or just plain doesn't answer, do you like it? Be honest with yourself!

[scorpio_e]

All I can say is..Best of luck to you.. If you find an audience and the students are happy with your content and ,then you are successful.
You website is seriously slow..If I were a customer, I would bail. The load time as others have pointed out and you know already are way to slow...I think pulling you images from smug mug is killing you. I wanted to check out your work but it took too long..

Good luck

[Jimconnerphoto]

Becoming a rockstar speaker moving city to city doing events and workshops is certainly a new direction many photographers are going to create a little income based on the huge numbers of newbie photo hobbyist entering the market.
To compete with the rest of them I think you need to show what exactly you are bringing to the table.
Experience of 2 years while does not eliminate you as a good and productive speaker it certainly is not confident building for much of your target market. Having shot 40, 50 or even 100 weddings is really not any big plus either. How successful you are is huge.
Some of the information I would want to know before I took a class from a seemingly unknown speaker is listed here for your consideration:

What sort of educational background do you have (since you do not have much professional experience as of yet and I want to know you are more educated or experienced than I am.)
What is your average package sale and what are you typical package prices? ( I want to know you are more successful than I am.)
Where can I find a concentrated portfolio of some of the techniques you will be covering in your lighting and shooting portion of the seminar? (I want to know you shoot better than I do.)
What is your average cost per customer in your marketing plan? (I want to know you have ideas for me that I have not heard of or thought of and how they will help me.)
What sponsors do you have? (Often speakers are asked to do engagements by sponsors. Typically this is because others in the industry have recognized a star and want to capitalize on them. This goes along way in qualifying you a a viable and legitimate source for photographic market advice.)

Here are a few of my notes in the specific topics you have listed:
Market (seemingly same as next subject)
Marketing (Extremely important -What schooling/ Training or such do you have that your target market does not?)
Equipment (your clients (students) will have it but will certainly be interested in what you use but how much experience do you have with the equipment they may use and how it compares to each other.)
Lighting (Great subject, what experience training schooling and such do you have that your students may not?)
Concepts (hrmph, sorry, no comment here. Just a little vague I guess.)
Portfolio (How many album manufactures, proof site, labs, finishing techniques, book makers and such do you have a working knowledge of and can form a functional opinion of?)
Pricing (basically same as marketing answer)
Shooting (If you have shot 40-100 weddings I am sure you have a ton to say here. Along with the marketing answer about how much can you cover in a short period of time? )

Being able to successfully take a group of individuals and really give them their monies worth in a situation like this IMO requires someone with more experience. Being able to say I have used several labs, or internet proofing sites or these lighting setups etc... and how they compare is critical.
While you may be able to generate interest in a few seminars if you do not produce it may be a short lived venture.
If you continue I absolutely wish you the best and hope your students are well taken care of and shoot to the top then give you a little credit along the way.

[sebmour]

Zagiace:

Average package sale= 4000$ includes only digital images and 8 hours of shooting. Average cost is very small since I don't advertise. My cost is about 25% of the price charged.

Experience: How about 9040 images for Jupiter images that is now Getty images. I had a work for hire contract. (they do not give these type's of contract anymore) That was 35$ image for 565 images. Was I making more money then you? The weddings that I have shot, the classes I have teached, the people I have helped along the way.

I am not sponsored except being a CPS member. I do not like sponsorship is I am not looking to take position about products or else by income given to me. I have never like a sponsorship program since I don't want to waste my time promoting their products!

Marketing: I have no training or schooling! I find I must have some tricks some I have plenty of work (corporate that I cannot publicly show), 10-15 weddings a year at the average mention above and more. I have also sold a print for 5500$. I have also made 1500$ for 30 minutes of a press conference shooting. I think i must understand how to make money out of this business! Yes, my highest paid wedding...15 000$ and it's coming up in Miami. I also have one coming in May in India. How could that have been possible if I am so crappy?

Equipment: I have owned every L series lenses except 400-500-600-800-1200 since I have no use for these. I have also owned 1D2, 1Ds2, 1D3, 5DII, 7D, tested already beta version of 1D4 and of the 70-200 L IS II. I think I know my stuff if Canon offers me this privilege.

Lighting: See Jupiter images contract. It was shot around the world with amazing light control. I can explain lighting for quick situation like wedding's. I have worked with Broncolor, Profoto and still own my Elinchrom Ranger RX speed As power pack. I have also work in the Tv industry.

Portfolio: is about creating a marketable portfolio not about proofing or album design. I have seen so many portfolio's for a production agency that I want to share tips about not creating a crappy one which will not help you sell yourself. I have tested about 20 labs in my area. I think I have done my homework.

Pricing:
How do you determine you pricing? How do you make money out of your photography? How do you charge high amounts without having to justify your price with your client?

I have teached photography classes before I have always been able to change their photography and bring it to a new level! I am pretty confident that I can do this.

I have accomplished all this with a bad website, bad images, slow images display, no real blog and not enough experience is what you guys say...I wonder how ;)

[minhthanh77]

My personal views is that If I were looking to attend a workshop that covered the topics that you have mentioned above I would be looking for it to be taught by one of the industry leaders or great recent success stories that were doing really well rather than someone fairly new to the business.

[Billo78]

I have been shooting for 2 years and I have done over 40 weddings



I have not done any publicity yet and I still get my 15 x 5K weddings a year!



Average package sale= 4000$



10-15 weddings a year at the average mention above


So which is it? 10, 15 or 20 weddings a year? $4k or $5k average wedding? You're putting across some pretty inconsistent information about just how profitable your business is which puts the integrity of everything you say in doubt.

Assuming you shoot 15 weddings averaging $4000 per wedding, less $1000 costs per wedding per your quoted 25% above, this tells me you're clearing only $45k per year. Then when you take out tax, equipment upgrades, repairs and maintenance, website costs, accounting fees and any number of other miscellaneous costs associated with running a business this doesn't leave you much to live on and doesn't inspire me to follow your business model.

[Jimconnerphoto]

Zagiace:

Average package sale= 4000$ includes only digital images and 8 hours of shooting. Average cost is very small since I don't advertise. My cost is about 25% of the price charged.

Experience: How about 9040 images for Jupiter images that is now Getty images. I had a work for hire contract. (they do not give these type's of contract anymore) That was 35$ image for 565 images. Was I making more money then you? The weddings that I have shot, the classes I have teached, the people I have helped along the way.

I am not sponsored except being a CPS member. I do not like sponsorship is I am not looking to take position about products or else by income given to me. I have never like a sponsorship program since I don't want to waste my time promoting their products!

Marketing: I have no training or schooling! I find I must have some tricks some I have plenty of work (corporate that I cannot publicly show), 10-15 weddings a year at the average mention above and more. I have also sold a print for 5500$. I have also made 1500$ for 30 minutes of a press conference shooting. I think i must understand how to make money out of this business! Yes, my highest paid wedding...15 000$ and it's coming up in Miami. I also have one coming in May in India. How could that have been possible if I am so crappy?

Equipment: I have owned every L series lenses except 400-500-600-800-1200 since I have no use for these. I have also owned 1D2, 1Ds2, 1D3, 5DII, 7D, tested already beta version of 1D4 and of the 70-200 L IS II. I think I know my stuff if Canon offers me this privilege.

Lighting: See Jupiter images contract. It was shot around the world with amazing light control. I can explain lighting for quick situation like wedding's. I have worked with Broncolor, Profoto and still own my Elinchrom Ranger RX speed As power pack. I have also work in the Tv industry.

Portfolio: is about creating a marketable portfolio not about proofing or album design. I have seen so many portfolio's for a production agency that I want to share tips about not creating a crappy one which will not help you sell yourself. I have tested about 20 labs in my area. I think I have done my homework.

Pricing:
How do you determine you pricing? How do you make money out of your photography? How do you charge high amounts without having to justify your price with your client?

I have teached photography classes before I have always been able to change their photography and bring it to a new level! I am pretty confident that I can do this.

I have accomplished all this with a bad website, bad images, slow images display, no real blog and not enough experience is what you guys say...I wonder how ;)
Sorry if I hit a button, I wanted to let you know what I would look for in a speaker.
I will respond to the points your previous post makes.
Having close to 10k images successfully selling in a stock agency certainly marks you work as something to be impressed with. How that specifically relates to the wedding business has me at a loss. I would not generally desire a speaker well versed in another aspect of the business to generalize the market. From the numbers in your posts, I am a little confused about the amount of actual weddings you have photographed.

I totally understand that sometimes sponsorship seemingly means you will blindly recommend a service or product, but sometimes it means you have found a product or service that really works for you. CPS is an excellent program but does not really relate to any sponsorships.

As far as marketing your business, again, corporate jobs, journalism, and other unrelated facets of work is not telling me you know my market. Having booked a 15k wedding in Miami is awesome! Congrats on that.
I also believe you have misunderstood my question regarding cost per client. What is meant by this is in your marketing and advertising what does it cost you to get a potential client in your studio and what is your final cost to book that client. Although for obvious reasons a very important subject I was not referring to your standard markup. being able to book a 15k wedding, charge $1500 for a 15 minute press conference are all great feats, amazing in fact, but what you do consistently is really the key. I would totally recommend sticking with the $1500 15 minute press fee thing because that will make you rich. I have a few photojournalist friends who have been doing it for a while and do not get that close on a consistent basis. Especially in today's world.

Portfolio- I think you have misunderstood what i meant by portfolio. A wedding portfolio is going to be comprised of what products you can provide your client. There will absolutely be prints, albums, matting, web presence amongst many unique products involved in your portfolio. Keep in mind, you are not selling a picture.

It is awesome you have taught photo classes. But what you are advertising is a business course too. Seriously the amount of time you have is not really appropriate to assume learning a vast array of photo technique.

This is only my opinion. You can take it for what its worth, maybe not much. But I have worked with many speakers, set up more then a few seminars, marketed such events and even had a few albeit small engagements myself.
I have made no comment of your website. I did not think it was all that bad.
I apologize if my post seems condescending, I intended to answer your original post question. It is often difficult to express intention in a web forum.