New studio advice?

Hi,

I lost my dad last year and he was always proud of my photog so i thought i would try to make it a living as i really enjoyed it.

I started doing weddings around 9months ago now and have had 11 bookings i havnt advertised as of yet because i like the customers i get through word of mouth.

But i recently opened a photo studio with over 1000 square ft of space and am not sure of the best way of pushing it forward for my own work. Would you guys say newspaper advert for a month or so? some serious flyering?

Iv advertised to other photogs in the area and charge £30 an hour for it including the equipment, but its new to me and i want to do portraits and portfolio work.

Any ideas for me to push the studio forwards?

Are Senior pictures something you would like to do? Pictures of children? Do you use social media?

Is model mayhem a US only site? If not, check them out. You may do some free stuff for a while, but it should lead to paid jobs.

meet-up.com? a lot of studios start a group for studio photography, hire models and MUA and do a monthly meet-up. they make some money off of it.

I would see if you cannot coordinate with other local businesses that also support weddings. Perhaps the owners of the wedding dress, tuxedo rental, bakery, catering, wedding planners, and florists businesses would swap and display business cards or brochures containing samples of your work with you to display theirs at your studio?

I would bring a small portfolio with me as I made calls so they can see the quality images I produce and they would feel better recommending me.

I do not know if Senior photos are popular in the UK but, if so, seriously consider shooting these as many high school graduates get married within 5 years and that will help the wedding business grow.

Develop a personal business system to cater to their needs and you may very well see an increase in wedding bookings, then newborn pictures a few years after that followed by family portraiture.

I do not know if newspaper ads will help as most people get their news from the internet these days so I believe a website would be more value added. Perhaps the businesses I suggested in the beginning could link you in their websites and you link them as well?

It sounds like you're off to a great start with word of mouth being the best advertising one could have and the price certainly cannot be beat!

Congratulations! I hope you continue to thrive and do well.

Thank you both for some good ideas and some other paths to get more bussiness, the seniors photog isnt really that big in the UK.

I have done some prom nights here and have had some wedding work come out of it so il carry on pushing with that and il put the paper idea on hold...