The following is an excerpt from my forthcoming e-book - Basic Wedding Photography Sales: Simple Lessons for Selling Better. The book will focus on getting photographers over their fear of sales and building more sustainable photography businesses.
Sell.
For most photographers it’s the dirtiest of the four-letter words, but it doesn’t have to be. For the photographer hoping to build a business it must not be.
Photography is a romantic profession. Our understanding of the photographer is as an artist perfecting a craft to create these beautiful moments stolen out of time. Pursuing art is supposed to be a lifestyle, not a job. Wedding photography is by its nature then, doubly romantic. The belief that art should speak for itself - that art should sell itself - pervades.
Art history is laden with counter-examples. Vincent van Gogh died penniless and Thomas Kinkade - painter of bland nostalgia pieces - has made millions from prints and licensing. It has never been enough to simply make art, successful artists have always been schmoozers and salesmen often with as much ability to find the right client as they have to produce the right work.
Just like you couldn’t become an artist overnight, building sales skills takes time and starts with a few basic building blocks.
