Are you starting a wedding videography business? Well so am I, and here’s how I’m doing it. My name is Jay, and I’m an aspiring wedding film maker. I’m sharing my journey in the wedding films business and hope that if you’re also newer in the industry you can join me here on youtube and share your thoughts, experiences and advice.
For starters when you are beginning in the wedding videography business people tell you to film your friends wedding or film a family wedding for free. This isn’t always possible as you may not have friends who are of marrying age or perhaps your friends are not interested in using a beginner videographer.
Sometimes people say craigslist as an amazingly low cost way to advertise your new wedding videography business but what I have found is that I receive a lot of spam and weirdo requests. Maybe I was just posting at the wrong time or people were just not very trusting of a newer videographer for their wedding.
I chose to seek out other wedding videographers to offer my assistance or to second shoot or to carry bags or assist in anyway that I can. At first I was reaching out to bigger companies, namely the top 10 to 20 Google results that came up when I searched wedding videography business is in my area. I contacted all of them by email and none of them got back to me. I went back to using craigslist to seek out other wedding videographers because I thought that perhaps they might be more receptive to my calls and emails.
I was able to find one small single wedding videography business that allowed me to second shoot with them as I was able to show from previous videography work that I didn’t know my way around a camera.
Using wedding videography groups on Facebook is another way to put out a similar message. Sometimes you can find bigger companies who are looking for assistance or possibly second shooters and sometimes these smaller operators will allow you to keep the footage you shoot for them.
When starting a wedding videography business it’s important to collect a small sample of footage that you are able to post on Instagram and or Facebook. I started creating short videos with the second footage that I was able to gather from shooting a few weddings with that smaller wedding videography business. I posted a few 15 second clips and a few one minute clips. I was also able to use some stills from High frame rate footage that I was shooting. One thing to remember is that when using the strategy you definitely do not want to tag the original couple that was getting married as it could cause some damage to the reputation of the primary shooter that allowed you to tagalong.
When you are ready to take Advertise your new wedding videography business on a different scale you may want to consider starting a website. Sites like square space and wicks have extremely affordable options out there for you to build your own website with very little or no experience. Be sure to upload your short clips to YouTube and embed them into the site as opposed to loading your videos directly onto the server that’s hosting your website. Be sure to write a compelling about me section which can really boost your new wedding videography business as you get started because it allows you to show yourself as a unique and personable individual who can be trusted To work well with the couple as well as other vendors. It might even be a great idea to post some pictures of yourself and your partner and possibly even your family if you have one and you’re comfortable with it. You might even consider starting a blog which can answer many of the questions that couples have when planning their wedding. The articles don’t have to be very long, but simply 3 to 500 words that entertains, informs, or provides some kind of value to the bride.
Finally, when starting a wedding videography business it might be a good idea to take the limited footage that you have and displayed at a bridal expo or wedding show. There are definitely some upfront costs associated with this strategy. The prices for renting a booth at one of these events can range anywhere from 250 up to $1000. Additionally you should be purchasing upfront some marketing materials for your wedding videography business in the form of notepads pens business cards fliers etc. I felt that it was a small expense in comparison to the large opportunity to meet and number of couples as well as other vendors who were in similar positions as I am. Wedding videographers is a generally some of the last people contacted in the booking process. Wedding shows in general allow vendors and couples to meet you and get a feel for your personality and how you dress speak and act out a formal event. You may want to collect as many emails as you can and send messages directly after the event to follow up with your potential leads.
#weddingvideography
#howtogetintoweddingvideography
#startingaweddingvideographybusiness
source
