I often trawl though the web looking for inspiration for my next wedding, yesterday I came across a wonderful UK photographer, his style was very similar to mine but he looked a bit more technically advanced than me, he also had a fanastic eye for composition. I emailed him saying how wonderful I thought his work was, a real inspiration, and how he seemed to connect with his subjects on an emotional level. He emailed me back and we got to chatting about the state of the 'credit crunch' in the UK. My new enquiries are down as are most wedding photographers I know in the UK. This is causing me some stress in its own right but he says his enquiries and bookings are the same, in fact he has 60 this year and 30 booked for next year! My figures are half of this. I don't know how much he charges but I expect it is considerably more than me, how is he doing it!!!??
I'll probably answer my question here, but I presume as his clients are more 'high-end' than mine they are unaffected by the current financial situation and therefore his business carries on as normal. My market is aimed at middle-top.
I'm not really looking for any answers, just your thoughts on my post, and some reassurances I guess!
ngm2000 wrote:
I'll probably answer my question here, but I presume as his clients are more 'high-end' than mine they are unaffected by the current financial situation and therefore his business carries on as normal. My market is aimed at middle-top.
In any financial crisis, the high end and the low end stay as they are. It is always the middle that is affected. Just look at luxury brands. Super-yacht sales are up, supercar sales are up and there is no lack of Louis Vuitton or Burberry bags on the streets. Similarly, beat up car shops and Primark will always make money.
Hey Nicola. Sorry your down. Im in the same boat because I ha to intentionally put a brake on things for a while. Now I need to rejuvinate my business. Hope things work out for you.
Edited by morganb4 on Jul 02, 2008 at 11:18 PM GMT
I think you did answer it. There are three segments to the wedding market. Low middle and high end. Two of those segments are price conciouse. The low and the high.
The low because they feel they need to save money and the high end because what they spend reflects their social status.
Aim to increase you technical skills but also raise your prices.
If you are not confident to do that start a second web site with a new name. Put your high end prices on that site. It will either work or not.
Marcus Watts wrote:
I think you did answer it. There are three segments to the wedding market. Low middle and high end. Two of those segments are price conciouse. The low and the high.
The low because they feel they need to save money and the high end because what they spend reflects their social status.
Aim to increase you technical skills but also raise your prices.
If you are not confident to do that start a second web site with a new name. Put your high end prices on that site. It will either work or not.
As most people getting married are 20-somethings and 30-somethings they've actually lost both from the credit crunch and the credit boom. The watering down of money due to anyone-with-pulse lending put up key living costs, especially housing, has meant couples choosing to delay marriages while they saved to chase the market or foolishly took on vast mortgages believing the insane price would go on rising.
Now, some may be battering by the credit crunch, even with much cheaper housing due to the welcomed property crash as wider economic fallout mean they could be without a job or nervous about losing one.
Marcus Watts wrote:
I think you did answer it. There are three segments to the wedding market. Low middle and high end. Two of those segments are price conciouse. The low and the high.
The low because they feel they need to save money and the high end because what they spend reflects their social status.
Aim to increase you technical skills but also raise your prices.
If you are not confident to do that start a second web site with a new name. Put your high end prices on that site. It will either work or not.
I have had a long day at the day job, I come online to FM to relax, look at some pictures, ponder some other peoples situations and problems.... Then you come up with this really interesting concept, forcing me to actually *think*! I don't know if I can handle this right now!!!
Thanks everyone for your responses! and double thanks to jofoto who actually took the time out to telephone me with some fantatsic advice about optimising my website in search engines, thanks Jo!
steve - yes the 85L was a real downer! (dropped it! - ouch!), but now got a shiny new (well, new to me!) 70-200 IS so am looking forward to trying that out tomorrow.
I think if you are in the middle area in general, you will feel the pinch as everyone is at this time.
However, all financial downs are part of a cycle and will trend upwards after a while. My bookings are full for the year and I have a few for next year, so its all looking slow but still there.
One note from this side of the pond, all my '08 bookings seemed to come later than usual.
DavidWEGS wrote:
all my '08 bookings seemed to come later than usual.
Me, too. It's crazy how late some of these couples are leaving it.
Nicola. I'm glad there are people with good advice for marketing. Your work is excellent, you just need to reach the clients. Sorry about the lens, I've dropped 2 over the years, one was repairable, one wasn't.
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I don't know if I can handle this right now!!! 