I just posted about late-paying couples, and thought this was a slightly related topic.
A few people mentioned the profit level of the wedding that I\'m waiting for payment on to determine showing up. On one hand, I don\'t think that should matter.
Regardless of what you are paid, I feel like it\'s a photographers duty to do the best he/she can. But with that said, this late-paying problem wedding is one of those $500 weddings. Yes, I know... WAY too low. But it\'s one of the very first weddings I booked, and I\'ve done about 25 weddings since then. Rest assured that my prices now are significantly higher.
As far as I\'m concerned, it\'s those $500 weddings that gave me the experience, portfolio, and ability to propel myself to a higher quality and price bracket. So I don\'t regret taking the lower paying ones as my \"dues\" to join a better paying bracket. Besides, I\'ve had several referrals from the low cost ones. (Hooray!) So it was probably the best marketing I could have done: showing higher prices on my website and then having all sorts of blog posts showing how many people have hired me and the great results. As far as I\'m concerned, going from 1-2 weddings a year to nearly 30 is pretty cool, and worth a couple months of working my tail off.
So while I have a lot to learn (which I\'m reminded of every time I log on here!), feedback from my customers shows that they are very happy with the final product. They are happier with it than I am, which I suppose is good. And I suppose in some way, that makes me successful, yes?
Nov 25, 2008 at 08:13 AM
Previous versions of unforged's message #6417400 « $500 weddings »
So I don\'t regret taking the lower paying ones as my \"dues\" to join a better paying bracket. Besides, I\'ve had several referrals from the low cost ones. (Hooray!) So it was probably the best marketing I could have done: showing higher prices on my website and then having all sorts of blog posts showing how many people have hired me and the great results. As far as I\'m concerned, going from 1-2 weddings a year to nearly 30 is pretty cool, and worth a couple months of working my tail off. 
And I suppose in some way, that makes me successful, yes?