Mentoring for wedding photographers who feel like they have no idea what they’re doing
I fell into wedding photography accidentally; a happy one of course, but like many of our peers I am self taught. I have no formal photography qualifications and started this adventure with diddly squat experience in business, marketing, web design or ANY of the other skills required to make my business a success. Thus began an exploration I like to call “winging it”.
I am *definitely* not a rockstar photographer
I’d like to think I’ve made a success of winging it so far. Some notable achievements to date include
- Shooting somewhere in the region of 450 weddings in the last decade (its a lot more if you include everything I’ve second shot!)
- Being fully booked for the year going into my second full year in business, and maintaining my ideal income ever since (covid years not withstanding!)
- Being published on numerous wedding blogs including Love My Dress and Rock My Wedding. I’ve twice been nominated for Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Stars and have picked up several other accolades along the way
- Speaking about brand image at Snap Photography Festival in 2018
- Honing my ideal client and booking just the kind of weddings I like to book; my couples are heavily invested in me and often smash their budget to have me and I continue to photograph many of my couples long after their wedding as their families and/or businesses grow.
- Developing a brand identity that is highly regarded in the industry as a successful model for photographers to aspire to
- Keeping a roof over mine and my children’s heads for three years as a single income household including a pandemic year and still having time to work out, see friends and sleep for eight hours a night.
My business will celebrate it’s 10th birthday in July 2024 and during that time I’ve learned a lot about running a business in a competitive market. My background is rooted in education; in my previous life I was a secondary school music teacher where I was Head of Department for 5 years (if I can impart my knowledge to sulky teenagers who’d rather be in bed I can definitely teach you!) and I really enjoy helping other photographers develop their business.
SHOP WINDOW – £350
A website, social media and branding review looking at how you can improve your shop window and ensure that everything you’re putting out there is user friendly and selling your brand message. You’ll complete a questionnaire, I’ll spend some time getting to know you via your online presence and we’ll schedule a time to Skype to chat through what I’ve found. I’ll also provide you with notes and actionable targets to help you make improvements which will help you attract the kind of people you want to work with.
THE KNOWLEDGE – £800
One full day (six hours) of bespoke 1-2-1 mentoring, plus a pub lunch. You bring the list of things you’d like to chat about and I’ll share my knowledge. This could cover kit, how I shoot the day, work flow, branding, website, social media, editing, image curation, surviving a day, client relationships… Anything, I promise I wont hold back any secrets!
Feeling skint? I remember when I ploughed every penny I earned back into my business too – you are welcome to organise your own group of three peeps max to spend the day with me, bring your own packed lunch and we’ll get cracking.
DEVELOP – £1250
Six 90 minute Skype meetings over six months where we can talk about your goals and set achievable targets and things for you to work on to achieve them. This is great if you’re trying to get your website off the ground and want guidance about image curation, and copy, or if you just feel like you’re making it all up and you want a helping hand running your business effectively.
What a day! My mentoring session with Hannah was just what I needed – so much information, a hell of a lot of insider knowledge and a massive kick up the bum to really let my personality shine through my photography business. From the moment I arrived, Hannah made me feel completely at ease (and made a great cuppa). I was so nervous before the day as I’d been inspired by her work for years – her opinion really mattered to me.
I had emailed her SO many questions about building a great photography business, and throughout the day she answered every single one. She broke everything down, making it all easy to understand and feel totally within reach. One of the best and most eye-opening parts of the day was when we looked at my images and website. She really did tell me the cold, hard truth (some of which I wasn’t totally surprised about, but needed to hear). My branding was pretty much non-existent, my editing style and website just didn’t reflect who I am (they were bland and totally lacked ‘oomph’). She did this in such a way that I actually felt totally empowered to be who I really want to be, and not to just try to fit into the mould of a standard wedding photographer, that’s just not me! We spoke about what I wanted from my business and the direction I wanted to go, and she gave me real pointers and actions to take to achieve it. At no point did she belittle my work or make me feel inferior – she was bloody fantastic in the way she delivered the session. She also pointed me in the direction of others that could help (website designers, preset designers etc) I came away from the day totally mentally drained but ready to make lots of changes for the better.
Hannah gave me the confidence to be myself. I’ve never been happier with how my business looks and how I present myself. I’m so glad I had mentoring with Hannah – she has revolutionised my business! She was even there for me when I needed a quick pep talk/check-in a few months later. If you’re wondering whether to invest in mentoring with Hannah, just do it! She has made such a difference to the way I do things, and I know that my photography has improved so much since our session. She gave me the confidence to put myself out there, to be the photographer I want to be and the knowledge to turn the dream into a reality. Thank you for everything Hannah!