Inspiration
Make $100k a Year as a Wedding Photographer
Wedding photography is often portrayed as uninteresting, frustrating, and repetitive, but with the right perspective, it can be an incredibly fulfilling and lucrative career.
Don’t worry, the title isn’t as click-baity as you think it is. In this video, I give a detailed explanation of the finances I’ve hauled in since 2013, and I break down seven practical tips on how I’ve sustained a healthy wedding photography business over the past seven years.
Here’s a quick rundown of the topics I cover:
- Know Yourself & Know Your Market
People often find themselves unable to bring in wedding clients because they don’t understand their city’s market and how to share their own style. - Strategize How To Sell Your Services
Figure out how to structure your pricing and packages. - Know How To Use Client Management Systems
Client management can get confusing and communication can be difficult. Set yourself up with the right system to keep yourself sane and your clients happy. - Sell Prints
Most wedding photographers don’t know about the potential money they’re missing out on if they strategize how to sell prints to clients and their families. - Sell Your Brand & Sell Your Service
Give your client and experience that will make them walk away never doubting why they hired you. - Scale Your Business
Consider taking on more shooters under your brand. Brainstorm on how you can get more revenue streams pouring in outside of shooting and editing by yourself. - Lean In To What Makes You Different
Discover and create your own unique voice that will make you stand out from the crowd.
See the video below:
Conclusion
Beyond these practical tips, I always want people to know that I’m not primarily in this industry for the money. Yeah, it’s my full time job now, but having the correct perspective and approach is what makes the work sustainable for the long haul. I see this service as a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for my clients, and I cherish every opportunity to encapsulate and preserve some of the most precious moments in a family’s history. My hope is that all wedding photographers reading and watching this will be able to empathize with this perspective and recognize how much of a blessing it is to be in this line of work. At this point, I’ll never take it for granted.
Editor’s Note: You can find more information on how to set up and run a successful photography business with our Complete Photography Business Training System, available now in the SLR Lounge Store.
Good, but a bit clickbaitey.
He doesn’t specify how much of that he actually keeps (I doubt he will), nor if that is revenue or after profit.
It isn’t how much you make, but how much you keep.
It’s all very well making $100k, but say >20% of that will be taxable in the US, where he is from. So you’re left with $80k.
Then you have COG, which may be around 20%, which is what he preaches, selling prints. Which photographers should do (good on him).
So we’re down to $60k. Then you have to take into account your expenses, which being a bit conservative, and considering it looks like he has a studio, could be anywhere from $10-20k.
Down to $40k. See where we are going?
I think TBH he has gotten this video featured because of the clickbait title, and the fact that he is GOOD AT MAKING VIDEOS. Whilst it is good to communicate how to be successful (however you deem that), I think just saying ‘guise, I made $100k’, is going to:
1. Not give any really good directed advice.
2. Not inspire, but frustrate people who may potentially be at a lower level, thinking that it should be about the money.