How often does this happen to you? You take a look at your tasks for the month and schedule time to work on them based on their importance. Then, there are tasks you have that you know you should work on, but never have the chance to. Those tasks begin to pile up and then you have a bottleneck in your business.
A business bottleneck is something that holds you back from completing the work you know you need to do, but are not excited about. Maybe you feel guilty about pushing it off, or maybe you just dislike doing it altogether. Do you sometimes feel like you are the only photographer in the industry that has business bottlenecks? We have good news; you are not the only one! We have a few photographers who are ready to reveal their largest business bottlenecks, and chances are – they are similar to yours!
Publishing and Sharing Images
Much of the traction you receive for your images happens after you share them on your website, blog, and social media. A few other ways to gain attention for your photos is to publish them on a wedding blog or in a magazine. Also, sharing images with vendors means your work can be in front of their entire audience (who can be ideal clients you have yet to reach). Often times, publishing and sharing images takes many steps, and if it is not currently part of your workflow, you may not get it done.
“Sometimes, I get so busy and move on to the next wedding that I forget to submit the images to a publication or share them with every vendor. It’s huge to share photos with vendors of their work because I couldn’t create those images without their talents. I want them to know I appreciate them after the shoot is over.” – Terra Cooper
Quick Solution: Use LulaWed to quickly share images with your vendors.
Related: Do you know the 4 simple tricks to getting your images published?
Updating Pricing Model or Website
As your business begins to grow and evolve, there are aspects which need adjusting. One of the parts of your business which will require updating when you grow is your website. On your website, your pricing page will need adjusting if your business demands an increase in prices. Sometimes, it can be challenging to decide exactly what you should charge for your services, especially if you already have an established pricing plan for your business which your clients are accustomed to.
“We are working on figuring out our new pricing. We’ve reached a new level and are having a hard time deciding what to charge for our services.” – Natalie Perez
Quick Solution: Fill out this Pricing Calculator for Wedding Photographers to discover what you should be pricing for your business.
Related: Your website may be great, but does it feature these 4 pages?
Creating and Publishing Blog Posts
When you have images from the wedding day, it can be helpful to place them on your blog as quickly as you can. But, because there are so many other tasks you have to focus on, you may miss out on this opportunity. Or, if you have more time in your workflow, but you are not in the routine of creating and publishing blog posts, you may push off the task to work on something in which you do have a streamlined process set up.
“After the wedding day, I go through and cull my images and send them off to ShootDotEdit, and that gives me extra time. But, placing them on the blog can be hard for me in my workflow.” – Lauren Mitchell
Quick Solution: Read this post to discover how to always create content for your blog. Also, use programs like BlogStomp to make the process of blogging more simple and constant.
Working on Wedding Images
When the wedding day shoot is over, your clients are excited to see their photos. Many times, if you are editing on your own, it can be hard to always guarantee a quick turnaround time. Because editing your images can be time-consuming, it is no wonder you push this task aside. And, if your clients expect the photos to be delivered sooner, you have to pull an all-nighter to complete the work. If the images do not get edited, you are behind by hours and hours.
“Wedding editing is the thing I put off and then the client asks me at the end of my time frame, ‘when are the images going to be ready?’ Then, I have to jump through hoops to give myself hours to edit, and blog, and everything else. It is really the thing I put off forever.” – Jacquelynn Buck
Quick Solution: Eliminate hours from your post-wedding workflow and outsource your editing needs to a wedding photo editing company like ShootDotEdit. Read success stories from photographers who have made the leap to trust a Specialist here and the process it takes to free up your post-wedding workflow here.
Related: Are you overwhelmed in your workflow? Here are 20 tasks you can take off your list today!
Having business bottlenecks can ultimately hold you back from the goals you have in your business. Continue to eliminate bottlenecks in your business with our free Guide, 27 Ridiculously Simple Hacks to Transform your Wedding Photography Business!
Leave a comment