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After a lot of consideration i am considering just having a phone number on the contact page of my websites as opposed to a form that links to my e-mail address. Everytime someone calls me to enquire about wedding photography they seem to want to be consulted regarding their wedding day emmediatly and i like that. However the vast majority of people like to fill in the contact form to enquire if i am available and i am fed up going to the effort of replying to people to offer to meet them just to get no reply. I had 4 wedding enquiries within a week recently via a contact page and i never got one reply from any of them despite replying to them promptly. Would it be a good thing just to have a phone number.
Another thing that irritates me is people who e-mail me and ask how much packages cost when it clearly states the costs on the price page of my websites.
I enjoy photographing weddings but am getting fed up with all the crap that goes with it.
Quote: After a lot of consideration i am considering just having a phone number on the contact page of my websites as opposed to a form that links to my e-mail address. Everytime someone calls me to enquire about wedding photography they seem to want to be consulted regarding their wedding day emmediatly and i like that. However the vast majority of people like to fill in the contact form to enquire if i am available and i am fed up going to the effort of replying to people to offer to meet them just to get no reply. I had 4 wedding enquiries within a week recently via a contact page and i never got one reply from any of them despite replying to them promptly. Would it be a good thing just to have a phone number.
Another thing that irritates me is people who e-mail me and ask how much packages cost when it clearly states the costs on the price page of my websites.
I enjoy photographing weddings but am getting fed up with all the crap that goes with it.
sounds like you should just give up with weddings altogether, as you obviously cant take the responsibility, and difficulties that come with them.
Every business gets inquiries about services that dont get acted on, and to think that every time you have a question, you will get a job is just naive.
Quote: but am getting fed up with all the crap that goes with it.
Simply....?
That is called 'Business'.
Seriously? - if you can't handle it, you should consider doing something else but be aware...
ALL Businesses have 'crap' sides - it's the nature of the beast - and there is no 'Utopia' when it come to making money.
One of the biggest parts of being successful in photography or in fact any other business is marketing yourself correctly and at every opportunity , which is why I find it strange that firstly you would like to complain about your clients in public , and secondly that you dont even have a link to your website on your epz profile ( that would be common sense would it not ? )
If youre fed up with the 'crap' of being in a talented and well regarded profession and not having the 9-5 grind of a normal job then do your clients a big favour and get out of it , keep your camera to a hobby ...
I'd love to know who Lucian really is...
excellent value for money
amazed there hasn't been 20 hugely verbose paragraphs attacking him for even thinking about being a wedding photographer
I don't think I'd bother with a phone number at all, as well as deleting any other contact information - it will save a lot of hassle in the long run.
You've selectively quoted Lucian, and I'm sure that everything he's said other wedding photographers have said, or at least thought, at some point.
I can't see why it isn't a fair enough question. Do you get more enquiries that lead to a booking, from your website contact page, or from people phoning you?
There is no direct criticism of individuals or people, just the behaviour of some of them. From reading some of the comments on fb of some of my friends about their customers, really, that's nothing!
You know, its pretty hard for people starting out in business. Why don't we support each other rather than automatically engage smug mode?
Anyway, peace and Easter wishes to all!
ps I would be interested in the question above. What means do most people make first contact through?
enquiries mainly come from recommendations from friends or Facebook in my case.
I've not done any advertising/fairs for weddings, so not sure how effective these are
Whilst I agree that we should support people starting out in business, you've got to admit that some of the forum posts from Lucien are very strange - why has he uploaded no photos, why does he start a thread and never reply, why does he use the english language in such a provocative way...??
My theory is that he is an old member with a new account, starting threads off to get people wound up because, hey, nothing gets people more angry than seemingly incompetent people making money from weddings
Hi Sus ,
Fair points made , I think in general that we as wedding togs are a friendly and proud bunch who love our work , the public and quite often clients can range from nice to rude ! , sometimes they have a shortlist and send out emails to a load of photographers with one in mind if that one replies then the rest are just left and no reply sent ... rude maybe but a fact of life and business , the key is to follow up on them , I do at least twice and most of the time i will eak out the reason , and often its because they have found someone cheaper and werent that bothered about quality ( which for me is a bonus because I prefer to work with people who like my work not my prices ). So my advice would be to politely follow it up and work out why ...
What I'm getting at is forget that this is posted about a wedding website but folk in this situation also need to look at themselves & their websites..........
To what extent does the website encourage, or even facilitate, general or spurious enquiries & what measures are in place to limit these. It could well be your own marketing that's generating these casual enquiries
The point im trying to make is i dont understand why people go to the bother of asking if i am available and when i give them the chance to view my work i am ignored. I dont understand why people ask how much i charge when it clearly states prices on my websites. It makes me wonder if people even look at the photos. I have recently bought a smart phone with my e-mail addresses set up to my 9 websites so if an enquiry comes in i get it quickly and can respond to it straight away to ensure i am faster at replying than other photographers.
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