Are you trying to fill the last few dates of your wedding photography calendar? Then let’s talk about photographer referrals. We find that our “best” clients come from The Bridesmaid Buy-In (need a refresher? Head to that blog post here). And when we say “best” we just mean the best fits for us – maybe it’s personality, style, expectations, even venue – but we jive with them. We feel most alive when we’re serving them. But our second best source is from other photographers. You can only take one 6/6/20 inquiry (or like, three, if you have associates), and then it’s time to pass it on to someone you trust and value. In turn, you build a relationship with that person and they send other couples your way when they are booked.

It’s a wonderful system (shout out to our amazing photography referral peeps who we know are on this list ;)) and it’s such a good time to get coffee and really get to know these photogs! We find that the better match they are to our business, the more likely they are going to send an inquiry our way and it will convert. So it’s super important to figure out the ins and outs of their biz. Here’s what we evaluate:

1. Price Point – it needs to be comparable or it won’t convert. Exactly the same price point? Absolutely not, but in a generally similar range is key.

2. Style – at this point, we’ve found that couples have a pretty good general sense of styles they like. We’re not saying that they know particulars, but if we’re bright and bold and refer them to someone moody – it’s not going to convert.

3. Personality of the photographer – especially for inquiries that are referrals, we think it’s valuable to provide another photographer who has a similar personality. Our photography style day-of is dynamic and that’s key to our wedding experience. So we are looking for someone that can fit within that style.

4. The rest of our factors, we consider bonuses and definitely not requirements. It’s convenient to have a referral partner with a similar pricing structure – as in, we have a full day coverage model, so we love to refer to someone who offers something similar. We also love to refer to someone with a similar partnership structure, as in, we’re a husband and wife team so we’re offering our couples really, two lead shooters. Again, finding someone with something similar, even an individual with a regular second shooter, works great.

So take some time in the coming weeks and starting narrowing down who is a fabulous fit for you! Cheers to finding a BOMB referral partner to add to your community.

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