How To Grow Your Wedding Photography or Videography Business During Off-Season

Maintaining your videography or wedding photography business as off-season arrives can be tricky. You know all too well that wedding events tend to be concentrated during certain months of the year.

After this golden period is over, you’ll see business going down significantly. Is there anything you could do as a professional to ensure consistency all around the year?

Obviously, there will be seasonal highs and lows. Still, there are things you could do in order to give yourself better chances of finding new gigs during off-season.

 

Focus on Your Videography or Wedding Photography Business Marketing

 

Here’s a tip that will benefit you all through the year, including during off-season.

Put some effort into the marketing of your wedding photography or videography business. There are many great approaches you can explore and we’ve discussed a good range of those.

YouTube and Instagram marketing, building your website, establishing partnerships with local businesses – all of these can be tremendously beneficial.

Investing in your brand makes you recognizable. And when you’re recognizable, people will turn to you when in need of certain products and services.

Building your reputation is all about standing out from the competition.

Let’s face it – the wedding photography and videography niches are pretty tough and competitive. If you don’t have a well-established name, you’ll probably be overseen.

People like to turn to professionals who appear reputable and knowledgeable. These qualities can be attributed to your wedding photography business through the establishment of a sound online presence.

It’s a good idea to work on marketing all through the year. Off-season gives you additional opportunities to invest in your brand building efforts because you wouldn’t be as busy as you are whenever wedding season arrives.

 

Offer Special Off-Season Discounts

 

During off-season, you’re trying to attract a limited number of clients. To be successful, you’ll have to offer something irresistible.

Off-season discounts give you a good opportunity to get potential customers interested.

When it comes to pricing and reducing packages by a certain percentage, it’s up to you to do the math. Even if a discount isn’t hugely massive, it can still get the job done.

Try to put together a comprehensive package that most brides and grooms would want for their special day. The reduced price is simply going to act as the cherry on top.

Obviously, you’ll need to advertise these discounts in order to spread the word. Spending a bit of money on pay per click (PPC) ads like Google AdWords or Facebook Ads will be an excellent choice in such instances.

PPC ads allow you to pay only for certain actions undertaken by your audience. You can also do lots of targeting when it comes to the people who are seeing your ads. As a result, PPC campaigns are very cost-efficient and they can deliver excellent conversion rates.

 

Partner Up with Other Photographers and Videographers

 

When the going gets tough, partnering up with other professionals makes a lot of sense.

Working as a second photographer or videographer with one of your colleagues will result in business for both of you during off-season.

Needless to say, you’ll return the favor whenever you have a gig that calls for a second photographer or videographer.

Such partnerships can help you expand your business and they’re great for branding. This is an approach that can always work great, not just during off-season.

If you’re getting started and would like to show potential clients just how talented you are, working as a second photographer/videographer during somebody else’s gig would be ideal.

For the purpose, you’ll need to have your own equipment and you’ll need to be punctual. Other photographers and videographers are only likely to partner up with you if you’re reliable and capable of delivering on your promises.

 

Expand Your Videography or Wedding Photography Business

 

Having a niche business is a great thing. It helps you position yourself correctly, attract the right kinds of clients and become very good at what you do.

Off-season, however, can challenge your desire to maintain that niche specialization.

In order to give yourself opportunities to work consistently, consider expanding the range of services you offer.

Do you do maternity shoots? Or baby shoots? Can you photograph or shoot events other than weddings?

You don’t need to acquire a whole lot of additional know-how to offer such options to your clients. The basics are always the same. If you have enough photography or videography knowledge, you’ll do a good job.

Offering such sessions will totally free you from the seasonality of weddings. And who knows – you may find out that you actually enjoy these alternative shoot types a lot.

Start by adding an additional service or two to your portfolio. If these aren’t sufficient to give you a steady stream of income, you can expand even further.

 

Additional Revenue Streams

 

Apart from shooting and editing wedding photos or videos, you can make money in additional ways. Off-season provides perfect chances to explore such opportunities.

Giving photography or videography lessons is one example. Or you could put together an online course for others to purchase. Not only is this a fun way to share your skills, it can help you build a stream of passive income after the initial course is created.

Money can also be earned by adding some of your content to stock photography and videography sites. By doing so, you’ll start earning commissions.

A monetized YouTube channel is another cool idea and when videos are uploaded, you’ll once again be earning passive income.

There’s lots you can do in order to earn some money online. While beginnings tend to be slow in this realm, doing some promotional work and adding to your portfolio will help you increase monetization opportunities. The more you stick with such strategies, the better the outcomes are going to get.

 

Use the Opportunity to Rethink and Enhance Your Business

 

For some people who own a wedding photography business, off season provides the perfect opportunities to reflect on results, analyze performance so far and make some changes.

If you have enough money to keep on going for a few months, use that time to make your business better. Chasing new gigs can be time-consuming. Working on becoming better will often help you earn more money once wedding season starts again.

Are there new skills you’ve always wanted to learn but didn’t have the time to? Maybe you’d like to enhance your editing and post-production repertoire? Or you’d like to focus on the business side of things, learning how to be a successful manager?

Off-season gives you the perfect chance to strengthen your business in all of the ways you deem appropriate. You know that when wedding season starts, you’ll barely have the time for new initiatives and learning opportunities.

Hence, it makes sense to focus on skill acquisition now if you’d like to increase your prices when people start booking you for their special day.

 

Conclusion

 

Most wedding photographers and videographers worry about off-season. The fact that business is strongest during a few months during the year can trouble even the most experienced and reputable professionals. And if you’re just getting started, the prospects of seasonality can be really terrifying.

You can do a number of things in order to advertise yourself and score gigs when the going gets tough.

One thing you need to remember, however, is that selling your services too cheap doesn’t really pay off.

Sure, it may seem like a good idea to bring down your prices exponentially and win over some new clients. When you offer massive discounts, however, that’s what customers would expect from you in the long run. It’s best to be known for quality and competitive pricing rather than for the cheapest offers on the market.

If possible, use off-season to strengthen your business and do some networking. Partnering up with other wedding professionals can result in long-term opportunities. By focusing on this aspect of running your studio, you’ll be investing in the long-term survival and success of your venture.