Original subtitles

Welcome back and let's get started with a

little background on branding.

What is it and what do I need

to know?

I suppose we first need to ask what

is a brand?

Well a brand is the marketing practice of

creating a name, symbol or design that identifies

and differentiates a product from other products.

But branding is about much more than that.

It's how you make them feel.

Fundamentally it's how your customers perceive you and

your business.

It tells them what they can expect from

your products and services and it differentiates your

offering from that of your competitors.

It is your customers total experience of your

business.

Your branding is in your photography.

It's your business values, your personality, the way

you talk to your customers.

It's in the way you package your service

and even answer your phone.

It's what you wear to a wedding and

it can often be a reflection of you

and who you are.

One lesson that will be consistent throughout the

entirety of this course, not just the branding

section, is to always consider your target client

and it shouldn't just be anyone getting married.

Compare that to the process of buying a

car.

Do you think Mercedes' target client is the

same as Kia's?

Or fashion, is Burberry's target client the same

as Primark?

Now obviously if you're in the first year

or two of your business, trying to establish

a target client is really hard.

The focus needs to be on shooting and

showing yourself to be a wedding photographer first

and foremost and that's fine up to a

certain price point.

There will always be a market for people

who just want a wedding photographer.

But I'm assuming part of the reason you're

on this course is because you don't want

to be just another generic wedding photographer.

If you're not there already, I guarantee there

will come a time when you want to

charge more so you can shoot less.

A good friend once told me, and it

was actually as I was starting out in

this business and I was offering myself out

as a photographer, a graphic designer and a

web designer, but he said you can't be

everything to everyone.

Now at the time that hit home and

made me realize I needed to focus my

efforts on one of those fields, not three

or four of them.

So photography it was.

I dropped the design and focused solely on

weddings.

But for the same reason, this is exactly

why I take issue with photographers who promote

themselves for weddings alongside families and commercial and

events.

But let's take that further because actually that

quote still stands true for me now, even

within wedding photography.

Wedding photography is an enormous and hugely varied

field.

There are dozens of varying styles and genres

and tens of thousands of suppliers in the

UK, let alone globally.

So if you try and cater or appeal

to everyone, or you mix in other fields

of photography, you simply dilute your ability to

connect with the one person or couple you're

trying to book.

Let's do a little role play, shall we?

I am your dream target client.

Me and my fiance are getting married in

France.

It's going to be super relaxed and natural.

We're going to have a great party and

focus on the experience of traveling abroad with

our friends and family.

You all want to come right?

Now, you as the photographer, you have some

images that would appeal to me.

They might be from weddings in the UK,

but they're the right vibe and aesthetic that

me and my fiance are looking for.

But here's the problem.

I visit your site and those images are

tricky to find.

The opening frame shows a bride and groom

in a really traditional dress and formal wear.

The second is a staged and posed off

-camera flash shot.

The third is more like it, a stylish

couple in the Cotswolds maybe.

But then as I scroll down, you're showing

me commercial and family photography.

So you have some work in there that

would appeal, but you've made it hard to

find.

You haven't targeted me.

Where do I go?

I hope you're all shouting at the screen

saying back, back.

If not, then yeah, I hit the back

button and head off into another Google search

where there are thousands of other photographers, some

of whom are targeting me more effectively and

efficiently.

And just to reiterate here, I'm not saying

that one is better than the other, that

relaxed destination weddings are better than traditional church

English weddings, or that Burberry is better than

Primark or Mercedes than Kia.

Those brands are successful in their own way,

but they're successful because they understand who their

core consumer is and they target them.

Just because you're a photographer, does that mean

you're also a fashion photographer or a sports

photographer?

Everyone, or any brand for that matter, that

excels in a niche field, it might be

cycling photography, babies wrapped in muslin looking almost

too perfect, or premium wedding photography.

They are all niche fields and you'll see

they focus on targeting the same niche end

user time and time again.

Okay, so before we dive into the next

episode, I want you to give a little

thought to who your target clients are.

Because if you don't know who they are,

how can you appeal to them?

And this will be driven a lot by

your goals, the amount of weddings you want

to shoot, your region, your desire or lack

of desire to travel.

I want you to have some clear ideas

and goals in mind.

See you shortly.