020: Kate MacPherson - Wedding Photography Success with No Upselling, Smart Branding and a Bright Pink G-String

Kate MacPherson from Wellington, New Zealand can happily boast about wedding photography success with no upselling and smart branding but it wasn’t always plain sailing… it took a breakdown for her to realise things had to change.

The breakdown came as a result of overworking and undercharging and forced Kate to re-evaluate her wedding photography business. What followed was smart new branding, higher prices, less products, less weddings, no pressure upselling and a stress free workflow. In this interview, she shares how you can do the same in your business and avoid the breakdown part.

On top of all the things Kate has learnt in her ten years as a wedding photographer, there are still things that she would do differently if given the chance to start over – the biggest being to develop a style early, stick to it and don’t waiver by following trends.

We talk about all this and lots more in the interview… including the day Kate shot a wedding with a bright pink g-string.

• Not using traditional upselling techniques for wedding clients
• Hi Res files with every package
• Price lists, inclusions and coverage
• Should wedding photographers be there for the dancing?
• Structuring a price list for profit
• Out of area weddings, how much extra should you charge?
• Assisting other photographers to learn your craft
• Word of mouth wedding referrals
• The importance of having a great website
• Does branding really affect your wedding photography business?
• Increasing prices to shoot less
• Featuring on wedding blogs and how they affect bookings
• SEO through blogging
• Running a business while expecting a baby
• Sharing a studio space – how much and who is a good match?
• Meeting with wedding clients at a cafe – good idea or bad?
• Why working from home can be a bad idea
• Plug-ins, workflow and systems

If you’re a Premium Member, Kate has shared her wedding contract, booking form and her full price list – all of which came about as a result of the changes she made in her business that resulted in the positive financial turn around.

One of the things that stands out for me after chatting with Kate was the success she’s having and had while working from a relatively small town. I love the way she established her prices, simplified everything about her business, workflow and product offerings to create a great lifestyle.

I’d love to read about your biggest takeaway from this episode of the podcast in the comments section below. Don’t forget to make use of the Comment Luv plug-in and add your twitter username to get a ‘do follow’ link back to your website or blog.

It doesn’t look like I’ll reach my goal of 50 iTunes reviews by the 21st episode but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t appreciate a rating or review if you haven’t already. Don’t forget to let me know your website URL so I can add a link and give you a shout out on the show.

To leave a review, head to: http://photobizx.com/itunes

A big thanks this week to Vaughn Barry from Vaughn Barry Photography – great to have another listener from Canada. Also, thanks to Chris Peavey from Paused in Time Photography for your fantastic review – thanks mate, really appreciate it.

Kate MacPherson Photographer – the website

Kate MacPherson on Facebook

Alien Skin – Photoshop plugin

Momento Pro – Album Company

Storyboard - Photoshop Script for blog images

Oli Sansom’s - is doing thing “right” from the beginning

Stephen A’Court - gave Kate a start in photography as an assistant

Claire Wolf Photography - thanks Claire for recommending Kate for an interview

Cloudface Photography - interviewed in the last episode of the podcast

That’s it for me this week, have a great one.

Speak soon

Andrew

The post 020: Kate MacPherson – Wedding Photography Success with No Upselling, Smart Branding and a Bright Pink G-String appeared first on Photography Business eXposed - Have Your Own Successful Portrait and Wedding Photography Business.