In this post, I’ll be sharing the 7 key ways I have begun to build a wedding photography network in my new city of Austin, Texas, and started booking local wedding clients. Relocating & rebuilding a small business is not easy, but little by little - strides are made!
My husband, Nick, and I always had a move in the back of our heads & corner of our hearts. When we got married, we had considered starting our life together somewhere new. After almost 4 years married - it all became real…! Although I had wanted to move too, now that we were settled in California, and I had began a small business, a move was, well, a bit more inconvenient. I had worked so hard to build a brand here in CA, and giving that all up to begin again sounded, well... exhausting.
As much as fear crept in regarding this - I knew the move was the best thing for Nick & I. Besides, I had always wanted to be a Texas gal. After many conversations, plenty of hesitation, and just enough faith… we said yes to Austin! We scheduled one visit (in secret!), then a second, and the third time we crossed the Texas state line, we were here for good. :-)
This post isn’t about our move, so I’ll skip ahead to the good stuff, being the ways I built a network in a brand new city, and began booking clients. (To put into context, we arrived here June 1, 2019 & we have been here for about 10 months - this is written on March 30, 2020 (yep, currently quarantined - maybe one day society will re-open & it’ll all be a blurry, distant memory?)
To note, I am far from where I’d like to be. I have plenty of mountains to climb & milestones to hit - but as I approach year 1 in Austin, I am so thankful for the progress I have made and am writing this to be an open book - not an expert. As I dive into year 2 - I hope to develop & grow in new ways. If you have recently moved your small business into a new market, I would love to hear your best practices & what has stood out to you! Leave comments below! :-)
Before the move
1. Explore Social Media Networks
About 1-2 weeks before we actually moved, I began to put very simple “feelers" out within related photography groups communicating that I was relocating to Austin. For me, this was mainly doing a short & sweet post in a private film group on Facebook (see below!). The group has members from across the country so it was a great way to connect with Texas photographers in my niche market of film. Film is a rather tight knit community, so discovering photogs that use similar equipment, workflow, & lingo is the perfect avenue to make a quick intro!
I waited to do this until right before the move because I wanted any introductions to feel fresh when it came to actually connecting in person. (i.e. “let’s connect once I’m in town in a week!” vs. “let’s connect once I’m in town in 2 months!”)
From here, I began researching accounts on Instagram, which led me down the infamous social media rabbit hole (which was perfect) helping me discover popular venues, planners, florists, etc.. Thank you IG! xoxo
After the move
2. Bespoke Outreach
After we arrived in Texas and got our bearings, I created a list of photographers & other vendors that I wanted to connect with. I wanted to keep this list intentional & rather short. Nothing is worse than feeling like you’re the recipient of a mass mail! Intention and commonality were very important to me to establish a genuine & authentic connection with my new wedding locals.
Things I considered were… maybe we used the same equipment - maybe they had roots in California - perhaps we had numerous shared connections within the industry, etc. I created a little email and sent it off! I think within the first few months I connected with a handful of creatives (approx. 5) that became important building blocks for local growth & meaningful business relationships.
3. Create Local Content!
No clients, no problem! Haha - ok, kind of a problem. But when I didn’t have clients, I took this time to create a few shoots that would speak to my brand. Some were even just personal headshots to lend to a local branding feel. In the first summer, I did two personal shoots (thank you to Nick for being my photog) and a handful of “styled shoots”, if you want to call them that. I put it into quotes, because it was really just my goal to create local content - even if it was just two people in an Austin field - it was in Austin & that is all that mattered.
Creating local content also comes in the form of second shooting. For me, it was a great way to gain venue experience, create a good relationship with other photographers, develop a positive reputation, and make a little money until you start booking your own work. With the lead photographers permission, you can post on socials and take advantage of geo-tags and hash tagging the local venue. This can also stimulate referrals - which is gold!
Here are a few examples from local content I created! (2nd shooting not included.)
4. Social Media - There is a new community that needs to get to know you!
Right after we moved, I took a deep breath and knew I had to get a little more face to face on social media - and I’m talking mostly IG stories. It made me so uncomfortable to think about. But here is the thing - there is a whole new community that needs to get to know you. The more I hopped on the more I actually enjoyed it & looked for ways to document. But I digress - admittedly, I was doing well until I found out I was pregnant… and for some reason that just made it 10x harder to jump on a story - I felt like I was always hiding something! So I need to regain my comfort in this space again. :-) Work-in-progress, k?
5. Say yes & get involved in creative ways!
The aforementioned strategies are probably quite typical with moving a business to a new state. But one of my favorite ways I saw growth in my business was by domino involvement. Here’s what I mean...
When I was initiating bespoke outreach, I connected with a lovely planner, Stephanie Middleton of Middleton Event Co. We met, stayed in touch & then one afternoon, I received a call from her. She had a fully executed editorial planned for the following day, and her models had to cancel last minute. She asked me if Nick & I would be interested — it was a quick yes! Of course I was eager to help her (she is the sweetest and so talented) but I also knew her team of vendors were incredible & people I’d like to meet and and have face-to-face time with - even if I was there as the model and not the photographer. I had the opportunity to meet an all-star vendor team and introduce myself.
This opportunity was so fun & I saw so many positive outcomes. I was able to work with an amazing photographer (who later sent me client referrals that booked their weddings with me!), meet venue managers (I later emailed to host my own shoot at this location & could reference when we previously met), and worked with the top florist in the area (who I have since seen at weddings I 2nd shot at and could say hello!). And though this is very millennial to say - I could share these photos on my Instagram, tagging the local top talent and get circulation via @ wonders. Here are a few images from the shoot!
Photo: @mintphotographytx // Planning&Design: @middletoneventsco // Florals: @remiandgold // Venue: @woodbinemansion // Beauty: @crownofglorybeauty // Dress: @shoprevelry
6. Reassess your pricing & packages
I spoke openly with planners and photographers regarding market price points for film photographers. I took into account reasons clients may select an established local over me (i.e. previous experience at their venue), and if my local value may need to be earned without a “little black book” of vendor referrals from previous partnerships, not yet knowing all those perfect secret spots for engagement shoots, and somewhat lacking social proof by having (or in my case, not having) a reputation in the community. However, I also weighed in all the things about my brand that a move could never change. The time spent crafting my art, perfecting my signature style, mastering the flow of a wedding day, my dedication to my clients, love for film, and knowing that the product I deliver is consistent, on-brand, and worth it. I weighed the possible disadvantages, along with what I know I deserve as an experienced professional, and came to a pricing structure I felt was fair for myself, my brides, and my fellow photographers.
I would encourage anyone in this position to have a conversation with a handful of planners, photographers (however it relates to you) to understand the market rates so you are well educated and priced fairly to your new market.
7. Celebrate when you book your first client!
Y’all (yep, I’m a Texas gal now) it felt like magic when I booked my first Texas wedding! And I actually booked my first two within a week or so of each other. And it started there. I did have to narrow my window of availability with our baby being born in early May, so I would like to think I could have had even more opportunities if this wasn’t the case. (But that’s ok - we can’t wait to meet our son! weddings will always be here :-) ) But here is what I can say - all the weddings I have booked for 2020 are the result of the above. They are referrals from planners, photographers… and I am on a wedding with a florist I partnered with over the summer. I say this knowing I have SO FAR to go - but what I know is that little by little, my business is leaning into the Texas market. I still gladly book a limited number of California weddings, but it’s a priority to make the Texas market my primary. I have so many more goals to reach with my business here in Austin … gosh, I feel I’ve just laid the foundation… but I know from the past 10 months that baby steps have been my building blocks.
If you have recently relocated a small business - stay the course! Find small ways to take baby steps, meet one more person, and photograph in one more spot. You’ve got this! xoxo
