I am so disappointed this year with my bookings. One. Yes I did say one. Last year was my second year in business and did 10 weddings which I felt was good considering it was my second year. But for this year it has been bad. I have had tons of hits on my website and have met with lots of couples, but no bookings. I have redone my website with Bigfolio and have lowered my price to what it was last year. What am I doing wrong? Can you check my site and my images? Are my images not as good as I think? Let me know, I can take it, I'm a big boy.
Thanks
Keith

Hi Keith,

FWIW, I can only see one image for each wedding in your galleries : are the images too big ? My screen resolution is 1280x800, and when I clic "photos", I can choose a wedding... and I see a big picture, and that's all : no navigation, no slideshow...
So I can't tell you much about your pics, sorry... Also, I'm using Firefox 2 on a Mac.

Bye
Chris

I've found (this is my second year) that bookings are kind of funny and they come fast when they do come but when you are sitting and waiting they never seem to come.

Also I've got the same issue as Chris with the images....

Thanks for checking out my site. There should be more than one image per gallery, along with navagation buttons. It looks fine on my screen. I have sent an email to Bigfolio to see what is going on. Maybe that is why no one is inquiring about hiring me.
Keith

how did you get the 10 wedding that booked you last year?

This is so true. For the 1st 3 months of last year...not a single call...not a single wedding. This year is better.

The weddings I booked last year came in about April and started to increase in volume.

I hope it is the same this year. Things are better, so far. I have booked 3 weddings so far in the time frame last year that I received ZERO calls.

We will see.

Last year my bookings were mostly word of mouth. I think I got one from WPJA and a couple from Wedj.com. Last year I was also signed up with The Knot. I thnk I got one consulation from The Knot and no bookings. Maybe The Knot was better than I thought it was.

I am sure I just need to be a bit more patient. I just thought things would increase year to year.
Thanks all
Keith

Keith,

just a heads up that your site only shows the gallery controls if it's displayed in full screen mode. That could be part of the issue, but who knows.

keith, for wiw, you may want to think about what has changed.
why has what worked, stopped working.

most likely this is a multiple part answer. i don't think it will be any one thing. you did change some things, and all together you may be seeing the effects...
new website
no knot
different price (lower isn't always better)

your images look good. your site loads a little slow - i'm on a high speed line at work, ie, pc. the guys at big folio are amazing. give them a call and i'm sure ANY issues you may have will be resolved immediately.

what have you done to follow up with old clients? are they happy? is there anything else you might be able to do for them? the contact would be good, and if they are happy, ask them to refer you. period. ask them to refer you.

contact all the venues that you worked, and all the vendors that did the weddings you shot - a good reason to follow up with your old clients... ''dear bride, i was just looking through weddings from last year and i noticed, again, how beautiful your flowers were. who was your florist?" (for example). contact the florist and ask for a referal.

just some ideas. you need to remember that as much as we all think we are 'established', no one really knows who we are. you are constantly introducing your biz to new clients. you are constantly trying to be recognized by a new group of potential clients.

p.s. i love your branding.

OK, I have been working with Bigfolio this morning and I have changed somethings around. Please check it out again and see if it is working any better.

Robin, As to your statement about lower price not being better. I agree, I did raise my prices for this year but I am thinking that might be the problem. I'm just not known enough I think. Pricing here in town starts at 600 so I am not the cheapest. I am in the middle I think. But I am lower compaired to, say Kansas City, which is an hour away.

Hi Keith,

Full Screen works now, while "this window" does not work for me...

One more thing: when using the thumbnails in the bottom, it's almost impossible to choose a picture, because the thumbs scroll one way, never stop, scroll the other way, etc... I have to play cat and mouse with the thumb I want to click on !
Something can certainly be done to make it more useable !

By the way, nice pics !

Bye
Chris

Chris,
Thanks for the information and the compliment. I will have to get ahold of Bigfolio to see what is going on with the thumbnails.

Maybe I should just make the site open up in full screen and not give the option of the smaller window? That might solve all the problems.

Keith,



The problem comes from overflow: hidden in this HTML code on your page
html {
height: 100%;
overflow: hidden;
}

It hides the scrollbar even if one is necessary... That's cropping actually...
Forcing the window to open Full Size opens a new browser window without navigation buttons, nav bar, etc... So it gains some space...
It works on my screen, but will not (AFAIK) if using a 800x600 resolution.

I think you could ask to have overflow:hidden removed from the "this window" option... It would then work for everyone...

My 2 cents...

Chris
PS : I have not always been a wedding photographer :-)

I took out the "hidden:" from the HTML. I don't know if it will help any. I need to speed up the slideshow too.
Keith

I think your photos are beautiful! That can not be the reason why you are not getting bookings. The ONLY thing I noticed (which I dont think would be the reason...I just noticed it) is there are not very many picutres of the bride and groom together. ..something I personally like to see, but that doesnt mean anything.

I have not opinion about your prices, since they are not listed

And you obviously have been busy working on your site today b.c I dont see any of the problems listed previously!

Maybe this was suggested, but have you thought about contacting the brides you ahve met with but didnt book you to see if they could assit you in what you could do better?

Dont feel defeated! You are very good! Melissa

Melissa,
Thanks for checking out my site and thanks for the feedback. Your point about images with the bride and groom together is a good one. I will have to check out the galleries and see if I can add some of the B&G together.

My pricing is on the site under "Info" then "Pricing". I'm cheap.

I haven't thought about asking brides that didn't book me, why they did not book me. That would be awkward. "Hey, I know I suck so you didn't hire me, but why" HAHA Just kidding.
Keith