Houston: The Business of Wedding Photography Workshop : Jan 16th or Jan 23rd

[Aric C. Hoek]

The Business, Sales and Marketing of Wedding Photography.

A must attend all day workshop for wedding photographers of all levels of expertise!
By Aric C. Hoek, The Master of Shadows ®. Houston's 2007 Photographer of The Year.

14 seats for each workshop. $75 per seat.
1/16/09 & 1/23/09

For full details or to purchase a seat, please visit this link.

100% of the proceeds from the 1/16 & 1/23 Workshops will be donated to support the urgent needs of Rick Staudt.

Rick is also a member of The Professional Photographers Guild of Houston, and is in need of financial support due to illness.

With over two decades of experience as a professional photographer I have seen many photographers go out of business. Not because they weren’t good photographers. They were great photographers!

They went out of business because they could not sell their images. More than likely, they hated selling but loved the creative photographic process. Or possibly they just thought wedding photography would be an easy business to succeed in.

Sound familiar?

I know of great photographers that are poor, and I know of poor photographers that are rich! The successful photographer runs their business a certain way. They have specific goals, and work in an efficient manner. The successful photographer knows how to effectively sell their artwork! The successful photographer enjoys selling.

It's OK to make money selling your photography! Don't sell yourself short!

What if you could put in place a number of goals and tools that would make selling your photography fun and exciting?!?

It can take some time to establish your niche in photography, but what do you do once you get there? How do you confidently justify and earn the right to raise your prices?

Are you open to the fact that educationg yourself on how to run your business and sell your photography is just as important, if not more so, than taking good pictures?

Learning how to sell means equipping yourself with the right language and skills to communicate with prospects and current clients.

For full details or to purchase a seat, please visit this link.

The Workshop Will Cover The Following Topics.

Advertising:
Where to advertise, and what size ads to purchase to get results.

Google:
How did we get our site on the front page of Google for the following search terms? Wedding Photography Houston, Wedding Photographer Houston. Give it a try, and do a search for these terms on Google now!

Permission Based Assets:
How to create a loyal following of readers.

Measuring Results:
What percentage of initial contacts do you convert into consultations? What percentage of consultations do you convert into actual clients? What do you do with this information to save you money in the future and make you more efficient?

How To Get Your Phone To Ring:
A few simple mistakes can stop your phone from ringing. Learn what they are!

Phone Language:
What do you say to a prospect when they ask how much your services are?

Consultation Language:
How do you sell yourself during a consultation?

The Benefits of Professional Referrals:
Anyone want some free advertising?

How To Price Your Products:
Are you pricing your products according to what you yourself would pay for them? Are you pricing your products as to what you think the market can bear?

Avoid what I consider to be the number one catastrophic mistake wedding photographers make!

How To Raise Your Prices:
How to truly justify to yourself, and to potential clients, that what you charge for your services and products is a fair trade.

Creating Specialty Products:
Having a "WOW" Product in your product line can set you apart from your competition. Want some help developing one? I have a few good ideas!

Unique Selling Points:
(USP) What sets you apart? How do you communicate this?

Residual Sales:
How would you like to wake up tomorrow morning only to find out that you made $100 in your sleep?

Defining The Season of Wedding Photography:
When are times typically slow for a wedding photographer, and when are they flush?

Diversification:
We keep hearing that lean times are ahead. How are you preparing for that fact? Nows the time to diversify.

Adding A Second Photographer:
Adding one photographer to a studio that only has one photographer to begin with could increase your sales by 100%!

Bridal Show Booths:
Learn how our biggest sales tool has evolved over time and why!!!

BONUS MATERIAL!!!

Get Paid To Photograph At Any Location on Planet Earth That You Want!


Pick a Location You Could Only Dream of Photographing a Bride and Groom, as long as it's legal, and I will show you how to shoot at that location in less than one year!

In fact, I'll practice what I preach at the workshop!

To prove it, I will take actions during the workshop to book a destination shoot for myself,
with a client I am yet to book, or even meet!!!

I will show the class step by step on how I make this happen!!!
It's a repeatable process!!!!

And, as a class, we will chose the location that I am to photograph!!!

For full details or to purchase a seat, please visit this link.

A Letter from Rick Staudt to The Members of The Professional Photographers Guild of Houston after both Brain and Spinal Surgery.

Hi to all of our PPGH friends and family,

"One should really use the camera as though tomorrow you'd be stricken blind (Dorothea Lange)

I thought I'd send out a quick update about what is going on with Kelly and me and this stupid thing called cancer. Kelly has been on the phone/computer constantly updating everyone about my condition so I thought this short note might help her out a bit. We have been members since 1988 and count many members here among our best friends.

Mid October I had this incredible sensation of vertigo and nausea and suddenly lost all hearing in my left ear and a great deal of equilibrium, along with several other little things you don't even want to know about. My other serious problem is double vision, which makes photography, even Photoshop, very tough. They found that I had 2 new brain tumors. They ended up doing surgery to put an Omaya Reservoir into my head to be able to put chemotherapy directly into my brain and to also have access to my cfs fluid if I needed any pressure/fluid reduction in my brain. I have often been accused of having a hole in my head and now the truth is out.

After being home about a week, I ended up back at MD Anderson with pneumonia and an infection. I am still here but plan on coming home on Tuesday. During all of this I also had 3 weeks of brain radiation. Most of the time I actually feel pretty well other than some fatigue from my medications. My major limitation to what I would call living a full life is the complete paralysis below my waistline. I can get from chair to chair reasonably well but can't chase a two year-old around the studio very easily any more. Thank goodness for Michelle!

I have also been doing physical and occupational therapy the last 2 weeks here at MDA and though hoping for the best, I don't think I will be out this wheelchair. I faced a little disappointment this week when a pharmaceutical company cancelled a promising research project that we thought might really help us. I am sure it was based on the current economy and the returns they might expect on this particular study. So, it's back to square one.

Since I've been at MD Anderson these last few weeks, it has left only Kelly and Michelle to run the studio which had been run by four people for the last eight years. And, Kelly spends so much time with me that it leaves Michelle alone allot of the time. They are nothing less than angels and I can't imagine life without them. And of course we are dealing with the same economy and Hurricane Ike aftermath as all of you are. My days of shooting seem pretty much over but I can still help with the marketing, production and Photoshop art. Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning how to dance in the rain. And who knows, they may figure this whole cancer thing out tomorrow!

I will probably be released from here next Tuesday before Turkey Day to be home with

family and friends. I will be pretty bored between now and then so feel free to call 713-834-8723 or even better come by for a quick visit. I have been in one hospital or another 12 or 13 weeks out of this year and I know many of you know what that can be like. Even better, see if you can find a way to sneak my dog, Jake up into my room. Maybe a doggie lab coat would work.

We make an early wish for you and your families over this holiday season to enjoy each other's love and time together. Kelly and I appreciate all the love and caring you have shared with us and always wish the best for you.

Always,

Rick and Kelly Staudt

For full details or to purchase a seat, please visit this link.

[thumper87]

I'll be there on the 16th! Looking forward to it! I've only shot one wedding and it went wonderfully, but now I need to know where to go from there...

[thumper87]

By the way... Where will this thing be?

[Tom]

Aric, I would attend, but Fridays are out for me. That job thing.

[KdLaneJr]

Aric, Do you still have room on the 16th? Your donation page doesn't tell me that(or I overlooked it).

Never mind. Finally scrolled down far enough to figure it out.

[HOUSCOUS]

payment sent on 1/16

[Aric C. Hoek]

The 1/16 Workshop has now SOLD OUT!

[Abel]

Originally Posted by Aric C. Hoek

The 1/16 Workshop has now SOLD OUT!

awesome!

[Aric C. Hoek]

Thanks Abel!!!

The second workshop has also started to book now! We sold our first seat to the second workshop yesterday!

I plan on giving those who attend a wealth of information!!!

Total donated to The Staudt Family so far from the sale of these workshops is $1175.00!!!

[bondarnes]

Our prayers go out for Rick and Kelly, they are wonderful people. Thank you for doing this. Let me check my schedule, I might be able to come down on the 23rd.

[Aric C. Hoek]

Thank you for that. It's simple to do. sharing information that is. Plus it really helps their family.

I have already donated all of the money. :)

[csa]

Is there a location for info on times, etc? I think I missed it. Also, $75 or $125 as both prices are listed?

[chris kemski]

I signed up for the 16th workshop by mistake. I am unable to attend due to work. Is there any way I could switch to the 23rd or would anyone like to buy this day?














ool-i./////uiu/i
P::::::::LLLL

[thumper87]

Have the e-mails been sent out regarding the time and location of this workshop? If so, I didn't get one... Please let me know!

[janetg]

i would like some clarification if possible - just signed up for the "1/23" session, but when checking out through paypal - it said 1/24 - i cannot do 1/24......

help?