Website or kit?!

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shelleyphoto

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Shelley
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So, I'm confused (which doesn't take a lot ha!) I am setting up my new wedding photography business, I've second shot a handful of weddings to which I am able to use the images to build my portfolio but here comes the question do I get my website sorted first which will also include branding or do I buy some camera kit! I am finding I keep on going round in circles, my website is going to sell me and my brand but new kit is going to help me enhance my images?! Any advice?
 
Depends if your kit is already capable. If it is then away you go and market yourself. If not then you need to get your kit sorted.

Sounds like you have the kit already otherwise you wouldn't think of advertising yourself yet.
 
This might be better off in the business section.

A website doesn't cost much. Even one of the ready made ones from zenfolio/smugmug etc. with built in ecommerce won't cost you too much so I would get your website up and running to give yourself a presence on the net. I don't know about the others but I've a zenfolio website and it's £100 a year. Back up kit is very important too but your not going to get that for 100 quid.

Good luck!
 
Yeh, I have decent camera and 2 good lenses ... I tend to hire another lens for a wedding
 
Also, to begin with - why not opt for a FREE website :shrug: you can always upgrade to Pro at a later date

I have a free web site and it works very well- check my signature

Les :thumbs:
 
Cheers Les, I have worried about free website / templates that it will look like someone else's but yours looks really good and professionally done
Thanks
 
shelleyphoto said:
Cheers Les, I have worried about free website / templates that it will look like someone else's but yours looks really good and professionally done
Thanks
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Thank you - its still work in progress, :naughty:

weebly templates can be adjustd to suit any taste- well worth a browse I think, you may be suprised and above all ITS FREE :lol:

Les :thumbs:
 
shelleyphoto said:
Yeh, I have decent camera and 2 good lenses ... I tend to hire another lens for a wedding
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Almost as if you've answered your own question. If you can get by with renting for now then put time into the website. But websites are cheap if you build it yourself. Plenty of online builders such as http://cargocollective.com or http://4ormat.com both very cheap also.

You don't need a lot of kit to take good photos but at least you'd have some room to purchase what you'd want.
 
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With the greatest respect to other posters;

Shine On said:
If you're setting up a business - both. You need the tools to do the job, and the tools with which to market & promote yourself.
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gazfy said:
This might be better off in the business section.

...!
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Are the only two answers that come close.

I have a rule of thumb which might sound harsh;

If you think your question belongs in the Talk Basics section, and it's about venturing into paid work; You're very probably not ready (or haven't finished thinking it through enough yet).

You need backups for everything to shoot weddings, which doesn't mean you need 2 top of the range cameras and a bag full of superfast lenses (though it's nice to know you can guarantee awesome results) but you definitely need a backup body, backup flash, backup std lens and backup tele lens. It gets expensive to be renting for more than the occasional wedding.

Your website and branding is something you were right about, you'll get nowhere with a free website, they're great for amateurs who want to have somewhere to direct their family to see their work, but you want something that'll work in a very specific way for your needs and you have to pay for that level of control.

A free website will never get you in the rankings, and I'll bet if you write down all the other 'must have's' you'll find free websites are miles away from what you need.

edit - am I dreaming - I'd swear this was in Talk Basics :thinking:
 
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Pretty much what has been said already. 1 camera and 2 lenses doesn't really cut it. As Phil said above... back-ups of everything. I think that all has to come before a website in all honesty. Have you even thought about insurance? Not just for your kit, but liability as well.
 
Phil V said:
With the greatest respect to other posters;

Are the only two answers that come close.

I have a rule of thumb which might sound harsh;

If you think your question belongs in the Talk Basics section, and it's about venturing into paid work; You're very probably not ready (or haven't finished thinking it through enough yet).

You need backups for everything to shoot weddings, which doesn't mean you need 2 top of the range cameras and a bag full of superfast lenses (though it's nice to know you can guarantee awesome results) but you definitely need a backup body, backup flash, backup std lens and backup tele lens. It gets expensive to be renting for more than the occasional wedding.

Your website and branding is something you were right about, you'll get nowhere with a free website, they're great for amateurs who want to have somewhere to direct their family to see their work, but you want something that'll work in a very specific way for your needs and you have to pay for that level of control.

A free website will never get you in the rankings, and I'll bet if you write down all the other 'must have's' you'll find free websites are miles away from what you need.

edit - am I dreaming - I'd swear this was in Talk Basics :thinking:
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Wellllll...I don't know much about wedding photography but I do know a little about websites and the second part of your post isn't necessarily true.
Hosting fees aside, there's no reason why a "free" website (I assume we're talking about templates here) can't be every bit as good, or even better, than commercial templates.
Commercial templates are only valuable because people can't be bothered doing their own coding. If you learn a bit of coding, then you can just install a basic, free wordpress (or whatever) template and go nuts customising it. Then you have a site that's absolutely tailored to your own needs.
It's really not that hard either. Most of the fearsome stuff is already taken care of within whatever CMS you're using (wordpress or something). And it is hugely rewarding. Start with small modifications to the basic template and add more as you become more knowledgable and skilled. The University of Google is your gateway to thousands of excellent, free, resources that will show you how to do it.
And if anyone tells you that you need to pay them, directly or indirectly, to get your site higher in rankings then they are, frankly, blowing smoke up your backside. There's nothing necessarily special about "professional sites" that makes them rank higher.

There's nothing wrong with professional sites. They serve a function for people who can't be bothered, are scared of, or don't have time to learn coding. But saying you'll never get anywhere with a free site is nonsense.
 
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ghoti said:
Wellllll...I don't know much about wedding photography but I do know a little about websites and the second part of your post isn't necessarily true.
Hosting fees aside, there's no reason why a "free" website (I assume we're talking about templates here) can't be every bit as good, or even better, than commercial templates.
Commercial templates are only valuable because people can't be bothered doing their own coding. If you learn a bit of coding, then you can just install a basic, free wordpress (or whatever) template and go nuts customising it. Then you have a site that's absolutely tailored to your own needs.
It's really not that hard either. Most of the fearsome stuff is already taken care of within whatever CMS you're using (wordpress or something). And it is hugely rewarding. Start with small modifications to the basic template and add more as you become more knowledgable and skilled. The University of Google is your gateway to thousands of excellent, free, resources that will show you how to do it.
And if anyone tells you that you need to pay them, directly or indirectly, to get your site higher in rankings then they are, frankly, blowing smoke up your backside. There's nothing necessarily special about "professional sites" that makes them rank higher.

There's nothing wrong with professional sites. They serve a function for people who can't be bothered, are scared of, or don't have time to learn coding. But saying you'll never get anywhere with a free site is nonsense.
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Well!!! (is that how it's done?)

I don't know much about writing websites*....

That's quite important as you'll see.

As a newly professional photographer you'll be learning:

How to be a better photographer.
How to sell.
All about accounting and the tax system and NI
How to get up and manage a website
What other ways are there to promote yourself, networking, advertising, flyers? mailshots, buying customer lists.
How do you get involved in wedding fayres, are they right for you
A really efficient processing and backup regime
How to deal with prospective customers

And you're suggesting that we add 'learning a bit of HTML and CSS to compete with professional web designers' :lol:.

For someone that's never had a website before, just understanding how hosting and domain names work, what's a content management system and how will it help them, how do they get a good google ranking, how to write successful copy, what images are suitable for web use, how do they ensure they have the necessary permission from their customers to use images - is plenty to learn :eek:. Are you really suggesting from the OPs postings so far that learning how to code a site is a priority :shrug:.

And btw it might have helped if you'd read the thread; free websites meant Weebly :cuckoo: Really - not paid hosting and a good free template - Weebly :lol:

*I've worked in IT for over 15 years, I can code in VBA, manage servers and backups, user admin, and I'm an 'expert' in many applications, and learning HTML is a bit of a stretch for me :shrug: People who can code always assume that 'anyone can learn' without thinking through whether learning is actually worth it. Because if we look at the numbers, the profit from a cheap wedding is enough money to get a really good website up**, it's really a no brainer as a business decision :D.

**That makes it cheaper than
A pro grade lens
A sample album pack
A decent camera bag
A tripod
An OEM flashgun
A years running of your phone
Servicing your car
Your business insurance

When you're running a business, paying for other peoples expertise is often miles cheaper than doing it yourself.
 
I would go for the kit and a free website to start with.

I'm trained as a computer programmer and there's a lot less hassle in using the free templates etc than writing your own code.

If you go down the Wordpress road you'll find a bit of a learing curve but self coding similar sites would be very challenging.
 
Personally i think free websites look crap, as they say, you get what you pay for :D they look totally unprofessional and normally have the company logo at the bottom ie Wix, which is a no no for me, it's nearly as bad as an email address with hotmail or yahoo in it, however their are plenty of template sites from companies such as "Creative motion design" that are very good, and come with several email address's for you to choose from connected to your web address, they have good customer service, and can be great for people like me who have no clue about IT etc etc.

As regards kit, having back up is paramount, if i were doing weddings on a regular basis, i wouldn't do them with less than 3 camera bodies and a good selection of lenses, flash guns etc etc, you never ever want to be caught out with no back up kit.
 
I've used wix. You don't get any logo if you pay. And you can use your own domain. You wouldn't even know I used wix unless I told you. Seems you just don't want to pay or you'd know this already.
 
Pay for a professional web designer to do the strand branding, they will make you more than the initial cost of taking them on.

If you do the cheap option, it comes across as if you don't care about your business and don't take it serious, so why should your potential clients?

Seriously have a think about it, it's a massive decision.

Matt
 
Cagey75 said:
I've used wix. You don't get any logo if you pay. And you can use your own domain. You wouldn't even know I used wix unless I told you. Seems you just don't want to pay or you'd know this already.
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What about the important issues? For a business?

How did it rank?
How much effort did that take?
What was the feedback like from customers?

It's the reason this should be in 'talk business' (apologies for banging the drum) Whether or not a website from weebly or wix is pretty or carries their branding is a complete irrelevance.

A website is a shop window, and I've never seen a clicpick, wix, weebly etc site that functions well as a proper web presence. The fact they might look nice or appear to be cheap is irrelevant.
 
Backup kit if charging. But you will need a website at sometime.
 
Thank you for the advice everybody, it's really helped and also helped me understand that there is more for me to organise

To Phil, apologises for not posting my thread in the business section ..... Just a little mistake from a newbie!!
 
shelleyphoto said:
Thank you for the advice everybody, it's really helped and also helped me understand that there is more for me to organise

To Phil, apologises for not posting my thread in the business section ..... Just a little mistake from a newbie!!
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No need for apologies, more a point of where to get the best info, many pros never venture into this section.

Glad we've given you food for thought, hope its made you more excited than scared.
 
ghoti said:
but I do know a little about websites and the second part of your post isn't necessarily true.
Hosting fees aside, there's no reason why a "free" website ..... But saying you'll never get anywhere with a free site is nonsense.
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if you are paying for hosting, url etc it isn't a free website

What is true is that you'll not get anywhere in the rankings with a waltermittyphotography.wordpress.com type completely free website
 
MTaylor said:
Pay for a professional web designer to do the strand branding, they will make you more than the initial cost of taking them on.

If you do the cheap option, it comes across as if you don't care about your business and don't take it serious, so why should your potential clients?

Seriously have a think about it, it's a massive decision.

Matt
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exactly

I also find it ironic that pro photographers will point out that owning a camera and knowing roughly what you are doing with it doesn't qualify you to sell your time or work

but in the same breathe espouse that anyone with a computer and a braincell can do webdesign
 
big soft moose said:
exactly

I also find it ironic that pro photographers will point out that owning a camera and knowing roughly what you are doing with it doesn't qualify you to sell your time or work

but in the same breathe espouse that anyone with a computer and a braincell can do webdesign
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Completely agree mate, running a design agency when I hear "aaaah just do it yourself" it either annoys me or cracks me up lol
 
shelleyphoto said:
I am finding I keep on going round in circles, my website is going to sell me and my brand but new kit is going to help me enhance my images?! Any advice?
Click to expand...

You can sell a photo without a web-site.
You cant take a photo without a camera.

The Web is not the only marketing media in existence. Photographers traded for many many years before it was invented.

Maybe a rather luddite suggestion; BUT what about traditional media? Cards in the bridal shops? Cake Shops? News-Agents? Word of mouth? Local Paper? Doing the Bridal Shows?

Might be rather old hat; but I would lay bets on this kind of activity doing far more for you than a web-site.

World-Wide-Web..... hmmm..... wonderful if you want to get your message to people in America, Australia, Germany, well.... every where in the world really....

Do you expect to generate much business in, I don't know, Lichtenstein? Suggests rather a lot of 'redundancy' in your market coverage, really, doesn't it? And not much real 'penetration'.

Get out; pound shoe-leather; do the trade shows; get to know people; give them ALL your cards...give them many... so they can hand them out for you! Get there's do likewise.... in and around the geographic area you are likely to generate work and do work.

People LIKE to deal with PEOPLE.... the web ent people. And the wedding industry is a 'people' thing. Its not like buying a mobile phone charger!
 
Teflon-Mike said:
You can sell a photo without a web-site.
You cant take a photo without a camera.

The Web is not the only marketing media in existence. Photographers traded for many many years before it was invented.

Maybe a rather luddite suggestion; BUT what about traditional media? Cards in the bridal shops? Cake Shops? News-Agents? Word of mouth? Local Paper? Doing the Bridal Shows?

Might be rather old hat; but I would lay bets on this kind of activity doing far more for you than a web-site.

World-Wide-Web..... hmmm..... wonderful if you want to get your message to people in America, Australia, Germany, well.... every where in the world really....

Do you expect to generate much business in, I don't know, Lichtenstein? Suggests rather a lot of 'redundancy' in your market coverage, really, doesn't it? And not much real 'penetration'.

Get out; pound shoe-leather; do the trade shows; get to know people; give them ALL your cards...give them many... so they can hand them out for you! Get there's do likewise.... in and around the geographic area you are likely to generate work and do work.

People LIKE to deal with PEOPLE.... the web ent people. And the wedding industry is a 'people' thing. Its not like buying a mobile phone charger!
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Whilst I see where you're coming from Mike, the 'world wide web' doesn't actually work like that, people search for local businesses on it all the time - we can all show you stats to prove it :D.

What's more £ for £ it's genuinely the most effective advertising you can do, if you do it right.

A first wedding fayre will cost anything from £500 - £2000 depending on how mad you go with samples. the following ones will be less than £500 (unless they're National) but still a lot more than a years web presence.

As a newbie, she'll be standing in a large room competing with the sales pitch of 5 other photographers, that doesn't look like a recipe for success :shake:. Bridal shops and venues have built up relationships with photographers, it's a highly competitive marketplace, Shelley might get an 'in' if she's a great salesperson.

The web is a leveller in terms of experience. A relatively new photographer can get a page 1 ranking on Google for chosen search terms*, from there it's the quality of work compared to the competition that gets business.

I've watched a couple of locals do it, at least 1 who's only shot a couple of weddings, is fairly crap too, doesn't stop him being able to 'compete' with some pro's who've been doing it for years.
 
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