Photographer: Salvatore Cincotta
Photographer Salvatore Cincotta is well-known for both his skills behind the camera and his business acumen—a critical aspect of professional wedding photography that often gets back-burnered in favor of more “creative” tasks. For the savvy photographer, however, building a profitable business involves just as much energy and creativity as designing great images.
Identify Your Target
The first step is identifying your target—but that needs to be a lot more specific than “couples getting married.” Says Salvatore, “Ideally, we all want the trendy, fit, wealthy couples. Those are the couples with the money to spend on photography, and their portraits will make amazing images for your portfolio. The reality, however, is that this part of the market is saturated and very difficult to compete in. As a result, this is not our target at all. Instead, we look for the first-time weddings of moderately trendy, upper-middle-class couples who place a significant amount of value and importance on imagery. That’s my ideal couple.”
Qualify the Client
“Do we always book the ideal client?” asks Salvatore. “No, not at all. However, 85 percent of the time we do—and over the years, we have gotten better and better at sniffing out the ones who don’t fall into this group. When we spot them, we politely pass on their event. This is not even a question of being true to our art; it’s about ensuring there is a match between the client and our studio. If there is a mismatch, the client will be unhappy. This will create a customer-satisfaction issue that can have far-reaching negative consequences.”
“If there’s a fundamental mismatch in our objectives, there’s little chance that either of us will be satisfied with the outcome.”
Salvatore says the main mismatch they encounter is clients who are just looking to book any photographer. To determine if the client really wants to book his studio, he asks questions like:
• Have you seen our website?
• What about our style jumps out at you?
• Are there certain types of images you have seen from us that you like?
“If they can list a couple of favorites, we might start talking about these images, how they were created, etc.,” he says. “This gives me a great indication of whether they are really digging our work in particular. Basically, I am trying to discern what type of client I am dealing with. Are they going to let me do my thing and give me the time I need to do it? If there’s a fundamental mismatch in our objectives, there’s little chance that either of us will be satisfied with the outcome.”
It’s All About the Clients
“Once you understand your demographic, it’s easy to establish a brand and marketing plan targeted at their needs,” says Salvatore. “And make no mistake: this is about the bride and groom, not you or your studio. I have seen artists all over the country being ‘true to their art,’ and that is wonderful. However, at the end of the day, we are running businesses—and the goal of any business is to make a profit.”
