WeddingWire Is A Dead End (3/3)

"How much do you charge?"

Hi photographers,

We’ve come to the last installment of the WeddingWire series. Thank you so much for your time and attention.

Let’s jump right in!

WeddingWire Attracts "Price-Shoppers"

Hypothetically, you aren't very knowledgeable about wine. Your friend takes you to their favorite wine bar, and the waiter hands you the wine list - over 300 wines to choose from.

How do you make your decision?

Maybe you start red vs. white wine. You chose red.

Then what?

You choose a geographic region because you heard it was a nice place to grow wine. Maybe you choose Argentina.

Then you choose a Red Argentinian wine based on price.

You think more expensive means better, so you choose a wine that's in your price range.

You don't have any affinity to any wine, you don't know the stories behind the wine, and you definitely don't truly know the difference in terroir.

You're a price-shopper.

A long example I know, but now let's apply this to the WeddingWire photographers listing. A couple doesn't really know what makes a good photographer, so they filter photographers based on what they think they know:

• Geographic location

• Ratings, and

• Price

If they're rated high and have a high price, then they must be good. The couple hits the big mint-green button and contacts a photographer or two (or twelve).

It's arbitrary, the clients don't know your style, your story.

The entire appeal of WeddingWire from a couple's standpoint is convenience. They either don't have the time or the money to find a great photographer.

If they had the money, but didn't have the time, they'd use their wedding planner to find a photographer.

WeddingWire is made for couples that are on a tighter budget - not your most ideal client.

Conclusion

These points above aren't meant as a review on WeddingWire but rather a referendum on the wedding gigs board as a whole. These types of companies are like personal trainers that allow you to bring pizza to the gym. You eat the pizza, they do all the work, and you get to say you're working out 5 times a week. It's a false sense of security, it's delusional at times, and you never end up learning how to actually do the work of attracting your ideal clients.

Next Steps?

• Drop or ween off your WeddingWire/The Knot accounts

• Learn about your ideal client and how to reach them

• Explore other advertising options like Facebook Marketing or content marketing.

Read the full article: https://jordanpanderson.com/thinking/weddingwire-is-a-dead-end

Cheers,
Jordan P. Anderson