1: Write Down Your Favorite Past Clients
Write down 3 to 10 of your absolute favorite past clients. The more clients you can study, the better! If you are just getting started in wedding photography and you don’t have very many past clients to work with or you’ve booked people you don’t enjoy working with, then write down friends, family, or acquaintances that you would love to photograph if you got the chance.
2: Mark next to their name
Write down symbols next to each client based on the criteria below. You can write down as many of these symbols that apply:
- (💲) = Stands for the fact that they booked you at your rates, no questions asked.
- (💜) = Did you enjoy working with them? Or did you love their inspiration, colors, wedding style? Were they fun?
- (✔) = Did they refer you? Have they referred you to friends or family whether that person book you or not?
3: Analyze your list: Look at your list, and identify the clients that have two or more symbols next to their name. These are the people that are truly ideal for you as you enjoy working with them, are inspired by working with them, and/or don’t have to haggle over your rates (i.e. they thought you worth it).
4: Dig Deep: Their Likes, Interests, and Hobbies
Ask these questions of your list to understand who your ideal bride is. Keep in mind that you can utilize IG or FB to figure out some of the answers.
- What do they like to do with their free time? What is their favorite date night?
- What do they post on social media the most?
- What is their personal style? What kind of clothes do they typically wear? If you know the brand, write it down.
- What are they generally interested in? What are their favorite foods/meals/restaurants? Are they into beer, wine, champagne, tequila? What are their hobbies? Favorite sports? Coffee/Tea? Do they love adventures like hiking or traveling? Are they into cars or boats or motorcycles? Do they have pets? What types of things do they post the most about?
- What do they do for a living? Are they lawyers? Doctors? Teachers? Artists? Etc. What college did they go to? Their degree or high school graduate?
- Where did they grow up? Are they close to their families? Did they live in mom and dad’s home until they got married or did they live with their spouse before they were married?
- Are they religious?
Once you’ve written these down:
Circle any common traits that occur between your favorite couples. Star the traits that you like the most about them.
Underline traits that you also happen to enjoy.
5: Boil down the information to find their Values
This is hard to do, but after working with them and “stalking” their social media, you can start to draw conclusions as to their values. When you can dig down and figure out values, it goes a long way to really understanding who your ideal bride is and what makes her tick. This helps you to know how to speak to your ideal bride on social media.
