Virginia Wedding Photographers | Michael and Carina Photography
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We are so excited that the New Year is finally upon us!
A lot of people would probably say that the past year flew by; for us, nothing could be further from the truth!
2013 was such an amazing year, filled with so many new major steps for us, both personally and for our business.
That’s also why 2013 seemed to last forever for us, I suppose.
The more routine life becomes, the quicker life seems to pass by. At least, according to this awesome Vsauce video.
2013 was full of amazing personal and business experiences, new faces, friends, and making new memories., and we’re happy 2014 took its time getting here.
Here are some of the goals we set for ourselves last year which we were able to achieve. Note: this is not a “Oh my gosh, how amazing are we?” list. This is us looking back at a year of hard work and at what we were able to accomplish.
- MAKE IT. When we first moved here, our goal was to make it work as full-time wedding photographers or pack up and go home (i.e., back to Germany), where we had already started to grow a successful photography business Thanks to our amazing clients and word-of-mouth, we were able to do that.
- Incorporate film into our professional work, portfolio, and pricing. This we did out of a personal love for film, and it’s been such an enriching experience and taught us so much more about photography. It’s also helped us refine our personal style.
- Not only to survive, but to thrive. We knew both of us could not live full time off of photography without adjusting our income by raising our prices at the beginning of the year. Raising prices is always scary for any business. As we learned, your clients - not any clients, but your clients - will still see value in what you do and be willing to invest in that. We are so blessed to have had such wonderful clients invest in our work this past year and already for next year.
- Our video. We met with The Girl Tyler around New Years, a year ago, and discussed filming a promo video. We knew they were the best in the area, and it would mean an investment. We were finally able to save enough to invest in their work this fall, and the results of their work was spectacular.
- Establish lasting, positive relationships with other wedding professionals and photographers. Last year, we were the new kids on the block, having just moved here from Germany. We still have a lot of room to grow, but we cannot count our blessings of 2013 and not think about the amazing network of professional wedding vendors and friends we’ve met and been blessed to work with. Too many to name here. You know who you are though.
- Our client delivery method. A year ago, we almost hesitate to say, we were delivering work on DVDs. The process involved was stressful, lengthy, and impractical. PASS has been such an amazing blessing to us and has helped us streamline our customer service.
- Getting published. A major goal of this past year was getting published. And get published we did! We’re super excited about that. We don’t submit to a blog, book, or magazine that we’re not huge fans of, so each feature is a tremendous honor.
- Welcome packets. Boom. There we said it. We have them, but they are not where we want them to be. We really think some proper welcome packets would be a great addition to our client experience, but we never got around to investing the time and energy into making them look exactly how we wanted them to look. Guess what one of our major goals for 2014 is?
- Word of mouth goes a long way. Genuinely valuing your clients is the best way to get more clients. Emphasis on genuine. Maybe we’re just lucky, but we just can’t help but get super excited about each new client and vendor that we are blessed to work with.
- Don’t give up. 2013 has not been one long stream of successes for us. Yes, we were published in a bunch of awesome places. We also received a lot of “no’s.” A lot of clients met with us and booked us on the spot. Some clients said no. Some potential clients met with us, went through a great consultation, and then never contacted us again. Don’t let it get to you. The only thing holding you back is yourself.
- Be dedicated. I guess the “Do it once, and do it well” saying would apply here. Before each new job, we like to go into it saying it’s going to be the best yet. Don’t settle or make excuses for yourself… push yourself… not only because you owe it to your clients… but because you owe it to yourself.
All in all, more than anything, we are thankful when we look back on the past 12 months. Thankful, and as always when we pause to reflect, deeply humbled.
We’re so excited about what 2014 holds. Best of all, we’re excited to tackle 2014 together.
This blog is part 1; part 2 will be posted later this week. We’ll talk about what we look forward to accomplishing in 2014.
xoxo Michael and Carina
Virginia Wedding Photographers | Destination Wedding Photographers
I’m SO proud of where you guys have come in such a short amount of time! I have loved seeing you not only survive but THRIVE here – you are both so talented and I know that 2014 will be amazing for you!
rock on!!! you guys have come so far – happy new year!!
I love this! I also haven’t seen your promo video so I’m off to go find that now – the girl tyler is amazing and so are you guys so I’m sure it’s fabulous! Happy New Year!!
Wow! It sounds like you guys have come a long way this year! Congratulations! I hope you have a wonderful new year!
Yayy! Happy New Year! It has been such a pleasure watching your business grow over the past few months! Wishing you an amazing start to 2014!
Happy New Year! Wishing you a fabulous 2014!