Is shooting more than just weddings to my detriment?

[Charles House]

I apply to a lot of positions, usually one-time needs or contracting through other companies.

I applied to a wedding contractor and got this email back.

"Hi thanks for following up but we are looking strictly for wedding professionals thank you"

Am I missing something here? Is the fact that I do more than just weddings somehow bad?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Charles

Plenty of us do more than just weddings!! In today's enconomy you cannot just rely on one income source..you have to have different jobs so when weddings get quiet you still have an income. However I suspect he was expecting you to say "yes, I'm a wedding videographer" and no more..you probably mentioned that you can do commercial work etc etc which put him off. I'm sure he has more than one income anyway!

Chris

[Don Bloom]

If someone is looking for a wedding videographer then I say " I are one" nothing more.

If someone is looking for a person to do corporate then I say "I are one" nothing more

When someone calls me and asks if I can do TV work work I say "I are one" nothing more.

I don't know that many people in the industry anymore that do just weddings. Most do a combo of work to keep the money flowing but you need to know who you're talking to and what they're looking for so you can tailor your answers to them.

I don't think being a wedding videographer hurts either. I liken it to shooting news. It happens fast, it happens oncce and you don't get a second chance to re-shoot very much at all, so if you can do that then you can pretty much handle any situation. Like we used to say back in tha day in the Army. Hours of boredom, moments of terror! that pretty much sums up a wedding after you've done a few hundred or a couple of thousand.

[Simon Wood]

Originally Posted by Don Bloom

If someone is looking for a person to do corporate then I say "I am one" nothing more

Har-har. Fixed that for you.

[Peter Manojlovic]

Originally Posted by Charles House

"Hi thanks for following up but we are looking strictly for wedding professionals thank you"

How funny.
Seems that a few years back, being strictly a wedding videographer kept you in the dungeon. The lucrative commercial jobs were kept for insiders only.
Many wedding videographers have pushed the envelope, and made the commercial businesses quite nervous.

But if somebody is asking for wedding professional only, then don't feel bad..It's their loss for not allowing well rounded people in their company..

Move on..

[Noa Put]

Originally Posted by Charles House

Am I missing something here? Is the fact that I do more than just weddings somehow bad?

The wedding contractor probably expects someone with experience that knows what the key moments are of a wedding, it's not just a matter of having tons of experience operating your video and audio equipment but if you do weddings from different cultures you might be in for a surprise if you don't know what you can or cannot do. Or just knowing what is most imortant for the couple and by that maybe missing important moments.

[Long Truong]

Have you shown them your portfolio?

Does your portfolio have some good wedding material to show?

If you answered yes to both of the above questions, then I don't see how someone would tell you that you're not a "wedding professional" unless they really don't like your work and don't think it's professional enough. Who knows?

[Chris Harding]

Hey Charles

If I could get more commercial work I wouldn't even worry about looking for weddings..maybe just one ot two every few months for the social aspect. For your money they are a LOT harder work and the clients are a LOT fussier!! You tend to spend a lot more time with editing weddings too!!

If you are getting commercial work, be happy!! It way less stressful too and if you mess up the shoot (or part of it) you can often re-shoot it too!!

If you really want wedding work just don't mention the fact that you do anything else!!! That's obviously what the advertiser wants to see on you resume!!!

Chris

[Kawika Ohumukini]

Along these lines, not to hijack the thread, should we have wedding only marketing (biz card, web site, pitch, etc.) or is it okay to munge it altogether with other services (event, portrait, sports, commercial)?

The marketing mind in me says keep it focused because it's easier to explain and close. The jack-of-all-trades-until-I-land-somewhere mind says shotgun it until. Thanks.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Kawika

I keep my talents pooled and do a whole bunch of different stuff BUT each "part" of the business has it's own website!! Some wedding guys even dual brand..they have one website for high end brides and one for budget brides.

It's pretty much essential to not put all your eggs in one basket...the more you can diversify and keep your cameras busy, the better..at best weddings are really restricted to weekends (sorta Friday/Saturday/Sunday) so it better to do other stuff during the week and during the Winter months.

The sensible wedding videographer nowdays appears a dedicated professional who concentrates solely on weddings but in fact wears many hats!!! We have to do it to survive so don't feel bad if you do other stuff besides weddings!

Chris

[Kawika Ohumukini]

Hi Chris. Thanks for your thoughts. I struggle a little everyday on this subject. Since I'm just making the leap, I spend a lot of time working on my marketing message. I'm still honing my out-in-public lead-generation message vs. my online one.

[Nigel Barker]

I agree with Chris. We too have different websites for different parts of the business. We are in the process of developing a high end wedding site Alice Barker Films | Exclusive Cinematic Wedding Films which will run alongside our regular Norfolk Wedding Videographers - Alice Barker Weddings - Alice Barker Wedding Videos & Creative Video & Website Solutions - Alice Barker Media (for commercial videos & web design). One part that we hived off entirely separate to the other websites is Funeral Videos, Tribute Albums, Video Biographies, Memorial Websites as we felt that it it could be off-putting for brides to find that we do funerals too.

When we talk to brides we like to mention that we shoot stuff other than weddings as it shows we are in demand as competent videographers & have a broad range but in terms of the marketing message it's better for the website, business cards & other collateral to just concentrate on weddings.