Wednesday I posted a little exciting news that Sandbridge Reality included my business on their website.    They were seriously awesome to work with.   I wanted to express how grateful I am for this experience and also to share with others how this came about.    Approaching vendors and other businesses can be terrifying!   Luckily I’m pretty outgoing and crazy enough to talk to strangers often, but I know some people are shy and probably have even more trouble with it than I do.

I always try to talk to vendors in a moment that is not awkward…. (aside from my usual awkwardness).   I never want to interrupt what they are doing or jump in conversation at a bad time.

Because Amy & Andrew’s wedding was in a Sandbridge Beach house I knew that parking was going to be tricky.   I had my 2nd shooter meet me at the Sandbridge Realty office.    When I popped in to check if it was ok to leave her car there, I went ahead and mustered up the courage to say “I would love to share my pictures with y’all after the wedding if you could give me a card for who to send them.”  …. something like that.    I put the card in my bag and we went on our way!

At the wedding as usual, I would try at some point to introduce myself to any vendor there, ask for a card if they have it and make conversation.   I loved this particular wedding because everyone was somehow friends with the bride and groom, it was awesome!   Totally my DIY style!

Anyway so after my images were done I sent them to all the different vendors and didn’t expect anything in return.  I could not believe it when I got a reply from Stacey at Sandbridge and they LOVED the images.  They are now on their website!    Ahhhh it was just so exciting…. I pretty much freaked out with excitement.     I also got amazing responses from a few of the other vendors…. it was really just an amazing experience over all.    Sorry I just used the word amazing so many times!

Why am I just head over heels excited about this?  Because beach house and/or outdoor DIY weddings are what I really want to specialize in.   Shooting Amy & Andrew’s wedding brought me back to my own wedding… I felt right at home and loved every minute.

So here are my tips for talking to vendors or other businesses….. This is geared toward photographers, but ANY small business can benefit from networking with others.  We can all help each other!
-Be brave and do it!   Especially if you are shooting at a venue you might want more of!
-Always be kind and generous and share your images.  Don’t lose sleep over getting photo credit, or copyrights….word of mouth is more powerful anyway.   (just my opinion)
-Make sure the images are easy for them to access, I use a PASS gallery.
-I always offer to help them in the future, and I mean it.   I’m not just sending my images and sitting there hoping they will refer me, I am building a relationship that I hope will continue.    I never assume “my pictures will speak for themselves” because I’d much rather people pass on information about my personality or my character.   How can they do that if I just send pictures and that’s it?   The relationship is the important part, not the images.
-Always smile, be happy, dress professional, you are your brand.

Thank you Thank you Stacey and Lisa and Sandbridge Realty!  And of course Amy & Andrew for choosing me as their photographer<3        I look forward to more weddings on the beach!