A bit ago, Jennifer reached out via Facebook and asked the following question:

I get asked this question quite a bit and I'll start by saying it looks different for every photographer. However, there are patterns to getting photographic work outside of the city/state in which a person resides. I can't say how it'll work in every situation (if you'd like to share your experience, the comment box is open), but I can talk how things unfolded for me.

I'll start by saying I have–hands down–the most amazing clients. From the early days of my business, they became endorsers of my work and supporters of my dream. They passed my name along and it resulted in booking 38 weddings my first year of business. In fact, the third wedding I photographed on my own was in Mexico (Rosarito Beach, to be precise). That bride was referred to me by a friend of a friend (I get into further details how I booked my early weddings in Exposed Magazine) and I quickly learned the power of word of mouth recommendations.

But let's take this idea to the next step: are photographers giving clients a way to easily share their work? For instance, after shooting a wedding, what are photographers doing to create conversations around their portfolio? It works in a myriad of ways, but the key is to make the images as sharable as possible. In other words, photographers need to make sharing images easy for their clients.

After a wedding, I'll post photos in the following ways:
1. on my blog
2. in a slideshow
3. on Facebook
4. on Twitter
5. on Instagram

What I'm essentially doing is creating ways for my bride to share her wedding day with her friends and family…in whatever method she prefers. What usually happens at this point is that the bride and groom's friends then share the photos…in whatever method they prefer. And then conversations build around the wedding day, but the narrative is built around photos. My photos to be precise.

Building an online presence allows a photographer to cross geographic boundaries because the photos aren't limited to, say, a physical print or an album. While traditional forms of wedding photography are cherished and beautiful, they tend to garner local attraction (clients who could actually come and physically see the work). Exposing photos digitally changes the landscape of a photographer's business. One amazing photo repined a few times on Pinterest can result in a ton of inquiries…from around the world! This happens quite often (as well as sharing mechanisms for blogging/Facebook/Twitter/etc), but the key is to continually produce shareable work.

Continue to build an online presence and create easy ways for clients and their friends to talk about your photos and soon enough they'll be passing your name along in your town, then county, then state, and then across borders! So often photographers are concerned with how they can reach brides, but if the focus is placed on taking care of the clients and their photos, the clients market a photographer's services far better than a photographer herself could.

Stay Fabulous,
j*