Over the past few weeks we’ve had discussion on what a style shoot is. For those who are not familiar with the concept, style shoots are a smaller version of an event or wedding. Many times when you see images online or in magazines, these are not always real weddings or events. These are style shoots that give you inspiration on how to design your own wedding or event. Not all Wedding Planners or Event Planners engage in style shoots. Maybe it’s because they are unfamiliar with the concept. Just maybe they are yet are not familiar with how to get their style shoot published because they don’t see the benefits. From one planner to another, there are many style shoots benefits, but they take time.
Did you know that following your style shoot it can take up to 6 months before people are able to see your work?
Depending on the timeline of the blog or magazine, it can take weeks or months before you can share images of your shoot. But we are not here to discuss how to get your style shoot published. Stay tuned for our next blog on style shoot publishing.
Today is all about the benefits in creating your style shoot and the impact that can have on your business. Let’s get started.
Style Shoot Benefits
1 – Market Reach
Not all Wedding or Event Planners have as many followers as large blogs or magazines. Having any of these media outlets showcase your work, means more eyes are now on you. More people who follow these brands are now introduced to your brand, your personality, and your design skills. Don’t know about you, but this is a major boost in your brand awareness without having to pay for advertisement. Our biggest boost last year was a Harlem Renaissance Style Shoot that went viral.
2 – Increased Annual Sales
Once your style shoot has been published by a media outlet and you get more awareness, this increases potential clients. It is not guaranteed that you will get a new client from your style shoot, but that is truly the goal. You should submit your shoot to the media entity that has most of the audience you want to attract. In doing so, clients will see your work and want to hire you to do the same magic on their event.
3 – Vendor Interactions
Style shoots are the perfect way to meet new vendors and confirm the relationships you have with existing vendors. We are forever seeking new ways, new trends, and new concepts to make us better. Working with vendors in your industry is a great way to collaborate and learn what is going on. Often times we can be closed minded only focusing on what makes our world go round and forget about the dozens of other things that our clients also care about. Having vendors a part of your style shoot helps you to keep a pulse on activity going on. It also opens you up to hearing what needs vendors have for upcoming events with the chance of you being hired. Vendors range from Bakers, Venue Managers, Stationer, Photographers, Rental Managers, Boutique Owners, and Hair and Makeup Artist.
4 – Expertise
Leading a style shoot allows the general public to begin to see you as an expert. No I’m not saying by getting a shoot published you are automatically an expert. What I am saying is that, the more you produce style shoots along with events and wedding and have those published, people will begin to see you as a force to pay attention to. From there anything is possible. Speaking opportunities on the local news, being quoted, and yes being hired are all benefits that follow. All of this has to start somewhere so why not today? Not every style shoot will be published. Not every published style shoot will go viral. But what it will do is allow you to grow in experience and learn many tricks of the trade. These lessons are what clients are looking for from you in your area of expertise.
5 – Extended Imagination
I’ll be honest with you, we as planners can get stagnant very easy. We can find one thing that we love doing and end up only doing that. I wouldn’t want to ever be in that situation and recommend you don’t either. Your clients will come from all over the world so it’s important that you are able to use your imagination to create what they want. I’m not saying to not have your own style as you should. Your style should not be so specific that it cannot be altered to meet the needs of a potential client. A style shoot should test your imagination not display what we have already seen of you. If so, that is a waste of vendor time and money and will not resonate well with potential clients.
In Conclusion
Lastly, each of these style shoot benefits comes with time and knowledge. It’s something that we know will pay off and is a tool that Event and Wedding Planners should use to build their portfolio and expertise. On July 27th we are hosting a Style Shoot Workshop that will delve deeper into these benefits, show you how to get published, and show you how to design a style shoot with a hands on exercise. We have a few slots left. Register today.