Secrets to Getting Your First Photobooth Gig!
So now you have your brand identity, your website and your pricing. It's now time to get out and get your first photo booth gig!
This starts by introducing yourself to everyone. Remember that you're new and people have no idea who you are, what your business is, or what you can do! While it's not necessary, some people like to do a free event for exposure. I know that in the photography industry it can be a very controversial subject, but when done properly, exposure can actually take you very far!
Many photo booth buyers of ours have told us that their first events, some of them being done for free, have created long lasting relationships with clients that they still work with to this day. Make sure, however, that if you're working with a venue and offering to give them a free gig for exposure that their clients are in the budget range you're offering otherwise your exposure will be for nothing!
One other important aspect of free "exposure gigs" is marketing - I cannot stress this enough! For example, if you're working a wedding it's incredibly important that you have your logo on the back of your photobooth screen, the print template (if you offer prints), the emails you send, that kind of stuff - especially because a wedding is a type of event where you may normally remove your branding for an extra cost. This will allow you to market yourself and your business in a tasteful way to all of the wedding attendees.
When you reach out to people you want to make sure that you show them exactly what the value is that you're giving them - you want to show them the absolute best performance that you can give to their customers.
Again, using the example of a wedding planner, you may say the following when reaching out:
"Hi there! I'm new in the industry and we may not have met, but I'd really like to work with you because I think our clients are going to be very similar. In order to prove to you how amazing our service is, I want to offer you one free photo booth job that you can give to any of your customers."
This makes the wedding planner look like a rockstar because they just got a free photo booth - not just any photo booth, a premium one! - at no cost to their customer. It makes them look really good and now you have this opportunity to showcase what you can do for this person. If you make this person really happy and you have great communication, I guarantee you that they're going to stick with you. Weddings are stressful and wedding planners want to work with easy going people.
Who should you target with these free events?
Wedding planners or wedding venues and corporate event or marketing coordinators tend to be the best options! Why? Well, these two groups tend to have multiple events which means if they like what you offer, they'll likely book you again, but this time it won't be free!
Alright, you've just had your first free event, now what? It's time to follow up with them.
Find out what they liked and didn't like about your service. This way you'll receive a lot of really great feedback from them!
If they liked it, and hopefully they do, they'll likely have another event coming up and they'll want to get a quote from you. This is how you're going to build your rapport with these planners and make sure you get out into the open. Again, all of these guests are potential clients for you as well, so you want to make sure that these people have your contact information in some way, shape, or form so that they can book you for their own events!
Additionally, when you send your email, make sure to include visuals! Remember, if you're a PBSCO photo booth owner, you have all of our great promotional flyers, images, and more! Use this to your advantage and let them see the high quality work you can provide! If you're not an owner, but are considering purchasing our newest Salsa Photo Booth, we also have sample photos you can use in our free eBook! Download it and check it out today.
Use The Free Gigs to Make Your Own Marketing Materials
Since you're doing a gig for free, take advantage of the opportunity to get there early and take pictures for your website. These "key shots" are important and will provide you with your own marketing materials. Take a giant room shot, some detail shots, maybe a shot with the backdrop, if you're not printing you can take a picture of your phone with the image showing off that you can AirDrop or text the photos to yourself - you can never have too many photos! All of this can be utilized for marketing down the road, your Instagram, website, anything that allows you to show off that you actually do events!
Ready for the next step of Starting a Photo Booth Business? Check out this article here where we go into detail about marketing your booth! Alternatively, download our free eBook and read about these steps on the go!