STV30

Howdy! Just a little warning- This is a whole ass novel. If you stick around until the end I genuinely appreciate it. To be completely transparent, the business side of my business has always been a lack of mine. I am not confident in it and always get overstimulated- hense one of the reasons why I don't have consistent work. When I saw what this weeks tasks consisted of automation I was very excited because it would help alleviate some of my stress. Getting leads is one issue and getting the couple to book from the inquiry is another.

I made the Inquiry response video as directed in week one and this week have created a lead form in Honeybook and replaced the one I previously had on my website so all of the inquiries go through Honeybook instead of my email. I'm now at a loss for what to do now. I can't figure out how to get the video sent over to them or how to set it up so they can schedule a call with me.

Honestly, I want to make this all work so badly but I don't even know what i'm trying to ask you...

On a completely different note, I have been working on my wesite nonstop since week one and it never feels like i'm doing things right. I currently use Squarespace and I update something and then the changes never actually show up. I've tried clearing my cache and restarting my browser- I even tried waiting a few days and seeing if that helps, all to no evail. I tried puting a favicon in and changed my website title and it's all still the same.

Lastly, I feel like I need to shoot more to get my portfolio to a point where I feel comfortable with my work but I have tried reaching out to wedding photographers before and I got several responses saying I didn't have enough experience- but other photographers I know that have shot the same number of weddings as me were able to second shoot with the same photographers I was being rejected by. I've been shooting weddings since 2022 both my own clients as well as second shooting for another photographer who recently moved to France. Make note that most of last year I was unable to work due to intense complications with my pregnancy. Before doing weddings, I photographed live sets for musiscians and did commercial and editorial work. I've been getting paid for my photography work for over 10 years now and I know weddings are a different beast but I'm having a hard time hearing that I don't have enough experience to build the portfolio I want for myself. Do you have any suggestions on how to build my portfolio up further, tips to get a photographer to give me the experience their saying im lacking or is my portfolio where it needs to be and I am just overthinking it all and suck at putting myself out there? I am hesitent to continue to pay for content days / styled shoots when the work I WANT to create is not posed and honestly I can't get from anything other than an actual wedding day.

I want to invest the money I get from a wedding into going to networking events and being a part of these associations and such but that requires me to book a wedding to start and then the self doubt train starts all over agin LOL.

Here's the current version of my website but I'm not sure it looks much different from the last time y'all saw it: https://www.danaestesweddings.com