We recently connected with Tom Martin and have shared our conversation below.

Tom, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about one of the craziest things you’ve experienced in your journey so far.

Leading up to any wedding or event, I always ask what are the priority shots for the client. What are the shot(s) that are “must-haves”. There’s always the family member that does a weird thing, or a group shot with the family members that are never in town or similar. One very small wedding I did, was hosted at the brother of the groom’s house. This brother (and host) overheard me going over the ‘must-have’ list with the couple on the day before the event, and approached me after. He said that he had a special request, and that was that he had ordered special toilet paper for the guest bathroom, and he’d love it if I could get a shot of it! “You want me to take a picture of the toilet paper?!” I almost fell over. Now extremely curious I made my way over to where he had directed, and sure enough there was wedding bell/cartoon themed toilet paper!

As requested, I included that shot in the delivered photos and it turned out to be a hoot. I’m glad it went over well, but never in my life did I ever expect to have something like that requested!

Tom, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I got started in my industry stemming from a long-held passion for photography. At first I was very hesitant to ‘go pro’, and I decided to make the jump after a message on social media asking if they could purchase one of my images! From there it took lots of trail and error and some good (and bad) interactions with clients to find my niche. My passion and my mission is to capture the moments that create memories of the event. My job is to capture and preserve those moments, so that they can be re-lived years later through the photos I Provide. One of the best compliments that I’ve received is from a couple who said they wanted to show their future kids what a beautiful tie they had. Those kid of memories from those kind of moments are what people will treasure the most. There are several problems, or potential problems that I solve for my clients.

The first one is peace of mind. Everyone at a modern wedding or event has a cell-phone camera. Many people now are very adept at getting very good shots with them even, The downside of that though, is those wedding guests are also wedding guests, and are not there solely to take photos. Nor are they going to take pictures the-whole-time-they-are-there. despite what they might say. I provide the piece of mind that I’m there, not as a guest, but as a professional who’s dedicated to capturing those priceless moments. Another solution that I provide is delivering the “wow” photos of the couple, the marquis shots and portraits taken (typically) between the wedding and reception. Thirdly, as the wedding photographer, I am in places and angles that guests cant be. For example directly at the end of the aisle as the wedding party processes in. the parties walking in, the flower girl/ring bearer framed along the sides with family and the venue is a one of a kind that no-one else can quite capture but the wedding photographer.

What I am most proud of with my work is the overwhelmingly positive feedback that I receive. from guests, to referrals, comments and follows and likes on social media. the idea that something that I love to do, and have such a passion for is appreciated, and cherished by those that I work for is truly what makes my work not feel like work at all, and that is something I’m both incredibly grateful for, and very proud of.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The biggest factor that helped me build my reputation within my market was being transparent and knowing when to say no to a potential client that wasn’t really what I was looking to do. When I first started doing photography professionally, I wanted as many jobs as I could, and with that motivation I would accept any job for almost anything. that led to a lot of frustration for both me and my initial clients. When I began to really focus on what I wanted to do, and the types of ideal clients I wanted to work with I became more selective about the types of shoots I would accept. being open, and transparent and being able to tell a client, their vision and ask for what they were looking for isn’t what I’m best at producing, and referring them elsewhere, while at the same time delivering top-notch and the best possible work with every client that I took on combined to both make things smoother, but also build my reputation for top-notch work, and being open and fair with everyone I talk to.

I’ve actually had clients that told me they were referred by friends of theirs who did not hire me-but who said I was transparent , open, and clear about what I can and do offer. That referral based on a one time interaction and because of the reputation I built on transparency and integrity is one of the things I’m most proud of in my business.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

By far, the best strategy for building clientele is word of mouth and referrals. It isn’t the fastest, but a good referral gives you an in with a client before you ever discuss the event or project, and it almost eliminates competition in some cases. I’ve purposefully stayed away from paid-for leads, and other ad sources to keep my reviews, comments and word-of-mouth growth organic and strong. There are faster ways to grow, and there are other ways of gaining tons of new clients, but good, slow and intentional word of mouth, or “grass roots” type marketing really provides a solid foundation for growing, and providing for my business.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://twmartinphotog.wixsite.com/my-site
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/tom-martin-photography-baltimore
• Other: https://www.weddingwire.com/biz/tom-martin-photography/81f25955fcf7ef29.html