We were lucky to catch up with Anneliese Elder recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anneliese, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

Being a wedding photographer that primarily photographs destination events, I have always been told my business can work from anywhere. Throw in three moves and scaling up in the industry, and the expected growth in my business can create challenges that caused me to reconsider my journey.

My husband’s career has taken us all over the Southeast. I was confident throughout moves knowing my talent and experience could lead to more work. There are clients for every artist and weddings happen all the time here in our new town- Savannah, GA.

I put in the work well before we arrived, establishing connections with other industry professionals and ensuring my SEO (search engine optimization) reflected the new city. Once we moved into our home, it truly felt like I was starting my business from scratch. The 5 years in the industry meant nothing to couples or vendors here in town. The first-page of Google search results led to few leads. The investments I made in continuing my business education established new connections, but all of us professionals who were leveling up our vendor experiences felt the lull in bookings as one does when you shift into a new investment tier.

With the move, I chose to approach a new tier of events, which meant increasing my pricing to show my value. The price increase gave clients that were the wrong fit a quick way to walk away. Which meant my calendar was more open than it has been in years. With this free time, I evaluated my goals as a business owner and started taking steps to find the right clients for me.

Here are some steps I took to attract the right clients in a new market:
Joined all industry-related networking groups – attended as many events as I could to meet new vendors and introduce myself to the right people.
Hosted my own vendor event – I hosted a headshot party that included bites, drinks, and vendor features experiences to showcase other vendors to the right planners and venues.
Met one-on-one with some of my ideal vendor partners to learn about their businesses and collaborate on a blog post featuring them.
These connections led to some wonderful opportunities that I may not have seen if I was only focusing on posting social media content or updating my wedding-search-engine profiles like The Knot or Zola.

Taking the risk to ride out the pause in bookings, has transformed me as a business owner. I have learned to say no to things that don’t align with my purpose. I have emotionally invested in connections with the right creatives that align with my goals. I have elevated my client experience by re-evaluating what my ideal couples want in a wedding photographer.

The wait is hard, but the reward from taking a look inward at your vision for your business has shifted my goals and led to experiences that I could never have imagined.

Anneliese, 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?

My name is Anneliese, I am a destination wedding photographer based in Savannah, GA. I have photographed weddings for 7 years all over the country and the Caribbean.

I was born and raised in Europe, so any opportunity to visit and do my job has been incredible. My husband and I have had every sort of wedding celebration – a courthouse ceremony quickly after we got engaged, an elopement in Spain near where I grew up, and a backyard wedding celebration of our dreams. Having experienced all those celebrations as a bride and photographed hundreds of weddings of all styles and sizes, I have a unique approach to each couple’s wedding day.

Getting excited about your vendor team and never hearing from them until the month before your wedding can create additional anxieties around your day. I provide my couples with many resources throughout the planning process so each couple can feel prepared for portraits and every event scheduled while feeling in the moment.
Sharing posing tips, things to look for when securing vendors and venues, and recommendations for many important moments throughout the wedding weekend, ensures my couples are confident with their creative team decision.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Early on in my career, the easiest way to build an audience was by posting a photo and using hashtags to show up in markets I desired to work in. That is how I booked many of my destination events at the beginning. Now that I have an audience and am looking to grow the audience in my new market, it’s important to remember the following you already have. They support you, and they trust your expertise. Many of your previous clients or audience can refer you to the right client. Share your work, but always include valuable insight into your process, your ideal client’s journey, and your knowledge in the industry. Those captions will warm up any leads by proving you have experience and they can rely on your service.
If you have just started your business and need a quick way to grow an audience, share some conversation starters that have many opinions. When I started sharing videos on TikTok, I shared outdated wedding trends that could be left alone for the following year. There was loads of feedback- positive and negative. Sharing some opinions that may ruffle some feathers but are still relevant to your industry can attract an audience who is searching for similar advice.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I have had to unlearn this lesson many times – but stop saying yes to every opportunity that comes your way. I have always believed every opportunity leads to a new door opening, but some doors may not be right for your business. I thought offering complimentary services to showcase my talents would lead to future bookings, but it only led to more favors and free photo sessions. Securing clients in a moment of scarcity even though I knew they weren’t the right fit has always led to dissatisfaction from the client. Saying no to some opportunities that don’t align with your goals is a great way to practice setting boundaries and putting yourself first. This will lead to availability in your calendar for the right clients or partnerships who value your service to work with you.    

Contact Info:

• Website: www.loveanneliese.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/loveanneliesephoto
• Facebook: facebook.com/loveanneliese
• Tiktok: www.tiktok.com/@loveanneliesephoto

Image Credits
All images photographed by Love, Anneliese Photography