We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cassidy Kohlert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cassidy, appreciate you joining us today. We’ve love to hear an interesting investment story – what was one of the best or worst investments you’ve made? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

One of the best investments I’ve made for my business was starting to use a client management system. I researched a few and decided to invest in Dubsado at the start of this year. Winters are typically a slower period for wedding photographers, so I decided to use the extra time to create better processes. It took me a while to get everything set up, but I am so glad I did! Now I have automated workflows set up and templates in place that save me so much time day-to-day. I’ve automated immediate responses for when someone inquires with me, email templates to send contracts and invoices, and payment plans/reminders. This has been one of the best investments because it’s given me time back so that I can focus on other areas of my business instead of the day-to-day administrative tasks.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a wedding photographer based out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I travel often for weddings and usually have 1-2 weddings a month out-of-state (primarily in Utah or Southern California). I love traveling and capturing the happiest day of people’s lives!

I have always had an interest in and passion for photography. I took various courses throughout school but I’ve seen the most growth in my abilities from practice. I started photographing high school seniors and families about nine years ago and then moved into weddings three years ago. Weddings definitely have my heart and I love how fun and happy they are. It’s an honor to be part of someone’s wedding day and to be entrusted with capturing their memories.

One of the most important things to me as a wedding photographer is client experience. In addition to day-of photography, I offer booked couples wedding planning calls, timeline help, location guides, session guides, wedding planning guides, and vendor recommendations. I want couples to be able to enjoy their engagement, so I try my best to help alleviate some of the stress that comes with wedding planning.

I am really proud of the photos I create mainly because it has taken a lot of time and practice to improve my photography. It is really rewarding to create photos that I’m proud of and that my clients love.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My husband, Tyler, started doing wedding videography two years ago. Most of our weddings have booked us together for photography and videography, which has been super fun! Last year, we did 16 weddings together in 2 months, which was pretty hectic but also a blast! Since then, we’ve taken on less videography bookings, since Tyler started dental school.

We have had a great experience running our wedding photo and video business together. Tyler was the one who encouraged me to take a leap and start photographing weddings. That has been one of the best decisions of my life and I don’t know that I would’ve had the confidence to do so without his support and encouragement. We balance each other out really well and I love being able to share such a big part of our lives together.

Tyler and I met because we both served church missions in Lima, Peru. We started dating about a year after we got home, started doing wedding photo and video together, and then got married a year and a half later. We graduated from BYU earlier this year and then moved to Fort Lauderdale for Tyler to start dental school.

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

Social media has been so crucial in growing our business! Most of our bookings come from Instagram and a few come from Facebook or TikTok. It’s surprising to me how effective social media has been, especially because I don’t consider myself an expert at all! I honestly find social media to be exhausting and stressful, but it is definitely worth it!

A few Instagram strategies that have worked well for me are creating a consistent feed, optimizing my bio, and posting consistently. I use an app to plan out my posts and to make sure my feed is aesthetically-pleasing. When someone finds my account, their first impression of me and my photography is my feed. I always try to keep that in mind when I’m sharing posts. Another strategy that I’ve done is optimize my bio. Instead of putting my name first, I put “Florida wedding photographer”. When someone searches that, my account will pop up as a result. This has helped people find me on social media. Lastly, I have found that relevant, engaging, and consistent content has helped me. I don’t have many followers on social media, but I do feel that my posts create value. I would rather have helpful posts reach the right person than have irrelevant (but entertaining) posts go viral.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cassidykohlertphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cassidykohlertphoto
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Cassidy-Kohlert-Photo/100074239561222/

Image Credits

Cassidy Kohlert Photo