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

Hi Savannah , thanks for joining us today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today.

If we were starting Saturday Sun Photo over again, the biggest shift we’d make is putting marketing first—specifically content marketing and SEO.

Like many photographers, we focused almost entirely on getting better at our craft in the early days—creating beautiful work, booking whoever came our way, and figuring it out as we went. But we learned the hard way that it doesn’t matter how talented you are if no one can find you. If we were starting today, we’d treat marketing as the most important part of running a successful business—not an afterthought.

We’d build our website with SEO in mind from day one, creating location-based blogs, helpful planning content, and optimized service pages that would bring in organic leads on autopilot. SEO has been one of the most powerful drivers of growth for us, but we didn’t truly invest in it until a few years in. If we had started sooner, we would’ve built authority faster, ranked higher, and had a steady stream of dream clients finding us naturally—without constantly relying on social media or ads.

We’d also clearly define our niche early on and build intentional branding, messaging, and systems that reflect the high-end experience we offer. Automating our client workflows, using strong pricing guides and email templates, and creating a clear client journey would’ve saved us so much time and helped us scale faster.

In short, if we were starting over today, we’d approach it like a business first, not just a creative passion. With everything we know now, we could’ve built what we have in half the time—just by leading with marketing, niching down sooner, and creating strategic content that works for us 24/7.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

We’re Sav & Greg, the founders of Saturday Sun Photo, a wedding photography team built to serve both couples and photographers in a better, more sustainable way.

We started Saturday Sun during COVID, in a season when reschedules, cancellations, and uncertainty were shaking up the wedding industry. As full-time photographers ourselves, we had built strong systems for marketing, communication, and client experience—things that many extremely talented photographers were struggling with, not because of their skill level, but because they lacked the time, tools, or knowledge to market themselves and run the business side of things effectively.

We created Saturday Sun to solve two big problems:

For couples: we wanted to provide a consistent, seamless, high-quality wedding photography experience from the first inquiry to the final gallery—regardless of which photographer on our team was shooting.
For photographers: we wanted to offer a way to do more of what they love (shooting!) without constantly hustling to get bookings, handle communication, or stay up late editing.
Today, Saturday Sun is a trusted, full-service photography team for couples who want beautiful, timeless wedding images—and a stress-free, elevated experience. We handle the entire process in-house: from helping clients find the perfect photographer on our team, to managing timelines, communication, and editing. Our clients love how easy we make everything, and how confident they feel knowing they’ll be taken care of every step of the way.

At the same time, we’re proud to provide opportunities for incredibly talented photographers who want to focus on their craft without getting bogged down in marketing or back-end workflows. We match them with clients who align with their style, support them with efficient systems, and ensure they’re delivering top-tier results with less stress.

What sets us apart isn’t just our beautiful photos—it’s our commitment to quality, communication, and care on both sides of the experience. Whether it’s a photographer joining our team or a couple getting married, we believe in supporting people through one of the most important days of their lives with kindness, professionalism, and creativity.

We’re most proud of how many couples have told us they actually enjoyed planning their wedding thanks to working with us—and how many photographers we’ve helped stay in love with their craft because they finally had the support they needed.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Definitely. One of the biggest things we wish we had known earlier in our creative journey was the power of SEO—and how to actually use it.

For the first few years, we focused almost entirely on creating beautiful work and sharing it on social media, hoping the right clients would find us. But we didn’t realize how much easier and more sustainable it could be if we had just learned how to get found through search engines—by people already looking for exactly what we offer.

Tools like SEMrush would’ve saved us so much time and trial-and-error. It’s an incredible platform for keyword research, competitor analysis, and understanding what content people are actually searching for. Once we started using SEMrush and learning how to write content that ranks on Google, we saw a huge shift in the quality and consistency of inquiries we were getting.

We also wish we had invested in SEO education earlier—whether through courses or mentorship. Learning how to structure blog posts, optimize site speed, write metadata, and build domain authority felt so overwhelming at first. But once we committed to learning the basics (and using tools like SEMrush to guide our strategy), we realized SEO isn’t as mysterious as it seems—and the results are long-term and game-changing.

If we could go back, we’d skip some of the social media burnout and invest in our website and SEO from the beginning. It’s truly been one of the most impactful parts of growing our business—not just for ourselves, but also for helping our team photographers get consistent bookings without relying on paid ads or endless posting.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Google has hands-down been the best source of new clients for us.

Once we understood the power of SEO and started intentionally optimizing our website, blogs, and content for search, everything changed. Unlike social media—where people might stumble across your work while scrolling—clients who find us through Google are actively looking for a photographer. They’re usually more serious, ready to book, and already aligned with what we offer.

By creating helpful, location-based blog posts and clearly-structured service pages, we’ve been able to consistently show up in searches which brings in steady, high-quality inquiries without having to rely on ads or constant posting.

At this point, the majority of our inquiries come directly from Google search—which continues to be the most reliable, consistent, and scalable source of new clients for us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://saturdaysunphoto.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saturdaysunphoto/