If you’ve been following this new series, then you know we’ve been discussing our buying strategy. You can check out Parts I and II, HERE and HERE. What we haven’t talked about yet are the best investments we’ve made – investments that have been foundational to our success. Today’s the day!
- Not having a studio space: Okay, so this one sounds more like a non-investment, but let me explain.. For now at least, we’re able to run a successful and orderly business from our home. Alyse is also able to meet with clients at a Starbucks literally two minutes down the road. I’m not saying we’ll never have a dedicated studio space, but for now we are able to eliminate what could be our biggest expense otherwise.
- Advertising on TheKnot.com: TheKnot.com is a classic example of investment. Although we have to plunk a decent chunk of cash down each month ($450, to be exact), it has paid for itself tenfold in terms of referrals.
- Rebranding our website: In October 2010, Alyse unveiled the redesign of both her website and blog. The biggest investment here was time, but we also upgraded our website platform/host from Wix to Show-it ($12/mo. to $39/mo.). The new brand was a huge improvement over the previous one, and we saw referrals immediately increase as potential brides seemed to click with our new image.
- Outsourcing our editing: The same month of our rebrand, we began outsourcing our editing for approximately $250 per wedding. This has allowed us to save time, which in turn allows us to book more weddings, which in turn allows us to be more profitable. Outsourcing lets us set our goals at shooting 35-40 weddings per year. If we were doing all of our editing on our own, we’d likely only feel confident taking on 20.
What is the next thing you will buy and why?
by Dylan
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