Free guide: Foot in the Door
Get on your dream venue's referral list.
4 simple steps. Give first, then ask face to face. The exact DM to send and the one sentence to say in person.
4steps
Free guide: Foot in the Door
4 simple steps. Give first, then ask face to face. The exact DM to send and the one sentence to say in person.
How it works
Most photographers DM venues asking to be on the vendor list. That's asking a stranger for a favor. We do the opposite.
Something your dream venue would love. A 60-second venue tour if you shoot video. Fresh photos of the space and the team if you shoot photo.
Offer it for free on Instagram. No strings, and no mention of the vendor list yet.
Make it great, hang out with the owner, then ask to be on their list. Face to face. I've never had anybody tell me no to my face.
Share it as an Instagram collab with the venue. Now you're on their feed and their list.
Steal the DM
Almost every venue we've offered this to said yes. Most told us nobody had ever reached out to them like this before.
The full DM and the exact words to say in person are in the guide.
Hey [name]! I'm [your name], a wedding photographer here in [area]. Your venue is incredible, and we'd love to build a relationship with you guys.
We'd love to offer you a free...
Get the full message in the guide.
It works
She'd shot one wedding there and wanted more. So she did exactly this: posted the wedding as a collab, then offered the owners free photos.
“I was really intimidated because I was like, oh my gosh, these venues are huge. Like everyone's getting married here... they just got featured in Vogue actually.”
“I would just love to offer you guys free photos for whatever you might need them for. If you need updated venue photos, if you need staff headshots, if you need branding photos.”
“I handed them a hundred copies of that flyer and they said, awesome, this will be gone in like a few months... I'm already seeing inquiries from them.”
What's inside
Who's teaching this
My wife Liv and I have been shooting weddings for over 8 years. One year we visited 35 venues and made each of them a free tour video. It was the biggest project we'd ever taken on, and those relationships still send us couples today.
Venues are in the wedding business too. When you help them first, they remember you.
Keep shooting, Isaac
Questions
Yep. Put in your email and the guide lands in your inbox in about a minute.
Both. Videographers make a venue tour. Photographers make fresh photos of the space and the team. The DM and the ask are the same.
Venues always want more content. Start small, like staff headshots. The goal is a relationship, not replacing anyone.
It's the best marketing we've ever done. You're going to get paid for your free work, so never view it as free.
Your move
Grab the guide and send your first message today.