Successful Creatives
Successful Creatives
15. Book destination weddings: with guest Kelly Lafleur, a Chicago wedding cinematographer
This episode is all about booking destination weddings. If you've been curious about how to get started or you're interested in the strategies of a successful cinematographer on how she's really built her business filled with the weddings that she wants to be shooting. Then get ready for my guest interview with Kelly LaFleur of K. LaFleur Films.
Successful Creatives make the world brighter. Follow @theewingsstudio on instagram for weekly tips and tricks to uplevel your bookings and increase profits so that you can accomplish all of the goals on your heart.
This episode is all about booking destination weddings. If you've been curious about how to get started or you're interested in the strategies of a successful cinematographer on how she's really built her business filled with the weddings that she wants to be shooting. Then get ready for my guest interview with Kelly LaFleur of K. LaFleur Films.
Let's face it, most of us would rather be making art than running a successful business. But here's the thing. We can 100% do both. If you want a creative business that you and your clients adore and that supports the life of your dreams, you're in the right place. My name is Erica Ewing, and I'm here to challenge you to define your best life and then to cheer you on as you build a business that supports just that. Welcome to the Successful Creatives podcast.
She lives in Omaha, Nebraska, but she's got a booming cinematography business in Chicago, and she shares all about how she did it. These steps are really universal. So whether you are interested in destination or you want to stick close to home, what we cover is a lot of how I've built my own business and what I teach in my programs. So I want you to pay close attention because this is really a simple strategy that you can leverage to book weddings far, far away or even just in your own backyard.
I am so happy to have you on with me, Kelly. I just completely glowed about you for the last few minutes because I love seeing the evolution of your business that has happened since we first met at the wedding film retreat by Penn Weddings. Shout out to them. They've been on the podcast before, on my very first episode, but tell me just a little bit about who you are and what your business, your videography business is all about.
Yeah, well, thank you so much for having me on and I'm excited to catch up and chat about all of the things. So I'm Kelly LaFleur, I own K. LaFleur Films and we are an all female cinematography studio. I live in Omaha, Nebraska. But if you look online, you probably won't find that. Most of our business is now based out of Chicago and destination. We do anywhere from 12 to 15 weddings a year and our style is definitely just very documentary, classic. Something that people are going to go back and watch year after year after year, and our deliverables reflect that. So we like to give our couples everything from your social media teaser to the two hours long, everything from the day. And yeah, I've been in business since 2016, and I have been married to my husband for 10 years and we have 4 kids, two girls who are 9 and 7 and two boys who are 5 and 2.
Yes. And I want to ask you, once we get into like the meat of what we're going to be chatting about, I want to ask you how you juggle all of that, because you have a big family and you have a big, beautiful business. So part of being a successful creative is really finding that balance. I definitely want to pick your brain on that. What we're talking about today is really targeting a new market, right? And building your business in a new, whether it be like destination or a specific location, for people who are relocating. Think back to before you started transitioning to new market because if I look at your business and actually it's funny, I went to WPPI this year. I was mentioning you to someone who was from the Midwest, she looked you up and she was like, no, it says she's in Chicago. She's a Chicago videographer. I was like, no, she's definitely not. So that got me so interested. What made you want to move your business? Tell me about the evolution there.
Yeah, that's a great question. So I think we have to go back to like the origin of my business too. I started my business in 2016. I had my 2 girls at the time. I had graduated from college in 2012 with a broadcast production degree and knew that I just didn't really want to get into the industry. We got married right away, started having babies right away, so in 2016 we moved from South Dakota back to Omaha, my hometown. When I graduated college, I knew that I was like, hmm, weddings could be interesting. They could be, they seem like a good mom job, as we all think when we get into weddings with kids.
Like, of course, you only have to work on Saturday.
Exactly, so we all laugh about it now. Yeah, so I filmed my first wedding. It was a friend of a friend who called me and they were looking for a videographer in June. I said, here's my pricing. We booked it I think at $900 and I have been very strategic with how I structured my business from the very beginning to support my family and my family life. So like, I had a nursing baby when I started filming weddings, so I literally was charging hourly. If they wanted a break in the middle of the day so I could go home and nurse my baby, I was totally okay with that. I think the first wedding I shot 3 hours in the morning, went home, nursed my baby, had a snack, and then went back for the ceremony and reception and then went home. I've just never done things I would say like the standard or the usual because I just wasn't even familiar with the industry whatsoever when I got started. So I shot 5 weddings that first year. The next year I wanted to limit myself to 10 weddings, and I had a baby that year as well. Then in 2018, my husband and I had a conversation. He was really wanting to leave his job and pursue a different career. And I said, well, I have this little baby business. Let's see what could happen. Because I've always been very conscious about like, limiting what I was going to take on.
And it was like, it was fun money, it was vacation money, it was whatever. So in 2018, at the end of the year, he left his job and started going back to school. I started really investing in education. Fast forward 4 months to February of 2019, which is where you and I met at Wedding Film Retreat. And that really opened my eyes to so many amazing professionals who had families and were doing this full time. Because in my local market, so many of the people that I would talk to or who were doing what I was doing, either they had a second or third job. If they had kids, they had a spouse that was probably bankrolling 75% of their family's income. So I didn't ever see that example of someone with children and a family who was doing this full time and able to sustain it on this solo income. So that was a huge mindset shift for me there. And so 2019, I really started pushing more. I hired a business coach and in the conversation with my business coach in September of 2019, she said, okay, if you want to scale, clearly Omaha has kind of a cap on the market is how far your pricing can go. So you're either going to have to do more so quantity or you're going to need to find a primary market that can support these prices that you want to charge.
So being literally in the center of the country, we had a lot of kind of like primary markets that we worked through the pros and cons. Looked at Dallas, Dallas is its whole own ecosystem, especially for the wedding industry. I was like, that seems too hard, that seems too much, that seems like too much work. Colorado, at that point in time, the only videographers that I was familiar with there were very much like dark and moody, beautiful elopement, adventure style, which was not my style. So I didn't really see how I would fit into that market, particularly. Minneapolis never really drew me in. Then Chicago, I was like, this makes sense. We had so many couples of our own who were coming back to Omaha to get married, who lived in Chicago. So there was already that connection with just the people and the client who I was talking to. It was going to be exactly the same in Chicago as it was here in Omaha. The Midwest hospitality is still very much apparent in Chicago, eeven though it's one of the largest cities in the country, it still has that Midwest feel. A lot of the people have the similar values, and style of communication. So that was kind of it, and I said, let's do Chicago. I met a videographer who was in Chicago at Vision Quest in 2019, and he was like, the market is wide open, Like, come on over.
So that was really when I was like, okay, let's do this. I had no idea how it was going to happen. But I said, okay. So I started like trying to, you know, I did tags on Instagram and all of the kind of like little SEO things that we could do online to kind of try to change that presence. Then Covid hit. Chicago was one of the most shut down cities in the country during Covid. So I really had this like gap year of Chicago from 2020 to 2021, where the industry there was not working. So people were very available to meet for Zoom meetings, and to network, and to start forming those relationships because they were all like, my business is going to die if I don't maintain these relationships. So I really felt like I hit a really great pocket of time to start going in and making new connections. I mean, I've done it's what, 2023, in the last 3 years. I've easily done over 125 virtual coffee dates with other wedding professionals, whether it's in Chicago or destination, just to really like try to build that network. I think that has been a huge element to that. So we filmed our first official wedding in Chicago in 2022, and then most of our calendar this year is is in Chicago.
And did that first wedding that you booked there stem from a referral from someone that you had a coffee date with?
1,000%, yeah. Every single wedding that we have booked in Chicago so far has either been a photographer or a planner referral.
Oh, that's amazing. So not even other videographers?
No.
That’s fantastic. I literally always say that like, photographers are a completely untapped resource for the other vendors that typically come behind us. As photographers, we're all about making those connections with the venues, right? Because they're the first spot. Then typically it goes like either your band or your photographer is the next one and then everybody else, right?
100%.
That is so smart.
Yeah, I think depending on what market you're in, I know a lot of education likes to say, you know, get in with the planners, talk to the planners. Planners are very important, but you never know where a referral is going to come from. I mean, it could come from a calligrapher. It could come from a cake baker. So I think making sure that you're not completely honed in on, these are the only people who are going to get me bookings, and really just being open to making those relationships with, especially whoever wants to make a relationship with you. Like pay attention to the people who are paying attention to you.
How did you set up those coffee dates with people? What did that look like?
Yeah. So, originally I knew one photographer in Chicago, Alex Ferrari. She got married this last weekend, so she and I had met at a sales workshop in January of 2020, and it was like a workshop with 8 people. Little did I know that we were going to become like, really good vendor partners, really good friends. She's really helped introduce me to a lot of people within the Chicago industry. So I really kind of went to her and I was like, who do I need to know? Who do I need to know? So she gave me some names. I also, at that point in time when Covid shut down, there was an educational community that started I joined that off of a recommendation from a videographer friend. Joining that community instantly gave me this new virtual room to be in. Because, you know, we all joined the free Facebook groups. We’re all in these groups online with 100’s and 1,000's of people who someone posts a referral and you're, you know, 256th on the thread of 500 or whatever. There aren't those genuine connections. I mined that directory. I went through that member directory and I was like, this person's in Chicago, this person's in Chicago.
And I made a list of who I needed to reach out to, and I sent them emails so that immediately I feel like gives you this sense of credibility. Everyone knows you're kind of speaking the same language, you're familiar with the same things. You're also pursuing the same things, especially because it was an educational community. We were all wanting to better our businesses in the same way. So I would send them an email and be like, hi, I'm a videographer. I'm not sure if you're looking to network with videographers, but I'd really love to meet you and get to know more about you and your business. And honestly, they were all like, we don't know a lot of videographers. We're always looking to, you know, work with more videographers. So I do feel like it's a special niche for video compared to photo, where there's just way less of us. So it's been a really great way to connect. I would be like, I'd love to do a virtual coffee date, which is very low key. People don't have to leave their house, they don't have to get completely done up, they don't have to commute, get stuck in traffic, do all of the things.
We don't even need to wear pants!
1,000%. You can be doing something else the minute before you hop on this virtual coffee date. You could go right back to it the second you're done. So, yeah, it's been a really great opportunity to just, like, have connections about people. 90% of the time I wouldn't even talk about their business. We would just talk about life. So I connected, especially with a lot of moms, a lot of females particularly. I feel like it is a little weird as a female to send a dude an email being like, hey, you want a one on one virtual coffee date?
Like, let’s get to know each other.
Yeah, I'm good with group settings, I was just like, um, so I mean, if anyone wants to chat, feel free, reach out, whatever. But I didn't necessarily feel comfortable, as a one off with no previous connections or anything like that, doing that. So yeah, virtual coffee dates, have been awesome.
That's fantastic. So now that you are, it sounds like you are deeply entrenched in Chicago now. How has that helped your business grow and how has that helped transform, not only your business but your bottom line too. Because I love, it's funny, as you're telling me about your evolution, and your mindset shifts that you've had along the way. Our businesses have been very similar because same sort of thing. I built my business sort of out of the box because I didn't know what the box was when I started. I've always been very intentional about planning to hit my goals and making sure that I am making a profit, and that can support my family, not just doing this for, you know, 25% of whatever it ends up being.
Because we really love it.
Right? Exactly. Like I will say, I did start there, but very quickly made that transition to, oh, I can actually earn a living and support my family doing this, so let's lean into that. So how has switching your market from Omaha to Chicago shifted your business?
Yeah. So as we've raised prices, I would say back in 2020 we were booking anywhere from like $3000 to $5000 weddings. I remember, it was like March of 2020 I booked my first $5,000 wedding and I was so pumped. Every time you hit that new threshold, it doesn't matter where it is. It’s amazing. Yeah, it it has allowed us to do the quantity of weddings that we're looking for, whereas here we've booked 2 to 3 weddings for next year at our current pricing, which is right under $10,000. So there are a few weddings in the local Omaha market that are able to support it and willing to support it. But I would say moving to Chicago, there's definitely been like 10 is our minimum and we've booked on average, our bookings are anywhere from like $13,000 to $15,000. So it's really allowed us to increase our profit. So up until this past November of 2022. So like November of 2019 through November of 2022, my husband was a stay at home dad, so this was literally like our only income. SIt has allowed us to maintain that. He recently went back into the workforce in November, but it has given us an amazing quality of life and we have loved the flexibility that comes with it. I always joke to our kids, I'm like, you don't know how lucky you are, to have both of your parents home with you all the time.
So our kids, too. My my son Cooper will complain about if we're gone, if we're not there one day when he gets off the bus, and we're like, dude, most people's parents work 9 to 5 or much later, every single day.
100% and it's like, yes, there is that trade off. Now with most of our business being in Chicago, we hop on a plane on Friday, we shoot on Saturday, we come home by Sunday afternoon. It's also really been able to, like Chicago's a 55 minute flight, so we can like leave first thing in the morning if we need to. We can leave in the middle of the… There's so much flexibility about how much time we're actually there, which has been great. But yeah, whenever I leave for the weekend, I'm like, I've been here for the last two months. Like.
Right, right.
I have to work! And then it's always the conversation of, do you like your house, do you like groceries?
Do you want to eat more than just peanut butter and jelly every single day for the rest of your life?
Rice and beans, baby, we can do it.
Yeah, yes. Now, for your for the travel. Do you bake that into your price or is that a separate travel fee that your clients pay?
Yeah, since we are very much Chicago based, our Chicago pricing includes that travel fee. I will say we are very lucky to have Southwest, which goes back and forth. Flights are very affordable and we hit companion pass every year. So my second who comes with me is my companion pass, so she flies free.
What's the companion pass?
Oh my gosh. Okay. If you get a Southwest credit card, you can start racking up points. You also get points when you fly. If you hit like I think it's 125k points in your miles account. It’s rapid rewards. In your rapid rewards account for Southwest, you get something called a companion pass and you can designate someone to fly free with you for an entire year.
What? Yes. That's amazing. See, we fly JetBlue generally like if we have a preference, it's JetBlue. We might need to switch. Ben, are you over there? Oh, my God. Are you hearing this? Are you hearing that you can be my free companion?
Yeah. It's been amazing. And you can change it up to 3 times a year. So when we're done with wedding season, it switches back to my husband.
Oh, your hubby gets to be your companion, how nice.
So then he gets to be my companion. Exactly. But it really has helped us to keep travel costs low.
Yeah, that's such a quick flight. Have you run into any of the issues with like any of the flight troubles that Southwest has had lately?
So basically they exploded over New Years and Christmas. Everything since then has been great and they have compensated everyone who was affected by that very well. So like one of the girls I was flying in for a New Year's Eve trip, I ended up canceling her Southwest flight, rebooking her on American. They reimbursed me for that entire flight cost.
Wow, that's great.
Yeah, so basically what happened was I knew we had enough lead time before when our flight was supposed to be, that we knew things probably weren't going to be going anywhere. So we made plans to drive, and it's a 7 hour drive, so it's nothing awful. So we just, we made the drive instead and submitted to Southwest to cover the reimbursement for our gas and our parking and all of the everything. And they covered it all.
They did, all right, that's good to know. I've got a I've got a trip planned to Nashville in September and Southwest flights were about half the cost of JetBlue. But I didn't book it because I was gun shy with all of the issues they've had. So it seems like it's been better lately since that implosion there around New Year’s?
Yes, completely. And like winter is such a toss up anyway because of weather. So like summer, spring, fall, you’re golden.
Right. Can you tell me about your Lake Como engagement session?
Oh, yes.
Which is gorgeous by the way. Every single time you post it, I'm literally drooling.
Thank you. It was so fun. So what happened was we were booked for a New Year's Eve wedding in January of ’22. The wedding was going to be New Year's Eve of 2022. When I talked with this couple, we learned more about them. They absolutely loved to travel. They got engaged in Germany, so I had this idea earlier in 2022 where I was like, I think engagement films would be a really fun add on. It would be a really great additional service that we could offer. I was like, I'd love to get some of these in my portfolio and somewhere really cool too. Little did I know. So I reached out to this couple, I DM'd the bride. I think it was in April or March being like, hey, I just had this idea, would you guys ever be interested in doing like a destination engagement film? You wouldn't need to pay me for the session. I would just ask for you to cover travel. She was like, oh my gosh, that sounds great. She threw out, well, we were thinking about a summer trip anyway. We were thinking maybe Canada or Puerto Rico. I was like, I can't work in Canada, so that's going to be out. But, um, Puerto Rico sounds great. I'm thinking like, we're going somewhere Caribbean, we're going somewhere south. She was like, Okay, sounds good. I don't hear from her for 2 weeks. She was like, let me keep thinking on dates, blah blah blah. She DM’s me out of the blue and goes, hey, we decided on Lake Como. There are flights to Milan for like $500 on these certain dates. Do these dates work for you? And I was like, yes, any date will work for me 100%. I was like, I don't think they had any clue that it's like most of the wedding industry’s vision board, wet dream whatever to shoot in Lake Como. I was like, oh my gosh, is this actually happening?! So yeah, I sent them a quote for travel. We renegotiate it a little bit and I was like, okay, we're doing this. So we went to Como end of August. One of my photographer friends here in Omaha decided to join me like 3 weeks before. Flights were still relatively cheap, they were like $800 round trip, I think, at that point. So she came with me, which I was so amazingly grateful for because then she got amazing behind the scenes content.
You have so much beautiful brand content now.
Yeah, it's insane, yeah, it was a lot of fun. We rented a boat for them, so we set all of that up. We set up hair and makeup for them and I think we shot at like 8 a.m. The lake was completely empty, crystal clear. It was awesome, it was so cool. And I flew the drone off the boat.
And wait, successfully landed it back on the boat?
Successfully landed the drone back in my hand, on the boat. Yeah.
That's always the most stressful part. So is your goal to start doing more destination weddings then, or are you happily settled in Chicago? What's next?
So yeah, I would love to do like 50% Chicago, 50% destination and Italy just like has my heart. It's it feels like home whenever I'm in Italy. I visited Paris earlier in 2022, and I was not a fan. It was not my vibe, it just it didn't feel right. Then going to Lake Como a few months later, we landed in Milan. I was like I know how to work the trains, I know some of the language, I like the food, like we got this.
My people.
Yeah. 100%.
I love that. That's actually how I feel in Paris. It's funny that you didn't like resonate.
It didn't click that city.
I'm always like, Paris totally has my heart. We're headed back there next year because Cooper had this has this very over the top goal. Have I told you this all? So when Cooper was 3 or 4, he told us that by the time he is 11, he wants to have gone to Disney World, Hawaii, and Paris.
And you've done Disney and Hawaii?
Yes. So we were like, alright child. Like, let’s get off this high horse that you are on at 3 years old. Then we decided, no, actually, we're going to lean into this dream big thing. Show him what's possible.
That's incredible.
And make all these damn trips happen. So we've done 2 out of the 3. He turns 11 next year. So planning that next year is our Paris trip. Then he just added London. He asked the other day, is London close to Paris? Ben was like, well, we could take a train. So now we've upgraded from just Paris, to London and Paris. So we'll see. We'll see how I feel when I'm back. But like Paris, totally. I felt that way. The way that you feel about Italy is how I feel in Paris.
Oh, my gosh, that's so exciting.
Okay, so speaking of all of this travel. How do you juggle having 4 children, a husband, a home, and your business?
Well, you're catching me at a very interesting time of life. So as I mentioned, up until this last November, Stephen was staying at home. So there was a lot more flexibility. There was a lot more time to work. We didn't have to pay for childcare, all of the everything. I'm thrilled that he's back to work, but it has definitely been a massive transition. I think once you have that kind of flexibility and freedom, it's really difficult to go back to, okay, he has 14 days of PTO. Cool. So we have to like strategize that and all of the everything. So this year definitely looks a little different than previous years. I've kind of taken back over the role as household manager, and taken back over the role of primary parent. So today is my kids last day of school and yesterday I went through and I made a spreadsheet with a chore list and the rotating chore list and everything. I just did a mental brain dump. So we have our daily schedule set out in a spreadsheet now for the summer. We've got all of our chores assigned for the summer, and I went through and made a list of all of the camps and all of the trips and all of the everything. My one piece of advice is like, if there is something that can take something off your plate…do it.
Spend the extra $10 and get your groceries delivered. You know, try to stack whatever you're doing. Have everything shipped to your house. The only time really go into a store is to make a return at this point. But yeah, I think it's also just knowing yourself, and knowing what you can handle, and knowing when to ask for help. My husband and I have had a lot of really frank discussions and I was like, listen, we're both in this now, 50/50, so like we need to share the load 50/50 because it isn't like it's ever been before. We've never had both of us working a full time job before. It's either been like I had my little baby business and he was working full time and so it was like, when the kids nap. Or, you know, also when your kids are really little, you have a lot more time at your home where you can get more work done, whereas the older they get, the more activities they're involved in. Even just like school pick up and drop off throws a wrench right into your afternoon of productivity. So yeah, I think it's reevaluating and a lot of communication. I don't think you can over communicate with your spouse about everything, and what you need help with, and just how it's going in general.
You mentioned a household manager. That sounds like something I should get.
Right! I would love a household manager. I'm sure there's some AI system now that is a household manager.
As she creates a Craigslist ad household manager needed?
Yes 100%. I know. We ended up, so my youngest sister is 16 and I was like, will you nanny for me this summer? She's going to come. And I was like, I need you to be a second me. Like while I’m working you need to make sure that they're doing their chores, the house needs to be clean. When I'm done with work, I can't come out of my office and be done working and then have the house at a worse situation than when I came in. So I'm hoping that that'll give us a little bit of sanity this summer, instead of me just working and the kids doing who knows what, and probably watching way too much TV and being way too crabby.
Good. Well that sounds like such a good plan. Like kind of a perfect situation.
Yeah, we're setting ourselves up for success.
What I have gained from this chat with you is the #1 thing that I'm taking away from this is for anyone who is looking to build their business in a new market, success really comes down to building intentional relationships.
1,000%. I was going to share a few like tangible strategies. So one thing that I found to be extremely helpful, was especially as I was like starting to move into the Chicago market. I put myself physically in Chicago every 3 to 4 months. And when I did that, I made sure that I stacked my calendar with breakfasts, lunches, dinners with whoever I wanted to meet and have that face to face contact. I would contact venues. I did some venue tours, I always made sure to capture a ton of social content and not post all of it. So that I had it backlogged so that when I post it looks like I am in Chicago.
A second thing along with that is getting headshots done wherever you want to work. That instantly builds credibility. It instantly elevates you above the people who are getting social content of where they want to work. It also gives you a great chance to establish a relationship with another photographer in the market, maybe a hair and makeup person in the market. To build on that I've done a styled shoot as well, I think styled shoot slash editorials. you need to be really strategic about what you're hoping to get with them. I think if everyone is on the same page and everyone wants to really invest and put their best foot forward and it's going to benefit everybody across the board, I think there are amazing opportunities. I think a styled shoot just to do a styled shoot and to throw something together in a week is a waste of your time and resources because it's going to show that you threw it together in a week. So I think just really thinking back to anything that you do, knowing the purpose and why you're doing it is going to help you hone in on the steps that you should be taking. Versus doing all of the things and kind of spinning your wheels and not really gaining any momentum.
Right, right. Well, that's so helpful. You're just so generous with your information and everything, like in your joy. I was saying before we got on this call, your joy is just always overflowing. I know that I've appreciated that over the years. Just like getting to know you when we were at the retreat, and seeing you online just always brings a smile to my face. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise here. For anybody who is, you know, really looking to tap into a new market and wants to follow along with your story, where can they find you?
I would say the best place for people to find me is on Instagram, so my handle is @k.lafleurfilms and also my website is klafleurfilms.com. Feel free to send me an email, send me a DM. If anyone needs help with strategy as far as like moving into a new market, I'm more than happy to to talk and give any advice that I can.
I'm going to record an episode all about starting referral relationships and starting friendships in this industry, because I started out rocky. But then once I found my groove, once I found my tribe, it was fully transformational and it happened like basically overnight. Okay? And #3 is to become the expert in that area. So we already talked about proximity, about putting yourself in that location, really create content, set up appointments with venues, and start to share it as the expert in that area, as the person who knows what they're talking about, who has experience in that space and who is ready to take on the weddings and clients that you want in that destination.
I think a bonus tip, too, is to Kelly's point about the Lake Como shoot that she had. Sometimes you have to get a little scrappy, right? So she threw it out there to clients that she knew loved to travel, about doing a destination engagement session. And this created the most beautiful opportunity for a shoot she might have otherwise not had the chance to have. Right? She put herself out there with an idea that I'm sure completely deepened her relationship with her clients. She was able to do this shoot with the travel costs covered and she invested her time and also some extras, like renting the boat, hair and makeup in order to get the shoot done in the way that she liked. And bonus, a photographer friend came along with her and she got this whole gorgeous branding session out of it, too.
So don't be afraid to put yourself out there with ideas to people that might grab on to that and to make an investment in not only your time, but also money in order to expand your portfolio into the new destination, the new location that you're looking to shoot in. That one shoot completely up leveled her brand and she was able to leverage that content to showcase herself as a destination cinematographer. Vision, proximity, connections and content. Okay. It is not hard, but it does take work. You cannot just wish to start shooting destination weddings and they happen. You definitely have to have a strategy to go after it. Okay? Grab that free guide with more info in the checklist. You can totally do this, thesuccessfulcreatives.com/destination. Your dream clients are waiting for you, whether it be in your own backyard or in that far, far away dreamy destination.