Bidvine Was a Game Changer For Finding Clients

Victoria Beddoes

Photographer

With a passion for capturing meaningful photos, building a wedding photography business was the perfect fit for Victoria of Victoria Beddoes Photography. To then start booking wedding photoshoots to expand her portfolio, Victoria turned to Bidvine. 

Read Victoria’s story below to learn how she got started with Bidvine and how she’s continuing business during challenging times.

Getting Started as a Photographer

I started side hustling to grow my confidence and build up a catalogue of work to make that leap from one career to another. The more I got into it the more I realised that I love working for myself and that flexibility you can’t get in a job.

I started on social media in marketing photography and it was a natural extension because my social media account was growing and then brands started approaching me.

Photo Credit - Victoria Beddoes Photography

Discovering Her Passion For Wedding Photography

From marketing photography I segued into photographing events and people. With photography, each style is very different. In some ways it’s like starting from scratch again because you might have an amazing product portfolio, then if someone says can you photograph an event? You’ve got no examples of that.

It snowballed from there and I went into event photography for brands as well as product photography and lifestyle images. 

Then I got into portraits, I wanted to produce meaningful images beyond helping brands sell things and that’s where the wedding element came in.

Bidvine Was a Game Changer For Finding Clients

Finding customers is the hardest when you're just starting out, when you haven’t got a name for yourself and there isn’t any word of mouth. That’s where Bidvine for me was a real game changer. It enabled me to get my foot in the door and get those first clients.

Photo Credit - Victoria Beddoes Photography

With Bidvine it Was Easy to Get Going

I was talking to my friend, I asked her where her friend had found their wedding photographer, and they’d hired their photographer through Bidvine.

I looked at some other options as well but Bidvine was the easiest to use. It was simpler and that attracted me to it, it seemed quite straightforward to get going.

At first like with anything, you’re not sure how it works and you can be nervous because you're starting out. The discounted bundle of credits, that enabled me to get going. When you’re first bidding and you’re not getting any bites it doesn’t feel like such a loss. 

Then when you do get bites and your credits have run out you’ve already built confidence. You’ve learned how to bid, what information to put forward, and how to build that rapport. It was a really good tool to have.

Create a Connection With Customers By Following Up

I send my bid and then an hour later I send them another message that just says wishing them lots of luck in their search and I hope they find the right person for them. If they have questions about what I’ve offered but also about Bidvine in general, I’d be more than willing to answer them. 

As soon as I’ve made that contact that’s not about me selling my services it then creates a level of trust and connection that they follow through with.

Build Trust With Reviews

When I was starting to bid on things, most people had more reviews than me. I thought, if I want to compete I’ll need some more reviews. Especially with a wedding vendor you have to hand over a 25% deposit in my case, so it helps build trust.

Photo Credit - Victoria Beddoes Photography

The App is Fantastic For Quickly Responding to Customers

I always use the Bidvine App. I have an iPad and that goes everywhere with me, I run my business from it, so the app is fantastic. 

It can be the strangest of times when a lead comes through. I can very quickly respond and it’s great that you can re-use a previous message, then edit it so fast in the app. I really love that.

How Has The Last Year Impacted Your Business? 

With Victoria’s passion for capturing small weddings and high demand for them with restrictions, she’s kept busy by focusing on her niche, “I like to look at things positively. I want to specifically focus on intimate weddings which are smaller weddings. Then micro weddings came in, which is the same niche. I really benefited from that.

There’s a lot of weddings I’ve got on hold at the moment. I like the idea of being able to be there and support my clients. So I’ve always got an eye on what’s going on. 

I got another client through Bidvine last week. I’m always bidding on things where I think I can provide a good service, where I can benefit in terms of timing or if it’s a new venue that I haven’t shot at. It’s about building these connections”

As well as booking smaller weddings for when restrictions lift, Victoria’s been busy working on background projects for her business. “I’ve been working behind the scenes, getting my ducks in a row, and doing the stuff you never get to do when you’re always shooting.”

Interested in booking a photoshoot with Victoria? Click here to visit Victoria's Bidvine Profile.