Innovating Forward: A Wedding Photographer's Successful Business Pivot Amid Pandemic

Henry Chen is a seasoned wedding photographer based in Los Angeles, running a 14-year old business called Aevitas Weddings. As a solopreneur, he was responsible for all aspects of his business, from lead generation to customer support. Despite the challenges of managing a wedding business operation in one of the most competitive places in the world for wedding photographers, Henry was determined to grow his business. He was looking for ways to differentiate his offerings, better connect with leads, and automate some parts of his business. His goal was to generate leads that would build a client base for his wedding photography business and create scalable, automated revenue streams.

Henry Chen, a wedding photographer based in Los Angeles, was struggling to manage the increasing demands of his 14-year old business, Aevitas Weddings. He was overwhelmed with a flood of tasks and client demands, which he had to handle manually. This included following up with leads within a few hours to qualify them, responding to repetitive questions about pricing, availability, and services, and being constantly at his desk to respond quickly. The situation was further complicated by the competitive nature of the wedding photography industry in Los Angeles. Henry was looking for a way to differentiate his offerings, better connect with leads, and automate some parts of his business. His goal was to generate leads that would build a client base for his wedding photography business and create scalable, automated revenue streams.

Henry turned to ManyChat, a chatbot platform, to streamline his marketing and manage his business more efficiently. He used ManyChat's automation solutions and workflows to connect his business tools and operations, freeing up his time to focus on building his brand. He also used a mix of Growth Tools and automated workflows in Flow Builder to connect with leads for his photography business. This allowed him to identify, tag, and segment customers who engaged on specific channels, like SMS and Messenger. He created his own in-house systems to generate leads and streamline operations, which he could build and deploy in minutes. Additionally, Henry expanded his business to include training and consulting services for wedding professionals under the brand Wedding Chat Marketing. He also started offering chatbot templates to other wedding business owners, generating another stream of revenue.

• The implementation of ManyChat's automation solutions and workflows transformed Henry's business operations. He was able to turn manual tasks like lead generation and customer support into automated workflows, allowing him to focus on growing his business. The chatbot also helped him respond to common questions about availability, pricing, packages, and more, saving him valuable time. The lead flows he created for Aevitas featured beautiful images and creative copy, along with calls to action that, when clicked, would prompt a contact to enter their contact information. This led to a significant increase in leads for Aevitas Weddings. Furthermore, Henry was able to expand his business to include training and consulting services for wedding professionals, and he also started selling chatbot templates. This not only generated additional revenue but also positioned him as a subject matter expert in Chat Marketing for the wedding industry.

• $60,000+ in additional revenue through Messenger

• 2 dozen students in new coaching program

• 1,100+ new leads for Aevitas Weddings