The Nine Dots Workshop: 8 Months On Has It Made A Difference To My Wedding Photography Business?
As many of us do in the slow season, back in January of this year I was trying to allocate budget for the year ahead. I was thinking about gear, business tools, marketing, insurance, hiring an accountant and plenty of other costs. The one thing I hadn’t set budget aside for was education. It wasn’t that I didn’t recognise the importance of education, I certainly did. It was because I’d found an abundance of great online resources leaving me unsure of the additional benefits of an in-person workshop.
Who Are Nine Dots?
Then while on Facebook one day I saw a post shared by Miki Shah (a London photographer I’d been following) advertising the upcoming Nine Dots workshop. The first one ever. What caught my eye about this workshop was that it wasn’t being presented by just one awesome wedding photographer, but four! Two of these four (Miki Shah & Adam Johnson) I was already following. After a quick look at the other two presenters (Andy Gains [recently awarded Best UK Wedding Photographer] & Rahul Khona) I knew this was going to be something special.
So Close
I played with the idea of signing up but foolishly decided financial I should play it safe and walked away. 2 days later and the workshop was sold out. As soon as I saw the post, something in my gut told me I’d made a mistake. So when, by surprise the following week a second 2 day workshop was announced I signed up straight way.
Note: A huge thanks to Sophie Duckworth Photography who provided the awesome photos for this post. During the workshop I was so focused on what was going on that I completely forgot to take any myself.
Biggest Impacts From The Workshop On My Wedding Photography Business:
So 8 months on – was my gut right and did the Nine Dots workshop make a difference to my wedding photography business? An indisputable yes! Looking back this has easily been the best investment I’ve made for my business to date. And here’s why.
Inspiration
The morning after the workshop I was wide awake well before the sun was up, filled with excitement and motivation to start implementing what I had learnt at the workshop. Listening to both the speakers and the other photographers attending had inspired me to get out there and try so many new things. In a competitive industry where you can spend a lot of your time working alone, inspiration can have a huge impact.
New Photography Skills
Listening to 4 of the best minds in the industry for two days and you unsurprisingly pick up some pretty awesome photography skills. The Nine Dots crew shared too much to list here. But one of my biggest take aways was seeing the highlights and shadows the same way our camera does. This completely changed the way I setup shots for my weddings this summer.
New Business Ideas
Having strong business skills and tools is crucial to becoming a successful wedding photographer. Several parts of the workshop were business focused. From admin and financial tools to SEO and customer service. Having introduced several of the tools mentioned during the workshop I’ve been apple to streamline my processes, giving me more time to focus on other parts of my business. Thanks to Rahul & Miki’s SEO tips I’m now getting a new wave of enquiries from Google.
Wedding Referrals
In the last 8 months I have booked 3 weddings which were referred to me by wedding photographers I met at the Nine Dots workshop. These included a destination wedding by Lake Balaton in Hungry. Thanks again Emmie!
Community Support & Network
This, rather surprisingly, turned out to be the biggest benefit from the workshop. Before the workshop I didn’t know any other wedding photographers and wasn’t really concerned about it. I now know better. Having met loads of awesome wedding photographers at the workshop I’ve become part of a community that has provided endless support over the past season.
Benefits have included: photo & blog critiques, a constant drip of inspiration, recommendations on kit, suppliers and tools, and great friends to share a pint with when times are tough or a celebration is in order.
In summary, if you hear the name Nine Dots and get the chance to get involved, do it! Between the four of them, the Nine Dots team provided a huge range of incredible learnings and they certainly don’t hold back in what they share. Their moto “Create Your Own Awesome” is a nice summary of what you can expect to achieve after attending one of their workshops.
Thanks again Andy, Miki, Adam & Rahul for revolutionising my business! Utterly pumped for the Nine Dots Gathering in a couple of weeks!
UPDATE: Another shoutout to the benefits of the Nine Dots community. I’ve just been given the opportunity to assist with the world famous Chrisman Studios during their 9Dots Masterclass workshop next week! Talk about Christmas come early!
