I was watching the Apprentice final the other night. Something they said stuck with me, and I've been discussing it today with Todd, with the current state of the wedding photography industry in mind.

During the final, the apprentices were pitching a new business idea to a board. The board asked “what's your USP?” They wanted to know if it was worth investing in at all. The same happens with every Dragon’s Den pitch. What’s your USP? Why you? Why your product? How easy is it to copy what you do and do it cheaper and better?

How are YOU different to all the other photographers out there doing the same thing? Why would someone buy from you and not a competitor?

There are SO MANY wedding photographers. We need to stand out now more than ever. The standard of photography is so high, and new talent keeps entering the market. A young person goes to a wedding, takes a nice phone snap, decides they would enjoy doing it as a job, gets a cheap camera and a website template and boom we have another wedding photographer on the market.

So how do we compete with this?

Stop going to wedding photography workshops. Taking better photos won't get you more bookings. Doing the same things as other photographers won't get you bookings. Go to business classes. Learn marketing, SEO, sales. Learn from non-photographers.

Find your USP - not just a descriptive word about your work, but something that the layman can understand.

Finish this sentence: "I am the only photographer who..."

Once you know your USP, spread it all over your website. Make it clear. Use it to sell your services from the point of view of a business person, not as a creative. 

Just being a good photographer won't get us anywhere anymore. Look at the top photographers charging £3000-£6000. Are they that much better than you at taking photos? Even if you think they are, do you think Karen down the road could tell the difference? I think all the phone-snapped post-wedding Facebook profile pics tell us that no, she can't. 

These photographers know business. They are more than just photographers. They market themselves in clever ways. I was never a photographer - I taught myself the skill after coming up with a business idea. 

If your about me page is all about how you've been into photography since you were born and you've always loved creating art that's great but that can't be your motivation. At some point that hobby becomes a job, a job that will make you tired and poor unless you come up with unique ways to position yourself in the market, and clever ways to promote yourself.

I picked the brains of an over-booked-up and pricey photographer a while back, and the insight he gave me was eye-opening and changed how I approach my marketing. These aren't things you can see on my website, or things you'll discover if you secret shop me or Google me. They're behind the scenes things that no one can copy. So you need to work out how you can market yourself and be different to everyone else.

Stop thinking like a photographer and start thinking like a business person.