WHY LEAVING MEANINGFUL FEEDBACK IS SO IMPORTANT TO PHOTOGRAPHERS (and other small businesses) & HOW TO WRITE ONE

You’ve probably seen more than your fair share of posts and requests this year to #supportlocal. As you can imagine, it has been a difficult year for small businesses everywhere, and more than ever we rely on our wonderful customers, past and present, to help us stay alive! Your reviews are one of the best ways you can help a small businesses like mine - Google in particular will “reward” us for having (good) reviews, by showing us higher in search results, when people search for our services. And families just like yours rely on reading about other people’s experiences before committing to a photoshoot. It’s a very personal and intimate thing, having a family photoshoot, as you know; it is important that you feel relaxed and comfortable with the photographer - on a personal level as well as in the shooting environment. Families like to read about these things before getting in touch, and sometimes seeing a good number of reviews can simply make the difference between a family getting in touch, or not.

And, so, if you've got 5 mins to spare this weekend, please do leave me and (other small businesses you know) a review on Google and Facebook too, if you have the time please!

I know sometimes when we come to writing reviews, we don't quite know where to start; I know I often end up with brain freeze. Today I came across these really useful prompt questions for writing reviews and thought I'd share them with you. 

And of course, please remember, that as a thank you for the time and effort, I do a draw every time I receive 30 reviews across Facebook and Google to gift you a fine art print of one of your images from one of our sessions. (So if you’re happy to cut and paste your review from Google into Facebook, that’s two chances to win :-))

Thank you for your support. It has always meant, and continues to mean the world to me.

Sara x

REVIEW WRITING PROMPTS

1. How did you find out about Rocking Horse Photography? Did you know someone who had previously had a shoot with me? Did you read reviews online? Did you see my pictures on social media? Did you find me on Google?
What made me stand out from other photographers? What made you choose me? 

2. Were there any reasons you were hesitant about booking a photoshoot? For example some common reasons are: concern about a photographer’s ability to capture the true essence of your kids when they are “on show”, how relaxed your partner will feel on the shoot, whether the investment will be worth it, if you would trust someone you don’t know to hold your new baby, how comfortable you would be spending a few hours in a studio soon after a c-section…etc How were these overcome? Did I address your concerns in our initial call and at the shoot? How were they resolved?

3. What made you happy that you chose me? This could be things like how I created a relaxed atmosphere, or feeling confident in the creative output, knowing that the printed products you chose were superior quality, seeing how much attention I pay to the detail…

4. Did I exceed your expectations?  Was there anything I did that went above and beyond? The types of things people often comment on are the prep in advance, thinking about colours and clothing, the help with picking wall art to suit your home, the shooting of images with wall art and album layouts in mind, the level of professionalism, the level of contact throughout the process so you’re always informed…

5. Why would you recommend my work? What would you tell someone considering working with me to think about when picking a family photographer?

Click here to see some of my reviews for more ideas and inspiration.