Yess, Australia’s first LGBTQIA service directory, is inviting photographers to register their business on the app for free.
Yess has just launched, with 60 businesses currently listed, and aims to be the leading directory of LGBTQIA-friendly and inclusive event service providers.
The relatively new same-sex wedding industry is booming. ANZ economist, Cherelle Murphy, tipped it to be worth over $650 million annually back in September 2017.
Shortly after same-sex marriage laws passed, photographer Frank Farrugia of Same Love Photography told The Daily Beast that gay couples felt uncomfortable approaching photography studios geared toward heterosexual weddings.
Given 38 percent of Australians voted against same-sex marriage, some of whom are bound to be in the wedding business, it’s reasonable for gay couples to be concerned about disapproval or rejection when seeking services.
Yess founder, Jill Burgess, came up with the idea for the app back in December 2017 when she realised she was able to marry her partner, Kim.
While it’s free to register, photographers pay $5 per lead. Each time a potential client wants to make contact with a photographer, it comes at a cost. Calls are made through the app, and each new call is considered a lead. A lead doesn’t guarantee paid work – the potential client may be shopping around for prices, or wanting to chat about the weather. (It could be worse, caterers, lawyers and fertility services, among others, have to pay $10 per lead!)
‘Yess cannot guarantee what happens after an enquiry is made, because this is where the business takes over, responds and takes care of the client,’ the website FAQ states. ‘However, what we can say is that conversions are always higher in the cost-per-enquiry model, because people on the app have already viewed your business profile and have real intent to purchase your services.’
On the positive side, the client may provide a recommendation to other potential clients or have another job in the future.
Along with the effective ‘cost-per-enquiry’ model, Yess has minimised how many photographers can register. Only three businesses per suburb are allowed on the platform, to ‘give everybody a higher chance of winning the work’. Right now only five photographers, all from NSW, are listed.
This is a different business model to other online service directories, such as Photographers.com.au which has an over-saturation of photographers, and then charges for a premium listing.
Yess has 22 event provider categories including photographers, wedding celebrants, florists, stylists, bakers, and caterers – even dance classes.
Here’s a link to the Yess website. (Hmm…Wonder how much we should charge ’em per lead?)
Love this idea.
We met a gay couple last week who told us their wedding planner asked a photographer she knew if he would photograph their wedding. He said that he would photograph two “girls” but not two guys.
Woah!