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Why A Networking Group Can Save Your Photography Business

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“I’m stuck.”

“I don’t know what to do next.”

“I have no clients and don’t know what to do.”

When clients (and profits) aren’t where they need to be, there’s only one thing to do … get more clients.

Yet in some cases that can seem like the most difficult and painful thing to do. You’ve tried things before. What should you do now?

The easiest answer is right down the street from you. And it takes the form of a Chamber of Commerce.

Chamber of Commerce offices are designed to help businesses get business and stay in business. They offer everything from advice, to networking opportunities, to resources and more. If you have a question, they are the best place to find an answer in your community.

If you’ve never been to your local chamber, what’s your first step? And what should you do when you get there? This is how to get started.

Why A Networking Group Can Save Your Photography Business

Find The Best Group

All chambers are not created equal. When we were first starting out, we joined two chambers and quickly found out that there is a difference.

The Denver Chamber was a huge group of people with lots of meetings and a ton of advice. But because they cater to the downtown Denver area, a lot of their members are larger, corporate businesses, and the members tend to be employees. We also found a lot of people in the professional venues, such as financial, law and real estate.

Then we joined the South Metro Denver Chamber, which catered to smaller businesses, more entrepreneurial in nature. And we found our target.

Spend the time to look at several in your area. Many focus in on areas – cities or regions – but you can find them based on a wide variety of interests. The Women’s Chamber, for instance, is a great place for targeting women based business opportunities.

Make sure you are comfortable with the people you meet, with the types of networking opportunities, and with the location. You will be working with it quite a bit to do it right, so make sure you have easy access. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Get Clients Tagged With: , ,

5 Signs Your Website Has A Flawed Design and How To Fix It

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Photographers love graphics. And when it comes to your website, your images should be the central theme. However, people come to your site over and over again to see what’s new. If you had the “design it and leave it” mentality when you originally put your website online, you’re missing some very crucial pieces to the online world.

While all websites are not created equal – just like all business niches are not created equal – there are some design rules that flow from industry to industry. Are you breaking any of these rules?

Mistake #1: No Action, No Changes

Why do you visit a site over and over again? It’s because when you visit, you find something new.

Why don’t photographers use that same concept on their own sites? Photographers prefer to create a dynamic site with bells and whistles and images that rotate round and round. The problem is when you head to a site like this, it takes seconds for the images to load and the “show to begin”. Once it does – once a person has been to the site – they’ve seen it all before. Why return? People want new. They want action. They want a reason to return.

With a site that offers a lot of different options – from content, to news stories, to new images, to extras like video content – there’s a reason to come back and check things out. When you predominantly place things on the home page and change them out regularly, people will happily come back to see what you have been up to. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Website Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,

Wow Me, Impress Me, Dazzle Me

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“Hi how are you?”

“Fine thank you and how are you?”

“Fine thanks.”

Have you ever thought about most of the short conversations you have during the course of a day?

Most of them have very little meaning. Or relevance.

Do we honestly care how someone is doing when we’re standing in line at the coffee house picking up coffee for the day? Nope not really. Just small talk.

I mean, what if someone actually said “lousy” instead of fine. Would they even hear that? Would they pay attention?

We tend to walk around on autopilot, moving from one task to another with little thought to how we’re doing it. Task one, check. Task two, check.

Customer service skills for photographers

Which is also how most customer service relationships work as well.

“Debit or credit?”

“Paper or plastic.“

“Have a nice day.”

Think automation. Think robotics. Very little is happening between the sales team and the customer. It’s all automated. A smile is simply out of training.

Which is why you take notice if someone does something different. (And trust me, in this world, very few people do.)

Want to stand out above your competition? Simply upgrade your customer service process. Here are a few questions that can help you look at things differently.

1. Look at your sales process, beginning through end, through the eyes of your customer. How are you different than your competition?

2. What do you like most about the businesses you shop at or use?

3. What annoys you at your favorite stores? At the places you spend the most time?

4. How would you change your favorite businesses customer service? (Sometimes it’s easier to tell someone else how to improve – then take those same suggestions yourself.)

5. How could you improve the first contact you ever make with a potential customer?

6. How could you improve the last meeting you have with your clients?

7. How could you connect with your past clients six months after your final meeting?

8. What would make your photography look better when a client picks it up?

9. What could you tell people about your photography that would make them love it even more?

10. What don’t people know about you (or your business) that if they did would completely change their perspective?

11. How much do you listen to what your clients are saying?

12. What do you do to stay in contact week after week?

13. Do you offer little surprises that aren’t expected?

14. Do you go above your promises and always offer more than you state?

15. Do you talk about your customer service?

16. Do you learn more about customer service and discover ways to make it better?

17. Do you find yourself on autopilot every day or do you pay attention to how to improve?

18. Have you asked your past clients what they like most about you?

19. What can you do to add excitement into every day?

20. How can you motivate yourself before every conversation with your customer?

Filed Under: Blog, Customer Service Tagged With: , , ,

The 3 Marketing Mistakes Photographers Make All The Time

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Are you stuck in your photography business? Are clients just not coming through your door as fast as you wish? Or maybe the right clients aren’t coming through the door – they want the world for $1. What should you do next?

It isn’t your prospects and clients that have a problem; it’s you. If your business isn’t where you want it to be, it’s because you aren’t marketing it in the correct manner.  And if that’s the case, you’re probably making one of these mistakes.

Mistake #1 – Expecting online tools to effortlessly generate traffic

“Put up a website and they will come.”

“Open a Facebook account and I’ll have all the clients I need.”

There’s something about the online world that has people believing in miracles. So they build a free site on a web builder program and sit back and wait. Then they hear about the billions on Facebook and decide that’s the solution. So they set up a page there too.

Then they sit back and wait. And wait. And wait.The 3 Marketing Mistakes Photographers Make All The Time

The problem is in thinking the web is a magical place where all your dreams come true. It’s not. And it won’t.

The Internet is simply a marketing tool. You have to work at it each day, just like you have to with non-web based marketing as well.

If you send out postcards, you can’t send out 1,000 cards one day and expect your business to be around 25 years from now. You would have to send out 1,000 cards day after day, month after month, year after year, in order to keep bringing in the right customers at the right time.

And if you’re going to market online, you have to do something every day until the end of your business. You must write blog posts day after day. You must be active on Facebook week after week. You must strive to gain followers month after month, and keep them happy year after year. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Get Clients Tagged With:

7 Secrets To A Strong Photographic Portfolio That Most People Will Tell You Not To Do

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I read an article the other day on building a photography portfolio. And while the article itself was written well and provided a ton of detail, I disagree with the message.

Most people in the photographic industry teach you to put together a generic, boring portfolio, both online and off. “Choose your best image from each session”, they say. “Never have more than a couple dozen images in your gallery”, they say. I disagree.

When we first built our business in the late 90’s (think dial up modems), we put thousands online in our portfolio. Yes thousands. At our height, we had over 20,000 images on our site. People told us we were crazy. “They’ll never look at that many images.” “Take them down, are you crazy?” The comments when on and on. But we didn’t fail with our 20,000 images. In fact we made it BIG. Because we spoke right to the heart of our ideal client.

Your portfolio should never be “normal”. It shouldn’t be what they teach you in a photography class, or a “best of” series that showcases a few great shots. Nope. It should be a whole lot more.

7 Secrets To A Strong Photographic Portfolio That Most People Will Tell You Not To Do

1. Things You Want To Shoot

Too often a photographer will include things in her portfolio that clients’ expect to be there. Yet if you want to branch out and shoot something very specific, something very unique to you, don’t be afraid to include it because it isn’t the “norm”. People will hire you because of what they see in you. If you showcase certain things, they will expect it as their own results.

2. Beyond The Best Of

Everyone tells you to create a gallery filled with your “best of” images. Your best images are great, but if you’ve ever looked at portfolio after portfolio, “best of” series soon all start looking the same. Do a search for wedding portfolios and you’ll see what I mean. Every photographer includes two to three dozen of his or her “best of” images. And they all look alike. Most are shots of the bride, groom, or some combination. You’ll get a sweet looking image of the ceremony. A couple of great scenics from an outdoor wedding. And of course the mandatory couple of candid images from the reception to prove you are “photojournalistic”. Is that really all there is to it? Or can you stretch and showcase more? We routinely would put together montages that would contain 200, 300 or even 400 images or more from one wedding and include them in our portfolio. A potential client would truly get an understanding of what we could do for her – and it worked every time. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Get Clients Tagged With: , , , , ,

3 Ways To Turn Your Story Into A Successful Photography Business

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3 Ways To Turn Your Story Into A Successful Photography BusinessWhat makes you buy a product?

What makes you choose one company over another?

What makes you “attach” yourself to one person over another?

The story.

Think about the Olympics. Michael Phelps is a household name because they tell his story over and over again. In his third Olympic run, he beat the long time record of total medals held when he swam to his 19th win. We all rooted for him because we know his story, have watched him win time after time, and are right there with him as the announcers scream in excitement as he touches the side.

Think about a product you use. I’ve used a cleaner – Mr Clean Magic Eraser – for several years now thanks to a friend’s input. We had dinner one night and we got on the subject of cleaning. She broke out into this animated story about having marks on her wall. She had received a free sample of the Mr Clean Magic Eraser, and with just a few strokes, the surface was clean. So she moved on to other areas of her home with the same results. She put a new box at the top of her grocery list and started sharing her story with all of her friends. The story was enough for me. I’ve been a user ever since.

Now think about photography. Why would someone want to use you? Which of your customers loves you so much, they break out into an animated story whenever they are sitting and sharing their images with friends? Which of your clients is cheering for you when you do something beyond the scope of your business – you make headlines because of the work that you do?

If you don’t know your story, know one else will either. Which means now as you are building for the future, developing your own newsworthy story will ensure people connect with and stay with you for years into the future.

1. Find something others can care about.

Why did you go into business for yourself? Why did you start a photography business?

Those two questions can help you start building your own story.

Most people don’t go into photography for the money, or simply because they like toting a camera around with them 24/7. There is something else there that makes the journey worthwhile. That’s the thing that helps you develop your own story. That’s what you focus on. That’s where you find and develop a story others will care about too.

2. Use that story to build your business around.

Once you find your story, write about it and make it as succinct as possible. You should be able to give your story in a 30 minute elevator speech, as well as a 30 minute interview. You should know it inside and out, and be willing to give it at any time.

Nope, its not bragging. Many people have problems developing their own story because they feel like too much emphasis is being placed on themselves. Nothing is further from the truth. The story of you is important because that’s what gives people the “care” to want to do business with you. They need to have a reason to love who you are and share you with friends and family.

3. Work the story over and over again.

With your story in hand, you should share it everywhere. That’s what PR is for -  a reporter should be able to instantly see your value and want to spread the word about why you matter to your community. You should be able to write it online again and again. You should be able to incorporate it into all of your marketing materials – from your site to your brochures. Everything should link back to your story, giving prospects and clients an instant recognition of what you are all about.

If you message isn’t concise, you haven’t developed your story in a strong enough manner.

Filed Under: Blog, Publicity Tagged With: , ,

Do You Need Extra Money For Your Photography Business?

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Have you ever said or heard the following statement?

“My normal salary just doesn’t cut it anymore. What I really need is a little bit of extra money. If I had a little bit extra every month, then I could do some of the things I’ve had on my plate for a while now.”

Yep, you probably hear something like that all the time. People always have a hard time making ends meet. They think they’ll have a little extra and their car breaks down. Or their child comes home with a “trip of a lifetime” … how can you say no? Or worse, they have a little extra money at the end of the month and end up blowing it on something frivolous.

Then the same cycle starts in again the next month. And so on.Do You Need Extra Money For Your Photography Business

What is the term “extra money” really doing for you? In essence, its just telling your subconscious that you need more money than you have today. Which means that if you find a penny on the street, you’ve accomplished your goal.

The term “extra money” is simply too vague to do you any good. Its not compelling enough to force you to take action and accomplish what you need to in order to bring in “extra money”. Your subconscious brain takes in that you want extra money, and when you have any amount extra, it shuts down and says “I’ve achieved my goal”.

Which means that the only way you can get your subconscious brain to take action is to give it something to hold on to and work towards.

If you’ve ever caught yourself saying “I need extra money this month”, what do you really need it for?

Maybe you have a new car payment of $300 a month that you always seem to be struggling to pay.

Maybe you really want to take that course you’ve had your eye on, but its $1000 plus airfare and three nights hotel.

Maybe you want to build up your savings for the new house you’ve had your eye on. But even if you sell your current home, you know you’ll need an additional $10,000 for the down payment.

Now you have defined what “extra money” really means. You know you need to find a way to fund an exact goal you have in mind.

You can do that by eliminating something already in your life – no more lunches out on Friday’s with the girls.

Or you can do that by adding in additional revenue – really working on bringing in five extra clients per month for portrait sessions.

Either way, with the help of your subconscious brain helping you along the way, you know have the motivation you need to accomplish your goal of creating “extra money”.

Filed Under: Sales Tagged With:

How To Snag One Big Client That Can Keep The Money Coming In Year Round

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Let’s say you have a goal of bringing in $50,000 a year. If you hit that mark, you could quit your full time job and concentrate on photography year round.

What would be better:

Finding one $50,000 client?

Or finding 10 $5,000 clients?

How To Snag One Big Client That Can Keep The Money Coming In Year Round You probably jumped one way or the other immediately. Some would say the easiest way would be to find that one great client that you could focus all your energy and provide them with the best service ever. Others would say that is impossible – it’s much easier finding 10 people that are willing to spend $5,000 each.

Now lets define what a client is. How would you define “client”?

Most people would say something like “a person that hires you for a service and brings in money to your business.” Yep, that is a client.

But I think you can look at a “client” in a different manner as well.

I found this definition of client in the Merriam Webster dictionary:

A person who engages the professional advice or service of another.

And that’s where the difference lies. It’s with the word “advice”.

For me, a client doesn’t necessarily have to bring you in money. They can bring you in non-monetary services as well. Including referrals.

So if you are a wedding photographer, and you become close with a wedding reception site – close enough that they send you a good selection of their own clients every year – the wedding reception site could be your client.

In order to market and service this “client”, you would have to maintain a very good relationship with them over time. You could:

  • Take the manager out to lunch
  • Send over a gift basket after you book a client they send over
  • Refer clients to them if they book you before their wedding venue
  • Provide them with a free sample album to showcase how their venue looks in photographs

And of course a whole lot more.

So if your goal is to snag one big client for the year, where should you look for that “client”?

Should you market to a list of newly engaged couples? They get married once. They may refer their newly engaged friends, but time will move them away from your business if you focus on wedding photography.

Or should you concentrate on getting your one big “client” from a referral source so strong, they can literally keep you in business for years to come?

You choose.

Filed Under: Get Clients Tagged With: , , ,

How To Write An Ebook For Your Photography Business

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“I notice a lot of businesses online use ebooks on their websites. Is that something I can do as a portrait photographer? If so, how do I go about creating one? Why should I do it? I’ve had it in my mind now for quite a while – just want to know your take on this ebook thing.”

eBooks, or electronic books, have been around for a long time. You probably have many of them sitting on your hard drive somewhere. And with Kindle, Nook and other e-reader tablets on the market, you probably bring a bunch along with you every time you leave your home or office.

Yet even if you have a ton of them, read them on a regular basis, you may have never considered having one for your own business. Today may be the day you change your mind.

The Concept

The purpose of an ebook is twofold. One, you can use it as a marketing tool to get your information into the hands of your prospects and clients. In this case your ebook would be for free, and used to direct people to take action in a variety of ways. Two, you can create information of value and sell it on the open marketplace. When you buy a book on Amazon and have it delivered to your Kindle, that’s an example of an ebook for pay and profit.

In reference to the question above, we’re going to stick with talking about a free ebook, one you use as a marketing tool to bring people in to your business.

How To Write Ebooks For Your Photography BusinessThe Title

The title of your ebook is the most important part of your marketing tool. Without a great title, one that jumps out and people and makes them want to download your information as fast as possible, it will be just another piece of content on your site.

In order to come up with a great title, think about your customers and their pain points. Why do they come to you? What are they looking for in this niche?

We’ll stick with the portrait niche for this example, and I’ll further define it by concentrating on the senior portrait niche.

Senior portraits are marketed to two people – the high school student and the parent. The high school student has to love the work so they will be happy handing it out to friends. The parent has to love it in order to be willing to pay for it. So marketing messages must speak to both. So your ebook title may be something like:

How Facebook Will Kill Your Senior Portrait And What You Can Do About It

It speaks to the kids, who want to share everything they do on Facebook. And it speaks to the parent who has some doubts about Facebook and obviously wants to keep their child safe. It touches on an unknown – which is exactly what your ebook title should do. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: , , , ,
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