Have you ever heard of CraigsList.com?

If not, you may be missing out on a potential lead generation tool.

People use the Internet for everything. In fact, I’ve recently learned of two people that have used places like CraigsList.com to not only look for work, but to also look for clients.

CraigsList.com is a directory that is broken down by location, and by industry/area of interest. Let me show you how it works. 

First, start out by clicking on your location. CraigsList.com has USA and International options. Once you’re at your selected location, you’ll find a variety of categories. Click around and see what’s available. From my own research, I know most postings for photographers end up under the “services” section, and the category “creative”.

Find the services section, and click on the “creative” link. This will take you to postings made under this category.

Browse through some of the postings, and see what people are writing. As I’m writing this, there are offers for web design, writing and editing, and photography.

Keep in mind that anyone can post. You can create a post selling your photography services. Or you can create a post asking for bids on services.

Let me show you how it can work. A friend recently needed a business portrait, and posted a “Wanted” ad on CraigsList.com. Within one day, she had several contacts offering photography services. She chose one and had a professional portrait created near her office. She was very happy with the results.

This is a very simple system, yet the potential is amazing. CraigsList.com is the 7th most popular site online. With all of that traffic, shouldn’t you be giving it a try?

Photography Printer Ink

In my search for products and services to help the professional photographers, I came accross a great site that is sure to fit into most needs. Many photographers use inkjet printers, from Epson, HP and Canon for much of their color printing. We all know that inkjet prints can become an expensive use of our resources. Imagine saving 50-70% off the retail cost!

With Jetpak Inkjet Cartridge Refilling Service, we make the whole process easy for you.

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Photography Business – Using PR To Your Advantage

Good PR is a matter of taking a current news event, and turning it into a story focused on your business.

Take the recent case of Jennifer Wilbanks, the bride who disappeared from her Atlanta home days before her lavish wedding.

This is a great opportunity for all of you wedding photographers. Send a press release to the media in your area talking about the implications of having a last minute cancellation. How does that effect your business? What does it mean to the wedding industry as a whole? How do contracts protect you from situations like this?

All of this is newsworthy. The media loves relating stories to current events. Give them a story, and you’ll get the coverage!

Sell with a virtual photography album

Have you ever thought about including a virtual photo album with your packages? Now you can. Check out this software.

http://flipalbum.com/

They have several “themes” which allows you to put together albums for babies, families or weddings. It allows you to burn a CD to present to your customer.

This could be a great promotional tool. Include it with your top wedding packages as an incentive to move up. Or offer it to your families with any $1000 order.

Make it an incentive and you’ll boost your sales easily!

Hidden Opportunities – Capture Them Through Marketing

Hidden Opportunities – Capture Them Through Marketing

One of my favorite marketers, Dan Kennedy, shared an idea in one of his latest emails.

Most people attract and accumulate wealth from more than one source – the multiple streams of income theory. One of things he enjoys most about his business is helping his clients uncover hidden opportunities within their existing business.

Reading his email confirmed my feelings for my clients. I too love helping people create a new money source – one that may have never existed before; one that we create online that suddenly pushes their business to a whole new level.

And the great thing about the Internet is it’s still such a new tool. If you’ve never learned anything about how to make money online, now is your chance. Whether you have a small business without a website, or a business that has a solid stream of online income – let’s chat and discover other ways for you to use this amazing tool.

And create another stream of income!

GetKnownMarketing.com

8 Reasons Why 8 Pages Aren’t Enough

8 Reasons Why 8 Pages Aren’t Enough

Did you know the standard website has 8 pages of content, and will never grow beyond those 8 pages? Yet the number one way to reach your prospects and potential buyers is through content.
 
A standard 8 page website is a great place to start, but don’t stop there. It’s time to build, and create a site that attracts clients to you. Consider these 8 reasons to continue building on to your website.
 
1. Depth. People like investigating, and being able to discover more resources. Multiple pages allow people to drill in deeper to your site.
 
2. Resource. What makes your site valuable? People bookmark sites that have a variety of benefits and solutions. Add pages to your site to keep people better informed.
 
3. Power. A powerful site lets people take action. What can you do to direct people to your pages that allow people to take action?
 
4. Selection. When you head to the mall, do you buy the first thing you see, or do you look through a variety of stores to find the best deal? A variety of pages on your site allow a visitor to sort through your material, and confirm they are getting a great deal.
 
5. Value. Can a visitor on your site learn something new? Can they see themselves in your message, and have you provide the solution? The more value you portray, the better your chance of creating the sale.
 
6. Influence. Sometimes you can persuade people to take action by your stories, graphics and messages. The more personal your site becomes, the more people will look up to you as the expert.
 
7. Copy. Sometimes it isn’t the amount of pages that has influence; it’s the copy. Does your copy speak to your audience? Does it motivate them to take action? Don’t be afraid of the long sales letter pages if it’s appropriate for your business.
 
8. Professional. Is your site a sales team? Look at the message your site construes. Would you buy from you?

Are you running your photography business, or is it running you?

Have you read The Emyth Revisited by Michael Gerber? It’s one of my favorite books.

Lately I’ve been feeling like my business is running me. So it’s time to go back through that book, and take a look at what I can release so I free up time to grow my company.

If you’ve fallen into the trap of working 12 hour days, and always have a dozen projects on your desk that you just can’t seem to get to, it’s time to step back and change the way your business operates. If your business is controlling you, you’ve just created a hectic job for yourself, and it’s time to make a change.

The best way to do that is to hire people that can do production-type work for you. Accounting, data entry, album design, production – these are all jobs that can be given out to other people.

What are you doing to make your business more managable – and enjoyable?

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Start Planning for a Successful 2007

The only way to get to your destination is to choose your path carefully, and follow the road to the end. If you’ve never set up a road map to guarantee you reach your final destination, it’s time to get started!

With a month left in 2006, now’s the perfect time to write out your goals. Spend a few hours away from your office and desk, and choose a quiet place that let’s you think about your future. You may choose a quiet hotel in the mountains, a day at the beach, or just head down to your local coffee house and spend time taking in the surroundings.

Before you can plan for your future, you have to see where you’ve been. Make sure you bring with you a current copy of your stats and reports. It’s important to know:

Total revenue
Total sales
Number of clients
Number of repeat clients
Number of one time clients
Marketing strategies and costs
Calendar of special marketing events

Once you have your information, you can easily figure out how to increase your business for 2007.

For instance, let’s say your sales revenue for 2006 was $60,000. How much do you want to increase it in 2007? If you want to bring up your income to $100,000, how many more clients would you need to bring in to increase your income by $40,000?

Each of your figures will trigger another question. And with each question, you can find an answer to solve for it, and create a plan to make it happen in 2007!

Lori

My Goals:

Help 1,000 people become a Six Figure Photographer.
Will you be one of them?

What’s the best thing in the world to own?

A library card of course!

I love my library. In fact, at any given moment, I probably have 20 books checked out. (Add in my daughter’s collection, and we’ve had over 50 books lying around at times!)

The great thing about the library is you have a wealth of information at your fingertips – and its all free.

The five books on my nightstand at this moment are:

The Ultimate Marketing Plan by Dan Kennedy
Get Clients Now by CJ Hayden
Little Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer
Smart Women Finish Rich by David Bach
Foder’s Exploring Caribbean (they don’t all have to be business books  )

What books are on your nightstand?

Helping your photography business, how to start a photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Grants for small photography business

In the past ten years, the number of women-owned businesses has grown exponentially, and these businesses are just as successful as businesses owned by men. Women seeking capital to finance their business ventures can receive grant money. Grants are available for women starting up businesses in all fields-bed and breakfasts, catering, photography, record labels, greeting cards, craft businesses, consulting, brokerage, and more. Locating grants for small photography business is as easy searching on the internet.

Next Page »