12 Ways To Make 2010 The Best Year Yet For Photographers

by Virtual Photography Leave a Comment

Have you ever noticed how early your magazine subscriptions come in? Right in the heart of December, right as your baking cookies and wrapping up the gifts, here comes your January editions.

I sat down last night with one of my favorites, Sunset magazine, (it always gives great tips on vacation spots here in the West), and read through a great article giving a 12 month planner on living well in 2010. So of course that spawned the idea of breaking down 2010 for your business, and what you could be doing in each of the coming 12 months to make your photography business a knockout in 2010. I have my list down. And I thought I’d list one here with ideas for photographers as well. Take some from below, and build your own.

January
Release something new, just for 2010. Update a previous campaign you ran in 2009. Or start something you’ve been dreaming of. Limited edition portraits?

Tips for making 2010 a great year for your photography business

February
Set up a system to help give you more time in your already busy day. Maybe it’s hiring a bookkeeper. Or an assistant to help you with production work. Or releasing your album design to a professional company. Giving yourself the gift of time now will help you do more in the busy months.

March
Attend a convention to get the new ideas flowing. We’ll be at WPPI (Weddings and Portrait Photographers International) in Las Vegas from the 4th through the 11th. If that’s not your area of expertise, hop onto Google and find a convention close to you. Many take place in the early months of the year.
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Filed Under: Blog, Planning Tagged With: new year tips for photographers, tips for 2010 for photography business

The Real Reason More Photographers Can’t Break Into The Destination Market

by Virtual Photography Leave a Comment

The forecast calls for two feet of snow. You’ve been stuck inside because of snow and cold for weeks with no end in sight. Instead of snow, wouldn’t sand and beaches be a refreshing change right about now?

Many photographers feel that way, and happily include one little sentence on their websites:

“Work in and around [insert your hometown here] or will travel to your destination.”

Then they sit back and wait for the phone to ring, making the offer of a lifetime to travel to the Caribbean, Hawaii, Fiji, Greece, – okay, you get the picture.

The trouble is that phone call never comes for most. It never comes because the last thing a bride ever goes on the hunt for is for a photographer that “will travel to your destination”.

destination weddings

Instead, if a bride is getting married in Antigua, she searches for a “wedding photographer in Antigua”. If she’s getting married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, she searches for a “wedding photographer in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.”

And so the two never meet.

Creating The Plan
Let’s say you are a wedding photographer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In order to photograph weddings, you probably do a variety of things to advertise your business:

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Filed Under: Blog, Destination Photography Tagged With: destination wedding photography

Using Reverse Image Search Tools For Copyright Protection of your Photographs

by Virtual Photography Leave a Comment

Have you ever been just a bit nervous about putting an image online, not sure who’s going to copy it and claim it for their own? You can head over to Google and search for the file name to find out if anyone has duplicated it. But what about finding an exact match for your images?

Enter reverse image searches. Upload your image into the search tools, and it will scour the web looking for matches without worrying about keywords, copy, or file names.

TinEye is a new entry into the world of reverse image searches, and is by far coming out as the leader in this category.

TinEye allows you to submit an image and find out where it came from, how it is being used, if modified versions of the image exist, or find higher resolution versions. The technology is pretty cool. When you submit an image, it creates a “fingerprint” and then compares that fingerprint to every other image it retrieves through searches. It won’t find similar images – only things that are an exact match, even if its been cropped, resized or adjusted. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Online Resources Tagged With: check for copyright infringement, copyright your photographs, reverse search tool, tineye

3 Ways To Stop Quitting

by Virtual Photography 2 Comments

I met with a photographer over the weekend that will be starting a new job come the New Year. She’s been struggling with her business all year, and just can’t seem to pull in even a part time income from her photography any more. Her husband’s job is on shaky grounds, so rather than waiting for a big hit to their income, she’s decided to take a desk job. She wants to continue her business on the side, and hopefully bring it back up to where it was a couple of years ago.

So I started asking her about how she has marketed her photography business this past year.

She sent out a newsletter twice, with a few updates about her studio.
She sent several email notices for sales.
She uses Facebook and Twitter.
She updated her website back in the early summer months.
She submitted a portrait for an auction for a local school in early fall.

On the surface, it may seem like she’s fairly active. Until you dig a little deeper.

market your photography business and stop quitting

Saying you “do something” and “doing it actively” are two different things.

It’s easy to say you use Facebook and Twitter. But what does that really mean? Do you have thousands of friends and followers? If you send out a note (or tweet) do you have instant response? Can you easily get clients every day if you send out something new? One hundred friends won’t cut it. You will not get business if you are friends with your family and immediate friends. It takes thinking way outside the box, coming up with a huge list to market to, and doing something different and unexpected.
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Filed Under: Blog, Get Inspired Photography Tagged With: how to market a photography studio, marketing your photo business

Take Them By The Hand And Lead Them Through Your Website

by Virtual Photography Leave a Comment

Websites in general are a very simple concept. You build a page, fill it with copy, and ask your readers to do something.

If they are on your home page, maybe you ask them to sign up for your newsletter or a free report.

If they are on your blog, maybe you invite them to learn more about your upcoming holiday promotion.

If they are on your contact form, maybe your goal is to get a variety of information from them about what type of services they are interested in.

No matter what the goal of each page, what’s the next step?

Sell your photography by using your website

With a website, pages are easy to produce, and use as lead-in’s to what comes next.

For example, if someone fills out a contact us form and submits it, instead of having a page that says thank you, create a thank you page that takes selling to the next level. If you are primarily a wedding photographer, fill the thank you page with wedding related links. “Now that we have your information, why not visit our photo gallery? We have over 10,000 images from 100 of our favorites clients – and we’d love to add you to our gallery in the future!” Hyper link it over to your photo gallery, and let people start surfing.
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Filed Under: Blog, Website Marketing Tagged With: marketing your photography website, online marketing for photographers, selling your photography online

So Your Clients Want Practical? How About A Picture Heater?

by Virtual Photography Leave a Comment

With the economy down, and everyone thinking of ways to be practical, why not give your clients what they want.

Imagine being able to place your favorite photograph on the wall, and it turns into a space heater during the cold, winter months. (Perfect for this last week here in Denver where it never went above 10 degrees.)

Heat by Design takes your images, and creates a Picture Heater. Send them a 24” x32” print (they will print portrait and landscape) and Heat by Design takes it from there. They print your image on a special aluminum surface that conducts heat. The image is printed with a commercial four color printing process that uses UV light to cure the inks, and to ensure your image will not fade due to heating or exposure to direct sunlight.

Though the Picture Heater does require electricity, you can have the cord exit from the right, left or the center of the frame. During the warm summer months, remove the cord and enjoy it as a normal picture.

So, how do you sell it to your clients? Send them a postcard with a special winter package. Create a fun environment, maybe meeting them at the local skating rink for great family portraits. Then sell them a Picture Heater as a part of your Winter Wonderland package. Of course they will need to purchase a 24×32 print – which boosts your profit. And you need to make sure your costs of production are covered for the Picture Heater. Beyond that, use your imagination.

I’m sure you’re clients will be as intrigued as I am.

Filed Under: Blog, Tips & Resources Tagged With: heat by design, marketing your photography to clients, picture heater

How To Double Your Sales Without Marketing To New Prospects

by Virtual Photography 2 Comments

Today I’m really excited to announce my newest ebook on one of my most favorite topics – How To Double Your Sales Without Marketing To New Prospects.

As we were building up our business, we hated the idea of selling. It always brought to mind the used car salesman image, and that’s the last thing we wanted to portray. ebook

We wanted our photography to sell itself.
We wanted people to call or email us excited, ready to sign on the dotted line with very little effort.
We wanted there to be so many “knocks” on our door, we would never have to sell again.

This guide is all about sharing with you the one “secret weapon” we found that literally turned our business into a Six Figure business model in just a few months.

How To Double Your Sales Without Marketing To New Prospects shares an idea that we used to successfully reach out to markets we never would have had access to without this “secret weapon”.

Over the past six years, VirtualPhotographyStudio.com has shared with you hundreds or posts on building up a photography business. We’ve shared our ideas in dozens of newsletters, and created many different products and services you’ve used to help build your business, and generate a profit.

Each of my products takes your learning to a whole other level. If you haven’t tried one of my e-training products before, this is your chance to see firsthand how beneficial even one great idea can be.

How To Double Your Sales Without Marketing To New Prospects includes:

23 pages of specific advice, tips, resources and step-by-step plans!
A template ready for you to use!
Photographs of every idea!
Examples and case studies!
Clear text and stories to make sure you walk away with a clear concept, ready to implement in your business!

We know this one idea helped build our business from under $50,000 per year to over $250,000 per year, in less than two years of time. We believe it will do the same for you. And at a price of $14.95 (USD), it’s one of the most economical and valuable pieces of information your business will ever have access to.

30 Day Money Back Guarantee

If one idea could double, triple, even quadruple your business over the next year, you’d be crazy not to invest in it, right? Yet you may have tried things before, and just aren’t sure what to do. Grab your copy of How To Double Your Sales Without Marketing To New Prospects today. I’m so confident you’ll love the ideas presented in simple step-by-step form that if you don’t agree, just let me know within 30 days of purchase and I’ll refund your money – no questions asked.

Get It Now

Make sure you take advantage by investing in How To Double Your Sales Without Marketing To New Prospects today. Get started today…

Filed Under: Blog, Marketing Tagged With: helping photographers market their business, How To Double Your Sales Without Marketing To New Prospects, photography marketing guide, Photography Training

Love Commercial Work? Why Not Product Photography

by Virtual Photography Leave a Comment

In the world of the Internet with microstock websites selling millions of photos every day, is there still a need for a commercial photographer to take high quality product images?

Now more than ever.

If a company has a product, especially a product with a lot of detail, in order to showcase it online, you need high quality photographs.

Determine the best way to display your products within the photographs. How will your clients be attracted to it? Consider lifestyle, use of mannequin versus model, backgrounds and layouts, etc.
Concentrate on the details. The more details a product has, the more images and the more close-ups you should have. Don’t let your customer imagine the possibilities – show them.
Ensure the product images accurately depict the product. Surprises upon getting the product doesn’t make happy customers; avoid surprises by showcasing as much as you can.

If you’ve ever looked through microstock sites, you know most images are general in nature. Their great for accenting blog posts, creating simple, generic brochures, and building online web tools. But to showcase details for specific products and placements, its time to turn to the professionals. Companies know this, and aren’t afraid to pay for a quality photographer that can capture exactly what they are looking for, and help them be more professional in their appearance.

Let’s look at a couple of examples from well-known sites that use product photography well.
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Filed Under: Blog, Commercial Photography Tagged With: Commercial Photography, product photographer, selling products with photography

How A Clothing Consultation Can Raise The Revenue Of Your Portraits

by Virtual Photography 2 Comments

Without a little coaching for you, your clients will show up in just about anything for a family portrait. Some may think of trying to match, while others will show up in whatever is comfortable – making for a truly “memorable” portrait experience.

Instead of leaving clothing choices up to your clients, teach them about clothing instead. Even a few minutes over the phone, or a few minutes browsing your website for ideas can make all the difference in the world.

How A Clothing Consultation Can Raise The Revenue Of Your Portraits

Overall, there are 7 tips you should share with your clients, and have samples ready to show to illustrate the point.

1. Choose one color hue per portrait. People stand out if they are different from the norm of the photograph. If the majority of the people show up in black sweaters, and one shows up in red, the photograph will be dominated by the one in red.

2. Wear similar styles. Long sleeves are usually preferable. In all cases, the less distraction the better, and the more focus will be put on the faces. Again, if the majority shows up in long sleeve black sweaters, and one shows up in a purple tank top, you’ll focus on both the color of her shirt, and on her bare arms. It will also confuse the overall look – is it summer or fall?
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Filed Under: Blog, Portrait Photography, Taking Better Photographs Tagged With: clothing consultations, increase sales with clothing consultations, portrait tips, take better portraits