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One Great Way To Give Away Your Photography

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As I sat in the doctor’s office with my mom a while back, I couldn’t help but notice how cold it was. In the waiting room, it was just a bunch of chairs along a wall with the receptionist busy at work behind the desk. Other than the windows on one wall, there was nothing in the room. It didn’t change when we went into the exam room. A table, a sink, a couple of chairs … and four very empty walls.

Granted, this is a heart surgeon and he doesn’t have an overly warm bedside manner. And its clearly obvious he doesn’t have a knack for decorating. But wouldn’t a few “warm” touches make the patients feel better?

The more I looked around, the more examples I began to find.

A massage therapist with a few charts and quotes hanging in her massage room.

A dentist with a VERY inexpensive framed poster hanging on the wall.

I’m sure I could go on and on, but you probably understand exactly what I’m talking about. In fact, I bet if you think for a moment, you can probably think of a friend, acquaintance, or someone you actually use in your personal life that fits what I’m talking about.

The problem is these people are probably great at what they do. The heart surgeon is one of the best in this area.

Yet none of them have spent any time studying decorating, interior design, or the art of creating a room that makes their clientele feel special. For some, they may hire a decorator to help them. But for most, they are simply small business owners that started out the way you and I did, and spent their time, energy and money on what they deemed most important. And it wasn’t what was hanging on their walls.

Which is where you come in.

Why not find a few of these offices where you could hang your work, decorate their offices to make them warmer and more homey, and boost your business in the process?

While I’ve focused mainly on doctors and professionals here, by know means is that the only focus. Any business owner that brings in clientele could bring opportunity. A coffee shop. An accountant. Use your imagination.

One of the easiest ways to start the process is to find someone you know. Do you have a friend with a small business office? Of do you visit an office regularly that could use a little help?

Then mirror the opportunity with what they do. A heart surgeon’s office is probably not the right place to hang baby portraits. But it may be the perfect place to hang family portraits, especially those that contain extended family members – grandmas and grandpas.

The portrait could be a great way to bring in new business. But don’t forget the only way they will know who you are is if you tell them. A business card in the corner of the frame is great; as long as the first person can’t remove it. Make sure the small business owner doesn’t have a problem with you “advertising” your services. Then keep it subtle. “Permanently” adhere your business card to the bottom corner. Add a small plaque underneath. You may even find an office manager that is willing to put your brochures out on a table in the waiting room.

Once you have one in place, work for the next. Its easier to go into another office when you already have statistics and names following you.

Filed Under: Get Clients Tagged With: , ,

Google Places Policy Change Can Have Big Impact On Your Photography Business

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As a photographer, you run your business in one of three ways.

1. Your business is a brick and mortar studio where all of your clients come to your studio for your photography. Everything from photography to sales is completed at your location.

2. Your business is home based and serves some customers at your home and some on the road.

3. Your business is home based and does not serve any customers at your location.

All are an acceptable way to run your business. But if you’ve ever inputted your information into Google Places and you don’t have it set up correctly according to your business model, you could be at risk for having your account deleted.

On March 22nd the official Google Places Quality Guidelines were updated to include the following:

If you don’t receive customers at your location, you must select the “Do not show my business address on my Maps listing” option within your dashboard. If you don’t hide your address, your listing may be removed from Google Maps.

Google has decided to do this to make the content side of Google Places more accurate. Several years ago when Google Places was just starting to grow, people experimented with placing their businesses into the Places feature, no matter what type of business it was. And it worked. If you checked the “hide address” feature back then, it was like checking the box that said “hide my business” as well. So word quickly spread that in order to receive the benefits from Google Places, it was better to include your location no matter what type of business you had.

As Google keeps changing, they now want to provide the best results possible. Which means if you have a brick and mortar business, your address is of benefit. If you don’t, it’s a hindrance. By adding this new policy change, it is believed that the “hide address” feature will no longer negatively impact your local focused rankings.

While this policy change isn’t widely known, it can impact you if you don’t comply immediately. Many businesses suddenly find themselves “gone” from rankings simply because they aren’t following the new policy. If you’ve ever created your Google Places profile, head back and check to make sure you comply.

Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: , ,

Is This What You Are Doing Wrong With Your Sales?

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Are you wondering why sales aren’t where you think they should be? Are you wondering how you can get more people to your site who won’t just look, but will actually buy?

Its hard not to fall into the trap of entitlement. If you look around you, everyone talks about the overnight success stories, and the businesses that have grown from $0 to $1 million in a matter of days. Just yesterday I was emailed a story about a company that is now making $600k a month, though they were almost bankrupt a mere six weeks ago.

Entitlement is a part of our culture. We watch a show or movie and we movie from concept to solution in under two hours. Entire serial killer mysteries can be played out in less than one. So why shouldn’t we be able to build a business in a matter of weeks? We’re entitled to it, right?

The problem with entitlement within our business model is we lose site of what is truly important. Our thoughts drift to:

  • I have the most amazing product/service ever
  • My services deserve attention
  • Nobody is doing anything like me
  • I’m charging less so I should fill up twice as fast
  • Its [insert whatever you choose] fault, not my own [i.e. the economy, my parents, my spouse, my lack of education, etc]

Yet none of that is the real problem. The real problem is we bring all of our focus internally instead of placing it where it belongs … on the consumer.

A few months ago I chatted with a woman who lost her job and was trying to build up her photography business to replace her income. Her goal was to build up a portrait business that consisted of boudoir, maternity and baby portraiture. She had some great work and had a huge potential to make it grow. Where she was lacking was in marketing and sales.

So we began talking about the best way get her work out there into her community. After a little work we decided her best bet would be to get her work on the walls of a local doctor’s office. She sent off a letter and after a week … nothing. To say she was put off by the whole experience was an understatement. She was ready to throw in the towel on the whole project. Until I asked her a few questions. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Sales Tagged With: , , ,

7 Secret Marketing Strategies Top Photographers Use … And You Already Know How To Use Them

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Many small business owners have trouble with marketing. They think its difficult, an acquired skill that takes years to learn.

In reality, marketing is something you have to work at for the life of your business. Yet it isn’t difficult to learn or do. You just have to realize it is a part of your business and you have to do it. Many of the things that will help you be most successful you already know. See how many things you are already doing.

1. Understand, know and love what you are selling.

Sounds easy enough; yet in reality many people create packages they aren’t really sure about. If you don’t have faith in what you are selling and know it inside and out, you’ll never be able to sell it to a prospect. And they really want to buy!

Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. And you don’t have to create complex messages. In fact, the simpler the better. If you aren’t sure if your packages are simple enough, explain them to a family member or friend that doesn’t spend a lot of time in your business. Can you explain it in a few sentences and have them get it? If not, go back to the drawing board and rewrite your content. You should be able to quickly describe what you do, what you have to offer, and have them wanting more information.

2. Have your information in a variety of ways.

If you’ve ever told someone what you do, what is the next question they usually ask for if they are interested? They ask for more information. People are skeptical by nature. They don’t hear a few sentences and immediately buy, especially if it’s a larger ticket item. In order to appease their instincts and help them determine if they can indeed trust you, they ask for more information to prove in their minds that you are legitimate. While you don’t have to have volumes of content, you do have to have your content in a variety of ways. Your website is the easiest, especially if its in blog format, because you can add a ton of content to it any time you choose. You can also have postcards, brochures, videos, and a variety of social profiles. Make sure they all say the same things and frame your business in the same way. They should be able to move from one place to another, improving your image in their minds. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Get Clients Tagged With: , ,

4 Ways To Avoid Getting Dropped From Google Search Results

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Being listed in Google can be a great thing for your business. With just a little work, you can start gaining traction under key terms and have people find you that you would have never connected with in any other way.

Yet just because you are listed in Google doesn’t mean you will stay in Google. Google has their own internal “rules” that they use to rank different sites and pages. Those algorithms change all the time. Google is constantly trying to improve the way it provides search results. And just because something works this week doesn’t mean it will work the next.

While marketers have tried a variety of things over the years, there are a few rules that remain true year after year. There are ways to keep your site up in the top rankings an ensure it will stay there no matter how the algorithms change.

Create Quality Content

The easy answer is to create quality content. Quality content means you work at creating content your visitors will love when they come over to read it. You shouldn’t copy content from other sources. You shouldn’t create link farms. You shouldn’t use spamming tools. And you shouldn’t create pages exclusively for Google. Instead, write content and present it as if you are creating a page in a magazine. Would your visitors read what you have to say – or would they abandon it as quick as possible? [Read more...]

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

14 Do’s and Don’ts To Win Over Your Photography Clients

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The key to a great business is having great clients. Here are some simple rules to ensure that your customers love you and want to use you again and again. And again.

Do find your competitive edge.

What makes you special? What makes you unique? Its not just your passion or your love for the business. It has to be your approach to photography and the way you run your business. Find that one unique thing that sets you apart and use it to bring in a ton of clients.

Don’t badmouth your competition.

You probably have one or two competitors who you think very little of. They run their business completely against your ethics and you know “dirty little secrets” about them that makes you have anything but trust. Don’t tell. As much as you know about them, its important to turn the other way and simply ignore. The clients that are best suited for you will quickly figure that out for themselves if they visit that business. Just stay true to your word and do the best you can do.

Do find ways to build relationships.

The most difficult way to build a business is to focus on bringing in new client after new client. If they’ve never heard of you when they begin their search, it will take time to educate them on who you are. Instead, keep your existing clients happy, and they will refer you to all of their friends and family.

Don’t sell, sell sell.

Your job isn’t to sell what you do. Instead its all about building strong relationship with pillars of the community. If everyone is talking about you, everyone will have to use your services. Avoid the temptation online and off to spread your message as “would you like to buy from me?” They will find you when they are ready. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Customer Service Tagged With: , , ,

3 Reasons People Are Walking Away From Your Photography Business

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What is the one thing each of us wishes we had more of? Time. Because we all have way more to get done each day then we actually have time to accomplish, we start looking for shortcuts that will make things easier. Online banking? Check. Delivery service for everything from dry cleaning to dinner? Check. If we want to spend our money, we want to make sure its giving us something in return, not causing us more work.

Which is why simple messages always work. Look at your favorite products and services. Do you have to think before you buy? Or do they convince you before hand that you will be making the right purchase from someone you can believe in and trust?

Makes sense, right? Yet its amazing how many entrepreneurs manage to confuse what should be a simple process.

1. Problem: Too Many Areas Of Expertise

Having more than one niche you can focus your energy on may seem like a good thing up front. And it does offer you the ability to pick and choose what you want to do each day.

Yet the problem with being good at everything is no one will understand the one thing you are really great at. Instead of being the go-to person for one area of focus, you will be the catch all person that picks up things when no one else comes to mind.

Solution: Niche and segment

Its okay to have more than one love. But if you combine them and try and get your clients to understand your two different niches, it may be a chore. Consider a photographer that loves weddings and product work for catalogs and magazines. Both are photography related and can showcase your creative side. Yet weddings may be considered a bit “frilly” for commercial work. Some executives that would happily hire a seasoned commercial photographer may have a bit of reluctance when they see you compete for weddings on the side. Different mentality. Different areas of expertise. And sometimes the image of what it takes doesn’t cross over from industry to industry.

I would suggest creating more than one website if necessary, allowing each of them to focus on the area you are promoting to each set of clientele. Don’t hide the fact you cater to different industries. Just don’t focus on it where a potential client can spend a lot of time reading about the other niches you cater to. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Online Marketing Tagged With: , , ,

One Great Idea – How To Spend Two Years On A Motorcycle

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Who says you can’t use your photography to live life anyway you choose?

Meet Serdar Sunny Unal

A few years ago, this professional photographer decided to leave Los Angeles for a five month expedition down to Latin America. His epic adventure – now nicknamed “LA2BA” covered over 40,000 miles through 15 countries, and gave him the opportunity to photograph like never before. From the moment I read one of his quotes, I was hooked into his story:

“By the time I found myself on a sailboat heading to Colombia, I’d already realized that a new chapter in my life had begun, and things would never be the same.”

Right now, the world is all about change. The concept of a job doesn’t mean what it used to. Security doesn’t mean what it used to. Nor does the concept of risk.

And some professions just seem to be more flexible to change things up and do something completely out of the ordinary.

When Serdar was pressed with the question “why?”, he answered:

“I suddenly got terrified by the speed of time, and decided not to wait for tomorrow to live my dreams. And once I managed to get out the door, there was no reason to ever go back”.

A concept we should all take to heart.

So what did his epic adventure turn into?

The largest travel book ever put to an iPad app.

You can purchase Los Angeles to Buenos Aires, over 1200 pages of journals and images in the iTunes store.

Or on February 28, the first 500 people to his site will be able to download a short cut – a condensed 380 page excerpt covering the Central America legs of the expedition for free. Just to see what its like … and to give you your own ideas for an epic journey.

Of course once you get the sneak peek, the full version will be a click away, and be your own blueprint to the future you’ve been dreaming about.

Filed Under: Photographers–One Great Idea Tagged With: , , , , ,

7 SEO Myths That May Be Impacting Your Site Results

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The rules of SEO have been around for many years now. And thanks to the wonders of the Internet, training on concepts that worked years ago can still be found with quick searches, leading website owners to believe they will still work in today’s environment. The fact is SEO rules change every month. And if you continue to use tools and rely on them to bring you the same results month after month, you may get an unpleasant surprise. While some tools will simply stop working, others may actually get your site banned because of their questionable techniques.

Are you still using some of these techniques? Lets take a look at 7 SEO myths that people still widely use, yet may not be delivering the results you are hoping for.

1. You can improve your search engine ranking by having a higher keyword density.

Listing your keyword over and over again on a page (commonly called keyword stuffing) will not increase your ranking. In fact, in Google’s eyes, it may even reduce your ranking, or in some cases get your site banned altogether. Its much better to choose your keyword or phrase and use it in normal conversation as you write out the content on the page.

2. Using your keywords in your meta tags will boost your search engine rankings.

Google used to look at what keywords you used in your meta tags; but spammers got a hold of this technique as well. Because it was an easy place to “keyword stuff” without it showing to your visitors, it was thought to be a great place to focus in on what you hoped to rank for. Now Google pretty much passes by your meta tags and uses other characteristics to rank instead. [Read more...]

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

What Are You Selling On Your Website?

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Why do you have a website?

That may seem like a trick question. Yet it’s a question most people don’t think about. They build a website because you have to have one in today’s world to run a business. But they never give it much thought. So take a few minutes now and think about why you have one.

Is it to find clients online – people you would never meet up with in your local community?

Is it to provide a brochure for people that you hear about you and want a little more information?

Is it to sell your photography?

Your website isn’t a one-purpose marketing tool. Instead it’s a multipurpose resource that can provide you with many different opportunities … if you plan and use it correctly.

What did you list as your reasons for having a website? Once you write down your ideas, its time to head over to your website to see if it really provides a strong resource for your ultimate goal. Let me give you an example. [Read more...]

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