So far we have covered how people find your business and we have discussed how to convert people that contact you into paying clients… now I would like to discuss how to measure success and determine ROI.
To recap we found out that social media, if you are doing all the various traditional and online marketing, generates a small fraction of your business… but, if you are like me, Social Media is the majority of your marketing initiatives; thus generating the majority of your leads.
We also discussed that people that you are attracting to your business through social media are better informed than other clients, thus making you work harder to make them paying clients…
So now, for argument sake, you have sold them. The money is in the bank and you’re on to the next potential sale… not so fast… shouldn’t you truly understand how that client came to you, what it cost you to get that client; then determine if it was cost prohibitive to even make the sale?
If you are investing too much time, spending way too much money, and it is resulting in minimal sales is it really worth it? After all, the definition of insanity is, “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.
The purpose of this BLOG entry is to just make you think. I am not going to be the guy that says you should not sell something, or you should sell something. I just want to give you options and create opportunities to help your business grow. Heck, in one of the examples you will see below about my “Twitter” efforts is an example of an ROI loss that I am willing to take because of the increased exposure I get.
I want to take a look at something I was just exposed too; it’s called the “Social Media Money Formula”. The formula looks like this:
(R – Cg) * (F * Cr * Or * Pr) – (h * T) = Profit
R = Revenue per sale
Cg = Cost of goods sold
F = Number of friends/followers (SM reach)
Cr = click rate on SM links (% of followers that click)
Or = Opt-in rate) % of clicks that opt-in)
Pr = Purchase rate (% of opt-ins that buy)
H = Hourly rate for your SM efforts
T = Amount of time you spend on social media
The translation is (Revenue minus cost of goods) * (Number of friends times click through rate times opt in rate times purchase rate) less (your hourly rate that your time is worth times your total time spent on social media) equals your net profit. Or for you business types, “Earnings before Depreciation, Taxes and Amortization”, “EBIDTA”
Let’s look at a real world scenario for me. I have 431 followers on Twitter and have tracked all the sales I generated because of Twitter in the month of December. FYI, I always ask how people found me so I can track ROI back to my individual efforts.
I am going to determine the ROI for a sale of a few images to a client that found me on Twitter during December… This was the only revenue that I generated through my Twitter initiatives during December, so it will be simple to show you as an example.
($250 in revenue less $40 in cost of goods, travel and editing time) x (431 followers on Twitter X 50% estimated click rate X 4% opt-in rate to enquire about images X 10% conversion rate of people opted in to who bought) – ($50/hr for my billable hours X 4 hours of my time per month working on Twitter)
Net profit after hard costs ($210.00) x Conversion of my Twitter followers (0.862) – my time doing social marketing ($200.00) = -$18.98 Profit for the sales of a few images from my efforts on Twitter. So I lost money on in my efforts on Twitter but I expanded my network, had a few people sign up for a newsletter and did a decent job creating brand awareness.
My true bottom line showed a net loss when I did the ROI equation, but overall I actually put money in the bank and more people found out about my “Brand”… aka, Me. It may have not been a smart move, and maybe I should have walked away like i said in the post after this one... but I made the conscious decision to sell them for less than I normally would have.
If I want to increase the ROI I know I have to do a few more things to increase my brand awareness and create better conversion… and you may want to try these as well.
For those that blog tips and tutorials, create more compelling information and schedule the releases at the same time each week. These BLOGs for instance are always released at Friday at 5:30pm. People are starting to know that about my blog and will come on the weekend to read what I posted.
At the end of each blog entry put in a web form or contact form to let the reader get more information and get on your mailing list. This further bolsters your follower base and increases your chance of conversion for whatever it is that you sell.
For those that just post out photos that you have taken… make sure you have links to blog tutorials that you may have written on how to take that type of image, post a link to your price list or post a link to other photos you have taken. Offering alternative options for the web browser to look at keeps them on your website and will increase your chances at converting them as clients.
Whatever you post online on your website the formula is quite simple…
1)Create compelling and interesting content
2)The content must lead them to an opt-in form so they can see more valuable content
3)Share all your content via social sites
4)Capture the leads
5)Follow up immediately when they enquire
6)Sell them…
7)Ask for referrals to obtain more prospects
If you would like more information or would like to receive my newsletter please contact me through my website here.
Have a great New Year’s celebration with your friends and family,
Kev
Showing posts with label canadian photographer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadian photographer. Show all posts
Friday, 30 December 2011
Friday, 23 December 2011
Social Media ~ Attract, Convert, Measure ~ PART TWO
This is part two of three in a series of postings dealing with Social Media. This posting will focus on how to Convert web traffic to buying clients.
For those of you that missed “Part One” I would suggest you go back and read that BLOG post so you understand what influences traffic to your website. Then come back and finish reading this post.
Buyers are in control now more than ever, especially consumers coming to you from an online source. There is so much information out there on the internet that our customers are approaching us armed with competitive information and even most are amateur photographers themselves, therefore able to take photos that occasionally rival a professionals. So, not only is there more competition out there, the people we are trying to sell are extremely well prepared before they talk to you.
The keys to converting these types of clients is really quite simple in theory, it just takes a leap of faith from traditional ways of thinking. Just remember the acronym, “RISE", its an acronym for “Respond, Intelligence, Share and Enjoy” …
“Rise” above your competition!
Respond – If a potential client contacts you, respond in an efficient and timely manner with more information than they asked for.
You have so many competitors out there that you need to respond as fast as you can with a personalized message. Engage them and maintain a captive audience.
Intelligence – You have to make sure you know just as much about what your competition offers than what you offer. Sounds silly, but it’s true. Information is power and will give you control.
The Chinese General Sun Tsu who wrote the “Art of War” teaches, “It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”
Share – Prior to the internet, information was scarce. Now, those that are visable on the internet have to share their information and become a trusted member of an online community in order to attract potential clients. If you don't share and offer a lot of information, a competitor is just a click away. Its not like the potential client is driving from store front to store front. They are sitting at home and just have to click on the next photographer to find what they want.
When if comes to social media people do not want to be sold, they just want options. In order to penetrate any social online community you need to be perceived as an expert and just have a strong presence. Remember what I said in part one, “you are in or you are out of social media”!
If you are in, be IN, and participate in the community, share your knowledge and allow the potential clients know you are a trusted source… that comfort level you gain will go a long way in converting the tire kickers into dollars in your jeans.
Think of it this way... why are people on facebook? To reconnect and talk to friends? If you are one of their friends and you are always posting about your products and services and always trying to sell something... well the perception they will have about you on Facebook is probably the same way you feel everytime a pesky telemarketer calls your house at dinner time trying to sell you window cleaning services.
Enjoy – Have fun in your online communities… don’t beat people over the head with your products and services. Just enjoy the communication… send out silly surveys, talk about your family, throw out jokes… let people know the real you.
If you are not enjoying yourself you are not going to do it well. Let’s face it, we are photographers, we prefer to be behind the camera. So while doing this necessary evil, you might as well enjoy yourself. Your engaging personality will come through and people will learn to trust you... then they will buy from you.
In the next post in this trilogy I want to start to discuss something that I just learned… it’s called the “Social Media Money Formula” … this again comes courtesy of Tyler Garns. In addition to that you can also expect to learn how to "Measure" your efforts to see if they are working.
But not only "Measure" success, but I will take a deeper dive and help you really understand what your ROI is. We will be accounting for more than just looking at the money you make, but the time you spend doing certain things.
Talk soon and remember to RISE above your competition!
If you would like more information please contact me below. If you also want to be on my mailing list, please email me and I will put you on the distribution list that goes out 4x a year.
Please contact me by clicking here
Enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends.
Kev
For those of you that missed “Part One” I would suggest you go back and read that BLOG post so you understand what influences traffic to your website. Then come back and finish reading this post.
Buyers are in control now more than ever, especially consumers coming to you from an online source. There is so much information out there on the internet that our customers are approaching us armed with competitive information and even most are amateur photographers themselves, therefore able to take photos that occasionally rival a professionals. So, not only is there more competition out there, the people we are trying to sell are extremely well prepared before they talk to you.
The keys to converting these types of clients is really quite simple in theory, it just takes a leap of faith from traditional ways of thinking. Just remember the acronym, “RISE", its an acronym for “Respond, Intelligence, Share and Enjoy” …
“Rise” above your competition!
Respond – If a potential client contacts you, respond in an efficient and timely manner with more information than they asked for.
You have so many competitors out there that you need to respond as fast as you can with a personalized message. Engage them and maintain a captive audience.
Intelligence – You have to make sure you know just as much about what your competition offers than what you offer. Sounds silly, but it’s true. Information is power and will give you control.
The Chinese General Sun Tsu who wrote the “Art of War” teaches, “It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”
Share – Prior to the internet, information was scarce. Now, those that are visable on the internet have to share their information and become a trusted member of an online community in order to attract potential clients. If you don't share and offer a lot of information, a competitor is just a click away. Its not like the potential client is driving from store front to store front. They are sitting at home and just have to click on the next photographer to find what they want.
When if comes to social media people do not want to be sold, they just want options. In order to penetrate any social online community you need to be perceived as an expert and just have a strong presence. Remember what I said in part one, “you are in or you are out of social media”!
If you are in, be IN, and participate in the community, share your knowledge and allow the potential clients know you are a trusted source… that comfort level you gain will go a long way in converting the tire kickers into dollars in your jeans.
Think of it this way... why are people on facebook? To reconnect and talk to friends? If you are one of their friends and you are always posting about your products and services and always trying to sell something... well the perception they will have about you on Facebook is probably the same way you feel everytime a pesky telemarketer calls your house at dinner time trying to sell you window cleaning services.
Enjoy – Have fun in your online communities… don’t beat people over the head with your products and services. Just enjoy the communication… send out silly surveys, talk about your family, throw out jokes… let people know the real you.
If you are not enjoying yourself you are not going to do it well. Let’s face it, we are photographers, we prefer to be behind the camera. So while doing this necessary evil, you might as well enjoy yourself. Your engaging personality will come through and people will learn to trust you... then they will buy from you.
In the next post in this trilogy I want to start to discuss something that I just learned… it’s called the “Social Media Money Formula” … this again comes courtesy of Tyler Garns. In addition to that you can also expect to learn how to "Measure" your efforts to see if they are working.
But not only "Measure" success, but I will take a deeper dive and help you really understand what your ROI is. We will be accounting for more than just looking at the money you make, but the time you spend doing certain things.
Talk soon and remember to RISE above your competition!
If you would like more information please contact me below. If you also want to be on my mailing list, please email me and I will put you on the distribution list that goes out 4x a year.
Please contact me by clicking here
Enjoy the holiday season with your family and friends.
Kev
Friday, 25 November 2011
Want to market your photography business better? This is a must read posting…
Are you looking for ideas on how you can market yourself, your photography, and your business? The tips below will give you plenty of ideas on how to grow your business. Remember, just as with photography, you need to find the marketing techniques that fit your style and personality. So read the list I have below and look for other tips from photographers. Once you have done that, pick a few that you feel fit your business model. After you implement some into your photography business, evaluate their effectiveness and adjust as needed to optimize success.
To make it easy, I have divided the marketing tips into categories. “Getting Visual”, “Thank you and gifts”, Get Out there”, “Pricing” and “Motivation and other ideas”. You will notice many of these tips could be in more than one category. It just depends how you choose to look at them.
I hope You find value in some of these suggestions and it helps you succeed in your photography business endeavor.
Get visual
Google Places - When you search on Google and include a location in your keyword, such as “Madison Wedding Photographer,” Google is now putting their Google Places listings BEFORE the organic listings in their rankings. These listings are free, so go and get one now! Go to Google Places and fill out as much as you can on the page. Make sure to upload some photos as well, as they sometimes show up there in the search results. It’s a great way to improve your chances of being found on Google when people are searching for a photographer.
Use Facebook to promote your images - Uploading images to Facebook and tagging your clients in them is a really fantastic way to get the word out about your business as all their “friends” may see the photos tagged of them. I highly suggest creating a “Page” instead of using your profile, as that’s how Facebook prefers you promote your business, and change your settings (in Edit Page -> Apps -> Photos -> Go to App) to allow fans to tag themselves in your photos. I find this is a great way to get exposure from wedding guests and their friends as well.
I also post links to my blog on my page and send out behind-the-scenes announcements to the people who have liked my page from time to time.
Do be aware that Facebook has strict terms of service about not using it to promote contests. You can require people to like your page to enter a contest, but you can’t require them to comment, like, or post anything else to their profile in order to enter or win. Definitely read their terms of service before promoting a contest on Facebook.
There’s lots of different ways to promote your business using Facebook – share a comment below on your favorite way to promote your business on Facebook. I’d love to hear some more ways you are using it.
Blog as often as you can - Having fresh content on your site is one of the best ways to let Google know that your is site active (which gives you better rankings) and shows your customers that you are busy. When I visit a site that hasn’t been updated in a few months, I often wonder if they are still in business. If you don’t have many shoots, spread out your posts (do a few images one at a time instead of all in one big post) or show some personal work.
It’s also extremely valuable to blog about things that your clients want to know. For example, wedding photographers may want to put out a series on their blog with tips for brides for having better wedding photography (such as hiring a professional lighting company or not getting ready in a church kitchen) whereas portrait photographers may post about what to wear to a session. Providing information to your clients helps them to value you and see you as an authority about the subject.
You’ll also want to make sure that your blog is optimized for search engines so that you can attract search engine traffic.
Start building an email list right away - The more I learn about email marketing, the more I realize that I should have started an email list right away from the very beginning. I’m not talking about buying some random list that people are trying to sell you. I’m talking about people who are interested in your work and opt-in to receive emails from you.
The beauty of the email list is that these clients already like your work enough to give you their email address. They want to hear about your business and about the products you are offering. They may even love your work enough that they want to receive an email every time you update your blog with new photos. These people are priceless.
Want to do a day of mini-sessions? Tell your email list and give them the opportunity to sign up a day before you open it to the public. Have a new product you are offering? Tell your list about it and entice them to buy it.
The opportunities that are out there with an email list are so vast that I’m planning on talking about this more in-depth in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Network with other professionals - Get involved with other professionals in your local area. It’s amazing how loyal business owners can be towards each other when you really hit if off. Make sure you’re promoting their businesses to your clients, and they’ll be sure to reciprocate.
If you shoot weddings, it’s especially powerful to network with other wedding professionals since you share clients but don’t have to compete for them.
Get featured on photo blogs - There’s a ton of wedding blogs out there that feature photography, and there are portrait blogs such as Inspire Me Baby that feature portrait photographers as well. Get featured if you can, then promote it where your clients can see it. There’s nothing wrong with reminding them how awesome you are. It’s simply good business.
Use images on your business cards
Have a website with best examples of your work, and keep it updated periodically.
Have different business cards for your different specialties. If you do more than one type of photography, have cards for each type, so you hand out cards specific to the interests of the person asking.
Show your best images on your business cards.
Show it to sell it! Have samples of wall portraits to show clients. When they think an 8×10 will do it, “wow” them with a 16×24 standout mount or 20×30 gallery wrap, and show it on the wall so they can see its value as an art piece.
Have samples of any products you wish to sell, whether it is a gallery wrap canvases to albums, to photo jewelry. People need to touch and feel in order to buy.
Create branding that is unique to you. Make it memorable.
Control the process – and even if you’re a studio photographer and offer DVDs of the session, also give them lists of places to get images printed with a high quality that represents you well.
Thank you and gifts
Keep your customers happy!
Reward past clients with discounts and referral incentives. Give them more reasons to remember you when they are talking to friends and family.
Thank you cards – send one to each client after your studio session, workshop or after they purchase an image from you.
If you are a studio photographer, give customers a set of wallets with their order to use as referral cards. Pick your favorite photo from the session; put your studio/contact information on the back. If you run workshops, send them a few photos that they took while on your workshop that you edited for them.
For studio photographers, include bonus, surprise prints with the customer’s order. For people that run workshops, go above and beyond the clients expectations. A handwritten note explaining how much you loved working with them and value their support.
Offer a unique gift before the session, during or after – it could be a small gift certificate, refreshments or fresh baked goods, or any other small token of appreciation.
Get out there {for more word of mouth and visibility}
Deliver an excellent product and experience. Your customers will talk about you.
Show up at local events, and with permission from the organizers, shoot photos. Get your website address out there by handing cards and posting the images online.
Have a contest/drawing for a free photo session or workshop. This way you can collect names, addresses, and emails for all the non-winners for future business.
Use Facebook ads to target local customers.
Start a Facebook fan page to share images, communicate photography specials, and interact with your customers. Invite all your local friends so they can help get the word of mouth underway.
Post customer images on Facebook, and tag them – this is especially effective for senior photography.
Give free artwork and photographs to coffee shops, banks, doctor’s offices, hair salons, baby boutiques, etc. Include a small sign and/or stack of business cards. Stop by occasionally to leave more cards for sharing.
Blogging – blog each session our workshop that you do. Write about how much fun you had and post some images. Those photographed will spread the word so friends and family can see the images on your blog. This will increase traffic to your website.
Use referral cards – hand these out with every order so your past customers can spread the word easily for you.
For children’s portraiture, join a “Mom’s group” and get to know the parents, who may end up your customers and/or refer people to you.
Take your camera everywhere. It is an easy way to start a conversation. And always have your business cards ready!
SEO – if you come up on specific photography searches for your area, potential customers will find you. A good thing to do here is to work with google and find out what the most relevant search terms are for your specific type of photography.
Donate a free session for a fundraiser auction – include a sample of your work and stacks of cards.
Don’t be shy. Hand out cards to people when you are out – for example if a mom is at a park with their kids, give them a card and tell them about you. If you see a photographer out taking photos, pass them a card about your workshops.
Network with a group of local small businesses – and help each other market.
Get your name, website and email listed on all the free photographer databases online and register your business on local directories
Pricing
Volume discounts for large orders
Packages and bundled pricing
Give coupons to your friends to pass out to their friends.
Offer mini shoots or workshops as an introduction loss leader as an introduction to your sevices.
Work for free – not often – but donating time to a charity can go a long way.
Offer occasional deals – for example, “If you book with me in January, get a free 8×10.
Figure out how much money you ultimately want to walk away with from a shoot. If you have, say, three packages available use that amount as your mid-priced package. Then, for your first package (the package you want the customer to see first) price it much higher. The third package will be your lowest priced package, but will be bare bones. This way you sort of subconsciously funnel customers to the package and price in the middle.
Don’t list prices on your web site. If you do, you’ll just be another photographer in the list for them to choose from and they’ll likely go with the best deal. You want the potential customer to call and connect with you. Have them select you because they want “you” to be the one to take their pictures. (I know some will disagree – but it is something to consider) Personally I am a proponent of giving as much information as you can on your website to inform your clients.
Motivation/Other tips and ideas…
Believe in yourself! If you have confidence in yourself and your photography, so will others.
Share with other photographers. Be generous with ideas and tips to help others – and they will give back to you.
Be genuine – give people reasons to trust you to take their photos. People do business with people they like and trust.
ALWAYS over deliver!
Marketing is about being in a marathon, not a sprint. Rather that just one big marketing campaign, provide steady, consistent, and quality photography and service.
Be available! Do not use out of office replies that say you are so busy that it will take 24 hours to get back to them. Make your customers feel important. Communicate in a timely fashion.
Stay positive – never write anything negative about clients, a client’s preference or another photographer on your blog or Google+ or Facebook page. You may just be “venting”, but a new client would be less likely to choose a photographer who has negative posts like that.
KNOW your target market. Determine the ages, sex, marital status, income level etc… and then determine where you can communicate with them.
Good luck with your business,
Kev
To make it easy, I have divided the marketing tips into categories. “Getting Visual”, “Thank you and gifts”, Get Out there”, “Pricing” and “Motivation and other ideas”. You will notice many of these tips could be in more than one category. It just depends how you choose to look at them.
I hope You find value in some of these suggestions and it helps you succeed in your photography business endeavor.
Get visual
Google Places - When you search on Google and include a location in your keyword, such as “Madison Wedding Photographer,” Google is now putting their Google Places listings BEFORE the organic listings in their rankings. These listings are free, so go and get one now! Go to Google Places and fill out as much as you can on the page. Make sure to upload some photos as well, as they sometimes show up there in the search results. It’s a great way to improve your chances of being found on Google when people are searching for a photographer.
Use Facebook to promote your images - Uploading images to Facebook and tagging your clients in them is a really fantastic way to get the word out about your business as all their “friends” may see the photos tagged of them. I highly suggest creating a “Page” instead of using your profile, as that’s how Facebook prefers you promote your business, and change your settings (in Edit Page -> Apps -> Photos -> Go to App) to allow fans to tag themselves in your photos. I find this is a great way to get exposure from wedding guests and their friends as well.
I also post links to my blog on my page and send out behind-the-scenes announcements to the people who have liked my page from time to time.
Do be aware that Facebook has strict terms of service about not using it to promote contests. You can require people to like your page to enter a contest, but you can’t require them to comment, like, or post anything else to their profile in order to enter or win. Definitely read their terms of service before promoting a contest on Facebook.
There’s lots of different ways to promote your business using Facebook – share a comment below on your favorite way to promote your business on Facebook. I’d love to hear some more ways you are using it.
Blog as often as you can - Having fresh content on your site is one of the best ways to let Google know that your is site active (which gives you better rankings) and shows your customers that you are busy. When I visit a site that hasn’t been updated in a few months, I often wonder if they are still in business. If you don’t have many shoots, spread out your posts (do a few images one at a time instead of all in one big post) or show some personal work.
It’s also extremely valuable to blog about things that your clients want to know. For example, wedding photographers may want to put out a series on their blog with tips for brides for having better wedding photography (such as hiring a professional lighting company or not getting ready in a church kitchen) whereas portrait photographers may post about what to wear to a session. Providing information to your clients helps them to value you and see you as an authority about the subject.
You’ll also want to make sure that your blog is optimized for search engines so that you can attract search engine traffic.
Start building an email list right away - The more I learn about email marketing, the more I realize that I should have started an email list right away from the very beginning. I’m not talking about buying some random list that people are trying to sell you. I’m talking about people who are interested in your work and opt-in to receive emails from you.
The beauty of the email list is that these clients already like your work enough to give you their email address. They want to hear about your business and about the products you are offering. They may even love your work enough that they want to receive an email every time you update your blog with new photos. These people are priceless.
Want to do a day of mini-sessions? Tell your email list and give them the opportunity to sign up a day before you open it to the public. Have a new product you are offering? Tell your list about it and entice them to buy it.
The opportunities that are out there with an email list are so vast that I’m planning on talking about this more in-depth in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Network with other professionals - Get involved with other professionals in your local area. It’s amazing how loyal business owners can be towards each other when you really hit if off. Make sure you’re promoting their businesses to your clients, and they’ll be sure to reciprocate.
If you shoot weddings, it’s especially powerful to network with other wedding professionals since you share clients but don’t have to compete for them.
Get featured on photo blogs - There’s a ton of wedding blogs out there that feature photography, and there are portrait blogs such as Inspire Me Baby that feature portrait photographers as well. Get featured if you can, then promote it where your clients can see it. There’s nothing wrong with reminding them how awesome you are. It’s simply good business.
Use images on your business cards
Have a website with best examples of your work, and keep it updated periodically.
Have different business cards for your different specialties. If you do more than one type of photography, have cards for each type, so you hand out cards specific to the interests of the person asking.
Show your best images on your business cards.
Show it to sell it! Have samples of wall portraits to show clients. When they think an 8×10 will do it, “wow” them with a 16×24 standout mount or 20×30 gallery wrap, and show it on the wall so they can see its value as an art piece.
Have samples of any products you wish to sell, whether it is a gallery wrap canvases to albums, to photo jewelry. People need to touch and feel in order to buy.
Create branding that is unique to you. Make it memorable.
Control the process – and even if you’re a studio photographer and offer DVDs of the session, also give them lists of places to get images printed with a high quality that represents you well.
Thank you and gifts
Keep your customers happy!
Reward past clients with discounts and referral incentives. Give them more reasons to remember you when they are talking to friends and family.
Thank you cards – send one to each client after your studio session, workshop or after they purchase an image from you.
If you are a studio photographer, give customers a set of wallets with their order to use as referral cards. Pick your favorite photo from the session; put your studio/contact information on the back. If you run workshops, send them a few photos that they took while on your workshop that you edited for them.
For studio photographers, include bonus, surprise prints with the customer’s order. For people that run workshops, go above and beyond the clients expectations. A handwritten note explaining how much you loved working with them and value their support.
Offer a unique gift before the session, during or after – it could be a small gift certificate, refreshments or fresh baked goods, or any other small token of appreciation.
Get out there {for more word of mouth and visibility}
Deliver an excellent product and experience. Your customers will talk about you.
Show up at local events, and with permission from the organizers, shoot photos. Get your website address out there by handing cards and posting the images online.
Have a contest/drawing for a free photo session or workshop. This way you can collect names, addresses, and emails for all the non-winners for future business.
Use Facebook ads to target local customers.
Start a Facebook fan page to share images, communicate photography specials, and interact with your customers. Invite all your local friends so they can help get the word of mouth underway.
Post customer images on Facebook, and tag them – this is especially effective for senior photography.
Give free artwork and photographs to coffee shops, banks, doctor’s offices, hair salons, baby boutiques, etc. Include a small sign and/or stack of business cards. Stop by occasionally to leave more cards for sharing.
Blogging – blog each session our workshop that you do. Write about how much fun you had and post some images. Those photographed will spread the word so friends and family can see the images on your blog. This will increase traffic to your website.
Use referral cards – hand these out with every order so your past customers can spread the word easily for you.
For children’s portraiture, join a “Mom’s group” and get to know the parents, who may end up your customers and/or refer people to you.
Take your camera everywhere. It is an easy way to start a conversation. And always have your business cards ready!
SEO – if you come up on specific photography searches for your area, potential customers will find you. A good thing to do here is to work with google and find out what the most relevant search terms are for your specific type of photography.
Donate a free session for a fundraiser auction – include a sample of your work and stacks of cards.
Don’t be shy. Hand out cards to people when you are out – for example if a mom is at a park with their kids, give them a card and tell them about you. If you see a photographer out taking photos, pass them a card about your workshops.
Network with a group of local small businesses – and help each other market.
Get your name, website and email listed on all the free photographer databases online and register your business on local directories
Pricing
Volume discounts for large orders
Packages and bundled pricing
Give coupons to your friends to pass out to their friends.
Offer mini shoots or workshops as an introduction loss leader as an introduction to your sevices.
Work for free – not often – but donating time to a charity can go a long way.
Offer occasional deals – for example, “If you book with me in January, get a free 8×10.
Figure out how much money you ultimately want to walk away with from a shoot. If you have, say, three packages available use that amount as your mid-priced package. Then, for your first package (the package you want the customer to see first) price it much higher. The third package will be your lowest priced package, but will be bare bones. This way you sort of subconsciously funnel customers to the package and price in the middle.
Don’t list prices on your web site. If you do, you’ll just be another photographer in the list for them to choose from and they’ll likely go with the best deal. You want the potential customer to call and connect with you. Have them select you because they want “you” to be the one to take their pictures. (I know some will disagree – but it is something to consider) Personally I am a proponent of giving as much information as you can on your website to inform your clients.
Motivation/Other tips and ideas…
Believe in yourself! If you have confidence in yourself and your photography, so will others.
Share with other photographers. Be generous with ideas and tips to help others – and they will give back to you.
Be genuine – give people reasons to trust you to take their photos. People do business with people they like and trust.
ALWAYS over deliver!
Marketing is about being in a marathon, not a sprint. Rather that just one big marketing campaign, provide steady, consistent, and quality photography and service.
Be available! Do not use out of office replies that say you are so busy that it will take 24 hours to get back to them. Make your customers feel important. Communicate in a timely fashion.
Stay positive – never write anything negative about clients, a client’s preference or another photographer on your blog or Google+ or Facebook page. You may just be “venting”, but a new client would be less likely to choose a photographer who has negative posts like that.
KNOW your target market. Determine the ages, sex, marital status, income level etc… and then determine where you can communicate with them.
Good luck with your business,
Kev
Monday, 21 November 2011
Five ways to monetize your nature photography business … with a focus on running workshops (where the big bucks are)
I find it flattering. I probably get one or two emails a month from aspiring photographers asking for my advice on building a successful nature photography business. While, I am nowhere close to running one of those, I do have some thoughts on the subject as I strive, like them, to become a recognizable, respected nature photographer.
The answer I do have for people that contact me is probably not a satisfying one. The bottom line is that it is very difficult to build a successful business as a nature photographer, and getting more and more difficult all the time. In my business life I have run divisions of companies, and I would probably sum up the current state of nature photography as follows: “the supply far exceeds the demand.”
In other words, there are too many people taking nature photos and not enough people buying them; the world is flooded with cheap or free nature photographs. As you can probably imagine, the words “cheap or free” are not a sound basis for a flourishing business. That said, the opportunities do exist to make a living wage from nature photography.
So, what does it take to succeed as nature photographer in today’s world? Well, I have summed up the TOP 5 things I believe are key. Please note that this is merely my opinion; others have their own business models that may differ from mine.
DON’T SUCK. Although this seems self-evident, it really needs to be said. Because the competition out there is so good, there’s only room for success at the top. Be ruthlessly self-critical of your own work, and always strive to get better and to do something that hasn’t been done a million times before.
Shoot Big. Although you can build a successful business shooting your local landscapes and wildlife, if you want to make a name for yourself nationally or internationally, you probably need to photograph charismatic mega-landscapes and mega-fauna. That means extra expense and time traveling to exotic locations, but it is an investment that pays off in the long run. Of course, it helps if you happen to live somewhere that is really cool, but if you live in Cambridge, Ontario like I do, you really have to crack out the credit card and sign up for a frequent flyer program.
Get Noticed. These days, if you are not big on the Internet, you don’t exist. Heavy participation and promotion online are vital. You should have a good-looking website and a blog, but neither will help you if you don’t have visitors. Lots of traffic to your site means nothing if you can’t make any money from it. Your site needs to offer products and services that will keep your finances in the black and help you pay your mortgage every month.
As for me, I monetize my site primarily through Adsense and currently talking to corporate advertisers to be on my site.
You should also promote your work by participating on a number of online photo sharing forums and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Get Published. Even though traditional print publishing is on the decline, it is still a hugely vital source of potential business. Submit to magazines and other publishers as much as possible. It helps if you can write well; magazines are usually looking for articles first, photos second. If you can provide both, you’ve got a good chance of making a big paycheck. Articles in magazines are also a great way to promote your website.
Run Photo Workshops. Almost without exception, every professional nature photographer I know makes a majority of his or her income running photo workshops. The digital revolution has flooded the world with aspiring photographers with money to spend. There are literally thousands upon thousands of people out there who want to learn more about photography, visit beautiful scenic locations, and enjoy a good time doing what they love in the company of like-minded individuals. If you really want to make a living as a professional nature photographer, be prepared to spend some time teaching. But before you decide to start running those photography workshops… do some research by attending some workshops on your own to learn how to put on one by yourself.
I know people who think that running a workshop is easy and try their hand at it. Very fast, they realize it’s not as easy as it appears. To be successful you have to make your attendees happy, and that’s not always as easy as it sounds.
Conducting a successful workshop requires you to be like a chameleon. No two workshops are alike. Things always come into play that have to be adapted to; weather conditions, subject availability, group size, the level of proficiency of the attendees and more. I like take the time to prepare and send out two pieces of information before an attendee come on a workshop. The first is information regarding what to expect from each workshop PRIOR to the attendees leaving home for the workshop. This not only gets everyone excited with anticipation, but it educates them on things such as weather predictions, what to bring, as well as a complete outline of a typical day is so there are no surprises when they get to the workshop location. The second is a reminder notice. I remind them that it is their responsibility to know how their camera, lenses and accessory basic functions work. There is nothing worse than leading a workshop and one person does not know the difference between F/2.8 and f/18. That person will take more of your time, leaving the more proficient photographers on their own more than they deserve.
Usually groups will vary in skill level, more will be beginner photographers. I totally encourage this. Getting off on the right foot and developing good habits in the beginning is really important. It’s also interesting to see customers who have $5000.00+ cameras, along with expensive lenses using their equipment in the wrong way. Unfortunately, this is not unusual and it is my job to correct this situation, while not insulting or offending the customer. Again, I try and keep the surprises to a minimum however, there always are a few. Like everything else in photography, preparation is mandatory to avoid too many surprises. There is nothing worse than looking out at 3AM to see cloudy rainy conditions, when the prediction the night before was for a great sunrise. But, it happens!!!
Running a successful workshop is not easy. Late spring and summer feature long days. 16 hour days, and for some workshops, 3-5 days in a row are typical for attendees. That easily transcribes into 18-20 hour days for me. So, eating at abnormal times and getting little sleep throws your body clock off, yet you have to stay fresh when you are teaching the paying customers. It is also important that everyone get the nourishment they need and stay well hydrated, so not only do you have to worry about the photography elements, making sure your attendees needs also have to be top of mind. This is just as important as getting to prime locations at the right time.
Another factor is making sure that all the attendees are happy and are getting the attention they paid for. The bigger the group, there is a greater chance that different personalities can affect things. Also, different needs and expectations all have to be taken into account every hour of the day.
For the most part I am quite sure that everyone gets what they come to my workshops for. In a large group, there are always one or two people that for one reason or another don’t seem to be as happy as everyone else. All I can do is continue to work hard and do my best to get them to quality locations and try and help in making them better photographers. I tell everyone in the beginning that I am here for as much or as little attention that they want. It is also not uncommon for one or two folks who wander off by themselves, and that’s fine, as long as they know I am there for them if they want my help. In essence, I am a photographic instructor, tour guide, and psychoanalyst, making sure everyone is happy and getting along with each other.
Over the years, I’ve seen other workshops run haphazardly. I see instructors doing more shooting than their customers offering them little or no real attention. In these circumstances, I can only hope my customers realize the difference between what I offer and others offer.
No two workshops are alike and Mother Nature has her own agenda. Trust me, I have seen this hundreds of times... the forecast at 10:30pm shows a perfect sunrise... then you get everyone up at 4:00AM and to the location by 5AM and having a non sunrise, but that’s life in nature. I’ve also been in situations that upon arrival early in the morning the chances for a great sunrise was nil, and in the last minute the clouds parted and we had spectacular light. You never know and you work with what you get.
Another factor you must remember is that most folks don’t spend 3-4 days partaking in intensive photography. By day 3 or 4 everyone is tired. Motivation becomes important. I plan an itinerary for every workshop but remain flexible to weather and light conditions.
Scouting the area prior to the beginning of the workshops is also something that has to be done. So a 3-4 day workshop for me is actually a 5-6 day event. Where will the sun rise, when is optimal light, where should we stand to have the light at our backs, what will the wildlife be doing? You have to consider, bugs, pests, spiders, and creatures that want to eat you... Do you have enough power to power laptops, charge batteries, is the GPS working and make sure the emergency kit is packed properly.
You have to think like this, “The attendees well being is in your hands. They are relying on you to keep them safe. But they also expect you to put them in the right place, at the right time, just as Mother Nature wants you to be in order to click the shutter”
If you do this all right, positive word of mouth will spread, and the busier your workshops will be. The more money you will make.
Click here to see some of the animal photos taken on my photo workshops
Click here to see some of the landscape photos taken on my photo workshops
I wish you all luck in building your nature photography business,
Kev
The answer I do have for people that contact me is probably not a satisfying one. The bottom line is that it is very difficult to build a successful business as a nature photographer, and getting more and more difficult all the time. In my business life I have run divisions of companies, and I would probably sum up the current state of nature photography as follows: “the supply far exceeds the demand.”
In other words, there are too many people taking nature photos and not enough people buying them; the world is flooded with cheap or free nature photographs. As you can probably imagine, the words “cheap or free” are not a sound basis for a flourishing business. That said, the opportunities do exist to make a living wage from nature photography.
So, what does it take to succeed as nature photographer in today’s world? Well, I have summed up the TOP 5 things I believe are key. Please note that this is merely my opinion; others have their own business models that may differ from mine.
DON’T SUCK. Although this seems self-evident, it really needs to be said. Because the competition out there is so good, there’s only room for success at the top. Be ruthlessly self-critical of your own work, and always strive to get better and to do something that hasn’t been done a million times before.
Shoot Big. Although you can build a successful business shooting your local landscapes and wildlife, if you want to make a name for yourself nationally or internationally, you probably need to photograph charismatic mega-landscapes and mega-fauna. That means extra expense and time traveling to exotic locations, but it is an investment that pays off in the long run. Of course, it helps if you happen to live somewhere that is really cool, but if you live in Cambridge, Ontario like I do, you really have to crack out the credit card and sign up for a frequent flyer program.
Get Noticed. These days, if you are not big on the Internet, you don’t exist. Heavy participation and promotion online are vital. You should have a good-looking website and a blog, but neither will help you if you don’t have visitors. Lots of traffic to your site means nothing if you can’t make any money from it. Your site needs to offer products and services that will keep your finances in the black and help you pay your mortgage every month.
As for me, I monetize my site primarily through Adsense and currently talking to corporate advertisers to be on my site.
You should also promote your work by participating on a number of online photo sharing forums and social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.
Get Published. Even though traditional print publishing is on the decline, it is still a hugely vital source of potential business. Submit to magazines and other publishers as much as possible. It helps if you can write well; magazines are usually looking for articles first, photos second. If you can provide both, you’ve got a good chance of making a big paycheck. Articles in magazines are also a great way to promote your website.
Run Photo Workshops. Almost without exception, every professional nature photographer I know makes a majority of his or her income running photo workshops. The digital revolution has flooded the world with aspiring photographers with money to spend. There are literally thousands upon thousands of people out there who want to learn more about photography, visit beautiful scenic locations, and enjoy a good time doing what they love in the company of like-minded individuals. If you really want to make a living as a professional nature photographer, be prepared to spend some time teaching. But before you decide to start running those photography workshops… do some research by attending some workshops on your own to learn how to put on one by yourself.
I know people who think that running a workshop is easy and try their hand at it. Very fast, they realize it’s not as easy as it appears. To be successful you have to make your attendees happy, and that’s not always as easy as it sounds.
Conducting a successful workshop requires you to be like a chameleon. No two workshops are alike. Things always come into play that have to be adapted to; weather conditions, subject availability, group size, the level of proficiency of the attendees and more. I like take the time to prepare and send out two pieces of information before an attendee come on a workshop. The first is information regarding what to expect from each workshop PRIOR to the attendees leaving home for the workshop. This not only gets everyone excited with anticipation, but it educates them on things such as weather predictions, what to bring, as well as a complete outline of a typical day is so there are no surprises when they get to the workshop location. The second is a reminder notice. I remind them that it is their responsibility to know how their camera, lenses and accessory basic functions work. There is nothing worse than leading a workshop and one person does not know the difference between F/2.8 and f/18. That person will take more of your time, leaving the more proficient photographers on their own more than they deserve.
Usually groups will vary in skill level, more will be beginner photographers. I totally encourage this. Getting off on the right foot and developing good habits in the beginning is really important. It’s also interesting to see customers who have $5000.00+ cameras, along with expensive lenses using their equipment in the wrong way. Unfortunately, this is not unusual and it is my job to correct this situation, while not insulting or offending the customer. Again, I try and keep the surprises to a minimum however, there always are a few. Like everything else in photography, preparation is mandatory to avoid too many surprises. There is nothing worse than looking out at 3AM to see cloudy rainy conditions, when the prediction the night before was for a great sunrise. But, it happens!!!
Running a successful workshop is not easy. Late spring and summer feature long days. 16 hour days, and for some workshops, 3-5 days in a row are typical for attendees. That easily transcribes into 18-20 hour days for me. So, eating at abnormal times and getting little sleep throws your body clock off, yet you have to stay fresh when you are teaching the paying customers. It is also important that everyone get the nourishment they need and stay well hydrated, so not only do you have to worry about the photography elements, making sure your attendees needs also have to be top of mind. This is just as important as getting to prime locations at the right time.
Another factor is making sure that all the attendees are happy and are getting the attention they paid for. The bigger the group, there is a greater chance that different personalities can affect things. Also, different needs and expectations all have to be taken into account every hour of the day.
For the most part I am quite sure that everyone gets what they come to my workshops for. In a large group, there are always one or two people that for one reason or another don’t seem to be as happy as everyone else. All I can do is continue to work hard and do my best to get them to quality locations and try and help in making them better photographers. I tell everyone in the beginning that I am here for as much or as little attention that they want. It is also not uncommon for one or two folks who wander off by themselves, and that’s fine, as long as they know I am there for them if they want my help. In essence, I am a photographic instructor, tour guide, and psychoanalyst, making sure everyone is happy and getting along with each other.
Over the years, I’ve seen other workshops run haphazardly. I see instructors doing more shooting than their customers offering them little or no real attention. In these circumstances, I can only hope my customers realize the difference between what I offer and others offer.
No two workshops are alike and Mother Nature has her own agenda. Trust me, I have seen this hundreds of times... the forecast at 10:30pm shows a perfect sunrise... then you get everyone up at 4:00AM and to the location by 5AM and having a non sunrise, but that’s life in nature. I’ve also been in situations that upon arrival early in the morning the chances for a great sunrise was nil, and in the last minute the clouds parted and we had spectacular light. You never know and you work with what you get.
Another factor you must remember is that most folks don’t spend 3-4 days partaking in intensive photography. By day 3 or 4 everyone is tired. Motivation becomes important. I plan an itinerary for every workshop but remain flexible to weather and light conditions.
Scouting the area prior to the beginning of the workshops is also something that has to be done. So a 3-4 day workshop for me is actually a 5-6 day event. Where will the sun rise, when is optimal light, where should we stand to have the light at our backs, what will the wildlife be doing? You have to consider, bugs, pests, spiders, and creatures that want to eat you... Do you have enough power to power laptops, charge batteries, is the GPS working and make sure the emergency kit is packed properly.
You have to think like this, “The attendees well being is in your hands. They are relying on you to keep them safe. But they also expect you to put them in the right place, at the right time, just as Mother Nature wants you to be in order to click the shutter”
If you do this all right, positive word of mouth will spread, and the busier your workshops will be. The more money you will make.
Click here to see some of the animal photos taken on my photo workshops
Click here to see some of the landscape photos taken on my photo workshops
I wish you all luck in building your nature photography business,
Kev
Friday, 18 November 2011
So you want to start a photography business...
Whether you are a talented amateur photographer, or have a great deal of experience working professionally, starting your own photography business demands that you make important choices about the market segments you will serve, and how you sill serve them. These choices will determine what kind of operations you must develop and how to direct your marketing and the services you will offer clients. As I will explain later, it is increasingly difficult to cover all types of photographic work due to the competition from specialists and other external factors, so do your homework on what your business should be...
You should also keep in mind that because of modern technology in the form of DSLR cameras, you do not even need the room for a dark room. You need only to have a personal computer and a photo-editing program. The standard is Adobe Photoshop. There is no need to clutter yourself with equipment you do not need; you can rent equipment when you need it. You even have the freedom to work part time until you can devote yourself full time to photography. All you need to be is a serious photographer and a dedicated business person.
While the technical skills needed to make a successful photographer have never been easier, other aspects have changed our business. The market for photographs of virtually every type has widened, the world seems to have an insatiable appetite for photographs. However the price has fallen as the marketing net has broadened. Sites like shutterstock have sliced into our profits like a hot knife through butter. The good news is, photographers are needed in many more fields. For instance many people now, mor ethan ever, remember special occasions with photographs and more people are taking photos of their kids, and as the number of people that own cameras increases.
Another way to generate an income is to teach photography. With the growing number of amateur photographers out there, the need for people to run workshops and teach photography is also growing. In my opinion, it seems to be recession proof. Photography is an escape, and during a recession people need an escape more than ever. They will therefore find the money to invest in themselves. Taking photos that one can be proud of does wonders for a person’s ego! And while the economy and investments twist in the wind, who doesn’t want to give themselves an ego boost.
So you see, it can now easier than ever to turn your dream into reality and create a worthwhile business out of an engrossing passion. However in today’s modern world there is more to than simply pointing a camera and shooting a picture. You need to be aware of marketing techniques, and here marketing simply means growing the potential of transferring ownership of a product, in this case an image from a buyer to seller. You also need to be aware of any local gaps in the market in your local area, understand the power of the internet and know your competition. You should try to always be aware of your competitor’s prices. To undercut an existing photographer is one choice, but to neglect to value your skills and not charge enough to cover your overheads is another matter entirely. Remember this, it’s an important point. Reduction in price to gain business is a slippery slope. Sell your value to justify your competitive price.
Writing a business plan is a great place to start. It helps to keep you focused on the areas you specifically want to exploit. A business plan helps you to define your goals and strategies, it will be changed and updated, but it will help you to keep things in perspective and keep you focused. You should always refer back to it when things become confusing or complicated. Everyone’s business plan will be different, as every objective will be different, but there are certain common factors that make up a good business plan which will help your business grow. It allows you to develop a professional attitude to your business, which not only helps you to increase your earnings, but also help you to finance your business when needed.
For the photographer a business plan should include your business name, or your own, with full details of the proposed location of the business, a copy of your logo, as well as details of your copyright notices. You should also consider what is the form of your proposed business is going to be (sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation). This should be followed by a table of contents, which focuses on a logical order. Included after this should be the type of business you intend to pursue, in a fair amount of detail, and it should contain the services you intend to offer. This section should include any future goals or avenues you would like to explore, stating your clear objectives. This is so you can check at a later date whether your objectives are on course, or if you have got sidetracked. If you envision at any time you may need financial help, then you should include your personal business history to show how viable you are as a business person.
You should also state a clear and concise marketing plan that should demonstrate how your business will differentiate from the businesses of your competitors. You should be able to establish who your customers will be, how large the potential market is, as well as where your market will be, as in wholesale or retail or a combination of both. You should also be able to determine how long this type of market will be available to yourself.
The next section should clearly define your opposition, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This should include the ways you may be able to exploit any gaps in the market in the specific area where you live. A section should follow this on how you intend to market and promote your individual services. This is called a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You should apply this to your business and your competitors.
A financial segment should be included as to how you intend to manage the day-to-day bills of the business. How you intend to price your services, and what factors influence this pricing structure, which includes a section on your competitor’s financial structures. This means a fair amount of detective work as well as homework. Get your friends to ask from quotes from the local competition. Or try an even more direct approach, tell your competitor’s that you intend to start a new business, and that you do not want to undercut them, as this reduces the cake for everyone. They may well offer to help you construct a pricing structure that ensures everyone’s livelihood. It is in their interests to help. Not everyone will be cooperative, but it may mean you can get a truer picture of the market factors that govern your area.
Make a list of all the equipment you will need in your first year, as well as how and where you intend to purchase. Note any difficulties that may arise in obtaining your supplies. Note whether the prices of your supplies have a seasonal fluctuation, which may help you influence you when to buy. You should make a note of any local licenses that will be necessary, as well as any zoning restrictions that may restrict the growth of your business. You should also conduct a study of all your business insurance requirements.
The final segment should be devoted to how you intend to finance the growth of your business, as well as isolating what your financial needs will be. This should include a projection on your future earnings, as well as an accurate assessment of your outgoings. This should be assessed on a monthly basis for the first year and on an annual basis for the following three to five years. An important aspect of the financial statement is an assessment of the break-even point of your business, in other words the minimum you will have to take to pay your expenses.
Financing your photography business can come in many forms. There are numerous small business loan avenues through local and federal government agencies and there is the route of a business/personal loan or line of credit. You can also build the business slowly, rent equipment as you need, use your own money and credit and build the equity over time.
You can also approach government agencies and companies to sponsor specific initiatives. If you are a landscape or nature photographer, maybe there are local and national dollars available to sponsor a book etc.
The opportunities for aquiring money is out there, its just not easy to aquire. If it was easy, everyoen would be getting it. My advice, believe in yourself and your abilities, dig hard and talk to everyone. You will find the money if you are passionate enough and believe in your abilities.
Once all this has been done, take action. Planning is important. But planning isn’t enough. You have to take action on your plans and put them into place. Follow through and make sure your business is always moving forward.
Good Luck,
Kev
You should also keep in mind that because of modern technology in the form of DSLR cameras, you do not even need the room for a dark room. You need only to have a personal computer and a photo-editing program. The standard is Adobe Photoshop. There is no need to clutter yourself with equipment you do not need; you can rent equipment when you need it. You even have the freedom to work part time until you can devote yourself full time to photography. All you need to be is a serious photographer and a dedicated business person.
While the technical skills needed to make a successful photographer have never been easier, other aspects have changed our business. The market for photographs of virtually every type has widened, the world seems to have an insatiable appetite for photographs. However the price has fallen as the marketing net has broadened. Sites like shutterstock have sliced into our profits like a hot knife through butter. The good news is, photographers are needed in many more fields. For instance many people now, mor ethan ever, remember special occasions with photographs and more people are taking photos of their kids, and as the number of people that own cameras increases.
Another way to generate an income is to teach photography. With the growing number of amateur photographers out there, the need for people to run workshops and teach photography is also growing. In my opinion, it seems to be recession proof. Photography is an escape, and during a recession people need an escape more than ever. They will therefore find the money to invest in themselves. Taking photos that one can be proud of does wonders for a person’s ego! And while the economy and investments twist in the wind, who doesn’t want to give themselves an ego boost.
So you see, it can now easier than ever to turn your dream into reality and create a worthwhile business out of an engrossing passion. However in today’s modern world there is more to than simply pointing a camera and shooting a picture. You need to be aware of marketing techniques, and here marketing simply means growing the potential of transferring ownership of a product, in this case an image from a buyer to seller. You also need to be aware of any local gaps in the market in your local area, understand the power of the internet and know your competition. You should try to always be aware of your competitor’s prices. To undercut an existing photographer is one choice, but to neglect to value your skills and not charge enough to cover your overheads is another matter entirely. Remember this, it’s an important point. Reduction in price to gain business is a slippery slope. Sell your value to justify your competitive price.
Writing a business plan is a great place to start. It helps to keep you focused on the areas you specifically want to exploit. A business plan helps you to define your goals and strategies, it will be changed and updated, but it will help you to keep things in perspective and keep you focused. You should always refer back to it when things become confusing or complicated. Everyone’s business plan will be different, as every objective will be different, but there are certain common factors that make up a good business plan which will help your business grow. It allows you to develop a professional attitude to your business, which not only helps you to increase your earnings, but also help you to finance your business when needed.
For the photographer a business plan should include your business name, or your own, with full details of the proposed location of the business, a copy of your logo, as well as details of your copyright notices. You should also consider what is the form of your proposed business is going to be (sole ownership, partnership, Limited Liability Company or Corporation). This should be followed by a table of contents, which focuses on a logical order. Included after this should be the type of business you intend to pursue, in a fair amount of detail, and it should contain the services you intend to offer. This section should include any future goals or avenues you would like to explore, stating your clear objectives. This is so you can check at a later date whether your objectives are on course, or if you have got sidetracked. If you envision at any time you may need financial help, then you should include your personal business history to show how viable you are as a business person.
You should also state a clear and concise marketing plan that should demonstrate how your business will differentiate from the businesses of your competitors. You should be able to establish who your customers will be, how large the potential market is, as well as where your market will be, as in wholesale or retail or a combination of both. You should also be able to determine how long this type of market will be available to yourself.
The next section should clearly define your opposition, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. This should include the ways you may be able to exploit any gaps in the market in the specific area where you live. A section should follow this on how you intend to market and promote your individual services. This is called a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You should apply this to your business and your competitors.
A financial segment should be included as to how you intend to manage the day-to-day bills of the business. How you intend to price your services, and what factors influence this pricing structure, which includes a section on your competitor’s financial structures. This means a fair amount of detective work as well as homework. Get your friends to ask from quotes from the local competition. Or try an even more direct approach, tell your competitor’s that you intend to start a new business, and that you do not want to undercut them, as this reduces the cake for everyone. They may well offer to help you construct a pricing structure that ensures everyone’s livelihood. It is in their interests to help. Not everyone will be cooperative, but it may mean you can get a truer picture of the market factors that govern your area.
Make a list of all the equipment you will need in your first year, as well as how and where you intend to purchase. Note any difficulties that may arise in obtaining your supplies. Note whether the prices of your supplies have a seasonal fluctuation, which may help you influence you when to buy. You should make a note of any local licenses that will be necessary, as well as any zoning restrictions that may restrict the growth of your business. You should also conduct a study of all your business insurance requirements.
The final segment should be devoted to how you intend to finance the growth of your business, as well as isolating what your financial needs will be. This should include a projection on your future earnings, as well as an accurate assessment of your outgoings. This should be assessed on a monthly basis for the first year and on an annual basis for the following three to five years. An important aspect of the financial statement is an assessment of the break-even point of your business, in other words the minimum you will have to take to pay your expenses.
Financing your photography business can come in many forms. There are numerous small business loan avenues through local and federal government agencies and there is the route of a business/personal loan or line of credit. You can also build the business slowly, rent equipment as you need, use your own money and credit and build the equity over time.
You can also approach government agencies and companies to sponsor specific initiatives. If you are a landscape or nature photographer, maybe there are local and national dollars available to sponsor a book etc.
The opportunities for aquiring money is out there, its just not easy to aquire. If it was easy, everyoen would be getting it. My advice, believe in yourself and your abilities, dig hard and talk to everyone. You will find the money if you are passionate enough and believe in your abilities.
Once all this has been done, take action. Planning is important. But planning isn’t enough. You have to take action on your plans and put them into place. Follow through and make sure your business is always moving forward.
Good Luck,
Kev
Sunday, 13 November 2011
The Great Lake Basin
From the snow covered Atlas Mountains framing a red desert in Morocco, to the Eiffel tower glistening in a pool of water at night, to a breathtaking sunrise over the mountains in Switzerland, I have viewed some breathtaking scenes that will stay with me for a lifetime. Yet, I overlooked a world renowned geological formation that has the ability to give us some jaw dropping images. That geological formation would be the Great Lakes...
The Great Lakes comprise over 21% of the world’s fresh water supply; the lakes have close to 20,000km’s of shoreline and contain approximately 35,000 islands. Three of North America’ s largest cities are situation on the Great Lakes, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit, and the total population surrounding the Great Lake basin is approximately 34 million.
For the scenic photographer, the shoreline of the lakes has the highest concentration of lighthouses anywhere in the world. In fact, the lighthouses that dot the Michigan coastline are part of the largest collection of maritime landmarks in the United States. Michigan alone boasts 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.
If shipwrecks and underwater photography is your thing, there are literally hundreds of shipwrecks scattered throughout the Great lakes. Locations to key in on when researching are, Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. It is here is where the greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies. You should also consider the Lake Superior shipwreck coast from Grand Marais, Michigan to Whitefish Point. This area is now known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.
In addition to shipwrecks, Georgian Bay and the East coast of Lake Huron on the Canadian side photographers can also enjoy spectacular underwater geological formations, including underwater caves, rocky overhangs and ancient corals.
When it comes to shoreline differentiation the Great Lakes offers photographers an abundance of opportunities. From the wetlands along Lake Ontario's shoreline, to the sand dunes along Lake Michigan, the rocky shores of Lake Superior and the geological wonders of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, the Great Lakes shoreline abounds in diversity and opportunity for photographers. Whether seascape is your passion, birding, under water, nature or architecture, taking a trip to the Great Lake basin is a “must do” on your photography bucket list.
For birders, the Great Lake Basin is a mecca for your style of photography. Whether it’s during the summer months or during migration, the area offers the avid birder thousands of species of birds to photograph. Migration periods especially produce an incredible opportunity; both the Mississippi flyway and that Atlantic flyway cross over the lakes. It is said that there are 462 known species of birds in Canada. While some of these are year-round residents, many fly south for the winter to more favorable grounds for feeding and breeding. From Point Pelee west to Windsor, the area is known for their bird migration.
For landscape photographers, the choices are endless. The Georgian Bay rock formations such as Flowerpot Island or Tobermory’s grotto that seem to transport you to the southern Atlantic Ocean are an absolute breathtaking view.
Or there is the shoreline of Lake Ontario and Erie that offer the avid photographer beautiful sunsets and sunrises, and turn around with your back to the water after the sun has peaked the horizon to find deer, birds of prey and other photographic interests.
As with any photo outing, do your research first, identify what you want to achieve, look at local area photographers work, talk to people that have visited the area, and travel at the right time of year to suit your needs.
Personally, my favorite locations to shoot in and around the Great Lake Basin are as follows:
Spring – Canadian shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay for the spring storms crashing on the geological formations and rebirth of life along the Great Lake basin.
Summer – Coastal shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie for the calm shorelines and abundance of birds.
Fall – Northern shores of Lake Superior for the fall colours and incredible fall storms.
Winter – Along the shoreline of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. This is where the snow is abundant and the local people still get out and enjoy the season.
Regardless of when or where you go... i would put this area on your bucketlist.
Happy Shooting
Kev
The Great Lakes comprise over 21% of the world’s fresh water supply; the lakes have close to 20,000km’s of shoreline and contain approximately 35,000 islands. Three of North America’ s largest cities are situation on the Great Lakes, Toronto, Chicago and Detroit, and the total population surrounding the Great Lake basin is approximately 34 million.
For the scenic photographer, the shoreline of the lakes has the highest concentration of lighthouses anywhere in the world. In fact, the lighthouses that dot the Michigan coastline are part of the largest collection of maritime landmarks in the United States. Michigan alone boasts 116 lighthouses and navigational lights.
If shipwrecks and underwater photography is your thing, there are literally hundreds of shipwrecks scattered throughout the Great lakes. Locations to key in on when researching are, Thunder Bay (Michigan), beneath Lake Huron, near the point where eastbound and westbound shipping lanes converge. It is here is where the greatest concentration of shipwrecks lies. You should also consider the Lake Superior shipwreck coast from Grand Marais, Michigan to Whitefish Point. This area is now known as the "Graveyard of the Great Lakes". More vessels have been lost in the Whitefish Point area than any other part of Lake Superior.
In addition to shipwrecks, Georgian Bay and the East coast of Lake Huron on the Canadian side photographers can also enjoy spectacular underwater geological formations, including underwater caves, rocky overhangs and ancient corals.
When it comes to shoreline differentiation the Great Lakes offers photographers an abundance of opportunities. From the wetlands along Lake Ontario's shoreline, to the sand dunes along Lake Michigan, the rocky shores of Lake Superior and the geological wonders of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, the Great Lakes shoreline abounds in diversity and opportunity for photographers. Whether seascape is your passion, birding, under water, nature or architecture, taking a trip to the Great Lake basin is a “must do” on your photography bucket list.
Spring – Canadian shores of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay for the spring storms crashing on the geological formations and rebirth of life along the Great Lake basin.
Summer – Coastal shores of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie for the calm shorelines and abundance of birds.
Fall – Northern shores of Lake Superior for the fall colours and incredible fall storms.
Winter – Along the shoreline of the St. Lawrence River in Quebec. This is where the snow is abundant and the local people still get out and enjoy the season.
Regardless of when or where you go... i would put this area on your bucketlist.
Happy Shooting
Kev
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
HDR Photography Tutorial
You either love “High Dynamic Range (HDR)” photography or you hate it. There seems to be no middle ground when it comes to people opinions. My thought is that the mention of HDR conjures up thoughts of grungy, high contrast, unrealistic photos that look more like an artistic rendering of a scene rather than a photograph.
When I decide to use HDR in a photograph, the purpose is to produce a quality photo which is better than that of a normal photo. I use it to attempt to overcome the limitations of my camera and allow for a full range of exposure and colour to “POP” out of my image. The result is a more vibrant image.
The real advantages to HDR photography are as follows:
HDR photography captures higher dynamic range
Let's imagine a situation where one photographs (without a flash) a high contrast scene where the subject is against the sky. Typically there is a problem in the result. Either the sky is over exposed, or the subject is under exposed. This end result does not produce a scene that your eyes actually saw as you stood there behind the camera. Your eyes can clearly see details in both the subject and the sky. However, the digital camera isn't able to see as high contrast as a human eye does. Enter HDR in post processing…
Awhhhh, my son, God luv him. We had climbed up Mount Dumyat in Scotland and he had to pee. So, he decided to pee right off the side of the mountain versus going over in the bushes.
In photography, the goal is often to capture the view and the mood that was seen and experienced. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of digital cameras, some details are often missing in photos. In high contrast scenes, a digital camera isn't able to capture both the brightest and the darkest areas simultaneously. HDR photography offers a solution to this problem.
The high dynamic range and the way HDR photo saves image information, give new possibilities to digital image processing. One can do very strong digital image processing operations to an HDR photo without losing any image information. A properly created HDR photo can include very large amount of image information and therefore give the photographer a possibility to create exactly the kind of photo he or she wants.
HDR photography Can Produce Noise Free Photos
An HDR photo is created by merging several photos that are taken with different exposures. If there are enough exposures, each part of the photo has optimal exposure in several shots. I don't know the merging algorithms of HDR programs but presumably they take best parts of the photos and / or do some averaging between the pixels in different shots and therefore noise is reduced effectively. Anyway, according to my tests HDR makes it possible to produce photos that are noise free even in the darkest shadows.
This is an HDR photo taken at night on Michigan Ave in Chicago. This was one of the first HDR images I ever did. When I saw it I was hooked, minimal noise, nice colours and the detail was impressive.
For the landscape photography the process can really enhance an image and separate your photo from the others. The software options are abundant. Personally, I use Photomatix. I have used NIK software , Topaz Adjust and used HDR in CS5, but I always find myself reverting back to old faithful, Photomatix 4.
Here is a list of HDR programs that you can consider:
HDR Express
Topaz Adjust
Lightroom Enfuse
Photomatix 4
Nik HDR Efex Pro
HDR Darkroom
Adobe Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro
To see a complete review of each program please visit HDR Software’s website once you finish reading about the possibilities of HDR photography here.
OK, now on to the process of creating an HDR image. In this tutorial I will be using a combination of Abobe CS5 and Photomatix 4.0 to get the end result.
The original images
You can use anywhere between 1 to 5, 7 and sometimes 9 photos. It all depends on you really, and occasionally it will depend on the scene. The harsher the contrast, the more photos used seems to produce a better image.
I tend to shoot 3 to 5 RAW images in the field and range the exposure by +/- 1EV. If you shoot one image and decide when you get home that you want to produce an HDR image from the single photo. Your choices are to do HDR rendering on the single image, or, produce 3 to 5 images from the original in jpg or TIFF with a range of exposure. I simply RAW edit the original and use the exposure slider in the RAW editor to produce photos of varying degrees of exposure.
Here are the original images we are going to start with for this example. I tend to shoot a balanced photo and then over expose a few images and then under expose a few images.
As you can see there are 5 images down the left. To the right is the minor RAW edits I made. The larger photo is the original photo I took before I over and under exposed the other four images
RAW Editing
The RAW editing is just simple color adjustments, eliminate any sensor or lens dust, a few tonal adjustments, minor clarity adjustments, a bit of balancing and that’s about it. I do not sharpen the images or prepare them for printing just yet… this is just a cleanup of the original 5 images before I open them up in Photomatix.
Please note that sharpening the images too much in this step will lead to issues once you perform your HDR editing. Leave that to the end when you import the Photomatix document back into CS5.
HDR Processing
Here you have the photomatix screen when you first load the original images. Make sure you check off the box to eliminate ghosting if there is moving objects like clouds in the image.
As you can see down the left side of the screen shot, my settings are there. I generally do not deviate too far from these settings when I am applying HDR on a landscape photograph.
for this image i chose exposure fusion. You can also set the editing mode to tone mapping. I tend to do that with a photo with less contrasting foregrounds adn backgrounds.
Final Processing in CS5
Once I have finished the final editing in Photomatix I reopen the jpg or TIFF document in the RAW editor one final time. This time I run through my final steps of checking balance, colour, clarity, saturation, camera lens correction etc.
I then open up the image in CS5 and perform my final edits to finish the photograph. For this image I felt I had to perform some cloning for the bad ghosting in the clouds, I colour adjusted the green to make it pop a bit more and i played with the exposure levels to get the overall tonal look I wanted.
Final Image
As you can see below there are two images, the first photo is the original properly exposed image and the second one is the final HDR image.
Now, here are a few more HDR Images from that morning on Puslinch Lake near Cambridge, Ontario.
Everyone has their own method of producing an HDR image and they may use different software than I do.
Find out what works for you, master the technique, and enjoy the end results.
Happy Shooting,
Kev
When I decide to use HDR in a photograph, the purpose is to produce a quality photo which is better than that of a normal photo. I use it to attempt to overcome the limitations of my camera and allow for a full range of exposure and colour to “POP” out of my image. The result is a more vibrant image.
The real advantages to HDR photography are as follows:
HDR photography captures higher dynamic range
Let's imagine a situation where one photographs (without a flash) a high contrast scene where the subject is against the sky. Typically there is a problem in the result. Either the sky is over exposed, or the subject is under exposed. This end result does not produce a scene that your eyes actually saw as you stood there behind the camera. Your eyes can clearly see details in both the subject and the sky. However, the digital camera isn't able to see as high contrast as a human eye does. Enter HDR in post processing…
In photography, the goal is often to capture the view and the mood that was seen and experienced. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of digital cameras, some details are often missing in photos. In high contrast scenes, a digital camera isn't able to capture both the brightest and the darkest areas simultaneously. HDR photography offers a solution to this problem.
The high dynamic range and the way HDR photo saves image information, give new possibilities to digital image processing. One can do very strong digital image processing operations to an HDR photo without losing any image information. A properly created HDR photo can include very large amount of image information and therefore give the photographer a possibility to create exactly the kind of photo he or she wants.
HDR photography Can Produce Noise Free Photos
An HDR photo is created by merging several photos that are taken with different exposures. If there are enough exposures, each part of the photo has optimal exposure in several shots. I don't know the merging algorithms of HDR programs but presumably they take best parts of the photos and / or do some averaging between the pixels in different shots and therefore noise is reduced effectively. Anyway, according to my tests HDR makes it possible to produce photos that are noise free even in the darkest shadows.
For the landscape photography the process can really enhance an image and separate your photo from the others. The software options are abundant. Personally, I use Photomatix. I have used NIK software , Topaz Adjust and used HDR in CS5, but I always find myself reverting back to old faithful, Photomatix 4.
Here is a list of HDR programs that you can consider:
HDR Express
Topaz Adjust
Lightroom Enfuse
Photomatix 4
Nik HDR Efex Pro
HDR Darkroom
Adobe Photoshop CS5 HDR Pro
To see a complete review of each program please visit HDR Software’s website once you finish reading about the possibilities of HDR photography here.
OK, now on to the process of creating an HDR image. In this tutorial I will be using a combination of Abobe CS5 and Photomatix 4.0 to get the end result.
The original images
You can use anywhere between 1 to 5, 7 and sometimes 9 photos. It all depends on you really, and occasionally it will depend on the scene. The harsher the contrast, the more photos used seems to produce a better image.
I tend to shoot 3 to 5 RAW images in the field and range the exposure by +/- 1EV. If you shoot one image and decide when you get home that you want to produce an HDR image from the single photo. Your choices are to do HDR rendering on the single image, or, produce 3 to 5 images from the original in jpg or TIFF with a range of exposure. I simply RAW edit the original and use the exposure slider in the RAW editor to produce photos of varying degrees of exposure.
Here are the original images we are going to start with for this example. I tend to shoot a balanced photo and then over expose a few images and then under expose a few images.
RAW Editing
The RAW editing is just simple color adjustments, eliminate any sensor or lens dust, a few tonal adjustments, minor clarity adjustments, a bit of balancing and that’s about it. I do not sharpen the images or prepare them for printing just yet… this is just a cleanup of the original 5 images before I open them up in Photomatix.
Please note that sharpening the images too much in this step will lead to issues once you perform your HDR editing. Leave that to the end when you import the Photomatix document back into CS5.
HDR Processing
Here you have the photomatix screen when you first load the original images. Make sure you check off the box to eliminate ghosting if there is moving objects like clouds in the image.
As you can see down the left side of the screen shot, my settings are there. I generally do not deviate too far from these settings when I am applying HDR on a landscape photograph.
Final Processing in CS5
Once I have finished the final editing in Photomatix I reopen the jpg or TIFF document in the RAW editor one final time. This time I run through my final steps of checking balance, colour, clarity, saturation, camera lens correction etc.
I then open up the image in CS5 and perform my final edits to finish the photograph. For this image I felt I had to perform some cloning for the bad ghosting in the clouds, I colour adjusted the green to make it pop a bit more and i played with the exposure levels to get the overall tonal look I wanted.
Final Image
As you can see below there are two images, the first photo is the original properly exposed image and the second one is the final HDR image.
Now, here are a few more HDR Images from that morning on Puslinch Lake near Cambridge, Ontario.
Everyone has their own method of producing an HDR image and they may use different software than I do.
Find out what works for you, master the technique, and enjoy the end results.
Happy Shooting,
Kev
Monday, 7 November 2011
What do photographers "really do" ?
I read this post on TWITTER the other day and it made me laugh... it was a pie chart comparing (1) what people think the life of a professional photographer is all about to (2) what running a photography business really entails.
The difference was the amusing part…
People think that a photographer’s life is made up of the following:
5% of their time is spent travelling to exotic destinations to work
15% of their time is spend partying like a rockstar
80% of their time is spent on editing and taking photos.
The reality is that we spend way more time with a workload like this:
4% of our time is spent doing maintenance on printers, cameras, tripods and computers
5% of our time is spent focusing on networking (although we are always really doing this)
5% of our time is spent on advertising and marketing
6% of our time is spent processing print orders and doing lab work
9% of our time is spent doing social media and blogging
9% of our time is spend doing bookkeeping and taxes
10% of our time is spent doing album design and production
10% of our time we are communicating with clients
13% of our time is actually taking photos, the thing we all love to do
29% of our time is spent editing photos and uploading them onto the computer.
Thoughts???
The difference was the amusing part…
People think that a photographer’s life is made up of the following:
5% of their time is spent travelling to exotic destinations to work
15% of their time is spend partying like a rockstar
80% of their time is spent on editing and taking photos.
The reality is that we spend way more time with a workload like this:
4% of our time is spent doing maintenance on printers, cameras, tripods and computers
5% of our time is spent focusing on networking (although we are always really doing this)
5% of our time is spent on advertising and marketing
6% of our time is spent processing print orders and doing lab work
9% of our time is spent doing social media and blogging
9% of our time is spend doing bookkeeping and taxes
10% of our time is spent doing album design and production
10% of our time we are communicating with clients
13% of our time is actually taking photos, the thing we all love to do
29% of our time is spent editing photos and uploading them onto the computer.
Thoughts???
Friday, 4 November 2011
Starting your own photography business by creating a BRAND around your name
I was talking to one photographer that other day that basically said that starting a photography business was as easy as buying a camera, renting studio space and then taking bookings from the lines of people hoping that you’ll take their photograph. I asked him how his customers are going to find him and his response was, “I know I am a good photographer and I will just buy keywords on Google.”
Another landscape photographer went into this long dissertation that he was going to apply to be sponsored by a manufacturer, travel the world taking images and sell them to companies in the tourism industry. When I asked this person how he was going to be sponsored, his response, “I know a guy at Nikon and he said he will make an introduction. “
While both goals are admirable, it really is not that easy, never has been, and definitely never will be. As I am sure some of you who are reading this know by now.
So, what is the secret sauce in building a photography business? For me it’s about “branding you, the person” properly. Of course there is the creation of the marketing plans, price sheets, a portfolio, website, joining associations and also networking. Those are the must have’s… you can learn about how to do those on any number of sites. What I want to discuss here is separating your “BRAND” from the hoards of competition out there.
There have been a lot of very talented photographers that have failed in this business; conversely, there are some successful photography businesses that succeeded even though they were not top notch photographers. The difference is that the successful photography business was run by a much more efficient marketer and business person.
Don’t get me wrong, you still need talent, you need to be schooled and you need to invest heavily in this passion. Someone once told me that you need to take more than 25,000 photos before you have learned the basics, another 25,000 to get proficient at taking a quality photo, and another 25,000 to get to the level where you can call yourself an accomplished photographer. I laughed when I heard it, 75,000 photos… “Come On”… but I counted the images on my external hard drives the other day. It was cause for another laugh… “that ole fella knew what he was talking about”, I thought.
I have taken more than 80,000 images and you can see the progression as the years have gone buy. It’s not the number of photographs; it’s the practice and repetition that crafted my skills.
OK, back to the separation of photography skills and business skills. My advice… put your ego and photography aptitude on the shelf for a minute… Let’s discuss business building skills and how to separate the business you from the photographer in you. How we are going to accomplish this is by creating an approachable brand around your name.
The more you give, the more you will receive
Ohhhhhh how I firmly believe this is pinnacle to your long term success. This theme is in almost all my points here. I am a firm believer in giving of your time and products to create long term sustainable relationships that will help you in the long run. A little goodwill now will pay off in the long run.
Be the recognized expert
Be the person that people know they can come to for answers or ideas. If people start associating you with a genre of photography you will create that top of mind awareness you need… then when they think of a photographer when they want to spend money, you will come to mind first. This isn’t about always being selling… this is about always being helpful, a long term business strategy
Learn from the best
Look at a couple successful photographers. Find out how they got to where they are today… don’t be afraid to ask them. They will give you at least some guidance.
Emulate success; don’t try to reinvent the wheel here… this has been attempted many, MANY times before you, if there was a better way, it would have been tried already… so emulate the people who carved out the path.
Press the flesh
Get out there and meet people, and when you do, give them your business card. When you put a face to a company name it will go a long way and making people remember you.
Let them see you everywhere
Here are some ideas to help you get your work out there… (1) go to local coffee shops and find out the process to hang your images in their coffee shops, (2) go see local banks and offer to hang images of the local area in the local branches, (3) investigate local art tours where people go and visit homes or galleries to see local artists, (4) give away images to friends and family to hang in their homes.
To get yourself out there, (1) you can join local photo clubs to network with other local photographers and find out other ways to help you grow your business, (2) get involved with charities and offer to take portraits for the less fortunate before X-Mas, (3) offer your services to the local government or heritage committees for free.
Social marketing is all about relationships built on trust
Facebook, Google+, Twitter, each are online social marketing tools. But they are not a place for hard selling of your product or services. They are a social community where people go to have fun and they do not want to be sold when they are there. These places are an avenue for you to just put your services and products out there for people to see. If people have all the information of your services and products, see that you are personable and available, and your products and services are what they want, they will come to you.
To sell your products and services online use keyword buys on the search engines to target potential customers searching for your products or services. Your website is for this as well. The website is your number one tool, IMO, to attract the maximum amount of clients. It is your online business card. The more people you drive to it, the more successful you will be. It’s a numbers game.
Social networking sites also offer excellent search engine optimization advancements for your website… something you should become intimate with. (Lots to discuss in this area but its a blog entry into itself)
Persistence Wears Resistance
Never give up. You will put in a lot of work, give away a lot of free photos and offer a lot of advice before this pays off… but it will. One day the flood gates will open up and you will look back and be thankful all this hard work was done.
This is where people fall down. They don’t see the immediate payoff. So just be patient.
I am not saying that this is all you have to do… far from it. What I am talking about is the icing on the cake. You still need a traditional and online marketing plan, a sales plan, talk to the banks, create a business identity, create the right website, price your images and services properly… and, of course, always be growing as a great photographer.
What I covered here are just the extra things that will separate you from the others that think that this is easy. Remember what the guy said in the first paragraph? He said, “I know I am a good photographer and I will just buy keywords on Google.”
I know if you follow my advice you will be one of those photographers that this guy looks at while he scratches his head wondering where he went wrong.
Good luck,
Kev
Another landscape photographer went into this long dissertation that he was going to apply to be sponsored by a manufacturer, travel the world taking images and sell them to companies in the tourism industry. When I asked this person how he was going to be sponsored, his response, “I know a guy at Nikon and he said he will make an introduction. “
While both goals are admirable, it really is not that easy, never has been, and definitely never will be. As I am sure some of you who are reading this know by now.
So, what is the secret sauce in building a photography business? For me it’s about “branding you, the person” properly. Of course there is the creation of the marketing plans, price sheets, a portfolio, website, joining associations and also networking. Those are the must have’s… you can learn about how to do those on any number of sites. What I want to discuss here is separating your “BRAND” from the hoards of competition out there.
There have been a lot of very talented photographers that have failed in this business; conversely, there are some successful photography businesses that succeeded even though they were not top notch photographers. The difference is that the successful photography business was run by a much more efficient marketer and business person.
Don’t get me wrong, you still need talent, you need to be schooled and you need to invest heavily in this passion. Someone once told me that you need to take more than 25,000 photos before you have learned the basics, another 25,000 to get proficient at taking a quality photo, and another 25,000 to get to the level where you can call yourself an accomplished photographer. I laughed when I heard it, 75,000 photos… “Come On”… but I counted the images on my external hard drives the other day. It was cause for another laugh… “that ole fella knew what he was talking about”, I thought.
I have taken more than 80,000 images and you can see the progression as the years have gone buy. It’s not the number of photographs; it’s the practice and repetition that crafted my skills.
OK, back to the separation of photography skills and business skills. My advice… put your ego and photography aptitude on the shelf for a minute… Let’s discuss business building skills and how to separate the business you from the photographer in you. How we are going to accomplish this is by creating an approachable brand around your name.
The more you give, the more you will receive
Ohhhhhh how I firmly believe this is pinnacle to your long term success. This theme is in almost all my points here. I am a firm believer in giving of your time and products to create long term sustainable relationships that will help you in the long run. A little goodwill now will pay off in the long run.
Be the recognized expert
Be the person that people know they can come to for answers or ideas. If people start associating you with a genre of photography you will create that top of mind awareness you need… then when they think of a photographer when they want to spend money, you will come to mind first. This isn’t about always being selling… this is about always being helpful, a long term business strategy
Learn from the best
Look at a couple successful photographers. Find out how they got to where they are today… don’t be afraid to ask them. They will give you at least some guidance.
Emulate success; don’t try to reinvent the wheel here… this has been attempted many, MANY times before you, if there was a better way, it would have been tried already… so emulate the people who carved out the path.
Press the flesh
Get out there and meet people, and when you do, give them your business card. When you put a face to a company name it will go a long way and making people remember you.
Let them see you everywhere
Here are some ideas to help you get your work out there… (1) go to local coffee shops and find out the process to hang your images in their coffee shops, (2) go see local banks and offer to hang images of the local area in the local branches, (3) investigate local art tours where people go and visit homes or galleries to see local artists, (4) give away images to friends and family to hang in their homes.
To get yourself out there, (1) you can join local photo clubs to network with other local photographers and find out other ways to help you grow your business, (2) get involved with charities and offer to take portraits for the less fortunate before X-Mas, (3) offer your services to the local government or heritage committees for free.
Social marketing is all about relationships built on trust
Facebook, Google+, Twitter, each are online social marketing tools. But they are not a place for hard selling of your product or services. They are a social community where people go to have fun and they do not want to be sold when they are there. These places are an avenue for you to just put your services and products out there for people to see. If people have all the information of your services and products, see that you are personable and available, and your products and services are what they want, they will come to you.
To sell your products and services online use keyword buys on the search engines to target potential customers searching for your products or services. Your website is for this as well. The website is your number one tool, IMO, to attract the maximum amount of clients. It is your online business card. The more people you drive to it, the more successful you will be. It’s a numbers game.
Social networking sites also offer excellent search engine optimization advancements for your website… something you should become intimate with. (Lots to discuss in this area but its a blog entry into itself)
Persistence Wears Resistance
Never give up. You will put in a lot of work, give away a lot of free photos and offer a lot of advice before this pays off… but it will. One day the flood gates will open up and you will look back and be thankful all this hard work was done.
This is where people fall down. They don’t see the immediate payoff. So just be patient.
I am not saying that this is all you have to do… far from it. What I am talking about is the icing on the cake. You still need a traditional and online marketing plan, a sales plan, talk to the banks, create a business identity, create the right website, price your images and services properly… and, of course, always be growing as a great photographer.
What I covered here are just the extra things that will separate you from the others that think that this is easy. Remember what the guy said in the first paragraph? He said, “I know I am a good photographer and I will just buy keywords on Google.”
I know if you follow my advice you will be one of those photographers that this guy looks at while he scratches his head wondering where he went wrong.
Good luck,
Kev
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)