Archive for Business – Page 12

Marketing Campaigns for Photographers – Christmas

By Michael Shilling
Friday, August 19th, 2011

What! I hear you say….. Christmas…. It’s still August!

Well I was just thinking the same thing this week but then this happened……

My wife and I went out for a meal and got handed a early booking form for December ‘events’ and then today I received an email promoting a Christmas variety show.

This got me thinking…..

  1. Do I have all of my Christmas promotions ready?
  2. Do I know exactly when I am going to launch them?
  3. Do I need to order any extra products or promotional materials?
  4. Do I know my suppliers delivery cut off dates?
  5. Do I have a ‘bad weather’ (snowed in) backup plan?

Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Marketing Campaigns
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Connecting With Potential Clients At A Wedding

By Robert Hillis
Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Weddings are great ways to gather new business. For one, the wedding couple has already placed their stamp of approval on you by hiring you to capture their special day. You have instant access to lots of potential clients from expectant moms, to high school seniors, to newly engaged couples, to family photos. Every potential client in one place. So how do you reach them? There’s a few different ways to do this without being disrespectful to your paid clients, the bride and groom.

One method that I like to use is the couple card. I take a few photos that I have taken of the couple and I create a 4×6 image with their photo as well as my information at the bottom. I also include my website and album information for the event. I normally print anywhere from 60-100 images and have them displayed somewhere around the sign-in table. They are 4x6s so they are inexpensive and they make great keepsakes for the wedding guests. Many times if you print more than one image people collect them. Its great branding for your business and inexpensive advertising.

Another great way is to talk to the guests. Get to know them a little bit. If you see some children dancing on the dance floor and children’s photos are your things, get a little creative with your images. Many times guests will go to the album and order photos of them from the event. Getting great shots of their kids keeps you in mind when they are thinking of new family photos.

Another great advertising piece is Facebook and other social media outlets. I know, I know, everyone uses Facebook but really it works. I have received quite a bit of repeat business and new customer business via Facebook from other events that I have posted. By posting images of your events and tagging yourself as well as your clients it gives their friends the opportunity to visit your business page and look at your work. It increases traffic to both your business page and your website. I try to only post a few images of events on Facebook and then provide a link to the entire album on my website thus driving traffic to the site. The key here is timing. You need to be quick. I always post a group of “teaser” shots from the event no later than 4 days after the wedding. This keeps the event fresh in the guests mind and the couple is usually still on their honeymoon so when they return to internet surfing they get to view some of their photos right away. This is a great advertising took and costs you nothing other than time. Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
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Starting a Photography Business: Part 47 – Passionately Connected!

By Ruth Bayley
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Meazly Muzzle

I was watching Dragon’s Den the other night, a series where entrepreneurs stand in front of multi-millionaire business people and pitch their product or business for investment. Featured were a couple of women who are doing something very special with music to help children get involved with music and deejaying rather than getting into trouble on the streets. As they were being questioned about their product and how it could be copied, one of them said quite forcefully, it doesn’t matter if people try and copy the format; they can’t do it in the way that we do it and with the passion that we do with it because it’s our passion, our idea.

And it’s the same with Healing with Photography. It’s something I guess that could be replicated, but it’s not something that can be replicated with the passion I feel for it or the energy or love that runs through me when I think about it. It comes from my own experiences, something that I went through and it’s now evolved into helping others.

And this week I’ve been very much putting Healing with Photography out there into the business community to find potential sponsors for the courses. I want to run the courses through MIND, the mental health charity centres, yet funding is an issue for the centres at the moment, so I have decided to go down the route of private sponsorship. Essentially the private sponsorship fees will pay for the website costs, course costs, and my wages. It will also launch the teleseminar series which I hope to be running by the end of this year or the beginning of next at the latest. Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Starting a Business
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Friday Business Challenge – Week 4: "Must Do" SEO Tactics for Photographers

By Guest
Friday, August 12th, 2011

Welcome to week four of the Friday Business Challenge bought to you by Current Photographer and Today is Different. Not sure what The Challenge is about? Click here to find out: Welcome to the Friday Business Challenge.

So how did you go with last week’s challenge? Did you do it? Don’t worry if you haven’t yet, just go back and do it any time before the challenge ends.

We want to give a big shout out to Toni Aull for participating in the Friday Business Challenge for Week 3. Be sure to check out Toni’s Flickr stream to view her work and to learn more about her.

So on to week number four.

7 Basic “Must Do” SEO Tactics for Photographers

SEO is a large and complex topic. You can pay someone to do it for you or you can immerse yourself in all of the technical information trying to figure out how to optimize your site.

The truth is you may need to adopt one or the other of the options above. But before you do, try these tactics and make some small adjustments, and most likely you will see improved rankings quite rapidly.

The Challenge & the Reward

We want to see you succeed in your photography business. Participating in the 7 weeks of challenges will help you focus on taking action towards making your business the best it can be.

Sharing your experiences with others is also a great benefit to the community, so we want to hear from you. Tell us how you did with the weeks challenge in the comments below. In return we want to give you a little promotion (and who doesn’t want that?) Be sure to include links to your website, blog, Twitter profile, Facebook Page, LinkedIn and any other profile you’d like to share with the community.

We’ll select the best, most thought out comments to be featured in next weeks challenge along with a post on the Today Is Different blog. Just think of all those wonderful links you’ll get to help your SEO!

As an additional incentive we are offering you a chance to get one of your favorite photographs featured at the top of CurrentPhotographer.com. We’ll include your image, your name or company name along with your website url. When the graphic is clicked the viewer will be taken directly to your website. Nice way to get a little extra attention huh?

So how do you get your image featured you ask? It’s simple, just click the “Tweet & Get It” button below. You’ll automatically tweet the special phrase and get immediate access to a free e-book that Trevor has put together titled “How to Pimp Out Your Twitter Profile in 4 Easy Steps”.

We’ll pick 4 random Twitter followers who tweet the special phrase and send them a Direct Message with details on how to submit their photo and information.

At the end of the 7 weeks we’ll have a special gift for all those who participated and commented. Trevor and I have put together a couple of great e-books that we’d like to give to you for FREE just to say thanks.

So keep participating in the challenges, keep the comments coming and share your accomplishments with your friends on Twitter and Facebook to let them know “you’re in it to win it!”

See you next Friday for Seven Steps to Designing a Referral Program…

–

I am a portrait photographer and a workshop facilitator. I am passionate about what I do and thrive amongst people who are innovative and love what they do. I am in my element in the midst of conversations where ideas are spread and opportunities are discovered.

Today is Different provides workshops, retreats and consulting for professional photographers in Sydney, Australia.

We help you to:

  • Find your uniqueness and your fantabulousness
  • Stop selling products and services and start providing
    an experience
  • Find clients that you love and that love you right back
  • Simplify by focusing on what is truly important

Today is Different

Company: Today is Different
Phone: +61 403 500 801
Email: robyn@todayisdifferent.net
Website: http://www.todayisdifferent.com.au/
Blog: http://www.todayisdifferent.com.au/blog
Twitter: @RobynMayne
Facebook: http://facebook.com/TodayIsDifferent

© 2017 Robyn Mayne

Here’s how you can share your tips, techniques and tutorials on CurrentPhotographer.com

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Categories : Friday Business Challenge, Grow Your Business, Guest Bloggers, Search Engine Optimization
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Marketing Campaigns for Photographers – Raffle Prizes for Schools

By Michael Shilling
Friday, August 12th, 2011

This is another low cost marketing campaign which is prefect for portrait photographers and works particularly well when used with The School Fair Set-Up.

School might be out for the summer but that’s doen’t mean you can’t start thinking how you will be marketing your business next year.

The Campaign
Quite simply you are offering raffle prizes to local schools and youth groups which can come in the form of anything from a free portrait sitting to a 30×40 canvas. The best time of year to offer these raffle prizes is either at Christmas or before a school is hosting a summer or spring fair.

Preparation
Design a raffle prize package which includes a variety of prizes of differing values.
For example:
x4 Free Portrait Sessions and a 8×10 print voucher
x2 Free Portrait Sessions and a 8×10 framed print voucher
x1 Free Portrait Sessions and a 12×14 Canvas
x1 Free Portrait Sessions and a 20×30 Canvas

Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Marketing Campaigns
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Tying The Knot: Managing New Clients

By Milton Gan
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011

One thing we must never forget as wedding photographers, is that while we gain more and more experience and knowledge about the industry with each wedding we shoot, every new enquiry we get is from a couple going through the planning process for the first time.

It’s easy to get caught in the trap of assuming that clients know as much as we do about wedding photography and styles, how much professional photography should cost, why albums always rule over CDs, or which are the best wedding blogs and magazines. In reality many of them, quite understandably, don’t have a clue about wedding photography or how to book a photographer and are possibly terrified by the prospect of approaching a professional artist.

I mean, I have no idea how much sculptors charge or how to approach one for a commission. Do you? I’d probably say something like “Er, hi, I’d like a sculpture please. Nothing too big, something around 12” x 8” with some wood in it will do. How much will that cost? And does it come with a CD? Wait, why are you pushing me out of the door?!”.

So when you receive an email asking how much 3 hours of wedding photography costs and if a CD is included, exercise patience (ok, after you’ve had a deep breath and bitten your tongue!). You don’t know who’s at the end of the email or what their budget is, and the last thing you want is to end up looking like that sales assistant in Pretty Woman!

I had a similar situation very recently. An email flew in from a couple saying they’re planning a small wedding of just 25 guests and how much would it cost for 2-3 hours of photography to cover the morning ceremony?

My initial reaction was mixed. As an emerging wedding photographer I need to book as many weddings as possible for experience and for my portfolio and their ceremony was going to be at a really pretty location. But at the same time my business head said that reducing my cost based on just 3 hours of shooting would lose me money on a precious Saturday and therefore I should turn this down and hope that something on a larger scale would come along for the same day.

How would I handle the response to this enquiry? Read More→

Categories : Make Better Photographs, Wedding Photography
Tags : , , , , , ,
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