Archive for Business – Page 15

Do Your Customers See the "Value" in Your Photography?

By John Pyle
Friday, July 8th, 2011

Any good business plan includes targeting the right customers. You may not want to open an ice cream store along the Iditarod trail in Alaska or start up a VCR repair store.

Although these may seem like silly obvious examples, they do bring up a good point. Who are you targeting in your photography business and senior market?

Knowing your customers and your market is important. And realizing that not everyone is your customer is even more important. Some people do not value photography and some people just may not value your photography. So how much time should you invest (or waste) trying to convince the wrong (fit for your business) people what you and your work are worth?

The first step is to understand that people pay for what is important to them. “Too expensive” doesn’t necessary mean that they don’t have an adequate amount of funds to exchange for a good or service. It may just mean they don’t see the value of what you are selling or what your business provides. And it can also mean that they don’t see the value or place any value on photography.

As an example, there is a chain soup/salad/sandwich store that opened up in our town a few years ago. It costs us nearly 20 bucks to eat there. This place is “too expensive” for me. Why? Because I don’t value what they have to offer. Not because I can’t afford it. At this place you stand in line to give your order and sit down. Then you get back up when they call out your name to get your order. Then you get back up each time to fill up your drink (and to get napkins, etc.) Finally, after you are finished, you have to clean up your own table and put the bowls, plates, silverware, and trash away. Now I will gladly pay triple the amount (of what we would pay at this place) at our favorite restaurant because I see the value in eating there. Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business
Tags : , , ,

Marketing Campaigns for Photographers – Wedding Fairs

By Michael Shilling
Friday, July 8th, 2011

Traditionally this is one if those marketing campaigns that are essential to many photographers wedding businesses.

Wedding fairs or fayres can be fruitful when it comes to getting leads but at the time they can be costly and hard to get into. You do have a couple of options when it comes to how you approaching a wedding fair.

  1. Play the numbers game and try and speak to ask many people as you can and collect as much data as possible.
  2. Try and spend time with each couple you talk to and really sell your personality as well as your work.

Both approaches work and it is possible to do both. I’ve found that at some of the bigger wedding fairs photographers go for too much of a hard sell too early. It’s just a case of creating a balance that suits your personality.

Here are a few tips to help you along the way.

  • Make sure your stand screams “This is my USP!”
  • Dress immaculately. A smart appearance goes a long way. In fact make sure your table is dressed to impressed, a nicely ironed table cloth is just the start.
  • Don’t hide behind tables, it’s always better to be visitor side of the table even if it means moving round when people approach you.
  • Don’t sit. It makes you look bored and disinterested. Read More→
Categories : Grow Your Business, Marketing Campaigns
Tags : , , , , , , ,

Starting a Photography Business: Part 41 – Heart and Soul

By Ruth Bayley
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

This last week I have been spending time on getting another business that is very close to my heart closer to launch. The inspiration came from something that happened to me and how I overcame it; and that story can now help others.

A few years ago I lost my voice; the previous day I’d had the most severe sore throat I’ve ever had and the next morning when I woke up I simply couldn’t speak. It wasn’t a normal cold and sore throat, I was in severe pain and I stayed this way for many months. In that time I was only able to communicate by writing what I wanted to say on paper or type it on my phone, and of course I could only comfortably go out when I was with someone; so they could speak for me.

The doctors were baffled and perhaps not surprisingly, with only my thoughts going around in my head and no quick way to express them, depression and anxiety set in. As with many people I had no idea I was depressed, I was too busy focusing on the pain in my throat which I felt on waking and all the way through the day; I was really wrapped up in my own pain and how it restricted me, and giving the throat pain an awful lot of power.

I started to do a little research, and with the help of a friend took a turn down a more alternative approach to healing; meditation, living in the moment more to keep me grounded in the here and now rather than past or future events. Hence my twitter name became @iaminthemoment to help to remind me that is where I need to be, which is challenging enough on its own!

There was a bit more to my recovery than meditation and living in the moment there were other therapies, yet the one thing that helped me to move out of the gloom of depression, and take my attention away from me, was returning to my landscape photography. Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Starting a Business
Tags : , , , , , , ,

Marketing Campaigns for Photographers – Delivering Your Work

By Michael Shilling
Friday, July 1st, 2011

Technically speaking today’s marketing campaign is really business ‘best practice’ or something that might fall into the realms of customer service.

Delivering your work

You might be a photographer that likes to think that you ‘always deliver’ but what im really talking about is actually delivering your clients orders to them in person.

As I write this article I’m sitting on a tube on the London Underground and doing just that.
Wednesday afternoons are set aside every week for me to drop off orders to all of my clients. It could be easier to send orders in the post, by courier or even ask my clients to come to me to pick up their order.

But I like to go that extra mile and offer a service that is essential to my marketing and my brand.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article at PhotoCreative365 titled Wasting Time on Branding. Inevitably you might not agree with some of the points I make in the article but the idea I was trying to get across was that you are your brand. More importantly, the things you do, defines people’s perception of your business.

Running a successful business only begins with great images. If you want to keep clients for life and have them regularly recommend you, then it’s the little extras that sometimes make all the difference.

Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Marketing Campaigns
Tags : ,

Tying The Knot: TripAdvisor And Testimonials

By Milton Gan
Wednesday, June 29th, 2011

Today’s post came from a pool-side sun lounger at the gorgeous Outrigger Resort in Koh Samui, Thailand. I’m here to recharge my own batteries as the Australian wedding season winds down for winter, which means I shouldn’t really be blogging but I was inspired by this wonderful place and so just had to put fingers to iPad!

If I was to list the criteria for identifying paradise, this place would tick a lot of those boxes. It’s a beautiful island with fantastic weather, but the clincher is the food! I LOVE Thai food and arrived with tastebuds deliriously salivating in anticipation of sampling the real deal!

This being my first time on the island I wanted to make sure I used my time visiting the best places to eat and so I turned to my second most favourite travel companion: TripAdvisor (my number one favourite obviously being The Lady!).

I’ve been in love with TripAdvisor for some time now. Its ability to identify the best hotels and restaurants in any area is incredible and it certainly puts your mind at rest, which is exactly what you want when you’re spending a lot of money on a relaxing holiday.

If you’re familiar with TripAdvisor you’ll know what makes it so reliable: the user generated reviews. In this time of social networking the consumer is king and wields the power to make or break companies in the time it takes to type out their customer experience in 140 characters. And due to the increased take up of user generated location based networks like Foursquare, Instagram and Foodspotting, customers are also getting into the habit of acting as brand advocates – leaving helpful tips and advice for others, such as their favourite dish or that free room upgrades are possible if you ask. It’s what I call social love.

And social love is exactly what you need your clients to show you after you have completed their work. In other words: testimonials. Read More→

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

Starting a Photography Business: Part 40 – What it Says on the Tin

By Ruth Bayley
Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

Whilst I was at the agricultural show last week, (having a fantastic time incidentally, taking shots of cows being given a shampoo and set), I had a wander around some of the business tents. Amazingly, these places are a fantastic opportunity to make some great contacts.

One stand made me stop and question what the business was all about. On their advertising hoardings they had graphics of pools of water beside each bullet point, yet the statements were talking about self-esteem issues. The name of this company is The Water Project; I couldn’t make head nor tail of it. They were in a marquee that was dedicated to companies helping the environment and so I assumed, wrongly, that they were in some way helping this country or others with water shortages.

I was a little groggy from tiredness but it took a couple of minutes of explanation from the stall holder before I fully understood that the water was a metaphor for purity and actually they weren’t a conservation company, but a community charity encouraging people to all work together. A really worthwhile cause but I was left baffled by the company name.

I walked around for the next couple of minutes trying to work out if there is anywhere in my business where I’m being ambiguous and expecting people to understand what I’m doing whilst actually confusing them and giving mixed messages. Is there anywhere in your company that you might be doing similar? Read More→

Categories : Grow Your Business, Starting a Business
Tags : , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »