Need help marketing

racergirl26b · February 10, 2010

Hey guys,

I am a new photographer and I'm trying to get my business started. Can you give me any marketing ideas? I have no idea how to get my name out there. I had 1 booking (I do in-studio portraits) at Christmas time and have had no luck since then. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Shay Weber
www.aperfectpicturebyshay.com

D'Buggs · February 10, 2010

I'm rowing the same boat as you (just launched it before Xmas). Business is business and the 1st thing you need to accept, is; Live, Eat, and BREATHE what you're doing.

You're no longer 'working' - You're living a life-style that requires 100% devotion. The early stages SUCK and consumes *a lot* of Capital Investment (hell, its only money) but furthermore, takes a TON of commitment (Read; Time).... The more hours of the day (each and every day) invested now, *should* mean a faster start at seeing profits.

The undertaking isn't easy and it all depends on what you want out of it - Not knowing this, makes it hard to answer your question. Can you invest 12 hours a day in order to make it happen? If not, I foresee a loooong traveled path that leads to little.

WTS, try cruising the "Mind Your Own Business" forums. Lots of good shtuff there...

l.k.madison · February 10, 2010

I've booked EVERYTHING I've done through Facebook, set up a "business" page, mention it in your regular status, link it over and voila! Of course, having photos of ANYTHING uploaded on that site will help.

Facebook is GREAT for tagging people in pictures, their friends see it and they get drawn to you because it goes to your album.

And now that you can do www.facebook.com/(business name goes here) it's VERY handy and VERY easy for your clients to remember!

goldilocksandmy3bears · February 10, 2010

l.k.madison wrote:

I've booked EVERYTHING I've done through Facebook, set up a "business" page, mention it in your regular status, link it over and voila! Of course, having photos of ANYTHING uploaded on that site will help.

Facebook is GREAT for tagging people in pictures, their friends see it and they get drawn to you because it goes to your album.

And now that you can do www.facebook.com/(business name goes here) it's VERY handy and VERY easy for your clients to remember!

That is a really good idea! I've posted pictures up of clients however I haven't tagged them :duh: I'll have to go back and do that! thanks for the advice!

ivar · February 10, 2010

I've moved this to the Mind Your Own Business forum

DigitalMom · February 10, 2010

When I started out last year, one thing I did was offer "complimentary" sessions. Instead of typing every thing out, this is what I offered: Complimentary Sessions

All but one of those people did it and it ended up being that all of them have been repeat clients for other things. They told their friends and so on. This also helped build my portfolio. One also is a bridal consultant which as of now nothing has booked but I'm really okay with that lol

Nothing that the above posters haven't said already but hit the pavement. I said it in another thread, I handed out cards at consignment shops, florists and I did a little "package" for my OB/GYN. She's even referred non-patients.

Business cards are a dime a dozen now so hand them out to everyone you know and don't know. I booked a family session last year when I was at the beach with my kids taking pictures of the sunset. The father was holding the baby, mom was trying to get the sunset behind them. I snapped a few shots, handed her my card and told her that if she emailed me, I'd send her the pictures. She ended up booking a family session.

Like said, it's 90% getting your name out there and building your business. That's with any business.

l.k.madison · February 10, 2010

goldilocksandmy3bears wrote:

That is a really good idea! I've posted pictures up of clients however I haven't tagged them :duh: I'll have to go back and do that! thanks for the advice!

It works, seriously works.

I did a newborn shoot at the end of January, 48 hours after I left mom's house, her teasers were up and edited... I had a friend on Facebook mention via her status that she was looking for a photographer "that didn't cost an arm and a leg" for her toddler and newborn so I piped up and volunteered myself, she took one look at the newborn shots and said "oh WOW! can you send me your prices?" and she instantly had them.

I booked a WEDDING off Facebook, without even trying - I posted a picture of my in-law's celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary at Chili's, I convinced them to share a malt, each one with their own straw and within days got a comment under the picture "so, do you shoot weddings?" so whatever works.

Granted, we have our own website as well (still a work in progress) but that Facebook has just been amazing.

Do remember that even if they are a "fan" of your page, you can only tag them if they are personal friends of yours, which has its drawbacks and benefits at the same time.

Ed911 · February 10, 2010

I have a few suggestions.

You need to fix your website. Your galleries are full of so-so images. Raccoon eyes, out of focus, posing, and exposure issues. Also take your camera information off of your photos. XTI does not say professional.

Put up a few images that have that wow factor instead of whole galleries that contain less than stellar images. Pros do it all the time...shoot 100,000 wedding images and have 15 that represent their work. Less is often better.

Shoot for free until you get good enough to charge.

How do potential clients find your website? Are you listed locally? Does your website come up when Googled for your area? Are you advertising in news papers, on the radio, on Facebook, etc. Are you in local magazines, etc.

Just my two cents...good luck.

Surfdog · February 11, 2010

I agree with Ed911. It has always been my theory that people will think you are only as good as the worst image on your website. Only post your best, ditch the rest.

One thing that I have started doing that has really gotten a good response is to make simple wallet-sized "photo cards" of the best shot from each shoot. Nothing fancy - just an image with my website. I then give a handful to the client when their proofs or prints are delivered. My clients love them and can't wait to hand them out to their friends. Word of mouth is huge in my area, and these inexpensive cards go a long way to help get your name out. I'm attaching a sample of one of my photo cards.

Best of luck to you!

D'Buggs · February 11, 2010

Glort's post pretty much says what my initial response was - It somehow, miraculously disappeared when I went in to do a little edit and couldn't find the patience to re-do it all.... This is EXCELLENT advice and is what consumes up the "Time" portion, in my earlier post.

Glort wrote:

You mentioned the magic and operative word here, BUSINESS.
That it the first and foremost thing you need to pay attention to. As I just said on another thread, you need to devote 90% of your time to business and 10% to photography because that the split that you'll be doing even when you are as successful as you want to be.

Go and educate in business, advertising and sales. These are the MOST important skills in determining your success in business whether your a shooter a plumber or a chimney sweep.
Once you have a sufficient knowledge of business you won't need to ask how to get work, you'll be able to spot opportunities in the market other people are missing ( and therefore can't tell you about) you will know how to approach that market and when you get inquiries, you will be able to sell to that market.

There is so much to this no one can tell you how to do it. Your business success stems from the look of your business card, the way you answer the phone, what you say to people when you talk to them, how you set your pricing, the way you plan and present interviews, what photographs you actually take thinking one step ahead to the selling thereof, you sales skills..... it goes on and on.

If you read this and think for a minute that this isn't important or you can learn it later, stop reading here and start perusing the employment sites and save yourself the heartache. You are already getting a taste of what it's like not to have the jobs you want, ask yourself if you want to be doing much the same thing for the next 5-10 years till you learn the hard way.
If the answer is no, start reading the business sites ( Business is business, you don't need a photography business site, in fact if one exists, I'd avoid it!) and find out what courses or seminars there are around that you can attend.
Go to your local library and find some sales and marketing book and go from there.

I gaurantee the first book or seminar you go to will have you walking around with a big smile on your face because you will then be so full of ideas and have raised your confidence level so high while at the same time dropping a huge penny as to how little you actually know and the potential that learning more holds.

Too many shooters these days are obsessed with making the prettiest pictures to put on forums, making sure they have THE right equipment to put on their sig lines and worrying about copyright if someone else should take a pic that looks somewhat like one they did a year ago.
When they talk about being in business they are fooling themselves. 20 years ago you could get away with being a photographer and having no other skills ( barely) but these days with so many shooters around ( have a look at the photographer on every corner thread) you would have to be blessed 10 times over by the photography god him/herself to get near being able to feed yourself without knowing about Business.

You can be a real average shooter with good business skills and earn a real good living. You can be the worlds best shooter and still starve if you don't know how to make money from it.

Hope the rant helps.

Justiceiro · February 11, 2010

Ed911 wrote:

I have a few suggestions.

You need to fix your website. Your galleries are full of so-so images. Raccoon eyes, out of focus, posing, and exposure issues. Also take your camera information off of your photos. XTI does not say professional.

Put up a few images that have that wow factor instead of whole galleries that contain less than stellar images. Pros do it all the time...shoot 100,000 wedding images and have 15 that represent their work. Less is often better.

I agree. If you're using your smugmug account as the logistical arm of your business (that is, having your clients directly order off of the website, without touching the stuff yourself), then you'll want galleries full of stuff that they might like but the public may find boring. You can make these galleries private, and send them the link. The public galleries should all be rather spare- Most folks are going to make a split second decision whether they want to use you or not based an 5-10 photos. Make sure that the 5-10 photos they see are your best.

Also, fix the text- get some teenager to jazz it up for you and pay him or her $50.

racergirl26b · February 11, 2010

Thanks!
Thanks for all of your suggestions. I guess I didn't realize that my images were that bad. Guess I better start working on a lot of things. I appreciate all of your help and the constructive criticism

BTW, how do you make sure your website pulls up when you google it? I've tried to figure that out, but haven't been able to yet.

Thanks~
Shay Weber

zoomer · February 11, 2010

I starting out forming a network of family and friends and their friends doing free shoots. They became my posse who then went and put out the word.
Business gradually grew and I gradually increased my prices.

As business grew word of mouth and referrals increased.

Find the local book the brides look at to find their wedding vendors and advertise in it if you think your skills are up to the task.

And there is always Craigs List.....

DigitalMom · February 11, 2010

zoomer wrote:

I starting out forming a network of family and friends and their friends doing free shoots. They became my posse who then went and put out the word.
Business gradually grew and I gradually increased my prices.

As business grew word of mouth and referrals increased.

Find the local book the brides look at to find their wedding vendors and advertise in it if you think your skills are up to the task.

And there is always Craigs List.....

I recently picked up a bride book at JC Penny's. It's by the wedding registry. Tells you of all the shows coming up over the next few months. Gives you contact info on doing a booth, etc.

Craig's List has actually not been to bad for me. I've gained some clients from it and also weeded out the spam. For free advertising, you take what you can get.

msf · February 12, 2010

Surfdog wrote:

I agree with Ed911. It has always been my theory that people will think you are only as good as the worst image on your website. Only post your best, ditch the rest.

One thing that I have started doing that has really gotten a good response is to make simple wallet-sized "photo cards" of the best shot from each shoot. Nothing fancy - just an image with my website. I then give a handful to the client when their proofs or prints are delivered. My clients love them and can't wait to hand them out to their friends. Word of mouth is huge in my area, and these inexpensive cards go a long way to help get your name out. I'm attaching a sample of one of my photo cards.

Best of luck to you!

How many rep cards do you usually get made for each client? And where do you get them printed? Ive done this a few times, and given them 50 rep cards on pearl paper. The front would have their picture and some information about them such as wedding date, or kids birthday, and the back would have my information. But for 50 cards its $12 at WHCC, which gets a bit expensive. The last one was a free engagement session *hoped to get their wedding, and they used the rep cards in their wedding invitations*.

Surfdog · February 14, 2010

msf wrote:

How many rep cards do you usually get made for each client? And where do you get them printed? Ive done this a few times, and given them 50 rep cards on pearl paper. The front would have their picture and some information about them such as wedding date, or kids birthday, and the back would have my information. But for 50 cards its $12 at WHCC, which gets a bit expensive. The last one was a free engagement session *hoped to get their wedding, and they used the rep cards in their wedding invitations*.

I do it much simpler. I size my photo cards to 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", then make 3 1/2" x 5" images (2 cards per image) and have my local lab print them. I then cut the prints in half. Each wallet-size card costs me 10 cents. I include a dozen or so when I deliver a client's proof or print order, and I take 80-100 engagement or bridal portrait cards to the wedding and have them on the sign-in table.

Canuckity · February 14, 2010

When I started out last year, one thing I did was offer "complimentary" sessions. Instead of typing every thing out, this is what I offered: Complimentary Sessions

Lisa, I really love this idea, mind if I use this idea myself? I'm hoping to get a few bookings in the spring and it might be a good time to try to get them booked now.

Lots of really great stuff here!

Snowgirl · February 15, 2010

Canuckity wrote:

Lisa, I really love this idea, mind if I use this idea myself? I'm hoping to get a few bookings in the spring and it might be a good time to try to get them booked now.

Lots of really great stuff here!

I just offered 3 free newborn shoots to get some images for my portfolio. Within 12 hours they were booked. Now to get some good images so I can promote that service

msf · February 16, 2010

Another marketing idea is to team up with local companies like flower shops, tux/dress shops, etc, and offer them free business cards with your contact information on it as well.

I got this idea from:
http://www.whcc.com/resources/case-studies/hayes-fisk/

Another strategy Mary developed involves making business cards for vendors featuring images from her studio. The business card carries contact information on vendors and on the Hayes and Fisk studio. It's a win-win situation since vendors do not compete with the studio and they both get to advertise to potential clients. "It's so inexpensive I just give them 250 business cards," she says. "The cost to me is nothing compared to what I get back in sales."

I wonder how they design the business cards. If its 50/50 on the front, or if the local company's information is 90% of the card with your info on the bottom. Or if its their card on the front and your card on the back.

I tried contacting them but they haven't responded. : ) I do like the idea though.

adamcoupe · February 18, 2010

Hi

I'd research the market for your particular area of photography. Many creative people get carried away with the dream of how brilliant it will be to earn a living from photography without fully understanding what's going on in that niche nationally or locally. Research can be online (list all photographers in your target niche, review their websites and make notes of the way in which they talk abou their business and how they interact with their market. You're trying to glean how they acquire new customers and if possible their pricing structure and 'packages' that they offer.

Take a look at this London Freelance site and get a feel for the 'typical' pricing listed (that may or may not be applicable to your region) Freelance Fees Guide: Welcome

Decide upon a trading style - what you intend to call your business - needs to be credible and above all memorable.

Start to develop a view on how other established photographers in your target niche appear to market their businesses - website, Google Adwords http://bit.ly/QJcrQ, local / national / niche press advertising, direct mail etc and construct an experimentation marketing plan where you try out a number of marketing activities and see which works best for your business. A lot of online promotion and marketing can be done at little or no expense - just effort on your part eg. learning about SEO and gradually aiming to get your website onto page 1 of Google for your preferred Keywords.

Good luck

Adam
www.adamcoupe.com/portfolio

msf · February 18, 2010

I was watching "The #1 lady's detective agency" tv show on dvd and one scene gave me an idea. I know its not original but I didnt think of it before. In one of the first episodes, they hire a kid to hand out flyers in the town to advertise the business. I wonder how well that would work for a photography business over here in the states.

Around these parts it would have to be at a mall, or perhaps on a main street in town.

Any opinions on this? And how about the legalities of hiring a kid to do this.

msf · February 19, 2010

Snowgirl wrote:

I just offered 3 free newborn shoots to get some images for my portfolio. Within 12 hours they were booked. Now to get some good images so I can promote that service

How did you advertise your free newborn shoots?

Ive tried craigslist creative skills and skilled trade's categories but I dont think people in this area view those to much, based on the statistics code I put in the ad. The free category gets a ton of views........when its allowed to stay, but they have been getting flagged within half an hour lately and removed.

Another marketing idea would be to put a "coupon" on the back of a grocery store receipt. There are a ton of food cities around here, and they put coupons on the back of their receipts. I looked the company up that does this and it seems to start at $99 a month for 3 months minimum. I wonder if this would be a good venture. It does target the people that live within a few miles of the grocery store. I dont know about the food city that is near my studio, but the one that is near where I live only has 3 different coupons on the back of their receipts, so the coupons tend to get printed more than once per receipt.

I wonder why no one has been replying to this thread, perhaps its been over discussed.

on a side note, does anyone know of any good and free ecard sites? I was thinking of sending some cards to some past and hopefully future customers on their birthdays. The good free ones I use to know have become pay sites. I thought the web was mostly free things.

msf · February 20, 2010

Glort wrote:

I would suggest caution with the shopper dockets as we call them here.
They have a reputation where I am for being spectacularly successful..... In attracting exactly the type of clients that you DON'T want.
The people that use those things tend to be in it only for what they can get for nothing rather than being people that you can introduce to your business and expect them to come back at full price. The tendency is more to move on to the next discount offer.

Now if you can put some offer together that will make you money at the minimum spend and you don't anticipate any add on sales, no problem. If you are looking to do some shoots at no money to build your folio, that might work as well but I would caution against thinking you can get people in on the offer and up sell them because everyone I have spoken to about these things would confirm my experience being that would be unlikely to happen.

For a lot more profitable promo, I'd suggest having a flier printed and leaving it at you local " Babies R us " type stores.

I'm not sure what an Ecard is but if it is an electronic/ email type thing, I'd suggest that a far more powerful and effective initiative would be to make up your own cards as postcard size prints and send them by post to the people. A real, physical message will have a lot more impact than basically an email.

You can easy knock up your own card in PS and have it printed for .12C a pop ( or less I imagine). Stick it in a nice , bright and colorful envelope and you have something that will get you remembered.

On the subject of Birthdays, I had a client years ago that by some strange turn of events found himself running a medium size company with a multimillion dollar turnover per year. He had no managerial experience and knew beans about industry the company was involved in. Despite readily admitting he didn't have a clue, he was also quietly confident he could learn and as the business was already profitable, all he had to do was not bugger it up.
He told me one of the very first things he did was to send all the company clients a personalized birthday card. About 300 of them.

He reckoned it was the best way ever of getting to know his clients as the response rate was huge. The thing was, he sent EVERYONE a birthday card, all at the SAME time. People were ringing to say their birthday was 8 months away OR with the few he did get reasonably close, they rang to say thanks but how did he know when it was??
Either way, it was a great ice breaker that allowed him to build a rapport with the clients straight away.

It surprised me not in the least that some years later, A friend who works in the same industry told me the young guy had built the business into one of the biggest in the industry in virtually no time at all.
He was a very well liked guy that had no problems having a laugh at himself and doing wacky fun things for his clients ( like sending some Bikini clad girls to his customers to wash their cars and a voucher for a cleaning service to give the house a once over to keep the wives happy) as well as always being reliable and flexible.

Some people just have a natural business thinking ability.

by ecard I meant one of those websites that lets you pick a design, and sometimes the cards would be annimated, and you could add a customized message. On the birthday the site would send an email to the person with a link to their ecard. There was some pretty good flash cards a few years ago.

The birthday that is coming up is for a person that I haven't met, but inquired about a wedding. They did decide to go with another photographer, but there is always baby pictures in the future, and possibly referrals. I just wanted to make a good impression. : )

Since I havent photographed them, I dont have an image I could use for an ecard for them. I could buy a box of birthday cards I guess for this sort of thing.

but her birthday is today *saturday* so a bit late to mail a card.

Snowgirl · February 20, 2010

msf wrote:

How did you advertise your free newborn shoots?

Ive tried craigslist creative skills and skilled trade's categories but I dont think people in this area view those to much, based on the statistics code I put in the ad. The free category gets a ton of views........when its allowed to stay, but they have been getting flagged within half an hour lately and removed.

Another marketing idea would be to put a "coupon" on the back of a grocery store receipt. There are a ton of food cities around here, and they put coupons on the back of their receipts. I looked the company up that does this and it seems to start at $99 a month for 3 months minimum. I wonder if this would be a good venture. It does target the people that live within a few miles of the grocery store. I dont know about the food city that is near my studio, but the one that is near where I live only has 3 different coupons on the back of their receipts, so the coupons tend to get printed more than once per receipt.

I wonder why no one has been replying to this thread, perhaps its been over discussed.

on a side note, does anyone know of any good and free ecard sites? I was thinking of sending some cards to some past and hopefully future customers on their birthdays. The good free ones I use to know have become pay sites. I thought the web was mostly free things.

Hi. I advertised my free e-shoot on my Facebook Page. A client I'd done a family shoot for previously (and who's expecting next month) was the first to sign up; and then her sister-in-law who is also expecting within a few weeks. My point was to garner some useable shots for my portfolio in order to sell my newborn baby shoot services - something new I'm adding.

I avoid things like Craigslist and grocery store coupons etc. because, as Glort so eloquently said, they attract a customer I don't want. I do not want to deal with the low price shopper - that's not my market. Offering my 'free' shoot has strings attached - including signing model releases - and is limited to a maximum of three babies.

Birthday greetings - an excellent idea. Again - first define who you're after for a client. That, in turn, will define what type of birthday greeting card you send. An e-card to a prospective client strikes me as just plain tacky. I wouldn't do it. I'd either send a proper card, or one of my own creations, or make a phone call and with the person a good day.

BTW - the web isn't mostly free stuff. It's business.

msf · February 20, 2010

I avoid things like Craigslist and grocery store coupons etc. because, as Glort so eloquently said, they attract a customer I don't want. I do not want to deal with the low price shopper - that's not my market. Offering my 'free' shoot has strings attached - including signing model releases - and is limited to a maximum of three babies.
[/quote]

You know, people that are well off also shop at grocery stores.

its not just people that are trying to get stuff for free that shop there. although they are more likely to check the coupons out.

If I go this coupon receipt route Im not sure if Ill put a real coupon on there. It could just be my business card, to get awareness in the community. Or perhaps offer limited time free sitting, which Im doing anywase.

Snowgirl wrote:

Birthday greetings - an excellent idea. Again - first define who you're after for a client. That, in turn, will define what type of birthday greeting card you send. An e-card to a prospective client strikes me as just plain tacky. I wouldn't do it. I'd either send a proper card, or one of my own creations, or make a phone call and with the person a good day.

Nice thing about an ecard is you dont have to have people's mailing address. This person I was hoping to do an ecard for, I dont have her address, I havent even met her in person. There are some nice ecards out there, and when I received them in the past, I never thought they were cheesy.

Snowgirl wrote:

BTW - the web isn't mostly free stuff. It's business.

Lets see here, theres google, facebook, myspace, etc. I think facebook is doing really well financially, its estimated worth is in the billions I think? : ) based on the microsoft thing. And its free.

Free and business can work together if done right.

DigitalMom · February 20, 2010

Snowgirl wrote:

I just offered 3 free newborn shoots to get some images for my portfolio. Within 12 hours they were booked. Now to get some good images so I can promote that service

Awesome!! Glad it worked.

Sorry if it was said here but I can't remember where I read it. When you use Facebook, be sure to tag your pictures, especially if you post them to your fan page. The people that you tag, their friends see them and so on. Also, tag yourself, this way people on your friends list see them. I also gain more fans this way and as they may not need my services directly, they might know some one that does.

Need help marketing

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