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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Marketing Photography to "Normal" People
Joshua Sy, Student/Intern
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Los Angeles | CA | USA | Posted: 6:45 PM on 04.19.08 |
->> Hey guys,
While I realize that much of the business of photography is through word-of-mouth and contacts, I was curious to see how many of you guys market your photography services to the general community (e.g. family portraits, family events, high-school portraits, etc), and how you guys do it.
I was thinking to place classifieds in local newspapers and Yellow Pages, Craigslist and other similar placements to get a foothold here; how successful have these been for you guys? |
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Walter Calahan, Photographer
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Westminster | MD | USA | Posted: 6:53 PM on 04.19.08 |
->> Here's the secret.
There aren't any 'normal' people.
We're crazy as a species.
Grin. |
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Delane B. Rouse, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Washington | DC | US | Posted: 7:49 PM on 04.19.08 |
->> In general most people that use the the Yellow Pages/Yellow Book are searching strictly on price alone.
Also, ask yourself the last time you looked for anything in a newspaper classified section? I remember when that was THE way to find a home/car/service but those days are long gone.
Craigslist seems to be decent, but the signal to noise ratio is high (or low???)...what I mean is that there are a lot of useless postings and the vast majority of the users are looking for free services or at best trade services. Having said that, I did find, interview for and obtain a full-time job on Craigslist a few years ago.
I market via a number of evangelist (super satisfied customers that LOVE my work and talk about me all the time)
Delane |
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James Lee, Photographer
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Vincent | OH | USA | Posted: 10:12 AM on 04.20.08 |
| ->> I certainly don't have my marketing tactics dialed in yet, but was at a conference recently where the main speaker asked the group who had used the yellow pages recently to find a service and very few hands raised, but EVERYONE in the group had used google. For me, that meant it is time to revamp my web page. |
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Clark Brooks, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 12:00 PM on 04.20.08 |
->> Yellow page ads??? Forget it. If someone is still using the yellow pages to search for a photographer or services you don't want them as a customer most likely. If the client uses the web to find you, they have 'pre-qualified' themselves economically. It means they are computer saavy and likely have the income level to purchase your services.
In your case your case here is what I would do in your shoes:
First off Joshua, you need to register the URL joshuasyphoto.com and have it point to your smugmug page. JoshuaSyphoto.smugmug.com is too long for people to remember and too easy to make a mistake when typing.
Next you need to beef up your site. While I don't particularly care for smugmug for reasons not worth describing, you need a design that looks more like pro-site. Take a look a SS member Mark Peter's smugmug page (http://mjpeters.smugmug.com). It has a nice feel to it and doesn't look like a cheapo gallery site when you first log on to it. If your website looks cheap, people expect your prices to be cheap.
After you get the new, easy to remember URL and beefed up your website, get new business cards made up with the new URL.
The most cost effective way method to get the word out to normal people is be around normal people or the people you want to normally be your clients. This technique is really effective, especially if you are the kind of person who is easily approachable, have a large network of friends, spends lot of time out and about, and/or have the ability to strike up a conversation with complete strangers.
For the next 90 days you will need to hand a business card every person you know and ask them to checkout your website and ask how they like it. During the conversation learn something about each person, get their contact info, write it down and use it create an assignment around them or offer them your services later. IE: Someone says, "My wife's birthday's coming up next month." Near the wife's birthday send a card with a gift certificate to your studio. If they have a kid who is a sophomore or junior in high school send them info on your senior portrait work.
During this time period your minimum goal is too 'casually' hand out 35 or more cards a week.
If the lady in the check out at the grocery starts talking to you. Hand her card and say if you ever need 'xyz' type of pictures done to call you. Standing in line to get into your fav restaurant or club or at some event, strike up a conversation strangers and hand out your cards. You get the picture, right?
Everybody you speak to during this time needs to get a card. If you see that person again, ask them if they had seen your site and what did they think about it. Then ask for a referal. Ask if they know anybody who might be in the market for senior photos, wedding services, ect....
30 days later begin Phase II. Make contact with the some of the first 140 people you met and propose a sitting or assignment. They may turn you down, fine. 30-45 days later contact them again and ask if they thought about it or propose a new project.
90 days later update your website (if you haven't already - web sites should be updated at least every 30 days, weekly is actually better but that is another discussion) and repeat the process.
By this point you will probably be booking assignment/sittings a couple of months out with new request coming in weekly if you have done your part right. Depending on the volume of work you are doing you may want to decrease the weekly contact number to 25 or increase it to 45.
If you have done the task right, you won't need to do this another 90 days. Word of mouth and your website will take over for you. When your bookings start trail off, restart the process again.
Hope this help and good luck! |
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