There is more than one way to contact a client. Are you utilizing all of them? A truly successful marketing campaign maximizes various avenues:

• paid advertising (both print and online)
• paid direct mail
• free publicity
• workshops and seminars
• lead generator programs
• social networking
• face-to-face networking

We all know about direct marketing – sending that periodic postcard out, buying the ad in the right industry book. But have you tried any of these other avenues? Do you issue press releases to your local media and trade publications? Would conducting a workshop make sense? Is your LinkedIN page up to date, and if appropriate, do you have a Facebook page for your business? And here’s the one I struggle with, face-to-face networking… people “buy” from people they like, and they only way they can like you is if they meet your personally.

via Strictly Business.

During difficult economic times it is easy to become frustrated as you work to hold onto existing clients while growing and changing your business. Do your best not to let your frustration enter into your work or your conversations, the end result will only be detrimental to yourself and your business.

Clients choose photographers, videographers, editors and artists based not only on their ability to problem solve and deliver an outcome that meets their needs, but to do so in a manner that is as problem free as possible. Personal vision, creative ability, pre and post production, professionalism, good business practices, experience, and technical acumen are integral, but they are just part of the problem solving package that we bring to the table as creative entities. Remember that the person hiring you also works for someone else. Their job may depend on not only on the quality of work that you deliver but also the manner in which you create and deliver it.

The next time that a client emails, calls, texts, facebooks, tweets, or invites you to a meeting, take a minute, clear your head, remove your emotions, and focus on the visual and production issues that the client is bringing to the table. Let them know how your unique skill set will solve their problem in the manner that best fits their needs. Then ask yourself how you can do so while making the project and everyone’s life as problem free as possible, while being paid fairly.

The challenges of a shifting a business climate can be frustrating. Don’t let manifestations of your frustration be your downfall. Remember, we are not entitled to success, we have to earn it, and working with your clients in a positive manner is one of the keys to that success.

via Strictly Business.

Years ago I was an agent, and repped a top photographer in Boston. I was in my game going on 40 portfolio appointments a month. Early on in the process I got very frustrated as ad’s would quickly look through my talent’s portfolio, flipping pages fast. I was usually in and out in 15 minutes.

One day after yet another quick meeting with a prospect that netted little connection and even less attention to the portfolio I left the office. I immediately turned around and went right back in. I plopped myself into a chair, and proceeded to ask my contact every question I’d ever wanted to ask. He was kind and helpful and from that very rocky beginning a new process for in-person visits was birthed. It’s one I share with my 1 on 1 clients every day. Its honest, impactful, service oriented and very quickly creates connection.

It also requires a bit of bravery, has been described as “out of the box” and I guarantee you, may make you stop and think twice. BUT…if you utilize this idea and make it your own, I guarantee you your appointments will last longer, you will gain more understanding of your client and their needs and you will make more of a connection with your contact.

When you call for your appointment communicate to your contact that you are interested in seeing them as you’d like to talk about what a valuable relationship with a photographer looks like to them, and that you’d like to discuss their photo needs and show them your work. When you are in their office, start by reminding them that you know that valuable relationships with photographers look different to different people and that you would like to know what value looks like to them.

Be sincere. You should want to know the answer to this question. You cant provide good service to your clients if you don’t know what that looks like to them.

If this process sounds like a stretch for you…stretch. Give it a try. In today’s competitive world, excellent service speaks volumes. My clients report that when they start their appointments this way, clients open up to them, they learn a lot and by the time they are sharing their work, contacts are engaged. They leave knowing much more about their clients, and their clients know that they truly care about them as well.

via Strictly Business.

A successful photographer told me a long time ago that “keeping existing clients is so much easier than finding new ones.” I would add that keeping existing clients is much more important than finding new ones.

One way that I ensure repeat business from my clients is to make them feel special. I do this at every opportunity. Especially with my local clients. Why the local clients? Beside the obvious geographical reason, we share a community. For me that is San Diego. I know San Diego, and I like to share it with them.

I find out about events that my clients would most likely attend and I appear from time to time to mingle and give them a gentle reminder that I care about the things they care about and if I am not there working I am there having fun just as they are. It is kind of like sending a promo but a little more personal. Now this doesn’t necessarily quantify as a sit down ‘meeting,’ but it is is a meeting all the same. And at these events I often make more formal appointments either in person or by following up the next day with a ‘nice seeing you’ email.

My goal is to make clients really good clients and in the process develop not just a working relationship but a friendship. Once my client becomes a good client, I take it to the next level by getting involved with them socially. I offer to take them to lunch. Of course you have to be able to sense when it is appropriate and when it is not appropriate and read your client carefully. Perhaps you have a client that you don’t want to take to lunch ( I have a few ), or if you are single and they happen to be married, and you are of the opposite sex, well the last thing you want to do is have your client think you are hitting on them. Exercise caution and use your best judgement.

I like to take my good clients to lunch every 3 or 4 months. I am not pushy. I don’t hit them up every week. I often will send them an email asking if they were aware of a new restaurant or a spot that has been featured in the local paper/reader, and let them know I was thinking about checking it out. Just asking for their opinion of a place (that they might not have even had a chance to try or know about) can lead to a lunch ‘date.’ I keep it open and ask them to check their calendar and let me know when it would be convenient for them.

Amazingly clients often become friends over lunch.

via Strictly Business.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again for the record: I’m an absolute, bona-fide chicken when it comes to asking for a meeting. The biggest problem with this situation is that in-person meetings are an extremely important aspect of marketing; far more potent than faceless mailers and multiple emails. The only solution I’ve found for overcoming this fear is the following:

Practice until it feels comfortable, then practice some more.

Call people you trust and perfect your phone skills in a safe environment. Put a smile in your voice. Watch your “ummms”. Strive to be natural, confident and friendly.

Actually listen to telemarketers. Once I made myself pay attention to people trying to sell me something, I learned a lot about what I DIDN’T want to emulate.

Go to a portfolio review. It’s a great way to practice talking about your work without the full pressure of a meeting. Study how you react in the face of criticism and learn what kinds of strange behaviors rear their heads when you’re nervous. I suggest taking it one step further when appropriate and question the reviewer about your desk-side manner. How was your body language? Did you appear nervous? Forget to make eye contact? What was their first impression of you as you sat down?

Ask a local photographer you admire to help you. Don’t ask them by email, CALL THEM. If they are willing, meet with them and ask for honest answers. If you can take the risk with someone you admire, you can do it with a stranger. If they say no, chalk that up to experience. Rejection is a part of this process, so it’s best to learn how to deal with it in a healthy way right from the start.

It’s OK to be afraid. You certainly aren’t the only one. I think a part of me will always be uncomfortable with this aspect of the job. However, doing whatever you can to build confidence will make the process far less excruciating.

via Strictly Business.

The foundation for building a workhorse client contact list is formulating a good idea of the different ways you plan to use the list — and the simplest method of grouping the names so that they can be easily sorted.

I’ve found it’s very easy to over-think and over-complicate the process of organizing a contact list. The options range from placing names on index cards at a cost of a few dollars — to a customer relationship management system costing thousands. It’s far better to start with a simple solution that you can use rather than waiting until you have the perfect solution. The act of doing it will bring the clarity you need.

My contact list provides information for three primary functions: sending emailers and newsletters, mailing postcards, and making phone calls for more personal connections. You also need to have a regular, systematic plan for keeping your list updated. It can be embarrassing to have a potential client find you’ve been sending emails to an address that’s not been actively used for two years.

For simplicity, I currently divide my list into three basic categories:

Influential Buyers – People who have the means and influence to make the buying decisions when photography services are needed. I call these folks most frequently to keep a consistent connection with them.

Influential Non-Buyers – People who wield great influence in deciding who may get hired but don’t actually do the hiring or generally work with the artists who are hired.

Business Referrers – Business connections who either don’t have the means or need for my services but are willing and usually enthusiastic advocates for my work.

My contact list used to be divided and sub-divided by various industries, job titles, etc. But I spent more time putzing around with the lists than I did staying in contact with the people on the lists. My current system isn’t perfect, but now it works when I work it.

via Strictly Business.

When I initially thought about this post the answer to the question of inspiration seemed quite simple. First my students came to mind, I often look to them for inspiration, their perspective on our business is enlightening and they consistently introduce me to new ways of seeing. Next I thought of friends and colleagues who I find infinitely more intelligent, talented and culturally diverse than me. Their knowledge and insight change my point of view and remind me that I need to work harder to learn and grow. Visually, movies are a source of inspiration; nuanced visuals created by cinematographers, stylists and talent that draw you into a suspension of disbelief are aspirational as well as inspirational. Finally, I thought of the influence that travel and working internationally has on my creative process. The consideration of multiple cultural perspectives and diverse visual languages deeply influences and inspires my work.

All of the above are an important part of my creative process, yet when rereading this list it seemed that I had missed the mark. It was then that I began to understand that I hadn’t written a list of inspirations, but manifestations of what was truly inspirational, and that is opportunity. Nothing is more inspirational than the opportunity to be challenged, affect change, test boundaries, to learn and grow, and indulge in the creative process. Without a deep appreciation and desire for opportunity, the aforementioned influences would be far less meaningful. It is opportunity that inspires me to look to friends, colleagues and creative resources, and motives me to apply those resources to my life and work. For me inspiration comes from the opportunities that exist around you, or better yet the ones that you create your own.

When you look for inspiration find what drives you, then hand yourself over to it and let it force you to look outside of yourself to new places, visuals, experiences and ideas, that will push you to find resources that will fuel your inspiration and allow you to create and succeed.

via Strictly Business.

[by Selina Maitreya]

The best tip I can share with you is to use social media as a marketing tool – not just as place to hang. It’s an easy two step process:

Build your following with clients (not just friends, other photographers or family).

Create sales trails.

Building Your Following:

Create a profile on Facebook, Twitter and Linked in, then build your following with these three steps.

Go through all current clients, and contacts you’ve spoken to and visited and send them emails inviting them to tweet, friend you and connect with you. Ask them to respond with their social media info.

View your Google analytics or statistics provided by the service that sends out your visual emails. Look to see who has opened your email and transitioned to your website 2 or more times. Send them a note thanking them for their interest and invite them to follow your blog posts and join you on Twitter, FB and LI. Ask if they’d share their social media info with you as well.

If a portfolio appointment is going well, ask your contact to give you their social media info and provide yours.

Creating Your Sales Trails:

Use social media as a marketing tool by creating a sales trail using Twitter, FB, LI, and your website. Remember – getting buyers to your website is key as that’s where you will ultimately monetize your efforts.

As 50 % of your posts can be about your talent/your business, consider blogging and placing a visual (1 image only) that pertains to your work twice a month.

When you post an image with copy, tweet about it first with a clever tweet that take folks to your blog. Leave a LinkedIn status as well with a link to your blog. On your blog, post one image only with a bit more copy and post another link that takes viewers to a “new work” section on your site where more images from this shoot live. This is a social media sales trail.

Hopefully, once on your site they will look around. If they like what they see they will bookmark your site. You’ll need to remind them of your presence (email/direct mail) so when an assignment that is similar to your vision pops up you will be visible and contacted.

via Social Marketing at Strictly Business.

[by Judy Herrmann]

Not so long ago, photographers could achieve success by inundating the market with simple promotions like postcard mailers or email blasts. Today, however, the buyers of commercial photography are buried under a sea of promos that’s getting deeper every day. If the old spray and pray approach isn’t working so well anymore, you may find it more effective to research and court.

Instead of automatically adding anyone with the right job title to your list, take the time to determine that each prospect is worth pursuing. Click through their company website, look for them on Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Instagram and other social media outlets. Run a Google search to see what comes up. Read any blog posts or magazine articles they’ve written or been quoted in. Stop short of stalking but vet them as thoroughly as you need to.

Use this research to hook those that make your cut. Sprinkle your emails and voice mails with specific observations about their work. Comment on their blogs, respond to their tweets. Let them know that they’re more than just a job title to you. Use your creativity to craft a promotional approach that will make you irresistible or at least intrigue them enough that they’ll look at your portfolio.

A smaller list of prospects who need what you sell combined with well-researched insights you can use to build a real relationship can yield greater results far faster than a larger pool of random prospects.

via Strictly Business.

• Be in a level with the subject

While taking a photograph, if the camera is held at the eye level of the subject then the expression is captured in a wonderful way. For children or animals, it is best to lower the camera to their eye level. Even if the subject doesn’t look directly at the camera, it doesn’t matter.

• Using flash outdoors

It is often thought that flash should be used during night only. But this is not true. Even during the day time flash should be used. Use of flash depends on the weather as well as the distance of the object from where the pictures is going to be taken. The fill flash mode in digital cameras should be used for sunny days and within a distance of five feet. It can also be used for cloudy days. In case of subjects at more than five feet distance, the full power mode should be used.

• Clicking in a clutter free area

A photo when clicked with a plain background looks much better than that of a background with many objects. This tends to draw the attention away from the object of the photograph. Every photographer should make it a point to check the background before clicking a photograph.

• Shorten the distance from subject

While clicking a picture, the photographer should shorten the distance from the subject. This makes the picture more vibrant. The aim of the photographer should be to fill up the space of the picture with the object.

• Create sharp pictures by focus locking

The focus should be locked when the subject is not in the middle of the picture. The locking can be done in the following way:

The subject should be centered and then the photographer should press and hold the shutter button halfway down

The camera should be positioned in such a way that the subject is not in the center.

Finally, the shutter button should be pressed down to capture the picture.

These are some of the top tips which should be followed to make an impact with the photography.