Every time I have the chance to speak to photographers about business, I always pose one question: What challenges are currently being experienced by your operation? Invariably, their response is: Finding clients willing to pay my prices.
If you are reading this article, chances are either one or both scenarios apply: either you have been in business for some time now and are now looking to expand, or are just getting started and need advice in finding your first clients.
One thing is certain about marketing: no marketing effort you undertake in your business will be an overnight solution to finding new clients. Instead, I want to highlight several long-term strategies that helped us when starting up our company in 2014-2016, and which we still use today.
There are three basic approaches to marketing today. They are online marketing such as Facebook and Google ad campaigns; print advertising such as local vendor books, magazine ads, billboards and direct mail; and face-to-face marketing (I call this). I want to focus on one method today that may work better with limited budgets: face-to-face marketing (FTF).
Face-to-Face Marketing may seem intimidating at first, particularly if you tend to be more introverted than extrovert. Being successful requires breaking out of that comfort zone if that dynamic is part of your personality, yet being a successful networker doesn’t require being pushy salespeople; I recommend instead that if you want to become good at marketing you simply need to be likeable!
Network Your Opportunities
Establishing sources of potential business is easy, but first it is necessary to know where to look. My efforts as a wedding photographer were always directed toward identifying sources that would provide us with business ahead of our booking cycle – gown shops, catering managers, event coordinators etc. Because network marketing takes some time, you should ensure that any relationships formed will pay dividends over time – seek out venues or planners with similar business philosophies who do enough volume annually that they could refer you multiple referrals throughout a year.
Reciprocation All networking can be successful, but in order for it to truly bear fruit, it’s essential that you understand that in order for any relationship you form to yield fruitful results, more will need to be given than received in return. People enjoy working with people who help solve their issues for them; by identifying pain points within your partnerships you can devise plans to help overcome them together.
Take an example: nearly every vendor I work with expresses difficulty receiving images back from vendors. Last November when speaking at Wedding MBA to over 1,000 venue owners, many venue owners informed me that many photographers did not provide images in a timely fashion – this being said, the business will always go to those that can do it fastest!
Utilizing this knowledge, provide superior service by quickly sending images directly after events for venue managers and planners to view.
Now let’s go a step further and consider all that small business owners require in terms of photography services – headshots, promotional videography, marketing collaterals and wall images to name just some of their needs. As a photographer you are uniquely qualified to provide all these items – give, give, give – human nature will take its course eventually and they will reciprocate back.
Establish a Repetitive Workflow
Organization is key for business success, and one reason your activities don’t correspond with what should be happening is due to disorganization in your workflow.
When working an event with other vendors, use your clients as resources to gather information about them and network more effectively. Our clients fill out a questionnaire which provides everything from web URLs and Instagram handles of vendors that may help. So we are able to communicate, tag, reach out and network with them effectively. If a vendor that we regularly work with has multiple photos that we need to deliver at once, I typically reach out and arrange a meeting to deliver those images and then find out their pain points – something the common ground of working together on jobs should provide as the gateway for connecting. Once established, make sure they receive everything they require for their success!
Be consistent. Reaching out to every vendor that could potentially bring business after working an event together should at the very least establish working relationships.
Utilizing services like 17Hats or project management software like Asana can help keep your business organized and on top of various tasks. Staying organized is especially critical when transitioning into new workflows or processes.
Be Everywhere
Marketing 101 dictates that, in order to be noticed by local communities, one must be seen everywhere in their community. So for instance if you offer headshot services as part of your corporate photography business, attending every networking event in your local community is key, with consideration given towards volunteering time or discounted coverage for charity events and non-profits.
By working in your community and being visible where your potential clients or referral sources reside, you send the message that your business cares for its clients and they can trust in your expertise in whatever field. Furthermore, according to the Rule of 7, giving others more opportunities to witness your business helps others recognize it more as they make up the magic number seven!
SoCal Headshots was established back in 2016, with the intention of growing it once our wedding business had reached an appropriate scale. This year we decided to devote resources specifically personnel towards its development; starting a photography line requires considerable dedication but considering all its potential success it’s worth our while!
First thing Jen did after returning from Shutterfest was join our local chamber of commerce, BNI, Rotary and industry associations. Second step she took was purchasing tickets to over 30 events a month after arriving home – including dinners, lunch-ins, charity fundraisers and booth space at business expos in Santa Clarita Valley where our studio is situated.
As photographers who shoot all of the business headshots in our area, we understand that in order to compete with a photographer who currently does all the business headshots in our region, we need to work harder than them if we want to compete successfully. That’s fine; that’s what we love doing. Just know this: business will never come just by magically showing up; if this is too daunting of an endeavor for you to face alone, consider hiring an amazing salesperson, or work under their wing instead.
Build Lasting Relationships
I firmly believe that any relationship built on expectations of reciprocal favors, like referrals or contracts, cannot last in the long run. Instead, be authentic in helping colleagues solve problems and focus on being helpful to achieve long-term results from your relationships with them.
Once you build relationships that blossom into business opportunities, be sure to show your gratitude by showing vendors that referred you thanks with an extra thank-you card and gift – this approach has allowed us to secure exclusivity deals at some of the most sought-after venues nearby. By showing appreciation for their business through quality service delivery and showing appreciation to vendors for referrals made, more opportunities will likely present themselves for growth within your organization in future.
As a business owner, marketing should always be at the top of your priorities list. After all, no matter where your next paycheck will come from, it’s up to you as the person selling yourself and creating relationships that could eventually turn into new clients. With that in mind, adopt a mindset of being a marketer in order to recognize opportunities when they arise and capitalize on them more quickly.