So, here begins part 2 of WPPI! I ran back through my notes and found a few more snippets of information that I thought might be useful! A friend and I attended a class by Kay Eskridge. She was really informative...She had a lot of great ideas about successful marketing and reinventing yourself as your business progresses. Below are her tips for a successful marketing campaign!
SUCCESSFUL Marketing Campaign - THE 3 D'S
Define Your Target MARKET - Price driven vs Product driven? Do you want to have a lot of photo sessions at a lower price? Or do you want to shoot a low volume of sessions at a higher price? Either way you have to sit down and figure out what YOU want and what works best in your market at the time!
DECIDE HOW To Reach That Market - What type of advertising will you use?
- Word of Mouth - authentic but slow...
- E-Newsletter - cost effective
- Social Networking sites - Facebook, Twitter, etc.
- Partnership Marketing?
- Displays - Costly?
DETERMINE the COST - DO your research? See what's out there and compare your options! Whether you are putting together printed pieces or sending out mailers or putting together an internet publication, etc. Figure out what works best for you and your company! e-newsletters, twitter and Facebook are all FREE PUBLICITY so put your best work out there and see what happens!
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| New York! in Vegas! |
Now, on to the 15 ways to make money in the next 60 days! I really enjoyed this class too! It was the longest class I took but I really got some great info from the speakers. Sondra and Jerry own BUZZWORTHY SUCCESS which you should definitely check out their link if you are a photographer in need of marketing help! There was a guest speaker in the middle of the presentation who had amazing images...totally different than what you see every day and I believe that's why he's so great! He's DIFFERENT! Check out MARK ROBERT HALPER at HALPER FINE ART and be inspired!B U Z Z W O R T H Y S U C C E S S & M A R K H A L P E R
MARK talked a lot about being different...What fits me? What do I do? Where do I find my inspiration? Once I have "IT" then what do I do with it? Inspiration is everywhere and it can be many things for different people! Once you are inspired ......................................................................................................
GET OUT THERE AND PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!
Get the fundamentals down...know the f-stops front at back...become "technically competent" giving you the ability to create your vision/imagery with ease! Find the photography community in your area and get with a mentor! Someone who with be real with you and tell you that your images "suck" when they do then tell you why they do and how to go about fixing them!
Find YOUR VISION...photograph what you love, what you find interesting, what you find compelling, what you find beautiful! Shoot for the beauty and interesting features you see in your clients! Finally, MAKE THE BASIS OF YOUR BUSINESS YOUR STRONGEST WORK POSSIBLE! Don't put images on your Facebook, blog, etc if it's not what you enjoy photographing or if it's not your best work! PUT THE BEST YOU POSSIBLE OUT FOR THE PUBLIC TO SEE!
15 WAYS TO MAKE MONEY IN THE NEXT 60 DAYS
1. Find and HONE Your UNIQUE Voice - Find your niche and tell your story! Why do you do what you do? What's behind your success? Once you do that then get REALLY GOOD at telling your clients story! It's all in the details! Get to KNOW YOUR CLIENTS!
2. ACT FAST - Speed of implementation! Quickly take your ideas and ACTIVATE them...Establish your objective and strategies then list the objectives starting with the end result in mind! "What does my life/business look like 12 months from now? 6 months, 3 months?"
3. DO NOT DO WHAT OTHERS DO!! - Be the leader! Set the trends! Don't forget the CLIENT! they are the reason we are photographers...they pay our bills! Don't me a MEMEME or a WEWEWE...Use YOU and YOUR on your sites!
4. Involve Your Clients in The ARTISTIC Process - give your client a voice! The shoot is not about you as a photographer...it's ALL ABOUT THEM! Give them the best experience possible!
5. Treat EVERY Client Like VIP - Get to know them and send out handwritten thank you cards, birthday, anniversary, motivational/inspiration, etc. Make it a point in your business just to call 10 clients per week to say "Hi! Just thinking about you guys and hope your family is doing well! Ask them questions, get to know them better... You want your business to stay fresh in their minds! Send them a gift! COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS is what my father would always tell me! And it's true! I ADMIT IT DAD! You were right and I love you! Anyways...stay in communication with your client base...send out e news letters letting them know about promotions and things going on throughout the year!
6. It's ALL About the Client!
7. Make Friends in Your COMMUNITY- Find local business owners with the same target markets and PROMOTE EACH OTHER! Give of YOURSELF YOUR TIME and YOUR TALENT! DONATE to local charities and auctions...BE KNOWN!
8. Start Your Own PERSONAL PROJECT...IMMEDIATELY! - You can stick with your strengths but why not focus on your weakness...find an area you need to grow in as a photographer and get creative! Maybe you want to try photojournalism...maybe you are a natural light photographer but want to try flash, Maybe you are a landscape photographer and you want to try portraits. Or maybe you just want to get better at what you do best...find a new way to interpret your style! Figure out what turns you on CREATIVELY and go for it! Ask yourself, HONESTLY, If you had a million dollars what would you photograph and why?
9. Turn Your Calls Into SALES - Many people talk more/better than they listen! As a PROFESSIONAL, you should LISTEN! People will give you clues to what they want, like, expect, etc. After hearing what they want TELL THEM what you want them to do, what you expect from them, etc and you get what you want!
10. LEARN 1 NEW photographic technique a week! Search through magazines, books, music, albums, etc and look for specific poses and new lighting that you LOVE or just maybe wanna try and get a model, your sister, your mom, your brother, your friend and get them in front of your camera! Find someone or something that inspires you and get CREATIVE!
11. Schedule an EVENT Exhibition - Remember that Personal Project I spoke about earlier? Well, here is where it comes into play! Have a theme, a specific type of model, CULTIVATE and create YOUR PROJECT! Once your project is complete, Set a date/time/place and get your invites out there via mailer, email, twitter, Facebook events, etc. and get your Photographs out there for the community to see! I bet you book a few people during your event! :)
12. BUILD YOUR TEAM! - Look for people who are where you want to be...POSITIVE people! Ask questions and always be willing to learn and take constructive criticism.
13. Learn and Refine Your Basic Tools - Be consistent with your pricing, policies, and procedures! What you show your clients MUST BE BEAUTIFUL!
14. A Happy Photographer = A PROFITABLE Photographer - Create a motivational library for your self. Create a rewards list and figure out what you want on it...Example! When I sale $2000 worth of product I am going to gift myself the 85mm 1.4 or the awesome pair of Christian Louboutin PUMPS I have been eyeing since the end of last season! MAKE TIME FOR YOU! You are in control!
And last but not least...
15. Within the next 48 hours you should...
DUMP THE BAGGAGE! Clean...get the things out that don't make you productive and keep the things that help you on a daily basis!
START WRITING THE "WHAT'S"! - What is going to be, What do I want, What will I do with? etc.
MAKE A PLAN OF ATTACK! - Say Monday of next week you start all over again and you have to catch up on email and check your Facebook "for business purposes" of course! Update your blog with the awesome pics you just took and then what?! What do you do after those? How do you grow? How do you create an awesome business? How do you keep moving forward?
"You make a plan...I am going to accomplish these 3 things this week" and you mark em off as you go! some weeks you will get all 3 taken care of in a day other times it may take you more than that week to accomplish! Just keep marking those items off your list and adding a new fresh one to it! Success if just around the corner for you once you ATTACK your passion!
Thanks for sticking with me through these 2 posts! I know they are very long and have a lot of information but I hope they in some way helped you, motivated you, inspired you to be proactive and to get out there and follow your dreams and your passion!
Until next time...good night!
Blessings,
B
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