Black Friday Photography Marketing and Giveaway!

I'm sure you are getting your turkey ready, or you already are eating. Some are already getting ready to shop. You photographers out there are probably wondering what kind of sale you might come across photography related.  Over at Modern Tog, the sales are awesome! Oh, and did I mention there's a giveaway as well?

Modern Tog is doing an exclusive, limited time pre-release of her 6-week Photography Marketing Bootcamp e-book that will only be on the market through Cyber Monday before it is taken off again until Spring.

This e-book is going to give you 6 weeks worth of detailed marketing tasks to do to get more clients as fast as possible . It's the same things Jamie Swanson personally does in order to catch up on her marketing efforts after neglecting them during the busy season, and it's helped her go from a brand new business to completely replacing her household income in only 3 years.

It's incredibly practical and filled with specific tasks and directions that will get you moving in the right direction right away. You can get an exclusive copy of this 83-page e-book right now for only $29 by clicking here. Once Tuesday comes along, the sale will be over and the product will be unavailable for several months, so get it now!

This e-book was created as a companion to the more robust photography e-book that she wrote, but that book isn't going to be finished until spring, and will only be available in the future when you purchase that new e-book once it launches.

What the Bootcamp covers:

How to get as many new clients as quickly as possible for as little money as possible.

What the Bootcamp is not:

Branding or direction or more advanced strategies. This is a down and dirty, get'er done list of things you should be able to do right now without a lot of preparation. The more advanced stuff that takes additional effort will be coming in the marketing ebook this coming spring.

Get it now before it's gone. Only available for 5 days. Just $29.
Buy now:
 6-week Photography Marketing Bootcamp

While you are there, enter to win an iPad mini!

                                  Click here to view more details

Happy Thanksgiving!

Finding the right photo book for your clients-in time for holidays!

Right now is the perfect time to start thinking about the holidays and your clients. Custom photo books are just the right personal gift to give a client.

As a photographer, I do a lot of photo books- a lot. I've been given the chance to try out many different photo book companies and while the books are okay, the design programs and prices aren't. Many are hard to be creative and only let you use their templates. Others are just plain confusing!

And then enters Blurb. The pricing is competitive, the quality is excellent and the program to make your photo book is user-friendly while at the same time allowing for the more detailed touch or professional to make minute changes. They have lots of different styles and they just added Planners too! Love it! This is the perfect time to get started at Blurb for the holidays.

I really stand behind Blurb and would recommend them even if they didn't have an affiliate program. They've been super good to me and they run lots of coupons, so I barely ever pay full price! They also notice when you order alot of products from them and they give you more specials. I've never felt like that from any other business.

Below are screen shots of one of my wedding books.

You can see on the bottom is all the pages. You can choose from their templates, or upload your own. I choose to make my own because of the style of books I do. Booksmart is the program you download to your computer so that if you don't have Internet, you can still work on your book, or create your own layout.

 

Shipping is super fast unlike other photo books I've ordered from other companies. You have the option of even faster delivery too. Perfect for getting out early for Christmas.

I've been with Blurb for probably 5 years now and I wouldn't go elsewhere. My clients love them and I use them for my personal use too. I would so be their spokeswoman if they would let me. ; )

Until then, I can let you know that if you order now from Blurb you can save 15% off! Use the code FALLTHANKS when checking out.

A sure way to kill your business

Is this you?

You start a blog after planning and designing it for weeks. You are all pumped up and you start blogging every day. After a month, you start to lose your interest and the blogging starts slipping to three days a week. You know you have to blog to keep things fresh, but by the third or fourth month, you wonder if you are wasting your time because you really aren't seeing any results. By the fifth month, you don't even touch your blog.

Maybe you went the Facebook route and the first couple of months, you were excited because you know the Facebook will give you results. When you only see a couple of nibbles, you give up.

This is a BIG mistake

No matter what type of marketing you attempt, nothing will work immediately. I know everyone is used to instant results. Everything is fast paced on television, mobile phones, etc. Infomercials promise us instant riches with marketing magic. So why shouldn’t our marketing work just as quick?

 

In reality, people are bombarded with so much at once, it's hard for them to make a decision and most don't even know they need anything.

Why you should keep marketing

Let's take blogging for an example.

When you start a blog, here is what happens. Your first week, your blog is new. Nobody knows your blog exists. You start to post often and visit other blogs and comment.

After blogging for two months your blog starts to get few visitors. No sales yet.

By the third/fourth month, you start to get more visitors. Google starts ranking you higher and Facebook followers are recommending you. You get a couple of bookings. That's it? You decide to quit because it's not worth it.  Now, there's no more content coming in. Google drops your rank. Facebook fans stop recommending you.

 Your recognition is gone. Business is gone.

When you give up too soon, you’ve lost everything you worked hard to build up to that point. The only way to  succeed is to put a marketing tool in place, keep working on it, and evaluate it along the way to build your business.

Don’t stop– keep doing it.

Success doesn't happen over night. Only the businesses that keep at it succeed and the rest hang a going OUT of business sign on their doors.

Your Images Do NOT Determine Your Success

I've often wonder what makes a client choose which photographer to go with.

Price?

Package options?

CD included?

It drives me crazy when I meet with a potential client for a wedding booking and they seem interested, only to have them end up not booking. I never get a reason why. I have the urge to send a survey asking what made them decide to go elsewhere. But, then at the same time, I'm scared to find out why. I'm afraid that they might say something that will hurt my feelings, or I even let my imagination go crazy to think that they may have not hired me because they didn't like my hairstyle. I know that's ridiculous.

I think most of us photographers are very sensitive creative individuals. We take things personally when we shouldn't and it's enough to ruin our day (or week) when a potential client goes with someone else.

One thing we have to tell ourselves is that it's probably not because of our work.

Now, repeat that out loud to yourself.

It's not because of my work!

Most people cannot decipher a good photo from a bad one. Most don't even know what they want. It's your job to educate them. It does not matter how beautiful your images are on your website. With all that competition out there these days, it's even more confusing for people to choose where to go for photos. Thus, many simply look for the cheapest.

So, how do you convince someone to pick you over a cheaper photographer?

Sell the experience

I know you've probably heard this before, but it's true. Letting them know that going with you will create an experience that ends in a memory that is documented on quality products, it lets them decide with their heart. Giving them a reason to think you are worth it (because you are) let's them not think about the price.

Part of selling is to also show why your product is better and worth the extra expense. Explain that, while there are cheaper photographers, you value their memories to have them printed on quality paper/products that will last longer over the years. How important are those memories to risk losing them to poor quality documentation?!

 Create a "friendship"

No, don't invite them out for drinks, but make them feel like they've known you forever. This creates trust. 

When we shoot a wedding, we feel like we've made new friends and I get hugs and tears when I hand the bride over her products afterwards. I created a memory for them during their experience that we were a part of. She feels like (This also creates word-of-mouth recommendation-a whole other post!)


So, when you are consulting with someone about your services, don't just show your work. Talk about it and how you help create a lasting memory for your past clients-not just a photo on paper.