Slow time

This time of the year can be slow for photographers for shooting, but don't think that your business is! Now is the time to market to clients, polish your skills, and get your plan together for 2012.

One item you should not neglect right now is your blog. It's easy to do, I know! Maybe you don't do it on purpose. Maybe you just don't know what to blog about when you don't have a new session to show off.

Here are some ideas for you to use for those slow time of the year blog posts:

Recap the year before

Go through your photos from the year and pick out your favorites. Pick your favorite genre if you want like newborns, seniors, or weddings.

Talk about your favorite vendor

Do reviews of your favorite place to shoot weddings, your favorite prop supplier, even your favorite place to eat-search engines will pick up keywords and a potential client searching for that restaurant might come across your site. Some great free advertising!

Show off your products

If you are adding new products this year (or even the products you already have), take some photos and brag about them.

Hold a contest

Two birds with one stone. Hold a contest during slow season and bring in new clients to your blog. Get creative and figure out how to use the contest require that they visit daily for a week or two, like making it an online scavenger hunt.

I hope these ideas get your creative juices rolling!

You are so more reasonably priced than other photographers!

I wanted to leap over the table and scratch her eyes out. I had heard that phrase more times than I could stomach. Even though I hated my client for saying that to me, I knew it wasn't her fault.


It was mine.

I made my prices too low. I was afraid. I wanted clients, so I figured the only way to get them was to be the best priced. The only problem was, I didn't know that I was attracting the WRONG clients-and it showed. I knew I wanted to make a living at this. I also knew I didn't want to work myself to death too.

But, how does a photographer go about deciding what they need to make to go full time-or, even part time?

Pricing guides.

I love the fact that photographers are willing to teach other photographers. Some free. Some you have to pay. Pricing guides are one of the valuable treasures that experienced photographers offer! I stand behind a great guide that gives you a vast amount of information that's easy to follow and offered by a real down to earth guy.

Creative Pricing and Packaging for Creative Professionals

I only represent products that I would/do use myself. So, I love to spread the word when I find something I feel is something that you can benefit from. This ebook teaches you about the client's psychology of choice when you are putting together photography packages.

What I like about this pricing guide is that it works for all stages of photographers. So, if you are just starting and don't have a solid price sheet, or even if you want to be competitively priced.

I was at the stage of my business when I didn't want to be undervalued, but didn't want to scare away clients. I also didn't know if I wanted packages or a la carte. Since understanding how to get clients to value your work and not to dwell on pricing, I've increased my averages by at least three to four hundred dollars per sale!

If you are considering purchasing this guide (you won't be sorry!), check out the other cool products Tofurious offers as well. He has blog templates, album templates, and a mix of other photography related items.

Virtual photographer bullies

The business world is very competitive, no matter what kind of business you run. The business world of photography has grown over the years.

When I began my journey as a photographer, I was not aware of what was to become of photography. I'm not even sure if the craze had even hit. my father became a photographer after he retired and when he saw that I was struggling to find how to bring my creativity into a career, he suggested I try photography.

I ended up teaching myself, by reading and reading more, then practising and practising-then, practising even more. I worked hard to get to where I am today and I'm still learning. I think just as any craft learned, you always need to educate yourself.

I have been involved in the blogging world for many years as well. More years than I have been a photographer. I've witness the cattiness with mom bloggers. The mean girls. The popular girls (are these the same?) I tried to stay away from getting caught up in the high school trash and was very selective of who I was friends with.

I also didn't need anyone's approval of whether I was worthy of being a big time blogger. After all, who were these bloggers to tell me? They didn't have any "blogger" degree. They didn't OWN the mom blogging world. Everyone is equal in the blogging world. We all stand the chance to be a big time blogger if we worked hard and built our brand, then we could be just as big as the next blogger.

I see this same pattern happening with photographers. There are definitely the everyone-wants-to-be-like-us crowd. There is virtual fighting. The thing I don't get is, who don ed them professionals? They didn't get a degree in teaching, they are not an art critic, and there was never a course called, 'If I don't think you should be a photographer because you don't have the right camera, lens, talent, etc, then you aren't worthy', is there? Are they calling the kettle black as well?

When I came across "Missy's" videos making fun of newbies, I was sad. (I won't give her traffic by posting her link. You can just type it in Google to find it if you want.)I don't feel that this person should make fun of newbies. Don't quote me, but I heard the rumor that she's the wife of a photographer and that maybe is scorned from loss business.

I know there are way too many people trying to be a photographer. I get it. I fear that pretty soon, the demand won't even be there because there will be a photographer in everyone's family.

I think that seasoned photographers forget sometimes that they were once there, pissing off other seasoned photographers by charging way less because they are just starting out. Nobody starts out charging 1000's. Maybe at the time, it wasn't so noticeable because there weren't as many photographers starting out, I don't know.

I have been hit by an under priced photographer in our area that is actually very good, but has the mind set that she is so successful because she's booked a year in advance. That's great, but I always wonder why she wants to work SO hard to get a decent income. Maybe she makes her money selling prints. I doubt it though, because she gives the CD at a very low price.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be editing day and night for pennies. Do I get mad at her? Why yes, I do. But, I mainly feel sorry for her because she obviously doesn't get it. If we all didn't under sell ourselves, we ALL could make a decent living.

This year, I still plan on raising my prices, as I do every year. Will I bully anyone in the process? No. I don't believe in it. I just hope that this fad passes eventually for the next big work at home idea.