As my skills evolved I had many people say I should be selling my pictures. But going professional I soon found out was not as much about my photographic talent as it is about marketing ability. I’ve seen some pretty average photographers make a good living while extremely talented photographers struggle to get any jobs. The difference is not in their photographic abilities but in their marketing skills.
In today’s world of the internet it’s important that you use all the tools that are available to you. However, what was considered cutting edge a few years ago is not old hat. Massive emails are generally caught by spamming software and deleted before the intended recipient is aware of your message. So here are some ways I use the internet.
Share, share, share!
Get you pictures out there so people can see your work. No longer do we carry around a printed portfolio to show to potential clients. All that is now done online. I post my pictures in a variety of way:
I also post limited pictures and am active in some of the social networks such as:
Follow up, follow up, follow up!
- Communicate with you customer to make sure they are happy. Complaints are really opportunities for you to learn what you customer really wants and gives you an opportunity to make them happy.
- If they have a problem, fix it ASAP.
- Always respond in a timely manor. If there is a reason for delay, call and let them know. This is much better then letting them hang out there without any way of understanding why you have not responded to there request. They only think you don’t care.
- Try to deliver more then what they expected.
- Once you are finished, let your customer know how much you appreciate their business. I do this with a card that simply says how much I appreciate their business. I do not try to get more business or referrals but simply send a heart felt thanks. If you do this you will automatically get referrals over time. This may sound like a lot of work, but I found it easy to do through a company call SendOutCards.com Not only can I send cards at a fraction of the price I would buying one in the store, but it is also a good customer management tool. I even try to get there birthday if I can, their anniversary (easy if you photographed the wedding) and special events. The program can be set up to automatically send out a card on these events for years to come, building a long term relationship. Try it, it’s fun. Just remember, successful professional photography is as much about marketing and building relationships as it is your photographic skills.
You need to have fun marketing so look for creative ways of doing it. If you hate marketing, chances are you will never succeed as a professional photographer or pay someone a lot of money to do marketing for you.
Are you a professional photographer? Have some success stories or your own techniques. Please share them here.
