Starting
Your Own Photography Business
By William Foster
www.wfosterphoto.com
Foster designed and implemented his own website and marketing plan, and he will apply the combination of his press and past experiences to the present need for all photographers to develop their own websites and marketing plans to reach out to prospective editors and clients.
In this ongoing column, each month, we’ll explore topics that are related to those that appear to be ongoing themes on the forum. This month, as spring approaches, many No Bsers are launching new marketing campaigns. Whether they are meant to attract seniors, families or corporate clients, marketing campaigns should be carried out with purpose and precision. Randomly executed marketing tactics usually result in less than impressive returns on investment and discouraging numbers of new clients.
What do we mean by “randomly executed marketing tactics”? Here’s an example. A studio has operated for two years and sees a moderate number of clients per week. Throughout the year actual sitting numbers fluctuate depending on several factors including seasons, holidays, etc. This year, out of the blue, the studio owner decides to undertake a major postcard campaign in town. Total cost of the campaign, which consists of mass mailing postcards to residents in town, comes to $5,000.
The results of the campaign included a short lived spike in sittings per week during the two weeks prior to Easter. That sounds nice, right? Let’s break it down. Is the spike in sittings related to the postcard mailing or does it have to do with a seasonal high prior to a very popular spring holiday? How many of the clients came in because of the postcard mailing? Would there have been a spike in sittings had no postcard mailing been done? What if it was postcard, magazine ad and newspaper ad all at the same time? Would the spike have been bigger and longer lived? The ultimate question still remains: did we at least earn back the $5,000 we spent on the campaign? Did we actually bring in more than that or did we simply break even?
The problem with randomly executed marketing is that there are no metrics to measure the results. There’s no real forethought as to what the campaign should accomplish and there’s no proof that there’s a real return on investment. As a rule of thumb, the best marketing campaign is not measured by how “cool” the postcards look, but by how much revenue they draw. Every dollar you spend on your marketing campain should return you a dollar in revenue to break even. If you want to actually realize growth from your marketing, it needs to bring in more.
This brings me to the idea I really want to convey. Lately (well, longer than that really), it seems there’s a large number of people making postcards to market their businesses. This seems to be a popular idea and every week, there are new posts and threads asking for input on improving their postcard before they go to press. The problem is that the way postcards are used by most businesses is lazy.
Most people print up a ton of cards, buy a mailing list and send them out. Then, the waiting begins. They wait for people to call for appointments. They wait for people to come into the studio. They wait for people to visit their website and send an email. Wait, wait, wait. This amounts to lazy, lazy, lazy. Most people will say, well, isn’t that what you do with postcards?
I’d say no. That’s one thing you can do with postcards. Many times, the marketing textbooks tell you this should net you approximately a 1% return based on a large volume of mailers. That means if you mail 1,000 pieces, you can probably expect to receive 10 calls. This doesn’t necessarily mean those people will buy anything, it just means you can probably expect them to contact you in some manner. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have that kind of money to simply throw away.
Here’s an idea for another use for postcards. It involves a more targeted approach. If successful, can prove to be a much higher yield for your dollar spent and is measurable. The first step would be to have some really nice postcards made up that showcase the kind of business we want to engage in. For the sake of example, let’s say we want to photograph families. The postcard should show off your best family photography work, it should be professionally designed and it should represent high quality printing. In short, it should represent you as a professional. Second, determine where you can market to a target rich environment for family photography. What better place than a preschool? I mean, every one there is part of a family, right? And families with young kids are always looking for a good deal and the all know they “should” be getting family portraits made.
Postcards in hand, make your way to a local preschool and ask to speak with the director. If she is able to see you then, that’s great. If not, ask to set an appointment and explain that you are a photographer and will only take 5 minutes of her time. Whether now, or later, when you meet with the director, have your pitch polished to 5 minutes. Here’s the pitch. Explain that you are a professional photographer specializing in family photography and you would like to offer your services to the families of the preschool. Give her the postcard (which should contain complete contact information) and let her know that you would be happy to photograph her family and discount your normal sitting fee by 50%. Invite her to visit your website which has a bunch more samples and tell her you’ll call her in a few days after she’s had time to review your work.
Go back to your office and immediately draft a letter to the preschool director thanking her for her time. Remind her you’ll get in touch in a week or so and in the mean time, review your website and consider your offer to photograph her family at a discount. Include another one of your postcards and a business card in the letter. Mail it THAT DAY.
In one week, if she has not contacted you, make contact again. When you show up, ask if she still has your postcard, if not, give her another. This time, try to sell her on the family portrait. If she agrees and likes your work, you can bet that almost every other Mom in the school will hear about it. That means you’ll have an ambassador which is like gold in the bank. If she declines, ask if you can place a small (read very small) display of your work someplace where the parents will see it. This display should include a professional 8 1/2 x 11 flyer displaying your business and a clear plastic postcard holder.
Offer to discount the sitting fee by 25% for families of the preschool (do not discount your deliverables such as prints). Check on the display weekly to see if you need to put more postcards in. Lastly, every preschool that has parent involvement has a monthly meeting. Ask if you can come to the next one to give a 5 minute pitch for your services and explain the 25% discount.
This does a couple things. First, it targets your marketing to the audience you really want to reach. If you have an ambassador on the inside, that’s even better, but at least you have a place to display your work. Ultimately, when someone takes your postcard and calls, they will tell you they got it at the preschool. Bingo, you know that your marketing efforts there are paying off. Lastly, you can rest assured that a much higher percentage of the postcards that are taken will result in actual sales, thereby improving your return on investment per card. By giving your prospective clients the opportunity to take a card if they are interested means you have caught them when they’re in “browse mode”. A card that simply appears in the mailbox is likely to be thrown into the “junk mail” pile, but a card that is intentionally picked up, will probably be kept.
Employing a program like this with several preschools may result in a much higher rate of return allowing you to save money in things like postage and utilizing smaller print runs. Think about ways you can target your market a little tighter, capture your audience while they are in browse mode and give them a reason to contact you and you’ll see an improvement in your results. Of course, I have to add the standard disclaimer that your actual mileage may vary. The more you put into your marketing, the more you’ll get out of it.
Marketing doesn’t have to follow the textbook rules of small returns. Marketing doesn’t have to be lazy and postcards can be very effective. Don’t settle for the old rules, think outside the box and set a new pace. Good luck.
Bill Foster
www.wfosterphoto.com
