Mike McFarlane Landscape Photography

50 tips to grow your business, notes from a marketing talk

(5) Comments | Tuesday 14th August 2007

This is the second in my business series of articles. The following top 50 marketing tips were presented at a talk about marketing photography businesses that I attended a couple of years ago. I think the tips are really useful and I hope you get something from them too.

The third article in this series will have a more in depth look at marketing and publicity applied to photographers and artists. This is will be based on the notes from an interesting and informative talk that my wife, who works in marketing, gave to my artists network.

Business

Weddings

Portraits

Commercial

General

1. Clearly identify your market.
2. Ensure that you are properly financed.
3. Set objectives, budgets and goals. You are now in the 'business' of photography.
4. SWOT your business yearly.
5. Carefully manage cash flow.
6. Have a great website, market it. Have a prominent phone number.
7. Be listed in directories e.g. yellow pages.
8. Be proactive with PR and editorial.
9. Think twice before placing adverts.
10. Become the local expert.
11. Know your competition – be different.
12. Offer a wide range of services, try not to turn people away e.g. offer some other service.
13. Always have a pre-wedding consultation.
14. Offer a free engagement sitting.
15. Treat all guests as potential customers.
16. Fun pictures sell, get people to look happy.
17. Don't overshoot, especially if digital.
18. Have a top service that no one books ie. if given a choice A, B or C, most people go for B, but you may get some A.
19. Wedding exhibitions can be effective.
20. Develop relationships with suppliers e.g. sample albums in hotels.
21. The images are the most important thing, people need to see the images, display as much as possible.
22. Exhibit your pictures on and off line.
23. Keep sitting fees low or free (or deductible deposit.)
24. Use a best poses album i.e. have an album of successful poses.
25. Offer plenty of choices.
26. Family sittings should be most profitable.
27. Pets are big business especially dogs.
28. Competitions are worthwhile i.e. publicity, must shoot specifically for comp.
29. Charge realistic prices, you need to make a living.
30. Offer unique products.
31. Try leaflets, with a tempting time limited offer.
32. Don't have children at the viewing.
33. Project images into frames. Maybe project images onto clients wall with digital frames.
34. Show portrait albums.
35. Have gift cards and vouchers.
36. Become a specialist.
37. Pricing is important.
38. Use a photography agent.
39. Use direct mail brochures.
40. Go the extra mile as most clients will last for years.
41. Awards, enter them.
42. Time management is essential.
43. Learn to delegate e.g. get images framed professionally.
44. Customer service is so important.
45. Computerise as much as possible e.g. Quickbooks, client list.
46. Establish a quality control system.
47. Run promotions at the right time e.g. during a quiet period.
48. Work with a charity.
49. Direct mail can work wonders.
50. Don't work from home (long term).

This talk was given as part of an introduction to Fuji Envisage which is a marketing support initiative aimed at UK-based professional photographers and is designed to enable photographers to take greater control of their businesses. Well worth checking out.

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