Category — Marketing Your Photography Studio

….that 90% of images on a digital camera are not printed!

I recently read that in an article and that made me think what an incredible opportunity for Professional Photographers. How many times have you heard from a bride that that it has been a year, 2 years or 5 years since their wedding and they still do not have a wedding album. Many times it is because,  Uncle Joe photographed the wedding and handed over the DVD of all the images.

Here is where your skills and expertise will come to the forefront! Every special event that you photograph will be documented, saved and printed for your clients to have and to share.

What an incredible service you offer to your clients!

This is a question that seems to be asked a lot not only from clients but from photographers as well. Here are 5 reasons why you should have an album in your studios packages.

1) Protect images: Make sure that the albums you use have archival pages and mats to protect the images long term. This also protects the images from fingerprints and scratches.

2) Create an heirloom: Who doesn’t enjoy looking through Grandma & Grandpa’s or Mom & Dad’s wedding albums? Just check out Twitter! We see comments like this all the time. An album with images to share from this special event means creating an heirloom to share with your family.

3) Make em’ portable: Even with the ability to share images online there is nothing quite like taking a photo album sharing stories as you view the album.

4) It’s all in the presentation: When you present an album of images that your client’s have selected and the design you have created, there are few things quite as powerful as that moment.

5) Your photography is art & should be treated as art: You have invested time, money and effort in developing your skill and starting a photography business. What you offer your client is your skill and expertise in capturing special moments of that day. The result? You have created art and your work deserves to be treated as such!

There is definitely a perceived value issue to be considered here as well. Compare the value of your art delivered to someone on a CD vs. art being delivered in a beautifully designed bound album. What fits best with your branding and marketing efforts? Delivering a completed album is also a finishing touch on the experience you have given your clients, a powerful combination that will help distinguish you from your competitors.

Kambara is now on Facebook.. are you? If you are, stop by, send us a friend request and say hello.

Also for a great article on Facebook and networking with Seniors, check out the PPA Magazine’s February 2009 issue, Facebook: network with seniors. An article offering some great advice on how to get started.

One particular week I had been getting loads of junk email. After going to a few photography shows and entering our company’s info, I got about 5-6 photography related emails a day! At first, I thought “how rude!” and then I actually needed something they were offering and thought “huh, that was handy”. So after my conversion of sorts, I decided to look into email advertising for myself. I have never looked back. There are so many great things about this form of advertising and here are just a few:

Through email marketing, you can:

• Brand Your Business: A big part of branding is people hearing or seeing your name over and over again until it is a “recognizable brand”. What better way to increase visibility than a weekly or monthly e-newsletter?

• Build Strong Relationships: Past clients and even future clients want to hear what you are up to. In our newsletters, it isn’t all business. If something exciting happens in our personal life, we throw it in there. Our son turned 3, why not… throw a cute photo in there with a “Happy Birthday to the youngest lifeimages team member”! You wouldn’t believe how many people wrote back to congratulate him. People connect with what is familiar so connecting on a personal level is great business.

• Introduce New Products: When we first got our new Kambara album, we took photos of it and sent out a “news flash – read all about it” section. It would be impossible to have EVERY client into our studio to see the new line of albums, but this way each and every potential client, or past clients that may want to upgrade, saw an elegant display of photos that created a great buzz.

• Increase Your Sales: Maybe Mrs. Smith didn’t know you offered a 40′ x 5000′ canvas ( I am exaggerating obviously!) but coincidentally it would fit perfectly in her new home! Featuring a product gives your clients ideas for themselves or as gift for someone else.

• Better Advertising Dollars: I have said before how much we spent on print ads ($20,000 in one year). With little return other than a few bragging rights, email marketing is much much more economical and may even be better in terms of keeping or generating business. You will obviously need to do the research for your self (depending on your target market & area etc.) but you really can not go wrong with the cost of email marketing.

• Time Specific Marketing: Each wedding we do, we have a short time period in which guests of the wedding can purchase prints at a discounted price. The email marketing repeatedly reminds them that their window to purchase will be up in ___ days. Feeling the pressure to buy? So do they AND IT WORKS! This is not sneaky, if they were going to buy anyway, it just makes them do it by a certain deadline… at a better price!

• Preferred Advertising Vehicle: Our studio is by appointment only, but if I have the door open in the summer, I get people stopping in to sell me something I simply can not live without. Frozen meat packages, printing specials, carwash deals blah blah blah. I am always frustrated and I rarely purchase anything in this way because I am busy scooting them out the door. Alternately, an email is way less invasive, people can read it at their leisure, they can delete it, block it or simply click as junk if they choose.

There are plenty of e-marketing companies out there. We happen to use Constant Contact, who are great. Google email marketing in your area and you will see, a tonne of companies will come up.

If you would like to see examples of our lifeimages. newsletter, click here and we will gladly add you to our list! (See how easy that was? Sign up for real if you would like but that was an example of how easy it is to put that at the bottom of each email and you will QUICKLY start to collect more names that you can handle!!!)

GOOD LUCK!

………………………………………
lifeimages. lifestyle wedding and portrait photography

website: www.lifeimages.ca check out our most recent wowrk at: www.lifeimagesblog.ca

When it comes to leading the pack and staying ahead of your competition – there are some key factors to consider:

• Your skills, strengths and weaknesses
• Your photographic style
• Your marketing and branding plans
• Listening to your customers

Your customers – An important asset and resource

Have you listened to your customers lately? Have you really been hearing what they are asking for? Are you tapping into this resource as much as you should? [Read more →]