Commercial Photographer: Your Guide to Marketing, Creativity and Growth

Lauren McWilliams built a photography business out of a pandemic-era challenge project, and along the way discovered that most clients had no idea what to actually do with the photos she gave them. She talks about turning one-off shoots into long-term client relationships, why so many photographers hide behind the camera instead of being visible themselves, and how to talk about your own work without it becoming all ‘me, me, me’.

Brand strategy comes up again through a different lens in Guest Interview with Fiona Scott PR Expert.

This episode is sponsored by Website for photographers. Website 4 photographers help photographers get more leads from their websites. You can get in touch here

⁠[email protected]⁠

⁠01482 765871⁠

In this episode Sam says we should talk much less about ourselves in our marketing. People are interested in themselves, not about you. So if your marketing is talking about you, the people receiving it are not very interested. They are more interested in themselves.

Social
Who was your last social post about? Was it about you?If so how interesting is that for other people?

Some people think that being on social media regularly means talking about yourself all the time. This is not engaging for other people.

So what can you post about?

• Helping others. By doing this you are helping people, but subtly showing them you are an expert.   
• Ask a question. Ask others for their ideas and opinions.
• Commenting on other peoples posts. This ishelping to build a community not just talking about yourself.

Websites
Visitors come to your website because they have a problem and want to know if you can solve it. The general public don’t browse photographers websites for fun. They come to see if you can solve their problem. So are you talking about the visitor and their problems and how you can solve them.
The "I" test
Look at your website. How many times do you use the word "I"(or we) and how many times do you say the word "you". If you use "I", more than "you", then you need to re-focus your website to the visitor and away from "you".

About me page

You have to even make the about page not about you, but whatyou have done, how you have helped people, rather just your story from birth.
Blogs, videos and testimonials
These are a great way to show how great you are and how knowledgeable you are without you having to do it directly. Visitors reading your blogs will realise you are an expert over time as they read your blogs.

Networking
This also applies to meeting people in networking meetings. Let the person you are meeting talk as much as possible. You will build great relationships as people will see you are interested in them.

Newsletters
This principal again applies to the newsletter. A newsletter that just explains what happens in your office last week is not engaging. A newsletter should not be your news. It should be entertaining, informing and engaging.
Promoting yourself is not the same as talking about yourself. You want other people to be talking about you and your brand, you don’t want to be doing this yourself.

Pascalle Bergman is a person who puts this into practiceperfectly. She is constantly helping people, not talking about herself. Find her here on LinkedIn

This episode builds on Guest Interview with Colin D Smith, the Listening Expert. Go back to that one first if you haven't already heard it.

In this show we talk to Colin D Smith who is an expert in listening. A skill we have talked about many times in the show.

Listening makes people feel needed and valued. It is something that can be learnt either through coaching in group settings or121. Even though most people think they are goodlisteners in reality very few people have the skills to do it well. And this is reflected in society with a rise in loneliness and sadly suicide rates.

Colin goes on to say the importance of using open ended questions

“how do you feel about that?”

“ interesting, what more do you want to say about that?”

Sam poses the question of how can we use this in our business, in particular networking.

Good listening can results in building trust andbe more likeable. So when dealing with customers get them to open up with open questions, exploring different options. And if you become a better listener your clients will in turn listen closer to you. It's a win win!

Colin believes deeper listening can be learnt. Clear away distractions, go in to your discussions with a settled mind and bemore in the present. Avoid interrupting, stop trying to fix things, don’t be an eighteen second manager.

Colin goes on to re-enforce the quality of being present. Think along the lines of becoming a listener as to doing it.  Take a three second pause after the other person has finished speaking, observe their body movements. Listen for key phrases

“I have never told this to someone before”

Marcus brings up non verbal conversations. Eye contact, facing people during conversations, equality of viewpoints all contribute to the effectiveness of listening.

In times where you have to get to know people quickly, head shots, for example, it is important to get yourself centeredbefore and during the event. Keep a calm demeanor in spite of everything.

Good listening skills will make your clients feel that they have the right person on the job.

You can contact Marcus

[email protected]

https://dexteritysolutions.co.uk/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/colindsmith1

07939-013651

Colin's ideas on listening get put into practice in Stop Talking About Yourself, recorded as a direct follow-up to this conversation.

Creativity and Rest
Marcus takes us back to episode 12 and reminds us about the 5 Rs of creativity

• Rules
• Research
• Reflection
• Repetition
• Rest
  

Today Marcus is going to talk more about the subject of rest.

Marcus has been looking at the latest research into creativity. According to the research your brain works in two different modes

1.   “Default Mode Network”

When you are not really thinking about anything. When you do something by habit. Like having a shower in the morning, or driving your car and you arrived without knowing how you got there. It is when your thoughts are going inwards

2.    “Executive Control Network”

This is when you are really in the zone and doing focused activity.

It’s been discovered that the Default mode network is linkedto creativity.
Taking the time

 When Marcus wants to think about ideas he sits down in the evening with a glass of wine. Sam suggests then that meditation should be part of this process, which Marcus agrees with. It’s important to find that quiet space, and think about nothing and let the ideas come to you. It’s crucial this is in a quite space withnothing else going on.

Notebook
Marcus recommends always having a notebook to hand to write down your ideas as they come to you. But also Marcus says as you get better at getting creative ideas you can also train your brain to remember these ideas.
How to start
For Marcus he says about 8pm he sits in quiet with a glass of wine and just sits, and thinks. And the more you try this the easier it becomes. There is lots of meditation help online, both in terms of techniques and calming sound tracks. Marcus recommends doing this every day. Finding that time can be very challenging. But it is worth that effort. For some people the day time is a better time, when the house is quiet. It’s important to try and schedule thatquiet time into your day.

Long term

This is a long term process and it will take time to get better at this. There is a great Netflix documentary about this

On the flip side of rest, Using Repetition in Your Photography Practice looks at how showing up consistently builds creative momentum.

Wix or WordPress? Templates or custom code? Marcus and Sam break down the three real routes to a photography website — the self-build platforms, the WordPress/CMS route, and full custom coding — and the trade-offs in cost, flexibility, speed and SEO that actually decide which one is right for your business. If you're stuck deciding what to build your site on, or wondering if you built it on the wrong one, this sorts out the choice.

This episode is sponsored by Website for Photographers — get in touch at [email protected] or 01482 765871.

Picked your platform? Making the Writing on Your Photography Website Work and Get You More Leads is the natural next step.

In this show Marcus tells us about style, what it is and how it can be used in your business. Marcus says having a style means that if someone looks at your work they can tell it’s your due to the style. Marcus gives these photographers as examples of photographers with a very unique style.
Martin Schoeller
Madame Yevonde

What makes a style?It could be a technique, it could be using black and white, using flash or your viewpoint, Another example is Edward Burtynsky who is a landscape photographer and uses ariel shots.

The advantages of having a style

If you have a particular style then customers know what toexpect when they book you. It can mean you can command higher fees as you can become an expert in that look. But that can mean that you need to reach a wider audience so the relevant people who like your style can find you and work with you.
Developing a style
How can you develop your own style? Marcus recommends printing out some portfolio pieces, maybe your 100 favourites. Then lay them all out on the floor and start to arrange them to find common themes. In this way you can discover your own style through exploration. Another approach is reflecting deeply on your work. Reflection is important in all areas of business, and in life. And it’s important to make time for that. Another approach to developing your style is showing your work to others and discuss it with them. There are events where you can do this, take along your portfolio and talk to someone about your work. Developinga style is not an overnight thing, thing is something you develop over time, and never stop working on.

Style versus brand
How do you get the balance between your style and the style of the brand? If your style is too fixed does it mean you cannot with some clients? There is a balance here between your style and the brands style and how much you can adapt your style and how much you are willing and able to do this. Remember you don’thave to show work that’s not in your style (apart from the client you did the work for).

Style isn't just about technique, and Creativity and Rest makes the case that switching off is part of the creative process too.

Fabienne is a property stylist who works with Airbnb owners.She loves to create an original, playful property. She helps their AirBnb stand out online. She loves to go crazy with paint and then build on the “fluff” from there.
Fabienne has to think not just about the look of the property, but she also has to ensure it works. Once a visitor arrives it’s vital the property works for them. Fabienne is finding that AirBnb has got so competitive in the last year that property owners need to stand out much more than they needed to before. Even in the last year Liverpool Airbnb properties have more than doubled. Fabienne’s mission in life is to avoid the use of grey in these properties.
For Fabienne the photography of the property is vital as that is what is used to get the property on AirBnb. Choosing the right photographer for this work is essential. Just seeing which photographer is available is not the way to go. Propertyinvestors need to choose the right photographer for them. Without the right photographs most of Fabienne’s work is wasted. Fabienne thinks that lots of photographers want the photographs to look clean and fresh, while Fabienne usually wants photographs to make the property look warm and welcoming. Marcus explains this would mean using natural light and lights in the room, rather than using large bright flash lighting. Fabienne has had some poor experience with photographers.For example the colours in the room being altered or almost lost.

We discussed what is the best way for someone to choose a photographer in this case. She thinks a conversation with the photographer and being able to view their past work are key. She explains that also a great photographer amplified her work making it look amazing due to the photographers skill.Fabienne does have some clients using their phone not a professional photographer for the photographs, but this is quite unusual. Most do use a professionalphotographer.
Properties for sale often use very wide lenses to make rooms look large. Fabienne thinks this can also work in an AirBnb. But it needs to not make the room look too big, as it has to match the reality for when visitors arrived. But, Fabienne said she has never seen a negative review where a visitor complained about the size of a room compared to the image.
The wording used for the property is vital. The wording must include lots of feeling about the property.
Fabienne explains that there are many property investment groups on Facebook and these are a great place for property photographers to be. Fabienne has her own group which you can find here.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/propertystagingforinvestors

But don’t just sell on these groups. Add value and help people.  

You can connect with Fabienne here.

https://fabienne-interiors.co.uk/

[email protected]
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fabienne-miler-%E2%98%80%EF%B8%8Fproperty-stylist-to-make-rooms-work-harder%E2%98%80%EF%B8%8F-0b35554/

For more on working with stylists day to day, Using a Stylist for Your Photoshoot with Suzanne Suthers is worth adding to the list.

Most photographers have a button on their website. Far fewer have one that anyone actually clicks. Sam explains what separates the two, including the wording mistake that makes visitors shrug, and why a button that feels repetitive to you is exactly what a visitor flicking through needs. If you're a brand photographer relying on your site for leads, there's a good chance one of these fixes is worth making this week. Marcus also shares the button on his own site that skips the contact form entirely.

A strong call to action only works if people see it enough times. How Important Is It to Be Consistent in Your Marketing? picks up that thread.

This week Marcus and Sam discuss the use of black and white photography.
Marcus did a poll on LinkedIn and found that (from the sample of people who responded) people preferred colour for a head shot, but like black and white photography in their homes.
William Eggleston a famous photographer did an exhibition inthe Museum of modern art, New York in the mid 1970s and he used colour. At the time the critics said his use of colour was “vulgar”.
Marcus thinks that using actual film, black and white film, and developing it yourself will expand your understanding of black and white photography. Now the software we use for photography still uses many of the terms that come from those original dark room techniques. And they will make more sense once you have experienced developing actual film. There are photography clubs all over the country that have dark rooms you will be able to use.

Marcus also think photography books are also a great way to learn about black and white photography. Also go and look at photographicexhibitions and how those photographers use black and white photography.

Sam and Marcus then talk about the use of black and whitecommercially. Black and white is great for headshots. Also, for some businesses black and white can really match their brand. Some brands need some bright colours, but for others black and white can work really well for their brand. Barbara Kruger is a famous photographer who usedred text against black and white photography which was a great look and could work really well for a brand.
At weddings black and white can be used. It’s used often when the weather is bad as it helps deal with poor light. But black and white can also be used for effect on any wedding. But as the shots will be digital these can be made black and white after the event.
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For a different genre entirely, Getting into Fashion Photography is a good next listen.

Website planning
This week Sam and Marcus discuss website planning. An effective website needs planning carefully and Sam shares his knowledge and experience in this area.
Goals and Call to actions
It’s vital that a website has a goal. What is it that you want the visitorsto your website to do? Do you want them to call you, buy a product or something different. Once you’ve decided this is essential to get this “Call to action” across in a tempting way. That call to action also needs to be repeated again and again across your website.
Landing pages
Sam and Marcus chat about the difference between a landing page and a website. A landing page is usually a focussing single page focussed on getting visitors to click on a focussed call to action. But both regular websites and landing page need tempting relevant call to actions.
Website structure
What is the classic way to organise a website is into service offerings. For example for a photographer a wedding page and a pet portraits page. But, Sam suggests organising the website by type of customer is also a good way to organise it. Although for photographers the service type and customer type can be the same. It’s then important to think about the customers journey through the website. It’s good to use the home page to give people little pieces of information and send them to the relevant pages for them.  Keep the menu simple. Ideally five or six items across maximum.
When you have blogs be careful about where you send visitors at the end of the blog. Some websites set up a loop where the main pages send visitors to the blog and the blog sends visitors to the main pages. This sends visitors in a loop. You need to ensure that either your main pages or your blogs have a final call to action and not direct visitors elsewhere.
Calendar booking
This can be a great place to direct people to from your website. It’s a way they can book a call easily. If your call to action says “book a call” then directing visitors to a form like this is perfect rather than a generic contact form.

 Key messages
Many people writing their own websites write way too much detail. Visitors need to know about the outcomes of your services. They don’t need endless detail about every part of your business. They need to know what it will feel like having worke3d with you and what they will have having worked with you. “You will have an amazing set of photos your business can use for social media for the next year” gives a good clear outcome. The number of images, format, image size and things like that aren’t really needed.
Images
Some websites reply just on images and nothing else. As we discussed this can work for photographers working with agents where the website is just for agents this can work. But this is very few photographers. For most the text is as vital, or more so than the photographs.

Once you've got a plan, the next decision is what to actually build it on. Battle of the Website Platforms breaks down the options.