Maureen helps elevate peoples Linkedin profile. She helps them create more opportunities and visibility. That creates more leads and more business.

Maureen says Linkedin is used to give clients value and build a community. But she does do one sales post per week. It might be subtle but she always has one. Marcus said for a commercial photographer then LinkedIn is amazing as it is B2B. which Facebook and Instagram isn’t. Maureen says focussing on a sector really works well on Linkedin. Send out posts for your niche, use relevant hashtags. And connect to people in the right sector. She says with a connection message you should get 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 connections. But

Maureen says that if you spend an hour a day on LinkedIn you

Sam asks Maureen some top tips for their LinkedIn profile. She says a profile photograph is a must. She has 5 pillars of success on Linkedin and the profile is one of them. Look like the top dog that you are. Your LinkedIn profile needs to be generating work for you. It needs to have an amazing tag line. It needs to really shine. Your banner needs to be excellent. As a photographer you can feature things like images you have taken recently. The more visual your profile is the more you will stand out.

One of Maureen's other pillars is let the other steal the show. So tell stories about other people you have been working with. Maureen

You can find Maureen on LinkedIn (big surprise) or at her

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

Marcus has been using three pieces of software for a long

Lightroom came out after Photoshop. It is a very easy to use intuitive piece of software. Lightroom and Photoshop are complimentary pieces of software both made by Adobe. The difference between Photoshop and Lightroom is that Photoshop is designed to work at one image at a time, while Lightroom can do bulk editing. You can chose to edit a photo in one way, then apply that editing to lots of other photos. The terminology used

Photoshop also has many more uses than photography. Marcus

Capture one is the third piece of software Marcus uses. Marcus uses it’s ability to tether. That means Marcus works with his camera

Sam and Marcus discuss consistency in your marketing. Sam says the basic idea is decide what you want to in your marketing, and do it consistently and well. If you look at businesses that are doing well through their marketing, they are being very consistent. That doesn’t mean that all businesses that consistently market, do well.

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

Planning

The first stage of marketing is planning. You need to have your ambitions first of where you want your business to be. You then need to think about what you need to do to get there, in terms of marketing. But, be realistic about what time you have for marketing or the budget you have for marketing. So be ambitious in your targets, but realistic in the time and/or budget you have for implementation. 

Marcus says things take way longer than you plan for. But, Sam said this can happen initially, but, if you are being consistent and doing things again and again, you get quicker and more efficient at it. 

Implementation

Once the planning is done you need to think about implementing it. Sam says a daily or weekly plan is essential for this. If you have a clear plan for your day or week then you can ensure you make time for your marketing, or whatever else it is essential to do in your business. Marcus thinks that with photography this is challenging as you have to do photo shoots. Sam says it’s the same for every business. Having a weekly timetable that is the same for every week, like a school, doesn’t work. It needs to be done on a week by week basis. This can be done by photographers the same as everyone else. It can be easy to spend all your time processing photos. It is important to set time aside for marketing, accounting and other essential business tasks. 

Use your weekly plan to help you implement your marketing plan consistently. 

Sam talks a little about the sort of thing your regular marketing might be, like building a community on social. As you do marketing you need to be monitoring your sales and leads and seeing if your marketing is working. Make sure you ask everyone who comes to you as a customer how they found you. They won’t remember every time they have come across you, but they will remember something. Use the data to help focus your marketing and trim away the stuff that isn’t working. But ensure you have been consistently doing your marketing for a good while before you judge it. It needs more than just a couple of weeks before you can judge it. Marcus and Sam discuss touch points and how many touch points clients have before they will contact you. Different books say you need a different number of touch points before a sale. But you certainly need a good few. And the closer together you can get those touch points the quicker you can move people to a sale. Remember when you are assessing your marketing, that some touch points will not  be mentioned by clients and if you remove it, it might be detrimental to your marketing. For example they may have forgotten about seeing yuoir posts on Linkedin. But, that doesn;t mean they didn't help in the process of moving them towards becoming a customer.

Marcus mentioned the idea of accountability groups. Where you hold each other to account. These can work really well at helping you getting stuff done. If you write a goal down its better than being in your head. If you add a deadline that’s better. But it’s a lot more effective if you then share these goals to someone that means you will put much more pressure in yourself to meet those goals.

Marcus and Sam finish by discussing common marketing mistakes. One of them is of course, not being consistent in your marketing.

Toby Lee

This was Toby’s business for about six years. Covid put a stop to this work with actors not work. At that time Toby and her wife

Marcus and Toby discussed that not that long ago a business

Sam and Toby discuss the fact that people will make snap assumptions about you from your headshot. The headshot also becomes like a logo that people will recognise as they scroll through LinkedIn. Also this images needs to be updated and kept fresh from time to time. There is a balance in using these images between recognition and over exposure.

Toby thinks he has lost some work to people using an AI app. But, Toby says he is not really concerned about this as the personal element in the headshot is so important. That building of confidence is so important. But Toby thinks also that AI will help with the post photoshoot work.

You can find Toby at

https://www.headshottoby.co.uk/

Marcus has a wide experience in fashion having worked in it for many years, and then being a fashion photography lectures.

It’s a team sport
Fashion photography involves a team of people, not just the photographer. This might include hair and make up, stylist, model and assistant. Marcus says as a fashion photography there is no need to know anything about clothes. This is the job of the stylist.

Stylist As a fashion photographer you need to build

Hair and make up people who are good at fashion shoots

Assistants are very helpful on a shoot. They mean you are able to focus on the model and the look, while the assistant is working in

Models are a vital part of the fashion shoot. Marcus says fashion models often look a little different, have a striking look. It is

Look book. This is a photograph usually with a plain background where the garment is front and centre.

Editorial This is a series of shots that often are telling a story
Shooting ahead In the fashion world the photography is for items coming out 6 months ahead. That means that in the summer you could be shooting ski wear and bikinis in the winter

This week, we're joined by professional photographer Martin Hobby. With over 30 years in the industry, Martin has experience in many genres, from weddings to corporate work to music photography. He shares his story, offering valuable advice on how to build a successful career and handle life’s unexpected challenges. Martin also sheds light on the business side of photography, the importance of community, and the surprising role of personal setbacks in professional growth.

Keywords: photography, professional photographer, commercial photography, business, networking, career, wedding photography

What you’ll learn from this episode:

The value of assisting: Find out why working as an assistant for an established professional photographer can be one of the best moves you can make for your career.

Why community and networking are so important: Discover how a supportive network of fellow photographers can lead to referrals, friendships, and a stronger business.

How to turn setbacks into success: Learn how to adapt your business and photography skills to overcome unexpected challenges, from moving house to global events.This week, we're joined by professional photographer Martin Hobby. With over 30 years in the industry, Martin has experience in many genres, from weddings to corporate work to music photography. He shares his story, offering valuable advice on how to build a successful career and handle life’s unexpected challenges. Martin also sheds light on the business side of photography, the importance of community, and the surprising role of personal setbacks in professional growth.

Keywords: photography, professional photographer, commercial photography, business, networking, career, wedding photography

What you’ll learn from this episode:

The value of assisting: Find out why working as an assistant for an established professional photographer can be one of the best moves you can make for your career.

Why community and networking are so important: Discover how a supportive network of fellow photographers can lead to referrals, friendships, and a stronger business.

How to turn setbacks into success: Learn how to adapt your business and photography skills to overcome unexpected challenges, from moving house to global events.

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

The most basic answer is it helps you achieve your goals in life and in business. This is linked to where you and your business want to be in one year or in five years. Then the key is working out how you are going to get there. Sam thinks this is the essence of a business plan and it should be for you, personally.  The goals might be financial, lifestyle, number of shoots whatever is relevant and important for you.

Marcus asks about if there are apps etc to help. Sam said there

Marcus asked if an accountant or business coach is the best

The first step in your business planning process is thinking

The Royal Photography Society

Michael went to university, but would always come back in the holidays and do more work and use the dark room. He started to develop a love of the history of photography and joined the RPS as a junior member as he wanted access to the historical group within the society. He used to go to the RPS’s London location in London and meet with the historical group.

Michael also did some teaching at DeMontford university on a module on the history of photography. Then in 2011 as he was finishing his Phd he was approached about applying for a role of the RPS as director general. Since then the role has been split in two and he then moved to the programs and education side of the role.

What does the RPS do for photographers?

The RPS is a registered charity and a membership organisation. There ultimate goal is member education, helping them become better photographers. Most members of the RPS are amateur, although some are professional. Some photographers get letters after their name showing their work has been recognised by the RPS. The RPS has a journal the has been going for over 150 years. The RPS do a lot of work with the local universities. The RPS has moved from Bath to Bristol. The Bristol location gives them a large exhibition space and an auditorium. Their exhibition changes every year, but some of the work can date back to the start of the RPS. The RPS is a community of people, about ten thousand members. Part of the RPS’s work is building that community. Michael also reminds us that photography should be fun and sometimes we can forget

Artificial intelligence

Marcus asked Michael about AI. The RPS has issued a

Sam and Marcus have a cozy fireside Christmas chat about the podcast over the last year.

Sam refers back to the show on networking. As networking is such an important part of your marketing for photographers. Marcus thinks thinks networking in person will be a great place to focus for 2024. He is going to try to do more face to face networking next year. He touches on the idea that it can be better to have a small strong community than a wide shallow pool of connections.