Helping Photographers Go Full Time

In this episode we look at one of the things photographers struggle most with when it comes to marketing – how to write about your service and yourself effectively.

Most photographers fall into the trap of saying…

“Well, no-one reads anything these days anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I don’t write anything”

or

“If my photographs are good enough then they’ll sell themselves. If people like them they’ll get in touch.”

Sadly these are big mistakes.

The words you use on your photography website and in your marketing are critical.

After all, TV adverts aren’t silent. They have words. When you try to attract a member of the opposite sex you don’t just stand there and look sexy – you have to SAY something at some point!

I’m sure there are lots of talented photographers in your area so lovely photographs aren’t enough.

Your website copy has to do much more than that.

Your website needs to get visitors to:

Feel like they know you and like you

Trust you

Relate to you (ie. they feel you have the same views as them)

Understand why they should choose you

Take the next step

There’s a lot of ways you can do this. Let me explain how…

Here’s what you’re going to discover in this episode.

How Mari is booking clients simply by talking with people (and how she could be booking even more)!

How to grow your Facebook following

Why you should get your website live as soon as possible, even if you’re not happy with it

Why relying on your photographs to sell themselves is a mistake

The questions your website visitors are asking themselves

How to get website visitors to like and trust you

How to get website visitors to connect with you and your brand

How to get website visitors to choose you

What I bring to every wedding to make the group photographs fun

Why you need a video AND the written word on your website

The benefits of using a video where you’re talking to the camera

Why your website MUST repel some of the visitors

Why you can’t appeal to everyone and shouldn’t try

Why you should have a photograph on your About Page

Why your website copy shouldn’t be vague or vanilla

Why almost everything you write on your website should be expressed in a way that shows how the client will benefit

Examples of how you can turn almost anything into a benefit that your website visitors will value

The only situations where it’s ok to have prices on your website

The reason it’s a mistake to have pricing details on your website

How you can use Facebook to get lots of enquiries despite having higher than average prices

Why people generally invest 2-3 times more with me than they expect, without me doing anything pushy.

My website pricing strategies that enable me to get enquiries without having to have low prices

How I gradually reveal my prices to clients without scaring them off

Why I always have an in-person consultation with my family portrait clients

Why I love ProSelect’s portrait presentation software

How to structure your website pages

Why it’s important to have a ‘behind the scenes’ video

Ideas for differentiating your photography business

Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

How to effectively articulate your brand and inherent personal strengths on your website

Why you should have a photograph of your family at a decent size framed and on the wall of your home; and then a photograph of the room showing that portrait on your website

How to understand the doubts, fears and questions a website visitor will have; and how your service specific servic...

The theme of this podcast episode is ‘How to price your photography’.

Pricing is one of the things photographers struggle most with. Most of us have our hang-ups about price and end up charging what we would personally pay, which is often way below what our ideal clients would pay.

Funnily enough Mari (who I’m coaching on the podcast) is very comfortable with her prices despite regularly selling packages of nearly £1000. Since Mari is confident in pricing her photography appropriately I’ve not dwelled on how to overcome your fears about pricing. However, this FREE E-book will help you if this is an area you struggle with.

Here’s what you’re going to learn in this episode.

* We kick off with a little bit of marketing, including:

o How to use Facebook and Linked In to find business alliances that can help you get more clients

o How to get other businesses to hand out your promotional vouchers to their clients!

* Why it’s ok to have a package that no-one will buy

* How I talked about my wedding packages so that I sell albums and engagement sessions and wall portraits and slideshows almost every time

* Why none of my wedding or portrait clients only want digital files

* Why you shouldn’t email people full price lists when they first get in touch

* Why you should get every enquiry onto the phone if humanely possible

* Where to set your prices when you’re just starting out

* How to increase your photography prices until they’re higher than you ever thought possible

* Why it doesn’t matter if you go for packages, or A la carte or any other pricing strategy….   …and what matters instead

* How Mari does her prices and how I do mine – and why both approaches are absolutely fine

* Why the area you live in can impact on your pricing strategy (although not necessarily your average order value)

* Why I prefer to sell wall art rather than albums to family portrait clients

* Why you need a pricing spreadsheet and what needs to go in it

* How I increased my average order from £550 to £650 recently

* How to integrate a minimum order value into portrait pricing without sounding like a hard-nosed douche-bag

* Why people who pay an upfront session fee generally spend more in total

* The mistakes to avoid when creating your pricing strategy

* The most important factor in determining your package prices

 Premium content for Get Pro Photo Club Members

Not only do Get Pro Photo Club members get to access to dozens of courses, videos and downloads to help you grow the photography business of your dreams, you also get access to the whole podcast interview.

The premium content this week is:

* The cunning way I price digital files that has almost eradicated any issues with clients just wanting a CD of all the images for a small price

*  Why Mari is correct in not putting prices on her website.

* The one reason it’s ok to put prices on your website (unless it’s because you’re so crazy busy that you need to scare people away with high prices – not a common situation!)

* How and when to reveal your prices to clients

* What to do if you don’t have your business cards on you

* Why you have to ‘earn the right to present your prices’

* Why you might be getting asked about digital files more than me and Mari

* Why it’s important to offer wall portraits and albums if you want to make a living in photography

* What to say when someone just asks for a CD of all the photographs

* How I use A La Carte portrait pricing to attract more clients

Honestly – In this episode we bounce all over the place! Perhaps the biggest chunk is on working with charities to grow your portrait photography business.

Partnering with charities is wonderful for many reasons.

Obviously there’s the sense of wellbeing and personal development that we all get when doing things for others.

However, it also positions you as a kind photographer who’s active in the community.

It also connects you with some of the area’s movers and shakers, so it’s great for networking too.

It also gives you an excuse to run a promotion that helps the charity while bringing in clients. For example, you could donate a percentage from each order towards the charity and promote the offer to your email list, on Facebook and through Facebook advertising etc. And if the charity has a donor database then you could work with them to mail your promotion to their database.

The more you help your community, the more they’ll help you.

Here’s what you’re going to learn in this episode.

* The easiest way to find businesses alliances who will help you promote your photography business

* Ideas for how you can work with charities to help them AND bring you more clients. Get Pro Photo Club members can get much more detail on this in our 30 minute video on the membership site called ‘How working with charities can grow your business’

* How to choose a charity to work with

* We allude to a Facebook course that our members are using which is bringing in dozens of targeted enquiries for weddings, families and baby sessions.

* We go through some basic Facebook tips as Mari doesn’t really use it. Eg:

* How to increase your number of Facebook business page followers

* How to tag people

* If you behave like a full time professional photographer then people will treat you like one

 Premium content

Not only do Get Pro Photo Club members get to access to dozens of courses, videos and downloads to help you grow the photography business of your dreams, you also get access to the whole podcast interview.

The premium content this week is:

* The wrong way to set your photography prices

* The right way to set your photography prices

* The one thing every family photographer needs to run a successful business (and no, it’s not a website or a social media account!)

* Why my wedding contract helps me book weddings

* Why I don’t bother with a family portrait contract and have never needed one

Homework:

I asked Mari to start using her Facebook and Linked In account so she can see where some of her friends and acquaintances work and see if any will make good potential business alliances.

Please give us your feedback

We’d love to know your thoughts about this episode and any questions you may have about your own business, so please leave a comment below.

In this episode we dig further into Mari’s SWOT analysis for her photography business. I explain how your internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats can (and should) shape your photography business.

Your photography business model can go in wildly different directions depending on what you want out of life and what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing and your lifestyle etc.

The more you know about yourself and your market, the more you’ll understand the best business model for you and how to promote yourself.

For example, Mari says she loves connecting with people but isn’t keen on technology. So, networking is a better marketing option for Mari compared with complex automated email marketing funnels.

I’ll always remember the immortal words of the great marketer Dan Kennedy

“Look around out what everyone else is doing and then “DON’T DO THAT!”

And don’t be afraid to put your personality into your business and your marketing. Sometimes the way you treat people and interact with them is enough to differentiate yourself from the competition. For example, I bring two bottles of bubbly to every wedding so they can do a Formula 1 style celebration shot as they try and spray me with booze! A simple idea, but very memorable, and it gets me some great photographs and makes the boring group photographs more fun!

Here’s what you’re going to learn in this episode.

* We get deeper into Mari’s SWOT analysis where we look at her strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

* Why I made a mistake by not doing a SWOT analysis at the beginning of my career

* Why it doesn’t matter if you don’t have any money for marketing

* Is it a good idea or a bad idea to discuss your personal life when marketing your business?

* Why behind the scenes videos are important for a photographer

* How friends, family and acquaintances can help your photography business without you having to beg or do anything sleazy or pushy.

* How Linked in can help you find excellent marketing opportunities for your photography business

* How I get businesses to hand out my promotional vouchers

* Why networking groups are great for easily getting photography clients – even if none of the other networkers hire you!

* How to get wedding venues to recommend you

* How styled shoots can help your marketing

* How having a mastermind group can grow your business.

* Why you need to be accountable in your photography business

Premium content

Not only do Get Pro Photo Club members get to access to dozens of courses to help you grow the photography business of your dreams, you also get access to the whole podcast interview.

The premium content this week is:

* How I get restaurants and other businesses to happily display my wall portraits in their premises for free and without having to be pushy or awkward.

* How I help restaurants get more customers so they’re happy to let me have a display

* The things I’m looking for when analysing my competition so that I can differentiate myself

* The best business photography business model for a perfectionist

* I start to formulate a business model for Mari based on her SWOT analysis

* The benefits of having a home studio

* We touch on how to rank well on Google

* The benefits of having a baby plan

Homework:

Check your Facebook and Linked In connections to see who works for (or owns) businesses that would make a good alliance.

Relevant Links:

Jill Greenberg’s amazing and distinct lighting skills differentiated her baby photography

Like most photographers I started my business with no direction, no goals and no idea what I was doing or why I was doing it.

I wasted the first 3 years because I hadn’t thought about the kind of photography business that would be right for me.

But how do you know what sort of business will be right for you?

Here’s what you’re going to learn in this episode.

How to audit your life so you can create the right photography business for you

Why you need to know who you are, what you want and what you’re good at before you start your photography business

How to use the business concept known as a SWOT analysis to help you build a successful photography business that you’ll love

I create a powerful brand image for Mari on the fly based on her description about herself

Why I like Mari’s business name ‘MariLand images’ and why it will fit the brand concept I’ve devised for her.

Why I made a mistake focusing on baby photography but why it’s right for Mari.

The one word that explains how to make networking enjoyable and effective

How you can reduce the endless hours you spend on Photoshop so you can increase your hourly rate

Why you shouldn’t show family and baby clients more than 25 photographs

Why you’re being kind to your client by not showing them too many photographs

Why you can’t get too emotionally connected to your client’s photographs

Premium content

If you become a Get Pro Photo Club member then you’ll not only get access to all the courses within the membership site, you’ll also get the full podcast interview each episode. The free podcast is missing some of the juicy stuff so our members don’t get upset we’re giving too much away.

The premium content this week is:

The biggest problem photographers face in their business with an entire course on how to overcome it.

The biggest assets in your life and how they can benefit your photography business

Homework:

Create a SWOT analysis as discussed in this episode. I’d love for listeners and members to share their SWOT analysis either in the comments section on the website, or on our private Facebook group.

Members should watch the time management video on the membership site called ‘ How to manage your time and get more done’.

Members should watch the branding video on the membership site called ‘How to build a brand and attract clients’.

Relevant Links:

Jasmine Star

Please give us your feedback

We’d love to know your thoughts about this episode and any questions you may have about your own business, so please leave a comment below.

Welcome to the first ever episode of The Get Pro Photo Club podcast. I’m so excited about our latest project because it’s something that’s totally unique in the photography industry. In each episode you’ll listen to a coaching call I’ll be having with one of our students, Mari.

Meet Mari from MariLand images (website pending!)

You’ll be able to follow her journey from talented newbie with no clients, right through to becoming a full time photographer.

Well, that’s the plan! I’ll certainly be busting my ass and using every trick in the book to help her.

Along the way I’ll also be interviewing some relevant business experts and other successful photographers to provide their insights too

Who is this podcast for?

It’s specifically for part-time photographers who have a burning desire to go full time. However, 95% of the things we’ll discuss will benefit any photographer who’s interested in wedding and portrait photography.

Most of what we’ll discuss will be business related, so if you only care about understanding how to take better photographs then this podcast won’t be for you.

But, if you want more clients, better clients and a thriving photography business then this podcast is definitely for you.

Why should you listen?

There are a lot of photography mentors out there – some are great and some not so great. The trouble is it’s hard to tell the difference (a bit like with photographers!).

That’s what makes this podcast so special and completely unique…

…it’s not just me spouting theories, you’re getting to see Mari put these theories into practice and report back. That way you can see if they work (or not!). And when there are hiccups (which there inevitably will be) you’ll be able to learn from them and see how I help Mari overcome them.

Here’s what you’re going to learn in this episode.

* The important questions to ask yourself when launching your photography business

* Why it’s important to think about the kind of photography business you want, so you can focus on what will make you happy

* Ho w to differentiate your photography business

* The importance of having a husband or wife or partner who accepts your desire to become a photographer (sadly, sometimes a partner or other family members will think it’s a pipe-dream and ‘not a real job!’ so may not want you to pursue this career).

* Why part-time photographers need to be very organised and strict with their time.

* Why you should think about your real reasons for wanting to be a photographer. Is it because you like people, or being creative, or freedom to make your own decisions. Understand that a huge amount of running a photography business is related to understanding BUSINESS and if that’s not something you want to embrace then this business may not be as fun as you hope

* The importance of truly enjoying working with people and being good with people.

* How to get over your fears of being rejected and fears of clients complaining and doubts about your photography

How your confidence improves based on your prices and the quantity of your enquiries and the importance of finding a balance.

How to increase your prices without feeling nervous.

Why one of the first things you need to do is launch a website, even if it’s ‘not perfect’.

How to avoid clients you don’t want to work with

How to attract clients you DO want to work with

Why you need to figure out the kind of photography business you want as early as possible

Why different genres of photography are a good or bad fit depending on your lifestyle.

Why you shouldn’t have preconceptions about what makes a good client