It will happen one day, whether you like it or not. Something will break. Something will fail. Something will get lost.  We’ve covered this in several past episodes. In this episode I focus solely on the avenues of support, training, troubleshooting, and preparedness that are available to you.  Below are links to sites mentioned in the episode.

Darkroom support

Darkroom online manual

Dell support

Imaging Spectrum support

Canon support

Microsoft Windows 10 support

All photo booth software these days offer methods of posting to various social media platforms. Does it matter which ones you offer?  I talk about using Darkroom’s output options from email to Instagram and what they truly do. I also talk about using social media for your business. Even if you don’t offer social media output with your packages you should still make and maintain accounts for your business. Social media is not just for guests, it’s for marketing and digital presence beyond Facebook.

Building ties to the community is vital to your marketing. When first starting out, doing the odd free event here and there is a tried and true practice to get your name out there. More importantly though is building that connection to your community. Making these kinds of connections to your community with the occasional free event will help you understand the ebb and flow of your business. You can gain deeper understanding of how to package your offerings. How to adjust pricing. What features are hot and what features are fad. Never assume you know the pulse of your community if you are not actively out in it. Success is becoming more than a line on a page in the phone book or an entry in an online search result. Make 2018 the year you get involved.

One of the pillars of service-based business is the discount.  When used correctly discounts can win you business.  When used incorrectly they can cause your business more harm than good.  In this episode I talk about how to strategically set your pricing to absorb discounts and still make a profit, effective discount strategies, pitfalls to avoid, and different ways you can introduce discounts.

This week I dig through the mailbag and answer some questions that have come in to the [email protected] email address.  These are some of the most-asked questions that have come in since the podcast began.  This first batch of questions range from where to find answers for support to changing software on your booth.  The importance of staying with your booth at an event.  The relevance of business education.  Hear what your fellow listeners are asking, and send in some questions of your own.

In episode 019 I talked about old-school approaches to marketing and advertising.  In this episode I revisit and focus on the benefits of using printed materials to market and advertise your business.  I discuss the various types of printed materials, how you can create them, how to have them created for you, software you can use, and the option of using an online print service.  Additionally I talk about how these materials can be used, from simply having a business card in your pocket so you can hand it to someone to launching a good old fashioned snail-mail campaign.

I talk with Nick Yates, owner of Strike A Pose San Diego, who hit the ground running with his business even before his photo booth arrived.  Nick talks about his very beginning, where he is now, and where he wants to be in 2018.  Great information for new and veteran booth owners.

Also, as mentioned in the episode, I am including a link to Honeybook CRM.  Customer Relationship Management software is well worth looking at.  Using the link below, you will get 50% off of your first year of Honeybook!

Honeybook (Use this link to get 50% off your first year)

This week I talk about handling the stress that comes with the holiday season, then I go over the importance of old school advertising strategies.  Owning a business is stressful enough, but holidays can quickly add more stress on top of that.  Learn how to take a break, and how to use that break wisely.  Next up is old school advertising and marketing methods that often get overlooked but are just as important as advertising on the digital landscape.  I go over some tried and true methods that will not only help to grow your business, but also help you build important connections.

Creating themes for your booth and events may seem like a simple idea, but very few people are doing it.  Mentioned in previous episodes, this week I talk about creating themes as packages or to match a customer’s existing theme.  Putting together themes will place you out front in creating memorable experiences, and it will put you ahead of your competition.

We all know that backups are important when it comes to our computers, but with a photo booth what else do you need to back up?  Everything, eventually.  In this episode I talk about not only backing up your Darkroom information but also your hardware.  I go over a suggested order in which to start backing up your booth hardware as your business grows as well as considerations for items like the printer, camera, and computer.  You don’t have to start out with a backup of everything, but you should certainly make it a goal to achieve as your business evolves.