Do you have more Facebook friends than a new lottery winner? Do you tweet more than a caged canary on steroids? If so, then you are obviously on the social media bandwagon and loving it, which is supposed to be a good thing for our photography businesses, right?

Well, yes it’s a great thing, but…

As with everything useful in life, there’s usually a “but” that puts a wrench in the works. Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with friends, family and clients (but please don’t tell us all what you’re having for dinner – we really don’t care), and it’s a wonderful place to showcase our work, perhaps in the hope of it going at least a teeny bit viral when our clients share it with their friends.

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Sales & Marketing copyright, facebook, marketing, photo-sharing, viral

I’m pretty certain that we all do it – that is, we look around our city or town at all the other photographers that are out there and wonder at how we can survive. When we realize just how many photographers there are, our first thought can be to wonder how we can succeed amongst so many, especially when business might seem so sparse.

Surely there can’t be enough clients in our town to go around… Well, maybe there can.

Take a closer look at the other photographers around you, but perhaps just as importantly, take a closer look at yourself and your target market in particular.

Do you offer a specific type of photography? For example, are you a child or pet photographer? If so, then you can immediately scratch off the list all those who specialize in commercial photography or weddings. Now the list is getting a little smaller.

What about your prices? Are you charging the same as the local Walmart or Sears portrait studio? Hopefully, you are significantly more expensive than they are, so you aren’t really competing with them for the same segment of the market. To anyone who has been in the photography business for any length of time, it soon becomes apparent that the client who is willing to spend $10 for a Walmart portrait is not very likely to spend several hundred dollars on a custom portrait, although it can happen.

Your product range also determines which clients you will attract and also who will be competing with. An example of this is the photo DVD that some photographers offer with their packages. If you don’t offer a DVD then you aren’t truly competing with those who do (even though you might feel like it), because you are dealing with clients who work under a different paradigm and don’t see the DVD as valuable as the finished portraits. Another example might be portrait photographers who specialize in painterly canvas prints – by the nature of their product they are not competing directly with those who offer more contemporary prints.

I think you can see that as you find more ways to differentiate your business, you actually reduce the number of photographers you are directly competing with. By having fewer true competitors, we’re able to maintain the prices we want to charge for our work. After all, if every photographer offered the same services and the same products with the same quality, the only way we could compete would be as the cheapest, and who wants that?

Focus on your differences

So, take some time to analyze your business, your approach and philosophy. How many ways can you find that your own business differs from those around you? This isn’t necessarily about being the best photographer (what does that even mean, when you think about it?); it’s about being a specialist in your chosen field. You might find that you are one of only several photographers in your area that offer what you do.

Photography Business Ideas competition, professional photographer, studio branding

I was reading Seth Godin’s blog the other morning, as I often do, and was particularly struck by that day’s post entitled “Thanks for leading”.

He talked about how being a leader means to live and work outside of one’s comfort zone, that leadership means dealing with things that are not easy; otherwise, everyone would be doing the same thing. One statement in particular stuck with me, quoted below:

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.

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Personal Zen branding, professional photographer, Seth Godin, studio branding, success

If you earn your living from pointing your camera at people (or things) and creating photographs, you might disagree with the rather odd-sounding title of this post. If I listen carefully I can hear you protesting your innocence – “of course I’m a photographer – I take photographs all day of weddings, families, products, children seniors etc. My camera has practically become a part of my body and would need to be surgically removed to get it away from me…”

I understand totally but, sorry, you are still not a photographer – not if you earn a living from your camera; not if photography is your primary source of income.

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Sales & Marketing marketing, professional photographer, selling, success

One of the hardest challenges we face as professional photographers is trying to convey to potential clients what photography truly means, and how important a role it can play in their lives. We use phrases like “treasured memories“, “moments caught forever“, “family heirlooms” and the like in an effort to impress upon people what the photographs we create for them should mean to them.

We all know that the memories of every stage of our lives are critically important; from birth to toddler to school, becoming a graduating senior, to getting engaged, married, celebrating a family reunion or anniversary. Yet, how many of us find that our clients appear impervious to these descriptions? From what I learned today, I believe it isn’t because they don’t get it or don’t understand what we mean - it’s because they don’t attach a sense of urgency to it. They can always put it off until the spring, the fall or when “things” aren’t so busy. They know a portrait of their kids would be great to have, but life is too busy right now etc.

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Personal Zen dominic's wish, emotional photography, photography, rod evans

I encourage anyone working as a photographer to check out the new blog by Mr. Charles J. Lewis. I have been a student of Chuck’s now for about two years and have found his teachings to be solid and based soundly on proven experience. One thing is certain - I would not be in business as a photographer right now if it wasn’t for Chuck, and I know of many others who can say the same.

If you’re looking for information on the latest gear, the newest Photoshop tip or what f-stop to use, Mr. Lewis’ blog may not be for you… but, if you’re interested in the business of being a photographer, marketing & selling then I would advise you to hurry on over to http://www.cjlewis.com/blog/ as fast as your mouse will get you there…

Photography Business Ideas blog, charles lewis, education, marketing, professional photographer, selling

Unless you’ve been away on an extended expedition to another galaxy, you should be aware of the recent and rapid rise of social media networking – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Plaxo, MySpace and so on.

Everyone agrees that social media is the latest and greatest way to connect with our niche markets – following the adage “go where your customers are.” In contrast to traditional marketing methods, social networking is a method of directly engaging our market by contributing to the flow of conversation and sharing their lives.

For example, consider trying to market yourself at a cocktail party. How could you go about that? You might cruise the room, handing out brochures to everyone you see. Perhaps you could hang a huge banner on the wall, advertising your services. Or, you could engage your target market in real-time by listening to the conversations and joining in with those that catch your interest or provide the best opportunity to make productive connections. In a social scenario, it’s pretty obvious which of these strategies would be the most effective.

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Sales & Marketing facebook, LinkedIn, marketing, networking, photography, social media, twitter