Big Town Marketing For A Small Town Business

The idea for this post came about because of a great question that was posted on the Photography Business & Marketing group on LinkedIn, which many of you know I administer. If you aren’t yet a member of this group, then I suggest you join and participate in some of the wonderful discussions.

The question I saw was this:

What do you do when your geographical location has tremendous [sociological] limitations for growing your business? What if you can’t move?

My answer turned out to be quite long, and there were also some comments that I think many people could benefit from, so here is the longer, slightly edited, version…

Marketing In A Small Town

I completely understand your predicament, and you aren’t the first or the last to feel that these things are an issue when it comes to developing a successful photography business in a small town.

The first thing I’ll say is that you have to forget about Wal-Mart – they are not your competition (at least not if you want to have a healthy business). There are people who will only invest in Wal-Mart-level photography in every town, and they’re always motivated solely by price and/or the quantity of prints etc.

Forget about them, they are not your clients.

Don’t Compete With Wal-Mart

As a small business owner, you cannot (and should not) compete with the likes of Wal-Mart. If you try, you’ll run yourself into the ground.

As for those folks who pick up a camera and think they can be photographers by undercutting everyone, well they believe there’s room for a photo business in your town, so why can’t you? Chances are, unlike you, they aren’t taking the time to learn the business of photography. Sadly, they will soon learn the realities of trying to run one, and will probably quit.

What you might not be aware of is the level of “churn” that exists in that sector of the market. Photographers rise up, they fail, they fall, and more rise up in their place, like weeds. It seems like they’re everywhere, but they’re mostly struggling and fighting with each other over the low end of the market. You don’t want that, I assume…

Forget about them, too, they are not your competition either.

Who Are You Really Competing With?

The only REAL competitor you have to worry about is yourself. If you aren’t careful, you can convince yourself that “it won’t work here“, “I can’t compete with these people“, “no one in this town will invest in photography“, “maybe it’s better in another town…” and so on…

The truth is that there are photographers thinking the exact same things in any town you might choose to move to. Even in the larger cities. But that’s a whole other issue, which has to do with photographers making up excuses for the things they know they should be doing, but aren’t.

So What Can You Do? Be Different!

The answer is that you’re going to have to carve out your own niche, and create a market for YOU and YOUR photography, which no one else can fill. Trust me when I say that there are going to be people in your town that will invest in you – if you make yourself and your work DIFFERENT, UNIQUE, and DESIRABLE.

Anyway, you can achieve many of those qualities by also adopting a specific style, focusing on a tight niche, and pricing your work with real value.

One of the key factors here, as well, is to know what it is that makes you different from all the other photographers in your area. This is a tricky thing to do for some, but it is critical to your success.

Remember yesterday’s post: “What Makes You Different? How To Make Your Clients Fall In Love With You“? Well, that’s what I’m talking about here, and you might want to check out the mini-coaching program mentioned in that post too, by the way.

Small Town Marketing Ideas

As for marketing ideas, that depends to some extent on what niche you want to focus on. However, here are some that you might try:

Launch a model search – babies, kids, seniors, brides, whatever you are going to focus on. Give them a free session, make it as fun as possible, and give them a credit towards finished prints. I don’t advise giving them free photos, and stay away from handing over free images on CD too. These models should become your ambassadors – treat them like Royalty, and give them an easy way to refer others to you, and reward them for it.

If you’re in the portrait or wedding business, then focus on emotion when it comes to your marketing. Make it all about them, and how the photography makes them feel or enhances their life.

Partner with a local charity, and host an open night at your home or studio. If it’s somewhere else, make sure your photography is decorating the place.

Donate sessions and/or credit toward print collections to silent auctions for charities and schools.

Find a locally-owned clothing store and ask them if they would like models to show off their clothes. Host a fashion show!

If you have a local theatre, then offer to take photographs of show cast members to display during productions.

Use social media as much as you can, and reward your fans for helping to promote your business.

Write a blog, and feature your clients. Make sure you have a mailing list, and that you send out regular newsletters.

Treat every client as though they’re part of your family, and always go the extra mile for them.

Be Proactive And Creative!

I cannot stress enough how much you need to be proactive and that you need to take the initiative. Get creative with your marketing, and be laser-focused with it. You live in a small town, which is a great thing – word of mouth will spread faster, trust will become contagious, and people will be referred to you from different sources, enhancing your brand message even further.

I know there’s a lot here, and you may already be doing some or all of these, but I thought I would put them out there for you nonetheless, since I don’t know where you’re exactly with your business.

I hope this helps a little, but please don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because you’re in a small town that you can’t make this work. Turn it around and make the small town factors work to your advantage.

Comments And Thoughts Please

This is a subject that many of you reading will have an opinion of and, more importantly, actual experience with. If you live in a small town, and have found ways to turn that to your advantage, please share your thoughts here. Alternatively, if you have any ideas at all that might help someone out there, please do likewise.

Thanks for reading, and I wish you continued peace in your business.

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Sales & Marketing local competition, photography business, photography marketing, small town