Welcome to 2011 and a very Happy New Year to you, wherever you may be! I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating the end of 2010 and that you have a very prosperous year ahead of you in the professional photography business.
It’s A Brand New Year
As we begin a new year in business, many of us are thinking in terms of renewal:
- It’s a new year!
- We get to restart the financial clock
- Goals can be set for the next 12 months
- New resolutions can be promised and (hopefully) kept
- Anticipation builds over what lies in store for us
- We look back on 2010 and know absolutely that we can do better
Of course, we felt just the same way on January 1st 2010, full of hope for a great year ahead, but for many of us that vision was soon replaced by the reality check of struggle and difficult business challenges that filled the year…
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Sales & Marketing
photography, photography marketing
Groupon – A Cheesy Deal For Photographers?
If you haven’t already heard of Groupon, chances are you will. Boasting astonishing growth, they were recently noted as being the fastest company in history to reach a valuation of $1 billion (see this report at Forbes.com).
The Groupon concept is simple (like most success stories); offer one great deal per day in each city that spotlights one business for 24 hours. This is very attractive for the consumer, because it caters to the never-ending search for a good deal and a bargain. It’s also very tempting for the business owner who is attracted by the idea of attracting new customers they might not otherwise reach. Groupon efficiently handles almost everything; crafting the offer, marketing and handling the sales.
The benefit to the consumer is obvious, with no downside; they get cheap deals on just about anything you can think of on a daily basis. But how effective is Groupon for the business? A run of new clients sounds great, but are there hidden dangers lurking in this outwardly sweet-looking deal?
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Sales & Marketing
coupon, discounting, groupon, online coupons, photographer, photography
SEO For Photographers – The Value Of Inbound Links
Most of you reading this who have a photography web site understand the importance of inbound links when it comes to SEO, and having your own site rank higher in the search engines. The more links we have pointing to us, the better (generally speaking).
I’m sure you also realize that some links are better than others and we’re always looking for “quality links”; that is, links from well-ranked, trusted and respectable sites that are relevant to our own business.
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Photography Website SEO
facebook, marketing, photography, social media, twitter, web site
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
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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facebook, LinkedIn, marketing, networking, photography, social media, twitter
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