This is part one of a six part series of newsletters devoted to what it takes to have a successful photography business.

So let’s get right to it.

 Before I get into the first building block of a successful photography studio you have to do one thing. You have to determine in your own mind what success is. I know, I know, your saying UUGGGG , I’ve heard that so many times it’s boring. Get to the good stuff.

 I will, but believe me. if you don’t do this one thing first you will never have a successful studio.  You have to know where you’re going, what you’re working for, in order to plan a route to get there.

 So right now, write down, “Here’s What Success Means To Me, What Salary, How much vacation, Specializing in what kind of photography, How many employees, etc., etc.”  Be specific here. Don’t say I want to be rich. Put down an amount.

 Whatever you consider success is write it down, and remember it may change, and that’s OK, just write it down every time it changes in your mind.

 OK, if you have done that, you are now ready for success building block NUMBER ONE.

MARKETING

Marketing is the first thing you have to get a handle on when starting any kind of business. Too little, or poor marketing is the number one reason photography studios fail.

 It doesn’t make one thimble full of difference whether you are the finest photographer in the world or the worst, if no one knows about you.

 So, if you’re photography business is just getting off the ground get a marketing plan worked out now, (see your free bonus marketing planner) before you quit your day job, you need to get the phone ringing. If you are an old pro and the phone is not ringing as much as you need it to, then start your analysis of the problem by analyzing your marketing.

 Look at how much you’re doing, and what you're doing. If it’s old boring stuff chances are you are getting lost in all the advertising clutter and people are not even seeing you.

 When starting a photography business it is critically important to know what it is going to cost you to run your business. This is the purpose of your chart of accounts. Where you list all your expenses.

 One of those expenses is going to be marketing. The theory is, If you are a start up business you will have to devote more dollars and time to marketing than if you have been in business for a few years. In real life though I have found that to not be the case. Clients are easily bored. They are always looking for someone and something new. So you really have to keep pumping out the information or some new photographer comes along with a cheap promotion and boom, all your clients are going to him. After you go through the rest of this newsletter you should have a pretty good idea of what you want your marketing to accomplish for you and the tools you will need.

 Next you will need to take some time and get estimates on how much it is going to cost you to create and implement these tools. If this turns out to be a lot more than you think (which is usually the case) you may need to keep your regular job longer than you had planned to help you cover these expenses until your studio takes off.

 I know a very accomplished photographer in the Dallas, Texas area who owns and runs an incredible Wedding studio. He earns a ton of money every year, and rightly so because his work is terrific. But here’s the point. Even though he owns the land and the building in a very high price real estate area he still kept his day job of working for the Post Office until he retired from that position with a full pension. I asked him WHY? He said security.

 A very prominent photographer friend of mine told me about when he opened his studio. First He put all the costs together. Then he kept his full time job as a teacher for several years until his photography business was making enough money so he could match his teacher’s salary. Then he got a small business loan to pay for designing his studio. It took him six years to pay off that loan. So don’t feel bad if you can’t jump in full time right away, or if you have to supplement your studio income with another job.

 There is one huge benefit to this. That is, almost every time you talk to a client it is going to be a negotiation. This being the case you don’t ever want to be in the position where you have to cave to the prospects demands. You always have to be able to walk. It’s the first rule of negotiation. If you always have to cave because you are desperate for the money you will always be on the bottom of the pricing ladder.

 Now let’s take a look at what you should be getting from your marketing.

 Here’s what I want to get from my marketing. You may want other things.

 Name recognition. I want my marketing to make my studio a household word in the minds of those who I want to do business with.

1. Establish me as the authority, a specialist, top expert, at what I do. Remember it is always the specialist who gets the most money for what he does. Not the general practitioner.
2. Educate those that I want to do business with that they will be safe, taken care of by me. That if they go to someone else they are doing so at their own risk.
3. Educate my target market about why they should choose me to do their photography over every other photographer in the area. That what I bring to the table in service, creativity, and peace-of-mind far outweighs what I charge for my work, and that If there is a problem I will take care of it immediately and cheerfully. Working with me will be hassle free.

 Now let’s take a look at the tools we have available to us. You should be developing and using each of these tools, not just one or two.

TV, Snail mail, Email, Internet Including Social Media and Video. Exhibits all over your community.

 You may only be able to pick one in the beginning but ultimately you will want to develop and use all of them. A note to everyone. Many encourage photographers to stay away from TV because it is perceived as being too expensive. But you might want to rethink this. Here’s why. Photography, is a luxury item that depends on a great deal of emotion to motivate people to invest in it. There is nothing more powerful than images, music and words to motivate people’s emotions. TV offers all of this. But, of course, a commercial screaming 237 photographs for $9.95 isn’t going to cut it. A case in point are the commercials by a famous female singer on behalf of homeless and battered little animals. Just the thought of those commercials bring tears to my eyes at their plight and make me reach into my pocket and donate. That’s the kind of advertising we need to be using.

There is another aspect to this commercial that makes it so powerful. It is highly targeted. It is going straight to the heart of those who love their pets and who also feel bad about the plight of little homeless animals.

That's the way our advertising has to be. aimed right at the heart of those who would most appreciate it.

 Today’s smart marketer is figuring out how to incorporate video in their email marketing.

 Next is your literature, brochures and promotional pieces. These all need to be designed with your target market in mind. If you are going after a high end buyer don’t think you can get away with printing on plain old laser paper tri-folding it and mailing it.

 There are two things at work here. One, your message must be persuasive and build an emotional desire to want to own your product and Two, it has to be visually appropriate to the people you want as clients.

1. Public relations. Are you doing things that are worthy of telling your community about. You should be. So, make sure and let all the local media know so they can help spread the word.  You should be speaking at all of the organizations in your town. You should have a dozen or more special reports that can be published to everyone on your mailing list. And released to media.

 Personal Contact. Use your local chamber of commerce to attend ribbon cuttings and other events so you can meet people face to face.

 Internet, This is huge for the professional photographer. Your Web Site, making use of social media. Offering free webinars. Have a series of free reports that you can use to capture email addresses through a squeeze page.

 This is a very solid starting outline of what your marketing should look like. Of course, there are much more in depth items that need to be gone into and we do that on the forum, webinars and telephone seminars that we host each month. So why not sign up now.

 Next time I’ll be laying out a program for the second most important building block SALES.

 See ya then.

 Greg