In celebration/reflection of my first year in business I have been jotting down some of the lessons/ideas I would tell a photographer who either just started or is considering starting a independent photography business. If you didn’t get a chance to check out the first post about our basic values click here. Today’s post is more about the everyday ins-and-outs. Hopefully you will find some of it helpful…if not, formulate your own and make it work for your business.
These are some more specific things I do to try and stand out from the crowd of other photographers that are out there:
Return your emails/phone calls fast! I hesitate to make this claim because it’s a little outrageous but…I think this is the single biggest factor in booking a family session or getting a wedding couple meeting. Here’s why: there are TONS of photographers out there and with a bad economy and improving, less expensive technology there are only going to be more. What this business and so many others lack is people who believe in “over and above” service. With something as simple as an email or phone call you have the ability to show a potential client that you will make extra effort to meet their needs. The best part is you can do it with your first interaction! At my initial bride/groom meetings I ask them why they chose to meet with me over the other photographers they contacted. Pretty often one of the answers I get is, “Because you emailed us back and set up a meeting with us before most of the other photographers ever even responded.” Wow. That communicates volumes to two people who are planning the most important day of their life.
Use social media. It feels like everyone has a Facebook page, right? I know there are those few that are still boycotting but for the most part EVERYONE has a Facebook page. When you are trying to brand yourself (and you should be, it’s the only way to truly be different) what better way to show people the real you than by letting them into your real world…i.e. Facebook, MySpace or whatever other social media you use. I make lists of brides, grooms, families, vendors, other photographers, etc, etc and I check up on them and comment regularly. I don’t do it as some kind of business ploy, I do it because I want to know them better and FB allows me to do that. I also have a Twitter account which I use primarily for learning from other photographers and connecting with other vendors around town. You would not believe the number of face to face meetings I have had with local vendors because I introduced myself to them on Twitter first. I think the one lesson that should go without saying, but I will say it anyways, is “Don’t be a stalker!” Nobody likes a social media stalker, especially wedding planners, venue coordinators, etc.
Learn what you aren’t good at and outsource it today. The word “outsource” has received a bad wrap lately because we associate it with jobs going to other countries and shoddy customer service. That’s not what I am talking about. When I started my business I knew that I could never keep up with things like online proofing, album creation, print delivery, etc. I am not a very good details guy. I hate “to do” lists and numbers and tax laws and building websites and all the things that are such a huge part of building a photography business. The best decision I ever made was to outsource my website to Photobiz and the proofing/print/album side of my business to a company called Pictage. (Before you think or ask, I’m not paid by them to say any of this.) Photobiz allowed me to have a professional looking website with only 10-15 hours worth of work. Pictage allowed me to present images and products to my clients with building and e-commerce site, finding vendors capable of creating products I believed in or any of the other million things that go into providing products for clients. The cool thing is I bet that the first few portrait clients I had would have had no idea that I had not been in business very long if I hadn’t told them during our sessions. I signed up for both the day I started the business because I knew that I needed them. This is not to say that you need them…but I bet there is something you aren’t good at. Find a company, person or whatever to outsource your weaknesses to and you will be soooooo much happier!
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