The dreaded word…MARKETING. I swear I feel like I need to hire someone to JUST do that. That alone seems like a full time job. If you happened to catch the video with Heather and I on the Facebook Flourish Academy page (episode 69), we talked about the best way to get clients. We agreed that referrals are the best way to get clients. I even took it a step further as to say… if you can get a photographer to hire you, thats EVEN better.
I wanted to expand a little bit a give you a few techniques that you can start on today for little or no cost. I have done all of these and I am telling you, it works!
1) ask another local photographer (that maybe isn’t seen as a competitor) to let you do pictures for free or discounted rate. Make sure they are good at giving credit, tagging you and that they already love your work. Be upfront as to why you are doing this. You’ll get new referrals all day.
2) For your best clients, treat them like the gold. This really is the foundation of my business. I have to be connected to my clients because I am such an emotional shooter so I need to really get in there and get to know them. They almost always become friends so naturally I want to treat them as such. For the clients who are devoted to you and the ones that are constantly refer you, I go a step further. I will give a little something extra to them as a way to say thanks. That could be a gift card, a print, an extra 30 minutes of shooting time, If you know your client, you should know what types of things they will appreciate. When you go above and beyond to create a unique experience for your clients, they’ll be happy to recommend you when they know someone is looking for a photographer.
3) I don’t care how established you are as a photographer, how much money you make or how many years you’ve been in business… if you aren’t doing portfolio building sessions then you are doing a huge disservice to yourself. Photography is an art and if you don’t do passion projects (you get to decide who to shoot, what to shoot, what they should wear etc etc) then you’re not growing as an artist. When you aren’t being paid for something and you have full creative freedom and your best work happens. And guess what, You start to attract clients that love the same things you do and want the types of session you are creating.
4) My least favorite but necessary evil… show your work by blogging. Sessions are a story and potential clients need to see the whole story not just one photo to fully understand what a session looks like for you. Everyone can take one fantastic photo a session but to have a whole series of it is really important for people to see….what is the full artist vision of the session. My photos definitely show better in a collection then as a stand alone image.
Hope these tips help and please feel to leave me questions! I’d love to talk to you more able any marketing struggles that you may be facing!
Make it a great day! xo, Taryn
