Clients choose a photographer based on two main reasons: they like the photographer’s work, and they like the photographer’s demeanor. However, these initial reactions can be diminished if a client has a bad experience before, during, and after a photo shoot. The best way to create a positive experience with every client is to have professional standards by which your business is run. From my own practice, mistakes, and peer advice, here is a list of 8 vital ways to ensure “professional” is part of your title as a photographer. Note that none of these items have to do with image style, posing, or creative lighting, so they are all very simple to master right away! 1. Dress Professionally When a family or a couple
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Are you taking full advantage of your guest list?
First, I’ll start off with a confession. My name is Emily and sometimes I shoot and burn. Anyone else out there with me on this one? I know, I know, its not easy to admit in this community, but I know a ton of photographers do it. Why do I sometimes shoot and burn? Honestly sometimes after dealing with all that comes along with selling and processing an Emily Photo wedding package, it’s nice to do a 2-hour shoot, burn a disk and be done. Done in just a few hours, ahhh doesn’t that sound great? For me, this model doesn’t make sense for my wedding or portrait clients, but for a child’s birthday or anniversary party, it works great! I’ve been booking more and
Where have all the clients gone?
In one of my recent posts here on the Pictage Blog I wrote about some core things that I think new photographers should know. One of the suggestions seemed to resonate with a good number of people – both in the comments, and in conversations I’ve had since. Since it seemed to be something that a good number of people struggle with, I thought I’d go a little deeper here. First, here’s what I wrote: Finding clients isn’t that hard. Waiting for them to find you is. A lot has changed in the last few years. People keep talking about how the economy has effected everyone’s business. I’m sure it has, but what I’ve noticed is that there are two types of photography business right now:
Friday News Round Up
Here is your Friday News Round Up, a group of useful blog posts that we have read and enjoyed throughout this week. We think they might be worth the read for you on this Friday afternoon or throughout the weekend. So take a second, get comfortable, get a cup of coffee, grab your favorite Apple product, and enjoy these articles from out in the photography community and beyond. Enjoy! Going Pro 2010- “Balancing Your Market: What’s the Best Mix?” Chris Brogan- “Your Blog is Not Your Job” Mashable- “Google Testing New Ad Format for Boosting Twitter Followers” ProBlogger- “The Win-Win Scenario: Holding Successful Blog Contests” Seth Godin- “16 Questions for Free Agents”
Lifestyle Photography Part Two: Client Relationships
Real life is beautiful. I believe wholeheartedly in this philosophy, and after reading my last article in this series, you may acknowledge the idea… but does the average consumer embrace this concept? When an expecting mother decides that it is time to cross the “hire a photographer” task off of her “to-do before the baby arrives” list, does she immediately think, “Ooooh! I know… I’ll have a photographer come to my house and document our real lives!” Probably not. It’s very possible that this mother has never been exposed to the idea of Lifestyle Baby Photography, and even if she has, she’s probably plagued with doubts about it, rather than excitement. “Our house isn’t nearly as nice as the one on that photographer’s site.” “I’ll
The “D” Word: Selling High Res DVDs
Other than selective color and the dutch tilt, The “D” word (DVD) has to be one of the most polarizing topics for photographers in the last 5 years. In a world where we as photographers work so hard to balance and maintain a high level of quality control while maximizing effective business principles, you must be very strategic about the way in which you decide to deliver high resolution files to your clients. While you have the ability to increase your revenue per event by $400-800, one wrong move can put 30 by 40 inches of garbage on your client’s wall. To that end, I’d like to walk you through a few things our studio has succeeded in doing, maximizing client satisfaction, profit, and quality
Top Ten Ways to Increase Boudoir Sales
1. Make it Meaningful Keep in mind that you aren’t just taking pictures — you are creating how your client wants to be remembered… and the more you nail that, the more she’ll love it, the more she’ll value it, and the more she’ll want to pay for it. Customize each shoot so that it is unique and full of personal details and emotional elements that will be meaningful to her. You can start during the first phone call by asking questions like “What do you love about yourself, your body? What do you think is sexy? What are some of your favorite things that make you happy? What does your husband love about you?” etc. and use all of those personal details to create
Have We Met?
Who is your ideal client? Have you ever met them? Would you even know if you had – have you ever sat down and defined your ideal client? Do you know what they’re like? Do you know where they shop, where they spend their money, what they like to eat, where they like to vacation, and what kind of car they drive? “People willing to spend a lot of money on photography,” isn’t very helpful as a target. It’s an exercise with a lot of value to your business, and it’s one I strongly encourage you to consider spending some time on. Here’s why: 1. Focus clarifies. Putting it into words is useful because it helps you to quantify the type of clients you’re hoping
Educating Your Clients Creates a Bond of Trust – Jared Platt
Why is it so important to educate your clients and create bonds of trust? In this blog post, Pictage member and Phoenix Wedding Photographer, Jared Platt answers this question and gives three helpful tips to doing just that. Check out more posts by Jared here on the Pictage Blog and also get more information about his upcoming workshop tour coming to a city near you on our worthy workshops page. From Jared: I have a crazy notion that I would like to present to you today. There is a reason that people hire a professional photographer to shoot their weddings and portraits and other events, rather than having uncle Bob take the photos. If you think extremely hard you might come up with that reason
Ask & Learn Wednesday with Me Ra Koh & Brian Tausend
Session Topic: Photo Coaching What does the $2K wedding photography package have in common with a $20K package? The answer: At some point the bride looks at the photographer and says, “Now what do you want me to do?” If you have ever been faced this question and felt your mind go blank, this session is for you. Me Ra and Brian will demonstrate and teach the different strategies they use as they Photo Coach their clients into a place of being able to relax in front of the camera. Learn how their use humor, reflection, and props to help evoke their client’s natural beauty and capture the story of their wedding day. Bio: Brian and Me Ra lead a creative team of associate photographers