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
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Running Your Own Race – Three tips for being a Lovemark
Of all the people to give you an analogy about running, trust me you would think I would be the last. Because, quite simply put: I. hate. running. Absolutely hate it. Loathe it to be more precise. In fact, about the only thing that I hate worse than running is happy runners. I mean honestly, what are they smiling about? But. I digress. Because I am about to lay a running analogy on you. Smack down style. And I think it’s something we all (myself very much included) need to hear. Flash back three and a half years ago to when Justin & I were first deciding to go full time with this business. Law firm offers were turned down, student loans were deferred, and
Sales is NOT a dirty word!
This past weekend my husband and I went shopping for a chandelier for our living room, a belated birthday present for me. Now first let me premise this with the fact I have never been in the market for a chandelier before. We see this as a luxury item (only to be purchased once we completed our emergency fund!) and had a specific budget in mind. We knew we were not happy with the cheap imitation ones sold at Lowes and Home Depot for $100, but we did not want to spend over $500 on an extra- large elaborate one either. After countless internet searches, and trips to locals stores, we finally turned to friends and family for recommendations. On the recommendation of his mother,
Friday News Round Up
Here is your Friday News Round Up, a group of useful blog posts that we have read throughout this week that 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. Also included at the bottom of this post are links to the posts that we have had on the Pictage Blog this week, just in case you missed them. Enjoy! From the Community Camera Dojo- “Photoshop CS5’s Lesser Known Enhancements” Photoshelter- “Your Photography Blog Ain’t No Online Journal” A Photo Editor- “iPad- Magazine Savior, Portfolio Replacement or a Complete Waste of
How Do I Price Myself?
One of the topics that we get asked most about (and I mean most by a long shot) relates to how folks should price themselves in their photography business. It’s hard to give solid advice in a one-size-fits-all sort of way because everybody is so different and every photographer operates a different business – different goals, different struggles, different dreams. So instead of spending time today talking about percentages, costs, and markups, I thought it would be helpful to instead talk about the “whys” behind pricing, and then leave you with some links to some of the “hows” as far as numbers go. Sound good? Note: this is going to be a bit of a long post – but that’s because there’s a lot to
Pictage Podcast – Simon Anderson
This week on the podcast Sara heads to the Pictage headquarters for a conversation with Chief Marketing Officer, Simon Anderson. Simon shares tips on innovative ways for photographers to maximize their profits and provides specific ideas and suggestions on: Creating customized pricing and packages Unique approaches to build business through referrals Maximizing the value and usage of your blog, slideshows and online marketing channels The nuances of up-selling and more…. Simon also shares details about new and upcoming Pictage products and services, including future integration with other online platforms. Powered by Podbean.com
The Business of Branding: 9 Things to Know Before Designing Your Logo
The Business of Branding: 9 Things To Know Before Designing Your Logo Design magnate Steven Gilliatt said “[A logo] should look just as good in 15-foot letters on top of company headquarters as it does one sixteenth of an inch tall on company stationery.” A logo or logotype as it is often called is defined as a graphic representation or symbol of a company name, trademark, abbreviation, etc., uniquely designed for ready recognition. In other words it is the color, font, the gives an instant impact and an overall feeling of who you are as a photography business. But before you put pencil to paper, or hire a designer to do the same, there are a few requirements you should have to your logo. 1)
The Business of Branding: Dare to Be Different
Before you think about creating your brand image, designing your logo, ordering some uber fancy business cards…think about how you can distinguish yourself from your competition. In Seth Godin’s Purple Cow, he tells a story about Herman Miller and how the Aeron Chair redefined the office chair. The Aeron Chair not only looked different, it felt great and cost 7-10 times the price of the standard office chair. That’s a big risk, in a very safe market, but their risk paid off. The Aeron Chair came to symbolize success, owning one meant you had arrived. I knew a creative director at a major advertising agency in New York who had an Aeron Chair written into his contract. When he left the company as per his
Photography business chat with Mike Adrian
We’re so happy with and thankful for the video content that we got while at WPPI this past week and can’t wait to share them all with you! This first interview is with Mike Adrian, Hawaii based Wedding Photographer and Hawaii PUG Leader. In this interview he talks about how he has grown his business so fast and shares tips for new and developing photographers. Please note: Some of our WPPI videos were recorded live and run from about 10-20 minutes, but have some great tips and tricks to help photographers. We suggest you take a seat, relax, and enjoy!
Senior Portraits For Your Photography Business
I absolutely love senior sessions, or what we like to call “Graduate Sessions”. I seize the opportunity to work with young, fashionable high school seniors and implement some of my more creative/crazy ideas with them. Most of all, because I know they want to be set apart. At this age they want their photos to be different-maybe even a tad better than their friends. So we find that seniors seek us out to accomplish this for them. Not only that, but they want products that are different and creative. This is very exciting for me, because I love coming up with new product lines to offer to our graduate clients! I approach each one of my photography sessions as an opportunity to build trust with