7 Top Marketing Tips for Photographers

If you are thinking of running your own photography business there's one thing you'll need above all else - customers.

Here's 7 tips to help you make to build up your customer base and most importantly keep a hold of them so they'll buy off you time and time again.

1. You'll never know what you've got until you measure it. This is simple and works for any business - how can you know howwell your doing unless you set yourself goals and something to measure your performance against? For example, you might target three newclients a week, $600 a week turnover or 10 new prospects per month.
   
   This is the most important aspect of marketing measure it, track it and evaluate it - if it's not working bin it. Every client should be asked the question - "Where did you hear about (name of business)?" If you don't ask the question your probably wasting a small fortune in
   ineffective marketing.
   
   
2. Reward loyalty. We all want customers who continue to buy from us but why should they. Build your customers loyalty and you'll reap the rewards. You could set up a membership
   program so that for a small fee e.g. $20 your clients get a 10% discount on all of their prints, or they get a free small print when they buy a larger print. You don't want to make money from this you want your customers to feel valued so make sure your offer is of real
   value because the loyalty you can foster by treating your customer well could be worth thousands to your business in the future.
   
   
3. Ask for referrals. There is nothing wrong with this but so many companies are afraid of doing it. Ask the question - "Do you know of any one else who would enjoy this service?". If you get referrals from this then reward them, a simple thank you card or a bottle of wine can work wonders here. Let your customers know that you care and that you value
   them.
   
   
4. Incorporate an aftercare service. If a customers has bought from you, whether it be for a family portrait, a wedding or even some photos for ebay you should always follow up. This can be as simpleas a phone call (not email it's too impersonal) checking that they were
   happy with the service. Again your customers will feel valued and you may even pick up some extra referrals and surplus sales.
   
   
5. Find a niche. Let's be honest there are a lot of photographers out there. If you can find a niche you have a much better chance of surviving in a competitive environment. For example you could specialize in pet portraits, real estate photos, sports shots, cars - whatever. The more you can devleop a niche the easier it gets to market. Imagine you take
   some photos of classic cars, all of a sudden you can directly market to classic car owners clubs and highlight your specialist skills and experience opening up a brand new market. If you try to market to everyone you'll reach no one but exploiting your niche will reap
   rewards.
   
   
6. Make your own news. A great way to get free publicity is to make your business newsworthy. You could do a charity event -offer to photograph 100 dogs and their owners in one day - all profits to go to a pet charity, offer free photography lessons to local kids,
   make a portfolio of your neighbourhood and submit it to the local press. Basically anything you can do to make your business interesting will result in free advertising the more outlandish the better!
   
   
7. Work with others. Network - make friends with local web designers, pr professionals, writers and graphic designers - these are all people who need photos on a regular basis. Introduce yourself take them out for lunch, build a relationship and watch the referrals come flooding in. A decent network can negate the need to directly advertise and can save
   you a fortune - you might make a few friends too.

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