Planning Your Marketing Strategy for The New Year

It is the New Year and time to plan your marketing strategy for the next 12 months. With the economy still slumping, the need to plan a sound strategy is important. Customers have slashed budgets and maybe you have to, but the photographer whose entire effort is waiting for the phone to ring will probably be waiting awhile. An occasional direct mail promotional piece still works and is effective in branding and keeping your name out there, but there are plenty of ways to aggressively market with a low cost or non-existent budget.

Develop a plan and write it down. It is too broad to simply write “make more sales.” That is obvious. Rather, how do you plan to make more sales and get more assignments? Write down your ideas and organize them into logical steps with a plan of action. What steps will you do each month, each week, and each day? These ideas require their own steps of action and the more thoroughly you list those steps the easier to follow through.  They should include where you are now, where you want to be, and the strategy you will use to get there. … Continue Reading

Are You Grabbing Attention With Your Marketing?

I drive down a busy two lane highway several times a week and as I approach the small Central Oregon town of LaPine, I often find myself letting off the gas or hitting the breaks due to something that I saw out of the corner of my eye.

Something grabbed my attention interrupting my day dreaming and even though I have seen this thing many times, it still causes a knee jerk reaction to slow down or brake.

It is an old cop car! A black and white police-mobile with no lights or signage anymore, but that distinctive black car with white doors. It has faked me out many times and it is because the owner of a small business located there moves it around to different spots, partially hiding it behind his products, building, or other vehicles, knowing full well it causes people to slow down and look. … Continue Reading

Business Sucks! So What Are You Going To Do About It?

I think it is fair to say the business sucks in professional photography these days. I know a lot of photographers out there and generally those I chat with mention that they are busy trying to make money.

You know how it works; while one might be really slow this month, someone else is having a busy month. Next month or soon thereafter the situation will be reversed, but I think it is fair to say that “it aint like it used to be.”

So what are you gonna do about it? … Continue Reading

Adventure Photographer Mike Tittel’s New Portfolio Brings in the Work

Mike Tittel is an adventure sports photographer from Utah with an impressive resume of client projects and adventures. Mike recently created a visually stunning new portfolio and then hit the road to show his wares to art buyers and photo editors.

The response to his new portfolio has been a huge success, landing some assignments on the spot and proving that the printed portfolio and personal meeting is still one of the strongest ways to impress potential clients and earn new business.

We got in touch with Mike and asked if he would share the process, from concept to completion, on how he went about creating his new portfolio.

Hi Mike. Your new portfolio book looks fabulous. Thanks for taking a moment describe for us the idea behind the book and tell us about your business and the goals you hope to reach with this portfolio?

I got my start shooting hardcore adventure based sports but lately have been shifting more and more into fitness and general active lifestyle type images. I shoot for a wide range of both editorial and commercial clients. Recently I have been shooting more commercial and advertising work. The goal with the new portfolio was to create a book that I not only felt proud showing but that also presented me and my vision in a clear, memorable way. Ultimately I wanted to leave an impression on those viewing it. … Continue Reading

Free Survey on Getting Photo Buyers Attention

It has been a month since Rob Haggart over at aPhotoeditor.com released his art buyer survey which you can download here.

Rob has some great experience in the publishing world, most notably as photo editors at Outside Magazine and Mens Journal. This experience and his professional resume allow him some nice access to other photo editor and art buyers.

Rob was generous enough to take the time to create and post this survey which benefits all photographers. You can examine the survey and download it as well as read his fabulous blog.

I wanted to take some time to review his survey and form my own opinion as to what the results mean. I selected a few of the questions that I felt were the most important and have commented on them below. … Continue Reading

What Do Photo Buyers Think? A New Report Released

Have you ever wondered just what photo buyers think? If not you should be. Photo buyers are your bread and butter, your meal ticket, and are the key to the success of your outdoor and nature photography business.

Mikael Karlsson in association with Photosource International has just released his new eBook/survey on just what photo buyers think, about many different things related to working with stock photographers.

• The key to successful marketing is to know and understand the needs of your target audience. In this fast paced world of ours knowing the needs of your potential clients isn’t always enough. You must know enough about your marketing  targets to get them to look at your promotional materials in the first place. … Continue Reading

Answering the Question: How to Get Started

I often visit other photography blogs to see what others are talking about and asking as far as advice and opinions. The following question regarding marketing and finding clients was posted recently on one forum and as i wrote, I threw in my two cents and thought it would make for a good post.

“I would like to ask if anyone has experience in direct marketing of your photography business. Or more appropriately what have your experiences been. The pros, cons, successes, mistakes.

I realize the information I am asking for is truly valuable and could only be collected through your own hard work, time and expense. So I truly would like to thank you for any information you would care to share.

This would include but not limited to: … Continue Reading

How I Customized a Stock Image for the Sports Injury Clinic

Once upon a time I was represented by a stock photo agency named Adventure Photo and Film. I did well with them and when Imagestate bought them my income plummeted to zero. Funny how that works! Or maybe not? APF was one of the old style agents who would send you lists of images requested that they could not fill, giving us an idea of what we should be shooting. Agents may still do that still but none I am represented by these days do.

One specific image they seemed to get requests for was people crashing on their mountain bikes. APF already had some images and I had seen other versions elsewhere. Some were well done and others looked hokey making you think “give me a break.” So I got to brainstorming to see what I could come up with for a good ‘crash on your bike image’.

I shot an image and later a client wanted it customized a little more and I thought that this could be something that photographers should consider if they weren’t already. Customizing images for specific clients. Obviously, it will not work for everything such as waterfalls and sunsets, but if you are shooting people in the outdoors you certainly could.

You can change the color of clothing or tent color, I have done that many times, or change elements within the scene to suit the client. I am not talking about moving the owl from the fence post to the tree branch where the image would be used editorially in a piece about owls, because as we all know that is a sensitive issue. Rather the point here is customizing an image for commercial use where the use has nothing to do with newsworthiness or authenticity of the subject. Here is how I did it. … Continue Reading

Are You a Specialist or Generalist?

Nature photography is extremely competitive and being a good photographer is not enough to guarantee success. You have to be an incredible photographer with good images, a good marketing plan, and a great business sense.

What do you love to shoot? Everything? I do this as well, in fact what’s better than wandering the wilds in search of that elusive and salable image. That is why many of us do what we do. Wander in peace and solitude through the wilds expending our creative energy. The journey is the destination!

… Continue Reading

How to Take Your Business on The Road

A couple years ago my cell phone rang and it was a client who had requested images a month before. I had emailed her three weeks later about usage fees she was calling now to discuss her budget. Within five minutes we had negotiated a fee that we were both satisfied with.

What made closing this sale interesting was that the client was “glad she caught me in the office,” since I am often traveling. What she didn’t know, however, is that I was actually out photographing on location at Oregon’s Crater Lake. Still, from my perspective, I was in my outdoor office creating images to license.

Balancing marketing and shooting can be a dilemma for outdoor photographers: How do you continue to create new images and maintain an office to market and sell the work? The success of your business hinges on both a regular flow of new imagery and selling that imagery. Here are some ideas on how you can take your business on the road. … Continue Reading