Continuity Marketing – Getting rid of the peaks and valleys!
There seem to be two trains of thought out there in developing your photography business. We’ve got one school that believes you should develop your core strength and stay focused (pun intented) on that application. In other words, if you’re a wedding photographer, stay focused on growing your wedding business. If you’re a commercial shooter, stay on top of your marketing efforts to commercial targets, etc.
Personally, I’m in the second school of thought and it’s about diversity, but with a logical connection to your core business. You should never stop working to build the main concentration of your business, but there are some terrific opportunities out there that are too often missed. For you non-wedding photographers, my apologies this morning, but weddings make the easiest example for “Continuity Marketing”.
Continuity Marketing is nothing more than a ten dollar word for finding new products to sell to your existing customer base. Camera manufacturers have been doing it for years. Once you’ve bought the camera body, there’s a long list of lenses and accessories you’ll need to keep building your stash of gear. Seasonal sales, special kits and rebates are just a few of the tools they use to get you thinking about adding more to your equipment list.
Well, switch applications and think of a wedding the same way. If you did a great job on the wedding then why not be there for all the other important events? If the bride and groom loved your work a few years ago, why not contact them today and remind them your second greatest love in photography is babies?
Let’s assume you’ve been a wedding photographer for the last five years. Between brides, a few bride’s maids and the families you probably have a couple hundred names and addresses in your data base. Unless you really screwed up their wedding album, these people know you, they know your work and the trust level with potential clients is already established.
There’s a great line that goes – screw up a portrait shoot and you can always re-shoot it, but mess up a wedding and you need to leave town! So, assuming all of you have lived in the same location for the last few years, then think about the winter slow season, with only a month left, and do a mailing to your past brides and their mothers.
Why is Mom in the mailing as well ? Because women make an estimated 98% of the purchase decisions when it comes to professional photography for children, family, pets and weddings. Very few people are thinking about photography right now, so you’ve got the spotlight all to yourself.
Dear _______:
I hope this letter finds you and your family doing well. I really enjoyed meeting your family and friends at the wedding and find it hard to believe it’s been ___ years since I saw all of you.
I know you’re familiar with my wedding work, but I’m not sure you realize my second love in photography is photographing families, especially children on location. There’s a wonderful look and feel to portraits of kids when they’re photographed in their own environment with their favorite toys, pets or friends. Plus, I’ve just added a whole new line of frames and albums that are perfect for displaying family portraits.
Now, add in a special offer that’s running for the next 30-45 days and close with all the warmth and gratitude you displayed when you delivered their album. And, if you don’t like my approach, that’s fine, write something else, but the key here is to take advantage of the slowness of winter and create some business opportunities that might help even out the peaks and valleys!
Slightly modifying a quote from Robert G. Allen, author of “The One Minute Millionaire”…
No matter what your product is, you are ultimately in the education business. Your customers need to be constantly educated about the many advantages of doing business with you…and taught how you can make never-ending improvements in their lives.
“Think About What Everyone Else is Doing and Do Something Different!”
Being Effective at a Trade Show, Bridal Show…ANY show!
How2 Series: Doing Low Key Portraits of Kids by Doug Gordon
How2Series: The First Five Basics To Giving Up Business
2011 Summer School Profile: Your Selling Strategy Part I by Joy and Jules
This post has 8 comments
February 25th, 2010
Good advice Skip. Love reading your stuff.
February 25th, 2010
Thanks Donna – it’s a labor of love every morning!
February 25th, 2010
love this advice. i needed to be reminded to remind
February 25th, 2010
This is a fantastic post. Thanks for sharing.
February 25th, 2010
Skip, love your blog. Lots of useful, concrete ideas. Thanks and keep it coming!
February 25th, 2010
Thank you for your opinion on this but I disagree.
When I first started out it was common for most photographers to do a variety of different types of photography. I did a little of it all, some portraits, some weddings, some commercial, some advertising, some fashion…basically anything that came my way I did. This was acceptable every other photographer did too.
The problem with that was that none of us really excelled at one area or another because we were spreading ourselves thin instead of focusing on what we loved and working at improving it.
The biggest problem now is that with the digital age of photography being a photographer is more accessible to much more people. There are literally hundreds of photographers here in my market…yikes!! That is scary stuff because while I can reassure myself that they are years behind me the truth is that the ones who are dedicated and work hard can realistically be my competition in only a matter of a couple of years. The biggest advantage I have over them is the fact that I have specialized to an extreme. I have defined my “niche”. I am known for what I do because of this. I am the baby photographer. I would lose that reputation if I went back to shooting weddings.
Do you really want to see all the portrait photographers out there start shooting weddings to fill their schedules?
February 26th, 2010
Danna:
I totally understand your point, but I guess the challenge is survival in a tough economy. All of the photographic specialties have been merging and we’re not going to slow down technology. In fact, it’s only a matter of time, with high def video, until a videographer, with incredible editing skills, wins “Album of the Year”.
So the challenge becomes how do you continue to fuel your passion for photography, but still put food on the table? It’s not an easy challenge, but those photographers who are surviving the best right now are diverse.
Clay Blackmore, years ago, started photographing PGA tournaments, even though his core business was weddings and portraits. Andy Marcus, several years back, told me that high end parties in the Hamptons had created a new business segment for his studie. Bambi Cantrell, whose business used to be 95% weddings, is now 50% with the other half being children, family, a few seniors and even a little commercial work. And, she’s experimenting and developing some exquisite fine art work. Calvin Hayes did some terrific table top food photography. The list goes on and on, but none of these people have given up their core business or moved their focus away from their primary passion.
Check out a story that I wrote for PDN recently on diversity featuring Dawn Shields, Jonathan Canlas and Vicki Taufer. Each one, diversified in their business, but still focusing on a core specialty. http://bit.ly/8SNaxv
I’m not suggesting anybody give up their strengths or their passion for wedding photography, portraiture etc, just diversify enough so you don’t have to say “sorry, I don’t do that kind of photography!” when a potential client asks.
We’re living a real time anecdotal story like “Who Moved My Cheese” and there are a lot of photographers who need to at least look for new cheese.
February 9th, 2011
Thanks for the tips! My mom’s been using the same photographer for our family photography all this time, and I think I’ll use the same person for my wedding.