I worked directly with Lori Nordstrom for the first time three years ago on the Young Guns program, kicking off WPPI.   She’s a terrific photographer and instructor.  Her website alone demonstrates everything I’ve been talking about and even lays it out on her home page in chronological order: “Expecting, Brand New, Children, Seniors and Wedding”.  There it is, the perfect example of yesterday’s blog on Continuity Marketing and diversity with a logical purpose.

If you’ve taken one of Lori’s programs you know the only thing more impressive than her images is her enthusiasm and passion for photography.   Oops, there’s one more impressive quality – she’s a marketing machine, but all done with incredible common sense, utilizing one of the largest staffs in the photographic industry – her clients!   Check out the ideas she’s sharing in today’s blog on “No Cost Marketing”.

lori5xWe are all marketing all of the time or at least we should be!  YOU are your business and why people choose to use your business over another.  Remember this when out and about.  Learn to recognize your target client and strike up a conversation.  This is powerful marketing!  There are many other things we can do to market our businesses that we may not be taking advantage of.

We all know that it takes more to gain a new client than it does to keep an existing client.  What are you doing to stay in touch and in front of your clients?  What things are you building into your workflow to keep your studio name “out there” and in front of the right people – people who already love you and your work?

Newsletter

Keep your newsletter to one or two great ideas.  If you are emailing it out, remember that people are very busy and don’t want to look through a bunch of fluff.  Keep the newsletter simple, with links to your blog or areas on your website if they want to read more.  

Blog

Blogs are a great way to get a bit more personal and let your clients know what’s going on in your world.  When you add a new client to your blog, be sure to send them a link and encourage their friends and family to take a peek.  This gets your client marketing for you!  We email our client a “blog card” with an image and link to the blog.  We encourage our clients to forward this to their friends, and many tell us they have sent it to their entire email database! 

Website

Take the blog card idea a step further and send your clients an email anytime you change your website and it includes one of their images.  Send them something designed, with your info on it and a link to your website telling them to check out their image.  Don’t forget to encourage them to forward to their friends!

Hand-Written Notes

A hand-written note is a lost art!  I know how I feel when someone writes a sweet note to me and it comes in the mail!  I especially always loved when my kids would get mail and watching them get so excited!  This led me to putting note writing right into my workflow.  Our clients get notes after the first phone call, after the session, after the design appointment (sale), and 3 weeks after they’ve had their completed order. 

Word of Mouth

George Silverman, who wrote The Secrets of Word-of Mouth Marketing said, “Word of mouth is the most powerful force in the marketplace, more powerful than salespeople, advertising, and all other marketing elements put together!”

What are you doing to encourage your clients to share their experience with you?  Plan a referral program and thank your clients for talking about you.  In our studio, clients get $50 in portrait credits towards their next session with us.  We mail them a thank you and gift card, and enter the information in Successware (our studio management software). The info is there the next time they call and we can thank them again.  Our clients also appreciate not having to keep track of their referrals.

During slow months, why not offer a double referral?  Send out a newsletter to your favorite clients, and let them know that anyone they refer between January 1 and March 30 (or whatever time is slow for you) will get twice the portrait credit!  

Press Print Products

I want press print products in my clients hands at every opportunity!  These items, whether they are announcements, thank you cards, play date cards, book marks – you name it – they are all powerful marketing tools in the hands of our clients!  For years I’ve considered Christmas my favorite marketing season, and the beauty is, my clients are doing the marketing for me!  

When a “mommy” comes in with her little people, we will get play date cards in her hands to hand out at her Mommy Club, church, pre-school, etc.  Our high school seniors all get cards designed with their images plus our studio info.  I use the “rep cards” from WHCC and the cost is just $12 for a set of 50.  For $12 I have the potential to reach 50 new clients! 

Many of these products I add on as a little surprise at no charge for our favorite clients.  Here are just a few ideas of print press items you can get in your clients hands and get them excited about marketing for you:

announcements                greeting cards

thank you cards                 gift tags

senior minis                       appointment cards

rep cards                            411 cards

play date cards                 update cards

moms calling cards          kids “business” card

save-the-dates                  book marks

Looking for more great ideas?  Check out Lori’s PhotoTalk Forum for more help and support.