Fixing Your Photography Marketing NOW! – Part Three

By Skip Cohen

Sarah Petty wraps up this series with two more outstanding points.

First, while you might bracket a particularly difficult shot on the exposure, you can’t bracket marketing. You can’t randomly throw things out there without a plan, and honestly expect good results. And while you might hit it lucky with some aspect of your pitch, it’s got no sustainability. Plus, you’re wasting money!

When you invested in gear, you bought the equipment you needed to capture images relevant to your specialty. You didn’t buy every focal length in the lineup, just the most important ones, and then added lenses as your skillset expanded. Marketing dollars are no different.

Then there’s Sarah’s point about “make-work.” You might be incredibly busy on Facebook posting, commenting, and participating, but is it helping your business? It accomplishes nothing to get involved in threads on Facebook that become meaningless arguments about other images.

You know the kind of time-wasting activities I’m referring to. Sure, you’re showing your expertise regarding some area of imaging, but the audience is made up of your peers, NOT your clients. Once again, your point of focus is wrong.

Besides, when it comes to criticizing somebody else’s work or listening to a critique of your own, remember Dean Collins’ great comment,

“Beauty is in the eyes of the checkbook holder!”

By Sarah Petty

Number four. The number four reason why your photography marketing isn’t working is that you’re guessing. What we know about trying things without a plan, without a system, without any direction, you’re going to end up worse off than before. Because you just spun your wheels and wasted your time, and maybe even your money. If you don’t have a system and the exact steps, don’t do that activity. Some activities are more difficult than the other, so just pick an easier one to start off. Or find someone who is already doing it and invest in a system. But don’t waste your resources just guessing, because that is not a strategy.

And number five, your photography marketing isn’t working because you’re sizing the rounder. That’s what they do in retail. When you’re at a store, you see a clerk standing there, putting all the sizes together and making everything perfect. They’re good at perfecting busywork.

Guess what, you’re probably doing the same thing, too. You hop on Facebook, pretend you’re marketing, but really you’re watching kitty videos and reposting things that aren’t even contributing to anything. Even just passive marketing, where you’re putting things out there, hoping that someone will see them and call you, isn’t a “strategy”.

You’re sizing the rounder, okay? That doesn’t make customers come in or buy anything. You’re just tidying up, staying busy, making things look pretty. You need to be actively marketing, getting out there and building relationships. You need to do things that actually help market your business.

Look, don’t beat yourself up because this is the first time you’ve tried marketing and it didn’t work for you. Stay the course with boutique, trust yourself and be willing to do hard things. It’s going to grow not only your business, but it’s going to grow your abilities. I believe in you.