We are so honored to have Joy Vertz in the Cafe to share her incredible wisdom. Not only is Joy a fabulous human being and talented photographer, she’s also a brilliant businesswoman. Yes, she is indeed the triple threat!!
In 6 years, Joy has grown Shoot the Moon Photography from a home-based studio to a high end boutique style studio with 2 locations and 15 employees that has been named Top Photography studio in Milwaukee for 2007, 2008 and 2009. In addition, she offers private business mentoring and workshops which you can learn more about HERE, and most recently she unveiled her iphone app designed especially for photographers. The PROPHOTO APP is an incredible marketing tool and Joy has been kind enough to offer Photographer Cafe readers $30 off your ProPhoto App purchase. Simply use the code Cafe30 through March 15, 2010.
Enjoy a special article from Joy. There are so many nuggets of wisdom for you to savor as you prepare to take your business to the next level in 2010.
IS YOUR BUSINESS RED CARPET READY?
by Joy Vertz, Shoot the Moon Photography and ProPhoto Apps
I’m fascinated by the Red Carpet events. They are glamorous, beautiful and exciting. They allows us to see all of our favorite stars all dressed up and getting rewarded for their efforts. It strikes me that the talented stars walking the Red Carpet are the best actors, artists, and musicians. They are the ones who stand out for standing out, for breaking the mold, for being unique and for being the best. They spend their whole lives preparing to walk the red carpet.
Is your business Red Carpet Ready?
Many photographers are amazing artists, but lack the business skills and savvy to take their business to the next level which would have them walking down that Red Carpet of success! I feel that in order to have your business Red Carpet Ready you need to focus on consistency in several areas. These areas need to be touched upon each day.
Saving
Let’s talk cash. If this is an area you struggle in, please don’t skip ahead! I promise that consistent cash flow can be achieved! The key to financial consistency in your business is routinely finding ways to reduce expenses and time expenditures, as well as building up a savings account during more profitable months to be used in less busy times. Try to find a way to save money or put aside money every day!
Here are a few ideas of what you can do:
Open a savings account that is attached to your business account that you can easily transfer money into. At the end of every sale, transfer 5-15% of the total amount of your sale into this account. Do this before anything else. TIP: ING has accounts that are easy to transfer money into but take 3 days to get money back out – no more impulsive shopping!
Review vendor pricing. Are you getting the best prices on your products? Does volume warrant further discounts from vendors?
Find time savings. Review your workflow. Where are your bottlenecks? If it’s proofing, perhaps outsourcing is most convenient. Is it packaging? Will hiring an assistant to handle packaging and check orders free you up for additional sessions? If so, this is a great investment if demand for sessions allows it.
Instead of offering discounts to your clients, offer a complimentary not-on-the-price-list item instead. For example, don’t offer a $50 discount; instead offer a $50 value item free. The perception is the same, but the $50 item may only cost you $2-$4, whereas a $50 discount reduces your income by $50.
Take a second look at lab orders to minimize mistakes. If a mistake is made, offer the misprinted image to your client at a reduced rate which will cover the cost of the reprint.
Re-evaluate packaging. We have found our shrink wrapper to be a great investment! We shrink wrap all wall portraits and also holiday cards, press printed items and albums that are not boxed. The client can still see them without unwrapping and it looks very professional and protects the image!
Put a sign by check-out that says “We gladly accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover but prefer checks or cash”. Often people will write a check instead of paying with their credit card, saving you merchant fees!
Write down each day what you did to save money. Be consistent each day and you will see your cashflow improve!
Client Development
It is essential to your business to do something to help new client development and bring in bookings everyday. You may not book sessions everyday, but by consistently working and making connections, you will ensure a more steady stream of inquiries.
Consider networking with complementary businesses such as jewelry stores, spas and hair salons. We love working with businesses who also try to establish relationship with their clients because they often talk about many topics and have a chance to talk about us! Think beyond baby boutiques!
Create programs to ensure customer loyalty. We have a baby plan program that is quite successful, but take your first year baby plan and extend it to include a “graduates” program which consists of five sessions over five years. Not only does this ensure that our clients are photographed regularly but also that they are committed to coming to your studio for five years.
We have a loyalty program established that reward clients with points based on their purchases. Clients can redeem points for print credits, but we find that they come back and love to accumulate points. It’s about rewarding clients who are loyal to us year after year!
Creativity
Many photographers can take pretty pictures, but order to stay fresh, current and relevant to your clients, it’s vitally important to do something to enhance creativity everyday. Challenge your shooting style:
Shoot with a different lens
Try a new location
Shoot only in black and white for a day
Reverse your lighting setup or try a new one
Visit high end boutiques to observe decor, vibe, clientele and displays. How can you be inspired by this?
Additionally, each day peruse magazines, other photographers’ blogs and websites. Try to figure out how the images were created and start a creativity journal. Spend only 5-10 minutes per day doing this. When you feel like you’re in a rut, you now have a journal full of ideas ready and waiting to be used!
It is recommended that you take one to two workshops a year. Find something you feel you need help in and take that. Want to master off camera flash and stunning color, find someone amazing! Need help with business and developing a solid marketing plan? Find an expert! Check out business workshop at http://workshops.stmphoto.com for private mentoring and business workshop information.
Marketing
In the ever-competitive photography industry, I am finding that it’s more essential now to effectively market and create connections with our clients. When you are giving excellent service, your clients will love to talk about you, and if we give them tools to spread the word in a compelling way, you will be able to use the power of viral marketing.
Make sure your website is current and up to date. Change it regularly and make sure it is consistent with your look and feel. I highly recommend Big Folio. They have beautifully designed websites with classic looks that are easily customized. More importantly, their customer service is superb.
Do you blog? Blogging is key to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and will keep your clients reading fresh content. If you feel that you don’t have time to blog, write 10 blog posts at a time and schedule them to release every 3 days, and you are set for a month!
Consider alternative ways to market. Build your own custom branded iPhone/iPad App from ProPhotoApps The apps are built with your logo, your name and available as free downloads right in the app store. These apps combine all of the other marketing strategies you are already doing and combine them into a portable way for your client to stay in touch (and talk about you!). Imagine if you were able to have links to your blog, website, twitter, facebook and images right on your phone? Combine that with the ability for clients to request an appointment and also see personalized content (i.e. galleries) posted just for them and you have a way to stay in the front of your clients mind on a daily basis!
By continually touching on each of these areas each day, your business will grow little by little, develop strong customer loyalty and increased brand recognition, getting you ready to walk your own
photography red carpet!
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