Marketing 101

I figure since I want to specialize in weddings, I need to start taking pictures of rings.....Isn't that a beautiful ring? I have to give a shout out to my husband who provided this piece of work 8 years ago when we decided to get married. When we had initially gone ring shopping, I had picked just a small princess cut diamond because I wasn't trying to start out our marriage with debt and was pretty satisfied with just living on "love" alone. Then to my suprise at our engagement party, he suprised me with this sucker....I was in shock, and of course thought to myself, "he's got good taste and is definitely a keeper!" :) My husband is always so proud when he sees this ring. Funny thing is, to this day my mother in law still claims shes the one that picked out the ring...and they can go back and forth for days. However, I'm just grateful for this beauty! Thank you Hun.

Anyways, as I've reviewed my notes, there were quite a few workshops I attended related to Marketing that I will share in this blog. I attended the business institute which really helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. As I've discovered this passion of photography, I learned that passion itself drives motivation which results in action. Think about it....if you are starting your own photography business, ask yourself why? As Mitche Graf asked, "is it the joy of being self employed and ability to dictate your own hours? is it the ability to dream your own dreams and reach your own stars? or is it the ability to "breathe life" into your own business creation and watch it grow and profit"....sometimes these answers can drive one to put everything on the line, and without the passion to back it up, it won't happen.

I must of sat in at least 7 different 2 hr sessions which revolved around marketing, selling, and pricing. However, some of the reoccurring themes I gathered was that as photographers we have a life outside of photography that needs to always be in sight. I really appreciated that because just getting started in this business I'm seeing just how easy it is to get too get so busy with photography. The time spent away from my family is so precious considering that I am already working full time during the week aside from photography. The bottom line was that we need to look for effective and innovative ways to create/take our businesses to the next level of sales and profitability so you can have the freedom to attain your own personal goals in life. Basically, effective marketing allows you to have a life outside of photography.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:
-Good marketing is not an expense; its an investment
-Know yourself and your priorities
-Know your clients, and understand them
-Be objective
-Broaden your reach and services
-What sets you apart from other photographers? or separate yourself visually
-Embrace Technology
-Building relations is key to building business
-Be the key connector for people
-What are you selling?
-Earning referrrals
-Stop trying to be perfect, start trying to be remarkable
-Place yourself in the path of your clients
-Let your photography speak for itself
-Positioning
-Viral marketing
-Personalization
-Communication
-Creating partnerships & networking

For the sake of not writing a novel, those were a few key points made when marketing. Stay tuned for tomorrow!