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Newsie bits
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Phewwww! What a month. Been busier than a hive full of bees. I recently returned form an amazing week in St Catherines, Ontario, where James Hodgins & I had (NoBs Photo Success) the opportunity to lead a group of 26 eager students in a 5 day workshop, Image Explorations, at Brock University. This is my first experience putting on such an extensive program. In all honesty when I was asked last year by Rick Bell, the Image Explorations East coordinator, I had my reservations about committing that much time and effort. I actually said no at first and after a few days I had a change of heart. It occured to me that it was an honor to be part of this amazing program so I called Rick and committed. Besides, it looks great on my resume. And, I get to meet and make some new friends. I was tired when I got home, but no time to rest with seven sessions booked on the Friday, a full wedding on the Saturday and a gigormous 50th wedding anniversary (and my daughters 10 year birthday) on the Sunday.

My appreciation and admiration goes out to all who attended, including the main man himself, Rick Bell and his motley crew of misfits, Ian Ransberry, Charles Van Den Ouden and all the other mentors and ambassadors.

I am and was awed by those who travelled great distances to get there. Colleen from Kenora, Syndy form California, Sean and his new bride from Michigan, Dan Morency and all the other crew from eastern Ontario (did I miss anyone???). Thanks to all of you. You are living testaments to what it takes to grow, prosper, learn and create your own vision in your photography careers. Teaching is so much easier when you know the people in the classroom are eager and showing up on their own dime and volition.

One thing we did learn was how to tweak and modify and organize the program a whole lot more. Next year we plan to bring a whole host of new ideas and strategies. The attendees for 2006 are in BIG BIG trouble.......eheh...

Now, let me say this. When we went to I E, we didn't want to put on just another seminar. We planned to make the experience truly exciting and memorable, so we added a few twists and turns, such as dancing every morning...and T shirts/hats for everyone. Oh yea, No Bs Tattoos, break out sessions, marketing, etc etc etc.

When you are enthusiastic and are having fun learning you retain so much more. This is a scientific fact. Why do you think children play so much? They are actually learning. Our brains grow and create many new pathways when we are having fun in the process, instead of and contrary to dull, unstimulating and sterile academia. Right? Wait'll you see what we got planned for next year. Oh, we expect it to sell out even sooner and faster than this year's event.

Watch the Image Explorations video I created
26MB may take a bit to load

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Dreams do come true. The ink is still drying on this deal. I bought my dream home last week. The week just leading up to IE actually. (just what I needed, more stuff going on in my life). Listen, I don't think this deal came through by sheer chance. Could it be that just last month (July), I signed up for what will be my third coaching program in the last five years. Each one costing me at least $3,000.00 or more. My first one was 17 months long, my second a year and this one is three months long.

One of the first things the coach had me do was to list five things that were urgent yet blocking the way to progress and list them in priority. My numero uno big thing in our lives right now is where are we going to relocate the studio. My wife Tina and I have been talking about this all year. Our lease is up next Jan/06 and we ain't staying. Do we build?? Renovate? Move out of current home?...on and on we've been floating in limbo.

I did however have a calm steady faith knowing that we'd figure something out. Now, down the road, not far from where we live, next to a golf course, is a huge home with a large lot/trees/pond etc, and a beautiful cedar garage that doesn't look like a garage because it's cedar lined, measuring 27 feet by 40 feet, 10 foot ceilings, ready to be instantly converted to my studio. I have had my eye on this place since it was first put on the market about 3 years ago. I was so curious when the house sold back then I visited the new owner and asked him to contact me whenever and if he plans to sell. He assured me that he would, and that likely it would happen sooner than later since his job (manager of the Home Depot) wouldn't be permanent. Turns out he got his transfer, moved on ahead of his wife and family, and forgot to call me. (I actually visited him at work to remind him to call me about a year ago.).

One of my clients who lives down the road, and knew I liked the house called me last Tuesday to inform me..." hey Rob, that house you liked so much is on the market..." OOhhh, okay. Call my agent, see the house, put in an offer, all by Tuesday. List our house, muck it out, paint, clean, put everything personal in boxes, make it look good so we can sell it fast. We even hired an interior decorator who helped us with "home staging". (This is when you get your house ready for the market and make it presentable. Marketing.) On our first day on the market, which was the Friday of the same week (last week, leading up to IE), and many hours of work, lack of sleep, we had our first showings. An offer came in right away and we took it. I couldn't believe how much we got, so I insisted we not dicker, bicker or nitpick. Take the offer! All this happened from Tuesday to Friday. Four days. Call it fate? Destiny? Sure felt that way. Everything went so smooth!. But there is something to be said about having goals, being focused and willing to move forward AND, the biggest secret of all...take massive and immediate action.

I believe because I placed this as a number one priority in my life (with the coaching program) I started to align the stars and move the universe. Call me nutty or whatever you want, but this is not the first time in my life I have had chance meetings, chance events or circumstances that perfectly aligned with my goals and created gifts for me.

Talking about coaching, I am still putting together a coaching program for portrait and wedding photographers. Actually I am up to my neck in alligators and working diligently on it. Of course there are always glitches and the occasional twists. I will be announcing the deal I hope by Sept/05.

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Michael Fortin, the Success Doctor, wrote an ebook.
I asked him if I could offer to you. DOWNLOAD your copy of "Drop Your Goals and Manage Your Life" here.
This is a great book with a very powerful message. I highly recommend you read it if you are serious about your success in life.

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Photography Marketing Strategies
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Let's talk about creating ads. There are two basic types of ads- image ads and direct response. Image ads are ads that are very creative and all designed with no "sell". They are basically expensive and useless for the most part. You see them everywhere. Large corporations use them like crazy. The ads I advocate are designed to sell- direct response ads. They aren't that pretty and use copy to further the sales message.

Selling is the ONLY reason you do any advertising and promotion. No exceptions. Its job is to make the phone ring. Images ads don't do this. The problem with image ads, and ad guys will argue this until they are blue in the face, but they are still wrong, is that branding, image & memorable ads worked because people remember them, and were entertained by them, but did not actually do anything else, like BUY THE PRODUCT because of the ad. It is the ad that becomes famous, not the product. Nor does it sell.

There is a growing mountain of evidence that proves most image ads DO NOT work. Poeple laugh at the witty ads and commercials, agencies win awards and get a ton of money, but the product more often than not actually looses market share.

How do direct response ads work? They "flag" a particular group and make a specific offer to that group. They DO NOT entertain, or make laugh/smile or make feel good. Some examples would be brides, families with young children etc etc, or offer on a time sensitive event.....IE Xmas, weddings, babies first year, mothers day etc etc. It makes a very direct, time sensitive offer, highlighting the reasons why and the features & benefits behind the product and service being offered.

If you can't find a message that makes you and your photography studio stand out than your first order of the day is to do just that..... find 'em. Innovate or create or bring attention to your prospects the very things they need to know about you, the features that will back up the benefits and all the reasons why they outta do business with you.

If you can't figure out any benefits, I would say you're in trouble. If you think your biggest benefit is your location, your still in big doodoo. Give 'em great reasons, reasons that people understand and resonate to, and reasons that speak to you and are unique to you, not just the whole industry.

At the very least we outta all start with our photography. If you offer generic photography, but great packages or a variety of props and backdrops, than that could and should be your starting point. If you offer great photography with a very appealing and distinctive feel and look, AND you offer a whole host of other benefits you are supercharging your ads and promotions.

The fact is this kind of advertising looks, well, sorta boring to the average viewer, but to the person who needs or thinks they need or "responds" to your offer, it works. And using ads that work, and are measurable and responsible, are THE ONLY criteria you should be using.

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Draws. Should you, could you have a draw with that display you are putting at the home show? Or should you have a draw along the display you plan to put in that store you recently connected with and they agreed to let you display in? Yes, if you want to make money, sales and grow your business. You must use ballots properly however. Make sure you list everything you want people to write in on the ballot, such as name, first & last, street, city, zip/postal code, phone and email.

Yes, list everything you want from them, or else the majority of your ballots will be missing the postal code/ZIP because you forgot to put a line with specific instructions asking them to write exactly the information you need from them. Poeple need to hand held and given specific instructions, trust me on that one. Don't learn the hard way. If you plan to communicate with the entrants more than once than put a line that asks them "Would you like to receive further information on specials in the future from our studio? YES?NO option. They check one. Most will say yes. Why? Obviously they are interested in what you have to offer in the first place otherwise they wouldn't be filling out the ballot. Right? This is what's called a targeted group of qualified leads.

Now, the displays over, or the time for the draw to be drawn has arrived. Don't just send out a notice to the winner. Send everyone a consolation prize. Usually a portrait session and an 8x10 reprint. Most people will be thrilled. Of course they will hate you if you put high pressure on them. But, the majority will be asking themselves..."ggeee, if these look good, I wonder how much it will cost for extras...???" Maybe come up with a time limited offering of packages and reprints just for them. But you must follow a strict, regulated system from first contact through to actual order taking. Never let proofs leave the studio in this instance. Always use time limited urgency. Don't slack off here, otherwise your sales will slack off too! This is a great way to build your database, gather leads and make some actual sales.

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Should you use contracts? Should you use them to avoid "no shows" or for weddings? In most cases they are not really needed. We never have no shows is our studio. Why? We have a strong rapport and whatever else makes it work that clients decide not to cancel out.

If they are not showing up, something else is up. Fix that, and contracts not needed. Besides,contracts do not build a rapport with clients. They are possibly a barrier and a nuissance to them. Instead, ask yourself, do I have a strong rapport with my clients? Do you get together and talk about the session? Give them ideas, get excited, get them involved......?

Asking for a deposit on a session is no big deal. We don't do it, but I see no reason why you couldn't. Unless it's to stop the no shows. Then again, you have other issues you need to fix instead. We know our clients will pay us, and they will show up, so these aren't issues in our studio. Some studios do it as a matter of fact and it helps when you have a strong reputation and respect in the community. Look at where you're at. Anything you can fix? modify? make better, especially when it comes to building a solid rapport.

We use contracts for weddings. Very simple and non-legalesie. Again, choose your clients and connect with them. I know old time studio owners who never, ever used contracts. Always good old fashioned word of mouth and a hand shake.

If a prospect reeks lawsuit, loose em!

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Soccers season's over. Every year since my daughter's been taking soccer I have gone to most of her games and taken a zillion shots of all the players in action. At the end of the year I would show up at the restaurant where they were having their year-end pizza party and present to them a slide show highlighting pictures from throughout the season. I would purposely photograph an equal amount of shots of each girl, trying to make each shot look like they were high-action sports photography lifted right off the pages of Sports Illustrated. After the presentation my daughter would give each girl a copy of the slide show on a CD with a customized CD label.

Why? First off, it's fun. I like doing this stuff. My daughter learns all about sharing. The kids have sooooooooooo much fun. What a great way to make poeple smile and laugh, and contribute, using a skill and talent that I already possess. Many of the parents are thrilled. This also creates all kinds of goodwill as well.

Do I do this sort of "freebie" give away" often? Often enough. I have donated time and talent every year to any group that asks. This year I showed up at the local Rotary Club anniversary party, shot for an hour and gave them a slide show. Free. I photographed the regional karate championships, everyone who wanted a slide show, no probs. They simply went to a special web address and downloaded it. I gave United Way about $500.00 worth of free portraits this year alone. The Tour Of Homes, free.....just to name a few.

Would I be doing this and only this if things weren't so great? No. Likely I'd be focusing my energy of going after those things that grow my business and offering freebies more discreetly. I know some photographers who fall into the "trap" of doing everything for free. Obviously this is business suicide. But they are weak. They think they have to make everyone happy, and they think asking for money is contrary to that. Truth is they lack courage, vision and self respect. I give things away as my way of giving back. Things are good in my life. I am grateful. I give because I can. I believe it's better to give this way than to simply write out a check to your favorite charitable donation. It's real. Its concrete.

DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THE SOCCER SLIDE SHOW HERE (deadline over)
Big file. 75 MB .exe file. Save onto HD, then click on icon. Turn speakers up. Sorry, .exe files will not run on MACS

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Success Corner
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This card was created by a guy named Hugh Macloed. He has a blog called Gaping Void. Whislt up late one night, couldn't sleep, passing the time checking out sites, I ran accross his site, which was linked from an advertising blog called Ad Rants.

This guy is great. I urge you to check out the section called How to be creative and many other ramblings of his. I think he's a bit of a genius with a whole lot of insight. I found myself laughing and nodding in agreement at his wisdom and humour. NOTE: There are some offensive words and comments, so if you are easily offended you have been warned. ENJOY!! Note the section on stamina. Inside it is the secret to success

"Most people don't fail, they just fail to stick with any ONE thing until they have mastered."
Jim Straw

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Testimonials
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Here's what I'm talking about. I recently received an email from the mother of one of my weddings in July. Here's what she said word for word:

"Hello, I just want you to know how much my husband and I appreciated your company on the Wedding day of our daughter christina to Tim Boyles.
Your professionalism and class is beyond remarkable. Your unobtrusive manner, diligence, excellence, committment and quality of work has surpassed anything I have even seen. CONGRATULATIONS.
I will surely have all my future photo needs booked with you. My son Frankie Mynerich is getting married to Becky Blair in October 14, 2006...and are already booked with you.
A dear friend who attended Christina's wedding is to call you. Her daughter is getting married in September 2006.
Again my sincere thanks to you and Tina for making the day ..the most memorible..with treasures....your phot taking...
Best regards always...Fran"

It would be great if people sent letter like this all the time, but every once in a while these unsolicited letters sure make me feel great!! Guess where this testimonial's going?? You got it. On my webpage, wedding price list and all my wedding marketing pieces.

GURU CORNER

5 Keys to Consumer Behavior
1-Speed
2-Time-Convenience
3-New
4-Service Guarantee
5-Celebrities

Above are five keys recently concluded regarding what is important and effective to consumers. I got this info from one of my favorite marketing gurus, Dan Kennedy. Here's what I've done with it. Printed it out, added a five bullets under each area, and am going to sit down with my wife and bainstorm ways that we can improve on each of these areas.

Can we increase the speed of our service? How? The convenience and turnaround time? How? Anything new that we can offer? What? To who?? What about a service guarantee? How? Can we use celebrities? Local or national?? How? Who?

"If you look at successful people and compare
them to those who are unsuccessful - you'll always find
that the unsuccessful are far more afraid of criticism
than the successful."

If you want to succeed at photography marketing, I mean really take it serious,
invest in the right information and direction for your future.

And, if you want to take your wedding photography marketing up a notch or two, do the same.