Loaded with
marketing tips, success
secrets, spelling mistakes,
'cuss
words, odd-ball ideas and the occasional insult.
For the
professional portrait and wedding photographer.
August
2004
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The Profitable Studio Newsletter
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What's the best thing
you can do for your photography business RIGHT NOW?
Read this newsletter in its' entirety.
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Newsie bits
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I'M GIVING AWAY A BIG PRIZE TO THE FIRST PERSON WHO CAN GET THE
GUESSING GAME RIGHT! Keep reading...details at 11:00
.....But first, let's make some money....
Tony Statton
from New Zealand emailed me about hsi recent bridal fair experience....
"Hi Rob,
Just thought I would let you know how I went at The Bridal Fair.
It has been pretty successful-- I booked one wedding at the show, and
have booked 2 more since then
( only 3 days after the show). I have also been contacted by 4 other
brides-- this is all within 4 days of the show!
My display looked good, I had lots of great comments from brides and
other photographers----I covered the background of the stand in yellow
satin, with a white wavey material top. I made up a lot of frames, and
painted them red... I certainly stood out! I also had a slide show, I
handed out chocolates which were attached to my business card and
I also had someone playing the flute.
The whole thing was expensive, but the weddings I have booked have well
and truly paid for it all.
I am now waiting for the list of all the brides that visited the show,
so that I can send out my sales letter, so hopefully I should book some
more from that.
Cheers Tony"
Way to go Tony! We
talked earlier about some of the strategies you were going to use at
this show. Seems the old adage "Do something, anything" works. But, you
took it further with a focused and solid display. Now's when we
seperate the wannabes with the true marketers...sending out sales
letters, maybe a series. This takes discipline!! But gets results.
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Back Talk
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Henry is a commercial/portrait
photographer from Toronto. He writes:
"Hi Rob,
Just a comment on your advice to
Shane. I agree that you need to know where you want to go in
order to get there and I have heard this for years. It always
made perfect sense to me but I always had a hard time getting
there. 'Know where you want to be in five years' was what I was
told too.
It finally occurred to me to
break it down. That is to start with the five year goal, then the
three year, then two, one and so on until you get to the next day.
Ask, 'what do I do today to set me
off on the path that leads to the five-year goal'? Five years is
too big a bite to be seen as realistic all in one push. How does
one walk across the street? ....one step at a time.
You need to be able to congratulate
yourself for the victories on the way up and not get frustrated because
you are far away from the five year goal. (which will probably change
anyway...)
You probably told him this already.
My two cents.
Henry"
Worth
a million dollars Henry! Thanks. I like the part:
"What do I do today
to set me
off on the
path that leads to the five-year goal?"
Ask yourself this question next time you plunk yourself down to
watch "Survivor".
*******
Q&A
*******
I
received a whopper of an email from Doods in the Philippines. His
basic question was, "What do I do, business is down and it is a
struggle..........."
Here's my reply to him......
Toods, my comments below: yours in
quotes/italics...sorry it took so long, but it was quite the email you
sent me.
I couldn't answer it simply.....
"We also have what we call
"headhunters" They hang out in the church shooting over your shoulder
mostly the principal sponsors and entourage. Then they lay out the
prints in the reception hall and sell them. Even before we are done
shooting the wedding and process our stuff. In the provincial areas,
photographers still use manual cameras F10s and FM2s and laugh at
digital. They are scared of change and dont understand the technology.
The philippines is still progressing but mostly in the provinces. In
the major Cities, digital is well known...."
Okay,
what is needed is not only a strong position in the market place but an
offer so compelling they will want you and your service. You must get
into their heads when they are booking, answer the questions they have,
consciously and sub-consciously.
I don't
know what to say about photogs shooting over my shoulder except it
would be like trying to stop a tidal wave with your two hands/arms
spread out, so I wouldn't try. Instead, what I do is create such a
strong desire for me and my wedding service. I get PAID WHAT I WANT,
that way, not much else matters.
It's a fact of life nowadays, the
couple will see many many photos of their wedding, often that day or
the next. I see it in all my weddings, cameras (digital) everywhere! Do
I care? No. I am getting paid and as long as I get the amount of
bookings I want I am happy.
Brides
still want what I have to offer in spite of what else is going on. How
do I create something she wants? Man,
that's the million dollar question ain't it. Here's my very, very brief
summary....
This
takes years to get by the way, do not expect overnight results and I
could write an entire book about it:
- My photos are different.
It shows in
my samples and in the way I behave
on the wedding day.
- My attitude
is different. It shows in
my passion,
enthusiasm, sincerity and presence.
- My delivery is different. I use
the
power
of multimedia slide shows when selling and when delivering the
final images. Very, very powerful!!!!!
- My packages are
different. I package
so that when I present them the brides nods her head and smiles. "Yes",
I can almost hear her say to herself..."this I what I want".
- Never,
ever, ever, ever, never,
never, never NEVER, I mean NEVER, compete on price. Never.You
want to bundle your packages so that all together it is something they
really want AND all together it adds value. Charge more
than everyone
else. Do not get weak here. This is where we
separate the weak from the
strong, the failures form the success's. You must be steadfast, strong,
and confident when you quote your price, and never ever let them see
you blink or sweat.
The key
here is keeping a straight
face. The words I like to use to describe
this is "brass balls".
"I want to charge fair. To charge too
much like mentioned above, I am not comfortable with. To shoot everyday
and not have time for my family like the other studio is not my target
either. I want to make enough to save, pay bills of our home and studio
and still upgrade my equipment...."
Charge
what you deserve and only commit the amount of time that you want to
without hurting your family or values. So many small photography
operations, and that's the majority of them, make decisions based on
the wrong
ideas. IE..what the competition charges or how they behave. What
they
think is "fair". Giving up too much time and paying a heavy price for
it, making everyone "happy, becoming "friendly" with clients...etc etc
etc...
Listen,
success
is an inside job. It all starts with you. You must create a
vision, a goal. If you have to learn and master that which goes into
what is needed to achieve that goal, then so be it. Nothing beats
determination and pure guts...nothing. It's what makes putting up with
the drudgery possible. You you willing?
Here's
my quick fix, if there is such a thing, which there isn't. This takes
years, but worth the journey:
- Do not worry about offending
anyone,
especially past clients. You will loose a few, but likely they weren't
worth it anyhoo.
- Get comfortable charging more.
Or get
a real job. You're in business. C'mon. Your not out to make friends or
make everyone happy. You're in it for you and your family and to make a
profit. Final!
- Become a better person. Do
whatever
you need to do to become a better person, meaning taking steps towards
reaching goals, creating compelling meananingful goals, workshops, time
management, talents... on and on. Find your messes and clean
them one
at a time first. This is often the first step to becoming a better
person. DO NOT CONFUSE "better person" with making impressions on
others and people pleasing.
- Become a master
marketer. Learn
everything you can about marketing. Become a strategist. When I did
this everything started changing. Not a coincidence.....
- Focus on the futur, remain
optimistic...always.
Every setback has a hidden gift. Whether or not we
find it is largely determined by our attitudes.
That's
all I can say for now. I think your situation is not that simple. You
will not find "easy" and "quick fix" answers. It all has to start with
you. Be brave.
Hope this helps..
Yours in success
Rob
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Success Corner
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Couple things. It is very much a given that reprints sales from
weddings are almost
all but disappeared. I hear this everywhere.
My opinion? Don't fight it, well not too much. I price with the
attitude that if I am never going to see a dime in reprints I am still
very happy with what I got paid.
Reprints then become "gravy". So, you
may have to build in the extra cost.
I do however try and get them. I
put sell onto my online proofing, offers, time limits and hopefully
soon an email capture with a stay in contact strategy via email.
Of course having a desirable product and added value etc makes closing
the sale that much easier. I still do online proofing with the hope of
getting some sales, which we do get. Not a lot, but some.
But having online proofing (this is above and beyond the regular
proofs that the bride/groom's get) creates and adds to the added value
in my packages. "You get 30 days online proofing so all your guests
will get to see the pics and you also get 50 table cards with your eng
portrait and personalized saying to tell all your guests at the rec
where/when omline is up..." etc etc etc...
BUT, the
big seller and motivator in my opinion is the slide show. THEY
ROCK! When trying to book prospects and when when showing the couple
their proofs for the first time, nothing, I mean nothing comes close to
the power that these babies have. I don't know why the rest of the
world isn't using them.....?????
anyhoo, for now, if you have a desirable product, great packages and
added value and, you build in enough profit for yourself then
everyone's
happy.
BTW, when you increase your prices, some will be hurt, some will get a
lump in their throat, some will be offended, but stand tall and
confident. They will still buy because the lump goes away and they
simply fix their thinking about the costs etc and ultimately you will
have an even better relationship.
Charging more does this. Don't know
exactly how, but it does.
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Blatant Promotion BRAG BRAG
BRAG...
Speaking about weddings and positioning with a product that separates
us from the rest (and having a very desirable product...), here are a
couple of recent wedding images from my associate James Hodgins and
myself. James and
I have been pushing each other to create wedding images that
brides and groom love to see.
James, by the way, has been creating waves with his awesome photoshop
actions. Check
'em out.
________________________________________________________________________________________
"Confused
Minds Always Say
NO!"
Educate your clients.
Here's a sample that I use in my studio to show clients what an image
can look like straight off the camera.
AND..after enhancements...(and Sepia and Black&White) All digital.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
GUESSING
CONTEST
FIRST PERSON
TO CORRECTLY GUESS AND ANSWER THE
WHO/WHAT/WHERE/WHY/WHEN
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS BOTTLE OF MYSTERY LIQUID WILL GET A FREE
DOWNLOADLE DIGITAL SUCCESS MANUAL AND OUR NO BS PHOTOSHOP ACTIONS
Worth $129.00, but really worth A LOT MORE!!!!
No!! It ain't the bottle you bring to the doc! C'mon!!
Send me your best guess
The Newsletter ARCHIVES are
up.
Check 'em out here:
NEWLETTER
ARCHIVES
That's
it for now folks! hope you enjoyed my bi-weekly rant.
Thank You
Robert Provencher
Hold on to your hats and take names! I
will tell all! Muchos gracias!
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Email me: If you're
excited, euphoric, lost, confused, happy, sad,
depressed....
I'd love to hear from 'ya!
I love a challenge, compliments (true or otherwise), comments,
feedback, ideas, contributions,.........
I reserve the
right to use any and all emails on this newsletter.
info@profitablestudio.com
***********************
Thanks! Robert Provencher
www.ProfitableStudio.com
