5,000 photographers give their verdict for 2013

May 2, 2013

Copyright 2013 Photoshelter – see link below for full infographic

This week, I came across a great infographic and survey by web-hosting provider Photoshelter, where 5,000 photographers gave their outlook on photography in 2013.

I’ve been following Photoshelter for several years, and I really love what they do for photographers. Building a website can be an expensive, complicated process, and Photoshelter takes away much of that hassle for what I think is a really reasonable price.  They enable you to create stunning websites, while providing a wealth of resources to help you optimise your site and generate more traffic and leads. Who doesn’t want more leads? Anyway, back to the survey…

Optimism is high but there is a need to pursue additional specialities

The survey showed that 73% of photographers are optimistic about this year, and expected to make more money than last year. Happy days!

Interestingly, 98% of photographers grow their business by pursuing secondary specialities in addition to their primary niche. So perhaps for example, you can’t focus on just wedding photography alone – you may have to expand into portrait work to ensure you keep bookings up. Similarly, you may decide to add photography tuition or books and calendars to your product offering to supplement the income you derive from your primary specialty.

We love our gear!

As I (very impatiently) await the arrival of my new Canon 100mm f/2.8L macro lens, I could relate when I read that 93% of photographers will invest in 2013 to improve their photography. New gear is high on our list – 63% will invest in lenses, 47% in lighting, 47% in camera bodies and 34% in editing software. We’re a keen bunch of learners too, with 56% investing in workshops and classes.

On the gear front, just remember that new gear doesn’t translate directly into revenue – and one of the most frequent reasons small businesses fail, is their failure to contain costs. Just sayin’…

What marketing techniques are working for photographers?

The survey reported that 54% of photographers found that word of mouth was the best channel for finding new clients. The secret to word of mouth referrals is that you have to talk about your business. A lot.  And you have to deliver great stuff! You have to leave your clients with a great impression of you and ultimately deliver awesome photography services to them. If your photos are great but service is questionable, their entire experience of you may be tarnished. If you go out of your way, every time, to provide both a quality product and service, and your clients tell you that you’ve done a great job, ASK them to tell their friends. Often.

25% of photogs reported that social media has been the best marketing channel for finding new clients, followed by the 21% who said that in-person meetings worked for them. Much of this will depend on what type of photography services you offer. Corporate photographers for example, may have more success requesting face-to-face meetings with PR and marketing representatives in companies to secure Annual Report photography work, than say trying to target them via social media. That said, social media is free, so why not try both strategies?

Not surprisingly, about half the respondents said their presence on social media had bought in new business for them.

What challenges do photographers face?

Given that it’s something most businesses face, it’s not surprising that about three quarters of photographers said that “finding new clients” was a challenge. The next biggest challenge, reported by half of the respondents, was getting found online. In today’s online world, I think those two challenges are related. Word of mouth happens online (and in person). Facebook, Pinterest, Flickr, Instagram and any of the other social media platforms make sharing content so easy with our social networks, that it’s logical you need a solid online presence (ie, website) and some form of a social media strategy.

I plan to write future posts about how websites and social media are critical marketing tools for any business owners, particularly photographers. In the meantime, I encourage you to download the full report and see what else the 5,000 photographers had to say about 2013.

Photographers, why do you need a marketing plan?

Apr 28, 2013

Last week we looked at why it makes sense to focus on your photographic niche; that is to work out which small segment of the general population you want to target your photography services with.

Once you’ve decided on which niche to focus on, you’re going to give your business the best chance of succeeding if you develop a marketing plan. This doesn’t need to be a long or complicated document, but a good marketing plan helps you to coordinate your total marketing effort. It gives you a roadmap to achieve your desired business goals, by providing a systematic approach to developing products and services to meet and satisfy your clients’ needs.

When you’re writing a marketing plan you need to be clear about your objectives and how you’ll achieve them. A good marketing plan sets clear, realistic and measurable objectives, includes deadlines, provides a budget and allocates responsibilities. A plan can consist of these elements:

• Analysis of your current market
• Your business vision
• Your business goals
• Key strategies
• Steps to achieving your goals (Action Plan)
• Budget – your revenue and expenses

Some great free marketing plan resources

Business.gov.au is a great resource for new or experienced business owners, and their page about developing marketing plans provides some useful templates. One of their latest (and free) resources is the MarketMyBiz App. I checked it out on my iPad, and it looks like it would be handy to complete and keep as a document that you can refer to anywhere.

According to the App’s description;

Our planning tools were developed in conjunction with business experts and give you a clear process to follow to help you:

• Identify your target market and understand how your product or service meets their needs
• Identify your competitors and what your target customers perceive their strengths and weaknesses
• Position your brand, product and services so that your target market sees you as better than or different from the competition

The business of photography is more competitive than ever, and I’ve seen many photographers try to commercialise their work with no clear direction about who they’re actually trying to target, what their product offering is, how they should price their services or where they plan to find their next customer.

There are plenty of resources like the site and App mentioned above. Remember the saying, “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. Your marketing plan doesn’t need to be a work of art, but you certainly need to have a plan in place to give your the business the best chance of success!

Why focus on your photographic niche?

Apr 21, 2013

The concept of niche marketing has been around for eons, but I feel it’s worth discussing in relation to photographers. It carries on from last week’s post about finding your photographic voice.

When you’re starting out in photography, there’s absolutely nothing wrong experimenting with photographic styles and photographing any number of things that interst you. But it’s a different story when it comes to commercialising your business. When you’re trying to market a product or service, you can either do it in a general, scatter gun approach (the “be everything to everyone” approach), or you can focus your efforts on a smaller, more concentrated group of buyers.

What is niche marketing?

The Business Dictionary defines niche marketing as “Concentrating all marketing efforts on a small but specific and well defined segment of the population. Niches do not ‘exist’ but are ‘created’ by identifying needs, wants, and requirements that are being addressed poorly or not at all by other firms, and developing and delivering goods or services to satisfy them. As a strategy, niche marketing is aimed at being a big fish in a small pond instead of being a small fish in a big pond. Also called micromarketing.”

What are the benefits of niche marketing?

Concentrating your limited time and marketing resources on a select group of potential buyers has many benefits:

• Marketing this way is cheaper – when you know who you’re trying to target, you can be more selective about the marketing activities you do. If you’re a wedding photographer, it’s probably not going to make sense to advertise in parenting magazines (or even local newspapers for that matter); participating in a local bridal expo, reception venue or related wedding supplier’s newsletter is probably going to be more effective.
• You can better focus on the needs of your niche market, and set about creating products and services that they want! If you know that your target audience is likely to want to share the photos you create for them on social media for example, build that into your product offering!
• You can focus your effort on developing mutually beneficial affiliate networks. For example, if you want to develop a niche in maternity photography, consider the place where you’re likely to find mothers-to-be. Try working with your local baby supplies shop or other appropriate suppliers to get your brand in front of your prospective clients.
• Niche marketing helps you to stand out by honing your abilities. It stands to reason that if you keep practicing a particular style of photography week in, week out, you’ll improve over time.

How to build a niche?

This post from SmallBizSurvival.com provides great suggestions from Mike Klemme, a photographer who has built a global business out of photographing golf courses, about how to build a niche:

1. Pick a niche without an existing specialist, one that capitalizes on your skills and abilities.
2. Start learning all you can about it; read the trade publications.
3. Network, meet everyone involved, know the industry players and become a guru in your specialty.
4. Get beyond the obvious; develop your own perspective and your own style.
5. Slam the door on that niche by being the absolute best.
6. Find your tribe of people who are passionate about the topic. Communicate directly with them.
7. Build great partnerships. Find compatible professionals, and grow your work together.

The articles below provide additional information about niche marketing. I hope this post inspires you to consider why you should focus on your photography niche!

Related articles

• Find a niche, fill the niche and kill the niche (smallbizsurvival.com)
• 8 Ways to Ace Niche Marketing (openforum.com)
• Useful Photography Tip #27: Specialize to Succeed” (The Phoblographer)
• Finding Your Perfect Photography Niche” (Light Stalking)
• Are You Choosing The Wrong Photography Niche?” (Expert Photography)

Baby, you’re a firework!

Apr 14, 2013

It’s the first post of a brand new blog, and I’m super excited! As my friends will know, I’m a passionate photographer and am constantly amazed and inspired by so many photographers whose work I follow.

I’m also a passionate marketer, and have been marketing various products and services in Australia and internationally for over 15 years.

The purpose of this blog is to combine my passions and write about how photographers can better market themselves in order to develop and grow their businesses.

These days, creativity and technical skill alone do not guarantee the success of a photographer. Even having the best and latest gear won’t guarantee your success. Those photographers who clearly define their market, craft and refine their product, stay on top of their marketing and deliver great customer service, are more likely to succeed than those who do not.

From a professional and personal perspective, it’s been fascinating to watch how marketing has evolved over the last 15 years, and I have  watched with almost obsessive interest, how social media is impacting the way we live and do business.

With social media, I believe it’s easier and cheaper than ever to carve out targeted niches and create awesome businesses. On the other side of the equation, there are more people waving cameras around, calling themselves photographers – so competition is fierce, and the general public are wary.

“My mate has a pretty good camera, why would I need to hire you as a professional photographer at my wedding?” – I’m sure many photographers have come up against this line of questioning from prospective clients.

This blog is going to be dedicated to helping photographers better understand the many elements of marketing and business, and how to make it all hang together in order to grow your business! I’m going to share my own observations as well as call on professional photographers who are doing great things in their fields. What I love most about the photography community is the willingness to share ideas (and gear), and I want this blog to be the place were that happens.

If you have questions or ideas for future blog posts, feel free to contact me through the blog (see the Contact Us) page.

In the meantime, let’s get going on making your business POP!