You can't change the fact that any business goes up and down throughout the year, but you can find the opportunities to even out the peaks and valleys.
by Skip Cohen
We're more than half way through the first quarter and the best time of the year to strategize and plan the year ahead. For most photographers business is slow right now, but that doesn't mean there isn't work to do. You've got the ideal time to think through promotions for the rest of the year, possible partnerships with other vendors and build your network.
“You've got to look for a gap, where competitors in a market have grown lazy and lost contact with the readers or the viewers.”
It’s a quote by business icon, Rupert Murdoch. As I read it, I started thinking about photographers who often say, “I’ve tried everything to create more business, but just don’t know what to do next!” I’m not saying anything is easy right now, especially trying to grow or even sustain business, but this quote gave me some ideas.
Everything we do is always based on a particular mindset. What if instead of trying to re-invent the wheel every time, you started looking in your community and figured out what’s missing. What are your competitors NOT doing? Where are the opportunities that nobody is addressing?
My good buddy Terry Clark put it this way in a post a long time ago, “The best thing to do to survive and thrive is find what everyone else isn’t doing and do that thing.”
So, what’s missing in your market?
Where are the promotional holes?
When was the last time somebody did a post card mailing to every mom in the community for a summer, day-in-the-life, on location portrait session?
When was the last time somebody teamed up with a maternity shop to put together a maternity portrait series?
Who’s doing a networking luncheon with the bridal salon in town, the local florist, baker, wedding planner and travel agent?
Anybody doing before and after shots at the local salon before prom, weddings and local events?
How about a mailing for the ultimate Father’s Day gift, a family portrait?
Any stories in the local paper about any of the photographers in the area doing anything in the community?
Anybody advertising in the local paper?
Who’s doing something in social media that hits your community about photography?
Rupert Murdoch hit the nail on the head. You’ve got to out-think your competitors and find the hot spots for your market. They’re out there and only you can find them!
Illustration credit: © Chrisharvey | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
We're more than half way through the first quarter and the best time of the year to strategize and plan the year ahead. For most photographers business is slow right now, but that doesn't mean there isn't work to do. You've got the ideal time to think through promotions for the rest of the year, possible partnerships with other vendors and build your network.
“You've got to look for a gap, where competitors in a market have grown lazy and lost contact with the readers or the viewers.”
It’s a quote by business icon, Rupert Murdoch. As I read it, I started thinking about photographers who often say, “I’ve tried everything to create more business, but just don’t know what to do next!” I’m not saying anything is easy right now, especially trying to grow or even sustain business, but this quote gave me some ideas.
Everything we do is always based on a particular mindset. What if instead of trying to re-invent the wheel every time, you started looking in your community and figured out what’s missing. What are your competitors NOT doing? Where are the opportunities that nobody is addressing?
My good buddy Terry Clark put it this way in a post a long time ago, “The best thing to do to survive and thrive is find what everyone else isn’t doing and do that thing.”
So, what’s missing in your market?
Where are the promotional holes?
When was the last time somebody did a post card mailing to every mom in the community for a summer, day-in-the-life, on location portrait session?
When was the last time somebody teamed up with a maternity shop to put together a maternity portrait series?
Who’s doing a networking luncheon with the bridal salon in town, the local florist, baker, wedding planner and travel agent?
Anybody doing before and after shots at the local salon before prom, weddings and local events?
How about a mailing for the ultimate Father’s Day gift, a family portrait?
Any stories in the local paper about any of the photographers in the area doing anything in the community?
Anybody advertising in the local paper?
Who’s doing something in social media that hits your community about photography?
Rupert Murdoch hit the nail on the head. You’ve got to out-think your competitors and find the hot spots for your market. They’re out there and only you can find them!
Illustration credit: © Chrisharvey | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos
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