Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
I'm so tired of hearing photographers blame not having the right gear on the shots they miss. First of all, most often they haven't taken the time to know every aspect of the gear they have. Second, if you honestly need something and can't afford it, stop being embarrassed. Go rent it! It's not a crime to be short on cash, especially when you're just getting started. However, it is a crime to use "cash flow" as an excuse!
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by Skip Cohen
"Nobody’s career honestly ever goes as planned. You’re going to hit a lot of bumps and rough spots that will seem impossible to resolve, but..." I'm sure you've heard the expression, "everything always works out for the better" before. Over and over again in my career I’ve seen it proven. Whether things really work out for the better or it’s just the way we rationalize events in our lives, here are some of my own career benchmarks that demonstrate the point.
Okay, it’s a little bit of time stretch, but I was crushed when I lost the job of my dreams staffing for Polaroid. However, that one single change in my career path took me into a completely new direction, one I had never anticipated. That job led to working with some incredible people and building my "stash" of experiences, all while continuing to gain an invaluable understanding of the industry and corporate culture.
I’ve seen this scenario repeated over and over again in my life, both in business and personal situations and given the time and space I could probably give you another dozen examples, but here’s the point. Nobody’s career honestly ever goes as planned. You’re going to hit a lot of bumps and rough spots that will seem impossible to resolve, but the reality is that everything you experience, good or bad, are building blocks to help make you stronger. Learn from each mistake. Build a network of friends and associates whose experiences you can learn from and then help somebody else when you see them going through a similar challenge. While setbacks are disappointing, they’re nothing more than speed-bumps to let you know whatever the idea or project was, it wasn’t fully baked! Be patient, stay focused on your dreams and don't give up. "Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown." Ross Perot Illustration Credit: © high_resolution - Fotolia.com Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
There's a great term that describes statements people often make. It's called a "self-fulfilling prophecy". While they can be positive, most often they're negative. The online explanation is: .."a false definition of the situation evoking a new behavior which makes the original false conception come 'true'." Essentially it's simply the act of sabotaging your own potential good fortune on an attitude of "if you define a situation as hopeless, it will be!" We all know people who spend their lives on the negative side of life. Their favorite expressions are, "Well, that will never work!" and "We already tried that!" I'm not suggesting things aren't tough in photography right now, but ask any small business owner and everybody has felt the pressure of the last few years. But, here's the good news - you can turn it around with a lot of hard work and it all starts with a positive attitude! by Scott Bourne Every Monday I write a post for the SCU blog hoping I can help some of you break free of the mentality that survival is the goal. I want you to thrive, not survive. But sometimes we're our own worst enemy. Let me explain. I'm going to use baseball analogies today so be forewarned. Our problem is simple. We want to be Babe Ruth! He was home run king and a Hall of Fame player who is - decades after his death, still one of the most famous baseball players to ever live. But before we learn to hit home runs, we need to start with the basics. We need to know how to bunt. So today's post is short and sweet. And yes I am just going to teach you how to bunt. Home runs come later. If you are disappointed - don't be. Because Rod Carew made the Baseball Hall of Fame just like Babe Ruth did. The difference, Carew bunted his way to more than 3000 career hits and finished his career with a .328 lifetime average! So how do we learn to bunt? We just start by making one basic assumption. We are NOT professional photographers. Oh we make and sell pictures, but we are NOT professional photographers. We are professional marketers. Well at least those of us who are getting paid well are. You see everyone is good at something. You might be good at photography, or baking or writing or acting or lawn mowing or cooking, etc. But it only matters if we are able to sell someone else on hiring us to do that thing we are good at. And in order to be good at selling someone on the idea they should pay us for our photography, we need to listen. Yes listening is to professional photography as bunting is to baseball. It's a fundamental. You can't be a professional anything if you cannot learn to listen. Listen to everything. Listen all the time. Listen intently. Listen with an open heart. Listen without judgment. Listen. Don't think or plan what you will say next. Actually slow down and just listen. Listen twice as much as you talk and you'll be close to the right ratio. Listen to your vendors. They have insight you do not into your own customers because they work with photographers all over the country. They listen themselves and find out what works and will gladly pass that on to you so you can profit from it as well. Listen to your prospects and customers. They will always tell you what they want. Sometimes not in so many words, but if you are more interested in THEIR needs, wants and desires than your own, you will hear all you need to hear in order to make a sale. Listen to your peers and your competition. They will often (either on purpose or accidentally) give you free advice on what they are doing that does and doesn't work. Listen to other industries. Jumping verticals is the smartest, fastest, simplest way to learn general marketing techniques simply by noticing what works in other markets. Listening is basic. Bunting is basic. They are both fundamentals. Rod Carew proved you can bunt your way to success. Isn't it great to know that you don't have to hit home runs to be a winner? Rather than try to develop some drawn-out, sophisticated sales script, start listening. It's the best thing you can do for your business. Then start swinging away. I'm rooting for you. If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies. Anonymous by Skip Cohen A couple of months ago I was determined to sleep a just little later than usual. I was rousted out of a sound sleep by a delivery truck and the annoying “beep – beep – beep” as he backed up across the street. It took me a second to get over the disappointment of my interrupted plans to sleep, but once I accepted dealing with the change and not requiring years of therapy it got me thinking… Wouldn’t it be great if the human body was equipped with a back-up signal? All we need is a simple device that just lets people know we’re “backing up”. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the problem. It isn’t letting people know we’re backing up, it’s accepting that we should back up in the first place. We’re all stubborn. I’ve seen so many photographers determined to stay on a path they’ve chosen who are miserable. They’re determined to prove a point and stay true to the road they’ve chosen to travel when a slight turn or even starting the journey over would put a smile back on their face. I’ve met wedding photographers who admit they hate weddings and “would have loved to be shooting commercial work, but the money just wasn’t there!” I’ve talked with studio photographers doing portraits who wish they had “the variety of situations wedding photographers get to enjoy!” Then there are thousands of photographers who insist on running EVERY aspect of their business, never considering outsourcing tasks that take them away from what should be their core, most time-consuming activities - shooting and marketing themselves. Here’s the point: Don’t be afraid to change paths. Stop feeling like you have to not only inform the world, but get everyone’s opinion too. You need to believe in yourself! Carey Schumacher in her podcast on GoingPro two years ago talked about the challenge when she first started. She’d look at other websites and simply cry, because her work “would never be that good!” She called it “I-suck-itis”. Good buddy, Matthew Jordan Smith, when I asked him for a quote for new photographers just starting out said, “You’ve got to find your own voice!” I guess I want to change that slightly – yes, you have to find your own voice, but then you have to listen to it! Think about it for a second. You can’t please everybody and you’re only one person. The only person you really have to keep happy is the one looking back at you every morning in the mirror. So, if along the way you have to change your path to increase your personal satisfaction, then go for it! After you’ve done a thing the same way for two years, look it over carefully. After five years, look at it with suspicion. And after ten years, throw it away and start all over. Alfred Edward Perlman Illustration Credit: © JPS - Fotolia.com
Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds". I admit it, I miss a few typos now and then, but I still proofread everything. Well, many of you don't proofread anything - not your posts, copy on your website, even brochures and flyers. If you're going to be publishing something then you at least need to pay attention to grammar basics and spelling. Every day I look at dozens of sites. Sometimes I can't understand what the photographer is even trying to say. It's only because they didn't proof-read what they wrote. So, here are some suggestions before you publish anything.
We all make mistakes, but that's not what you need to worry about. Pay attention to what you're writing and make sure everybody else is going to understand what you were trying to say.
Venice Album has boxes that can be ordered to match the album or can be plain.
We’ve briefly explored some of the components you can provide on your own, but what about all the vendors who support you? Your lab isn’t there to just process and send you your print order! Your album company is about presentation, NOT just albums. Even your packaging, when you ship the client’s finished order, makes a statement under the added value umbrella. Let’s start with your album company: There are an infinite combination of products to offer every client. There’s always the core book, be it a wedding or event you’re covering all the way to a Day-in-the-Life on location shoot of a child. But what about the rest of the family?
What if you were to give an empty box to the bride and groom as a thank you? In that box you’re going to include a certificate for a free anniversary sitting a year later. Another certificate might include coverage of the birth of their first child, followed by other certificates for significant events in the child’s life e.g. first Christmas, first family portrait, first birthday etc. Those certificates help remind the couple you're their to help support all their photographic needs and all you need to do is follow up with a phone call on the appropriate anniversary/event dates and remind them. The certificate has already planted the seed.
I’ve been talking for years about frames and I still can’t understand why so many photographers forget about them. In fact, at a few of the electronic shows over the years, I’ve even seen companies selling frames for your wall-mounted flat screen. Well, what if you show your clients their images on the flat screen and then had several styles of frames to pop on and off depending on your client’s tastes? This isn't a new idea, but it is one that I don't understand why so few photographers utilize the concept! There’s a secondary advantage here as well. You’re not just selling them on ideas about framed prints, you’re also planting the seed on over-sized prints! You don’t even need to talk about big prints, just show them! The list of added value products you can offer just keeps going...
This series started with suggesting ways to add value to your packages while staying away from making price the issue. I've only hit the tip of the iceberg in products you can offer your clients. I’ll be the first to recognize it all sounds so easy here in a blog post. It’s not easy, but this where you have to believe in yourself, your skill set and simply take it one step at a time. You need to develop a plan so that you can be proactive instead of reactive! Having a plan in place and gradually adding new services and products can help you focus your marketing energy on finding new clients instead of being reactionary to every client who wants to know if you’ll drop your prices! Just remember one key issue - the entire discussion on added value is a moot point if your skill set as a photographer sucks! Sorry gang, there's no better way to put it. You've got to have a skill set that's better than Uncle Harry's. You've got to exceed client expectations and make yourself habit-forming. Anybody can get their first customer - the key is to get those first clients to not only come back, but tell their friends! by Skip Cohen I get accused of being a little out there on a pretty regular basis, but I want you to watch this short video from Outback Steakhouse. I found it when I went to their site last night to order carryout. It's under sixty seconds and although I've never been a big fan of sweets, I wanted one of these mini-milkshakes the minute I watched the video. Okay, now watch it again. What if you had sixty seconds to do a video of your own, literally showing how you put a story together from a wedding, a senior shoot, a family portrait session or a day-in-the-life kids shoot?
Outback is playing off of your taste buds. Well, why can't you play off of your client's heart strings? Why not open your heart and talk about the ingredients that go into photographing a wedding? It starts with everyone getting to know each other. Then comes an engagement shoot that sets the stage for the romance of the story. Then comes getting ready for that big day, the event itself, the reception and finally your delivery of a product that exceeds expectations, a stunning album. The album is the "milk shake" only bigger, better and it lasts for a life time. The ingredients you're showing are your stunning choice of albums, with books laid out the same way Venice Album has them in their booth at any major convention. You've also got some big prints on the table. Maybe you're signing one as a gift for the bride and groom. Throughout this entire story you're talking about the passion you have for capturing the human spirit and even your skill set to make sure you don't miss the most important memories. I know this is a little out there, but all of you have the ability to tell a story like this. It might not be a milkshake, but it takes the same style to tell the story. Plus, hybrid technology is changing the products and services you can now deliver to every client. If you need help, yes, this is a plug - At SCU, Suzette Allen is teaching a hybrid class and you'll leave with most of the tools you need to create your own business video. Panasonic's LUMIX team will be there for all four days of SCU's programming and they're helping to underwrite the cost for you to attend with a $200 partial scholarship. Plus, Photodex is making it even sweeter...just check out this recent blog post from their site. Right now you've got the most creative tools in the history of photography, but they won't do you any good if you don't use them. You can either be in the parade or stay on the sidelines and watch it go by. Let's get you in the parade! Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
Whether you're a professional photographer, aspiring pro or a rank amateur, buying a great camera doesn't make you a professional, just the owner of a great camera. I respect your passion for the craft, but what will make you great is understanding the total process; knowing how to exceed client expectations and never compromising on the quality of any image. Having a great camera is like buying a high-end sports car - it doesn't make you a professional race driver! Take the time to really learn the craft and create images that "wow" people - then you can call yourself a pro! (middle shot - up close look at the eye of a flounder on the bottom of the ocean somewhere...hey, I said this was random) Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
Uncle Harry isn't your competition if you're truly thinking like a professional photographer. If you want to know who your competition really is, it's the face looking back at you in the mirror each morning, You've got more creative tools at your disposal than at any time in the history of photography, but you have to use them. You have to believe in yourself! “If you can’t believe in miracles, then believe in yourself. When you want something bad enough, let that drive push you to make it happen. Sometimes you’ll run into brick walls that are put there to test you. Find a way around them and stay focused on your dream. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” Isabel Lopez I've been trying to figure out whether or not to share this with you, since it's so far off the topic of photography. On the other hand, it's one of those topics that sooner or later is going to creep into all of our lives and needs to be addressed. I'll keep it short and to the point, but I'm counting on you to really take what I'm writing to heart. Most of you know my mother passed away last month after a long battle with Alzheimer's. It's a horrible disease that sneaks in and robs us of so much. I know I'm simplifying it, but in the end, along with forgetting so many things in her life, she forgot how to swallow and couldn't eat. The choice came down to a feeding tube or Hospice. Mom went into Hospice and passed away at 87 a week later Mom had a Living Will instructing no heroic measures be made for her survival. If you're not familiar with a Living Will here's text book definition: Advance health care directive, also known as living will, personal directive, advance directive, or advance decision, is a set of written instructions that a person gives that specify what actions should be taken for their health if they are no longer able to make decisions due to illness or incapacity. As we were putting her into Hospice, her doctor told us the greatest gift she could give us was that advance directive. We were able to make the toughest decisions based on her wishes without the agony of wondering what she would have wanted. She passed away peacefully with dignity and her family all around her. I don't care how old you are, if you love your family and friends, help them make the most important decisions in your life and theirs. Have a Living Will with your wishes clearly spelled out. And, if you're caring for a loved one who's older and likely to head down this path in the near future, meet with an elder law attorney and get your loved one's wishes documented. I've heard so many horror stories about the "last chapter" in people's lives being true nightmares, because their family had to argue over the final decisions. Mom's illness introduced Dad and I to a very special group of people here in Sarasota at the Senior Friendship Centers. We now do a podcast twice a month, "Ten Minutes with Paula" for caregivers. In this recent episode, Paula Falk and I talk about the importance of an advance directive. The photographic industry is so different from so many other career fields. We all watch each others backs and try and be there for each other. Well, this is me asking you to watch out for the people you care most about - give them the same gift my mother gave us...an advance directive on your health and care issues. We all hope to never put our families and friends in this kind of position, but life has a way of throwing a curve ball now and then and it's so much easier to just be prepared.
This one is a mystery and if anybody wants to give me who created this in a link through the comment section of this blog, I'd love the help. It's been reposted all over YouTube and I actually ran across it on Christine So's page on Facebook. (Christine is the Marketing Manager for Holga, based out of Hong Kong, who many of you have met at the NY show.) At the end there's a URL, but I think it's Korean and I can't find anything that resembles the link to give credit to whoever produced it.
So, here's why I'm sharing it - it's a really well done piece and having just posted the Thirst Relief video in the Giving Back section of SCU, it makes so much sense to have more people see it. It's been reposted by at least a dozen people on YouTube. I've got it here, because it's a great demonstration of storytelling. For me it's the imaging that's drawn me in and the way it was put together. It's not over the top in sophistication, just well done at making a point. We're in an industry that thrives on creativity and this is perfect for a Friday afternoon! "We tweet, we text, we e-mail. Everybody's chatting, but is anybody listening? Why America needs to revive the vanishing art of conversation. We need to talk."
That was the headline of a story by David Dudley in AARP magazine a couple of years ago, One of my ongoing resolutions each year is to talk more and email less. In fact, just this week so far, I've talked with four photographers who I only knew on Twitter or Facebook. It makes such a difference talking to somebody directly versus sending emails. So, let's find a way to talk more and email less! We don't talk to each other enough. Instead we tweet and email. Oh, let's not forget my favorite pet peeve, texting! There's nothing wrong with any of these, but we all need to do a better job of simply talking. It's especially important since we're all part of an industry that thrives on human contact. We're in the business of capturing those special moments - moments of people interacting, not communicating via typing through a variety of devices. So, here's the challenge - see if you can match one phone call to anybody you know for every 2-3 emails you send, and texting somebody doesn't count. This is about using your voice and really talking to friends and associates, no matter where they are. If we don't talk more we're all going to lose our ability to communicate. I've already noticed that I'm spelling things phonetically as I struggle to capture a thought in just 140 characters. While it might B gr8 2 B able 2 do, we're even frgetting how 2 writ! Photographers became "photogs" and then just "togs"...grammar is out the window, words like "at" have been replaced with @, two, to and too are just 2. I LOL...I LMAO and too often I look back just want to scream WTF! David Dudley said it best in his close: "We're in danger of becoming a nation of hyperconnected hermits, thumbs furiously working our BlackBerrys!" So, let's clarify my point...it's a balancing act. I'm not saying you need to dump social media. Social media is as necessary to building your business as a website is today or a yellow pages ad was twenty years ago. And, I love the way social media has made the world a smaller place. But, it's a balancing act with personal contact and you've got to have both. Keep the connections "live" with close friends and good customers and let's not let having a live conversation with somebody become an obscure art form! Photo Credit: © iko - Fotolia.com I've written a lot of posts about what makes SCU's Summer Session different and yet I still get comments from photographers questioning the need to invest in their own education. Our industry is changing and along with it education. All of you have hundreds of choices with webinars, blog posts, videos and even a few live programs here and there.
I just got this email this morning from Kate Giovinco who attended Skip's Summer School last year. Kate called me last night to tell me some great news about some new directions she's taking in her business. This morning she wrote: I wanted to share one more thing that had happened over the last year. A few weeks before summer school 2012 I took a hard look at my business. It was a mess. I wasn't making any money and working all the time. I decided to give myself 6 months to turn it around or I was going to throw in the towel (as they say) and go back to a corporate job. I had not spent the last three years trying to build a business to go back to where I started. So I decided to give Summer School a try and I started implementing things I learned into my business. Within three months I had made more than I had in the previous three years. So again thank you. I am honored to be part of such an amazing organization of photographers that want to help each other grow. Over and over again I hear stories like this from past attendees, which is what keeps me doing programs like this. I know you've got lots of choices, but I also know there's nothing like this program in the industry. It's not just another workshop or hands-on program, it's a community and it really is life-changing. I wrote to Kate to ask permission to use her email and she wrote back: You can use it wherever and whatever you want from what I am sharing with you. You can share my name too if you would like. I seriously don't mind. I am telling you because it has been life changing in my personal and business life. I truly believe the community aspect of Summer School makes it different from all the other workshops out there. Hoping to see you in Chicago - there are still open spots with one of the finest faculties we've ever put together. A big apology on the error for original photo credit. Photo by Everardo Keeme On August 11 a number of you are going to be attending SCU's Summer Session. Over the 3 1/2 days we're all together you're going to hit overload on great information to help you build your business. And, if you're not joining us at SCU, then this post will help you with the next convention you attend, but you're missing an opportunity. At a program like SCU, your NN, (Network Nerve) is totally over-stimulated with all the new people you meet. It's an eye-opening experience to learn you're not the only one on the planet worried about business, looking for new ways to improve your marketing or on a quest to create the ultimate image. When you get back from any conference, consider doing a quick "inventory" of the new people you want to "friend" or "follow" and then send them a quick email just to connect. They're in your network now and good networks require communication - sort of like the mortar between the bricks that hold a building together. Your NIN (New Ideas Nerve) is totally fried. It's on information overload and has been over-stimulated, leaving you sleepless, but filled with hope and optimism. Sure, a few late night conversations added to the challenge, but it's the ideas running through your head that really take over. Just remember you don't have to implement everything you learned right now, just put things in order. Even more important is that if you don't inventory these ideas soon, they're going to go into that informational "shoe-box". Then it gets kicked under the bed and not taken out until you're in a panic mode months from now, realizing you never took any action on all these great solutions and ideas to grow your business. Last but not least is your PN (Priorities Nerve). This is the toughest one to deal with, because you have to sort out the wonderful mess your head is in. You simply don't know where to start first. You've got new ideas about the business, your photographic and creative skills, your marketing and your relationship skills. They're all screaming for attention at the same time and you're fighting to keep from going psychotic! So, at the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil here's the priority list to consider. First, to thine own self be true. Take care of you first - you won't be good to anybody if you don't straighten out the mess in your head at the very beginning. And, here's the cool thing about taking care of you - you don't have to do anything - in fact that's the prescription - just kick back and relax for a few days before dealing with everything new you learned during the workshop. Second, pay attention to your family and close friends. More than likely they weren't with you, so they only know you've been away. Give them some attention, share what you learned last week, welcome their input on all those new ideas. Third - now it's time to attack the challenges, but prioritize them into the categories they represent. Remember, you don't have to do it all at once! Start with the low hanging fruit, the easiest new ideas to take on and implement and then branch out into the harder ones. For those of you aren't joining us in August, you're missing out on one of the most amazing programs in the industry. If you can join us, there are still openings, but if you honestly can't, then don't "should" on yourself. Walking around mumbling, "I should have gone!" or "I wish I had gone!" isn't going to get you closer to anything except an over developed FN (Frustration Nerve). That's the one that can really hurt, turn you gray before your time and create too many sleepless nights. If you look in the mirror and the bags under your eyes are making you look like Yoda, it's your FN and you need to relax! In terms of developing your own process of analyzing opportunities in the future, so you don't miss more events that might be life-changing, here are three of my favorite quotes... "Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities."
Sugar Ray Leonard "Every day, you'll have opportunities to take chances and to work outside your safety net. Sure, it's a lot easier to stay in your comfort zone.. in my case, business suits and real estate.. but sometimes you have to take risks. When the risks pay off, that's when you reap the biggest rewards." Donald Trump And my favorite from Sun Tzu, over 2000 year's ago... "Opportunities multiply as they are seized." by Skip Cohen
I found a great quote from Steve Ballmer at Microsoft, which seems a little ironic, considering the public's on and off attitude that Microsoft has often been out of touch. Regardless, it rings true for everyone in business today. "We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we're in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There's no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either." So, here's the question of the day: Are you in touch with what your customers want? Are you really listening to them? Or, are you providing what you think they need based on information that's long since changed. When was the last time you did your own informal survey to find out what your customers really want? When you're meeting with a client do you really hear what they're saying? Here's a good example: One of the greatest ways to get to know a prospective bridal client is just to ask whose dress she's wearing. The brand of the gown tells you how much the bride is willing to spend on something she feels is important. Second, if you make it a point to know your gowns, the type and design of the gown will relate to the style of photography, being more traditional and conservative or more contemporary. My buddy, Doug Box, does a great demonstration about defining what your customers are really asking. If a customer calls you and asks, "How much are your 8x10s?" What will you answer? Most photographers just put a price out there. Now, pretend you're a baker and somebody calls and asks, "How much are your cakes?" Your answer is going to be preceded by a series of qualifiers: "How many people do you want it to serve? What flavors do you want? Do you want anything written on top of the cake? Do you want it delivered or are you going to pick it up? Does anybody have a peanut allergy? Do you want an ice cream cake or...and the list would go on and on. Well, none of you are bakers, but you know what to ask the person buying a cake. Sadly, we sell short the customer we know best who's calling for pricing on prints. Why isn't everybody asking all those same types of qualifiers as the baker? Do you want just an 8x10 or did you know we have a special that includes other sizes? How many 8x10's would you like? Does the image require any touch up - we have a terrific reputation for custom work. Would you like a portrait sitting as well? Would you like the image framed? We have a full selection of frames and we'll do all the work. Is the image black and white or color? The list of potential questions is extensive, but over and over again, you too often fail to further qualify the customer and pull them into your entire "product line". Very few photographers, from commercial to children's portraiture and everything in between, take the time to think about their product line. Your skill set and the vendors you have available make up your "inventory" and thanks to technology, in the history of photography it's the most extensive it's ever been. From the type of photography your skills allow to the thousands of techniques in Photoshop, film vs digital and the hundreds of vendors offering you lab services, albums, frames, canvas prints, paper prints, slide shows, mixed media and hosting services - you have an inventory that beats Sam's Club and Costco combined! But, odds are you've never thought of them as your product line. Right here at SCU you've got Venice Album, SmugMug, Ilford and Photodex. Each company offers you the ability to extend your line with an extension of the actual products and services you offer your clients. But the responsibility to get the message out there rests with you each time a client asks you a question about photography. There's a great example that comes out of Disney. Ask anybody working in the park where something is and they'll tell you, followed by a suggestion of something else that's great along the way. They never give just a one word answer. They're trained to anticipate your needs and enhance your Disney experience. Start thinking about the diversity of the products and services you offer. Before your next round of workshops or programs at a convention, take the time to visit the websites of the speakers you're going to hear. Look at the way they position their own products and services. Their programs will make a lot more sense if you know more about them. We recently added the complete series of SCU's Summer Session profiles and each instructor is in the Faculty Gallery with links to their pages. Look at what everyone offers their clients. When you walk into a program, the speaker you're about to hear isn't there just because they like to teach. They're on the podium because they're successful and as trite and simplistic as it sounds, they learned a lesson from McDonald's. They always ask, Would you like fries with that? Illustration Credit: © Stuart Miles - Fotolia.com Welcome to Grab Shots - Just like grab shots in photography these will be just as random. It's a series of random thoughts about the photographic industry, people in general, business and life. I'm going to keep them short and do my best to "plant a few seeds".
What good is working so hard to create the greatest images of your life if you’re not doing something to let people know you’re out there? I'm so tired of hearing photographers, who have done nothing to find new clients, complain about how business is slow and nobody seems to know who they are. This isn't a business where you hang out your shingle and suddenly there's a flash mob at your door trying to get in. You've got be involved in your community, publish a press release now and then, attend meetings of photographers in the area, have a decent blog and be helpful. Own your own zip code and stop watching the parade go by when you should be in it! by Skip Cohen
Okay, I’m about to date myself, but in the “old days” everyone’s network consisted of business card files. In fact, it became a collectible if you actually had all of a person’s career cards, with different titles, previous companies etc. It was the adult equivalent of my grandsons collecting Pokemon cards! Today, everyone’s network is in their iPhone. It’s phone numbers, email and snail mail addresses, often birthdays and meeting dates. But here’s a question for you, what are you doing to maintain contact with your network? How are you at the care and feeding aspect? Your network is a critical component in building your business and that's why it makes it into the top ten steps of One Step at a Time. So many photographers underestimate the value of their network, but the reality is, it really does "take a village" to build your brand, your skill set and a business. The advantage of building a great network in the first place is all about your support group. It’s about having resources to draw from when you simply need help. Unfortunately, so often, we’ll go to chase down somebody in our network and either have obsolete contact information or be embarrassed to be making contact when we haven’t talked to the person in a year, since the last convention, first meeting, etc. Here are some things to consider to help maintain a healthy network: Identify twenty people in your network who you really can’t live without. This isn’t just about respect and friendship, but people with skill sets that compliment your own. These are the twenty rock-stars you want to be able to count on. Make sure all your contact information is up to date for the twenty person core of your network. Keep in touch via email. It’s so easy to just drop a one liner to keep in touch. Pick up the phone! Phone calls are simply fun. Yeah, I’m using the word “fun”, one of those long lost concepts in business today. It’s okay to have fun and keeping in touch is a great way to do it. Just be sensitive to friends being buried in work when you call and don’t be offended if you just happen to catch them at a bad time. Be active in social medial! Facebook and Twitter are terrific for keeping in touch! Check your friends and followers and go off in search of those people in your network. Try and track birthdays. I’m the worst at this one, but Facebook certainly helps. Plus, it's fun to remember an associate's birthday and make contact. How’s your holiday card list? It’s another one where I don’t do the best job, but I’m at least better than I used to be. We all have such busy lives. Taking the time to remember a friend in your network is so easy to do if you just keep your addresses up to date. Websites and Blogs: Make it a point to follow the work of your network, especially your twenty person core. It’s not that hard to do if you put aside time each day. In fact, it’s a great break from the stress of deadlines and projects to just spend a few minutes looking at images a friend in your network has recently put up or read their blog. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner: At a convention? Take the time to keep in touch with your network over any meal in the day. NEVER eat alone! Being able to catch up to friends and associates over a meal is a great way to build your network and expand your knowledge of each others expertise. Be generous with your time. When somebody asks for help in your network, do the best you can and give them as much time as they need whenever possible. Participate in a few of the forums out there with photographers who are aligned with your specialty. There are several hundred thousand people with more than just a casual interest in photography on Facebook. Like any association, 10% of each forum does 90% of the participating. Each of these forums are a good way to stay on top of the trends within your specialty. Attend every convention and workshop you can! I'm convinced that building a strong network is a key to success in virtually every industry. In photography a good workshop or convention becomes an outstanding launching pad for ways to strengthen your skill set, improve your marketing and it's all through your growing network. Don't forget your Vendors! Every vendor you work with is a resource in your network and most of you should have somebody from your lab, album company, hosting/website services and camera shop/equipment supplier in your core group of twenty. Here's a prime example: Steven Irving, Rudy Pollack and Tom Panico are the sales support team for Venice Album in the United states. They talk with hundreds of photographers every month on a wide variety of issues, not just their album needs. One of these three should be in every photographer's network, especially wedding shooters. The same goes for the SmugMug heroes who are literally there to help with challenges far beyond just your website and your images - plus so many of them are outstanding photographers as well. Maintaining a great network is an art form. Clearly what you get out of it will be directly related to the effort you put into keeping it healthy. Just remember to be helpful and give more than you take! Bob Burg wrote: “The successful networkers I know, the ones receiving tons of referrals and feeling truly happy about themselves, continually put the other person's needs ahead of their own.” Illustration Credit: © adimas - Fotolia.com by Scott Bourne
I'm going to take some poetic license here so bear with me. On Marketing Monday I try to give everyone some concrete marketing tips here at SCU. Today I will talk about sales. Yes, sales is part of marketing. You need to learn this to get where you want to go. So here goes. Believe this. . . People don't ever, ever, ever, buy photographs. They buy the solution to a problem. The problem might be they don't want to ever forget their daughter's first steps. The problem might be they don't want to ever forget their daughter's first tricycle ride. The problem might be they don't want to ever forget their daughter's first day of school. The problem might be they don't want to ever forget their daughter's first prom. The problem might be they don't want to ever forget their daughter's graduation from college. The problem might be they don't ever want to forget their daughter's wedding. The problem may be they don't ever want to forget the day their daughter had her first child. You get the point? You're solving problems not taking photographs. Once you have that mindset, selling is much easier. When you are a problem solver, everybody wants to do business with you. When you're concerned only about your own wallet, then nobody wants to do business with you. Position yourself as a sincere problem solver. You'll have a great career. Remember this... Selling is something you do FOR somebody, not TO somebody. Many of you are uncomfortable with sales and salesmanship. You may be uncomfortable because you've had bad experiences with salespeople. You may be shy. You may be untrained. But you need to get past all that (or hire someone who can) or you will not succeed. I've been supporting myself with photography for decades, but I think of myself as a salesman first, and a photographer second. My mentor in sales was none other than Zig Ziglar. He had a saying that I will never forget. Nothing happens until somebody sells something." Think about it. Everything you touch has been sold and resold over and over. Without honest, sincere, dedicated salespeople no business would survive. So get used to this fact. You will spend 80% of your time selling and 20% on the photography-related stuff. If your business is suffering, get off the couch and go knock on doors. As Guy Kawasaki says, "More sales fix every problem your business is having." by Skip Cohen A couple of times this past week I read posts that hit the mean side of the scale faster than the warm fuzzy one and I wanted to write about it a little. My buddy Levi Sim posts a statement now and then about "No Meanies Allowed" - but that seems to be too basic for some people. So, sitting here on a Sunday morning it seems like a great topic. A few years ago Scott Bourne, posted an article on his blog called, "And You Call Yourself a Professional?" The blog made the WordPress Top 100 - meaning it was in the top 100 most widely read of all blogs posted to their system of several million blogs - in fact it was the 14th most popular! The blog post addressed the issue of those photographers who simply had assigned no value to their work. They bought a digital camera, had little or no skill set, caught the bride who's price-shopping and then jumped in and shot the wedding for $350, handing them a disk of images at the end. It's a pathetic demonstration of how to under-value a service and under-develop a skill set. I strongly believe in everything Scott talked about, but this morning's blog isn't about the problem of photographers who don't assign value to their work, but the way some people responded to Scott's post, which ties into some of the things I read this past week. So, my apologies to the vast majority of you, but this is about "Trolls" who can't just disagree, but launch an outright attack on things they don't agree with. I don't get it. What is that I'm missing? More importantly, what is it these "photographers" are missing? Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Everyone is entitled to challenging the paradigms. Everyone is entitled to do whatever they want until they attempt to stifle other ideas and start threatening their own community with their opinions. So, to the photographic trolls out there, loosen up. You're part of the most amazing industry on the planet. People actually pay you to capture memories. You get to photograph emotion, create stories, experiment with technology and constantly raise the bar. It's when you lower the bar that it hurts, but it's not just in the service you provide, it's about how you interact with your fellow photographers. "If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it." Herodotus So, to those of you who are willing to fight to the death over price points, print competition, add-on products vs. whether to give your clients a disk of images, Nikon vs Canon, Mac vs. PC, understanding photography vs Photoshop or a thousand other battle fronts none of us have time to read - relax - allow yourself a little fun! Learn to enjoy your network - bring some new friends into the network and most important of all, think about who you could be as a photographer. Being a great photographer/artist isn't just about your images, but the experience you give your clients and the memories you help them capture. As more than one of my friends has said, "A hundred years from now it’s still just going to be a pretty picture!” I've said it dozens of times, with the exception of modern medicine there is no career field capable of giving society more than professional photography! You guys are the magicians who capture intangible emotions and turn them into memories that people can hold in their hands and look at for years to come. Take your responsibility seriously, but not so seriously that you lose site of who you are and what it is that you loved about photography in the first place. Most important of all don't lose respect for yourself and your potential. Illustration Credit: © Blanca - Fotolia.com |
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