I started Fast Food Fridays after taking a scroll through the SCU archives. Seeing how much content has been generated on topics to help you build a stronger business over the last five years, it made sense to do something a little more concise. Knowing how so many of you are artists who hate to focus on the operational side of your business, I decided to break your business down into small doses of fixable challenges. Well, here we are with the sixth installment, hitting another easy to fix component of your business. While your website is about what you sell, and your blog is about what's in your heart, with many of you it's hard to tell the difference, especially when it comes to the logistics of your website. For example, why make it hard for people to contact you? If they love your work, then stop making them jump through hoops to get more information. On the menu for today is your contact page. There's no such thing as giving people too much information when they're excited and want to reach you! Cleaning Up Your Contact PageI'm not against contact pages, just the limits so many of you put on them! Think about the last time you wanted to contact any company and how good it felt when you could communicate with a live body. Knowing that, then why limit contact to just a template form? We live in a robotic-default-choice world when it comes to communication, and here's a chance to put yourself ahead of most of your competitors. I completely understand if you don't want to put an address down if you work out of your home, but give people a phone number to call and an email address, if they'd like to write to you directly. Then, give them the third option of filling out an online response form. If you're going to use a template form, then let's keep it short. Some of you have decided to sneak in a survey and ask for everything from "How did you hear about us?" to requests to fast for 12 hours before submitting a blood test! Yes, I'm exaggerating a little, but just use the contact form to make contact. Personally, I would keep the form as simple as possible and save more detailed questions once you talk with the client. Years ago a good buddy of mine passed away unexpectedly, and a bunch of us took to the phones. One well-known professional photographer had moved, and we gave up trying to contact him before the funeral. There was no phone number on his site and no new address. Months later I saw him at a convention and mentioned how we couldn't find him because there was no number on his site. His response still blows me away, "I don't want people calling me! I haven't got time for phone calls!" There's not one ounce of embellishment in this story. He really just wanted contact via email. For the rest of you though, how great would it be to have your website so fantastic that your phone rang non-stop? Give people a phone number and if you want to impress them even more, your cell number as well. Then give them your email address. It's a straightforward lesson to remember and one that your grandmother probably taught you years ago - treat people the way you'd like to be treated. It's so easy to be accessible! Missed any of the past "lunch" specials? They're a click away!
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Fast Food Fridays are meant to plant the seeds for ideas to fine-tune different aspects of your presence as a professional photographer. Today is the fifth in the series, and each one has hit on a different component/action. I want to switch gears today and talk about an essential ingredient to surviving as a business owner. I know this isn't directly tied to marketing, but as the season starts to ramp up, before some of you know it, you're going to be out there flying without a net, all because you forgot to check on your insurance! Think about it this way: You'll have to work twice as hard to market your business if your equipment is stolen and you have to raise funds for a new gear because you weren't adequately insured, and that's only one aspect of insurance. Do You Have the Right Insurance?Several times a year I read about or have conversations with relatively new photographers who didn't realize their home insurance didn't cover their gear, now that it's being used for commercial purposes. And the challenge isn't exclusive to newbies. When was the last time you veterans updated your insurance coverage? It's not just your photographic equipment you need have insured, but everything you use in your business. Plus, make sure you have the right liability insurance should somebody trip over one of your light stands at an event and hold you liable. And don't forget indemnification. Indemnification insurance is designed to protect you as a business owner if you're found to be at fault for a specific action or misjudgment. Best example would be a wedding you were hired to photograph, and for whatever reason, you lost the cards, couldn't retrieve the images, etc. This is the easiest challenge in your entire business to fix - it just takes a phone call to your insurance agent to find out exactly what is and isn't covered. Then you need to take the next step and get the right insurance. I'm a big fan of PPA's insurance programs. They offer a wide variety of different types of insurance, giving you the ability to customize your coverage based on your needs. From PPA's website: PPA and its broker offer a host of insurance solutions designed to protect you and your business. In fact, we offer more protection solutions than any other professional photographic association because we want to make sure you're protected at all times, on all fronts. STOP BEING STUPID AND IRRESPONSIBLE WITH YOUR DREAM! Every year I hear at least one story of somebody whose dream is on hold until they replace gear that was lost or stolen. Then there are the horror stories of lost images and the challenges of indemnification.
Don't be penny wise and dollar foolish - make sure you're insured NOW and don't risk avoidable problems disrupting your business and efforts to establish a solid reputation as an artist in your community! If you missed any of the previous "lunch" specials, click on the past posts below. A few weeks ago I had an idea to start a new series of short posts, each one with a point to help you raise the bar on your presentation for your website or blog. Fast Food Fridays are meant to plant the seed for ideas to fine-tune different components of your presence as a professional photographer. Today is the fourth in the series, and each one hits a different aspect of your business. Here's a challenge I don't understand. If you're a professional photographer why would you share anything but your very best headshot on the Internet? So many of have horrible headshots. Bad selfies, grab shots of you cropped from other images, or irrelevant photographs of you with your family, pets - anything but a professional image. If you're expecting people to trust you to capture and create beautiful photographs then why compromise on your own portrait? This week I'm on a cleanup campaign! While we're still in the "slow season," take the time to get yourself a decent headshot! Contact an associate and have some fun upgrading each other's portraits. Let's clean up this one part of your presentation to the public! Raising the Bar on Your Headshot
This is so easy to fix, but it has to start with you thinking through the message you want to present. As an artist, you need to show yourself in the same light and quality as the work you're suggesting a client hire you to capture. Photography helps people to see! Berenice Abbott Make your headshot the very best it can be and give people a sense of your skill set and passion for quality and the craft. Help them see who you are as a skilled artist.
Missed any of the past Fast Food Friday specials? Just click on the thumbnails below. We're in the last month of the slow season, but that's only about incoming revenue. It shouldn't be slow for any photographer because there's so much you can be doing to raise the bar on your skill set, website, blog, business and marketing. There's a lot on today's menu, and unlike most fast food, this menu is all nutritional! Ever think about the impression you make when a potential client walks through the door...of your website? A future client wandering through cyberspace is like shopping for your mother's birthday present. You know you need to get her something, but you don't know what. So, the solution is to wander through the stores in the mall looking for ideas. So many of you don't realize your website is one of those stores. When people come to your site are they walking through Nordstroms where everything is easy to find and nicely displayed or is your site the equivalent of Macy's the day after Christmas? Your website needs to be an experience and needs to have a look and feel that connects with the shopper. Fine-Tuning Your Website |
Our Partners"Why?"Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.
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