SkipCohenUniversity
  • The Gateway
  • Faculty
    • Becker
    • David Beckstead
    • Clay Blackmore
    • Barbara Bordnick
    • Scott Bourne
    • Doug Box
    • John Paul Caponigro
    • Bryan Caporicci
    • Michele Celentano
    • Sal Cincotta
    • Cody Clinton
    • Bob Coates
    • Jane Conner-ziser
    • Michael Corsentino
    • Bob and Dawn Davis
    • Dixie Dixon
    • J.P. Elario
    • Joe Farace
    • Deanne Fitzmaurice
    • Hanson Fong
    • Mike Fulton
    • Jim Garner
    • Zach and Jody Gray
    • Rich Harrington
    • Gregory Heisler
    • Lou Jones
    • Tim Kelly
    • Don Komarechka
    • Julieanne Kost
    • Kevin Kubota
    • Tamara Lackey
    • Bobbi Lane
    • Justin and Mary Marantz
    • Charles and Jennifer Maring
    • Joe McNally
    • Dustin Meyer
    • Lori Nordstrom
    • Michael ONeill
    • Stacy Pearsall
    • Sandy Puc'
    • Arthur Rainville
    • Seth Resnick
    • Jen Rozenbaum
    • Dane Sanders
    • Ryan Schembri
    • John Sexton
    • Adam Sherwin
    • Louise and Joseph Simone
    • Ken Sklute
    • Brian Smith
    • Matthew Jordan Smith
    • Eddie Tapp
    • Roberto Valenzuela
    • Nick Vedros
    • Kirk Voclain
    • Beverly and Tim Walden
    • Yervant
    • Moshe Zusman
  • SCU Blog
    • Guest Posts
  • Videos/Showcases
    • Luminary Corner
    • The Marathon Center
    • Profoto Showcase
    • ProShow Annex
    • Tamron Theater
    • Shawn Achor: The happy secret to better work
    • Suzette Allen
    • Clay Blackmore
    • Scott Bourne
    • John Paul Caponigro
    • Bob Carey's Tutu Project
    • Michele Celentano
    • Sal Cincotta
    • Dean Collins
    • Bob Davis: Lighting
    • Dixie Dixon
    • Bruce Dorn
    • Zach and Jody Gray
    • Rich Harrington and Rhed Pixel
    • Gregory Heisler and Profoto
    • Kristen Jensen
    • Lou Jones
    • Julieanne Kost: Lightroom 4
    • Vincent Laforet
    • Bobbi Lane
    • Annie Leibovitz
    • "Live Forever" - A Must Watch Classic
    • Charles and Jennifer Maring
    • Mary Ellen Mark: Profoto Icon Series
    • Steve McCurry
    • Nick's Picks
    • Arthur Rainville
    • Jen Rozenbaum - Boudoir
    • Matthew Jordan Smith
    • TED Talks
    • Art Wolfe
    • Zig Ziglar Classics
    • Monte Zucker
    • Moshe Zusman
  • Podcasts
  • About Us
  • Partners
    • Illuminati
    • Lumix G
    • Marathon
    • Photodex
    • Profoto
    • Shutter Magazine
    • Sprout Studio
    • Tamron

Marketing Monday - The Business Card

10/21/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
by Scott Bourne

It's one of the oldest and most basic marketing tools in any business. The business card. Or "calling card" as it's referred to in some places.

I read a surprising statistic the other day. Young people are moving away from business cards. I think that's a mistake. I think it's a BIG mistake if you're an emerging professional photographer.

A business card is like a mini post card. You can put an image on one side and your contact info on the other. You can decide to make a graphic that shows your social media presence on one side and your contact info on the other. You can choose to convey quality by getting a highly-designed, expensive letter-press card. There are lots of options. And all of them are good. But there are a few guidelines I've found helpful over the years that I'd like to share.

1. Keep it simple

If you're going to use a photograph use ONE photo - your BEST photo. Don't try to cram four images onto a 2.5 x 3.5" card.

2. Keep it simple II

Don't cram every single bit of information you can think of onto the card. Here's what's important.

a. Your name - or studio name in BIG BOLD easy-to-read letters.

b. Your phone number. Yes your phone number. "But Scott, then people will call me!" Yes - isn't that wonderful? You get calls from clients and eventually they give you money. It's really amazing and something you should be breathlessly waiting for so yes - put your phone number on the card and make it easy to find and read.

c. Your email address. Today people like to email. So put your email address on the card. Note: If your email address is something like "breckinridge_thomas.photographer@breckinridgephotography.com that is TOO FREAKING LONG. So get another simple email address that you can link to your primary email account that's easy to type. "breckphoto@gmail.com" etc.

d. Your studio address if you have one - no mailing address otherwise. If you want people to come to your studio, put the address on the card. But this is the least important info on the card. People will call or email before coming by and you can give them the info then.

e. An alternative to some or all of the above is your web gallery URL in big, bold letters. If you prominently display all the information above at your website, then you can get away with maybe just a phone number and a URL.

3. Make it easy to read


PLEASE for the love of Pete do NOT use black type on a black card. Yes I know the beanie-wearing designer told you that looked very cool but it's simply not readable. Avoid a dark background on your business card and reversed type (unless it's very simple like your Twitter handle and nothing else on that side.) Simple white or light colored backgrounds with dark ink are easier to read. I can't tell you how many people have given me business cards that I tossed because I just can't read them.

4. Have more than one business card

Going to a trade show? Have business cards made at someplace cheap like Vista Print that give your basic info. These are more likely to be thrown away or lost so don't spend a lot of money on them. Meeting in studio with high-end clients? Have a nice letter-press card to hand to these people. Try to have at least two or three different cards because not all business cards are right for all situations.

5. Hand them out to everyone


This is my final piece of business card advice. If you're going to make the darn things carry them EVERYWHERE you go and hand them out to anyone and everyone. Each business card is a mini-billboard that can lead to a big client. The more you hand out, the more likely you are to get a call. You never know who will respond or when, but it's worth handing the cards out to as many people as possible. They are one of the most inexpensive pieces of marketing material you can use.

As a side note, I once got a wedding job because someone found my card in the trash. True story. A woman was waiting at the printer to see about invitations for her daughter's wedding. I had been there earlier in the day trying to convince the owner of the printing company to refer me to brides who might need photography. He said he had enough such relationships but I gave him the card anyway. I assume he promptly tossed it into the trash. It just so happens his trash can was full that day and my card landed photo-side up. The woman waiting for her chance to talk to the printer found the card, liked the image, called and booked me. Like I said - hand these things out everywhere. You never know what they may lead to.

As always - each marketing move you make starts by getting off the couch and doing SOMETHING so hop to it. Skip and I are rooting for you.
1 Comment
Michelle Wise-Mongar link
10/25/2013 09:19:34 pm

Thank you Scott
Fresh reminder - good coaching advise!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Need Help With Pricing?

    It's not rocket science and profit isn't a dirty word. Bad pricing is one of the most critical mistakes artists make.

    Help is just a click  away. Check out the previews for Skip's Lynda.com series on "Starting a Photography Business" and "Pricing."

    "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 coming up on 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

    Categories

    All
    Beyond Technique
    Building Your Business
    Business
    EDU10
    Fast Food Friday
    Guest Post
    Humor And Sarcasm
    In The News
    Lighting
    Lumix
    Marketing
    Miscellaneous
    Motivational
    One Step At A Time
    Photodex
    PhotoShelter
    Podcasts
    Profoto
    Sales
    Social Media
    Sunday Morning Reflections
    Tamron
    Technique
    Throwback Thursday
    Wedding Photography
    Why?

    Authors

    Skip Cohen is President of SCU, founder of Marketing Essentials International and past president of Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI. He's been an active participant in the photographic industry since joining Hasselblad USA in 1987 as president.  He has co-authored six books on photography and actively supports dozens of projects each year involving photographic education.

    Scott Bourne

    Scott Bourne was the first Dean of Marketing at SCU. He helped to establish this blog as a resource for aspiring and working professional photographers. He's an educator, artist, author and from time to time you'll see his name on guest posts that are always relevant to photography and marketing!

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

Professional Education for Wedding & Portrait Photographers
✕