Are You Ready for the Seasonality in Imaging?

 Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town.
George Carlin

We're officially into the start of the fourth quarter.  While there's still time for those of you who have chosen to procrastinate as a lifestyle, today's post is directed to those of you who think everything is in place for marketing your business. You finished everything and now have time to kick back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. NOT!

I'm not suggesting you can't take a short break, but marketing is a nonstop job because everything you've been building still needs maintenance and follow-up. Everything in business needs fine-tuning from time to time. It's like a new car—it still needs fuel to run, air in the tires, a wash now and then, and it needs to be driven!
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• Website Browsers: Check your website on different browsers daily to ensure everything is working. If you're a solo act, then enlist the help of some friends and family members - assign each a few website pages to check every day on Chrome and Safari, which represent close to 70% and 18% of the market, respectively.  Click here for more information on browser use by country, etc.
• Mobile vs. Desktop: Check your website on your computer and phone. Wandering through Google, I asked for a comparison of mobile vs. desktop access for shoppers. Mobile access is well over 50%. Make sure your website looks good on both!
• Quick Responses: Follow-up to inquiries is critical, especially this time of year. Think about your own actions as a consumer. If you contact a company you're interested in, if they don't respond and answer your email or phone call, you simply move on. And as consumers, we have so many choices. There's no room for slow service.
• Is it time to refresh? There's that old line: "If you build it, they will come!" Well, what if they don't? You need to run your galleries like a supermarket that prides itself on fresh produce. Most of you need to trim back your galleries because less is more! Share only "Wow" images - so good you'd only need to show one of them to get hired! You don't need to turn over all your images; just mix them up with a few new ones every few weeks.
• Stay in contact with your target audience. Whether through direct mail, email, phone calls, or in-person events, keep in touch with your market. Your goal is to weave a web around your target customers. I've shared the illustration below in the past. Now is the time to make sure you have at least 3-4 different vehicles helping you get your name out there.

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• Community Involvement: This time of year is even more critical for building brand awareness. Whether it involves a camera doesn't matter—you need to be involved. And when you are, get a few pictures to share on social media. For example, walks to end Alzheimer's are going on all over the country. If you're participating, get pictures of the event and share them with the sponsoring nonprofit as well as your followers. You can also include the event in your own online calendar.​

​Here's my point—the slow season is typically when business owners step back and do an inventory their assets. That should include products, services, promotions, and ideas for the future, plus follow up on the past. It's a never-ending challenge but doesn't have to slow you down.

Think about it like the front door of your business—if you forgot to unlock it this morning, nobody is coming in!