by Skip Cohen 

​Last Monday, I shared a post reminding you that you're coming down to the wire to be planning your marketing activity for the seasonality of the fourth quarter. It was pretty general, but this week let's start to list some actions you should consider.

Blog Content: If you've got a blog, it's the perfect vehicle to plant the seeds of gift ideas in photography with your clients. Here are some topic ideas:

• Start sharing some of your older images to help get Mom thinking about the timing for a new family portrait. Throwback Thursday is a classic way to deliver the message.
• Share ideas about things to do with photographs. While canvas prints are not new to any of us in the industry, they're something most consumers don't know much about.
• Be helpful: There are things you do every day as a photographer that you take for granted. Start a series of tips to help your readers capture better images. Become the expert in your community on photography.
• Start a community calendar sharing events in the community. It's a great way to show you're involved.
• Share ideas on your services: For example, I love "Day in the Life" shoots with families, children, and even pets. You don't have to spend the entire day with a client, but just a few hours in their environment gives you the ability to tell their story and, in turn, create a small album.
• Plant the seed now for a video holiday card. This is a 30-60 second piece combining video, still images, and great music. Check out Suzette Allen's YouTube channel to see more ideas.

Direct Mail, alone and with partners: I'm a huge fan of relationship building with other vendors. While you can do a direct mail campaign alone, with two partners, like a florist and salon, you'll reduce your costs to 1/3 of what it would be if you flew solo. Now is the time to get out in the community and look for partners.

New products for gift ideas: CALL YOUR LAB! I mentioned this last week, but the pandemic hasn't slowed down technology. So all you have to do is call your lab and ask, "What's new?" Then kick back and listen. Somewhere in there, you'll hear about a product that will get you excited as something new and creative you want to offer.

Community Involvement: In the top 100 things guerrilla marketers need to be doing, base on Jay Conrad Levinson's list many years ago, is be involved in the community. People like buying products from companies they perceive as giving back. Now is the time for you to be raising your hand to be involved in activities in your area. And remember, this is about people getting to know you, and it doesn't always have to involve your camera. Even working at a Friday night football game, filling ketchup and mustard containers for the Booster Club, is a way for you to be involved.

No one post can cover everything, but each Marketing Monday, I'm going to be doing my best to share more ideas for you to consider. Most important of all, remember there's a renewed sense of family in the world. Who better to help capture and create those memory-making moments than you?

Intro by Skip Cohen

​Two of my most favorite portrait artists and good friends are Bev and Tim Walden.

In just a few weeks, they'll be launching one of the industry's strongest coaching/mentoring programs, Immersion. While I've been sharing a link to their program over on the right of the SCU blog, I asked Beverly to give me a short example of how straightforward they're going to be with helping you build your skills beyond your technical style.

It's your chance for a year long, never-let-up support system!  You can even design the program you need the most over the next year, and add in an hour of private coaching as well! Just click on the banner above for more information!

One of the definitions of insanity is doing the same thing over and again and expecting different results. Well, this is your chance to raise the bar on the quality of your work and your marketing/selling skills. And like Carly Simon's song so many years ago, "Nobody does it better!"

by Bev Walden

As much as you don’t want to admit it, objections exist. Personally, I would love it if our clients always agreed to everything I said, bought it all as presented and never objected.

That is just not reality.

However, take heart. As you are in business longer and longer, reputation will provide privilege as people know what to expect…and objections happen less often.

Our best advice (not meaning to sound flippant) is to avoid objections by doing groundwork from the beginning. Weed out problems beforehand. It is your job to think ahead for your clients and avoid any possible objections by informing them about things they need to know such as your pricing and payment options, how you do business and what they can expect.

After doing due diligence beforehand, you can prepare for each selection appointment with confidence. Here are three common objections we see.

Objection #1: Being indecisive. Can I think about it? I can’t decide right now.

This is where groundwork comes in. Take time before the day of the sale to plant seeds about expectations and share your “rules.” Talk about it every format you can (written, videos, etc) and reinforce it our and over. Your rules, your way. Time is the enemy. In the first moments of the sale is where the money is made and money tanks as time passes and clients leave without making a decision. Relationships become contentious as you try to re-connect to get an answer. This is one of the worst scenarios for successful sales.

What do we do if this happens?

We say, “Let’s put everything into the system like we’ve talked about since we’ve spent all of this time together already.” Then we collect the deposit. Before we finalize everything, we ask them to let us know within certain time (ie: 24 hours) whether to go ahead with the order as is or modify it. If we don’t hear from them, we go ahead. This approach gets a solid order and a deposit, yet doesn’t back them into a corner.

Objection #2: I can’t bring my spouse right now, so can I just look at the portraits now and then we can come back later to place the order?

What do we do if this happens?

We say, “It is hard to get on the schedule right now as we are several weeks out.” Usually, when they hear this, they will find a way to come as originally scheduled and place their order. What we don’t want to do is show any images before they are ready to buy as the excitement is much less the second time the images are seen. When excitement goes down, the money goes with it.

Objection #3: I look ________________. You can fill in the blank.

What do we do about this? We avoid this objection by prepping images that we want to highlight with a little retouching and liquifying areas that need it. We put our best foot forward! This is why we limit how many images we show. We want to make each as beautiful as we can without spending too much time fixing too many images.

Finally, don’t be afraid of objections. And remember, sometimes, there is not an answer. If you have done everything right and still have a bad sale, no worries. Let it go. Be ok with it. And learn from it.

by Skip Cohen

It would be so easy if there was just a button on your keyboard you could hit and have all your ideas in place for this coming holiday season. Well, there isn't, but that doesn't mean you can't come up with everything you need to give 2021 one of the strongest finishes you've ever had!

It's Marketing Monday and August 16 - just a month ahead of the start of fall seasonality and into the fourth quarter, the busiest time of the year for photographers. What are you doing right now to start planting seeds for ideas for your clients with imaging products?

​This will be an ongoing weekly series because no single post could cover everything you should be considering. But here's an ideal place to start:

What are you offering this season that's unique or, at the very least, new to your target audience? Here are some things to consider:
​

• There's a renewed sense of family in the world. It came out of the pandemic and brought with it a greater appreciation for being together. Knowing that, what's grandma missed the most? Her family! That's the perfect lead-in for family portraiture.
• Call your lab and ask, "What's new?" And remember, while canvas prints may be old to you, they're not old to your clients. 
• Put together packages: From single portrait sittings to on-location "Day in the Life" shoots, be creative in what you're offering. When you sell prints by the size and quantity, you turn your work into a commodity item.
• Remember Beverly and Tim Walden's comment about what you're selling - "You're not selling a portrait but an experience!"

Here's my point - September is two weeks away with kids going back to school (if they're not already), Labor Day, and Fall. October brings in Halloween, and by November, we're already into Black Friday specials from companies all over the world. That makes NOW the time to get your ducks in a row and have plans in place to capture the seasonality. ​

It doesn't matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.
Brian Tracy

So, where is your business going for the rest of the year?

​by Skip Cohen

As a kid, I know I'm not the only one who dreaded bringing home a report card every six weeks. While there were moments of brilliance when I applied myself, most of the time, there was something I had to explain. LOL Then, as a parent, the process returned, only now I could hear my folks saying, "You'll understand when you're a parent someday." Well, now fast forward to today, and the closest thing to a report card you get is feedback from a client now and then. 

With ClickCon right around the corner, then WPPI, Photoshop World, PPE, and IUSA in January, if you're going to make the very most of the time you put into the events, let's look at your "report card."
​

• Assess your skills: Be honest with yourself. You know where you need the most help. For most of you, it's lighting or diversity. On the lighting side, we've got too many "natural light specialists" out there. Sorry, but the secret is out - we all love natural light, but when it becomes a specialty, it screams - fear of studio lighting! On the diversity side - we've got too many one-trick ponies. I'm not suggesting you need to master everything, but you need to expand your skills. For example, being exclusively an event photographer without a backup plan during the pandemic proved disastrous for many artists.
• Assess your network: Having a great network isn't about collecting names and business cards but building relationships with people you know and respect. A great conference is a perfect place to expand your network and turn it into a team of people who support each other and complement each other's weaknesses, especially yours.
• Assess your gear: Make a list of everything you have. Then, look at what's missing, as well as where are the easy points to expand. Gear doesn't make the photographer, but knowing how to use everything you have and need does! Every conference gives you a chance to check out equipment - but don't forget to rent high-priced items before you invest!
• Assess brand awareness: What good is working to create the finest images of your life if nobody in the community knows who you are? Look for opportunities to become your own publicity machine. Attending a conference, for example, gives you the ability to capture images of yourself with other photographers, vendors, instructors, and examples of new products you might bring to your offerings.
• Assess the vendors you know: Every conference gives you a chance to meet more people, especially the vendors who manufacture and sell the products you use. Make it a point to meet every vendor, starting with any company whose products/services you currently use.
• Assess your offerings: Too many of you have products and services that could put a rock to sleep. Coming out of the pandemic, there's a renewed sense of family and a need for capturing memories. There's also an entirely new channel developing for food photography as more and more restaurants expand to carry out service. When in doubt call your lab and just ask, "What's new?" Then, kick back and listen.

Here's my point - your time and funding for attending conferences is limited, even if they're online. So take the time NOW and do your own report card. The goal is to walk through the door (or portal) for each event ready to get the most out of it.

by Skip Cohen

Technology and trends in demand NEVER slow down. Now add in the "new" normal created by the pandemic, and there are so many opportunities for photographers to raise the bar on their skills and expand their business. Here's one example:

Thousands of restaurants all over the country are serving outside. At the same time, carry-out has become a significant part of their business. Most of them have little in terms of visual assets to show their menu.

But there's one more factor playing a role in your potential to grow your business - most of you have time on your hands. As we come out of the pandemic and things return to a little more normalcy, while business is picking up, it's the perfect opportunity to fine-tune your skill set.

Aaron van is an accomplished food and beverage photographer. The video below is only eighteen minutes, as Aaron goes through the technique and tools he used to light and capture the image above. In addition, he shares a lot of great "how-to" content. 

So, whether food photography is typically part of your business or not, grab a coffee and take a few minutes to follow his process. Then, start thinking about the restaurants in your community that could use a little help in sharing their menu beyond their physical location!       

​Interested in seeing more of Aaron's work? Visit his website, and you'll see galleries of stunning work from one of the industry's very best. And check out KelbyOne for Aaron's most recent online workshop.

Intro by Skip Cohen

​I've shared this post several times over the years, and always at this time of year. It's one of my favorite guest posts by my good buddy Scott Bourne. This year after dealing with the pandemic and ALL of us graduating back into a bit of normalcy over the last month, Scott's words are even more appropriate.

His original target with the post was the new artist just coming into the business after graduation, but take a second and think about his advice. We've all experienced some level of hitting the "hold" button over the last year. His advice is the perfect reminder of the things we need to do like marketing, business, technology, and social media to get back into full swing. 

We're all never-ending students! And, to Scott's point about relationships - Relationship building is your most valuable marketing tool!

by Skip Cohen

​We're right in the heart of spring seasonality, and although Mother's Day has passed, you've still got proms, graduations, and Father's Day ahead. That leaves some terrific opportunities to pick up a little momentum for your business.

As we slowly come out of the pandemic, there are so many ways for you to start to regain some of the business you lost. Plus, there are some unique opportunities to raise the bar on your skillset.

​Here's my point - the pandemic created a greater sense of family and also heightened our awareness of our friends. Most of us hunkered down and kept in touch with Zoom, Skype, Facetime, phone calls, and email. But now it's time to get back to capturing memories, and nobody can do it better than you!

There are only two significant stretches of seasonality in imaging, the Spring and the November/December holidays. Don't miss the opportunities around you right now...you snooze, you lose!

And if you're stuck on ideas, you know where to find me. I'm happy to help you take those steps to get your business back on track.

by Skip Cohen 

There's nothing new to write about or share following everything I've written over the last few weeks about seasonality. So this is just a you-snooze-you-lose reminder!

Every year in imaging, there are two stretches of seasonality - the Spring starting with Mother's Day and November, starting with Thanksgiving and running through the December holidays. Slowly coming out of the pandemic, the timing is perfect for you to be focusing on Mother's Day, graduations, proms, and Father's Day.

This will be a short post, but think about what parents and grandparents have missed the most. Got it? The answer is family! That makes this the perfect time to remind your clients it's time for a new family portrait! 

And that's only the beginning. Think about what the Class of 2021 has had to deal with this year. Think about proms and the fact that many communities will have limited events. Then, Father's Day rolls around.

All it takes is a call to your lab and asking the question, "So, what's new?" Then kick back and listen. You've got a rare opportunity to be creative and help your clients create an incredible memory of Spring 2021.

by Skip Cohen

​I apologize for this sounding like a rant, but while so many of you are working hard to get business back on track, there are still too many of you bitching, moaning, complaining, and whining about what the pandemic took away. So, this email is addressed to those of you stuck in analysis paralysis trying to figure out where to start.

I keep sharing links to various programs coming up, and the response is minimal. Yet, when I wander into many of the Facebook forums, there are threads of conversations from photographers who are still procrastinating about ramping back up! It's time to put your energy into relationship building with your target audience. 

• Stop analyzing and simply start getting your business back.
• New gear is excellent, but you don't need new equipment to get started again. 
• Call your lab! All you need to do is ask, "What's new?" Consider products that will give you a chance to make a little noise in your community.
• Start getting active again in your community. Hunkering down is about your health - NOT about your business.
• Check out all the various programs going on both online and starting to go live again!

I've grabbed the banners of a few of the great programs coming up, but don't forget about support through the blogging community, including Photofocus, who's always sharing great information to help you raise the bar on the quality of your images!

​Click on any of the banners below for more information and put them on your radar.

by Skip Cohen

This is hardly a new topic, but it's based on one an old African proverb.  We're just starting to come out of the pandemic, and all of us have been a long way from "smooth seas" over the last fourteen months.
 
Think about it. The pandemic brought virtually every business to a standstill, especially in photography. But you've had a year to fine-tune your skills, expand your reach in social media, and hopefully diversify a little from your original specialty.

What's exciting right now is the new energy focused on marketing, relationship building, and leadership for those of you no longer willing to sit still! There's a stronger sense of family these days, and combined with the overwhelming need to help clients capture new memories, business is about to start growing again.
 
Plus, technology has made us stronger as an industry. Think about how we share photographs today - Zoom, Facebook, Facetime, Skype, Google, YouTube, etc.  As the economy continues to improve, business will come back, starting with this year's graduations. 

Scuba diving is a major passion of mine, and I remember a dive when I first started. We had 6-8 foot swells, and we were in a small boat - I was diving with my buddy, Bob Nunn. The captain looked at us and said, "If you guys can dive in this, you can dive in anything!" I came off the boat green, and Bob left breakfast a half-mile off the Florida coast, but it did make us better divers. It also gave us something to laugh about.
 
Well, none of us will ever be laughing about the last year but as an industry, we've survived the most brutal of times. Now, Spring seasonality is right around the corner.

What are you doing to let your target audience know you're back?  Use your blog, email, the phone and direct mail to get back in touch with your audience. Own your zip code and start knocking on the doors of local businesses to introduce yourself. Look for partners (other companies with the same target audience) and get out to lunch with other artists.

The point is, we've all learned to sail in rough water, and now we're better sailors!
 
 It's time for you to thrive, not just survive!

If nothing ever changed, there would be no butterflies.
Author Unknown

by Skip Cohen

We've been working on a butterfly garden for four years, and it's finally taken off. This is the first chrysalis we've seen, and sometime over the next few days, a Monarch butterfly is going to appear. When I shared the image on my Facebook page I mentioned it looks like an ornament missed when the tree was taken down after Christmas.

Butterflies don't live very long, which leads me to wonder how Mother Nature screwed things up. Cockroaches can live for two years, but Monarch butterflies live for 2-6 weeks! Hmmm, only the good die young? Any day now, we're going to watch a Monarch come out of that little pod, which is about the size of a large vitamin.

I know my opening quote above is an obvious lead-in for something about marketing. And while it couldn't be sappier - think about the pandemic chrysalis you've been in for the last year. Now, take it a step further and think about all the opportunities for you and your business to stand out today!

• Mother's Day: It's next month and loaded with opportunities for you RIGHT NOW. Think about what people like "grandma" have missed the most over the last year - their family! It's perfect for a portrait campaign.
  1. Call your lab and ask the question, "What's new?" Look for product ideas that your clients will appreciate in the form of prints, albums, frames, etc.
  2. Look for a partner or two in your community. Cross-promote with a florist or a restaurant known for its Mother's Day brunch.
  3. Do a mailing with a couple of other businesses. 

 

• Graduations are back! Last year's seniors missed out entirely on a live graduation, but the class of 2021, while we're still not out of the woods with Covid-19, they're back with limited attendance, but the same joy and memories needed to be captured.
  1. ​​Don't forget prom season. There will continue to be restrictions, but it's another opportunity for memory-capturing photography and video.
  2. I've always been a fan of "Day-in-the-Life" shoots - there's a unique opportunity now to capture a graduating senior's story by spending a block of time with them and then telling their story in a small album. They're genuinely the "butterflies" after this past school year.

​

• Community Involvement: At the very top of the list of Jay Conrad Levinson's things, guerrilla marketers need to do is give back to your community. Why? Because people like buying products and services from companies they perceive as giving back.
  1. Look for organizations that simply need volunteers to help with their mission. With or without your camera, every nonprofit has been challenged by the pandemic this year. 
  2. Are there events taking place that need to be captured with photographs and video?
  3. Put together a community calendar feature for your blog. Use the calendar and blog posts to help support those events in the community that need support and your voice. You've got a chance to become an ambassador for so many different things going on in your community!​

The list of things you can be doing right now goes on and on - and don't forget Father's Day, the start of Summer, owning your zip code, and making the community aware you're there for support! Everyone in business has had the same challenges over the last year, but now is the time to be a leader and work to have your business thrive, not just survive!

by Skip Cohen

​I'm not sure the opportunities for senior photographers have ever been greater than they are for this upcoming graduation season.

To start, think about what these kids have gone through for the last year, compared to what all of us experienced when we were kids. Now, add the opportunities for creativity with seniors and the upcoming graduations, which appear to be scheduled LIVE in most communities around the country.

Last but not least, think about how senior photography has grown in the previous decade. We've come a long way from when I was a kid, or even my kids were seniors a generation later. (This is where I get to share my senior head shot each year - complete with clip on tie and glasses that hid my uni-brow!)

​Senior photography today captures the subject's personality, with images often telling a story about their interests, hobbies, and even dreams for the future. 

​These kids deserve every opportunity you can create for them to help celebrate.  ​So, do you offer grad cards? Grad cards represent one of the best tools you have to help families celebrate and appreciate images you captured and created despite the challenges during the pandemic.

Think back to the pride you had in the quality of the senior portraits you captured. Now it's time to put them to the very best use and create more ways to share the memories!

And yes, this is an infomercial for an outstanding product - grad cards! I love the way photographers can work with Marathon Press and extend the celebration for the class of 2021. Find out more with a click on the banner below, and make sure you check out Marathon's BOGO promotion going on through May 31, 2021.

by Skip Cohen

It's a short post this morning with a point that's so perfect for today!

Koi are beautiful but put a few hundred together in a pond, and they all look the same. None of them truly stand out.

Well, that's exactly what's happening in business right now, especially in photography. Everyone is in the same boat, battling similar challenges. Too often they're trying to rebuild business with the same old products and services.

If you're going to stand out, you've got to bring something new to the party! You've got to position yourself as a leader in your community. You need to start planting seeds of ideas on memory-makers. You need to take advantage of all the creative ways out there to reach your target audience. The pandemic took a lot away from every business owner, but it doesn't have to impact your creativity and marketing skills.

Seasonality in photography is right around the corner with graduation, proms, Mother's Day, and Father's Day. While most of what the pandemic did was painful, there's a new stronger sense of family today. There's a greater demand for family portraiture and you can help put the pain of the last year on a back burner.

As photographers, you're magicians. You take intangible moments and turn them into memories your clients can hold in their hands for a lifetime! I wrote this the other day in a post - think about the last year. What's grandma missed the most? Her family - and what better time for an updated family portrait?

If you're stuck for ideas of what to do this season - you know where to find me. There are so many opportunities for you to be a leader.

In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.
Albert Einstein

Intro by Skip Cohen

​Here's what happens when you cross Throwback Thursday with a great friendship, and then, like a chef, add a little good advice for seasoning! My good buddy, Scott Bourne, shared the post below eight years ago, and I shared it again in 2017.

But here's where there's a twist - the pandemic has changed everything in business today. Right now, your most effective marketing tool is relationship building. Advertising, publicity, promotions, community involvement, a great skill set, etc., all play essential roles. However, everyone has been hunkered down for the past year, and as we slowly get back to a level of normalcy, your customer needs to hear from you - NOW! 

The fun of sharing a Marketing Monday kind of post on a Throwback Thursday is pulling old photographs from your stash. From the first Skip's Summer School in 2009 to the SCU blog and dozens of projects in between, Scott Bourne has been an incredible influence, sounding board, and truly good friend.

In 2013 at Skip's Summer School in Chicago, one of the classes focused on video skills, created a short film featuring Scott and me as battling competitors. It was a lot of fun to do, except for one component where the class missed a beat - using copyrighted music. So, while the video never saw the light of day to the public, this is one of my favorite still images from the project.  

Scott and I met years ago in my Hasselblad days, but not until 2009 did the friendship take off. We started working together on so many different projects, including writing "Going Pro," which is still one of the best books ever written about getting started in the photography business.  

To Scott's point about caring about your customers in his guest post below - you can't truly care about them if you don't know them! All the answers on how to build a successful business are out there - you just need to listen to your target audience and understand what's most important to them!

"if opportunity doesn't knock, build a door!"
Milton Berle

by Skip Cohen

In all my years in this industry, I've never seen a more brutal year than the last twelve months. We've all experienced the same challenges. However, as things slowly start to improve, there are still far too many of you looking like a deer in the headlights. I know I've got a reputation of being the industry cheerleader but whether you're with me as an optimist or the glass is half empty - the pandemic has created so many opportunities for you to be a leader in your community!

One of the most abused words through the pandemic has been "pivot." And while everybody talks about it, so many of you aren't doing it. Business is coming back with comments from photographers all over the country about things picking up. But if you're waiting for your phone to start ringing or knocks on your door from clients, it's not going to happen without you planting a few seeds first.
​

• Seasonality: We're coming up on the second biggest stretch for business in the year - Spring Seasonality. Mother's Day, Graduation, Father's Day - they all present an ideal time for gift giving with photography. Graduations are moving back to live events and away from being virtual. And even though attendance is often limited to just two guests per graduate, the importance of the memory hasn't changed.
• Your Blog: From posts about presentation ideas to Throwback Thursday photographs, use your blog to help plant the seeds with Mom that it's time for new family portraits.
• New Ideas: Stuck for ideas on how to be different from your competitors? CALL YOUR LAB! The pandemic didn't slow down technology, and your lab today is loaded with new products, printing material, and ways to exceed client expectations.
• Video Storytelling: Again, so many of you are still-photographers. Yet, you all have gear that easily switches from still imaging to video with the push of a button. It's time to expand your storytelling skills and bring photographs, short video clips, and music together into one presentation.
• New Clients: As we slowly return to normalcy and better weather in the northern half of the country, restaurants will continue to offer outdoor dining. Sadly, many of them were never set up for the outdoors, and a few tables on the side of a concrete block building has absolutely no atmosphere. I've written a lot about Bay Photo's Performance EXT Metal prints. Well, it's time for you to "own your zip code" and introduce your skills and products to any restaurant in the area offering outdoor dining!
• "Own Your Zip Code:" Scott Bourne first started talking about this years ago. This is about getting out of the house and pounding the pavement. Draw a 2-3 mile circle around your location and then literally knock on doors and introduce yourself to every business in the area.
• Facetime Portraits: JP Elario started the concept, but it's spread. Here's the link to the original post. In talking with my good buddy Bob Coates recently, he picked up a business client and is doing their headshot at different offices via the same process.
• Cross-Promoting: Now is the time to partner with florists, venues, restaurants, limo services, bridal salons, tux rental houses, etc. You don't need to do everything by yourself. Cross-promoting your services with other partners makes what you're offering not only stronger, but the reach for all the partners grows.

Speaking of things getting back to a level of normalcy, ClickCon is back on for Chicago in August. It's going to be smaller but jam-packed with inspiration and ideas to help make 2021 a year to make you smile! Here's the link.

​

by Skip Cohen

CIRCLE THE DATE!

Coming up tomorrow, ClickCon Nation has a day of great topics and speakers! And it's all happening online in the comfort of your own home/office. It's an all-star lineup.

And at 2:30 EST, I'm excited to be doing a program together with fine art, landscape photographer, and good buddy Kevin A. Gilligan. Kevin's no stranger to SCU, and in fact, he wrote one of our very best guest posts - a three-part series to help you put together your own exhibit.

We're going to be talking about ways to help you find balance and, in turn, create a path to help you follow your dreams!

Just click on the banner above to register! It's FREE - I hope you'll be there!

See you Sunday, March 14!

Life it is not just a series of calculations and a sum total of statistics, it's about experience,
it's about participation, it is something more complex and more interesting than what is obvious.
  David Libeskind

by Skip Cohen
 
​​I've written a lot over the years about getting involved in your community to build your brand. As we slowly come out of the pandemic, it's time for you to also get involved in the industry! 
 
I'm not suggesting you need to be a speaker or grow to be an industry icon, but being involved will help build your network and strengthen your business by association with other people having the same interests as you.
 
There are some definite steps to being more involved, and they all start locally.

• If there's a local guild or affiliate group online or photographers getting back to live meetings, you need to join. Most often, before the pandemic, they'd meet once a month, usually at an inexpensive local restaurant. Over the last year, in-person events have morphed into Zoom meetings, often with a guest speaker. 
• In the "old days," Pictage had their PUGS (Pictage User Groups). But there are still areas of the country with independent groups that sprouted up where there's a need. Many of them have their own pages on Facebook like Cache Valley Photographers.
• Do you have a state association? PPA is most prevalent, but it doesn't have to be associated with any national organization.
• Who are the local manufacturers or vendors in your area? From local retailers to labs, album companies, frames, and all the hardware and software manufacturers, get to know somebody on each company's staff.
• Online programs like ClickCon Nation, KelbyMedia's online conferences, Out of Chicago, and Mentor.photo offer ongoing programs and guest speakers to help you fine-tune your skill set.
• National membership and attendance at various conventions and workshops (once they come back) offer you an opportunity to meet people from other areas of the country and, in fact, the world. You never know when a simple conversation, while sitting next to somebody at a workshop, might give you an answer to challenges in your market that have already come and gone in another.

Here's what you're looking for in all of these opportunities: people to listen to. The industry is starting to buzz again, and you need to be on the front line to hear it first. New technology, new techniques, and recent trends – you need to know about them as they're happening.  
 
Being involved in the industry is like voting. It's your right and responsibility as a citizen to vote in every election. Well, it's also your right, as a photographer, to make an effort to be involved and help the industry that's responsible for feeding your passion.
 
There are also some interesting side benefits, exposure for your work. For example, many years ago, I was working on an annual project with Graphistudio. They were doing a day in the life of WPPI book, and we needed four photographers. The photographers who were picked each year were chosen because they were involved, and we knew who they were. 
 
And don't forget the other vendors out there. Getting to know a specific vendor might get your work seen in national or local ad campaigns or simply have your work displayed in a blog post or booth. Years ago, my friend Steven Katzman's images wound up in the Kodak booth. My friendship with Jerry Costanzo kicked off because we needed an image in the Hasselblad booth at what was then PhotoEast. Numerous photographers have had their work featured in articles and magazines because they worked to build relationships with the various editorial staff.
 
The key to be involved is nothing more than putting in the time. Don't jump into the involvement game with high expectations; just be engaged for the sake of growing and learning what's going on. Great things happen when you least expect them, and if you're active in the industry, you'll eventually get noticed!

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.
 
Bob Burg
 

by Skip Cohen

I've written a lot over the years about the care and feeding of your network. Just like a house plant that needs water and sunlight, your network needs interaction, support, and as sappy as it might sound, a whole lot of love. And the pandemic has made it even more important to stay in touch. 

The advantage of building a great network in the first place is all about support - not just for you, but as a two-way street, both giving and receiving. It's about having resources to draw from when you need help and also being there to lend your expertise to people in your network.

Unfortunately, so often, we'll go to chase down somebody and have obsolete contact information or be embarrassed to reach out when we haven't talked to the person in a year, since the last convention, first meeting, etc. Again with the pandemic, there's been virtually no live contact for most of us for over a year!
 
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 rockstars you want to be able to count on. Make it a point to keep in touch with them. Just start at the top of the list and work your way down, hitting each of them once a month. Note: This doesn't have to be a big deal and can be as simple as just hitting the "Like" button and making a comment about something they've shared on social media. 
• Make sure all your contact information is up to date for the twenty-person core of your network. And when that's done, move out to the next fifty people.
• A great network goes beyond friends and associates. Make sure you have contact information for the key staff at the vendors whose products/services you use. In your network you should have at least one person representing every piece of gear and software you use - retailers, distributors, sales reps, your lab, accountant, attorney - they ALL play a role.
  
• Keep in touch via email. It's so easy to just drop a one-liner and keep in touch.
• Pick up the phone! For many of us, the phone has become the only "live" contact we really have had with friends and associates over the last year. 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, Instagram, and Twitter are terrific for keeping in touch! Check your friends and followers and go off in search of those people in your network.
• Track birthdays. Checking Facebook birthdays and anniversaries is my first stop EVERY day.
• Online meetings and get-togethers: Zoom, Skype, and FaceTime, just to name a few online venues, are perfect for everything from keeping in touch with friends to online meetings and presentations. I'm still amazed at the number of people who don't know what they're doing with any of these programs.
• A quick tip for online meetings: Always use ear buds or headphones - they cut back on the feedback. And learn to mute your microphone when in a group meeting.
  
• Websites and Blogs: Make it a point to follow the work of people in your network. It's not that hard to do if you put aside time each day. It's a great break from the stress of deadlines and projects. Spend a few minutes looking at images a friend in your network has recently shared and follow their blog.
• Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner: I consider myself the biggest "lunch slut" in the industry, and conventions, conferences, and workshops will all come back. So, while we're not out of the pandemic yet, we're getting closer every day. Think about your next convention! Plan to take time with people in 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 other's 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.

Everyone knows the expression, "having a green thumb." For years I referred to my skill set with house plants as "having poison thumb." I didn't give them the attention they needed, and they always died. Well, maintaining a great network is no different.

​What you get out of it will be directly related to the effort you put into keeping it healthy. ​

by Skip Cohen
​
It's Marketing Monday and I can't think of a better time to share another Building Block for the New Year. I've shared seven of them since the start of January. They're just a click away, if you missed any of them. Sadly, there are still too many of you hunkered down and blaming the pandemic for the crisis in your business.

I'm not suggesting the pandemic hasn't changed all the rules, or that it's been easy to survive, but hunkering down is about your health, NOT about your business, skill set or developing your creativity!

The one thing the pandemic can't touch is the seasonality of the business, and the second busiest time of the year is coming up with Mother's Day, graduation, and Father's Day. But if you're sitting back and just waiting for your ship to come in - you'll miss the opportunity for more business completely. Or, as I once heard a comedian say, "The day my ship came in, I was at the airport!"

You need to create a little excitement in your community. Great promotions don't happen by themselves - they need great execution too! Here are some tried and true tips to consider:

• Whatever you offer it has to have perceived value. And if you're stuck for ideas, pick up the phone and call your lab and ask, "What's new?" Your lab works with thousands of photographers all year long and whoever you're talking with has some great experience to share. 
• Keep your promotions simple and easy to understand. You don’t need to give away everything, just have the right ingredient to get Mom’s attention. Why Mom? Because women make 95% of the decisions to hire a professional photographer in the portrait/social categories.
• Cross-promote with other vendors. With Mother's Day especially, florists and restaurants offering a Mother's Day Brunch are terrific partners. And with a little luck and more vaccinations taking place every day, getting out for a meal, might be one of this Mother's Day's most popular ideas.
• Share great images on your website and blog. Photography is about emotion and there’s that old line about a picture being worth a thousand words. Save the words and show your audience what you’re capable of producing. Here’s where you want images that pull at people's heart strings.
• Once you put the offer out there, be ready to close the sale with the first phone call. Respond quickly with a great attitude. Have all the facts about the promotion ready so you can answer any and all questions. If you’re lucky enough to have staff answering the phone or email, make sure they know what they’re talking about.
• Use a few people at the core of your network as sounding boards. Years ago at Hasselblad, whenever we put a promotion together we had one great retailer we used to call and just say, “Okay John, what’s wrong with this idea?” He’d either love it or shred it and we’d go back and make it better. When you’re putting together promotional ideas don’t plan them in a vacuum. Bounce them off a friend or two. Test them on some people with the same demographics as the target you’re about to go after. Role play with an associate or family member, so you’re really prepared.

 
Last but not least, photography is about the relationship between you and the client. I've written volumes about relationship-building being your best marketing tool. If you aren’t ready to greet each new customer with the biggest smile in person, in Skype, Facetime, or Zoom, in your voice or in your email, then don’t launch the concept. You can tell when somebody isn't smiling, even over the phone.
 
You have to believe and sell one basic concept: “Nobody can photograph your family like I can!”