Creating a Strong 2023 Finish: Attitude, Attitude, Attitude

​Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.
Zig Ziglar

by Skip Cohen

A few years back, I started a series of reminders to help you set the stage for holiday seasonality. I'm bringing back a few of my favorites. My goal is to help you build a better foundation to finish 2023 with great sales. There's one ingredient that tops the list and sets the stage for EVERYTHING you do in marketing, brand-building, and promotion - your ATTITUDE!

When I was in junior high, the basketball coach had a sign in his office, much like the Zig Ziglar quote above: Winning is 80% motivation and only 20% skill!

​Seasonality is already ramping up. But there's still time to capture and create more business for 2023; it all starts with your attitude. Here are some things to consider:

• Exciting Products: Are you offering exciting products that appeal to your audience? If you're not there yet, call your lab and ask, "What's new?"
• Holiday Cards: Are you taking full advantage of everyone's special offers? For example, Marathon Press has their BOGO promotion going on for holiday cards. That decreases your cost per card and adds to your bottom-line margins.
• Your Phone Persona: When you answer your phone, are you smiling? Yes, there's a difference, and it comes out in the tone of your voice. Be upbeat, positive, and helpful.
• Add-on Sales: When contacted for the price of a product, like prints, for example, ask qualifying questions. How many? What size? Do they need any special retouching or restoration? Do they know about the holiday specials you're offering? This is MacDonald's 101 - "Would you like fries with that?"
• Is working with you a great experience? If you follow Tim and Beverly Walden, you know their feelings about a portrait session. It's not just about creating a new family heirloom but an experience for the client.
• Community: Are you active in your community? From directly volunteering to sharing information about upcoming community events on your blog, Facebook page, Instagram, etc., you can become more than just another retailer in the area.
• Own Your Zip Code: Are you out knocking on doors and meeting every business in your community? Position yourself as the expert resource for everything within photography/imaging, not just your specialty. 
• Say "Thank You:" Have you made up your list of those exceptional people/companies who have helped you stay in business and build your brand? Whether taking them to lunch or sending a basket or flower arrangement, everybody has at least 2-3 special people/companies who have helped you along the way.
• Helping Your Readers: Build blog content to improve your readers' photography. They need to be reminded you're the expert. Help them capture better pictures this holiday season.
• Education for the Community: Teach a community class on the basics - help your clients raise the bar on the images they'll be capturing through the holidays!​ Share tips on exposure, composition, posing, and storytelling. There are things you do every time you pick up your camera, and teaching is a way to create top-of-mind awareness of your role as an artist in the community.

I'm not minimizing how tricky business is these days. However, with the renewed sense of family that came out of the pandemic, you have so many opportunities to capture more business. 
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Remember, you can't create images that tug at people's heartstrings if your own heart isn't in it! And, if you're overwhelmed and don't know what you can still do, you know where to find me!