"Drilling Down" - Your About Page

by Skip Cohen

It's Marketing Monday, and time to start drilling down on components from the nine-part Focus on Success series. Let's start with your About page.

First, you need to think about your audience, specifically, your demographics. Who's your ideal target? For most of you in the portrait social categories, that means Mom. Based on numerous studies over the years, mostly by Kodak, women make 98% of the purchase decisions to hire a professional photographer. It's rare you get a call from Dad saying, "It's time for a new family portrait."

If you're not a specialist in the portrait/social world, then your target audience is a little different and well beyond Mom. This is where your galleries start to play a more significant role, especially in commercial categories like table top work and architectural photography. Regardless, you need to know the demographics so you get maximum exposure and impact with each visitor.

If a picture's worth a thousand words, then why use a headshot that looks like it was captured by an amateur?  You're a professional photographer, and your headshot needs to add to your story, not leave viewers wondering if you have the right skill set!

On Facebook a few weeks back, one of my favorite family photographers and long time friend, Alycia Savage, posted the shot on the right. If you know Alycia, then you already know her passion sets the standard for loving photography. The high-key portrait shows her enthusiasm and love for the craft. But when I visited her Facebook page, the header tells her story even more!

Click on any shot in the series to link to Alycia's FB page.

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Your headshot should demonstrate the fact that you're a professional photographer and fun to work with. Remember "fun?" It's one of those words so often lost in business today.

In terms of what you should write about...

• Stop talking about your gear! Most clients don't care what you shoot with.
• Stop talking about your awards! Unless you won a Pulitzer, talking about print competition awards especially will have little or no impact. Most consumers don't know what PPA, WPPI, and many other associations are!
• Nobody cares how you got started! It seems harsh, but the average consumer doesn't care who gave you your first camera.

Remember, for most of you, "Moms" and brides are the ones looking at your work. Keep your target audience in your mind, when you write about your background. Here's what they want to hear:

• Talk about why you love being a photographer.
• Share your passion for people and capturing memories.
• Be sappy - this is an opportunity to show your love for the craft.
• Describe how clients trust you to capture images that tug at their heartstrings. Remember, you're not just their eyes at an event, but their hearts as well!
• Write about your dedication to exceeding client expectations and building relationships.

The biggest concern new clients have is whether or not you can be trusted to capture the images they want. Will you be able to meet their mindset?

And one more key suggestion - write your About page in the first person and include a signature. (With security issues these days, a facsimile of your signature is fine.) Write your About section as more of an artist's statement and stay relevant to what your target audience needs to hear.

Every visit to your website, Facebook page, or other location in social media is a potential opportunity to start a new relationship or expand an old one. Exceed consumer expectations right out of the block with extraordinary images in your galleries, followed by a strong About section!

Thinking about a marketing video on your page?  A well-done marketing video for your About page can have a phenomenal impact on viewers. Follow the same rules as I shared for your text and let your personality shine through. But keep it short - my suggestion is 1-3 minutes and use the time to accompany your narrative with your very best images, along with a short clip or two of you working with a client.

​Technically, we're still in the "slow season," so take the time to review your About page - is it saying everything you need it to?