Opportunities to Grow Your Business in Photography

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

Monarch caterpillars love the milk weed

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.

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• 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!

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