Photographers and the Community

If I could ask for a show of hands to see who's involved in their communities, would your hand be up?

Along with the sales seasonality of the fourth quarter comes a long list of opportunities for you to get involved in your community. In fact, it's one of the very best ways to build your reputation and brand.

Years ago I heard Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of guerrilla marketing, speak at what used to be PPA's Marketing and Management Conference. In his list of top 100 things guerrilla marketers needed to do was give back to their community. Why? Because people like buying products from companies they perceive as giving back.

To take it a step further and these are my words, not his...you're looking for the community to be good to you, so you better make sure you're being good to the community. It's that simple, but so critical to the growth of your business.

Well, today is October 1 and that gives you plenty of time to start making the rounds to see who in your community needs help through the holidays. Start with the Chamber of Commerce to find out what's going on over the next few months.

Even more efficient, if you don't know enough about what non-profit programs are going on in your state, here's the link to a terrific site, Great Nonprofits. Just click on the banner below and you'll be able to search by state, city, top issues and zip code.

Then there are photo-centric charities right within the photography community like NILMDTS, Shelter Me Photography, Help-Portrait, HeartsApart and the Josephine Herrick Project just to name a few. In fact, my good buddy Rick Gerrity in NJ just sent me the link to a project Unique Photo is doing with a program for veterans to learn photography through the Josephine Herrick Project.

And, if you still haven't found a way to give back to your community that fits with your style, contact the local PTA, homeless shelters, hospitals, food banks, organizations like Kiwanis, Lions Club and Rotary.  Everybody needs help. With or without your camera in your hand, you have a chance to make a difference.

Most important of all, don't worry about how big a program you're involved in - this is about giving back in any shape or size...

"Not all of us can do great things.But we can do small things with great heart."
Mother Teresa