Twelve Easy to do Marketing Tips for Photographers

© Sergey Nivens

Intro by Skip Cohen

It's Marketing Monday and here's a good starter list to help you ramp up your business. Plus, many of them are free or with minimal expense and perfect to start now or at the beginning of the new year!

​A few years back, my good buddy Scott Bourne shared the wisdom below with a Marketing Monday blog post. The best thing about "Bourne tips" is they rarely have an expiration date! There is NO spoilage - just good solid ideas to help you build a stronger business.

In a "Mind Your Own Business" podcast a few months ago, my co-host Chamira Young and I listened to Bob and Dawn Davis talk about the incredible benefit of sharing images with other vendors at wedding events. This is a brilliant idea and virtually effortless to implement. Listen to the podcast and then add it to Scott's list.

Another favorite bringing the list to twelve is to do a career day at any of the schools in your area. Become the photo expert and help "beautify your community" with better pictures this holiday season. Whether somebody is shooting with a cell phone or a real camera, there are things you do every time you click the shutter worth sharing. From exposure to composition to the way you tell each story, you're a wealth of information, and capable of helping the community capture better images. 

The common denominator with all of these tips is the low or non-existent cost, but that doesn't mean they can happen by themselves. You've got to make the effort.

​And, if you're stuck and need help you know where to find me!

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by Scott Bourne

Today I just have a quick hit list for those of you who have a small budget and need something to jumpstart your photo business.

1. Ask your local municipal government if you can use an old or abandoned building as a make shift art gallery and organize a display of your work and the work of other aspiring pros in the area.

2. Offer to do a free "how-to" make a portrait session for your local Chamber of Commerce or service organization such as Rotary. 

3. Barter your products and services to help launch your business and get other local vendors familiar with what you do.

4. Offer to provide free framed prints to local children's clothing stores if you do kid's portraits - offer to provide free framed prints to local pet stores if you do pet photography - you get the idea.

5. Offer a print or portrait session or _____ as a prize for a charity auction.

6. Set up a Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Facebook business page as well as a business Twitter account, etc.

7. Make "how-to" photography videos and post them on YouTube. (YouTube is being treated as much like a search engine as it is a place to see video.)

8. Make yourself indispensable to thought leaders in your segment of the photo industry.

9. Start a podcast.

10. Issue press releases every time you do something significant and hand deliver these to your local media.
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