Your Business Heading Into the Fall

© irabel8

It's Friday, and as we head into the weekend the last month of summer is about to start. It's the perfect time to think about the potential for sales in the fall and your ability to take full advantage of the wonderful chaos that comes with an increase in business. 

There's an old saying that goes something like this, "Nobody ever learned to sail on smooth seas!"

I realize it's pretty obvious and almost trite, but as we get closer to the last quarter of the year and the industry's only major seasonality, the perfect storm is headed your way. What are you doing to make the most of it?

• Have you identified potential new areas of business in your community?

• Do you own your zip code? Have you knocked on doors and introduced yourself to every business owner within a few mile radius of where you're based?

• Are you involved in community events where there's going to be a lot of fall activity in the next few months?

• What promotions do you have in place to take advantage of the seasonality with kids back to school, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the December holidays?

• Have you called your lab lately? Make sure you know what's new and understand all the products you might be able to use to create some exciting promotions.
• How are you going to get your message out there? Especially if you're a family photographer, check out Marathon's Family Marketing Program.
• Are you involved with at least one non-profit? People need to know you're giving back to your community.
  
• What's your plan for this year's holiday card for your business? Use one of your own images - professional photographers should never use a store-bought card.
• Are you offering your clients hybrid solutions this fall? The best example is a video holiday card they can send out to friends and family you create as part of the services/products you offer.  Check out this short and sweet example from Suzette Allen, shooting with LUMIX cameras and usingProShow slide show tools from Photodex.

It's an easy point to remember this morning, but requires time to strategize.

Just as you've got the greatest selection of creative tools to capture images in the history of photography, you've also got the greatest selection of ways to build your business and market yourself. Take the time to think through your goals for the rest of the year and then pull together the ingredients you need to bring it all together.