by Skip Cohen

Since Marathon Press introduced Bella Art Prints almost two years ago, they've continued to grow their support for professional photographers with high quality products and always at terrific costs. They're giving artists the ability to increase margins and at the same time raise the bar on presentations to their clients.

Check out Bella Art Albums with a click on the image above. Each album gives you an almost infinite combination of colors, papers and sizes. Now throw in the way you layout albums using Fundy Designer and you've got the perfect products to separate yourself from your competitors.

The seasonality of the fourth quarter is right around the corner and Marathon is ready to help you exceed client expectations with a solid selection of albums and prints. Don't get caught short at holiday time. Click on any of the software downloads below for Marathon's Portrait ROES, so you're ready to start uploading images to Marathon and ahead of the rush this holiday season. Plus, check out the helpful videos in the ROES download section as well.

Here's a two minute example of just how easy the process can be!

Bringing in potential clients and expanding your photography business can be a tough job. There are so many other photographers gunning for the same clients and nowadays everyone thinks they are a photographer with just a click of their smartphones. Don’t get discouraged! Get Creative!

One creative marketing technique is the “Be My Guest” card and session. Offering a “Be My Guest” card is an excellent way to break the ice and establish your credibility while offering a free session to someone you’ve just met. The size of a business card, a “Be My Guest” card is easy to carry with you wherever you go. Because they are inexpensive, consider creating several different card versions that are illustrated with each of your major product lines such as children, families, or high school seniors.

Don’t expect everyone you photograph from a “Be My Guest” session to purchase from you, and don’t make the mistake of pressuring anyone to do so. Remember that the purpose of an invitational session is to make connections with potential clients. You never know what doors will open, even if all that comes from the session is merely an image posted on your website or blog.

Creative ideas for marketing are all around you. Never be afraid of trying new things to find potential clients.

For more marketing tips contact our marketing representatives at Marathon Press today!

Next Post: How to Plan Your Mini-Session and Events Calendar
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by Skip Cohen

It's August and in another couple of months we're going to be into the seasonality of the fourth quarter. Plus, it's the gateway to 2017 and a new year of potential sales. So, what are doing to make sure you're marketing with impact, creating buzz and hitting the right demographics? My bet is most of you have great ideas bouncing around in your heads, but you don't have the time, staff or the design team to get very much implemented.

This is going to be a short post with a very important link. A few weeks ago I spoke at Marathon's MAP (Marketing Advantage Program) Getaway. It was a great program, loaded with content, but that's probably one of the smallest benefits of being a MAP member. The real benefit is the support MAP offers every photographer:

• Your own personal facilitator talking with you as often as you need help. Your facilitator is like the drummer on one of those Viking ships we see in the movies - beating the drum to keep you on target with a timeline for every marketing program you're doing.
• A facilitator is going to help you with ideas and then connect you with Marathon's design team to create high impact mailers and programs for your target audience.
• Best of all, your monthly fee is credited towards other purchases of Marathon products. From business cards, to mailers to brochures along with Bella Art Prints, Albums and even websites, you're either getting the facilitator support FREE or fulfilling your printing needs FREE. It's all in your perspective.

So that's it - click the banner at the top to find out more. And, while I admit this is sort of an infomercial, if you know my reputation, I don't direct you to any company I don't believe in. The Marketing Advantage Program is so perfect for so many of you.

It's time you stopped trying to do it all yourself and checked out your ability to have your own marketing department! Even better pick up the phone and call Marathon to check things out firsthand.

Photo Credit: © gustavofrazao

by Skip Cohen

If there's a Lori Nordstrom fan club out there, then I'm declaring myself the "Prez", and I know I'll have to fight it out with more than just a few of you.  Besides being one of the industry's most talented artists, Lori's outrageously savvy when it comes to her marketing. Even better is her willingness to share her "secrets."

Wandering through Marathon's archives I found this post from Lori a few months ago. It's right on point and hits on a serious challenge so many of you have with your marketing material. Too often you shotgun the market with a philosophy that, like duck-hunting, you just need to point in the right direction and you're bound to hit something.

Lori's guest post starts out with:

Have you ever been to an archery shoot and watched the painstaking steps an archer follows before releasing his or her arrow? Carefully, the three fingers of one hand are hooked into a strong “claw” that draws back the string until it is taut and even with the chin. With his or her other arm the archer steadily stretches the bow, pivoting the wrist slightly to keep the arrow in place. Eyes locked in concentration, the archer sights down the shaft of the arrow to the target, looking straight at the bulls eye and nothing else. Can you imagine the archer at that point, when everything is in place for making a perfect shot? Just pointing the bow and arrow off in some random direction and letting the arrow fly, hoping it might hit the target somehow? Ludicrous as this picture seems, that is exactly what we do with all our efforts to build our business when we move forward without identifying our target client.  Read more...

Check out Lori's post and then spend some time in Marathon's Blog. It's loaded with terrific information all designed to help you increase revenue, efficiency and help make 2016 your best year ever!