#1 Tag Your Clients in Facebook Photos on Your Facebook Page – 30 Minutes
I said this in my last post: Before Facebook, word
of mouth was a lot harder to come by. Your clients may have hung your
photography on their walls and maybe it started conversations when they
had visitors to their home or when the topic of photography happened to
come up in a conversation. However, now with Facebook your client’s
walls are virtual and their friends can come visit 24 hours a day, 7
days per week.
Every time you tag someone in a photo on Facebook, their entire network of friends are able to see your work. You do have to be friends with your clients using your personal profile in order to tag them. If you're not, then you can send them an email asking them to tag themselves with a link to the album.
How to:
- Upload your client images to albums on your Facebook page.
- Request permission to tag them or ask them to tag themselves.
- Watch the comments and likes roll in.
#2 Add Social Proof to Your Website – 20 Minutes
Social proof allows potential clients to see that you are a great
photographer. It allows other people to market and sell for you. You can
add social proof in these ways:
- Add client testimonials to the
sidebar of your website using a Quote Plugin if you are on WordPress or
add a testimonials page or insert them on various pages throughout your
website.
- If you do not have testimonials, email your more recent clients and request them.
#3 Submit Your Top Three Best Images for Publication or in Contests – 60 Minutes
In addition to great exposure, getting published or winning a contest
is a great reputation builder and is also something you can add to your
about page to build credibility with potential clients.
How to:
- Find your top three best images.
- Find 3 publications, blogs, or contests to submit to.
- Submit your work.
#4 Get a Portfolio App for your Smart Phone – 10 Minutes
When you are on the go and someone asks what you do, wouldn’t it be
fantastic and really stick out in their mind if you were able to show
them what you do? Go beyond the basic business card and hand them your
phone for a quick peek. This will leave you at the top of their mind the
next time they think of a photographer. After they look at your
portfolio, hand them a business card so they can stay in touch.
#5 Make a List of Five Related Businesses in Your Community that You Could Partner with for Cross Promotion – 90 Minutes
Partnering with local businesses allows you to reach their customers.
If you are a child portrait photographer think of other businesses in
your community that target moms with young children – clothing stores,
children’s activities, etc. Wedding photographers can look for
businesses who target brides – bakeries, wedding planners, etc.
How to:
- Make a list of 5 related businesses that you want to partner with.
- Create a strategy where you both would benefit from partnering
together. Can you exchange ads on your websites, leave flyers are each
others locations, or create a community event together?
- Get in touch with each business over the phone or via email to propose your idea.
- If they accept, follow through on the idea and partner together.
#6 Ask for Referrals – 60 Minutes
Your past and current clients are your best source of new business.
If you gave them great results then they will happily give your name to
their friends. You don’t have to wait for this to happen, you can email
them right now and ask using incentive.
How to:
- Create a referral offer that will give your client incentive to
refer people to you. The key is to make it very enticing. It works best
if both your client and their friend get a benefit. Think of adding more
value rather than discounting your services.
- Craft an email template that thanks your client for being a loyal
customer and lets them know how much you enjoy working with them. Let
them know you’ve launched a referral program and offer it to them. Send
this to your email list or each client individual if you don’t have an
email list yet.
- Reply to any emails you get, thanking them. When someone is referred
to you, make sure to thank your client that sent them your way.
#7 Learn SEO Basics and Apply Them to the Main Pages of Your Website- 60 Minutes
Every single day potential clients are using search engines to find a
photographer in their area. (Find out exactly how many are searching in
your area using the Google Keyword Research Tool. Type in words like “photographer in los angeles” and it will show you how many people are using that search term in Google).
Learn the basics of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and start
getting your website on the first page for those keywords. Let Google
bring clients to you!
Here are some places to start:
Bonus: As time allows, go back through old blog posts and pages of your website and optimize them as well.
#8 Find Upcoming Events and Learn How to Participate – 60 minutes
Events can provide an excellent opportunity to reach a large number
of people in a short amount of time. Plus, if they are the right events
then they can bring you a ton of qualified potential clients. For example, wedding photographers can attend bridal shows and
child portrait photographers can attend child activity or family fairs.
How to:
- Research what events are going to be happening in the next 6-12 months in your community related to your area of photography.
- Learn how you can get involved (booth rental, marketing
opportunities or just attending and talking to people). Often times
event organizers can also become cross promotion partners. Try to work
out cross promotion opportunities that allow you to participate in the
event for free in exchange for promoting it to your client base.
- Make a plan for attending the events.
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Several of these are actions you can take on a regular basis, so be
sure to bookmark this post. You can also share it using the share link below. If fact, if you click the like button below my heart will explode, literately. Try it.
The most important thing to do: take action.
What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.
Love these ideas? Please share.
