How should I advertise?
What about weddings?
please, help!how did you find your photographer?
thank You for answers :)
Answers:
Make photographing children easy for parents . One way to get business is to contact private day nurseries ( perhaps offering a commission per pic bought) and arrange to photograph children during the day there ( no sitting fee). The lower you keep your print cost the more people will order eg £3-£5. Parents like to have pictures of their children each year and will come back for more and you could then find you have clients for more private family work and reffereed on. Children love to have pictures with their friends. Don't underestimate pester power! B&W is also attractive.
However you go about it, be prepared to find that at least one pillock will accuse you of being a paedo as soon as you mention photographing children.. Emphasize the weddings bit, and then casually put the word around.
There are many ways to advertise yourself as a wedding photographer. Here are a couple:
1) Go round all the wedding venues in the area (ALL OF THEM) and network with the wedding organisers of these places. If you get on with them and they like your portfolio they are more likely to recommend you. Most photographers are hired by recommendation. You can get a comprehensive list of all wedding venues from the council as they have to be registered places.
2) join a creative club such as www.contactacreative.com or www.contactbooks.com
3) Go to the weeding fairs. There are plenty of these now every weekend. Have a stall showing your portfolio
4) Become a Kodak photographer. If someone uses the Kodak service in your area then Kodak will put you in contact with them
As to what you should offer. Perhaps just offer a CD without prints. This will reduce your costs and if they want an album after seeing your fantastic shots then you can sell prints then. Always offer the client the copyright on their wedding photos.
Good luck. It really is hard work getting enough clients when you first start, but the harder you sell yourself now the easier it will become in the future as you will have earned your reputation.
Happy snapping
Always look at competitors to see what they are doing. have a look on the internet or through the yellow pages, you can copy their adverts and offers and just tweak them to your specifications.
Advertising can be quite expensive, i.e. Yellow pages. It might be worth starting with some flyers. This is a fairly economical way to advertise. you can usually expect around a 5% return of flyering. You should be able to get say 20,000 A5 full colour for around £300-£400. For childrens photography say, drop some in or near schools. (might be worth paying someone just to stand outside and distribute to the parents as they pick their kids up).
Also keep in mind the output of your pictures. if you dont print them yourself who is going to do that for you? Find a reliable printer who you can negotiate a deal with based on you passing them regular business. also one that can print to canvas or other types of media as this is becoming more and more popular.
Try:
www.simplecanvas.com (I used to own this)
www.intercanvas.co.uk (very good, been going for ages)
www.imagetocanvas.co.uk
hope this helps! good luck! :)
Hi, you could advertise in the yellow pages to do kids portraits & then offer a discount on follow up portaits has the child grows - eg once a year or so.
Try to get your own website- this gives customers a cheap way to take a look at your work and build confidence in you as a photographer. You should host your gallery/portfolio here.
I assume you have your own studio, so make sure you have a business line, so people can contact you to discuss pricing etc. A mobile number will put people off, making them think you're only in it for a quick buck, so to speak.
Like I said, a website is great for showing off your work, however, you don't really want to use that to draw in your customers. Basically, you are after local clients due to travelling etc.
So, place an advert in the Yellow Pages- this is where most people look. Take out a few adverts in your local paper. However, the Yellow Pages is worth the investment, as a weekly paper is thrown away. Also, advertising in the YP gives the impression that you are a well established business.
There are so many ways of advertising. A couple of girls were in the supermarket the other day with a booth in the entrance. They were asking people to do a survey and were giving out leaflets. Get leaflets printed. Firstly, you need a cheap one off deal to entice your customers. Get people to know you, use you then recommend you. Once you've got a client base, you can ditch the promo deal and focus on cheaper prints.
If you need anymore advice then please email me.
Have you thought of video emailing/advertising. goto this site and take a look.
I think the most reliable source would be from referrals. If you're really good, encourage people to refer you. Be armed with your business card and a porfolio of work you've done before and visit places you're likely to find people who want your services. For instance, how about visiting schools just before school is over to meet parents and show them your work? Also, I'd say it makes more business sense to go for half price sitting than cheaper prints - your prints must be the best quality you can get. That's also likely to be where you make more if you can get higher margins.
All the best.
Hi,
I defently cannot answer all those questions here. But you can get those answers from article directories. They offer free advice, and many ways to get traffic.
Learn more at:
http://www.advertising-world.info/articl.
Karl
Hi, perhaps you can try Google adwords to market your service/product.
Google adwords is a text-based system for advertising on its site and its partner sites. The service allows you to create your own ads, choose keywords to help match your ads to your audience, and control the cost of your advertising—you pay only when people click on your ad (a cost per click plan). Anyone wishing to promote a product on Google can enroll in this program.
you can get a 5 detail pages information about Google adwords at :
http://www.adcenter.net.cn/google-adword.
Good Luck && Best Wishes!
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