People spend a LOT of money on gifts for other people for important milestones in life. And we often are hired to capture these milestones. People will be spending a lot of money on our clients as they go through these events.

A baby shower may have 20 guests, and if each guest spends $50 for their gift, that’s $1000 in gifts.

A graduate may receive gifts from 50 people, and if they each spend $50 that’s $2500 in gifts.

An engaged couple that sends out 200 wedding invitations may get $10,000 in gifts or more.

People are going to spend lots of money buying things for your clients, and they want to buy something they know your clients are going to love.

If you’re not offering a photography registry that allows them to spend some of this money on your products and services, you’re missing out big time.

Not only that, but your clients will be telling everyone they know about your photography business. More exposure means more new clients which means even more money for you. Gift Registries can be game changers for your business, so I’m going to tell you everything you need to know to get one started and stop losing out on all the money and clients you could be gaining now.

What kinds of photography sessions can use photography gift registries?

For any photography that can be tied to a gift-giving event
Gift registries aren’t just for wedding photographers. You can use them with newborns, for kids birthdays, seniors as a graduation gift, and even boudoir (as bachelorette party gifts). Anytime a person has an excuse to get gifts, you can create a gift registry, so get creative with your offerings.

Anytime a client says “I’d love to work with you, but you’re too expensive!”
This is an absolutely perfect time to mention that you have a gift registry that people can use for free to help them pay for their photography. It could be a Christmas gift for their family or help them get the album they really want for their wedding day. It is the perfect way to help people get the photography they really want, so don’t be afraid to promote it. They’ll be thankful you offer them a way to afford the services you provide.

How do you get your clients to use photography gift registries?

First, you have to tell them you have a gift registry. If they don’t know you have it, they won’t know to use it. This could be a selling point for you, so make sure to mention it when they inquire, and remind them again later after they book.

For weddings where couples have already lived on their own for awhile and have all the home things they need, a photography gift registry that allows them to get a nicer album and some beautiful wall prints is a great option that many will use and appreciate.

Second, you want to make sure that your registry gives them exactly what they want and is easy to customize. For example, they should be able to pick the items they really want to have instead of just listing everything you offer. The more you can customize it to their needs and make it work like gift registries at other businesses work, the more likely they’ll be to use it and tell everyone about it.

How to maximize your photography gift registry sales & get exposure for your business

One of the most simple and powerful ways to get more sales is simply by suggesting items for their registry. For example, for newborn clients you might suggest that they add a “baby’s first year” plan, an album, a large wall print or canvas cluster, and baby announcements to their gift registry. By giving them a “suggested gift registry” they are more likely to actually put those items into their gift registries for people to buy for htem.

Also, encourage them to dream and put anything they’d really like on it, even if they may not have purchased it otherwise. Not only does it increase sales for you, it increases desire for the items they add and makes them more likely to potentially purchase them in the future even if they don’t receive them as a gift.

Make sure that it is as easy as possible to share with other people. Giving them easy ways to share it on social media nad via email is a great way for them to make sure people see it. You might also consider offering them business cards with a link to their registry on it from a past session that they’ve done with you to hand out to friends and family, or to send in invitations.

One of the most important part of maximizing sales is to make sure that it’s simple to use! If it is difficult or confusing, people will simply get something else.

Finally, making sure it matches your branding and looks professional is important for helping get more exposure to your business and attracting new clients.

What software is best for photography gift registries?

While there are some built-in photography gift registries in a number of online galleries, I’ve found that they aren’t very intuitive and didn’t convert effectively because they were confusing or weren’t easy to set up.

But there’s a new photography gift registry program out there called Ciderr that is set up for maximum effectiveness. I was given free access to the software and it’s unbelievable.

You can custom brand it to match your business, you can allow clients to pick exactly which products they want on their registry, and it’s created to be shared virally on social media accounts and via email. It’s everything I’d want in a photography gift registry.

The bad news? It isn’t open to the public yet.

Exclusive Access for The Modern Tog readers!

The good news? They gave me a special link that can get you in now before it’s open to the public.

First, check out how awesome it is by clicking here.

Then, if you like it as much as I do, you can buy 3 months worth of access plus get a few marketing bonuses (such as Save the Date templates, “Registered With” templates to help clients spread the word, and some tracking tools to see what is working and what isn’t) by clicking here and purchasing their Marketing Toolkit. It’s a great way to test it and see how much money it’s really worth before committing to a larger amount of time with it. I highly recommend it, as it will help set yourself apart from your competition and is a great selling point. This is an exclusive link that will give you access before other people without an invitation, so make sure you use that second link to buy it.

It’s not cheap, but the increase in sales will easily make it worth every penny and make you far more than if you weren’t using it at all. It will easily pay for itself if you use it with even just one client per month. People will be spending tons of money on gifts for your clients, so why not encourage them to spend it with you?

The only *real* bad part? Right now it’s only available for businesses based in the USA. Sorry to all my international readers. But they hope to expand to other countries, so sign up for their newsletter to find out as soon as that’s available.

Click here to learn more or to try it now. And thanks for using this link – it helps support the time it takes to run The Modern Tog, so I appreciate it greatly!

How to Get Higher Sales & More Clients Using Gift Registries

So how do we, as photographers, know whether bridal shows are right for us, and how do we create a booth and an experience that’s more joy-inducing than nauseating?

This past year, I finally decided to sign up for my first bridal show. Between September and February, I participated in three area shows, with varying degrees of success. Read on for tips, ideas, and a breakdown of my costs!

Choosing a Show

If your market is anything like mine, bridal shows are plenty but often hard to get into. There are the big shows who pull in big numbers but don’t start advertising until a month out. Then there are the small shows, usually put on by venues, but often only allow one photographer to participate.

In short, this is something you need to be thinking about ahead of time. I recommend you sign up for any larger show at least 3 months out, because organizers often give the best booths to the first vendors. As for smaller venue-run shows, when you see one happen, contact the venue immediately afterwards and set up a time to meet and chat. Once you feel comfortable with your relationship, ask them how you can be a part of their next bridal show.

Entry fees for shows can range anywhere from $300 to over $1500 depending on your market. Head into the show with clear goals about what you’d like to get from it (like “I want to book 2 weddings and exchange business cards with 5 vendors”), so you know whether the show was worth the investment in the long run.

Setup

I’ve seen vendor booths that range from using the provided table and chair and nothing else, all the way to elaborate sets with multiple walls and expensive furniture.

To be perfectly honest, most photographers are closer to the latter. The heavy saturation of our industry has led to an over-saturation of photographers at events like these. Every studio feels the need to stand out (and rightfully so), thus the booths continue to grow in size and expense. Whether you choose to play that game or not is up to you. Either way, a bridal show booth can be accomplished no matter your budget.

Low-Cost

Despite being on a tight budget, don’t give in to the lure of the provided table and chairs. Sitting behind a table in your booth is literally creating a barrier for potential clients. Graciously thank the venue for providing you with the items, then fold them up and move them elsewhere.

At a bare minimum, have some prints or canvases printed to hang on your wall or display on easels. You could easily get some sign hooks like these to hang large canvases from a typical pipe and drape setup. Print your logo large on one of the canvases so people can quickly identify who you are and what you do. Bring album samples if you have them (a good use for that free table), and lots of business cards. Stay standing the entire show, and make sure you smile!

Going Big

If money’s less of an issue, there are tons of creative ways to make your booth stand out, all while promoting your brand. Pinterest is a sea of inspiration (check out my Bridal Show board here!). One of the best ways to class up your booth is to construct a free-standing wall. While it’s not an easy task, and it’ll double your setup and tear-down time, if you have a super awesome husband like mine (or better yet… an assistant!), it shouldn’t be too bad.

Before you go shopping for things to fill your booth, take a look around your house. You’ll be surprised at all the things you already own which would make a wonderful addition to your setup (picture frames, furniture, vases, miscellaneous decor). I was fortunate that I was decorating my new office at the same time as my bridal show booth. I bought pieces of furniture that I knew could be used for both.

I can’t stress enough how great it is to have someplace for your brides to sit. My first goal when chatting with a potential client was to get them to sit down. If I got them seated, I knew I had their full attention, and they’d hang around for a while. It suddenly felt more relaxed, private, and like a real consultation. I was able to show them album samples, tell them all about my business, and answer any questions they came up with.

Giveaways/Handouts

Some photographers swear by holding a contest of some sort. The most common thing to give away seems to be a free engagement session. The problem I see with this is a) there’s no guarantee that when you conduct the winner’s session, they won’t already have a wedding photographer, and b) it’s an annoying ploy to collect contact info, when all you really have to do is ask. Yes, really… but I’ll touch on that more later.

But you have to give the bride something, right? Well, there’s a lot of debate out there among bridal show vendors as to whether or not passing out flyers and business cards is smart, or if it just ends up being tossed at the end of the night. My theory is, it can’t hurt. And if I’m going to give them stuff, then the more times my logo can show up in their bag when they eventually rifle through it, the better.

I’m typically giving every bride that doesn’t already have a photographer a rack card, a business card, and a cookie with my logo on it. Everyone loves cookies, right? If we get the chance to chat, and they ask about pricing, I’ll also send them home with a price sheet to look over (but this is only after I’ve told them all about what sets me apart and the value I bring). My rack card has my photo on it (the same photo that’s on my website, Facebook page, Twitter, and more) so they’ll be more likely to remember me.

What to Say

To be honest, it took me 2 entire bridal shows to finally get the hang of this. My first show, I was a nervous sweaty wreck, just spewing random information and hoping something stuck. The second show, I had a better idea of what I wanted to talk about, but kept getting off track and forgetting my most important talking points. I knew I had to do something.

Before the third show, my husband and I sat down and created a conversation map. I laid out all the important points, put them in an order that flowed naturally, and left plenty of opportunities for the bride to talk and tell me about herself. I recited my conversation map over and over for the entire 45 minute drive to the show.

It ended up going wonderfully. Every time a bride left my booth, I felt confident I had given it my all. 

Figuring this out was crucial, not only for my bridal shows, but for all consultations and email correspondence down the road.

Collecting Information & Following Up

Most bridal shows will provide you with a leads list afterwards so you can contact potential clients. The problem with this is they’re not always speedy when it comes to sending it out, and I like to follow up with people that night or the following day while I’m still fresh in their mind.

I used my iPad to collect contact information from every bride I had a conversation with. Not a single person said no. The most important info to me was the Bride’s name, wedding date, email address, and location. I always tried to jot down other notes too, like if they asked about engagement photos, or they told me about their dog. Anything I can bring up again to connect with them on a more personal level. Each bride on my contact list received an email from me right after the show.

A few days later, I create an email blast to send out to all the other brides who attended. It’s great to get this ready ahead of time so when the leads list finally arrives, you can just drop in the email addresses and send it off (hopefully being the first vendor to reach them!).

Important tip! Use a service like MailChimp to email your leads. Not only is it free, but it lets you track exactly who opens your email and who doesn’t and keeps your emails in line with the CAN-SPAM act so that you’re not breaking the law with how you’re sending out commercial emails.

Breaking it Down

So was it worth it or was it a waste of time? Let’s look at my numbers.

Entry Fees (three shows, including electricity): $1342

Bridal Booth (wall, furniture, canvases): $664

Handouts (rack cards, business cards, cookies): $220

Assistant (for the first show only): $140

Miscellaneous Expenses (flowers, steamer, meals): $58

Total Cost of 3 Bridal Shows: $2424

The number of resulting consultations: 1

The number of of resulting weddings: 0

So was it worth it? You might think I’m crazy, but it’s honestly hard to say. True, I didn’t book a single wedding from the shows (I’ve long since moved past the frustration of that), but looking back now, I’m pretty sure I know why.

I was too expensive.

Now, this isn’t meant to turn into a debate over how you should price your services, or whether there’s such a thing as “too expensive” for any given market. What I’m saying is that I was too expensive for the type of bride who typically attends bridal shows in my area.

When comparing my wedding collections to those of the other photographers in attendance, it wasn’t unusual for me to be the most expensive photographer there. And most of the people who are attending these shows are looking for a deal. A deal I just wasn’t willing to give them.

Does this mean that bridal shows won’t work for you? It depends. If the bridal show you are participating in brings in your ideal client and you’re good at standing out from the crowd, then it may work very well. But if your ideal clients aren’t at the show, you can’t book them. That’s what happened here.

The Plus Side

But it’s not all bad news. Participating in those three shows helped with brand awareness. I’m not just another no-name photographer anymore. And just because someone didn’t want to spend what I was charging, didn’t mean they didn’t love my work, and might recommend me to someone else down the line.

On top of that, bridal shows are great networking opportunities. I met a ton of new vendors I didn’t know previously, some of which have turned into valuable partnerships. For instance, a coordinator who came over and introduced herself at the show, later became the first person I called when I needed help planning a styled shoot. A couple weeks later, she referred a client to me, who booked me for their August wedding. So I did book a wedding because of the show, but not in the traditional sense.

Lastly (and this may sound juvenile), but participating in those shows really boosted my confidence. It’s great hearing bride after bride gush over your photography and albums. It’s reassuring when they agree with what you’re saying and how you run your business. There’s nothing like warm fuzzies on a Sunday afternoon.

Why Bridal Shows Fail

As I quickly found, bridal shows aren’t right for every photographer. You really need to think long and hard about whether or not your ideal client will be in attendance. People who probably won’t be hiring you at a bridal show:

• The brides who likes to do her research. She likes to make lists and spreadsheets, detailing what she likes about each vendor and how much they cost. Meeting you for 5 minutes at a bridal show isn’t likely to sway her opinion.
• The brides who’s working with a coordinator.  Part of the coordinator’s job is to help the bride find the perfect vendors. She trusts her coordinator’s opinion, and doesn’t really want to make that decision anyway.
• The bride who is easily overwhelmed. Dozens of vendors, all coming at her, handing her things, and giving their pitch… it’s just too much. She would rather take a friend’s recommendation and be done with it.

The type of show you attend might also be at fault. I found that I received far less qualified leads from a show who had free printable tickets on their website, compared to a show that cost $12 per person to attend. When they’re shelling out cash to go to the show, you know they’re making a commitment to do some serious vendor shopping.

Let’s Hear It

What are you thoughts on bridal shows? Good idea or waste of money? Let’s discuss in the comments below.

Are Bridal Shows a Good Idea or Waste of Money?

You showed them the images, and, as you were flipping through your beautiful work, they told you they were on a tight budget. At the end of the meeting, they decided to purchase a few 8X10′s totaling $100.

You thought to yourself, “I’m never going to make money in photography.”

Here’s why you thought wrong, my friend.

Making money in photography is something every single new photographer lies in bed thinking about. It baffles us, limits us and keeps us from breaking out of a fear-laden state destined for failure.

So I’ve put together a few pointers on how to make money in photography.

1. Figure Out Your Target Market

In the scenario described above, a few things may have gone wrong right from the get-go. If the client is truly on a tight budget, and you were expecting them to spend more than they ever possibly could afford to spend, then you did a really bad job at two things:

1. Establishing the typical investment a client spends
Note the word “investment” not fee, price, or other word that dumbs-down what you do for a living. Make sure they know this up front so that the client can remove themselves from the process on their own before you spend more than 5 minutes with them and waste your time.

Again, establishing your value begins as soon as a client connects with you (either online or via the phone). Ensure you help them understand the average investment required. If you wait too long to talk with them about this, you’ll regret it.

2. Creating value for the photography (more on this in a minute)

If you have clients who had spent money on cars they couldn’t afford, computers that cost more than theirs, hairdo’s, nails, clothes, and other such non-essentials, then there is no reason (I repeat NO REASON) why that client cannot afford photography.

In this case they’re the right target market, so the it’s important that you…

2. Establish Your Value From The Very Start

Okay, so this is worth (pun intended) talking about a little more.

In order to make money in photography, your potential clients have to perceive your business as having a lot of value. Your brand and what you do for your clients has to be ridiculously clear.

If it’s not clear to your clients, they will be establishing the value of your work in their own minds. That’s dangerous for any photographer trying to make money in photography.

How do you establish value right from the onset? The list of possibilities is never-ending, but I’ve jotted ten ways down here to get you started:

1. Your website is clean and professional.

2. You articulate your prices and what clients spend with you (on average) on your website, or provide it immediately upon a client requesting it.

3. You include past client testimonials on your website (if you are just starting out and don’t have testimonials, do 2-3 shoots for free in exchange for some; it will help build your portfolio, too).

4. You have been mentioned in the media or on industry blogs.

5. The “about page” on your website talks more about why you started this business and less about your husband, dog and three cats (it’s relevant for personal connections, so keep small mentions of family and hobbies… just don’t make it the content of the entire page).

6. You connect with local business and potential partners who also serve the same clientele you’re looking to attract.

7. Your photography is shared on social media by others, including clients and/or friends, not by just you.

8. Speaking of social media, you’re really active on three social media platforms (experts recommend no more than three, unless you’re a social media rock star, and no less than three for fear that people will not be able to find you).

9. You make a concerted effort to educate your customers on your website, in social media and in emails you send. In other words, you don’t just try to sell, sell, sell.

10. Your coupons, discounts and offers are kept to a strict minimum (maybe once or twice a year, tops). It goes without saying that you don’t market yourself on Groupon or CraigsList.

3. Measure Your Marketing

Gut instinct and “feel” is a terrible way to measure the success of your marketing. Call me a marketing nerd, but I check my web stats and where my leads come from every single day. I don’t expect anyone else to do it that regularly (unless you’re also a marketing nerd, in which case, nerds unite!). Once a week is fine.

How to measure and shift marketing dollars as you go:

I firmly believe that the words “I just need to get my name out there” are only said because the person saying them doesn’t know what else to say or do. You do not need to “get your name out there.” Repeat after me: you need your marketing dollars to work for you and to help you make money in photography. Can I get an amen?

Here are the basics on how to measure your marketing:

1. Create a list of each marketing item you plan on doing, along with the cost of that item next to it (if it’s free, put $0).

2. Any time a potential client inquires either via email, web form or a call, ensure you know where they heard of you. Was it a referral, an ad you placed, or a web search? Note it next to each marketing effort (a tally mark in pencil is fine!).

3. Measure clients, too: don’t just record if you received an inquiry, record if they became a client, as well.

4. Every month, figure out the math (it’s simple, I promise) to determine your cost per inquiry and cost per client from each marketing effort. For example:

Ad On Local Wedding Blog Cost: $250
Inquiries: 5
Clients: 1
This cost you $50 per inquiry and $250 per client so far

Direct Mail To Local List Cost: $1,500
Inquiries: 10
Clients: 2
This cost you $150 per inquiry and $750 per client so far

5. Compare the expensive marketing against the inexpensive marketing and eliminate the ones that cost you the most per client.

In the case of the example above, this photographer should be considering doing less direct mail and should research more local blogs that might be equally successful as the one they already tried, instead. Don’t just assume other blogs will be as successful as the first. Also, don’t assume that all direct mail is immediately bad for your business. Perhaps the list wasn’t as targeted as it should be, or, perhaps the mailer you sent was too costly to print.

The same exercise must be repeated continually.

6. Never stop measuring and never stop marketing. When you do start really earning healthy money in photography, you have to continue measuring it and marketing your business (after you send me a note so I can congratulate you, of course!).

Want More Ideas On How To Make Money In Photography?

The entire community here at The Modern Tog is geared around helping one another figure out this whole business called photography, so that we can make money doing something we love. So why not join The Modern Tog e-mail list of countless others who get advice right in their inboxes. It’s totally free, and you’ll get a free ebook just for signing up. Just enter your email here and click, “Join us”.

Also, leave a comment below and help the entire Modern Tog community flourish by sharing your own tips on how you’ve managed to make more money in photography.

How To Make Money In Photography

With more blogs starting out every day, I wanted to present you with a list of the best photography business blogs with the best advice, products, and the ones worth subscribing to and reading each time they post. This is the third annual list, and I’ve used a super-secret rating algorithm to give you only the best.

This year, I’ve decided to only include blogs in the Top 10 list that specifically help you grow your business. If they don’t talk about the business of photography at all, they weren’t considered. And while I think this blog (The Modern Tog) is the best, I thought it’d be biased to include myself on the list, ha! So only other blogs were considered.

It was incredibly hard to narrow it down to just 10 photography business blogs, but I’ve painstakingly done so to bring you only the best. These blogs will help you make more money, get more clients, and learn how to best run a photography business.

Top 10 Must-Read Blogs for Photographers for 2013

To make the most out of this list, I highly recommend signing up to follow them via email so you never miss a post. They are that awesome, and the time you spend reading and then implementing will seriously help your business.

1. Psychology for Photographers

Psychology for Photographers takes the #1 spot for the second year in a row! Her posts explain the psychology behind her advice, making it super useful for growing your business. She’s also got an incredible ebook that will help you turn your website into a client-magnet (and will help you make your entire business more effective, not just your website. It’s that good). Truly one of the best ebooks on the market that will make you way more money than you’ll spend on it. Not surprising with how awesome her blog is.

2. PhotoMint

Lara White’s passion for helping photographers grow their business comes from her experience in running a high-end wedding photography business. Her blog posts contain valuable advice and are worth listening to. Her e-book “Get Connected: Build Relationships to Drive Your Business” tells you all her secrets about how they got 70% of their inquiries each year and is highly valuable (and a rarely-used method, making it even more useful).

3. Photography Concentrate

Rob & Lauren are amazing at putting up concentrated posts full of useful information for photographers. They are incredibly talented at teaching, and their tutorial products are both thorough and yet broken down into easy steps making learning a breeze. I highly recommend checking out their amazing freebies plus their fabulous tutorials, such as Awesome Album Design Skills, Extremely Essential Camera Skills, and Simple Wedding Photography.

4. Photography Spark

Photography Spark was started by Zach Prez just a few months ago and already promises to be fantastic. With long, meaty posts that give practical tips and tutorials, you won’t find any fluff here. Check out his free ebook about getting more online traffic as well as the blog.

5. The Law Tog

Rachel Brenke, Photographer and Lawyer (and all around awesome person!) shares legal advice specifically for photographers. Besides sharing valuable info on her blog, she created a free ebook with legal advice that every photographer should know. She also has contracts and other helpful business stuff in her law shop.

6. Elizabeth Halford

Elizabeth Halford is a portrait photographer in the UK who writes very helpful tips for photographers. She’s great at taking technical concepts like focal length and bit depth and yet also fabulous about tackling the personal issues we face as well.

7. Tiffinbox

Seshu’s Tiffinbox is an incredible site that is full of resources and has input from photographers around the world on it. He’s not afraid to shake things up, such as with this post called “On Chasing Rainbows and Unicorns” (which was written by a local colleague of mine). Definitely a site worth following.

8. Tofurious

Lawrence is downright brilliant for the amazing posts he publishes. He’s great at making you think (and making you hungry!) and we have increased our average wedding booking price significantly from changes I made because of what I learned in his Creative Pricing & Packaging ebook. He also released an SEO book to help photographers get FOUND online by people looking to hire a photographer. Good stuff.

9. Ground Glass

I found Ground Glass because Jenika from Psychology for Photographers interviewed Spencer Lum, the blog writer, for her awesome ebook about website design. He’s a smart guy with some really great information, and he’s not afraid to tell it like it is. His tagline is “Like a kick in the pants, only wordier” and it fits perfectly. No sugar-coatings here, so head over only if you can handle hearing the truth.

10. Brand Camp Blog

Kristen Kalp makes me swoon with jealousy when I read her writing. Seriously, she knows writing, branding, business and how to bring it all together to make your photography business thrive like crazy. Lately she’s been writing more and more about lifestyle changes and being a better version of yourself in addition to the great business advice she shares, giving her blog a more wholistic approach to business.

Honorable Mentions

There’s a few extra blogs that I couldn’t resist giving honorable mentions to, since they didn’t fit into the category above or were a bit too “niche” for me to put into my big list for everyone. Here goes:

1. Neil Van Niekerk: Tangents

Neil doesn’t specifically talk about the business side of things, but his flash tutorials will help you make more gorgeous photos and move you past the “I specialize in natural light” (because you don’t know how to use flash) to being comfortable in any lighting situation. His Flash Photography Techniques series is how I learned to make flash look good, on or off camera. I recommend it to anyone.

2. Fotoseeds

Fotoseeds have a bit of business advice, but lots of general photography info as well. I’d have liked to have seen more business advice to put them in the Top 10, because frankly, with info like this Create Sustainable Photography Businesses infographic, I know the business stuff they’d share would be spot-on.

3. Photocrati

Photocrati is actually a company that sells websites for photographers, but their blog contains a few business posts here and there that are excellent as well as several posts specifically about website help. It’s worth following. You’ll also find some of my advice featured in their free ebook, Supercharge Your Photography Website.

4. Boudie Shorts

Boudie Shorts has tons of great business ideas, but they are specifically for boudoir photographers. From free posing guides to awesome marketing materials, it’s a great resource for any boudoir photographer. The only reason this blog didn’t make the Top 10 was because it’s so specific to the boudoir market. Molly Marie (the author of the blog) is really a brilliant marketer, so I highly recommend it to all boudoir photographers out there.

Still want more great photography tips & resources?

This is the third annual list of best blogs, so you can always go back and check out my picks for best photography blogs of 2012 and best photography blogs of 2011.

But if you’re really looking to grow your business, I highly recommend signing up to follow The Modern Tog via Email. I’m not on the list above, but I share awesome content like this weekly with you. Plus you’ll get a copy of my free ebook, 5 Common Mistakes That Lose You business (And How to Attract Your Ideal Client Like Crazy). Just enter your email below now.

Full disclosure, many of the links above are affiliate links, however this was not a factor in determining rankings.

Top 10 Must-Read Blogs for Pro Photographers in 2013

When most people think of going through a tax audit, panic sets in. They fear a scary government agent coming to steal from them or find some costly mistake that will cause lots of stress and anxiety for them or their family.

Here’s the thing: a tax audit is not scary. And it’s not a shakedown.

If your books are clean, you have nothing to fear.

An audit is just a formal examination of the business records. You should be doing that normally anyway, so letting someone else look at them shouldn’t be a problem.

In fact, many large businesses have audits each year to make sure everything was accounted for properly and to be make sure there isn’t any internal theft.

In other words, tax audits are a good thing.

However, if your books are a mess, an audit could be a very unpleasant experience and cause immense stress on you and your family.

So here are 3 Tax Audit tips that you should know before ever being audited. They won’t prevent you from being audited, but they will make your tax audit go as smoothly as possible.

1. Do your own internal tax audit at least yearly

Depending on your accountant’s process, they perform a rough audit of your books. Some will just scan to see if things are in the right place, some will take your word for it. Ask them to take a deeper look at your books to make sure everything looks good.

If you’re comfortable, you can ask a friend to audit your books once a year – just to look for anything out of the ordinary. Of course, this is all just a quick scan of things checking for errors. A audit from the government will be more thorough.

2. Be consistent

In the last two articles, I’ve talked about the value of being consistent. This is where it’s VERY important. If you’ve made an error but you can show that you thought it was supposed to be that way (“let me show you that I’ve been doing it that way the whole time”) they may be more lenient should they find a mistake.

If you’re not paying your taxes and you try that, it’s not going to work. In fact, it may not work at all. But it has worked for me in the past for penalty and interest reductions.

3. Organization is key

The more organized you are with your books and receipts, the less stressful the audit process will be. Being able to locate everything you need with ease will save you from hours of looking for everything they are asking for.

If you don’t already have a great all-in-one system for keeping track of your money and clients, I highly recommend purchasing the Easy Client & Money Manager. It’s an easy-to-use Excel workbook that organizes your money & client workflow in one convenient place. Jamie & I created this photography accounting workbook to help you keep organized, and that will help reduce stress both at tax time as well as if you’re ever audited.

Right now you can get your copy for $40 off through Thursday (April 18th). You can learn more and buy your own copy by clicking here.

ACK! I’m about to be audited, now what?

If you receive a letter from your state or national government (in the US it’s the IRS) make sure to read it carefully and follow the instructions. Not responding on time is a sure way to make things difficult and extra stressful during an audit.

You’ll want to call your accountant and let them know. They will probably have some good words of advice for you, since they’ll already be familiar with your business and finances.

Be friendly & polite. I’ve had the fortune of going through three audits with past employers (a Wisconsin State tax audit and two Federal tax audits). Every time I had helpful and friendly agents working with me. Give them the benefit of the doubt and be friendly from the start. Don’t be defensive, as you should have nothing to hide.

At the same time, be brief and only provide what they are asking for. They often are looking at specific items and will ask for those. Don’t worry about the rest.

They often ask to meet at your place of business. You can request that you meet them at their office (especially if you work from home). Depending on the type of audit and how long they will be there, they may still choose to come out to your place.

Oh hot gravy! They found a mistake…

More than likely, they will find a mistake. But it’s ok. Why?

In the end, it’s only money

I know that sounds strange but it is a very important thing to remember because sometimes we forget that it’s not everything.

If you are doing your books consistently and regularly, if you keep good financial records, and if you are working with a professional accountant to make sure you are on the straight-and-narrow, you will be fine.

Just remember, if they find $100 out of place here or there and you have to pay something: It’s only money. You would have had to pay it in the first place, right? Don’t let frustration or fear drive you. Spend that energy on projects that make you money instead!

How ready do you think you’d be if you were audited today? Leave a comment below and share!

3 Tax Audit Tips Every Photographer Should Know Before Ever Being Audited!

Answers ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She replied, “The absolute weight doesn’t matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it’s not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I’ll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn’t change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”

She continued, “The stresses in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed – incapable of doing anything.”

We All Have Our Own Glass of Water

I tend to put off things I don’t like to do. It’s true.

The longer I put them off, the less I want to do them.

But as time goes by, the stress builds up and starts to impact me, my other work, and my personal life (as I steal time away from my wife to work more).

How about you? What is your “glass of water”?

Do you procrastinate doing your business finances and get totally overwhelmed by the time tax season comes around? You’re not alone.

When you put off doing updating your books, you have no idea where they stand during the year and will have to spend a few hectic days preparing anytime you owe the government money.

I want to show you how to overcome this ugly cycle and be free from the stress it brings. Not only that, but you’ll be able to make better business decisions when you know exactly how your business is doing. Here are 3 easy tips for stress-free photography accounting!

1. Be Consistent with Organization

Sorting through paperwork can be the first major mental block that keeps you from doing your finances: “Ugh, it’s such a mess and I don’t know where to start.”

Keep your paperwork all in one place. Organize receipts by account and file them in that folder when you get them (don’t just drop them all in one huge stack). This goes for electronic records as well. Keep things tidy and ready to be used.

I will talk more about consistency in next week’s post about audits. Why? You’ll have to read it to find out.

2. Schedule It!

I know some people that spend Monday afternoon doing their books each week. It fits in their schedule and they don’t have to question it. It just gets done. Most small businesses need about 15 minutes a week to get their books up to date. Schedule it in and don’t let things like email and Facebook get in the way, and do not schedule a session or anything else during that time no matter what!

3. Setup Reminders

Create a system that reminds you when it’s time to do your tasks. Create reminders for when you have taxes to pay, reminders for when people need to pay you (yay for income!) and when you have to pay others (late fees are bad!).

It’s especially important to track repeating events like paying sales tax and quarterly tax estimates.

Want to know how Jamie & I do things (and have a chance to win FREE stuff)?

Tomorrow (Tuesday, April 9th) Jamie and I will be hosting a free webinar called “Money Management Made Easy”, where we’ll talk about how we keep up with our books throughout the year to avoid stress and exactly how we’ve set up our bank accounts to avoid headaches.

We wanted to give you a picture of two different ways to plan things, one from someone who loves doing this stuff (me) and one from someone who doesn’t enjoy it at all (Jamie).

You’re also going to learn where Jamie almost always procrastinates and what she’s going to do differently this year to keep that from happening again.

We’re planning a Question & Answer time at the end where we answer your questions live to help you reduce stress and we’ll be giving away a free copy of the Easy Client & Money Manager, a brand new tool we’re launching to help photographers reclaim their peace of mind and keep track of their money and clients.

Click here to register for the webinar and get more information.

T-Minus one day and counting!

Tomorrow we also launch the Easy Client & Money Manager. It’s crazy easy to use and has organizational superpowers, but that’s all I’ll say for now. Sign up below for our “insider” email newsletter to be notified as soon as it is available. Just enter your email and click “Join us”.

3 Easy Tips for Stress-Free Photography Accounting

I love spreadsheets, paying bills, tracking expenses and making sure my forms are all properly filed with the IRS.

If you’re like the 95% of the rest of the world, that stuff drives you up the wall or it scares you so bad that you try to avoid it at all costs. And you think people like me are crazy!

I may be crazy BUT I am going to show you how easy it is to get organized and take care of the financial side of the business.

In fact, over the next three weeks we’re going to cover the basics of getting your business money organized so that you never have to stress out about it at all.

No more last-minute scrambling to update your books, no more stress, and no more worrying about getting everything organized at tax time or forgetting something important. It will change the way you run your business. So let’s jump right in and get all your ducks in a row.

Making it Official

Before we can talk about finances, you need to make sure your photography business is legit.

Maybe you’ve made it “Facebook Official” with all of your friends and started a fan page. You’re a photographer for hire! Woot!

Advertising is great. However, the IRS and your state don’t care about advertising – they care about taxes. We need to make sure we make them happy too. If you want people to take your business seriously, then YOU have to take your business seriously and get legal.

If you haven’t already, you will need to register with your state and the IRS. (For our readers around the world, the IRS is our national tax service. You probably also have some registration to do with your governmental bodies – we just aren’t familiar with them).

I Want to Start a Business!

First you’ll need to know what sort of business structure you will use. There are a few types:

Sole Proprietor: This is the easiest because often there are no forms to file and the taxes go right on your personal tax return. The danger with being a Sole Proprietor is that you are open to all of the liability of your company. This means that if someone sues you, they can go after all of your personal holdings as well. Your house, your retirement, your car, your laptop: it’s all at risk.

LLC: An LLC gives a legal separation of liability, protecting your personal assets. A single member LLC can have their taxes just pass through to their personal tax return like a Sole Proprietor. If there are multiple members, they are taxed as a partnership. There is paperwork to file in your state and with the IRS, but it honestly isn’t too bad.

S-Corps and C-Corps: These are the most complicated and costly. Most single person photography business don’t need to be a corporation, however in some cases this may be a more profitable way to run your business.

How do you know which one to choose?

Talk it over with your accountant. Yes, you need one. This is non-negotiable. We’ll talk about finding a good one in a moment.

You can also do some more research on sites like nolo.com. I personally am an LLC because I wanted that legal separation between the business and personal assets.

An accountant can help analyze which structure would be best for you to save you the most money so they’ll pay for themselves right off the bat. There’s no easy “one size fits all” choice for everyone, so definitely ask them what they’d suggest.

I’ve Picked a Business Structure: Now What?

There are places that can help you get set up (LegalZoom.com, your accountant, etc.) but the first thing to do is to Google “setting up an LLC in [insert your state here]“. Each state’s Dept of Revenue/Business Services website and phone center can be very helpful in getting things setup. Don’t be afraid to give them a call if you’re unsure about something. Or, simply have your accountant set it up for you.

EIN from the IRS

It just sounds confusion, right? It’s not: it’s the Employer Identification Number.

You don’t need one if you’re a sole proprietor. For everyone else, you’ll use it to help the banks identify the business as an entity when signing up for accounts.

You can setup your EIN on the IRS website. It’s fast and easy to do.

Sales and Use Tax

In some states you also have to apply for a sellers permit for sales and use tax purposes. If you want to be legit, you need to be collecting and paying sales tax. Check with your state to figure out if and how you set this up. (Again, Googling “setting up sellers permit [enter your state here]” will start you off on the right path).

Separation of Work & Home

The first thing you need to do is draw a huge line in the sand to say what is business and what is personal.

You don’t want to mix the money.

If your business and personal purchases are all mixed together in one account, the IRS thinks it looks more like a hobby and less like a business. This makes it harder to get deductions for your business expenses.

It will also make organizing your business money MUCH easier (and that’s the goal of this, right?)

So how do you draw that line? With separate financial accounts.

We’ll be talking more about what accounts you’ll want to create in the future (so sign up via email to make sure you don’t miss it!), but I believe Credit Unions are the way to go when it comes to banking. They generally don’t charge for accounts (and when you have multiple accounts, that’s a great thing), they pay dividends (because you’re a member/owner) and they don’t have the nickel-and-dime fee system that most banks have right now.

Get out and get yourself a bank account for the business. You will probably also want to get a credit card for the business as well. It doesn’t have to be a business card. Just use it ONLY for business expenses.

Why you’ve got to hire an accountant

Unless you left your CPA work to become a photographer, you’re probably not an accountant. Maybe you’ve done your own personal taxes for a while (1040EZ baby!) and that’s great.

However, with a photography business, it’s really important to have someone on your side who knows the ins-and-outs of tax law as it pertains to businesses. It’s worth it to seek out a qualified tax professional, as they’ll often save you more money than you’re paying them, and you have the peace of mind knowing that everything is being done correctly. You’ll have the peace of mind knowing that you won’t be hit with major fines or penalties down the road.

How to find a good accountant
Just as a camera doesn’t make a someone a photographer, a calculator doesn’t make them an accountant, right? So how do you find a good one?

Start by asking other photographers in your area. It’s great to have someone who knows the things photographers deal with often.

Ask the potential accountants if they’ve worked with other small businesses like yourself. Ask them how they would setup a business like yours (even if you’re already setup, you can see how they approach things). If you’re stuck, Dave Ramsey (the financial guru) has a place on his site that gives tips for quality local tax people. Check it out here (EDIT: You have to submit your info into that form and it looks like it passes it on to the providers as well. FYI.)

You want to find someone that you can have a good working relationship with AND knows the accounting world.

Keeping up with it all

While it takes a bit of work to get things set up, it’s really not as bad as it sounds and you only have to do it once (thankfully!).

After that, it’s simply a matter of maintaining your books and sending in the correct forms at the correct times. Sounds easy, but it is easy to get disorganized and let things slip.

So the next step is to create a system that is going to help you stay organized so you don’t have to stress.

P.S.

Next week, I’m going to tell you more about how to get organized, what to keep, and talk more about the on-going things you need to file to stay legal and keep your books up to date.

We’ll also be launching the Easy Client & Money Manager: a tool to make staying organized and on top of your books super easy.

No more receipts shoved into a shoebox that you have to sort through at tax time. This workbook will keep everything you need all in one place, and it’s very easy to learn and use. I’ll share more details with you later, but for now they are top-secret!

We’ll also be doing a free webinar with exclusive information about staying organized that you won’t find here on the blog. Jamie is even going to share the one area where she procrastinates the most and how she plans to stay on top of that this year. (Bonus brownie points go to the person who can guess what it is. Just leave a comment with your guess below!)

To make sure you’re notified of the free webinar and are amongst the first to hear more about the Easy Client & Money Manager, sign up below to become an insider and follow us via email. Enter your email, then click “Join us”.

How to Get Legal With Your Photography Business

Client complains.

Stomach sinks.

“Obviously I didn’t make that detail very clear, did I?”

(I didn’t even think I had to.)

If you haven’t ever been in this situation, consider yourself eternally lucky. If you have, then you know the feeling. You would do anything to go back in time to tell them everything you meant to.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where you’re getting bitten for not setting client expectations correctly, you want to take a trip with Michael J. Fox back to when you had the opportunity to set the client’s expectations correctly.

But sadly, your imaginary DeLorean is fresh out of a flux capacitor.

So rather than try to figure out time travel, let’s work together to come up with a few ways to better set photography client expectations from the onset. Ultimately, this is an effort toward creating a photography experience, and one they’ll love.

Here are 5 tips on creating a better photography experience for your clients so you can avoid these sticky situations.

1. Think of everything that might go wrong.

If you don’t explain everything to clients before or as they’re hiring you, it leaves tiny little doors open for hiccups to occur (or worse… big blunders). In addition, it certainly doesn’t help your sales grow either. So think about all the things that might need managing. Remember, in most cases, your clients haven’t worked with a photographer before. If they have, it was probably a totally different process than yours.

Things that typically get misunderstood are:

• How the pricing and payment works, and how much, on average, clients typically spend with you
• How many images (on average) they’ll receive (and why they don’t get to see every single one you shot)
• Timing between the shoot and when they’ll get to see any images
• How much time they get with you on the day of the shoot
• The arrival time for all appointments (you might need to remind them, especially if some time lapses between appointments are made and actually happen)
• What happens if the weather is bad
• What happens if the client gets sick
• What happens if the children being shot just aren’t cooperative and hide during the entire shoot
• What to wear to a shoot
• What to bring to a shoot

2. Clients don’t read and don’t remember… anything.

I’m pretty sure it’s a fact. Photographers spend hours laboring over pricing sheets, pretty packaging PDFs and web pages explaining tons of details. Then, they get calls or emails from clients asking tons of questions with answers that are readily available online.

Here are a few ways to help your clients read more and remember more:

• Keep your packages really simple (no more than three packages: small, medium and you-can-have-it-all!)
• Keep language short and to the point (bulleted lists that clients can scan with their eyes are better than lengthy paragraphs)
• Create small, short emails that are sent as part of the client experience
• Break up the information into smaller bite-size chunks that matches the timing of when they’ll likely be thinking of that very thing

3. Make them pay upfront… always.

I can’t stress this enough. Once a client has selected you to shoot their images, there is no reason why you should book them until they pay. All payments, should you choose to split them up, need to be paid prior to services and products being delivered (whether it’s the actual shoot, prints, albums, etc). NEVER do a shoot or send product when payment is outstanding.

You are far too busy to be chasing after unpaid invoices.

4. Know ahead of time that they’ll forget.

Assume your clients are going to forget 50% of everything you tell them. Don’t take offense to it or fear that no one is listening to you.

It happens to all of us, not just you.

Do what you can to help remind and re-remind your clients of everything you need them to know. Perhaps it’s a voicemail followed by the same message in email. Or, perhaps it’s written on your website and sent to new clients via email.

One thing I think helps immensely is sending a “commonly asked questions” list prior to each shoot via email that quickly and easily answers the questions clients commonly ask, or the things most clients forget about.

As a rule, repeat the most critical details you need your clients to know 3 times to be sure they understood and remember.

5. You’ll age well, baby.

We all mess up in the beginning. And I mean ALL of us. You are going to stumble no matter how well prepared you feel. The important part isn’t the messing up… it’s the recovery. But more importantly, it’s the learning.

If you’re the type of person who learns from your own mistakes, imagine how much better you’ll be at setting client expectations and creating a photography experience your clients will love after just a couple of shoots!

How to turn unhappy clients into clients that can’t stop raving about you!

It’s incredibly stressful to be dealing with unhappy clients, but this is a great opportunity for you to get a raving fan.

To learn how to do this, as well as learning how to respond to clients when they ask difficult questions, check out the Go-To Guide for Client E-Mails. You’ll learn more about creating an amazing client experience that they can’t stop raving about, and you’ll get word-for-word responses to tricky situations such as:

• How to justify your prices to someone who says you’re too high
• How many weddings have you shot? (When you have little to no experience)
• How to explain to a client that digital files have value
• When the client has hired you, but now seems to want a different style of photography
• How to deal with missed payments
• What to say when you made a mistake, and how to make it right
• How to respond to requests for advanced editing beyond your normal edits
• How to respond when someone expresses disappointment in their photos
• What to say to people who ask you to shoot for free or for “good exposure”
• And many more….

It will save you HOURS of time trying to figure out how to respond, and will help you run a better business with happier clients, meaning you’ll get more repeat customers and better word-of-mouth advertising.

Free sample and a discount code

At the very least, download a free sample with 10 Ready-to-Use templates (and see all the responses we include in the full version). To save it to your Mac, press “control” while clicking here and select “Save link as….” To save it to PC, right-click here and select “Save Target As…”

Not only that, but you can get 15% off the full version using coupon code SPRINGROCKS through Friday, March 29th at midnight MST.

If this sounds interesting to you, click here to learn more or buy now.

Creating A Photography Experience They’ll Love

However, if you’re serious about getting new clients online, you can’t ignore Google+ any longer.

I’ve spent the last few weeks studying Google+ so I could tell you exactly what you need to do to get maximum results with the least amount of time.

This post is not a beginner’s guide to using Google+. In fact, if you’ve never checked out Google+, take a moment and read that article first.

Instead, I’m going to tell you why you need to be using it and how to use it in as little time as possible to to help your website show up higher in search engines so you can get more clients who are searching for a photographer on Google (This is also called SEO, or Search Engine Optimization).

Once you’re set up and ready to go, I believe you can rock this in less than 10 minutes per day (or less!) and see a significant impact on where you show up when people search for photographers.

Why is it Absolutely Necessary to use Google+?

Unless you’re selling products to other photographers, it’s unlikely that your clients are on Google+. They’re most likely on Facebook with everyone else. So why do you want to spend any time at all marketing your business on Google+?

Because Google is using Google+ to affect search engine rankings, and it is a great way to get ahead of other photographers in your area who are not taking advantage of it. While some people discount the value of working on your SEO because it seems mysterious and scary, the majority of our new clients find us online when searching for us. So if your target market is going to Google to find a photographer, you want to spend some time working on this so that they find you.

Setting yourself up for success

There’s a few things you need to set up initially that will take a bit of extra time, but once they are complete you don’t have to mess with them again. Let’s look at each one.

Your profile: The most important parts

The first thing you need to do is create a Google+ account and fill out the profile. There’s a few areas to take specific note of.

There’s some evidence that right now Google+ looks at the Introduction, Employment, Education, and Places Lived sections of your profile in helping to determine rankings, so make sure that you fill those out completely.

While it may be tempting to add your desired keyword, such as “Florida Wedding Photographer” over and over again in these sections, don’t go crazy. Mention it, but keep it natural and write it for people and not search engines. You won’t get any extra benefit (and will likely be penalized) for repeating something excessively for the sake of ranking well.

Make sure you fill out as much of the profile as possible. You can use links in the Introduction, but use them sparingly. Make sure that if you want to show up in results when people search for a “Florida Wedding Photographer” that you make those words into a link that links to your site.

Your profile picture

It’s absolutely essential that you have a profile picture that is eye-catching and looks good.

Why?

Because you now have the ability to have that photo show up next to your search engine listing, which makes it more likely to stand out and be clicked by someone searching on Google.

For example, I wrote a guide to Pinterest for bloggers over on Problogger. When you search for it, you see that the post comes up with my photo next to it as well as information from my Google+ Profile (red box added in photoshop by me):

Setting this up will seem a bit tricky at first, but it’s really not too bad. You can get instructions for how to get your profile photo by your search engine results by clicking here.

Install a +1 Button on your website

Put a +1 button on your site and encourage as many people as possible to use it. Google sees these +1 as popularity votes and will rank that post higher because of it. Woot!

Create a “Local Page” for your business on Google+ as well as a personal profile

Local pages show up first on most searches where people include a location, so it’s important to have a Local page in order to maximize this. This used to be called “Google Places” but is now integrated with Google+. You can learn how to optimize your Google Local listing here.

Making the most of your Google+ Posts

Now, whenever you post to your website, you’ll want to share this on Google+ on your personal profile.

This tells Google that your new post exists so that it can show up in the search results as fast as possible.

Not only that, but it sends signals to Google telling it what your post is about and gives it a boost in the rankings. Pretty stellar.

There’s a few things you can do to optimize rankings even more that don’t take a lot of extra time.

1. Create a title for each post and put it at the top of the description in bold.
By making text bold and putting it at the top, Google sees this similar to a title tag for your website so it gives more weight to the words you use in the title.

To make text bold, put it between asterisks. So typing *This is your title* will end up looking like this: This is your title.

Then type your description of the post below.

2. Create a link post by using the link button when posting instead of just adding the link to the post
Some photographers like to post a photo with a link to their post in the description. While this is prettier, your link is no-followed if it’s only in the description (meaning it doesn’t get any value in Google’s eyes) whereas it’s a followed link (the good kind of link) when you create a link post.

3. Add tags to your post
While I’m not sure if this gives you any SEO value, it will give you a greater chance of having someone engage with your post, which DOES help with your rankings. Simply add the hashtag (#) before keywords in your posts.

Bonus Tip: The more people who share and +1 your post, the more weight Google will give it. More on this in a moment.

Build up your Author Rank

Google recently shared that they are going to be using something called “Author Rank” to influence results. While they didn’t tell us exactly how this will be calculated, I think it’s safe to say that that the more popular you are on Google+ and the more people +1, share, and comment on your posts, the better your author rank will be. I also think that connecting your profile to your website will help increase this as well.

Getting good engagement on your posts is not easy. It will involve spending a bit of time on Google+ engaging with other users and getting people to add you to their circles and engage with you.

I believe that the best way to grow this will be to start following a few people on Google+ and engaging with their comments by clicking the +1 button, re-sharing it on your page (that’s what the arrow button is) and commenting. Because there are fewer people there, you’re more likely to get on their radar and have them engage with you and your posts as well.

This could be extremely time-consuming if you’re not careful. I recommend spending 10 minutes every time you post to your website to head over to Google+ and share your post and spend whatever time is left after that engaging with the people in your circles. It won’t take a lot of time, and it’ll help you immensely.

Want to see how influential you are on Google+? Check out Circle Count. Pretty interesting.

Who should you follow on Google+?

*Warning: Shameless Self-Promotion to Follow!*

I’d love it if you’d follow me and engage with my posts. Click these links to see & follow my personal profile, and you can also follow The Modern Tog on Google+ as well. People who follow both get the super duper badge of awesomeness from me. You rock!

But you’ll need more people to follow than just me. So here are a few of my favorite people to follow on Google+ that I highly recommend. They are all photographers.

+Scott Wyden Kivowitz
+Andy Stenz
+Sarah Byrne
+Jonas Peterson
+Ben Chrisman
+Frederick Van Johnson
+Ryan Brenizer
+Cole Roberts

And finally….

If you really want to dig in, this post is the most comprehensive post I found that deals with Google+ and how it affects search engine rankings. Be prepared for some rather advanced SEO talk at parts, though.

If you found this post helpful, please click the +1 button below and follow me on Google+.

Why You Can’t Ignore Google+ Any Longer

It’s also one of the areas where photographers often struggle.

I’ve found a great method that will get you in front of your target client, set you up for press releases that will get you exposure, and help your favorite charity!

Partnering with charities has been one of the most beneficial marketing strategies for my business.

This marketing strategy can take many forms and can be custom designed to the needs of the charity you are working with and the workflow of your business.

The focus of my charitable marketing work thus far has been with shelters and rescues since I focus on pet photography, but these principles can be applied to working with schools, 501(c)3s, or any organization that is charitable and has supporters that are your target market.

Not all partnerships are equally beneficial to your business. So let’s look at how to ensure your donations and partnerships with charities will be mutually beneficial for both of you.

How to choose a good charity to partner with

1. Determine if the charity’s benefactors are your ideal clients.
The first step of this journey is to determine who your target market is and then compare it to the charities that you are considering. For example, if you are a family photographer, consider partnering with private schools or PTA’s in desirable school districts.

If a charity doesn’t work with people who are similar to your ideal client, it’s unlikely that you’ll actually get any clients from the partnership. However, if their benefactors are the type of client you’d love to have, then it’s a much better organization to consider.

2. Brainstorm various partnerships.
The second step is to brainstorm a variety of different partnership opportunities so that you have ideas to offer the charity. For example, here’s a few ways you might partner together:

1. Donate your session fees for a certain time period to the charity. The charity can help promote you to their supporters. You can quickly raise a substantial amount of money for the charity and your calendar gets booked. If you are priced so that your costs of goods sold are in line and have a good sales structure in place then your session averages will still be very profitable for your business.




2. Create a special event that benefits the charity. The special event may be a day of micro-sessions with a cash or item donation to the charity. Don’t forget to have the opportunity for the attendees to purchase additional packages or prints so that your business benefits, as does the charity. Again, the charity can help promote the event.




3. Create a special event that benefits the charity by partnering with other local businesses. This event can be as large or small as you choose and each partner will bring something unique to offer the event, as well as their unique customer base to promote the event to. You offer micro-sessions, a local spa offers mini-massages, etc.

These are just a few options for creating a successful charitable marketing partnership.

How do you actually partner with a charity?

As with many things in life, this comes down to creating and cultivating a relationship.

For example, If the charity has a gala or fund-raising event (99.999% of them do), offer to donate a session and product credit to the silent auction. Their development department is always looking for more quality donations for these events.

This gives you a direct point of contact within the organization and is a great starting point for talking about how you might partner together again in the future.

The most important thing to remember when pitching your ideas is to always come to the table with the intention of HELPING.

It is much more beneficial to be asking “How can I help you with your mission?” then “Here’s what is more beneficial for me.”

Make the most of your partnership with a charity

Once you have created a new charitable partnership, it’s time to get the word out about it!

Both you and the charity need to spread the word about the partnership and event to maximize the benefit for both of you, so do everything you can to spread the word.

One of the biggest benefits to charitable marketing is the PR opportunity. The press is much more likely to cover a special event with a charitable angle then an event that is being held solely for commercial purposes. By contacting your local news outlets and telling them about your charity event, both you and the charity are more likely to get local press, and that can do wonders for your business.

What kind of charitable partnerships have you had?

Have you partnered with charities in the past? Share your experiences – both good and bad – in the comments below!

Nicole Begley is a lifestyle photographer based in Pittsburgh, PA, specializing in pets and families. She is also the creator of Hair of the Dog, a blog dedicated to business and marketing tips for pet photographers. She has a never-ending vacation bucket list, which currently includes a trip to the Galapagos.

Logo’d images used with permission from Nicole Begley

Partner with a Charity to Grow Your Photography Business

What if I drop my lens? What if the lead photographer asks me to do family portraits? What if I reformat my card and lose all my images?!

I stared at the ceiling while running through scenario after scenario until my brain finally conceded and I passed out for the night.

Now, a year and a half later, and I’m the poster child for having “it” together. I know what to bring, how to act, and nerves no longer steal my precious sleep (I’m a monster without at least 9 hours).

So if you’re feeling clueless about second shooting, where to find second shooter jobs, or just want to know how to be better at it, prepare to be educated until your brain fills up. I’m going to give you a glimpse into my super stellar Second Shooter Handbook (not a real thing… please don’t Google it).

Where on Earth do I find second shooter jobs?

I’ll be straight with you and tell you that I found my first two second shooting gigs using the Mecca of cheap furniture and missed connections… Craigslist.

It may not be ideal, but it hooked me up with photographers who were in need (read: slightly desperate), and were willing to overlook my lack of wedding photography experience.

But the real mack daddy for networking with other photographers is Facebook. I’m a member of 2 separate Facebook groups for my area (one associated with our local SMUG group). Whenever someone needs a second shooter (or whenever I need one), we post the date on there to see who is else available.

Facebook groups are a great way to fill up dates that you didn’t book a wedding for… all while making a little extra cash! Try doing a search to find a group in your area.

Before the Wedding

Communicate, communicate, communicate!

Don’t be shy about emailing the lead photographer to the brink of annoyance. There are a lot of specifics to work out, and many photographers handle their second shooters in various manners, so you want to be as prepared as possible.

Here’s a helpful list of questions to ask the lead photographer:

• What am I allowed (and not allowed) to do with my images after the wedding? Can I use them in my portfolio?
• Do I need to mention you when I post the images? Do I need to state that I was the second shooter?
• How long should I wait before posting the images?
• Can I edit my own images?
• Will you credit me when you blog about the wedding, or if you get published?
• When and how will I get paid?
• When and how should I deliver the images to you?
• Would you like me to shoot on your cards or my own?
• What will my roll be at the wedding?
• If something were to happen and you couldn’t make it, would I become the lead photographer? In that case, What would my compensation be?

You want to make sure you have a good grasp of what’s expected of you on the wedding day, as well as how things will unfold afterwards. I make all my second shooters sign a contract that lays out the answers to each of these questions, thus protecting both of us in the long run, and giving them something to refer to if they forget what we initially agreed upon.

If you don’t have a second shooter contract (also called an Independent Contractor Contract), you can purchase one here from the Law Tog (affiliate link).

It’s Time to Shine!

Pack up your gear, triple check your checklist, eat a good breakfast, and get ready to kick some wedding butt!

The Main Objective

The lead photographer hired you because they needed some help. Your main goal on the wedding day should be to make their job easier.

If they need help carrying gear, carry it. If they’re running behind on family photos, help out by wrangling the masses. Even if they just want you to go take boring cocktail hour photos while they’re off gallivanting around town with the Bride and Groom, do it, and do it with a smile.

You need to be everything and everywhere at once. You need to be self-motivated, yet also able to take direction. Be flexible!

The Rules

Never ever hand out your business card while you’re second shooting. In fact, you should just forget about your business completely that day (consider it a mental vacation). You’re there to represent the lead photographer and their business. Grab a handful of their cards before the day begins so you have something to hand out should wedding guests start asking.

Dress and act professionally. It’s better to be over-dressed than under-dressed, but when in doubt, ask the lead photographer what they’re wearing. Be polite, even to the rudest of guests. If you’re unsure how to act, try mirroring the personality of the lead photographer. Take their lead in figuring out whether to be outgoing and bubbly or more of an inconspicuous fly on the wall.

Don’t shoot over the lead photographer’s shoulder. They hired you to have a second set of eyes, not for you to get the same shot they did. Try doing the opposite of the lead photographer. If they’re capturing formals, focus on candids. If they’re using a wide angle lens, use your telephoto.

Just be different!

What to Bring

Remember that a wedding day can be long. Be prepared by packing extras of everything you wear: shoes, clothes, hair ties, etc. I like to pack a makeup bag so I can touch up smeared mascara or pin back annoying bangs if I need to.

Also, deodorant. Trust me.

As a second shooter (and even the lead), there’s no real guarantee you’ll be fed at the wedding. So bring a little cooler or lunch box with some water and snacks in it. Those little wrapped peanut butter crackers have saved me during many long cocktail hours when all the guests are eating and drinking in front of me.

If you really want to impress the lead photographer, put yourself in their shoes, anticipate what they might need for the day., and bring that as well.

Try these items:

• Extra Bottle of Water
• Kleenex
• Safety and Bobby Pins
• Step Stool
• Aspirin
• Non-Plastic Hanger (for the dress shots)

Paid or Not Paid?

Whether or not to pay your second shooter is sort of a hot button issue in the industry. Many photographers don’t pay their second shooters, simply because the demand is ever increasing. If you have someone willing to do it for free, then why bother paying them?

I personally believe that second shooting should always be a paid gig. As the lead photographer, you’re relying on someone else’s talent, skill, and education, to improve the quality of your own product. It’s only fair to compensate them accordingly.

Whether or not you’re willing to accept a second shooting gig that is unpaid is a personal preference. Perhaps you’d like to second shoot your first couple of weddings for free, until you get the hang of it. After all, if you screw up as unpaid help, there’s fewer consequences.

Did your head just explode?

Second Shooting can seem daunting, tiring, and even unfair at times, but it’s how most wedding photographers get their start. Everyone needs to get experience somehow, and second shooting is, hands down, the best way to do that.

If you have questions, comments, or want to add something to the list above, please leave a comment below!

Image credits: Kelly Benton

Nailed It! How to Be a Fantastic Second Shooter

Hey hey! Welcome to The Modern Tog! Thanks for taking some time to stop by after reading my Pinterest for Bloggers post over on ProBlogger!

While my goal here is to help photographers grow (or start!) a photography business, there are lots of tips that would be applicable to any service providers who market their business online. You’ll find long, meaty posts filled with practical steps that allow you to take action right away. You can learn more about me here.

Want to be part of the in-crowd? Join us via email!

If you’re a photographer, joining is a no-brainer. Photographers who join via email grow their business 230948208% faster than photographers who aren’t on the list. Okay, that’s not true. But it WILL help you grow your business if you put these tips into practice! Sign up now!

Not a photographer? Consider it a weekly case study to see how internet marketing principles are applied to photographers and consider how you might apply them to your niche as well. It’s swell.

Enter your email now:

Here’s a few posts you should definitely read

The Ultimate Website Guide
By far one of my favorite posts. It walks you through how to create a website, how to get more traffic, and how to convert visitors into paying clients & more sales. If you only read one article on this site, make it this one! Want to earn bonus points? Share it on Pinterest when you’re done. You’ll be my favorite, I promise!

How to Leverage Testimonials & Reviews to Get More Clients
Learn how to collect testimonials and where to display them on your website for maximum effectiveness. This is one of my best secrets that is so often taken for granted by people.

How to Find Balance in Your Business
As a small business owner or blogger, your to-do list never ends. Learn how to balance a business, family, hobbies, and anything else that is important to you here.

How a Pumpkin Spice Latte Can Get You More Sales
Learn the secret behind Starbuck’s Pumpkin Spice Latte and how they built a strong cult following and how you can do the same thing with a product or service you offer. Warning: reading this when the latte is no longer available at Starbucks may prove frustrating, so read at your own risk! *wink*

Other ways to connect

Can’t get enough? Check out all the other places you can connect with us!

Email is by far the best. Join us now:

You can also find us on the various social media sites. Just click the icon for your social network of choice and say hello!

Thanks for visiting!

It was lovely to have you stop by. Leave a note in the comments about what you found most helpful and I’ll do my best to respond. Thanks!

Welcome ProBlogger Readers!

I get this question a lot.

And if you’re new to the business, or if you’ve recently redone your photography logo, you probably have asked this question to a large handful of friends, family and other photographers. Come on. Admit it.

Everyone cares what his or her own photography logo looks like.

It’s like asking, “how does my hair look?” after a trip to the salon. You want to hear the gushing comments about how beautiful and glorious it is.

But a great hairdo doesn’t guarantee to land you a prom date.

And I can promise you one thing: Your logo will not land you more clients. A photography logo is but a tiny part of generating clients, and I think that’s where so many people get confused about branding, marketing and how the two connect.

So let me break down the basics of branding for you.

What is a brand?

The real question is: what isn’t a brand? Every single time you have any level of interaction with a company, you are touching that company’s brand. So for your business, your photography logo is just one teeny tiny piece of your brand.

Here is a running list of a whole bunch of stuff that makes up your brand:
• how you answer the phone
• what you say inside of your emails
• how your studio looks (from outside the building and on the inside)
• what your packaging looks like
• your mood during the shoot
• your website (the words and the images)
• what other people say about you
• what your price list looks like
• your actual pricing
• the products you offer (and the ones you don’t and why)
• what you wear when clients see you
• the thank you gift and referral gift you send (or don’t send)
• your discounts, how often you offer them, and how they’re offered
• what you say on Facebook
• how you introduce yourself and talk about your business at parties
• and, of course, your photography logo

If that’s a brand, then what the heck is marketing?

Marketing is what attracts people to you. People don’t know you very well at all when they experience your marketing.

Once they step closer, they touch your brand. They might literally be touching your brand if they’re holding your business card or metaphorically touching it if they only got your number from a friend and, suddenly, they’re speaking to you before they’ve even seen your photography logo. In the case of the latter, they’re experiencing your brand over the phone.

Marketing is finding out about a hot girl or guy needing a prom date. Branding is when you see what he or she looks like, smells like, talks like and walks like.

What makes a good brand?

First and foremost, you want to establish a consistent brand. You cannot be the “crazy fun photographer” and the “hopelessly romantic photographer” at the same time. People will become confused about who you are, and people look for clarity when deciding to spend money.

If potential clients get confused, more times than not they’ll shop elsewhere.

So, you have to take a hard look at the list above under “What is a brand?” and highlight the ones that lack consistency. If you notice things that contradict one another, then it’s time to honestly evaluate what type of brand you’re aiming to portray and then “tidy up” the things that aren’t consistent.

How do I figure out what brand I want?

There are two really simple steps toward figuring out the brand you want:

1. The easiest way to determine the brand you want is to describe the type of person you are.

When you’re a soloprenuer, it is extremely difficult to be a brand that isn’t part of you as a person. So if you want your brand to exude fun because you’re the life of every party, then that makes perfect sense! On the contrary, if you’re a hopeless romantic who thinks love conquers all, then passion and romance can be a huge part of your brand.

There is a saying, which goes “there are riches in niches.” And a large part of why this is true is because when you don’t create a niche for your business to live in and you try to be too many things (ie too many brands) at once, you stand to lose a lot of money.

Again, potential customers get confused and will often think, “if this photographer claims to be good at everything, then I’d rather find a photographer who is GREAT at the one thing I want to hire them for.”

2. The second step toward figuring out your brand is to think of the ideal buyer(s) who will be spending gobs and gobs of money with you.

If you picture a few of your ideal clients, what type of brand would attract more people like that to your business? If you feel pretty good that the brand you want to create will also be appealing to your potential customers, then you’re really onto something.

How do I start creating my new brand?

The right answer is: anywhere and everywhere. But obviously you can’t close up shop for a month to work on your branding. So just take it one step at a time.

My recommendation is to work on the things that are grossly inconsistent first. While this might seem daunting, you will make the most impact on brand clarity as a result. For example, if your website is a complete mismatch to the new brand you’re creating, get started on it and work on a piece of it each week.

When your new website launches, it will be much easier to clean up the ancillary other things that still need to be consistent.

How do I know when I’m done?

Rome wasn’t built in a day. And truthfully, brands evolve over time, too. Every single improvement or revision you make is one step closer to brand consistency. If you’re reading this and you’re fairly new to the industry, you have a huge advantage. You can start things off on the right foot with a clear and consistent brand.

You will likely never be done branding your business. While the major projects, such as your website, photography logo or printed materials, might be completed, you will continue to have new marketing opportunities and new interactions within your business to consider from a branding perspective. Clarity and consistency helps to make everything easier and feel like second nature as time moves on.

Wish you knew all of this from day one instead of now?

I recently wrote a brief e-book titled: The Art Of A Photo Business: What Every Photographer Wished They Learned Before Starting Their Photography Business. It contains marketing advice, business tips and miscellaneous motivational “umph” for every single photographer seeking a better way to approach their business. The Modern Tog readers get it for just $7 until 4/30/13. Buy it by clicking here and use coupon code SL26Y.

(Note: Smashwords requires you set up an account with them in order to purchase it, but it’s easy, quick and free to set up with them!)

The Surprising Truth About Your Photography Logo

Like many people, I became interested in photography and the business just sort of fell into my lap.

While we’ve come a long way since then and I was able to leave my day job to do photography full-time, I made several mistakes when starting out that I wish I could go back and do differently.

These mistakes are easy to avoid if you are aware of them, yet it seems like almost all new photographers make them.

Here’s 5 common mistakes to avoid when starting a photography business.

Mistake #1: Not Knowing How Much You Need to Charge to be Profitable

Skipping this step will seriously hurt the future of your business.

If you don’t know how much you’ll need to charge to make your desired amount of profit after taxes and expenses, you’ll end up having to raise your prices significantly your first few years and will lose clients in the process.

This free photographer’s pricing guide can help you figure out what you need to be charging to make the profit you desire.

This number may seem a lot higher than you think people will pay, but knowing this number is vital to helping retain as many clients as possible from the start of your business. Plus it gives you an accurate idea of what it takes to actually run a business and be profitable.

Mistake #2: Failing to Set Expectations

Now that you know what you’ll need to charge to sustain your business, create a pricing list with these prices so that the clients you’re working with now will know what to expect in the future.

This sets an appropriate anchor point in their mind.

An anchor point is a stated point of reference to which they will compare all your prices in the future.

An anchor point affects how much they think your work is worth. So if you originally start by charging $50 but they don’t know how much you plan on charging in the future, they will think you’re too expensive once you’re charging $350 because you’ve made $50 the anchor point in their mind.

If you have your prices set at $350 to begin with, the $50 portfolio building special price will seem like a great deal and they’ll know what to expect when they come back next year for portraits.

Mistake #3: Shooting for Free

By shooting for free, people do not value your time or your work nearly as much as if they are spending money, regardless of the amount.

Instead of giving them both the session and disc of images for free, offer to give a free portrait session with the option to buy prints or the digital images at a discount from your normal prices.

Determine how long you are going to offer this. For example, you may offer your deal to anyone who books a session with you within the next month but allow them to schedule over the next 6 months. This is a great way to get your business off the ground and have several months of sessions on the calendar from the start.

Make sure they know what your prices are up-front so there are no surprises. Show them both your full prices as well as the discounted prices you are offering to set expectations correctly.

People will value your work more if they have to pay for it. If they value it, they’ll put more effort into preparing for the session and be less likely to reschedule or cancel. They’ll take your business more seriously since it won’t just be viewed as a hobby that you can do for free.

There’s no risk for the client with this kind of photography offer. If they don’t like the images, they don’t have to buy anything. But if they do like the images and buy something, you’ve made some money. Either way, you’re still getting images for your portfolio.

Mistake #4: Not Doing In-Person Portrait Sales

I don’t even want to think about how much money I lost the first few years of my business by not doing in-person portrait sales.

My portrait sales average more than tripled when I went from an online gallery to in-person sales.

You don’t need to have an expensive projector or even a laptop. My initial investment was about $15 for black foam core and about $25 per session in proofing costs.

It sounds scary, but the images sell themselves. You’re just there to help them decide between which photos look best and what size they need for an image.

It will also show you what images people really love and what they aren’t as excited about. While this may be a scary proposition when you are first starting out, it’s a great thing to learn so that you can improve faster.

Mistake #5: Not Embracing Email Marketing

I believe that starting an email marketing campaign is the number one secret weapon that will help you to grow your portrait business faster than anything else.

Yet many photographers never take advantage of this incredibly valuable marketing tool.

I’m not talking about a list that you keep in your email account, nor am I talking about buying emails from some service and emailing people who know nothing about your business.

Instead, this should be a list that you use a service such as Aweber or Mail Chimp.

This is a list that people can sign up for on your website that educates your customers and tells them when you have a special offer from them.

The beauty of using one of these email services is that you can create a series of messages that are sent automatically to people who sign up for your mailing list that educate them about something they really care about. I’ll be talking more about the specifics of using this to make lots of extra profit in the next few months, so sign up for my newsletter in the sidebar above to hear more about it.

On the most basic level, you could explain how to dress for their session, things to avoid doing before a session, what products are best for showing off their images, really anything that they’ll want to know that will make them feel empowered. They’ll receive these automatically without you having to do anything, and you can schedule them to be sent at specific intervals after signing up for the list.

Similarly, when you send out an email announcing a special promotion, such as a day of mini-sessions, you are more likely to book them because they are always devoted to your business and like your work. They want to hear about these offers so that they can take advantage of them. They wouldn’t have given you their email address otherwise.

What are some mistakes you’ve made?

These are 5 of the mistakes I made when starting my portrait business that I wish I could go back and do over. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting their own photography business? Leave a comment below and let us know!

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Don’t Make These 5 Mistakes When Starting A Photography Business

While a scary prospect for many, there is absolutely no denying it’s profitability. In fact, you can read about my first experience with In-Person Sales and how I made 5 times more than my average sale before doing in-person portrait sales.

While you may have gotten into photography because you love it and have a passion for it, passion doesn’t pay the bills. Profit is what running a legitimate business is all about.

However, some photographers claim that their clients simply won’t place an order during their in-person sales sessions and that many still need to “think about it.”

I hate to say it, but that’s not because of the type of clients you have. It’s because of how YOU are handling the session.

So how can you ensure that your In-Person Sales meetings will end with a sale?

Set Clear Client Expectations

Surprises are NOT a good thing

A client who orders nothing is a client who didn’t have enough information.

Were they fully aware of your product pricing beforehand?

Does your website list a general starting price point and average spend amount so that people can budget before they book?

Did you email them a full price list after they booked?

Making sure clients have all the information in advance is vital in helping ensure a sale for you.

Use the term “ordering session” when you explain it.

Does your client know that the in-person sales session is in fact for sales and not just a “session premiere?” It may seem like a no-brainer to you, but trust me, it doesn’t necessarily come across that way.

Sometimes in our attempt to sound more appealing we forget that the terms we use aren’t always clear to our clients.

Give a Little, Gain a Lot

Start by making them feel comfortable.

Chat like you’re old friends. Ask them about their day before launching into your sales pitch. This is especially true if the in-person sales session is taking place in your client’s home. Remember, you’re a guest so use your manners.

Bring a gift

You know what I love about my lab, ProDPI? The quality, yes. The customer service, yes. But I could get those things elsewhere as well.

I love that they include candy in every package.

An unexpected gift goes a long way, especially when coupled with quality and customer service!

Imagine showing up to an ordering session where your client is expecting to spend something, only to first be given something. For example, a box of chocolates, specialty teas, a tin of shortbread cookies, etc. It doesn’t have to cost much.

Less is More. I Repeat, Less is More

Have you ever noticed that budget friendly restaurants usually have menus that are multiple pages but when you go to a fine dining restaurant the menu is usually only a single page? If you have 30 different options for dinner, it’s hard to choose. Everything looks good. But when given only eight options, some of the pressure is removed and you can make your selections more easily.

Having too many product offerings can be overwhelming and will decrease sales.

Instead, focus on 3-4 quality products that you really want to offer and that you love enough to believably sell to someone else. That way clients aren’t getting stuck in the middle of the road while oncoming traffic heads straight for them.

This applies to the number of images you show your clients as well.

The average client won’t display more than three or four of their session images in their home as wall art. Add in a half dozen different gift print images and that’s still less than ten images total.

If you show them 50 proofs they can easily get overwhelmed trying to select only ten! In situations like this a client may freeze up and find themselves unable to make a decision.

Narrow it down! Show only the best of the best! And not only that, but show the images you think your client is most likely to buy, not necessarily your personal favorites.

Make it Easy to Pay

When people really love the images you provide, they tend to want more than they initially thought they would spend.

In this case, having a payment plan option is a great way to make sure they don’t go back and take things out of their order. The last thing you want is for them to cut their order in half, even though they really want it, simply because they can’t pay the entire amount right there and then.

Not sure what you need to do this? Pick up a payment plan contract from Rachel Brenke over at The Law Tog store (affiliate link) and you’ll be set to go. Just click “Payment” in the sidebar on the right. Right now through Friday they are 40% off using code “LawTogLove” when checking out!

Tying it All Together

In-Person Sales isn’t rocket science and anyone can do it. Maybe you feel the same way about In-Person Sales that I do about spiders but hey, if I can overcome my fear and squash those nasty 8-legged creepy crawlies then you can overcome your fear of In-Person Sales too!

Please use the comments section below to share with me how you’ve put these things into practice, or how you’re going to!

Photos in post by Lea Hartman.

Why Your In-Person Sales Meetings Aren’t Working

If you, me, and everyone else reading this post were jammed into a room at a networking event, I can almost guarantee you that 75% of the crowd’s introduction would go sorta like this…

“Hi! I’m so and so. I’m a photographer, and I shoot enter subject here.“

It’s when there’s hundreds of us all saying the same thing that the problem becomes grossly apparent. This is what we do, yes. But it’s no different than anyone else in this business and it’s not even a good way to articulate what we do.

After all, we’re not machines. We don’t produce the same results or experience. And, we don’t produce the same solution to the same problem.

With about 170,000 people reporting their career as “photographer” according to the US Census Bureau, how do you differentiate?

It’s really, really hard to figure out what you do differently than the pack. Businesses (not just photo businesses) struggle with this, sometimes for years before figuring it out.  I’m about to give you a few huge shortcuts to help you figure it out much, much quicker.

How to figure out what you truly do in a flash.

If you and I were sitting down for coffee, it would be easier to walk you through this exercise. But since we’re not together, you’re going to have to trust me, and (warning!) you’re going to have to talk to yourself a bit.

If you don’t like talking to yourself or find that ineffective, find a supportive partner to practice with.

Before we begin, there are 3 rules:

RULE #1: You are not allowed to use the words “photography” or “photographer” as we do this exercise.

RULE #2: Keep going and don’t let yourself stop because you feel silly, stupid or like you’re not getting anywhere. The answer is there waiting to be discovered.

RULE #3: Be honest.

Okay, now we’re ready. Let’s do this.

STEP 1: Ask yourself the question, “what do I do?” and state the first answer that comes to mind (remember, you’re not allowed to use “photographer” or “photography”)

STEP 2: Ask yourself, “but what do you really do?” three times, each time stating an answer and challenging yourself to answer the same question again with a different answer each time.

STEP 3: Make sure your third and last statement polarizes your target audience a bit. If you feel like you may be trying to be everything to everyone, repeat step two again. Why? Because trying to be everything to everyone makes you special in nothing. And I know you’ve got some special awesomeness going on that the world ought to know about.

If you’ve gone through the above steps once, twice or if you’ve rinsed and repeated 100 times (go you!) you’re much closer to what you really do in your business.

Since we’re not having coffee, how do I know if my answer to “what do you do?” is right or wrong?

First, there is no right or wrong. Don’t you hate that? But I’ll give you a couple of hints and measures to tell if you’re close or not.

You are close to perfection, if:

1. You believe it will engage someone emotionally and cause him or her to respond with “Really? Tell me more!”
2. You have a hard time thinking of many photographers who can say the same thing (or who will have the guts to say the same thing).
3. You’ve tested it out on a few people and it seems to raise some eyebrows or gain interest.

Free feedback from me!

I’m going to be monitoring the comments below, so please don’t be shy. Post your answer to the question, “What do you do?” and I’ll let you know my thoughts. Plus, you’ll get to see others and someone else’s idea might spark one of yours, too.

I love to reading your comments and look forward to giving you some more helpful hints in my comments back!

Why You Should Delete “I’m A Photographer” From Your Vocabulary

Your clients will be judging you based upon everything they see – from your clothes and hair to the car you drive to the consultation. Even if they aren’t doing it intentionally, it’s still happening.

Even things that we can’t control, like our age or gender, will affect how they perceive us and how they choose a photographer.

So what is best?

Thankfully, there’s no universal “right answer” to that question. It all depends on who your ideal client is and what your appearance says to them.

So the real question is whether or not your appearance is attracting the type of clients you’re looking for, or if it is ultimately hurting your business.

How much does it really matter?

Who are you trying to attract?

If you’re trying to attract high-end clients who are throwing black-tie events and are used to working with vendors and businesses that dress more formally, showing up to a wedding consultation in casual clothing is definitely going to leave a bad impression because they will feel like you don’t understand them and their event.

However, if you dress super formally when meeting with a hipster couple who is looking to have a casual barn wedding, you’re likely to have the same issue as well.

Identifying what appeals to your ideal client can help you know what’s best.

Does this mean I can’t be myself or express myself?

Maybe. But not certainly.

I hate even typing that response, because it rubs me the wrong way. I’m super independent and don’t want other people dictating what I can and can’t do with my appearance (which is part of why I’m so glad to be out of the corporate arena!)

If your preferred appearance drives your ideal clients away, then you need to decide if you would rather change your appearance or start trying to attract clients that resonate more with your desired appearance. There’s nothing that says you have to work with only elite, high-end clients who expect a more formal experience.

That’s the beauty of running your own business: you can target whatever type of clients you want and do what you want. You just have to recognize that it DOES matter, and that your appearance certainly does make an impression, whether good or bad.

My own personal experience and my decision to get rainbow hair

Hair by Hair Stylist & Color Artist Kelton Hatton

I’m not really sure why, honestly. I just really love bright colors.

I couldn’t do it while working my corporate job as you had to have “naturally” colored hair if anything at all.

Then once I got out and started doing this full-time, it didn’t occur to me that I could do it until about 8 months ago. But because we were just starting our wedding season at the time, I wanted to wait.

I don’t think my clients would have really minded, especially since as artists we can get away with this sort of thing a bit more, but I knew I wanted it bright, and I didn’t want to draw too much attention since we really do try to be inconspicuous ninjas at the wedding.

But then I saw a picture on Pinterest of longer hair with the ends dyed, and I realized that if I did something like that it could grow out naturally and I could pull it back and keep it less-distracting by putting it in a bun or something. So with several months until our next wedding and a plan, I decided it was time.

I wanted someone that I knew would do a great job, so I asked around and was told that the best hair color stylist in Milwaukuee is Kelton Hatton. So I booked an appointment.

I’ll share the entire story of what it was like to be pampered by 2 talented gay men for 10 hours in a salon in a future post, which is especially interesting considering I’m not their ideal client at all. But I was absolutely THRILLED with the results.

We simply decided that having rainbow-colored hair would help us to stand out a bit more in a sea of photographers, and that our target client wouldn’t care either way (or would actually give us more credibility as artists). So far, business hasn’t changed at all and no one has seemed to have a problem with it at all.

While we haven’t made it a huge part of our business branding right now, I updated all my profile pictures online, and we’re still getting interested clients despite the major change in appearance. But it’s still too early to know how it will affect the business.

So I decided I’d ask a few readers and friends what their experience has been like.

The Willinghams

Drew & Angela Willingham, Denver Wedding Photographers

Photos by Jeff Newsom and Phil Chester

We both have chest pieces and each have a sleeve. Angela has a back piece as well. There are also some random tattoos here and there (no not there!)

2. How much is your appearance a part of your brand, and how have you incorporated it into your business?

It’s a big part of our brand the same way our lifestyle and personalities are. By showing our tattoos on our website it helps us target clients that are more outgoing, less traditional and a lot more fun for us to be around. We feel that it helps people get an idea of who we are quickly when they land on our site and it’s another thing to set us apart from the other photographers they may have looked at.

3. How has it been helpful or hurtful to getting new clients?

We think we have definitely seen a lot more interest from the clients that are contacting us but we know that there have been a few people that haven’t hired us because either they or a family member of theirs isn’t okay with tattoos showing at the wedding.

4. Any other thoughts you’d like to share?

Just like anything else about you, your appearance or your personality, when it comes to your branding you need to be 100% honest with your clients in who you are. If you’re not you won’t get the clients that make the most sense for you and your business.

Rebecca Wilkowski

Rebecca Wilkowski, San Francisco Bay Area Wedding and Event Photographer

Photo Credit: Orange Photography

I’m kind of known for my appearance. Very pale skin, green eyes, bright red hair with a blonde streak, vintage cat eye glasses with rhinestones, 2 nose rings, and generally very colorful vintage inspired clothes. No tattoos.

I took the nose rings out. But the holes are still very visible as I’ve had my nose pierced for 22 years.

2. How much is your appearance a part of your brand, and how have you incorporated it into your business?

In recent years, I’ve made a conscious effort to embrace my “look”, and not feel as insecure about it. I’ve even updated my company logo to include a likeness of me, which I’ve gotten a lot of really great feedback on. I didn’t want to use the same logo that everyone else had, some thing predictable. I wanted something that was uniquely “me”.

3. How has it been helpful or hurtful to getting new clients?
I am pretty conservative when it comes to running my business, and have long been afraid that my appearance (while fine with family and friends) would inhibit people from booking me. In addition to weddings/event/portraits, I shoot corporate stuff, and magazine editorial, and would often feel particularly uneasy showing up to a shoot with A-list people, very wealthy people, celebs, or art directors and CEOs. Typically, they are much more conservative looking than me, and this worried me. I thought, they may not take me seriously. I (look) young (but am actually 38), I’m a woman, and I don’t look at all conservative or business like or “professional” (depending on how you define that word). I felt like I might lose booking a job, or have to work harder to prove myself, just because of my looks.

On occasion I’ve worked with some high end clients, and sensed that I wasn’t treated quite the same as some of the other vendors. I often wondered if I had presented myself differently, more conservatively, if this would have made a difference.

What I’ve realized though, is that my look IS my brand. Yes, people comment on how they love my personality. How warm and easy going I am, and fun to work with. And, of course, folks like my work. These factors all play into why people book me. But, I’m often referred to (and remembered as) “that funky red headed photographer with the pug dog”. I’m easy to remember, and easy to pick out in a crowd. I make a visual impression on people that is lasting, and I think that’s ultimately a good thing. I do live in San Francisco, which is known for being very open minded and liberal, so perhaps this has worked in my favor. While I haven’t had any negative experiences working with clients from other states, or abroad, I think that appearance could potentially play a factor if I was based in a very small or conservative town/state.

While I WILL somewhat edit what clothes I wear according to the client (i.e am I doing corporate head shots, or shooting a benefit gala at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art?), I never specifically buy something for “work” that isn’t “me” and that I wouldn’t wear any other day of the week.

4. Any other thoughts you’d like to share?

My clients appreciate good photography, but can’t always “see” the difference between “good” photography, and “great” photography, the way a photographer’s trained and critical eye can. So, I realized, I can’t use the quality of my work/my point of view alone to distinguish myself. While it’s important to have top notch work, I think we need to differentiate ourselves in other ways. In addition to the more common areas of price, customer experience, specialty, and products, I think our personal “look” is one way we can do this.

They say people like to hire people they relate to and feel similar to. I always thought this meant that only artist types with low budgets would hire me, and I’d never have the opportunity to work with high end clients. But, this has proven NOT to be the case. It seems my body of work, high end products, and tailored customer service is why people hire me, but my appearance is what helps people remember and refer me. This is particularly important when you’ve got a long, hard to remember name, like mine!

Christina Gressianu

Christina Gressianu, Colorado Wedding & Portrait Photographer

Top photo by Jeremy Hochalter at Absinthe Photography, bottom photo by Vi Wickam

1. What kind of body art did you have, and how is it different from what you have now?

I had bright violet streaks in my hair, and now I have brown hair with some caramel highlights. The cut and color shifts, but it’s natural-looking now.

2. How much is your appearance a part of your brand, and how have you incorporated it into your business?

I think brand is a multi-faceted and difficult thing to measure. I’d say my appearance is a huge part of my brand, because people have to trust me to book, and then feel comfortable in front of my camera. I have always been committed to keeping my brand authentic to me, so that my appearance is a seamless part of it.

3. How has it been helpful or hurtful to getting new clients?

It’s hard to quantify how my hair helped or hurt my business. I can definitely see a difference in the type of client that hires me now. Whereas I used to get a lot of young women who were new to their business or marrying younger, I now get a lot of women who are over over 40 professionals and brides in their 30′s. These women are so much more interesting for me to work with, and they have more money to spend.

4. Any other thoughts you’d like to share?

For me, the purple streaks were not a match for the kind of work I do. They weren’t bad, just set the wrong expectation. If my photography were edgy and modern, the purple streaks would work. My work is cosmopolitan and buttoned-up though, so my appearance needs to be that too.

I didn’t think it affected my business negatively. It seemed to me like people loved to comment on my purple hair and everyone thought it was cool. One day I decided I was done with my purple phase and box-dyed my hair plain old brown again. Suddenly people started telling me that while the purple streaks were cute, it made me look young and that they didn’t take me all that seriously with them. Whoa. I was shocked to be hearing this after 2 YEARS of purple streaks. So, there you go. I’m certain your appearance affects your business.

How do you think your appearance affects your business?

Would love to hear your thoughts below, specifically about how much you think your appearance matters and if there are things that you do to change your appearance because of your business. Leave a comment and share!

Is Your Appearance Hurting Your Photography Business?

This week’s post is a guest post from Rachel Brenke.

It is super exciting to get a new prop, lens or spend money on education but there are a few areas that small business owners sometimes overlook.

Safeguarding your business through insurance policies is a major one.

You may as well be playing the lottery with your livelihood, clients and self confidence when not carrying the proper insurance policies.

While you should always consult with an insurance agent to make sure you have all the coverages you need, here are some of the main things you need to consider and purchase when getting photography business insurance.

So why do you need photography business insurance?

For photography business owners equipment and liability insurance are the most critical insurance policies to secure protection. Even though you may be set up as a limited liability company (LLC) or a corporation, there is no limit to the need for business insurance. In fact, state laws may require that your business transactions be covered by a certain form of insurance.

When shooting in a variety of venues, proof of insurance may be required. Besides potential legal requirements, having insurance minimizes the risks that are associated with potential liabilities, losses and unfortunate events.

What types of insurance do you need?

#1 Equipment Insurance

This will cover all equipment related to a loss or damage due to a variety of events. The type of equipment, coverage and loss causes will be defined through specific coverage policies. At a minimum, photographers need equipment insurance to cover the following equipment; camera, lenses, computers, business interruption, etc. Equipment insurance should also cover the basic losses due to severe weather, damage through dropping, and theft. It is especially important to not assume that your homeowner or renter insurance covers business equipment as many policies exempt equipment used for income purpose.

#2 General Liability Insurance

This insurance is especially critical for photographers working in sensitive specializations (wedding, newborn, extreme sports, etc.) This insurance works as an umbrella to provide protection against legal actions arising from injuries, accidents and other claims.

#3 Commercial Automobile Insurance

This insurance acts to cover the photographer for auto accidens in case the personal automobile insurance does not cover commercial activities. It provides financial protection against potential bodily injury and physical damage to the vehicle that results from automobile accidents. Some jurisdictions require this insurance to be held under specific circumstances so always check your local laws.

#4 Disability Insurance

The insurance should be on the “to get” list as quick as possible for photographers that depend upon photography as their sole income. This insurance is a form that insures the photographer’s earned income against the risk of disability (sickness, etc.) that prevents them to fulfill their work capacity. As a small business owner, planning to weather bad storms that may come your way is worth the investment and time especially when it could potentially cut off all income.

#5 Property Insurance (Owner or Renter)

If you own or rent a studio, insurance to protect against damage to the building and items within are crucial. It is also important that a photographer consider selecting a policy that includes business loss of earning insurance to protect earnings in the even that the shooting location is damaged or destroyed. Note: Some property insurance policies include all equipment within the property and others do not. Always read your policy.

#6 Life Insurance

This type of insurance is important for a small business owner’s peace of mind and allows your family and friends to be covered in the event of your death. Savings helps to provide in the event of death but life insurance can help to supplement for settlement of debts and related expenses in closing up the business.

What others ways can you protect yourself?

Insurance is just one of way to safeguard your business. Other ways include selecting a business structure that limits liability and using proper legal contracts in every business transaction. There are a variety of business structures to choose from, including sole proprietor, limited liability company (LLC), and corporation. Choosing these depends on type of business, initial investment cost, personal choice of liability, and tax liability. Corporations and limited liability companies come with another level of liability protection through their formation but not completely shield the owners from potential liability and all related consequences. To safeguard even further it is important to have photography contracts (affiliate link) that are drafted properly under contract laws and for the photography industry.

As always, look to someone that is versed and knowledgeable of your industry. Flying blind is no good. If there is any investment to make, it is in your financial and business security before that next new lens or prop.

Note from Jamie: If you want to learn more about other legal things you need to consider when starting a photography business, check out Rachel’s amazing FREE ebook called The Legal Lens over on her blog! It should be required reading for all photographers! During the month of January, she’s also posting about what type of business to start, portfolio building, setting up a website, and getting organized. Check it out.

Rachel Brenke is a photographer, lawyer, business consultant and social media marketing strategist based out of El Paso, Texas. She has helped over a thousand photographers start up, market and maintain their businesses through online eWorkshops, 1:1 consulting and the free resources on her blog The Law Tog. She has been nationally published in magazines such as Senior Style Guide, Chic Critique, and Lemonade and Lenses. Her blog feature line up includes Bridal Musings, Something Navy Weddings, Style Cusp, Capitol Romance, and a few others! In 2013 she will be speaking at the WPPI 2013 Convention on pricing, business and marketing.

Photography Business Insurance Coverages Every Photographer Should Have

This week’s post is a guest post from Zach Prez.

Why doesn’t Google see your website in the same light and reward your quality photography with an outstanding rank?

First, search engines look at your website differently than clients. Search pays special attention to titles, URLs, and image text that clients ignore.

Second, people search for more than a “photographer in city X.” Clients search a particular style, season, and price all in a single phrase. This post outlines how to rank well for dozens of key topics in your niche so you can finally get the business you deserve from search.

Google Views Your Site Through a Different Lens

As a photographer, you know better than anyone how the same subject can deliver a completely different message by changing the lens. Think of your website the same way. Posting a session and expecting Google to understand the detail and depth of the page is like trusting a client to see the beauty and perfection in a raw photo.

To cast the best light on your website content, it helps to know where search engines weight keywords. When a potential client searches “photographer in city X,” Google’s job is to find a page about that topic. The closer the page matches the search topic, the better chance of ranking.

Ranking tip #1: Use keywords in your title that will be searched by people who don’t know you.

If you know the basics of search engine optimization (SEO), you know the page title (and URL) is the the first place search engines look for the keywords searched by the user. Many photographers thus title their homepage “Cityname Wedding Photographer.”

The title shows in the very top left of the webpage window (above) and as the link users click in Google (below). You actually don’t need your business name in the URL, because it takes up valuable space, making the page less about wedding photography and less likely to rank for ”cityname wedding photographer.”

Hint: You can see all your titles quickly by typing site:http://www.yoursitehere.com into Google.

Ranking tip #2: Choose very specific keywords in titles of your subpages, galleries, and blog posts.

While the above may be good homepage SEO, most photographers stop there, resting an entire SEO strategy on one phrase and one page. That’s the equivalent of opening a bookstore and only selling the Harry Potter series. What about the 100,000 other niche “titles” that sell one-to-two copies a month and make the company a profit?

That’s where photographers need to title each page something specific that might be searched.

This means no more client names in your photo gallery or blog post titles. Sorry!

The good news is that clients won’t notice or care while Google will suddenly understand your page is not about “Jacob and Sohpia Photos” and instead about “Apple Orchard Family Photos in Sacramento.” 

I like how this approach to titles attracts an audience much broader than the one family who hired you. A specific title works well in Google, Facebook, and email newsletters to attract people who are interested in apple orchard photos (pretty unique). These topic-focused pages get more clicks across the web and have less competition, making it easier to be found by prospective clients.

Otherwise you will be competing with your homepage to rank for the same phrase.

Ranking tip #3: Describe your photo sessions in detail on the page.

Although clients don’t need or want text on the page, Google uses it to understand what’s happening on a deeper level. The well written post above goes beyond the title and uses text on the page to describe the session. Words like brother, sister, beautiful, pictures, red, and session are all very searchable variations of the main phrase.

Google wants about 300 words of text to feel confident that there is enough substance for the user to want to see it.

Ranking tip #4: Describe your images naturally with alternate text so Google can see them.

Since search can’t see the images like your clients, they need to be explained in the alternate text (html code behind the image). Hover your mouse over the first image to see ”brother pulling sister in a red wagon through an apple orchard for their portraits.”

Image Credit: JillCarmel.com

Now, if everything else on the page was blurred out, I would still know the topic of the page based on the first image alone. So does Google. Multiply that by dozens of images across hundreds of posts – Google can understand exactly the types of sessions your shooting, all from simple alt text invisible to clients.

Ranking tip #5: Focus on ranking your best/most important pages, and sell yourself clearly on those pages so searchers hire you.

Optimize Your Best Pages, Not Your Most Recent Pages!

If I could guarantee one page from your site would rank well tomorrow, which page would it be? Probably not your latest session that doesn’t showcase your best work. You’d probably create a new post, showing your best photos, and a clear offer so that the searchers are sure to contact you.

That’s what a post like ”Sacramento spring mini sessions” will do for you.

It targets a very specific phrase that not a lot of other photographers compete for. It shows a variety of work and includes reasons to hire and a clear link to book a session at the bottom of the page. Imagine how your business will take off when every post you write ranks for something unique AND gets the searcher to call and book you every time!

Want to learn about how to get more traffic to your website?

Get Zach’s free eBook called 5 Traffic Sparks for the Online Photographer!

Zach Prez is the author of Photography Spark and brings 10 years of internet marketing experience to his blog and ebooks for photographers. When his fingers get tired of web work, he’s probably having a cup of tea, coaching soccer or riding his bike along the Sacramento river.

Get the Photography Clients You Deserve from Google Search

This post is a guest post by Tanya Hirschy.

When I first timidly started my photography business a few years ago I would frequently hear, “I didn’t know you took pictures.”

“Me neither” my response would be, followed by nervous laughter. This showed my lack of confidence and slightly revealed how overwhelmed I was. Maybe you can relate.

Then all at once my young business unexpectedly exploded with clients. Here’s how I handled the overwhelm and uncertainty I felt about my success so early.

Unexpected Success

Before going professional, I wasn’t the person taking a million pictures at every function. I didn’t pick up my first camera when I was four. In fact barely even had a desire to learn how to use a professional camera. I know that’s not typical, but honest. The only thing I had was an ‘eye’ for certain things (so I had been told) and a best friend who was a photographer. On a whim I asked if I could borrow her back up camera–a Canon 40d–and if she could teach me a few things.

After the first picture I took with that camera I was hooked. I was shocked by the quality of image I saw and started to practice continually. After a month or two, my friend took a look and started raving about my natural eye.  I thought she was just being nice, but after a long while of convincing me, and inviting me to shadow her, I started to believe her. I loved the invigorating feeling of having taken a great picture–even if it was an accident at that point. I started to dream about really getting into photography professionally.

Long story short, I did. I invested in the best equipment (that took some courage) and started my business. And here’s the really good part: my friend moved away shortly after and referred all her clients to me! I was soon a brand new photographer swimming in inquiries from people who loved my friend’s work and were looking for a new photographer with a similar style.

Feeling overwhelmed and unsure?

That’s how I got my start. In the beginning, it seemed as though my business was building itself and I was trying to keep up with it. I was slightly overwhelmed and at times felt like I shouldn’t be charging these people money. Having a client base tossed in your lap probably isn’t a typical story, but being overwhelmed and unsure is a familiar story to many.

I was figuring out how to run an already growing business while still figuring out manual mode. Looking back, I think there were a couple of things that kept my business growing and stable.  Here are the two things I implemented:

1. Learn a little, use it a lot.

In college I discovered a language-learning principle called “learn a little use it a lot.” The idea is that instead of learning 20 different phrases and becoming confused and discouraged with the process, focus on one or two until you feel so confident that you don’t even have to think about it. That’s why the main thing I remember from high school french class is “Ja m’apelle Tanya,” because we said it every day.

Transfer that to photography and simply pick one or two areas that you want to improve and work on it until it becomes natural. This is essential because it’s important to feel even a small measure of success so that you can continue to be excited and encouraged in your work.

Before every session I would list 1, maybe 2, things that I wanted to focus on during that session and then made it happen. Soon each point became second nature. Here are some examples of things I focused on at different stages. Yes, I know some of these seem silly, but sometimes I just needed to go back to the basics.

• Don’t cut off people’s heads (I had a bad habit of ruining a great picture because I was trying too hard to do creative cropping)
• Slow down so I can focus on interacting with my clients and not be a crazy picture-taking machine
• Posing: Pick 3-4 poses beforehand and focus on those, rather than drawing a blank and panicking
• Keep my camera steady for better focus
• Get the exposure on the correct setting
• Affirm the client so that they feel positive
• Make sure my f-stop is adjusted for large groups vs single subjects
• Loosen up and be creative. Do what I think is best, not what I think they want. They hired me for my eye and my style.
• Look for a different angle

I still do this sometimes before shoots. For example, on this recent newborn shoot I was focusing on two things: maximizing the natural window light and trying out 3-4 new poses. That focus helped to make it an amazing shoot for me. I am at a place now where I am very happy with my work, but I also know where I want to be and so I am figuring out what it takes to get there.

2. Treat your clients like royalty

During my first retail job at 16, I was taught that the customer is always right. This was ingrained in me. I know this is a basic business principle, but it’s important to keep coming back to it. Without your clients, you don’t have a business.

So I made sure to keep my clients happy. I asked lots of questions about them and their family. I told them how beautiful they looked together. I made their kids laugh. I gushed about their photos. I kept in contact with them. If there was an issue, I worked with them until they were happy again. None of this was unnatural for me, but being sincerely kind and accomodating goes a long way with people.

Yes, I did have to draw boundaries. I know that I can’t please everyone and I don’t bend over backwards, but at least I can be courteous in the way that I handle even the most difficult situations.

The result? Clients who come back again and again and who rave about me to their friends. My entire business has been built on word-of-mouth, so it is imperative that I live up to those expectations.

Where do you need to focus?

I believe these two things are what held my business (and sanity) together when I had clients lining up at my door step. Right now I’m in the midst of moving my business to an entirely new location due to a family move and focusing on a new niche. I plan to work even harder in both of these areas and take it one step at a time, and I’m excited about what the result will be!

What about you? What things do you want to focus on this year, where you ‘learn a little and use it a lot?’ Leave a comment below and share!

Tanya is an Indiana Wedding Photographer who got her start in photography in Chicago, where she built her business around family and children’s portraits.  She and her family of 4, soon to be 5, recently moved to rural Indiana where she intends to focus on wedding photography. She dreams of touring Israel to experience the setting of biblical events first-hand.  Check out her blog and like her page on facebook for updates and recent work.

All images in this post taken by Tanya at Studio 63 Photography. Bio picture by Brisham Photography, 2011.

How to Focus When Your Photography Business is Overwhelming