Photography Marketing Archives - Page 2 of 5

Facebook’s New Promotional Guidelines & What it Means for Your Photography Business

Believe it or not, this is a Facebook change that you’re going to like.

Since Facebook went public as a company, they’ve instituted a boatload of changes to make it harder to market your business on a Facebook page without paying for promotion.

Yes, you still get some free exposure, but they took something that was super-effective and changed it into something that was hardly effective at all, making anyone who relied on Facebook for their marketing strategy rather upset. Last year’s algorithm change was particularly destructive.

But this week, Facebook changed their promotional guidelines for the better.

No, really. Hard to believe, I know, but it’s true.

So lets dive in and see what this means for your business and how you can use it to get more clients.

[Click to read more]

Shoot and Burn vs. Shoot and Share:
How to Make Money in an Increasingly Mobile-Based Marketplace

Thanks for watching this live webinar replay with Nate Grahek of StickyAlbums and myself as we explore the best way to share images, get new clients, and still make money when people are becoming more and more tied to their mobile devices.

In this free webinar replay, we talk about

Is it okay to sell digital images?
Why do in-person sales when you can just send an online gallery?
Why is it so important to think about mobile apps and how it affects your business?
How do clients use their mobile devices and what does this mean for our business?
What is the best way to deliver images to your client?

[Click to read more]

7 Warning Signs That Your Search Engine Skills Are Outdated

This is a guest post by SEO Expert Zach Prez.

Ranking in search is a huge factor that can put a local small business in the photography industry on the path to success. Search is huge to the tune of $80 billion — that’s how much economic activity Google generated for U.S. businesses in 2011.

It’s fun to dream about ranking #1, growing your business and gaining a bucket of disposable income. I’d spend it on a lifetime supply of Keurig coffee cups, an entire furniture collection from Pottery Barn Kids, and a season pass to Disneyland with airfare for five.

The money is appealing, but it certainly isn’t the lone benefit of ranking well.

A high search ranking can help you to:

Get more clients
Attract the right clients
Grow your business to a point where you can charge the fees you deserve
Scale back paid marketing activities
Look like you’re the best in your area

And we haven’t even reached the best part: New business that starts in search engines has a multiplier effect that leads to repeat clients, referrals and reputation.

I talk about these benefits in my newest ebook “Recipes to Rank Higher: The Search Engine Cookbook for Photographers.”

The cookbook covers everything I’ve learned the past 10 years that’s relevant to ranking higher — from image optimization and video ranking to Google+ and Google Places. I wrote this new ebook because so much has changed. I consult with photographers every day and all of them have preconceived notions about what Google cares about. And they’re wrong!

Instead of writing a traditional post here that discusses the same ranking factors as everyone else, I’m here to turn the discussion upside down — to convince you that something’s wrong with your current search engine optimization (SEO) process. [Click to read more]

Are Bridal Shows a Good Idea or Waste of Money?

Ahh, the bridal show. For some brides, it’s the first thing they want to do after getting engaged. For others, the mere thought of attending one can give them hives.

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!

[Click to read more]

Partner with a Charity to Grow Your Photography Business

Marketing is one of the most important aspects of running a successful photography business.

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.

[Click to read more]

The Surprising Truth About Your Photography Logo

“So what do you think of my logo?”

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. [Click to read more]

Is Your Appearance Hurting Your Photography Business?

Whether you like it or not, your appearance is part of how people judge your business.

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? [Click to read more]

Get the Photography Clients You Deserve from Google Search

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

You take stunning child portraits that can change the attitude and environment of an entire household simply by displaying your work on the wall.

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.

[Click to read more]

Are You Making These 3 Common SEO Mistakes When Blogging?

The number one struggle that photographers have when starting their photography business is getting the word out about their business and finding more new clients.

Blogging is one of the best ways to get new clients that haven’t heard of you before.

If you can show up when people search for a photographer in a search engine like Google, then you’ll have a better chance of finding new clients. In fact, we get the majority of our new clients this way.

While this can take a lot of time and be overwhelming, there’s three mistakes that I see almost all new photographers making that are easy to fix that will help you rank higher almost immediately. I’ll be showing you how to change these things quickly in WordPress, since it has all the tools you need in it to help you rank higher (so I think everyone should be using it!)

Are you making these three common SEO mistakes?

[Click to read more]

6 Effective Photography Marketing Areas to Focus On to Book More Clients

What are the best places to focus your photography marketing efforts to get the most new clients without wasting a ton of money?

Over the past few years I’ve done a lot of experimenting, wasted a lot of money, and come up with 6 places that I focus on every single year to keep our photography business getting the clients we need.

Let’s look at each of the 6 effective photography marketing areas and why they are important to focus on.

[Click to read more]

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