Spreading the word...how do people find your business?

[guitarkid]

Word of mouth isn't getting many jobs for us. We're in the Chicago area so I keep telling myself there is SO MUCH WORK to go around...but we just can't get the visibility. Maybe previous clients don't know anyone getting married, I don't know. I pulled all online advertising; costing me $150 a month to get no calls or emails. I kept thinking "maybe this month, maybe this month!" And still.....nothing. Our service and crew is great, we get compliements all the time. It's as if I'm not advertising at all.

I have to unfortunately rely on just the website, and cheaper more creative routes. Our clients love our work and services but that unfortunately doesn't seem to be enough.

Respond.com didn't work for me at all and I was there for about a year. What few responses I got emailed me back saying they weren't looking for photo services.

There are hundreds of photographers on the knot, which is where I used to be...and that did work out ok a couple years back....but way too pricey and way too many people on there now.

I'm going to focus on the t-shirt idea someone below just had (I already made the shirts) and vehicle magnets for advertising on the road. Next year when we get more cash I may start up with the knot again. As of now, marketing dwindled the account to nothing with no leads to show for it.

I would still love to get photo and video going full time so I don't have to do the day job...we'll see.

I'm really happy for you guys with success stories...keep it goin!

 

[ckphotography]

I just launched my professional website this past February and while I am getting decent traffic, it is not currently leading to bookings. I do rely on word of mouth because that means that those customers are happy. I have 8 weddings this year and my goal is 15-20 next year.

One idea I have is that I have bookmarks made at whcc with just my web address on them. One set has a wedding photo on each side and the other has children's photos on each side (advertising what I specialize in). I am thinking about randomly dropping them around town so that people can pick one up. Each bookmark says "Book Your Date" on them. My goal is that the photos are good enough to generate interest in my work and visit my site without giving them all the information right away. I do get compliments on the bookmarks and that they are good ideas.

I love the creativity in advertising! Keep 'em coming!

CK Photography Your Life Naturally

 

[JerryPH]

Probably the BEST is word of mouth.

Second is getting your walking shoes on and going face to face with related businesses (wedding planners, locations, cake makers, and on and on and on)

Third is is wedding shows, seminars and what not.

If you are not getting word of mouth referrals... it possibly could be people skills are lacking or you are not presenting things in such a manner that your clients cannot stop talking about you to anyone and everyone they know.

Silly question, but... have you ever done a customer satisfaction survey with your clients after doing business with them?

I'm not saying just asking if they were satisfied or something, I mean a full blown series of questions asked face to face with the client asking for how their experience with you could have been made even better. They are the ones with the answers, not us here... well, not as directly.

I was surprised to hear that at the first time I mentored with him, he booked 2 weddings, an E-session and a "Trash The Dress" in one evening by word of mouth alone. When I said I was surprised, he said that it happens that way more than any other. As I spend more time with him, I see that it is true. It has not happened yet where one of the guests or someone has not asked for his availability or was eager to get this guy as their photographer after seeing us "in action". I feel that if you are not getting WOM referrals, there is an issue in how you work, and the last place I would say to look, is your photography... it could be excellent, and you still could be in the same boat.

 

[loopy]

I don't own a photography business, however I own a fine art reproduction company, and have a background in design and marketing.

Twitter: I was the anti-twitter at first, but when I started an account for my company I was surprised at the responses. It's isn't a lot of work, it's free and helps get your name out there.

Other Social Networking: Don't underestimate the value, think of it this way; many younger adults are involved in social media and these young adults are going to be getting married one day It makes sense to connect with them.

Word of Mouth: I also try to get testimonials from any happy customers to post on our website and in other material.

Search Engine Optimization combined with a nicely designed site. It won't matter if you rank #1 in google, if your website looks like crap. So, don't put up a freebie site designed by your friend's son. Get it professionally designed, and you'll see a better return.

Also, add a website tracker to your site, who is visiting? what are they looking at? where are they coming from?

 

[ashleykaryl]

Word of mouth and reputation obviously go a long way. Personally I am a bit dubious of the internet only in as much as it seems to invite less realistic offers than those which arrive through other channels. I do need to update my site though with newer work and never seem to have enough time. The whole social networking thing is rather alien to me but I am making an effort now to try and understand it.

 

[msf]

I am starting to try direct mailing. I like doing Church directories, so I designed what I hope to be a nice brochure, and mailed it off to the Churches in the area. So far 50% of them have been returned to me, the main reason being no mail receptacle. I also mailed off some brochures to some dance studios, and the majority of those got returned to me.

Is this a normal thing, these sort of places not having mail boxes, at least not ones that are on the yellow pages? I wonder what I can do to reduce my returened mail. Im not a huge fan of talking on the phone, I do it when I have to, but I rather speak to people in person. If mail doesnt work, I may have to invest some time in going around to the different Curches and hope the pastor or board member is around.

 

[msf]

Thats a bit off topic.

 

[puzopia]

Since I don't rely on my little business for money, I find that word-of-mouth works well. Do a good job for someone and word should spread.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

It was a long time ago but it should still work fine today. When I switched from photojournalism to commercial work, I worked for about two years as an assistant which gave me time to think about how to go about marketing and this is what I did.

I decided on the date my studio would open and started mailing monthly postcards to about 500 businesses. On one side, a photo. Make sure that photo is as good as or preferably better than what you know they use. On the other side, my logo and "There's a new studio in town." No name, no address, no phone number. All addresses were handwritten and I used good looking stamps. Believe it or not more than a few clients mentioned both of those as catching their eye.

First 4 months were B&W postcards that I printed myself. Cheaper. Months 5, 6 and 7 had progressively more color. Since there was no way to hand-tint 500 postcards a month those went to a printer. Months 8 thru 12 were full color.

Month 12, we invited everyone to a grand opening/open house. We picked a week day so as to not have to serve booze lol. We opened at 10 am and ran until 8 pm so we had a buffet set up around lunch time and some snacks around dinner time. Had a lot of help from friends and were able to keep the cost down.

Result: Over 350 people came through and the business was launched. We kept the monthly postcards going for another 2 years after that. Marketing is an ongoing thing.

From talking to people, I think a big mistake that is made often is to slow down the marketing. Bad times like now, not much money coming in, people slow down. Big mistake. Good times and people think they don't need to market as much. I tend to believe that's a mistake too.

In commercial you have a lot more repeat business than in retail photography but you still never know when a client he's going to drop you because there's a new shooter in town. And don't bother with this idea if you can't do the research and address the postcards to a specific person (the photo buyer) by name.

By the way, my first client was the print shop that did the postcards. They liked my marketing idea and I traded photos for my postcards from #8 on.

 

[erphoto]

I experience my best bookings after I attend a bridal show.

 

[Russell S]

Internet using a good SEO company, word of mouth and exhibitions work for us.

 

[Jamie71]

Great advice everyone!

 

[dcoffee]

hmm, i think the best way is with word from your client & friend...

 

[templatephotoshop]

I highly rec bridal fairs. We set up a booth with our best work. Give out a printed brochure and a slideshow DVD (we use Proshow Producer for that) nothing is better than being in front of hundreds of brides face to face. Good luck!

 

[templatephotoshop]

PS Direct mail has been terrible for us. But if you do try it, vistaprint is the cheapest we've found around for good color printing.