Tag Archives: photography business tips

One More Photography Business Contingency to Plan For

Running a photography business I find myself planning for all sorts of contingencies. What will I do if a camera body fails? If there is a problem with a lens? What if my second shooter doesn’t turn up? What would I do if my computer hard drive fails? Or if my customer doesn’t pay? This week I’ve found one more photography business contingency to plan for.

I wouldn’t be able to do an outdoor lifestyle shoot today given the state of my back

What Happened?

Yesterday afternoon I went for a run. It was a nice sunny day and I enjoyed the break in the middle of the day getting some exercise. When I got home I do what I normally do after a run – absolutely no stretching, a glass of water, and resting on the couch. When I went to get up suddenly, my back didn’t like it at all.

Where I’m At?

So today I’m immobile, but feeling grateful that I haven’t got any jobs in the next few days which can’t be rescheduled. I am pleased that I don’t have a wedding to photograph this weekend. If I did I would be in trouble. So I’ve been lying around the house today, doing whatever jobs don’t take much physical effort and thinking about one more photography business contingency to plan for.

Contingency Planning?

Have you planned for this type of contingency? I generally enjoy good health and so haven’t done much planning for a scenario when I might be out of action. If I have a big shoot when I have the flu, I generally fill myself with cold and flu medicine and carry on with the shoot. Perhaps through good fortune I haven’t yet had a scenario where I physically couldn’t do a shoot I had committed to.

I’m going to do a lot more stretching in the future, but nothing quite like this

Today has been helpful in prompting me to think about what I will do if I have a shoot which wouldn’t be possible to move. It may be a Friday night basketball game? It might be a weekend wedding? Or it may be like the shoot I did last weekend, where we shot family portraits as the grand parents were visiting from overseas. In these scenarios I would need to find another person to tackle the job at the agreed time, as there is no way to reschedule.

First Choice

So what am I thinking about? First, I am fortunate that I have several second shooters and other photographers I know who could step in for me at very short notice. That would be my first choice.

Second Choice

My second choice would be photographers I’ve worked with before but don’t know so well, or haven’t been in touch with for some time. This is less than ideal, however, I will try all options so my client gets looked after.

If I Am Struggling to Find Someone

My third choice would be to call on my professional membership colleagues. I am an Accredited Professional Photographer through the Australian Institute of Professional Photography. It has a very active (and very helpful!) Facebook group of AIPP members. If I am really stuck I will ask for help in that group. I will outline details of the job to find someone willing to help at short notice.

Sports will not be possible for me for at least the next few days while my sore back recovers

Can My Experience Help You?

Have you planned for contingencies in your business? Considered what you would do if you were physically unable to do a job? Has this scenario happen to you? I hope my back gets better soon because I’ve got a commitment I can’t break in the middle of next week. In the meantime I’m trying to strengthen my business by considering one more photography business contingency to plan for. Thanks for reading. Happy shooting, and good health to you! I might do some stretching exercises more regularly in the future!

Photographing Different Commercial Jobs

This year I have been growing my business in sports and stock photography, and winding back slightly my wedding photography commitments. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve been asked to shoot two different commercial jobs, one for a bathroom renovation business and one for a cookie business. I often find myself in a dilemma about whether I should be photographing different commercial jobs.

Where Do These Jobs Come From?

I get these requests from personal relationships or referrals. The bathroom renovation business came across me at a recent sports shoot. You can read about that shoot in More Win Win Win Photography Ideas. The owner’s son attends that gymnastics club and made contact with me after the event.

The cookie business is run by an old friend of mine. He was visiting Melbourne and we caught up for breakfast. In the course of discussion he outlined that he needed images of his product as they have new packaging. Naturally, he asked if I could help.

My simple set up for shooting boxes of cookies on a white background

Why the Dilemma?

I know that these clients want to deal with someone they know and trust. That’s why they’ve asked me to help.

The dilemma is twofold. First is that my business plan is to grow in sports and stock photography. Work outside of that is not helping achieve my business goals. Second is that I don’t regularly shoot this style of content. While I can produce acceptable results, I’m sure they could achieve stronger images by working with a photographer who specializes in the type of work they need.

What Did I Do?

For both of these jobs I decided to go ahead but for different reasons.

For the bathroom renovation business I considered that they will have ongoing work and need those jobs completed at specific times. I like clients like this, as most of the work is mid week when my team and I have availability. On top of this, they were nice people and make payment promptly. I like doing business with people like this.

For the cookie business, I took this job as it was for an old friend. So I’ve ended up photographing different commercial jobs for 2 clients this month.

This is the type of image produced for the cookie business.

What Do I Expect for the Future?

The bathroom renovation business will need images each time they complete a job. I expect ongoing work from them. I am planning that I won’t shoot all of these myself, but will outsource some to other photographers depending on the location of the property, the time frame for the job, and my own workload.

The cookie business I expect to be a one off job and don’t expect any ongoing work. My friend lives in another country so it was just chance that he was visiting Melbourne and had his products with him. That might be a good thing as I wouldn’t want cookies and photos to mess up a great friendship!

What If I Don’t Want to Shoot this Type of Job?

If you are a regular reader of Beyond Here you’ll know I have a simple mantra of making sure the customer is happy. If I didn’t want to shoot these jobs, or was not able to, I would refer them to a photographer who could help them. In that sense I would help solve the customer’s problem even if it didn’t benefit my business. You never know when goodwill generated by helping a customer will generate additional business.

What Would You Do?

Do you face the dilemma of photographing different commercial jobs? Are they a distraction to your main business? What do you do?

Thoughts on Successful Photography Businesses

I often get asked about secrets or insights to running successful photography businesses. I’m not sure there really are any secrets, so I’ve called this post thoughts on successful photography businesses.

For the State Champs we’ll be back at the same venue as Winterfest

This week I had a reminder of 3 things that are important in running successful photography businesses. The reminders came about after I was asked to shoot the cheer leading and dance Victorian State Championships in 2 weeks time. I have written two posts earlier about my experience shooting a large cheer leading and dance competition. You can read about those here:

So what are those three thoughts on successful photography businesses?

Thought #1 – Happy Customers are Key

I apologize for the simplicity of thought #1! That said, it is worth repeating and digesting – happy customers are key. I do all I can to make sure my customers are happy as that will lead to referrals and other business opportunities. Most times it is easy to make customers happy. The real test is when things go wrong. In that case I’ll do everything possible to put it right, even if it means I lose money on that job.

The opportunity to shoot cheer leading came from doing a good job shooting gymnastics

In this case my ‘customer’ was the national sports photography business I was shooting for. I knew that they needed good, reliable photographers in Melbourne. Doing a good job at the first event I shot for them has lead to a follow up job.

Thought #2 – Repeat Business is Important

Happy customers leads to referrals and also to repeat business. Again, in this scenario, the national sports photography business have multiple events in multiple locations all year round. As it happens, the State Champs are being held at the very same venue as the event I shot with them a few months ago. This will make this job relatively straight forward and definitely low stress.

I know the people I’ll be working with, the venue we are shooting at, and the sport we are covering. That’s the beauty of repeat business. From the national sports photography business point of view, they know I’ll do a good job and will be reliable. Win win.

At the State Champs I’ll aim to take some phone shots which aren’t quite so blurry!

Do you have repeat business opportunities? Can you create some by following up with some of your happy customers?

Thought #3 – Relationships and Communication Drive Everything

Behind the national sports photography business are people. (Amazing insight isn’t it!) In this case I was able to connect with the owner of the business at the first event and strike up a good relationship. She lives in a different state, and since then all our communication has been via email. She is easy to deal with and a good communicator. I try to be the same in return. It is good for both of our businesses to work on relationships and communication. So, it’s more than just being a good photographer, it’s important to be a good partner. Relationships and communication facilitate that.

No genius insights this week – just reminders of good business practices. Thanks for reading thoughts on successful photography businesses.

How to Ruin Potential Sales

Lately I seem to be particularly sensitive to poorly targeted promotions which leave me feeling like a number rather than a client or partner. I’ve called this post ‘how to ruin potential sales’ as the people who send me these promotions are ruining their chance of me buying from them.

So What Are We Talking About?

Yesterday I received an email promotion from qHero. If you aren’t familiar with qHero – they are a business which offer services for stock photographers. I have been using qHero to upload stock images to iStockphoto since early 2017. More recently they started offering a stats feature and a retouching service. You can read about that in this post – qHero Stats Feature.

I shoot a lot of Melbourne lifestyle stock content, so am a potential customer to qHero retouching service

What Was the Content?

Taken directly from the email, here is the offer from qHero.

“Retouching Special – 50% Off

With the summer over us, we feel that at least you should get to enjoy the sun. We know how much time and effort retouching takes, and it seems even longer during the summer. Whether the time is spent on managing retouchers inhouse or outsourced, or even worse doing the retouching yourself, it is guaranteed to keep you out of the sun.

We offer you 50% off on up to 200 files in retouching.

Convert the time saved from retouching, into time in the sun, makes it an easy choice. We are happy because we get to show you how awesomely easy it is to manage retouching directly in the tool you use already for uploading.

All you have to do is to use the promo code XXXXXXXX when ordering. This promo is valid until August 31st 2018, and as always we would love to hear what you think after trying our retouching service.”

Why is This Going to Ruin Potential Sales

This is going to ruin potential sales as it is poorly targeted!

I live in Melbourne, Australia where it is currently mid winter. It’s dark, cold and wet. At this time of year we spend more time indoors, and I spend some of that time doing post production work.

The idea of “convert time saved from retouching into time in the sun” is a nice idea, but would require me to book airline tickets and head to the airport! Hello Queensland or Fiji!

Today was a maximum of 12 degrees celsius in Melbourne. It’s not exactly summery right now!

What’s My Take Out from the qHero Email

I understand that the bulk of qHero customers will be in the northern hemisphere where it is currently summer. However, as they’ve sent me a summer promotion in the middle of winter it leaves me to think:

they don’t care about customers in the southern hemisphere
qHero don’t want customers in the southern hemisphere
they don’t have much attention to detail. (It would be ironic not have much attention to detail for a retouching service!)
although I have 10,000+ images at iStock and have uploaded more than 300 batches of images through qHero, I am just another ‘anonymous user’ to them

So, unfortunately qHero have ruined the chance of a sale by sending me a poorly targeted email promotion.

What Can We Learn

I am a believer that every business, big and small, can learn from experiences like this. I run a one person photography business, and many of the readers of Beyond Here are also running one person creative businesses. We have an advantage over big businesses because all of our customers are local. There’s no chance of me sending a summer promotion to a customer in mid winter (unless they have moved overseas without me knowing!) While it’s not likely that local businesses can make this ‘mistake’ there are lessons to learn.

Right now it’s cold in Melbourne. People are wearing coats and hats. Not quite the right time for a summer promotion email

Key Take Outs

I see three key take outs from this experience.

Number 1 – Personalize offers where possible. Being offered a summer promotion in the middle of winter tells me this is a mass mailing to a large number of people. Immediately I know that it is not targeted to me. Small business owners who really know their customers won’t make this mistake.

Number 2 – Know your customer. In this case, it seems qHero haven’t taken the time to really know their customer. I can’t remember whether I provided location information when I signed up for their upload service. I expect I didn’t. But I have uploaded more than 300 batches of images to iStock through qHero ….. and more than 290 of those batches would have the keyword “Australia”. A similar number would have the keywords “Melbourne” and “Victoria”. It would be fair to assume that I live in Australia based on those numbers. And right now in Melbourne it’s definitely not summer.

Number 3 – Don’t treat everyone the same. This point is similar to point 1 where we can learn to personalize offers. I wonder if qHero segmented their users based on how often they upload through qHero? or how many batches they upload? It feels to me like they didn’t, and that reinforces the lesson – don’t treat everyone the same.

The Wrap Up

I hope there are some key messages in here which will help your business and will make sure you don’t ruin potential sales. If you have had a similar experience, please share it in the comments. And finally, if the good people at qHero ever read this post, I think your upload and stats services are great. In your promotions I’m much more likely to buy something if you make me feel like a client or a partner. Thanks for reading ‘How to Ruin Potential Sales’.

Win Win Win Photography Business Thinking

Yesterday I came across a great example of win win win photography business thinking. Let me tell you about the experience.

I like to meet with photographers from time to time. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas and experiences, and I normally leave with ideas to implement into my business. Yesterday, I had separate meetings with two photographers. Both were very interesting and valuable, and in the second meeting I came across a great example of win win win photography business thinking.

Are you tearing your hair out looking for new clients? Can you use win win win photography business thinking as an alternative way to drive your business?

What’s the background?

There are not a lot of photographers in my home town producing high quality stock images in reasonable volumes. However, I recently came across one photographer in that category. We both contribute to an Australian image library called Austockphoto. I have been following her work there and on social media. I contacted her to see if she would like to meet for coffee and to discuss stock photography, and that led to our meeting and an exchange of ideas.

What type of photography are we talking about?

The photographer has a background in advertising and visual media and, especially relevant, she has an eye for shooting home interiors. That started when she was renovating her own home. She had found a healthy market for home interior content in the image libraries she contributes to and, as a result, she continues to add that style of content.

Projects where there are multiple winners are good projects

What’s the win win win photography business thinking?

Among the things we discussed were the photography projects we were currently working on. As she has found a strong market for home interiors she is actively adding to her portfolio of these images.

Where’s the win win win? One project she is about to shoot is home interiors for an Airbnb property owner. As soon as she mentioned Airbnb property images, I immediately thought what a booming market she was tackling.

So, let’s break down the 3 wins

The property owner. The photographer had asked the Airbnb property owner for a property release in exchange for professionally shot images of her property. Win number 1 – the property owner gets up to date, high quality images of the property at no cost.
The stock photographer. Finding new material to shoot is a stock photographers biggest challenge. This is an example of getting access to a new location at no cost. Win number 2 – the stock photographer gets to generate new images for her stock portfolio with no financial outlay.
The stock customer. Win number 3 is for the customers of the image libraries. They will have access to high quality, fresh stock images at fair prices.

What’s especially exciting about this idea is that she can replicate it over and over again. There is almost an unlimited opportunity in today’s sharing economy.

Can you implement win win win photography business thinking in your business plan?

Can you implement win win win photography business thinking?

Is there an opportunity for you to implement win win win photography business thinking into your business? Do you know Airbnb property owners who you could offer your services to? Are there other parts of today’s sharing economy where you could provide photography services which benefit multiple parties?

I hope this example has given you some ideas which you can implement into your photography business. Thanks for reading win win win photography business thinking.

Potential Markets When You Are Starting a Photography Business

Last week I was contacted by a photographer who had been reading Beyond Here. She had received some inquiries in her local community, and had local businesses re-sharing her social media content. We had a brief exchange of emails which has led to this post – Potential Markets When You Are Starting a Photography Business.

The photographer who contacted me was doing some studies to help her with the business side of photography (great idea!). Her initial question for me was about pricing.

That’s a very broad question as there are all sorts of different customers with different budgets (I wrote a post about this called Find The Right Clients). It’s also a hard question to answer without really knowing the photographer, her work, or the market she hopes to address.

There is opportunity in the faces and the places of your region

Let’s look at what I do know. The photographer lives outside a main city in an attractive coastal location. She has a diverse and interesting range of landscape and lifestyle images from her local area. She has done some work for a local luxury accommodation provider. Given that information, here are some potential business opportunities for this situation.

Business Opportunities

There are lots of potential markets when you are starting a photography business. Below are some immediate ideas. My suggestion would be to experiment with several and decide what suits you and your work. Not everything will be a success, but finding your own way forward is part of the excitement of running a successful photography business.

Opportunity 1 – Sell Prints to the Luxury Accommodation Provider.

Accommodation businesses are great to speak to about prints. They need prints for their rooms, and having a range of local images can enhance their guests experience. As a photographer it is attractive as the luxury accommodation provider will likely order at least one for each room plus more for their shared spaces. Keep in mind they won’t order 40 of the same print. Make sure you have a range of images of the local environment.

Opportunity 2 – Talk to the Accommodation Provider about online images.

Nearly all businesses need quality images for their online use. I would start by researching the accommodation providers website and social media accounts. Then I would approach them to shoot images of the property for use in both. Website images is often a once a year job. Images for social media can be ongoing regular work.

Businesses, as well as individuals, can be your clients. The costs are going to be an expense to the business, so likely can be offset against their income for tax purposes

Opportunity 3 – Shoot images for Local Tourism Body.

Tourism bodies need a regular supply of high quality images to help them promote the region. In my experience, big organisations promoting tourism for big cities or large regions are less inclined to engage with an individual photographer. Smaller regional tourism bodies on the other hand love to deal with local people. Local people know the area and can be relied on. I’d suggest she gets her current portfolio in front of the local tourism body. From there she can start a conversation about helping to promote the local area.

Opportunity 4 – Shoot Images for other Businesses

Again, because nearly all businesses need images for their websites and social media use, there is lots of opportunity to shoot images for businesses. Local people like dealing with other local people, particularly in regional communities. I’d suggest this photographer has the potential to approach other businesses and see if she can help them with their image needs.

Pricing can be tricky. Have you considered deciding on your price and then looking for customers in that price range?

Opportunity 5 – Sell Images as Stock

The photographer who contacted me appeared to have a relatively large existing portfolio. If that is the case she could upload several hundred images to micro stock sites to get started in stock photography. Keep in mind that stock images of a major city are going to have a bigger market than a regional town. She lives in a regional area so her stock portfolio is likely to have a limited market unless she can produce generic images.

There are 5 immediate business opportunities for this photographer as she starts out in business.

For more resources for starting a photography business please see:

Thanks for reading Potential Markets When You Are Starting a Photography Business. There are lots and lots of potential markets when you are starting a photography business so don’t be limited to just these five! Happy shooting!

A New Way to Boost Productivity

Many of us are running micro and small businesses. There is a constant challenge in this type of operation to be making the most of the available hours. Some people are excellent at this and always seem to have spare time, while others seem to work endlessly without ever really getting ahead. I pride myself on running a healthy business which leaves me time to do other things in life. In the last month though, I’ve found a new way to boost productivity. It’s not one I’m particularly proud of (!) but there is a lesson in here.

I like the wisdom and irony in the saying ‘the bleeding edge of technology’. It’s similar to the leading edge of technology except it’s one that comes at a cost. It can be painful. I have several friends in this space. They feel compelled to have the latest photographic equipment and will buy new equipment whether they need it or not. They’ll also buy it regardless of whether they have existing equipment which can do the job. I prefer not to be at that expensive, bleeding edge. I typically don’t buy the latest model camera body as soon as it comes out. I will wait until it has been in the market for some time, and has been proven to be effective. I’ll typically buy when the price comes down, perhaps 12 or 18 months after the model first came out. Where’s this heading and where is a new way to boost productivity?

Greater productivity in my post production work leaves more time for shooting.

While I’ve been good at steadily updated my photographic equipment, the same can’t be said for my computing power. I’ve been using an old laptop, which I have stuck with for too long. It runs slowly. It takes too long to start up. It’s weighed down by the thousands of images I’ve shot and downloaded onto it.

So, I’ve recently got a new computer and am in the process of using it more and more, and using the old one less and less. So where is a new way to boost productivity? You won’t be surprised to hear that the new machine runs much more quickly than the old one. I estimate my productivity for post production work (and even writing blog posts!) is up approximately 25%.

Is Christmas the time for you to upgrade your businesses computing power?

While it’s an embarrassing story to tell, I really believe my ‘computer time’ efficiency has improved 25%. That leaves me more time to speak with clients, or do more shoots, or just enjoy the Melbourne summer.

I definitely should have upgraded my computing power at least 2 years ago. In future, I will be thinking of this as an investment in an asset for my business. I might not be at the bleeding edge of technology, but I’ll make sure my computer is adding to my business and not slowing it down. How good are you at upgrading your computer assets? Are they adding or detracting from your business?

Thanks for reading a new way to boost productivity. I hope it’s given you reason to consider your own business needs.

Two Great Sayings Photography Business Owners Should Know

This week I attended a workshop run by a business development expert. He was helping one person businesses put together a plan to grow their business. He had a lot of content and some useful exercises to take the participants through. Among the gems of wisdom were two great sayings photography business owners should know. So what were these two pearls of wisdom?

Juggling a lot this week? See if these business insights can help you.

Insight #1 – It’s About Progress, Not Perfection

This saying came from an example being given by the presenter. The business owner was producing active wear for everyday people trying to get fit – not for elite athletes like Nike and Adidas present in their advertising. As soon as the presenter shared this saying I knew it could be powerful for one person photography businesses. Many of the photographers I work with seem to expect it to be easy and get frustrated that either their images are not winning awards, or their business is not as profitable as they hope (and sometimes it’s both). Patience and perseverance are key.

If I use a photography business example, if you are trying to generate a $100,000 per annum profit in your photography business this can seem overwhelming when your current profit is $20,000 per annum. Rather than focus on the $80,000 shortfall – can you see the power in focusing on progress not perfection? Increasing business profits to $40,000 the following year is a 100% improvement and a huge accomplishment – not a $60,000 failure.

Business success rarely happens overnight. It’s about progress and taking steps forward.

And if we use a photographic image example, mastering a new post production skill and being able to produce a wider variety of images is a major step forward. You don’t go from being a novice to being an expert in one week, or one month, or one year. Again it’s about progress, not perfection.

Be kind to yourself. Focus on making progress this week.

Insight #2 – If You Don’t Have a Marketing Budget You’re Not Really in Business

This insight was a wake up call to the participants at the workshop and will be a wake up call to many of the photographers I talk to and work with. The presenter outlined that word of mouth is the very best form of advertising you can have, but expecting that to fill a pipeline of work – particularly if you are relatively new in business – is not realistic.

His point was you have to be deliberate about your marketing and set aside a budget for it, if you are serious about business success.

He went on to explain that your budget could be in time or money. For example, if you have no money, you can invest time in marketing. You can contact 5 possible new business clients per day to see how your business could serve them. You can spend 2 hours per day researching stock photography trends so you can better meet the market demand. To be successful with this strategy you have to be deliberate, and invest the time if you expect the return.

Make a marketing plan and commit time or money or both to grow your business.

Once your business is established hopefully you will be busy servicing your clients. While you do that your advertising can help attract new clients (remember, don’t just rely on word of mouth no matter how busy you are). In this scenario you need to set aside a monetary budget each month to keep driving your pipeline of future clients. While you look after your clients, your advertising attracts new inquiries.

I got a lot out of the workshop. I hope these two great sayings photography business owners should know are helpful to you and will help you challenge and develop your current marketing approach. Thanks for reading two great sayings photography business owners should know. Let’s focus on progress in business and in photography this week!

Delivering More Products Per Customer

Running a successful photography business is not easy. It’s hard when you are getting started and you struggle to find your next client. And it’s hard when you have worked hard for 2 years and find you need to spend all your accumulated profits to upgrade your equipment. And I’m seeing more and more photographers who have been operating for years but are struggling to make the profits they feel they should be making. This post looks at how to help them increase margins by delivering more products per customer.

Delivering more products per customer will help grow profits

Before we look at delivering more products per customer, let’s consider the options open to the photographer who has been in business for several years. They have plenty of work, but are not making the profits they think they should be making. While they love the work they do, they resent that they are working very long hours, juggling multiple different clients at a single time, and every time they feel like they are getting ahead financially, another bill arrives.

Our photographer has several options. They could:

Do nothing, and continue to work long hours and make sub standard profits. Unfortunately a lot of photographers choose this option, and complain all the way.
Increase their number of clients. This option isn’t very appealing to the already tired photographer but it is what they have done for years. Some choose this path, and work harder and harder. Unfortunately, this often produces more and more resentment and only slightly more profit to the photographer’s business.
Increase their prices. In this scenario our photographer can continue to shoot the same number of jobs per year but charge more per job. This is a legitimate strategy and one that many successful photography businesses choose. They know how many jobs they plan to shoot in a year, and continue to lift their prices year on year.
Increase their profit per job by delivering more products per customer. In this case our photographer looks to increase their profits not by doing more jobs, or raising prices, but by delivering more products per customer. Think about the profit made by the ‘shoot and burn’ wedding photographer provide electronic images only to the customer. Now, compare that the the photographer who is providing electronic images, prints, canvas prints, thank you cards, and albums to their wedding clients. Who do you think makes the most profit? It’s the photographer who provides more products.

There are other options a photographer could use to increase their profit, but these are the basic choices. As you consider what is best for your business, keep in mind it’s not a matter of choosing one strategy or another. To really turbo charge the profitability you could do several of these strategies at once. This year I’m aiming to use options 3 and 4 at the same time. Many photographers will use options 2, 3 and 4 all at once.

Canvas prints are popular with my family and wedding photography clients

So how do we go about delivering more products per customer.

For regular readers of Beyond Here you will know that I don’t believe in a formula – but that each photographer needs to find methods which suit them. That’s the case here too. That said, here are some strategies for you to consider while you decide what is right for you.

Strategy 1 – Make samples of the products you wish to sell and show them to clients when they are booking. I used to take 40x60cm canvas prints with me to clients meetings. Guess what product was really popular? Yes, the 40x60cm canvas print. Now days I’m taking 60x90cm canvas prints. Guess which product is really popular? Yes, 60x90cm canvas prints and that is great because the margin is about 50% more than on the smaller print. Make some samples and take them to show clients. You’ll be amazed how clients choose the exact product you’ve shown them.

Strategy 2 – Provide ideas and options for your clients. Today I delivered 3 8×6 inch leather bound wedding albums to one of my clients. They plan to keep one for themselves and gift one to each set of parents. What a lovely idea. It’s an idea that came from my suggestion in one of our early meetings. They saw great value in a priceless gift for their family, and I managed to increase my profit on that job. Win, win.

I always show sample albums to potential wedding clients

Strategy 3 – Make suggestions at key times of the year. How much additional profit do you think you could generate by contacting all of your clients in September each year suggesting products they might to use as Christmas gifts? From my experience, simple ideas like this are gold. They solve a problem for my client – for example, getting a present for their spouse – while increasing the profits of my business.

Why do I choose September to do this? It leaves me a few months to make sure I can deliver the products in December, and every year I have at least one client who wants to do another shoot before Christmas.

Birthdays and anniversaries are great times to contact previous clients

Strategy 4 – Contact your client on important dates for them. Here’s a recent email I sent to one of my clients. It uses the same strategy as number 3, but uses events which are unique to my customers. “Dear XXXX, I’ve just realized that YYYY’s birthday is just a few weeks away. At the time of your shoot I know you loved this image (image attached to email). I have a special deal with my canvas print supplier and can get you a 60x90cm print for $ZZ. Would you like to get one for YYYY’s birthday? I’ll be placing the order next Wednesday, so appreciate if you can let me know before then. Thanks, Craig”. This type of offer generally does well and takes just a few days to go from email to order to delivery.

There are 4 simple strategies to help you in delivering more products per customer. As you review the profitability of your business, is this a strategy that can benefit you?

Developing Multiple Photography Income Streams

Reflecting on the week that has just passed, I’m feeling grateful for the range and variety of activities my photography business offers. I don’t like shooting the same type of thing all the time, and this week confirmed for me that I’m making strong progress in developing multiple photography income streams. Let me tell you about that range of activities and see if it is relevant to your own photography business.

So, here it is – the week that was – and the 7 different income streams it produced.

Income Stream 1 – Wedding album. Just before Christmas I shot a lovely church wedding for a couple in Melbourne, Australia. Since then I have delivered their images and canvas prints, and this week I designed their wedding album. I’m pleased to say that this couple are doing it right – they have ordered an album for themselves, and one for each of their families. That’s three albums in total. I’m looking forward to delivering them soon. Developing multiple photography income streams takes time, but this type of printed product (wedding albums) is an obvious extension to my core activity of wedding photography. Do you have the opportunity to add printed products for your existing clients?

(To see more images from this wedding please visit my website at Craig Dingle Photography.)

Can you create an additional income stream by providing printed products for existing clients?

Income Stream 2 – Corporate Portraits. This week I shot corporate portraits for a local businessman. He is starting a new role and needed images to be added to the company website. I shoot these in my home studio which makes it an easy and convenient job. Does your business come up early in the Google search results for photographers in your area? Do you have resources (like a home studio) that can be used for extra shoots like this? Can you make yourself available at short notice to meet the needs of a client like this?

(If you are interested in creating a shooting space at home, please read How To Build a Home Photography Studio).

I shoot both corporate portraits and product shots in my home studio.

Income Stream 3 – Product Photography shoot. I don’t do many product photography shoots, but I have one client (who I met at a wedding) who regularly asks me to shoot images for their website or for advertising purposes. Often it is a short notice request – like this week’s shoot. They needed a small range of images for an advertisement they are preparing. I don’t get a lot of excitement from shooting products, but I like this client a lot, and I appreciate the regular work which comes from them. Are you cultivating regular clients who know they can rely on you?

Income Stream 4 – Uploading Stock Images. I shoot and upload stock images on a regular basis, and although this has been a quiet week, I have been uploading images from a recent shoot. This doesn’t produce any income today, but builds my stock portfolio which will produce an income for years into the future. Can stock photography form part of your business income? Can you utilize down time to build your portfolio and generate a future income?

(I am a strong believer in stock photography to produce a regular income for photography businesses. Read more about that in Why I Shoot Stock).

Adding to my stock portfolio helps create a future income stream

Income Stream 5 – Editing Images. This week I was asked by another photographer (and reader of Beyond Here!) to assist with editing her images. It was in a style, and with a tool, which she was not familiar with, and so I have edited the images for her. This is the first time I’ve generated income by editing images for another photographer. I don’t see myself doing this often, but I appreciated the chance to help another photographer deliver a quality outcome for her client.

Income Stream 6 – Selling an E-book. If you are a regular reader of Beyond Here you will know that stock photography makes up a significant part of my photography business income. I wrote an e-book called Build a Five Figure Income in Your Spare Time to encourage photographers to get into stock photography. I have priced this very affordably, and it is regularly downloaded by people wanting to generate an income from stock photography. I had one sale this week, which made a small contribution to the week’s income.

Income Stream 7 – Selling Stock Images. In Income Stream 4 I covered the work I did this week uploading new stock images. They are unlikely to be downloaded immediately but will produce an income in the future. In the meantime, the 8500+ older images in my stock portfolio will continue to be downloaded and produce an income today. While the income per download is small, it is encouraging to know that buyers are purchasing my stock images every day.

So that is ‘the week that was’ in my photography business. It produced 7 different income streams. I hope that reading Developing Multiple Photography Income Streams has given you some ideas for your own photography business. Happy shooting!