Your chance to win 30 days of marketing

As a reader of  Today is Different’s blog I wanted you to to get an opportunity to enter my brand new competition. I’m really excited about this as it’s the first (and only) time I will be giving away this much value.

Why have I developed this system? I’m doing it because this is what my clients are telling me they want.  Not just more information, but real help in developing and implementing a marketing system that works.

• Do you have e-books, articles and other information sitting on your computer that you have downloaded and never read?
• Have you read blog posts, websites, attended webinars or live training and done nothing with the information?
• Have you bought e-courses and never finished them?
• Have you signed up for free online courses and never even looked at them?
• Are you overwhelmed with the endless marketing possibilities?
• Do you feel like you have information overload?
• Have you had a great marketing idea and never found the time to implement it?
• Do you have a marketing “To Do” list a mile long and don’t know how you’ll ever get a chance to get it all done?
• Do you have great intentions to spend more quality time on a marketing plan but life gets in the way?
• Do you flit from one marketing tactic to the next without a plan?
• Did you answer “yes” to any of these?

OK, I’m sure some of you can relate to these and other challenges of marketing your wedding or portrait photography business.

Enter to win a 30 day done for you portrait or wedding photography marketing system

This package gives you not only the marketing strategy and tactics tailored to your individual business and your target clients, but also the implementation of the plan – totally “done for you” for 30 days. And at the end of 30 days you get to keep the strategy, tactics, tools and training you need to keep the system going yourself.

What the prize includes:

• An “introduction to your business” session (warning: a bit of work required here)
• A tailored strategy that takes into consideration your unique business and your ideal clients
• Tactics that focus on lead generation (search, social and local)
• Tactics that focus on relationship building to help you engage and convert (email marketing, social marketing, referral marketing)
• A recommended marketing budget (between us we will set a budget that is right for you)
• Marketing materials, content and management of the tactics – done for you for 30 days
• Two one hour “assess and review” sessions
• A hand-over of the system to you – including videos detailing how to maintain the marketing system

What’s not included:

• The cost of any paid advertising that is recommended 
• Purchase of any recommended systems (e.g. email marketing)

So, what do you have to lose? Enter now!

This is a one time offer and will NEVER be repeated.

Enter to win a 30 day done for you portrait or wedding photography marketing system

If you’d like to chat more about this great opportunity you can contact me. 

Being a professional photographer is about much more than taking great photos. The business behind it is HARD. I have been doing a LOT of consulting lately for newer photographers (and those that want to be) who need to start making things happen and are not sure how to go about it.  If this sounds like you, then I’d love to introduce to you a new class called The Photographers’ Starting Out Right Clinic, complete with the brand new “Sliding Scale Learning” i.e. Pay What You Can!

This NEW 2-day Clinic is for you and your photography business if:

a) You are new to your photography business and you need help to get things going

b) You have been running a part-time photography business on the side and you’re ready to GO FOR IT and make it a serious full-time business

c) You’ve always dreamed of being a photographer and wondering how to start a photography business

d) You have a fairly established business but it’s feeling stuck and you’re willing to go back to the basics to get it unstuck.

more info…

So I put my mind (and my Google search powers) to researching how photographers could benefit from Pinterest.

Here’s a few links to get you started:

A Pinterest board containing Pinterest ideas for photographers
Ultimate Pinterest Guide for Photographers
56 Ways to Market Your Business on Pinterest

But before you rush off and incorporate Pinterest into your marketing plan (you do have a marketing PLAN, don’t you?) think carefully about YOUR ideal client. Will they be there?

These statistics were taken from an Infographic titled, Very Pinteresting.

• Almost 70% of Pinterest users are women
• The annual household income of Pinterest users is $100,000
• 50% of Pinterest users have children
• Almost 30% of Pinterest users are between 25 and 34 years old

So thinking about it…If the bulk of Pinterest users are women around the age that people typically get married, then shouldn’t you be engaging with potential wedding photography clients? How about the amount of women with children on Pinterest?  Shouldn’t you be engaging with potential baby, child and family photography clients?

So if you’re a wedding or family portrait photographer chances are your clients and potential clients are there – so think about  joining them.

My advice? Take a long, hard look at including Pinterest as part of your 2013 marketing plan. I’m certainly going to.

Are you already using Pinterest?  Comment below with a link to your Pinterest page and tell us how you’re using it as a marketing tool and to engage with clients.

p.s. Subscribe to get Rock It – 7 part business e-book for photographers

What is EdgeRank?

EdgeRank is an algorithm developed by Facebook that determines what is displayed—and how high—on your  news feed.

Every action your friends take is a potential news feed story. Facebook calls these actions “Edges.” That means whenever a friend posts a status update, likes, shares, comments on another status update, tags a photo etc, it generates an “Edge,” and that Edge might (or might not) show up in your personal news feed.

Similarly, EdgeRank will determine how (if!) your page updates are seen by your page’s fans.

How does EdgeRank work?

Each Edge is made up of Affinity, Weight, and Time Decay.

Affinity is judged based on how close the “relationship” is between your page and a fan. Affinity is built by repeat interactions with a page. Actions such as commenting, liking, sharing, clicking, and even messaging can influence your fan’s Affinity.

Weight is a value system created by Facebook to increase or decrease the value of certain actions within Facebook. Commenting is more involved and therefore deemed more valuable than a like.

Time Decay refers to how long the your post has been alive; the older it is the less valuable it is seen to be.

If you’re interested in more detail of EdgeRank there’s a whole lot more here: What is EdgeRank

How many fans see your posts?

Facebook estimates that only 16% of your fans will actually see your post in their feed.  This is caused by many factors – not just EdgeRank: only half your fans are actually online each day, probably for 30-60 minutes.  With all the other posts in their feed competing for attention, it’s easy to see how yours is missed.

So what should you do?

If you want to make sure more of your fans actually see your posts, you have a few options:

1. Post interesting, relevant, compelling content your fans like, comment on and share.
2. Buy promoted posts.
3. Buy Facebook ads.

Today we’ll talk about the first option.

7 ways to improve your EdgeRank

If you want more fans, more likes and more attention for your photography business on Facebook, you have to earn it with great content that gets a reaction.

Here’s some of the ways you can do it:

1. Be interesting. Publish content that naturally encourages click-throughs or creates discussion (e.g. ask questions, give your opinion and ask for discussion, have competitions etc.)
2. Post frequently. Most fans never come back to visit the Facebook page again after liking it. You want to post enough to maintain fan relationships, but not so much that they are overwhelmed.
3. Post more photos and videos.  These get more likes and shares than any other type of post. Make the most of your photos and videos. Photos and videos show up in the Facebook news feed as thumbnail images. Due to their size, they almost require interaction as users click on them to make them large enough to see. Be sure to add a comment that encourages users to open the photo and add comments of their own.
4. Share links. Links require interaction as users click on the link to view the object. While it’s good to share content from your own website, don’t be afraid to promote interesting content from other sources.
5. Ask people to comment, share and like.  It’s simple, but it works!
6. Respond! Do not forget that social media is a two-way channel. Avoid overwhelming fans with promotion of your business or sales offers, and create open communication. Every time you respond to a fan, not only are you investing in building relationships but you are also investing in the Affinity of his/her Friends.
7. Keep it fresh. Facebook moves quickly. If you’ve got great posts that aren’t getting the response you desired, consider rewriting it – adding an image or video or sending it out again at a different time of day.

You can’t trick an algorithm into thinking that your content is interesting. It’s much easier to write your content so your fans leave more likes and comments.

How is your photography business doing on Facebook? Comment below to let us know.

The study also discovered that customers who complained to a business and were completely satisfied with the response experienced emotions such as feeling reassured, relieved, grateful and impressed. Their satisfaction and loyalty was restored to the levels of customers who had not experienced a problem.

On the other hand those who had a less than satisfactory experience after making a complaint experienced emotions such as feeling exasperated, insulted, disgusted, cheated and angry. The study concluded that businesses would be unlikely to be able to restore a relationship with these customers.

What emotions do your photography customers display when problems are experienced? Are you insulting them? Or, are you reassuring and impressing your customers? Are they going to talk about you to their friends negatively or positively?

So think carefully about how you handle it if something goes wrong.

You may have a vision statement like this…The XYZ Company will inspire its employees to be the best they can be. We will engage in sustainable practices and anticipate the needs of our customers. We will maximize return to the stockholders while still maintaining quality in our products.

or a short vision like this…Oxfam: A just world without poverty (5 words)

or vision board like this…

or simply an image in your head of your perfect business/life.

Whichever way you choose to represent your vision, make sure you have one! If you don’t have a vision for your business (and your life) how will you know where you’re headed and work out how to get there. Without a vision how will you know if you are on track, decide on one direction over another or plan the most effective strategies?

And once you have your vision, dream about it, envision and plan how you will do it or get it, and then get off your tush and make it happen.

Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” – Jack Welch

Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing the time. Action with Vision is making a positive difference.” – Joel Barker

OK, now back to planning. Have a great day.

The image above is from a good article on vision boards (why and how) here: Vision Boards Open Your Mind to Possibilities

This sparked an idea for a blog post. Why I am a loyal and passionate fan of a small number of businesses but not a whole lot of others.

Let’s talk about 3 businesses that I LOVE. Not like, but LOVE!

First there’s, of course, Sydney Food Connect – according to their Facebook page, a social enterprise that links farmers with city folk through an organic fruit and veg box subscription service.

Next is GRUB. Grass Roots Urban Butcher is a recent find and already I am a huge fan. This is the place to go if you want real free-range poultry, organic pork, grass fed/finished beef and lamb and organic products, the way nature intended.  From their website: We want GRUB to be a community of people who love good quality healthy food served with honesty.

Last, but not at all least (I’ve been a loyal buyer for quite a long time now) is Honest to Goodness. They are passionate about healthy food, produced by sustainable means and are committed to the supply of great tasting wholefoods that don’t cost the earth.

So you can see a trend here. I like my food And I like it real, healthy and sustainable – I care where it comes from.

So what have these three businesses done right that has made me a fan?

• They understand their target market (me) and they know how to talk to me. They speak my language and they push all of the right buttons
• They have a niche and focus their efforts on excelling in that niche. They don’t try to be everything to everyone
• Their websites and branding reflect their vision and explains why and how they are different
• They have a story (about page) that resonates with me
• Their passion for what they do shines through
• They are easy (and a pleasure) to do business with
• They provide awesome customer service
• They have amazing, quality products
• In some cases (but not all) they are a bit more expensive than the supermarkets but the value way exceeds the cost
• They continue to surprise and delight – with customer experience, products and even little gifts
• They make me feel like I’m important to them – like they care
• They consistently meet, and often exceed, my expectations
• And I could go on – and on – and on…. but I won’t. I’m sure you get the picture.

None of these are huge businesses but they all have fans. Fans who will come back time and time again. Fans who will spend more (guilty!). Fans who will tell their friends. Fans who will talk about them on social media. Even at least one fan who will blog about them!

Do they use expensive marketing tactics? I don’t know. But what I do know is that what they do (see the above “getting it right” list) is not hard and not expensive and it is some of the best marketing you can do.

So, can you take any ideas from this and implement or improve them in your business?

Are there any businesses that you LOVE? Tell us why in the comments.

So let’s take some time to talk about packaging and how it reflects your brand.

After the actual session, the first thing a customer usually notices about your product (before what’s inside) is its packaging.

So first you must consider your “right”client.

Think of who your audience is for your photography business (or who you WANT them to be), and design packaging with branding that will appeal to that group. Use materials, colours, pictures, shapes and fonts that will be attractive to your audience. For example, people who desire quality, and are willing to pay for it, may not react well to a zip-lock bag containing their precious images. Think Tiffany’s blue box…

But also make sure you consider costs.

Packaging can cut into your profits. When picking materials, assess the needs of the product. If you can skip the extra box that contains the box that contains the prints – without them being damaged in transit, do so. If printing a gold embossed heart on a box adds hundreds of dollars, go without.

Branding is your identity, it’s who you are. Is your brand and packaging saying what it should?

Note the beautiful packaging in the image is from http://paperieboutique.com/store/

A quick few questions for the day…

Are you on track?

Do you know where the track is?

Can you see where the track leads?

Have you perhaps not even pondered which track you wish to be on?

Is the track you wish to be on the track you SHOULD be on?

Let us know below in the comments…

Have a fantastic  Tuesday

Keeping promises is essential in building trust. Customers are not going to want to do business with companies that don’t keep their promises.

If you don’t think you can deliver, don’t promise. If you are unavoidably unable to keep your promise, communicate and apologise!