Author: Leslie

I often hear photographers say that they “can’t” shoot film anymore even if they wanted to. That is, well, horse-hockey (unless your film choice is not longer available, of course). You can and should make your work using the tools that work best for you. If a client comes to you for your style, they can’t demand it using their preferred tools. In a very crude analogy, that would be like hiring a plumber but telling him (her) that he could only use a hammer to fix your toilet.

You don’t have to be a jerk about it, but you do have to stand up for your process, whatever it is. As long as the client gets the final product in a form s/he can use, then how you get there really doesn’t matter. So shoot film, if that gives you the right control. You’ll just have to take care of the scans, etc., on your end (most likely) so that you can present your client with a digital file at the end of the process.

And in case you think that is unreasonable, take a look at this article about an illustrator and what tool he uses. 🙂

If things are slow (and even if they are not), check on your licenses and see which ones are close to expiring (or recently expired). Contact those clients and see if they are interested in renewing or re-licensing some usage. After 9/11, when there was almost no new work out there, contact like that helped get a lot of photographers over the hump.

As your clients are looking for cost-effective ways to promote their products and services, your existing images have the value of having worked for them already! You may be exactly what they need right now. 🙂

Seems that much of what I (and others!) have been saying about websites was echoed at Louisa Curtis’ panel discussion. It sounds like it was a great event!!

For some of you, I hope this added evidence will convince you that you really need to re-examine your websites. 🙂

[That’s from Hamlet, in case you didn’t know]

My new book is less than 175 pages, but there is a ton of info in it. I’m not saying it’s witty, of course, but what I did try to do is to pack in as much info in as small of a book as possible. My designer even pushed the margins as much as possible so that the pages are really quite filled with text. 

But, of course, that page count has some people complaining about the price. Why should they spend so much money on such a small book?!

Well, why should one photo cost $5,000 (or more!)? Because its usage is valuable, of course. Duh! It is the product of your mind–not a piece of film or just a digital file.

In the case of my book, I have poured out valuable advice that, if your worked directly with me or another consultant, would cost a hell of a lot more. And it’s in a portable and easily reference-able format! Frankly, it should cost a lot more, but I wanted to make it as inexpensive as I possibly could.

So, it’s not a tome you can use as a doorstop, but it is a manual that can redefine your marketing.

Here’s an interesting idea–the end of advertising agencies? There has been talk by many (large) companies about moving advertising in-house–not just the media but the creative as well. This makes a lot of sense for the companies involved. What will it mean for creative vendors like photographers?

Seth Godin (again) has a good post about this. It’s important.

I’m not saying that if you think happy thoughts and click your heels together, all will be well. I’d never say that! But I am saying that photographers have a tendency to hyperfocus and, let’s be honest, a lot of you love to complain. When you combine the two, it’s a quick road to Crapsville for your business (and, frankly, your life). 

There are always positive things you can do for your business. Sometimes they feel counter-intuitive like spending a day at a museum when the phone has not been ringing (good for creative inspiration!). With all the bad news everyone is getting these days, sometimes the best thing you can do is turn your head the other way and do something, anything, positive.

This article may be talking about approaches to reach consumers during these tough times, but the general concepts offered apply to B-to-B marketing as well. What can you come up with that will be different and engaging for your targets?

Caitlin has some great advice about making calls on her blog.

I hear many people complaining about taxes–I personally think they should be higher (lots higher on some folks and corporations). This stand will not be popular among many of you, and I’m fine with that. My way is very unlikely to come about here, so no reason to get your knickers in a twist. 

Anyway, the Europeans (IMO) have it much more right. They fund things like the arts better (and then there is universal health and much cheaper university…). If we did the same, then we too could have 3-day programs for our creatives to improve their businesses…free.

As it is we don’t. Programs offered by groups like ASMP and APA have fees. They are very low, though, especially when you consider the cost to put these events on. Usually the events cost around $25 or less for an evening event and SB2 was (if memory serves) around $300 for the weekend…and yet people complain about them. People who don’t live in the cities where the events take place, complain that the events are not offered online, etc.

By choosing not to live in, say, Chicago, the complainer is benefitting from the lower cost of living, compared to the city. The trade off is that you don’t get everything that the city offers. If the complainer wants what the city offers, s/he either has to move or to pay the extra cost to travel to the city for the event. There is no right to something for nothing in the USA. I checked, 🙂

 

Besides, a big part of the benefits of the event, any event, is the human interaction. You really need to be there to get the most out of any lecture, presentation, whatever. And producing the materials to appear online or in DVD format takes a lot of time, effort, and, yes, money, which means they are not going to be cheap to buy. 

Attending events like those offered by the pro groups are part of your continuing education. Lawyers and other professions MUST take continuing ed. courses to stay licensed–these events are the same sort of thing for your profession. The cost is an investment in your business, and a very important one. SO stop kvetching about the inconvenience and cost and just go–go and meet people and learn. It’s good for your business and good for you.

I was recently interviewed about steps photographers might consider for their marketing during this economic downturn. What can one do to save money–what marketing tools are more cost-effective, etc. Here’s what I think:

1. If you can avoid it, do NOT cut your marketing budget. Yes, there are some hard choices to make these days for lots of folks–if you are choosing between paying your mortgage and spending on marketing, pay the mortgage! If, however, you want to buy a new camera and so are thinking that you had better cut back on marketing to save some money, do not buy the camera (or computer, or whatever). Spending money on your marketing will have a better long-term payoff than any equipment purchase.
2. Do not try to save money by doing things yourself. One of the biggest mistakes I see is photographers “designing” their own mailers, sites, emailers, whatever. They look like crap to your buyers and make you look cheap.
3. Email promos are less expensive, but because of that more and more people will be using them. To break through the clutter you need to have them well designed (and programmed) and maybe even to offer up something more with them (links to helpful articles, etc.), where appropriate.
4. Now is NOT the time to play it safe. It never is, but now is the worst for that. Safe puts you in the muddy masses with all the other safe folks and you will not get noticed. Be yourself, as always, and if that means possibly offending someone then that is just their loss–the folks who share your sensibilities will love you for your guts. 
5. If your targets are slow, now is a great time to get personal meetings! Knock on some doors! Throw a cocktail hour (in your studio or a local joint). Reach out!
6. Keep shooting for yourself. Now is a great time for a personal project.
7. Now is also a great time for an interactive project where you try to get your targets involved. Run a contest–best killed project or worst client hell story–and offer a signed print (or tshirt or portrait session–be creative!) as a prize. Or make interactive art–offer an online image and ask for captions or retouching/manipulation or do a virtual exquisite corpse.
8. Keep working your marketing plan and stay consistent with whatever you are doing–and stay on-brand too. If you’ve done a VMS, stick to it. 
9. If you have to cut, really have to, make sure the places you cut first are passive like sourcebook ads (esp. print). Keep reaching out with active marketing tools as much as you can.
10. Remember that if you have to hit your savings, that is why you have your savings (and if you don’t have savings, remember to start saving asap for the next downturn). There are always downturns…and upturns. The phone will ring again. If you have to flip burgers or whatever in the short-term, that never means you have to give up on your dream. It just means you have a bump in the road. You’ll get past it if you really want to. It might not be easy, but you can make it through the hard times.