Website: www.powerconsultingusa.com

Lecture Title: Inexpensive marketing techniques

Overview: I stumbled into this lecture after being disappointed by a few others; but nevertheless, this lecture had great information and the presenters were very entertaining. The program focused on making positive changes and taking steps to making marketing and advertising successful. With their open dialogue and friendly presentation style, the lecture was often sidetracked with questions from the audience; and as such, the information presented in the notes has been rearranged for organization purposes.

Lecture Notes:

Talk about them. Clients are less interested in you, your style, your studio and more interested in their needs, their personalities, and their wedding day.

Chris: Although this is good practice, I believe it’s important to also sell yourself with a brief introduction that answers a few initial questions. In this market of educated consumers shopping for the best fit for their style needs and budget, it’s important to let them know what makes you different.

Subtle changes in terminology can make a difference. For example, using the words œcreation fee  instead of œbooking fee  and calling your sales people œportrait décor specialists  instead of sales people may help convey a better image.

Chris: This is great practice when used in moderation. It’s a fine line between appearing high-end and appearing pretentious.

Benefit the client. For example, paying for an upfront Å“creation fee  and purchasing images after allows his clients to avoid “buying anything before seeing the images.  This gives a completely different impression than requiring a Å“deposit  and having to spend more on images after the shoot. In addition, a 24-hour cancellation policy protects them from double booking and reserves their time with the studio. Again, this is presented in terms of how it benefits them.

Say your name last in your phone greeting. Deck sites studies that show 80% of the time, people will respond in kind, helping them remember your name and offering theirs as well. For example, if we ask Å“Can I help you?  our clients will likely respond with Å“Yes, I’m looking for a photographer for…  However, if we say Å“This is Chris,  clients will likely respond with Å“hi Chris, my name is Emily, and I got your number from my good friend Nancy. 

Chris: After hearing this lecture, I tried this tactic and it works most of the time. Great advice.

Never send out pricing or list pricing on your site.

Chris: Also great advice. We want customers to call, and listing prices or sending emails simply gives them much of the information they would need to shop around based on price without ever contacting you directly.

Make sure you do follow up Ëœtouches,’ whether it be calls, emails, mailings,

Chris: In such a word-of-mouth business as photography, this is arguably the most effective form of advertising and promotion.

Know your numbers – how many weddings we’ve done, our average prices, and our costs.

Chris: This is one of the most important things for sales and business. Knowing your numbers makes you come across as more professional and knowledgeable; and it allows you to negotiate to fit budgets. Knowing your costs also allows you to create a model that justifies the prices you charge.

Don’t have high minimum orders – We all spend more than we think we’re going to spend. For example, there’s no minimum order at a clothing store yet we end up with more than we anticipated.

Chris: I believe this also applies to image DVDs as well. If your package includes everything, including the images, your opportunity to make any additional income from that client is limited to tips, additional album spreads, and large prints.

Establish Controls such as client order forms, policies, contracts. In court, œHe who has a signature wins 

Chris: This is not only great legal practice to protect your business, but this also increases the legitimacy of your studio in the eyes of your clients.

Create efficient production systems

Chris: In our studio documenting and standardizing our processes has greatly increased our efficiency.

Create a distinctive product

Chris: Very great advice. With the increasing popularity of DSLRs, we need to do something uncle Bob can’t do.

Use purposeful branding – Colors, name, feel, texture

Chris: A strong, effective, and coordinated brand increases the awareness and visibility of your business.

Create sales systems including goals, step-by-step processes and get a good system of data management. Know every bit of info of about your clients.

Chris: Knowing our clients allows us to assess the effectiveness of certain marketing campaigns; and it allows us to be very attentive to each client.

Chris: In general, these Å“secrets  are actually very general, smart business practices that we should all pay attention to. They’re things that we’ve all thought about, but perhaps not in an ordered list.

1. Never forget top prospects & keep track of failures too
2. Keep track of Lead acquisition & lead conversion
3. Build and invest in meaningful relationships
4. Client list, prospect list, – most important
5. Show up every time – Anyone can show up once, however, as successful professionals, we should be booking 7 out of 10
6. Sell to the decision makers – Who’s going to help you pay? Decide?
7. Tell them what you want to do – Å“paying today  Å“the creation fee is ____ and when you put that down today ¦ 
8. Never ignore the following: Inattentiveness, Ignorance, Incompetence (bumbling), Bad attitude, Lack of follow up
9. Don’t give off any red flags -Need prompt follow-up
10. Clients pay more for the following: loving attention, great product, and delivery as promised

An additional tip is to start a social blog. Deck’s blog is www.Plantcitymyview.com