What excuse do your clients have to be photographed?
A big sale.
A smart promotion.
A themed mini-shoot.
A tight niche.
A charitable event.
A fun social experience.
A feeling of family.
A feeling of fun.
A feeling of beauty.
What are the GREAT excuses you are giving your potential clients to say YES to a photo shoot with you?
Different clients have different wants, need, interests, pains, desires.
How are you varying your marketing efforts to give each of those clients - all within your tight, targeted niche - to say YES to a photo shoot?
Which of the triggers of sales influence - scarcity, reciprocity, social proof, etc. - are you employing to compassionately help the RIGHT people say YES to a photo shoot that would bless them?
If your answer is “I’m not,” or “I don’t know,” drop me an e-mail at james@banderaoutlaw.com and let me know where you’re struggling.
Fair warning: my first question in response will probably be, “Why is that?”
Within your answer to that question is probably the solution you’re looking for.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
A photo party makes a great consolation prize
Reader Emma recently hosted a giveaway contest to grow her e-mail newsletter list (a great idea!). But she wasn't sure what to offer as a thank-you to those who didn't win:
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I also want to send a welcome/thank you email to all the people who subscribed to newsletter to enter the giveaway contest, but not sure what to include in it yet (was thinking I’d offer the discount but now not...)
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She and I talked a bit about discounting before. I'm not a fan of devaluing your work, but definitely a fan of creative barter, such as for video testimonials or introductions to referrals.
For a consolation prize, a photo party is not a bad idea:
* One hour
* Location of your choosing (the park, or wherever you have good light)
* Serve some light refreshments (bonus if homemade)
* Make mini-shoot portraits of everyone who attends (if they entered your giveaway, they're hot leads, right?)
* Do it all for free. They only have to RSVP.
Then send reminders out the week and day before the party.
For whoever shows up (whether that's one person or a dozen), give them the red carpet treatment for that hour. Laugh, ask questions, be curious, get to know them, make it social and fun and light, no sales pitch; just a really nice, good experience for all.
That way you're not lowering the value of your work - you're giving a red carpet VIP experience, and getting invaluable face time with people who could be your next ideal clients.
Are you booked solid for the next 13 weeks with a waiting list forming? If not, drop me an e-mail at james@banderaoutlaw.com and let's talk about ideas.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
What to ask your photography clients for a great testimonial
Let this percolate in your imagination...and then go do it:
[After your in-person sales / proofing session...]
Listen [name], I really, really enjoyed working with you / your family on this photo shoot. I love your [personality trait, etc.], and I'd love to work with more clients like you...
Would you mind if I do a quick 'interview' with you for a testimonial?
Would you mind if I record the interview for later when I compile my notes?
Would you mind if I share the recording with other people? People love video, and it makes for the best testimonials. [many will say 'no thank you' to this, and that's okay - not many folks like being on video, but the few who say yes will be powerful social proof for you]
How do you feel about the photos we made together?
Which photo was your favorite, and why?
What did you enjoy about your experience with me as your photographer?
Would you recommend me to your friends? Why?
What could I have done to make your experience better?
Will you use me again for your professional photography needs? Why?
Can we go ahead and book your next shoot? Do you want to shoot again in three months, six months, or a year?
Who do you know who would be blessed with a photo shoot like yours? Could you share their contact information with me? Would you be willing to introduce me to your friend over lunch or coffee, my treat? Could we tentatively set that up now?
[protip: ask your client to sign a model release, so there's never any question whether or not you have permission to use their photos, name, and testimonial]
Harvesting and deploying social capital is one of the catalysts to success as a professional photographer. Don't be afraid to ask your client to spend a few minutes after the sale to help you reach more people like them and bless them with your art.
Need some help with your process to harvest social capital like this? Drop me an e-mail at james@banderaoutlaw.com and let me know what's holding you back.
- James Michael
Of Dungeons and Dragons and Professional Photography
Don’t worry.
Whatever you’re doing right now to make better art and be a better professional, even if it feels like you're spinning your wheels, is forward momentum.
Steve Arensberg and I were talking recently about that hard, frustrating, slow “grind work” when you’re slogging through a motivational dip, and compared it to “killing rats for experience points in Dungeons and Dragons.”
Keep that in mind when you’re clumsily playing with Manual settings, practicing depth of field work, and photographing your kid/friend/cat for the 316th time.
You’re killing rats for experience points.
It all adds up.
What's the biggest challenge holding you back today? E-mail me and let me know.
- James Michael
Winning as a pro photographer looks like Work + Busyness + Farming
Here’s how to win:
* Do great work
* Stay busy
* Harvest social capital
* Deploy social capital
Some clarity:
Do Great Work
Early on, this is going to look like 20% art and 80% how you treat people (or, for most, 5% art and 95% how you treat people).
(I know your immediate reaction is to ask me if your art is ‘good enough,’ and if that's what's holding you back right now, please e-mail me and let's talk about it. I can tell you for a dozen different reasons that if you’re reading these words, the answer is yes: your art is good enough.)
Stay Busy
Be shooting as often as you can with any mix of clients: free or paid.
Every client you work is the catalyst to let you…
Harvest Social Capital
Farming is not a passive employ. To reap the social capital you’re earning, you have to work for it; you have to ask for it.
1. Don’t wait for a client to decide to write you a testimonial out of the blue. After your proofing or sales session, ask your client if you can ask them some questions and put together an honest testimonial. Ask questions about their experience with you and your art, write the testimonial for them, and ask them to approve it. (Absolutely ask questions that lead your client to talk about what is unique about the art and experience you crafted for them.)
2. Don’t pray a client shares your shots on social media, or writes you a nice review on Google or Facebook. Provide them a nice one-sheet one the ways they can help support your business, and what that support means for you, your family, the charities you support, etc. Then ask if they would be willing to support you in this way.
3. Don’t hope a client refers you to their friends. After helping write their testimonial, ask who they know who they think would be blessed by a photo shoot like theirs. Ask for an introduction over lunch or coffee, your treat. (This is part of the powerful concept of slowing down to speed up; get human-to-human interactions out of the too-fast, too faceless digital realm as much as possible.)
Deploy Social Capital
Get your client’s photos and testimonials in front of other people like them. Nothing you can say about yourself will ever compare to the influence of what your clients say about you.
Train your brain to see every potential opportunity to get your art, message, and social capital in front of your target market, and test every opportunity. Don’t overthink it; all marketing is just experimentation and feedback.
What questions do you have about this process? E-mail me and let's get a system going that works for you.
- James Michael
How to charge for your photography without confidence
Shush and smile.
This is how you charge for your photography without confidence.
The Holy Grail for many startup photographers is "confidently getting paid what you're worth." This is a noble cause, one you definitely work toward in the Photographer's Journey, but there's a chicken-egg conundrum here - how do you feel confident about something you've never done?
The transition from free 'portfolio-builder' shoots to paid shoots is a HUGE one. It takes so much bravery, and the internal battle rages:
"How much do I charge? I don't feel like my art is worth anything."
"Why would anyone pay for my art? I'm going to look foolish for asking."
"Every time I try to tell people my prices, I chicken out, and immediately start apologizing and discounting."
I had a great conversation with PTP reader Sherry yesterday. In my last newsletter e-mail, "You have what you need to get started as a pro photographer," I asked as always for readers to Hit Reply and let me know what was holding them back.
Her response?
One word:
"Confidence."
This led to a great exchange about pricing, clarity, self-worth, and how to overcome those deep-seated demons that tell you "you're not worthy."
Here's a two-part solution:
Step 1: Shush.
Step 2: Smile.
These are the two steps you take immediately after sharing your pricing with a potential client.
"I charge no session fee and have no minimum order - you just buy what you love. Prints and files start at just $10, and my average client invests around $100, but again there's no minimum."
And then you SHUSH, and SMILE.
EVEN THOUGH your gut is clenching, you can't find air, sweat is forming on your brow, and your tongue is RACING to wag and begin apologizing and discounting and offering your art, heart, and soul up for free.
Just SHUSH, and SMILE.
(Pro-tip: When you do next speak, the only thing you say is, "Would this Saturday or Sunday be a better day to set up a shoot together?" ... then shush, and smile!)
Let me challenge you to test this this month. If you're Post-Launch in the Photographer's Journey, but you're struggling to say your pricing out loud to potential clients and stand by it, just test this method for 30 days. Every time you have the chance to share your pricing, do so then SHUSH and SMILE. Commit to letting the world explode into a million pieces around you. May velociraptors gnaw at your elbows before you say another single world. But whatever you do, SHUSH and SMILE.
You'll be amazed at how many of your unspoken fears of judgment and rejection don't come to pass.
What's the biggest challenge holding you back today? E-mail me today.
- James Michael
How to get a photography mentor who will change the course of your career
When I launched Outlaw Photography in 1999, the online photography forums were a wild and dangerous place. The digital revolution had just begun, and established photographers were out for blood - the blood of the newbies, the unwashed masses, the "shoot and burners."
I got cussed out, discouraged, run off, and hated on.
There are a lot more photographers out there today willing to help (99% "for a price...").
But still today, most established photographers aren’t going to mentor you.
That’s okay - they’re busy, like most folks, for a thousand reasons. Add on the opportunity for them to a) see you as competition, b) hate your guts (unreasonably) for ruining the industry, and c) probably give you terrible advice that does more to hurt your success than encourage it, and truly - it’s okay if they don’t respond.
[I'll never forget the one PPA-approved photoguru whose entire business model was doing whatever it took to ensure no client left the sales session with money left for groceries. I all but wretched.]
But the one?
That one photographer who, with just a few wise words, could change your life?
They're worth fighting for.
So we’ll play a volume game. If you have to reach out to 250 photographers, 80 respond, 10 respond more than once, to get to one photographer who will really take an interest in your success, and become a key part of it...would you do it?
If so, here’s Ramit Sethi’s advice [not an affiliate link] for that first-touch e-mail to a potential mentor:
“Hey James, I love your article about XYZ.
I noticed you said I should XYZ in that article, and so I tried it. I’m stuck due to XYZ. So I’ve come up with 3 possible routes:
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Which do you think I should do?”
The topic can be your artistic technique, sales funnel, portfolio, whatever is your greatest immediate challenge - a place where you truly, after all your best and creative efforts, are stuck.
Whatever their response, DO IT - there’s nothing mentors hate worse than taking the time to invest in someone who never even attempts the advice.
Then, once you’ve done it, and really exhausted your efforts with it, e-mail a follow-up. Report back with your results. Research what your mentor photographer’s current project is (professional or personal), and make an offer to help them with it based on your unique skillset.
If you make homemade jerky as a hobby and your mentor is trying a slow-carb diet, offer to send a batch of your best. If you know a guy who’s a whiz with responsive web site design and your mentor’s site comes up all snickerdoodled on your iPhone, make the connection. If you’re a stay-at-home mom who has mastered math games for elementary-age kids, and your mentor has kids, show them a few of your favorites.
Is your biggest challenge today artistic or in business?
Have you exhausted every idea you can in solving that problem?
If so, identify as many photographers as you can from anywhere in the world whom you think could solve your problem. E-mail all of them. See who responds, what value you can give, and with whom you build the rapport needed for a real, mutually-beneficial mentorship relationship.
250 e-mails; 80 responses; 10 who go deeper; 1 who changes the course of your photography career for the rest of your life.
That's the challenge.
As in, yes - right now, or in your next time block, start collecting e-mail addresses and sending those e-mails. Reading this post won't change anything until you take action.
What’s the biggest challenge holding you back today? E-mail me at james@banderaoutlaw.com and let me know.