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Day 8: Marketing Part 2 Ideas For implementation

One of the things I did want to mention that I forgot to mention yesterday was at the end of that section of that day, there are I want you to think through three of those things, you're not going to implement all of those things tomorrow or maybe not even this year, but think through the top three things that kind of resonated with you and write those down and give yourself a deadline and one of the things on here it says I will implement by and so give yourself a deadline and write that down and that's gonna help you put those action steps in place to make sure that those things are happening and we don't have marketing mondays and we're staring at the wall all right? So let's get into marketing part two all right campaigns are something that I feel is very, very important for making your marketing happen I want to think about everything as in campaign and what that means is thinking about the marketing from start to finish what do I want it to do? Who do I wanted to go to? What do I...

want it to communicate and how am I going to do those things? So all the different pieces that go into a campaign for me, of course we are goingto develop that marketing itself, how we're going to get the word out about anything that we're doing we're going to do an appointment card and I really feel like it's important to tie all the pieces together for a marketing campaign and once you have the pieces done once which you guys are gonna get us a free download today, but once you haven't done one since you've got your appointment carter, thank you card, you're client profile sheet you know all those things, once they're done, then you just you just maybe it's a color for the next event or it's a little, you know, christmas hat when it comes to your holiday event or whatever it is, and you do that mark next marketing campaign and you just drop in a new little element on those pieces to tie it all together, and I love doing that and making it a concise campaign because it's then it's very recognisable to your clients and so we're putting appointment card together that will be mailed to the client to tell them a little bit about their order time and then it has the time written on it for them were those thank you cards, of course, that we know we're going to be sending out during the workflow an event schedule if I'm doing a special event is goingto have, you know, I'm probably doing fifteen minute sessions or thirty minute sessions and so I want to have that schedule that ties in with the marketing right on it with the branding and all flows together in that campaign we've got an order form the client profile and model release which I talked to you guys about before it's that information about the client at the top the model released and then the notice the copyright that's there and then packaging we're going to figure out how it's going to go out the door and this is very important because some of our special events that we do are lower end events and so I'm not going to packaging in the same way that I'm going to for a regular studio session so I want to think all that through sometimes it may just be printing a new little sticker in the little gift tag for the specific event that I'm gonna put on the bag it might be that simple but I do want to think it through and how we're going to be packaging in different ways to make sure that we're not growing going broke with the packaging right we gotta figure that into our cost of sale so the packaging any social media collateral that were gonna put together like facebook timelines on the block card those kinds of things and then always always when I do a special event in the studio when it's not something that I do on a normal basis I always do a gift card for a future session and so what that does is I may attract someone to my business who wasn't attracted before because they thought it was too expensive or, you know, whatever the reason would be, but then they come in for a special event, and they get a little smidge of what could happen in a regular session because we're doing fifteen minutes. We're doing thirty minutes, it's a different experience, and so then we can encourage them, you know, we'd love to see you back. We'd love for you to bring the whole family back because families are my main business. I don't ever do a special event with families, I'm not ever going to discount that. So it's going to be different if you come back for a regular studio session, we're gonna get the whole family together when a photograph, everybody, we're gonna design for the home, it's a different experience, so that gift card is all are all there, and those are kind of the pieces that I think through when I'm putting together a marketing campaign or a special event, and then one of the campaigns that we did this last year and this last year, we decided that we really wanted to start promoting video with our sessions, and we've been doing that with our high school seniors for many years, and almost all of our high school seniors actually purchased a video session which is a much higher rated session fee then our regular sessions in the studio and we decided I'd played around a little bit with bringing video into family sessions but really hadn't done anything to market it or really put it out there and so we came up with this model campaign and I highly highly suggest to you guys if your portfolio building if you've got something new you want to try if it's you know you want to start designing for the client's home when I wanted to start designing for the client's home I put something together that said you know you're going to get a free in home design consultation with your paid portrait session with the experience and so I'm not giving anything away I'm not giving away my product you know I am I'm the value is still there for the product by introducing something new and that's what we did with the model campaign was we put out a call for models for a video project is what we called it and when people called and you know basically were interviewed to be the models uh you know we could let them know we're gonna walk you through the process just like a regular client you're going to get to see all of your images if you'd like to purchase anything that's great if not that's ok too that's my spiel that's my mantra cause I know if I do my job they are going to purchase we are going to walk them through the process like a regular client and so but I wanted to do some video sessions and so we did this model and this works for anything if you're a portfolio building put on a model call and have people apply to be your models don't go out giving, you know I need I need a portfolio build, so please let me photograph your kids and I'll give you all that stuff for free, you know, that's kind of our normal thing that we all do, you know instead say, I'm looking for models I'm building my website, I'm looking for models I'm building my portfolio you can even say that being new sometimes has a lot of power behind it if you learn to ask for things you know, people love helping out somebody who's starting a business, people love helping out somebody who's trying new things. And so if we get excited about those new things and communicate that you know, we can build that portfolio and build a new website and marketing pieces and whatever you need to do displays for your studio are you know all those things by letting people actually apply teo get to do it and with this family model session part of it was tell us why your family should be the models they were actually applying for it and they had to send us a snapshot of their family of their kids so you know, on the other end, you know, we're basically taking every person who called but I'm there and they're thinking that they want, you know, because we're putting out a call for models and they're they're sending us the snapshot they're writing why their their family should be chosen and again, you can do this for whatever you're trying to build kids, seniors, engagements you know, whatever put out that model call and let them apply to you, so I'm excited about that that's one of the things that I was excited to share with you cause I know so many people out there are portfolio building and we use that as an excuse to not charge what we need to be charging to be profitable. And you know, there are ways that you can build that portfolio without giving everything away giving away the form. So I love that one of the things also that we are adding two sessions like this is a sticky album and sticky albums are little app on your phone that can have the clients images in them and that's like our little bonus it's not costing me a lot of money it's not taking away from my product our profit, it's not one of my regular products on my menu, so they can't even compare you know what it's worth, but it's like this little gift and extra bonus at the end that they're so excited about, and they're you know, they're showing their friends on their phone, the sticky albums so that's the model campaign? Uh, some of the themed events these I have not done every one of these themes, but I'm going to share with you several themes. These are all listed in your workbook as well, but going fishing, tea party, the pumpkin patch we've done winter white sessions at all. It was was a white background. I don't even have a set or anything, but, you know, just keeping it simple. Beach babies. That's what you see on the screen are the beach babies. I don't have a beach in winterset, iowa, but I have a river on, we can pretend and so, you know, we do beach babies and actually call it beach babies and just go down to the river and put the kids in the water and you know it, it's great weaken theme that whole session around that uh so water fund is even without a feature river or lake you can do sprinklers you could do baby pools you know there's all kinds of fun things water hoses have dad come and you know, water hose the kids while they run through it and I mean it's it's a great experience a great memory and you get great images out of it furry friends of course is pets and you can for me I like my pets to be with people and so furry friend event for me is going to be with kids or with families uh portrait in the park a super simple that this is the porch in the park was a first special event that I ever did and it was probably fourteen years ago I would say and just picked a location and line people up all day so there really wasn't anything special to it it was very simple but marketing to that and one of the ways that I get, you know, kind of grow that database in the beginning when I'm doing a special event it is I'm gonna offer incentives for people tio invite their friends for a session and so for example, if someone invites a friend and their friend books, they might get that fifty dollars of credit towards their order or, you know, a sticky album for free if they invite their friends I wasn't doing that obviously fourteen years ago but you know but there's something definitely that you could do now to offer that little free incentive for building, you know, building your special events and building that database just by giving people incentives to invite someone else spring flowers flower child two twos and ties that's what you see here mud madness is always a really, really fun one and you can do this anywhere as well just hosed down a place and get some mud together and I mean kids have a ball and really with the mud manus sessions even if the kids are mad and cry it's cute way actually suggest and when we do mud sessions we suggest that the portrait's hang in the mud room they hang in the laundry room, you know, sometimes even the kitchen or you know, like a backdoor area but you know, just making those suggestions makes it all make sense to mom, you know, uh bubbles and balloons also always hit and anything you can eat and it's very easy to plan a theme session even if you're just starting and you don't have props and you don't have backgrounds and you don't want to invest in building a set and you know, some of all those other things think about just the simple things that you khun d'oh just by chopping up a watermelon and putting a kid in front of it you know, getting a big barrel of apples and handing one to the kid and if you can get the child active in something and eating is always an easy way to do it but this session is super easy and you've got great fun images you don't even have to try you know what it's fine you can do just a little siri's a lot of times and tell a story with just you know I'm this kid eating a piece of watermelon so um think about all the things that you know and there's so many other things but anything you can eat made so great theme little model sessions worked really well for us and this is a great way to reach out to the tweens, the tweeners and you know, they all little girls wanna be models they just all dio and so reaching out to the tweens and doing the fun model sessions is always great and that's another thing that breeds that age they all want to do what all their friends are doing and so, you know, put out a model call if you love tweens, put out a monocle and say, hey, we're photographing girls between ages twelve to fourteen for I guess that would be a teen but you know what I mean? Is this a big age group for our little motto for our model sessions and you know and just see what happens you'll be surprising and it does breed upon itself trunk shows are great ways to get in front of the right target clients I'm depending on what those trunk shows are you know matilda jane is one but there's many and it might even be just be a local but boutique that you're working with but if they've got a trunk show you can be there with a background and photograph kids and their little outfits which makes great marketing for them later and you can cooperate that way but it's getting that right target client in front of you photographing them making it an events and you know, making money from it do you just for those people like me who might not know what is a trunk show awesome rush you're the only boy in the room with the truth wait in the room a lot talk I leaned over to cannes and I was like well, most people know what a trunk way have a love audience yeah and a trunk show is and you guys all know like what pampered chef is or you know what's another one uh tupperware okay let's go tupperware everybody knows what temple where and so it's like a home party and a lot of times clothing lines will do the same type of thing well, though they'll bring a whole trunk of their new newest line for fall or whatever and they bring it and yuri actually encouraged to try on clothes there's a women's one that's all denim it's I forget what it's called but I've actually done I can't remember the name of it, but I did a trunk show with them where they came to the studio brought all their denim women come in, try on their clothes and that's that person that has that business, that pampered chef business that is then, you know, marketing for you because they're bringing in people to buy their clothes, what the same time you could make it a girls night out, you could make it a little models event or, you know, some kind of game. So that's, what a trunk show is thank you. Okay, the concept I had not heard of them referred to that way, so thank you appreciate that, yeah, your favorite chef with clothes and then you can do you can market and do sales and specials around products around your framing you know, we we want to promote framing in my studio and so what a couple different times a year we'll do a special event that is specifically for frames, so it might be, you know, come in, and with every portrait order, you're going to get twenty percent off your frame to go with it and that's just encouraging those frames sales those wall sales, and so I'm definitely willing to do that. We make the most profit on the prince, you know, the frame is just a way to send it out finished it's a finished product that we want to have in our client's hands, and so we could do that with frames other products may be looking for when your labs are having specials and tie those in. If your lad is running a campus special, you might want to do a campus sale in your studio and blast that newsletter out and say, you know, hey, if you book by x date, you're going to get twenty percent off of your your campus order, and then you're attracting those people for that specific product by marketing that prada seasonal events kind of, you know, along the lines of those themed events, but this is that winter white that I was talking about so simple, I don't do anything is this sort of white background, but we could call it something, you know, when they're just short many sessions, and we just told people to bring their hats and coats and mittens, and we were doing a winter white themed event. And with these, we can pack people in on a day and we can reach some of that segment of the market place that we don't reach on a day to day basis. So these kinds of things I want to do in my studio on my studio's not as busy, I'm not going to run a themed event or a seasonal event this time of year, you know, I'm going to do it in february, I'm gonna do it in april, and so, you know, and and then I'm also a lot of times for these seasonal events, I might even open upon a saturday to do it, which I don't normally photograph on saturdays, and so but it's it makes it worth it to me because I'm packing them in over the course of the day, and so the profit level remains high even though there, you know, the packages are much smaller, and when we go through pricing, I'm actually going to show you our package product many you. So you're going to see those special event packages that started one hundred sixty eight dollars like that is nothing in my studio, and my regular sessions of eight by ten is a hundred fifty dollars, so you know, they're really getting this value, and because of that, I have to plan it that every single component of it is completely different. Then what we do on a day to day basis and I would encourage you that as well if you're going to do many sessions or special events or themed events make it very very different you also do not have to do it discounted you know there there are ways that you can do special events and do high and special events and we do those as well where we bring in families this time a year and we are concentrated on you know, for the wall and then those christmas gifts and cards and so you know ways to balance that out you don't have to do the discounted stuff terrible marketing we've mentioned a couple of times and again I will go through that thoroughly on our terrible marketing day and thank you out you know we've talked about your niche what is it that you love and market that so think about what it is that you're into for me it's that design marketing I want to be promoting that and promoting design and so I may do something where it is just you know, with every session booked in november you're going to get a free in home design consultation and so you know, I'm not gonna do that in november because I don't have time but I might do that in february and say you know, with every session booked in february you're gonna get a free in home design consultation guess who I'm attracting by giving away a free home design consultation I'm attracting the people that I want to photograph the people who want and in home design consultation and they don't know what that's worth because I don't have it printed anywhere yes, I would go to my client's home if they ask me to through the process, but most of my clients I'm going to be asking them for snapshots of their walls somebody working with them over the phone and doing consultations building their designs and preview showing them all virtually so going to their home I can place a huge value on that and so offering it as part of a marketing campaign is you know is easy to do so think about those those niches, those things that you want to specialize in and market that porcher parties I did a whole another creative live on our portrait parties so go watch that um but are real kids events have been really phenomenal for my business and we love level out with a real kids events having portrait parties basically just means having a host bomb that's going to invite her her friends and build your database that way. This is porter parties are amazing for new businesses because if you are if if you've been portfolio building or whatever you've been doing for a year and you really know that you need to reach a different target client all you have to do is find one and if you find that one then they're inviting their friends to the portrait party and so you're building your database you know, event by event so I love the portrait parties and our download for today is an entire campaign so your this is our mommy and me campaign and you're going to get all the pieces all the elements that go into that and again when you do a different event you could just change the colors and changed a little emblem at the top and so it makes it really easy tio you know get that campaign together for the next event once it's done once. All right, laurie so let me just ask you to talk through because you said these are all the pieces for the campaign but what does that mean? Because I see a lot up there what's the difference I'm gonna go I'm gonna look in my work but the pieces heir listed out and then I can cheat but and it is and and we talked about this at the very beginning of the segment but its marketing piece of marketing piece an appointment card a thank you card and event schedule and order form a client profile and model release packaging it's a gift tag and a gift card for a future session so all of that is included in a daze download and again as ps d's so that you can go ahead and there's a player and yeah so whatever nish it is that you have discovered in the different types and what you love it really is incredible I mean, I think again this is the workbook that you're working through you have all these ideas of the different themed events pick one start used these templates and just go out there and do it and see what happens so thank you for including all of that again those of course are the daily downloads there's one for each of the thirty days and those are included as part of the purchase when you purchase into the program so we do have time for some questions saying so to start with todd okay, who says do you offer the models any freebie or discount? So this is when we are looking to build a portfolios and you talked about putting out a call for models, making it a little bit more desired if you will on dh clued in on top of todd k ben lille says same question do models get anything aside from quote unquote winning on dh then again, michelle can candy says, um did you did you price the model campaign sessions and indifferently as well? I'm the model of the session is actually free, so that is what they get and but everything else from there we were just like we do displays we were just like I do any if I if I see somebody in a mall that's got beautiful children that I I can tell by looking at her is my target client I may go and offer her a session for her kids I might say your kids are beautiful I would love to photograph them please take me up on bringing them into the studio and you know it's on me and I will give them that free session do I give them anything else? Absolutely not and my message is the same every single time it's that scripts and I let them know because they will ask me do I get to see all the images? How can I buy something? I mean they're going to pose the question to me and so I'm going to tell them every time absolutely we're gonna bring you through the process just like a regular client you're going to see everything about a week after your session we'll go through everything together if there's anything you'd like to purchase that's great if not that's ok too and so it completely takes the pressure off of them for purchasing they always do but it also takes the complete pressure off of me for giving them anything in addition tio that free session and I will do a free session every single day of my life for the right target client because I know that tart klein it good is gonna come in and they're going to spend and they're gonna you know, it's gonna be a great experience on both ends, you know, like tia said, when you go through the process and you're working with these people who are invested in your business it's not only a great experience for them it's a great experience for you as well and so yes, I will do a free session any day for the right claim and then that is what they get they get to be the models or they get that free session and then I am going to sell to them just like a regular client love that any questions from anyone here in the studio audience? It looks like we have lots of them. Uh, let's go and start here. I don't think you best question yet. Laurie, can you give me an example of one of your high end special events? I know you said that you were doing a family one now. Yes, um our family part of special event is actually a frame sale. And so for every portrait that is purchased for the wall, they're going to get twenty percent off their frame and so it's just marketing too back to the client base and we're calling it a special just because it's you know it's over the course of two days instead of just opening up my my schedule to them so it is it's a event it's a frame sale and we do have other specialty products when I do any special events even the high end events I always try to tie in something that is available either at a discount that is going to make it like a no brainer add on and so for example it might be our little death strips the death strips are a five by ten piece that air easel in the easel back frame it's three images so it tells a little story and I have a really high price point on them on my menu it's there three hundred eighty dollars for a little five by ten and my cost my cost to sail on that besides putting the you know, the design together it's not much of a design they're just dropped in but is about twenty dollars and so that is a very high profit margin for me but it has a very high value to my clients and so I can discount that heavily and so it may be at a special event that with any uh wall grouping order you can order a death strip for fifty percent off and so you know it's that it's that no brainer at on we're also going to create some specialty products that are different for the event and so for instance, for our charitable marketing event, that's not high an event, but we've got limited edition posters is what we call him when we do it in a different dated poster every year, and people bring in their little angels, have them photographed, and they get these limited edition posters because it's that's the thing you know, it's something special, but they can't get it any other time, and so usually for the high end events will say, you know, with your wall grouping, you're going to get twenty five christmas cards and so we know what they want, it might be digital files, it might be christmas cards and you know, something that we know that they err desire ing at this time right now, it's the holiday cards, our clients, most of my clients get at least one hundred cards, and so I'm giving them that first twenty five, but really, it ends up being paid for in the end, anyway, if they get the twenty five it's okay, I've got my prophet built into that wall grouping, and so we're adding things like that to call it a special event, you know, and do something for them that we don't normally do, but still creating and selling the high end pieces that we want to sell any suggestions beyond posting on your blogger putting on facebook about how to get the word out about your model campaign or about the themed events you mentioned giving incentives for friends to get they're for people to get their friends to book but how do you get that initial ball rolling? The initial ball rolling really can happen with one person and you know that's when the power of the portrait events for me is you know whether it's being in a new area are reaching out to a new target client um I now do a portrait events when I work in a lot of different towns chicago's one of them but I'll do him in that way where I'm there and I just need to find one person and I can go and you know, spend a day there and be photographing all day and I'm meeting nine new people you know, by giving that incentive for every person that you invite that books you're going to get fifty dollars towards your order and I am fine to work with that person and you know if they book ten people they're gonna get five hundred dollars towards their order that's so fine with me they booked the rest of my day you know um for a regular themed events like if I'm doing them in my studio and I was brand new I would want to be partnering up with other businesses partnering up with, you know, even groups, maybe teo get in front of or posting on my block or my newsletter or my website about someone else that people can get excited about reading about that also that other person is going to be blasting out to their database and so it's always tying in with other people and we're going to talk a whole lot more about that in networking. Nix um on tomorrow's day, but really, networking is where it's at and whether you're doing the themed events or does it growing your database, you know, tying in with other businesses and other individuals who love what you do are really going to help toe build your business? Fantastic if we have any more questions here that's great, we can take one from online way have daniel nicole says greetings from nebraska, where you distribute the model cards to ensure you're getting it in your target audience is hand that that's a good question and with with us, when I did the our model campaign, this last one, I just I did put it on our studio facebook page and so I was marketing there, but if you plan the model campaign in the right way, which means by doing it as a model campaign and not hey, I'm doing free sessions hey, you know you're going to get this but you know, really targeting it towards something specific like for me it was adding video so I just called it a video project I'm looking for a model for a video project and I wanted him for my marketing you know and but putting it out there as for a video project and and they actually had to apply when they called and applied I'm walking them through the process so I'm you know, basically pre qualifying them on the phone by walking them through the process and letting them know we're gonna walk you through the process just like a regular client you're going to come in about a week after we photograph your images to see and view them I'm gonna walk you through the entire process I'm gonna hold your hand through it all and I will even say to those people even people that I'm doing a free session for or a display session for I'm going to ask them and tell them you know what we specialize in is doing is it a really special for your home and I'm gonna be asking you to walk their home and any place you'd consider hanging a portrait I want you to just take a snapshot of that wall for me and when I get that from you I'll be calling you to plan and design your session with you and so it's all a process it's all scripted I will I'm going to give you these phone scripts, so you're gonna have that but you know, when you when you have a plan and you've got the script and you're able to say the same thing over and over, you don't fall into that trap of somebody saying, you know what? I get what's what's free for me, you know, um and you know, another thing too is when you become confident in your process, people are attracted to that, you know, people want the structure, they want to be told what to do and it's true, and people want to work with an expert and it doesn't matter, you know, if you are, if you're going anywhere for a service, you want to know that you, you know, you're paying somebody that is going to do an amazing job, and most people that do do have a process and they're going to tell you, okay, here's, how this works and you don't question it because they just told you this is our works, you know, why don't we do that in our own businesses? We know that's how we want to be treated, and so if we're telling people great here's how this works and taking them through the process and it's the same every time and consistent, then you know, they come along with us all right so we have one question that I want to address really quick from zap one the one that I think a lot of people feel especially when they're getting started with this laurie how do you plan for all these different sessions along with the regular sessions editing, photographing planning new campaigns going to the client's home et cetera et cetera there's so much to do how do you overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed and where do you start very much like a collective side there was this I yes everyone in the room I just was like that's exactly the problem so I just want to make sure we are talking about that at some point in these thirty days where we're actually going to spend in his higher segment talking about scheduling and planning and prioritizing and that is one of the biggest things is making things prioritizing and that's why you know after marketing you know day two we want arabs I guess it was after day one but really thinking about the top three things not all of them were not going to do them all and even you know, with the themed events I have my themed events placed on my calendar by january for the whole year I know exactly what I'm going to be doing and I'm gonna walk you guys through this is well planning your sessions and deciding how many sessions you need to do to have the profit that you want, you know we're going to go through pricing we're gonna go through projections we're going to go through planning and scheduling and making sure all that could happen I know that if I need to do a certain number of regular sessions in my studio to get teo x amount and I still need this much more to reach my goal and I'm gonna plan that many events to make sure that I reached my goal and so you know, it is all scheduled in plan and you do have to be organized, which is not easy and I have to make myself every day with task list and you know and planning and that I don't love planning but I love seeing it all happened and the only way to see it all happen is if we planned for it I love that so yet don't worry folks way know the pain we feel the pain we all have your pain way will be helping you to address that pain later so that is the end of day eight and let's go ahead and cross that off the board and when when we start again, what is what we're gonna do one day nine which is networking day nine is all about networking and getting those business partnerships howto work with them how to talk to them and make all that happen