Lessons

Lesson Info

Getting the Word Out

let's take two questions okay so what had asked if you think it's appropriate to approach an obviously pregnant woman about setting up a session I find it hard to break the ice ice with a stranger do you have any tips I don't do it I don't I do know people that dio and have had success and I told you I'm kind of shine I can't do it if the people that I know have done it have handed out their cards and some have gotten calls and some have gotten strange looks I don't like solicitations when I'm out with my kids and shopping that's kind of my personal space you know I'm kind of in my thing and while I'm flattered people have come up to me your children are beautiful do you wantto come to model a see how many times have my kid's gotten these cards were in l a we would love to represent you and I'm like you know I'll find if I know agents if I want to put them in I'll find them so I can't speak from that experience but if you're an extra over and you're a salesman and you want to do it I s...

ay go for it you have nothing to lose I would have a nice pretty postcard that has an image of the work and say you know what I think you're amazing I think you're gorgeous I think you're pregnant why don't you take this even if you don't use it for the pregnancy newborns fifty dollars off my session fee if you want to use it pass it on yes okay wow that's a great question so hillary I have two questions hilary from mp photography says anna you're amazing my question is I started my business and then it booms quicker than I had imagined I feel like I had no idea on following through and may have missed out on returning clientele is there a way to gain their trust back have you been through this a cz well okay yes you can gain the trust back um I I have had different booms yes where I've gotten crazy busy and I felt like I've lost people along the way because I've been so busy and I remember a time years ago when I had just had ava and the economy was doing great and business was booming and I lost some people along the way because I didn't have time but with that being said I don't feel like you've ever lost anyone completely because I'm very good at the marketing aspect meaning starting day one I had a newsletter it used to be back in the day when it was kinko's and it was a printed newsletter and I snail mail them and then when email got heavy I started creating in online newsletter that I e mailed and so I send out email I have religiously sent out newsletters for fourteen years and I've had people that have fallen off maybe I lost them maybe I was too busy at the time maybe they felt I was too expensive at the time and then we'll come out with like let's do holiday many sessions and we have new sets and we're in a new location and I've brought them back so I think yes you can gain their trust back but I think you need some staple things to do it and that's where you get your game on in beginning the newsletter situation if you have one client you have a mailing list people one client you have a mailing list it's not like you're saying when you send out your mailing list you're the only one that's getting it you know you're saying this is I'm sending it out to everyone in my mailing list all my people and you start with one person and it's an email newsletter and don't tell me I don't know what to say you can post on facebook all day long and you can't send out in the center I got your newsletter for this week guess where I was last week I was creative line I got my bum kicks I'm live tv but guess what I learned boom boom boom and boom and for the month of whatever we're going to be giving half off of our pregnancy sessions because we are so inspired we're going to do a belly baby love special and this is what we're going to do and guess what we're doing in dis remember we're going to do many sessions of the fields and bring the kids out and candy canes and goody bags that such if you could be this you want to you want to join it and then you go oh I haven't done any of that well get your child go out in the field take acute many there's your promo material get a pregnant person and I need you for whatever and do it and make it happen so I feel like if you've created the foundation foundations are your website your online presence having a newsletter even when no one's lately and you think no one's reading it are listening I still sending my news out of regardless of my stats you will bring him back we talkabout motivated mama marketing and I can say mama because I'm a mama but men I'm not meant to me or better marketers than women because they're not emotional they're not as emotional and I'm not blanket statement at a stadium when containing I know many men that are emotionally many women that aren't emotional but generally are beings you know we're the emotional ones and men are like what men say I got a business I rent to pay I've gotta pedal work you know but let's tap into women do you know that women account for eighty five percent of all consumer purchases we know this you guys because we're spending the money they represent a two point four trillion dollar market and what's interesting is the women that are spending are also running businesses out of their home they're also having children these women are working like they've never worked before you know when I was raised by my mom she was a worker bee she was raising five kids she was cooking full meals she was sewing our costumes she was hanging wallpaper she was doing everything and had amassed she's in psychology decided to get a master's in divinity and becoming united myths minister when I begin to my teens there was no holding her back now you see where I got it from don't get me started about genetics versus environment that's a whole other show because I tell my mother all the time I blame you for everything because she was a motivated mama on a mission and you asked my mother what she has to do from the core of her being and she'll say she has to share she had to preach she that she just had she cannot do it she's like eighty and she's still doing it if you tell her she she supposedly retired but she's still does it so you have to understand these women are moving like never before they're spending their buying they account for fifty percent overall stop ownership but here's the great thing about women here's my favorite line of this is sixty four percent of mom's ask other moms for advice before they do a new purchase there's your ticket you guys there's where your marketing lives because you don't need to really work as hard as you think you let your mama's work for you we do referrals if you'd have a referral program it's right up there with newsletters I had a referral program when I had a newsletter I didn't even know what it wass but if you look at most of the companies in the market today bigger stores that have nothing to do with photography they do the same thing they have referrals they have incentives right massage envy I belong to massage envy if I refer someone I get what right free massage bring it am I not going to tell everybody I know where I'm getting my massage and they're going to go you do like massage envy don't you and we they pay monthly right is it worth it yeah done massage and we just got a new customer and I'm sorry what did besides me dio they scare me group in that you're gonna do a great shoot your mom's gonna talk she's going there's no not talking she's not gonna let quietly hang up her photos and when your friends come over and they go who did that that's not gonna happen it's just not gonna happen our referral program used to be uh eight by ten let my fourteen in a free session very simple we had a little pad that I created males out a little postcard thank you for your referral here's your free eight by ten let my fourteen recession and uh and you can save it and then I realized this past year that my clients were referring so many people that it was becoming silly like now is another every ten so I changed it to a fifty dollar referral fee and you want to make five hundred dollars referring me and you want to bring it all in for a session I would much rather put my five hundred dollars in that client than on an ad that everybody's gonna throw away in the in the garbage right I love when clients come in and they're usually like a little nervous like I have one hundred fifty dollars to spend thank you yeah you d'oh awesome go you anything out what else you got you got mom's friend friend friend mila mom's a pregnant they show what you need what you need from you need a goodie bag when it's he shirt what do you need I'll make it let's do it I want to wear down around town what do you want let's do it and then you get the women I love the women that used to do marketing the corporate america now that at home with their kids because they're just dying because that's what they love to dio you mean a marketer they love it they studied it they went to school for it we have to learn it I slept during that part in college anyway remember that course was there of course I don't know I mean there's a business course yeah so but but those moms if they're at home or there part time and they're coming to you let's collaborate let's network it's market market to the motivated mama you need to know everything about your client this kind of goes back to everything I said I said all of this you know how personal professional particular printed material work with like minded businesses are you doing that are you working with any business that is like minded yes yes yes yes way were so close I was like yeah we're getting there we're getting there we're getting where yeses can you call it the business real quick not the name just a titan oh I work with to etc shops car design and then hats and diaper cover beautiful different prop cos proper companies as well oh and talk about companies ugo I was thinking more along the lines boutiques in that but I would teo I have a friend who does handcrafted knitted items can I also ask you can take out the proper companies I do have a duel those don't count your yes and they're all no oh I have I have a display in a dentist's office you I wanted to take out the prop companies because they should be bowing down and thanking you a million times over for boosting their sails I'm not talking about the people that your marketing for did you know that that's what's happening yeah your marketing for them not talking about that who is marketing for you so who said doula doula and then what was it a dental office and a hairdresser and that's ok that's ok if your clients are there that's okay there's no wrong answer but I'm talking about a like minded business that when a stranger walks in and says I need a photographer they're going to say your name where were you going to say my o b your o b second star so yes that's what that's what I'm talking about and don't get caught up in that I feel like a lot of new photographers they're loving all the freeze stuff it's like oprah's christmas give away oh I just got a new property and don't get me wrong I bowed down to the vendors that brought everything for this show and we love it and were shouting out to them and thinking then that's a big deal they have a business to but let's get back to the corby's obey a korb business and strip away for the props for a minute let's just strip away the props and let's get down to naked babies and valleys okay let's pretend props turning just for a quick second because we don't know if the same props of being existence five years from now right but your work will be and your art will be and if you write down every single business you use as a mother or what a mother would use she goes to the dentist she goes to the pediatrician she goes to the o b g y n she gets her hair done she goes clothes shopping for her kids she goes and get ultrasound goes and gets an ultrasound she works with doulas she works with party places she works with card cos she works with designers think of upend a flex when the busy mom is like I got a call this person this person this person this person who are they calling and are you in there penned a flex those air the businesses I'm talking about and it's a simple as walking in their door and saying oh my gosh I love your children store you're doing a quick scan there's no other photographers in the room awesome you know what I have a card I'm a local photographer I don't know if you need anything but I would love to give you my car maybe we could network I did that with the right start a couple years ago oh thank you very much we've already worked with photographers leads to shoot your story needs to record store it's not gonna work well I wasn't saying shooting your store I was just saying I would be happy too and this is where you put the foot forward of what you're giving them the what you're getting is on this foot what you're giving them I can give you any ideas start rattling I can give you raffle cards for your countertop and everybody who makes a purchase khun b entered into a drawing for a free session would that be fun how much do you want your clients to spend well I think I want my clients to spend seventy five dollars each time they come great what about we only put the people in that raffle for people who are going to spend seventy five dollars or more then they go into a raffle winner free session you click the names of the e mails that we can add to our email list because we're building up our list we will contact them and let them know that they just want a free session for spending seventy five dollars off the right story start they come to do a photo session we can even deliver the order to your store and get them back a second time would that be fine can I provide the small easel back that'll be put at your counter can I provide the raffle cards cannot provide the mailing list we have to talk to my manager your problem can you let me know when I can talk to them they call me or finally hear from them I call them rattle off the ideas okay well we want to just try it just try it for a month very purse person that I called said she had two girls should never I had photos taken she had a very large wall I don't remember what the length of the wall was too thin he could tell you and she wanted to decorate it and she spent three thousand dollars in standouts for her wall from that store from the raffle what can I do for you what can I do for you it's a store in fashion on whose baby store and I walked in with my daughter's last thanksgiving member that store moment and we were walking around and I'm scoping looking for photographers no one's there and and the woman said to my daughter's oh are you going to see santa them all and they go we've already seen santa really how did you see santa already my mama's a photographer he comes to our studio every year early before things giving already had our photos stone with santa oh really are you photographer what kind of photography do you do do you do that baby photography like and get it because we get oh calls all the time for a photographer and we don't have anyone to refer to you do you do that and I pick up my phone and I said like this and she's like yeah like that absolutely what would you like several phone calls several visits to the store but girls kept telling me to go back to that store mama know kind of like you know the manager wasn't there and did you go back to the store they asked me three times I finally was like all right I'm going back to the store and I went without them because I felt like I got to show them I can do this and I talked to the woman and she's like well the manager is not here and then I see the manager coming and they see the manager coming in there not trying not to show the manager that I know that the manager is coming in the manager's just quietly listening and I see the manager of the quarter man and I just start going and I was like remember we talked before I mean I can do anything you'd like to do I can give you canvases for your wall we could build it into the decor I can give you a coffee table book for your counter I could do small medium or large I could give you raffles for your you know when you when something shops and you want to give them hand outs I could give you that and I just kept talking remember I said I get nervous I talk really really really really fast and I like and I could do this and this and this or whatever you like and then the manager comes over and we start talking and okay what do you leave your cards why don't you leave your book and then I get the phone call and we're opening up a new store location will you do shoots in our store in the window heck yeah little fashion island in newport beach you're okay with doing shoots in the window yeah well don't worry me when you need him s so we did and then I heard they recently called they were having a baby shower they were shutting the whole store down do you think you could do something there what do you need I will give you anything you want to give and yes it's all at my cost maryland meg has been having some great questions day so thank you meg and that is it possible to make it as a photographer being self taught or is it necessary to have a formal education you could be self time absolutely I went to school for accounting rarely dickinson university and then I transferred over to pace university in new york city my dad's an accountant I have no idea what to do and you know you get a degree in photography I went to school for county I went back to school for photography courses because I I wanted to learn how to develop in the darkroom and it never dawned on me tio go back and get a photography degree because I didn't think I was going to be over so then the rest of my years of being in four I think I went to four different community schools and kept on rolling in the same courses was just self teaching myself maybe I didn't get a degree for that I just kept going back to school because I just kept running teach myself and my husband I before we had kids we still live in barnes and noble's he's a writer and so it's his favorite place to be is through a writer in a bookstore I mean come on so we used to just read books and books and books and talk about self teaching I make him read me my camera manual because I hate reading up and so it's like yeah absolutely you just need motivation and dr you don't need a degree okay meg to words motivation drive and creative live aren't you mr ryan today okay well jenny liz asked and I want to specialize in maternity newborns I have several photographers close by what is the best way you feel to make yourself stand out is she anywhere is for working anywhere you know you have to be unique I think that we there's a lot of copying going on we have a lot of photographers by you and you look at their work and you want to do it just like them and that's a that's a big thing I have a lot of photographers right by me I hear this all the time like within a two mile radius there's probably like fifty photographers where I am and at one point there were four studios within like two blocks of where I am so but if you lined up all of our work it's all different and I'm different and I'm motivated so I think that you have to make yourself standout you've gotta make your work your best and shoot what you love your idea your vision you khun love the chin and hand pose and if you want to get it and now and make it your own do it but don't feel like you need to copy the people around you in fact put blinders on and pretend like they don't exist and to tell yourself you're the only one there and market like you can't market anymore all the marketing still supplies but you cannot look be like the horse and put those blinders on and don't worry about the horses next to you because you're all trying to finish the race right are you all trying to do the same race but if a horse looks at the horse next to him he's going to trip so if you keep looking at the photographer next to you you're going to trip you're not going to make it to the finish line because you're too busy looking at everybody else when a runner is running if he looks who's behind him and who's next to him he's gonna trip he's not gonna make it over his hurdles and he's got hurdles you're gonna have hurdles and your will always have people in fact the better you are the closer they come that's what I've learned the better I get it it's like I draw them in move right next door to me why not and I felt like it was a test to me because I always said I wasn't afraid of competition and then I swear the minute I said that it was like three photographers moved in next door and the guy was like yeah how you doing now and then I go to tiffany and I'd be like oh my gosh seriously she should say anna can't do that you say yourself you can't you can't focus on the competition you focus on you you make yourself better you compete with yourself and see who's still standing at the end and guess what I'm the only one still standing on my block they all moved out I'm very glad I asked because we tend to really get hung up on that a lot yes photographer so a lot it's a it's a big one it's a that's a big big big issue and I go through it every day I have a two minute news feeds girl limit got that suit again I have to minute limit on my news feed scroll when I'm on facebook I scroll look look look look I have a million photographers everybody's good and I'm off because if I'm on any longer than that I'm questioning myself I'm doubting myself the competition's coming in no you can't do that just you just have to stop you can't pay attention put on your blinders debonair we get this question a lot from florida should you post your best shots from modelling session on facebook and in your other advertising materials you show your best stuff or do you kind of call that to show really good stuff but not those really a a stuff show your best work that's the point you show your best work you don't need to announce that it was from a modeling session you don't know that to anybody when I was doing model calls I was using my best work on my printed material and on my website and I wasn't going this was from a free session from a woman that I got at the o b g y n that never paid me to do this right that's what you're doing when you said this was from a modeling session that's what you just told everybody and they're like oh so you have no work and so all your competitors will go and look what she's doing she's just doing model calls all because nobody's calling her because she's not good enough really let's try this again look what I did yesterday look what I did yesterday oh I tried something fun yesterday I bought a new fan I did nudes I did silhouette I got baby in the chin pose look what I did because right now it's about me and my business and I gave myself permission to tell me that I'm great today what do you think about that