How to market yourself within the industry?

**NETWORK**NETWORK**NETWORK**NETWORK**NETWORK**

It's all about making contacts right?

But how do we go about making these contacts?

You need to market yourself to the right people. A great place to start, Model Mayhem.

Introduction:

A site dedicated for Models, Photographers, Makeup Artists, Hair Stylists, Wardrobe Stylists, Clothing Designers and Graphic Artists to come together with one common goal.

Goal:

To meet like minded people and collaborate on projects.

Result:
Many editions to add to your portfolio and go on to market to potential clients.




Why is marketing yourself to fellow industry professionals so important?


In this line of buisness, many rely on word of mouth. If you're not known in the industry it is less likely you'll be hired for a job.

To already know people in the right places will make it easier for you down the track. If you have someone cancel last minute on you for a shoot, you'll already have a number of contacts who you know are reliable and up to the job.

To be in contact with other photographers is key when working freelance. When your gear unexpectly fails on the morning of a big shoot, where are you going to turn? A fellow photographer may not need their equipment on the day and be able to solve your problem. What goes around comes around.

- Perhaps make 2010 about marketing yourself within the industry for your future -

Marketing for Photographers - Most Valuable Tool - A Website!

One of the most valuable tools a photographer needs to promote him/herself is a website. Creating a website does not need to be a super expensive and complicated exercise. There are numerous companies on the web offering template websites specific to photographers, artists and other creatives. These templates are designed to showcase your portfolio in an attractive and professional looking way, and can be quite cost effective. They are a great idea, especially for those photographers who are just starting out. Many of the template website compaines provide a free website option. Although the free websites do not offer the same features and levels of service that a paid website does, they are a great place to start. As your business (or your confidence) grows, you can easily upgrade to the more professional templates and feature-rich options on offer.
So with the numerous template companies out there - how do you choose?

There are several things you should research and consider before making the plunge:

- Template design - there should be numerous templates, designs and colour schemes for you to choose from. You will also need to consider whether to use a HTML or flash website.

- Look for templates that offer a clean modern and stylish look, and an easy to navigate website. This point is very important. Future clients will not stay on your website for very long if it is difficult to use.

- The site should be easy for you to use also. You should be able to make changes to the template, plus content on your site quickly and easily. Files and photos should be able to be loaded quickly and easily, and the site should be well organized.

- Features. Many add on features are available such as 3D animations, music, ad banner templates, etc.

- E commerce. Investigate the ecommerce functionality on offer. You may want to sell your photos online, so look for a template that allows customers to purchase items from your site. You may also require private albums that are password protected for your clients to view and purchase their images. Also consider the order fulfillment process, and the involvement you would like to have in this. You may prefer all orders to be filled automatically, or some template companies will send you an email to advise of the customer's order, and then you are required to organize the fulfillment of that order.

- Search engine optimization. Many companies offer different levels of Search Engine Optimization. This can become quite complicated, but look for companies that offer SEO options, including key words and metatags, etc.

- Which brings us to blogs. Many templates also feature a blog option. Blogs are a great way for you to communicate and interact with your clients or future clients, letting them know what you have been up to, and allows them to get to know you. Additionally, blogs can help to attract internet traffic to your site.

- And last, but not least - look for companies that offer superior customer service and support. Ideally, they will provide email support, 24/7 email and chat support, FAQ's and tutorials.

The cost obviously will also be a consideration, but look for the templates that offer you the look, features and functionality you require. Cheapest is not always the best (or most cost effective!)

FREE business cards you say???

Welcome to Vista Print, home of the free business card.
An online site, simple to use and very generous.

http://www.vistaprint.com.au/vp/pSearch/topDeals.aspx?GP=3%2f25%2f2010+7%3a49%3a43+AM

Log on and see how simple it is to input your infomation and view a draft of your newly designed, most powerful marketing tool.
With over 40 designs to pick from, you can fit up to ELEVEN lines of information with Vista Print only taking credit with a small logo on the back.
Did I mention they're free?
Recieve 250 of your very own business cards for just the cost of postage!

If you're looking to add a little more of your own style but still on a budget, you can choose from the Advanced Editing options. Customize the font style, colour and size, as well as move text around to your liking. Will only cost you $16.99 + postage.

Looking for even more designs to choose from? There is the Premium Business Cards option. Normally pay $33.99 + postage but RIGHT NOW on special for $8.99 + postage!!!
In this category you can choose from over a thousand designs, have full creative control to customize layout and text, PLUS upload your own images!
You can search and narrow the designs down to your industry and you will find a number of photographer friendly cards.

The catch??? Yes, when you make an order you will become a member and recieve a number of promotional emails. However this is well worth it as the emails will keep you informed of new and exciting promotional material to market your business at a more than reasonable cost.

HAPPY MARKETING

Marketing and the commercial photographer

Marketing is a crucial part of any commercial photographers business. Gone are the days when ‘hanging a shingle’ would guarantee enough business to keep your family fed. In today’s busy, information fuelled and technology driven world a commercial photographer needs excellent technical skills, great networks and a strong marketing plan to get their business noticed and to generate work.

Marketing 101

Marketing begins with knowing what you want to sell and to whom. Once you know these two things it’s much easier to work out when and how to do it.

Who

Who is your audience? Who do you want to hire you? For a commercial photographer creating a list of desired and potential customers is crucial. It helps to direct your messages and avoid a scatter-gun approach.

You could choose to market yourself direct to local business and industry, to the marketing/PR departments of larger organisations, or to advertising/PR firms who hire talent for advertising and publicity campaigns.

What

By clearly defining your audience it’s easier to identify what it is about you, your business that would interest them and set you apart from the competition. It might be superior technical skill, expertise in a specific area of photography, creative flair, individual style, It could be something to do with the way you run your business, deal with your clients or even a quirk of personality. There are a lot of commercial photographers in the market giving consumers a lot of choice, setting yourself apart from the competition comes down in part to successful marketing.

When

They say timing is everything, and it couldn’t be truer with marketing. Getting the right message to the right people at the right time is the difference between the success and failure of any marketing campaign. It all depends on your audience but for example, Annual report time is potentially ideal to market direct to PR departments in large organisations when they are keen to source imagery for reports and presentations. Timing promotional activities for the start and end of the financial year when company budgets are being sorted and projects planned could also work. Targeting customers at holidays and special events eg Valentines day, April Fools day, Christmas etc can allow for a creative approach and help keep your business top of mind.

How

Firstly it’s important to remember that marketing incorporates every touch point you have with your clients and potential clients. Yaffa Publishing’s Capture Magazine has a great article titled ‘Expose yourself to the world-legally’ in the Jan/Feb 2010 edition. In the article the author Julian Watt states that professionally designed business cards, a great portfolio and an up to date website are an absolute given in the marketing mix of any professional photographer. The article then goes on to explore some of the other ways professional commercial photographers promote themselves to generate business. Including advertisements, direct mailings, promotional gifts, sourcebooks and PR activity including blogs and social media. I’ll look at each of these in a bit more detail over the next few weeks.

Marketing your Photographic ART!

These days, technology moves so fast that before we get a chance to latch onto a concept it is suddenly replaced by something newer, more effiencent, of better design or much 'trendier'. But the positive thing throughout all this, is that these networking, blog-driven, online portfolio type portals are the perfect base for marketing your photography. Most fine art photography can be turned into multiple sales or commission-based work, which is what any fine art photographer would ultimately strive for.

Although websites such as Facebook and Myspace are not the best bases for 'art sales', they will at least be a great networking base where you can meet others in the industry, put links to blogs, websites, online portfolios etc. It is a place where you can easily market your talents!


Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/)
Flickr is an online photo-sharing, networking website which is part of the Yahoo brand. Users can join, free of charge and display their imagery. It is a perfect place to get your art seen and in some cases can lead to sales. The only issue is the copyright, make sure you are sure with what you are putting on to the website and the terms and conditions before you upload your images!

Deviant Art (http://www.deviantart.com/)
Similar to Flickr, these guys also have an additional online portfolio. For the cost-free set-up you can a certain amount of images into 4 different portfolios. To increase the amount of images on display, the charges are increased to suit your needs!

Red Bubble (http://www.redbubble.com/)
Red Bubble is an online marketing website where you can display and sell your artworks. There is no charge to be a member of the website and each artwork sold does not carry a comission but just a base price which Red Bubble retain. Red Bubble are a community where you will receive feedback on your imagery, and receive constructive criticism. You as the artist, place your imagery on the portal and Red Bubble do the rest! They get the digital file, produce it, and send it off to the client whilst dealing with any customer service issues. The best part is that YOU choose your price! Aswell as all this, there are a range of things that you can get your art printed on, such as: canvas, calendars, t-shirts, greeting cards, posters and framed prints!

Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/)
A website similar to Red Bubble is Etsy. Like Red Bubble it is a free marketing tool, in which your artwork is sold through this company. This website is not only a photographic art website but a general handmade, art sale website. Anything from ornaments to ceramics, jewellery, music, pets toys and bags can be sold on this website.

If anyone has anything else to add, just pop it in!
Darlia

MOO Business Cards

Costs & bulk discounts

Pack of 100 cards	$19.99
200 cards	$39.98
300 cards	$59.97
400 cards (saving $10.97)	$68.99

Each order comes with a free MOO presentation case

www.moo.com

This company allows you to use as many photos as you like on the business cards or maybe just one photo if you wish. It allows you to design your own cards through a program on their website, to upload photos, use colours, tones, backgrounds and patterns. 

How Do Photographers Market?

-Magazines
-Newspapers
-Editorial
-Billboard
-Shopfront
-Flyers
-Business Cards
-Post Cards
-Catalogues
-Transport
-Internet
-Telephone
-Networking

Feel free to add any other techniques??