Photography Marketing and Photography Advertising Tips Article Review

The article below is a very good photography marketing article. It offers great photography business tips about photography advertising and how to interact with clients. I like the article a lot. But, the marketing tips are for larger studios. Most photographers soliciting business don't have studios and/or staffs.

The information in the article offers very valuable strategies. This particular author, Photographer, Charles Lewis, is very good at explaining the "conversation" that we should have with our potential clients. He suggests that the questions that we ask during our contacts with the clients, whether by telephone or email, should be documented and tracked. Doing so informs the successful components of our marketing strategies.

I've set my local photography business up so that new customers contact me through my website by contact forms. I do not have my email address or telephone number on my photography website. So, the advice that he offers for our telephone discussions with inquiring potential clients doesn't necessarily apply to me. But, the advice is still very good photography marketing advice for photographers that operate photography business at any level.

I firmly believe that photography marketing is needed because photos don't sell themselves.

Photography Marketing and Advertising Tips - A Free Tool Every Photographer Needs For Success
By Charles J Lewis

Not keeping a few simple records of every original inquiry that comes into your photography business is like trying to sail a ship across the ocean without ANY navigational tools at all - not even a compass - you might end up somewhere, sure - but who knows where that will be? It certainly WON'T be where you wanted to go!

If you want more paying clients in your photography business, this "Marketing GPS Tool" is going to be extremely valuable to you - and it's totally FREE to set up and use! It just takes a little time.

When the phone rings with a new prospective client, or an e-mail inquiry comes in, most photographers do their best to "book it," of course. But that's all they usually do. They totally miss the fact that there is valuable information that can to be collected, logged, reviewed and used to make decisions about their future marketing and selling methods. This information really is like "GPS for Marketing" for your photography business.

I use a simple "Original Contact Record" to do this. It's simply a list where I log specific information about every original caller or e-mailer.

Here's what the Report contains:

1. The date the call or e-mail came in - this is important because you can track the number of calls, and the type of calls that come in by month and by year-to-date. This way, you can compare this year with previous years, and see exactly how you're doing.

2. How she heard about you - this tells you what parts of your marketing efforts are working, and what parts of it are not working. This is very valuable information which you can use to improve your marketing efforts and methods. (So you ALWAYS ask the caller or e-mailer how she happened to hear about you.)

3. Who she's thinking of having photographed - this is the "type" of call or e-mail - by tracking this, you can look at how many of this type you have received this year, compared to previous years.

4. Whether or not prices were discussed, and what specifics were given - this will give you insight into whether or not it is best to give out prices, and if so, how best to do it.

5. Who took the call or answered the e-mail - this gives you statistics as to who on your staff are the "best" at closing the sale, and who needs more work.

6. Whether or not the client "booked" the next step - this will tell you who actually agreed to take the next step with you - based on where they heard about you in the first place.

7. The prospect's name - you put this in the Contact Record, so you can go back and fill in what happens next with that prospect. (See #8 below.)

8. Did she actually show up for the "next step?" - this is where you go back and fill in whether or not she actually took the next step in your sales process - which for me is to come into the studio and "chat" with us - no charge and no obligation.

9. Any notes or comments about the call or e-mail - why it was or was not successful.

By putting together a simple "Original Contact Record" and using it for every call and e-mail inquiry you receive, you are compiling valuable information which will greatly help you make the correct marketing decisions for your photography business. It works amazingly well for me, and I know it will work great for you, as well.

Why are some photographers getting rich and having all the customers and clients they could ever want, while others are struggling? Charles Lewis has created the ultimate guide - "The TOP 33 Photography Marketing Secrets" free E-Book reveals the secrets for getting hundreds of new customers - FAST - regardless of the economy, your town, or whether you work on main street or out of your home studio.
Click Here: ==> http://www.cjlewis.com

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