Photography Business Forum

Nick;  I feel your pain - I lost my #1 client (30% of business) to CGI done in house- how do you compete against free? 

What have I done to make the phone ring more often? I've gone back to good old fashion face to face meetings and portfolio reviews. (I had gotten lazy and sent people to the website or e-mailed samples.) I have tried to increase the amount of work from current clients - I now retouch images that I didn't shoot and try to get them to use additional services such as 360 photos. I also follow up quotes and leads far more aggressively than I have ever done in the past. I have also done my best to be more disciplined in my marketing. It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day stuff, making sure the client in front of you is happy and neglecting the possible future client. 

Not all of these things have worked every time. I think the name of the game is just doing a lot of little things right and they will add up. I don't believe coming up with one big idea to get clients through the door is your best bet. If there is such a plan - I'd love to hear it.

Hey Nick,
I see from your profile that you and I share a market. I moved here a little over a year ago and it's been slow going to say the least. But, as I've been reminded many times, it takes time. 

I've gotten away from event work recently although once upon a time it was a cornerstone of my business. If I were trying to do it now this is what I would do. (I'm keeping it broad so this doesn't become too DC specific):

Facetime. This is a trust game. You need to meet your potential clients in informal situations. If you are trying to get a job shooting social or corporate events, they need to see you in that context. They need to see how you interact with different kinds of people. Then all they have to do is imagine you with a camera. You can do that if you...
Join PRSA. The DC chapter is very active. Similarly, sign up for the DC flacks list. Attend some Capitol Communicator or Mediabistro events. DC is a networking city. In some ways the working day begins at Happy Hour. Oh, and on that note, by the first round because...
Event Managers/PR Flacks are Natural Connectors. They know everyone in the room. If you get "in" with one than she (both professions are overwhelmingly female) will introduce you to their contacts and will do all of the promoting for you. Once you've met them you need to let them know that you can...
Make Yourself Available. I managed to get a small basement office on 16th Street across the street from the Capitol Hilton. If I shot events I would go to the events manager at every hotel within 10 blocks of me (there are probably 2 dozen, at least) and let them know that I am in the area and that I keep a suit and tie in my office at all times. If they need me last minute I can be there in less than 20 minutes. And once you have that job be...
Be someone that people want to work with. I had a client that hired me very regularly (x2 a week). I found out a couple of years into the relationship that I was about 30% more expensive than my competition. Even though the quality of our product was more or less the same it came down to the fact that she liked working with me better. This was because I...
Remember this Mantra: "I am here to make whomever hired me look as good as possible." You'll often be hired by underlings. They want to impress their boss. Do whatever it takes to make that happen and you've got an ally.


And, I agree with Jim 100%. No single thing is going to work all of the time. Lay a solid foundation and eventually something will work out. It's a numbers game.

DC is a unique city in this respect to corporate/institutional events. You've been here longer than I have so I'm sure that you know a lot as well. Contact me off-forum if you want to compare notes.

Good luck.

matthew r.

oh, I forgot. Do something every day to drive traffic to your site/FB page. I either contribute to a forum, hand out a card at a networking event, post something to my blog/FB biz page, etc. My goal is always to get 2 new "fans" every week and I scrutinize my google analytics results every day to see what worked.

I think the back to basics approach really matters. No matter what field you are in. I am Currently looking into the best portfolio possible to carry around because I would hate to say what I do and have nothing to show for it. In a photographers world you need More than just business cards.

I was wondering, why do you put such emphasis on the Facebook page thing? Is it because of it being event photography? I have never been able to see the connection between fb fans and actual sales figures. I also have never pushed very hard with it though. Would you say it is really that effective?