Growing Pains: Reaching Customers Online and at Home

This weekend, I came in contact with two new clients in very different ways.

A plumber who fixed a leak in my bathroom noticed the 20x30 black and white print I have hanging up in my home of Teri and Avery (the photo on my blog banner) as well as other images I have on display in my hallway and home studio.

"Are you the photographer?" he asked. Yep, yep I am! We talked for a few minutes and he told me that he and his wife for looking for a photographer to take family portraits of them and their 3-week old baby boy, and he was struck by the image of Teri and her child. He asked me how much I charged for a session and was shocked when I told him $150. Another photographer he had contacted wanted $900 just for the session! He said he could tell I did great work and that he would be calling me to set up an appointment this Saturday once he consulted with his wife.

LESSON LEARNED? Find some creative way to display your work in your home. It could be an easy way to gain new clients or give existing clients ideas on more photos they could take (and purchase!). The same thing happened when one of my brides who had come over for a bridal portrait session liked a boudoir image I had hanging up, and decided to get a similar image done as a surprise for her new hubby.

Also on Saturday, I got an email from a client who wants senior portraits done for her son. My blog allows me to backtrack and see where my visitors are coming from. Turns out, my new client did a very simple Google search for "senior portraits, discounts and Denver," and my blog was the first item on the hit list.

LESSON LEARNED? Never underestimate how important and vital labels, tags, and keywords can be for your business. Think about the kinds of things potential clients might be looking for, or Googling online to help them narrow down their search, and write those "tell-tale" gems in titles of your blog post, throughout the post itself and in your tags and keywords. Make it easier for potential clients to find you!