Get Connected: Wedding vendor features my photos on their website!

I got a great call yesterday! Elisabeth Montoya, owner of the Bella Sera Event Center in Brighton, will feature several of my shots from Patience and Jack's wedding on its newly designed website! Three photographer assistants and I shot the couple's wedding at the center in January. I blogged about how fantastic the Bella Sera was, virtually overflowing with great shot opportunities to showcase a wedding and reception. The wedding was amazing and was very easy to shoot because of its wealth of unforgettable characters and special moments. From traditional African dances to adorable flower girls, this wedding had it all!









Elisabeth would like to feature a collage of her favorite images from the wedding on her site, which is in the process of being redeveloped. She chose 58 photos, including her personal favs as well as others she believed best represented the couples story and showcased the event center. Several of her favs are shown here in this blog post. It's not clear how many of those will appear on the website once her developer gets ahold of them, but my photos coupled with my business logo, links and contact information will be a great marketing tool to hopefully help me secure more weddings at Bella Sera.











Even though the center only has two preferred photography vendors, Elisabeth's referrals of other photographers she's worked well with is exactly the kind of reassurances taxed brides- and husbands-to-be rely on when they need help choosing vendors. Elisabeth's knows what photographic styles will fit with her clients' needs. Plus, her large photo album showcasing 12x12 prints of different photographers' work from various events held at the center helps get even more business for the vendors she partners with. Referrals continue to be my studio's best source of advertising and securing new clients. Elisabeth's willingness to help my studio as well as other wedding vendors' businesses grow is amazing and truly sincere. It's connections like these that help businesses thrive. Thank you Elisabeth for this wonderful opportunity for my studio and thank you Heather, Susan and Jamie for your fantastic work! Couldn't have done it with out you fabulous ladies!

Get the Job Done: Google ad scores again!

One of my ads that appeared on a Google page search netted me another client! I'm still only now beginning to understand the power of SEO and improving my studio's visibility on the internet. But it looks like what little I've done has helped a tremendous amount.

Peggy, my client, called me earlier this week to book a boudoir session for next month. During our initial consultation, I asked her to explain to me how she found me. She said she did a Google search for "photographers in Denver." That pulled up a long, unwanted list of wedding photographers. She modified her search, typing in "glamour shots." That's when my Google Adwords ad appeared on the right hand side of the screen as one of the sponsored links. My company's name piqued her interest...and the rest was history!



For my current Adwords campaign, I spend no more than $1 a day for automatic placements of my ad on a Google search based on specific keywords typed in by potential clients. I've spent less than $10 on advertising since I opened my Adwords account on Oct. 22, and I've secured two clients who found me solely after completing a search online. It takes some time to be able to choose an appropriate budget amount and eligible keywords that will help increase the times your ad will appear online and the likelihood of someone clicking it. But Adwords gives you plenty of recommendations and a handy keyword generator list to give you a leg up! As my earnings increase, I'll start increasing my ad budget.

If you haven't started an ad campaign for your business on Google yet, what are you waiting for? It works!

Get Out There: Get your wedding photos published for free!

While thumbing through a recent edition of the "Brides.com/Colorado" magazine, I discovered a wonderful and FREE opportunity to help get some sorely needed advertising for my wedding photography.

"Brides.com Magazine" just started printing a local Brides magazine for the Colorado area called "Brides Colorado." Every issue, they have a special section called "Real Weddings," and "Real Engagements" that highlight local nuptials and engagement stories and feature images by Colorado wedding photographers. There are easily a dozen photos showcased in each two-page spread, highlighting lovely wedding locations and vendor information, including a list of wedding photographers. Real Wedding articles are also printed online offering more exposure, while there are 16 local editions in various cities throughout the country to help get the word out about your business.

Here's an example of a "Real Wedding" shot at the Denver Botanic Gardens by photographer Suzanne Wille, A Photo Opportunity

It's free to submit photos and details about the wedding and it's a great marketing opportunity for my company to get published in a magazine. I have asked all of my newly wed and soon to be wed couples if they would vouch for me, allowing me to share the details and photos about their wedding in hopes of having my photography featured in Brides.com.

The response was phenomenal:
"That would be great! We would love to help you in any way!! You are so great at what you do!!" says Jessaca, who's wedding I will be covering in Dec. 2009.

"Sure, I think that would be awesome. Just let me know anything we need to do," says Krista, who's wedding I will shooting next year.

Thank you ladies for your unwaivering faith in my abilities and I haven't even shot your special day yet!

Business Briefs: Facebook ad snags a new client

This past week, I was contacted by a new client who wants to give her husband boudoir photos for his wedding gift. Where did she find information about me? From my advertisement that is currently running on Facebook!

Since my current was created on May 14, 101,675 impressions of it have appeared on pages viewed by Facebook users for just $2 a day. The ad has been clicked 128 times, leading interested parties to this blog post announcing my boudoir special for the 2009 Wedding Season. To date, I've been emailed three times with inquiries about boudoir photography.

What I like about this new client is her expressed willingness to refer me to several of her friends and family who will be getting married in the coming months and years.....and she hasn't even had me shoot her yet! That vote of confidence is inspiring and motivational. I wish I could shoot her wedding next June, but it will be out of the country and she has already booked a photographer there. She definitely likes to plan ahead which I think is great!

As soon as possible, I plan to increase the number of times my FB ad appears in hopes of gaining more bookings.

Get Out There: Hosting my first vendor booth for my photography

My client from Auraria campus emailed me yesterday about a great opportunity: A local Walmart in my neighbohrood is hosting the 1st Annual Diversity and Outreach Fair, and fair participants can set up a booth or table for FREE!

My contact is going to refer my event coverage services to Walmart, which could be an amazing resource in itself if I can could connected with such a large company. But I have often considered hosting a booth during one of the many festivals that are held in Denver to market my photography services, and it would be nice to have my first experience with something like this in my own neighborhood where I can meet people who shop at the same Walmart I shop at! Plus, I might not be facing nearly as much competition nor will I have to worry about paying the exhorberent exhibitor fees that are common with other festivals in the city.

I've been toying with an idea: What if I get an assistant to help me set up for a quick portrait, shoot people who want their photos taken and print them out on the spot for immediate payment? Do you think something like that would work or am I aiming too high?

Get Out There: Advertising on Facebook

Definitely read this great article on understanding the difference between marketing and advertising on Blogtrepreneur.com


It made perfect sense! One of friends told me that since she updated her status on Facebook as "engaged," she had been seeing a ton of advertising on her profile page pegged toward the bride-to-be, including ads posted from wedding photographers, event planners, destination wedding sites, flowers and catering and gowns and tuxedos. The same thing happened as soon as I wrote on my profile that I was now fostering dogs for a local shelter. Suddenly, I started receiving all of these ads about rescuing abused dogs. "You should create an ad too!," my friend told me.

She was right. For only a few dollars a day, I now have an ad that brands and promotes my services on one of the most popular social sites on the web. The ad is 100% branded by the advertiser with copy and image and does not include any social actions. It can link to a Facebook Page, application or external website. Plus an ad directed to a Facebook Page or application can generate social actions for future campaigns.


I loved this "explanation" when I found it on Pronet Advertising.

Facebook Ads display in the right side column on Facebook pages in the Ad Space. The key to having as many people as possible see your add is to use keywords. The better your keywords, the more effective your add in narrowing the audience who receives it based on interests that match my offer. Even if you aren't interested in advertising on Facebook yet, be sure to check out the "best practices" guide because the information provided is great for helping you begin ANY marketing campaign.

This has also been a great opportunity for me to try to specialize my branding, since Facebook advises that ads are more likely to perform better and continue running successfully if it's displayed to targeted, smaller, more specific group users. There are tons of ads already out there for general photography services. Wedding photography is definitely a more targeted ad campaign. So I decided to narrow it down even further with a pitch for my boudoir photography as a way to test the waters about potential interest.


Teri's Rose is now featured in my new ad campaign on Facebook.

I've extended my boudoir special started earlier this month to extend throughout the wedding season, which lasts through September 2009. My Facebook ad keywords target everything I could think of (until they wouldn't let me add anymore) including girls night out parties, wedding photography, brides and grooms and the ultimate gift. I think I mustered up about 30 keywords.

Since the ad was approved yesterday, I've had more than 100 extra visitors to my business website, starting at my boudoir galleries. That may not seem like a lot, but that's 100 more visitors than I might have had otherwise. All I need is one person to book a session, and my Facebook ad campaign has paid for itself 3X over.

Growing Pains: Free Marketing For Your Photography Business

A great thread on the Digital Photography School forum tipped me off about a free marketing services we can use for our businesses.

In the thread, people talked about whether or not networking organizations such as Facebook or Myspace helped their online business presence. One poster mentioned creating a free ad with Google Maps Local Business Center; so I decided to give it a try.

It was incredibly easy to create a listing for my business. I love that it allows you to upload samples of images as well. Plus, I got to create coupons to run with my listing, which will be especially helpful in my efforts to secure new clients during the upcoming holiday season. Be sure to check it out!

As far as Facebook and Myspace goes...well, I prefer Facebook for social networking because I don't get spammed as bad as I did when I frequented Myspace. But I'm not sure yet how helpful this application will be for my business. I was able to create a group specifically for my business. Hopefully, I will be able to gain some "fans" and see if those contacts lead to some booked sessions.

Get the Job Done: Auraria Campus Gear and Logos Shoot

Whew...talk about a busy weekend! I shot three photo sessions with Auraria Higher Education Center students modeling university gear and logos for Metropolitan State College of Denver, Community College of Denver and University of Colorado Denver. Marketing directors plan to use the images to advertise the clothing line. And several of my photos will be displayed in large 20x30 poster size prints around the Tivoli Student Center as part of that marketing effort!



I have only touched the surface of the 400 or so images I need to sort through, but my contact at the campus is already requesting a CD today of the first 25 images I've processed. I've included some of my favorites from the shoots held Saturday, Sunday and Monday.



Seems they are in a hurry to get some newer images up as soon as possible, which is understandable given the fact that many of the ads they have up now were shots taken in the 1970s and 1980s. The original images lack the diversity in student population that exists on campus now. So it was important that we showcased the fact that a large percentage of the student body consists of ethnic minorities, including a growing Latino population and nontraditional students, such as seniors and the mother featured below with her daughter.






One of my main jobs will be to gradually update those images with some fresh perspective of how the campus buildings and students look now. I've got to get a shot of someone pounding away on their laptop since nearly every student has one. And I think this photo I took on Monday showing a group of students all texting or talking on their cell phones portrays the current environment of the Auraria Campus.

Get Out There: Becoming My Neighborhood Photographer

My dogs could be THE best advertising campaign I could ever have had (second only of course to letting my work speak for itself). When I walked my dogs this evening, several of the people who had seen me before waved at me as if they knew me. My dogs, a lovely Siberian Husky and Alaskan Malamute, were quite the attention-grabbers. And it was then that the idea came to me: Since everybody in the neighborhood knows me as the lady with the two "big arse dogs" as one neighbor said, why not use that exposure so the area comes to know me as "the photographer in their neighborhood (with the big arse dogs.)"

I wrote a feature article once business people, including real estate agents and private practice dentists and therapists, said they experienced an increase in sales once they started displaying photos of them and their pets on business cards and fliers. People tend to respond and relate to cute puppies and babies in positive ways that may make them give your business a second look when others are quickly forgotten. The next business postcard I pass out should probably have a picture of a person interacting with their pets.

Since I don't have a lot of money for advertising, I have to be my own brand, my own product. If my neighbors get used to me walking my dogs every morning and evening, passing out promotional fliers, coupons, or business cards, I think they will come to think of me as an extension of their space, a part of their community. It may make me seem more real to them, someone they can approach. I've been told several times that some think of photographers as being elitist. I want them to see me as a part of them, somebody working hard trying to showcase a special skill set. Either I will become my neighborhoods photographer or they will thing I am a big pain in the arse, It's a fine line, I'm sure!

Get Out There: Passing out Business Postcards

I purchased 500 business postcards from Prints Made Easy and canvassed my neighborhood this morning, handing out a stack full of the cards. Because my neighborhood is largely comprised of young families with children, I decided to use this image of model Michele and her daughter Aeona to appeal to their needs.



While walking my dogs, I stuck postcards in door jambs and on car windshields, occasionally running into neighbors walking their dogs as well or watering their yards. The face to face interactions were beneficial I believe because I got the chance to explain my business and share the fact that I lived in their neighborhood and was easily accessible for services. "Do you shoot senior portraits?" one mother asked. "My son is graduating next year." Yes, I sure do! A couple of people said they would definitely contact me later!

While walking, I took note of all the avid gardeners and pet owners that live in my area too, thinking that my next postcards might include photos of pets and flowers in bloom. It was tough work, and I was pretty much done in after an hour of being yanked by my young dogs who were pulling on their leashes. Maybe next time I will do the job alone or consider hiring someone else to do it! Here's hoping I get new customers!




See anything I might need to change? I would appreciate your comments about the card. Is it too wordy? Am I missing important information clients should know?

Get Out There: Business Postcards

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There's a simple reason why Phuoc Nguyen is my new landscape guy: His business postcard that he taped to my house's screen door. I could also argue that I chose Nguyen because he was the only person out of three who responded to my frantic call for service (hey, I'm terrible at maintaining my lawn). But that's really just good follow-through. Fact is, there are tons of companies I could have contacted for lawn care service by just thumbing through the phone book. But Nguyen's postcard was immediate, and it gave me some ideas....namely, "if it worked for him, could it work for my fledgling business?"

Several aspects of Nguyen's postcard were affective:
1) it was simple and easy to read
2) his phone number and address let me know he lived in my neighborhood
3) it included a comprehensive list of services
4) it was timely, arriving right when my yard seemed to look the worst.

Sure, maybe he could have paid more to have the postcards directly mailed to me. But at the same time, taping it to my door worked for me, and I think I was less likely to toss it since I had to peel it off my screen. Looks like he simply hired someone to canvas the neighborhood with the postcards, and it seems to have worked because I know of at least two other neighbors who hired him to do some work, too.

To that end, here is what I've decided to try. I created some postcards using some easy templates with www.PrintsMadeEasy.com. Because I ordered some new business cards from there too, I got a great discount. I have to walk my dogs anyway, so why not tape some postcards on some screen doors, too? Later on, I can pay for a mailing list of everyone who lives in and around my neighborhood. I'll use my money from the exhibit sale to pay for this advertising venture and see what happens!

I wanted my postcard to feature my ability to capture a moment and my Photoshop skills using an eye-catching (and hopefully unforgettable) graphic technique. My neighborhood is largely comprised of young families with young children, so I figured either of the above images would speak to them.

Which of the pics do you think I should choose on my postcard? Or do you like something else from my port that could work?

Breaking News: First Client Contact Through A Link

I am happy to report that I received my first potential client contact today through a link on another website.

A client emailed me after she came across my website, which was linked here at the Slippers-N-Sliders Ski Club site. She is relocating her business to the Denver metro area and is interested in business and casual headshots.

You may remember that I was the official photographer for the National Black Skiers' annual summit which was held in January in Breckenridge. The Slippers-N-Sliders club is the local Colorado organization which attended the summit and posted links to my galleries of the photos I shot at the summit.

I wanted to share this information with my readers because I think it's a great example of how referrals can be the foundation of your photography business. As I grow and progress in my understanding of how to start and maintain a prosperous business, I think it is essential to have your name or brand be available to as many people through as many venues as possible. The Internet has made this a relatively easy process enabling us to provide links and other ways to connect, so you should take advantage of it whenever possible. You never know when an opportunity like this will land at your doorstep!

Thank you Slippers-N-Sliders for posting my galleries and for helping clients connect with me and my business.

Get Out There: Online Advertising

This week, I started my first advertising campaign for my company. I signed up for Google's Adwords so that my company ad will appear on relevant websites with keywords ranging from "denver galleries" to "little league sports." I get to choose how many times my ads appear based on a monthly payment budget. The process was definitely a lesson in restraint. How do you sum up all of your dreams and aspirations for your business in four lines? In the end, I used a tighter version of a slogan I had already unofficially been using:

MUNDANE OR MIRACULOUS?
Picture Your World Photography
captures your life moments.
picture-yourworld.com

I was totally psyched when I saw my ad appear on another blogger's site. The ads have led three potential clients directly to my business website. Now, I'm ready to go further; my next plan is to advertise in a local newsletter that all of Denver's community churches receive. A source told me that churches always need photogs to shoot events. I think it's a great target market for me to tap into. What do you think about the ad? Have any suggestions for ways to make it better?

BREAKING NEWS: More online print sales!

I just made my first $200 in online print sales from my last big event! Last week, I blogged about being confused and discouraged because few people who attended the annual National Black Skiers mini-summit had purchased photos I took during the week-long event held in Breckenridge. But business is now booming! Here an image one client purchased featuring his unfortunate wipe-out during a ski race:

I've sold 22 of my images, and I should be getting my first pay check sent to me by SmugMug, which hosts my business website and prints and delivers my photos to clients. It's interesting to note that clients have purchased only 5x7's and 8x10s, and more than half of the sales were from digital downloads. Clients I contacted said they appreciated having immediate access to the downloads and were able to easily place the images on their own websites or MySpace pages. Many of my images were also purchased by vendors who were performing during the NBS event, so I will need to take them into account during future events. Several images I took of stilt walker and giant puppeteer Bill "Stretch" Coleman, who performed during the event's opening ceremonies, can be seen on his company website and in this image from my portfolio:

I think all of this information will be helpful when it comes to figuring out what to charge for my services and where I'm most likely to get the biggest return for my efforts. If I can snag this event again next year, one thing I may want to consider to help increase sales is hiring some assistants for these events so I have the manpower to edit photos on the scene and have prints ready to purchase the very next day. I was also able to convince the NBS's newsletter editor to include an ad in her upcoming issue giving members links to my photo galleries online. I traded the free advertising for some free prints she will use in her newsletter, but I'm convinced the added exposure will net me more sales to come.