As a photographer, you might be an expert on all things with a camera. You can edit photos with the best of them, make Regular Joes look like models, and turn a regular situation into something magical.
Some people decide to turn their passion for photography and editing into a full-time job while others decide to make it a part time thing. You’re around during wedding season or you could be taking portraits throughout the entire year.
Whatever your business plan is, you’ll have to eventually rely on a more in-depth marketing strategy besides word of mouth. While it’s true that word of mouth is one of the most powerful forms of advertising and marketing, you want to have a place where people can find you and your business.
Here are five beginner tips for those looking to grow their business and expand their career.
Be Online
You’d be surprised that in this day and age, around 50% of small businesses don’t have a website. That means no significant online profile! Even if you’re taking pictures part-time, one of the essential ways to broadcast your work and make it easy for people to find you is by having a website. A good looking one at that.
Your first step is choosing a domain name. Make it something that is relevant to you, your business, and your location. That will make you easier to find when people head online to search for a photographer.
Taking it up a level, make it an ecommerce website, allowing clients to purchase photos or packages online. Making the process as easy as possible for consumers is a way to make sure you have plenty of return clients. Easier is always better.
Research Some Basic SEO
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a way to organically bring traffic to your website. So when people search “photographer X city”, yours will be one of the ones at the top. No one ever ventures far past page two.
One of the ways to boost your ranking is by using keywords. Keywords are words that are pertinent to your business. When Google sends out its bots across the web, they are trying to find the most relevant website for the one searching. They look for plenty of things, one of those being keywords.
If you’re not sure what keywords to use on your website, one great place to start is Google’s Keywords Planner. It’s a free tool that will help you improve your business.
The tutorial is pretty easy, as Google will guide you through the steps and help you find an appropriate goal for your business.
Another way to find the appropriate words is by looking at what your competitors are doing. See how they strategize and what words they use.
Use Social Media
Half of our planet’s population has a social media account, which means there are millions of eyes scrolling through feeds at any moment. One of the best ways to connect with potential consumers is by marketing your business through social media.
Making a page on Instagram or Facebook is incredibly easy (and free). It’s a way to show off your portfolio, connect with new and returning customers, or link up with influencers.
Ask customers or influencers who have used your services to tag you in their description. Even though views, likes, comments, and shares may not pay the bills, it’s a fantastic way to keep spreading your business to different eyeballs.
Ask for Reviews
With people going online for just about everything, reviews are a great way to increase your ranking and visibility, while gaining new customers.
Photo Source:http://www.waspbarcode.com/buzz/25-things-every-small-business-website-needs/
People are going to be checking out reviews to find the best option for what they’re looking for. While you may never reach a perfect five stars, you can still make sure you’re thanking customers for positive reviews and trying to respond and resolve any negative ones.
Reviews can help a business grow or doom them before they’re really off the ground.
Use Promotions, But Don’t Rely on Them
Promotions and giveaways are fantastic! Everyone loves winning something or receiving something at a discounted price or for free. One way to help get your business off the ground is by using certain promotions or deals.
It’s especially useful because you may struggle to build up clientele at the beginning and your webpage could be barren. Offer to take photos at a discount price before working your way up to regular packages.
It’s important to remember that promotions shouldn’t be the lifeblood of your business. Running time-limited promotions is great for awhile, but it may cause people to always associate your business as a temporary need instead of a long-term solution.
