2008 - Pre-planning Children's Portraits - Advice

[photobykim]

ok so I am working on getting back to my roots and passion, children's portraits. For the last 3 years I have been doing weddings and have just really come to realize that my heart is not in it. I watched Mike and Cody at the workshop talk about shooting weddings and just really realized that I will never have that sort of passion for weddings. When I first started learning and really getting into photography 9 years ago it was because of my niece, so really my roots in photography is with children and in the last 9 years having had my own kids, I find I get the most excited when I create beautiful images of them.

All that being said. I am trying to work out the best way to get my name out and marketing and all of that for 2008. I'm going to take the rest of 2007 to really lay out a plan and get all my ducks in a row and figure out what I need to get taken care of and figure out my plan of attack.

So those of you that find yourselves to be sucessful in this course of business any advice or suggestions would be really great. I am totally open. I currently do not have a studio. I do have a small portable studio, backdrop stand and a couple of lights.

Thank you in advance!

[HotHolly]

Good for you! Realizing what your passions are will make you more successful. So kudos on that.

Umm...and I don't know how to answer your questions and not take up the whole post. There are SO many things you can do to get your name out there and bring clients to you. One of the main things is that you have to realize that you need to bring clients to you - they usually don't walk in on their own accord. Especially if you are new or changing from another area - like weddings. Create concrete goals and track everything. That will tell you what is working and what isn't.

Take some marketing classes (doesn't have to be mine ), read books - especially those on sales and closing sales. Purchasing children's portraits is a very emotional purchase. We've gotten our family sessions to gross over $1,000 per session. I'm bumping the $2K line now. The sales aspect is VERY important.

YOU CAN DO IT!!! Hooray for you!

My daughter is singing at school in about 10 mins. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

[photobykim]

holly -- any specific books you'd recommend as far as marketing or business? let me know when your bringing your class back to DFW. If I have anymore questions I will let you know.

thanks!!

[Shelby Lane]

Kim, first of all, kudos to you for sitting down and making a plan ahead of time.

Pretty much my entire business is baby/child portrait photography. As Holly said, yes, it is definitely an emotional purchase. As far as marketing goes, you have to find the balance between tugging on those heartstrings (because their children will be children for such a short time, etc) and not being heavy handed.

I would start by thinking about who your ideal client would be, and I'm not talking income level. I'm talking about what they value. For me, most of my clients are professionals who want only the best for their children. Most of their kids go to the top "preschool" or private schools in the area. They have the top rated (and usually most expensive) baby gear. And they love the idea of documenting that first year because it really does fly by. I figured out where these people shopped, played, worked, ate, and took their kids to school and made sure I was visible in some of those places. I also rely heavily on word of mouth. My goal was to have them tell their friends "my husband is going to be upset because I spent so much money with Shelby Lane, but it was worth it." Our average for a baby club sale (minus the membership fee) is about $900, and for a regular kid, baby, or family session (meaning they probably come in once a year) is about $1200, so this type of marketing has worked well for me. But these target clients of mine can also sense insincerity, so if I don't believe in what I do, or in what I'm telling them about their children, they won't either.

So once you figure out what this target market is, you can set your price point (although I'm sure you've already run your numbers to figure out what you need to charge, etc, and have budgeted for growth) and set up your marketing calendar and campaign for the year. Personally, I do not do lists and mailers. I can tell you right now that my particular clients do not respond well to "special discount offers." But I do know others who it has worked for. My best advice, though, is to figure out where these clients are spending their time and try to work out some sort of partnership with these places, to display your work, hand out your cards, or do a cross-promotion.

Good luck and happy planning! :)

[Shelby Lane]

Oh, and marketing books. Guerrilla Marketing and the 22 Immutable Laws of Branding are two of my favorites.

[HotHolly]

This one book is really great and it is specifically about CLOSING a sale. If you have ever had someone where you thought they were gonna buy and then they didn't - it means the close was messed up. Closing the sale can really help you. And the book is called...The Art of Closing the Sale. It is very practical so you can read it and try it out. It also nails out many many times, if it comes across that you are trying to make a sale, people get turned off and won't buy. Anyway - I'd start with that one. It totally sucks to go out get clients and have everything fall apart when they don't buy anything.

And, a personal note, Belle's has not had much luck with pre-selling packages. And when we do it tends to under-sell what I would have if I'd waited for the proofs. Discounting doesnt work too well for us either. Like Shelby said, our demographic doesn't care too much about that. They happily pay full price - which we priced to induce sticker shock and give bragging rights - and they do.

And in the end, you are selling you. An experience with Kimberly. Don't underestimate that part. Your website seems to be keying into the magic idea. You could totally run with that. Disney World and all their marketing revolves around providing a magical experience with their brand. Sending ya a PM. ;o)

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by Shelby Lane

Oh, and marketing books. Guerrilla Marketing and the 22 Immutable Laws of Branding are two of my favorites.

I read both of those too - the branding thing is great. Is that the branding book that has all the stuff about Orville Redenbacher? I thought the section on him was so funny.