Market thyself! - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

01/08/2007 07:09:00 PM · #1

What do you do to market yourself to get the business you need in order to pay for the next pizza delivery?
Do you post business cards on buletins at stores?
do you have brochures set out at specialty shops?
What do you do...give me ideas!

PurpleFire

Canon EOS-7D

01/08/2007 07:11:52 PM · #2

Place an ad undercutting everyone by at least 20%!

fotomann_forever

01/08/2007 07:12:37 PM · #3

Originally posted by PurpleFire:

Place an ad undercutting everyone by at least 20%!

That's not very nice :-P

PurpleFire

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM

01/08/2007 07:20:10 PM · #4

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Originally posted by PurpleFire:
Place an ad undercutting everyone by at least 20%!

That's not very nice :-P

use it or loose it my friend ;-)

tiggermo

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/08/2007 07:23:02 PM · #5

I think Word of Mouth is your best bet...sure you can leave business cards and post flyers, but you don't want to attract the slugs:) And most importantly, market yourself with your attitude! If you are sweet, which it sounds like you are, and you let the customer have it their way, and be there for THEM and not for youself....the word of mouth will spread like wildfire!

I saw your profile.... you do great work! Sell yourself.

Spork99

Canon EOS M6 Mk II

Canon EF-M 22mm STM Lens

01/08/2007 07:23:15 PM · #6

Originally posted by PurpleFire:

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Originally posted by PurpleFire:
Place an ad undercutting everyone by at least 20%!

That's not very nice :-P

use it or loose it my friend ;-)

Sure, sell at a loss to gain marketshare. That's a pretty stupid idea unless you're in business to give away money.

fotomann_forever

01/08/2007 07:24:49 PM · #7

Originally posted by Spazmo99:

Originally posted by PurpleFire:

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

Originally posted by PurpleFire:
Place an ad undercutting everyone by at least 20%!

That's not very nice :-P

use it or loose it my friend ;-)

Sure, sell at a loss to gain marketshare. That's a pretty stupid idea unless you're in business to give away money.

I do actually do Free shoots from time to time to get more word of mouth... but... under-cutting the competition by that much (at least here) wouldn't be to my best interest.

01/08/2007 07:33:58 PM · #8

Originally posted by tiggermo:

Thanks!!
So far I have been doing a snail paced marketing on myself...I wanted to be sure of myself more before I committed myself to large money making shoots. However THIS year will be different for me.
I spent this last year mourning the death of my father and reflecting on my work becoming inspired to do better and now I think I have reached a place where Im comfortable telling people that I will work for a certain amount of $$ ather than settling for less than what I think Im worth. Ive spent the last year learning more and applying my knowledge towards my photos and I think its finally paying off!
So NOW.....how to market...I dont have a lot of cash so its realy and i mean REALLLLLY gonna be tough for me to market and not have all the right tools...little by little I will be getting them though. I have lots of friends and peers that are cheering me along and helping in anyway they can.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/08/2007 07:36:29 PM · #9

Now and then I do free shots as well. I also will post a photo of me that a fellow "tog" took of me, and I will post a link to that persons website, and that friend will do the same in return...so Im getting exposure...just not enough how can I get more exposure, where do I go, who do I talk to what kindso f paraphenelia should I put out there to bring them to me besides my photos?

tiggermo

Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

01/08/2007 08:06:23 PM · #10

Yes...I do free sittings all of the time! People only then have to pay for whatever prints they want. Now, I try to get at least 10 families at a time, to make it worth my while. But the families know they are getting a good deal. Also, I love to do sports photography. I do the portrait packages for the little league types of teams. When the parents see my work and my quick turnaround and my low prices, they almost always inquire about family sittings or other types of sittings.

When you pass out your finished work, make sure you enclose a couple of business cards for your clients to pass out. Make sure your envelopes have your return information on them. You can do this with your own printer...you don't have to do anything expensive.

those are a few ideas....good luck!

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

01/08/2007 08:15:50 PM · #11

Here's something that might give you some ideas:
Being an Artist in Business

And another one:
Selling Your Photographs

And one more:
Selling Your Photographs at Art Shows

If I were trying to make a business out of my photography, I would try to meet people that have actually managed to do that, and then pick their brains. :)

Good luck!

fotomann_forever

01/08/2007 08:26:25 PM · #12

Originally posted by Mick:

Here's something that might give you some ideas:
Being an Artist in Business

And another one:
Selling Your Photographs

And one more:
Selling Your Photographs at Art Shows

Nice links Mick...

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/08/2007 08:44:34 PM · #13

Great links thank!!!!

Ive acually been chatting a lot with Wayne Wallace //www.waynewallace.com/blog/index.html and several others getting ideas and advice...

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

01/08/2007 08:45:59 PM · #14

Not wanting to repeat what I said earlier today... take a look at this thread and read the 12th post (from me posted at 01/08/2007 08:07:37 AM). I show some examples of cards I give away at the wedding reception. Which, without being blatant ads, manage to drum up "word of mouth" type business without waiting for the word of mouth. :-)

Truegsht

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

Canon EF 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM

01/08/2007 08:51:55 PM · #15

Originally posted by fotomann_forever:

[quote=PurpleFire] Place an ad undercutting everyone by at least 20%!

This would be good for me because my photography is at least 80% worse that everyone else!