Promo Cards

It has been awhile sense my last post so I figured I would kick things off again. Considering the current economical state right now a key factor to staying in business is going to be your marketing and part of your marketing in my opinion should be printed promos. You don't have to go all out with this and spend a ton of money just keep it simple and consistent. Here is my most recent promo card.

And here is the backside with just my logo and address.

I am sending out one image on an 5x7 card each month to a very select list of people. The cost is low but it still keeps my name rolling around the industry which is the key to getting the phone to ring. On top of print promos monthly email promos are an obvious choice as they can be sent to a much wider audience for very little money.

All good again...

So I got the blog back up looking good again. I might have forgotten a few links that I used to have listed but I will add them back as I remember.

Whoops...

Sorry I accidentally loaded the wrong blog template over the top of this one and lost everything. Hopefully I can get it back to what it was by the end of the day.

Me vs. You marketing

When it comes to marketing our businesses it is very important that we focus on the needs of our potential clients. It is our job to provide photographic services to fill their needs, whether it’s a need for an image to sell soft drinks or a family’s need for a Christmas portrait we are here to provide. When it comes to your marketing and business identity it’s not about selling how awesome and cool you are it’s about letting the client know you understand their needs and how you can fulfill them. I see photographers all the time using “me” marketing. They talk about all the cool stuff they have done or all the equipment they have but in the end that’s not what will sell the client. They need you to let them know how you are the best option for providing the photographic services that they need.

When it comes to your website, your print promo material etc. make sure you write things in a way that tells the client how you will be able to fulfill their needs. It’s not supposed to be a superhero bio about you.

Oh yeah and stop listing off every single piece of equipment you own. The only person that cares is you and it certainly doesn’t give you any credibility. In the end every job is different and may require different equipment to get the job done right. You don’t want to relate your creative abilities to an equipment list.

Links, Links and More Links

I just spent some time putting together a list of all sorts of interesting and helpful links that I added to the sidebar of the blog. Start checking them out I promise you wont be disappointed.

If you have a link you think I should include shoot me an email at info@allehphotography.com

Zack Arias: Transfrom

I just watched the recent video by Zach Aries. His words really hit home for me. Our lives as photographers are a gift. We have freedoms that other people will never experience but I too always attack myself and beat myself up. As a young photographer just starting out I am always wondering. Will I ever make it? Can I actually do this? Will I someday come up with something that people will actually stop dead in there track to look at? The comparison game can eat you alive. Always looking at images trying to find excuses for why I haven’t done something like it myself. We are all compelled as artist by the love and passion we have for photography. Our life long goal to create something that will allow us to be remembered for our vision. We all have the ability to offer something new because we are all individuals; we just have to look inside ourselves to find it rather that at everyone else.



Check out Zach's blog here

Give it to us for FREE please

I figure nobody who actually reads business related photography blogs would actually go for this but it just frustrates me that companies keep getting more and more self entitled when it comes to photography.

This post came up on Boston craigslist recently and it is absolutely ridicules.

The Ad:

Photographers Needed for New Media/Mobile Content Company (Boston)

Reply to: vodophoto_boston@live.com
Date: 2008-05-21, 2:25AM EDT


VodoModo.com seeks proactive, creative, service-oriented individuals to play a key role as Photographers. Using your own equipment, you would takes photographs of buildings and locations in the city in which you reside.

VodoModo.com is a breakthrough company offering multimedia rich tours of travel destinations for delivery to mobile devices.

We are looking for photographers that have the necessary equipment to take high resolution digital photographs of building and locations, primarily shots of the outside, but sometimes inside photographs. We are looking for a variety of images for each location ranging from statutes, busts, architectural elements, close ups of fixtures and ornamental elements, wide angle including surroundings, at day, night, dusk, dawn, different angles - pretty much anything and everything you can think of from a creative photography perspective.

You would grant us an irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive royalty free license to use your photographs in our mobile tours. In exhange, we would include a credit line in the credits as well as on our website for each tour in which your photographs are used. As a worldwide mobile content producer, you will receive incredible exposure to advance your photography career.

If you are interested, send an email to vodophoto_boston@live.com including a link to see sample of your work online or some samples as attachments.

Best Regards,

VodoModo.com

BTW - Our website is password protected because we are in a quiet period in advance of our official launch later this summer


Basically they are looking for thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of photographic content for free. Honestly I think it will be a slow death for the company as this is no way to gain content for a website. Look at the amount of negative publicity Ford has faced with there fiesta campaign website that pulls content from a flickr group they created. At least Ford didn’t ask people to go out and actually take specific photographs for them then provide a royalty free irrevocable license. I actually think the idea is pretty good but they will get both bad publicity from there tactics and the content they do provide will most likely be low quality and come in so slow they will never get off the ground.