The internet has done great things to help us market ourselves as photographers, and social media in specific has made it possible for us to reach a large audience even easier. It is a double-edged sword though. While it's true that you can reach more people now, the same is true for everyone else. The social media space has become very crowded and the perceived barriers to entry in becoming a “photographer” have gone down significantly because of this.

Standing Out

How do you stand out marketing yourself as a photographer online, then? Well, that is a whole other discussion, but I would suggest that a good place to start is to go “back to the basics” and adapt an offline component to your marketing strategy. Let's quickly recall a few of the online marketing strategies that we use today, along with a few buzzwords that have become commonplace:

• Social media
• Social networking
• Engagement on Facebook
• Content marketing on our blogs
• RT's and @ mentions of other businesses on Twitter

What would it look like if we stripped away the “online” component to these terms and strategies?

• Social media
• Social networking
• Engagement on Facebook
• Content marketing on our blogs
• RT's and @ mentions of other businesses on Twitter

We're left with media, networking, engagement, content marketing and relationship building. It's no surprise that these are the foundations of “traditional” business marketing, and we've just adapted them to social media and the internet. A lot of the time, though, we've forgotten about the roots of where they came from. Let's explore.

• Media is defined as the main means of mass communication (television, radio, newspapers).
• Networking means to interact with other people to exchange information and develop contacts, especially to further one's career.
• Engagement is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumers and invites and encourages them to participate in the evolution of a brand.
• Content marketing is defined as providing consistent, high-quality content that solves people's problems.
• Relationship building is a marketing strategy that recognizes the long-term value of relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages.

The Foundations of Marketing

Using these marketing foundations as a starting point, I would suggest the following 5 ways that you can use the basics of business marketing to increase your local awareness offline and ultimately get more business: speaking, networking, press, co-marketing and direct-mail.

I am a big believer in the idea of being specific, giving examples and taking action on what we learn. All articles that I write for my educational website Sprouting Photographer ends with an “action item” that gives a specific point of follow-up. For this article, I'd like to give 18 examples of how you can put into play each of these 5 marketing basics right away.

Speaking

• Give a presentation to a local business clubs re: business portraits.
• Give a presentation to the local Rotary Club about what you do as a photographer.
• Present to a Mom group re: family and child portraits.
• Put on a workshop to teach the basics of photography at the library.

Networking

• Seek out local business associations such as the Chamber of Commerce or a local BIA and become a regular attendee to the networking meetings. Focus on building relationships and not just handing out business cards.
• Personally reach out to local business owners and connect one-on-one. See how you can help each other.
• Attend local niche trade shows and network with the organizers, sponsors and businesses. If you specialize in family portraits for example, a “home show” would likely have many businesses that serve a similar market as you do. This would be a great networking opportunity.

Press

• Donate to a cause and attach your name to a newsworthy event/charity.
• Volunteer your time locally.
• Offer help to the local media – maybe they need photographs, or perhaps they'd like your opinion on a photograph-related topic.
• Send press releases once you've built an established relationship with the local paper.
• Offer to write a column in the paper.

Co-Marketing

• Offer to decorate local businesses with wall portraits and wall art. Display your business card with it.
• Run a promotion with a local business that has a similar audience as yours. You can share each in each other's customer base.
• Exchange a stack of business cards with local like-minded business owners and offer to help market each other.
• Offer a local business a few gift certificates to give their top-tier clients as a gift from them.

Direct-Mail Postcard Mailings

• Come up with a specific, time-sensitive offer and mail it to 10,000 homes in the area via a post-card drop.
• Repetition is key – plan to do one per month for at least 6 months.

Creating a well-rounded marketing plan is crucial for long-term success as a photographer. We need to include online and offline marketing strategies to ensure that we are in front of as many prospective clients as possible. The ultimate testimony to a consistent offline local marketing initiative is when your clients start telling you that they “see you everywhere” – that is a well-executed branding and awareness campaign!

Blog post version 1: marketing for photographers

I wrote a draft of this blog post with some very generic information about marketing for photographers. Then I read it. And I didn’t like it! I didn’t think it was as valuable to you as it could be.

As I was reading it I was thinking “how many times have I read this kind of stuff before?” And the answer is too many times to count.

How much value to you is some generic information that is written by someone who doesn’t know your situation, doesn’t know who you are, what you love, what you hate, what your goals and dreams are? Someone who doesn’t know what type of photographer you are or who your clients are.

So it was back to the drawing board…

Blog post version 2: smart marketing for smart photographers

This second version of the blog post is completely different.

This blog post is not for everyone.

This blog post is not for you if you want some generic marketing strategies handed to you on a platter.

This blog post is for people who want to find the marketing strategies that are really effective at attracting more of the right kinds of clients – for YOU!

This blog post is for people who are willing to do some work!

So, are you up for the challenge?

You can reach your goals. And you can get all the clients you need. But it’s going to take some work. And the work starts now.

In this first of 5 blog posts we are going to work through some of the basics. These are things you should have clear in your head before you even think about building a SMART marketing plan.

They are:

Marketing basics

Your message

Your ideal client

Your philosophy/beliefs/values

About you, the photographer(s)

What do you have that is unique and worth talking about (remarkable)?

What have past clients loved and talked about?

What is the #1 reason why clients should/would choose you?

What other things do you offer that will make your ideal client sit up and take notice?

To help you on your way here’s an example:

Our message:

We photograph dogs and only dogs! We love our dogs – our furbabies – and know you love yours too. We are experts at capturing their quirky, unique and lovable personalities.

Our ideal client:

A couple, with no children, who are passionate about their dogs (they “are” their children). In their mid 40s, both working, with a disposable income and they can afford to invest in a photographic session with their beloved pet/s. They enjoy the stage of life they are at. They value their down time and love nothing more than to spend it with their dogs. They value (and can and will pay for) luxuries when it comes to their furbabies.

Our philosophy/beliefs/values:

Fun. Love. Laughter. We believe that life is too short not to have fun. We value love and laughter in both our personal lives and our business.

About you, the photographer(s):

We are L and P, husband and wife. Our passion is our furbabies many of whom have come to us as rescues having had difficult and traumatic pasts. For us though they are our children, we love them for all their quirks. We have been working together as a partnership in business since 1996. Out of this grew an interest in photography and we’ve discovered a way to blend the art that L loves so much with the technology that is P’s keen interest. We’ve decided life is too short to not enjoy what we do to earn a living so we’ve started our photography business and we love every minute of it.

What do you have that is unique?

Casual, relaxed atmosphere – we don’t mind getting down to their level and doing whatever it takes to get those great images. We love animals, this isn’t a job for us, it’s a passion – doggy kisses are ok!

What have others loved and talked about?

“They get to know our pets”
“They don’t rush, they’re happy to work with our pets and their moods”
“They are friendly and personable”
“They go the extra mile to get that perfect shot”

What is the #1 reason why clients would choose you?

We care! As two photographers, husband and wife, working intuitively together we know and love animals and will use that knowledge and passion to capture the uniqueness of your pets.

What other things will make your ideal client sit up and take notice?

We work to your pets’ timetable, not ours – it takes as long as it takes.
Working on location, in an environment your pet is happy in, allows for a relaxed, fun sitting and better photos.
We look for the quirky, unique and memorable moments.

Now, what’s next?

If you would like to send your marketing plan basics to me using this form, I will select one and use it as the case study for the next blog post: Your marketing mix. How's that? I'll basically be writing your marketing plan for you.

If you don’t wish to send it to me, no problem. Complete it, hold on to it and have it handy for the next blog post where we will take this information and work though the key marketing strategies that should make up your marketing mix.

Several weeks back, I mentioned Marketog, a 6-week course for photographers who want to put the buzz back in their photography business.

Several of you dove in and enrolled in the course using my affiliate link. Some of you discovered that it takes work to market your business. No surprises there that marketing your photography business takes work, but what Marketog does is that it gives you a solid framework to make it all happen for you.

Jamie Swanson, who designed the course, has opened the course up again for enrollment and she tells me it closes tonight (Sunday, March 9th).

She also tells me that she will definitely increase the price by $300, the next time she opens it up for enrollment either in the late summer or early fall. I have three words for you: Sign Up Now!

Not only will you save money, but you'll be a whole season ahead, establishing yourself as the-go-to photographer in town.

There is still an insane 45-day refund policy (you have to show that you have done all the exercises though). There is still the lifetime access to the course and knowing Jamie, Marketog will continue to get updated in some interesting ways. And then there is the helpful and private Facebook forum where ideas and inspiration keep flying back and forth so rapidly that you will never be left thinking you are in this alone. In fact, you will be in very good company. I am enrolled in this course.

You want in. I know it. I keep getting these private messages asking me what I think about Marketog. If it isn't the best thing for you, a) I wouldn't be recommending it and b) you can always get a refund (provided you do the work).

But I wondered what I could do to help you market your business and then it hit me.

No joke, I suspect the value of this interview with you is at least $500. Does that inspire you to sign up for Marketog now? I hope so.

So, that's how you put the buzz in your photography business.

But you are going to have to sign up for Marketog pretty quickly. At 11.59 pm EST tonight, the enrollment closes and my bonus offer vanishes as well. I look forward to connecting with you.

Happy New Year to you all. If you partied hard last night, I hope you are hydrating yourself back to health.

Chalk it up to being married with children, but I spent the evening tinkering with my new website. Yes, it is coming and may in fact launch today, if I can get my photo editing all done. I am excited about what 2014 is going to bring me, my business and my family.

I am pivoting, changing course by focusing on one kind of photography: creating relaxed portraits of love for families in the community I live in. I dug deep down to answer why that was important for me to do. As you’ll see in the new site, it’s personal.

Marketing, too, needs to be personal. It needs to be heart-felt and authentic or else your clients are going to seek out someone else who resonates with them. It’s just the way it goes. As much time as I spend online – Facebook and Twitter – the best marketing takes place when you meet your potential clients face to face. Still, it’s not easy to describe what your heart is set to do for them or their family.

That’s where Marketog comes in. It is a 6-week program for photographers like you and I. When Jamie Swanson of The Modern Tog let me know she was launching this, I had to sign up.

Here in brief are the 6 topics she covers in Marketog:

How to get more of the right kinds of clients
How to turn inquiries into clients: 6 game-changing strategies
How to turn your website into an inquiry-generating machine
How to get repeat clients and more word-of-mouth advertising
How to get other business owners to send you their best clients
Your marketing toolkit for effective marketing

If you want 2014 to be different than 2013 (heck, I do), I wholly recommend you sign up for Jamie’s course between now and this coming Sunday, when registration closes.

In all honesty, I am a little behind in the course and need to finish the worksheets and watch the videos in the last few modules. That said, Marketog has given me an incredible sense of confidence in marketing my new business that I would have never had without Jamie’s able teaching.

She offers weekly Q&A sessions where she offers to answer your individual questions. Yes, you send in questions and she takes the time to respond to every one of them. No one and I mean no one does this in their courses. In fact, I quit another marketing program because Jamie’s was exactly what I wanted and needed right now.

Jamie also has a private Facebook group that is full of engaging discussions (no whining, ranting or bitching allowed, so it is free of drama) about the course, any questions you feel your peers may be able to answer and of course success stories.

Lastly, you get to hear from photographers around the world who are marketing their photography businesses using specific strategies that you may consider incorporating in your business.

You get to choose between paying 8 monthly installments of $79 or $499 up-front and save 21% right off the bat. Either way, signing up now before registration closes on Sunday would be a smart move on your part.

On the fence about all of this? I get it. Dropping five large ones right after Christmas is no fun. But what if you could recover that cost within two photo sessions in the new year? Do you think that’s do-able? I think so. Follow the steps Jamie outlines in the course. Try it out for 44 days even (she has a crazy 45-day unconditional money back guarantee which I was going to talk her out of offering) and then make your final decision. Sound fair?

Click here to enroll in Marketog now.

Psst … Sign up for the Tiffinbox Treats newsletter for a couple of bonuses I am offering ONLY to subscribers.

Friends from Inspire Photo Retreats, welcome!! Read the post, watch the interview below and then scroll down some more for some special offers just for you!

Gary Vaynerchuk knows a thing or two about selling wine. But he also knows how you (yes, you) can stand out in a noisy, social world. He has even written a book about it and it comes out today!

Gary is an energetic entrepreneur who someday wants to own the NY Jets. He is also frenetically involved in social media. Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr are his chosen platforms and he dominates each one like no other. I've been following him online, watching his videos (about wine or running business) and have read his books, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion & The Thank You Economy, cover to cover. I love his tell-it-like-it-is style of writing and his fearlessness to experiment to see what works and what doesn't.

Like the last time, when Gary launched his book, The Thank You Economy, I had the opportunity to sit down with him to about his new book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How To Tell Your Story In A Noisy, Social World.

Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook launches today, so if you get the chance, buy it right away. Make it part of your winter reading.

Here, however thanks to this interview's sponsors, ShootProof & Queensberry Albums, you now have a chance to win ONE of 50 copies that will be given away.

Simply follow these 5 steps to be entered into the drawing:

1) Post a comment or ask a question that's pertinent to this new book below (include a valid email address)
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5) Share This Post on your Twitter or Faceboook accounts and use these hashtags – #tiffinbox #jjjrh

Winners will be notified by email. So, please include an email in the comments section below. If you don't have a valid email address or if I can't contact you, you forfeit the book and it will be shipped to the next person I choose.

Good luck and happy reading!