Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

The only real way to tell if you are spending too much on marketing, or if a particular marketing program is too expensive, is to quantize things. That said, it is very difficult to do.

To calculate whether a program is too expensive, you look at the cost of the program versus the benefit. What you want to do is calculate the cost per new business gained. After a while of doing this, you figure out what an acceptable cost ratio is for this. Challenge is that it is hard to track new business, particularly when people may see multiple programs you do, or they don't come in immediately off of a program (so a program may have been the source, but you don't capture it as such).

The bigger question of too much marketing, you look at how much new business each program adds, and whether adding more marketing adds enough new business to justify the cost. In theory, you will only add the most effective new marketing programs first, but that requires that you be good at determining the cost-benefits of each program.

This all said, I think there are certain basics that each business would need if they are in business. I would think a photographer need a place to show prior photos taken and what type of work you do (likely a web site and some form of printed document). I suggest you take a look at other photographers and see what they are using for this.

If you made $100 on every $1 you spent on marketing...you tell ME how much is too much. You can never spend too much on good marketing. You'll always spend too much on poor marketing.

So, you need to be able to measure the ROI on what you do.

Holiday marketing is always a good idea....not certain your second idea would go over well.

Stop buying "stuff" and work on generating sales. If you are in your office and the phone isn't ringing, you need to pick up the phone and call someone or go to the companies in the area to see if they are interested in company picnic pictures....photoshopped over the company logo. Maybe they have people retiring? Maybe they don't have a marketing department and their sales office could use your expertise.

Just thoughts.

Michael

Dear Jcmuhammad,

Agree 110% with Phil: marketing is NOT an expense, it's a huge investment. An investment in YOU. Got that?

Marketing that brings in less in gross revenue than it costs you to produce the stuff has a negative return. In the beginning, this loss leader could be your saving grace, but only if you have a significant back end program already to roll out (see below).

Marketing that brings you $100's worth of business for every $100 you spend on the stuff at least breaks you even, but the most crucial thing is that this break even stance GETS YOUR NAME OUT THERE.

Your Photoshop skills could be the ace up your sleeve, but for pity's sake, don't tell your customers you're "not the best photographer".

It's negative and right now, you need to be tooting your horn as loudly (but as tastefully) as possible.

To build your business, avoid negatives as you would a venomous snake. Instead, position yourself as the "go to" person for all kinds of retouching. And if you take on a job that's out of your depth, farm the damn thing out to someone more skilled than you via www.elance.com.

Check the elance person's rates, add in your mark up, and charge your customer accordingly. But you MUST sort this out ahead of time (meaning, before you offer a more complete service). Get this right and you'll be ahead of your competition.

Many people don't agree with this but there's nothing wrong with outsourcing. You'd be stunned at the number of big name companies that do it for huge contracts. As a productivity and revenue enhancer it makes great business sense and it also builds your credibility as the "retouching guru".

and if people ask you can truthfully say that "Our team of crack professionals will make your photos look like new or ..." insert your guarantee here.

Holiday packages. Love the idea but personally, the thought of a dead relative in the background of my family groups freaks me out. Who knows, certain cultures might feel better about this, but this leads to my next point.

Who is your target audience?

If you say "Everyone!", you run the risk of being clubbed you pulpy with your camera. Everyone is NOT your customer. Your customer is a mom or a dad, a grandparent, or a business owner. Your customer is a person with a photographic need: a portrait, a wedding, or an anniversary. Identify this person and their need, then fill that need and fill it with more value than anyone else in your area. you'll thank me for this one day.

Consider sending marketing material out to new moms and dads that offers a package: "Your baby's first year of cuddly cuteness!"
or something along those lines. Consider a membership scheme where your prospect pays a certain, fixed amount per month, for which they get such and such an offer four times per year, plus prints to send to the family.

Holidays are great, and there are dozens of them. Kids love dressing up, so how about a July 4th event, then a Labour Day shindig, then Halloween (costumes galore dear boy and why not partner with a local costume shop while you're at it?), then Thanksgiving, then pictures on Santa's lap and every snotty, drooling bundle of chubbiness gets a gift and mom an dad get keepsakes they'll treasure for a lifetime.

THIS is where your marketing becomes an investment. Why? because when you engage a family's emotions, suddenly, you're no longer offering people "just" a photographic service, you're offering them the chance to reminisce, you're giving them an emotional life jacket, something they'll cling to when times are rough, something that will permit them to "remember when ...?".

They may smile, they may laugh, sigh, shudder, and even, sometimes, choke back tears. But they'll never forget.

Don't believe me? Watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2bLNkCqpuY

I hope this helps.

Good luck to you. May your business flourish for decades to come.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE USA.

Many, many reactions. But the one that got me first is your mention that you plan to charge LESS than your competitors. That sounds like the wrong strategy to me.

Your price is an expression of what YOU think your services are worth. It's not reassuring to think that you're telling your customers that you are worth less than your competitors. And charging less will mean you have lower gross profit and can't afford as much marketing to generate new business.

It's a vicious circle when you don't charge enough. Sure you can raise prices later, but then you have left all that extra cash on the table at a time when you need it most. And you've established with your customer base that you're the cheap alternative, not the best.

Hope you'll reconsider the pricing strategy.

Before you spend any (more) money on your marketing, first figure out who's interested in hiring you. Talk to people. Ask questions. Find out when/why they want a photographer in your area. How do they choose a photographer? Why don't they use their own digital camera to take pictures? How much is it worth to them to have the pictures (and what do they plan to do with then once they have them)?

Once you understand the mindset, then you can figure out how to market yourself. It's not about clever - it's figuring out people's needs and being the best one to solve them. If you're not a good photographer (yet), hire an assistant who is. Focus on the experience you provide a potential client and solving their needs.

Otherwise, you're likely to spend money and time and get frustrated that nothing "works".

If you are spending on marketing and not getting sales, then you are spending too much and in the wrong way.

As a small business you must be lazar sharp in your marketing. Its results that count, not dollars spent.

I'm traveling, and don't have it on this PC, but if you email and remind me, when I get back I can send you the guerrilla marketing 7 step marketing plan.

The plan I developed and supplements the plan, is my automatic salesperson system. We build a month of markting activities, that you track on a spradsheet. The idea is good, daily marketing habits make sales happen automatically. How many times a month can you commit to marketing, bridlal fairs? Who can you fusion market with. All zero or no cost action items that are geared to sales and results. And if something doesn't work-- stop it- don't spend time and money on something that does not work!