MOVE month: SWOT analysis
Part of my MOVE month was to complete a SWOT. What’s that?
A SWOT for photographers is essentially a check-in of who you are and what context or environment surrounds you. Strengths and Weaknesses are your internal factors - what are you good at and where do you see improvement? Opportunities and Threats are external factors - what’s outside your walls that you can leverage or that may pose barriers?
A SWOT Analysis for photography businesses is helpful in many ways:
You may have never done a SWOT and therefore you don’t know where you’re strong or weak. We all have talents and you never know when one might pop up to contribute to your life/business. We also have weaknesses. Being in denial or trying to ignore them won’t make them go away - they just haunt you in the recesses of your mind (like a cluttered closet). Knowing where you suck helps you find solutions for not sucking!
You may have not done a SWOT in a while. As life marches ever onwards, our hobbies change, our life experiences unfold, we may have moved, and we add or remove areas of strength or see new areas of weakness (or have conquered one!). You really need to know what makes you tick, in order to be successful; the sum of who you are is what drives you forward, and helps to determine your vision and direction.
You see what’s beyond your walls. New housing developments, restaurants, cafes you should know about? Neighbourhoods going under or transitioning? Farms drying up? Knowing what’s going on in your area helps you keep a pulse of where you might fit in. A new coffee shop may be a great place for client consults or even a lifestyle photoshoot. A new condo development may mean an influx of new families - your target clientele. A farm drying up may mean you can no longer use that wonderful field for your annual Spring portrait sessions. A local photography meetup has is being advertised - could mean a great opportunity to meet and collaborate with other photographers or could mean that a photographer in your area is branching into some new marketing strategies and you want to know how that affects you.
The magic of a SWOT is how it can help you determine marketing strategies that actually work for you. How?
When you get all of this stuff out on paper, you can start mapping links.
Knowing who you are (S,W) helps you determine who you want to work with and develop a strong client profile. It’s not to say that your ideal client is exactly like you. They might be, but they don’t have to be. You may not be one to pay your prices, but you want your clients to! But it helps determine characteristics that are kindred. You are a relaxed person with a relaxed shooting style. Thus, you likely are looking for clients who are also laid-back and appreciate that quality, in a session that’s never rushed. Ah, and here you can even find a kernel of branding and potentially a point of differentiation - advertising that you only shoot one session per day in order to give your clients time and space and yourself the time to be at your ultimate creativity. It doesn’t mean a 5 hour shoot, but it may mean 1.5-2 hours, and things naturally wrap up when clients feel done and you all feel satisfied with the work done. If you know that everyone else in your area does back to back marathons, this could the refreshing alternative to focus on and bring business to your door.
So let’s take a look at the magical aspect of a SWOT building you some marketing strategies
Strength: Really great in person; outgoing, like to put together sets/ props
Opportunity: New children’s boutique just opened near you
Potential strategy: Approach the boutique owner about doing a photo session at their location by creating a launch party - where the invited customers are allowed to have their kids try on the clothing and then get a portrait in said clothing.
Wins: Sharing of client bases to invite to the event, well-dressed children in front of your camera, capturing email and permission to send photos and add them to a mailing list for future offers, having people meet you in person, and building trust and credibility and leaving you top of mind when they need a photographer, future collaborations with the store owner, new friendship, potential to display your work on the boutique walls….
Weakness: Staying organized. You’ve identified that you’re not good at this, so a solution would be to hire an assistant or 2 for the event - one to greet and manage the crowds, the other to take down names and contact information, frame numbers.
Threat: Other photographers in your area also know this new boutique just opened and someone else may have already contacted them or is trying to find a way to work with them. One solution is to prepare some inspirational imagery that will demonstrate how well you can showcase the boutique’s clothing, and draft a proposal regarding how your talents can be of service to the boutique owner better than the competition. Because you’re great in person, you will make a face-to-face appointment (where others may have just emailed), and you’ll bring a small gift too, like chocolate as a welcome to the neighbourhood. I’ll bet few photographers (who are less skilled in marketing because you found this blog but they haven’t lol) will have such a great strategy, and all this may turn a threat into an opportunity to ask for exclusivity - and get it!
Are you yearning to find some magic and to uncover some marketing strategies that have an increased chance of working for you because they come from a true reflection of you and what you want, go grab a white board or some paper and get to it! Would love to hear how this process works for you - tell me in the comments!
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