3 juicy tidbits from the Little Luxuries Handbook of how to elevate your photography marketing
I wrote the Little Luxuries chapter with one thing in mind: how to support photographers in elevating their business presence. I see so many struggling day-to-day and making common mistakes such as doing the same as they see their competition doing. And then trying to do it a little better. Photographer down the street offering sessions at 20 minutes? I’ll do 30 minutes! They charge $100? I’ll charge $80.
It’s like importing an image into a post-processing software and then only sliding 3 sliders up and down and wondering why the image isn’t finished beautifully. Because we forgot the rest of the panels!
The 3 sliders are usually time, price, files. Time slider goes up, file slider goes up, price slider goes down. Problem is, all the other photographer also have that same processing software and can play that game too.
Imagine 20 burger places decided to open all next to one another on the main street in your city. Yay, burgers! But wait, how do I pick which one to eat at? With a restaurant you could technically eat at one per night and decide on your favourite, but it’s not a sound marketing strategy for any of those burger joints to open and look just like the other. They must differentiate somehow to their potential clientele - this one specializes in the big mouth burger - stacked patties. This one is gourmet burgers with fancy cheeses. This one is sliders only, and the other is the biggest burger on the block. It just became easier for consumers to make a choice!
It’s unlikely in the burger example and unlikely in photography circles that people will sample all options methodically to hit upon their favourite. Up front, we need to differentiate and help them make the right choice (which is with us!) And we won’t do it with the things we are traditionally manipulating because all other photographers know these things and can do the same. Here are 3 juicy tidbits to elevate beyond the competition, from the Little Luxuries Guide. If you like what you read, buy the guide and 10x your business over the saturated photography market. You are ready to enter your own market, by changing your game.
Enter territory that others can’t or won’t enter
If a photographer down the street offers full sessions at $100, I think we can all agree they aren’t making much. So it’s unlikely that this photographer has any money to invest in the client experience beyond the session. In the Little Luxuries Chapter of The Gated Guide, I talk about how adding something premium or special to a business (be it a product, added service, location) differentiates because those who don’t have the budget can’t afford to do any anything premium. You can be the one to dare to venture into the territory of paying for something or even just asking for something (like exclusivity at a popular location) and opportunity can open up hugely. Charging sufficiently for your photography services is the pillar that activates these abilities which then set you apart (and on top of that, price sets you apart too, as many associate higher prices with higher quality). You have to be brave, but if you know that your client’s investment will allow you to invest and give them access to things or places that others can’t have, it’s often worth it to them. It plays on feelings of exclusivity and it’s a powerful motivation factor. This concept is developed further in the Handbook and gives examples of implementing this feature to generate several marketing opportunities.
2. Appeal to Senses
You sit at home most days behind a computer, in your sweats and a messy bun. Sometimes we feel introverted (or we actually are introverted) and because of these feelings, we may tend to stay in a shell. We may not extend much to clients beyond a few emails, a booking link, getting through the shoot and then delivering a gallery via email. Or, we just don’t know how to do it differently, so we stay small. But a client’s buying experience — the intangible energies and elements that swirl around the sale — can be as important, if not more so, than what they are actually buying. You may be sitting in a Michelin Star restaurant but if you see the Mâitre d’ disrespectfully berating an employee in full view, that experience around your food — no matter how delicious that plate is — could lead you to leave or at least never patronize that establishment again. The Little Luxuries Chapter of Fresh Flower Power touches on this very underrated and largely un-tapped aspect and you might be surprised at the psychology behind not only flowers, but appealing to clients in multi-sensorial ways - and connecting those aspects through your brand. This strategy goes well beyond sliding around price or number of images! I’ll bet that few to no photographers have considered this aspect, making it yours for the taking in your corner of the world!
3. Leave learned comfort zones to market your photography effectively
I frequently hear how photographers undermine their own marketing attempts because of opinions they have formed or feelings of discomfort. For example, many report that they don’t send their offers out often (through email or media) because they don’t want to pester or annoy people, even though it’s a tried and true market strategy with a solid success rate.
I think marketing is a struggle for people because of this aspect - that we are told to do certain things, like send out a campaign multiple times, but then it hits up against our own discomforts and it causes friction. And no one likes friction so they don’t do the marketing thing!
The Little Luxuries chapter on the First Mover Welcome Message is a great example. As the title hints, you want to be the one who moves first because first is often the winner. Yes, I know that slow and steady sometimes wins the race too, but that hits a different principle actually, of being consistent for long-term success. When it comes to time-sensitive things like bookings, last is last and you become a thing of the past.
We also tend to suffer from procrastination and inertia as business owners and even just as humans. I myself have thought of a great idea just as I’m falling asleep but I don’t want to disrupt my comfort and try to convince myself I’ll remember it in the morning. But if I were a first mover, I’d know I have to rouse myself and get that idea down because come morning it’ll be gone. I must act against the grain, to get the gain!
In a world where a good portion of other photographers procrastinate, a first-mover strategy can instantly create wins for you. This Little Luxuries chapter requires zero dollar investment in the strategy itself - just an impetus to move quickly and overcome some of the frictions we brush up against. Similar to appealing to the senses, there is a body of psychology that can be tapped into that most don’t even have on their radar which I go through in the handbook. Put yourself first and buy the guide, and that first move of being a first-mover can have absolute transformation for you!
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