October, 2009

for Clients — No Comments
25
Oct 09

Priceless

There’s a joke that asks, “If price and worth mean the same thing, why do priceless and worthless mean the exact opposite?”

Price is set by the seller, and worth, or value, is set by the buyer. Price is usually influenced by various market conditions, and worth can be affected by marketing. The two are connected.

Ideally, a client wants high-value photography for free. On the other hand, a photographer wants their images to sell for a very high price. Does this mean that a photographer and their client are opposites?

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for Everyone — 1 Comment
20
Oct 09

Bad business slogans

Having a tagline or slogan can be quite good for a business. Creating an effective line of text requires careful thought and review. Bonus points for correct spelling and grammar. Here are some photography taglines that may have missed their mark:

  • We’re #1 in service and inconvenience
  • Best Profressional Photographers in town
  • Why go elsewhere and be cheated? Come to us first.
  • Passport pictures – come in and get your head shot.
  • We’re not satisfied until you’re not satisfied
  • If you’re in a hurry, then so are we
  • Our prices show that we care for your money

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for Clients — No Comments
13
Oct 09

Paid Placements

Often when a photograph is licensed  for editorial use, public relations handouts, or some other certain uses, there will be an additional licensing clause that states that the picture(s) may not be used for “paid placements”. A few folks have asked what this means.

“Paid placement” is simply any use that requires the client to pay a fee to have the photo(s) published. It includes, but is not limited to, use in advertising.

One might argue that any public communication a business sends to its customers is a form of advertising. But here are two general definitions:

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for Photographers — No Comments
9
Oct 09

Free Samples

A little while ago, I did a small PR photo for a yogurt product being given away. After the photo, the young lady gave me – you guessed it – a free sample of the yogurt. It was so delicious that I later bought two boxes of the stuff.

The purpose of a free sample is to eliminate all risk to the consumer. The customer has nothing to lose by trying a free product. There will never be any buyer’s remorse when it’s free. Not many folks are willing to take a chance on a product that they, or their friends, have never used. Why risk their time and money on the unknown?

Welcome the free sample.

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for Clients — No Comments
5
Oct 09

Photo license is common sense

Got a phone call from a business, here in Toronto, looking to hire a photographer. The caller said that they’ve never hired a photographer before, and admitted they weren’t sure “how it works”.

The company wanted executive portraits for their web site. (Business portraits are one of the more common requests most photographers get. There are many uses for such pictures and, of course, some businesses like to update their photos every few years.)

I suggested the easiest way to do the photography, how the pictures could be delivered, and gave an approximate cost for the required usage. That last bit, about price depending on usage, caught the caller by surprise.

Aha! Licensing.

Here’s the deal about licensing:

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for Photographers — No Comments
1
Oct 09

Advertise You not Them

There are a lot of folks who have either an iPhone or a BlackBerry. I know a couple of photographers in Toronto who carry both: company-issued BlackBerry on one hip, and personal iPhone on the other.

If you have one of these devices, and haven’t done this already, you may want to remove the third-party advertising from your e-mails. Unless, of course, you want to brag that you have a new toy. :-)

By default, e-mails sent from an iPhone end with “Sent from my iPhone”. Similarly, e-mails from a BlackBerry end with something like “Sent from my BlackBerry on the Rogers Wireless Network”.

Replace these with a promotion for your business.

On an iPhone, it’s easy to do, as the function is built into the phone: Settings > Mail,Contacts,Calendars > Signature  and then replace the default Apple ad.

For a BlackBerry, it’s a slightly longer route because the function is not built into the device. Go into your BlackBerry user account and edit the signature in the General Settings, and then save the changes.

If you have a BlackBerry, I would assume that you already have a user account and know your account url:

Telus: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=telus



Bell: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=bell



Rogers: https://bis.na.blackberry.com/html?brand=rogers

For a BlackBerry using an Enterprise Server, the method is different. I believe the default advertisement can be changed right from the device itself or from a computer.

Why do you think Apple, Rogers, Bell, Telus and BlackBerry set the default to advertise their business?

They know that every contact with a potential client is a marketing opportunity. So, be just as smart and change the e-mail signature to promote your business.