The business side of photography
Today’s Toronto Star newspaper did a business story about local artisans who sell their products to a worldwide audience using only a web site. The newspaper’s (print) headline included “Photos key to online selling.” Some of the business owners pointed out that, “having excellent photographs helps…” and “you can’t sell without a decent picture.”
We knew that, right?
So why do so many businesses, both large and small, fail when it comes to website photography?
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If a customer needs a package to be delivered from point A to point B, they don’t care whether the courier* is talented enough to ride an odd-looking bicycle or not. The only value to the customer is the ability to deliver the package on time. The customer won’t pay more for a fancy set of wheels or any extra cycling skills because these have no value to the customer.
No matter how talented a photographer thinks they are or how many awards they may have won, it’s the customer who determines the value of the photography. The customer’s perception is the photographer’s reality. Unwanted value isn’t any value at all.
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There are two ways to sell your products or services:
Option A: Make your customers smarter. Let them know how and why you do what you do. Educate them on what to look for and what to avoid. Help them know what’s possible, what questions to ask and what to expect. Smart customers are informed customers who, in turn, are good customers.
Option B: Make your customers dumber. Don’t let them know about your products or services. Don’t tell them about variables, options or warranties. Don’t give them choices. Dumb customers are helpless customers who, in turn, are good customers because they will always run to you for help.
Option B is the easiest and that’s why many businesses do it. You could choose this option and be successful, but only until a competitor decides to go with Option A. When this happens, Option B is no longer an option.
Advertising either works or it doesn’t, there’s no middle ground. If an ad is going to work, it will work right away. To know whether an ad is working, it must be measurable. If results can’t be measured then the ad is a waste of time and money.
I’ve been using Google Adwords for just over three months and I was planning to use it for at least one year.
After three months of using Google Adwords:
• My ads have been served up about 2,300 times per month.
• The click-through rate is about 1% (21 to 25 clicks per month).
• Number of enquiries is 10% of the click-throughs (about 2 or 3 per month).
• Number of paying jobs is 0.
Who determines your company’s place in the market: you, your competitors or your customers? Are you a top-ranked business because of your efforts or because of your competitors’ mistakes? Does this even matter if your market position is determined by your customers?
Remember the 1960s slogan for car rental company Avis: “We’re number 2. We try harder.”
That slogan, along with some clever ads, helped Avis gain marketshare but not at the expense of the market-leader, Hertz. Instead, Avis gained at the expense of its many other competitors whose marketing efforts were weak by comparison.
In a crowded market, consumers will think that being “number 2” isn’t that bad since it’s right next to the top company. Since consumers perceived Avis to be almost like Hertz, Avis got their business. The brand value of Hertz helped lift the brand of Avis and in doing so, helped distance Avis from its other competitors.
Avis didn’t compare itself to any of the other lesser car rental companies but only to the market-leader. In the end, Avis never became “number 1” but it did secure a bigger slice of the car rental business.
Lesson to be learned: compete with businesses which are where you want to be and not with those where you are, (within reason). Or, to use a sports analogy: punch above your weight.
This will force you to up your game, try harder and work smarter. Even if you fall short of your goals, you still end up ahead. (Of course, if this was easy, everyone would be doing it.)
Let’s say you’re at a conference. Some people are wearing business formal, others are in business casual, some are dressed in jeans and t-shirt, and a few are in beachwear. Which people do you notice?
Certainly, the folks in beachwear will stand out but probably for all the wrong reasons. People dressed in jeans and t-shirt will always look sloppy next to those in business attire. Business casual never looks out-of-place and is always appreciated. Business formal, which might seem overdoing it, is always admired and respected.
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We’ve all heard the phrase “path of least resistance”. In nature, (and that includes us humans), when given the choice, the path of least resistance will always be chosen first. The path of least resistance is the path that leads to a destination that’s good enough.
This path can vary from person to person, depending on the situation at hand. For example:
For a cup of coffee, one person might walk to the next-door 7-Eleven store. It’s quick, the coffee is cheap, it’s good enough for right now.
Another person who wants something more flavourful and made-to-order, “good enough” means they may have no choice but to go several blocks for an expensive Starbucks coffee. More resistance involved but they deserve that coffee.
For someone who needs even more, they might drive a distance to a fancy hotel café which serves coffee in a fashionable location. Much higher resistance but being seen in that expensive restaurant will enhance this person’s reputation.
