Photography Marketing Blog – Marketing Photography Tips, Videos, And Secrets with Charles J. Lewis | Photography Marketing can be very easy, when you have a PROVEN marketing system in place. Marketing photography secrets revealed in this photography marketing blog.

Photography Marketing & Selling Tips – 4 Key Sales Secrets

Photography Sales Tips That Will Make You More Money

Becoming a great sales person is vital to your success in photography. Yes, marketing is important. If your photography marketing sucks, no one will know you exist. But even with great photo marketing, if your sales skills are bad, you still won’t make any money.

Now, when I talk about “selling” I do NOT mean trickery, manipulation or pressure. That’s not selling at all, and we want NOTHING to do with that.

What I do mean is you must discover how to be persuasive. How to be able to gently influence your client’s and prospect’s decisions in a good, positive way.

Here’s 4 powerful sales secrets that will revolutionize your photography business if you use them:

Sales Secret #1: You sell what you show, absolutely. So be certain you only show in your business what you want to sell. In my case, it’s wall portraits as fine home décor. So there is NOTHING in my studio smaller than 24×30 (and only one of that size.) I show 2 – 40×50’s, a 40×40, a 32×50, a 30×40 and one 24×30. That’s all! Each portrait is beautifully enhanced, framed and displayed just like it will be displayed in a client’s home.

Sales Secret #2: Your telephone is your most important tool – not your camera or computer. Basically, all your business comes through this tool. Yes, you have people email you, but eventually each and every prospect should end up talking with you in person on the telephone. So be sure you use this powerful tool correctly.

For today, let’s just mention the #1 best way to use the telephone – ask questions of your callers. Don’t just talk and talk about how great you are. Instead, ask her questions that show you care about what she’s looking for and why she’s thinking of having a fine photograph created at this time. This builds trust and rapport with her, and encourages her to “move to the next step” in working with you.

Sales Secret #3: Volunteer your fees before you are asked – this says two things – 1.) you’re worth it and 2.) you’re proud of the fees. Don’t try to avoid this. Instead, after asking several good questions, volunteer the fees yourself, before she asks you to. This is what I call the “Volunteer Statement” and it must be memorized word for word so you say it the same way, every single time.

Here’s our Volunteer Statement for our studio, for portraiture: “Before we go any further, let me give you an indication of what you can plan on investing. Is that okay? (Wait for her to answer.) Most people in your situation can plan on investing between $X and $Y and get a larger one for themselves, and a few smaller ones for gifts. Does that fit within your budget?”

Sales Secret #4: The first impression is the lasting impression, so be sure that first impression is a good one. This involves things like how you are dressed, the vocabulary you use, how meticulously clean the studio is, how the exterior of your studio appears as she walks up to the door, etc.

Remember, you are dealing in appearances. One of my favorite sayings is: “The reason people say ‘Don’t judge a book by it’s cover,’ is that everyone does.”

Put more of your time and efforts into perfecting your sales skills – it will pay off in a big way in your photography business!

Click here for more tips on photography marketing and selling

All the best to you and your photography,

Charles Lewis

Photography Marketing & Pricing – 5 Key Techniques That Work Like Magic Today

Photography Marketing & Prcing Doesn't Have To Be Frustrating!

Photography Marketing & Pricing can be frustrating – but it’s doesn’t need to be. Here’s 5 secrets regarding your photography marketing and pricing that will make you a lot of money with your photography business:

1. Decide NOT to keep your prices really low – it’s just not necessary. If you keep your prices low – you won’t make hardly any money, and you’ll be gone before you even got started. If people are not hiring you right now – it’s NOT because your prices are too high. Not a chance. It’s because your marketing is not effective and you can’t sell effectively. But it’s NOT your prices being too high!

2. The actual prices aren’t anywhere near as important as the WAY you merchandise them. For example – I have discovered that packages (or “collections”) almost always outsell a-la-carte pricing – so offer packages. This makes the decisions much easier for your clients and prospects. (I suggest you also offer a-la-carte pricing, too, so you can use this to your advantage – see #3 below.)

3. Always state how much your clients will save by choosing a certain package over investing in individual images one at a time. So you set your a-la-carte prices substantially high – fair – but high. Then you put together packages or “collections” which will give your clients a great savings over what it would have cost them if they had invested in the same sizes from your a-la-carte menu.

4. Never put your prices on your website. It’s one of the most common mistakes photographers make. It totally screws up your business. Why? Because the number one reason people call you is to find out the price. If you give that to them on your site, there’s no reason to call you, and you will never have the chance to build trust and a relationship with them, and then book them.

5. Raise your prices twice a year – no matter what. I call this “Auto-Pilot Pricing” and it’s amazingly effective. Twice a year, you raise your fees between 10% and 20% each time. This is not much of an increase. But, as you do this twice a year, it really adds up, and before you know it, you’re fees are very substantial.

So there you have it – 5 powerful tips regarding the pricing (and marketing, too – they are interrelated) of your photography services that I have found to be extremely effective in my photography business.

Hope this has been helpful,

Charles J. Lewis

Photography Marketing & Selling: Three Key Tips To Grow & Prosper Now

Good Photography Marketing, Selling & Pricing will make you a lot of money

If you are listening to most photographers now, you’re probably hearing about how the photography business is not doing very well. Between the cheap competition everywhere, the recession, and inexpensive digital cameras available everywhere to everyone, you’re probably worried about the future.

But the facts are completely different than what “most” photographers are saying and feeling.

Here’s what you can do right now, regarding your photography marketing and selling, to build the photography business of your dreams right now:

1. Pay very close attendtion to who you listen to. Remember, the majority is not usually wrong, the majority is ALWAYS wrong. So when the majority is saying one thing, the actual truth is something totally different. So don’t allow the negative, “dangerous people” in our industry to scare you. The photography business is a wonderful business to be in – but – and this is a big “but” – but you’re going to have to distance yourself from the majority, and NOT listen to them. Instead, keep your dream alive. Feed your love and enthusiasm for photography. Realize that if you want to be successful in photography, you must learn and do the things that the failures don’t want to learn or do.

2. Your photography marketing needs careful attention right now. I realize you don’t like marketing as much as you like photography – but if you want to grow and prosper in your photography business, you’re going to have to put way more time and effort into your marketing, and less into your photography itself. Why? Because it’s the marketing that is the “oxigen” of your business. You MUST get the right people to contact you, and do it now. And to accomplish this, you need to put time and effort into it. Sorry, I know you don’t want to hear this, but it’s the truth.

3. Frankly, you need to be a better photography sales person. This is a key to your photography success. You must reallize that no matter how “good” you are, your photography will NOT SELL ITSELF. You need to know who to be persuasive – how to influence people’s decisions and get them to trust you and do what you recommend. Now, I’m not talking about presure, trickery or manipulation here – I’m talking about honest, truthful sales techniques that are very effective. You must put more time, money and effort into this if you want to grow and prosper in your photography business now.

So, put one third of your time and effort into your marketing skills. Find someone who is where you want to be, and model what he or she is doing to get good, qualified clients into the business right now.

And put another third of your time and effort into your selling skills. Again, model someone in the photography profession who is where you want to be right now. Learn from him or her. Listen to every word, and then take ACTION on what he or she recommends.

Then, yes, put the other third of your time and efforts into keeping your photography the very best it can be.

Hope this was helpful. Click on the various categories over on the right side of the page, to read many more detailed posts about photography marketing and selling.

All the best,

Chuck Lewis

Photography Marketing Tip – VIDEO – Your Guarantee On Your Website

Add this simple thing to your website, and you should see a dramatic increase in the number of calls you get, and the number of sessions you book. Your guarantee is SO important, but how should it be utilized on your website? Watch this short video now to find out:

CLICK HERE NOW For More Secrets:
www.cjlewis.com/FreeSecrets.html

Photography Marketing VIDEO Tip – The Brick Wall Law

This law of photography business, photography sales, and photography marketing is so important, and it gets missed by more photographers than I can accept! The importance of emotion and building relationships to sell and market photography is pretty obvious, but are YOU using this all-important BRICK WALL LAW? Watch this video now to find out how to best use this law to bring in lots of money as you book more and more clients!

CLICK HERE NOW For More Secrets:
www.cjlewis.com/FreeSecrets.html

Photography Marketing VIDEO Tip – What To Show Clients For Max Sales

I’m very excited about this video hot-tip. This is a subject I get asked about a lot, and an area that I find nearly no photographers understand. And it’s PARAMOUNT to your financial success as a photographer. In this tip, I talk about what you should show your clients when they come into your studio… WATCH NOW:

CLICK HERE NOW For More Secrets:
www.cjlewis.com/FreeSecrets.html

Photography Marketing VIDEO Tip – Prices on Website?

In this video hot-tip, I talk quickly about the big question: “Do I put my prices on my website, and if so, how should they be presented?” Don’t underestimate the power of this tip – take it to heart! It has made me (and many other photographers) tons of money over the years! Also, if you did not check out or last VIDEO tip, click here to check it out: Photography Business Secrets – telephone techniques – Now, here’s that new tip:

CLICK HERE NOW For More Secrets:
www.cjlewis.com/FreeSecrets.html

New Video BLOG Entry – Telephone Secrets REVEALED

In this VIDEO BLOG, I’ll reveal to you a key secret to booking more portrait and wedding photography clients. Use this secret, and watch your booking percentage soar…

CLICK HERE NOW For More Secrets:
www.cjlewis.com/FreeSecrets.html

Photography Marketing & Selling: The Best Question To Ask To Build A Successful Photo Business

Ask the right question and watch your sales soar!

Your photography sales skills and marketing skills are intertwined. What good does it do to be a master photo marketer if when a prospect contacts you because of your marketing, you screw it up and lose her because you can’t sell on the phone when she calls?

Now, I’m NOT talking about pressure, trickery or manipulation of any kind. That is NOT good selling. But there are skills which, if you master them, will make you a lot more money with your photography business.

The telephone is your most important piece of equipment – way more critical than your camera or computer. So your phone skills must be top notch for you to build a successful photography business..

There is one single BEST question, which we use every day in our photography business, that will turn you into a “Master Photography Sales Person” and book you many more clients than you are booking now without it.

I call it The “Magic Question” because it truly is magical.

Here it is: “If you don’t mind me asking, what’s most important to you about ____________.” (Where you fill in the blank with whatever type of photography she is calling you about.)

I have used this question in my photography business for over 30 years now, and it continues to amaze me how powerful and effective it is.

Why?

Because it helps you find the “DBM”. What’s the DBM? It’s the Dominant Buying Motive. It’s the major key thing this prospect wants to get from her photographs.

If you don’t find out what her “DBM” is, how can you possibly talk with her in a persuasive way and convince her to work with you instead of some other photographer in your area? You can’t!

Now, obviously, there are many other questions we use on the telephone to help convince a prospect to work with our photography studio, and I’ll talk about them in later articles.

But the “Magic Question” is by far the single most powerful, effective question you can ever use to help build trust and rapport with a caller and get her to hire you rather than one of your competitors.

So, make it a point that from this day forward, you will NEVER talk with a prospect ever again without using the “Magic Question”. It will make you a lot of money, and it will bring you a LOT of clients who you otherwise would have lost.

For more money making tips, techniques and secrets, go to www.cjlewis.com

Podcast Episode 5 – The 3 Big Photo Business Mistakes, And How To Avoid Them

We have a great new podcast episode for you today. In it, Todd asked me a great question – “what are the 3 biggest mistakes you see photographers making today?” I spend this episode answering that question, and talking about how photographers can AVOID making those mistakes! Are you making these mistakes in your photography business?