How Do You Promote Yourself/Your Business

Damian Brown

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Damian Brown
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Timeless classic:

How do you promote your business? What works for you? How would you answer?

Personally I feel this is my worst aspect, I use one paying advertisement online which sends me a few referrals a month at best, paying for itself. The rest via free sites, where I don't have to add a link to my site (though i'm considering a links page to accomodate that option). Word of mouth, cards, flyers. I still think i'm pretty poor at it but the need to step up work means I need a long hard think...

Over to you!
 
I went through the slew of paid advertising when I started up and found it to be a waste of money, the only paid ad I have now is Yellow Pages in case someone needs to find the number. Apart from that word of mouth and networking I chase down jobs/clients I want to work with - you can't have a website, run a few ads and wait for the phone to ring. At least not if you want to eat next month :(

I've also made sure to promote the "brand" which seems to be working, people see me at an event or something and say "Hey, you're Shooting Pixels, you did this, that or the other" :thumbs:
 
I agree with the brand but everything I've heard from established guys, is that Yellow Pages is not worth the effort. I use very little paid advertising and get by fine. Granted not the biggest business man but still alive after 12 years.
 
I think photography jobs would be best via word of mouth. I dont have a buissness myself but would have thought that its a bit like a Plumber/Sparkie... Word of mouth being the key:
"he/she did an excellent job. Look at im work here..."
"My (relitive) had his/her pictures done buy (your name) and he/she was amazing"
Plus its less traveling costs ;)
 
YP is a must, when I was in business I got most of my work from them. Think around the £500 per year mark for a decent sized advert in there. Local press can be hit and miss, it's expensive and one day later it's in the bin but older folk especially tend to look there for things they need. Paid leaflet drops are not much use if I'm anything to go by, I bin the lot as soon as it hits the floor.

A good well designed website kept up the search engine rankings won't cost much and is also essential if only for getting your work seen. Vital you put your web address in any printed advert too!

Any advert needs to be clear about what you do. be uncluttered, and have your contact info prominent.

If you drive, get your vehicle signwritten, even if it's magnetic removable signs, making sure the most visible things are "photographer" and your phone number. 99% of people who see a vehicle advert see it for less than 3 seconds as you drive past so the contact number must be easily readable.
 
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