How to create a successful photography business system

In my last post I highlighted the importance of creating ‘a magic system for photography success.’

But how do you create a successful photography business system?

OK, close your door, put the answer machine on, turn off email and give yourself ONE hour. Your business deserves one hour, doesn’t it?

Get out a piece of paper and identify the ‘cogs’ in your business. Create a flowchart that starts with the various ways a client can find out about your business and be prompted to contact you. Now, take them on their journey through your business. What are the various steps they take? Better yet, think about what steps you want them to take in an ideal world. For each step work out what things you could do to get the best possible result. Think about the problems you’re having with each step in your system.

For example:

• Do you put your prices on your website or not?
• What do you say if you receive an email asking for some prices?
• What do you say on the phone when you receive the most common stalls and objections?
• What questions do you ask your prospects?
• How are you going to get your prospect emotionally excited about your photography
• What do you do differently to your competition?
• Do you meet the client for a chat with no charge or obligation to help build rapport and educate them in the value of photography – specifically, YOUR photography?
• What happens during the photography session
• What happens afterwards? Do you ask them to sign a model release form so you can use their photos in your free exhibits and become the most photographer in town?
• Do you project your client’s photos or do you upload them onto your website and leave them to it?
• What happens to invite them to come back, to refer a friend, to leave a testimonial, to consider other services or products?
• Do you send a thank you card after each step in the process? Yes, I am now sending thank you cards when a client books me and after they’ve placed their order. 99.9% of business don’t do that once, let alone twice. It costs me 5 minutes and £1.50 per card. Is it worth it – damned right it is!

Now, if you’re concerned this exercise has shown up big holes in your business already, don’t worry. You’re missing the point of the exercise! Bear with me.

Next, add to your list the things that you KNOW aren’t quite right in your business that you should be addressing:

• Your prices are too low to make a decent living
• You’re not getting enough new clients
• Clients aren’t spending as much as you’d like
• You’re relying too much on your website and aren’t connecting with other relevant businesses in your market
• Too many clients are buying small prints and no-one is buying wall portraits or albums.
• Your website is well ranked but doesn’t seem to entice people to call you.

OK, we’ve only got an hour! DON’T get angry with yourself if you’re realising you don’t have a system and that you have lots of areas you’d like to improve.

Here’s the really POWERFUL part of that whole exercise …

Pick the ONE thing that you can address easily today. One little niggle that will take no more than a half an hour out of your day perhaps … and set it in motion.

Perhaps it’s going out and buying a bunch of thank you cards.

Or it may be to take all your prices off the website and put them all up by 10%.

Or perhaps you’re going to go and see a complementary supplier and see if you can do a joint promotion and get some of your photography exhibited in their establishment free of charge.

Again, you don’t need me to tell you what ONE thing you can do today. But I’m here to remind you of five things:

1. Doing any ONE of these things will have a positive impact on your business.
2. Once you’ve got that first one done and dusted, do another one. And another. And soon, you’ll see the multiplier effect of small incremental improvements impacting massively on your profit line.
3. Improving your sales and marketing techniques by using this website regularly will help you achieve results you never believed were possible.
4. Other photographers don’t practice this stuff. They spend half their time on forums complaining about things instead of learning the skills they need to put things right. Don’t listen to the negative people out there – I’ve learned that you can still make an excellent living from photography so long as you do things correctly.
5. “The minority is sometimes right, the majority are ALWAYS wrong.” George Bernhard Shaw. This means that if you’re doing things the same way as everyone else then you’re not doing it right. I’ve discovered this to be true in copywriting and advertising as well as photography.

So, One hour – One list – One task. Do it now! No longer will you be running round in circles wondering what to do next, you’re now on your way to strategically building a successful photography business system.

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