Happy Monday! I am going to start a thing where I chat about marketing ideas on Mondays. Think of any of the latest products you purchased- every single one of those companies has a marketing plan (likely a solid one if you bought from them) but I have noticed that many creative professionals do NOT have a marketing plan. The main marketing plan seems to be: post on Instagram and sit on hands & wait. NOT a great plan!
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The craziest part about this is that photographers have a massive leg up on other business owners because the work you produce can be immediately turned into your content- lucky duck! Most business owners have to pay for that additional step. So this initial post is about the mindset shift that you need to enter to see yourself as a marketer. Many photographers are shooting things they do not love and do not want to book more of but feel obligated to show a pic from every session. Your clients do not control your marketing strategy so stop promising sneak peeks if you don’t want to give them. If you do not have the type of imagery you want to shoot, you’ll need to create it- which you can easily do since you have a wonderful creative brain AND a camera.
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From there, you need to focus your whole marketing message on getting new and existing clients to hire you- be helpful, be clear, let them get to know you. Then you need to repurpose content per platform (Instagram will differ from FB & Pinterest & blog). One great shoot can be repurposed a ton of different ways! You are a content creator and marketer as much as an artist. You can hire marketing out if you don’t love it, but I think a solid plan needs to be in place. If you don’t have a marketing plan, you WILL hold yourself back.
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Show up with the work you love, show up a lot & be helpful. There has never been a better time, visibility wise, to be a creative entrepreneur- so craft a plan and go get em.š«
