In this rapidly evolving world of photography, it is essential to take a step back and take a hard look at how well we reflect our business in its current state, including the evolution of our personal photos, websites and social media profiles. In a previous post, we discussed five possible strategies to tackle often overlooked issues, from updating your profile picture to refreshing website content and from leveraging social media. to foster creativity through personal projects and continuous learning.
Today, we’ll focus on five additional areas where photographers often struggle in pursuit of their goal of providing superior service to their clients and, importantly, in their career growth journey. . Unfortunately for us creatives, running a successful business has very little to do with creativity. In fact, most of the stuff needed to be profitable is downright boring. But a good business strategy will allow you more time to get back to doing what you really want to do, creative stuff.
Customer Testimonials
Positive reviews and testimonials are powerful tools to promote your services. When potential customers see compliments from happy customers, it strengthens your credibility and credibility. After completing a project, ask your client if they would be willing to write a testimonial. You can also set up an automatic email asking for a response a week or so after sending the final photos. Display these testimonials prominently on your website and social media. Always respond to reviews, whether they are positive or negative. Show appreciation for positive feedback and handle any criticism professionally, showing potential customers that you value customer satisfaction. You can also set up an automatic email asking for a response a week or so after sending the final photos. Display these testimonials prominently on your website and social media. Always respond to reviews, whether they are positive or negative. Show appreciation for positive feedback and handle any criticism professionally, showing potential customers that you value customer satisfaction.
Google My Business
Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to promote your business profile and website on Google Search and Maps. Playing an SEO game is like trying to outdo a billion dollar company. You will never win outright. Instead, use the tools they offer for free and build a strong business presence with Google My Business. With your account, you can connect with customers, post updates, and see how customers are interacting with your business on Google. This is especially important for local businesses as it helps you stand out in local search results and provides potential customers with important information like your address, business hours, and reviews. at a glance. An up-to-date, informative, and active Google My Business listing can enhance your online presence and attract more customers. It’s also a platform where you can interact with customers by responding to reviews and answering questions, which can help build trust and relationships.
Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a powerful tool for understanding how people interact with your website. It can give you insights into how many people are visiting your website, where they are coming from (e.g. from social media, search engines, or entering your URL directly. ), which page they are on, and how long it is. they are in. This information can help you determine what is working well on your site and what needs improvement. For example, if you have a high bounce rate (people leave after viewing only one page), it could indicate that the user didn’t find what they were looking for or that the page wasn’t appealing. By regularly reviewing and interpreting your Google Analytics data, you can continuously refine your website and digital strategy to better serve your audience and meet your business goals. . Regularly checking your analytics, understanding data trends, and paying attention to traffic patterns can help you fine-tune your website to connect more effectively with your target market.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is another free service offered by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your website’s presence in Google Search results. It’s not just about understanding how Google sees your site, but also improving your site’s visibility in search results. You can use it to confirm that Google can find and crawl your site, troubleshoot indexing issues, view search traffic data, and see which sites are linking to your website. It can also alert you to any issues like mobile usability issues or security issues. By monitoring and optimizing your website using Google Search Console, you can improve your site’s ranking in search results, increase visibility, and attract more visitors. It takes time, but spending that time learning and improving each of these Google systems can yield more data, allow you to be more productive, and the time saved allows you to find Get better clients and take on more work. It won’t happen overnight, but continuous progress will yield better payouts than using some cheap SEO on the site and calling it a day.
Outsource time-consuming tasks
Outsourcing is an effective strategy for photographers to free up time, increase efficiency, and even scale their business. The world of photography isn’t just limited to taking pictures; it includes a host of other duties such as editorial, marketing, administrative duties, etc. As your business grows, these responsibilities can become overwhelming and start to take over the time you spend. for her core passion—photography. That’s where outsourcing comes in. You only have so many hours in a day and can’t scale while still doing all the work yourself without any help.
- Photo editing: One of the main tasks that photographers often outsource is photo editing. It’s a time-consuming process and not every photographer enjoys this aspect of the job. Many companies specialize in providing professional photo editing services. They work with you to understand your style, ensuring the finished image matches your brand. Outsourcing this task can free up significant time, allowing you to focus on shooting more and expanding your customer base. I personally outsource about 50% of my work. Not all of my projects allow outsourcing, but having someone else handle even a fraction of my workload, I can take on enough work to dramatically increase my total throughput.
- Administrative tasks: Things like scheduling, invoicing, email management, and other administrative tasks can be outsourced to a virtual assistant. They can handle these common but essential tasks, freeing your hands to focus more on creative and revenue-generating activities. Since many of the virtual assistants on the market that are gaining the most attention speak other languages, it’s important to communicate clearly and set guidelines and expectations before asking others to speak directly. with your customers. I’ve heard stories of photographers losing clients because the communication channels became messy when hiring a virtual assistant without effectively preparing the assistant in advance.
- Marketing and Search Engine Optimization: Marketing your business is important for growth but can be complicated and time consuming. Outsourcing to a marketing or SEO professional can help improve your website’s visibility, attract more customers, and build a stronger online presence. These experts stay up to date with the latest strategies and algorithms, ensuring your business stays competitive in the digital landscape. Be careful with this. There are thousands, I mean thousands of companies that claim to be industry experts in search engine optimization. However, in my experience with some of my clients, many of these companies prefer to build a basic SEO template, plug your site into their system, and let it go. Make sure to thoroughly interview your SEO prospects before hiring them. Take a close look at what they have to offer and whether they really meet your needs.
- Website Management: Keeping your website up to date and running smoothly can be outsourced to a web developer or a website management company. They can handle everything from regular updates to technical troubleshooting. There are literally hundreds of such providers on the yearrr provide such services. If this is something you are considering, I strongly recommend that you delegate these tasks to someone else. As long as an hour of their time is less than an hour of yours, it’s a great investment.
By outsourcing these areas, photographers can focus more on what they love—taking stunning photos—while the business aspects are handled by experts in the field. their respective. This approach not only saves time, but also offers the opportunity to scale the business and increase revenue. However, it is crucial to build a team of trusted outsourced professionals who understand and align with your brand vision. Clear communication and expectations are key to making these relationships work.
In the rapidly changing field of photography, you, as a professional, must continually evaluate and enhance your digital personality, nurture your career growth and perform strategic business activities. It is hoped that this guide will help you identify areas where you can improve and provide ideas for tackling those tasks—from maintaining an active personal and online presence to maintaining a spark. Fire your creativity with personal projects, foster lifelong learning and make effective use of customer testimonials. We’ve taken the time to review Google’s trio of powerful tools for you—Google My Business, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console—emphasizing their important role in enhancing online visibility. your route and decode user engagement. Learning those Google systems will yield better results than you expect. Ultimately, this guide is designed to give you the insights and tools to help you navigate your career journey with confidence and success. Make sure to bookmark it in your Fstoppers account for future reference. Chances are it will come in handy more than once.
