Generating Business

Generating Business

by William Lulow

There are many photographers out there who are continually searching for new ways to generate business. First, let me state that any business has to have a presence among those who might need its products or services. In other words, your business needs to be visible to those who would buy from you. The question is, how do you do this?

I have written previously about the process of following leads. And, as a matter of fact, the “lead generating” business itself has become more and more established. Often, people needing certain services use one or more of the many “compendiums” of service providers for whatever business may be involved. And there are many of them from Craig’s List or Angie’s List to Photographer’s Select and The Knot. You can be listed for free and then some of these companies will send you a notification whenever someone signs up to request certain services. My experience with these market sources has been limited because when people post a need for a service, you have no idea exactly what they have in mind. Someone may post a need for photography services, say, but that post is often lacking in information as to what the job entails. So, as a business, you pay a small fee to acquire the poster’s information and from that point, it is up to you to convert that lead to a sale.

Now I am sure there are efficient ways to go about this, but I have never been a salesman in the true sense of the word. Some sales people can convince you to buy something even if you don’t need it. So, how can a photographer and a sole proprietor like myself, use these leads and convert a good percentage of them to actual clients? “Sales” is a profession in and of itself. While most of us are engaged in making images that sell, actually selling them or the service that provides them is a different matter but one in which we all have to be involved, even if we have agents working for us. But, sole practitioners often have to be good business people in addition to being good at creating their art.

I have had some success at this, but I haven’t taken the trouble to detail the exact numbers so that I would have accurate conversion rates. My mind doesn’t always work that way. In addition, I have obtained most of my past clients either because they have heard of me by word of mouth or because they have seen something of mine that they liked. So, most of my business has come to me rather than my following leads. When you follow a lead, it’s difficult to know how to say the right thing. So possible opportunities like this are long shots, but occasionally they pay off. I have gotten several students this way, so I try to follow up on these when they come in. But even at $3.33 per lead, if you pursue 100 or more leads in a year, it can add up. And the cost of these leads comes under the heading of “advertising.” It’s deductible, but must be figured into the cost of doing business.

I can even remember being recommended for a job by a friend and then not getting it because the client had his own sources. All of this has taught me that a potential client needs to be ready to purchase your services, able to buy and need them as well. The old “Fuller Brush Man” would simply knock on a person’s door, cold and ask if the potential buyer was interested. Then they would have a speech that went with it that was designed to “get his foot in the door” so that he could begin to show his samples. There are all kinds of “pressure” techniques designed to sell merchandise, (and it often works great in the selling of things like time shares), but photography as a service, doesn’t lend itself to those kinds of “pitches” very well. To be sure, there are some tried and true lines about preserving images for posterity, but usually people aren’t thinking along these lines until and unless they have to. As I said, prospective photography clients need to know what they want, when they want it and have a very high percentage of probability that they will like the results.

I am often reminded of an art director for a famous department store hiring a “famous” photographer without ever dealing with him on a personal basis. Turns out that the photographer was hired for a big project and wouldn’t even let the art director see any of the “take” until the job was completed. It turned out very well in the end, but most people who hire photographers become nervous about the outcome when faced with “artists” like this. So I am always a fan of complete discussion and communication when it comes to any photographic project being done for any client.

One other thing I should add about generating business. Since I moved my studio to New Jersey, I decided I would embark on a direct mail campaign aimed at advertising agencies and design firms in the area. I did my research and found about 150 such firms. After doing three successive mailings so far, I have found that roughly one-half of them are still in business or at least my mailings to them have not been returned. The same thing can be said of an “email list” I bought some time ago. Of the roughly 5000 names on the original list, I now have approximately one-half of them that still keep opening my emails. So one-half has either not opened them or unsubscribed from the list for one reason or another. So, from trial and error, it seems that if you generate your own list or buy one, you might figure on reaching about one-half of the people on those lists at any given time. And then, you might figure that maybe one-quarter of those that you reach will take the trouble to read what you send. But I still think it’s worthwhile investing some money in efforts like these. I remember going to several networking events in NYC over the years in order to generate leads. One in particular stands out. I made a good impression, leaving my card as well as a postcard of some of my work. I didn’t hear back from this person for six months. Then I received a phone call with a rather large number of images to do for her on-line magazine. The moral is that you never know where your customers can come from and photography is not the kind of business that can be sold if someone is not ready to buy.