How to Find Free Local Professional Photo Resources

When I was starting out, I remember how difficult it was to find local resources, which is why I relied so heavily on online forums. It wasn't always easy to find local photographers to shoot with because all of the professional resources seemed to be secret or hidden from public view. While that's a great thing for professionals who need a private place to share, it also makes it a little more difficult to find a local mentor to work with. So, here are some ways to learn more about the local resources in your area:

Local Camera Gear Shop
Even if you live in a small town where there isn't a professional gear shop, your local camera shop will likely have the names of a few photographers in town, know what kind of work they do, and can give you an idea if those professionals are open to mentoring others. Local camera shops are also a great resource for finding out if there are any workshops or classes locally available (since they may provide supplies for them) so don't hesitate to get on their mailing list. If they don't provide high end photography equipment, ask them what the next closest place would be to find professional gear. There's a very good chance they know who keeps the professional equipment in house.

Local College
Even if you don't have a full-out photo school nearby, your closest college probably has a photography department or instructor of some kind. Teachers are often natural born helpers, so they can be a great resource when it comes to finding assistants or finding someone who is willing to take on an assistant. While photography in school is most often dedicated to fine art, it's still great to get out and see the work that today's photo students are creating in order to keep up with what is influencing the minds of the future.

Local Photography Groups
These are often a little more difficult to find, but if you've talked to someone in the area who knows a lot of photographers, they should be able to point you to at least one local photography group. Often times you'll find local groups listed on Flickr.com, Meetup.com, Yahoo Groups, etc. There are also several professional labs that provide free local workshops and opportunities to meet other photographers, such as Pictage PUGs (I currently host the Boston, MA one) and newly forming Smugs.

Getting to know my local photography peers has been one of the greatest assets to my business because individually we may not know everything, but collectively we can figure out anything! While online forums are excellent for learning at your own pace and getting lots of feedback, having a local offline network of support may be the only thing that can save you in a pinch when you need it most!

(This article was also shared on Photo.net where you might find more responses to this topic.)

Anne Ruthmann is a lifestyle & wedding photographer from Boston, MA. She spent 10 years practicing marketing & management in corporate and non-profit businesses before pursuing her passion for photography as an independent small business. She loves helping others find creative and low-cost solutions to business problems. Follow her on Twitter to see her daily adventures and thoughts.

Referral Best Practices

'Tis the season for bookings to increase and availability to dwindle! Smart photographers know that what goes around comes around and referring clients when you're already booked is great for your business and your relationship with other photographers. A few years ago I wanted to test the effectiveness of my referral system and here's what I learned:

Give no more than 3 names
Anymore than a few names and the client perceives you're just passing them off on anyone, rather than hand-selecting people you think would work out for them. This is a reflection of the level of service that you provide to your clients - so even if it isn't "hand-selected" you can at least give them the appearance that it is, which will make them feel special warm fuzzies when they think about you even if they can't work with you for their wedding day.

Know the availability of the referral
There's nothing worse than finding out your favorite photographer is booked, only to find out that their recommendation for someone just as great is booked as well. Try to avoid sending your clients to dead ends, it simply attaches feelings of frustration to their interaction with you. I use google calendar to share my availability with other photographers and a syncing program that works with my preferred calendar offline so that my google calendar is always up to date.

Make it personal
Say something really nice or even a little boasting about the person or people you're referring. It's one thing to say, "This person is available" and it's a whole different level of referral when you can say, "Not only does this person happen to be available at the moment, but I would totally trust them to do my own wedding."

Know your referral's prices & style
While there are many photographers in any given area who may be available and wonderful, not all of them share your same price range or photographic style. Before you send on a referral you don't know very well, take a few minutes to figure out if they'd actually be a good referral for your client and if you'd want their clients being referred back to you. The ultimate goal is to work with people you love, so try to send your referrals on to people who can reciprocate the kind of clients you're looking for as well.

If you've never received a referral from another photographer, you need to give it before you can get it. If you don't have any referrals to give yet, you can start by contacting people with a similar style and price to see if they'd be interested in getting referrals from you in the future. 'Tis the season for giving!

Anne Ruthmann is a lifestyle & wedding photographer from Boston, MA. She spent 10 years practicing marketing & management in corporate and non-profit businesses before pursuing her passion for photography as an independent small business. She loves helping others find creative and low-cost solutions to business problems. Follow her on Twitter to see her daily adventures and thoughts.

Quick Thoughts on Buyer Behavior

When you feel you don't have enough money, every little bit counts because you want to make sure you're getting the most for your dollar. When you feel you have more than enough of money, quality and reputation matters most no matter what the cost. You can be rich and feel like you don't have enough money, and you can be poor and feel like you have more than enough.

When you're a bargain shopper, you shop based on numbers. When you're a quality shopper, you shop based on aesthetics. Whether you shop based on bargains or aesthetics depends on how much you care about what you're purchasing. You don't always shop in the same mindset for everything you buy. You may be a bargain shopper at the gas pump, but when it comes to 4" pumps (shoes) you may not care what the price tag is so long as you look fabulous in them.

There will always be more bargain products to choose from since they are easy to find and their success depends on quantity. People will always go out of their way and pay more for a product that they perceive is truly unique, difficult to obtain, or fully customized to their specifications. Bargain shoppers take more time to make decisions because they need to fully understand the market first, while quality shoppers make decisions quickly based on their feelings about a product or service.

When you want the most for your money, you start shopping early and wait for the best deal. When you want something rare and unique, you buy it right away for fear that it won't be there the next day. An item can appear to be rare and unique to you if you've never had prior experience with the product, regardless of whether or not it's actually rare or unique in the market. When you are uninformed about a product, you rely on the recommendations of others to help you determine a product's quality or value.

(read more thoughts on pricing --> http://photolovecat.blogspot.com/search/label/pricing)

Anne Ruthmann is a lifestyle & wedding photographer from Boston, MA. She spent 10 years practicing marketing & management in corporate and non-profit businesses before pursuing her passion for photography as an independent small business. She loves helping others find creative and low-cost solutions to business problems. Follow her on Twitter to see her daily adventures and thoughts.

How to find your REAL competition

We tend to think we know who or what our competition is, but how can we be sure?

Most people follow up with potential leads, but hardly anyone follows up with inquiries that don't go anywhere. Maybe you were already booked or out of the inquiring price range- whatever the reason, there is still something to be gained from an inquiry you didn't book. You were probably savvy enough to give them a strong referral to your circle of friends who also refer work back to you, but then what? Do you know who they actually ended up choosing to hire?

Every couple of months I go back through my inquiry forms and follow up with people who inquired with me initially but didn't end up working with me for whatever reason. I just send a simple message making sure they found a fabulous photographer and asking who they ended up choosing. I don't get responses from everyone, but the responses I do get help me figure out who my "real" competition is. 

Sometimes the inquiries even provide additional information as to why they made their selection, which is great bonus material to help me evaluate my marketing or pricing. The key is to keep the email positive and simple, letting the inquiry know you care and making it easy for them to respond with a short answer.

 When they respond, offer a simple congratulations and a thanks for their response- don't offer any comments on their choice unless they you are offering a sincere compliment (like when it's someone in your circle of referrals). Give it a try and see what you can learn about your competition and your business! You never know, if they end up not liking their choice after all is said and done, they may end up sending their friends back to you instead!

Anne Ruthmann is a lifestyle & wedding photographer from Boston, MA. She spent 10 years practicing marketing & management in corporate and non-profit businesses before pursuing her passion for photography as an independent small business. She loves helping others find creative and low-cost solutions to business problems. Follow her on Twitter to see her daily adventures and thoughts.

Blog Love - Get Yours

I'll be honest, this is less "advice from an expert" and more "stream of ideas from someone in real time." I recently took a 10 month hiatus from my business blog, and just this past week created a brand spankin' new one and put up 13 posts to get me caught up. And now I'm thinking...."Ok, I lost all my blog readers, how do I get my audience back...how do I earn blog love?"

I wanted to share with you my ideas (before I've even had a chance to try them), and see what your ideas are? Help me out?

1. You Must First Giveth.
Comment on other photographers' blogs, and make sure to use your blog address. Many photographers are super great about reciprocating, and other commenters might also find you! Spread the love around!

Comment on other vendors' blogs! Find out if any planners, florists, gown designers, etc from your area have a blog, and if so, become an AVID reader. Leave a quick friendly comment every now and again! Maybe they'll return the favor...maybe you'll even make a friend!

Comment on your CLIENTS' blogs. I've found a few of mine do have blogs, and though I wouldn't want to continually blast them with spam, a cute comment about their life is probably welcome. :) Don't comment to promote yourself - be genuinely interested in their lives, and leave photography out of it (unless appropriate). But do use your blog address, and hope their readers follow the link!

2. Make it work!
Does your RSS feed exist and work? If others can't add you to their feed (a way to be told when your favorite blogs have a new post, and read them all in one location), they'll probably forget to check in at the blog. That would be a blog-FAIL.

3. Hear-Ye, Hear-Ye
I wouldn't do this every time (or it might get annoying, in my personal opinion), but if you have a really exciting blog post or if it's been a while...announce your new blog entry on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever other social media you are using.

4. Blogsfuscate
I'm not sure if I'll do this one or not....but if you send your client a link to their "sneak peak slideshow"- don't send a direct link. Send a link to the blog entry where they can find it. Then when they forward the email to all of their friends and family, they are all discovering your blog along with the slideshow! Alternately, include both a direct link and a blog link - and write something personal about them on the blog so they feel obligated to read it!

5. Sir-Blogs-A-Lot
Eeeeeek - does it work, yes? Can I do it? Ummmmm...history says no. But if you do blog often (and lets assume your posts are interesting, lol) people develop a sense of rhythm, excitement, and expectation. (There are a host of benefits, but that's another post completely!) You gain a committed audience, not just a group of one-time clickers.

6. Just Ask for the LOVE!!
How about just come right out and say "Hey! Leave me some love if you like this post!" Or, you could end each blog with a question and invite comments. ("What do you think about bananas? Leave a comment to let me know.") Make sure it's business appropriate though...controversial personal questions might not generate the right kind of attention.

7. Give give give give give.
Here's another one that I don't know if I'll do, but it's a great idea that I saw on East Texas photographer Christina McCall's blog. She's holding a "comments for charity" event and is donating money for every 25 comments she gets, up to 150!!! View her original idea here: http://www.christinamccall.com/2009/06/the-roadtrip/ (and send her some love while you're there)!

8. Write a guest entry at Photo Love Cat!
HEHEHEHEHE. Obviously, this is the route *I* took. But really, if you have some great information to share with the group, let us know! It's a great way to give back to the community as well as a way to get people thinking "hey, who on earth is this person?" We always link back to you so that people can explore and answer that very question.

What other ideas do you have to generate a continual positive stream of blog love with comments? (PLEASE comment below!)

Hugs and fishes,
JILLIAN

Jillian Kay is a wedding & portrait photographer from San Jose, CA. By weekday, she is a mild mannered software engineer. By weekend, she is a joyful and energetic force behind a camera! Jillian enjoys tackling the tough questions about client relationships and helping others see win/win solutions. When not working, she loves taking walks, blog-stalking, visiting with friends, and enjoying life!.