DISQUS

Laura · 1 year ago

We are in a similar boat. How do we make people NEED a luxury item? In my field, people would rather use OTC's than schedule a doctor's appointment that's a $10 copay for them, how do I make them pay $60 for an hour of my time? The numbers are about right; 1000 translates into 50 solidly booked weeks of 4 patients a day for me. I'd still have to be pretty stingy for Christmas presents, but that would pay my rent.

Friends are great, but to count on them to give you any sort of business at all is about the cutest thing I've heard all week.

Jim Reverend · 1 year ago

Ha. Yeah. I didn't expect much BUSINESS, really, from friends. But I
did expect more word of mouth. I guess I expected them to be FANS.

I have presented your services to at least 10 different people that I
can remember. I pimp Jonathan and my parents whenever I feel it's a
good fit. I've intended to make an appointment with you (and email you
about something else) for EVER now... but I keep running out of time
(trying to do it on a work day to avoid having to drive out twice). I
mention Soul Glow any time anyone talks about needing a band for
something. Jess got Rob's Lawn Care company a job up at the bank she
works at. It's just the way I am.

I guess I expect others to act as I would.

"This photographer I know took an awesome photo of a barn. I bet you'd
like it."

"You look great! You should talk to my friend about getting some
photos done. He's awesome and would certainly work with you for cheap
if not free."

"Do you have any photos of your new baby yet? No? You should see
Daniel James. This guy is awesome!"

I think I expected too much.

Laura · 1 year ago

I do think a FAN is a difficult thing to find. It requires a shift in mindset that really, I even haven't achieved for myself. I trade services with my landlady, because it's convenient, but I haven't gotten needled myself in over a year. I got into it to begin with because I seriously thought I was going out of my mind, or I'd never have considered paying for it. (And while intellectually I would find it interesting, if I had that much of a nutcase in my office, I'd find it more drama than I wanted even on a professional level.) And photography is just something I rarely think about.

Some people talk about me a lot, and some people actually get me business. I haven't quite figured out what makes the difference. I suspect it's the circle of wealth, which again, not exactly my social net. ;)

joiseyguy · 1 year ago

It's very hard to keep the 'art' separated from the 'business'. The business end of it is marketing. No artist, no business can thrive or grow without good marketing.
I like Kelly's approach but patronage is very old school. Today you need a good marketing plan and the best marketing plans focus on niches. Wegmen has his dogs, Geddes has her kids in costumes. What's your niche?
Giannatti covers a lot of photography marketing ideas on his blog: http://wizwow.blogspot.com/

Jim Reverend · 1 year ago

Thanks for the link. I'll intend to dig deeper into it this weekend.

And you're right. It's about a niche. One of the best ways to earn the
True Fans that Kelly mentions is to specialize in something. That's
what draws the fans in the first place.

If we use the music analogy again: a musician that does folk one song,
bluegrass the next, then heavy metal, followed by a techno song isn't
going to do very well (unless content ties them together, i.e.
political, humor, nerdy, etc). This will fly (and bring more awe to
your fans) once your famous. But not in the beginning.

Part of my trouble is that I am varied. I need a niche. It's okay to
experiment now and again, or to do so in some other place, but I need
one niche to focus my time and energy on and gear my advertising and
marketing efforts in that direction.

I've got some soul searching to do.