Photography and Marketing Blog

May 28, 2008

Business Cards for Wedding Photographers

One of the most important marketing tools that you have for your business is your Business Card.

Always bring some with you and be prepared to hand it out to people whenever you can.  Like if they ask you what you do for a living, you can give them some cards so that they can see your website.  Make sure to give each person at least three cards, making it easier for them to refer you to other people.

The essential information on your business card are:

  • Name of Business
  • What do you do?  (plumber, photographer, farmer?  what kind of photographer: wedding, fashion, landscape )
  • Phone Number
  • Website
  • Email address

You can buy cheap business cards at www.vistaprint.com.

February 20, 2008

Know thy Gear

Filed under: Photography Gear — Tags: , , , , , , , , — silvasphoto @ 2:31 am

Here’s a great but boring-sounding tip:  Read your camera’s manual!  Read it from cover to cover.  Have your camera in hand so that you can see what the manual is talking about and try it all out as you read it.

It might sound obvious but honestly, how many of you have read through your camera’s manual?  Or your flash’s manual?  (Oops, come to think of it, I haven’t read my flash’s manual… so that’s why up to now I don’t know what GN means and what makes it different from TTL.  I have no idea where that manual is.)

It is pretty boring because you know a lot of the features of your camera already (presumably).  But what about the other parts of your camera that you never use?

Read your manual!  It’s like eating veggies: it’s good for you. 

December 7, 2007

Photography Packaging

Filed under: Packaging & Branding — Tags: , , , , — silvasphoto @ 2:24 pm

It is very important when giving your product to your client, whether it be photographs or albums or frames, that you package it in the most appealing way possible.  It might cost you a couple of extra dollars and a little bit more time, but it does add more value to your product.  It also adds to the customer experience and to the wow factor (remember on Christmas how exciting it is to unwrap presents?).  I mean, they went to a professional photographer!  The way they get their photographs should be different from the if they get their photographs from a family member.  The photo packaging also makes it seem like you care a lot more about the product and about the client.

It is also a great way for them to store and protect their photos and preserve their memories in an archival way.  And because the box that you are using to hold the photos are so beautiful, they will not throw it away and that makes it a great place to put your branding and your studio’s contact information.  Business cards do get thrown away or misplaced, but they will always know where they kept their wedding photos and the box where the studio’s name is. 

This is the exact photo presentation box that I use.  They are 4 1/2  x 6 1/2 x 1 1/2″ presentation boxes.  (If you need to put more photos in, there is also 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 3″ sizes )

http://www.perfectiondistributing.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PDI&Product_Code=46Box&Category_Code=BAGPB

It’s very economical, it’s a great way to present 4×6’s (they also come in various sizes such as 5×7, 8×10, 11×14 and 16×20).   I have my studio name and contact information engraved on it so that everytime they show their pictures to their family and friends, my branding is there and they can see who took the photos.  I also tape my business card inside the box and put some loose business cards inside so that they can give it away to their friends. 

Then I put some gold or silver stretch bands on it or some ribbons and then put it into a black paper bag with some black tissue paper. 

The way the presentation of the photos is that I engage most of their senses:  the packaging is beautiful to the eyes, there’s a tactile contact with the experience of opening up and holding these precious photos, there’s an auditory sense to listening to the tissue paper, you can even add a scent to it like vanilla or a light perfume to give your clients an olfactory experience.   

You can purchase boxes, tissues, paper bags and gold or silver stretch bands from various suppliers but these are the ones I use.

Perfection Distributing
Michel Company
DNL photo

These companies also sell a lot of photo related products such as albums, frames, folders and folios.  If you are a photographer, you might want to request their free catalog that you can peruse over. 

They allow you to engrave your studio name into a lot of their products.

September 20, 2007

Welcome to my photography BLOG!

Hi, y’all!

Thanks for stopping by my blog.  My blog is all about photography, mostly wedding photography and portrait photography.  This blog documents stuff that I’ve learned throughout the years of being a photographer, although I’m still learning SO much everyday.

I’m gonna be writing a lot about photography techniques, marketing and other photo-related stuff.

Feel free to leave a comment, a question or violent reactions.

Visit my website at SilvasPhoto.com to view my work. 

Blog at WordPress.com.