Introduction to SEO Ebook
Posted on | August 25, 2011 | No Comments
Hubspot, one of the leading companies in inbound marketing strategies and software for small businesses, has just published and made available for free a new ebook about Search Engine Optimization.
If you aren’t optimizing your website for search engines, you’re missing a huge opportunity. 70% of people now use internet searches instead of other sources like the yellow pages. Paid advertising, such as Google Adwords, isn’t a substitute, because 88% of people just don’t click on paid ads, preferring the results of the organic searches.
Even if you show up in the searches, if you’re not on page one, or at the very lowest, page two for your selected searches, you don’t exist in most cases.
You’ve probably received dozens of calls for companies who will “get you on page one” for the mere fee of $150 a month. Don’t fall for it, unless you are just website illiterate to begin with. They can’t do anything you can’t do for yourself, and NO ONE CAN GUARANTEE YOU A PAGE ONE POSITION. It’s all about how Google and Bing interpret your website.
SEO optimization isn’t all that hard, but it does take some knowledge and some effort on your part. But, if you have an HTML website, and you’re familiar with either Dreamweaver or Frontpage, or if you’re using a WordPress based website (which I highly recommend), you can do it for yourself.
If, however, you’re using a Flash based website, you’re in deep yogurt, because the search engines can’t index flash. Flash websites are just a bad idea in today’s internet search centered world of marketing.
The book is free, as is most of what they publish on their website. You might have to give them your email address, but I’d recommend you do that anyhow, because they are a WEALTH of free information on inbound marketing. And they’re the model of how marketing should work in today’s world – they’re not advertising; they’re providing lots of free information that establishes their expertise, and keeps potential clients coming back again and again to their website.
They also have a free website grader, which you can run against your website and see how you rate for SEO optimization. Once again, it’s free, and will both display a report online, and email you a more comprehensive one.
I’m NOT a Photographer
Posted on | August 22, 2011 | No Comments
[Note- this is an article I posted on my studio blog]
I am NOT a photographer!
I’ll be that’s not what you expected me to say.
No, I’m a portrait artist, and I happen to use photography as my medium.
Especially in today’s world, a photographer is anyone who pushes the button on the camera. The thing is, this is only’s only one very brief step in a very involved process. It’s what goes on well before and well after that moment that takes the results of the pushing of the button and turns it into something you’ll treasure.
Anyone can be a photographer. All you have to be able to do is lift a camera and push the button. And in today’s world, many people are billing themselves as a “photographer” simply because they have a “really nice camera” that they paid $500 for and they can set it on automatic. They’re great at pushing the button.
But the creation of family heirloom photography takes man skills that are the result of years of learning, and practice.
It takes fundamental knowledge of light and how it plays on the face and body. It takes a solid working knowledge of how to use the tools that can add, subtract or modify light to get the right look
It takes an understanding of color and how the use of complimentary or contrasting colors can have a dramatic impact on an image.
It takes skill on being able to determine proper locations, or perfect backgrounds and settings, especially when working outdoors. A setting that may look nice to the human eye may or may not look wonderful in an image, depending on a lot of factors.
It takes knowledge of how best to position a myriad of human body styles to make people look their best. You simply can’t photograph a very slender person in the same way you photograph a larger person to make them look their best. You don’t even use light in the same way.
We all have visual imperfections in our bodies. A crooked nose, a wandering eye, a receeding hairline, a crooked smile. The accomplished portrait artist knows how to pose and light to minimize these natural human imperfections. A button pusher doesn’t.
It takes an understanding of the physics of light and optics, and the interplay with shutter speed and aperture. An understanding of how to stop motion, or throw a distracting background out of focus. The ability to choose proper settings on the camera to artistically accomplish the desired results. Automatic settings on cameras can’t do this.
It takes the ability to pick proper settings both for how they’ll look in the final print and how the existing light will enhance or detract from the image. Then it takes a knowledge, skill and equipment to modify that light to make it look it’s best.
It takes a lot of psychology to help those in front of the camera look and feel their best, which can sometimes be the most challenging skill of all. The first thing out of most people’s mouths when getting ready for a portrait session is “I don’t photograph well”. In the hands of a skilled craftsman, that’s generally not true, but a button pusher won’t know how to relax the subjects and achieve the results.
It takes an understanding of the concepts of art, and the rules of composition, plus the knowledge of how to break them creatively and properly.
It takes skill in knowing how to properly place the subjects in relation to each other. You can’t just clump people. There a lot of fundamental design rules that come into play to create a pleasing result.
And once you have everything ready – a great location, beautiful light, perfect placement, complimentary body and facial position, great composition and energy - it takes the ability to get great expressions.
After the capture session, it takes lots of artistic vision and skill to properly finish the images using tools like Photoshop. Unfortunately, too many people use Photoshop to attempt to FIX the things they did wrong when doing the initial capture, because of their lack of skill and ability in the things we’ve already talked about.
It takes an understanding of the technical side of color, exposure, color space and all the other factors that go into the final preparation of a image for printing.
So you see, the act of pushing the button; the act of being a photographer is only one instantaneous factor in a whole progression of steps that determine how wonderful a finished image might be and just how much it will be valued for generations.
So, when you’re wanting to create wonderful images of someone you love, or a time you want to remember, which would you prefer? Do you want someone who’s merely a photographe; who knows how to aim the camera and push the button?
Or do you want someone who has the skills to create something that will become a family heriloom, and be treasured for generations?
I’m betting I know the answer…
And that’s why I put in the years of learning to be a portrait artist, not just a photographer.
The New Marketing Paradigm – Content is KING
Posted on | August 20, 2011 | No Comments
The new marketing paradigm is “CONTENT IS KING”, followed by the recommendation that you write content that is of value to your potential clients, but isn’t full of marketing stuff.
People simply ignore ads in today’s world.
I’m as guilty of this as anyone, but if all you do is post ads in the guise of posts for your studio on Facebook, you’ll be ignored. Post pictures of the latest senior, and then tell people time is running out or some other lame, old world marketing phrase, and you’re simply wearing skin off the ends of your fingers typing for no reason.
The days of Mad Men style advertising and marketing are over. People don’t want to be sold. But they do want to be educated.
By becoming the expert, the go to source of information of value to your customers, you become head and shoulders above everyone else. You become someone they trust; someone who isn’t trying to sell them something every time they hear from you.
By providing content that is interesting and of value to them in meeting their needs, whatever those are, you become their choice when they finally do need what you do.
Several years ago, I wrote a series of “Photographer’s Perspectives” – a four page description of each of about 6 wedding venues, describing for brides the strengths of each site from a photographers perspective. Although these included some of my photographs, there wasn’t a single sentence in there telling them how wonderful I was, or that they should hire me.
I posted these on my website, for free download, and I gave them to the venues for use in their marketing as well.
What did this accomplish? Well, at least, it established me as someone who knew what they were talking about, someone who knew each of these locations very well, and someone who cared enough to take the time to write these non-marketing pieces that would be of value to the bride.
If you’d like to see an example, you can download a pdf here: http://www.encorephotography.com/pdf/beckenridge.pdf
I’m currently in the process of writing some pieces to put on my senior website, each talking about one of the important aspects of senior pictures and how to select a photographer for them.
In the past, I’d written a 10 page letter that had these in them, but the second half was a sales letter for me. I’m revamping this as both individual blog posts, and as a “white paper” (for lack of a better term) that prospective seniors or parents can down load.
It won’t have ANY sales pitch for me in it, other than to list my experience in a short bio paragraph at the end.
On my Family Portrait website, our emphasis is on celebrating the relationships our clients have with those they love. We call the whole program Footprints On The Heart, and I’m always looking for articles, Youtube videos or anything else of interest that will touch people’s hearts when they see them.
My initial concept was to ask people to submit stories about people who’ve left footprints on THEIR hearts, kind of like Chicken Soup for the Soul stories.
The idea is to attract people who value relationships beyond the norm, and for whom recording them might be important enough to commission portraits.
But I’ve spent way too much time putting old fashined studio promotion pieces on their as well.
I’d love to hear from others the ideas you might have on posts, articles, white papers, videos ect. that you’d think would be of value to portrait clients.
By the way, a couple of good books on the subject include :
Launch – by Michael Stelzner (I’m reading that right now)
Content Rules – by Ann Handley
The New Rules of Marketing and PR – by David Meerman Scott
All available as Kindle or Ibooks downloads)
How Do YOU Buy and What Can You Learn From It?
Posted on | April 6, 2011 | No Comments
So how do YOU buy?
What marketing effects YOUR buying decisions?
If you’re looking for a specific product or service how do YOU research it?
What marketing tools do you find that motivates YOU?
And isn’t it reasonable to think that if you do things this way, so do your customers?
I have four “GO-TO” methods that are my primary tools:
1. The Internet
2. Recommendations from friends or other vendors
3. Publications that specialize in my particular areas of interest.
and
4. Information from vendors with whom I have an ongoing relationship.
FORGET THE YELLOW PAGES. We have four published in our area, and they usually hit the recycle bin when they arrive on our doorstep. We keep one phone book in our house, and it’s rarely opened.
FORGET NEWSPAPER ADVERTISING. We haven’t subscribed in about four years, and across the country, subscriptions are way down. The only exception is I might pick up an occasional FRY’s ad and scan through it.
DIRECT MAIL? This still has SOME effect. Most of it goes immediately into the recycle bin. Exceptions? – Things I get from existing vendors who might be telling me about something special. (An ongoing relationship in which I find value). Also, postcards that I can glance at get a look, and sometimes plain envelopes get opened if I’m not sure if they’re junk mail or something else.
RADIO ADVERTISING? – When it’s ad time, I usually hit the button to find another station. Same for television. We don’t have a DVR, but I do have a remote, and what little time I spend watching TV is PBS than anything else these days.
We are so bombarded by interrupt advertising that it’s lost it’s effectiveness, something like 3500 advertisements a day. We simply don’t pay much attention any more.
When I feel a need, I usually hit the internet looking for information. That’s my number one.
THAT’S WHY GOOD POSITIONING IN GOOGLE IS VITAL.
We now live in an information age. It’s right at our fingertips. That’s why content on your website is KING. Customers are looking for helpful information, not a sales pitch. The more you can establish your overall expertise, the more you can come across as a person they’d like to do business with (not just a COMPANY they’d like to do business with), the better.
THAT’S WHY CONTENT AND INFORMATION ON YOUR WEBSITE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.
I read product reviews on Amazon. I want to know what others think, what their experience has been.
THIS IS WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE CUSTOMER ENDORSEMENTS ON YOUR WEBSITE
If it’s a service I’m looking for, I ask friends or others whos opinion I trust. I needed a mechanic for my car a while back, and didn’t have a regular. But my wife did for her Honda. Trouble is, they only work on Hondas, but they recommended another shop a few blocks away for mine. No questions asked, that’s where I went.
THIS IS WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO HAVE A GOOD REFERRAL PROGRAM, AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO WORK WITH OTHER VENDORS TO CROSS MARKET.
If I’m looking for something new for the studio, I’ll probably go to Professional Photographer, look for an article or actually look at the ads, then go to the website to learn that much more.
THIS ADVERTISING WORKS, BUT DRIVE THEM TO YOUR WEBSITE
Or, if I have a trusted vendor, someone with whom I already have a relationship, I might go to them.
COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR BASE, ESPECIALLY YOUR TOP 100 OR 200 CUSTOMERS, but not just to sell them. Communicate with them as friends also.
So, how do YOU buy? Are you different that me, or similar? And how can you use what you learn from your own buying habits to impact how you market to your clients.
KISS – A Lesson from ATT that WE (and ATT) need to keep in mind
Posted on | April 4, 2011 | No Comments
I recently upgraded my old cell phone to an Iphone. Id resisted the Iphone “craze” since it’s introduction, and in fact was planning on getting an Android based phone because I like the openness of the Android approach as compared to the tightly closed approach of Apple.
But, after winning an Ipad (that’s right – WINNING AN IPAD) last fall, the Iphone made the most sense, since the two would work together, and many of my Ipad aps would work on my Iphone. So I bought a refurb 16 GB Iphone 4 for $99.
Kept the same voice plan, even was able to keep the same unlimited data plan – NICE.
But my texting wouldn’t work.
So, I made the mistake of calling the 1-800 number to talk to their customer no-service department. Cell phone company are second from the bottom, eclipsed only by credit card companies in their lack of customer service – and they’re ALL equally bad.
And I discovered why they’re so bad.\
They don’t know how to keep things simple.
I spent 45 minutes on the phone with one if their guys, and accomplished NOTHING. The bottom line was that while everything else stayed the same when I upgraded, my texting didn’t, and it was simply deleted from my plan. No one told me that, so I kept wondering why people weren’t getting my texts for the first week.
The poor ATT employee – He was more confused about all the provisions than I was. He couldn’t explain why when two elements didn’t change, the texting did. He kept saying the Iphone was “different texting” than my previous smart phone (of course it’s not – a text is a text is a text)
Plus, when trying to figure out the new options for me, he started really stumbling all over himself. If it’s Tuesday, and you have a black phone, then you qualify for this plan. But if you’re left handed, and you do more than 100 texts a month, you need to dress in blue and then you qualify for this plan. If you have a family plan, you have to do this, but you can’t do that so you have to do an individual phone plan etc. etc. etc. Finally after being on hold for about 10 minutes while he tried to figure things out, I hung up and went back to work.
NUTS!
I finally went to their website (which wasn’t working for a while), and made the change myself. It took me about 3 minutes. There was one choice. $10 for 1000 messages a month. Period. Easy
But the message for us is this:
Do you make your customers choices complex or difficult?
Or do you make it simple for them to understand their options.
Keep your choices simple. If you think you need flexibility, be prepared to customize what you do in response to specific customer needs, but keep their up-front choices simple and easy to understand.
Give them clear choices. Don’t offer seven print finishes and three levels of retouching; offer two or three (traditional, Canvas, and Wrap), and two retouches – none or your normal wonderful finishing job.
If they need something different, you can always have other choices behind the scenes that you can use.
We offer three categories of wall folios from GNP; Each of the three is a single price, regardless of the actual size of the frame or number of images. They can then choose the configuration that works for them from the 100 or so choices in the GNP catalog, and not have each one be a different price.
We used to sell our wedding packages as an open credit – you can choose any album you want, and whatever the cost of that particular style and size of album came out of your credit. But we found it was confusing to people. So now each package comes with your choice of two very specific styles and sizes of albums. BUT, we have other options available behind the scenes if they really want something different.
Not only does this make your customer’s lives easier, it will make yours and your employees easier as well. The poor ATT guy was more confused than I was.
Make it easy and simple to do business with you. But always be prepared to deal with specific customer needs and exceptions to your standard choices (for a price), but keep that information in the background unless it’s needed.
Search Portrait Studio Marketing
What I'm Now Reading
Planned books:
- Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy – Until You’re 80 and Beyond by Chris Crowley, Henry S. Lodge
Current books:
-
The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch
-
Facebook Marketing: An Hour a Day by Chris Treadaway, Mari Smith
-
Launch: How to Quickly Propel Your Business Beyond the Competition by Michael A. Stelzner
-
Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage by Ann Handley, C.C. Chapman
