It takes any photographer a few months of taking seriously running their business to realize having the best gear, technical skills or overflowing creativity is no longer enough in this competitive world. Visual apps such as Instagram are flooded with other creative's highlights, fighting for potential client's attention. It only logical for us entrepreneurs to not only look for ways to reach out our potential clients, but to adopt techniques that can make us memorable to them.
How many adds manage to keep you from pressing skip after the five second mark? What to the business cards that you keep actually have in common? What makes you want to read that pamphlet that arrived in the mail and not dump it in the recycling bin? You'll probably realise that if any advertising has ever managed to capture your attention is because it masked itself as something else.
We wanted to share with you ideas for three different affordable branding tools that could take your business to the next level.
CUSTOMISED STICKERS
The photoshoot is finished and your client is happy after posing and feeling beautiful for the past couple of hours. You make sure they gather all their belongings and just as they are about to leave you hand them a souvenir. More precisely, a sticker, with a witty saying, a beautiful design and, most importantly, your business name engraved in the corner.
Getting customised stickers these days is cheaper than you think, and they can be an amazing way to market your business. The client is not only happy they got something for free, but is less likely to throw it away than, let's say, a business card or a pamphlet with your prices. If they decide to stick it somewhere other's might see (a notebook, back of their laptop, outside their car), that is some free publicity right there and a permanent reminder of the amazing time they had during your photoshoot. You could even add a small custom QR code with links to all your brand's social media.
Oz Sticker Printing offers really accessible deals for custom stickers with a wide variety of options, from vinyl to bumper stickers. It is just as easy as planning your design, choosing a style of sticker and submitting your order for delivery.
TIP: Remember you want to mask promotion for your business as something else. Avoid creating designs that have your business' name as the main protagonist and instead, create an image or phrase most of your clients could identify with. Check out CANVA for pre designed templates if you need help with your design skills.
MONSTER BUSINESS CARDS
Despite business cards being a good tool to promote your business and seem professional in front of potential customers, the sad reality is that a lot of those cards will end up in the recycling bin. If we're lucky, the person will have saved the information on their electronic device, but even then it feels like a bit of a waste. An even bigger waste is the fact that as photographers it's hard to include our work in the design of the business card, and when we do it's a small image that will hardly captivate anybody. But what if the image didn't have to be small?
What we propose is a twist on the classic business card: an A5 postcard. All you have to do is create a design that features your best portrait combined with your logo on one side and all your details on the other side. Then head to a site that allows you to create custom postcards, such as VistaPrint, upload your design and submit your order.
This way, the next time you hand potential clients a card it will almost be like handing them a small print. You can even go a step further: have three different designs and make the person choose their favourite. Not only does it give you a better idea about what they like when it comes to designing a shoot for them, but there is an even higher chance they will keep it if it's an image that specifically spoke to them.
POLAROID DISCOUNT VOUCHERS
This final idea actually requires a small investment to be carried out, but if what you're after is promotional material your clients don't throw out then this is basically bulletproof. The suggestion is to use an instant polaroid camera to create personalized vouchers, using a sharpie to write in the back any extra information. You can even ditch the sharpie and take this idea a step further by having printed QR codes that lead to your socials ready to stick on the back of the images.
Having the person pose for this photo gives you the opportunity to show them how easy going a photography session with you could be. It also creates a final product that they are bound to keep and therefore remember you and your business.
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