The sharing economy is disrupting industries throughout around the world! Companies like Airbnb, Relay Rides, Task Rabbit, Uber, Lyft and dozens more companies are changing the way people think and consume.

What is sharing economy?

The sharing economy is a consumer paradigm in which a person is willing to share his or her time or asset with another person. The paradigm enables people to maximally utilize the assets that they own or decide to use someone else’s assets. Airbnb helps people share apartments, Relay Rides helps people share cars, Task Rabbit helps people share their services.

Why does this matter to the wedding industry?

As a professional wedding photographer, you’re accumulating a trove of wedding images. Traditionally, the value of your wedding images has ended when you deliver them to a newlywed couple. Today, if this is all you’re doing with your wedding images, you’re leaving value on the table!

Other vendors need access to professional images of their work now more than ever. In the past other vendors could get by with a handful of nice images on a website. Today, in the age of Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, engaged couples have a heftier appetite for images. Today, vendors need to share a regular stream of fresh professional images on social media to stay relevant among engaged couples. You’re sitting on these images, and you can get something for them.

The current image share paths from photographers to other vendors are fragmented, cumbersome and, most unfortunately, do not enable the photographer to capture the full value of his or her images. I’m fixing this problem with LulaWed.com. Our new wedding directory helps photographers easily share wedding images with other vendors and capture real value from sharing.

How LulaWed helps photographers.

LulaWed allows photographers to upload albums of real wedding images and tag the venue and other vendors who participated. We find the contact info for vendors you tag in albums, email them a link to your album and encourage them to share your branded images of their work on social media.

LulaWed provides easy one click access for other vendors to share your wedding images to their Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook accounts. The images shared are branded with your logo or watermark and lead back to your listing on LulaWed. The end value to photographers is more exposure among unique social media networks and more referrals from other vendors. The end value to the other vendors is they get to share professional images of their work online.

Your marketing dream team.

Imagine if you had a marketing team of 10, 20 or even 100 people working to promote your business to engaged couples. This would be amazing and really expensive! You don’t need a marketing team promoting your business, you need other wedding vendors promoting your business.

Today's social channels allow savvy wedding businesses to build successful online followings across multiple platforms. Sharing your images on LulaWed allows other wedding vendors to market their business and yours simultaneously to unique social media networks. For example, when a couple sees your image shared on Pinterest by another vendor, the couple can click on the image back to your LulaWed listing. You keep all the credit, and you get the referral.

You never know which vendor your tagging will have a huge following on Pinterest.

By a photographer, for photographers

I worked as a professional wedding photographer for the past 12 years in California and Maine. I’ve shot over a hundred weddings and my wife’s current photography company shoots 60+ a year. I understand that brides come and go, but the industry will always be there. Take care of the individuals who can refer you and you will build a business that thrives!

Our platform is designed to require minimal effort by you to get your images shared by other vendors! We’re constantly adding new features and partnerships that make it easier for you to share images with other vendors. Recently we launched a new feature that allows you to skip the image upload process completely when you integrate your blog RSS feed. LulaWed can pull real wedding images right from your blog.

Free listing offer for Tiffinbox readers!

Tiffinbox has been a valued resource to me as a professional photographer, so I want to share the love with other readers. Right now, when you create an Enhanced listing on LulaWed, use promo TIFFINBOX to get 6 months free!

I hope LulaWed helps you get more value from your wedding images. Signup, upload weddings, tag vendors, and let me know how it goes!

Sign Up Today

My last post on Tiffinbox.org, titled “How Photographers Can Create a Well-Rounded Marketing Plan” was a huge success! It even made it into Seshu's top-5 articles of all time, which is a huge honour, so thank you for giving it all the love! Seshu has given me the opportunity to write here again, and so I wanted to take one of the ideas that I touched on in that last article and go deeper with it.

Display collaboratives (otherwise known as display advertising) is a co-marketing initiative where you hang your prints at a third-party location or business (target location), with the intent of creating brand awareness and community recognition for your work. What's great about display collaboratives is that it is an idea that is applicable to every genre of photography in every market. No matter what your specialty or target market, this is a great marketing program that you can use to grow your business.

Why display advertising?

If the benefits of display collaboratives aren't inherently obvious, then I'll take a moment here to explain. You are basically creating a win-win-win situation. Normally, a win-win would be good enough for me, so that extra “win” in there makes this that much better!

The target location wins because they get unique, custom art displayed in their space that is highly specialized. They get to support a local artist, and they'll also gain recognition, awareness and ultimately more business throughout the promotion of the display advertising. More to come on the promoting part later.

Your clients who are in the images being displayed wins because they get to be “famous” for a short period of time. They can brag to their friends and family that their family
portrait, wedding image or child's portrait is hanging in a prominent, popular place in town.

You win because you get be in front of a completely new audience, you get to re-enforce your brand in your community, you get to build a solid relationship with a local business and you gain access to their audience throughout the promotion of the display advertising.

How to set up a display advertising collaboration

Ultimately, you will want to have several displays up in a few different locations – the idea is to “be everywhere” and re-enforce your brand and your presence in your community. I recommend starting with one location at a time, and working your way up from there.

Throughout the whole process, remember to continually build value, be professional and continually show respect and appreciation for everyone involved. This is as much about the finished pieces on the wall and the exposure as it is about the relationships and impact you can make throughout the whole process. Throughout the process, promote and share on social media behind-the-scenes pictures, ideas and teasers to build excitement for the project that you're working on with the target location.

Here is a 5-step process to take you from idea to fulfillment for setting up a successful display collaborative campaign.

Step 1 – Determine the target location

First let me say that this is not a marketing initiative that is done well through “cold-calling” potential target locations. This is the kind of marketing program that you want to run collaboratively founded on existing relationships. I'm not suggesting that you have to be best friends with the target location, but instead what I'm saying is that display collaboratives are best executed when there is a pre-existing mutual trust and respect. Look at your “rolodex” of local contacts and discover some locations where your target client might frequents.

Here are a few examples of locations that might be a good fit:

• If you're a wedding photographer that targets the high-end bride, perhaps a wedding boutique on the main street in your quaint town would be a good fit.
• If you're a wedding photographer who specializes in the vintage style, then perhaps a good fit would be a local brewery or a new-age rustic flower shop.
• If you're a child photographer looking to photograph for families who are in the middle-to-upper professional working class, then maybe a good fit would be a higher-scale local dentist office.
• If you're a child photographer looking to photograph for more middle-class, DIY, stay-at-home Mom's who want to spend good money on great photography, then a good fit might be a local children's clothing boutique.

You can see how there are so many opportunities once you start choosing partners based on target market.

Golden nugget: If you want to really find out the best places to partner with, then simply ask your 5 best clients where else they shop during the week. Better yet – ask them where they go to buy Christmas presents around the holidays. This will show you what kind of consumer they are, where they shop, and what their spending habits are like.

As I mentioned earlier, it's best to have a pre-existing relationship before you start bringing up the idea of display advertising with a target location, so if you don't already have a relationship with the target location you're approaching, then you need to spend some time building and nurturing a relationship before you “jump into bed” together. Network, get to know each other, build up that mutual trust and respect, and then move on to the next step. If you already have a solid relationship, then move on forward.

Step 2 – Propose the idea of display advertising

It's simple to bring up the idea of doing a display collaboration with a target location. You want to propose the win-win-win situation to them, explain the benefits and minimize the objections. I recommend having this discussion in-person, and be sure to bring a sample print  similar to one that you would display so that they can see the value.

You must consider this a creative marketing expense, and so I recommend that you do not charge for the prints. This is an advertising opportunity for you, and much like you'd pay a magazine to be in front of their audience, you are covering the expenses here in exchange for being in front of this new audience. Discuss the idea of having your logo on the prints, or at the very least, ask to have business cards on display nearby.

Step 3 – Decide size, placement, duration and (optionally) rotation

Another benefit to having the discussion in-person is that you can start to brainstorm right away where and how big the prints might be able to be displayed. You are the expert here, remember; you are a professional photographer and a part of your job is to design wall art, so be generous with your recommendations, but remember that it is ultimately their space, so you need to also be respectful to their wishes.

Step 4 – Hang the prints yourself

Once you've decided on sizes, images and placement, be sure to get the prints made as quickly as possible. Bring the finished pieces into the space personally and hang them yourself at a mutually agreed upon time. Once again, show your professionalism. This is when you are presenting the “deliverable”, so the excitement should be at it's high. If you want to really make an impact, deliver a special surprise with the finished piece for all of those involved. Whether that means bringing a bouquet of flowers, a small gift or giving them a gift certificate for personal portraits themselves, do something at this point to exceed their expectations.

Step 5 – Promote it!

This is when the real work begins. You need to promote the display collaboration as much as possible. Help to deliver the target location's “win” part of the equation and get them more visibility. Tweet, Instagram, Facebook and Blog as much as you can. Share images, videos, stories of the whole process everywhere and anywhere you can. Get the local media involved and see if it would be something they'd be interested in running in the local paper or on the radio. Here's an idea – consider running some sort of contest to get buzz going. Be creative here!

Don't forget to reach out to those who are actually displayed in the portraits you have hanging on the wall and tell them that their images are up (they should have been aware ahead of time). Tell them that they should go check it out and to tell all of their friends and family about their “moment of fame”.

Think Outside the Box – Be Creative!

Display advertising as I've presented it thus far has been fairly straight forward – you hang some of your work in another space. There are so many more ways to “spin it” if you really think outside the box and get creative. I have written a “part 2” to this article where I share some specific ideas for getting creative with collaborative display advertising opportunities, in fact, one of my ideas will even generate you money – lots of money! If you're interested in getting the second part delivered right to your inbox, then head on over to this page on the Sprouting Photographer website, leave me your e-mail address and I'll send it to you right away, free of charge!

My first foray into social media (even before it was called that, I believe) was on Twitter. I didn't know what I was doing. I was a skeptical dabbler.

Now approaching 9000 followers (small compared to some other very popular people), I credit Twitter for being the catalyst for my headshot portrait photography business in Connecticut.

More on how all that worked out another time, but I wanted to let you know that my friends at Photoshelter have launched a new guide on using Twitter that you should download and read. Like all of their other guides, this one packs a punch and even I have learned a few things about using Twitter. The guide is free, and you get to learn about something that you use anyway, even for fun. If you do use it as a channel for your business, reading this new guide on Twitter is a no-brainer.

The guide includes:

10 ways to grow a Twitter following and increase engagement – including sharing behind-the-scenes photos and tweeting about what’s trending

Top Twitter features for businesses that will help you market your work better

Legal considerations before using Twitter, plus best practices to help keep your work safe

Tips to measure your success and determine if your efforts are working

Plus more

Get the free Twitter guide from Photoshelter here.

If you use Twitter, go ahead and list your Twitter handle in the comments section below. I'll check each one out and follow those of you who are actively using Twitter. My Twitter handle is @PicSeshu.

Do we have a deal? I look forward to connecting with you on Twitter.

The internet has done great things to help us market ourselves as photographers, and social media in specific has made it possible for us to reach a large audience even easier. It is a double-edged sword though. While it's true that you can reach more people now, the same is true for everyone else. The social media space has become very crowded and the perceived barriers to entry in becoming a “photographer” have gone down significantly because of this.

Standing Out

How do you stand out marketing yourself as a photographer online, then? Well, that is a whole other discussion, but I would suggest that a good place to start is to go “back to the basics” and adapt an offline component to your marketing strategy. Let's quickly recall a few of the online marketing strategies that we use today, along with a few buzzwords that have become commonplace:

• Social media
• Social networking
• Engagement on Facebook
• Content marketing on our blogs
• RT's and @ mentions of other businesses on Twitter

What would it look like if we stripped away the “online” component to these terms and strategies?

• Social media
• Social networking
• Engagement on Facebook
• Content marketing on our blogs
• RT's and @ mentions of other businesses on Twitter

We're left with media, networking, engagement, content marketing and relationship building. It's no surprise that these are the foundations of “traditional” business marketing, and we've just adapted them to social media and the internet. A lot of the time, though, we've forgotten about the roots of where they came from. Let's explore.

• Media is defined as the main means of mass communication (television, radio, newspapers).
• Networking means to interact with other people to exchange information and develop contacts, especially to further one's career.
• Engagement is a marketing strategy that directly engages consumers and invites and encourages them to participate in the evolution of a brand.
• Content marketing is defined as providing consistent, high-quality content that solves people's problems.
• Relationship building is a marketing strategy that recognizes the long-term value of relationships and extends communication beyond intrusive advertising and sales promotional messages.

The Foundations of Marketing

Using these marketing foundations as a starting point, I would suggest the following 5 ways that you can use the basics of business marketing to increase your local awareness offline and ultimately get more business: speaking, networking, press, co-marketing and direct-mail.

I am a big believer in the idea of being specific, giving examples and taking action on what we learn. All articles that I write for my educational website Sprouting Photographer ends with an “action item” that gives a specific point of follow-up. For this article, I'd like to give 18 examples of how you can put into play each of these 5 marketing basics right away.

Speaking

• Give a presentation to a local business clubs re: business portraits.
• Give a presentation to the local Rotary Club about what you do as a photographer.
• Present to a Mom group re: family and child portraits.
• Put on a workshop to teach the basics of photography at the library.

Networking

• Seek out local business associations such as the Chamber of Commerce or a local BIA and become a regular attendee to the networking meetings. Focus on building relationships and not just handing out business cards.
• Personally reach out to local business owners and connect one-on-one. See how you can help each other.
• Attend local niche trade shows and network with the organizers, sponsors and businesses. If you specialize in family portraits for example, a “home show” would likely have many businesses that serve a similar market as you do. This would be a great networking opportunity.

Press

• Donate to a cause and attach your name to a newsworthy event/charity.
• Volunteer your time locally.
• Offer help to the local media – maybe they need photographs, or perhaps they'd like your opinion on a photograph-related topic.
• Send press releases once you've built an established relationship with the local paper.
• Offer to write a column in the paper.

Co-Marketing

• Offer to decorate local businesses with wall portraits and wall art. Display your business card with it.
• Run a promotion with a local business that has a similar audience as yours. You can share each in each other's customer base.
• Exchange a stack of business cards with local like-minded business owners and offer to help market each other.
• Offer a local business a few gift certificates to give their top-tier clients as a gift from them.

Direct-Mail Postcard Mailings

• Come up with a specific, time-sensitive offer and mail it to 10,000 homes in the area via a post-card drop.
• Repetition is key – plan to do one per month for at least 6 months.

Creating a well-rounded marketing plan is crucial for long-term success as a photographer. We need to include online and offline marketing strategies to ensure that we are in front of as many prospective clients as possible. The ultimate testimony to a consistent offline local marketing initiative is when your clients start telling you that they “see you everywhere” – that is a well-executed branding and awareness campaign!

Blog post version 1: marketing for photographers

I wrote a draft of this blog post with some very generic information about marketing for photographers. Then I read it. And I didn’t like it! I didn’t think it was as valuable to you as it could be.

As I was reading it I was thinking “how many times have I read this kind of stuff before?” And the answer is too many times to count.

How much value to you is some generic information that is written by someone who doesn’t know your situation, doesn’t know who you are, what you love, what you hate, what your goals and dreams are? Someone who doesn’t know what type of photographer you are or who your clients are.

So it was back to the drawing board…

Blog post version 2: smart marketing for smart photographers

This second version of the blog post is completely different.

This blog post is not for everyone.

This blog post is not for you if you want some generic marketing strategies handed to you on a platter.

This blog post is for people who want to find the marketing strategies that are really effective at attracting more of the right kinds of clients – for YOU!

This blog post is for people who are willing to do some work!

So, are you up for the challenge?

You can reach your goals. And you can get all the clients you need. But it’s going to take some work. And the work starts now.

In this first of 5 blog posts we are going to work through some of the basics. These are things you should have clear in your head before you even think about building a SMART marketing plan.

They are:

Marketing basics

Your message

Your ideal client

Your philosophy/beliefs/values

About you, the photographer(s)

What do you have that is unique and worth talking about (remarkable)?

What have past clients loved and talked about?

What is the #1 reason why clients should/would choose you?

What other things do you offer that will make your ideal client sit up and take notice?

To help you on your way here’s an example:

Our message:

We photograph dogs and only dogs! We love our dogs – our furbabies – and know you love yours too. We are experts at capturing their quirky, unique and lovable personalities.

Our ideal client:

A couple, with no children, who are passionate about their dogs (they “are” their children). In their mid 40s, both working, with a disposable income and they can afford to invest in a photographic session with their beloved pet/s. They enjoy the stage of life they are at. They value their down time and love nothing more than to spend it with their dogs. They value (and can and will pay for) luxuries when it comes to their furbabies.

Our philosophy/beliefs/values:

Fun. Love. Laughter. We believe that life is too short not to have fun. We value love and laughter in both our personal lives and our business.

About you, the photographer(s):

We are L and P, husband and wife. Our passion is our furbabies many of whom have come to us as rescues having had difficult and traumatic pasts. For us though they are our children, we love them for all their quirks. We have been working together as a partnership in business since 1996. Out of this grew an interest in photography and we’ve discovered a way to blend the art that L loves so much with the technology that is P’s keen interest. We’ve decided life is too short to not enjoy what we do to earn a living so we’ve started our photography business and we love every minute of it.

What do you have that is unique?

Casual, relaxed atmosphere – we don’t mind getting down to their level and doing whatever it takes to get those great images. We love animals, this isn’t a job for us, it’s a passion – doggy kisses are ok!

What have others loved and talked about?

“They get to know our pets”
“They don’t rush, they’re happy to work with our pets and their moods”
“They are friendly and personable”
“They go the extra mile to get that perfect shot”

What is the #1 reason why clients would choose you?

We care! As two photographers, husband and wife, working intuitively together we know and love animals and will use that knowledge and passion to capture the uniqueness of your pets.

What other things will make your ideal client sit up and take notice?

We work to your pets’ timetable, not ours – it takes as long as it takes.
Working on location, in an environment your pet is happy in, allows for a relaxed, fun sitting and better photos.
We look for the quirky, unique and memorable moments.

Now, what’s next?

If you would like to send your marketing plan basics to me using this form, I will select one and use it as the case study for the next blog post: Your marketing mix. How's that? I'll basically be writing your marketing plan for you.

If you don’t wish to send it to me, no problem. Complete it, hold on to it and have it handy for the next blog post where we will take this information and work though the key marketing strategies that should make up your marketing mix.