Good morning and a very Happy New Year to you all! Thank you for making 2012 such a special year for Tiffinbox. It's with your participation that we can make this site even better in 2013. I am truly excited to tell you that Angela Pointon, whose posts you have read here in the past, has agreed to come on board as a monthly contributor. Kicking that off is this very useful post for photographers who want to rock out their market in the new year. Read it, join us, comment!

A lot of photographers get confused by marketing. They consider it in the very beginning of their business, and those considerations typically include things they know they need, such as a website, business cards and a printed price list.

However, marketing is so fundamentally rooted when done well, that if you don't think about it properly, you'll end up spending a lot of money and wondering if it really made a difference in your business. Working on your own marketing is like being a doctor. If you don't truly understand the human body and how it functions, you cannot make it work better.

STEP 1:

Understand your target market deeply and fully. Often times, I find that business owners day dream about working with a certain target market, but find themselves consumed by working with another one. Thus, it creates an unfulfilling business and a bit of a feeling of quicksand that is difficult to get out of.

When you understand who you want to target, you take the first step toward landing more business from them.

STEP 2:

Understand what makes your business different. And remember, it has to be different in the eyes of your defined target audience… the people you want to be working with. I recently wrote an entire post about figuring out how to be a different, special and unique business in the eyes of your audience.

Read more about being different here.

STEP 3:

You have to define what financial bliss means for you. This is as unique as any other aspect of your business. Figure out how much you want to make and how many bookings you have to land in order to get there. Why is this important to marketing?

Your marketing should align with the goals of your business. If you do not define your monetary goal, how can you manage to market enough to obtain it? Oh, and one more thing about defining you financial bliss… it cannot limit you. Financial bliss is not a ceiling; it is just a target that you are shooting for. Exceeding it is highly possible and therefore, should be welcomed (assuming you're willing to work harder).

STEP 4:

Create the business goals you need to achieve in order to satisfy your financial bliss. These goals could include bookings, events you want to do or anything related to your business' success in 2013. I recommend including anywhere from 2-5 big goals.

STEP 5:

Take your big goals and break them down a bit. They should become a list of key steps you need to take in order to achieve the goals. As the days progress, your list of key steps will become daily tasks. I personally use Evernote, a free web-based tool and app, to keep track of the daily tasks I need to tackle in order to achieve my big goals. Goals become easier to obtain when they're broken down to small, easy-to-do daily tasks.

The One Page Marketing Plan

I recently launched a free webinar called the One Page Marketing Plan, where I went through the five steps listed above in greater detail and provided a free template for recording all of your thoughts and ideas. Download it here for free.

Photography Marketing Academy

On January 3rd, I am launching a new educational program called Photography Marketing Academy. This simple three-session program offers you access to up to five of your photographer peers and me. Together, we'll walk through your business goals for 2013, your current marketing, and you'll leave the sessions with clear, actionable steps you need to take in order to achieve a year of your dreams in 2013.

Learn more about Photography Marketing Academy and register. Space is limited and registration will likely close the morning of January 3rd.

Angela Pointon loves photographers and artists. She studied photography, but had a love affair with business and marketing. She decided to combine all three together when she started Steel Toe Images. She coaches and inspires photographers and other artists to kick major butt through her one-on-one sessions, blog, emails, workshops and her first book (coming soon), called “The Art Of A Photo Business: What Every Photographer Wished They Knew Before They Started”. Follow Angela on Twitter, Facebook or her blog.

I believe that what you do is amazing.

Every time you freeze an image, you give a gift to the world. I also believe you create a different experience, uniquely your own that no one else has the power to duplicate. Your business exudes a feeling that other businesses can try to copy, but ultimately fail at mimicking because their business is their business and yours is yours.

This is where marketing begins: at you.

The best photographers know what they're capable of bringing to the world, and they've worked hard to define that very thing in one or two succinct sentences. An amazing photographer isn't trying to copy another photographer; he or she knows that this effort is futile and, in fact, copying another photographer just robs the world of their own abilities, their talents and their uniqueness.

As photographers, we are challenged to identify what truly special difference we offer that no other photographer can. Yet, we all have this inside of us; it's just a matter of uncovering it.

The best photographers challenge themselves to constantly ensure they are articulating their amazingness using the right words that evoke mystery, intrigue, and fascination.

Know the people who will die to buy.

Have you ever been a raving fan of a brand, product or service? Have you ever talked to a friend about this brand, product or service with the same immense passion that one uses when speaking of their religious or political beliefs? Have you ever had a buying experience so amazing that it left you wanting to have it again? Have you ever bought something when competitive offerings were available solely because of the incredible buying experience?

That company knew your profile. They knew who their ideal customer was (ie people like you), and they built an experience to tantalize the very things that you would find unbelievably enjoyable. They matched the services to the person with the cash to spend.

Sometimes it's easier to start at the who. Who is the perfect buyer of your services? Who do you get along with, set off sparks with? Who do you cause the reaction of saying “that was amazing” at the end of their initial buying experience with you?

How will you attract more of them?

It's great if we've had a buyer or two who have been amazing. But how do we attract more? How do we work with fewer clients who are just okay and work with more who are unbelievable?

I've had success in my life finding people by hanging out where they're hanging. I have found that walking into a real room with a group of people can instantly feel right or wrong. The same is true of online places, too.

Plan Your 2013 Marketing To Capture More Souls

So if you want to define your brilliance, if you want to figure out who your ideal client is, and if you want to find more of those clients, then the One Page Marketing Plan is for you.

FREE Webinar: The One Page Marketing Plan

Wednesday, December 5th, 8:30pm eastern / 5:30pm pacific

There are some business owners that believe long drawn out business plans are the key to success. But if they are tirelessly drafted to only sit on a shelf, what good are they? I have put together a program to help you get your 2013 marketing mapped out on a single sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ paper. I'll walk you through how to effectively plan your marketing in order to get what you want out of business next year.

Together, we'll spend 60 minutes walking through my one page marketing plan template (a template will be emailed to you right before the webinar). I'll pose the thoughtful questions and provide the examples you'll need to get your wheels of creativity turning.

By the end of the webinar, you'll get your marketing mapped out, including:

the target market you'll go after in 2013:

– what makes your unique business different than the rest
– your financial bliss to obtain next year
– your business goals for 2013
– your essential marketing actions to get you to those goals

Register for the One Page Marketing Plan

PS – there will be an additional program starting in January for photographers who want more one-on-one, in-depth support with their marketing. By becoming a member of the Photography Marketing Academy, photographers have the opportunity to learn from me and from up to five of their peers as we work on your One Page Marketing Plan in more detail. This new program is $249 (normally valued at $1,200) and it includes 3 sessions, PLUS a free 30 minute session with only me to talk about anything. Only 5 photographers will be allowed into Photography Marketing Academy. Learn more here.