Increasing word of mouth advertising

[naeno]

Do any of you use promotions to increase word of mouth advertising? Has it worked for you? I'm considering offering a free 8x10 (or something like that) when a client refers a friend to me and the friend then does a session with me. Is it worth it? Does it work? I'm just curious about others experiences and ideas.

[GadgetRick]

Does it work? Well, it all depends. However, I think you're on the right track on working for referrals.

A long time ago (way before my photography bug took hold), I changed the way I sell the product(s) I sell. I used to do the normal sales person thing (I've been in sales 17ish years now), I'd go and try and sell the product. Seems like the right idea, right? Well, I was successful for a long time. But what I found was, I was always having to sell my product(s) over and over again. Sure I developed referral business over the years because I took care of customers but never as much as I wanted. I was still humping down the street to find more business.

Then I went to a seminar on referral-based marketing. Excellent seminar, lots of statistics, etc. However, you don't need to numbers so much. It's a very simple concept. You actually change the way you get business by not trying to sell your product(s) to people but try to gain more contacts which are all potential referral sources. Seems strange but stick with me on this...

So, let's say you run into someone at one of your kids' school functions. You get to talking and that person finds out you're a photog. Maybe they check out your portfolio and really like it. You say something along the lines of, " Glad you liked my portraits, how about we do some portraits of your kids for you? Mothers'/Fathers' Day is coming and that's a great gift!" Now, you've not done anything wrong at this point, I used to do the same thing actually, however, and this is the change I made, instead of trying to close your friend on this one deal, wouldn't it be much better if this person referred you a number of people (over the years) rather than just doing business with you and that's it? So how do we do this?

Well, the first thing you want to do is have a contact list (you do have one, right?). If you don't have one, create one--I use Gmail to manage my contacts because it's easy, I can get to it from anywhere and it also syncs on my Android-powered phone.

The next thing you do is create a group (or whatever it's called in whatever you use for contacts) just for people you meet---everyone you meet (in theory anyway). Now, let's go back to your friend at the school function. Here's what you might say, "I'm glad you like my portfolio, of course I can do these kinds of shots--and others--for anyone. Would you mind if I added you to my email list? I send out updates on what's happening with my photography business. It's not spam (I promise) and it's only about once a week. I send out tips and tricks on how you can use your point and shoot--or any camera--to get better shots. Everyone I email to finds something interesting. It's also free."

Now, why did we not try and ask for the business? Well, because we sort of did ask for the business in saying we could do that kind of work for anyone. Obviously, that means your friend as well. People are smart enough to know you can do it for them as well. More importantly, you didn't try and sell anything really (if you don't consider asking for an email address to be selling). Most people are put off by being sold to. They want to buy on their own terms, not yours. In not trying to get them to say yes, you're not making them uncomfortable and not forcing their hand on the spot. It's a much more gentle way of handling potential clients.

So, now we have this person's email address and other people--the person at the deli, at the coffee shop, your friends and family, etc.--anyone you spoke with long enough so they know what you do. What do we do with all of this. Well, you do an email blog of sorts. No, you don't have to write long-winded emails (like my post) or anything like that. You can send out an email to everyone in your list which shows some nice shots you got during a session you shot last week. You can send them tips on how to shoot with a point and shoot camera (you know, when shooting the kids, get down on their level, etc.). you send out useful information people will want to see but may not hunt out on their own. Do this about once a week (no more than twice I'd say) and rarely make it about trying to solicit business. I say rarely because it's ok to throw an email in there every so often saying you've got a special going on (maybe that free 8x10?). But don't make it about trying to get direct business from people, keep it informal and light.

The reasoning behind this--other than not making people uncomfortable--is really quite simple. Ask yourself, how many photo jobs can I do for my friend I met at the school function over the course of our lives? Maybe 3? Maybe 5? Maybe 10? I don't really know. But ask yourself, how many people will my friend know/run into who may need a photog? Again, I don't know the answer but I can tell you it's way more than the number of times that person might use me in the future. The business may not be quite as immediate but it'll come and come for a long time.

You'll find, after you've marketed this way for a while, more people will contact you out of the blue or after one of your emails. Given more time still more people will contact you--as long as you continue to add contacts to that list and keep emailing. Eventually, you'll have 100% referral-based business coming in and it'll be much easier for you.

Sorry for the long post but I've been meaning to write something like this and this seemed like a good opportunity. I'll have to clean this up a bit, throw in some more info and post it on my blog.

Good luck!

[naeno]

Thanks GadgetRick! Wow, that was a ton of information, and very appreciated! It's certainly gotten my brain in gear about starting an e-mail newsletter each week along with other things. Thanks!

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by naeno

Thanks GadgetRick! Wow, that was a ton of information, and very appreciated! It's certainly gotten my brain in gear about starting an e-mail newsletter each week along with other things. Thanks!

You're welcome. Glad you found it helpful. Good luck!

[Nekrose]

GadgetRick, you kick ass!

[Indigo November]

Wow, you're awesome GadgetRick! This is some great advice that I fully intend to follow.

*copies, pastes, and sends to self via email for future reference*

[GadgetRick]

Aww shucks...

[lonni]

If you are looking for a great newsletter tool try mailchimp.com.

Ot is free for smaller numbers, up to a couple hundred, and if you need to is quite cheap to pay. They handle all the legal stuff to avoid spamming, like unsubscribing and double opt ins. They also have good newsletter templates and yuo dont need too much knowledge to turn out a nice looking email newsletter. You can also get a sign up page so people can sign up to your newsletter from a blog, website etc.

You should also look at getting a blog, facebook page and twitter for your photography.

It is good to run a campaign on twitter that requires people to retweet what you have written or tweet about you to their friends to either gain a discount or go in the draw for a freebie. just tag it with a #competition and #win and you will get people entering.

You can simmilar campaigns in facebook, common ones are the 500th fan gets a prize or the first person to put the right answer in you posts comment wins. You can also offer exclusive discounts for your facebook fans. 1 free print or % off a big ticket item like a photo book or wall canvass are good as you still make good profit.

You could also run a loyalty type of program to get customers to refer you. Get new customers to mention who refered them and offer discounts or gift with purchase for giving you multiple cutomers. EG 5 referals that turn into customers who spend over $50 each gets a free enlagement with their next sitting.

It gets word of mouth it gets customers and repeat customers.

We use all these techniques for our printing business and they work pretty good.

HTH

[naeno]

Very helpful advice, lonnie!

I just barely started a facebook page. I've got a whopping 31 people following me. But considering it's only been out there 2 weeks, I feel pretty good about that.

Thanks again, lonnie.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by naeno

Very helpful advice, lonnie!

I just barely started a facebook page. I've got a whopping 31 people following me. But considering it's only been out there 2 weeks, I feel pretty good about that.

Thanks again, lonnie.

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