If you haven’t already checked out our business forms collection for your photography business don’t miss it! I’ve been offering these photography business forms to professional photographers for several years and just recently gave the entire collection a brand new overhaul.

If you want to be able to start your home photography business immediately…
If you realize that it’s sometimes better not to reinvent the wheel…
If you know that you want to follow in the footsteps of someone who already knows the business…

These photography business forms
will be priceless to you!

I think everyone can admit that writing agreements, making order forms, and creating sales letters is not the most exciting thing ever. It definitely isn’t why you went into business is it? The truth is, while it isn’t exciting, it is a necessary part of running a business.

I have created a highly affordable package of photography business forms that will help you get a jump start on getting your business ready to manage more efficiently and smoothly. Don’t wait any longer. Check them out today! Photography Business Forms

Do you remember the last time you went to the camera store and bought your last digital camera? Did the salesman also try to sell you memory cards, batteries or even a better model? As consumers we deal with this every day. This is what is referred to as cross-selling and up-selling. And if you aren’t using it as a part of your sales process you are missing out!

So what exactly is the difference between cross-selling and up-selling?

Cross-selling is what happens when you are offered additional products to the product you are purchasing. For example, you go out to a movie and walk up to the snack counter and order some popcorn. The first thing the cashier will ask is “Would you like a soda with that?” She has added on to your sale by suggesting a product that you most likely will want while you are eating your popcorn.

Up-selling on the other hand is what happens when you are offered a bigger or better product other than the one you are purchasing. This is what happens when you go to McDonalds to order a #3 value meal and the cashier asks you if you would like to Supersize that for $.99. You say yes and she sold you a bigger and more expensive product, increasing the sale one more time.

Both methods will increase sales volume and in most instances will provide a valuable service to customers. How is it a valuable service to your clients? These sales methods can often save time, save money or make life easier with convenience. For example, let’s assume you picked up your popcorn and sat down for your movie. You were never asked to purchase a soda. Half-way through the movie, you have to get up, miss part of the movie, go stand in line again and order your drink. By up-selling she saved you time and it was a convenience not to miss the movie!

So how can we as photographers use this in our own businesses? The first thing to do is to look at your current product line and find out what other products you have that “go with it” or compliment it. The second thing to do is to find out what products you don’t carry and that your customers are going elsewhere to obtain. For example, when you sell a wall portrait are you cross-selling them a frame to go with it? Well, if not, think about this: Someone has to frame it for them and someone is taking that revenue. Why aren’t you? Or maybe you are framing prints but at a basic level frame. Why not up-sell them to a better more expensive frame? Or a family brings their baby to you for newborn portraits and they purchase plenty of prints but have you cross-sold them baby announcements or are they just on your price list as an independent item?

Remember, cross-selling and up-selling doesn’t just mean the items are on your product list. You must be actively suggesting both types of sales to your customers as you are going through the sales process. Do this proactively and you will see your sales increase considerably with these added products or upgrades.

As photographers, our hearts tend to want to be photographers first and business people second. That can make it pretty hard to take the role of a sales person. But with just a few tips, you can make closing the sale with your clients, just a little less painful for both of you.

First, learn to recognize buying signals. Your clients don’t want to be sold, but they want to buy. But you have to know WHEN they are ready to buy. Watch for the signals! “Are the albums available with engraving?” or “How long would it take to get back if I upgraded to canvas?” are both great signal questions that clients might ask when they are ready to start buying.

Second, when a client asks you questions answer them but then lead them into the sale. For example if a client asks you “Is this album available in a larger size?” you might answer “yes, it comes in a 36 page album as well, would you like to go ahead and choose 12 more images to fill that style?”.

Last, ask for the sale! I know this might sound obvious, but you might be surprised to know that many photographers simply show the images and expect it all to sell itself. Sure, it may happen once in awhile, but nobody and I mean NOBODY can expect to just have their clients dropping their credit cards at their feet without even asking. Ask for the sale!

As photographers, we aren’t the type of businesses that people need on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. We are more of your special occasion type of business. The down side to this is that our clients don’t necessarily have a relationship built with us to remember us for every need. So how do we combat this inability to be on our client’s minds constantly?

The answer my friend is constant contact with your clients!

Before sending out even your first newsletter you need to define what its purpose is. Is it to promote your business? Is it to build customer loyalty? Is to remind your clients “Hey we’re still here!”? Is it friendly and warm or very business oriented? The answer is all of the above! To do all this, our newsletter cannot just be about us. It can’t be just another advertisement. It needs to be informative and fun for your clients to read.

Know who your reader is! For my business, my readers are most likely loving mothers. Put yourself in your client’s shoes for a moment. What would they like to read about: Tips on parenting, craft ideas to do at home with the kids, child safety articles, toy and product reviews, or trivia games to call in to win prizes? Of course your client will also want to hear about new and exciting things happening with your business, which includes special promotions that you have coming up. Just be sure to talk about what they are interested and less of yourself and your business.

Keep your writing in your newsletter very clear and easy to read. Talk in a casual pattern like you would normally speak in a day to day basis. If it helps, record yourself talking about the topic you want to address and then type it out. This will keep your newsletter friendly and inviting feel for your readers.

Don’t forget that the way your newsletter looks is just as important as what its content is. If you have the extra funds in your budget a single page, front and back color newsletter is an excellent way to go. But black & white print can get the job done just as well if your newsletter is well executed. You may even want to consider investing in a color laser or wax printer from Xerox if you have the volume to back it up.

So why am I only talking about a print newsletter? I am sure many people would recommend having an email newsletter for your clients. And in some businesses that is probably fine. But from my own research newsletter emails are not as effective. First, a large majority of your email newsletters may end up going through your client’s spam filter and they would never even see the newsletter. This could lead to some very upset clients who miss out on a special promotion because they never got the newsletter. Second, emails that do make it through spam filters will often be deleted anyway because of the number of junk mail we each get in our mailboxes every single day. Yes of course it is free, but remember, it doesn’t matter how free something is if your customers never get it. My advice is to invest the little money it takes to build a good solid print newsletter. And if cost is an issue, take it down to mailing once every other month.

Creating a newsletter can be a very beneficial business tool for your business. It helps to maintain constant contact and in turn reminds your customers that you are there for them, when they need you most.

Direct mail is a great way to advertise but usually it isn’t the ONLY means to get the word out about your business. Direct mail is best used in conjunction with other marketing methods. To be considered successful the obvious measurement is that the response must generate enough revenue to cover the cost of a mailing list, postage, printing and paper. This would break even and still get the word out about your business. Success beyond that is determined by your own expectations on what you want to generate. However, it is interesting to note that to most industries a standard successful response rate is only 2-3%!

There are a large number of mailing list companies out in the world. The problem with mailing list companies is that they are only as good as the information provided to them. So don’t go into a mailing list expecting 100% accuracy. For a good list try www.info-usa.com or for senior lists try www.americanstudentlists.com. Both are great companies and both provide great lists at reasonable rates.

Lastly, don’t forget to send direct mail to your current clients. When you first make contact with a client, gather as much information about them as you can, i.e. name, address, email, phone number, children’s names and ages (even birthdates). Keep a good client database and make sure every client, every contact hears or sees something from you several times thru the year. Monthly is even better. You need to keep your name and product in front of them as often as possible so that when they need a photographer, you are at the front of their thoughts. Research shows that it’s five to six times more costly to gain a new customer than retain an existing one. So stay in contact with them!

As a new home photography business, money is always tight. And even if it isn’t, why spend thousands of dollars when some of the best marketing ideas are inexpensive or in some cases free with just a little leg work! Check out some of these marketing ideas to help you get your home photography business off to a great start!

1. Join a “like-minded” business for some unique co-op advertising. This type of advertising cuts your advertising cost and gets your name in front of your partners clients, almost using them as a spokesperson for your services.

2. Register a memorable domain name for your business and include it on every piece of collateral material you distribute such as letterhead, business cards, postcard mailings, fliers, etc. Make sure it is easy to remember. If multiple spellings may be issues, purchase the domain name with multiple spellings all leading to the same website.

3. IF you are going to have a website, it is better to have a well crafted website or nothing at all. Having a bad website is WORSE than not having one at all. It only ruins any credibility you may have had. The photographer on a marketing budget can call around to local colleges and find a design student who is willing to do it for their portfolio for free or dirt cheap or purchase a website template!

4. Talk to local charitable organizations that have your target market as contributors. Offer to sponsor an event or donate an item to their cause to be raffled off.

5. Research online publications that your target market reads. Offer to submit articles that would benefit their readers.

6. Host an annual open house at your studio. Hold a special purchase opportunity available only during the open house hours.

7. Start talking with the people you do business with on a personal basis. Who does your hair? Who is your dry cleaner? Show them what having some of your work displayed in their business can do for you them.

8. Publish a monthly or quarterly newsletter for your clients. Fill it with articles and useful information for them and not just advertising for yourself. Use this as a reminder to your clients that you are still around, waiting to service them!

9. Join a chamber of commerce in your city. Many of these organizations have “after hours” networking events each month. This is the perfect opportunity for you to mingle with other business owners and get the word out about your business.

10. Work with a sign company to design the perfect detailing on your vehicle promoting your business. Be sure to include not only your phone number but your web site as well.

11. When was the last time you displayed your products to the public? Most cities hold annual trade shows or local activity events such as Women’s Expo, Children’s and Baby Expo, Bridal Shows, local artist fair, etc. Get out there and show your stuff!

12. Build your mailing list by collecting names from other businesses. Develop relationships with various business types where your target market shops such as hair salons, boutiques and other similar stores. Put up a monthly drawing for a free portrait creation and gift print. Collect the names and addresses and put out a nice box for collecting the entries. Draw one each month and gain additional sales from the winner and enter all of the non-winning entries into your mailing list!

13. Develop your list of local news contacts including email addresses and mailing addresses of all local papers and their editors or other contacts your may have. Find interesting ways to spin news about your studio into something newsworthy for the community.

14. Promote an online value. A great way to track your inquiries from the web is to give out a promotion code for people to give for a percentage off their order when they find you online.

15. Develop and print up a testimonial brochure. This is different than a basic pricing brochure just like everyone else has. This is a tri-fold, professionally printed brochure holding images and testimonials from your best clients!

Deciding on the legal structure for your photography business can be confusing if this is your first business. Many new business owners assume sole proprietorship is the way to go and sometimes they are right. Educate yourself on all of the options before making the decision on the legal structure for your photography business.

There are basically six main business types to consider for your business: sole proprietorship, general partnership, limited partnership, Limited Liability Company (LLC), S Corp. and C Corp.

Sole Proprietorship and Partnerships

The most common type for a home based business is the sole proprietorship. It is the easiest to manage and easiest to handle in terms of taxes for the one man show doing everything himself. The major drawback however, is that with the sole proprietorship and general partnerships the owners of the businesses are completely liable for their business. This means your house, your car and any other assets you own are subject to possession should you incur any debt from your business such as vendor bills, leases and even being sued!

You may also consider forming a partnership if you are running your business with another person. This is very similar to a sole proprietorship in terms of liability and taxes. Each of you will be responsible for filing your own self-employment and all profits are split based on percentages. Of course, all liabilities are also split between both partners.

LLC’s and Corporations

There are several different types of corporations and for the small business owner one of the biggest benefits is the protection from personal liability. For most studios a C Corporation is by far complete overkill. There are also issues with double tax levels for the corporation, required annual reporting and other more complex issues that you may not wish to contend with. The S Corp and LLC corporate structures are both quite popular among small businesses. Both provide one level of tax and also provide that layer of protection from personal liability. However, with an S Corp you gain the added benefit of a tax savings on your self-employment. The S Corp structure is a very popular structure among residential studio photographers; however, you will want to talk with an accountant to ensure an S Corp is right from you.

*Please remember, we are not attorneys or legal advisers. ALWAYS contact your own attorney and accountant before making any legal decisions about your business.

If you plan on taking even $.01 from a client, you are legally required to collect sales tax on that sale if you are located in a state that requires sales tax to be collected. Some people believe that they don’t need to collect sales tax when they are portfolio building, charging only their cost or don’t make enough to even claim it on their income tax. Not true! It doesn’t matter how much or how little you make. The second you take even a penny from a client, you should be collecting sales tax.

Different states have different rules as to what is and isn’t taxable. For instance, in some states, your session fee may not be taxable as it is a service, however, some states consider the session to be the means to that end product; the print, and tax it. Then there are other states such as Oregon, for example, that don’t collect sales tax at all.

Obtaining a sales tax id is an easy process and in many cases can be done online at their department of revenue’s website; many times resulting in an immediate issue of a sales tax id.

The best thing to do is to call your department of revenue for your state and find out the requirements. Just be sure to do this prior to doing any actual business.

Starting a home photography business is steadily increasing in popularity with stay at home moms (and dads). If you own a professional digital camera, have some basic business sense and have an artistic flare, starting a home based photography business might be the answer for you.

HomePhotographyBusiness.net is here to help you start your very own home photography business that can be rewarding both financially and personally. Home Photography Business will guide you with information on how to price your photography products and services, how to develop creative and fun photography business marketing ideas, where to purchase your photography equipment, vendor resources for wholesale products, and will even address some of the issues that home photography business owners sometimes face. Jump right in and start building your home photography business today!