For photographers who want better clients
Your brand is what a client expects before they hire you.
— and how they describe you to another person after hiring you.
Five ways to increase the quality of that expectation. Three you can do today. Two you work on over the next month.
Experience your business as if you were a new client.
Go to where prospective clients would find you. Click your website. See your work on a mobile device. Read your About page. Attempt to contact yourself.
- Can you instantly figure out what you shoot, who you work with, and how to work with you?
- Is everything working — links, buttons, CTAs?
- Do you look and sound like someone you would want to hire?
Correct the things that cause confusion or questions. Does anything on the site force your client to do more work than necessary?
A contact page that doesn’t work smoothly is a real red flag.
Make sure there are multiple ways of contacting you — not just a predictable, passive form no one is going to use.
Help your current work reflect the job you want to land.
Decide what type of work you want to get hired for. This may sound silly, or trite. “Gee, Don, we already know that…”
Well, in fifteen years of working with photographers and coaching, I can honestly say the photographers who really know are fewer than you think. Take your time. Find your channels, sub-channels, and adjacent channels.
Then grab a tall drink and go to your portfolio. Look at the first ten images a potential client would see.
- Will these images help you get noticed by anyone on the list of possible clients?
- Or are they there because you love them, or you won an award, or they’ve just been there for the past six years and you haven’t bothered to change them out?
Instantly delete or update three images that don’t attract a part of your defined channels. Don’t be a maybe. Be a must.
Three images. Today. Not a new site, not a rebrand — three decisions about what you are showing people who are deciding whether to call you.
Express what your brand stands for to your next client.
Next time you send an email. Or an estimate. Speak to a client on the phone. Deliver anything to a client.
Show them what you stand for.
- Answer every question — and bring plenty of your own.
- Tell them how you work, and what that looks like.
- If they need a date, give them a realistic one.
- And I know this is simple, but if you say the file is attached, make sure it is attached.
Then tell them what their next step is.
You want people to think you’re thorough, knowledgeable, and on top of things — so show them. In all you do.
Ask your clients what it’s like to work with you.
Reach out to five previous clients in the next two weeks and ask them:
- 01What did you enjoy about hiring me?
- 02What was memorable about working with me?
- 03What could I have done to make the experience more comfortable?
Allow them to answer these questions. Don’t try to justify why, or defend yourself. Find common threads.
This can be hard to do, but I can tell you it is one of the most important things you can do to find the little things that you are not even aware of.
I have done it twice. Once as a solopreneur photographer and designer, and we did it as an agency when I owned OCEAN. The one I did just for me was more than enlightening; it was game-changing. I was forced to realize that what I thought I was doing right was actually causing friction neither the client nor I needed. The agency passed with mostly flying colors, but what we did discover was corrected within hours of the survey.
Once you identify a pattern, spend the rest of the month improving that failing trait — and promoting the hell out of the one your clients already know you do well.
Promote the positive on your website, in estimates, and throughout your business. Examine the words they use when talking about what you do well. Use them on your About Me page, and other appropriate places.
Live by your brand promise.
Pick three qualities you want your clients to know and love about you:
He showed up ready to work, and the job flowed perfectly.
She kept me informed on the project’s progress, and delivered on budget.
The work was delivered on time, and on brand.
Whatever they are for you, take actions that correspond to your promises.
Showing up ready could be having a written brief or shot list, and speaking directly to your client before you begin a job.
Communicating well could be keeping them informed on what’s happening at different points of the job. Call or show up when you said you would. Maybe it is as simple as not promising something that would be difficult to do in the time frame you give it. This can happen when you are over-eager to get the gig, and haven’t taken the time to research and prepare for the challenges.
Because there are always challenges.
I know these sound simple, or almost like a “duh.” But I can assure you, most photographers do not think enough about them, and they become death by a thousand cuts.
Show them what you stand for. In all you do.
Start where it costs you nothing but an afternoon: go see your business the way a stranger would. Then fix what confuses them.
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