Today’s Post by Joe Farace
I’m often asked where the ideas for my blogs come from. Many times, I get ideas from readers, like the Montana photographer who was frustrated with the limited creativity he was able to apply to many of his assignments and e-mailed me looking for advice. This is what I told him…
Let’s face it, not all the work we produce for clients would be considered creative. Sometimes the nature of a project itself forces us to become passive recorders of an event, although it doesn’t have to be that way.
I had a solution for him and although he knew deep down inside it was true, he laughed when I gave it to him. To get the kind of unlimited creativity we all crave, sometimes you just have to do the job for free. Before you think I’ve lost my marbles, let me explain: There are projects that allow you to have total in control of all its creative aspects and here are just a few:
Update Your Website. When’s the last time you updated your website? Sometimes you get so busy with paying assignments you can overlook the marketing tool that brought many of those clients to you in the first place. If you don’t have a blog, start one and include your personal work or self-assignments that demonstrate some of your capabilities potential clients may not know about.
Update Your Website’s Design. All of my sites are built using WordPress with themes from Elegant Themes. These themes or looks can be customized using options built into them and there are an endless number of plug-ins and widgets that let you to make your site or blog fit the image you’re trying to project,
Client Mailers: It may seem old-fashioned but direct mail still works, especially since everybody else (your competitors) thinks their website or social media will do all the work for them. If you want to obtain more assignments of a certain type, create one for yourself, then create a mailer featuring the images and send them to everybody and his brother.
Business Cards: Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best. Read my post Marketing Your Photography on a Budget and check out Moo’s business cards. They are the best, service is good and prices are right. Thrifty shooters should be on their mailing list to catch sales and save a few more bucks.
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