Tools for growing a photography business
I’m on fire.
Last week I wrote about the Books & Beans Effect, and the “Anvil Effect”, and other obvious reasons why businesses fail.
These, as mentioned, are influences that I’ve observed over the years. And am now sharing my infinite wisdom with you, my eager and passionate friends in photography & business.
[Read more…]RecentIy I wrote about the “Anvil effect”.
Over the years I’ve taken notice of obvious reasons why businesses fail, falter and f*ck up.
Many of these are obvious as day, and reveal fundamentals that span all industries.I hope they help you in your photography business.
As part of this series I give you, the “Books & Beans effect”.
Books and Beans was a small cafe style restaurant in our city that boasted one of the best pastrami on rye sandwiches. You could come in, order a coffee, sit at a wooden homey table and read one of the books in the bookshelves.
This worked for many years. They seemed to thrive. Until…..someone in their infinite wisdom, likely from the accounting department, decided to reduce the quantity of pastrami.
Maybe they thought no one would notice. Maybe they thought we were stupid. Maybe they thought that, for whatever reason, this was how you increased profits. By reducing the very thing that is the very reason why people come there.
All reasons that rank way up in the highest levels of marketing screw ups.
This narrow minded, short term thinking always leads your business down the road of ruin.
Instead of finding creative ways to “keep the pastrami in the sandwich”, they took the easy, short term road. It wasn’t long before people stopped coming. And sales dropped. And the doors closed.
Sad, but true. Opportunities get lost because of mis-guided attempts to increase profits. Instead of increasing the client experience and maintaining a quality product, they completely missed the mark.
And lost their market.
No market, no business.
Yours in success
Rob
Reality sucks. Or does it?
If you’re smart about it, you can see things for what they are, and learn. Grow. Prosper.
And be accurate in your thinking. Or struggle endlessly trying to grow your business. Never really knowing why the crowds never show up to buy your thing.
Let me explain.
I believed in some crazy ideas when I was young.
I failed school, for the first time ever in grade five.
I thought I could fool everyone.
Simple. Erase my marks on the report card, and write in a new passing grade.
No one will notice. So I thought.
[Read more…]The photography industry has been going through some big changes in the last few decades. We’ve gone from mainstream to extremes.
Let me explain.
[Read more…]I grew up around business. My grandpa was always in business, he and his brother since forever. (picture of them below, pre WW1, with some random dude).
My six uncles, most of whom were also all in business.
It’s a culture, mindset that’s a part of my life since I was young. This played a big role in me transitioning into being self-employed since I was in my early 20’s.
[Read more…]
It’s a fact of life, we all get older, we change, and many things change around us.
Take the wedding industry as example. I used to be the young buck booking more weddings than I can handle.
Nowadays, not so much. Ageism? Competition? Too many younger more handsomer young bucks & buckettes and too many cell phones?
[Read more…]Baby portraits don’t really work for me much anymore. They are long, hard and, well, a flooded market. There are a million baby photographers within five square miles of my studio. Likely yours too.
I don’t really mind competition. It motivates me to stand out, create offers that are unique and constantly find ways to hone and refine my sales message.
[Read more…]