Myself & Marketing

This article isn’t about how to get rich quick but more of an insight as to what I do to market my books, promote my photography services and how I look out for stories for my photojournalism work. These methods work for me, they may not be right for you but if one thing resonates with you then this article was worth writing.

Email Marketing

For all my email marketing I use various methods to gain subscribers. For photography, when clients view the galleries they have to input their email address to view the photos. On my website a popup appears after 5-10 seconds where visitors can add their address, that is two ways. Other ways include discounts on services and products. Email marketing is not to be scoffed at, it is a powerful tool to keep in contact with your customers and potential customers.

Website / Landing Pages

A website is your front door to all your business, your services and how customers can connect with you via a blog and through your contact page. A website or landing page is vital to your brand, whether you’re an author or whether you are a writer offering CV or Bid writing. A website should be nurtured, trimmed and updated regularly. Why, so that Google recognises the fresh content and pushes you up the rankings when folk search on Google. You can have all the Social Media platforms in the world but remember, you own none of them. Your website is yours, owned by you and managed by you.

Free Products / Services

Now this is sometimes frowned upon, especially within the photography industry. But it is like I always say, my rules, my business. I do what works for me. A free sport photography coverage once a month gets me more exposure to potential clients and I believe in giving back to the community. So what about my writing or my books? Well, I run a competition once a month for a free copy of my book. A competition posted on my Social Media, why? Again for exposure, it is one book but could bring in customers who want to subscribe or hire me for their wedding photographer etc. Payment doesn’t have to be in cash, think how much a facebook advert costs. Running a competition like I mentioned could get you more exposure without costing you a penny, apart from the cost of your book or service. Do what works for you.

Expectation’s

I have zero expectations of my sales, zero. Not because I don’t care, simply because I don’t want to get fixated on the sales, counting every pound that I make. I would rather focus on my writing, my blogs and other content. Honestly, I don’t worry about it because at the end of the day none of us know exactly what will happen. I could wake up tomorrow morning and my book could be number one on Amazon. Don’t get me wrong, that would be amazing and I would certainly be grateful. Worry about what you can control, your posts, the books being written, newsletter to your subscribers and everything else will fall into place.

Social Media Platforms

The purpose of Social Media is to be a gateway for your followers to find your website. Post regularly, I aim for 3-5 times a week on each platform to keep things moving forward. Again, remember you don’t own the Socials, you may have a huge following but tomorrow they could be all gone! Scary thought, right? Well use them wisely and be sure to have a goal in mind as to what you want to achieve. More followers or more clients, more clients or higher prices. Make a list in a notebook and be brutally honest with yourself, afterwards you will be able to look them over and it will give you a great start as to what you should be focused on doing. Don’t have all the Social Media platforms unless you need them, takes too much time up trying to manage them all.

Linktree

A wonderful platform to link all your Socials. I find that this application makes finding my Socials, services and products so much easier. When a potential customer clicks the link, they see exactly what I do and where I can be reached.

Introduce Other Interests

This is important, why? Let me explain. I see a lot of people who are authors etc only posting about their book(s). This is fine but remember, we want to reach as many folk as possible so widen your net. Post an image of a character from a recent tv series you watched and get your audience to engage on what they think of his/her character. Use hashtags for the show and actors, now you are potentially reaching more people than when you post about your latest work in progress, people who would normally not see your posts are now hearing all about you. This is just an example, take myself.. I love rugby league but this has nothing to do with my work but when I share my game verdict, other rugby fans see my post and like my comment, boom… I can now invite them to like and follow my page. This is how I grow my audience.

Engagement

Comment on other peoples posts across all your Social Media platforms, as much as possible. I like to do an hour a day, just dropping random comments on my Socials. It is enough to keep me relevant.

Be Real

Be yourself, don’t over complicate it. Simplicity is vital to success.

If you enjoyed the post and have any further questions then please comment with a question.

- A.M. Standish