People always ask me what they can do to create more business and be more successful.\u00a0 Well, there are many things.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to publish a series of ideas covering a broad range of subjects and since this is the first, we\u2019re going to keep it simple and start with the basics.\u00a0 As the series moves on, we\u2019ll get more advanced, and we\u2019ll draw on what we\u2019ve learned along the way.<\/p>\n
Do you know the 80\/20 rule?\u00a0 80% of people will do business with the first person they talk to, even if they talk to five others later.\u00a0 A lot of my ideas come from this very basic rule.\u00a0 You should always try to answer the phone when potential clients call because the next call they place might be to your competitor, giving them an 80% chance of getting the business while you\u2019re still trying to return the voice message they just left.\u00a0 Wow, that\u2019s pretty simple right?\u00a0 Now, we\u2019re all busy at times, so if you can\u2019t answer the phone, make sure your voice mail is up-beat and tell them that you\u2019re EXCITED to work with them.\u00a0 When (not if!) you call them back, earn the business through your pleasant demeanor.\u00a0 No one wants to work with a downer.<\/p>\n
Every customer you work with has friends and family.\u00a0 Referral business is critical to long term success in almost any industry, especially service industries like photography.\u00a0 Never forget every interaction with clients has the potential to spark hundreds or thousands of interactions with new potential clients that they know \u2013 and it\u2019s all in your hands.<\/p>\n
Always keep in mind, the more people that know you, the better off you are. <\/strong>Expand your network.\u00a0 There\u2019s always a little luck involved, but numbers never fail.\u00a0 Reach out, help, network, do great work, repeat.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t be the low cost provider.\u00a0 If you think cheap your customers will think you\u2019re cheap, and thus do low quality work.\u00a0 Spend a few bucks if you can.\u00a0 Have a nice place to meet.\u00a0 Dress sharp \u2013 in something that makes you feel comfortable, so you can be yourself.\u00a0 If you\u2019re selling portraits have some nice large examples of work you\u2019ve done in the past, perhaps canvas or albums. \u00a0Remember that when it\u2019s your clients\u2019 day, they want to be the star, just like in Hollywood.\u00a0 Make them feel that way.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s just a start.\u00a0 These are few basic rules, but it\u2019s amazing how few people abide by them.\u00a0 The most expensive camera in the world won\u2019t save you from faltering if you ignore the basic rules of business.\u00a0 In our next issue, we\u2019ll\u00a0 cover specific (and crafty) ways to get new customers.<\/p>\n Thanks!<\/p>\n CEO MorePhotos | Mike Connors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A Success Series for Modern-Day Photographers People always ask me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[105],"class_list":["post-864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-back-to-businss-by-michael-connors","tag-photography-business-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/864\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/morephotos.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}