an | . a. ; ee) “ ern SA! MARKETING TIPS | USED TO JUMPSTART MY BUSINESS Cc© NETWORKING IS KEY © KEEP TRACK OF YOUR CLIENTS © GOOGLE LISTINGS S SEE THE OPPORTUNITIES CONTACT YOUR F. > VORITE BRANDSGetting started as a freelance food photographer can seem (okay, it can be) very overwhelming. Everybody is always talking about how crowded the world of photography is and how you need to really stand out to be able to make it. Well, | have 2 good news for you today. Should | start with the good news or the great news? The great news is that |am sharing 5 tried and true tactics that actually got me quite a few clients, some of which | still work with today. And the good news is that our world is hungry for images and brands and business need beautiful images today more than ever. And yes, there are a lot of photographers out there, but few will actually do the work and go after their dream. The fact that you are here today makes me think that you are ready and motivated, so Cot's dive into it!NETWORKI NGdS KEY Youve probably heard people say: “It’s not about what you know, it's about who you know." While that's not entirely true (You need to be able to run a business and operate a camera, after all!) There's definitely a grain of truth in there. If people don't know you're a photographer, they can’t hire you—or refer you! So the more people you know, the better your chances of getting client projects. If you are just getting started, make sure you tell EVERYONE what you do. You think Great- Aunt Gertie won't care (or even understand) what a food photographer is? You may be right. But what if her best friend's daughter is starting a cupcake business and just happens to need photography for her website? It's very likely that your first clients will be friends of friends, just like in this scenario, so don't hesitate to talk about what you do. Talk up your new venture with everyone you meet! Share your website and social media presences freely. And speaking of social media, follow and engage with brands you admire as well as other food photographers or business owners at your current level. WWW.FRENCH.LY 3As your business grows, this kind of professional networking will start to become more important. Conferences, summits, and Zoom meetups are all great ways to meet other photographers (and other business owners in general). Keeping up a solid online presence—especially through LinkedIn, though other social media platforms are great for this, too—will help you stay in the loop about opportunities as they come up. Facebook in particular has groups for just about any interest and career path. Food photography is no different! Look also for portfolio reviews, workshops, and masterminds. It may seem a lot like socializing on the surface, but there's a lot of strategy in building professional connections. That creative director you're dying to work with might just be connected with someone you met on a Zoom meet-and-greet. There's your “in,” friend!KEEP TRACK OF YOUR CLIENTS The best clients are returning clients. Why? Because they're less work, for one thing. You don't have to start from scratch with their ae brand, which saves you time on the front end, \ ==. and they know what to expect from you, which —— means they like your process and results enough to come back! The best cliente are returning clients. But all clients, even returning ones, are busy. Busy people sometimes take the path of least resistance. No matter how much they loved working with you before, if they have to hunt you down again on the internet or dig back into their email history to find you, they may just choose to go with someone else who is right in front of them. It’s up to you to stay in contact and be the photographer who is right in front of them. WWW.FRENCH.LY 5Start by keeping track of how often they book and when they tend to book. A good CRM will make this type of record keeping effortless, but a simple spreadsheet isn't hard to keep up with. Now you can keep an eye on how long it’s been since your last interaction. | like to set up Google alerts for past clients as well, so | know when they‘re in the news, launching a new product, or featured in a blog post or podcast. These are all perfect times to touch base with a quick congratulations. They will feel like you care, making them even more likely to remember you the next time they need a photographer. By the way, this is a great strategy to stay in-the-know about your dream prospects, too. Pro tip Make a separate folder for your Google alerts. Create a rule so they go directly into that folder without hitting your inbox, then be sure to check that folder regularly. I've also found that setting “reach-out reminders" on my calendar helps me tremendously. Say you have a client who always goes all out on holiday content. Set a reminder to reach out to them a few months prior to the holiday season. Make it easy for them to book you—before anyone else has the chance! You can also send out regular portfolio updates, just to stay top of mind. Just don't overwhelm them! Stick with quarterly emails (or monthly at the most) so your name still pops when it shows up in their inbox. WWW.FRENCH.LYMAKE USE OF GOOGLE LISTINGS Google listings are an amazingly underrated marketing tool. Creating a Google profile for your business means that if anybody is looking for your type of photography in your area, your business will show up at the top of the page, in the Google Maps / Google Business Section, even if your website doesn't rank for page 1 on those keywords. | repeat, even if your website doesn't rank for page 1 If you went a step further and made sure to have some of your past clients leave you 5 star reviews on Google, the chance of a potential client contacting you before the photographers on, say page 2, are really high. 9 Soosle WWW.FRENCH.LYBut you can do even more to use this amazing tool. Sign up to become a local guide with Google (it's free and you can get some cool perks). If you go to a restaurant you really want to work with, take the time to get some really nice pictures of your meal - | recommend going off peak time, choosing a nice spot by a window and selecting a meal that will look good, ie. not a ragu ;) After your visit, post a good (but honest) review of the restaurant using your business profile and attach the photos you took. Not only will the restaurant be notified of your review and be able to see your {amazing} pictures, but anybody that sees your photo and clicks on it will be redirected to your business listing, thus discovering your business. This includes the other restaurants checking out the competition!S32 Unis OMe RON lss A few years ago, | was contacted bya yy photography agency that needed r someone to shoot some cell phone videos (!) of some of the major restaurants in D.C. for Zagat. Because of the sheer volume of the work to be done, they were paying a mere $50 per shoot. Nobody wanted to take that gig. It was a very small amount of money, but | quickly figured out that | could shoot five or six restaurants in one day and make $250 to $300, which at that time was a lot compared to what | was bringing with my photography (i.e., hardly anything). Now, | am the first to say that you should not work for free or very little money. But sometimes, the opportunity is not in the dollar ammount, but in the connections, the doors it unlocks. Indeed, this gig was taking me to some of the best restaurants in DC. | figured it was a fantastic way to get my name out there and connect with some of the restaurants. If anything else, I'd be able to add the images (and the restaurant's name) to my portfolio. At each restaurant, | brought my DSLR and took an additional ten minutes to style and shoot some images of the dishes. WWW.FRENCH.LYAfter each shoot, | sent an email to my rn contacts to thank them for having me (which you should always do anyway), and | attached a couple of images | shot in a small file size, saying they were welcome to use them for their social media. f| They all got back to me, thanked me for the images, and credited me on social A few of them reached out to me the next time they needed some new images. Two of them turned into ongoing relationships, which now bring in thousands of dollars to my business each year. This type of project serves a dual purpose: You're not only making new contacts and building a healthy professional network; you're also bulking up your portfolio with engaging new pieces! Plus, it can just be fun to get out there and experiment with different things. If you're still looking for aniche, there's no better way to find it than to try new things and see how you like them. 10CONTACT YOUR FAVORITE BRANDS All the food photographers and food bloggers know that if they want to work with a brand, the best way is to reach out to them, right? You also know that there are a lot of food bloggers out there and they all do just that. IAVA ea a But most people who reach out to those brands make 2 mistakes: First, they send one email and if they don't hear back, they assume the brand is not interested. Maybe they send a follow up for good measure. Guys, | have heard from top professionals that it took them several emails and up to 2 years until they landed the collaboration of their dream, so keep pushing! WWW.FRENCH.LY 11Secondly, most photographers will blast cookie cutter emails to a bunch of brands. Be selective! Choose the brands you really want to work with and be intentional! Do your research, find out about their value, mission, staff, and craft a personalized email Include what you love about their product (be genuine and sincere) and let them know you'd like to work with them! | also like to buy the products and create images using them and tagging them on Instagram. Be in their feed and in their inbox often (don't go too crazy though) So you can stay on top of mind and they will remember you next time they need someone! 12I hope this was helpful, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, and let me know how these tips work out for you! Until next time, a bientot! fence 13