For Photographers

Use You Clues

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When a customer is searching for a photographer, they don’t just look for pretty pictures on a web site and the lowest price. Instead, they’re looking for clues that a particular photographer is worth hiring at whatever price they might charge. The customer is looking for value which is quite different from low price.

Every professional photographer pretty much uses the same camera equipment, same computer and same software. Most photographers can, more or less, shoot the same pictures although this can vary by a huge margin. So how do you increase your value to the customer?

You have to offer something that customers can’t get from any other photographer. And what can’t they get from any other photographer?
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Transactional or Relational Photography?

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In general, there are two types of customer: transactional and relational. Although, most customers alternate between the two, depending on what they’re purchasing.

A transactional customer cares mostly about the current purchase and its price. For example, you probably have transaction-based interactions with gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, auto insurance agencies (at least here in Ontario), carpet cleaners, etc. You don’t really care which business you purchase from, you just want a good deal. Most customer interactions are transactional.

A relational customer, as the name suggests, is more interested in forming an ongoing business relationship. A purchase is based not so much on price but on previous experiences with that vendor. This type of customer wants low risk more than low price. For example, you may have a relationship with your dentist, doctor, favourite camera store, car dealership, hairstylist, etc. A relational customer is often a repeat customer and they tend to spend more.
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Peak Photography Experience

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The word “photography” sounds a lot like “psychology” doesn’t it? :-)

To help market their business, a photographer is often told to be different from other photographers. But most photographers misunderstand what this means.

It’s not about the photographer being different but rather it’s about the customer being different. This is to say that a photographer might be considered different if they can make the customer feel different (i.e. more satisfied).

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s Peak-End Theory says that we judge an experience not on the overall experience but rather on our memory of the peak moment(s) of that experience and how the experience ended.
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Refunding Photography

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Photographers, what’s your refund policy?

While there’s no Canadian law that requires a business to refund a customer’s money or to make an exchange, except if a product is defective or a service is not delivered, it’s probably a good idea for a photographer to have some sort of refund policy.

The easiest refund policy is: “No refunds!” But that won’t inspire consumer confidence.

Note that “Future Performance Agreements” in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Ontario allow a customer to cancel a contract and get a refund if the photographer fails to give the customer a written contract.
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Recycling The Trash

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It’s the early days of an Ontario provincial election and the three political parties are on the campaign trail.

This post could’ve been about Conservatives not having a portrait of its leader. Many of its candidates also don’t have headshots. No portrait = invisible.

This post could’ve been about the NDP which cut-and-pasted its candidate headshots onto a high-school-blue background. The party couldn’t figure out how to organize consistent portraits.

[Edit May 13: The NDP’s first attempt at cut-and-pasting was so bad that it did the cut-and-pasting all over again.]

Instead, I’m going to write about the Ontario NDP recycling its policy book from three years ago and the NDP’s love of being cheap. And yes, I’m going to recycle a blog post :-)
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The Average Photographer

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Last week, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its semi-annual Occupational Employment and Wage Summary based on survey data collected in May 2013. This provides an estimate of the average wages for most occupations in the USA.

It’s important to remember that statistics often tell only half the story.

According to the survey, there are 54,830 “employed” photographers. This seemingly does not include freelance or self-employed photographers (more on this in a moment). The average annual pay for these employed photographers was $37,190. (In this post, all amounts are converted to Canadian dollars).
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Do You Look Like Your Business?

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Do you look like your business? Does your business look like you?

A business is judged by its various appearances: appearance of the store, appearance of the web site, appearance of the employees. A less than favourable appearance will create a less than favourable impression on the customer.

A “good looking” appearance encourages a customer to trust that business. A poor appearance makes the customer suspicious.

You look like your business:
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