Prize-winning news coverage

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Yesterday at 5:50am (Eastern Time), it was announced that a Canadian scientist from Queen’s University, in Ontario, had co-won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics. By 6:20am, or maybe even earlier, news media were calling Queen’s University media relations people to request handout pictures of the new Nobel Laureate.

Queen’s University was prepared and news media around the world had a portrait of the university professor emeritus on their web sites shortly thereafter.

The Nobel Prize-winning professor did his research at the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Sudbury, Ontario. News media called the lab early in the morning for handout pictures of the scientist and of its research facilities.
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You can trust me on this

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Photographers are often told to sell value rather than just pictures. But when it comes to value, there can be a disconnect between photographer and customer.

A photographer generally tries to sell future value: how the photos might be used and enjoyed in the future.

But a customer often sees only the immediate value: the cost of the photography today.

If cost is greater than perceived worth then the customer won’t buy.

It’s difficult for any business to sell the future because we only see the present and we only know how we feel today.

A solution is that you have to realize that it’s not about cost, high or low. It’s really about worth or the lack thereof. If a customer sees little perceived worth today then your only option may be to lower your price and even that may not be enough.

Having to discount your prices is proof that your current marketing has failed.

Once you understand that worth is related to trust, then perhaps you’ll change your marketing to build trust rather than to promote low prices.

Customers can, and want to, feel trust today.

 

Photo Saturation

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There are nine take-out pizza stores within a one-kilometre radius of my home. How did they know I like pizza so much? More importantly, how much pizza do I and my neighbours have to eat to keep all those stores in business?

If you were the only photographer in town, you’d probably be quite busy with work. If a second photographer arrived in town, would the total number of photography customers double or would the existing number of customers be somehow split between you and the other photographer?

What if the number of photographers in your town went up by a factor of ten, fifty, a hundred or more? How would that affect your business?

It’s said that competition is good for business (and good for customers). More competition can increase customer awareness of your products and services which then might increase demand for your business.
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Toronto Film Festival 2015

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If you don’t cover the annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) then you may want to skip this very long post.

I wasn’t going to write another annual rant about the Toronto International Film Festival but since someone at the film festival apparently reads this blog, this might be the only way to get through to them. But it’s still very much like banging your head against a wall since any positive change can take many years to happen.

A “thank you” goes to someone for taking notes from last year’s blog post and making a few changes this year:
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Another cheap stock picture fail

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A Canadian federal election will happen in about six weeks. In its campaigning, the Conservative Party apparently likes to use cheap stock pictures in its marketing.

On at least four occasions, those stock pictures, and stock video, had nothing to do with Canada or with what the political party was trying to promote. All the photos were shot in other countries.

No one at the Conservative Party probably gave any thought to using cheap stock pictures other than “they’re cheap!” The pictures have now backfired and the party has become an even bigger punchline.

The wealthy Conservative Party could’ve hired Canadian photographers to shoot timely pictures of real Canadian subjects in Canada. The party could’ve stood behind its words by supporting Canadian small business. It could have led by example. But the Conservatives decided it wasn’t worth it.

Sadly, this is not the first time a political party has done this.

Every business should know this by now: cheap stock pictures don’t work, they do not create a unique message, they’re boring to look at. Oh wait. Maybe that is the message of the Conservative Party.

When you cut corners by using cheap stock photos, you fool no one but yourselves. Stock pictures are worthless when you’re trying to build credibility and trust.

 

Budget, budget, wherefore art thou?

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What every photographer knows, and seemingly few clients understand, is that every photo can be shot in many, many different ways and each can have a very different cost.

When looking to hire a photographer, a few clients will initially refuse to reveal the exact details of their photo project. Some other clients may not know the details or they haven’t fully decided what they want. Nevertheless, the photographer is expected to give a price for a job they know little about.

When you’re trying to figure out and price a photo job that doesn’t have complete information, the advice often given is that you should ask the client for their budget and use that as a guideline. But if you ask, “What’s your budget for this project,” the client may answer with something like:
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Game Face

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LinkedIn offers each user a personalized page of potential connections titled “People You May Know.” From a quick look today at my page of potential business connections (I’ve blacked out personal names and company names), I don’t recognize any of these people:

If any of those faces look like you, perhaps it’s time to put on your game face.

 

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