The business side of photography
It takes us only a moment to form our first opinion of someone. This first impression will tell us whether that person might be friendly, smart, honest, kind, trustworthy … or not.
Judging a person by their appearance may not always be the best thing to do but it’s something that we’ve been trained to do by our parents, the media and many thousands of years of evolution.
Pop quiz: which of the following people would you trust enough to do business with:
I was just reading an online article offering marketing advice for 2014. The piece included tips and predictions for the upcoming year from 14 “marketing experts”.
Of these 14 people featured in the article, only six seem to have professionally produced business portraits. But only two of these photos are of good quality and only one looks recent.
The majority of these “marketing experts” are represented either by a poorly exposed, poorly focused snapshot of themselves or by a picture of a picture of themselves (which suggests that they don’t even have a headshot).
With such a disregard for their own business image and apparently no knowledge of the marketing value of photography, how much credibility would you extend to these “marketing experts”?
A marketing expert who doesn’t have a professional business headshot is like a plumber who doesn’t own a wrench, a chef who doesn’t have a knife or a photographer who doesn’t have a tripod.
A professional business portrait is the simplest, most common and most effective marketing tool for making a positive first impression, creating trust and building credibility.
Every real estate agent knows that a friendly face on a lawn sign or billboard will attract more attention than anything else, except perhaps a picture of a baby.
Every politician knows that a professional business portrait helps build trust. No matter what scandal a politician may have been involved in, a good portrait will be a positive influence on voters.
The marketing power of a well-done business portrait can benefit anyone.
A business headshot with a smile builds trust, indicates friendliness, confidence and politeness, and suggests that you are smart and competent. It has also been shown that smiling can increase your customers’ satisfaction and can even help you live longer and be happier.
Is it worth the trouble to smile?
Yes it is, especially in front of the corporate photographer who’s making your new business headshot.
What price would you put on a headshot of yourself – $50? $100? $150?
What’s the value of a business marketing tool that you can use for several years on your business cards, web site, blog, marketing collateral, social networking profiles, e-mail signature, press releases, newsletters and media handouts – $200? $300?
What’s the value of something that will catch the attention of customers, build trust, increase your credibility, make you look important and more competent, and enhance the perceived value of your business – $400? $500? $600?
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You can tell that it’s getting close to the end of the year as companies rush to get work done or hurry to spend any remaining budget. In the past two weeks, I received nine inquiries for business portraits and each job had to be delivered and invoiced before December 31. The requests ranged from two to thirty business headshots.
One potential customer asked why I don’t offer a bigger volume discount for multiple business portraits. They wondered why the cost to shoot 30 business headshots didn’t drop to under $50 each.
Here’s why:
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Some photographers charge more, other photographers charge less, and some photographers undercharge and effectively work for nothing. But I’ve never heard of a photographer who overcharges or gouges customers.
A fellow corporate photographer recently wondered what he should tell potential clients who point out that another photographer charges much less than he does. Perhaps this might help:
Photographers are not economic magicians. When a photographer charges less, it means the customer is getting less. There’s no way around it. Maybe it’s less quality, maybe less service, maybe less experience. But it’s always less. The customer has to decide if they’re willing to settle for less.
If the pictures are not important then it might be okay to take a chance with low-priced photography. But smart companies know to always avoid risk because cheap can sometimes be too expensive.
My photography business doesn’t settle for less, (which is why I buy only premium cameras, lenses, computers, software, etc.), and I refuse to offer less because my customers are important.
I want my customers to succeed in their business marketing and I want my pictures to play a part in that success. I don’t cut corners and give customers less because that would only undermine their business goals.
Professional photo shoots can be more complex than a customer might think. After several equipment cases have been brought into their office and many lights set up, a client will often remark, “Wow, all this just for one picture?!” or “I didn’t realize this would be like a Hollywood movie!”
Some photography can be done with minimal equipment in minimal space. But other assignments can require a fair amount of lighting which usually requires more space and more time.
When a client says, “It’s just a couple of pictures and it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes,” photographers always start to smile.
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