Here’s a very smart little photography marketing idea that could generate a lot of income and buzz for you.
First some background, a referral can be 50 times more valuable than a “normal” lead. Let me ask you, who would you trust more:
- A photographer coming up to you and telling you he takes great photos for great prices
- One of your friends recommending a photographer and telling you he takes great photos for great prices
You are naturally inclined to trust a good friend much more than someone totally unknown.
So it should be one of your highest priorities in your photography marketing plans to get referrals whenever you can and here’s a proven game plan you can follow.
Game plan
Offer a free photo session to five families with small children and take ~100 to 200 images. Give them ten free 8×10” sized prints under the condition that they personally introduce you to a minimum of ten other families. Also “upsell” them with additional prints and larger sized prints after you gave them the ten free prints.
This should give you 5-10 paid photo sessions with the referred families where you sell 8×10” sized prints. Also offer them a few 11×14” sized prints for free if they personally refer you to their friends.
Remember to take a lot of images because it’s really hard for small children families to reject a cute photo of little Alice, especially if it’s already printed. It’s like throwing little Alice in the trash can.
Your photography business can go viral with this kind of marketing approach and the word is spreading by word of mouth which is extremely valuable. Never be afraid to offer something for free in the beginning as long as you have a plan how to monetize it at a later stage.
An additional photography marketing idea would be to offer a photo shoot every birthday for the first few years or why not monthly or quarterly the first one or two years. That would generate recurring income which is always nice to have.
