Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones and this is episode 91 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.
So this week I’ve been finishing off writing the steps for the Photoshop course. When you know how to do something you don’t have to think about all the details involved in doing it. Over the last three weeks, it has become crystal clear how many steps there are when using Photoshop for even the most straightforward job.
Anyway, I’ll tell you more about it in the coming weeks.
So this episode is …
This is what marketers call the customer avatar. The aim is to identify the type of person most likely to buy your products.
So as a photographer shooting for money, you are also your business's marketing department, as well as many other things.
Now I’m going to go through some things that you need to find answers to. Some of the sections don’t need to be answered because they are pretty obvious for certain types of photography businesses. Like ‘Marital Status’ for wedding photographers.
Ok, let's go through them.
Demographics
Age
Specify a range, like 35 - 50. If you shoot family portraits the session could be booked by the parents or grandparents, so it’s ok having 25-40, and over 55. Later on, I’m going to talk about getting your brand in front of these people, so keeping them separate is better than having one group over 25.
Gender
When I was shooting dog agility 85% of the competitors were women, and all the competitions were run by women. So if I was doing this today I would put Women down for Gender.
Marital Status
As I said, if you shoot weddings it is pretty obvious. In fact, I don’t think marital status really matters in this day and age. I wouldn’t bother with it.
Race/Ethnicity
Cities have lots of ethnic groups, if you already have customers for a group or would like to get customers, write them down.
Income
This is more important than you might think. If your aim is to eventually get a high dollar amount for your work, then an avatar that has a high income is needed. The customers you shoot when you are starting out probably aren’t the same people you will be shooting for when your prices are higher.
Try to find the demographics for your area, it’ll list the percentage of high earners and average incomes.
Occupation/Industry
If you are aiming at shooting headshots for a certain industry, put it down here.
Location
This is the local area you work in, or if you want to shoot weddings in Mexico, list that area. A location could be a church or a country club, if you know where they hang out you can market to them.
Hobbies
If the photography genre you shoot is a hobby then this is important. I used to shoot dog agility, and for the competitors, it was a hobby. Some people play soccer, baseball, and countless other sports that are hobbies to them.
Problems
What are the problems these ideal customers need to solve? For dog owners, it could be that they need a portrait of their best friend. For a young couple, it might be trying to find a photographer for their wedding day.
Preferred Media
You need to decide the preferred type of media your avatar uses. It could be newspapers (but I doubt it), Email, a forum, Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media platform. Every age group is different.
With all this information you have put together, you are going to create a way of communicating with your ideal customers. This is aimed only at them, everyone else, well we’re not interested in them. The idea is to show your Ideal Customers that you understand them and offer exactly what they need.
Let’s build a fake persona for an ideal customer. When you have all the information for your avatar, put it together like this.
Ken and Barbie are 25 years old, live in Chicago, and have a combined annual income of $220,000. They are engaged, hang out online in Facebook groups related to weddings, and are both avid golfers with memberships at the local country club.
Now you need to aim all your marketing at your ideal customers.
Your Website
You only have 5-10 seconds to capture someone's attention before they leave your website. So if you are a wedding photographer you need to have a call to action that addresses the type of problems young engaged couples need solving.
Like … Click here to find out if your wedding date is available.
This needs to be at the top of the page, not halfway down or lower. You only have 5-10 seconds remember, it needs to be the first thing they see when they visit your website.
Once you have their attention they need to see a professional portfolio and every word of copy on your website needs to address your ideal customer's problems. Even if you have an About Me page, the copy needs to be about the problems they have and how you will solve them. They need to feel that you know what they need and can give them what they want.
Advertising
Your advertising needs to be aimed at places your ideal customers hang out. In Ken and Barbie's case and other couples like them, you need to use Facebook advertising aimed at wedding groups. You could also run Facebook ads aimed at local golf and country club groups.
Advertising in golf and country club brochures will also hit your ideal customers. If you can put an ad on the golf scorecards, do it. Hey, take up golf and start networking in the clubhouse.
Social Media
With Ken and Barbie spending time on wedding-related Facebook groups, the simplest thing to do is join all those groups and help people solve problems. Don’t start selling to anyone, just give advice and help solve problems.
Post a couple of photos every now and then and ask the members for advice, like does this look better in color or B&W? Everyone loves to give their opinion.
You’re not selling, but you are showing everyone in the group that you’re a wedding photographer and your photos are excellent.
Last week I listened to the PhotoBizX podcast with Andrew Hellmich, it’s a great podcast and he is an excellent interviewer, give it a listen. Anyway, he interviewed an American photographer called Gary Pope, his business name is Love Long and Prosper, a play on the phrase made famous by Spock from Star Trek. He was starting out shooting weddings and then identified his ideal customer. Now he shoots themed weddings like Harry Potter for people just like him. He calls himself a Geek. This is the perfect example of how identifying your ideal customer can work for you.
His average wedding price is now $8000. Check out his website lovelongandprosperphotography.com.
Right, that’s it for this episode, if you need help with anything you can contact me through the Facebook Group or Facebook Messenger if you want to keep it private. I enjoy doing it so ask away.
Ok, I’ll be back next week, talk to you soon, bye.