Sending "Elle Woods Style" Welcome Videos to Photography Clients

It was 2am. I was sitting like a mouse in my in-laws kitchen — gross computer light glowing on my face. I saw the ad for a "Social Media Assistant" at creativeLIVE and I was sold. What would set me apart? I HAD TO GET THIS JOB! It was kinda scary but I made a video. I did one take and told myself that even though it wasn't very professional or polished, it would show my personality and hopefully win them over. Well, I had the job in less than 48hrs.

Two years later, I applied for another job with a video. Less than 48hrs, I had the job. 10 months later (i.e. yesterday), I applied for yet another job with yet another video and boom, they liked me and I'm hired.

When it comes to applying for jobs, sending a video with the application is valuable because 1) it does make you stand out and 2) it's basically an interview — they get to see your face, listen to you speak, hear a little about you etc... before they even ask for an interview, you hand (a.k.a. send) it to them. Now you're already at the next stage of the application process — leaps ahead of anyone else who has applied. It worked for Elle Woods after all. ;)

With "normal" jobs, you're usually the one that approaches the business and you hope they hire you. With photography jobs, your clients are approaching you and you hope they hire you.

Either way, you're trying to sell yourself and win people over and get them to say, "You're hired."

I send little 2min "hello, i'm Chamonix" videos to almost all my potential clients (sometimes it's hard to produce if the computer isn't behaving). They usually love it and make some comment about how they "loved the personal response." These videos are my way of creating that personal connection quickly before they move on and hire someone else.

When I started making videos it was awkward and embarrassing. But with practice came comfort and with comfort came fun. Now I love making these little videos and I would encourage everyone to try it. Maybe one day someone will send me a video... ;) I can't wait.

xoxo

Chamonix

Blogging Tips for Photographers 101 (Pt. 2): SEO

"Keywords and SEO stuff is so boring! I want my blog to be #1 on Google but I don't want to waste time researching."

Check out Part 1: Challenges of Blogging

Learning about SEO is one of the biggest challenges for photography business owners who are using blogging as a way to market their business. SEO has been a mystery to me for years and I'm absolutely no expert at it. I'm a total SEO rookie and I wish there were a shortcut but sadly, as far as I can tell, there is no magic SEO shortcut.

Here's the fact of the matter… 

-If you want people to find you online, you gotta appear in their Google searches.

-If you want to rank high in Google searches, you gotta optimize your blog for search engines.

-You need to either A) take the time to learn and do the SEO yourself or B) pay someone else to do it for you. 

-If you are going to learn about SEO yourself, it's way too much to learn in one afternoon. Slow and steady is the only way to win this race. SEO is a never ending process that will be evolving & improving FOREVER. So learn a new SEO trick each week, apply it, and get on with business. 

Here are some basic SEO tips to help get you started on your long slog towards achieving your destiny as #1 on Google….

Keywords 

Learn about keywords. It's a challenge to really figure out your perfect keywords. Use Google keywords to help you brainstorm. Think about what your ideal clients are searching for online. Once you have your keywords, you've got to put them into action. For each blog post, choose an appropriate keyword and put it everywhere, at every level: in the title, in the first sentence, hyperlink it, in the tags, in the picture descriptions etc... The same keyword repeated over and over so Google knows that this page really is all about that keyword. 

Social Media BackLinks

You want to have your blog's URL splattered around other websites. You've probably heard that your back links on social media sites like Facebook & Twitter don't count. However, your links WILL be acknowledged on these social media sites: LinkedIn, Google Places, Google Profiles, Digg, Reddit

Getting Published on Other Blogs

When you write guest posts or submit your photos to other blogs, consider how those blogs rank. You may be excited to get published on another blog, but getting published on a blog with a low Google ranking probably won't do anything for your traffic or SEO. Focus on sharing your content with high ranking blogs. Use the Google PageRank Checker: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php

These website are your new best friends:

http://searchengineland.com/

http://moz.com/blog

I totally know how it feels when you're drowning in a world of SEO research. It all seems like too much to learn. It feels like a waste of time. You don't want to sit there behind your computer all day. I get it. But I'm starting to think that if you really rely on online marketing and you're wanting people to find your business through Google, you're just going to have to put in the hours (or shell out the moola & hire somebody else to do it). 

The hardcore little voice in my head is saying.... "I'm sorry you find SEO research boring but it's probably going to have a bigger payoff for your business than however many hours a day you're spending redesigning your website or logo (for the 200th time)." 

So good luck my friends. I'm sorry for delivering the depressing news but at least now the delusion is broken and you can start to make real progress. Grit your teeth and DO. This SEO learning curve is the "not fun part" of running your photography business. But ya know, things are only NOT fun when you don't understand them or you feel overwhelmed. The good news is that the more you learn about SEO, the more intriguing it becomes. Just researching for this blog series has got me all SEO excited. ha! 

I'd LOVE to hear your SEO tips. 

Please share them in the comments below so other readers can learn from your wise words! ;)

Check out Part 3: 10 Ways to Come Up with Interesting Blog Content

Check out Blogging Tips for Photographers 101 (Part 1): Challenges of Blogging
Check out Blogging Tips for Photographers 101 (Part 3): 10 Ways to Come Up with Interesting Blog Content

Rebrand Your Photography Business Without Confusing Clients

Q: I'm thinking of rebranding but I'm afraid of the consequences (losing potential clients, affecting my reputation, confusing people etc...). How should I do it?

On the eighth day, God made branding (really difficult). :P lol So, your photography business has been chugging along for a few years (or months) and you're feeling squirmy for a change. I totally get it. Either you no longer like your name or your logo or your website OR so much has changed over the years and you feel it’s time to bring your branding up to speed with where your artwork has taken you.

You’re ready to spice up your life BUT you’re worried that it’s going to be a big hassle. Just the idea of going through all that legal paperwork again to legally change your business name, adjust bank account details, spend hours online designing branding etc… is intimidating and exhausting. AND we’re all worried that we’ll be sacrificing the good reputation that we’ve worked so hard to build because no one is going to recognize us after our business makeovers.

I rebranded my business after my first 6 months. When I started my business I was convinced that I wouldn’t get any clients because nobody would be able to say or remember by mammothly long & unusual name. So I chose a cutesy business name. LOVEDUCKS PHOTOGRAPHY. (Yep, I really did that.) But one morning I woke up and realized that if anyone was ever going to take me seriously I had to operate under my own name and if I did anything worthwhile, people would jolly well learn how to pronounce it.

Changing your branding is not something you want to do on a whim because you’re right, 1) it’s a lot of work, 2) it can be confusing for clients, and 3) focusing on your brand too much will distract you from developing your artwork. But after careful deliberation and a few solid months of deliberation to make sure it’s really what you want to do, I would definitely recommend rebranding if you think it will take your business in the direction you want it to go. Think of the logistics like an early morning workout — it’s tough to get started, you’ve got to grit your teeth to survive it but you’re going to feel so good when it’s done!

As for your (potential) clients, they won't be confused so long as you keep them informed. Blog about your ideas for rebranding (before you rebrand). Blog about your dreams for your brand and have your Facebook fans vote on their favorite logo design. Make it a big exciting thing that all your followers can look forward to do. Don't surprise anybody overnight and you'll be just fine ;)

Check out how my brand identity has evolved over the past 2 years.

Rebranding My Business - Choosing Colors

Hello my friends!

So some fun peachy news today... my Hawaii sabbatical is going splendidly. I've been resting & recuperating after a 2 year stint of workaholism, enjoying a regular paycheck from Karma Hill's photography studio, learning new photography & business techniques and getting more and more excited about running my own business again - but this time... much better! 

One of my primary concerns over the past few months has been the brand of my business and how well it represented ME and the mission behind what I do. My brand identity was sleek and pretty but I felt like it was lacking my personality and energy. 

I spent AGES on Pinterest, observing myself. Seeing what images and designs I'm attacted to. I made at least 20 lists of things (and words) that resonate with me. I've gathered feedback from friends - that's been the most useful part of the puzzle. 

For a while I was thinking about black and white stripes (those of you clever Sherlock Holmes out there who follow me on Pinterest may have picked up on this haha). Check out my Black & White Stripes inspiration board on Pinterest!



But my concern was that despite how funky this patterning was, it was also too distracting and therefore stressful for me. So I moved on. I looked back at my life and you know what I found? PINK & ORANGE. Those were the colors I always used on my AOL instant messenger and Myspace profiles. haha Those were the colors of the pages I ripped out of magazines. Two years ago, I realized this love of PINK & ORANGE and I tried to make it work on my website but I couldn't figure it out and I gave up. I felt like these colors were too playful and not professional enough or something. Well, I've realized that maybe I'm not as serious as I'd like to think. I could use a little more color in my life. ;) So, it's risen up again and this time I'm going to listen to my gut. I'm moving forward with PEACH & gold and all the pretty shades of pink->peach->orange->golds that come along with it. Ever since making that decision, my mind has been at ease and I feel so excited about my band identity and all the possibilities. Check out my "Peach" Inspiration Board on Pinterest. 



So this is what I'm working on in my free-time these days. Taking my company forward into it's next chapter...it's peachy keen chapter! ;) I would love to see any peachy cool things you find! Send your peachy ideas my way ;) 
Lots of love, xoxo Chamonix

Senior Portraits Photography Promo Video 2013 — "A Letter to My Future Self"

This summer, I made a promo video for my photography business targeted at high school girls (and their moms). I wanted to show the significance capturing this moment in a girl's life and offer girls an alternative, more glamorous, type of senior portraits. So I invited my beautiful neighbor & summertime intern, Madi, to be my model/actress. I asked Madi to write a letter to her future self - typed on her sweet vintage type writer. On the way to post the letter (into the future), Madi enjoys the delights and simple pleasures of being young — riding her bike through the woods, stopping to have a picnic of tea and cookies, reading novels under the trees, blowing dandelions, and daydreaming about skipping through the fields in a flowing dress. During her daydream sequence, Madi has a photo shoot with me. She later includes these photos inside her letter and drops the envelop into a mail box. In her letter she writes, "Be excited for the future....I hope these pictures showcase who I am now...." 

Thank you sooo much Camera Woman #2: Cheryl Ford Photography

& Behind the Scenes support from: Rick + Anna Photography

& Madi for giving us an entire day of her summer break for this project

& Madi's mom for letting us storm into her house with photography equipment ;)

How My Photography Brand Has Evolved Over the Past Two Years

Tonight, I'm sitting out on the back porch eating salad and writing some Q&A blog posts. One reader asked about rebranding their business and it got me thinking about how my own photography business & brand identity has evolved over the past 2 years. I searched back through my old website designs, logos and business cards. So far, my business has had three distinct brand identities:

Brand Identity 1) Loveducks Photography  - back in the day when I incorporated company colors and little ducks, haha. I still can't believe there was a time when I thought this was amazing branding. I included all the colors of the rainbow because 1) I love them all and 2) I'm a bright happy person and I thought using lots of colors would show this to clients. I had 10 portfolio images to work with and I designed a fancy postcard. I ordered 5,000 postcards. It was a sad day when I dumped the whole stack of them in the recycling bin. I only ever handed out like 100 of them (if that). This brand identity stuck around for about 6 months.

Brand Identity 2) I made the leap and renamed my business to my own name :) I was still afraid of using my full long name so I put an emphasis on my first name. I tried to keep things compact by squeezing everything into a box. haha I thought that using all the rainbow colors was too chaotic so I forced myself (painfully) to narrow it down. I rocked the chalkboard black & embraced the color turquoise that was the perfect medium between happy energetic yellow and calm trustworthy blue (yes, I researched color psychology....for hours). I ordered 5,000 postcards, stickers and business cards to get the show on the road. 4,950 of these are still buried in my in-law's house. haha This brand identity stuck around for about 6 months.

Brand Identity 3) I finally woman-ed up and used my full name, all parts equal. I kept everything simple with a clean classic fonts (Century Gothic & Garamond), somehow found the guts to commit to labeling myself as a 'Women's Portrait Photographer', and like any true artist I signed my name by hand! This is my current logo and I love it because it's delicate and feminine but as a whole unit it's quite packed full of substance. It's a logo that I think looks more like a painter's stamp rather than a photographer's, and I like that. In one glance, people can easily read my name, know what I do, and identify me as an artist. My current brand identity is more clean and simple with less emphasis on a "brand" and more emphasis on showing off my pictures. I'm such a lover of ALL the colors, I struggled to pick one...so I used none. The only color that would appear on my website would be the color in my images. This brand identity has been around for almost 1.5 years and I'm still loving it. I've fined tuned it here and there but the simplicity of it has made it kinda timeless.

Before moving to Hawaii, I started questioning whether or not my brand was accurately representing who I am. Sure it's pretty and simple but is it trying too hard, looking more glamorous than I actually am, lacking personality all together? 

My goal was to have a brand identity that was so simple, all the attention would be on the images but I think this nice idea was slowly corrupted as I tried to emulate other photographers' styles, maybe trying to be something I'm not? 

I'm still unsure about all of this so I'm on a 2 year sabbatical in Hawaii working it out, sorting out the messy thoughts in my over-worked head. I'm doing a little soul searching, challenging my photography technique & style, and putting on blinders to what everyone else is doing. I'm hoping that this time in Hawaii will be a period of growth and I'll emerge with a clearer idea of who I am, what I have to offer and how I can best package it up and present it to the world. Stay tuned ;)

How has your brand evolved? 
What have you learned along the way?
How far have you come?
Any advice for me?