Finding and Keeping Clients

Are you interested in finding new clients and keeping the ones you have? In this article you will look more closely at how to find the right clients and the steps to keep them coming back for more.

The tone and code of behavior in your client relationships is set from your first contact, through your follow-up and in to your first job with them.

When the phone rings, do you have a plan for what you're going say, or do you end up "umming" and "ahing" your way through? How can potential clients contact you when you're out of the office? If you have a plan ahead of time, your confidence and professionalism will go a long way to helping you land a job.

The biggest challenge a photographer faces is how to make a living but still remain creative. How can you satisfy the client's needs but feel like your personal vision is satiated at the same time? In order to fulfill this goal, let's take an inspiring approach and, for the moment, have you envision yourself as a brand.

It costs a lot more to win a new customer than to keep an existing one. Do you make keeping clients a top priority in your business? Do you have retention strategies in place for doing so? If not, then read on!

In last month's article, Summer Assignment: Get Out of Your Studio, I wrote that as an artist it is your responsibility to stay fresh. I suggested that you all take time to get out of your studio and seek some inspiration. Well, now that summer is almost over I hope you are ready to power into full promotion mode for the fall.

The Rule of 3 Selling is not marketing. Selling is "personal promotion", all the one-on-one contact it takes to make a sale. Marketing is when you combine selling with such "non-personal" promotions as advertising, publicity, direct mail, email marketing and web sites. Though this article focuses on selling, selling cannot stand alone; a marketing plan that includes selling is required to give you the Rule of 3: Repetition = Recognition = Response.

Promotions, do they all work? Do they grab the attention of the creative buyer or editor that you want to attract or do they just sit at the bottom of a pile? Perhaps they end up in the garbage or the good ole' electronic version of SPAM, JUNK or TRASH? Aren't these questions you ask yourself when you are about to execute a promotion? You are spending your hard-earned dollars, time and talent and want to know if it is going to get you somewhere.