Four years in, and Suzanne Black could teach a lot of people a lot of things…especially about marketing and surviving when times get tough. I had a chat with her about what she thinks are the keys to success, how she turns 90% of her enquiries into bookings and why albums are so important to her business. Positivity is contagious. Suzanne is feeling positive right now. I haven't heard that response to a question about the state of the economy in a long time, but after chatting I've decided describing her as "positive" is an understatement... She says, “In the current climate I think it's more To View More >>

I just made a couple of new friends, Jeff and Erin Youngren from San Diego… And it took all of a couple of minutes. Stephen and Danny first met these guys at WPPI in Vegas, and we’ve been in touch ever since. You may remember our post about their new website and promo video so I asked them to share some of their experiences around online marketing, business and their album strategy.  But it was their philosophy, not only to business, but to life, that dominated the conversation. Let’s be friends Jeff and Erin had just returned from a holiday to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, with To View More >>

It's not all bad out there you know! There are plenty of people doing better than ever, even considering the recession. So over the next few weeks we're bringing you a series of interviews with clients who are doing just great. We'll share their advice, ideas and opinions as they give us some insights into how they're successfully running their businesses. Here's the first. He's been recognised as one of the world's best photographers, serviced clients like the New York Times and Apple Computer, photographed celebrities such as Alec Baldwin, Amanda Peet, Isabella Rosselini and Donald Trump,  regularly To View More >>

Wedding and portrait photographers are lucky.  There is an automatic point of difference built into the core of our businesses - our photography.  Other businesses selling books, bricks or ice-creams are dealing with the same commodities and therefore need to make their businesses about something other than the product, such as service, fast delivery or lifestyle branding. We start out with a product that is already differentiated - and what do many of us do? We try our hardest to look like other photographers. Why? If we use the same actions, poses and website colours as our competitors, what To View More >>

I couldn't help myself ... I just had to jump in on this one. There are many reasons why photographers are coy on their pricing. They want to keep their colleagues uninformed. They don't want to frighten potential clients before they have had a chance to impress them with their own brand of personal charm, their list of awards, and the opportunity to brandish their Photoshop skills. They don't feel confident in their own pricing. We have two companies dealing with different budgets. The less expensive brand has full disclosure on the website. 65-75% of people responding to the website are booking To View More >>