Most of us, if asked, are happy to contribute to others. It makes us feel good. Yet as small business owners, it is easy to forget about giving to others when we’re focused on the next assignment, or just paying the bills on time.

Not long ago, contributing time or money was considered a luxury that only successful studios (or beginning photographers trying to establish a clientele) could afford. Today, contributing has become an important part of many businesses’ marketing strategy. Linking your business to a cause cuts through the “noise” of advertising, and tells your customers something about you that no amount of advertising can.

The challenge of contributing is this: writing a check and sending out a press releases is not enough. Savvy consumers can tell the difference between a business who is committed to a cause, and one just looking for free advertising.

If you are ready to step up your marketing by supporting a cause, start by finding one you genuinely care about, then make it a part of the DNA of your business. If you’re only contributing to bring in clients, you won’t succeed. Only by transcending the sales relationship with your clients will they notice and trust your commitment, which in turn, will bring you more sales.

Here are some examples using photography I’ve read about over the years:

• The lady who started Flat Daddies, life-sized cut-outs of men and women serving in Iraq. Or this vet who just displays life-sized armed services members in front of his house.
• A police chief blew up life-sized cut-outs of kids, and with the help of volunteers put them on the curb in a neighborhood to discourage speeding.
• Flashes of Hope, a group that solicits volunteer photographers to take inspirational portraits of children with cancer.
• Photographers who volunteer for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
• The majority of photographers I’ve met who give presentations at WPPI or DPPA.

I’m willing to bet that if you contacted any of the folks involved in these projects, they would tell you that a) they have made a difference in someone’s life, b) they feel good about it, and c) they aren’t doing it for the money. Yet every one of them has gained more visibility in the community and customer goodwill than any paid advertising ever could.

It doesn’t matter whether you volunteer, write a check, host a fundraiser, or stand on the corner carrying a sign. If you can find something you truly care about and make it part of the core of your business, not only will you feel better, but your business will be better for it too.

A gentleman called this week and asked if I would mail him a catalog and price list.

“Sure,” I replied, but noted that he could also download it immediately off our website.

“I don’t know what your website name is,” he said. “I got your phone number off an ad in an old magazine.”

After I put down the phone, I was again reminded of a fundamental truth in business: never stop marketing. You can never know which advertisement is going to motivate a potential customer to call.

It works like this:

• building business is the goal, marketing is the plan, and ads are the steps you take to achieve your goal.
• Your marketing plan answers a simple question: How can I put my brand and/or offer in front of folks that are in need of my service?
• Brand builds trust and name recognition, offers generate sales.
• The rule of thumb is that a potential customer needs to see your ad seven times and be ready to purchase before they will pick up the phone.
• The closer you can put an ad (in time) in front of a potential customer who is ready to purchase, the more likely they are to respond.
• Measure results. If it works, re-use it. If it doesn’t try something else.

There isn’t any other secret sauce. marketing is a critical component of every successful business. As a business owner, you should expect to spend 2-3 hours every day marketing. A better rule could be, if you aren’t shooting or selling, you should be marketing. Outsource everything else.

I’ve long forgotten which magazine the ad was in, but I am confident it was according to the plan.

Labprints is having a special that includes various modules up to 50% off their list price.

LP Standard–$199 ($330 VALUE)

• Easy way to design and send orders directly to our lab
• Fastest way to design matted and flush album pages
• Includes LP Album Builder and LP Composite Designer

LP Advanced–$269 ($578 VALUE)

• Build beautiful composite images and album pages, then export them as high-res Photoshop files
• Project images and frames in actual size to clients. Great for up-selling
• Includes LP Production Studio and LP Projection Tool

Note that LabPrints integrates with Lightroom and PhotoOne Studio Management software.

While I can vouch for ROES as an excellent all-around ordering tool, when used effectively as a studio sales presentation tool for wedding photographers, I can guarantee LabPrints will make your studio much more profit than the software costs. If you need to bump up your average wedding order, you need to invest in LabPrints.

Sports photographers are raving about the new Trader Cards JDPI is providing this season. These cards are full color, glossy finish and heavy weight, with die-cut slightly rounded corners. The new cards have a very high-value touch and feel that will appeal to the most discriminating customer.

In addition, JD now offers Lustre Laminate and Matte Laminate on our Gallery Wraps in ROES at no additional charge. We can recommend a laminate finish for the beauty it adds to your images, and for the functional protection it provides from both UV and normal wear and tear.

Dealing with unhappy customers can be one of the most frustrating parts of running a business. Refunds or discounts are the easy solution. But before you offer a refund, let me share a story that recently happened to me at an upscale restaurant.

On a recommendation, my friend and I decided to split one of the restaurant’s famous ten-dollar gourmet hamburgers (got to watch the calories). We ordered it well-done. When the burger arrived, the meat was still pink inside. Not being a picky eater, I kept the burger, and my friend ordered a second one.

Then the trouble began.

As we waited for what seemed like an eternity, my friend began to find other faults with the restaurant – no silverware, snotty waitress, crud on the mustard bottle lid. Finally, she’d had enough, and asked to see the manager.

After she recounted the story of the bad hamburger, the manager said, “I’m sorry. I’ll adjust your bill.”

Then the trouble really began.

My friend was insulted that a refund could “fix” the problem, and began to list to the manager all the other faults she had noticed with the restaurant and its service, how we’d come on a recommendation, how disappointed she was, etc. In the end we paid for a single burger, and now everyone she talks to knows where not to go for dinner.

As a business owner or manager, the simplest solution for dealing with an unhappy customer is to offer a refund. However, it is rarely the best solution. It costs you money, and you lose a customer.

Instead, when dealing with an unhappy customer you should ask, “What can I do to make you happy?“ This question has three goals:

• It forces the customer to think about what they are really unhappy about, not just what they are complaining about.
• It gives you an opportunity to save the relationship and perhaps even keep the customer.
• It reduces the chance the customer will bad-mouth you to their friends (other potential customers).

While I cannot guarantee this approach will work with every unhappy customer, I can guarantee offering a refund won’t do your business any favors. My friend can vouch for that.

Betsy Finn shared this link with me via twitter, and it is good enough that I thought I should pass it on.

In his book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie reminds us that a person’s name is the “sweetest sound to anyone’s ears.”

I’m not normally good with names, but I’ve found associating a name with an image to be useful. For example, if I had just met a guy named “John”, I’d picture him on the…well, you get the picture.

Joe Bologna Sterling will host a showing of original photography by the world renowned photographer Marco Mancinelli from October 9th – 11th 4-8pm.

Joe Bologna Sterling’s studio is located at 2135 17 Mile, Sterling Heights, 48310.

Please come and support this local Michigan photographer. Marco will be on hand to answer any questions you may have. Framed works and prints will be available for sale.

Marco Mancinelli was Michigan Photographer of the Year 1999 and Detroit Photographer of the Year 1999, 2001, 2002. For more information, visit his website at www.marcomancinelli.com.

I was thumbing through images on iStockPhoto.com the other day, and while looking for a generic photo of a professional photographer I noticed something interesting. The vast majority of the photographers were dressed in all-black. A quick search of Google images confirmed my suspicion: most of the (admittedly male) photographers were also clad in black.

In the public’s eyes, is an all-black outfit the official uniform of a professional photographer?

While it is at first easy to dismiss the idea of “dressing like a photographer” as a gimmick, it is at least worth considering. What if the average consumer equates someone in all-black outfit as an artist, of which a photographer is a specific type? Don’t we automatically have a different level of respect for a soldier in a tee-shirt and jeans verses one in full-dress uniform?

Which leads to the question, if black equals artist and artist equals photographer, could wearing black have an impact on your sales?

It’s an interesting experiment, and one I’m sure everyone reading would like to read about if you’ve tried. Alternatively, have you ever changed your wardrobe and found it changed your ability to make a sale?

Would you be willing to wear all-black for a week or a month and see if it makes any difference? Add a comment below and let me know. It could be the simplest way to increase your sales you’ve ever tried.