Getting The Appointment
I have used this website to talk about the business of being a photographer and about Lightroom. How many photography websites are out there? One hundred thousand, a million websites? Nobody really knows, but my scientific, fully fact checked, gut feel is closer to a million photography blogs/websites than closer to the hundred thousand mark. How many of these blogs/websites deal with the business of photography? I would say about a dozen. Good photography business information is very rare. I could say that photo business information is a rare commodity, but commodity and rare in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
Photography books, there are so many photography books. I just did a search at Amazon.com and found 217,434 Results. How many photo business books? Not that many, may be a couple of hundred and very few books are:
- In print
- Have real substance
For me a "real good" photo business book will have: step 1, step 2... and go to the bank to deposit your cheques. These books are very rare. Elyse Weissberg wrote one of these very rare book that deals with "how do you promote yourself", that is in print and has real substance: "Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers".
Instead of giving you a review of what I think about the book. I'd rather quote you a couple of paragraph on how to get an appointment with a photo buyer and you will see if you can apply it to your case.
Don't start with a phone call because it can be almost impossible to reach a busy art director by phone and, frankly, you run the risk of being a real nuisance if you do get through. When your name is not familiar to people you are trying to reach, it's definitely better to use mail.
Here's an effective approach to make sure an art buyer will recognize your name — and answer your calls. Start with a small group of art buyers you'd like to meet — say, ten people. Produce and mail ten appealing promotion cards. Send out a card with a different image two weeks later, and continue to do so every other week for twelve weeks, until you've sent six cards.
Anyone who receives a promo card every other week for twelve weeks will remember your name. Then call the art buyer to set up an appointment or to drop off your portfolio. If you leave voice-mail messages, be candid: Tell the art directors for whom you leave messages that you "hand picked" them to target, that you've sent them promotions because you like the work they produce, and that you would like to work with them. Being honest and sharing your enthusiasm usually works.
Can you use this approach in your business? I can, I have used it myself and it worked. I did get the appointment.
Who is this for?
This book is targeted toward photographers who want to break-in or grow their editorial, magazine, advertising, corporate work. It's not specifically geared toward retail such as weddings, babies...
Many of the self promotions techniques can be adapted to your own circumstances. If I gave stars on a 1 to 5 scale, I would give it a 6 stars. That's how good it is. My book is full of stickies and highlights and I have read this book 3 times so far. It's the best $20 to $30 that you will spend on your business.
You can take this book, and create your own marketing plan based on that book.
The Amazon link is: Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers (Paperback) by Elyse Weissberg
I am not an Amazon affiliate, I will get a full $0 if you buy this book.