Every photographer dreams of having a profitable business plan. No business owner ever wants to leave money on the table but we are often doing just that. It may be as simple as going through the motions of what we do and don’t offer without ever thinking outside of the box. If we don’t stop and take a look at our clients as individuals who have unique wants, needs, and desires then we are in effect not serving them to our fullest extent and thereby leaving money on the table.
Ask what they want
Step one in becoming a more profitable business owner is learning what your ideal client wants. One of the best ways to do that is to simply ask! Make a list of your past clients and reach out to the ones that fell within your range of ideal clients. From there either call them, email them, or survey them. This is the time to get really curious and ask them about their experiences and if there was anything that they really wanted that maybe wasn’t offered to them. Sometimes this is as simple as having wanted a print product or more in-depth like a boudoir. Why ask? Because it makes for a more profitable business.
Check out your competition
Step number two is to look at your competition. Seriously! Now, don’t get me wrong but I am not in ANY way telling you to send fake inquiries . . I will have some four-letter words for you if you do. What I am saying is look for holes in the market where your ideal client avatar is not being served. Now ask yourself if there is a way you can fill in that hole in the market.
Next, it’s list time. You are now going to take all the research you have compiled from both your surveys and also your research on your competitors and make a list of the gaps in the market. Once that list is compiled, now it’s time to make decisions on what you do and don’t want to include as new offerings.
Let’s use the example of boudoir photography. If you currently do not offer that but your past wedding clients mentioned wishing that you had then it’s time to also look at your research on the competition. Do they currently offer it?
Determine what you will offer
Now the next step is determining if this is a viable thing to offer. Do you even want to offer it? If so . . then STOP leaving money on the table and start making an action plan. For more on action plans check out our blog on marketing and head on over to our private Facebook group here.
