Ink based marketing.

My business cards are produced by a firm called Moo - a fabulous company who have made some fantastic marketing material for me over the last 20 years. The quality of the products is second to none, their templates are easy to use, and the cost of things is within my budget.

I’m not a great marketeer. I’ve wasted thousands over the years on pointless adverts and listings that didn’t get me anything but unsolicited telephone calls and emails. When I started freelancing back in 2004, I procured a small two-year Yellow Pages advert (what’s that? I hear the young’uns say) promoting my PR photography business. It cost me about £60 a month, and resulted in ZERO enquiries - not a single one in two years. That taught me the fact that paid advertising is a complete waste of time unless you’re in certain trades like taxis, double glazing, take aways etc. In the photographic world, only weddings and portraiture were appropriate, as they have a constantly changing client base searching for photographers.

The commercial side of photography relies heavily on work-based contacts, referrals by existing clients and a healthy dose of good luck. One of the pros who was a tutor at Newcastle College during my foundation degree stint told me that the only way to get ahead was to learn to play golf as that was where almost all the business relationships were nurtured. I’m not a golfer.

I’ve tried joining networking groups, listing myself on all the free, local websites, and joing the BIPP as a paid-up licentiate member, but ultimately my first big break came as a result of my ex sister-in-law doing the hair of Barbour’s marketing director and mentioning that I was a photographer. I was invited in to do a test shoot, and began an 8 year partnership resulting in the creation of my studio back in the day. Pretty much all the other clients (there have been many) found me as a result of my website. I’ve never resorted to all that SEO crap either. Today, I still maintain this website, but at the moment I don’t want to appeal to all and sundry as I’m working to a comfortable capacity.

So - looking forward, I’m trying to put together a loose plan to attract the top end architectural/editorial/commercial clients that need my level of skill and detail without resorting to playing poxy golf. Here’s my latest idea:

I found a company in Belgium that produce temporary tattoo transfers, so I created a QR code to direct the user to my website and they printed hundreds of them for about fifteen quid. If I know I’m going somewhere with movers and shakers, I’ll slap one on my forearm and they can scan it. It might be a totally wanky move, but it’ll generate interest of some sort.

Postscript:

Unfortunately, my QR code was generated by a firm who cater to companies that require multiple codes on a regular basis and therefore charge $35 a month to keep them operational. Fortunately, it’s possible to generate another one using the Adobe Express platform for free, so I’ll have to have my tats redone.