Stephen Honda

OC Photographers: Market By Partnering with Local Businesses

Orange County wedding photographers (weather in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, or Irvine) as well as portrait, senior and event photographers can market effectively by partnering with local businesses.

Unlike a supplier of widgets who can efficiently sell their products across the globe, photography businesses are generally local in nature. Sure there are a few destination photographers who travel the globe, but the vast majority of shots are taken by locals.

Given that a photography business local by nature, a photographers marketing efforts should be local as well. An effective way to market locally is for a photography business to team up with local businesses by allowing local businesses to use the photographer's work free of charge in exchange for exposure.

This setup is a win-win for both. The business gets an upgraded look with thousands of dollars (if they were to pay market price) worth of fine art and the photographer is able to make an impression on each of the local businesses' customers. Of course the business needs to agree to allow the photographer to display his contact information.

This strategy is effective for a couple of reasons. First, the potential clients will have repeated exposure to the photographers work. As every professional marketer can affirm, a key to persuading a person to buy a product is to have a number of exposures to the product. In businesses such as hair salons, restaurants and boutique clothing stores, the patrons are usually repeat customers. As a result the photographers work will get repeat exposure.

The second reason the partnership strategy is successful is the implied endorsement which is made when the business has trusted you to represent their establishment. Contrast the effect with a mailer you send out. When you send out a mailer the client - regardless of what he thinks of your work - knows that you are tooting your own horn. As a result every claim you make he is going to take with a grain of salt.

On the other hand he knows a local business would only deal with someone who they trust. They know they would not put the reputation of the business in jeopardy with an inferior product. The implied endorsement given from the business is a strong affirmation of the quality of your work than any way you could provide on your own. The implied endorsement is even more powerful than the explicit endorsement. With the explicit endorsement, there is always the suspicion that the endorser is being paid to provide the endorsement and therefore his testimony is not biased.

The Orange County photography industry is competitive. It is also largely local. By partnering with local businesses a photographer can effectively create repeat positive local impressions of his business which should help it expand.

Article Tags: Local Businesses, Implied Endorsement

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